Chapter 516: Up the Mountain

The seventh year of the Chongzhen reign, the twenty-second day of the sixth month — the Start of Autumn.

Within three days, the ten-thousand-strong army Liu Chengzong had mobilized from the Wuwei oasis arrived successively at Gulang Fort. For a time, over twenty thousand troops massed at Gulang, encampments crowding every narrow pass of the Gulang mountain mouth, cooking smoke blotting out the clouds and sun, banners filling the hills and valleys.

With the arrival of Zhang Tianlin's and Wei Qian'er's large battalions — both capable of independent combat — more reconnaissance cavalry joined the pressuring advance to screen the battlefield.

The central army headquarters outside Gulang Fort.

A map, compiled and drawn by Huben Battalion officers from frontline reconnaissance cavalry sketches, lay before Liu Chengzong.

The map depicted a battlefield zone ten kilometers north to south and twenty-five kilometers east to west. Across this battlefield, thirty-four north-south ridge-valley paths densely interlaced, along with one main transport route from Gulang Post to Black Pine Post, the whole area completely covered by pine, fir, and white birch forest.

Apart from the banks of the Willow Branch River at the map's northwest corner and the Yellow Sheep River banks at the southeast corner, there was virtually no terrain between the roads where a battalion-level unit could deploy and form battle lines. Even the widest transport route was only three to five hundred paces across.

Such fragmented terrain dictated that Liu Chengzong had to plan for small-unit combat in his troop deployment — and in small-unit combat, the reconnaissance cavalry would be the key to this campaign.

"Ma Xiang, draw reconnaissance troops from every unit and form twenty-four columns of reconnaissance cavalry. Split them into an east route and a west route. The west route spreads out along the Willow Branch River and drives straight south toward Wushao Ridge; the east route advances along the mountain paths and pins the enemy against the Yellow Sheep River."

Hearing this order, Ma Xiang, the central army's Reconnaissance Cavalry Chiliarch, looked troubled. "Commander, we don't have that many reconnaissance troopers."

The reconnaissance cavalry establishment was five riders per squad, twenty-four squads forming one column. Liu Chengzong was casually demanding twenty-four columns — this massive formation required two thousand eight hundred and eighty men.

Ma Xiang thought to himself: he'd originally had twelve columns of reconnaissance cavalry under his command, but after the three great battalions were established at Ganzhou, six columns had been split off. Right now, the Zhuanglang River only had two great battalions — meaning the entire army combined had only ten columns of reconnaissance cavalry.

Even if you're the Grand Marshal, you can't just open your mouth and conjure twenty-four columns of reconnaissance cavalry. Even if Sun Wukong showed up, reconnaissance troopers aren't something you can just magic into existence.

"I know. Use the ten columns of reconnaissance cavalry as a base, and draw three companies of regular troops from the great battalions and the wagon battalions. Try to assign a bowman and a firearm to every reconnaissance trooper."

Battalion troop organization went: battalion, regiment, company, platoon, with corresponding commanders being Colonel, Chiliarch, Centenar, and Corporal. "Three companies of regular troops" meant drawing troops led by three Centenars — basically assigning two extra men to each reconnaissance trooper.

In fact, with this troop strength, fifteen men per squad, it was roughly equivalent to the basic reconnaissance squad establishment in Ming-dynasty southern China. The dense southern waterways were unsuited to reconnaissance riders, so dismounted reconnaissance required more manpower.

The situation Liu Chengzong now faced was much the same: mountain woodlands, equally inconvenient for riding. Only by assigning more troops to the reconnaissance cavalry could they effectively carry out their work.

Small-unit combat itself easily threw army organization into chaos. For Liu Chengzong, therefore, he had to deploy more reconnaissance cavalry across this battlefield — at the very least so that routed soldiers could easily find a reconnaissance squad and then reassemble and reform.

Liu Chengzong raised his hand and pointed to the very center of the battle line on the map, tracing a winding path south. "Fragrant Forest Temple, Black Pine Post, Anyuan Fort, Fork Post — the regular troops must advance step by step through these four strongpoints. The east and west reconnaissance cavalry columns must press the enemy's flanks as hard as possible, creating conditions for our main army to outflank and envelop on the larger battlefield. — Elder brothers."

