Chapter 637 — Encounter Battle
The post road curved gradually inland from the coast, and they had been marching for hours. He Rubin gauged the sun's westward slant—roughly the beginning of shen hour, around three in the afternoon. Rolling hills and low mountains stretched in every direction; not far from the road rose a small hill, lush with grass and trees. He drew on his reins and guided his horse up a slight rise beside the post road, his personal guards and officers scrambling to follow.
He sat astride a Mongolian steed, spirited and handsome. The saddle, bridle, and stirrups were all of polished brass, buffed to a shine by his guards before departure and now dazzling in the afternoon light. Reins in his left hand and whip in his right, he surveyed the endless stream of men, horses, and banners advancing below him, and a surge of smug satisfaction swelled in his chest.
"Lieutenant Colonel Tang!" he called out.
"This humble general is here!"
"How far to Chengmai?"
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief—thirty li remain." Tang Yunwen clasped his hands on horseback. "This place is called Shishan."
He Rubin studied the small hill, perhaps a hundred zhang from the road. It would make an excellent position from which to control the post road. Had the Hair Bandits laid an ambush here, his army would have faced a hard fight before passing. But the scouts had already swept the area—there were no enemy troops in wait.
"The Hair Bandits do not understand warfare," He Rubin remarked. "Had they established a camp here with men to guard it, we would have been forced to take this hill before advancing further."
"What Your Excellency says is most astute." Chang Qingyun's face was caked with dust, and his buttocks were rubbed raw, but he had insisted on following close behind He Rubin's headquarters rather than riding with the Old Camp column. He hoped that speaking up at moments like these would demonstrate both his tactical knowledge and his attitude of diligence and loyalty.
"The terrain here is critical. Establish a Supply Depot at this location!" He Rubin ordered.
The campaign strategy called for a prolonged siege, so provisioning more than twenty thousand men was a matter of paramount importance. Sea transport, the most convenient option, was closed to them—the Hair Bandits' "strong ships and swift cannons" ruled those waters. Land transport over Hainan's abysmal post roads was notoriously difficult, whether over short distances or long. Relying on conscripted laborers to haul grain on their shoulders and push carts for hundreds of li was a recipe for disaster. Thus, the Ming army had adopted a layered system of Supply Depots, each one transshipping provisions to the next along the route.
Shishan possessed both defensible terrain and appropriate distance; it was an ideal location for a transit depot. He Rubin immediately ordered a Chiliarch to take five hundred soldiers and establish a camp here, garrisoning it as a grain transfer station. He also planned to set up a second depot inside Chengmai's county seat once the siege was lifted. Establishing a depot every forty or fifty li, each with its own garrison, would not only keep provisions flowing to the army but also secure his rear.
The grand army encamped at Shishan that evening. With Hair Bandit troops still outside Chengmai's walls, He Rubin decided to rest here for one night, allowing the soldiers to recharge before tomorrow's arrival. Better this than to march hungry and exhausted soldiers into battle against a fresh and waiting enemy; even a minor defeat beneath the city walls would devastate morale.
"Tomorrow afternoon, our army will arrive before Chengmai," He Rubin told his gathered generals and private secretaries at the evening meeting. "According to the city's urgent dispatches, the Hair Bandits have constructed earthworks and established a camp outside the walls. With perhaps two thousand men and artillery, their defenses must be substantial. But our army must take them in one vigorous effort—we cannot afford a setback!"
"Yes!" the generals answered in thunderous unison.
Zhao Ruyi spoke up: "Local officials are notorious for concealing failures and embellishing successes. Whenever rebels or bandits appear, they invariably exaggerate their numbers ten or even several dozen times. Even if there are more than two thousand men in their camp, the majority are most likely coerced commoners. My soldiers will break them in a single drum beat."
"What Your Excellency says is most true. However, caution remains the best policy." He Rubin turned to the Central Army Garrison Commander. "General Ye, bring me the latest urgent dispatch from Chengmai."
Ye Zhengfang shook his head. "Reporting to Your Excellency—Chengmai's dispatches have not arrived for three or four days. I fear the Hair Bandits have completely encircled the city and severed all traffic."
"In that case, we must exercise even greater caution!" He Rubin felt an unease he could not quite name settling in his gut. "Send more scouts tomorrow!"
The sun blazed overhead, scorching and relentless.
