Chapter 1261: The Commander No One Takes Seriously

But the Zhao Family Army did these things not to win hearts — at present, winning hearts in Northern Zhili was utterly pointless. They cleared the corpses and swept the battlefield entirely for the return march. The weather was growing hotter. If the bodies rotted, fouling the water sources and spreading plague, that would be a huge problem for the Zhao Family Army itself.

"If Tianjin Port and Dengzhou Port were under our control, and if we had enough ships, we wouldn't have needed to advance slowly along the river this time. We could have used fewer troops and landed directly at Tianjin Port." Zhao Jin was not satisfied with this victory. In his mind, it had cost too much and taken too long. Yet the entire Zhao Family Army, from top to bottom, was already jubilant.

"Is this to report the victory back to Xuzhou?"

"This is heading toward Tianjin... Why do you ask so many questions!"

"Your leader is quite thorough in his thinking. After today's great victory, the whole realm will tremble in fear. Tianjin's side certainly wouldn't dare act that way."

Wang Zaijin, Minister of War, concurrently Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Chief Surveillance Bureau, and Supreme Commander of all forces in Xuanfu, Jizhen, and the Capital Garrison, spoke woodenly. The Zhao Family Army soldier escorting him was brimming with pride. On closer inspection, Supreme Commander Wang Zaijin's expression could not exactly be called dejected — it was even quite calm, especially compared to the despondent aides and guards not far away.

Supreme Commander Wang Zaijin had been directing operations from the county yamen. His aides planned, and his personal guards and soldiers relayed messages back and forth. No one was particularly tense. In their view, this battle, win or lose, would take a long time to fight. Wang Zaijin held the Zhao Family Army in high regard, even comparing them to the Jianzhou Jurchens. Since he made such a comparison, a swift victory was impossible.

Having experienced much, Wang Zaijin no longer held any real hope for so-called great victories or complete triumphs. He had long been involved in border affairs, having participated in the planning of southeastern coastal defense, northwestern border defense, and northeastern border defense. He was not one of those civil officials utterly ignorant of military matters. Wang Zaijin knew the true caliber of the troops under his command. The battle scenario he had envisioned was a stalemate between the government forces and the Xuzhou troops, after which relief armies from across the realm would converge, the Xuzhou troops' supply lines would become unstable, and they would ultimately have no choice but to retreat.

Such an outcome would still count as a victory. But whether the eunuch faction or the Donglin faction at court, neither would be satisfied with this result. When the time came, he himself would still be implicated and might very well end up sent to Nanjing to hold a few sinecure posts before retiring.

Wang Zaijin had considered many things, but he had not imagined the battle would end so quickly. Tens of thousands of government troops, half of them border forces, with cavalry numbering in the thousands — an army of such scale could not even be arrayed on one side of the city walls alone. They had to set up separate eastern and western corps. With a three-pronged pincer assault, no matter how fierce those Xuzhou battalions of less than twenty thousand were, what could they do? He just hadn't expected the defeat to come so fast.

From the moment the grand army marched out of the city and formed ranks to its collapse, less than six hours passed in total. When Wang Zaijin received word of the government forces' rout, he thought it impossible. He never imagined that the very next moment, he would get news of the southern gate of Jinghai County's walls collapsing. All of this defied Wang Zaijin's common sense. Yet even at this point, Wang Zaijin did not panic. He was still issuing orders, trying to rally the various units back into the city. But not a single one of the personal guards he sent out as messengers returned.

Then came total collapse. The personal guard captain, coming to his senses, was loyal and dutiful enough. He immediately shouted for men to escort Wang Zaijin and the aides out of the city. But by this time, routed soldiers were flooding into the city, and together with the local riffraff, they were burning, killing, and looting everywhere. Even the county yamen was caught up in it, and moving forward was utterly impossible.

They barely managed to fight their way out, but they couldn't leave the city. Wave after wave of routed soldiers, like headless flies, surged in from outside. In the end, a certain juren within the city took them in. This juren had once served in the army and could claim some connection to Wang Zaijin.

After that came the Zhao Family Army's purge and crackdown within the city. Hearing the roar of guns and cannons, the sky-shaking screams of slaughter, everyone assumed the rebels were looting and massacring the entire city. Wang Zaijin already had his sword in hand and had all the juren's male household members arm themselves and prepare. The women were ready to take their own lives. If the rebel soldiers came looting, they would fight to the death and perish together. Only, the first ones to climb over the wall were not "rebel soldiers" but government troops and local riffraff. Fortunately, Wang Zaijin's guards were capable and slaughtered them to the last man.

After that, the situation eased. The county town grew quieter and quieter. The servants the juren's household sent out to gather news quickly returned with word of what was happening outside. When they heard that these Xuzhou rebels had not committed the slightest offense and were merely helping maintain order within Jinghai County, everyone looked at each other, not knowing whether to believe it or not. Still, when Zhao Family Army soldiers passed by, everyone tensed up again.

But seeing that this household had not suffered any calamity, the Zhao Family Army soldiers paid it no attention whatsoever. In the end, even Wang Zaijin crouched down and peered through the crack in the door to observe for a while. Government troops acting like bandits, and rebel troops acting like government forces — this was Wang Zaijin's heartfelt lament, and for some reason, he also felt deeply ashamed.

This quiet state did not last long. Soon, the Zhao Family Army began a city-wide search. No one knew who leaked the information, but the Zhao Family Army soldiers learned that a squad of government troops was hiding in this juren's house. They immediately rushed over and ordered them to surrender. By this point, the juren's household no longer wanted to resist. But Wang Zaijin's guards, instilled with loyalty through long training, wanted to fight the Zhao Family Army soldiers to the death.

