Chapter 322: Liu Chengzong's Teacher

The battle at Eight Corners City raged into its second day. The city walls stood completely unscathed, but atop the hundred-and-fifty-pace-wide western wall, only three lonely crenellations remained. The goat-and-horse wall below had also been blasted into scattered clods of earth.

Those three crenellations still standing on the wall set off Liu Chengzong's obsessive-compulsive tendencies. He sternly ordered Huang Shengxiao to knock down the last three parapets with cannon fire.

In an era before firearms, knocking down seventy parapets in a single day of fierce assault would have been an impossible task. But now, for the artillery units, it was very easy — just a bit costly.

Blasting crenellations with heavy cannons was satisfying, but the cost made Liu Chengzong's teeth ache.

Over one day of siege, through day and night, the Marshal's headquarters' twelve red-barbarian cannons fired over six hundred times. Paired with crouching-tiger cannons bombarding the goat-and-horse wall, they consumed over three thousand three hundred jin of gunpowder. In one day, they had burned through half of Kangning Prefecture's annual output.

Currently, his military saltpeter came mainly from Kangning Prefecture, where authorities in seven counties gathered saltpeter earth from caves and refined it on the spot. Each county used the water-boiling method dating back to the Song and Yuan dynasties, then sent the finished saltpeter to the Nangqian magistrate's yamen.

Saltpeter processed through the water-boiling method was already usable for military gunpowder, though the color was not ideal and the purity not high enough. In this era, from here all the way west to England, most countries that did not produce saltpeter naturally had to sift through dung and refine it using this very method.

Below the Nang Suo Qian Mo Fortress mountain in Nangqian County stood the Kangning Prefecture Armory Bureau, established by Huang Shengxiao assisting Magistrate Yang Dingrui. The facility had originally been up in the mountains, but transporting supplies from various regions proved too troublesome, so they took over the site used for manufacturing wooden cannons as the new Armory Bureau yamen.

The coarsely processed saltpeter underwent secondary refinement at the Kangning Prefecture Armory Bureau. Using plant ash to suspend impurities, they repeatedly boiled and refined it, ultimately purifying it into needle-like crystalline saltpeter, at which point its potency was at its peak.

Actually, their initial purification method used egg whites, which was quite expensive. Later, a veteran who had seen the Ming army's refining process said plant ash worked just as well, with similar results, greatly reducing the burden of refining saltpeter.

Now, the crenellations atop Eight Corners City's western wall had been destroyed, and the goat-and-horse wall below had been smashed to pieces. The defenders hid wherever they could, concealed themselves wherever possible, and virtually all firearms on the battlefield had fallen silent.

Only four jingal gunners on two tower wagons kept up intermittent fire at the now-exposed wall, using their height and range advantage to further suppress the defenders huddled on either side of the western wall.

Most of the siege preparations were complete. The defenders no longer dared to stand on the western wall, stripped of its parapets. This meant that when Liu Chengzong's elite soldiers launched their assault, they could skip the deadliest phase — scaling the wall — and directly ascend to engage the enemy in close combat.

However, due to the Mongols' counterattacks, the work of filling the moat outside the city had not gone smoothly. So much so that everything was ready... except the moat still wasn't filled.

Liu Chengzong was inclined to call the Mongols' counterattacks "Southern Song-style defensive tactics."

Their specific method of counterattack involved positioning at least six counterweight trebuchets inside the city wall. Instead of large stone projectiles, they used smaller dried mud balls. Lighter, these had greater range than heavy stone shot. They stationed spotters atop the wall to act as observers, directing the trebuchets' firing angles and directions.

This was also why Liu Chengzong had ordered the artillery to destroy the last three crenellations: as long as the observers hid behind the parapets, the jingal guns on the tower wagons could not hit them.

The dried mud balls shattered upon hitting the ground. Weighing about five or six jin, a direct hit to the head was nearly always fatal, and striking an arm or leg would break bone. Moreover, it was very difficult for those outside the city to pick up the mud balls and hurl them back.

