Chapter 66: A Scholar May Be Killed, But Not Humiliated?

October 20th in the eleventh year of Chongzhen under the Great Ming dynasty, at the midpoint of the Wei hour.

About twenty-five li southeast of the Yongding Gate in Beijing, over the Liangshui River, stood a stone bridge where a group of Ming soldiers were working in tense haste.

More than ten Ming soldiers dressed in red mandarin jackets with mandarin duck patterns rushed toward the bridgehead and swiftly moved aside the caltrops positioned there. Four soldiers charged onto the stone bridge, each holding a long-handled heavy broom, and swept fiercely, pushing the iron caltrops from the center toward both sides.

About ten paces west of the stone bridge, there was a chest-high earthen wall forming a semicircle. It ran along the official highway connected to the stone bridge all the way to the banks of the Liangshui River on both sides. Two large carts were placed across the official highway, leaving a passage more than a zhang wide in the middle.

In front of the earthen wall was a shallow ditch one pace wide, reaching about waist height. Several wooden chevaux-de-frise were scattered messily before the shallow ditch. Behind the earthen wall, fifteen matchlocks rested atop the wall, aimed at the direction of the stone bridge.

East of the stone bridge, a cloud of dust mixed with the rumbling sound of pounding hooves grew closer and closer, surging toward the stone bridge.

They were the cavalry of the right platoon's first squad under Zhang Cheng's command, who had been out on scouting duty today. Led by squad leader Zuo Qinghe, they were galloping toward the stone bridge against the glaring evening sun.

The group of over thirty horsemen did not cross the bridge. When they were a hundred paces away from the stone bridge, they began to slow their horses, stopped about twenty paces in front of the bridge, and began to change mounts.

The horses that had just been running at a gallop halted in their tracks, snorting incessantly. The sounds of "snort, snort" rose one after another. After completing the mount change, the riders patted the rumps of the horses they had just ridden, continuously blowing whistles and shouting. Those horses let out whinnies, trotted onto the stone bridge, and ran toward the west.

"Form up, check your matchlocks, prepare your bows and arrows!"

Squad leader Zuo Qinghe shouted loudly.

The riders quickly split into three ranks, reigning in their horses on the north side of the official highway east of the stone bridge. About three hundred paces to their east, dust rolled forward, and the rumbling sound of hoofbeats was even heavier than before.

Just as Zuo Qinghe ordered them to form up, two messengers with command flags inserted into their backs galloped across the stone bridge. Behind the large carts on the west side of the bridge, they encountered Cao Li'an, the squad leader garrisoning the bridge, and shouted hurriedly, "Commander Cao! About five hundred Tatar cavalry are coming! Report this quickly to your garrison commander!"

With that, they whipped their horses and sped away along the official highway, turning north in the distance to dash toward the ruined fortress where Zhang Cheng and the others had made camp.

***

Ma Yuan led the third squad galloping back, waving his arms from afar and shouting at the top of his lungs, "Leader Zuo! Cross the bridge! Cross the bridge..."

***

Their squad of thirty-three cavalrymen came thundering past. Several of them appeared to be wounded, stained with patches of bright red blood. They did not stop upon reaching Zuo Qinghe, but merely yelled, "Cross the bridge! Quickly cross the bridge..." and charged right through, leaving only a sky full of dust billowing over the official highway.

Looking far into the distance behind Ma Yuan and his men, Zuo Qinghe caught sight of red cloaks flashing incessantly amidst a cloud of dust about three hundred paces away. Further off, a vast sheet of dust was rolling in a fan shape toward his position.

He hurriedly shouted out an order, and the thirty-three horsemen followed behind Ma Yuan's group, galloping across the stone bridge and coming to a halt only after passing behind the large carts.

They ran face-to-face into Liu Changliang, platoon commander of the rear guard of the infantry thousand-man garrison, who hurried forward to greet them. "Commander Liu! There are over five hundred Tatars, and they're right on Commander Tong's heels..."

Liu Changliang waved his large hand, and the more than one hundred soldiers of the first squad who had run forward with him dispersed in a fan shape behind the earthen wall. Another forty-odd matchlocks were mounted atop the wall, aimed toward the stone bridge.

"Listen up, everyone! Don't panic! Keep your hands steady for me! The brothers of the cavalry platoon killed over a hundred Tatars at Mafang, so today we get to show our mettle too!" Liu Changliang shouted. His words instantly boosted the spirits of the soldiers behind the earthen wall.