Yet Supreme Commander Wang Zaijin, who had been prepared to die for his country just moments before, was now very calm. He said there was no need to resist and cause needless casualties. Since there was no chance of winning, they might as well surrender directly.

The word "surrender" should never have come from Wang Zaijin's mouth. A high-ranking official of his stature ought to take his own life for the country or refuse to surrender unto death. The aides had already prepared many persuasive arguments, never expecting Wang Zaijin to be so open-minded. For a moment, they breathed a sigh of relief, then inwardly revealed looks of contempt. This patron of theirs actually lacked such integrity.

After surrendering without resistance, Wang Zaijin and his party were led out. The streets bustled with activity. Prisoners and local civilian laborers were clearing away corpses and bloodstains. Zhao Family Army soldiers stood guard and patrolled. The joy and excitement of victory had not yet fully faded.

The soldiers escorting Wang Zaijin and his party instinctively wanted to show off, to see these high-ranking court officials' astonishment at the Xuzhou troops, to see their heartfelt shock. Wang Zaijin's aides and guards were indeed dumbfounded. They had never imagined the Xuzhou rebel army could be so elite. Some who had accompanied Wang Zaijin to Liaodong could not help saying, "I'm afraid they're no worse than the Jianzhou Jurchens." Only Wang Zaijin showed no reaction. During the entire escort, he spoke only one line: "It's not even dark yet, and it's already lost."

They had assumed that as the commander-in-chief of the government forces, he would be taken to the Xuzhou army's command tent. But as they walked, they realized something was wrong. One aide even thought the Zhao Family Army was taking them somewhere to be killed. When he begged for mercy in terror, the Xuzhou soldiers asked in equal surprise: "We're just taking you outside the city to be detained. What are you so afraid of?"

After this exchange, Wang Zaijin and his aides had just breathed a sigh of relief when they reacted with alarm and demanded: "Are you not taking us to see your leader?"

"Of course not. Prisoners are all detained according to standard procedure. Rest assured, as long as you follow the rules, our Zhao Family Army will not mistreat or kill you arbitrarily. We'll release you when the time comes." The soldiers escorting them even offered a few words of reassurance.

The aides, who had been fairly docile until now, all flew into a rage and shouted: "The Supreme Commander is right here! How dare you show such disrespect!"

The Zhao Family Army soldiers had no idea why they were angry. An aide pressed further: "Do you not know that this venerable sir is the Supreme Commander who leads the entire army?" If they didn't know, such disrespectful treatment might be excusable — after all, common soldiers wouldn't understand such things. He never expected the Zhao Family Army soldiers escorting them to nod blankly and say they knew.

At this, Wang Zaijin gave a helpless, bitter smile, looked at his aides' expressions, and then said with some embarrassment: "Would you gentlemen please help pass a message to your army's commander? Tell him this old man requests an audience."

The enemy commander wanted to see Zhao Jin. The Zhao Family Army soldiers dared not be negligent about this and hurried off to report and request instructions. Wang Zaijin's group waited there, watching the Zhao Family Army soldiers come and go. It had to be said, even just observing from the roadside, they could still feel how utterly different they were from the government forces.

"Rebels from the backwaters are truly crude and uncultured, ignorant of rank and status. With the Supreme Commander right here, he actually dares to be so negligent and dismissive." The aides were quite indignant.

Hearing these words, Wang Zaijin merely shook his head. If Xuzhou wanted to persuade these aides to defect, plenty would surely refuse with righteous indignation. The reason they wanted this meeting was simply that they felt slighted and scorned, and also wanted to see something novel.

Supreme Commander Wang Zaijin had somewhat similar thoughts, but if the meeting didn't happen, so be it. This verbal fuss, however, gave him a realization. The aides' indignation quickly subsided. They all watched the Zhao Family Army soldiers with curiosity and awe — the armor, the firelocks, and the cannons being hauled past. Every single item was superior to the government forces' equipment.

"Isn't Xuzhou a remote backwater? How could they equip such arms and armor?"

"Looking at these soldiers, only the personal troops and household retainers of those military officers could match such elite quality. How did Xuzhou produce a battle-hardened, crack army like this?"

"Everyone says that eunuch Wei brings ruin to the country, colluding with soldiers and bandits. Now it seems that eunuch Wei is actually a loyal sort. Leaving such a great threat unexterminated — isn't this the great calamity right now!"

"That eunuch Wei really had it hard. How could government forces possibly exterminate such a great threat? The Great Ming is facing a great calamity!"

Because the Zhao Family Army soldiers' attitude was very amiable and they handled people by the rules, the aides' tense hearts gradually calmed. While wondering what kind of person the enemy commander would be, they began analyzing the situation from start to finish. At this point, many things actually became clearer. For instance, Wei Zhongxian's repeated attempts to encircle and suppress Xuzhou — those troop deployments that had looked like madness now seemed like actions he had no choice but to take.

Wang Zaijin listened silently for a while, then shook his head and asked: "You're not afraid at all? If not for the Xuzhou soldiers guarding the perimeter, I would think we were still in the government office."

The aides were first taken aback. One of them laughed in spite of himself and said self-deprecatingly: "The Xuzhou rebel... troops are very disciplined. Such conduct is only recorded in military texts about Yue Pengju's army... But it's true, I really am not very afraid, just a bit dejected and disheartened."

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