Chapter 798: Scaling the City

Cries of "Defeated! Defeated!" were sparse and scattered at first, then grew louder and louder, finally converging into an irresistible torrent. Ming soldiers shouted as they ran backward with utter abandon. At times, fleeing in blind panic, they jammed together and even turned their blades on one another over who would escape first, as if only now they had found the courage to fight in battle.

Watching this scene, the Jianzhou Jurchen Jin troops could not help but laugh uproariously. In recent years, whenever Han armies faced them in battle, such sights had become commonplace, which only deepened their contempt for the Han.

Yuan Yingtai, supervising the battle from the rear, felt his vision go black.

The front line had clearly collapsed. Just as that advisor had predicted earlier, the soldiers, long since stricken with terror, no longer dared to fight the Jurchens.

Reorganizing the front line and engaging the Jurchens again was obviously impossible now. He could only order an immediate withdrawal and have those troops fall back first.

Perhaps out of fear of the cannons atop the city walls, the Jurchen pursuit lasted only a short while before ceasing. They jeered and cursed outside the city as they withdrew in an orderly fashion, as if they already regarded Liaoyang City as something in the bag.

That night, Yuan Yingtai rested in the Ming army camp outside the city. But it was a sleepless night; he simply could not fall asleep, only tossing and turning, his mind in utter chaos. He thought of many things — of his life's journey: the years of arduous study by lamplight in his youth, then seeing his name on the golden list of successful examinees. After becoming a Presented Scholar, his only thought had been to serve the court. Yet once he entered officialdom, he discovered that the world he had longed for was nothing like what he had imagined... Factional strife and obstruction were everywhere; everyone formed cliques for personal gain and deceived those above and below. No one truly cared about the safety of the nation and its millions of people.

He had wanted to accomplish things back then, but in the end it seemed he had achieved nothing, while his official rank only grew higher and higher, until finally he became the Grand Coordinator of Liaodong for the Great Ming, one of the highest-ranking civil officials.

But what had he, having become Grand Coordinator, actually done for the nation?

Apart from defeat after defeat, losing city after city, and letting countless people of Liaodong fall into the hands of the Jianzhou slaves, what exactly had he done right?

When he realized that the sage teachings he had studied assiduously since childhood and revered as an unshakeable standard were utterly useless in defeating the Jianzhou slaves, this Ming civil official sank into an unprecedented bewilderment and agony.

After much pondering, he could still only think of one resolve: once Liaoyang was breached, the Han would have no foothold left in Liaodong, and a million Liaodong people would inevitably fall into the hands of the Jianzhou slaves, living lives worse than death. As the Grand Coordinator of Liaodong for the Great Ming, he must bear this responsibility with his own life.

It was not until nearly dawn the next day that Yuan Yingtai managed to drag himself up and return to Liaoyang City. Though he rallied his spirits the next day and ascended the city walls to boost morale, the Ming officers and soldiers were still utterly dejected, forming up listlessly below the walls, clearly despondent to the extreme. Seeing this, Yuan Yingtai and Zhang Quan were both heartbroken and distressed, but utterly helpless, able only to sigh in despair atop the walls.

Their lamentation did not last long. As soon as the sky brightened fully, the Jianzhou Jurchen Jin army launched their attack.

Because of the previous day's crushing defeat, the Ming army's morale was even more shattered. The Jianzhou Jurchen Jin troops charged straight up to the city outskirts and then, as if no one else were present, began driving Han civilians to dig ditches and channels to drain the moat, completely disregarding the Ming forces inside the city.

Under Nurhaci's strict order to take charge of the assault, Amin had become desperate with urgency. He personally led his personal guards to direct operations outside the city while supervising the progress of the ditch-digging.

Under the watchful eyes of the Beile and Banner Lord, the soldiers of the Bordered Blue Banner dared not slack off. They drove the Han civilians — captured by the Jianzhou Jurchen Jin troops from villages and hamlets outside the city — to dig with deadly urgency. Though it was already late in the third month in Liaodong, the weather remained bitterly cold and the ground frozen. These Han civilians, clad in thin clothing, men and women, young and old alike, were forced under the Jurchen soldiers' driving to use iron spades, hoes, and even their bare hands to ceaselessly dig at the still rock-hard earth. Some had hands streaming with blood, yet under the Jurchens' whips, blades, and spears, they could only dig while weeping and wailing. Some, unable to endure such terrible torment and suffering, ran backward as if mad, but were swiftly killed by the watching Jurchen soldiers with blades and arrows. The rest could only dig on and on in the grip of fear, hunger, and cold, no longer even hoping to survive this calamity, just digging numbly, digging without end...

As time passed, some grew stiff from hunger and cold and dug slower and slower. Even many lashes of the whip were useless, and finally they collapsed directly onto the ground and died. These silent deaths spread like a contagion across the frozen wilderness in the cold wind. The dead grew more and more numerous, but they received no pity, simply being hauled away and carelessly tossed into a nearby pit, like weeds by the roadside.

Watching the tragic scenes unfolding below the city walls, Yuan Yingtai and Zhang Quan both widened their eyes as if blood would seep from them. Their hands clenched tightly, their entire bodies trembling.

