Chapter 200: Moving Out

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In the seventh month of the third year of the Chongzhen reign, the various outposts of Lion Camp that had gone out to forage for grain gradually returned.

At present, the defense patrol riders of Lion Bay were still under Wei Qian'er's command, but regarding all kinds of news from outside the river valley, Gao Yingxiang made a request.

When each outpost returned, they were to report their news directly to him, but not to the other chieftains of the Chuang Camp.

Liu Chengzong was initially puzzled by this and told Gao Yingxiang plainly: "With intelligence blocked like this, I'm afraid the returning outposts will frighten the Chuang Camp."

He knew all too well what his own men looked like.

They wore the uniforms of the border army, marched in the formations of the border army, used the tactics of the border army, and were in fact the border army itself.

Just standing there was enough to terrify the troops of the various chieftains.

Little did he know, this was exactly what Gao Yingxiang wanted: "Right, the point is to intimidate them."

"My soldiers are not the same as yours; this is an opportunity for reorganization."

The greatest difference between Gao Yingxiang's troops and Liu the Lion's was that his followers were all independent chieftains.

Unlike Lion Camp, which always absorbed defeated soldiers—but where the mid-level officers would never surrender to him, so the surrendered troops had no organization from the moment they joined and could be easily received, reorganized, and reassigned.

Those Shanxi chieftains under Gao Yingxiang, like Ke Tianhu, each originally had three to five hundred men. Even if he wanted to break them up and reorganize them, they might not be willing.

With his core force of three thousand, Gao Yingxiang could still suppress the eight or nine scattered Shanxi chieftains when their forces were combined, but if those chieftains were unwilling to accept reorganization, he truly had no other recourse.

Liu Chengzong thought to himself, isn't this just borrowing influence like the fox borrowing the tiger's might?

He immediately agreed to Gao Yingxiang's request. As a result, every time Cao Yao and the others returned, they sent the Chuang Camp into a state of panic and alarm.

This enormously boosted Gao Yingxiang's prestige.

In truth, after the initial worry, the chieftains of the Chuang Camp more or less saw through this ploy when Gao Yingxiang later brought Liu Chengzong along to propose reorganization in the camp.

But seeing through it didn't change anything.

Lion Camp was encamped right beside them, filled entirely with stout fellows of the border army. Even if those Shanxi chieftains were resentful of the reorganization, they dared not jump out at this moment.

Even Liu Chengzong had not expected Gao Yingxiang to reorganize his troops so hastily.

He had thought Gao Yingxiang was only discussing a rough idea with him, so the brigade-level organization he mentioned was also just a rough idea.

But Gao Yingxiang directly reorganized his troops exactly as he had described.

This shocked Liu Chengzong. What was this called?

This was the spirit of self-sacrifice, willingly serving as a lab rat!

The ninth day.

Gao Yingxiang reviewed his eight thousand Chuang troops in Lion Bay, reorganizing them into the Chuang Brigade. He appointed himself Brigade Commander and concurrently General of the Central Army Standard Battalion, with two subordinate battalions, Left and Right.

Gao Ying'en was appointed General of the Left Battalion, and Ke Tianhu General of the Right Battalion. Each battalion was composed of five outposts of combat troops and one outpost of baggage troops, while the Central Army Standard Battalion additionally carried an artillery outpost.

The six outposts of Lion Camp that had been deployed outside had not all returned. They had reaped a bountiful harvest this time, acquiring so much grain and fodder that it was difficult to transport in a single trip.

Therefore, the units under Yang Yao and Feng Rang, located in Ningzhou of Qingyang Prefecture, were stationed on the spot, searching for suitable encampment positions in the Heshui and Ningzhou area.

Qingyang Prefecture bordered Pingliang to the west and Yan'an to the east—this was the direction of their next advance.

Sui Shicheng and I returned with Gao Yingxiang, and the Lion Cannons finally fell into Liu Chengzong's hands. However, according to Sui Shicheng, of the thirty-six cannons, a portion had been cast for the Chuang Camp.

To allocate these cannons, Liu Chengzong summoned Gao Yingxiang and asked, "Master Gao, does the Chuang Brigade now have the capability to cast cannons?"

"We should."

