Chapter 1359: Jinzhou — A Desperate Stand

"The Tartars are too strong, and the court is half-hearted — nothing can be accomplished. We're just holding on here, doing our duty as best we can. And now on top of everything there's this Xuzhou. This Great Ming is truly beset by disasters — Jianzhou in the north, and now Xuzhou in the middle. We can't hold out any longer!"

"I'd say those Xuzhou people have ambitions no smaller than the Tartars. They just don't understand how savage the Tartars are. When the snipe and the clam grapple, it's the fisherman who profits. The Xuzhou people are stirring up storms for their own petty schemes, and when Great Ming falls, they'll fall right along with it. Then we'll see how they plan to stop the Tartars."

After all, the two of them were military officers of Great Ming — they naturally wouldn't have any good impression of Xuzhou.

"Looks like this hundred-odd pounds of mine will be left here in Jinzhou City. I've always heard people talk about how fine Jiangnan is — no Tartars there, no wind and snow, beautiful scenery. I always wanted to go see it. I reckon I won't get the chance now..."

He'd only gotten halfway through when the sound of hurried footsteps rang out. Both stopped talking and saw Kong Youde rushing over at a quick pace. Compared to their own bitter cheerfulness, Kong Youde's face was filled with fury. He reached them, clasped his fists in salute, and said urgently: "Generals, men are deserting everywhere. I beg you to give me a company of troops to patrol the defenses and arrest the runaways."

Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan exchanged a glance, both unable to suppress a shake of the head and a rueful smile. Chen Jisheng beckoned Kong Youde over, handed him a piece of roasted dried fish, and then said: "If this Jinzhou death trap weren't impossible to leave, I'd want you to go."

Seeing Kong Youde grow agitated and about to speak, Chen Jisheng continued: "But there's no way out of here. Everyone can only stay and fight the Tartars to the death. That way we'll have been worthy of Marshal Mao, worthy of our countrymen. If others can escape, that's their good fortune — let them go."

Kong Youde's face was a mix of agitation and fury. He stood there dumbstruck, not knowing what to say. Chen Jisheng merely smiled and patted him on the shoulder. Zhang Pan seemed about to speak, but instead lifted his head to look at the sky and said in a muffled voice: "Fog's rolling in."

"Fog's good. At least everyone can sleep in a bit tomorrow," Chen Jisheng said, perfectly at ease.

They'd thought the coming fight to the death would be more tense and solemn, but here the two commanders were, so relaxed and untroubled. Kong Youde looked left, then right. The agitation and fury on his face gradually faded. A nameless grief welled up from his heart, and he covered his face and broke down sobbing.

Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan did not go to comfort him. They merely exchanged a glance, sighed in unison, and sat facing each other in numb silence.

The sea fog rolled from west to east, gradually spreading. Both inside and outside Jinzhou City were shrouded in dense mist. When the first light of dawn appeared, just enough to make one realize day had broken, nothing could be seen beyond five paces.

The night before, many had fallen into exhausted slumber, but no one slept long — they soon jolted awake. Everyone waited in a daze for the sound of cannon fire from outside the city. Many understood that the final battle was likely upon them.

From the fall of the Liao garrison to the retreat to Jinzhou, then Jinzhou itself lost and retaken, lost and retaken again through several cycles — from start to finish it had been life-and-death bloody warfare. Now that the very end had come, everyone could face it with a measure of calm. Many were like Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan the night before, lamenting the state of the realm, lamenting their own fates.

Yet many had been unable to sleep that night. As soon as the thick fog set in, Zhang Pan began ordering every camp to post sentries and patrol, with coded commands issued at set intervals. The dense fog was a screen, but it was also concealment. The Jinzhou garrison had used sea fog many times to launch sneak attacks on the Jianzhou Jurchens; now they had to guard against the enemy doing the same.

Fortunately, the night passed without incident. When the first light of dawn showed, Kong Youde even volunteered for a sortie — he wanted to take a company of elite troops, use the dense fog to raid the enemy artillery position, and destroy those two cannons. If they could do that, the battle could still be kept at a stalemate.

Zhang Pan rejected the proposal with a bitter smile. The Jianzhou Jurchen troops across the way were all battle-hardened veterans — steady and shrewd. The defense of their artillery position would certainly be tight. At a time of dense fog like this, they would surely be on high alert as well, perhaps even lying in ambush around the cannons with a trap already set. There was no point in wasting men for nothing.

In truth, the way the Jianzhou Jurchen troops had cleared the battlefield the day before already showed their determination to commit to a major assault. Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan both understood clearly that if the Jianzhou Jurchen forces truly attacked the city without regard for the casualties among the true Eight Banners, Jinzhou City would be very hard to hold. Those two cannons were not the decisive factor.

There was another point. This dense fog might be called an obstruction, but in truth it was hardly one. It could block vision, but it could not stop an army's advance, nor could it stop cannonballs from bombarding. The Jianzhou Jurchens were not moving simply because they were taking their time, unhurried and composed. Against such an army, the exhausted troops of the Jinzhou garrison had best not make any rash moves.

Besides those on defense and patrol, there were men on the city walls gazing westward, hoping to pierce through the fog's obstruction and catch some sign of approaching ships. Sadly, nothing could be seen. If the fleet could come, then Jinzhou City would have one more shred of hope. If the ships did not come, then all was lost.

