Chapter 344

Liu Chengzong was in no hurry to attack. He climbed the earthen mound his elder brother had built and looked down over the battlefield terrain.

To the north ran the Huangshui River, flowing east–west with slight bends. On the opposite bank lay foothill farmland; at the eastern edge of the farmland was a long, narrow river shoal, and crossing the shoal to the north led to the Daping area that opened into the Datong River.

The vast fields on the south bank of the Huangshui were where his main camp stood. To the east, a small river blocked his path. The enemy had one three-thousand-man camp of tribal soldiers on each of the Huangshui's north and south banks, arrayed in front of wooden stockades, with five layered lines of firearms guarding the strategic points.

Farther off were several thousand more soldiers, though those men at least looked like regular government troops.

Tribal soldiers in the northwest were different from those in the southwest. In armor, clothing, and weaponry, northwestern tribal soldiers differed little from government troops — they simply had fewer firearms. The real difference lay in their battle formations.

The tribal soldiers were also organized into battalions and banners, and the banners they used were likewise the constellations, the four-direction flying tigers, and the five-direction divine banners, so to Liu Chengzong's eyes their organization was clear at a glance.

A three-thousand-man camp had twenty-four company commands, each company command with two military banners, one large and one small, and a strength of roughly one hundred twenty-five men.

Among the twenty-four banners, including the central army, nine were cavalry banners, arrayed left and right; fifteen were infantry banners, arranged according to the five-outpost formation into a loose square.

The reason it was loose was that the tribal infantry's small formations were not squares. To be precise, each company command was actually two small formations: at the rear, a hundred men in a ten-by-ten square holding the large banner; and in front of each banner, a twenty-five-man pointed squad arrayed in five ranks deep, with one, three, five, seven, and nine men per rank, the lead man carrying the small military banner.

Liu Chengzong did not quite understand the purpose of this pointed squad. He turned his head and searched the crowd behind him with his eyes, asking in puzzlement, "Where is Chieftain Li?"

Behind him, the Xining chieftains were all hanging their heads and playing dumb. When they heard him speak, they parted to either side, revealing Li Tianyu hiding at the very back.

Having his furtive hiding exposed, Li Tianyu was thoroughly embarrassed. Crestfallen and dark-faced, he stepped forward and had to force a difficult smile. "Commander, what is it?"

As if he had not noticed Li Tianyu's expression at all, Liu Chengzong raised an arm and pointed at the opposite side. "What is that little pointed squad for?"

"What little pointed squad?"

"Can you not see that huge Li-character banner? That little pointed squad right in front of your family's battle formation!"

Li Tianyu had seen it long ago. It was precisely because he saw that enormous Li-character banner in the formation across the river that he had hidden at the back. Had he not been trapped inside Liu Chengzong's army, he would have wanted to run away entirely.

He had never imagined that his own family's troops would be on the opposing side. His family was not like the other chieftains — he had a prior agreement with Liu Xiangyu and had even smoothed relations with the Lanzhou garrison for the Marshal's Headquarters. Now that Liu Chengzong had raised the banner of rebellion at this moment, he could not turn back.

If his own family's marching out to war now drew Liu Chengzong's suspicion, he would be blamed by both sides.

"Commander, could you lend me the telescope for a look?" Li Tianyu ground his teeth. "Let me see which unworthy descendant is leading those troops."

"Looking is fine." Liu Chengzong handed over the telescope. The fact that the chieftains' household troops had marched to war this time meant the chieftains' control over their own clans was far weaker than he had imagined — a good sign. He smiled. "Your whole family is probably over there."

Li Tianyu raised the telescope and looked again and again. The more he looked, the darker his face grew. Every commander on the opposite side was more familiar than the last — Liu Chengzong had hit the mark.

His own uncle Li Hua'ao's branch, from his grandfather's generation down to his nephews, four generations under one roof, every one of them standing at the front of the formation leading a pointed squad. Not one of them gave a damn about his life!

