Chapter 115: Who Will Step Forward?

Zhu Cilang used the review of the Yongwei Camp to let the Regional Commanders of each town know his strength, so that they would not do anything beyond their bounds and bring ruin upon themselves.

After reviewing the Yongwei Camp, the generals returned once more to the central command tent. When they again saw the dragon banners fluttering on their poles outside the tent, their mood was completely different from before.

The court was not as incompetent as they had imagined. It now had the power to destroy them utterly — better to keep a low profile.

Zhu Cilang sat at the head, while Xu Sheng stood beside him holding the Imperial Sword wrapped in a yellow satin sheath embroidered with dragons. The Imperial Sword was a symbol of imperial authority — to see the sword was to see the Son of Heaven — and it pressed down on those who beheld it with an invisible weight.

Seeing that the Regional Commanders and Assistant Regional Commanders had all settled down, Zhu Cilang gave a slight smile and rose to his feet, saying: "The slave rebels have invaded our borders, and the people of our Great Ming have suffered greatly for too long. The other day our army smashed Shunyi, Huairou, and Miyun, proving that the slave rebels are not invincible. Now the slave rebels have massed their troops at Pinggu and Baodi. Our army should unite and strike with the force of thunder — win in a single battle, repay His Majesty's grace above, and rescue the common people below!"

Finally, Zhu Cilang swept his gaze across the generals in the tent and said bluntly: "Which town's Regional Commander dares to be the vanguard?"

The entire tent fell into a terrifying silence. For a moment, no one answered, and the scene became extremely awkward.

Seeing that the generals in the camp remained silent, Zhu Cilang's expression darkened. He continued to bark: "Who will step forward? To be the vanguard of our army?"

"This general is willing!"

The one who spoke was none other than Zhou Yuji. His words rang out with force and vigor, carrying a bold and heroic air.

Zhu Cilang shook his head and said: "Your forces are too few. You cannot be the vanguard."

Zhou Yuji declared in a clear voice: "Though this general's Zhou Battalion has only a little over fifteen hundred men left, we can still cut down three thousand slave rebels in formation, fighting to the very last soldier!"

Zhu Cilang nodded, silently giving him a thumbs-up in his heart, and continued: "General Zhou's loyalty and valor are commendable, but war is not a matter for one man alone."

Zhu Cilang said: "Since none of the generals have any fighting spirit, this prince will not force the matter. The plan to unite our forces and strike out is hereby abandoned!"

Just like that? The men in their hearts found it hard to believe. What trick was this young crown prince trying to pull now?

Zhu Cilang was equally helpless. His Yongwei Camp might be fierce, but it could not make up for allies who were too weak. He could hardly just feed the Yongwei Camp into the meat grinder — and after fighting to the end, would he still have to split the war merits with this pack of combat-fodder?

Originally, at this military council, Zhu Cilang had planned to assign tasks — you go here, fight him; he goes there, fight him; if you do well, such-and-such reward; if you do poorly, such-and-such punishment — laying it all out in full detail, then dismissing the meeting so everyone could pack up and march out.

But it had all gone cold! Zhu Cilang could only reassign the tasks, changing them to: you go defend here, he goes defend there. You can't fight — but surely you can defend?

In the end, Zhu Cilang ordered Zu Dale to lead troops to support Ma Rulong in defending Jizhou, Shandong Regional Commander Liu Zeqing to defend the canal transport at Wuqing in Tianjin, Miyun Regional Commander Li Zhongzhen to move from Shunyi back to Miyun and retake up its defense, Baoding Regional Commander Dong Yongwen to defend Huairou, Zhou Yuji to lead the Zhou Battalion and the Datong troops to defend Shunyi, Shanxi Regional Commander Meng Ruhu to defend Tongzhou, and Sun Yingyuan to go to Xincheng and lead the new camp in defending Xincheng.

With this deployment, Tongzhou east of the capital served as the center. From north to south — Miyun, Huairou, Shunyi, Tongzhou, Xincheng, Langfang, Wuqing — Zhu Cilang formed an iron wall across these places, sealing all Qing troops within the Pinggu and Baodi line east of the capital, consuming the Tartars' effective strength to the greatest possible degree.

The Tartars had a small base population, and their soldiers were extremely precious. Every Tartar soldier lost was difficult to replace. If the hundred thousand Qing troops on this campaign against Ming could be utterly annihilated, the Manchus would not dare launch a large-scale invasion for at least ten years. Even destroying half of them would leave the Manchus badly wounded!

