Chapter 120: Volume 3: Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander, Chapter 120: A Great Enemy

"A mere Garrison Commander of the Ming, yet possessing such fighting will and resolve — looking across all Ming commanders, none have this ability!"

Abatai's eyes blazed: "When our Great Qing enters and rules China in the future, we must destroy every Ming army with the potential and courage to fight, so they fear our Great Qing and never dare harbor thoughts of resistance again!"

Though Qing soldiers are vengeful, they are not foolish. When encountering a strong city difficult to assault, they will generally bypass it rather than entangle with the opponent. However, when they meet a threatening, fierce, and daring army, they will spare no cost to destroy it or completely crush it.

Abatai in particular was a man of considerable vision and strategic acumen historically.

Abatai was originally Nurhaci's seventh son. His battle achievements were outstanding, and he rendered great service to the Later Jin. But because he was born of a secondary consort, he was constantly slighted and humiliated, and often denied fair treatment in rewards.

After Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor, Dorgon, Dodo, Hooge, Yoto, and others were all promoted to Prince of the Blood. Even Ajige was made a Commandery Prince. Only Abatai remained a Beile, with merely the honorific "Rao Yu" added before his Beile title to show distinction. Compared to a Prince, his rank was a full two levels lower.

During Huang Taiji's reign, Abatai was repeatedly humiliated and punished. What is thought-provoking is that although he was penalized time and again, the punishments were only fines of silver or goods; he never suffered the severe penalty of demotion or stripping of his title.

The reason for this was not Huang Taiji's lenience, but his contempt for Abatai. Huang Taiji considered Abatai to be of concubine birth, possessing courage but lacking strategy, and never a threat to him. Huang Taiji was a ruthless and unfeeling man. Toward the unruly and defiant Grand Beile Amin and Manggūltai, he never showed leniency, mercilessly putting them to death.

In truth, Abatai was quite strategic. During the Qing invasions of the Great Ming in the eleventh and fifteenth years of Chongzhen, he was appointed as the main commander, leading tens of thousands of troops on campaigns spanning a thousand li. Without strategy and courage, he could not have shouldered such great responsibility.

Regarding the attitude toward the Great Ming, when the Later Jin conquered the entire Southern Mongolia, obtained the Imperial Jade Seal, and expanded their territory from Liaodong to the entire Mongolian Plateau, the entire Later Jin, from top to bottom, was extremely excited. Many believed that the Mandate of Heaven was theirs.

In the summer of the ninth year of Chongzhen, on the jimao day of the fourth month, Grand Beile Daišan, Hosoi Beile Jirgalang, Dorgon, Dodo, Yoto, Hooge, Abatai, Ajige, and Dudu led Manchu, Han, and Mongol ministers, along with the forty-nine Beile of the sixteen Mongol tribes, to present a trilingual memorial petitioning Huang Taiji to assume the imperial title, and offered the honorific title "Bogda Chechen Khan."

In the sixth month of the same year, Huang Taiji ascended the imperial throne, changed the dynastic name to "Qing," and changed the reign era to Chongde.

With the submission of the Joseon Kingdom, the Qing's final opponent in East Asia was the Great Ming.

At this time, the weakness of the Great Ming was fully visible to the Manchu Qing. Although many still held the notion of simply raiding and leaving, among the Qing high command, many likewise believed that the Qing had the opportunity to rule the Central Plains. At the very least, they could emulate the Jurchen Jin of the Southern Song era and seize half of China.

Among those who believed the Qing could rule the Central Plains, Abatai was one.

He looked around at those beside him: "I will not allow this man to grow powerful and become a future calamity for our Great Qing!"

At the same time, he was somewhat curious about Wang Dou: "Hearing that slave Yanzha speak of him, I am somewhat curious about that Ming Garrison Commander named Wang. If he truly possesses such courage, our Great Qing thirsts for talent. If he is willing to serve me, I will not treat him poorly!"

Historically, the rulers of the Qing were not stingy with conciliatory rewards toward those who surrendered. This was one reason why, when the Qing troops entered the pass, those coming to surrender were like gathering clouds.

Hearing Abatai say this, the Manchu and Mongol men in the tent all looked at each other.

A Mongol commander loudly said: "Rao Yu Beile, did you not say that this time entering the pass, we came to seize money and grain? Why now attack a strong city? Better to forget it. Why needlessly lose our army's brave warriors?"

