Chapter 58 Using the Right People for the Job

A waning moon hung high in the sky, casting its cold, silent light over the earth. Less than two hours remained before Gao Jie was set to launch his surprise attack on the city of Yangzhou. All artillery units and heavy weaponry had already marched ahead toward the city. Ten improved Invincible Great General cannons, each weighing approximately three thousand catties, were concentrated about two $li$ outside the western gate, the weakest point in Yangzhou's defense. A short distance in front of these grand cannons, thirty Tiger-Crouching cannons were arrayed in a single file along a gently rising earthen ridge.

Because Gao Jie had long been stationed as a key military commander along the Huai River defense line, his troops were primarily trained for defensive operations and were equipped with only a small number of cavalry. Consequently, Gao Jie left the cavalry out of this city-seizure operation, using the warhorses exclusively as draft animals to haul the artillery.

The second echelon of five thousand siege troops had also successively marched out of the Jigong Mountain encampment, splitting into two parallel columns advancing toward the western gate of Yangzhou. These were mainly infantrymen armed with short-range weapons for close-quarters combat inside the city.

One thousand of Gao Jie's most trusted elite firearm troops, each clutching a "Hundred Tigers Unleashed" rocket launcher (commonly known as divine machine arrows), lay prone along the flanks of the artillery position. The moment the cannons blasted open the city gates or breached the walls, this force would surge forward. Armed solely with these one thousand divine weapons, they could instantly blanket the western section of the city wall with a dense storm of gunpowder arrows, completely suppressing the defending garrison and allowing the second echelon to smoothly rush through the breach.

Additionally, one hundred carefully selected climbing experts had reached the frontline positions. Their mission was to scale the Yangzhou city walls stealthily using ropes—should the artillery barrage somehow be averted—and seize the gates from within to let the entire army in. However, the success rate of such siege tactics had historically been exceedingly low, and Gao Jie held out little hope for this method.

Everything was in readiness, awaiting the dead of night when the defending garrison would be fast asleep to launch the assault. To distinguish between the two Ming military forces inside and outside the city during the chaos, Gao Jie ordered all besieging soldiers to bare one of their sleeves. Tonight, once the city fell, Gao Jie had only a single command for any Yangzhou defenders who refused to surrender: kill!

Back at Gao Jie's encampment on Jigong Mountain, fewer than three thousand soldiers remained behind to guard the base. The scorching daytime heat was gradually fading into the slight chill of the night. Aside from the rotating patrols, most of the remaining men were scattered across the hundreds of tents of varying sizes throughout the camp to escape the relentless swarming of mountain mosquitoes.

At the very center of the camp stood a command tent that towered noticeably above the rest. It was brightly lit yet preternaturally quiet—this was Gao Jie's main headquarters. Yet, exactly as Xu Dingguo had claimed, Gao Jie never actually slept inside it; the tent remained permanently vacant. If any unsuspecting enemy attempted a night raid on the camp, they could easily press forward all the way to this grand tent without expending the slightest effort. But entering was easy while escaping was impossible: the ground and surrounding area were heavily laced with gunpowder, sulfur, and nitrate, capable of reducing any infiltrating force to a heap of charred ashes in the blink of an eye.

Gao Jie himself remained utterly composed, quietly choosing to spend the night at the absolute edge of the camp where an attack was most likely, in a tent indistinguishable from those of the common foot soldiers. He firmly believed that the most dangerous place was the safest place.

Judging by this tactical layout, had Yangzhou been caught entirely unprepared, the city likely would not have held out for even a single night.

The primary reason Wang Lanping had not launched a preemptive surprise strike against Gao Jie's army, as he had done with the Huai River forces, was his lack of detailed intelligence regarding Gao Jie's internal situation. Furthermore, while Liu Zeqing's army was still assembling and lacked cohesion, Gao Jie's forces were completely unified and entrenched deep within the mountains, making it difficult for Wang Lanping's three thousand cavalry to deploy effectively. All signs indicated that attempting a sneak attack on Gao Jie would be an act of suicide.

Learning from Xu Dingguo just how formidable Gao Jie's offensive capability was came as a profound shock to Wang Lanping. If the two factions truly devolved into a bloody battle beneath the city walls, countless Ming soldiers would die in vain during this fratricidal civil strife.

Wang Lanping had long since uncovered the secret deployment of Gao Jie's forces outside the city. Working through the night, he and Shi Kefa mobilized every available defense within the city walls. Yangzhou could not be surrendered into the hands of a fickle opportunist like Gao Jie. With the Manqing army pressing southward, Gao Jie would likely follow the example of Wu Sangui and capitulate. Once Yangzhou fell, Nanjing would be left directly exposed to the iron hooves of the Manqing cavalry. The current military forces in Nanjing were severely depleted, the imperial court was plagued by factional strife, and the regional garrison commanders scattered across the provinces were like loose sand, each caring only for expanding their own strength and utterly incapable of halting the advance of three hundred thousand Manchus.

