Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 564 A Glimpse into Life After the War

When news of the Tartars' withdrawal reached Dengzhou, the entire city was in an uproar. After nearly half a month of living in fear, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Officials who had previously been dissatisfied with Liu Ye's autocratic rule were now convinced. In their eyes, it was precisely Liu Ye's tactic of striking at the heart of the problem, using minimal force to achieve maximum effect, winning without fighting, and forcing the vicious Tartars to retreat obediently without losing a single soldier.

The credit went to Liu Ye, while Liang Xiaoming, who held off nearly 20,000 Later Jin troops at the fortress, was selectively ignored.

That evening, officials and wealthy people in Dengzhou celebrated their success, with music and revelry emanating from many grand mansions. Lin Tianming, however, declined his subordinates' invitations to the banquet and instead spent the night in his study, burning the midnight oil to draft a memorial to be sent to the capital.

In his memorial, he skillfully employed euphemisms to conceal Dengzhou's passive avoidance of battle against the nearby Tartars, attributing Liang Xiaoming's resistance to the Tartars to his own strategic planning, and then placing all the credit for the Tartars' retreat on Liu Ye. If one only reads the memorial, one would conclude that, under the command of Governor Lin Tianming, the soldiers and civilians of Dengzhou bravely resisted the Tartar attack, ensuring the survival of Dengzhou and Laizhou, with General Liang Xiaoming of Dengzhou being particularly outstanding; General Liu Ye of Qionghai Town proactively came to their aid and proposed a scorched-earth policy, forcing the Tartars to retreat.

Lin Tianming wasn't trying to steal Liang Xiaoming's credit, because he knew that Liu Ye was behind Liang Xiaoming. From recruitment and training to the appointment of officers and daily management, all the troops under the command of the Dengzhou General were arranged by Liu Ye. It was only natural that the credit should be shared equally between the father-in-law and son-in-law.

Liu Ye was not idle either. After learning that the Tartars had retreated, he led his guards to the military camp outside the city as soon as possible. By evening, they had arrived at the foot of the fortress.

After being besieged by tens of thousands of troops for more than ten days, the city was still on high alert. In addition, the sun had already set and the light was poor, so the defenders could not see who was coming. They raised their rifles and shouted, "Who goes there? Don't come any closer, or we'll open fire!"

Lin San shouted, "Open your eyes wide and see clearly! The general is here! Open the city gates now!"

The new recruits in the Independent Regiment didn't recognize Liu Ye, but the officers were all veterans who had followed the army through the Battle of Qiuyu Mountain, so they naturally recognized him. He was the superior of Regiment Commander Su Hongtu and General Liang Xiaoming. Upon closer inspection, they saw that he had indeed arrived. So the officer in charge of the city gate defense hurriedly ordered the city gate to be opened while sending someone to notify Liang Xiaoming and the others.

Upon hearing that Liu Ye had come in person, Liang Xiaoming was overjoyed and quickly came out to greet him. He grabbed Liu Ye's hand and asked, "I really didn't expect you to come... Did you come to see me or to rescue me?"

Liu Ye glared at him: "Of course I'm here to save you. I thought you were surrounded by the Tartars and about to kick the bucket, so I rushed over immediately, thinking that I had to see you alive or dead."

"Get lost," Liang Xiaoming chuckled, giving Liu Ye a light punch. Although he wasn't good with words, he knew what it meant to travel from Lingao to Shandong in such a short time. Liu Ye had just returned from Shandong, and was newly married. Upon hearing that he was in danger, he had abandoned his new wife, disregarding the fatigue of the journey. Liang Xiaoming could feel his affection.

He was deeply moved and whispered, "Thank you, brother."

Liu Ye laughed and said, "Don't be so sentimental between brothers, it's too cheesy. Well, since you're here, show me your masterpiece. This bastion seems much more imposing than that temporary building in Bofu back then. And tell me about your heroic deeds in resisting the Tartars."

Upon hearing about the bastion, Liang Xiaoming immediately switched to tech geek mode, leading Liu Ye on a tour and acting as a temporary guide.

"This bastion is modeled after Vauban's design, with a star-shaped cross-section, low walls, and a sloping design. The interior is made of rammed earth, and the exterior is reinforced with bamboo-reinforced cement..."

Liu Ye couldn't help but interrupt him: "I understand the star shape, it's crossfire. But what the heck is Woban? And what's with the low, sloping walls? They look even lower than that makeshift bastion in Bofu. Aren't they afraid of an enemy swarming in?"

Liu Ye explained, “Vauban was a marshal and military engineer in France in this century, but in this timeline he should only be two years old. He was a genius who never commanded a large-scale battle in his life, yet he became a marshal, and the bastion reached its peak under his leadership. This low, sloping wall design, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with a thick base, was mainly designed to withstand artillery bombardment, making it more difficult to breach than traditional city walls. In the Battle of Bofu, we were bombarded by the government troops' cannons, so we learned from that lesson when building this military camp and specifically built this sloping wall in Vauban's style. However, I didn't expect that the Tartars, whether they came in a hurry or simply didn't bring any cannons, didn't have a single heavy cannon and relied entirely on manpower to attack the city. My design became a waste, like trying to fool the blind.”

"Hehe..." Liu Ye chuckled smugly, thinking: Last year, during the suppression of the rebellion, he insisted on setting up an ambush at sea, intercepting the cannons and craftsmen that Kong Youde was preparing to take to sea. It seems to have been effective. Although this tactic might not completely prevent Huang Taiji from possessing cannons, without the readily available cannons and skilled craftsmen from Dengzhou, the Later Jin would be unable to master the systematic cannon-casting technology. They could only acquire them from the battlefield or crudely imitate them, just like the Ming Dynasty's imitation of Western naval cannons to create the "Red Barbarian Cannons," resulting in significantly reduced performance and durability. Since cannons were a rare commodity for the Later Jin, marginal figures like Abatai naturally had no right to possess them.

Upon arriving at a row of bungalows, Liang Xiaoming explained, “These bungalows can be used as temporary dormitories or warehouses. This row on the right is filled with grain. I managed to get enough food for five thousand people to eat for a month from your father-in-law, so that we can cope with the situation if we are besieged by the Tartars.”

Liu Ye smiled wryly: "If the Tartars hadn't happened to appear and then, by some terrible coincidence, surrounded us, your actions would have seemed pointless to many. I don't know whether to call you a lucky general or just a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse."

Liang Xiaoming disagreed. In his view, stockpiling food was essential, and even if the military camp was inside the city, he would still require a certain amount of food to be stored. He didn't explain this issue, but continued, "The row of houses on the left is now being used as temporary detention rooms, where dozens of soldiers are being held."

Liu Ye's expression turned serious. Soldiers whom even Liang Xiaoming had to confine must have committed a serious offense. He asked in a deep voice, "What did these people do wrong?"