How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 217 The Battle of Baliqiao (Part 1) - A Grinding Mill of Flesh and Blood (Second update to follow later)

It was the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the third year of the Chongzhen reign. Just as dawn was breaking, a thin mist shrouded the Tonghui River.

The Balizhuang fortress, like a silent behemoth, lies crouched on the banks of the North Canal. Flags planted on the earthen walls flutter in the morning breeze. Inside and outside the fortress, all is quiet except for the occasional soft clanging of armor.

Lu Xiang-sheng hadn't slept all night; his eyes were bloodshot, but his back was ramrod straight. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword as he slowly walked along the earthen walls of the fortress. Dew soaked his blue robe, but he paid no heed.

"Governor, have something to eat." A central officer climbed up the wooden ladder and handed over two steaming meat buns—this was the standard pre-battle breakfast for the entire army under Lu Xiang-sheng's command. This included the 5,000 Shuntian trained soldiers he had personally recruited, the central and rear armies of the Imperial Guard (about 20,000 men) assigned to him by Chongzhen, Sun Zushou's 20,000 Jizhou garrison troops, and other Shuntian local militia and laborers who were assisting in the battle; they all ate this for breakfast.

In this lifetime, Emperor Chongzhen has never mistreated the soldiers who protected his empire!
Lu Xiang-sheng was truly hungry. He took the steamed bun, swallowed one in a few bites, and then another. He wiped his mouth and looked westward again. From behind the thin mist, the shouts and neighing of horses from the Later Jin camp could be faintly heard, like porridge boiling over.

"Huang Taiji is starving." Lu Xiang-sheng's voice was not loud, but it was very deep. "Today, it will be a fight to the death."

The number of combat-ready troops he deployed along the Balizhuang-Tonghui River line, plus the 20,000 Imperial Guards that His Majesty had squeezed out from between his teeth, amounted to only about 25,000 to 26,000. On the other side, there were at least 40,000 to 50,000 hungry wolves with bloodshot eyes, led by Huang Taiji.

But he was confident. His Majesty had placed the safety of the capital on this battle, and Lu Xiang-sheng could bear that trust. The bastion that had been erected overnight, and the defensive line that stretched along the Tonghui River, were the coffin he had prepared for Huang Taiji.

"Deputy General Zhou!"

"Your subordinate is here!" A fully armored general strode forward; it was Zhou Yuji, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard. His face was etched with the marks of time, and his eyes were sharp as knives.

“This Balizhuang is bait, but also a nail.” Lu Xiang-sheng pointed to the newly dug trenches and the crisscrossing barricades outside the fortress. “One hundred general cannons and six six-pound cannons are all yours. No matter how many Tartars come, smash them all in front of the fortress! Especially those in heavy armor, use cannons to deal with them, don’t be stingy with ammunition!”

"Understood, sir! The fort stands, and so shall we!" Zhou Yuji accepted the order with his hands clasped, his voice resolute.

Lu Xiang-sheng then looked at another young general. "Vice General Li."

"Your subordinate is here!" Li Changgen, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard's rear army, shouted loudly.

"Your mission is the most important and the most dangerous. Twenty-four four-pound cannons, sixty general cannons, two battalions of cavalry, and twenty-four squads of infantry are all hidden on the east bank. Keep your eyes peeled! Don't move until the Tartars cross the bridge, even if the sky falls! Once half of the Tartars have crossed, listen to my signal and fire like mad! Chop them off in one fell swoop!"

"Understood! We will not let a single Tartar escape!" Li Changgen pounded his breastplate forcefully.

With the arrangements complete, Lu Xiang-sheng looked towards Tongzhou. Sun Zu-shou's troops from Jizhou should be in position by now. The fiercer the fighting here, the more blood is shed, the more convinced Huang Tai-ji will be, and the more fatal Sun Zu-shou's stab in the back will be.

On the high slope of the west bank, Huang Taiji's face was gloomy.

He held up his monocular telescope, staring intently at the Balizhuang fortress. Its grayish-yellow burlap walls and several protruding sharp corners were an eyesore.

“One Night City… Lu Xiang-sheng does have some quick wit.” He put down the mirror, his voice cold and hard.

Fan Wencheng knelt a little behind, his head almost buried in the ground, his body trembling slightly. His younger brother, Fan Wencai, had been killed in battle by the Ming army the day before, and his body was never found.

