Eighth Section

History has finally entered 1686, and the Spring Festival in Beijing was exceptionally lively. In the past two years, due to severe political upheavals, a group of insightful and fortunate individuals had boarded the Han Army's express train and achieved a remarkable reversal. Countless once-impoverished wretches had transformed overnight into men of immense wealth. As the saying goes, "If you do not return to your hometown rich, it is as if you walk through the night in brocade clothes." Thus, at this time, many seized the New Year festivities to display their newfound fortunes before the assembled crowds. On New Year's Eve, aside from the grand fireworks and lantern shows officially organized by the Great Han court, numerous wealthy households joined in the revelry, organizing dragon dances and the like. Interestingly, since many among the exhibitors hailed from Fujian, the festival program introduced an unfamiliar spectacle for Beijingers: the lion dance and the gathering of green branches. The traditional Chinese dragon had encountered a formidable rival.

In these festivities, activities within the Han Army territories stood out particularly. Although these individuals were not particularly restrained in their usual conduct, at this moment their insular characteristics were exaggerated to an extreme degree. To Lin Feng's astonishment, they had instinctively grasped the principles of public relations without guidance. Numerous dragon and lion dance teams organized by wealthy factions bore unmistakable commercial imprints. In the spirit of "celebrating with the people," Lin Feng had also participated in many such New Year events, witnessing this terrifying awakening firsthand.

When Lin Feng realized the gravity of the situation, the vast majority of officials and generals within the Han Army had already pledged their loyalty. Even some frontier commanders had traveled vast distances to send urgent messages. Due to the long distance, when General Ma Ying, the Protector of the Defeated, stationed in Nuergan, received the news, the matter was already nearing its end. In a state of panic, he was unable to find a brush and instead cut his veins to write a blood oath, demanding his lord become emperor. This truly left Lin Feng somewhat amused.

To speak honestly, whether Lin Feng himself ascended the throne was of little consequence. At this juncture, he was no different from the emperor in Beijing. Facing this wave of urging, although it appeared that "public sentiment could be utilized," those close to him knew the true nature of the matter. After his initial shock, he quickly understood what was happening.

In fact, since Lin Feng had overruled the majority and issued the grand proclamation across the realm, most ministers within the Han Army had already grasped the significance of this item. In accordance with Confucian principles, the only one authorized to issue orders to the various feudal lords under heaven was the emperor. Since the Han King had deliberately sent forth such a powerful edict, it indicated that he had long prepared himself to challenge the feudal lords and contend for the supreme position. Linking the two together led to a political judgment that seemed remarkably accurate. Furthermore, it was comforting to know that whether the urging succeeded or failed, there would be neither merit nor demerit. Conversely, if everyone urged him to ascend the throne and he did not, it would essentially be equivalent to suicide.

At this point, Lin Feng had no intention of becoming emperor. Of course, his reluctance to ascend the throne was not because he feared anyone. In fact, since he had eliminated Emperor Kangxi, he had already become indifferent to such matters. Moreover, in terms of ascending the throne, he had every confidence that no feudal lords would oppose him. The only possible protest would likely come from the Great Zhou court of Wu Sangui, but protests were one thing; once the deed was done and the Southern Zhou could offer no effective resistance, one could only acquiesce to reality. After a period of delay, it would inevitably return to a state of harmony.

His unwillingness to become emperor stemmed merely from the fact that his current territory was too small. Although the regions governed by the Han Army appeared vast, aside from Zhili and Anhui, most areas did not conform to the traditional "heartland of the Central Plains." According to Confucian thought, the Liaodong region could only be considered "land beyond civilization." Thus, ascending the throne in this manner would indeed seem somewhat undignified. Even if it were recorded in the annals and passed down to posterity, it could not escape the stigma of being a "petty upstart" or a "monkey imitating a human." Although Lin Feng himself was absolutely indifferent to reputation, in this matter he still held his own view: if one must become emperor, it should be after unifying the Yellow River basin, which would truly merit the title "in accordance with the will of the people."

Considering all this, after careful deliberation, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, at the banquet, the Han King Lin Feng formally issued an edict to candidly express his thoughts on "detachment from fame and fortune," declaring that beyond concern for the common people, he had no interest in the position of emperor. However, since the custom of urging the throne was typically repeated three times and three times again, the ministers continued to submit memorials as usual. Only after Lin Feng expended considerable effort in repeatedly reassuring Li Guangdi, Zhou Peigong, and Chen Menglei did he manage to shelve this baffling event.

Because the war was imminent, Lin Feng had no choice but to devote his full attention to military construction. After the New Year, the General Staff issued a series of promotion orders. Officers and soldiers who had distinguished themselves in last year's campaign received commendations. The Mongolian Zhonglangjiang Zhao Guangyuan, the Ping Liao Zhonglangjiang Wang Dahai, and the Yulin Zhonglangjiang Rick Latour were promoted to the rank of Zhongjiang, and were respectively conferred the titles of Mongol General, Ping Liao General, and Yulin General.

