Chapter 99: Arrival

After receiving Chen Qiyu's orders, Huang Degong commanded the army to rest in place and wait, and immediately sent men into the city to find the Huaiyuan County Magistrate and other principal officials. After the situation was explained, County Magistrate Li Qing of Huaiyuan promptly dispatched a courier to guide the army.

This courier, named Wang Er, around thirty years of age, frequently traveled between the various prefectures and counties under Fengyang Prefecture and knew the roads intimately. Though he was terrified upon hearing he would guide the army to Shouzhou to suppress bandits, after the magistrate rewarded him with ten taels of silver and promised that when his son grew up, he could inherit his post, he reluctantly agreed. Before departing, Wang Er returned home, handed the silver to his wife, urged her to care for his parents filially and raise their two sons to adulthood, then followed Huang Degong's personal guards to the military camp.

Under Wang Er's guidance, Huang Degong ordered the rear units to become the vanguard, with fifty riders split into several squadrons as scouts, patrolling back and forth to probe enemy movements. The baggage train laborers moved to the roadside to make way for the army, then followed behind. Because the road to Fengyang had already been scouted and was perfectly safe, Huang Degong personally led the remaining cavalry as the vanguard, riding at the very front of the army so as to learn of conditions ahead in time.

The distance from Huaiyuan to Shouzhou was not very great. After two days of marching, just as Zhang Xianzhong was preparing to flee with his men under cover of night, Huang Degong leading the vanguard arrived at a village five li from Shouzhou, with the main body of infantry ten li behind and hurrying to catch up.

By this time dusk had fallen, and Shouzhou's tall city walls were faintly visible; in less than half an hour it would be completely dark. Huang Degong ordered the village entrances sealed off on all sides to prevent anyone from leaving and leaking military intelligence. When the scouts reported that no enemy traces existed within ten li, that Shouzhou had not yet fallen, that the city gates were tightly shut, and that soldiers could occasionally be seen patrolling the walls, only then did Huang Degong breathe a sigh of relief—they had arrived in time. With city walls for protection, these recruits under his command who had never seen battle would gain considerable courage.

He dispatched two personal guards bearing his Vice Regional Commander seal and the troop deployment orders of Lu Xiangsheng, Governor-General of the Five Provinces, to go to Shouzhou city and contact the authorities, asking them to prepare food and a campsite for the army, and to open the city gates after dark so the troops could enter and rest and eat. Though the new-style marching rations were far better than before, no matter how good something was, eating it twice a day still made one feel sick at the very sight of it.

Xu You, the Assistant Prefect who was personally leading a patrol inspection within the city, suddenly received a report from soldiers guarding the North Gate that several riders had been galloping back and forth below the walls, and now two riders were calling at the gate, claiming to be government reinforcements from Shandong. Xu You was startled at the news: Government troops from Shandong? Didn't Lord Liu say reinforcements were coming from Fengyang? Troops from Fengyang should approach by the East Gate! Where were Shandong reinforcements coming from?

Xu You immediately sent someone to the South Gate to inform Liu Zhiyuan, while he himself hurried toward the North Gate with a dozen or so yamen runners and constables, thinking as he walked: Could it be roving bandits disguised as government troops trying to trick open the gates? If so, he would of course personally direct the garrison soldiers to drive the bandits back. Imagining himself standing magnificently atop the city wall, exposing the bandits' ruse, and watching the enraged thieves flee in disarray, Xu You's heart burned with excitement, and he quickened his pace, wishing he could leap to the walltop in a single stride.

Reaching the north wall, Xu You climbed to the parapet and, while daylight remained, gripped the crenellations and looked down at the area below the city.

There, several dozen paces from the wall, sat two soldiers astride two tall, sturdy horses. Both wore wide-brimmed iron helmets shaped like conical hats, topped with small tufts of red tassels. They wore black double-breasted lamellar armor on their torsos, iron mesh skirts and mesh boots below, long bows slung across their backs, quivers full of arrows in pouches on the left side of their saddles, sabers hanging at their waists, and what appeared to be heavy weapons like iron hammers in the right-side pouches. Both soldiers were around twenty years of age, tall and powerfully built, and against the backdrop of their full equipment, a killing aura rushed forth to meet the eye.

Seeing this attire, Xu You was basically confirmed that the arrivals were indeed government troops without a doubt.

He had more than once observed the appearance of the roving bandits below the walls from a distance, and when Zhang Xianzhong had attacked the city twice, he had even scrutinized them through the observation ports of the arrow towers.

The bandits were not lacking in fierce and daring men, but few were equipped so completely as these soldiers, let alone in spirit and bearing—they simply could not compare to the two men below. These two claimed messengers of the government forces simply reined their horses and stood in place, only their eyes ceaselessly scanning their surroundings, clearly having developed a habit of vigilance in daily life, yet from start to finish the two never spoke a word to each other—only elite soldiers looked like this!