"Our Great Qing has a small population. Trading lives with the Han people is not worth it."

The Mongol speaking was in his forties, short and stocky, with a full beard. He was Šamba, the Gūsa Ejen of the Tümed Left Banner.

Abatai sneered: "A mere minor defeat — would our Great Qing troops become afraid? A small Garrison Commander, a tiny Battalion Commander fort. Though I take it seriously, I do not fear it. I intend to breach this fort, kill one to warn a hundred, and let all Ming commanders know the fate of those who dare resist our Great Qing troops."

"Our Great Qing troops are invincible, relying on a sharp fighting spirit. Morale can be raised but must not be dampened. Our Bordered White Banner army sweeps all before it across the Huailai region. If we suffer a loss beneath a small fort and dare not retaliate, how will the Beile and commanders of other banners view me, Abatai? I would become a laughingstock."

Hearing Abatai say this, everyone in the tent found it very reasonable. A Battalion Commander fort, no matter how capable in battle, had at most a few hundred to a thousand soldiers. There was no reason their several thousand troops could not take it. If they developed a fear of the Ming people because of this and damaged the army's morale, the loss would be even greater.

They clamored one after another to launch the army, breach that Shunxiang Fort, slaughter the Ming people inside until not even chickens or dogs were left in peace, show them some color, and let them know the might of the Qing troops.

Seeing that the army's morale was usable, Abatai was quite satisfied. He softened his tone and said: "Furthermore, we have already lingered in the Huailai region for several days. There are no more people or valuables left to plunder there. I have heard that Bao'an Department is rich. We might as well make a trip over there."

In the strategic plan for the Qing troops entering the pass this time, two armies broke through the passes from the northwest and northeast respectively, ultimately converging at Yanqing Department.

However, the Qing army that entered through Dushikou ultimately halted at Yanqing Department before Juyong Pass. Juyong Pass had treacherous terrain and tight defenses; a direct assault would cause extreme losses. The other army, which entered through Xifengkou, had long failed to break through Changping and Juyong from the Ming interior. The two armies could not link up, so this Qing force had been lingering near Yanqing Department.

Seeing that they would have to wait many more days, they seized this opportunity to go plunder the Bao'an Department area. Bao'an Department was an important grain storage site for Xuanfu Garrison. In the seventh year of Chongzhen, Bao'an Department city had been breached once by Qing troops, who seized a large amount of population and wealth. Moving troops there would surely yield rich rewards, and they could also meet that little Ming Garrison Commander.

Upon hearing they were going to seize things, everyone in the tent grew excited. Ombu Cühür, the Gūsa Ejen of the Tümed Right Banner, stroked his wispy beard and said: "Rao Yu Beile is indeed brilliant. This plan truly kills two birds with one stone."

Abatai had already decided, but he had some headaches regarding the disposition of troops. The Bordered White Banner was merely one of the lower five banners among the Eight Manchu Banners, with only fifteen niru of troops under its command — a total of 4,500 men, 1,500 of whom were armored combat soldiers. For this entry into the pass, they had brought the entire banner.

The Tümed Right Banner and Tümed Left Banner, these two banners of Outer Vassal Mongols, each brought 1,500 men. The Mongols field one armored soldier per five adult males, so the two banners' armies had a total of only 600 armored combat soldiers.

The jalan of Jalan Janggin Yanzha had already been crippled in battle; the entire unit had no fighting spirit or morale whatsoever. Replenishing the population and soldiers lost in that jalan would be an extremely difficult problem in the future. The population of every niru in the Eight Banners was precious, even the unarmored auxiliaries were the same.

Abatai, as Rao Yu Beile, could not casually transfer niru populations from other jalan to that location. That was a power belonging only to the Banner Lord or even Huang Taiji. Besides, Abatai was not even the Banner Lord of the Bordered White Banner and did not have that authority.

For this entry into the pass, Abatai had led the Bordered White Banner in seizing a large amount of population and valuables in Huailai and other places, which also required soldiers to guard. After calculating, Abatai finally decided: the bulk of Jalan Janggin Yanzha's troops would remain in Huailai to guard the seized population and valuables, while only a few dozen armored combat soldiers would accompany Abatai as guides and advisors.

As for the two banners of Outer Vassal Mongols, they would each leave five hundred men in Huailai Guard, with the remainder following him on the campaign to Bao'an Department.