But the dense fog blocked everything — nothing could be made out at all. Yet still everyone stared fixedly. Even those not stationed there would glance westward from time to time. That was where hope lay.

Suddenly, the defenders on the wall felt a chill on their faces. They understood at once what was happening. The wind had picked up!

When fog rose at Jinzhou, if there was no wind, the dense mist could often last the whole day. But if the sea wind began to blow, even a thick fog like this would be dispersed in two hours at most. And that would be the final moment.

"Heaven wants me dead!" More than one person thought this, but no one said it aloud. Ever since they had stayed behind in Liaodong to resist the Jianzhou Jurchen forces, there had been almost no hope at all. They had been fighting on all along in despair and discouragement. Now, it was merely the ending.

Inside Jinzhou City, the shouts and drum-horns of troop deployment began to sound. Likewise, through the fog, the Jianzhou Jurchen camp had already begun to stir. They too were mustering and forming ranks.

The wind was gradually strengthening. On the walls and below, one could even see the mist flowing and shifting. The fog was thinning bit by bit, and every heart was winding tighter.

"Don't any of you be goddamn cowards! Kill a few extra Tartars today, and you'll have some face when you get to the underworld!" Kong Youde said, huffing with fury.

Liu Xingzhi, while helping Liu Xingxian into his armor, muttered with a face full of gloom: "I thought I'd come and win myself a rank and a fortune — eat meat every day, drink wine, sleep with women. Who'd have thought I'd end up throwing my life away..."

"Second Brother, since we're going to fight to the death anyway, what's the point of saying all that?" Liu Xingxian said impatiently.

By now Liu Xingzhi's eyes had gone red. He said through gritted teeth: "I'm the one who dragged Big Brother and you all into the army. I regret it in my heart. These damned Tartars — if it weren't for them, we'd all be married by now!"

He'd only gotten halfway when a tremendous boom suddenly erupted from outside the city. The men observing from the wall scrambled to duck for cover. Below the wall, every heart gave a violent lurch. The Tartars had opened fire.

The cannonball struck the city wall once more. Judging from the point of impact, those two cannons from the day before had not been moved. Everyone hid in terror, but the cannons did not fire again. Instead, they could hear cheering from within the Jianzhou Jurchen ranks. This made the morale of the troops in the city sink even lower.

Some even felt that the cannon fire had nearly shaken the fog itself apart. Only after a while did they realize this was an illusion — which showed just how soul-shaking the impact truly was.

Faintly, they could see that the Jianzhou Jurchen vanguard had already reached the base of the wall. The defenders were just about to mobilize when they saw the enemy pull back again. Before anyone could figure out what move would come next, there was another silence through the fog, and then the cannons roared again. The city shook, but the point of impact had shifted toward the corner of the wall.

On a battlefield, especially one with so little room to maneuver, there weren't that many tricks or stratagems. Each side's intentions were easy enough to read. It seemed the Jianzhou Jurchens meant to batter down the corner of the wall and then charge in through that breach.

At this stage, the bombardment could hardly be called aimed fire — it wouldn't achieve much effect. But it could warm up the cannons and continuously hammer at the morale of the troops inside the city. The adjustment of fire was being done through close observation by Jianzhou Jurchen soldiers, who kept making corrections. The dense fog suited concealment for both sides.

Although Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan had reached a clear judgment the night before, at this moment they still couldn't help but send out a death squad of one company commander's strength, to see if they could use the fog to creep up to the enemy artillery position and take it out. But they had no confidence in their hearts, so they did not commit their finest troops — in particular, the heavy-armor elites from Pi Island and the Dongjiang Garrison were not sent.

The battlefield was very quiet. The company commander's unit climbed down the city wall by rope and vanished into the fog. After that, it remained quiet. Just when everyone reckoned they should be nearing the enemy lines, shouts of battle and furious roars all erupted at once. Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan kept their expressions calm, but a closer look revealed their features twitching faintly. Anyone could tell that the company commander's unit had been completely wiped out. And it turned out just as they expected. After a while, the shouts of battle died down into silence. A few men came stumbling and lurching back toward the city, but before they could climb up, they were shot down by archers who had pursued them from behind.

The fog began to thin. Visibility went from ten paces to twenty paces, from twenty paces to forty paces. The process was speeding up. The outline of the Jianzhou Jurchen camp was now faintly visible. The wind was picking up somewhat. And at that very moment, the cannons roared once more!

The Jianzhou Jurchen battle formations had already begun to advance. They held an absolute advantage in troop strength, and their assault would come from several directions at once. The cannon bombardment was naturally the most convenient approach, but with the cannons providing cover and diversion, the other sectors of Jinzhou's defenses became weak points as well.

"Men of Jinzhou City, young and old! In our villages, at our sides, in our own families — how many have died at the Tartars' hands? Today is the day for vengeance! Kill one and you break even. Kill two, kill three, and you're avenging others. When we go to the underworld, we'll have the face to meet them!" Zhang Pan, holding a long spear, bellowed at the top of his lungs.

The Jinzhou garrison troops already in formation roared in response. Those elite soldiers wearing Xuzhou-made armor struck their breastplates with their arms, producing clanging sounds. Chen Jisheng, gripping a podao blade, joined in the roaring: "The Tartars look down on us — they call us pigs, call us sheep. Today, we'll show them! We are tigers!"