Chapter 627: Orphans

East of Fengxiang Prefecture, the great army spread out and marched toward Xi'an Prefecture in a vast, surging tide.

Zhang Tianlin, straddling his horse, sneezed, rubbed his nose in frustration, and scowled at the earthen stockade burned to ruins beside the official road amid the sky-choking dust, cursing under his breath.

With the dust settling on this battle on the Fengxiang Plateau, routed soldiers fleeing in all directions plundered wildly in their desperation, tearing the western Guanzhong Plain to shreds; Liu Chengzong led his army east, and everywhere along the way, scenes of ruin met their eyes.

Fortunately, this great chaos came quickly and left just as fast.

The largest body of routed troops was the garrison force led by Ningxia Adjutant General Shen Guangxian.

Shen Guangxian had a clear objective: ever since the night collapse, he had led his troops straight toward Qian Prefecture in headlong flight.

He and Liu Chengzong were old acquaintances by now; the battle where Liu the Lion established his fearsome name as the great bandit of Yan'an in Shaanxi was fought against He Huchen's Ningxia border army.

Shen Guangxian had always possessed a fairly clear understanding of the Marshal's Army's strength, and his little abacus clicked away furiously — he had never once intended to thwart Liu Chengzong's Shaanxi campaign in a head-on fight.

He was merely scheming to use Liu Chengzong's hand to topple a few Regional Commanders and Adjutant Generals, paving a shortcut for his own promotion.

Yet no matter what he imagined, he never dreamed that the present Marshal's Army would so vastly surpass the former Lion Battalion in combat power, making these crack troops gathered in Shaanxi look utterly feeble by comparison.

The reason he led his troops toward Qian Prefecture instead of seeking out Cao Wenzhao was that, deep down, he felt the east was safer.

In fact, the east was indeed a tiny bit safer than the west, but it fell far short of the degree of safety Shen Guangxian desired.

He led his troops into Qian Prefecture's territory and counted his soldiers; of the force of just over two thousand under his command, more than thirteen hundred remained.

And before him lay a Qian Prefecture city that had no Marshal's Army garrison but likewise held no defensive value whatsoever.

This city had already been smashed to pieces by Zhang Xianzhong back when Duan Fuxing was defending it; even the city walls had been blasted apart. Even if Shen Guangxian were made entirely of courage, he would not dare defend such a city.

Unable to linger, this Ningxia force forcibly requisitioned several days' marching rations from the countryside folk and galloped without pause toward the Xi'an Prefecture seat, hoping to find Chen Qiyu.

Their flight was utterly wretched; along the way, they dared not even butcher the warhorses that went lame, collapsed, or dropped dead from exhaustion, leaving small bands of righteous troops in the Qian Prefecture countryside to stumble upon nature's bounty instead.

The righteous troops in Qian Prefecture were not roving bandits, but local able-bodied men with martial skills and courage.

After Zhang Xianzhong and Shi Xiang led their armies west to support the Fengxiang Prefecture campaign, the profoundly shaken countryside gentry called upon the able-bodied men, rallying and training them to protect their villages and defend their land; bands of civilian militia and earthen stockades thus sprouted across the great plateau of Qian Prefecture.

They numbered from a few dozen to over a hundred at most, hastily organized, short on weapons and armor, and their ideology was steeped in parochial localism.

Their aim was neither to resist Liu Chengzong's wolf-and-tiger-like great army, nor to turn and plunder the four directions in defiance of the Great Ming, but simply the hope of capturing bandits and repelling raiders, doing everything in their power to add a layer of insurance for their homeland amid the chaos of war.

Shen Guangxian's troops were numerous, and the civilian militias everywhere could not resist the forced requisition of supplies; fortunately, the Ningxia army was relatively mild, merely demanding a few days' marching rations, which a few earthen stockades could scrape together and supply.

However, once Shen Guangxian had left, these civilian militias discovered the injured and collapsed horses and realized they had actually come out ahead.

Several hamlets had provided no more than a dozen or so piculs of grain, yet over thirty warhorses had dropped dead — enough, once butchered, to give the entire hamlet extra meals.

Compared to the Qian Prefecture civilian militias, however, Shen Guangxian's luck was far worse.

For him, Xi'an Prefecture was a death trap.

As soon as they entered Xianyang's territory, the Ningxia troops barreled headlong into the roving cavalry under Wei Qian'er's command.