Gao Yingxiang was a little embarrassed as he said this, and added, "When Master Artisan Sui was casting cannons, I sent quite a few craftsmen to learn from him, but they couldn't learn it well. Back in Shanxi, they didn't successfully cast a single cannon."

But he believed the prospects were bright: "I've brought over a hundred or so metalworkers from Shanxi and plan to set up another cannon-casting site in the mountains of Lion Bay. With more tinkering, they might not cast as well as Master Artisan Sui, but we'll manage."

Liu Chengzong nodded, then said, "Since Master Sui says a batch of these cannons was cast for the Chuang Camp, out of the thirty-six cannons, I'll give you twelve. I'll give you all eleven of the three-hundred-jin ones, plus one two-hundred-jin cannon. What do you think, Master Gao?"

So generous?

Gao Yingxiang exclaimed in surprise, "You're giving me all the three-hundred-jin ones?"

This made him feel even more embarrassed.

Gao Yingxiang thought for a long while, then pondered aloud, "How about this... my money and grain, is there anything you'd like?"

"My money and grain are fine for now. If I'm short later, I'll come ask you."

Liu Chengzong waved his hand and said, very seriously, "Master Gao, I'm giving you twelve cannons from this batch, but when you cast cannons in the future, model all of them after that two-hundred-jin one."

Gao Yingxiang had plans to cast cannons, especially after Liu Chengzong told him that Lion Bay could boil salt and leach saltpeter, which made him even more intent on casting them.

But he couldn't understand—wasn't a cannon with greater power much better? Why insist on casting only the two-hundred-jin ones?

Even without him saying it, Liu Chengzong could understand this line of thinking. He smiled and said, "Master Gao, let me do the math for you. Between two hundred jin and three hundred jin, what's the difference in performance?"

He glanced at Sui Shicheng and said, "Master Sui says the Small Lion Cannon fires a two-jin ball, with a level range of one hundred seventy paces; the Large Lion fires a three-jin ball, with a level range of one hundred ninety paces."

"For grapeshot, the Small Lion holds one hundred balls, the Large Lion one hundred sixty balls—both are fired at one hundred paces."

Liu Chengzong raised his hand and said, "For solid shot, whether two jin or three jin, neither can breach city walls, nor can they punch through a foot-thick rammed earth wall. The only difference is twenty more paces of range and sixty more grapeshot balls."

"Yet the weight increases by half, requiring an extra mule for rotation during transport, and an extra hundred jin of bronze material during casting."

Having analyzed the pros and cons, Liu Chengzong asked, "Is it worth it, for that slight range advantage?"

"But it's more vicious!"

Gao Yingxiang said, "Two of them can do the work of three cannons, and they're more lethal."

"Then why not just cast three cannons?"

Liu Chengzong said this, then raised his hand and continued, "Master Gao, whether two hundred jin or three hundred jin, they do the same job on the battlefield. Lighter weight means soldiers and mules have more energy to do other things."

"If you're after lethality, in the future you can simply cast six-hundred-jin cannons, or even heavy cannons over a thousand jin."

After speaking, he gestured for Gao Yingxiang to wait in the tent a moment, then rose and walked out.

This left Gao Yingxiang and Sui Shicheng staring at each other in the tent. The two exchanged glances, both very puzzled.

How was it that Liu Chengzong, who had never touched a Lion Cannon from start to finish, seemed to understand the Lion Cannon better than the two of them—one who cast them, one who used them?

Only after a long while did the sound of horse hooves come from outside the tent.

It was actually Liu Chengzong riding back on the red horse, a large bundle in his hand. Once inside the tent, he set it on the ground — it felt quite heavy.

Gao Yingxiang craned his neck to look and saw two silk-wrapped cylinders inside the purple-flower cloth bundle.

Liu Chengzong then brought the two cylinders before Gao Yingxiang. "Cannonballs for the thousand-catty Red Barbarian Cannon. Seven catties eight taels each. The left is a tight-fitting round; the right is canister shot."

Gao Yingxiang looked at the two silk-wrapped cylinders, then at Liu Chengzong, then back at the silk-wrapped cylinders.

From top to bottom, he could not see how these two things were cannonballs.

Comparatively speaking, he could make out a faint resemblance to Luo Rucai instead.

He could only cast a pleading glance toward Shi Chengwo, but Shi Chengwo also had no idea what was inside.