In addition, Lin Feng frequently visited the Fengtai supply station during this period, inspecting the training of the new army. These new recruits, who had enlisted since early last winter, had now undergone training for more than three months. In Lin Feng's experience, compared to previous troops, this batch of new soldiers had undoubtedly superior quality. In fact, most of these new recruits had participated in wars before enlisting. The firelock units were essentially militiamen who had joined the Liaodong campaign last year, having withstood the test of large-scale warfare. Meanwhile, the cavalry recruited from Nuergan, Ningjin, Suiyuan, and Chahaar were mostly warriors of valor. Many had previously been Manchu or Mongol soldiers, having been tempered in the fires of tribal warfare.

At the end of last year, the Protector of the Defeated General Ma Ying had presented Lin Feng with a great gift. After several months of stalemate, Ma Ying, commanding the Sixth Army of Great Han cavalry, had essentially cleared the entire Nuergan region. The Han iron cavalry, having experienced great battles, was valiant and fierce. They had continuously defeated various tribes entrenched in remote areas, with their hooves unstoppable. Under their frenzied campaigns of conquest and slaughter, the minority ethnic tribes of Eastern Mongols, Oroqen, and Xibe living in the Nuergan region surrendered one after another. According to the customs of conquest, Ma Ying conscripted the sons and nephews of tribal chieftains and nobles, as well as valiant warriors, to serve in the army. However, due to the Great Han military regulations, these conscripted soldiers could not be directly incorporated into his forces. Thus, these several thousand minority cavalrymen were ordered to bring their own horses and provisions, report to Beijing, and join the new army. They were scattered among Han officers, trained alongside Han cavalry in military tactics and received the education of "Han unity" from Gao Shiqi.

Now, the Han Army's military training uniformly took the Dzungar Mongolian cavalry as the hypothetical enemy, conducting targeted training against various tactics of the Mongol cavalry. Only after Lin Feng personally inspected did he realize the significance of certain training projects from his later military training, such as the most "infamous" emergency assembly at university. The essence of this subject was to require soldiers to complete war preparations in the shortest time to respond to sudden military attacks. Now, the Han Army, based on the proposals of Zhao Liangdun and Ma Jinliang, had strengthened this training across the entire army. According to their explanation, night raids were the Mongol cavalry's most common tactic. These scoundrels, possessing powerful mobility, loved to suddenly launch into enemy camps under cover of darkness to set fires and launch surprise attacks. Given the generally low military quality of armies in this era, most units that fell into the trap often fled in panic and disorder, thus being defeated by a relatively small force of cavalry. Therefore, it was necessary to strengthen the army's adaptability in this area.

Under this doctrine, the new recruits endured a life of utter darkness. In fact, their training process was incredibly brutal. Only at this point did Lin Feng realize how gentle those university instructors had been. The training process of the Han Army was basically a matter of hard work combined with brute force. Usually, at dawn when everyone was sleeping most soundly, a group of horse thieves suddenly broke into the new recruits' camp. Armed and wielding large clubs, they gave these young recruits a surprise beating. After a thorough thrashing, they walked away triumphantly, leaving the new recruits to suffer both soul and body torment. Honestly, this method was indeed extremely inhumane, but the effect was astonishing. In fact, after several such painful lessons, among the new recruits, quite a few became experts in listening to the wind within a short time—they could lie in bed and detect the faint sound of hooves several miles away, then shout loudly to alert their comrades to dress and prepare for battle in just a few minutes.

In addition, to help infantry overcome their fear of cavalry, the Han Army frequently conducted various mounted and dismounted exercises. This method was also simple: infantry formed lines, and thousands of cavalry charged through the gaps in the infantry formation amid thunderous roars. This training was extremely dangerous. One must know that thousands of warhorses running at full speed kicked up clouds of dust that obscured the sky and sun, making it impossible to see outlines of people even several zhang away. Moreover, the proximity between infantry and cavalry made accidents frequent, with no shortage of unlucky souls losing arms and legs each time. However, these abnormal casualties did not diminish Lin Feng's resolve. In this era, the death of a few hundred soldiers was nothing to worry about—nothing more than scattering some silver coins. There were absolutely no humanitarians who would come forward to lecture him on such matters. And under the current Han Army's system of high pressure combined with preferential treatment, there was no need to worry about soldiers' morale.

Soldiers were meant to be sacrificed. As long as victory in war was achieved, the loss of lives was of no great importance.

Lin Feng resolutely opposed inheriting Qi Jiguang's chariot tactics and resolutely opposed setting up any obstacles in front of the open battlefield formation. This stemmed from historical experience—the Great Wall of China had not stopped the nomadic peoples who swept across the land like the wind, nor had the high walls and thick barriers of the Ming Dynasty stopped the ferocious Manchu iron cavalry. Those few wooden boards in front of the soldiers and the pits for trapping horses in front of the formation—what could they possibly stop?!

In this era, soldiers' fighting will was the ultimate weapon. And Lin Feng's military policy for the Han Army was also very straightforward: artillery—firelocks—bayonets. Those who retreated would have their entire families executed. The Han Army spent tens of millions of taels of silver without counting the cost to forge only one hundred thousand troops—the goal was a professional army.

The Great Han infantry specialized in defeating cavalry.