Chapter 296: Recovering Taiyuan, Taking Fen and Liao in Succession

Before long, the wounded soldier gradually fell silent. Chongzhen slowly straightened up, his eyes already reddened. As a modern man, Chongzhen never imagined how important his arrival was to these soldiers fighting to the death on the battlefield.

In this era, even the lowliest soldiers and every menial clerk in the prefectural and provincial offices knew they served the court, fought for the court. But that emperor seated high above—the very emperor they swore loyalty to with their own mouths—how many people in the realm had ever seen his face, or heard him speak a single word of plain human speech?

The former Chongzhen had never done these things, so he would have to do them in his place. The lives of the soldiers below were equally important, not something to be cast aside casually.

Just as Chongzhen was making up his mind, the lightly wounded soldier beside him, no longer caring that the emperor was right there, could not hold back any longer. He threw himself directly onto the corpse of his brother who had just died and wailed bitterly.

The sound was heart-rending. Even Gao Jie and the others, who were accustomed to such scenes, were moved by it.

In the later age, Chongzhen knew that a commander must be strong and self-disciplined, lead by example, and never show fragile emotions before subordinates. But he was not a commander—he was the emperor of this Great Ming.

A thousand feelings welled up in his heart. Chongzhen could no longer contain himself. He wiped his reddened eyes, bent low toward everyone in the wounded soldiers' camp, and spoke in a hoarse voice tinged with remorse:

"Since I ascended the throne, though I have harbored the ambition to turn the tide of heaven and earth, the situation in the realm has only grown more rotten. Thinking carefully, this is not the Mandate of Heaven as the Jianzhou barbarians claim—it is truly my fault! You soldiers are all fine men, worthy of this bow from me!"

This bow was the present Chongzhen setting aside the emperor's airs to apologize on behalf of the historical Chongzhen Emperor to all the soldiers—and even more, it was the present Chongzhen's expression of admiration for these officers and men who swore to defend the Great Ming unto death.

Then Chongzhen straightened up, looked at Chen Qiyu, and said in a tone that brooked no argument: "Transmit my decree: within the next three years, medical offices shall be established in all prefectures and provinces across the realm. Before physicians trained by the Imperial Academy of Medicine can be dispatched, temporarily transfer medical officers from the Huimin Pharmacy Bureau to staff them, devoted solely to treating the illnesses and wounds of soldiers and yamen runners. Once the Imperial Academy physicians arrive and inspect those pharmacy medical officers who prove competent, they shall be permitted to remain in post."

"Transmit my oral edict back to the capital: the medical offices shall be the same as the Huimin Pharmacy Bureau, subordinate to the Imperial Academy of Medicine. Wei Zaode and Jiang De must produce a feasible plan for the official posts and salaries therein before tomorrow evening. After I return and review it, it shall be immediately promulgated nationwide for implementation—there is not a moment to lose!"

As he spoke, the Chongzhen Emperor's expression darkened, and he added: "Order the Eastern Depot to supervise strictly. If anyone dares to embezzle any public silver or medicinal materials meant for treating soldiers' wounds and illnesses, they shall be stripped of office and prosecuted without exception!"

Every word the Chongzhen Emperor spoke came from the depths of his heart. Had he not come down to see for himself, he would never have known how poor the treatment conditions for the common soldiers were, how merciless war truly was.

Now the realm was engulfed in flames of war stirred up by the roving bandits—a thing that grieved kin and gladdened foes. The kin were naturally the descendants of Cathay, and the foes were the Jianzhou barbarians eyeing the Central Plains hungrily, the foreigners, and a portion of the Mongols.

In truth, in the Chongzhen Emperor's heart, the Jianzhou barbarians had never been the mortal threat. What he worried about was whether the Great Ming could catch up in the tide of progress now sweeping the world—even surpass Europe—and let Cathay once again stand atop the world.

The lightly wounded soldier weeping there had at first been utterly incredulous to see the emperor apologizing to him. Just as he was staring blankly at the other wounded men, he heard the Chongzhen Emperor issue the decree to establish medical offices nationwide before the crowd, and was even more at a loss for what to do.

After the Chongzhen Emperor finished speaking, the area around him—besides the wounded and the civil and military officials who had accompanied him—was packed tight with soldiers pressing in from all sides. Many eyes held the same look as that personal guard's: both excited and at a loss.

