Chapter 133: Order-Bearer's Manual

Howling with bitter winds, the days in Shaanxi after the start of winter grew colder by the day, and time seemed to pass faster than ever.

Although Liu Chengzong had formulated a military training plan, various units were too busy digging cave-dwellings to spare any time for drills. It was not until November arrived that scheduled training was finally put on the agenda.

"When the twelfth lunar month sets in, it really gets colder by the day."

Shuttling into Liu Chengzong's room, Shang Tianhou was shivering all over. Looking like a ball of black coal, he scurried over and squatted right beside the stove. Feeling the radiating warmth, he let out a comfortable sigh of relief.

Liu Chengzong was taking advantage of the light by the window to compile a manual for commanders. Setting down his brush, he turned his head and looked over, asking, "Where is your military uniform? You have new padded cotton jackets yet refuse to wear them; if you aren't cold, who is?"

"Gave it away."

Shang Tianhou was wearing a pair of mandarin-duck battle jacket of unknown origin, which looked as thin as a single layer of cloth. Over it, he had wrapped two pieces of studded brigandine armor from the garrison guards, and his hands and legs were bound with strips of tattered cloth, making him look utterly disheveled.

In the eyes of a proper military officer, a lieutenant general looking like this possessed not an ounce of dignity.

Moreover, the fellow spoke so casually that it ignited a fire in Liu Chengzong's chest: "Can you just give away a military uniform like that?"

"Why are you yelling at me? The ones I gave them to are your soldiers too. Every patrol has dozens of auxiliary troops without cotton jackets. I'm all dirty, I couldn't bear to wear that new cotton jacket anyway."

"You!"

Knowing the reason behind it, Liu Chengzong's anger subsided, leaving only a sense of helplessness. He raised a finger and pointed it at Shang Tianhou, sighing, "If every political officer had your temperament, what would the Lion Camp have to fear from the imperial army?"

In fact, he had been constantly pondering Shang Tianhou's position.

Ever since the merger of their forces, Shang Tianhou had entirely placed himself in the role of the conquered, pushing away any power handed to him and accepting nothing.

He had requested only the nominal title of lieutenant general, while in reality commanding not a single capable soldier.

His entire status in the Lion Camp could be summed up in two words: redundant.

Shang Tianhou crouched down to warm himself by the fire for a moment before turning around to say, "I went to check on the engineering unit. The old armor has all been repaired, but regarding the new weapons, Master Squad Leader said he has several hundred novices on his side and asked whether we should have them trained as archers or firearms craftsmen."

Liu Chengzong replied, "Let's make them firearms craftsmen. Although more men in the camp use bows and arrows, firearms are easier to manufacture. At this juncture, where am I supposed to find tendon and horn to laminate bow limbs?"

"Fine, I'll warm myself a bit more and then head back over there."

"No, send someone else to do that." Liu Chengzong stopped him and said, "I have something to discuss with you."

Upon hearing this, Shang Tianhou stood up from beside the stove, dragged a bench over, sat down opposite him, and asked, "What is it?"

"What are your thoughts on rebellion and imperial amnesty?"

Liu Chengzong cut straight to the point, then smiled and said, "You certainly know I have no desire for amnesty, but feel free to speak your mind. I just want to know your perspective on the matter."

Shang Tianhou curled his lip: "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

What kind of answer was that?

"I've never thought about becoming an official. If the imperial court told me to be a thousand-man commander, I suppose I'd take the post?"

Shang Tianhou looked at Liu Chengzong with complete honesty: "But if the court wanted me to be a thousand-man commander and lead troops to suppress my old brothers, I probably wouldn't accept the amnesty. If they sent me to fight the Eastern Tatars, I'd most likely go... I really don't know whether I would accept amnesty or not."

"And I even less know whether, after accepting amnesty, the court stopped providing me with provisions and pay, and whether I would rebel all over again."

