Chapter Seventeen: Guerrilla Warfare

Lu Xiangsheng said, "I see that General Zhao's men are all fierce and valiant warriors. How about I ask General Zhao to hold the line for the Imperial Guard? Once the enemy forces are routed, your men shall be tasked solely with beheading them."

Initially, upon hearing he was to "hold the line," Zhao Shuijiao’s heart sank; without military merit, he did not know when he would ever regain his lost post. However, when he heard they were to be responsible for beheading the enemy, his mood instantly brightened. Since he was tasked with the beheadings, he would surely be able to claim a share of the heads in the end. He hurriedly expressed his gratitude, saying, "I thank the Scholar for his kindness; I shall strictly follow your orders."

Lu Xiangsheng ordered the cavalry to remain mounted, then spread out in a single line and advanced slowly. When they were sixty paces from the Later Jin forces, they began to fire. The horses’ ears had long since been plugged with cotton, so the sound of the gunfire did not startle them. When the Later Jin forces began their charge, the cavalry would quickly retreat. In this way, the Later Jin could only take the blows without any means to strike back. If they carried away their fallen soldiers, they would be even less able to shake off the Ming pursuit, so by the time the Imperial Guard returned, the ground was littered with the corpses of the Later Jin soldiers.

Lu Xiangsheng led the cavalry ahead, leaving Zhao Shuijiao and his personal attendants to collect the heads. By the time they caught up, the Later Jin forces had unexpectedly established a camp at the foot of a small hill.

Lu Xiangsheng looked at the enemy camp and praised, "I did not expect the Jiannu to have generals well-versed in fortification. The Emperor said that because they fight so often, they have learned how to fight; it is truly so."

The cavalry battalion commander beside him, Wang Chengmin, said, "The Scholar has used this method to leave the Jiannu with no options but to entrench and defend. But how long can they hold out this way? Surely they cannot just live there."

Lu Xiangsheng laughed and said, "This is not a method I devised; this is the 'guerrilla warfare' the Emperor spoke of. It is truly effective here. Let us fall back a bit and let the horses have a good rest, then we shall strike again at night."

The Ming army retreated two miles. By a small stream, the cavalry dismounted, took out feed bags to give the warhorses a few handfuls of soybeans, led them to the stream to drink, and then let them graze. After tending to the horses, they took out parched flour to eat.

Lu Xiangsheng and Wang Chengmin carefully observed the enemy camp from half a mile away. Through their telescopes, they saw the Later Jin forces reinforcing their front palisades. The two moved to the side, but there was little activity there. After watching for a while, they turned back.

At night, the cavalry had rested. Lu Xiangsheng led about eight hundred cavalrymen who did not suffer from night blindness (since cornmeal was added to the parched flour, the rate of night blindness among the soldiers had decreased; Zhu Youxiao had bought up all the corn in Yan'an Prefecture). They moved toward the enemy camp on foot.

The moon had risen. Although it was not very bright, one could still see clearly within a hundred paces. When they reached a point about two hundred paces from the enemy camp, Lu Xiangsheng made a "hush" sound. The men behind him passed the signal down the line, and the main force halted.

Lu Xiangsheng looked at a small pile of dry grass fifty paces ahead and understood Yue Tuo’s plan. It seemed Yue Tuo had prepared for a night attack by the Ming forces and had set up countermeasures.

Lu Xiangsheng passed the order down: the whole army was to lie prone. The first unit of cavalry was to fire in unison upon hearing the sound of a matchlock, while the second and third units were to remain still. Once the order was relayed, he signaled Wang Chengmin to fire.

After one shot rang out, many matchlocks fired together. From the Later Jin camp, several fire arrows were shot, landing on the piles of dry grass outside the camp, instantly illuminating the area in front as if it were day.

However, there was no sign of the Ming army before the camp, leaving the Later Jin archers, who had been waiting to shoot the Ming soldiers down, very disappointed. Yue Tuo knew the Ming army had not been fooled and must be behind the fire line, but he could not send anyone out to attack. Still, thinking that he had already sent for reinforcements and would soon shake off these persistent pests, he felt a measure of joy.

