Chapter 1252: Night Raid

Compared to his relaxed ease, Training Brigade Deputy Commander Tao Gui was extremely nervous. Right now, both the Mounted Retainers Regiment and the Training Brigade were outside the main formation. If the enemy charged this way, it would be a bitter fight.

Zhao Jin seemed to see through Tao Gui's thoughts and said casually, "It's the same as what I just said. The government troops always think cavalry are elite and infantry are weak. Naturally, they'll go for the soft persimmon!"

The government cavalry were even more cautious than Zhao Jin had described. Not only did they not press closer to the more distant Zhao Family Army mounted units, they didn't even commit their full force. Only a few hundred riders led the charge, striking at the northwest corner of the Zhao Family Army's main formation, while the rest waited for an opening.

The four corners of an infantry formation are the easiest positions to shake, because those points have the fewest troops and weapons per unit, and mutual support is very difficult. Based on cavalry experience in charging infantry formations, once you break a corner, you pour in behind it and can tear the entire formation apart.

If one were close enough, one could see the armor on the government troops. Those cavalrymen charging at the very front were all armored, and from the bulky look of it, they might even be wearing double armor — precisely to withstand the Zhao Family Army's fire lances and arrows, endure a certain number of casualties, and then smash their way in!

But the Zhao Family Army's fire lance companies were different. When the government cavalry appeared at the northwest corner and began their charge, several companies had already rotated to that position, lining up row by row, ready to fire. Since volley fire wasn't permitted, it was simply a matter of opening fire once they entered range. No one knew who fired the first shot, and the crack of gunfire erupted into a continuous din.

The Zhao Family Army's fire lances were relatively heavy and cumbersome, and they had to be propped up with wooden forks, so the formation couldn't be made too tight. When firing, they couldn't achieve full coverage, and there were indeed blind spots. But with the combined strength of the various brigades and regiments, several companies could be committed to a single point — several hundred fire lances. That number was enough to guarantee dense, lethal fire.

Under fire lance fire, the government cavalry were either shot dead outright, thrown from their horses, or directly wounded and rendered combat-ineffective. Even more troublesome was the fact that the government troops' warhorses had rarely experienced such a situation. The thunderous crack of the fire lances, the spreading smoke, and the screams and whinnies all around them — the horses easily panicked, went wild, and lost control, throwing the cavalry formation into even greater chaos.

Men and horses toppled and tumbled, corpses and wounded littering the ground. Those behind either veered away or reined in, immediately turning back to rejoin their unit. But the government cavalry didn't only probe at this northwest corner. Just as this first wave of attack was launched, several more squads began separate assaults. Only, the outcome for each of these squads was no different — they all crashed against the fire lance fire and came away with broken heads and bloodied faces.

Yet the fighting did not grow more ferocious. After just this brief contact, horns sounded from within the main body of the government mounted force, and the government cavalry scattered at various points all pulled back. The government cavalry who had come on this raid did not pause for a moment, simply riding off into the distance.

"Government troops suffered a total of three hundred and ten cavalry casualties. Our army captured sixty-five horses." A minor skirmish — for both sides, it counted for nothing.

"The government troops were probing. There's no need for us to show our full strength either. Even if we went all out, we wouldn't inflict that many more casualties on them." Zhao Jin gave his assessment.

The sun slanted westward. On the distant horizon, the walls of Jinghai County were already visible. The Mounted Soldier Regiment and the mounted soldier companies of each brigade, along with the Training Brigade's armored cavalry, were deployed in company units on the outer flanks of the marching army. Every brigade and regiment was prepared for battle — after all, the main force of the government army was right inside Jinghai city.

"It'll be dark soon. A main-force engagement between both sides is now impossible, but harassment and surprise attacks are certain to come. Order all units to stand ready in strict formation — no relaxing or carelessness." Zhao Jin began issuing orders. The ox- and horse-drawn carts transporting supplies began shifting into single-file columns, spaced out in the gaps between the various brigades and regiments. Once battle was joined, these carts and supplies could form makeshift fortifications.

"Scouts report back that the government side has also brought cannon. They haven't mounted them on the walls of Jinghai yet — unclear whether they'll be used for defending the city or for field battle. They're encamped about three li from the city, near the Grand Canal. Set up defensive lines along the river; don't let anyone sneak across underwater under cover of night." Zhao Jin issued one order after another.

The situation that followed was much like back at Shang Family Village. The main government cavalry force was ready to sally forth at any moment, but made no move, simply watching as the Zhao Family Army began setting up camp by the river about three li from the city.

The government troops probably never imagined this rebel army from Xuzhou would be so troublesome. They had assumed the camp could be finished after some simple, orderly work, yet they were still busy well into the night. Though they couldn't get too close, they could still tell what was going on. A temporary encampment, and they were actually building earthen rampart walls, digging trenches, and erecting makeshift fortifications.

As they observed, even the government troops themselves had the same reaction as the gentry and commoners along the route: these rebels were more like a proper army than the government army. The uniformity of their uniforms, insignia, and weapons went without saying, but they also did everything by the book. The tools and equipment they carried were numerous and neatly organized — who knew how much effort had been spent, how much silver invested.

What truly baffled and puzzled the government troops was that the Zhao Family Army's soldiers actually took part in the labor. From the moment they stopped until now, they had been working in rotating shifts for nearly an hour. To get government soldiers to do this kind of work, you'd probably have to invoke military law and threaten them with blades — and even then, it could easily spark mutiny or infighting.

