Chapter Sixty-One: Brotherhood

To say that they had "spent everything" was an exaggeration; although Chen Zhaoxian’s militia had suffered heavy losses, they still held the advantage for now. But Chen Zhaoxian was unwilling for the situation to continue as it was. If they kept fighting like this, whether Guo Tianshu and Zhang Tianyou lived or died was uncertain, but Chen Zhaoxian was sure that his side would lose many of their most capable and battle-hardened soldiers. Meanwhile, sweat poured down the brow of Commandant Zhang; his heart was in turmoil. “How could the Provincial Administration act like this? They shouldn’t act like this!”

He had never imagined that tensions between the Provincial Administration and the Censorate would escalate to such extremes.

Though he was the commandant of Yingchuan Commandant’s Office, it was only a middle-tier office. In the Yuan Dynasty, commandant offices were divided into “lower,” “middle,” and “upper” tiers; a lower-tier office had at least three thousand soldiers, a middle-tier at least five thousand, and an upper-tier required seven thousand capable warriors.

Although the requirement for a middle-tier office was between five and seven thousand, everyone was clever: the official roster might approach the upper limit, but actual troop strength always hovered near the minimum. Yingchuan Commandant’s Office was no exception; nominally, they had 6,500 fighting men, but in reality, just over five thousand. The empty slots were happily exploited up and down the chain.

Only after the Red Turban uprising did the darughachi, commandants, and vice-commandants realize that the more troops, the better. But Xiang Pulue gave them no time to replenish their forces. After several major battles, Yingchuan Commandant’s Office lost nearly half its men.

Though the Censorate of Southern Jiangnan did everything possible to help Commandant Zhang replenish his troops, he only managed to restore his prewar strength of just over five thousand. Of those, only three thousand followed him on campaign to Jiqing Circuit. The Censorate transferred all available troops to Commandant Zhang, but his total force was still only five thousand.

Now, Commandant Zhang found himself like a clever housewife unable to cook without rice: the chance for a glorious victory was right before his eyes, but no matter how hard he pushed, the fragile defensive line the Red Turbans had built around Hu Village could not be breached. Worse, the main force of the Red Turbans might arrive at any moment to reinforce. “The Provincial Administration is destroying its own Great Wall!”

He might as well have remained silent, for the more Chen Zhaoxian heard, the more annoyed he became. “Commandant Zhang, it’s more than destroying the Great Wall! If this goes on, I can walk away, but you’ll have no way to answer to the Censorate. The fate of the realm will be lost because of you!”

Commandant Zhang came from a military family; the moment he heard these words, he raised his iron spear. “Marshal Chen, rest assured! I’ll lead my personal guard to bring you the heads of Guo Tianshu and Zhang Tianyou. Even if I die, I’ll make sure the world knows that the realm did not fall because of me!”

With his command, the last reserve—three companies—entered the fray, and Chen Zhaoxian himself threw everything into the battle, leading two companies forward.

Meanwhile, Zhu Yuanzhang was pressing his sword and shouting furiously, “The spear army’s assault won’t last much longer. Once we repel them, Ma Shutding and Zuo Dana Shili together are barely equal to a commandant. If Bi Si, the bandit from Huashan, could manage it, so can I, Zhu Yuanzhang!”

The weakness of the Yuan imperial forces was an indisputable fact. Xiang Pulue, with a few hundred White Lotus cult members, had swept through three provinces and taken over forty cities. Even before the chaos of a decade ago, Bi Si the Huashan bandit, with thirty-six men, had run riot in Jiqing Circuit. The Yuan government mobilized tens of thousands for two months and still failed to wipe out the Huashan bandits, losing their darughachi and many senior officers in the process.

The Southern Jiangnan Censorate, repeatedly defeated, had to rely on the power of private salt smugglers to finally deal with the Huashan bandits. Yet once the bandit threat was eliminated, the promised rewards to the smugglers were reneged, and the salt smugglers remained as such. After the great upheaval, the salt workers of Jianghuai became Zhang Shicheng’s men, one of the Yuan Dynasty’s deadliest enemies.

The current situation was much the same. Though the Provincial Administration of Jiangsu and Zhejiang had mobilized Ma Shutding, Zuo Dana Shili, and all the troops they could muster, the real main force remained Xie Guoxi’s spear army. The commandants sent by the administration were only auxiliary forces.

Now Zhu Yuanzhang sought to seize the moment and turn defeat into victory. But as soon as he finished speaking, a loud cry sounded from the front, “Commandant Tang is finished!”

“Commandant Tang is finished?”

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nearly stabbed the messenger for spreading rumors. “Nonsense! How could Commandant Tang be finished? One more lie and you’ll be summarily executed!”

But when Zhu Yuanzhang looked closely, he found that Tang He’s command was not just “finished”—it had collapsed entirely.

Tang He was the best at making Zhu Yuanzhang happy; thus Zhu trusted him especially, always pulling his old friend up. Unfortunately, Tang He was a first-rate company commander, an excellent battalion leader, but not suited to command at the level of a commandant. His performance of late had been lackluster.

Yet the less Tang He could handle the commandant’s post, the more Zhu Yuanzhang insisted on using him. Today, he had specially assigned Tang He as the main force, but Tang He’s performance was as mediocre as ever. Now Zhu Yuanzhang was truly enraged. “Tell Tang He to rally his troops and counterattack immediately. If he retreats again, I’ll set aside all brotherly affection!”

But events did not shift according to Zhu Yuanzhang’s will. Under the spear army’s assault, Tang He’s command collapsed like an avalanche, abandoning weapons, armor, supplies, even their banners and mules to the spear army. Yuan troops, buoyed by the retreat, saw their morale soar and launched a fierce counterattack.

Zhu Yuanzhang was now truly desperate. He cared nothing for brotherly affection, calling on his adopted sons, relatives, and personal guard. “You’ve eaten and drunk at my expense, and when you get into trouble I look the other way. Now it’s time for you to give your lives for me!”

To outsiders, Zhu Yuanzhang’s orders were iron and his discipline ruthless, but with his closest kin and true old brothers, he had always been lenient. Only in real crisis would he speak such words, determined to lead his personal guard and vanguard to turn the tide.

Just then, someone spoke out of turn, “Marshal, we need not worry—Marshal Liu has already crossed the river!”

Zhu Yuanzhang flew into a rage once more, declaring, “What does Marshal Liu crossing the river have to do with our Left Camp? Even if he knows we’re defeated, he won’t come to our aid! We’d sooner count on Guo Tianshu or Zhang Tianyou than on Chaohu!”