The fire gradually died down. Wang Chengmin suggested, "Scholar, perhaps we should wait for the fire to go out before we launch our attack."

Lu Xiangsheng shook his head. "Since the Jiannu are prepared, a frontal assault will not be very effective. Let us withdraw for now and discuss it tomorrow at daybreak."

Lu Xiangsheng led his troops back to their temporary camp. Seeing them return, Zhao Shuijiao hurriedly asked about the situation. Lu Xiangsheng said, "The Jiannu are prepared. We should not entangle ourselves with them. Everyone, pack up; we are heading back."

They withdrew to Zhongyousuo that night. Yuan Chonghuan had already gathered some of the scattered able-bodied men but had not arranged for them to head to Shanhai Pass. When Lu Xiangsheng asked why, Yuan Chonghuan said, "Since we have the Scholar’s reinforcements, we should be able to fight the Jiannu. We can keep the Bordered Red Banner here; does the Scholar not desire such a great merit?"

Lu Xiangsheng replied, "I only brought a thousand or so men to select Liaodong people this time. All the reinforcements total only this much, and it is still several days' journey from here to Shanhai Pass. The able-bodied men are untrained and cannot be used in actual combat. Furthermore, our food supplies are insufficient, so it is better to withdraw first."

Yuan Chonghuan was still unwilling and said, "Then let the able-bodied men go first; together we have nearly ten thousand soldiers. We should be able to tear a piece of flesh off the Bordered Red Banner. What does the Scholar think?"

Zhao Shuijiao wanted to speak but hesitated. Lu Xiangsheng said, "One must consider the possibility of defeat before contemplating victory. The Jiannu also have reinforcements. How about we send the able-bodied men back to Shanhai Pass first, and then lead the main army to fight?"

Zhao Shuijiao also said, "The Scholar’s words are reasonable. Our reinforcements are insufficient in number; we only managed to scare off the Jiannu by relying on the strength of our firearms. If the Jiannu receive reinforcements, we will be in danger."

Li Chengxian and Lu Zhijia also supported Lu Xiangsheng’s idea. Yuan Chonghuan’s rank was not as high as theirs, and with no one to support him, he had no choice but to agree.

Thus, Yuan Chonghuan and Lu Zhijia led the twenty thousand gathered able-bodied men and three thousand Ming soldiers to leave first. Zhao Shuijiao and Li Chengxian each led two thousand Ming soldiers, gathering scattered able-bodied men as they marched, while Lu Xiangsheng led the cavalry to cover the rear and collect the stragglers.

Lu Xiangsheng ordered the cavalry to operate by banner units, stipulating that they were only to go as far as Ningyuan. Upon reaching Ningyuan, they were to turn west immediately. If any situation arose, they were to use the sound of matchlocks as a signal; upon hearing it, they were to immediately go to support.

Lu Xiangsheng led one banner of cavalry toward the northeast. On a small hill, he saw a dozen or so able-bodied men walking toward the east. The banner captain said, "Are they lost? Why are they headed in that direction?"

Lu Xiangsheng shook his head and said, "I fear they are not lost. They are headed east on purpose. Now that the sun is high, one can clearly distinguish directions. You take two men and tell them they are heading the wrong way, but be careful not to get too close to them, understand?"

The banner captain nodded and took two cavalrymen to catch up. These men were exactly Bi Mazi, Mr. Li, and his subordinates. Having failed in their assassination of Yang San, they had no choice but to follow along. During Yuan Chonghuan’s breakout, they had seized the chance to scream and shout, causing the able-bodied men to scatter in fear. At this moment, they wanted to surrender to the Later Jin but had no bargaining chips in hand. Yet, if they did not defect to the Later Jin, they had already shaved their heads, so after much thought, they felt they had no choice but to defect to the Later Jin.