To many, what happened today was something they would never have dared imagine in the past. The emperor personally entering the camp was already unprecedented, let alone apologizing to the soldiers in public and announcing decrees in public—this was something they could never have dreamed of even in their dreams.

At first the lightly wounded soldier was stunned for a long moment, hearing every single word of Chongzhen's speech clearly. Perhaps it was the shock of his brother dying before his eyes, or perhaps the Chongzhen Emperor's kindness toward the soldiers gave him courage—this wounded soldier suddenly knocked his head to the ground and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Your Majesty, what fault do you have? You have no fault! Those at fault are the corrupt officials throughout the realm, the generals and regional commanders who oppress us, the gentry and landlords who seize the people's farmland!!"

Having said this, the lightly wounded soldier seemed to cast all caution aside. Kneeling there, he wept and shouted to the soldiers who had gathered around: "This battle—we won a great victory! And this great victory was won by our brothers with their very lives for Your Majesty!!!"

Hearing this, whether they were Imperial Guard soldiers or the original officers and men, all nodded involuntarily.

Indeed—counting the Imperial Guards who had come to reinforce them, the total number of officers and men was only a little over a hundred thousand, while the enemy had at least five hundred thousand. After bitter fighting for four hours, they had held Guguan at the cost of over ten thousand casualties. From any angle, this was a genuine, solid great victory!

Beyond that, in this great victory the Uriankhai people of Turkic stock had also fought alongside them—the first time since the Yongle Emperor's reign that they had fought for the Great Ming Emperor. It was simply an inconceivably glorious triumph.

To witness such a great victory, even to participate in it personally—one could brag about it for a lifetime!

The emotions of the surrounding soldiers were thoroughly roused. One man, two men, three men, an entire camp—until at last, the whole of Guguan rang with the cheers of the government troops. They all shouted the same phrase:

"Long live!! Long live!!"

In the twelfth month of the eighteenth year of Chongzhen, the Chongzhen Emperor led the newly formed Imperial Guard on campaign to relieve Guguan. In this battle, the Dashun army, vaunted at a million strong, suffered an unprecedented defeat and was utterly routed.

Li Zicheng fled back to Taiyuan in disgrace. After rendezvousing with Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong, and others, he resolved to abandon Taiyuan. Leaving behind Zhang Neng, the Left Valiant General of the Rear Camp, to hold Fenzhou, he led his remnant forces in a night flight to Tongguan.

The Chongzhen Emperor returned to the capital the day after the victory to attend to affairs, but left the Duke of Ying, Zhang Shize, to follow Chen Qiyu's deployment in pursuing and exterminating the remnants of the roving bandits.

Chen Qiyu and Zhang Shize took advantage of the momentum to recover Taiyuan. Bai Guangen and Zhou Yuji, upon hearing of the government troops' great victory, marched out from Ningwu Pass and recovered the Kelan and Dai prefectures respectively. The Dashun officials in the Dingxiang area, fearing the government troops' attack, opened their city gates and surrendered to the court to claim merit—and were summarily beheaded by Chen Qiyu's urgent order.

In the following days, from Xing County in the west to Yuzao Pass in the east, prefectures, counties, and cities were recovered one after another by the various government forces. By the end of the twelfth month, under Chen Qiyu's command, the government troops had recovered the entire Taiyuan Prefecture and pressed in force toward Fenzhou.

Beneath the walls of Fenzhou, the Xuanfu troops under Gao Jie and the Uriankhai cavalry led by Wuermai charged bravely at the forefront, and the remaining troops all vied to be first. They utterly smashed Zhang Neng's hundred-thousand-strong Dashun army.

In this battle, Gao Jie was the first to scale the city walls. Wielding his staff, he killed Zhang Neng and personally cut down the Dashun banner. The Xuanfu troops took over two thousand heads and were recorded as having the foremost merit; the Uriankhai town also took eighteen hundred heads and were recorded as having the second merit.

After the Battle of Fenzhou, government morale soared. That very day they recovered every town in Fenzhou Prefecture. Zhang Nai, the Dashun Martial Might General who had fled to Liaozhou, abandoned resistance, expressed his willingness to follow Bai Guangen's example, and led his troops to defect to the court's side at Liaozhou.