“Great Khan,” Yanguli couldn’t help but speak up, “this barbarian village is treacherous; a direct confrontation might not be worthwhile. Perhaps…”

"Why not what?" Huang Taiji suddenly turned his head, his eyes bloodshot. "Why not retreat? Retreat back to Shenyang and tell the old, weak, women, and children that we're coming back empty-handed, and we'll all starve this winter?!"

He pointed his whip towards Tongzhou, his voice hoarse: "Grain! Cloth! Medicine! It's all there! If we take Tongzhou, we—no, it should be you bondservants—will survive! If we don't, at least thirty percent of the bondservants will starve to death this winter."

He gasped for breath: "Lu Xiang-sheng... he wants to be like Sima Yi, holding onto this wolf cub's den like an old tortoise, wearing down this Zhuge Liang until he dies!"

A sinister smile crept across his face as he pointed to the open area between Balizhuang and Baliqiao: "However, Lu Xiang-sheng is still a bit lacking. Balizhuang is too far from Baliqiao, making it difficult to cover both ends. He's putting his main force in the village, while only a few people are on the other side of the bridge? He's courting death!"

"Send the order!" Huang Taiji's voice suddenly rose, "First wave, send the Han army bannermen and bondservants! Launch a fierce attack on that fortress! Make a big show of it, make Lu Xiang-sheng think I'm going to fight to the death!"

"Whoo!"

"Yanguli!"

"Chen is here!"

"Take our true Manchu warriors and skilled Mongol archers and get ready. Once the southern barbarians' attention is drawn to the fortress, keep an eye on Baliqiao! That bridge is the gateway to Tongzhou! Take it for me!"

"This servant understands!" Yanguli's eyes flashed with a fierce light.

Huang Taiji patted his shoulder heavily: "If you take Tongzhou, I will grant your troops the first three days of advance!"

Inside the Forbidden City, however, the scene was quite different.

In the west warm pavilion of Qianqing Palace, the windows were open, and a muffled thunder-like sound could be faintly heard from afar.

Emperor Chongzhen, dressed in a slightly worn blue robe with dragon motifs, sat at his desk. A pile of memorials lay on the table, and he was carefully examining a "record of the confiscation of assets" that Liu Yueying had just compiled.

Wang Chengen tiptoed in and brought Chongzhen some freshly brewed "goji berry, red date, and chrysanthemum tea." "Your Majesty, there's quite a commotion in Tongzhou... it's been going on for a while now."

Emperor Chongzhen grunted in acknowledgment, without raising his head, and made a mark on the memorial with his vermilion brush. "Lu Xiang-sheng is working. Judging from the sound, he's putting in a lot of effort."

After finishing his review of the book, he put down his pen, picked up his teacup, and blew on it. "Any news from Sun Zushou?"

"Your Majesty, not yet. But judging by the time, the soldiers from Jizhou should have arrived at their positions."

Chongzhen nodded and took a sip of tea. "How's the matter with Wei Banban, regarding those plots of land in the south of the city?"

Wang Chengen was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said, "Eunuch Wei replied yesterday that things are going fairly smoothly, but some wealthy families are still hesitant."

“Tell them to stop thinking about it,” Chongzhen said calmly. “Once the city gates are closed, they shouldn’t sell it anymore. They can just stay in Beijing peacefully.”

At this moment, a young eunuch peeked out from the doorway. Wang Chengen went over and whispered a few words, then returned to report: "Your Majesty, several Grand Secretaries and the Minister of War are kneeling outside the Meridian Gate, saying that they have heard of the urgency of the war and request Your Majesty to close the nine gates immediately and issue an edict for the whole country to come to the aid of the emperor."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen scoffed. "Close the gates? Serving the emperor? It's not that serious."

With the door closing, how can anyone buy at the bottom? Now is the crucial moment when the "Ming Dynasty short sellers" are rushing to run away. Once the door is closed, the short sellers are trapped, and all they can do is sell to the dead!
As for those loyalist troops, they should just stay home and behave themselves. They shouldn't rebel on the way to the capital because of lack of food and pay! During the last coup, many loyalist troops rebelled. Li Zicheng rebelled during that time!
So this "King"... don't be diligent with them. This "King" now knows how to collect bribes, help King Yi of Joseon sell out the country, live off pirate women, and even take advantage of the Tartar invasion to buy up cheap goods! He's incredibly capable!
He stood up, walked to the window, and looked southeast. "Go and tell them to rest assured. I have a clear sense of justice regarding Beijing. The north and east gates are closed, but the other gates remain open. Anyone who dares to spread rumors and sow discord will be put to rest by my head."

