Chapter 133: Marching North

"The Governor has arrived!"

Following a stern shout, Sun Chuanting emerged from behind the screen at the back of the hall, clad in an official robe embroidered with a scarlet crane insignia, a jade belt at his waist, and thick-soled official boots on his feet, his tall and imposing figure commanding attention. Xie Renxing, dressed in a Confucian robe, followed closely behind. After taking his position, Sun Chuanting swept his sharp gaze across the assembled generals below. The low murmur of conversation among the officers ceased at once, and the entire hall fell into dead silence.

Sun Chuanting nodded with satisfaction, strode over to the large desk, and sat down in the armchair behind it, while Xie Renxing stood respectfully at his side and slightly behind.

Then the generals, led by Zhou Yuji, announced their names in turn with loud voices and paid their respects.

Ever since receiving the urgent report from the County Magistrate of Hanyin, Sun Chuanting, after urgent deliberations with Yang Mingsheng, Cui Shisheng, Xie Renxing, and others, had concluded that Gao Yingxiang was certain to take advantage of the fact that the government forces were concentrated in northern Shaanxi, leaving the southern Shaanxi region thinly defended, to launch a sudden strike on Xi'an Prefecture, thereby expanding the Dashing King's camp's strength and building an even greater reputation.

Sun Chuanting knew that, barring unexpected developments, the Sichuan army would have already arrived in Hanzhong. After Gao Yingxiang took Hanyin, the county of Shiquan was already lost. But if the Dashing King's camp continued west to attack Hanzhong Prefecture, and found it heavily garrisoned and unbreachable, they would surely choose a route north to strike at Xi'an.

Yang Mingsheng and the others suggested holding fast to Xi'an and maintaining contact with the government forces in northern Shaanxi. Once the roving bandits had spent several days attacking Xi'an and their troops were weary and their morale spent, the elite government forces from northern Shaanxi could wheel around and strike, surely annihilating Gao Yingxiang in one blow.

Sun Chuanting was proud and ambitious by nature. Now that he held a powerful army and was eager to display his abilities, how could he adopt such a conservative strategy? So you, Gao Yingxiang, are the most powerful force among the roving bandits? Even Governor Hong and Governor Lu could do nothing against you? Very well, let me, Sun Chuanting, have a go at you!

After examining the map, Sun Chuanting fixed his gaze on Heishui Valley, southeast of Zhouzhi County, west of Xi'an.

He believed that Gao Yingxiang would surely march north from Shiquan through the Ziwu Valley.

The Ziwu Valley lay north of Shiquan, with a river running through it called the Ziwu River. To its west lay Heishui Valley, from which a small path led to Xi'an. If one wished to catch Xi'an off guard, this small path was the best route.

Sun Chuanting considered that the Qin army was newly formed. Though military pay and provisions were ample, morale was high, and they drilled every two days, and though they had fierce generals like Zhou Yuji and Luo Shifang to lead them, they were ultimately new soldiers without combat experience. Although they had suppressed a few bandit gangs, these had mostly been small groups of a few hundred, at most a thousand, roving bandits—they had no experience dealing with large bandit forces of ten thousand or even tens of thousands. He therefore wrote to Hong Chengchou, Governor-General of the Five Provinces, requesting that elite troops be dispatched to reinforce him.

Hong Chengchou had been in northern Shaanxi for nearly a year, leading more than twenty thousand troops from various units in an endless struggle against more than a hundred thousand roving bandits, including Scorpion Tuo Yangkun and the Eighth Battalion's Dashing General Li Zicheng. Both sides had won and lost engagements, but neither had dealt the other a crippling blow.

Though the roving bandits were vast in number, they had few elite troops. The terrain of northern Shaanxi was complex, full of deep ravines and steep gullies, unfavorable for cavalry pursuit. Whenever the bandits retreated in defeat, the government forces could never catch up. Thus neither side could do the other real harm, and the situation remained deadlocked.

After receiving Sun Chuanting's urgent message by fast horseman, Hong Chengchou pondered at length, then dispatched two Mobile Corps Commanders under Shaanxi Vice Regional Commander He Renlong—Xu Zhong and Liu Yingjie.

These two were notorious troublemakers in the Shaanxi border troops, habitually disregarding military discipline. Their men fought with fearless valor when the tide of battle was in their favor, but the moment the fighting turned difficult, they would find every means to flee.

In peacetime they frequently harassed the common people and seized their property by force, and were even suspected of killing innocents and passing them off as bandit heads to claim merit.

Because pacifying northern Shaanxi still depended on every unit fighting to the death, Hong Chengchou could do nothing with the two men beyond sternly warning He Renlong to keep them in check. He would have liked to cut off both their heads at an opportune moment, but he knew well that Shaanxi soldiers placed great weight on ties of native-place fellowship, and that the connections within the army were tangled and interwoven. One careless move could provoke a mutiny, and if that led to the roving bandits overrunning northern Shaanxi, he, Hong Chengchou, could never atone for it even with a hundred deaths. It happened that Sun Chuanting lacked troops, so the Governor-General of the Five Provinces conveniently sent the two men out.