Although the Qing forces that had entered the passes had lost over twenty thousand men this time, they were mostly Han troops of the Eight Banners and Mongol soldiers. The Manchu Bannermen had suffered very few losses. The Tartar commanders Ajige and Abatai merely felt a pang of regret — it had not dealt the Tartars a fatal blow.

As for whether the Mongol tribes and the second-class Tartars of the Han forces, who had suffered heavy losses, would grow disaffected — Ajige and Abatai could not be bothered to care. That was Hong Taiji's problem. Neither of these two men had any fondness for Hong Taiji, and they were too lazy to worry on his behalf.

Zhu Cilang gave Zu Dale special instructions: the Tartars, when leaving the passes, would inevitably pass through Jizhou — he must hold Jizhou city together with Ma Rulong! The eastern armies would form a pincer. Zu Dale indicated he would do his utmost and would not run.

Zhu Cilang was also worried that Zhou Yuji's rank was too low to keep the Datong officers in line, so he promoted him two grades in one stroke from Mobile Corps Commander to Assistant Regional Commander, and sent Cao Huachun to sit at Shunyi. Given Zhou Yuji's military merits, he should long ago have been promoted to Assistant Regional Commander — the Ministry of War's rewards had always been slow, delaying things for a long time.

Finally, Zhu Cilang said solemnly: "In this deployment, this prince has only two requirements! First, disturbing the people is forbidden — any who oppress the common folk shall be beheaded!"

"Second, hold your cities to the death. If any city finds the Tartars attacking, send out a signal immediately, and this prince will arrange support. If anyone abandons his city and flees, this prince will surely behead him without mercy!"

Zhu Cilang continued: "Do not worry about provisions — the capital will send them in an unending stream. Do not worry about reinforcements — as long as you are besieged, this prince will send men to rescue you. The only thing you must do is hold your own ground and not let the Tartars run rampant around the capital as they did before!"

Zhu Cilang also established a war-zone military discipline patrol. Xu Sheng, bearing the Imperial Sword, would lead the Eastern Palace personal guards to inspect each city, with Li Tingbiao's Embroidered Uniform Guard assisting. Any officer who harmed the people or let his defenses slacken — from Regional Commander on down — could be executed on the spot!

Though the generals were cowed by this war-zone military discipline patrol, they also breathed a sigh of relief. Just defending cities — that was no problem. That was their own old trade. As long as they didn't have to go out of the cities and fight the Tartars in the open field.

After the meeting dispersed, Zhu Cilang returned to his field headquarters, his head aching a little as he calculated how to fight next.

At this time, he received word that on the twenty-fourth, Lu Xiangsheng had received an imperial decree to lead the Tianxiong Army into the capital to render aid, and was now temporarily stationed at Zhending.

Zhu Cilang was puzzled. He was fighting well in the capital region — he did not understand why the Emperor, his father, would recall Lu Xiangsheng to the capital at this moment. The Emperor should know the situation in the Central Plains better than anyone. With Lu Xiangsheng pulling out like this, the roving bandits would certainly gain a chance to catch their breath.

Li Tingbiao quietly whispered in Zhu Cilang's ear: "The Prince of Tang submitted a memorial requesting to come to the aid of the throne. Your Majesty refused. The Prince of Tang, disregarding the state law that 'princes of the blood shall not command troops,' privately recruited soldiers and bought horses, and is now leading troops north to aid the throne. Your Majesty has ordered him to return to his fief, but it is unknown what the Prince of Tang intends to do."

Zhu Cilang speculated in his heart: "Could it be that Father Emperor wants Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army to block the Prince of Tang's guard troops from coming north?"

This Prince of Tang was none other than Zhu Yujian, the later Longwu Emperor of the Southern Ming, who was highly regarded in historical assessment — a pity he was born at the wrong time.

Zhu Cilang had heard a little of him and did not believe he would do anything like forcing the throne at this moment. Besides, with the few thousand guard troops the Prince of Tang had newly recruited, even if he wanted to do anything beyond the bounds in the capital, it would be impossible.

After considering for a while, Zhu Cilang decided to submit a memorial to Chongzhen, requesting that Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army be ordered north to join forces with the Yongwei Camp and strike the slave rebels together!

It was two days later that Zhu Cilang received Chongzhen's reply: the court had already issued a decree ordering Lu Xiangsheng to lead his army north to Tongzhou.

At this time, the Prince of Tang, Zhu Yujian, had also returned to his homeland. Leading his troops out of his fief, he had not encountered so much as a ghost of a Qing soldier along the way — but midway he ran into the roving bandits and exchanged blows with them.

The two sides fought several chaotic engagements, each winning some and losing some. Just then, an imperial decree arrived ordering him back to his fief, so the Prince of Tang had no choice but to march his troops back to his fief at Nanyang.

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