Due to the angle, the thousand-jin cannons were rendered useless. The moat-filling troops on the front line could only endure the bombardment. In one day, one man was killed and seven were wounded by the projectiles.

The one who died was particularly unlucky. That crude weapon showed no logic: it ignored the soldiers in the forward filling-carts working feverishly, but instead struck a soldier transporting earth at the rear. He was pushing a lele cart, trotting along cheerfully, when — thwack — a large mud ball smashed into his forehead, sending him straight to the Yellow Springs.

This directly led to the earth-transporting soldiers becoming extremely fearful starting the second day.

But fear aside, the moat still had to be filled. However, Liu Chengzong had already assured the tribal soldiers hauling earth and stone that as soon as the wooden bridge over the moat was built, he would quickly dismantle the trebuchets behind the wall and avenge the fallen soldier.

With the thunderous crash of a counterweight box dropping, the sound of the trebuchet's swinging arm came again from behind the city wall. A buzzing wind swept over the wall, and several dried mud balls flew across the moat to smash into the assault positions.

Several mud balls struck the ground and shattered into pieces. One hit a tower wagon, smashing apart at a firing port and startling the gunner inside into an involuntary shout. Not long after, a soldier emerged from the lower level supporting a gunner whose face was covered in blood, helped him onto a horse, and rushed toward the rear medic camp.

Another projectile struck a jingal gunner's shield, knocking the man head over heels. But he scrambled to his feet in an instant, shook out his arms, brushed the dust from his body, and pressed against his shield while pointing toward the city wall. As he directed the jingal gunners to fire, he cursed and swore at the Mongol observers.

The Mongol observers atop the wall were so infuriated they wanted to throw down their hats: those sons of bitches had every advantage and still cursed at them!

To dismantle the trebuchets behind the city wall, Liu Chengzong made two preparations. On one hand, he threw more troops into transporting earth to fill the moat and constructing wooden bridges. On the other, he pondered forging a mortar on the spot.

"Master Artisan Shi, think about this: forge a cannon whose barrel is only four or five times the size of its muzzle. Bigger, heavier, firing a shell of about a dozen jin — the exploding kind — arcing over the city wall to strike below."

"Is the Marshal speaking of a bowl-mouth cannon?"

Shi Chengwo pondered briefly, turning the problem's difficulties over in his mind.

As for forging cannons themselves, Shi Chengwo had already overseen the casting of over a hundred small and medium artillery pieces. No matter the method, no matter the type of cannon, given his skill, none of it was difficult.

But forging a cannon that matched Liu Chengzong's vision — that was very difficult.

He explained to Liu Chengzong, "Marshal, casting red-barbarian cannons is easy; the army still has fifteen molds. But the cannon you describe — there is no mold for it, nor any existing example to copy. If we forge one, I fear it may not be suitable for use."

Liu Chengzong stood on the earthen mound, watching the pontoon bridge inch eastward across the moat, and said to Shi Chengwo, "No matter. Go ahead and try. Whatever you need, requisition it freely. Master Artisan Shi, we will inevitably be assaulting cities and capturing passes in the future — you understand my meaning, yes?"

Li Wanqing stood beside him and said with a smile, "The Marshal means that all our deployments in this battle should serve as a model for future sieges?"

Liu Chengzong nodded, gazing at the distant western wall with its parapets shorn away. A smile spread across his face. "This city's shape makes it easy to defend and hard to attack. Inside are nothing but soldiers, no civilians. By all logic, it should be harder to take than an ordinary city."

He turned his head and continued, "But precisely because the Tartars lack firearms and cannons, and are unfamiliar with gunpowder weapons, after a single day of fierce assault, we've lost fewer men than in a field battle. That Choktu inside the city can be considered my siege warfare teacher."

Liu Chengzong truly felt Choktu could count as his teacher. Relatively speaking, the Lion Army had ample field battle experience, but their siege warfare experience was near zero.