This was something very hard for him to explain to Liu Chengzong. In truth, his was a collateral branch. In his grand-uncle Li Guangxian's generation, there had been two strong branches, not from the same great-grandfather: one branch was Li Guangxian, the other Li Guangyu. At that time they still shared the same generation character, but the next generation diverged.

Li Guangxian had two sons: the elder, Li Hualong; the younger, Li Hua'ao.

Li Guangyu's descendant was Li Conglong.

Hualong, Conglong — which was main and which was subordinate was perfectly clear.

After Li Guangxian, Li Hualong succeeded as chieftain, but because he had no heir, the chieftaincy fell to Li Conglong's son, Li Tianyu.

Now that Li Hua'ao had led troops into battle, the meaning was all too clear.

Li Tianyu was so angry his gums itched. The efforts he had made to spare his family from being attacked from both sides in this war for the master of Hehuang were, in the eyes of others, utterly worthless.

Originally, they need not have done anything at all — just keep the household's able-bodied men tied down at home and watch who won. If Liu Chengzong won, the family had not sent troops and would not face retaliation; if the court quelled the rebellion, he himself might lose his life, but the family would still be preserved.

Fortunately, he saw none of his own branch's men in the battle formation.

He sighed, knitted his brows, and explained to Liu Chengzong, "Commander, those pointed squads are the tribal army's officers and elite troops. In battle, when those in front die, those behind fill in. Once the enemy formation wavers, the tribal soldiers behind can follow up and slaughter, so in a clash they can press forward without faltering… Kill the leading tribal officers first!"

That ruthless?

Liu Chengzong raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a grudge against them, or do they have a grudge against you?"

"Since they disregard my safety, why should I swallow my pride and pretend nothing happened?" No ferocity showed on Li Tianyu's face; instead, it carried a look of desolation, yet he spoke the most resolute words. "When the Commander takes Shangchuankou, I hope you will permit me to return home and raise troops… In Hehuang, the Li clan has more fighters than just Li Hua'ao!"

After saying this, Li Tianyu fiercely exhaled a breath of pent-up frustration. But he did not return the telescope to Liu Chengzong — he passed it to Qi Guoping. "My brother-in-law has also marched to war with my nephew. You Qi clansmen are no better than my Li clansmen!"

At these words, Qi Guoping's face darkened too.

Li Tianyu's uncle's daughter had married Qi Guoping's younger brother. These chieftains were all more or less connected by marriage. One after another, they took the telescope and peered at the opposite side, and each one's mood after looking was more complicated than the last.

Apart from the sons two chieftains had kept at home — who were reliable — the brothers and elders of the other chieftains' families did not take their household heads' lives very seriously.

Liu Chengzong let out a laugh. Listening as the chieftains, one after another, either demanded to recruit troops after the battle or asked to go to the front lines to urge surrender, he understood perfectly: these men were willing to fight for the Marshal's Headquarters not because they liked him much, but because they utterly detested the people on the other side.

"Since you are willing to follow me, I will not treat you poorly once you earn battle merits. But calling for surrender at the front lines is out of the question."

Liu Chengzong shook his head. "They wish they could blast you sky-high with ground mines. Since I dared to raise an army, I knew I would have to kill; since they dared to block me, they knew people would die. Let each rely on his own skill."

Liu the Lion's words showed great contempt for the enemy in this battle, but in his heart, he actually took the tribal soldiers very seriously.

Because tribal soldiers were, in all likelihood, stronger than government troops… The difference was not in the soldiers. Judged purely on soldiers, whether in equipment or tactics, the government troops should be stronger. But tribal soldiers were not the court's professional soldiers.

Not being the court's professional soldiers meant, on the one hand, they did not receive the support of the court's vast financial and human resources; on the other hand, it also meant their strength did not need to be tied to the court's national power.

In truth, they were the true household retainers of the Great Ming. They needed no court salary, rations, or equipment; they answered calls to service. Whether they could fight depended entirely on the chieftain's wealth and ambition.

The positive buffs of a strong unified dynasty affected them less, but by the same token, the negative debuffs of a unified dynasty on the verge of collapse also affected them less.

