Chapter 471: A Gathering of Fierce Predators

On the twenty-ninth day of the seventh month of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, the very day the Ming army advanced from Xingshan to Songshan, at Rufeng Mountain south of Jinzhou.

Rufeng Mountain originates from the legend of Nüwa mending the heavens. After the Qing seized power historically, Rufeng Mountain was renamed Hanwangdian Mountain. This stems from the time Nurhaci fled disaster and, exhausted, fell asleep atop a great boulder at the peak; legend says this boulder was a leftover spirit stone from Nüwa's mending of the heavens.

Because of this origin, the later Qing regime named this great boulder the Hanwang Palace, and so Rufeng Mountain became Hanwangdian Mountain.

Actually, it should be Hanwangdian Mountain. The old slave proclaimed himself Khan, and the Ming people, transliterating phonetically, called him the Foolish Khan. No one knows why it became Hanwang. Perhaps it is like the red-coated cannons, which the Ming people could call red-barbarian cannons, or how Shahu Pass became Shahukou.

Rufeng Mountain is formed by countless large and small hills and ridges. The side facing Jinzhou is mostly gentle terrain. The side facing Songshan is likewise undulating ridges and continuous hills, but nearing the main peak, the slope becomes somewhat steeper, and before the ridge there is much wild grass and rock, passable only by elite infantry, not by cavalry or war chariots.

At this moment, on a ridge several hundred meters east of Rufeng Mountain, at the place where Nüwa mended the heavens, three precipitous great boulders towered, standing proud and unshaken like pillars supporting the sky.

Beside the great boulders, a tall great umbrella of yellow dragon was raised high. Beneath the great umbrella stood an exceedingly fat Qing man, none other than the Qing Emperor Huang Taiji. The Ming people called him Huang Taiji, or Hong Tai, Little Foolish Khan, and so on.

At this moment, Huang Taiji was gazing toward Songshanbao below the mountain, lost in concentrated thought about something.

Beside the great umbrella stood a full assembly of Qing princes, dukes, and nobles, the banner lords of each banner, gūsa ejen, beile princes, and so on. Under the blazing sun, everyone was drenched in sweat, but none dared move. Following their Little Foolish Khan's example, they all gazed down below the mountain peak.

And along the ridge were arrayed the elite soldiers of the Qing's bayara camp and gebu xi xian warriors, dense banners and flags fluttering in the wind.

After concentrating for a long while, Huang Taiji coldly asked, "Hong Chengchou and Wang Dou, have they advanced from Xingshan?"

Jirgalang, lord of the Bordered Blue Banner, stepped out from the crowd, came before Huang Taiji and knelt, replying, "Answering His Majesty, it is so."

He said, "Scout riders report that the Ming army's might is extremely imposing, a vast host of men and horses. Infantry, cavalry, and artillery combined, their numbers exceed one hundred thousand."

"They have finally come."

A cold light flickered in the Qing Emperor's eyes. He turned his head to look at the great boulders beside him.

Because of the old slave, the entire Qing nation regarded Rufeng Mountain as a sacred mountain and the three boulders as sacred stones. Now, as Huang Taiji gazed at the great boulders, no one knew whether he was praying for the "sacred mountain's" protection, or praying for the heroic spirits of his ancestors to protect them, to grant victory and a great triumph in the coming great battle with the Ming army.

After looking at the great boulders for a long time, Huang Taiji's expression was inscrutable. He said indifferently, "Return to the mountain fortress. We shall discuss and respond to military affairs."

Amid the sound of drums and music, Huang Taiji began to move his imperial procession, traveling along the gentle ridges and hills toward the east side of Rufeng Mountain.

The mountain fortress he spoke of was actually a former Ming army fortification several li east of the main peak of Rufeng Mountain.

It was a stone-built mountain fortress. The fortress was constructed following the mountain's contours, flat inside, but with many cliffs outside. Standing at the mountain fortress, one could observe Jinzhou to the north and gaze upon Songshan to the south. Looking out, the various forts of Songshan and Xingshan, and every beacon tower, were all within view.

Rufeng Mountain was the shield for Jinzhou, and the mountain fortress was the shield for Rufeng Mountain — its strategic terrain was extremely important. However, this fortress had one flaw: if a large army attacked from the north side of Rufeng Mountain, the fortification would be hard to defend. The Qing had besieged Jinzhou for a long time, and this mountain fortress had long since been captured by the Qing army, instead serving as a key stronghold for them.

Two days ago, when Huang Taiji led his elite personal troops on a rapid march to Jinzhou, he inspected the various areas of Jinzhou and Songshan, and then made this fortress his key field headquarters.

As they traveled along, Rufeng Mountain had already undergone a great transformation.

Up and down the mountain, originally there were few trees and much wild grass. Now those trees and wild grass had all been cut down or pulled out and burned away. This was done both to enhance the defending troops' field of vision, aiding the army's defense, and also to prevent the Ming army from using the tactic of setting the mountain on fire.

