Chapter Twenty-Two: Offense and Defense

  Dorgon arrived at Huang Taiji's headquarters and found himself to be the last one to arrive.

  Dorgon saw that his younger brother had arrived late to the military meeting, and everyone was staring at him. He knew that this younger brother was a bit reckless and strong-willed, and if no one asked, he probably wouldn't explain the reason, and would be remembered by others for it. So, he said: "Fifteenth brother, didn't you follow me here? Why did you arrive so late?"

  "A Han dog dared to hit me, Da Jin's brave warrior, and was caught by me, so he delayed going down." Duo Duo looked at his own brother and asked, while walking towards his seat.

  "Huang Taiji saw that everyone had arrived and began to speak: 'All Beiles, all tribal leaders.'"

  Everyone was quite satisfied with this time's scramble and were in high spirits, so they didn't bother to mind the delay. When Huang Taiji spoke, everyone quieted down to listen.

  "Gather everyone over and discuss how to proceed next, whether to retreat or continue fighting. If we are to fight, where should we attack?"

  As soon as the words fell, Sanbeile Manggultai stood up. "What's there to discuss? This time we have a lot of things, and if we stay for long, it won't be easy to escape with so many things when the Ming army surrounds us."

  Manggultai, relying on his usual bold and uninhibited personality, was the first to express his opinion. He did so for two reasons: firstly, he felt that he had gained enough; this time more than ever before; secondly, and most importantly, if they continued to plunder, the more they got, the higher would be the prestige of Huang Taiji. This was something he did not want to see, nor did his other brothers. He could see this point, so he did not believe others couldn't see it either.

  As expected, several Beile with real power who were competing for the position of Baturu all expressed their agreement, while those with lower qualifications remained silent.

  Before Huang Taiji could speak, an unexpected person rushed out and spoke first.

  "What's there to fear? The Ming army is all show and no substance; besides, are you satisfied with just this little bit of loot? As for me, I say we should march on to the Ming capital - that's where the real wealth is, and the best things are!"

  Everyone looked and it turned out to be a Taiji from the Tumet tribe; this guy is quite bold, daring to offend the face of several high-ranking Beile.

  In fact, the Tumed Taiji was not very brave, although he had been powerful before, but now his power is small, and just surrendered to the Jin Dynasty this year.

  That's why he dared to speak so boldly, blinded by interests and wealth. He continued: "Gentlemen, do you still remember our former king of the Tümed clan, Oda Khan? According to what I heard from my tribe, back then Oda Khan led his sons into the pass, wanting to go wherever they pleased, wanting to plunder whatever they wanted. They even went to the capital of the Ming dynasty, and the Ming emperor didn't dare fart. Great Khan, take us to the capital of the Ming dynasty!"

  When he said this, all the other Mongolian tribal leaders stood up and echoed loudly.

  Duoduo, who was standing aside, looked at their expressions as if they were all going to fly up to the sky. He couldn't help but slap his hand on the armrest and shouted: "What's all the commotion about? Shut your mouths!"

  Those Mongolian leaders were suddenly awakened by this drink, and now they are different from the past. The Jurchen people have become powerful, and they themselves are just following them to drink soup. So, they all closed their mouths obediently and sat back in their own seats.

  Duoduo glanced at the group of slaves, then took a deep breath and said: "Ondai Khan, Ondai Khan, what is Ondai Khan? What's so great about going to the capital of Ming country?"

  He paused for a moment, then raised his chin and said: "In the great Jin Dynasty, we conquered the capital of the Song Dynasty, and even captured two emperors. What about you, Oda Khan?!"

  Many Mongolian leaders remembered that it seemed like there was such a thing hundreds of years ago, but they all thought in their hearts: If you say that year, weren't your Great Jin destroyed by our Mongolia? What's the arrogance! Ah, tiger entering the plain being bullied by dogs! However, thinking is one thing, and they didn't dare to reveal this meaning.

  Duoduo said so, the other female Zhenbei Beile thought of past events, and the blood in their bodies boiled up, and they all asked to go to war.

  Mongke and others saw the situation was such that they no longer insisted on their own views.

