Chapter 117: Wearying the Troops

Since the twentieth day of the eighth month, the old, weak, women, and children of Zuantianmao, along with the post-station soldiers' families, have been moving in batches toward Apricot Seed River.

Detachment after detachment assembled at East Gate in Yan'an Prefecture — Sky-Shot Down's men, Sky-Rammed Down's, Passing Sky Star's, Monk Wang's, and Cao Cao's too.

People influence one another.

These chieftains gathered around the Liu family near Yan'an all use Liu's border army men as drill instructors and wear Yan'an Guard uniforms and carry Yan'an Guard weapons; their units are practically stamped from the same mold.

It's just that some are stamped with fine craftsmanship, and some with a sloppy hand.

Every unit is three to five hundred strong, drawn up on the official road beside the millet fields. To anyone who didn't know better, looking out at them, the biggest question in their mind would be where the Yan'an Guard got so many banner troops.

Liu Chengzong stood on the hill watching and could easily gauge each unit's fighting strength.

Among all the forces, apart from his own five companies, Zhang Tianlin's four-hundred-man cavalry unit was the strongest.

Next came Liu Chengzu's five hundred, a mixed force of infantry and cavalry, and after that Li Wanqing's five hundred.

Liu Guoneng's five hundred later also requested border-army drill instructors from Zuantianmao, but their training time was still short and their equipment not very good — though like Liu Chengzu's force, the unit was made up of fathers, sons, and brothers.

Wang Ziyong — with Wang Ziyong's force, it's hard to talk about fighting strength.

He had just over two hundred Yanchuan men who had followed him here, and normally they were scattered all over the place.

But when he gave the call, over a thousand able-bodied young men would come running from the villages. If you insist on talking about fighting strength, they certainly have none to speak of, but their rallying power is extremely strong.

Liu Chengzong had been watching up to this point. He raised an arm and pointed, saying to Liu Chengzu, "Brother, have you ever thought about it? Starting from my five companies all the way to Monk Wang's force — in northern Shaanxi, we are the anomaly."

"An anomaly?"

Liu Chengzu gave a scornful laugh and said with contempt, "The one at the back, that's the real anomaly."

The one at the back he was talking about was Luo Rucai.

That unit's style was worlds apart from the others. A single square formation had been forced into three distinct sections: at the front, a hundred or so men decked in gold and silver, draped in silk and satin; at the very rear, over three hundred famine victims with bloated bellies, looking like starving ghosts.

In the middle, the old, weak, women, and children led donkeys and mules — a crowd standing utterly out of place within a battle formation.

The whole unit was the Great Ming's wealth gap made flesh.

Liu Chengzu turned his head and looked at Liu Chengzong. "A bunch of beggars like that — why do you want to take them in?"

Most of the chieftains in the force shared Liu Chengzu's view of Luo Rucai.

People looked down on this refugee leader, weak in power yet wildly boastful, and they looked down on his tactics just as much.

"They are a bunch of beggars, true. But you've never been to the east. Not every refugee leader is like us — well-fed, warmly clothed, with sharp blades and sturdy armor. We eat better than the government troops. It's precisely because people like them keep the government troops tied down elsewhere that we are the anomaly."

Liu Chengzong shook his head and asked his elder brother, "Brother, do you really think Luo Rucai's plan is bad? This man is very clever. He brought this plan to us. Out of all the choices, all the strategies, it's the only one that can win."

Liu Chengzu frowned. "Rounding up famine victims and sending them to their deaths — you think that's a good plan? Do something like that, and even your own clansmen will find it hard to help you."

"The Master said: To lead an untrained people to war is to throw them away. We've known that since we were seven. He still doesn't know it at twenty-seven. Think about it — set aside how many die, set aside what others think, and just consider the plan itself: can it win?"

Liu Chengzong had thought about this question very seriously.

The army divided into three lines: the front line, famine victims and refugees; the middle line, Li Wanqing and others enforcing discipline; the rear line, the elite troops of Liu Camp and the Charging Camp.

