Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Eight: Partnership

The fighting had come to a temporary halt. During these days stationed at Wangzhuang on the Xingzi River, Shangtianhou was rarely idle. Relying on the maps provided by Liu Shizi, he had visited several prominent families in Ansai and Fushi counties one after another.

However, in these recent outings, Shangtianhou always operated in coordination with the Lion Battalion. After selecting a target, the Lion Battalion would dispatch a platoon leader to lead his own unit, along with four or five hundred-man companies from Shangtianhou’s forces, setting out in a grand procession. Shangtianhou, uneasy about his own men, followed along every time. Yet, after seeing it so many times, he found himself feeling quite strange.

Liu Chengzong sent a different platoon leader each time. Through this rotation, Shangtianhou not only came to know all the platoon leaders of the Lion Battalion but also became clear on their organizational structure. From Liu Chengyun of the battalion’s baggage platoon to Wei Qian’er of the scout cavalry and Han Shipan of the personal guards, everyone had taken a turn. In particular, Cao Yao of the battalion’s artillery platoon—with his twenty small cannons lined up outside the earthen walls—left a deep impression on Shangtianhou.

The operations went very smoothly, but Shangtianhou was unsure of Liu Chengzong’s intentions. The beauty of this fort lay in the fact that it was unfinished, allowing Liu Chengzong to continue building it according to his own vision. Outside the fort, a firing range of eighty paces had been leveled, and stone locks had been fashioned by stone masons for strength training. However, the mountains truly lacked flat land; there was no hope of using this fort for training troops in the future, so he would have to find a way to utilize the flat river valleys.

Unable to suppress his doubts, Shangtianhou went to find Liu Chengzong, who was busy playing with a stone lock outside the fort. Nearby, Chengyun was practicing with a thirty-jin light bow, shooting at a target thirty paces away. His archery was divine, always managing to perfectly miss the target. This bored Mei Zhuren, who lay back, using the belly of Little Zuanfeng as a pillow to sunbathe. Having not bathed in over half a month and running around all day, the monkey was filthy again.

Shangtianhou was not one for small talk. With dice in his pocket and a wine pot in hand, he hurried over: "Yo, General, getting in some practice?"

Liu Chengzong was shirtless, his muscular frame glistening with sweat in the sunlight. He exerted himself to lift a two-hundred-jin bluestone to his chest. He flipped it to the left, then to the right. Halfway through, his hand slipped; as the stone tumbled toward his feet, he bounded backward to dodge it. Once the boulder hit the ground, Liu Chengzong shook his hands and sat down on the stone, asking, "Why have you come up the mountain?"

Shangtianhou swallowed hard as he looked at the massive rock, shaking the wine pot in his hand: "General, care for a drink?"

*Drink, my foot. What if the eldest brother shows up?* Liu Chengzong waved his hand, yawning from exhaustion, and wiped the sweat away with a plain cloth tied at his waist: "You drink it. What do you want with me?"

*Eh, so blunt.* Shangtianhou was caught off guard; he had prepared a mountain of words and had already imagined a cozy little drinking session in his head. He scratched his messy hair and simply sat down on a smaller stone lock: "General, I want to ask about your plans for my brothers. We can't all stay here for the winter, can we?"

After a pause, Shangtianhou pursed his lips: "You had the platoon leaders take turns leading my men out—is it because you want me to... thin out my ranks and become a platoon leader myself?"

In truth, Shangtianhou had a premonition, but he couldn't be sure. He understood the composition of the Lion Battalion: postal couriers, garrison soldiers, deserters, and defectors—hardly any starving refugees. They were practically another unit of government troops, thick-limbed and sturdy, fully equipped with armor and mules, lacking only a horse for every man. Even if he thinned out his two thousand-plus men, he might not be able to pick three hundred who met Liu Chengzong’s standards.

Even now, Shangtianhou was worried about the two hundred sets of assorted armor he had split from Liu Guozhen. Previously, he hadn't had such things, and seeing everyone under Liu Chengzong armored and imposing had made him envious. But once they were in his own hands, aside from a few chest-and-back protectors and battle tunics missing plates, the rest were too heavy for his men. They could wear them, but they couldn't dream of fighting; after walking two miles, they would be exhausted and crippled.

"Platoon leader? There is no need to thin out your ranks." Liu Chengzong wiped the sweat from his body, stood up, and draped his clothes over his shoulders before sitting back down. "For the past ten days, you’ve watched my men, and my platoon leaders have watched yours. I intend to merge our battalions. What do you think?"

So it was a merger. Shangtianhou nodded, showing no clear refusal, yet he remained puzzled: "If we don't thin the ranks, we’ll have over four thousand men once we merge."

"I'll bring you... never mind." Liu Chengzong nodded. He had intended to go into the fort to fetch his organizational plan for the Lion Battalion, but then he realized Shangtianhou was illiterate, so he simply explained: "You will serve as my deputy general. The border troops will be frontline soldiers, and your men will serve as auxiliary, baggage, and engineer units."

