Chapter 46: Provocation at the City Walls

Zhu Cilang led the Yongwei Camp to the front of Xizhi Gate. When Zhang Zhiji, the Duke of Ying and second-in-command of the Capital Camps guarding the city, heard of this, he hurried over and blocked them, urging Zhu Cilang not to leave the city.

Huang Degong saluted Zhang Zhiji, then said with displeasure: "Old Duke, you should go back and rest. Leave the business of fighting to us young men."

Zhang Zhiji pointed at Huang Degong and angrily said: "Huang Chuangzi, whether you live or die is none of my concern, but if anything happens to His Highness, how many lives do you have to pay for it?"

Seeing the two about to clash, Zhu Cilang waved his hand and said: "Enough. We will definitely fight, but I do not fight unprepared battles. I have already sent men to scout the movements of the slave bandits. A reply should come shortly, and then we will go out and slaughter to our hearts' content! For now, infantry will mount the walls, cavalry will stand by."

Prior to this, Zhu Cilang had already ordered the Night Scouts to strengthen reconnaissance around the capital's outskirts, so as to detect Qing army movements as early as possible. At the same time, he ordered all units of the Capital Camps to heighten their vigilance and strengthen the nine gates' guard rotations, with personnel on duty day and night without pause.

Accompanied by Zhang Zhiji, the Duke of Ying and second-in-command of the Capital Camps, Zhu Cilang ascended the city tower, took out a telescope, adjusted the focus, and looked out beyond the city.

He saw several hundred commoners in the distance fleeing toward the city wall, pursued from behind by a squad of Qing soldiers. Some brandished weapons, while others bent their bows and nocked arrows from horseback, shooting at the fleeing commoners ahead.

Among the driven commoners, people kept being struck down by arrows. Waves of startled cries, wails, and screams drifted over, mixed with the gleeful laughter of many Qing soldiers and Manchu speech that could not be understood.

The Yongwei Camp soldiers on the city wall were also enraged by the Qing army's atrocities. Every one of them burned with righteous indignation, rubbing their fists and clenching their palms, eager to go out and fight.

Zhu Cilang had long been mentally prepared for the Qing army's arrival. Ever since taking command of the Yongwei Camp, he had been preparing for battle with the goal of resisting Qing invasion. Now was the time to test the fruits of his preparations.

Many soldiers in the Yongwei Camp were elites from the Nine Border Garrisons. Fighting the Jianzhou barbarians had been a routine matter for them before, so they felt no fear whatsoever.

Huang Degong angrily said: "Your Highness, give the order to blast these bastards to death with the cannons!"

Sun Yingyuan immediately stopped him: "No. If we accidentally harm the commoners ahead, it will damage Your Highness's reputation."

Huang Degong slammed his fist against the crenellation: "Then what do we do? Just watch these beasts slaughter the Ming commoners right before our eyes?"

Zhu Cilang was no less furious in his heart, but without obtaining intelligence on the enemy forces, he would never rashly commit troops. If the Qing army had a large force nearby and seized the moment the city gates opened to charge in and slaughter, that would spell catastrophe.

Even if he drove back the enemy, before the next day arrived he would likely be impeached by Wen Tiren's faction, and even his position as Crown Prince might be in jeopardy. The safety of the capital was the Chongzhen Emperor's bottom line — he could not touch it.

When this band of Qing soldiers approached within two hundred paces of the city wall, they stopped advancing, while staying close behind the commoners ahead of them, appearing very cautious. (In ancient times, one pace was five chi, equivalent to roughly 1.3 to 1.5 meters today.)

This Qing force numbered about three hundred. The man at the lead wore a bright Ming-style helmet and armor, with two flying plumes inserted into his helmet crest and two banner poles on his back. Flanking him on left and right were two soldiers, each carrying a large white-bordered flying tiger banner — he appeared to be a niru janggin.

The rest were mostly clad in iron armor, wearing iron helmets adorned with a tuft of red tassels, with bronze mirrors protecting their chests, holding sabers and long spears of varying sorts. Each warhorse beneath them carried a great many goods — the spoils they had plundered.