"This servant obeys the decree." Wang Chengen bowed and withdrew.

Emperor Chongzhen stood alone by the window, the distant cannon fire seeming to intensify. His face remained expressionless as he turned back to review the "bottom-line accounts"—in his view, this was the crucial point!
The Ming Dynasty's productivity was sufficient to overwhelm the Later Jin's fighting power, which required the expenditure of manpower to maintain its strength—the key was that it needed silver! Only with silver could the Ming Dynasty's productivity be tapped and transformed into fighting power.

The open space in front of Balizhuang has become a battlefield.

The soldiers of the Han Banner Army and the bondservants were driven by the Later Jin supervisors with whips and swords, surging towards the fortress like a tide. The crowd jostled and pushed sacks of earth and makeshift shield carts.

The Ming army's cannons on the village walls roared suddenly. Six bronze cannons, each weighing six jin (approximately 3 catties), fired first, their shells whistling through the air as they crashed into the ranks of the Later Jin soldiers supervising the battle. The solid iron balls bounced off the ground, killing anyone who grazed them or even touched them; they were specifically designed to kill the white-armored soldiers and barracks on horseback who were shouting and yelling.

But what's even more frightening are those one hundred 300-pound general cannons.

"put!"

Zhou Yuji stood atop the fortress wall and fiercely waved the command flag down.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The cannon fire was continuous, like a hundred muffled claps of thunder exploding in your ears. Flashes of light and thick white smoke billowed from the muzzles. Thousands upon thousands of lead bullets, nails, and scraps of iron were swept out like water being splashed in a fan.

The Later Jin soldiers charging at the front fell like stalks of wheat blown down by a gale. Their screams were drowned out by the sound of artillery fire. Before the trenches, corpses piled up layer upon layer, and blood formed streams.

Zhao Si lay in a pit, trembling like a leaf. Next to him was a Han Chinese bannerman auxiliary soldier he had only recently met; the man who had been panting just moments before now had half his head gone, and blood and gore splattered all over Zhao Si's face. The air was thick with the stench of gunpowder and blood, making Zhao Si gag.

"Get up! All of you, get up! Charge! Those who retreat will die!" A Later Jin barbarian brandished his sword and yelled from behind.

Zhao Si had no choice but to scramble and crawl forward with the crowd. His mind was blank, with only one thought: Lie down, lie down even lower, and don't look up.

On the watchtower inside the fortress, Lu Xiang-sheng gripped his sword, coldly watching the scene below. The Tartars were using human lives to exhaust his strength.

"Governor, the enemy chieftain's main attack direction has pinned this place down," the central officer said.

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded. "Huang Taiji has taken the bait. Tell Zhou Yuji to hold his ground. The real show is just beginning."

The bodies of the first wave of attackers hadn't even cooled down when the second wave arrived.

This time was different. Dozens of makeshift shield wagons were pushed forward; though mostly made of wood covered with raw cowhide, they could still deflect arrows. Behind the wagons followed the true elite troops: a vanguard composed of Eight Banner "death soldiers" and bondservants who had been recruited into the Eight Banners. The "death soldiers" were all clad in heavy armor, wielding heavy axes and broadswords, their eyes fierce, like a group of silent demons. The bondservant vanguard carried ladders, held shields, and advanced with their heads covered.

Kim Seong-in, dressed in an ill-fitting old uniform, squatted behind a small mound not far from Sony's banner. He carried no knife, only a worn-out pen and a mud-stained booklet. He was a clerk under Lord Sony, responsible for recording battle reports and tallying the losses of his bondservant aqqas.

Although the packaging materials are consumables, someone still needs to keep track of how much can be used up, and the higher-ups need to know!

He watched the carts slowly move forward, and a bitter feeling welled up inside him. He was a scholar, a member of the Yangban class, and a member of the Andong Kim clan. He had never even killed a chicken in Korea, yet now he had to record how his fellow countrymen and Han Chinese bondservants died in droves in this hellish place.