"The Jianzhou slaves so cruelly harm our Han common people — how are they any different from beasts!" Yuan Yingtai cursed in a trembling voice. "We and the Jianzhou slaves cannot share the same sky!"

"We are incompetent, have betrayed the Emperor's trust, brought calamity upon the people, and deserve death ten thousand times over..." Zhang Quan could barely speak anymore, only murmuring to himself incessantly, shaking his head in despair.

Yes, they both knew in their hearts that, however much it pained them, they could do nothing. They could only watch helplessly as the tragedy unfolded and wait for it to descend upon Liaoyang City, where they stood. This sense of powerlessness gnawed at their hearts, adding yet another layer to their anguish.

Driven mercilessly by the Jurchen soldiers, and despite the ceaseless cannon fire and arrows from the city walls, the ditches grew longer and longer, deeper and deeper, until they finally connected with Liaoyang City's moat. The moat water was immediately diverted away along the channels. Watching this, the officers and soldiers inside the city felt a profound despair.

Finding the moat water had become very shallow, Amin was overjoyed. He then gave the order to attack the city via the eastern water gate. Spurred on by both the Jianzhou Jurchen Jin army's harsh military discipline and the hope of looting the city, the queue-wearing Jurchen soldiers howled as they burst from their formations, crossed the moat, and launched a direct assault on the city.

Liaoyang City originally had high walls and was fully equipped with weapons and armor. Although they had lost the engagement outside the walls, their troop strength was still fairly sufficient, and they even had Red Barbarian Cannons to assist in the defense. Yet, even with such favorable conditions, before the howling, charging Jurchen soldiers who kept clambering up the walls, the Ming troops, long since stricken with terror, dared not engage in close combat. They crumbled at the slightest contact with the enemy, utterly unwilling to fight the Jurchens. They quickly collapsed and fled from the walls, allowing the Jianzhou Jurchen Jin troops to ascend the ramparts. Even officers led the flight into the city.

"How utterly shameless! How utterly shameless!" Yuan Yingtai, stationed in the gate tower to supervise the battle, could not help but curse furiously at the sight. "The Liaodong troops have been so generously provided for by the court, yet I never imagined they would be so afraid of death, not daring to fight the Jianzhou slaves! How utterly shameless!"

"Dalai, do you still not understand?! The Liaodong troops are soldiers belonging to their generals. These military houses think only of preserving their own strength. Where in their hearts is there still any nation, any common people! They all scramble to claim credit, but face the enemy like tigers. The state spends millions in grain and pay each year, and this is the kind of beasts in human clothing it has bred! Shameless!" Zhang Quan beside him also heaved a long sigh. "Unless these military houses are rooted out, the decay of Ming affairs in Liaodong will never cease! Ah... but what use is saying this now..."

Just then, one of Yuan Yingtai's personal guards suddenly rushed up into the gate tower.

"My lord! My lord! Terrible news!" he shouted as he ran.

"What is it!" Yuan Yingtai demanded loudly once the man drew near.

"Army Supervisor Sir Gao, Sir Niu, and Sir Hu, and Sir Fu — they've all fled!" The guard's voice already carried a sobbing tone. "They've all run away!"

A wave of dizziness suddenly struck Yuan Yingtai.

The "Sirs" the guard spoke of were the Circuit Intendants serving as Army Supervisors — Gao Chu, Niu Weiyao, Hu Jiadong — and the Ming army's Army Provisions Commissioner, Fu Guo. All were proper officials of the Great Ming, men who should share the nation's fortunes and misfortunes. He had never imagined that at this critical juncture, these officials would abandon the soldiers and civilians in the city and flee over the walls!

Shameless! Shameless!

With such military officers, with such civil officials, how could the Great Ming not be defeated, how could it not be defeated! The Ming Grand Coordinator Yuan Yingtai roared in his heart.

"Dalai, do not be angry. Even if such cowardly rats can flee with their lives, the law of the land will deal with them. Do you fear that vast Heaven will not find justice? We need only serve the nation loyally." Zhang Quan beside him suddenly tugged at Yuan Yingtai's hand, reminding him not to lose composure too much in front of his subordinates.

"Yes, yes... let them go. We need only serve the nation loyally..." Under Zhang Quan's counsel, Yuan Yingtai finally regained some calm. Then, his face ashen, he looked at Zhang Quan. "Yuheng, at this point, I will not urge you to flee. You and I shall divide our positions and hold out, until the very end..."

What to do after that "end" — he did not say it, but both men understood perfectly.

Zhang Quan looked at Yuan Yingtai, then burst into loud laughter and heavily clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good! Good! A true man should be so! Dalai, I shall take my leave first then!"

With that, he turned around and left the gate tower without looking back, then led his personal guards and some troops still capable of being commanded to another defensive position within the city.

Amin stood below the city walls, watching squad after squad of soldiers ascend the ramparts, his heart swelling with ecstasy he could not hide. He shouted orders from below, sending one personal guard after another to relay commands, directing the main army to quickly mount the breached walls and consolidate the gains already made.

Thanks to the three old friends "Yuan Heng Li Zhen," "Gu Wuzhao," and "Guzhou Diaoke" for their tips. Please support Ming Warrior with your double monthly tickets.