Xu You leaned down and called out loudly: "You two brave men below the wall! I am Xu You, Assistant Prefect of Shouzhou! Do you have your commander's credentials to present?"

The two personal guards of Huang Degong exchanged a glance. One spurred his horse forward to the base of the wall, while the other drew his bow, pulled out an arrow, and nocked it.

The guard who reached the wall called back loudly: "Your Honor, I am a personal guard of General Huang, Vice Regional Commander of Shandong! Please lower a basket so I may send up the credentials for inspection!"

Xu You hastily ordered someone to find a rope and a basket—the walltop truly had none prepared.

One quick-witted yamen runner descended the wall and ran to a nearby civilian home, returning shortly with a long rope and a bamboo basket for carrying vegetables. The basket was tied to the rope and lowered to the base of the wall. That guard placed the silver seal and Lu Xiangsheng's troop deployment documents into the basket, and the men atop the wall quickly hauled it up.

Xu You took the small, exquisite silver seal handed over by the runner, on which eight characters were carved in intaglio: "Huang Degong, Vice Regional Commander of Shandong." He then took the troop deployment document stamped with the great seal of the Governor-General of the Five Provinces, which bore the order and date for mobilizing Huang Degong to reinforce Fengyang. These were not things bandits could produce—the roving bandits had never raided Shandong, so they could not possess the seal of a Shandong government general, much less Lu Xiangsheng's deployment orders.

After verifying the items, Xu You ordered them returned to the base of the wall via the bamboo basket. The guard below retrieved them and called up: "Please open the city gate and let the two of us enter! Our commander has words he wishes conveyed to Your Honor!"

Xu You looked around from his elevated position; within several li of his gaze there was no sign of a large force, and combined with his confirmation that the two were indeed government troops, he ordered soldiers to go down and open the city gate to let the two men in. Even if the arrivals were bandits in disguise, two men could not stir up trouble. Still, he secretly instructed several guard station soldiers that at the first sign of anything amiss, they should immediately kill the arrivals. He did not stop to think that if these truly were bandits trying to trick open the gates, these two fierce soldiers would be more than a match for not just a few guard station troops, but even several dozen of them.

Because they feared the bandits might split forces to attack, all four city gates had been blocked with bricks, stones, and other debris. Several dozen soldiers and civilian laborers spent considerable effort clearing the obstructions, and by the time the heavy gates slowly creaked open, darkness had completely fallen.

After riding through the gate, the two guards specifically cautioned that the gates should simply be closed, not blocked with debris again, as the main army would arrive shortly. The soldiers and laborers guarding the walls were overjoyed to hear this—ever since the bandit army had pressed upon the city, many had been unable to sleep for several nights from fear, and now they could finally go home and rest properly.

The two guards dismounted and saluted Xu You with clasped fists. One guard asked: "May I ask, Your Honor, where is the Prefect of Shouzhou? Our commander instructed us to meet with the Prefect in person, after which we are to explain in full the matters he entrusted to us!"

Xu You felt a slight discomfort at these words, but still replied: "Lord Liu is at the South Gate. I will send someone to escort you there to pay your respects! Zhang Laosi!"

"Here!" A runner quickly stepped forward to answer.

"Lead the way at once, take these two brave men to see the Prefect! I must continue my inspection. Go!"

"At your command! You two military gentlemen, please follow me!"

The two guards saluted Xu You with clasped fists, then swung onto their horses. One guard rode up beside Zhang Laosi, offered an apology, then—then with a light extension of his ape-like arm, grabbed Zhang Laosi by the belt and lifted him in one motion onto the front of the saddle. With a tap of his heels against the horse's flanks, the warhorse trotted off at a walking pace while Xu You and the others stared with mouths agape and astonished eyes.

Only after the two riders had gone several dozen paces did the crowd snap back to their senses.

"What strength! Zhang Laosi weighs over four hundred jin!"

"No kidding! I can barely lift him on flat ground! He just hoisted him up in one go!"

"The hard part is doing it on horseback! You can't brace with your legs—it's all arm strength and waist strength!"

"Good heavens! Those two arms must have several hundred jin of strength in them!"

"Didn't you see those arms? Thicker than my thighs! I'm not bragging—one slap from him could kill me!"

"Haha! Damn you, I thought you were going to say one slap could kill him!"

The crowd of runners and constables excitedly murmured among themselves, each feeling more reassured: With elite soldiers like these coming to reinforce them, no matter how many bandits there were, they wouldn't stand a chance.

Xu You secretly praised: Truly soldiers rarely seen under heaven! If all Ming government troops looked like this, why would anyone fear these bandits and local rebels!

Little did he know that these two guards both came from the Yongwei Camp—elite soldiers selected from thousands and drilled daily. The equipment, military pay and provisions, and supplies of the Yongwei Camp soldiers could be said to be unique in the world; the money and grain spent on its ten thousand-plus men each year could support several times that number of ordinary government troops. For this was the armed force Chongzhen trusted most and placed his highest hopes upon, and so he had poured enormous financial and material resources into it.