Chapter 171: The Surprise Force

"Brother Hongji, although we're not afraid of the government troops, I still think we should keep something in reserve!" Liu Fangliang, who had remained silent all along, spoke up.

Aside from Li Zicheng's nephew, One-Eyed Tiger Li Guo, Liu Fangliang was the youngest among them.

Twenty-six-year-old Liu Fangliang was a fellow townsman of Li Zicheng—both were from Mizhi County—and had been playmates in childhood with Li Zicheng, who was several years his senior. At fourteen he had joined the army in the Yan-Yulin Guard and served for five years; it was not until the second year of Chongzhen, after Li Zicheng followed Gao Yingxiang into rebellion, that he sought out Liu Fangliang, who had by then risen through merit to Squad Leader, and pulled him into the rebel ranks.

Liu Fangliang was valiant in battle and possessed considerable strategic acumen, earning deep trust and affection from Li Zicheng. The three thousand elite veterans of Li Zicheng's Old Camp were routinely entrusted to his training and command—he was one of those Li Zicheng trusted most.

Li Zicheng had always valued Liu Fangliang highly. Seeing him suddenly interject, he hastily asked, "Brother Liangzi, is something amiss? Speak up—let's all mull it over together!"

Liu Fangliang said, "Brother Hongji, and all you elder brothers, in recent days more and more rebel bands have been joining us, all of them routed in battle against the government troops. When I had idle moments I sought out several of them and asked—they all said they were first broken by the government cavalry charges, then the infantry broke through their rear, and only then were they utterly defeated!"

Li Zicheng and the others nodded in succession, waiting quietly for Liu Fangliang to continue.

Liu Fangliang went on, "As we've now ascertained, directly to our west is the ten thousand government troops personally led by Old Ghost Hong. But the defeated rebels have been coming in from the north and south. That means the government army's formation is like a great bird—Old Ghost Hong is the head and body, and two wings are still closing in! Looking at this posture, Old Ghost Hong means to surround us and swallow us in one bite!"

Li Zicheng and the others were all veterans of many battles with rich combat experience. As they pondered it carefully, it was indeed as Liu Fangliang had said—the government troops intended to encircle them.

Gao Yigong slapped his thigh and said, "Brother Liu speaks most sensibly! Old Ghost Hong has quite the appetite! This is just like when we used to go up the mountain to hunt the black-faced boar!"

Liu Zongmin glared and snapped angrily, "What nonsense are you talking? We are righteous rebels—how are we black-faced boars?!"

Gao Yigong was rather afraid of Liu Zongmin, who was usually taciturn but fierce and formidable. Hearing himself loudly rebuked, he shrank his neck, lowered his head, and dared not make another sound.

Li Zicheng smiled and smoothed things over: "Brother Yigong was just making an analogy—why take it so seriously, Jiexuan! Since Brother Liangzi has made clear the government troops' intentions, how should we respond next? Let's all discuss it! Liangzi, you speak first!"

Liu Fangliang pondered for a moment, then said, "Brother Hongji, and all you elder brothers, I think, to be on the safe side, we'd best—before the government troops finish closing in—take the main army north along the great river, find a spot to cross into Shanxi, and put some distance between ourselves and Old Ghost Hong!"

Yuan Zongdi shook his head: "No, no! I grew up by the great river and know its dangers. With our army of over ten thousand, crossing would be exceedingly difficult! We'd need to find several hundred sheepskin rafts alone. And where along the riverbank would we find so many boatmen now? Even if we made the rafts, without boatmen they'd be useless!"

Liu Zongmin tossed aside the cotton cloth he'd been wiping his long blade with, stood up, and sheathed his pair of gleaming fine-steel sabers into the scabbards at his waist. With a cold expression he said, "Hongji, if we avoid the government troops and leave now, then in the future it'll be hard for us to have any say among the rebel bands! Who would ever respect us? As I see it, even if we mean to leave, we must fight the government troops one battle! Let the rebel bands elsewhere see that our Eighth Company isn't the cowardly sort they are!"

Li Zicheng suddenly rose to his feet, his bright eyes full of bold ambition: "Right! Jiexuan speaks sense! Our Eighth Company is no soft-boned lot! This Dashing General of the Eighth Company isn't called that for nothing! This battle must be fought! Once we've made Old Ghost Hong taste our might, then we'll leave!"