Xu Zhong and Liu Yingjie each led fifteen hundred men to Xi'an. On the very first day of their arrival, Sun Chuanting, to steady the troops' morale, immediately distributed pay of one tael of silver per man to both units, with ten taels each for Xu Zhong and Liu Yingjie. This move proved effective—the men of both units were overjoyed and all praised the Governor for knowing how to handle people.

After the generals had finished announcing their names, Sun Chuanting spoke in a deep voice: "I have received an urgent report that the Dashing bandit has led his forces from Yunyang Prefecture into Shaanxi territory. He has already taken Xing'an and Hanyin counties in succession. Shiquan is likely lost as well. The bandits will surely seek a route north to attack Xi'an!"

Upon hearing the news that Gao Yingxiang had fought his way back into Shaanxi, the officers below wore varied expressions—some excited, some worried.

Zhou Yuji, Regional Commander of the Qin army, stepped forward, bowed, and declared with fervor: "Reporting to Your Excellency the Governor, I have long heard of the Dashing bandit's name, and all say he is fierce and hard to contain! Though I am of little talent, I am willing to lead the Qin army to meet the enemy! I wish to see whether this Dashing Gao is truly as formidable as the rumors claim!"

Luo Shifang, who had been promoted to Assistant Regional Commander of the Qin army, also stepped forward and reported in a loud voice: "Your Excellency the Governor, I have heard that the Dashing bandit's cavalry is quite elite. I am willing to lead the cavalry as the vanguard and have a proper contest with them!"

The mid- and senior-ranking officers of the Qin army had all been promoted from the Yongwei Camp cavalry that Luo Shifang had brought with him, and naturally wished to rise through military merit. Seeing their commander volunteer for battle, they stepped forward one after another to echo the call. For a moment the atmosphere in the hall grew heated, with the generals' eagerness for battle exceptionally strong—except for Xu Zhong and Liu Yingjie, who wore looks of utter indifference.

Sun Chuanting looked with satisfaction at the generals below, secretly pleased with himself: The army's morale can be used! This new army he had painstakingly built finally had a chance to show its mettle. This battle would spread his name far and wide across the realm!

He raised an arm and pressed it downward, and the generals immediately fell silent and stepped back into position.

Sun Chuanting gave his orders with authority: "I judge that the bandits will surely attempt a surprise attack! Therefore, I will set the decisive battle at Heishui Valley, southeast of Zhouzhi County! When you return to camp, issue the order at once: soldiers are to pack their arms and armor, carry five days of military rations, and in one hour the entire army marches for Heishui Valley! Any who delay may be executed on the spot by the military discipline officers!"

When Qin Liangyu led her troops in forced marches day and night and arrived on the third day at a point ten li west of Shiquan County town, the scouts sent ahead reported back that all four gates of the county town stood wide open—the roving bandits had already breached the walls and were looting the city. The bandits had set up barricades outside the west gate, clearly guarding against relief forces coming from the direction of Hanzhong, and several hundred bandit cavalry were on alert in the open ground outside the west gate.

Qin Liangyu ordered the army to make camp on the spot, and also had barricades over a hundred paces long erected on the road facing Shiquan's west gate, to prevent the bandit cavalry from charging.

The official road from Shiquan to Hanzhong was extremely narrow, flanked on both sides by tall mountains and a great river. Qin Liangyu ordered two hundred White Pole troops to climb the cliffs on the north side of the road and search for thick timber and great boulders, to hurl down when the enemy launched a fierce assault. She had no intention of attacking the bandits—the disparity in numbers was too great, and the bandits also had cavalry. If the White Pole troops advanced to the open ground before the city walls, they could easily be ridden down by horsemen.

The terrain here was extremely favorable for defense. Apart from this official road, there was no other route to Hanzhong. Unless the bandits wished to scale the mountains—but what of their two thousand-plus cavalry? If they wanted to attack Hanzhong, this road was the only way through.

The Dashing King's camp had retreated in defeat all the way here, their morale sunk to rock bottom. But after entering Shaanxi territory, they had taken Xing'an, Hanyin, and Shiquan in succession, plundering great quantities of gold, silver, cloth, and grain, and forcing commoners with nothing left to their names to join their ranks. Their former flagging morale was swept clean away, and their numbers swelled to over thirty thousand. Gao Yingxiang and the assembled bandit chiefs had their fighting spirit rekindled. They believed that the only ones in the entire Ming who could subdue the Dashing King's camp were Lu Xiangsheng and the Liaodong cavalry—all other government forces were nothing to fear. Once they fought their way back to the Dashing King's home territory in northern Shaanxi and recruited more skilled fighters from that border region of famously fierce customs, the Dashing King's camp would surely recover its former strength.