Extra-numerary Squad Leader Zhong Xiao had lost count of how many times he had removed his sun-baked helmet. He halted his horse in the shade of a tree beside a narrow road, and the few cavalrymen behind him followed suit.
"Squad Leader! Why are we stopping?" one of his men asked.
"Move my ass—it's too damn hot. This ghostly place!" Zhong Xiao cursed. His armor was not only roasting him alive but was also crushingly heavy under the sun, and the leather bindings reeked with a disgusting stench. He had been ordered to lead a few men to act as scouts, investigating any signs of the enemy.
Only after removing his helmet did he feel any relief. He sighed heavily. Fighting wars was truly a tormented existence—fear aside, the marching alone claimed half his life.
"Squad Leader, allow this small one to hold that helmet." A soldier surnamed Xu beside him spoke up obsequiously.
"Good, take it." Zhong Xiao tossed the helmet into his outstretched hands. "Daddy needs to relax! This ghostly place—can't even find someone to beg a mouthful of water from."
The water they had brought was long since consumed. There was no sign of any place to replenish it.
"There's water here." Soldier Xu hurriedly produced a bamboo tube. "This small one brought extras before heading out today. You are our backbone—nothing can go wrong with you."
"Good lad, truly capable!" Zhong Xiao praised him. The other soldiers inwardly cursed Xu as shameless—always wearing that smiling face, serving the Squad Leader as attentively as if he were a master, fishing for more than his share of benefits.
Zhong Xiao's small squad of cavalry had separated from the main force, left the post road, and set out south to patrol for any signs of enemy activity.
They had traveled more than ten li in one stretch. Along the way, they had occasionally seen a few peasants toiling in the fields, but not a single other soul. Zhong Xiao wanted to seize a peasant for questioning, but the moment the farmers spotted helmeted and armored government soldiers, they fled, scrambling and crawling away. Horses were impossible to chase through the paddies, which made him angry enough to curse their mothers.
Since he could not catch anyone to interrogate, he had to lead his men onward at a slow pace. Accustomed to the dense population of Guangdong, arriving in Hainan felt like entering a wasteland. Uncultivated land stretched everywhere. Villages along the way were few and far between, and when they encountered one, the inhabitants had long since fled with their valuables.
"Where are these Hair Bandits hiding?!" Zhong Xiao cursed. "They're probably eating, drinking, and making merry at Bopu right now, sleeping with little wenches!"
"Squad Leader speaks truly!" Soldier Xu echoed. "How would Hair Bandits dare come out to fight? They can only fire their guns from afar."
"Come on—let's go look at that wooded hill over there!" His spirits lifted after drinking, Zhong Xiao pointed toward a small rise in the distance.
"Southeast, four o'clock direction, five hundred meters. Five enemy cavalry, moving northwest!" A designated marksman observing from a large tree reported in a low voice.
Chen Sigen had nearly drifted to sleep. Hearing the report, he slowly shifted to the observation position. He had been lying in ambush in a foxhole on this small hill with three scouts since the previous night, monitoring the surrounding area.
His orders were simple: eliminate all government army units of fewer than ten men appearing within their patrol range. Suspicious persons, even those not in government army attire, could also be captured or killed.
Due to their lack of mobility, the Special Reconnaissance Team's screening patrols had to rely on two legs. Although the team's members possessed several times the endurance of ordinary men, intercepting small groups of scout cavalry across a wide area was still exhausting work.
Bei Wei had adopted a sector responsibility system, dividing the screening area into zones. Every four men formed a small team, with every two teams responsible for one zone. The teams alternated between ambush stakeouts and armed patrols. Each team used walkie-talkies to maintain contact, reporting developments in real time. If they encountered enemies beyond SKS rifle range or large groups of government troops, their role was limited to observation—they would report movements and leave the actual engagement to the specialized Mobile Team, composed of motorcycles and agricultural vehicles mounted with machine guns.
Chen Sigen and his men had chosen this commanding height for their observation post. One soldier watched the surroundings with binoculars from a perch in the high branches of a large tree.
He took out his own binoculars and observed according to the sentry's indication: five hundred meters away, five Ming cavalrymen were indeed walking toward them, listless and unsuspecting. Their armor, helmets dangling from saddles, and waist sabers confirmed their identity.