Several days later, Hong Chengchou led his forces to the west bank of the Sheyan River. During this period, hundreds and thousands of roving bandits routed by the government troops kept joining Li Zicheng's Eighth Company. Added to his original force of nearly twenty thousand, Li Zicheng's followers now numbered over thirty thousand.

Li Zicheng gathered up all the bandits who had lost their leaders, then distributed them to Gao Yigong, Yuan Zongdi, and the others. As for those bands numbering over a thousand whose leaders still survived, Li Zicheng sent them to camp on the two flanks, far from the government troops.

This was not out of kindness—he feared that if he placed these men in the front lines, a defeat and rout by the government troops would throw his own main formation into chaos. These men had to be drilled and reorganized before they could be trusted in battle.

Gazing at the boundless host of tens of thousands, bold ambition swelled in Li Zicheng's breast: with this many men, what corner of the realm could he not go?

The government troops pitched camp on the west bank of the Sheyan River, rested for a night, and began crossing the river the next day.

Calling it a crossing would be generous—it was more like wading.

Because this year had been dry with little rain, and the upper reaches could not supply sufficient water, the deepest part of the Sheyan River reached only to the knee.

Around the hour of Chen, after the ten thousand-plus government troops had eaten, at the sound of the horn, two thousand government archers marched out of camp. Under their respective officers' command they formed two square formations, deployed left and right to cover the formation, and He Renlong's three thousand men began wading across the river first.

Li Zicheng did not dispatch cavalry to strike them mid-crossing, for the Sheyan River was at most a dozen-odd zhang wide—not the sort of great river where attempting to stop a crossing meant anything. Besides, he was full of ambition to test himself against the government troops.

Upon learning that the government troops had begun leaving camp, he ordered Gao Yigong and Yuan Zongdi to lead their forces from Guancaiyuan toward the Sheyan River and array themselves three li out. Liu Tichun and Li Guo each led their own men as the two wings, while he, Liu Zongmin, and Liu Fangliang personally commanded the three thousand veterans of the Old Camp as the center. The remaining bandits followed as the rear. Over thirty thousand rebels advanced toward the Sheyan River in succession.

At the center of the government army, Hong Chengchou sat on horseback observing the rebel formation several li away, with He Renlong, Zuo Liangyu, and others arrayed around him.

The rebel formation opposite was quite deliberate—the center thrust forward with a large body of infantry, while on each flank were cavalry units of over a thousand, clearly guarding against a government attack from the sides.

The rebels' formation was remarkably orderly, not like before when, regardless of numbers, they were always in a chaotic mess.

The rebel center was obscured by the soldiers in front, so it was hard to see clearly—only a small troop of cavalry could be seen positioned before the center. If not unexpected, the bandit chiefs such as the Dashing General Li Zicheng should be in there.

He Renlong beside him spoke in a gruff voice: "These donkey-fucked dirt bandits have learned all our government army's ways! Their formation even looks somewhat proper! This bunch of dirt bandits won't be easy to fight!"

Zuo Liangyu said in a strange, mocking tone, "Why wouldn't they be easy? No matter how well they array their formation, they're still just bandits! Madman He wouldn't be reluctant to face his fellow townsman across the field, would he? If so, shall I take the first assault?"

Both He Renlong and Li Zicheng hailed from Mizhi County, which was why Zuo Liangyu made that remark.

"Fuck your mother's fart! I am a government officer, he is a rebel! What bullshit fellow townsman! I'll charge right now and cut off his head!" He Renlong roared in anger.

Hong Chengchou gave a cold snort and rebuked, "With a great battle before us, cease this nonsense! He Renlong! You will advance with your force from the front, and I'll give you a thousand archers! Once you break the bandit formation, drive the rebels backward and smash their center to chaos! Any who fear the enemy and do not advance will be executed on the spot!"

He Renlong clasped his fists and loudly acknowledged the order, then spurred his horse and led his personal guards to the front lines. Shaanxi Regional Command's Mobile Corps Commander Sun Shoufa followed close behind—the thousand archers were his men.

His force of three thousand was the arrowhead vanguard of the government army, already positioned at the very front. Hong Chengchou cared not what relation he bore to Li Zicheng—once the order was given, there was only advance, no retreat.

"Zuo Liangyu! The bandits' left wing is thinly arrayed. Once He Renlong's force breaks into the enemy formation, you will immediately press your force against the enemy's left wing, defeat them, and drive the routed rebels into their cavalry! Any who retreat will be executed on the spot!"

