Chapter 70: Section 18

The day passed without incident despite the tension, and that evening the army’s morale suddenly soared. Although their speed was considerably affected, they had still taken a great stride southward. These soldiers had been ready to fight to the death to cover the rear for their families, but after all, no one truly wanted to die. When Kong Youde and Huang Shi made their rounds of the camp, the soldiers one after another set down the work at hand to salute them.

After daybreak, Kong Youde still methodically let the soldiers recover their strength before setting out. The second day also passed peacefully. When they made camp again that evening, Kong Youde’s face showed delight, and he grinned at Huang Shi: “One step closer to the Ming army at Lüshun, and one step farther from the Jian slaves.”

“It’s all thanks to you, elder brother.”

“Everything depends on tomorrow.” Kong Youde pondered a moment. “If nothing happens during the day, we won’t rest tomorrow night but push on with all our strength. A few hundred Jian slaves shouldn’t dare to close in on Lüshun.”

They cooked at dawn and set out after the meal. The beginning of the third day was no different from the previous two. The Ming troops, their fighting spirit high, rushed south as soon as they set out. The Later Jin troops, after two days of fruitless harassment, seemed somewhat demoralized as well, following listlessly from a distance, without even the drive to ride in and loose a stealthy arrow.

From the direction of the Later Jin cavalry, a cheer suddenly erupted. Startled, the Ming soldiers turned their heads one after another. At the northern limit of the two armies’ sight, a mounted column had appeared and was speeding toward them.

“What are you looking at? No turning back — keep moving!” Kong Youde bellowed furiously. He wheeled his horse around and rode to the flank of the column to gaze northward. Huang Shi also silently rode up beside him.

“How many?”

“A hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty.” Kong Youde’s brow was filled with worry. The Ming soldiers streamed past the two men’s horses without stopping.

“How much time do we still have?”

Kong Youde did not answer Huang Shi at once. Instead, he beckoned over all the remaining cavalrymen: “Reconnoiter south at speed — are there any hills or rivers within a few li? Report back immediately!”

“A little over half a shichen. They’ll need to build up their horses’ strength too, so we have one shichen — maybe less.” Kong Youde stared north and murmured to Huang Shi. Behind them, the Later Jin troops were already shifting formation.

The Later Jin cavalry that had tailed them for two days formed a tight order for the first time and closed to within two hundred meters behind the Ming army. Facing an assault formation, Kong Youde could no longer march at his leisure. The Ming army split into two divisions and stretched out into a long line facing the enemy.

At the officers’ command, the Ming front rank leveled their long spears to shield the archers, who in unison raised their iron bows toward the sky. Seeing this, the Later Jin mounted column scattered. The Ming’s storm-like volley of arrows wounded hardly anyone. Seizing the moment as the enemy fell back, the Ming front rank also sprinted rearward.

The Later Jin pulled back a short distance and began reforming their ranks. Even though a few men tumbled from their horses, the Ming army could not advance to harvest their lives, not with the threat of reinforcements looming.

The Ming troops withdrew in staggered order, forcing the Later Jin formation to scatter time and again.

Time slipped by amid the tense standoff. At last, the scouts Kong Youde had been waiting for with desperate eagerness came racing back.

“My lord, after rounding that wood,” the scout pointed, sweat drenching his head, toward a grove several li away, “there is a small hill to the southwest, a hundred zhang around and five zhang high.”

“Too low.” Kong Youde lashed his riding crop fiercely. “Still, better than nothing.”

“My lord, ten li to the southeast there is another hill — seems to be about ten zhang high.”

Kong Youde glanced at the Later Jin mounted column, which was once again massing into tight formation and pressing forward, then at the Ming soldiers who were beginning to pant after several staggered withdrawals, their arrows also greatly depleted. “No time. Head for that small hill.”

Once the order was passed down, the Ming army split into four divisions and no longer loosed arrows but rapidly fell back in alternating order.

“Dangerous, dangerous,” Kong Youde muttered to himself in a voice only Huang Shi could hear. The Later Jin troops were now maintaining tight formation and following a hundred and fifty meters behind the Ming rear guard. “Still, with their reinforcements about to arrive, they probably won’t risk a sudden assault.”

After the Ming army withdrew onto the small hill, both Kong Youde and Huang Shi let out a huge breath. Four hundred Ming soldiers surrounded them in a tight protective circle at the center. The two Later Jin cavalry units merged into one before them, totaling about two hundred and forty men.

“Brother, this may well be our burial ground.” Kong Youde dismounted and clapped Huang Shi on the shoulder. “You truly should not have stayed behind with me.”

Huang Shi had been pondering whether history had shifted yet again, but Kong Youde’s words instantly ignited his heroic spirit. Huang Shi laughed heartily and said, “Elder brother jests. To die the same year, the same month, the same day as my elder brother — what greater joy could there be?”

“Good! To die together with my brother — your elder brother is likewise overjoyed.” Kong Youde gripped Huang Shi’s hand tightly.

Huang Shi suddenly mustered all his strength and bellowed: “All officers and soldiers, hear me!”

“Our kin departed a step ahead of us; they are not far from Lüshun now. Gentlemen, so long as we hold this ground for one shichen, our thousands of elders and fellow villagers will be one shichen closer to Lüshun. Only by dying here can our fathers, mothers, wives, and daughters live to reach Lüshun…”

Every Ming soldier listened in silence. Below the hill, the Later Jin cavalry were resting their horses, and they too seemed to be listening to the speech carried on the wind. After speaking at length with deep emotion, Huang Shi finally shouted until his mouth was parched and his lips cracked:

“For our fathers and sons, for our brothers, for our wives, daughters, and sisters — gentlemen, do your utmost!”

After a moment of silence, the Ming soldiers on the hill raised their weapons above their heads one by one and roared in unison with all their strength:

“For the Great Ming! For His Majesty!”

A very standard reply. Huang Shi stopped to catch his breath. Kong Youde chuckled softly and whispered in his ear: “A fine speech — whether for our own troops or for the enemy.”

Then Kong Youde asked in a low voice, “Do you think the Jian slaves heard it?”

“We’ll know soon enough.” Huang Shi cast his gaze down the hill. “All I know is, if they didn’t hear it, we are dead men.”

Horns sounded below the hill; the Later Jin soldiers were already forming up. Watching the Later Jin deploy into an assault posture, Huang Shi felt boundless joy in his heart. A smile of cunning triumph also spread across Kong Youde’s face:

“The moment they heard there were several thousand commoners — and women too — these beasts could no longer restrain themselves. Excellent. So long as we kill or wound a hundred of them, we can resume the withdrawal.”

In strict accordance with the New Treatise on Military Efficiency, the Ming army drew up a tight circular defensive formation. The outermost ring consisted of half-crouching spearmen; behind them stood the musketeers armed with three-barreled fire-lances; behind them, the archers — the front rank holding their bows level, the rear rank aiming toward the sky. Furthest back were the sword-and-axe men, ready at any moment to step forward and join the melee or cut down any spearman who dared retreat.

The Later Jin side, perhaps due to insufficient numbers, ultimately concentrated on one face of the small hill. Kong Youde and Huang Shi conferred briefly. Both lacked experience in field battles against the Later Jin elite, and they felt it best to respond to the myriad changes by remaining unchanged.

The Ming circular formation stood immovable; even the soldiers on the rear face stared steadfastly at the empty front.

At last the horns sounded again. The Later Jin cavalry stirred into motion, beginning their acceleration at about four hundred meters.

It has begun, Huang Shi intoned silently in his heart.

Come on, the Ming soldiers likewise intoned silently in their hearts.