Liu Chengzong had left the troops of Wei Qian'er's main camp on the north bank of the Wei River, tasked with keeping an eye on the armies south of the river — not to guard against the Xi'an Prefecture seat, but against Zu Dale and Lu Xiangsheng.

As it turned out, Lu Xiangsheng was fighting Li Zicheng in Huguang, while Zu Dale had been frightened into heading for Hanzhong Prefecture to find Sichuan Regional Commander Hou Liangzhu; the various Guard banner troops near Xi'an had all pulled back into the prefectural seat, leaving the lands outside the city a playground for Wei Qian'er's cavalry.

Gazing out at the Xi'an Prefecture seat from afar, Wei Qian'er was bored out of his mind.

He truly had no idea what he was supposed to do; the Grand Marshal's order was simply to guard against the Wei River, yet the direction he was supposed to defend was now empty of foes.

But that enormous Xi'an Prefecture seat — he could not storm it either.

He could only imagine in his mind the two main camps of Zhang Tianlin and Gao Yingdeng slaughtering their way across the Fengxiang Plateau, while he himself was stuck encamped on the north bank of the Wei River, pointlessly wasting army provisions!

This was simply a grievous sin!

Fortunately, however, Wei Qian'er was very good at finding work for himself.

Of postal station runner origin, the moment he was idle, he spotted the postal stations within Xi'an Prefecture.

A great fortified city like Xi'an he could not afford to attack, but tiny postal station towns were well within his grasp; he immediately split his force into seven columns and struck at the seven postal station towns in Xi'an Prefecture.

His camp, divided into seven columns, still had over seven hundred men per column — dealing with thinly garrisoned postal station towns was as easy as reaching out a hand.

In a single day, they captured five postal stations and forty relay posts; by the following morning, the remaining two postal station towns had also fallen. They seized over eight hundred piculs of grain, more than four hundred taels of silver, and furthermore accepted the surrender of over four hundred postal relay soldiers and more than six hundred postal station horses and mules, completely severing Xi'an's postal roads and turning it into an isolated city.

For Wei Qian'er, these matters were simple: he just imitated what Liu the Lion had done back when they first met, striking every postal station and express relay post in the vicinity, first laying off these colleagues, then helping them find new employment.

These postal runners, however, never expected that as soon as they surrendered to Wei Qian'er, a big job would immediately greet them — pursuing the Ningxia army that had blundered into Xianyang's territory.

Shen Guangxian butted heads with Wei Qian'er for a spell, was beaten until his army crumbled, then turned and continued fleeing north with his remnant troops toward Yao Prefecture.

By now, he was fleeing mindlessly; everywhere he went was the Marshal's Army, and heading for Yao Prefecture was purely out of inertia.

As it turned out, Yao Prefecture was no empty city either.

Inside the city was a horse-meat general, Mi Layin.

Compared to the bored-out-of-his-mind Wei Qian'er, Mi Layin had been living rather colorfully these days.

At first, when he received the task from Liu Chengzong of smoking horse meat in Yao Prefecture, watching the main army head west and Zhang Zhen and Ding Guodong lead troops north, he had felt quite dejected.

He reflected for a long time, unable to understand what he had done wrong to make Liu Chengzong mistakenly believe he had the makings of a mess cook.

But later, once actually stationed in Yao Prefecture, Mi Layin discovered that guest-starring as the Prefect of Yao Prefecture was... rather interesting.

Over this period, he had tallied the population and farmland, surveyed the unclaimed fields, summoned refugees to open wasteland, gathered craftsmen to manufacture weapons and repair the city walls... and in his spare time, he even went to the prefectural academy to bicker with those licentiates.

At first, he was cursed at; Mi Layin ignored them. Later, the academy students discovered that Mi Layin actually did some decent things, and their approach shifted mainly to urging him to surrender.

One young licentiate named Song Xutang, in particular, cursed the most fiercely.

Mi Layin was also quite angered, thinking to himself: you, sir, are being thoroughly unreasonable.

I, Mi Layin, was originally a battalion commander of the Ming army's Suzhou Garrison; my superior was routed, I was besieged in a postal station town, fought the rebels until my arrows were spent and my provisions exhausted, had no choice but to surrender and leave the city, and then continued doing the same job of soldiering for pay.

An upright and honorable turncoat officer, from start to finish, I have not the slightest connection to roving bandits.

What do you mean, you licentiate, by seizing on me and cursing me as a roving bandit all the time?

