Chapter 127: The Tianxiong Army

The Tianxiong Army was one of the strongest armies in the late Ming, a crack force raised by Lu Xiangsheng, whose ranks were mostly bound by ties of kinship, friendship, brotherhood, and family.

Often, when one man fell in battle, it would ignite the fury of the majority, who would bite down on the enemy and fight to the finish — the enemy could not flee without shedding a layer of skin.

An army bound by such ties also had a weakness: if one man ran, many would run, causing the battle line to collapse — as with Zeng Guofan's troops in later years.

Yet the Tianxiong Army had no such worry, because its commander, Lu Xiangsheng, always led from the front in every battle, sharing hardships with his soldiers, and was skilled at commanding men.

Once, when the army ran short of rations and the Tianxiong soldiers had gone three days without food, Lu Xiangsheng likewise went three days without eating — not even drinking water. Thus the Tianxiong Army's cohesion was formidable, and its overall combat power was likewise extremely strong.

Lu Xiangsheng was a scholar, and also a fierce warrior. He was enormously strong, wielding a saber of nearly a hundred jin in battle. Leading his Tianxiong Army, he first fought in the six counties of Xunyang in Huguang, driving his lone force deep into mountain valleys and death-ground, winning nine battles in nine engagements and annihilating tens of thousands of the roving bandit Ma Huihui's men.

Two thousand Tianxiong soldiers defeated Gao Yingxiang's ten-thousand-strong heavy cavalry, shooting down over a thousand armored horsemen with powerful crossbows. At Queshan and Chuzhou they routed Gao Yingxiang several times in succession, pursuing him for over fifty li, until at last they drove him into Shaanxi, where he walked straight into Sun Chuanting's trap.

In the eighth year of Chongzhen, Lu Xiangsheng became "Regional Commander of Five Provinces," overseeing military affairs north of the Yangtze, in Henan, Shandong, Huguang, and Sichuan, and was granted the Imperial Sword. With five thousand Tianxiong soldiers he smashed Li Zicheng at Luoyang and hunted him all the way to Chuzhou.

Lu Xiangsheng led the Tianxiong Army, joined by various Ming forces, in a bloody battle against three hundred thousand peasant troops. After a day and a night of fighting, he broke Li Zicheng once more, forcing him to flee into Shaanxi.

In the space of just three years, Lu Xiangsheng led the Tianxiong Army through more than a hundred battles great and small, defeating in turn the forces of Li Zicheng, Gao Yingxiang, and Zhang Xianzhong, and was called by Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng: "Lu the King of Hell."

On the city tower of Xincheng, Zhu Cilang gazed into the distance and saw a huge banner bearing the character "Lu" fluttering in the wind, advancing toward the city.

Before long, Lu Xiangsheng rode up to the foot of the wall on Wuming Ji. He looked up and saw banners fluttering atop the battlements, where four bright-yellow Nine-Dragon umbrellas, emblems of the Son of Heaven's procession, stood in neat array.

Lu Xiangsheng immediately dismounted and, leading his men, knelt in salute toward the wall, saying: "Your servant Lu Xiangsheng, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, pays respects to His Highness the Crown Prince — long life to Your Highness!"

Zhu Cilang, leading a group of officers, came down from the tower himself and stood before him, saying: "Minister Lu, you have had a hard journey!"

Lu Xiangsheng was thirty-seven at the time, fair-skinned, thin, and refined — truly hard to imagine that he could heft a cleaver of nearly a hundred jin and cut men down.

Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly replied: "I dare not presume to have His Highness receive me with such condescension."

Zhu Cilang smiled: "Minister Lu campaigns across the Central Plains for our Great Ming and exterminates the roving bandits — you are a pillar of our dynasty, and fully deserve such a welcome!"

"Many thanks for Your Highness's favor!"

After the two exchanged pleasantries for a while, Zhu Cilang added: "Minister Lu, your warhorse is truly magnificent!"

The crowd looked at Lu Xiangsheng's mount — the horse was deep purple all over with a black mane, yet its four hooves were white as frost and snow, and on its shoulder was a patch of white like a bright full moon. These five patches of white glistened in the light.

Lu Xiangsheng laughed: "This horse is named Wuming Ji. It once saved your servant's life, leaping across a sand river several zhang wide in a single bound."

"A fine steed for a hero!" Zhu Cilang nodded, then looked over the Tianxiong Army's formation, smiled slightly, and praised: "Not bad!"

Some of the Tianxiong officers were displeased — the Tianxiong Army was strong in men and horses, its ranks neat and orderly; how had it earned only a "not bad"?