Thus, even if tribal soldiers were slightly behind in equipment and somewhat simplistic in tactics, in the wars of this moment they could often display greater fighting spirit and combat effectiveness than the standing army.

As he spoke, Liu the Lion had already sent his guards to tell the frontline officers about the enemy's shock-troop tactics and the ground mines buried before their formation, instructing them not to advance recklessly — wait until layer upon layer of firearms had routed the enemy, then seize the chance to move in.

A moment later, Liu Chengzu and Huang Shengxiao climbed the earthen mound. The artillery brought twelve thousand-jin heavy bronze cannons and wall guns to the battlefield, and the banner troops of Xining Guard also transported heavy weapons like rocket carts, falconets, and "Barbarian-Destroying" cannons to the field.

Of course, there was also that giant mortar and the enchanted explosive shells Liu Chengzong had cast at Eight Corner City. That cannon had also been fitted with a two-wheeled gun carriage at Ju'er Bay, but its range was too short — it was of no use in this battle and was still sitting gathering dust in the baggage camp.

As the cannons and other heavy weapons reached the front line, the enemy lost their composure. Even through the telescope, Liu Chengzong could see the tribal companies struggling to suppress their alarm, messengers shuttling back and forth through the formations.

Mo Yujing kept a constant watch on the Marshal's Headquarters' movements at the front. He was on the defensive; on the one hand, he was unwilling to abandon his trench works to advance, and on the other, he wanted to wait until the sunlight was less blinding.

The Marshal's Headquarters' troops wore more armor and carried more equipment than the tribal soldiers, so they tired more in the waiting. Resting while the enemy exhausted themselves was to his advantage.

But once the thousand-jin heavy cannons were slowly hauled to the front, the situation changed.

Originally, both armies at the front had cannons, and the cannon specifications were identical. Whatever the government troops had, Liu Chengzu's Xining Guard banner troops and Zhenhai Camp soldiers were equipped with the same. Both were western armies and used roughly the same firearms.

The reason they could remain as calm as still water at four hundred paces' distance was precisely because northwestern armies did not favor heavy cannons. Their main artillery pieces were "Barbarian-Destroying" cannons and falconets, supplemented by light cannons that fired poison smoke and divine-fire explosive shells.

The cannons were all good cannons. Gongchang Prefecture was the iron-smelting center of the northwest. After Ye Mengxiong governed Shaanxi, forged cannons became popular here. Forging could produce forged-steel cannons — sturdy, durable, and convenient for rapid fire.

There were only two drawbacks: they required immense manufacturing capability to produce in large quantities, and forged cannons could not be made large.

But these two drawbacks were not a problem for the northwestern armies. The Great Ming did not lack manpower or skill; in the age of handicrafts, it had formidable productive power.

Against the enemies in the northwest, heavy cannons with slow rates of fire and high power were not very useful. The Mongol troops, whose purpose was plunder, usually avoided battle and would not fight in formation; their cavalry emphasized dispersal over concentration. A heavy cannon that missed its shot was too great a loss, and the range did not need to be too far either — just farther than the Mongols' stiff bows was enough.

This meant that whether east or west of the river, the most common cannon among the local troops under Ye Guoqi was the Mongol-Smashing Cannon. The most common cannon among Liu Chengzu's Xining Banner troops and Zhenhai Camp soldiers was also the Mongol-Smashing Cannon.

The Great Ming faced two kinds of threat from the caitiffs: the old Northern Caitiffs and the new Eastern Caitiffs. Therefore, the Mongol-Smashing Cannon also came in two models — the old one was light, the new one heavy.

The new Eastern Caitiff-Smashing Cannon was mainly equipped in Liaodong; it was a medium field cannon cast in the Red Barbarian style.

The Western Army's Mongol-Smashing Cannon, however, was a small cannon for fighting the Mongols. The entire body was forged from pure iron, two chi in length, weighing ninety-five jin, and firing a one-jin cannonball. It was equipped with a double-shaft, three-wheel cannon cart — two large wheels in front and one small wheel behind. Each cart carried three cannons and fired them simultaneously, emphasizing mobility.