  Emperor Taizong of the Qing dynasty saw that the morale of his troops was high, and after learning about the situation from Fan Yongdou's side, he weighed it carefully and decided to try attacking the capital of the Ming dynasty. If they couldn't take it down, they would just loot a bit and leave; if by chance they took it down, it would be an unexpected delight.

  Emperor Taizong ordered: Leave General Ying Ertai, General Li Sizhong and Wen Cheng with eight officials to defend against the enemy, leading 800 soldiers to garrison Zhuozhou. The previously obtained wealth and captives were escorted back by a small number of Jurchen soldiers. Orders were given to attack the three Tun camps together, gather and attack the Ming capital.

  He wasn't worried at all that Santunying wouldn't be taken: from the previous intimidation of Santunying, it can be seen that the Ming army on that side is timid and powerless, and the siege equipment made during the rest period a few days ago has been allocated to them. With the prestige of destroying Zhao, if they still can't take it down, they would truly be fools.

  He was left in command of the vanguard because his previous performance had been impressive, and Zhengzhou was an important route for the Jin army to retreat, so he was sent to make plans with Ying'erda.

  Yu Lin, the commander of the Liao River, arranged for defense and adjusted the troops. After the adjustment was completed, it was already November 3rd. The gathered forces included Ningyuan General Zu Dashou, Deputy General He Kegang, and others, with more than 20,000 cavalrymen.

  Before departing, Zu Dashou secretly met with Yuan Chonghuan: "Commander, these more than 20,000 cavalrymen are the elite of Shanhai Pass. If we suffer heavy losses in this battle against the bandits, I fear it will be difficult to bear!"

  Yuan Chonghuan was able to act on his own and ignore the imperial court because he relied on these nearly 30,000 strong Ningxia Iron Cavalry. As long as this force existed, no one could ignore him.

  After listening to Zu Dashou's suggestion, he felt that it made a lot of sense. However, if the infantry were to be temporarily withdrawn now, they could only be withdrawn from Shanhai Pass. If too few were withdrawn, it would be useless; if too many were withdrawn, how could the defense of Shanhai Pass be maintained? Yuan Chonghuan couldn't help but hesitate a little.

  Zu Dashou knew what Yuan Chonghuan was worried about, so he advised: "The Tartars are far away in the Jinzhou area. Jinzhou and Guanning have already made good preparations for defense, with a strong wall and empty fields. If the enemy passes by Jinzhou and attacks Shanhaiguan from the front, they will definitely not have many troops. A small number of infantry can cope with it."

  Yuan Chonghuan thought his words were reasonable, so he drew out 15,000 infantrymen from Shanhai Pass, led by General Zhu Mei and Deputy General Xu Fu, to support Zhuozhou.

  Because of the temporary withdrawal of infantry, grain and fodder logistics had to be prepared again, which delayed us for a day.

  On November 4th, the Ji Liao governor Yuan Chonghuan led more than 20,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry to leave Shanhai Pass and head to Zhuozhou for support.

  In the afternoon, the army was not moving very fast due to the infantry's slow pace and had only traveled about 20 li. Yuan Chonghuan, accompanied by Zu Dashou and He Kegang, was riding at the front of the cavalry when suddenly a horseman came galloping from ahead. Everyone saw that it was Ye Buqi, who had been sent out by the army, so they did not stop him.

  Riding up to the front of the "Yuan" flag, he dismounted and reported: "Reporting to the commander, more than 20 miles ahead, a person was found unconscious, and one horse from the Guanning army was killed. After being rescued and awakened, he claimed to be a squad leader under General Zhao's command, and his words have been verified as true."

  Yuan Chonghuan's brow furrowed as soon as he heard it, and he thought to himself that something was amiss: "Where is the person?"

  "He has fainted again!"

  "...Messenger..." Before he could finish, Yuan Chonghuan lashed his beloved horse with a whip and galloped forward. Zu Dashou and He Kegang also knew that something was amiss, so they hastily led their personal guards to follow him.

  The person who fainted was Zhu Yuanzhong, who had escaped a disaster by pulling his stomach before. The instinct to survive made him run wildly for two hundred miles, and when the horse finally collapsed from exhaustion, it also knocked him unconscious.