The sound of rapid hoofbeats approached, and another thirty-odd cavalrymen galloped across the stone bridge. They looked somewhat exhausted, with arrows still stuck in the armor of several men, the arrow feathers trembling continuously as fresh blood slowly oozed from the wounds.

Tong Shoushan also had several arrows piercing his body, and his left shoulder was soaked with a patch of fresh red.

The moment he crossed the stone bridge, he dismounted in a single agile motion and said to Liu Changliang, "Tatars! Several hundred damn Tatars chased me for more than twenty li."

Before Liu Changliang could reply, Tong Shoushan caught his breath and continued, "They cost me several of my brothers—they're fierce as hell. But we didn't come out empty-handed either; we captured a live one to claim a reward as a Feiling Aha, and sliced off a dozen Tatar heads."

Having said this, he turned around and yelled at Bao Jiqiang, the second squad leader, "Baozi! Hang those three Tatar corpses up on the big tree so the bastards on the other side can get a good look!"

Only then did Liu Changliang manage to chime in, "Commander Tong, catch your breath first, and the cavalry brothers have worked hard too. The alert has already been sent back to the main camp, and our Chen garrison is on the way as well. We will never let the Tatars cross this bridge."

As soon as Tong Shoushan and his men crossed, the bridge-guarding soldiers swept the ground twice with their heavy brooms and ran back. They had just placed the wooden chevaux-de-frise in position when the Tatar cavalry caught up to the stone bridge, slowing down about a hundred paces away and finally halting some thirty paces from the bridge.

The soldiers hurried back behind the earthen wall and swiftly reassembled the large carts to completely block the official highway.

Chen Dakuan, commander of the vanguard platoon of the Right Wing Camp infantry thousand-man garrison, rode up swiftly. He was followed by the soldiers of the second squad from the third platoon. Since the second squad of the first platoon had been guarding the stone bridge all along, and the third platoon was left behind to secure the ruined pier, only the thirty-three soldiers of the second squad had come to reinforce them.

By the side of the official highway behind the earthen wall, an earthen platform had been piled up. Chen Dakuan, Liu Changliang, and Tong Shoushan stood upon it, gazing across at the other side of the stone bridge.

***

The dust on the east bank of the Liangshui River gradually dispersed, and Chen Dakuan saw a pure white banner appear before his eyes, followed immediately by a vast expanse of white flags fluttering fiercely in the biting wind.

Beneath the dense forest of banners were nothing but horsemen clad in pure white cotton armor inlaid with iron plates. Atop their tall, dark, pointed helmets, white helmet tassels danced in the wind.

"Tatars of the Plain White Banner, and it looks like it's led by a Niru Ejei," Tong Shoushan said in a deep voice.

"Commander Chen, we also managed to catch a live one for the Feiling Aha reward."

Without waiting for Chen Dakuan to respond, he turned and shouted to Zuo Qinghe, "Wake that Feiling Aha up, hang him from the tree, and let the bastards on the other side have a look!"

Chen Dakuan turned his head and saw that bound to the large tree by the riverbank with hemp ropes, hanging upside down from a large branch, were the headless corpses of three Tatars. Blood was still continuously pouring from their severed necks, flowing down the riverbank and into the Liangshui River, staining the water a deep red.

The Tatar Feiling Aha had by then been revived. Covered in dust, he dangled powerlessly, shouting frantically in the Tatar language.

Chen Dakuan asked, "Damn it, what is this Tatar squawking about?"

Ma Yuan had originally served as a scout and had learned the Tatar language. Hearing the platoon commander's question, he stepped forward and said, "Reporting to Commander Chen and Commander Tong, what the Tatar is saying means, 'A soldier may be killed, but not humiliated.'"

Chen Dakuan stared with wide eyes and cursed angrily, "Damn Tatar, talking about 'killed but not humiliated,' my foot! Go strip that son of a bitch's clothes off, whip his balls with a thin willow switch, and let the Tatars on the other side have a look!"

Ma Yuan acknowledged the order and left. Meanwhile, Tong Shoushan watched the Tatars on the opposite side as they continued to form up. Scattered Tatar cavalrymen were still arriving one after another. These were likely camp followers and auxiliary troops from the banners, along with the personal servants and bondservants brought along by the armored soldiers and foot soldiers.

Although these men also rode horses, most of them only had mules and horses from their own households, which could hardly compare to the prime steeds ridden by the armored cavalrymen. Naturally, they had been left far behind and were only now catching up in succession.