"In terms of structure, the middle platoon will have five hundred men; you will appoint the platoon leader. The others will be broken up and integrated into each platoon. This way, all five platoons can spread out to find places to garrison. With just my personal guards and scout cavalry, the artillery and engineering platoons stationed here at Wangzhuang, it will be easy to support."

Liu Chengzong had already decided that even with a merger, he had to divide his forces. Wangzhuang on the Xingzi River already had many farmers; if all four thousand of them stayed there, they would struggle to survive the winter, even with the grain they had recently seized, and transporting grain from further away would be difficult. Instead, if the five platoons were scattered to garrison surrounding mountain peaks, camping ten or twenty miles apart, it would be easier to graze horses and collect dry grass.

Shangtianhou pondered this, feeling confused. He was not against the merger; he still felt Liu Chengzong was righteous—perhaps even more so. Simply put, whether they merged or not, ever since that battle in the mountains, Shangtianhou knew clearly that he would no longer be the one calling the shots. In the past half-month of taking turns attacking the earthen forts, if any of the Lion Battalion’s platoon leaders had called for volunteers, half his men would have defected in an instant.

Shangtianhou had a very clear understanding of himself. People followed him because he treated them well. Among the leaders who had merged with the Chuang Wang in the past, the Chuang Wang treated his men like soldiers, while others like Buzhan Ni and Huntianhou treated them like thieves; only he treated his men like human beings. After they died, he would dig them a relatively decent grave.

But if he compared himself to Liu Chengzong... Shangtianhou didn't really want to make that comparison. The choice was simple: forget his subordinates; he himself wanted to be one of Liu Chengzong’s men. Following Liu Chengzong, there was little need to worry about digging graves. Whether the death was dignified didn't matter; the Lion Battalion was well-fed and well-clothed—simply being alive was dignified enough.

He voiced his doubts: "General, why do you do this?"

"Why do I do this?" Liu Chengzong was taken aback by the question. He thought for a moment before saying, "You mean, what benefit is there for me in a merger?"

Shangtianhou nodded. He couldn't find a reason for Liu Chengzong to take him in. People only acted with a purpose. Merging was a small matter; even if they didn't merge, he would have to cling to Liu Chengzong’s coattails to survive in the future. But he had to know the reason, or he wouldn't feel secure.

"Of course, it benefits me. Your men are good soldiers."

Liu Chengzong said this with a half-smile. Shangtianhou suspected he had misheard. He looked left and right, then pointed at his own nose: "Good soldiers?" In his memory, the term "good soldier" seemed a bit far from his men.

"I currently have over 1,500 combat and auxiliary soldiers, less than two hundred postal couriers and garrison troops, and three hundred young men selected from Wangzhuang. Beyond that, the rest are deserters and defectors. The force has grown," Liu Chengzong, his strength mostly recovered, stood up. "Half of them are defectors. They can fight, but their minds are scattered. Even if the platoon leaders are kept separate from the soldiers, they will eventually cross paths. It’s troublesome. If I split them up, each platoon lacks manpower."

He looked at Shangtianhou: "Your men are different. They listen to you. They can charge government camps in hundred-man teams, and even if they are injured, they retreat without fear—retreating without breaking formation—that is already a great skill."

It didn't necessarily mean Shangtianhou’s men were better than those of Li Wanqing or Liu Guoneng. Under close-range cannon fire, they might even be worse. But the difference was that they were less trouble. If Liu Chengzong wanted to expand by absorbing the troops of leaders like Liu Guoneng, he would have to absorb five or six of them, and just trying to figure out what that pack of leaders wanted would be exhausting. Shangtianhou was easy; as long as he took care of this one man’s needs, the job was done.

"Before the battle with Li Bei, time was the most precious thing, and elite soldiers were vital. Now that Li Bei has been captured and Wu Weifan has retreated, he may not dare to come after me once he hears that Li Bei’s entire army was wiped out. I suspect the next battle won't be until next spring; perhaps I have a four-month breathing window."

Spring and autumn were the best times for warfare; summers were too hot and winters too cold. In the former, one was prone to heatstroke in armor; in the latter, to frostbite during marches. Therefore, except for surprise attacks or wars dragging into winter, northern armies rarely fought in the winter. Four months was enough to improve the malnutrition of the refugees and turn them into ordinary auxiliary soldiers who had some discipline, could understand orders, and had mastered basic weapon skills.

"It doesn't matter if your troops can't fight yet; they can be trained. Besides, you have women in your ranks, and we need to make winter clothing to ward off the cold."

"Leave it to me." Shangtianhou became bold, patting his chest. "There is cotton and cloth in the fort; that's no problem. But you should still appoint the platoon leaders. My men don't know how to lead; I will listen to your every arrangement regarding the merger."

Liu Chengzong could sense that Shangtianhou was actually quite insecure. He said, "It's fine. After the merger, I plan to select eighty literate men and send them to Zuantianmao to learn. You can go too. My family once compiled a manual on training troops; we didn't use it at the time."

"Once you learn some characters, I’ll teach you that. Once they have been through training and return with a decent level of skill, I’ll place them in every platoon of the battalion, with one hour set aside for study every day."