Upon receiving the report that government forces had come from Hanzhong to relieve Shiquan and had now sealed off the road, Gao Yingxiang summoned his generals to discuss countermeasures.

Guo Tianxing spoke up: "Dashing King, I went out earlier to have a look myself. That official road to Hanzhong is very narrow, with mountains and a river on both sides. There's no other way through. What do we do?"

Hun Shìwàn asked: "Does anyone know which unit of government troops is blocking the road? How many men do they have?"

Gao Ying'en, who was in charge of outer picket patrols, replied: "From what the lads say, looking from afar, this government force numbers several thousand. The strange thing is, their weapons are different from ordinary government troops—all long white waxwood poles, and the spearheads have an extra hook on them!"

Gao Yingxiang frowned and said: "Could it be those White Pole troops who fought the Jianzhou barbarians to the bloody end?"

After the Battle of Hun River back in the day, the fame of the White Pole troops had spread throughout the realm. Embellished and polished by the common folk, the White Pole troops became heavenly soldiers who could fight a hundred foes each, whose three-zhang white poles killed any man they stabbed, and whose iron hooks never failed to take a head. Gao Yingxiang, who had traveled far and wide trading horses, had heard many people speak of them. Though he did not believe the tales of ignorant men and women, he felt genuine admiration for the White Pole troops from the bottom of his heart.

If the White Pole troops stood in his way, though his own side had greater numbers, they would find it extremely hard to gain any advantage—especially since the enemy also held the advantage of terrain.

Guo Tianxing asked in wonder: "Does the Dashing King know the origins of this government force?"

All the bandit chiefs were Shaanxi peasants by origin, with little learning, and had never heard of the White Pole troops' great name.

Ma Tianlang said: "No matter which government force it is, they'll be hard to fight. I went with Guo Tianxing to look—the terrain over there is too treacherous. As long as the government troops block that spot, we can't get through on our side. Even throwing lives at it won't work!"

Hun Shìwàn said: "But to strike north at Xi'an, we'd have to take Hanzhong first, then head north along the plank roads. North of Shiquan it's all big mountains—there's no road at all!"

Gao Yingxiang frowned in silence, and for a moment everyone was at a loss, unable to think of a way out. The atmosphere in the tent grew oppressively heavy.

"Dashing King, I know of a small path that leads to Xi'an! We don't have to go through Hanzhong!" A weak voice suddenly spoke up.

"A small path? Is that true?!" Guo Tianxing's eyes lit up as he asked urgently.

The speaker was Liu San, a down-and-out local of Shiquan, in his twenties, without family or livelihood. In peacetime he gathered a gang of ruffians and idlers and roamed about the city, making his living by swindling, cheating, and extortion.

When the Dashing King's camp attacked Shiquan County town, they met with stubborn resistance within the walls. County Magistrate Meng Fang called upon the great households of the town to contribute grain and money, and mustered all the able-bodied young men of the city to defend it desperately. The Dashing King's camp lost several hundred men without breaching the walls.

Just as Gao Yingxiang issued a death order to take the city within half an hour, Liu San led several dozen of the town's ruffians. Taking advantage of the fact that the defenders were concentrated on the east and south gates, they cut down the dozen or so militia men guarding the north wall, threw open the north gate, and sent someone to inform the Dashing camp's captain preparing to attack the east gate. That captain immediately reported the news to Guo Tianxing, who then personally led men in through the north gate. Shiquan thus fell.

After the city fell, Liu San led the way, and Guo Tianxing's men looted the storehouses of the town's great households, seizing large quantities of grain, salt, medicinal herbs, and other supplies.

Afterwards, Gao Yingxiang richly rewarded Liu San, giving him the position of sentry captain with two thousand men under his command, placed under Guo Tianxing's authority. Liu San was transformed in an instant from a street thug into a great general of the Dashing King's camp.

Originally he had no qualification to participate in discussions of important matters, but Guo Tianxing saw that he was clever and quick-witted, and being a local, he might prove useful, so he brought him into Gao Yingxiang's main tent to join the deliberations.

"When I was a lad of thirteen or so, I worked as a shop hand in a cloth merchant's in town for a year. When I followed the shopkeeper to Xi'an to sell goods, we took that small path. Go into Ziwu Valley and not far in, head west, and there's a valley called Heishui Valley. It's much closer than going from Hanzhong to Xi'an. Many merchants travel that route to and from Xi'an!"

"Can an army march along that road? How many days will it take?" Gao Yingxiang stared hard at Liu San and asked.

Liu San replied with confidence: "To answer the Dashing King, Heishui Valley is not wide, but the pack horses of merchant caravans can pass through! In just three days we can reach Xingping County!"

Gao Yingxiang excitedly slapped his thigh and suddenly rose with a laugh: "Heaven has eyes after all! We won't clash head-on with the White Pole troops! Liu San will lead the way, and we'll take Heishui Valley! When we suddenly appear before the walls of Xi'an, we'll scare those Xi'an guard station troops out of their wits! Hahahaha!"