The fabric cartridge had been devised during the Battle of Wen'anyi. At that time, Shi Chengwo had been following Gao Yingxiang through the Fen River plain in Shanxi, searching for a place to cast cannons, and knew nothing of it.

Once Liu Chengzong opened the silk cloth wrapping, Gao Yingxiang understood at a glance.

Inside the bundle were gunpowder, a wooden sabot, and the cannonball — simply wrapped up in silk cloth.

He heard Liu Chengzong say, "This thing goes straight into the barrel. Pierce it through the touchhole, the powder spills out, and firing becomes much more convenient."

"Canister is about the same, though it's not quite perfected yet. Later, if there's a chance, I'll make a thin iron casing, put the canister shot inside, seal the mouth with paper, and wrap it together with the powder in silk. That'll be very convenient to fire too."

After introducing this item to Gao Yingxiang, Liu Chengzong sat back down and said, "If I have three types of cannon, then I must prepare six kinds of fixed-charge cannonballs. Those three cannons must then handle different situations on the battlefield."

"For example, light cannons fire after the massed volley of bows, crossbows, and bird guns, opening fire together with three-eye guns at fifty to sixty paces. Medium cannons fire tight-fitting rounds from two hundred fifty paces, capable of striking wooden stockades and other fortifications. Heavy cannons open fire from four hundred paces, able to hit battlements."

The distances Liu Chengzong gave were all for flat-trajectory fire. He raised a hand toward Gao Yingxiang to illustrate. "Just as Master Gao said, the organization of each leader's forces should be standardized. In fact, I believe it's not just organization — at least where firearms and cannons are concerned, specifications should all be standardized."

"Just speaking of cannons, at least between the two of us — Master Gao is a brigade, while I'm still a battalion — at least if we use cannons of the same specification, the same specification gun carriage, then if your gun carriage breaks, or my cannon gets seized, your gun carriage can be given to me and still work."

"Cannons interchangeable, cannonballs interchangeable. Once we have a base and establish an armory bureau, the parts for bird guns and fire lances must also be interchangeable — and furthermore, they must not be interchangeable with government army weapons."

"That... that's too far off." Gao Yingxiang looked at the silk-wrapped cartridge cylinder and raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck. "In a year or two, just being able to cast a few cannons would be impressive. Standardizing weapons and organization — I'm afraid we couldn't manage that in two or three years."

Unexpectedly, Liu Chengzong raised a hand and spread five fingers. "Five years. In five years, we should have a foothold, shouldn't we?"

Gao Yingxiang nodded, but took it lightly.

He had only one thought: being young is truly wonderful.

What gave you the confidence to think that every leader could survive five years under the court's encirclement campaigns?

Still, it was a very beautiful fantasy. "Five years, huh. If we're all still here in five years, then we'll likely have secured a foothold."

During the Zhengde reign, the massive uprising of Liu the Sixth and Liu the Seventh, who rose in arms at Bazhou, lasted only three years.

Most rebellions flare up and die out within a year or two. In truth, Gao Yingxiang felt that for people like them to have held on until now was already quite remarkable.

Gao Yingxiang sighed as he spoke. "If it's really as you say, that the Guanning Army enters the pass to suppress us, we might not even make it through this year."

The Guanning Army was like a knife hanging over their heads. Ever since Gao Yingxiang had received this news from Liu Chengzong, he had slept poorly for days on end.

"Master Gao still remembers Li Bei, right?"

Liu Chengzong said, "Li Bei's household troops were Guanning Army. Old Huihui understands their tactics best — speed is the soldier's asset, fierce charges and ferocious assaults. They are indeed formidable... but if they're so formidable, why couldn't they achieve anything major in Liaodong?"

Gao Yingxiang had never considered this. He blinked. "The eastern slaves are even more formidable?"

"Master Gao, even if the eastern slaves are more formidable, can they be so formidable as to have fifty or sixty thousand Liu Chengzongs? Don't forget how I got these martial skills — could that barren backwater of Jianzhou produce them?"

Gao Yingxiang shook his head and said decisively, "Victory must come from something they rely on. After so many years of war without wiping out the eastern slaves, don't you underestimate them either."