Shang Tianhou troubledly scratched his head and let out a self-deprecating laugh: "I'm just a leader of wandering refugees. Why on earth are you forcing me to consider these things? Anyway, if I get surrounded and captured by the imperial army, just remember to rescue me, that's all."

Liu Chengzong felt that the dirty monkey wasn't lying to him.

Aside from extremists, the vast majority of ordinary people, until faced with the actual situation, find it hard to determine how they will choose.

Even at the critical moment of making a choice, it all depends on the surrounding environment.

Even for the same person, the choice made when surrounded by the imperial army with no chance of victory would differ from the choice made when their faction was at the height of its power.

Yet, at the very least, he could be certain of one thing: subjectively, Shang Tianhou had no intention of surrendering to the imperial court.

And that was enough.

Liu Chengzong thought for a moment, raised a hand to point at the manuscript he was compiling on the table, and said, "Zuantianmao, go over there and study books."

"Study, study books?"

Shang Tianhou was baffled by the suggestion: "What books?"

"Learn to read and recognize characters; study for as long as you can, the more characters you recognize, the better... Never mind, you won't learn much going over there anyway. How about this, I will teach you the basics myself, how does that sound?"

Liu Chengzong pondered for a moment and said to Shang Tianhou, "Here is my reasoning: you are the lieutenant general of the Lion Camp, and it simply won't do for you to be illiterate. Taking advantage of the time this winter, and seeing that the various patrols have already drilled four squad-level exercises and two full-camp drills—which revealed huge problems—I am planning to compile several manuals, and you can study them alongside me."

In truth, the best place for basic literacy was still Zuantianmao, where there were the most professional scholars.

Yet, as studies had been underway there for over a month now, if Shang Tianhou went over as a transfer student, spring would arrive before he could learn much.

Once the weather turned warm, there would be no time for studying.

The results might not even be as good as staying by Liu Chengzong's side to learn.

"Very well! Master is here, please accept this disciple's bow!"

Shang Tianhou performed a formal salute with due deference, then searched his person trying to find a gift. Patting himself up and down in vain, he finally had to shamelessly sit back down on the bench, look at the manuscript on the table, and read aloud: "Tang... ling... san..."

"The Commander's Manual. This is a manual specifically written for commanders, setting out the requirements for them. Right now, commanders are stationed alongside the squad leaders, but in the future, we need to establish commanders beside the platoon leaders and patrol leaders as well. For now, you are the commander for the camp general."

Shang Tianhou was left looking thoroughly dazed by the explanation, and let out an honest chuckle: "I'm the highest-ranking commander? I don't even know what a commander is supposed to do."

"Don't say you don't know; many commanders below don't know either, which is why we need this."

Liu Chengzong spread his hands, looking quite distressed himself: "I want to explain things to them in detail, but with over three hundred commanders, I don't have the time to teach each one of them hand-in-hand. Moreover, the tasks our commanders need to perform are rather different from those of the imperial court's commanders, and none of them can read yet. We can only learn bit by bit in the future."

"The primary duty of a commander is to unite the soldiers—to bind together the twelve combatants and auxiliary troops in a squad, foster loyalty among the servicemen, encourage the timid, praise the brave, comfort the exhausted, punish the wicked and reward the good, and win the crowd through fairness."

Listening with bright eyes, Shang Tianhou nodded and said, "I can do that!"

"Don't rush, that's just the beginning. You also need to educate the servicemen within the army to treat the common people kindly and abide by military discipline; propagate the misdeeds of the imperial court's emperor, vassal princes, corrupt officials, immoral officers, and wicked gentry; during training, encourage soldiers to drill and urge them to study; and on the battlefield, inspire courage and dissolve the enemy's morale."

Watching Shang Tianhou's troubled expression, the corners of Liu Chengzong's mouth turned up in a smile: "During marches and encampments, interact with the common people, proclaim that our Lion Camp is an army of benevolence and righteousness, personally lead soldiers to help the civilians, and punish misbehaving soldiers so as to win the hearts of the people and gain support in intelligence, supplies, and manpower."