His patience worn thin by the abuse, Mi Layin had his men arrest Song Xutang and throw him into the prefectural jail, planning to lock him up for a few days and, if he still refused to behave, give him a sound beating.

Who knew that Song Xutang was exceptionally stubborn; the moment he entered the prison, he started shouting that the roving bandit had revealed his true colors, and immediately went on a hunger strike, refusing food and wholeheartedly seeking death.

Mi Layin was at his wit's end; he knew in his heart that the Grand Marshal had entered Shaanxi to govern the land, and here he was smoking horse meat — he sought no merit, only to avoid fault — so he released Song Xutang again.

He thought to himself: anyway, I'm not the Prefect of Yao Prefecture; if this foolish kid wants to curse, let him curse. When the Grand Marshal arrives, I'll dust off my backside and go attack Xi'an, leaving Yao Prefecture for whatever future prefect to worry about.

Who could have known that Song Xutang, just released and still basking in self-satisfaction after cowing a bandit chieftain with his surge of righteous spirit, would be met, while still in a daze, by his household servant's tearful lament.

Song Xutang's estate outside the city had been looted clean by a roving unit of genuine government troops — the Shen Guangxian division.

The Great Ming's foremost loyal subject in Yaozhou instantly turned traitor on the spot, took several household servants, joined Mi Layin's army, and applied to march out of the city to chastise the bandits!

Just as Gansu Adjutant General Shen Guangxian was leading his remnant and defeated troops in guerrilla warfare across Great Ming soil against the two battalions of Wei Qian'er and Mi Layin, Liu Chengzong was also leading his great army, vast and mighty, into Xi'an Prefecture.

Only a month before, Liu Chengzong had smashed the various forces of Zu Kuan and Yang Zhengfang on the Xianyang plateau. Back then, the officials of every county had still glared with cold hostility, viewing him as a crazed rat on the verge of annihilation.

But this time, as he once more entered Xi'an Prefecture bearing the prestige of a great victory, the cities along the route all changed their former stance. Places like Wugong and Xingping all opened their gates and offered surrender.

In places like Xianyang, even though the county magistrate still dared not open the city gates, as soon as the call-to-arms arrived, the senior officials of each city hurriedly sent back replies in deferential and respectful language. Xianyang County Magistrate Zhao Jichang even ordered his younger brother Zhao Jifang to lead the city's gentry outside the walls to lay out wine and food and entertain the troops.

Xingping County opening its gates was not surprising. Before that place had even surrendered to Liu Chengzong, it had already been plundered in the outskirts by Zu Kuan's Liao troops, stripping away all popular support.

Wugong County's situation was rather helpless. There had been no chief official there to begin with. When Liu Chengzong advanced, it happened to coincide with the county magistrate's departure for the capital to pay court. At the war's outset, the local gentry and licentiates had rallied the populace to form a militia, led by a Confucian scholar named Han Shi, who was defeated at the hands of Mo Yujing.

After the able-bodied commoners were routed, Wugong County's gates were seized by Mo Yujing in the momentum, sparing it a grueling siege battle.

But afterward, at Qianzhou not far from Wugong County, Duan Fuxing mounted a desperate defense. The massive, terrifying siege there was deeply frightening. When the Marshal's army returned this time, the gentry within the city, out of concern for the lives and property of the common people, put forward a retired official residing in the ward named Ma Mingshi to lead the populace in surrender.

Thus, without a single battle, Liu Chengzong successfully led his great army to Xianyang, separated by a single river from the isolated city of Xi'an, locked under blockade.

The smoothness of the eastward advance exceeded Liu the Lion's imagination.

It was not that the counties along the route offered no resistance. With the defeat of Cao Wenzhao's great army, the offensive and defensive momentum in Shaanxi had completely reversed. The Marshal's Manor had become the uncrowned king of Shaanxi, and the Ming court's resistance forces had become scattered "roving bandits" dotting the land.

What puzzled Liu the Lion was that nearly every city displayed an extreme inclination to cooperate.

Zhao Jifang, who came out of the city to feast and entertain the troops, lacked the official baggage of his elder brother. As a stipendiary student at the county school, he inadvertently revealed the reason.

"The Marshal may not be aware, but with the elite troops of the Marshal's Manor having marched west for over a month, the common people of every county in Xi'an Prefecture have long since set their hearts on stability."

Liu Chengzong initially thought Zhao Jifang was speaking pleasantries to curry favor with him.