Liu Chengzong patted Shangtianhou on the shoulder: "By next spring, the Lion Battalion will be a completely different force."

In truth, what worried him most was winter clothing—gloves, hats, and bedding to keep out the cold. Liu Chengyun, who had only hit three arrows after shooting all afternoon, was the "scatter-cash boy" of the Lion Battalion. Liu Chengzong had vast wealth, and the Lion Battalion lacked neither gold nor silver, but in his hands, that wealth was like chili peppers growing in a flowerpot in the back of a magistrate’s office—aside from being pleasant to look at, it had no other meaning. Chengyun was the one who could make that gold and silver meaningful.

Chengyun didn't shoot arrows for practice; he did it for fun, running back and forth between the villages more diligently than Shangtianhou. He had already placed orders in twenty-three villages along the Yan River and its tributaries where people still lived. If they could make finished goods, he bought bedding; if they couldn't, he bought cloth; if they couldn't even weave, he bought cotton and thread. He took whatever was available.

Even so, it wasn't enough. Although Gao Yingxiang had returned to Yanchang County after the battle, the connections between the various departments had become tighter after this engagement. Liu Chengzong’s ancestors, Li Wanqing, and Liu Guoneng were all actively preparing for the winter.

Surprisingly, Wang Ziyuan, who had obtained an official position in the Yan'an Garrison, was the most carefree. His men were useless at fighting, but excellent at everything else. Once the fighting ended and they dispersed to their villages, a single word from "Vice-Thousand-Commander" Wang would set them to making clothes and bedding. They didn't ask for money, but one shouldn't count on the quantities; it was all left to fate. This was, perhaps, Monk Wang’s way of "begging for alms." When fate arrived, clothes and bedding would find their way to the Yan'an Garrison on their own.

Liu Chengzong didn't have that much luck, and his responsibilities were much greater than Wang Ziyuan’s. He was considering the domestic production of military clothing and armor plates. Victory over Li Bei and the approaching winter had brought him a rare period of calm, and the Lion Battalion had completed its full staffing through the merger. Many things could now be put on the agenda.

For the merger, he had summoned Song Shouzhen from Zuantianmao, and the craftsmen Liu Jiachuang, Shi Chengwo, and He Xin. The cannon-casting master Shi Chengwo became the platoon leader of the battalion’s engineering unit. They built kilns at Wangzhuang on the Xingzi River, gathering over a hundred craftsmen from the ranks, and combined them with auxiliary apprentices to establish the Wangzhuang Military Arsenal. It was responsible for repairing weapons and armor, and incidentally, crafting a chest protector for Liu Chengzong.

As for the final missing piece—the middle platoon—Liu Chengzong had wanted Han Shiyou to lead it, as the Han brothers had experience in training personal guards. However, when Liu Chengzong discussed this with Cao Yao, the old rogue felt it was inappropriate.

"Look at the platoon leaders: the left and right platoons, Feng Rang and Gao Xian, are old brothers from Yuhe Fort; the front and rear platoons, Yang Yao and Wang Wenxiu, along with the personal guard captain, the Han brothers, are Guyuan soldiers who came to defect to you," Cao Yao analyzed. "If the left and right platoons want to revolt, the front and rear platoons act as a check, and vice versa. But if you give the middle platoon to Han Shiyou, he is an old acquaintance of Yang Yao and Wang Wenxiu, and the personal guard captain is his brother... They have no issues now, but one must always guard against others."

Liu Chengzong had only been wary of individuals before, but he hadn't yet, like Cao Yao, relied on group affiliations to distinguish factions. It was only because of the large number of defectors from the battles with Liu Guozhen and Li Bei that he had begun to take the issue of factions seriously.

After Cao Yao pointed it out, it truly alerted him. Things were easy when the wind was at their backs, but in times of adversity, if others turned, he wouldn't be able to control them if Han Shiyou led the middle platoon. Considering this, Liu Chengzong decided to appoint Zhong Hu as the middle platoon leader.

Zhong Hu was still lying in bed. In the battle against Liu Guozhen, four lead balls had penetrated his shield; three hit his cotton armor, and one hit his iron arm guard. His life was saved, but he was immobile. He would need at least three more months of recovery. But the Zhong brothers had no such baggage. They had previously been soldiers under Lu Cheng and had no ties to the other platoon leaders. Moreover, since they had been wounded protecting Liu Chengzong, making him a platoon leader would serve as a "horse bone" to inspire others.

The idea of producing their own military clothing came during a review of the merged troops with Shangtianhou. Uniform dress could improve a sense of belonging and help distinguish friend from foe, but that was a secondary reason. The primary reason was that the Lion Battalion looked too ugly after the merger. Those with armor wore it, and they looked decent enough; but once the armor was off, they wore anything and everything—shredded rags, and some even wore women’s clothing.

For soldiers to look like this was the responsibility of the leader. More importantly, deep down, Liu Chengzong did not want his soldiers fighting in the Ming Dynasty "Mandarin Duck" battle tunics. He wanted his own army, and his own military uniform.