Although Shi Kefa opposed executing a high-ranking Ming commander like Gao Jie—fearing it would dishearten other Ming generals and plunge the military morale into chaos—as the supreme military commander of Yangzhou, he bore the responsibility of preserving the city. Driven to despair, he had no choice but to follow Wang Lanping in an action he considered painful to friends and pleasing to foes.

The Yangzhou garrison troops were stationed at their respective posts, but Wang Lanping held little hope for them. Shi Kefa's defenders had all been temporarily transferred from Nanjing. Many of them had never fought a single battle since the day they enlisted, while others had been sent into the military as punishment for crimes; their combat effectiveness could be easily imagined. In contrast, the vast majority of the soldiers in Gao Jie's army were veterans who had rebelled alongside Li Zicheng years ago, tempered by more than a decade of relentless warfare. Ever since their surrender to the Ming, they had repeatedly clashed with Li Zicheng's forces with mixed results. Ever since Gao Jie was appointed as the Fengyang Regional Commander of the Huai River, his forces had been organized as elite border troops with superior equipment, far surpassing the garrison of an interior city like Yangzhou. From every perspective, Yangzhou's fate hung by a thread.

Inside the Yangzhou Governor's Mansion, lanterns burned brightly. All the generals had been dispatched to the city walls, leaving only Wang Lanping and Shi Kefa in the main hall. The silence was absolute, the air thick and congealed.

As scout after scout galloped back to report—now announcing that Gao Jie's forces had reinforced a certain position, now warning of enemy activity outside another city gate—Wang Lanping's nerves grew increasingly taut, while Shi Kefa was bathed in cold sweat, unable to sit still.

Faced with such a stark disparity in strength, Wang Lanping chose not to meddle with the garrison's deployment. The gap between the two sides was simply too vast. Rather than pinning all hopes on high walls and deep moats, it was better to devise an alternative strategy, ideally one that could avoid a direct clash altogether.

To this end, Wang Lanping dispatched Xu Dingguo with five hundred men to strike directly at Gao Jie's encampment and capture the ringleader to resolve the crisis at its root. Simultaneously, he divided Song Xian's three thousand cavalry into ten squads, looping around to flank Gao Jie's camp. This was a desperate contingency: once all-out war became unavoidable, they would have to strike with full force. As long as Shi Kefa's garrison could hold out until dawn, these three thousand cavalrymen would smash into Gao Jie's rear and perhaps lift the siege of Yangzhou.

Before the battle commenced, Wang Lanping's greatest hope rested on the sneak attack led by Xu Dingguo, a veteran yearning to avenge his family's honor. If Gao Jie could be taken down before hostilities formally began, the grand outcome would be secured.

Xu Dingguo led his five hundred men forward, each soldier holding a wooden bit between his teeth and muffling the bells on his horse's harness, advancing in utter silence. Several times, they narrowly avoided running headlong into Gao Jie's forward ambush parties. Hiding in the shadows, Xu Dingguo witnessed these enemy soldiers marching with bared arms, confirming beyond a doubt that Gao Jie's rebellion was an indisputable fact. If they delayed any longer, Yangzhou would fall into the hands of these traitors.

Xu Dingguo quickened his pace, finally arriving near the Jigong Mountain stronghold. Guided by the campfires and lanterns, he observed the layout for a moment and could not help mocking silently to himself: a thousand-year-old turtle never changes its shell. Gao Jie simply refused to learn; after all these years, his tactical deployments remained completely rigid. Built against the mountain, the camp featured a triple-tiered defense system combining illusion with reality. If anyone else had attempted a raid on this encampment, they might have suffered a catastrophic defeat. But Xu Dingguo knew the terrain like the back of his hand. Matching the wooden stockades of the camp, he swiftly located the overt and covert sentries at predetermined intervals, extracted the nightly password, and easily reached the outer gates without encountering the slightest resistance.

Xu Dingguo instructed all the soldiers accompanying him to bare one of their arms—though leaving slightly less of the arm exposed than Gao Jie's men—and ordered them to smear mud across their faces to prevent recognition.

Enveloped within this troop of several hundred men, Xu Dingguo swaggered toward the outer gate just like soldiers returning to camp.

"Halt! Who goes there? Give the password!" demand a dozen guards stationed at the gate, blocking their path.

"What are you shouting about? Don't you recognize these uniforms?" Xu Dingguo's men replied nonchalantly, shoving aside the soldiers blocking their way.

The guard tilted his head and glanced at the long procession, breaking into a chuckle. "Recognize them? Of course I do. I just didn't hear about any brothers returning to camp at this hour. Who is your commander?"