  After being rescued and waking up, I found out it was a comrade, feeling relieved, then fainted again.

  A cold north wind was blowing, the official road which used to be bustling with people now couldn't see a soul, only Yuan Chonghuan and his entourage riding fast horses, raising dust as they passed by.

  Yuan Chonghuan rushed to Zhu Yuanzhong's place, and saw that he was still unconscious. At this time, Yuan Chonghuan was anxious and ordered cold water to be splashed on Zhu Yuanzhong to wake him up.

  The cold sky was stimulated by the icy water, and Zhu Yuanzhong woke up even though he didn't want to.

  It turned out that the one standing in front was General Yuan Chonghuan, and he hastily kowtowed to the ground, crying: "General, the commander is gone, all brothers are gone, it's all because of the Tartars!"

  Yuan Chonghuan knew there was bad news, but he didn't think it was this severe. His face frozen: "Every word, tell the truth!"

  Zhu Yuanzhang told the story of what had happened. Unconsciously, he heard that Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou and He Kegang were staring at each other in dismay. Jian Yu said, "This is a full-scale attack, setting up an ambush to wait for the Gengjin army to deliver it!"

  But there were several suspicious points in this matter. Wanting to ask again, Zhu Yuanzhong fainted once more. Just as they were about to use ice water to revive him again, the sound of horse hooves came from behind.

  He took a closer look and it was another eunuch.

  As the man approached, Yuan Chonghuan recognized him as a eunuch who stood beside the emperor during his confrontation with Chongzhen.

  As someone approached, a shrill voice whispered: "Director Yuan, let's make it easy for us to find each other!"

  Then he pulled out the sacred decree from behind his back, straightened up on horseback and said to Yuan Chonghuan: "Ji Liao Supervisor Yuan Chonghuan receives the edict."

  The purpose of this decree is to entrust him with the overall defense of the capital and to drive back the Jurchen-led Khitan.

  After Yuan Chonghuan finished receiving the imperial edict, he asked the eunuch who delivered the edict a question: "Sir, do you know if His Majesty sent someone to deliver an edict in the past few days?"

  The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict blinked his small eyes repeatedly, somewhat inexplicably: "There isn't one!"

  Ah, Yuan Chonghuan realized that the eunuch who had previously delivered the imperial edict was a fake, specifically sent to frame him. Not only did he miss an opportunity, but he also lost Zhao Ratejiao and his 4,000 Ningxia Iron Cavalrymen. He felt heartbroken at this moment!

  It's too late now, nothing can be done about it, and for the time being, there is no time to pursue the matter of that fake eunuch.

  Yuan Chonghuan had someone bring out a map and together with Zu Dashou and He Kegang, they observed the current enemy and friendly situation.

  With the current strength and combat power of the Jurchen army, it is certain that Zhuozhou will not be able to hold on. The next step may be to invade the capital.

  Head-on intercepting the main force of Jian Yu, crazy, that's looking for death. This naturally can't be done, give up.

  For the time being, we can only wait for Jianyu in cities that must pass through the capital, relying on strong city and good cannon to fight a battle with Jianyu. If Jianyu cannot attack, he will naturally retreat like Guanwai.

  The city that meets this condition is Jizhou.

  Shanhai Pass is now too weak in military strength, and bringing infantry will also drag down the journey. Anyway, with a strong city, these infantry are not needed. So, Yuan Chonghuan ordered: The commander-in-chief of Shanhai Pass, Zhu Mei, and deputy commander Xu Pu led 15,000 infantry back to defend Shanhai Pass, focusing on preventing the enemy from attacking Shanhai Pass from within. He himself led Zu Dashou and He Kegang with more than 20,000 cavalry rushing to Ji Zhou.

  After the order was given, the troops began to adjust their direction and take action. Of course, among the 15,000 soldiers, there was one more sick man: Zhu Yuanzhong.

  Yuan Chonghuan was anxious and fearful that Jian Xi would arrive at Ji Zhou first, so he ordered the whole army to speed up their journey. In an instant, a thick layer of dust rose from the already dry ground, pitying the rear troops of the Geng Ning Iron Cavalry who were left eating dust.