Hong Chengchou continued issuing orders.

The rebels' left wing was Liu Tichun's force of over four thousand, tucked behind the rebel front. Their weapons were a motley assortment, and they were mostly in plain cloth—clearly not elite troops at a glance.

Zuo Liangyu acknowledged the order and rode off toward his own force arrayed on the right wing.

"You Jie! Lead your force in a shift to the left! Set up barricades to guard against the enemy's right-wing cavalry charge!"

Shaanxi Regional Command's Assistant Regional Commander You Jie received the order and rode left with his personal guards. His force numbered nearly three thousand, including a thousand archers; the rest were spearmen and sword-and-shield men.

After the various commanders departed with their orders, Hong Chengchou directed his personal battalion to detach a thousand cavalry, led by Assistant Regional Commander Li Shu, to gallop over to Zuo Liangyu's right wing as cover. The remaining five hundred cavalry of his personal battalion were held as a reserve, awaiting his command.

Gao Yigong and Yuan Zongdi at the rebel front, seeing the government troops arraying and advancing, immediately ordered over a thousand archers and two hundred shield bearers out of formation to meet them.

Because the government troops opposite had cavalry on only one side, and those were facing off against their own cavalry several li away, the two men were not worried for the archers' safety.

As for the dozen-odd riders in the government center directly opposite, they were clearly guards for the commanding general—that bit of cavalry the two men selectively ignored.

He Renlong then ordered Sun Shoufa to lead the archers forward to meet the enemy. He then summoned his guard squad leader, He Shisan, over. Dismounting and stripping off his armor as he spoke, he said loudly, "Shisan! Take these sixteen guardsmen. While the enemy is unprepared, charge in and cut down their archers! Break the bandits' archers, and I'll see you rewarded!"

He Shisan, around thirty years of age, was He Renlong's clansman nephew. He had joined the army in Shaanxi Regional Command at sixteen and, since the second year of Chongzhen, had followed He Renlong on campaigns east and west, saving He Renlong's life on the battlefield several times. After He Renlong was promoted to Vice Regional Commander, wishing to repay the debt, he wanted to send He Shisan down to command troops so that with future military merit he could be promoted to important use. But He Shisan adamantly refused to leave He Renlong's side, saying that if he left, no one would be there to save He Renlong's life.

He Renlong was both moved and helpless, so he used his own silver to help He Shisan find a wife and purchased a residence in Guyuan to set up a home. His wife then bore He Shisan two sons and a daughter in succession, at which He Shisan was very content and even more grateful to He Renlong.

He Renlong could see that the bandits had more archers than the government troops, and an exchange of arrows would likely bring heavy casualties. And these archers still had to be preserved to shoot the bandit formation into disorder, so the bandit archers had to be broken first.

The only method he could think of was to use his own personal guards to smash through the bandit archers. These dozen-odd riders would not draw attention in a battle of tens of thousands—they could serve perfectly as a surprise force.

As long as the timing of such a charge was well judged, casualties would not be too heavy.

Once both sides' archers began exchanging fire, the bandit shield bearers would concentrate at the front to block the government arrows. Whether archer or shield bearer, all attention would be fixed to their front, with no guard against the flanks. If these dozen-odd riders spurred to full speed and charged in, the bandit archers would absolutely collapse in rout.

With the help of nearby soldiers, He Renlong shed his mountain-pattern armor and personally draped it over He Shisan, who had jumped down from his horse. Two layers of heavy armor would protect He Shisan to the greatest extent.

Helping He Shisan fasten the straps of the armor securely, He Renlong stared intently into He Shisan's eyes and said, "Shisan, don't blame me. I am the commanding officer—I have to find a way to win. Come back alive and I'll see you rewarded! If you fall in battle, I'll provide for your wife and three nieces—as long as I, He Renlong, have a mouthful to eat, they will never go without!"

He Shisan laughed: "Fifth Uncle, what's the big deal? They're just some dirt bandits! Just wait to treat me to wine! Watch me!"

Once the other sixteen guardsmen had finished arming themselves, He Renlong ordered Sun Shoufa to lead the archers forward to meet the enemy, and instructed him to stop shooting the moment he saw He Shisan and his men about to make contact with the enemy.

He Shisan swung onto his horse, took up his customary flail, and led the sixteen riders at a trot off to one side—they needed to open up some distance to leave enough room for their horses to build up speed.