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Chapter 1408: Impatient
No matter how strong the attacking enemy is, they cannot possibly break through the Ming army's defenses in one fell swoop. Nine times out of ten, they are just testing the waters, which is a necessary step in siege warfare. The defending army will also retaliate with probing fire when faced with the enemy's probing attacks, taking the opportunity to see the strength of the attackers. There is nothing to be alarmed about.

"Can we bet together? I think at least two of the three—Cossacks, Russia, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth—should bet together, five bets!" Once someone took the lead, others immediately followed suit. The remaining staff officers whispered among themselves, also planning to take the opportunity to win.

Inside the command post, there were barbecue grills and tandoor ovens, filling the air with the aroma of meat. Outside the west city wall, however, the scene was quite different. Hundreds of dark figures, crouching low on horseback, galloped toward the city wall. When they were about three hundred meters away, they raised their muskets and pulled the triggers toward the wall.

As plumes of smoke billowed out, the riders immediately turned their horses and galloped sideways, drawing a neat arc beneath the city wall before rushing back like the wind.

The Zaporozhye Cossack light cavalry launched a standard probing attack, not intended to besiege the city, but rather to probe the enemy's defensive firepower and weaponry with casualties. How many would perish depended on horsemanship, the density of defensive fire, and luck.

The Poles, fearing and unwilling to die themselves, hired a group of Cossacks whose lives were worth less than slaves, sending them to probe the enemy's firepower before each siege. This life-risking work, done so often, honed their horsemanship to an impressive degree, making them a unique sight on the battlefield.

"General Konetspolsky, the Cossacks are back, but they've lost three men!"

While the Zaporozhye Cossacks charged forward at the cost of their lives, a cavalry caravan was lurking in the darkness 3 kilometers away. The riders' attire was indistinct, but one thing stood out: each rider had two wing-like appendages protruding from their backs.

Stanisław Koniecpolsky was the commander-in-chief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Expeditionary Force and one of the commanders-in-chief of the Northern Theater of the European Allied Forces.

This Polish nobleman, though only in his forties, had already amassed considerable renown in Europe and currently served as the Grand Commander of the Polish Royal Army. This position was roughly equivalent to the commander of the imperial guards of the Chinese emperor, demonstrating the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's high regard for this eastern expedition.

"Let them charge again, get closer to the city wall!" After listening to his subordinate's report, Marshal Konetspolsky issued another order without expression.

"But..." But the messenger did not leave immediately.

"No buts. Give them a bigger share of the spoils, you damned pigs!" Marshal Konetspolsky remained seated on his horse, gazing straight ahead at the city illuminated by lights in the distance, and uttered these words indifferently.

"Yes, General!" This time the messenger didn't insist, turned around, jumped onto his horse, and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Less than an hour later, the Cossack cavalry that had circled halfway around the city wall and left safely charged back again, still full of momentum. However, they turned their horses around a dozen seconds later, and the distance from which they fired their guns was much closer, only about 200 meters from the city wall.

"Who is in charge of the nighttime defense of the western city?"

Huang Taiji had almost finished his late-night snack; only a few dozen willow branches skewering meat and half a naan bread, now cold, remained on the table. Hearing the renewed commotion outside the city and the closer the sound of horses' hooves, but only sporadic gunfire from the city walls, he finally rose and walked out of the main hall, standing on the steps and looking west. "Now it's the 3rd, 4th, and 5th hundredth households of the 2,000th unit of the 31st Guard. The shift change will take place in one hour." The staff officers, their mouths greasy with food, hadn't forgotten their duties. They knew the city's defenses perfectly without needing to consult records, down to the hundredth household.

"As expected of a son of a military family, you have not failed His Majesty's favor. I commend Commander Ma for his merit. If every centurion in our army could understand tactical thinking so well, these petty villains wouldn't have to come knocking on our door."

"Clean this place up, arrange the duty personnel, and everyone who's not doing anything else can go and rest. If I see anyone looking listless tomorrow, demote them to a centurion!"

Upon hearing that he was one of Ma Lan's subordinates, Huang Taiji nodded in genuine praise. Within the Ming army, many sons of former border generals had gradually risen to mid- to high-ranking command positions.

There was initially a lot of criticism regarding these second- and third-generation military families with connections and lineages. The main concern was that they might use their family influence to create factions within the military, turning what was originally a pure army into a Ming Dynasty border army.

But the emperor silenced the criticism from all sides with a single sentence: The military families were not the culprits behind the weakness of the border troops; the root cause lay in the rules governing the court from top to bottom. Now the rules had changed; everyone was to be allowed to act according to the rules, and if major problems still arose, it wouldn't be their responsibility.

With this imperial edict, the sons of military families not only dared not form cliques or suppress dissidents in the army, but instead became even more self-disciplined and strived for excellence. They were well aware of the burden they bore; any mistake would not only betray the emperor's grace but also plunge their families into utter ruin, making it impossible for them to ever stand again.

Over the years, the emperor's methods have clearly been effective. Several times, when Huang Taiji couldn't sleep at night, he asked himself whether, if he were to ascend the throne, he would dare to bring so many of the court officials, military families, and aristocratic clans who had opposed him in the past into the court and the army, and whether he was afraid that they might one day unite to take revenge.
The answer is quite obvious: it's always the same: fear and reluctance, no matter how much you try to reassure yourself. This shows that a broad mind isn't something you can just casually say or achieve by gritting your teeth; it requires a perspective far beyond the ordinary to avoid scaring yourself out of your wits.

"Marshal, the Poles may launch an attack tonight, we..."

Besides the attacking and defending sides, a group of people on the slopes north of the Syr Darya River were still awake, watching anxiously as the scene unfolded in the west of the city. General Atamanta Tarinov, a Don Cossack, stood beside Marshal Buturin, holding a monocular telescope similar in model to those used by the Ming army.

Every move the Polish army made after their arrival was closely watched by the Russian army. The Zaporozhye Cossacks' probing attacks, of course, did not escape the eyes of the Don Cossacks either.

They were all Cossacks, with almost identical cultural traditions and fighting styles. Tatarinov could see at a glance what the Zaporizhzhia Cossacks were doing and what the significance was.

Aside from feeling sorry for the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks being treated so unfairly by the Poles, there was also a sense of anticipation. If the Russian army could launch a surprise night attack while the Poles were locked in battle with the Ming army, it might just prove surprisingly effective.

(End of this chapter)