With soldiers of the Great Ming, you could work them like oxen and horses, mistreat and abuse them in peacetime, but once on campaign, you had to handle them with kid gloves. As for building fortifications and camps, hauling supplies and matériel — if cornered and facing life or death, they'd do it. But in ordinary times, if civilian laborers were conscripted, they never lifted a finger themselves. The reason everyone preferred to camp in cities and villages was precisely this: with ready-made houses and compounds available, there was naturally no need to fuss with tents. So why were these rebel soldiers so industrious?

The place where the rebel army was encamped blazed with lamplight. The rebel soldiers who had just finished their labor could be seen not going to rest, but instead relieving their comrades on guard duty outside — rotating shifts just like that. This left the civil officials and military officers observing from the city walls increasingly baffled. Weren't these rebel bandits supposed to be a pack of beasts and outlaws who forgot righteousness at the sight of profit? Weren't they supposed to be a lawless, disorderly mob? Shouldn't they be out looting in all directions right now, full of openings and weaknesses? Instead, they hadn't left the government troops a single gap to exploit.

Back during the war between the Song and Jin dynasties, when Liu Qi of the Southern Song defended the city and Wanyan Zongbi of the Jin besieged it, the clamor of the several hundred thousand Jin troops shook the heavens, while inside the city, the Song army was so silent it seemed deserted. Everyone knew that historical allusion. Shouldn't this Xuzhou rebel army be raising a ruckus loud enough to be heard on the city walls three li away, instead of laboring in such quiet, disciplined order? The civil and military officials of the grand army who thought of this allusion all turned their heads as one to look back inside the city, then looked down below. The government troops garrisoned inside and outside the city were in chaotic uproar — one wondered if there was any bustling market under heaven that could match such a din.

"... Ever since the founding emperor, there's been unease about Jiangnan. Could a formation this strict and orderly be government troops from South Zhili in disguise..." One advisor, truly unable to comprehend it, put forward this outlandish conjecture.

But the conjecture was immediately refuted with a bitter smile: "Where under heaven could government troops possibly have a formation this strict and orderly? Not in North Zhili, and not in South Zhili either. They say the three-border elite of Shaanxi are peerless, but I doubt even they could manage this..."

After the Zhao Family Army's camp was set up, the scene grew even quieter — or rather, it seemed even quieter because of the noisy contrast from the government camp. Darkness had fallen, and the government camp finally settled down. Nearly eighty thousand troops — tiny Jinghai County town couldn't possibly hold them all. Those who arrived first got the advantage; those who came later had to make do outside the city. But this had one benefit: troop movements could be made with greater concealment.

In the understanding of the court grand army's civil and military officers, the rebel force had first halted to beat off the harassment of the government armored cavalry, then labored hard to set up camp. By now, they were surely utterly exhausted. A night raid on their camp would certainly yield miraculous results. It was very possible that their seemingly strict and orderly formation would immediately erupt into a camp panic and collapse entirely. Sometimes you didn't even need to truly fight your way in — just causing alarm and disturbance would be enough to make them crumble.

The hour of Xu was nearly past, the hour of Hai not yet arrived. Whether inside Jinghai County town, in the military camps outside the city walls, or at the Zhao Family Army's encampment, all had grown very quiet. Only the moving points of lamplight revealed that people were active and on alert.

By rights, at this hour, the assembled civil and military high officials inside the city should have long since retired. No one would have expected that Supreme Commander Wang Zaijin, Chief General Zhang Jixian, and others, under the escort of their personal guards, were climbing the southern wall of Jinghai County. They had none of their usual ceremonial display and pomp. A few personal guards walked before and behind, each carrying a lantern for light and to lead the way. Once atop the wall, practically no one noticed them.

"Lord Wang, Battalion Commander Xiong of Wanquan Garrison in Xuanfu and Battalion Commander Yu of Luanzhou in Ji Garrison still need just under half an hour to reach the enemy camp." Zhang Jixian explained in a low voice. Wang Zaijin nodded.

Watching the Xuzhou rebel army across the way do everything strictly by the book, the government side judged them to be versed in military doctrine but inflexible. Such a force might not be at a disadvantage in a straight-up, orthodox battle, but might not necessarily handle sudden contingencies. A consensus was quickly reached: a night raid.

Because of withheld pay and rations, some of the government soldiers couldn't see clearly at night. Moreover, government troop morale and discipline were mediocre to begin with. If a large force were mobilized, not only would the noise and clamor alert the rebel army, but at the slightest mishap, the troops might spontaneously panic and scatter on their own. There had been similar precedents before, so naturally, everyone had to act with caution.

After the various generals conferred, they selected fierce, courageous, and steady officers. Then, using cash silver as incentive, they recruited soldiers who feared not death from the various camps. With generous rewards promised, they organized them into several small units of a few hundred men each, sent out of the city toward the Zhao Family Army's encampment. At the same time, cavalry were mustered in the large camp outside the city — as soon as a breakthrough was made, elite troops would immediately be thrown in to exploit it.

"These Xuzhou rebels look the part at first glance, but the moment they set up camp, they show their inexperience. I wonder what the troops from Shandong and South Zhili have been doing?" Someone on the city wall sneered in commentary.

But few took up the remark. Supreme Commander Wang Zaijin and Chief General Zhang Jixian stood at the center of the crowd, both men's faces as grim as sunken water. Wang Zaijin said in a low voice, "General Zhang, if we lose this time and the rebel army enters Shuntian Prefecture, we'll all be in enormous trouble."

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