"Beyond that, you must also conduct security education within the camp, assigning tasks to servicemen in patrols, platoons, and squads during off-training times when encamped, so they don't remain idle and stir up trouble, leak intelligence to civilians or the enemy, and guard against potential threats by detecting imperial court subversion and alienation in advance. If a commanding officer or soldier acts suspiciously with unclear motives, you must report it in advance or gather evidence to apprehend them."

With that, Liu Chengzong closed the manual and smiled at Shang Tianhou, whose head was buzzing: "Even if a patrol's commanding officer wants to surrender to the imperial army or switch sides in the middle of a battle, let him run off by himself, but he must not be allowed to control the troops."

When he finished, Shang Tianhou waved his hands repeatedly: "General, this load is too heavy for me to carry."

Shang Tianhou reckoned that each of these conditions was harder than the last. Being able to unite the servicemen was already a remarkable feat; out there amidst widespread famine, such an ability would easily allow one to become a minor mountain king.

Little did he know that the subsequent requirements were even more formidable. Even if one gathered all the acquaintances he knew in his mind, selected the talented ones among them, and fused all their talents and capabilities into a single person, they still might not meet all of Liu Chengzong's demands.

"No one can do it all at once; everything is learned step by step. What we call a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Let's start with recognizing characters first, and consider the rest later."

Liu Chengzong raised his hand, spread his five fingers, and said, "Five years. If we can all stay alive until the eighth year of Chongzhen, and you can train the commanders in the unit so they are all literate and can fulfill the requirements of this manual, then we will have succeeded."

"Five years?"

Shang Tianhou pondered this in his heart, his face still looking somewhat troubled, yet he nodded anyway: "If we have that much time, it might just be possible. But if we're both still alive five years from now, just how many troops will you have? This handful of men won't be enough!"

"It will be enough. Do you know where the Lion Camp came from? It originated from when I was training village braves back then, when I wanted every single militia member to have the capability of a platoon leader."

A sly smile appeared on Liu Chengzong's face as he spoke: "When the backbone of squads and platoons can accomplish things, the army can be expanded further—expanding a squad into a platoon, a platoon into a patrol, and a patrol into a camp. That would amount to over twenty thousand men."

At this point, the smile on his face froze again as he said, "Speaking of expansion, though, it really is a headache. The Lion Camp's thirty-odd patrol drills and two camp drills were all poorly executed."

"Ah?"

Shang Tianhou blinked: "I thought they were pretty good. The troops are much more formidable than before."

That was only true for your own old troops.

The troops had been drilling for over a month now. The eight patrol leaders had each led their units in Wangzhuangbao to conduct four patrol-level drills, and the entire camp had held two joint drills.

From Liu Chengzong's perspective, the combat effectiveness had dropped quite noticeably.

After all, with the merger, his own men possessed high military proficiency while Shang Tianhou's men had low military proficiency. Once combined, it essentially resulted in three plus one being less than two—an all-encompassing decline in performance.

"Take forced marches alone: the distances from which the various patrols traveled to Wangzhuangbao ranged anywhere from ten to twenty li. Running back and forth, the fast ones had to wait for the slow ones, and countless men fell behind."

If not for the emperor issuing an imperial decree to勤王 (save the sovereign), and if the imperial court had exerted that same save-the-sovereign vigor to deal with them, Liu Chengzong believed that after the merger, they wouldn't even have been able to run away.

"Fortunately, they are all practicing, and their coordination will become smoother. In recent drills, the auxiliary troops have also started looking more and more shipshape. It's just a pity that time is still short."

Liu Chengzong rubbed his hands together: "And I have another worry."

"What is it?"

"Grain."

Shang Tianhou frowned and asked, "What's wrong with the grain?"

He thought about it over and over and couldn't see any problem with the grain supply. Before winter set in, they had managed to procure enough provisions to sustain the entire camp through the winter. They even had a bit left over, enough to last until February of next year, by which time early spring would have arrived.