Lu Xiangsheng, however, took no offense, and felt rather proud to hear the Crown Prince's praise.

After entering the city, Zhu Cilang told Lu Xiangsheng to rest for two hours before coming to the central command tent for deliberations.

No sooner had the Tianxiong Army pitched camp in the city than the heavens opened with heavy rain. The men sighed that their luck was truly good — a moment later and they would have been soaked through like drowned rats.

Lu Xiangsheng woke after a brief nap. He sat at his desk reviewing the latest military dispatches, learning the Qing army's movements and drafting battle plans — this was his old habit.

Just as he was astonished by the recent exploits of the four camps under the Crown Prince's command, he suddenly heard the faint sound of drilling outside the tent. Lu Xiangsheng called to his personal guard and asked: "With rain this heavy, is some army still drilling?"

The guard replied: "Reporting to Your Excellency, it is the Yongwei Camp drilling, not far from our own camp!"

"Let's go take a look!" Curious, Lu Xiangsheng, accompanied by his guards, took an umbrella and followed the sound.

At the Yongwei Camp's drill ground, a hundred zhang away, shouts rang out without cease. All the soldiers, bare-chested, drilled in the rain, their formations neat and unbroken.

Not far from the Yongwei formation, men from the Tianxiong camp poked their heads out to gape. Seeing the Yongwei Camp actually drilling in the downpour, many officers and men were stunned, pointing at the formation from across the camp quarters.

The nearby Shenji Camp and Shenshu Camp, however, took it in stride — having fought alongside the Yongwei Camp for so long, the men of those two camps had long grown immune to this bunch of freaks, and only wanted to keep as far away as possible.

In their eyes, the Yongwei soldiers weren't human — not only did they train at set times every day, but the training load was enormous, and sometimes the whole camp would muster in the dead of night, as if launching a night raid!

The men of those two camps would never go near the Yongwei Camp at ordinary times; only in battle would they crowd forward, calling the Yongwei soldiers all sorts of "big brother" and "dear elder brother."

Watching the Yongwei soldiers bursting with vigor in the rain, Lu Xiangsheng sighed: "With such bearing and might, my Tianxiong Army is not their equal."

The officers beside Lu Xiangsheng nodded silently, admiration in their hearts — no wonder the Crown Prince had rated the Tianxiong Army only "not bad"; these men really were something else!

Lu Xiangsheng continued forward through the rain, wanting to enter the Yongwei camp for a look, but was stopped at the camp gate.

"This is a restricted military area — halt!" a Yongwei soldier barked.

Lu Xiangsheng nodded repeatedly and called out: "I am Lu Xiangsheng, and I have come to call on Vice Regional Commander Huang of your camp!"

"Please wait where you are!" After saying this, the soldier sent a man to relay the message, all the while staring expressionlessly at Lu Xiangsheng and his party, on high alert.

Before long, Huang Degong came out of the camp in person to welcome him and invited Lu Xiangsheng inside the Yongwei Camp.

Though Huang Degong was a second-rank Vice Regional Commander, higher in rank than Lu Xiangsheng, he remained very courteous. After the Tumu Crisis, the Great Ming's martial merit class had suffered a devastating blow, leading to the present state where civil officials were esteemed above the military — even a sixth-rank civil official dared to berate a Regional Commander.

Lu Xiangsheng was a third-rank civil official of the Ministry of War, Regional Commander of Five Provinces, bearer of the Imperial Sword, commanding several Regional Commanders. Though his authority did not extend here, he had yet to return to the capital to report, so his standing was naturally above Huang Degong's.

By now the Yongwei Camp had stopped drilling; all the soldiers stood in neat ranks in the rain, not a single one stirring.

The two chatted under their umbrellas for a while. Seeing that the Yongwei soldiers still held their military bearing, unmoved by wind and rain, Lu Xiangsheng praised: "In days past, Qi Shaobao's Qi Family Army stood from morning to dusk in the heavy rain without the slightest movement. Vice Regional Commander Huang, your rain-drilling has the bearing of Qi Shaobao!"

Huang Degong hastily waved his hand: "You flatter me, Lord Lu. How would I dare compare myself to Qi Shaobao? Far from it, far from it!"

In the county yamen, Zhu Cilang watched the heavy rain outside, his brows tightly knit, and could not help sighing: "This rain could not have come at a worse time."

After the downpour's washing, the roads were all mud, very inconvenient for the Ming army's march. The Qing army had already retreated for two days — though the road ahead of them was also bad, they had still traveled two days of good road ahead of the Ming.

Zhu Cilang had been fully confident of catching them before they left the passes; now this rain had robbed him of all certainty.