"Your generals await orders!"

Feng Rang and the others had been listening with rapt attention. Suddenly seeing Liu Chengzong look at them, they hurriedly rose to their feet one by one.

Liu Chengzong pointed to the Gulang mountain pass. "Feng Rang's unit garrisons Gulang. His cavalry patrols twenty-five kilometers east and west. The wagon battalion camps at the pass and must block enemy troops breaking out through any mountain path. If the regular troops falter in their assault, your unit serves as the reserve."

"Yes, sir!"

"The two great battalions — one east, one west. You two decide between yourselves."

Liu Chengzong looked at Wei Qian'er and Zhang Tianlin, pointing at the map. "The east route has many mountain paths, passable for horses. Exiting the paths, you reach the Yellow Sheep River, where troops can deploy. If the Ming army retreats, they will withdraw from the Yellow Sheep River eastward to Stone Gorge Pass. Therefore, the east route's mission is to reach the Yellow Sheep River within two days — that is, by the night of the twenty-fourth — and cut off their retreat from the flank."

Then his hand continued south from Fragrant Forest Temple in the center. "When the central regular troops capture Fragrant Forest Temple, the east route must drive the enemy westward from the Yellow Sheep River, forcing them to retreat toward Black Pine Post. At the same time, continue advancing south on the east route to threaten the enemy's flank."

"The west route has fewer mountain paths, and the distance is roughly the same, about twenty kilometers. Riding is difficult here, so the west route must reach Fork Post by the morning of the twenty-sixth and sever the enemy's line of retreat."

Having said this, he looked at Zhang Tianlin and Wei Qian'er and said gravely, "Whichever route you take, the moment you see Ming troops, smash them apart and scatter them. You must reach your designated positions on time."

Neither assignment was easy. The main difficulty lay in crossing the terrain; with a forced march in limited time, some attrition of troops along the way was inevitable.

They were aiming to encircle and annihilate the enemy, which meant that in any direction, they could face attacks from two or even three times their own numbers. Done well, it would be a thorough purge; done poorly, it would be another Sarhu.

Wei Qian'er glanced at Zhang Tianlin and raised his hand slightly. "General Zhang, choose first."

"I'll take the east route." Zhang Tianlin gave a light laugh. "The enemy can deploy at the Yellow Sheep River — good ground for cavalry to charge and pursue."

Wei Qian'er nodded, accepting the arrangement. "I have quite a few Crouching Tiger cannons. They'll come in handy in the mountain melee."

"Then the east and west routes are in your hands. As for the central route's assault troops — that will depend on the skill of Brother Ding and Brother Zhang."

As he spoke, Liu Chengzong cupped his fists toward Suzhou Battalion Colonel Ding Guodong and Ganzhou Battalion Colonel Zhang Zhen. "Two days to capture Fragrant Forest Temple; three days to fight your way to Black Pine Post. You focus solely on field combat. I'll follow with the artillery train — leave the storming of forts and stockades entirely to me."

Ding Guodong and Bee-Tail Needle clasped their fists. "We accept our orders!"

With every unit's mission set, three cannon shots boomed from Gulang Fort. The vast column of reconnaissance riders, accompanied by infantry, filed west along the Willow Branch River, spreading out across the valleys and ridges.

Barely half a shichen later, under the fluttering signal flags of the reconnaissance troops, the reconnaissance squads — strung out in a single line from the Willow Branch River valley eastward to the eastern mountain paths — hurled themselves at the mountain trails. In mere moments, gunfire flickered everywhere along the winding paths, and the mountain woodlands were instantly shrouded in drifting gunsmoke.

Atop Gulang Fort, Liu Chengzong held up his telescope. The dense forest kept him from making out the fighting on the nearest ridges, but he knew perfectly well: the reconnaissance cavalry of both armies had engaged.

However, Ding Shaoyin and Bai Guang'en, holding the mountain paths, after receiving frontline reconnaissance reports of the outbreak of fighting, did not believe they were facing reconnaissance cavalry — because the Ming reconnaissance riders believed the Marshal's Army was launching a general offensive in dispersed formation.

The Marshal's Army's reconnaissance riders were not playing fair!