A siege battle of lower intensity, due to the defenders' poor equipment, provided him and officers and soldiers at every level with a wealth of siege experience.

First, clear outlying strongpoints. Establish siege camp positions. Use large and small cannons for direct fire on crenellations and flanking walls. Construct siege engines to suppress the defenders. Push the front line close to the moat. Use mortars for high-angle fire with exploding shells against defenders behind the wall. Finally, send in infantry to seize the wall.

These lessons would be useful in future sieges, so he was not troubled that this siege might drag on due to the city's defensive structures.

Li Wanqing first burst out laughing, then regained his solemn expression and nodded heavily twice. "If the defenders inside were government troops, by now they'd be firing bowl-mouth cannons and all manner of poison smoke back over the wall. The ramparts would be lined with great and minor general cannons, Hundred-Tiger Salvo launchers, and other weapons. Filling the moat would never be this easy."

Liu Chengzong laughed heartily at this and clapped Li Wanqing on the shoulder. "Well done, you've seen quite a lot at Xining Guard. It seems the hardship paid off — you're talking like a proper officer now."

This time, Li Wanqing did not laugh. From "Shot Down the Sky" to Battalion Commander of Xining Guard, the period of Liu Chengzong's southern campaign had been anything but easy for him. The various weapons used by government troops alone were enough to make his hair fall out from worry.

He stood frozen for several breaths, then shook his head. "Still, it cannot compare to the Marshal's toils campaigning in the south."

Recalling his own campaigns across the high plateaus and mountains, Liu Chengzong actually felt that, limited by the opponents' strength, the fighting had been quite relaxed. It was the post-battle work — laws, regulations, maintaining stability and governance — that had been more mentally taxing.

He pondered for a moment, then gave his assessment: "The combat strength of the Western Tibetan armies is slightly weaker than the landlord militias of northern Shaanxi. Their arms and armor are slightly stronger than the banner troops of Fenzhou Guard in Shanxi. In field battles, the Lion Army after Qinghai reorganization stands far above these opponents."

Ultimately, the main opponent, Donyo Dorje, had grown accustomed to running rampant in western Sichuan and was unfamiliar with him, always thinking of coming to find him first.

"However, there is a Jinchuan chieftain over there whose territory lies wedged between my two counties. He's built who knows how many forts and blockhouses, and stubbornly holes up inside, refusing to come out. I couldn't do anything about him either — he's still alive and well."

Ü-Tsang and Lijiang were both simply too far away; Liu Chengzong had no intention of going there. So the Jinchuan chieftain was probably Liu the Lion's sole regret from the southern campaign, a matter that still rankled him.

As he spoke, he suddenly recalled the battle with Güyeng in the mountain valley and clapped his hands. "Right, I almost forgot. Send someone to find my brother. I need rain gear."

Li Wanqing looked up at the sky and asked, puzzled, "The sky doesn't look like rain?"

Liu Chengzong shook his head. "Be prepared. Choktu is besieged in the city. Setting other things aside, the biggest difference between our two sides lies in firearms. Once it rains and my firearms are silenced, it will inevitably come to close combat. Fighting a war is all about having what the enemy lacks."

He explained, "This isn't just about weapons. If the enemy has weapons and I don't, their odds of winning are greater. If the enemy lacks training and I have it, then my odds of winning are greater. Everything must be prepared thoroughly. Have what the enemy lacks, and naturally our odds of winning in battle are greater."

After speaking, he asked Li Wanqing, "Right, I haven't asked you yet — how does my brother have so much gunpowder? Twenty thousand jin, shipped just like that, and he says there might be more later. Does Gu'erwan produce saltpeter?"

"It does."

Li Wanqing nodded. "The He-Huang Valley has so many saline-alkaline fields where lotus grows. They harvested a great deal this spring. But that's not even the bulk of it — mainly, the Emperor gave a lot."

Liu the Lion was dumbfounded. "Giving me gunpowder — is the Emperor in a hurry to climb a tree?"