"Don't rush—they're walking toward us. Open fire at one hundred meters," Chen Sigen ordered. "Notify Team 1. Tell them to stay alert."
He watched the five riders approach until they were less than one hundred meters away, then made a "prepare to fire" hand signal. He raised his SKS to his eye, carefully aiming at the leading rider—the one who looked like an officer.
Just as Zhong Xiao lifted his gaze to scan the distance, a crisp gunshot cracked in his ears.
A bullet whipped past his head. Zhong Xiao's heart nearly stopped: Hair Bandits ambushing here! He didn't dare think further—he yanked his horse's head around, preparing to flee for his life.
More gunshots rang out in quick succession. Two cavalrymen beside him tumbled from their saddles. Soldier Xu, who had been chattering just moments before, now lay on the ground with the back of his skull blown open, blood and brains oozing into the mud. Zhong Xiao was so terrified he nearly fell from his horse himself.
"Go! Now!" He crouched low, hugging his horse's neck, and lashed its rump with his whip.
"Bastard!" Chen Sigen cursed. He quickly adjusted his aim half a mil and pulled the trigger again.
This bullet struck Zhong Xiao's shoulder blade with precision. The impact hurled his body violently forward; the round drilled through and exited from his mouth, the force tearing away half his lower jaw. The corpse tumbled from the horse into the mud.
The other two cavalrymen wheeled their horses to flee in panic. The bullets quickly caught up with them, and both were struck and fell from their mounts in quick succession.
"What a pity!" Chen Sigen watched the two riderless warhorses fleeing into the distance and cursed under his breath. Those were Mongolian horses—rare around here!
"Quick—drag the horses back, and drag the bodies into the ditch!" He then keyed his radio. "Report: destroyed five Ming scout cavalry in Zone B12."
The Special Reconnaissance Team's ruthless elimination of Ming scouts quickly blinded the government army. He Rubin dispatched several batches of scouts in succession, yet not a single one returned. After marching more than ten li without receiving any report, he sensed something was deeply wrong and ordered the entire army to halt.
"How far to Chengmai County seat?"
The answer: twelve li. He Rubin hesitated. From his experience, the sudden and total disappearance of scouts indicated that the enemy's reconnaissance forces were also actively operating—and trying their utmost to prevent him from learning anything of their movements.
It seemed the enemy did not intend to be obediently besieged at Lingao. They were preparing to meet him in a decisive battle outside Chengmai.
"These Hair Bandits are not so easy to deal with." For the first time, genuine worry crept into his thoughts. Didn't the Hair Bandits lack cavalry? It should be impossible to eliminate all the scouts I've sent on foot alone—without letting a single man return.
The generals were waiting for his order. In another hour and a half, the sky would begin to darken. Twenty thousand troops and their baggage remained strung out along the road. If they could not reach Chengmai before nightfall, they would have to camp on the spot—time did not allow him to hesitate.
"General Tong!" he ordered. "Immediately dispatch three hundred cavalry toward Chengmai, followed by five hundred infantry at a run. Establish camp outside Chengmai's county seat before dark to receive the main army!"
Seeing the Commander-in-Chief's grave expression, Tong Yizhen understood the peril of the moment. He immediately dispatched Chiliarch He Zhanran with three hundred cavalry, galloping toward Chengmai. For added security, he did not send five hundred infantry as instructed—instead, he personally led his household guards and one thousand infantry to follow close behind.
The Special Reconnaissance Team members of Ye Mengyan's squad, shielding the post road, saw over three hundred cavalry suddenly thundering down the road. Knowing that their dispersed small teams could not resist such a force, they yielded the main road and let the cavalry pass.
"Enemy main force incoming—three or four hundred cavalry!" Ye Mengyan shouted into the walkie-talkie. "Heavy dust behind them. More troops are following."
"Don't engage directly. Withdraw from the screening zone while employing harassing fire. Let the enemy pass through to the county seat!"
"Understood!"
Ye Mengyan raised his SKS rifle and squeezed the trigger at the cavalry galloping past on the road. The rest of his team opened fire alongside him.
Amid the stuttering gunshots, cavalrymen fell from their horses in quick succession. The sudden shooting greatly alarmed He Zhanran—he saw no sign of anyone firing bird guns, no telltale puffs of smoke. But from the reports alone, he knew the enemy numbered no more than thirty or forty, clearly attempting to harass and delay his advance. He bellowed "Charge with me!" and drove straight toward Chengmai, disregarding the men tumbling from saddles around him.
