Chapter 953: A City That Undermined Itself

Some of these people were already members of the Scent-Smelling Sect, even core cadres. Because of this, they were relatively sturdier than other refugees, slightly sharper, and knew how to work together. As long as they kept their heads down on the manor, they were easily selected for the militia and received training from the Zhao Battalion. These militiamen then had a better chance of escaping back and a greater chance of surviving than the others.

At first, the various branch halls and congregations of the Scent-Smelling Sect in Shandong paid no attention, even remaining guarded, suspecting them to be spies sent back by Xuzhou. But slowly, word reached Xu Hongru. By now, the fearsome reputation of the Xuzhou militia and village braves had spread everywhere, and Xu Hongru also wanted to learn the secret methods of their troop training.

When they saw that the so-called secret method was nothing but foot drill, merely demanding they stand in neat rows, march in neat rows, distinguish left from right, and use long spears while stepping to the beat of a drum, it all came down to discipline. There was no emphasis on martial valor or combat skills.

Could just a few hundred or a thousand men standing together, advancing, retreating, dispersing, and regrouping according to rules, leveling or angling their spears when meeting the enemy, and gritting their teeth without moving—could that really make them invincible and able to withstand a cavalry charge? It sounded far too mystical. From Xu Hongru down to Xu Hongju and the others tasked with learning it, no one believed it.

The martial men already within the Scent-Smelling Sect were even more resistant to this. Victory on the battlefield depended on each man's martial skill and valor; when had it ever been about rules? They had tempered their bodies and studied martial arts since childhood, surviving one vicious, deadly fight after another. Could they really be less useful than a bunch of poor wretches who had only ever held farm tools and never gripped a blade, after just a few months of training? Wasn't that a joke?

Despite his many doubts, Xu Hongru already knew that these martial braves within the Scent-Smelling Sect were no match for the government troops or the household retainers of Xuzhou. He was desperate to find a new method. The Scent-Smelling Sect aimed to do great things. In the beginning, they would incite refugees and commoners to sweep across the land, but when it came time for the real test, when facing the main force of the government army, they would still have to rely on their own core strength. Yet, at present, that core was clearly unreliable.

Moreover, while the people around him objected, a few trusted subordinates from a military background felt this training method was workable. Many had also witnessed the Zhao Battalion's past campaigns and all said the Zhao Battalion was just like this. Only then did the Scent-Smelling Sect's leader, Xu Hongru, decide to train a unit and give it a try.

At first, they did not train too many, only a thousand men. The Scent-Smelling Sect, from top to bottom, shared one consensus about Xuzhou's secret training method: it was far too costly in coin and grain. Every man had to eat his fill, and they had to wear uniforms as identical as possible. The appetites of those selected able-bodied young men were enormous; a thousand men meant expenses flowing away like water.

After this unit was trained, the method to test it was simple. The Scent-Smelling Sect brought in mounted brigands from the outlaw fraternity and ordered them to charge on horseback. They also had the defiant ones within their own sect attack. They tested their combat strength without regard for life or death.

The result surprised everyone and greatly satisfied Xu Hongru. Those mounted brigands who came and went like the wind normally cared nothing for militia and village braves in open battle, who would simply collapse after one coordinated charge. Yet this square formation before them held firm. Those sect followers and able-bodied youths, who had never held a blade, never been on a battlefield, and might even panic at a startled horse, leaned on each other and stood rock steady. Meanwhile, those martial men within the sect who boasted of their strength and valor were utterly helpless before this long-shafted square formation. They were beaten back the moment they drew near. Had real blades been used, they would have been stabbed full of holes long ago. The only worry was that they could not withstand arrows. Even with the arrowheads removed so they wouldn't kill, the young men in the square formation would still flinch and scatter in panic.

No matter how much the Scent-Smelling Sect prepared, they had no way to acquire much armor. The scant few sets they had were all issued to leaders at various levels. Those followers returning from Xuzhou suggested making protective gear from bamboo strips and wooden planks, which could provide a measure of defense. But they couldn't do that either, because it would be far too easy for word to leak. Although the Scent-Smelling Sect's operations were gradually moving into the open, drilling private troops like this was still taboo. Mass-producing bamboo and wooden protective gear would be impossible to keep secret.

Beyond that, those returning from Xuzhou constantly emphasized discipline. Everyone, from top to bottom, had to follow the rules. According to them, in actual combat, discipline could be established after suffering a few defeats. Without actual combat, it would take several years of bitter training. But they could not easily expose themselves now, so actual combat was out of the question. Yet with the great undertaking about to begin, there was no time to train for that long either.

But these did not become problems. The Scent-Smelling Sect was most adept at manipulating people's hearts. They lacked protective gear, and lacked actual combat and training to form discipline, but the Scent-Smelling Sect had devout, faithful, and fanatical followers. Relying on religious piety and hatred for the present world, the handpicked followers and believers could be made to feel that dying in service meant ascending to immortality and entering the Land of Ultimate Bliss. With such faith, they could stand firm without retreating under a hail of arrows and strictly adhere to rules and restraints.

After achieving this, Xu Hongru established several secret camps in the mountainous areas near Dongping Prefecture and on Mount Liang near Yuncheng, supplying them with money and grain from the canal transport operations. Much of the grain bought from Zhao Jin was not meant to sustain the refugees, but for the consumption of their own core forces and these troops. This was the very foundation of the Scent-Smelling Sect, and they had to be fully prepared. Although Mount Liang had long since lost its great marsh, the mountains could still hide some people. As for the mountainous areas near Dongping Prefecture, they stretched across several prefectures, the domain of outlaws and mounted brigands, a place no ordinary person would ever enter.

