Chapter 1369: Bitter Cold Beyond the Pass — Do Not Move Lightly

Many of the terms were unfamiliar, and even the arrangement itself seemed strange. By standard government army practice, after accepting a surrender and granting amnesty, the first step was to disband the majority of the troops, then assign the remainder to the vanguard — the bitter, grueling, death-sentenced duties they would have to endure. Yet the Zhao Family Army was settling them in properly, providing for them, and showing no harsh treatment whatsoever. It looked no different from recruiting new soldiers.

Whether they understood or not, Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan, like all the surrendered officers, simply bowed and accepted their orders. Chen Sheng, however, was somewhat puzzled. Why was it that these two famous generals, known for their loyal, death-defying defense, showed no grief, anger, or helplessness on their faces upon surrendering? Only a sense of relief, as if they had cast off some heavy burden.

Moreover, after receiving his orders, Chen Jisheng became quite uninhibited. He asked rather directly, "General Chen, what do we do next? Where is our army heading?"

It was merely after that bow, but "your esteemed army" had already become "our army." Chen Sheng smiled slightly and said, "We make camp here, stockpile provisions and fodder, then advance on Fuzhou and sweep the surrounding area clean."

Fuzhou Guard was roughly a hundred li northwest of Jinzhou, the critical overland chokepoint from the Liaonan Peninsula into the core region of Liaozhen. There was also a military harbor there; whenever Jinzhou and Lüshun were inconvenient, Fuzhou Bay served as the backup.

Upon hearing this plan, Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan both froze. Zhang Pan hesitated, then spoke earnestly to dissuade him. "General Chen, Fuzhou Guard originally has over two thousand Tartar slave troops. Add the retreating soldiers from Jinzhou here, and that makes eight thousand troops there. With Fuzhou City amply supplied with provisions and its defenses fully intact, if we cannot take it quickly, the Tartar main forces from Liaoyang and Shenyang will arrive very soon. If we get entangled then, I fear there will be great trouble."

Jinzhou and Lüshun lay at the southernmost tip of the Liaonan Peninsula, wrapped in disjointed mountain ranges and hills. Thus, for Ming forces capable of receiving support from the sea, the terrain was very easy to defend and hard to attack.

It was extremely difficult for the Jianzhou Jurchens coming from the north to mass sufficient troops beneath the walls of Jinzhou City. Crossing through those mountains and hills was no easy task, and transporting supplies and provisions was equally arduous. This was precisely why Jinzhou had held out for so long — it was a natural barrier there.

But once you left this region and advanced toward Fuzhou, the situation became entirely different. The western coast of the peninsula, from Fuzhou up to Gaizhou Guard, was all flat terrain suitable for large-scale army movements. Moreover, this area connected directly to the great plains of Liaozhen. From Gaizhou Guard to Haizhou Guard, then northwest toward Guangning, or northeast toward Liaoyang and Shenyang — the entire route was a smooth path, with the Liao River system and the Ling River system running parallel.

And both Guangning and Liao-Shen were precisely where the Jianzhou Jurchens massed their main armies. In other words, the Jianzhou Jurchens could mobilize a large army and strike with relative ease. Fuzhou, lacking any terrain barriers, was easy to attack and hard to defend, leaving one exposed to the full might of a great army.

Seeing Chen Sheng's unmoved expression, Chen Jisheng furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly, then spoke again to dissuade him. "General Chen, our Liao land is bitterly cold. In winter, even the seaports freeze over. When that happens, the ships will be unable to come, and our supply lines will be severed. And once winter arrives, the roads harden, making them suitable for large-scale Tartar slave army movements..."

Chen Sheng's expression was less one of being unmoved and more one of utter blankness. Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan could not tell whether their words had been taken in at all.

Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan exchanged a glance. Chen Jisheng then spoke with even greater earnestness. "General Chen, may I be so bold as to ask, how many more troops will be landing next?"

"Three thousand infantry, one thousand five hundred cavalry."

"That makes just over ten thousand elite troops. In winter, during the farming off-season, the Tartar slaves here can mobilize Jurchen, Mongol, and Han troops likely exceeding fifty thousand. That is a fivefold numerical disparity. And they can replenish their ranks continuously, while once the sea freezes over, your esteemed force will be an isolated army."

Seeing Chen Sheng nod, Chen Jisheng continued. "Your esteemed army has just arrived in this bitter cold land beyond the pass. There will surely be many cases of frostbite and discomfort in winter, which will severely impact morale. At worst, a collapse is possible. Moreover, from Jinzhou to Fuzhou, military supplies can only be transported overland, which is no small expense and makes it even easier for the enemy to sever our grain route and cut us in half. When that time comes, head and tail unable to look after each other, if the sea route cannot be opened for sailing, then there will be grave peril!"

Chen Sheng's reaction left both Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan somewhat agitated. Though this Xuzhou general was young, his shrewdness and depth, his ability to conceal joy and anger, made him seem like a man in his forties. After all they had said, they could not discern his stance at all.

"General Chen, it would be most convenient for your ten-thousand-strong force to encamp at Jinzhou. This place is easy to defend and hard to attack. Even if the Tartar slaves mass a great army, they will have no way to deal with us. Furthermore, Jinzhou has a port, close and convenient to Dengzhou Prefecture in Shandong. We can gather provisions and materiel nearby and plan for the long term. Once we are deeply rooted, we can wait until next year, when conditions are suitable for action, to make further plans. There is no rush."

At this point, Zhang Pan hesitated and paused, but still spoke. "Given the might of your esteemed army, even withdrawing to Dengzhou Prefecture to rest and regroup, then waiting until the sea opens next year to mass a great army and strike, would not be too late!"