The crossfire from Ye Mengyan's three or four squads, positioned on both sides of the road, cost He Zhanran more than twenty bodies along the post road. Ye Mengyan had originally wanted to set another ambush, but Ming infantry were already swarming up behind, covering the hills and fields. Hearing gunshots ahead, Tong Yizhen judged that the enemy had deployed; he immediately ordered his infantry to spread into formation and personally led several dozen mounted household guards to charge at the front.
Ye Mengyan had initially believed the enemy was nothing special—simply vulnerable under SKS fire. But now, seeing Ming infantry swarming across the landscape in every direction, banners waving, swords and spears bristling like a forest, his heart hammered against his ribs. Mother! This is too spectacular! He thought, Even with a machine gun right now, I probably couldn't hold them—there are too many!
"Quick! Retreat!" He immediately ordered his entire detachment to fall back individually. Raising his SKS-D rifle without bothering to aim, he emptied a 20-round magazine into the oncoming Ming troops, then scrambled down into the ditch to flee.
The Special Reconnaissance Team's withdrawal route followed pre-surveyed terrain, utilizing the topography to evade enemy pursuers wherever possible. Because their weapons fired smokeless ammunition and all team members wore camouflage, the Ming troops found it nearly impossible to identify their positions in the open field.
Tong Yizhen's force lost a dozen men in the final blocking fire from Ye Mengyan's squad, including one of his personal officers. The enemy's invisible shooting made him acutely fearful. But with more men pouring in from behind, he had no choice but to steel himself and lead his troops toward the county seat.
Hearing the gunshots and battle cries ahead, He Rubin knew the vanguard had engaged the enemy. He quickly ordered Guerrilla General Li Guang, commanding the Governor's Standard Camp, to rush forward with the entire Standard Camp to reinforce. He personally led his household guards and the Regional Commander's Standard in support behind them.
"Tell General Yan to suppress the rear troops—they must march slowly. Under no circumstances allow them to fall into disorder before they're even engaged!"
The rear column contained not only a large quantity of baggage but also village militia and local garrison troops. These elements were notoriously unreliable—a slight shock would send them scrambling to flee. He saw fit to give explicit instructions. After transmitting his orders, he personally followed close behind Li Guang's troops, his household guards arrayed around him.
He Zhanran's cavalry was the first to arrive outside Chengmai's South Gate, immediately occupying the empty camp that You Laohu had abandoned. The Light Infantry who had previously been executing blockade fire outside the city's various gates had already withdrawn from their positions, retreating northwest toward the Grand Camp.
Seeing more than three hundred infantry retreating and having traveled less than two or three li, He Zhanran quickly led his cavalry in pursuit.
The 1st Light Infantry Company of the 1st Infantry Battalion, commanded by Yang Zeng, had been the earliest to withdraw from its position. But the 5th Light Infantry Company had been delayed by more than ten minutes in receiving the order. Yang Zeng, acting as blockade commander under the city, waited partway back to receive the 5th Company's infantry. As a result, they found themselves caught by Ming cavalry arriving at breakneck speed.
Seeing the cavalry already rolling in, Yang Zeng immediately drew his command saber and roared the order: "Fix bayonets! Hollow Square Formation!"
Military drums beat in rapid succession.
The 1st Light Infantry Company, which had been retreating, immediately turned around to form the front of the square. The 5th Light Infantry Company split in two, deploying half its soldiers on the left and right flanks respectively. The 3rd Light Infantry Company stood back-to-back with the front, forming the rear.
Yang Zeng saw that the left and right wings were undermanned. Fearing that the flanks' firepower was too weak and would be breached by the enemy, he immediately ordered the front and rear companies to detach one platoon each to reinforce the wings.
With their numbers limited, the square was formed only three ranks deep on each side. The first rank knelt in front, bayoneted rifles angled upward. The rear two ranks held rifles level, ready to fire at any moment.
This entire series of maneuvers took less than three minutes. The enemy was already charging. The full-speed momentum of cavalry at the gallop made even these soldiers—veterans of countless infantry-versus-cavalry counter-training drills—begin to waver.
At this supreme moment, Yang Zeng shouted: "Sights to zero!" His command saber slashed downward. "Fire!"
(End of Chapter)