Lord Sony, mounted on his horse, had a somber expression. Occasionally, he would give a few instructions to Goshha beside him, urging the bondservants to continue their advance and deliver their orders.

A peculiar cannon blast sent a shiver down Kim Song-in's spine.

He looked up and saw a solid shot fired from a Ming army cannon, striking a shield cart with pinpoint accuracy. Splinters of wood mixed with blood and flesh flew everywhere, and the shield cart instantly fell apart. The bondservant soldiers pushing the cart and the soldiers following behind fell silent before they could even scream.

But more shield wagons continued to advance numbly. Once within a hundred paces, the general's cannons on the bastion roared in unison once more.

Shotgun pellets rained down on the shield wagons, making a sickening thud. Many lead pellets pierced the raw cowhide, turning the people pushing the wagons into bloody messes. Some fierce Eight Banner "death soldiers," unafraid of casualties, used the wreckage of the shield wagons and the corpses scattered on the ground as cover, howling as they charged towards the base of the wall. Several flying ladders suddenly slammed against the wall.

"Thunderclap! Fire!" came a short, angry roar from the Ming general on the wall.

Several dark, sparking cast iron balls were hurled down from the bastion's protruding corner by the defenders, landing precisely at the foot of the ladders and on the heads of the assembled Later Jin soldiers.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Several muffled explosions rang out in succession, sending shrapnel and nails flying. The newly assembled Later Jin soldiers were instantly thrown into chaos, limbs flying everywhere. A siege ladder was blown apart, collapsing with the soldiers on it. The air was instantly filled with smoke and the stench of burnt flesh.

"Musketeers, fire!"

A dense volley of gunfire followed, and smoke instantly enveloped a section of the wall. Kim Seong-in saw the lead soldier, a Bayarabunbashku, suddenly burst into bloody spray from his chest, fall backward, and drop his heavy axe to the ground with a clatter.

When this offensive failed again, Kim Sung-in crossed out familiar names one by one in the booklet. He didn't know when his own name would be crossed out.

On the high slope of the west bank, Huang Taiji's brows furrowed more and more tightly.

The bastion's resistance was ten times fiercer than he had anticipated. The artillery fire was too intense; just how many cannons had the southern barbarians set up on that "one-night city"? The number of lives lost was already countless. Although they were all bondservant ibn-kha, the losses were still considerable.

"Great Khan," a prince gasped, pointing towards Baliqiao, "look! The southern barbarians can't hold out! They're moving troops from the bridge into the villages!"

Huang Taiji raised his binoculars and looked. Sure enough, there seemed to be fewer Ming army flags over Baliqiao, and he could vaguely see signs of troops moving towards the bastion.

His heart skipped a beat, and a surge of elation welled up inside him. "Just as I thought! Lu Xiang-sheng couldn't hold on any longer! He's robbing Peter to pay Paul! Baliqiao is now vulnerable!"

He put down the mirror, his face flushed with excitement. "Lu Xiang-sheng, you're still too green! Stretching your defenses this far is a death sentence!"

“Yanguli!” His voice was hoarse with excitement.

"The slave is here!"

"The time has come! Take your men and charge! Take the stone bridge!"

"Whoo!"

Yang Guli mounted his horse, drew his gleaming saber, and roared at the elite cavalrymen behind him who had been waiting with eyes gleaming with greed: "Warriors of the Great Jin! Follow me across the bridge to Tongzhou! Silver, women, and grain—take them all!"

"Ow!"

Hundreds of the most elite white-armored cavalry and heavy armored cavalrymen, like a flood bursting its banks, silently but with an overwhelming momentum, rushed straight towards the seemingly quiet Bali Stone Bridge!

The Ming soldiers at the west end of the bridge seemed to be terrified. They fired a few sparse arrows and then turned and ran back.

"They've collapsed! Charge! Take the bridge!" Yanguli took the lead and rushed onto the bridge.

A torrent of elite Later Jin cavalry followed closely behind, surging onto the narrow bridge.

Huang Taiji, watching from the west bank, clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms without realizing it. Success! Once across the bridge, Tongzhou would be right before them! The deadlock was about to be broken!
However, just as Yanguli's vanguard set foot on the east bank, while the main force was still crowded on the bridge and at the west bank bridgehead...
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three blasts of the horn, like the death knell of hell, rose into the sky from behind those seemingly peaceful mounds of earth and straw curtains on the east bank!

(End of this chapter)