"The grain is enough for now, but what if mutinous soldiers from the save-the-sovereign armies come to defect? If just two hundred men show up with their horses, our grain won't last until February. What if even more come?"

Shang Tianhou slapped his forehead. Oh no.

They truly hadn't factored incoming defectors into their grain calculations, yet in their actions, they had made arrangements to recruit deserters.

"Because of this matter, I can't make up my mind right now. My two subordinates surnamed Yao—Yang Yao of the advance patrol is from Guyuan, and he suggests going west to recruit deserters; Cao Yao of the artillery patrol spent a few years in Shanxi, and he suggests going east to recruit deserters."

Sometimes, having subordinates who are all talented individuals can also be quite a headache.

Both men's suggestions were quite good, but if they also factored in Yang Yanchang, who had set off with Wu Zimian, even if they only estimated bringing back three hundred men from each direction, they wouldn't have enough food to eat.

To make matters worse, in Fushi County and Ansai County, there were hardly any large, wealthy estates left that were easy to attack; the remaining ones all possessed fortified walls and high keeps—too sturdy for small cannons to blast open, and too cumbersome for heavy cannons to move.

"Fuzhou."

Shang Tianhou said, "I can make another trip to Fuzhou, take a patrol of troops, and go seize some provisions... It's just that I won't be able to study things with you then."

"Are there any other candidates who are familiar with Fuzhou?"

"Flying Mountain Tiger. When I brought my troops over, he was a thousand-man commander, and now he serves as a platoon leader under Patrol Leader Feng. He is familiar with Fuzhou, having previously operated around Yichuan. We could dispatch Patrol Leader Feng south to get some provisions back."

Liu Chengzong slowly nodded: "If that's the case, we can have Patrol Leader Feng lead troops south, Patrol Leader Yang go west, and Patrol Leader Cao go east. Those two patrols can also gather provisions along the way, and our stored grain in Wangzhuangbao will be enough to last until next year."

Had the timing not been so extraordinary, Liu Chengzong would actually have preferred not to divide his forces.

It was just that the imperial court's save-the-sovereign campaign, in his view, was bound to be a disaster for the elite border troops of the Three Borders and Five Garrisons.

No one could fail to be greatly tempted by such an opportunity.

Just as Liu Chengzong and Shang Tianhou were carefully discussing the dispatch of separated forces, someone knocked on the room door.

The person who entered was Wei Qian'er. With a solemn expression, he looked at Liu Chengzong, then at Shang Tianhou, hesitating as if he had something to say.

Liu Chengzong asked, "What is it? Spit it out."

"General, Zuantianmao sent over a intercepted letter from a commoner. It's unclear who it was meant for, and Shilin, the hundred-man commander who delivered the message, said the old master gave orders that no one except you is allowed to look at this letter."

With that, Wei Qian'er handed the unsealed letter over to Liu Chengzong.

Liu Chengzong unfolded the letter. It did not clearly state who the recipient was, but the tone of the wording was condescending. The general meaning was to tell the recipient not to be anxious; the official post promised by the imperial court would be granted after the deed was done, and he was instructed to continue lurking undercover beneath the chieftain.

Once the imperial court finalized its suppression strategy, he was to continue acting according to the original plan: if someone was sent to offer amnesty, he was to oppose the amnesty; if someone was sent to suppress them, he was to oppose surrender.

He was to strive to make the chieftain fight the imperial army to the death, for only through such a feat could he earn merits. Once the matter was successful, he was promised the posts of thousand-man commander and regional commander.

The letter was signed: The Governor-General's Office of the Three Borders at Guyuan.

"Who else has seen this letter?"

Wei Qian'er shook his head and replied, "I brought it straight to the General the moment I received it. No one else has seen it."

Shang Tianhou asked, "What does it say? Is it urging surrender?"

Liu Chengzong shook his head, took a deep breath, and said, "Yang He has made his move. It's counter-espionage."