The front line would be split into five-hundred-man or thousand-man squads. Each squad would get only one chance to engage — or might even collapse from a single volley of cannon fire before they could engage at all.

Once the refugees and famine victims broke, they would overrun Li Wanqing's men, but the government troops would be unable to pursue. To pursue, they would have to abandon their artillery positions, and once the formation moved, they would lose.

The cannons could carry at most twelve rounds of ammunition. At the cost of twelve large squads, the gunpowder would be exhausted. If the waves of attacks came fast enough, giving the government troops no chance to cool the cannons, five or six charges would be enough to burst the red-hot guns.

Liu Chengzu's face darkened as he forced out the words: "It's possible we could lose."

"Of course it's possible we could lose. The famine victims and refugees haven't been drilled — they're too weak. They'll rout before the cannonballs even reach them. But brother, have you ever considered switching places? If the government troops drove surrendered bandits to attack us, how would we win?"

Liu Chengzu could not speak.

Against government troops, they had no reliable intelligence on troop strength, equipment, morale, training, provisions, or heavy firepower. They had to estimate using the most cautious assumptions.

Under those conditions, if they used this tactic, they could lose. The losing scenario was exactly what Liu Chengzong had said: the famine victims and refugees had no organization whatsoever, and they might very well smash their own lines into collapse.

But if the situation were reversed — he knew his own force's condition in every respect — if the government troops used this tactic, driving surrendered bandits to attack, they would have no chance of winning.

"Since you think this plan is effective, why not use it?"

Liu Chengzong slowly tilted his head back and gazed at the deep blue sky.

Across the yellow-brown earth, the various units advanced eastward. Under their respective chieftains, they would familiarize themselves with the terrain of this land in preparation for the coming battle.

Every person, limited by their knowledge and experience, sees the same matter differently. He and Luo Rucai were the two people standing at the most extreme ends of that spectrum.

"I am using it. Who says I'm not."

Liu Chengzong laughed, surprised. "Who is Luo Rucai? In his eyes, Li Bei's government troops are as weighty as Mount Tai, and Cao Cao is but a single feather. He found a few rocks and still felt it wasn't enough, so he could only drag in twenty or thirty thousand famine victims' lives and stake everything."

Liu Chengzong turned his head to look at his brother, then clenched his open hand into a fist in front of his chest. "His 'wearying the troops' seeks to gather the glow of rotting grass and compete with the bright moon. The thinking isn't wrong — it's just that this man hasn't studied and is a bit of a bastard. He never thought to ask that rotting grass whether it was willing to burn... The Central Dipper Star is interested in this plan. He came to see me yesterday."

"You mean, from King Chuang Gao's side?"

"Yes. The final battlefield will still be near the prefectural city. We know it best here. If we can't win here, we'll be even less able to win anywhere else."

Liu Chengzong stretched out his arm, pointing from the Yan River at his feet toward the east. "From Yanchang to Fushi County, King Chuang Gao will fight and retreat. We'll be ready to support him. If the King can fight and retreat, it means Li Bei's army is still in good order and carrying heavy cannon. Then we'll fight him in the mountains off the official road."

"If the King's elite troops can escape here, but the bulk of his force is routed in disarray, then Li Bei's force hasn't brought heavy cannon — and what is there left to fear?"

Liu Chengzu shook his head. "But what if he marches straight into the prefectural city and occupies the north and south siege camps?"

"I'd be delighted if he occupied the siege camps. The Yan'an Guard's troops have all been pulled out, and the grain and weapons have been emptied. He'd have seven or eight days of army rations at most. Let him occupy them. Once he's too hungry to walk straight, what's left to be afraid of?"

"And if he plunders the wealthy households too?"

Liu Chengzong laughed.

What wealthy households were even left near Yan'an Prefecture? The ones that remained were basically the families of officials with little money and little grain. Robbing them brought great harm for little gain.

Li Bei's troops' best choice was to rob bandits like them. If they even robbed officials' families, then weren't they just a bunch of rebels themselves?

"If he plunders the wealthy households, then he's no different from us, right? Don't worry, brother. Li Bei won't make it into Yan'an Prefecture. Even if King Chuang Gao's side can't wear Li Bei's force down too much, I have a very good candidate in mind."