This force had been preserved until now and played a decisive role on the battlefield. The arrogant and overbearing government troops had never imagined the roving bandits could possess such a disciplined unit. To allow this force to achieve its maximum effect, the Scent-Smelling Sect had even arranged other able-bodied core members around the periphery, heedless of the loss of life, all to achieve this element of surprise. The only regret was that they could not gather enough firearms, and archers were not so easy to find either. But these were all minor details.

Everyone had made a calculation: even if they faced the Zhao Battalion, the Zhao Battalion's bows and firearms would not be able to shatter these few square formations. From back then until now, the Scent-Smelling Sect had paid close attention to every battle the Zhao Battalion fought. Every major victory for those Xuzhou men had been won with the long spear.

On the seventh day of the fifth month of the second year of the Tianqi reign, outside the city of Jining, six thousand government troops fought a great battle against over a hundred thousand roving bandits. Though they fought valiantly and slew countless foes, the bandits continued to gather in swarms. The government troops, finally outnumbered, fought to the last man. Only the Regional Commander, Yang Guodong, broke through with his cavalry; the rest died for their country.

Shandong Regional Commander Yang Guodong fled at full speed, racing ahead of the defeated army and the roving bandits to the walls of Jining. At that time, the city gates were not yet closed, but from the high vantage point of the walls, it was already clear the government army had suffered a crushing defeat. The commoners who had been tidying up outside were now frantically surging into the city. Though one could not see clearly from the city wall to a distance of twenty li, there was no reason for the dust cloud to be moving this way if the government army had won a great victory.

At that moment, Yang Guodong and his followers could still have entered Jining. A large force of government troops entering the city would not be allowed, but their few hundred elite cavalry were very welcome. After all, they could not cause major harm and would be a great help to the city's defense.

However, Regional Commander Yang Guodong turned his head to look at the towering dust cloud drawing ever closer and said in a muffled voice, "Let's go. We're heading to Dongchang Prefecture!"

As for talk of punishment, he was not really worried. As long as he had his personal troops and cavalry in hand, by convention the court would not investigate deeply. The infantry below could always be scraped together in some number, but the personal troops and household retainers were the true core of a military officer's power. Many officers awaiting punishment were sent to the border garrisons to atone for their crimes through service, but if you went bringing your personal troops and core household retainers, you would generally keep your rank unchanged, with glory, wealth, and status intact.

No one had expected this. Six thousand government troops, marching out in majestic might to suppress roving bandits—in such battles, one could usually match ten, or match a hundred. Who could have imagined they would be almost completely annihilated by thirty thousand roving bandits? The commander fled to Dongchang Prefecture. The mood of the officials and gentry inside Jining immediately plummeted to rock bottom. Many officials, gentry, and commoners who had stayed on the city walls, ready to watch the imperial army return in triumph, instead saw defeated soldiers fleeing for their lives, saw the vast horde of refugees charging over with terrifying momentum, and as dusk approached, saw that disciplined square formation. Everyone fell into despair.

On that very day, the various groups of refugees who had been lingering on the outskirts of Jining Prefecture, supposedly having withdrawn, came surging back, once again surrounding the city of Jining so tightly that not a drop of water could leak through. This time, it was not like before. They did not attack the city with reckless abandon, but instead blocked several city gates, while others sealed off every road.

That day, the fighting atop and below the walls had left mountains of corpses and seas of blood, like a vision of hell. Now, below the walls, they merely laid siege, staying well out of range of the stone throwers and bows. Jining's grain reserves were still ample, and the village braves and militia had not suffered many casualties. Yet it was within this very calm that an atmosphere of despair permeated the city. The government army had been defeated. The overweening Regional Commander Yang Guodong had not even dared to enter the city and had fled far away. The roving bandits actually possessed elite troops no weaker than the government army. What was to be done now? Everyone knew the efficiency of the court and the local authorities. It had taken half a month for the local government troops to arrive. How much longer would it take for the court to redeploy government forces? As for Regional Commander Yang Zhaoji from Caozhou, it was said he hadn't even gathered the provisions needed to march; he was utterly unreliable. If anything went wrong in the meantime, all would be lost.

Seeing the defeat outside the city, the panic and despair within were not unusual emotions. After a few days, they would come to their senses. The roving bandits outside the city still had no way to breach Jining. Relying on their grain reserves and holding fast, they could hold out for a long, long time, until the situation changed.

But on the very day after that battle, rumors and news inside the city suddenly multiplied. People went to the authorities with secret reports, claiming that so-and-so was a congregation head or branch leader of the Scent-Smelling Sect, lying in wait within the city, ready at any moment to collaborate from within and open the gates to welcome the bandits. Others posted proclamations saying that the divine army of the Scent-Smelling Sect would soon enter the city, that they would not harm a single soul, and that everyone should follow them, or else not even a chicken or dog would be left alive.

The already panicked populace and leadership of Jining grew even more tense because of these messages and incidents. The authorities' greatest fear was internal collaboration with external forces. At times like this, harsh laws and cruel punishments had to be used to sever all hidden threats and stabilize the city's defenses.

Thanks to "Yuan Heng Li Zhen" and "Wu Liulang," two old friends, for the tips. There's one more day until the end of March. Brothers, cast your monthly tickets and tips for Great Ming Wufu. Thank you, everyone.