"None of your business! We rode around for ages, couldn't find the road, and got lost. Our commander sent us back to ask the general to assign us a guide. It's pitch black out here—look, I'm covered in mud."

The guards on the other side burst into laughter. "Look at you wretched lot! Fine, we won't give you a hard time. What's the password?"

"Sparrow!"

The men filed through the gates one by one. Once inside the military camp, Xu Dingguo marched straight toward the tents most likely to belong to Gao Jie.

Patrols passed by from time to time, but after exchanging the password, the intruders were waved through safely.

Before long, weaving past a maze of internal camp defenses, Xu Dingguo arrived within a few dozen paces of the cluster of tents. A single glance told him everything: the tent guarded by eight of the fiercest and most formidable warriors in the entire army could be none other than Gao Jie's quarters. Candlelight flickered within, and Gao Jie's silhouette cast moving shadows across the fabric.

Gao Jie remained utterly oblivious to the impending danger. Inside the cramped command tent, five messengers were gathered.

Gao Jie was drinking wine and chatting merrily with two military staff officers. Everything was arranged seamlessly; he only had to wait for dawn to march openly into Yangzhou, gorge himself on silver, and seize women by the handful.

Suddenly, a shout rang out from outside the tent: "Halt! Who goes there? Give the password!"

Xu Dingguo pushed his way out of the crowd, drew his waist saber, and roared, "We're here to send you to the western paradise! Brothers, take Gao Jie alive!"

The five hundred men surged forward, cutting down the eight guards in the blink of an eye. Caught completely unawares, Gao Jie poked his head out of the tent, only for Xu Dingguo to kick him squarely in the chest, sending him tumbling backward as the collapsing canvas tent smothered him.

"Gao Jie!" Xu Dingguo shouted, "I followed you through life and death, yet you showed not an ounce of comradeship, hounding my parents to their deaths! Today, I settle both my personal vendetta and my debt to the state with you. Men, take him!"

The two staff officers were slain on the spot. By this time, camp soldiers were converging from all directions, throwing the encampment into complete chaos as Xu Dingguo's five hundred men were instantly surrounded.

Bruised, battered, and bound tightly, Gao Jie was shoved forward by Xu Dingguo before both factions. Xu Dingguo brought his blade down, plunging it straight into Gao Jie's thigh, and bellowed, "Whoever dares take another step forward will witness Gao Jie's immediate execution! I am Xu Dingguo; I have no wish to slaughter my own brothers in a civil war. Gao Jie plotted to seize Yangzhou behind closed doors, and his plot has been exposed. Governor Shi Kefa has deployed his forces in battle array, and Regional Commander Wang's thirty thousand elite troops along with the Huai River army are marching day and night to arrive here. You have no chance of victory! Governor Shi has issued an order: this rebellion is solely the work of Gao Jie's selfish ambition, and only the ringleader shall be punished while accomplices are pardoned. Lay down your weapons!"

The several thousand Gao Jie soldiers found themselves caught in a dilemma, glancing anxiously at one another. Most of them were ordinary foot soldiers, as nearly all of Gao Jie's loyal commanders had been dispatched outside the walls of Yangzhou.

Lying on the ground in agonizing pain with a mouthful of dirt, Gao Jie cursed furiously, "Xu Dingguo, you ungrateful wretch! How did I fail to see earlier that you would sell out your master for glory? Just try killing me! I have already deployed heavy forces outside Yangzhou; they will take the city within the hour, and neither you nor your master will survive!"

Xu Dingguo planted a foot squarely on Gao Jie's back. "You brought this upon yourself, and there is no escape. Order your troops to lay down their weapons. For the sake of our past association, I will plead with Governor Shi to grant you a swift death with your corpse left intact." Under the laws of the Great Dynasty, the fate of a failed rebel was not merely execution, but extermination of nine familial clans and death by the slow slicing of three thousand cuts.

Gao Jie was nonetheless a hardened fighter. He howled, "Horseshit! I've faced death a hundred times over and never begged for mercy! My only regret is that I didn't exterminate your entire family down to the roots! Brothers, charge! Kill Xu Dingguo, and the city of Yangzhou is yours! There is gold, silver, and countless beauties waiting for you there! Break through Yangzhou and avenge me!"

Yet when forced to choose between their lives and wealth, most men would ultimately choose to live in ignominy rather than die a pointless death. Once Gao Jie was dead, leaderless troops would instantly scatter like loose sand, making it utterly impossible to take Yangzhou.

*Clang, clang, clang!* Weapons dropped to the ground one after another as Gao Jie's men fell to their knees in droves.

Xu Dingguo smiled with relief. "Order all units to recall the siege forces, return the entire army to the camp, and await the imperial decree! Men, escort Gao Jie back to Yangzhou!"