"I'm not underestimating them, but have you thought about what the terrain in Liaodong is like? A long, narrow corridor, mountains everywhere in the north. The eastern slaves can strike from multiple directions, so the court does fairly well in small-scale engagements, but loses every time a major battle is fought."

"My subordinate, Squad Leader Cao, fought at Sarhū. In Sichuan, She An also routed a hundred ten thousand government troops in a single battle. Why couldn't She An achieve anything major? Surrounded by provinces on all sides, they could win one battle, two battles — lose once, and it's over."

"We don't have the strategic terrain of Jianzhou, but the government army must suppress us, so we can still do the same as we did against Li Bei. When the Guanning Army comes, we lead them along and withdraw west."

Gao Yingxiang was familiar with northern Shaanxi, but had never understood what the terrain of Liaodong was like. He couldn't factor in such things, but fortunately, when it came to resisting Li Bei's fighting style, he had experience.

"So you're saying, withdraw from Yan'an Prefecture toward Qingyang, and fight in Ningzhou?"

Liu Chengzong shook his head. "No, it has to start from Shanxi. Master Gao knows many people. I think we can prepare a grand gift for the Guanning Army entering the pass to suppress the rebellion."

Gao Yingxiang's interest was piqued. He leaned forward. "What grand gift?"

"It's not as if we've never fought the court's border troops. The Guanning Army's strength lies merely in being well-fed. So I believe the key to victory or defeat in this campaign lies in not letting them eat their fill."

"You, me, Bu Zhan Ni, Wang Jiayin, and the Lüliang Mountain bandits of Shanxi — Master Gao knows everyone. The Guanning Army will enter Shanxi first. When they suppress the unrest in Shanxi, they'll be able to use grain supplies from Taiyuan or even the capital. We won't have the advantage. The Lüliang Mountain bandits will certainly shrink back into the mountains."

Gao Yingxiang nodded in deep agreement. "So the battlefield must be west of Yan'an Prefecture?"

"Right, west of Yan'an Prefecture. Yan'an Prefecture is huge, and it's already a wasteland. The local authorities can't procure army provisions. At that point, we'll need the Lüliang Mountain bandits to cut the grain route between Shanxi and Shaanxi."

Liu Chengzong stood on the tiger-skin rug in the tent and waved a hand, sketching before him the scene of a crack army after its supplies were cut. "Wang's camp must also withdraw west. Whether he wants to pull back via the Second Border Wall or through Yan'an Prefecture, in any case, he must withdraw west toward Ningxia."

"That might not be easy to pull off."

Gao Yingxiang shook his head. "Wang Jiayin has occupied Fugu. Look at his situation — at most he'll retreat east to Hequ in Shanxi, and when nothing's happening, he'll come right back to Fugu. Getting him to withdraw to Ningxia... I'm afraid I can't persuade him."

"Right now, even if you hold territory, you can't defend it. The city exists only while the men are there; if the men are gone but the city remains, what does that count for?" Liu Chengzong rapped twice on the small kang table. "Master Gao, you must persuade him. Annihilating the government army is the most important thing."

"Once the government army is annihilated, where in Shanxi or Shaanxi can't we go?"

Gao Yingxiang still held little hope for this. He nodded. "I'll try. But Wang Jiayin's situation is different from ours... and even leaving Wang Jiayin aside, if we withdraw west, there are still two problems."

"First, the four border garrisons to the west — Ningxia, Gansu, Lintao, and Guyuan. If the court combines their forces, we'll be turtles in a jar."

Liu Chengzong countered move for move. "That's why I'm going ahead to dismantle the postal relay stations first, to prevent the court from transmitting messages."

Gao Yingxiang thought it over. This was about all they could do; beyond that, even the cleverest housewife can't cook without rice. He then said, "Second, and most important — the Guanning Army aren't fools. It's not like we can make them go wherever we want them to go."

"What if they see through the plan and just garrison in Shanxi, refusing to budge? What will you do?"

"Refuse to budge? If I want them to move, they'll have to move."

Liu Chengzong stood up, walked to the tent entrance, and took down his helmet. Toying with the helmet plume socket that bore no plume flag, he turned his face toward Gao Yingxiang. "I will attack Pingliang Prefecture and besiege the Prince of Han's estate. Do you think they'll refuse to budge then?"