This was an excellent light field cannon, suited for small-scale skirmishes with Mongol tribes. But what they were about to fight now was no small-scale skirmish. Everyone had originally looked at Liu Chengzu's troops and seen they were also equipped like government forces — a head-on clash, who was afraid of whom? After all, beyond two hundred paces, nobody's cannons would go off.

But now, Liu the Lion had suddenly pulled out from his pocket over a dozen huge pieces weighing a thousand jin and more. Who could withstand that!

Mo Yujing's face went green. He had fought the Shaanbei rebels for over a year and was not unaware that the Shaanbei rebels had cannons, but those were all cannons captured from government troops, of the same design as their own — and even among those, they were the lighter little toys like the Surging Pearl and such. He had never once seen rebels pull out a thousand-jin cannon.

Yet he did not dare order a retreat, precisely because the opponent had many Mongol cavalry. Normally, the northwestern border troops were not the least bit afraid when they saw Mongol soldiers, but now it was different. After Mo Yujing and Ye Guoqi conferred, neither was confident they could bring the army back intact under the harassment of the Mongol horse troops.

An inch longer, an inch stronger. The only choice left to him was to attack.

Horn calls rose and fell one after another east of the river. The northern army, which had been holding the narrow riverbank beach on the north shore of the Huang River beyond the threat of the heavy cannons, struck camp and moved westward, intent on seizing the north shore of the Huang River and posing a threat to Liu Chengzong's left flank.

Then the eastern army advanced in unison at the sound of the horns. The cavalry on both wings were the first to ford the river, followed by the infantry, who dismounted the Mongol-Smashing Cannons from their carts, shouldered them, and pulled the carts across the water.

Seeing this scene, a smile emerged on Liu Chengzong's face. The enemy's intent was very clear: use their feet to erase the range disadvantage of the artillery and win by close combat. But this also meant they were temporarily abandoning the advantage of the minefield position.

Liu Chengzong swiftly issued orders. Ahaidaiqing's Mongol camp was to guard the left flank against the enemy crossing the river on the north shore of the Huang. His elder brother Liu Chengzu's four thousand Banner troops were to be withdrawn from the front and moved to the left flank to reinforce Ahaidaiqing.

He ordered Huang Shengxiao to advance the entire heavy arquebus and jingal team, to bombard the enemy formation with heavy cannons and force them to accelerate their advance and exhaust their strength. He ordered Basang to steady the battle line — no collapse, no advance, no retreat — and meet the charge.

Horse carts with jingals reverse-mounted on the tail raced across the battlefield. Awang gesticulated wildly and roared silently before the lines. Buchi raised morale with loud shouts from within the formation. Basang, bearing the great red banner with the character Liu on his shoulder, galloped across the front. The slave-cub cavalry spread out toward both wings. The tribal soldiers raised their long spears and let out war cries. Mongol sabers clanged against iron-reinforced, leather-covered shields with a ringing clamor.

The Han troops leading the mixed formation planted spear after spear bearing flags that read "All Under Heaven at Peace" into the farmland, looking left and right, unsure who first stepped forward.

Very soon, all the Han troops stepped forward in unison, planted the supports of their heavy arquebuses, and set the man-high heavy firearms before them. They skillfully blew on their fire-lighting tubes to ignite the match cords wrapped around their left arms and clamped them tight on the dragon-head levers.

A single thousand-jin heavy cannon fired from the rear. With a boom, the iron ball streaked over the heads of the infantry with a sharp shriek and smashed down on the opposite riverbank. The startled local troops suddenly quickened their pace. Right after, eleven heavy cannons roared in unison.

As the cannonballs flew overhead and the soul-shaking roar echoed through the river valley, the six hundred veterans of the Lion Camp at the very front of the battle line turned a deaf ear to the killing intent spreading across the battlefield.

The homeless wanderers pressed the gunstocks against their shoulders, peering through the black sights and rear apertures. They gazed at the spreading black line on the riverbank, and beyond that black line, at the blurry clouds and blue sky farther still.

At the end of the white clouds and blue sky lay their yellow earth, their home.