Climb a tree?

Li Wanqing wondered what kind of expression that was and shook his head. "The Marshal may not know this, but it's a long story, and rather strange. Ever since the Marshal's southern campaign, both the court and Shaanxi have dispatched several officials to Xining, all coming to the Pacification Commissioner's office asking for money and grain."

"The Shaanxi government troops' grain and pay — the Grand Marshal knows that situation better than anyone." Li Wanqing spat at his feet as he spoke. "The Marshal's Manor has money and grain, but none of it is for them. Anyway, no matter who it is, once they come, don't expect to leave. So for a while, the garrison troops at the forts and camps in Hezhou, Lintao, Lanzhou, Langzhuang, and those areas were pretty much at daggers drawn."

Liu Chengzong gave a disdainful snort. "At daggers drawn — what damn use is that? Fight one battle at Lanzhou and the Gansu border troops will be drinking the northwest wind for three years. Do they even have the ability to start a major war?"

Unexpectedly, Li Wanqing actually nodded. "They do. The court had everything prepared. Last winter, the various garrisons and camps massed nearly thirty thousand troops. They had the idea of launching a strong attack on Xining while you were away, planning for the start of spring this year so as not to delay the farming season."

Liu Chengzong furrowed his brow. The court still had that kind of nerve?

The Marshal's Manor army could get by without relying on grain supplies from east of Xining — they would just have to drink milk, a bit more hardship, that's all.

If the court's grand army advanced to suppress Xining, grain production in the Hehuang Valley would basically be ruined. Could Shaanxi's fragile economy withstand that?

If fighting really broke out in the east, and then Chuoketu stirred things up in the west as well, it would indeed be quite dangerous.

Li Wanqing immediately spread his hands and said, "In the east, there was Huang Youcai attacking Qingyang, plus the Shen brothers who are just like Tartars. The court pulled six thousand troops from Lintao, Hezhou, and other places to reinforce the east. Old Master Liu wrote to Lian Guoshi and gave the Three Border Supreme Commander a thorough scolding. No fighting broke out, and everything went on as before."

Liu Chengzong still couldn't grasp the logic. "I gave the court a thorough scolding, and the Emperor used gunpowder to compensate my deeply insulted heart?"

Li Wanqing was amused into laughter. "How could that be? Nothing of the sort. The court wanted to make a move over here, so they stockpiled a lot of military equipment and gunpowder. The General sent people to buy gunpowder from the garrisons with silver. The transactions were a mess — some were with garrison officers, some with banner troops, and the prices weren't the same."

He waved his hand, furrowed his brow in deep thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Some were at market price, some at double. I know the highest went to triple — that was buying twenty-three thousand jin of gunpowder from Kong Xiaochen, the Lanzhou Mobile Corps Commander stationed at Yongtai City, for two thousand five hundred taels of silver."

Liu Chengzong nodded at first, then froze. "That doesn't add up. Triple should be one thousand five hundred taels. Two thousand five hundred is nearly five times."

Li Wanqing nodded. "Right. The gunpowder itself was one thousand four hundred forty taels. The other one thousand taels was a birthday gift for Commander Kong's elderly father, in exchange for a slip authorizing a grand drill of the camp troops' firearms and cannons."

Liu Chengzong cursed with a laugh, "Damn, making money sure is easy!"

"Yeah, but the money was well spent. It's said that Commander Kong strongly advocated against sending troops against Xining during the military council, and that played some role too."

As the two spoke, Shi Chengwo, who had earlier stepped aside to plan the mortar's specifications, returned with a drawing. He presented it to Liu Chengzong. "Grand Marshal, the specifications for this cannon are roughly settled. But whether the casting will meet the Grand Marshal's approval — I dare not guarantee it just yet."

Having said this, Shi Chengwo pressed his lips together and exhaled heavily through his nose. With a solemn expression, he cupped his fists toward Liu Chengzong. "For this cannon, I want to try an iron core wrapped in copper."