In the final analysis, they were still too weak.

Not weak in troop numbers, but weak in that among the officer ranks, from top to bottom, they did not have a single commander with experience leading five hundred regular troops.

They could only think of every possible way to stack negative conditions onto Li Bei's force.

Stall for time, cut their army provisions, make them starve.

Several squads took turns delaying them, wearing them down.

"Who?"

"Sky-Raising Monkey Liu Jiusi. He's moving from Fuzhou toward the prefectural seat — should reach Ganquan today. He can discipline his men, far better than the starving mob."

On the twenty-second day of the eighth month, the various units of Liu's camp set up camp on the hills and ridges near Gangu Post Station.

Between the two counties, relay riders came and went with reports. In the morning, Gao Yingxiang's camp at Baijiachuan spotted relay riders from Li Bei's force.

In the afternoon, Li Bei's government troops set up seven heavy cannons on the north bank and bombarded the stockade across the river to cover their crossing.

The Chuang contingent's four hundred Mongol cavalry, accompanied by three hundred infantry, circled through the mountains to the east flank, intending to strike the lagging baggage train when Li Bei launched his pursuit.

Word came that night: they had not realized they were already spotted by government relay riders. When they attacked, Li Bei was ready. They had no choice but to retreat along the mountain paths, only to be chased by government cavalry. The three hundred infantry scattered through the mountains in flight, unable to regroup, their whereabouts unknown.

By midnight, the last relay report arrived: the Chuang contingent had withdrawn to Nanping Mountain. Taking advantage of the government troops' late arrival, they fought a skirmish on the mudflats south of Yanchang County seat, deploying pack cannons to beat back two attacks by government hundred-man squads.

Night had fallen. The government troops entered and occupied Yanchang County seat.

Message after message streamed back and forth from day into night. The fighting was not intense, and casualties were light on both sides. However, Gao Yingxiang had someone deliver detailed intelligence on the troop strength of Li Bei's force.

Three full-strength battalion commanders, plus civilian laborers conscripted from Yanchang County, with over a hundred carts and seven heavy cannons.

Gao Yingxiang's plan was simple: have his troops hold the stockades and delay, to ensure the grain and fodder seized in the raids could be carried by manpower through the mountains to the rear area around Panlong Creek.

In his fight against Li Bei, winning or losing the battle did not matter. As long as he kept Li Bei from seizing the grain and fodder, it counted as a victory.

But Li Bei's force had always placed great emphasis on its rear. One battalion commander was always engaged in battle, one was held in reserve to guard the baggage, and one watched the rear — and he scattered relay riders to the rear as well.

This behavior greatly puzzled Liu Chengzong and the others. There was no baggage in the rear, and no enemy — why was he constantly watching his back?

Yanchuan was clearly back under the court's control.

No matter how hard he racked his brains, he would never have guessed that the unit Li Bei kept in the rear was guarding against him.

General Li believed he was to the east, ready to spring over and strike the flank at any moment.

At daybreak on the twenty-third, Wei Qian'er's relay riders spread out forty li southeast from Gangu Post Station along the river valley. From Nine Peaks Mountain, they could already see the battlefield twelve li away.

The Chuang contingent's relay riders said the government troops had fired cannons from the city toward the mountain all night, lobbing a shell over at intervals — so noisy no one could sleep the whole night.

Come morning, they first formed ranks and marched east. After a few li, seeing no reaction from the mountain stockade, they formed ranks and marched west. The Chuang contingent massed troops; the government troops ceased operations.

Liu Chengzu said, "Li Bei guessed we meant to use a wearing-down strategy. He was testing whether the Dashing King's reinforcements were east or west — and it's been seen through."

Sure enough, when Li Bei came out of the city that afternoon, he no longer sent relay riders to his rear. Instead, he directed their defense mainly westward, spreading them out over a five-li radius, nearly able to see Wei Qian'er's relay riders across the mountain.

After that, the government troops began their assault on Nanping Mountain, with two units in formation and one in reserve.