Thus, Abatai would have over three thousand Qing troops on this expedition, including over a thousand armored combat soldiers. The Mongol troops numbered two thousand, with a total of over four hundred armored combat soldiers.

The fourteenth day of the seventh month, ninth year of Chongzhen.

Just as the sky was beginning to brighten, the Qing troops outside the city were already breaking camp and departing unit by unit. Watching them leave, the Ming soldiers atop the walls of Huailai city were all overjoyed. Only Ji Shiwei, the Military Defense Circuit Intendant of Huailong, gazed at the distant mass of red and white armor and banners and sighed deeply: "Alas, I wonder which region's soldiers and civilians will suffer calamity now. A misfortune for the nation."

Though the Qing army departed and there were several thousand Ming troops within the city, none dared to leave the city to pursue. They could only watch helplessly as the enemy left with their captured population and valuables.

Several thousand Qing and Mongol troops departed Huailai Guard city, a vast and mighty force heading straight for the direction of Bao'an Department.

Huailai city lies against mountains and beside water, straddling mountains to the northeast and flatland to the southwest. At this moment, on the mountainous terrain north of Huailai city, a squad of Shunxiang Fort night scouts lay in ambush.

They watched in astonishment at the activity below the mountain, as unit after unit of Qing troops assembled, ultimately merging into a force that likely numbered several thousand. Infantry and cavalry intermingled, the rolling tide of men heading straight northwest. The men were all puzzled — where were these Tatar soldiers going? One night scout cried out: "Look, there are many red-tasseled Tatars among them."

A night scout asked the man leading them: "Chief Wen, where do you think those Tatar soldiers are heading?"

The night scout leading them was tall and burly, with a full beard, and a red waist token hung at his belt. It was none other than Night Scout Wen Daxing. Acting on Wang Dou's orders, he had followed that Jalan Janggin all the way to Huailai Guard and had been scouting the movements of the main Qing force these past days.

At this moment, he pondered and said: "We still need to capture a live one and interrogate him to be clear."

He waved his hand, and immediately the surrounding night scouts gathered around him. Each man had two horses, the horses' mouths bridled with bits, their hooves wrapped in cloth strips. At Wen Daxing's command, the night scouts silently crept down the mountain.

At noon, on a stretch of hilly ground several li from the Yang River in Huailai Guard, bursts of agonized screams rang out. It was Wen Daxing torturing a captured Qing prisoner.

The Qing army was marching along the river course. When they halted at noon to light fires and cook, Wen Daxing led the night scouts in an ambush on several Qing soldiers and camp followers who had come out to fetch water and prepare food. They also killed or wounded a mounted armored soldier, and finally seized one auxiliary soldier and the wounded armored soldier, swiftly vanishing into the hills before the Qing troops who rushed over upon hearing the commotion could catch them.

After escaping into the hills, Wen Daxing proceeded to interrogate these two Qing prisoners.

Wen Daxing had once learned some simple Manchu from Han Chao. He first interrogated the Qing camp follower, but the man proved to know nothing. Wen Daxing killed him with one slash, then questioned the armored soldier. Unexpectedly, the armored soldier was extremely tough and refused to open his mouth even at the cost of his life. Wen Daxing had his own methods. He tied the man to a tree and, with a savage grin, used a sharp knife to slowly pick out the tendons and bones of his entire body.

The armored soldier's miserable wails were harrowing beyond description. The remaining Shunxiang Fort night scouts watching from the side all had pale faces.

In the days since Wen Daxing had led this squad of night scouts out of the fort, they had ambushed several isolated Qing camp followers and even captured two men alive. In the end, both were tortured to death by Wen Daxing, who had also gleefully peeled the scalp off one of them and made it into an artwork.

His unique artistic hobby was something his fellow night scout brothers in the squad could not bring themselves to appreciate.

Under Wen Daxing's brutal torture, the armored soldier could not endure it and finally had to reveal what he knew. Turning back, Wen Daxing's expression was extremely grim. He said in a deep voice: "This is bad. Five thousand Tatar soldiers are heading for Bao'an Department. Their target is very likely our Shunxiang Fort."

All the Night Scouts' faces changed color. Wen Daxing shouted, "Back to the fort — report this news to my lord."

The Night Scouts mounted their horses one after another; hoofbeats rumbled, kicking up a cloud of dust.

As Wen Daxing spurred his horse past the Qing armored soldier tied to the tree, his saber swept out — a rain of blood filled the sky, and the armored soldier's head flew into the air!