On the surface, there was only a lone reconnaissance rider in the middle of the path, holding a triangular flag-lance in one hand and a three-eyed gun in the other. But in reality, two more men were lurking in the woods by the roadside.

Before the Ming reconnaissance riders could even close to three-eyed-gun range, they were first startled by a sniper shot from a heavy arquebus fired from the woods on the left. Just as they focused on the left, the woods on the right started loosing arrows — swish, swish, swish.

They couldn't see anyone at all — only the crashing and rustling in the woods, like wild boars charging through.

With this kind of ghostly harassment, how could they even talk about pressuring the battlefield? The Ming reconnaissance riders simply wheeled their horses, waved their flag-lances, and left. Time to call for reinforcements.

Once a full reconnaissance squad of five riders had finally assembled — now that they had five men, they weren't afraid of the cold shots and arrows from the woods — the enemy reconnaissance riders pressed forward too, and even denser gunfire erupted from the forest.

This had to be a regular army attack. Who ever heard of reconnaissance riders lugging large-caliber hawk's-beak arquebuses into the field?

Every mountain path and valley trail relayed this same intelligence to Ding Shaoyin and Bai Guang'en at Black Pine Post. Every reconnaissance column reported that they had encountered Marshal's Army squads.

In the garrison command post at Black Pine Post Fort, Ding Shaoyin ordered his household retainers to fetch several maps and had them mark the enemy appearances on each mountain path. A quick tally showed that all seven surrounding paths had been attacked, and each had been pushed back one or two kilometers before the intelligence could be relayed.

Some reported encountering dozens of enemy troops, others claimed over a hundred, but no one could clearly see exactly how many there were. Even halving the estimates, the enemy vanguard strength across the seven paths exceeded three hundred.

Ding Shaoyin's forces were limited. He had posted reconnaissance troops on seventeen minor paths in the surrounding area, but only twelve of those paths were under active troop control.

These paths were either in good enough condition to allow cavalry and wagons, or were ridges with good visibility, or were strategically critical terrain — in which cases he sent Company Commanders or Centenars with troops to set up camps and checkpoints, dig trenches, and cut the roads.

The original intent of this deployment had been to guard against reconnaissance cavalry infiltration and to screen the battlefield.

The moment he received the intelligence, Ding Shaoyin pointed at the map and said to Bai Guang'en, "This is a feint."

Ding Shaoyin analyzed Liu Chengzong's operational habits since breaching Jiayu Pass. Liu Chengzong consistently sought to break through at weakly defended points and had a particular aversion to frontal assaults — he would not hesitate to execute an ultra-long-range maneuver to avoid one.

Liu Chengzong leading his army through the Gobi to appear at Jiayu Pass was itself a manifestation of his aversion to frontal assault and his unwillingness to storm the Gulang Gorge head-on.

If the reconnaissance cavalry's harassment over the past few days had given the Ming army the feeling that something terrifying was coming up the mountain, then for Ding Shaoyin, Liu Chengzong was the most terrifying thing coming up that mountain.

Because it was very hard for him to guess how far this man — who had made a thousand-kilometer expedition to avoid a frontal assault — would detour this time to avoid yet another frontal assault.

This precedent convinced Ding Shaoyin that even if Liu Chengzong intended to force the Gulang Gorge, he would most likely attempt to strike their rear.

So the previous night, while chatting idly with Bai Guang'en, the conversation had led him to order Bai Guang'en's deputy commander, Lu Yunchang, to take a Chiliarch's regiment to defend Zhuanglang Garrison — precisely out of fear that Liu Chengzong might bypass Yongtai City, take the southern Songshan road, and suddenly appear beneath the walls of Zhuanglang Garrison.

Only this time, Liu Chengzong truly was assaulting fortified positions. His entire twenty-thousand-strong army was spread across fifty li of mountain terrain. He had no intention of circling around to the deep rear area Ding Shaoyin imagined. The rear he meant to strike was simply Ding Shaoyin's central army.

Soon, less than two shichen after the first engagement, intelligence from the relay soldiers on the other mountain paths also came back — including the three small stockades on the ridge, all were under attack on every front.