After all, how long had it been since he had fought his way here? Xi'an Prefecture had not been in chaos for very long at all — how could the people's hearts be set on stability?

But to his surprise, after listening carefully to Zhao Jifang's words, he came to understand that the subordinate counties of Xi'an Prefecture, like Xianyang and Xingping, truly had their hearts set on stability.

This matter could not be said to have nothing to do with him — he had to bear primary responsibility — but he truly had not expected it to produce such a result.

It was entirely because this great battle for the Marshal's army to enter Guanzhong had set all directions to war, throwing every place into utter chaos, leading to swarms of routed soldiers and bandits springing up everywhere.

Places without government troops stationed were terrible, with scattered deserters causing ceaseless havoc. The city-dwellers heard news all day long of this place being robbed or that place being burned, living like startled birds.

This was an indiscriminate, all-destroying calamity.

Places with government troops stationed were even more doomed. Take He Renlong garrisoned at Ningzhou, or Sun Shoufa, the Defender at Pucheng... Suppressing bandits was impossible — they simply lacked the ability. They could only sustain themselves by requisitioning grain.

The pressure was distributed equally and directly onto every single person's head.

Not to mention, there were also some "professionals" in the mix, like the Cliff-Flipping Sparrowhawk, Gao Jie, who ran off with Li Zicheng's wife.

If human resentment had a shape, the largest mass of resentment on the Guanzhong Plain at this moment undoubtedly came from Gao Jie.

He had made off with five hundred of Li Zicheng's troops, taking Li Zicheng's wife, Lady Xing, and the enforcer Li Hezi, and broken away from the main force. His objective was crystal clear — to take advantage of the chaos in Guanzhong and defect to the Ming army.

He had no choice. For him, life was a series of gambles with no room for a sure win.

Staying in Li Zicheng's army without fleeing — he might not necessarily die. Perhaps Li Zicheng was magnanimous and cherished old ties, but he would certainly suffer social death.

That was worse than death.

Submitting to Liu Chengzong's command — Liu Chengzong had old ties with Li Zicheng, and it was very likely he would be handed over. Once handed over to Li Zicheng, he would certainly die, which was worse than not fleeing.

As for becoming a Ming soldier, given the current situation, the Great Ming had no more cards to play in Shaanxi anyway.

But dying sooner or dying later — there was still a tiny bit of difference.

Most importantly, although Gao Jie was a turncoat, a simple set of moral principles still guided his actions.

He believed that if, after defecting to the righteous side and becoming a Ming soldier, he died in service to the state, it might perhaps help cleanse his moral stains.

So then the question arose: in these times, finding a Ming general on the Guanzhong Plain willing to accept his surrender was no easy task.

To be precise, it was damnably hard!

His first choice was his fellow townsman, Adjutant General He Renlong. They had already arranged things through correspondence, which was why he broke away from Li Zicheng.

For this, he traveled north all the way along the Shangluo Circuit, cautiously avoiding the Marshal's troops along the route, until he reached Yaozhou. But it turned out that Zhang Yingchang's five battalions had collapsed on the spot and scattered everywhere.

Later, he planned to defect to Adjutant General Bai Guang'en, who had peasant army origins. This time, before the letter even arrived, Bai Guang'en, garrisoned at Baoji, broke camp and fled into Longxi like a man dodging a debt collector, before Gao Jie's messenger could reach him.

After that, Gao Jie learned that He Renlong was garrisoned at Zhenning and hurriedly set off for Zhenning. He was only halfway there when He Renlong's reply came: "Little brother, don't trouble yourself. Your big brother here can barely fend for himself right now. If you don't come, I'm fine. If you do come, I might very well end up dead."

Gao Jie felt deeply wronged. He thought perhaps he should change his nickname from Cliff-Flipping Sparrowhawk to Jinx.

In the end, it was Zu Dale, who had fled to Sichuan Grand Marshal Hou Liangzhu's side, who was willing to take him in. But this was worse than no one taking him in at all.

Zu Dale had no idea who he was, taking him merely for a famine refugee leader. He ordered him to disband his four hundred men and offered him a Company Commander's post, like tossing a beggar a coin.

In a fury, during the reorganization and incorporation, Gao Jie charged Zu Dale's camp wielding an iron cudgel, seized warhorses, burned military rations, then turned and fled back to Xi'an Prefecture, wandering aimlessly from county to county.

Like an orphan.