Sun Yingyuan pointed at the Qing troops from the city wall and said: "The few in silver armor behind that niru janggin should be white-armored soldiers. Those wearing pointed leather caps are battle soldiers, and the rest are garrison soldiers. Though this band of slave bandits is not numerous, every one of them is elite — they must not be underestimated."

Zhu Cilang knew that the Jianzhou barbarians' Eight Banners system divided soldiers into three grades — cavalry soldiers, battle soldiers, and garrison soldiers — which had nothing to do with whether one rode a horse, but the requirements were extremely strict. Below garrison soldiers were auxiliary soldiers.

The treatment and status of each grade of soldier differed enormously. Once every three years, an assessment was held, allowing promotion to a higher grade. Cavalry soldiers could be considered elites among the Qing army, and among cavalry soldiers there were even more outstanding ones, called bayara soldiers, also known as white-armored soldiers.

The Eight Banners army fixed three hundred men as one niru, five niru as one jalan, and five jalan as one gusa (gusa meaning banner). Manchu people were assigned to their respective banners according to the Eight Banners system — producing in peacetime, and taking up arms in wartime.

One niru had at most a dozen or so white-armored soldiers, and at fewest only three or four. Thus, white-armored soldiers could be said to be the elite among elites in the Eight Banners army. In battles between the Ming army and the Qing army, often a few dozen white-armored soldiers could utterly defeat several hundred Ming soldiers.

Below the city wall, one of the white-armored soldiers spurred his horse forward, wrapped both arms around the horse's neck, swung around to the other side of the steed, then flipped back over to straddle the saddle, showing off his horsemanship.

At the same time, he raised the long tiger spear in his hand toward the city wall, let out a burst of smug laughter, and loudly spoke a few sentences in Manchu. His bearing was thoroughly arrogant.

The Qing army's superb horsemanship was enough to show that in recent years, the Qing army had repeatedly invaded Ming territory and swept all before them — this was no stroke of luck.

A young Capital Camps soldier on the wall was provoked to fury by this damned white-armored soldier. Unable to restrain himself, he loosed an arrow at the white-armored soldier, but the arrow only flew about eighty paces before planting itself in the ground.

Seeing this, the white-armored soldier immediately slapped his horse's back and burst out laughing. Behind him, several hundred Qing soldiers also erupted in a roar of laughter, pointing and gesturing at the city wall while saying things to each other in Manchu — clearly mocking the Ming army.

"Disgraceful!" The Duke of Ying, Zhang Zhiji, lashed the soldier who had loosed the arrow with his horsewhip while cursing angrily.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang was not angry in the slightest. Instead, he nodded, then said to Zhang Zhiji, the Duke of Ying: "Have the archers shoot arrows down at them."

Zhang Zhiji immediately said: "Your Highness, the distance is too great. They cannot possibly reach. It will only needlessly sap our army's morale."

Zhu Cilang frowned and said: "What nonsense are you spouting? Carry out the order!"

"Yes!" Zhang Zhiji immediately arranged for the archers to shoot, while inwardly grumbling — this Eastern Palace lad is just a child, understands nothing yet still gives idiotic commands.

A batch of Capital Camps archers loosed a chaotic volley, and a rain of arrows fell from the city wall. However, one arrow after another merely embedded itself in the ground several dozen meters short of the Qing soldiers, immediately drawing waves of laughter and jeers from the Qing troops below.

Seeing that the Ming army in the city dared not come out to fight, the Qing soldiers grew bolder still, chasing the commoners and pressing forward outside the city.

The commoners, pursued by the Qing soldiers — especially after seeing arrows loosed from the city wall — did not stop but instead changed direction and charged forward with even greater desperation, trying to reach the city gate.

The Qing soldiers were in no hurry to give chase. They followed leisurely behind, occasionally drawing their bows and shooting arrows at the fleeing commoners.

However, when the Qing soldiers reached the edge of that "forest of arrows," they stopped advancing. This was beyond the range of the Ming archers, and they remained very cautious.

Several hundred Qing soldiers on horseback whistled at the Ming soldiers defending the city, loudly mocking them in Manchu, and continuously issuing provocations.

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