"I will say something inauspicious. No one can say for certain what happens on the battlefield. If by any chance there is a mishap, in this place so far from within the passes, it would be a great calamity. The momentum is so good right now; you absolutely must not let it suffer a setback."

For military officers who had just surrendered, Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan had already spoken out of turn. After finishing, they felt some regret and unease, waiting for Chen Sheng's reaction.

"What you two have said is very practical, and all of it comes from the heart. Such conduct suits the Zhao Family Army well. I have high hopes for your future prospects." Chen Sheng said this first. Despite his being younger than them, everyone present found it perfectly natural. Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan also breathed a sigh of relief. Though this young, towering military officer was impassive, his words were very sincere.

A smile appeared on Chen Sheng's face. He said leisurely, "I understand what you two mean. The Tartar troops are mighty; I am outnumbered and outmatched. It would be easy to suffer a defeat, damaging morale, or even have some mishap. Additionally, without maritime support, this land of Liaonan is tantamount to a dead zone, isolated and exposed. Once winter comes and the sea freezes, it is as if our grain route is severed — the risk is too great. Is that the gist of it?"

Without waiting for Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan to respond, Chen Sheng shook his head and added, "Or, to put it more bluntly, you are worried that the Zhao Family Army is too weak, worried that our supplies are insufficient. If we advance rashly, we will not be able to hold out through the winter, and it might even lead to defeat and ruin. Am I right?"

Having it pointed out so directly was embarrassing. Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan both smiled wryly. He was a young man after all, with no restraint in his words and manner.

"The reason I want to advance on Fuzhou is so that we can move troops against Liao-Shen and Guangning at any time. The Tartar slaves need the plains to deploy their great army; I likewise need the plains. The iron-hard frozen ground in winter is advantageous to them, and it is equally advantageous to us."

He was a young man after all. A few words and he could not take it, insisting on pushing back stubbornly. The battlefield is a matter of life and death — how could one act out of spite?

"As for provisions and fodder, I have two avenues. One is shipment by sea. The other is self-procurement. There are manors here occupied by the Tartar slaves. The manors have already been cultivated and harvested, and there are stored grains for the winter. That is what we can procure for ourselves."

"General Chen, if we were over by Liao-Shen and Guangning, self-procurement would indeed be possible. But the farms here have meager harvests and limited stockpiles. How can we self-procure?"

"Therefore, we will rely mainly on maritime shipping."

"Maritime shipping? General Chen, we able-bodied men of Jinzhou, excluding the wounded and disabled, number some fifteen hundred. Your esteemed army numbers over ten thousand. That is roughly thirteen thousand troops in total. How can such a large force rely solely on shipping for its needs? General Chen, the winter in Liao is long. If by any chance the provisions and fodder fail to arrive, army morale will waver immediately. That, I fear, would be a calamity of heaven's making. When that time comes, without even fighting, we will have defeated ourselves!"

By this point, Chen Jisheng had grown somewhat agitated and was arguing outright. Only now did he realize that he had long since lost any loyalty to the Great Ming court. The reason he persisted here was solely to recover Liao land, solely to fight and kill Tartars, to avenge his family and his fellow countrymen. That was why he was unwilling to let this rebel army, which held hope of victory, encounter any mishap.

"There is no need to argue. Wait ten days. If you still feel there is no assurance, then come find me and speak again." Chen Sheng ended the conversation crisply and decisively.

Naturally, Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan would not continue to argue. But when they returned to camp and discussed it privately, they still felt that while the Zhao Family Army was indeed formidable, and Chen Sheng appeared steady, his actions were still somewhat frivolous and rash.

Midway through, Kong Youde came in and offered a different perspective. During his time on Pi Island, he had witnessed the immense wealth of Xuzhou. The daily expenditure and consumption of a single common soldier there was several times that of a personal guard in the Dongjiang Garrison, let alone the common soldiers under the Dongjiang Garrison. However, Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan still did not believe it. As the saying goes, one spends freely when away from home. The Zhao Family Army stationed on Pi Island was surely putting on a front for outsiders, maintaining some degree of face. It was easy enough to keep up appearances for a five-hundred-man battalion. But now, this was the feeding, use, and expenditure of over ten thousand men, and it had to last until the sea opened next year. What a colossal quantity of materiel that would be — how could it possibly be done?

When Chen Sheng said they would rely mainly on maritime shipping, the truth was probably that they would fall back mainly on self-procurement. This region had seen years of warfare; the common people had all been gathered up into the fertile plains between Liao and Shen. There was simply no possibility of self-procurement here. It was still not too late to tough it out now, but when that time came, it would simply be a path to self-destruction.

Many of the ships in the port, after disembarking personnel and equipment, hoisted their sails and departed. By the next day, the number of ships in the port had already thinned out considerably. Seeing this sparse, scattered sight, Chen Jisheng and Zhang Pan had even less confidence in the Zhao Family Army. Still, they did not rush to remonstrate again. Young men needed face; it would not do to make things too awkward. There were still nearly three months before the sea froze over — time was still early.

The Jinzhou garrison soon witnessed Xuzhou's swift and decisive efficiency. The garrison's wounded and disabled, as well as those unwilling to stay, were quickly sent aboard ships and taken directly back to Shandong. The others were organized, their original unit structures shattered and reorganized into fifty-man squads, led by the Zhao Family Army's logistics teams in labor.

The area around the city had to be cleared, the city walls repaired, and the port was the top priority. The already stinking corpses had to be burned on the spot. Nearby forests had to be felled for construction materials. Everyone bore a heavy burden of labor. Though they worked like oxen and horses, no one complained, because they ate their fill, and the food was not bad. Grain was sufficient, and there were vegetables to go with it. If you could stomach it, there was even a supply of fish, shrimp, and seafood. Since they could eat their fill, no one begrudged their own strength.