Relying on the advantage of their heavy cannons, they broke through two small mutually supporting stockades in quick succession. The Chuang contingent withdrew deeper into the mountains once more.

The actual situation was not as complicated as Liu Chengzu imagined.

It was simply that on the night Li Bei entered Yanchang County, he summoned the city's residents to inquire about the situation. A yamen runner who had defended the city mentioned that earlier, a cavalry unit bearing red flags with the character Liu had traveled all the way west.

The eastward and westward marches during the day were merely a test. He had not expected the Chuang contingent to react so readily, and so he concentrated his forces to attack the mountain stockades.

That afternoon, Sky-Raising Monkey Liu Jiusi, hastening from Fuzhou, arrived at the prefectural seat with over a thousand foot soldiers. With great pride, he told Liu Chengzong, "Another two thousand men are behind — they'll arrive tonight."

Meeting again in a time of need, the feelings among them all at this reunion had deepened considerably.

But with a powerful enemy before them, there was no time for pleasantries. Liu Chengzong said with a smile, "Let your men rest for a day. Tomorrow we assemble and go hold him off on the ridge for a day."

The ridge he spoke of was the narrow mountain spine at the border between Fushi County and Yanchang County, where the Yan River flowed from north to south, in the middle of the river bend.

Cao Yao said Li Bei's force would certainly race to seize this ridge to use as a heavy cannon position, commanding the river valley.

When Liu Chengzong led his five companies to the river bend, Gao Yingxiang's troops were already withdrawing rapidly in two columns. The cavalry took the river valley and arrived first; the infantry retreated through the mountains toward the rear area south of Panlong Creek.

Seeing Gao Yingxiang again, the Dashing King, though repeatedly thwarted, did not look beaten. He merely laughed and said, "Damn, lost a bunch of stockades, but we finally got all the grain moved. Li Bei's getting a bit anxious — I reckon he's short on provisions."

With that, he surveyed the river valley from the ridge and asked, "So, is this the place for the decisive battle?"

"This isn't it. The decisive battle site is to the north at Daping. Sky-Raising Monkey's men just arrived and need a day's rest. But we can't let Li Bei rest today either."

"Won't let him rest."

As Liu Chengzong and Gao Yingxiang were speaking, Cao Yao had already come up from behind, pressing the cannon unit forward. Men pushed the wheels, hauling three medium-sized Frankish cannons up onto the ridge.

Cao Yao grumbled, "These three are the only things from Yan'an Guard that shoot any distance. Set them up, and they should be able to reach the river shoal. The official road's still a bit out of range. Which unit do you plan to send into battle?"

The gap between them and the government troops lay in heavy cannons. The government troops could transport cannons weighing over a thousand jin, capable of firing two or three li.

For the sake of mobility, they had abandoned the several heavy cannons at Yanshui Pass. Medium cannons of three to five hundred jin were the heaviest artillery they had.

"Sky-Stomper, Heaven-Stomper, and Cao Cao."

Liu Chengzong raised his hand and pointed down to the official road at the foot of the mountain. Three units were advancing below. Behind those three, the four companies of Gao Xian, Feng Rang, Yang Yao, and Wang Wenxiu were slowly advancing behind them, anchoring the formation at the mountain's base.

Gao Yingxiang said worriedly, "They'll rout, won't they?"

"They will rout. That's why my men are behind them, along with these three cannons on the mountain. Countercharge when the government troops pursue — just keep them from exploiting the victory. The Dashing King's cavalry needs to form up on the other side of the mountain. If my men can't hold, your cavalry will extract them."

This was, in truth, also Luo Rucai's troop-wearing tactic — except these men had at least some fighting ability, so they weren't being sent in to simply throw their lives away.

The units at the foot of the mountain had just anchored their formation when Liu Chengzong spotted mounted soldiers bearing flags appearing and disappearing on a distant ridge. He shook his head and said to Gao Yingxiang with a smile, "Seems their provisions really are low. Not even willing to rest."

Government infantry and cavalry filed out in a long column, emerging onto the official road at the far end of the river valley.