On Camp Ridge, fifteen li northeast of the forward stronghold Xianglin Temple, the Battalion Commander of the garrisoned standard battalion there fought through the encirclement and brought back the organizational appearance of the Marshal Army's frontline troops.

"General, they are indeed relay soldiers."

The Battalion Commander first fled to Xianglin Temple. The Chiliarch stationed there dared not sit on the intelligence and immediately sent him on to Black Pine Post in the rear. By the time he reached Black Pine Post, it was already dusk.

Ding Shaoyin's heart ached at the sight of this Battalion Commander. The helmet on his head was gone, his hair ribbon lost as well, his hair disheveled. Two broken arrows, their shafts snapped off, were embedded in his cloth-faced iron armor. The cloth surface was burned through in several places, the red fabric stained a layer of sooty black from smoke.

"Tell me truthfully everything you saw."

The Battalion Commander said, "In the morning, gunfire from firearms rang out from the valleys on both the east and west sides of Camp Ridge, but the forest cover made it impossible to see the fighting clearly. By noon, relay riders were spotted on the mountain road north of the ridge — one rider with two infantry, advancing abreast on the path. They carried hawk arquebuses."

"How can you be certain they were hawk arquebuses?"

"They halted a hundred-odd paces away and fired several shots at the stockade gate twenty paces from the camp. Our troops on the arrow tower drove them off with swivel guns. This humble officer examined the lead balls embedded in the wooden palisade; dug out, they weighed eight mace each."

"And after that?"

"After that, their relay soldiers grew more and more numerous, massing on the ridge path. The mountain road outside the stockade gate barely allows five or six men abreast, but seven or eight hawk arquebuses firing in volley killed the gunner. Then they seized the arrow tower and turned their fire back into my camp. They also had fire oil."

"The arrow tower was too close to the small stockade. Without it, we would not have feared them. They climbed onto the arrow tower and hurled fire-oil jars into the small stockade. The wind on the ridge was strong, feeding the flames until the tents were burned to nothing."

As the Battalion Commander spoke, as if recalling the ordeal of smoke and fire, his face filled with gloom. "The camp was pitched on the ridge. When we built it, we never imagined anyone would stand on my own arrow tower and throw fire oil into the camp. This humble officer led several charges, losing several men to hawk arquebus fire, yet still failed to retake the arrow tower. The fire grew fiercer, the troops in the rear all fled, and I had no choice but to retreat from the ridge."

Ding Shaoyin seized on a crucial piece of information. "They brought no cannon?"

The Battalion Commander's eyes widened. He looked as if he wanted to retort, asking whose relay riders ever carried cannon, but he suppressed his urge to speak and shook his head. "None. They were all light troops."

Hearing this answer, Ding Shaoyin finally believed that the forces attacking the various minor paths were indeed not Liu Chengzong's main force, but truly relay riders.

"Counterattack and take them back."

After arranging for the escaped Battalion Commander to go rest, Ding Shaoyin summoned his Chiliarchs, briefed them on the military situation, and told them, "The enemy's main force should at this moment be maneuvering around our flank. Under the pressure of their relay soldiers, our position is extremely unfavorable. We must counterattack and retake the ridges with our own relay soldiers."

He absolutely had to know the movements of Liu Chengzong's main force. Those several ridges seized by the Marshal Army thus became critically important. Although those positions could not see small groups of enemy troops breaking through, they could detect the sound and fury of a large force on the march by observing birds taking flight and dust rising through the forest.

Only by knowing the main enemy force's line of march could he know how to defeat them piece by piece.

Since his relay soldiers could not defeat the Marshal Army's relay soldiers, who were allocated superior strength, then he would use regular troops to fight them.

That very night, Ding Shaoyin issued orders to the two Chiliarchs originally under Chai Shihua's command, dispatching four Company Commanders with their respective units to retake the four surrounding ridge paths.

Yet it was precisely on this night that Liu Chengzong's main force found him.

A messenger cavalryman holding a torch aloft galloped all the way along the Gulang River to Black Pine Post. Outside the post town's walls, he flung himself from the saddle and prostrated himself, then raised his clasped hands toward the ramparts and shouted, "General! Xianglin Temple is under attack! Several thousand enemy troops, hauling cannon, have ascended the mountain path!"

Good afternoon!