The Ming armies of the Nine Frontier Garrisons had a tradition of going beyond the passes to burn the grasslands each year, setting great fires across the steppe. Setting mountains on fire was something they were very adept at. If the wild grass on the mountain were not removed, they would set a fire before attacking the mountain. In this dry weather, the Qing troops on the mountain would all become roast chickens.

Besides the ridges everywhere being completely bare, on the side facing south, toward places like Songshanbao, following the ridges and hills, encircling the areas around the main peak, countless shallow ditches, deep trenches, and moats had been dug, and innumerable earthen walls and stone walls had been built.

These earthen walls and trenches were distributed across both steep and gentle parts of each ridge, generally in a pattern of two ditches and three walls.

That is, two trenches in front of one wall, with each wall less than two hundred paces apart, facilitating mutual support. Many stone walls and earthen walls were built with local materials, using stones and clay to construct each wall and rampart. Some stone walls even extended for over ten li.

Under the Qing army's painstaking efforts, the entire Rufeng Mountain had become a war fortress. Looking out, banners and flags were everywhere, watchtowers signaled to one another, men shouted and horses neighed. Dense clusters of tents and stockades seemed to blanket the entire mountain range.

By occupying Rufeng Mountain, the Qing army held the strategic advantage: to the north they commanded the imposing mountain, to the south they overlooked the plains and hills, like an ancient primordial beast staring down coldly. They entrenched themselves in the key terrain leading to Jinzhou. Without capturing Rufeng Mountain, one could not hope to enter Jinzhou even half a step. And holding the imposing mountain, if the Ming army attacked this mountain, they would likely smash their heads bloody and suffer heavy casualties.

Huang Taiji rode his horse onward, his eyes indifferent, as if devoid of any human emotion. His gaze swept across the north and south of Rufeng Mountain.

The south side was a fortress area. The gentle terrain of the hills below the north ridge was a troop encampment area. Especially around places like Shahegou, all the way to the banks of the Nüer River, to the confluence of the Nüer River and the Xiaoling River, there stretched an unbroken line of military camps and banners.

His gaze passed beyond, further to the northeast, to the mountainous areas of Mount Shimen, Shijialing, and others.

East of these mountainous areas, the Xiaoling River meandered out. On the north bank of the Xiaoling River were the mountainous areas of Mount Zijing, Mopan Mountain, and others. At this time, those places were likewise garrisoned with Qing defending troops, to prevent the Ming army from attacking key locations like Dalinghe Fort.

Very quickly, the Qing sovereign and his ministers arrived at the mountain fortress.

This mountain fortress was not large, about a hundred-plus paces from east to west, and about seventy-plus paces from north to south. The city walls were all built of piled stones, with a gate only on the east side. A great dragon-flag banner, over ten zhang tall, fluttered noisily in the wind within the fortress.

Because this mountain fortress served as the Qing Emperor's field headquarters, the interior had been newly decorated.

In particular, the original garrison commander's hall, serving as the Emperor's lodging, had been furnished with huanghuali tables and chairs inside. The floor was covered with thick, fine wool carpets, and the four walls were hung with colorful tapestries symbolizing Manchu totems, making it appear magnificent and splendid.

After Huang Taiji entered his field palace, he sat high upon a broad throne chair inlaid with gems and gold. His gaze was sharp, like that of a deity, looking down upon the massed Qing ministers standing on both sides below. For this great battle, except for a few baksi like Suoni who remained to guard Shengjing, all the remaining Manchu, Mongol, and Han banner ministers had accompanied Huang Taiji on campaign. The entire Qing nation, one could say, had come with all its might.

Seeing the Emperor's solemn expression, the ministers below also arranged themselves according to Manchu, Mongol, and Han order, each standing solemnly according to their status and position.

Although the Manchu Eight Banners claimed equality among banners, in reality, each banner's status differed in rank. Plain Yellow, Bordered Yellow, Plain White, Plain Blue, Bordered White, Plain Red, Bordered Red, Bordered Blue — this was the order of their status from high to low.

As for the Mongol Eight Banners and Han Eight Banners, before the establishment of the Mongol and Han Eight Banners, they were subordinates of the various Manchu Eight Banner beile.

After the Mongol and Han Eight Banners were separated from the Manchu Eight Banners, the subordinate relationships of their gūsa ejen and meiren i janggin to the original Manchu Eight Banner lords, princes, commandery princes, and beile were still preserved completely intact, without the slightest change because of this.

Their status was all lower than the various Manchu Eight Banner lords.

At this moment inside the room, all the banner lords and gūsa ejen of the twenty-four banners belonging to the Eight Banner system had arrived.

The Manchu Eight Banners included: Plain Yellow Banner lord and gūsa ejen Ashan.

Bordered Yellow Banner lord and gūsa ejen Bayintu.

Plain White Banner lord and gūsa ejen Dorgon.

Bordered Blue Banner lord and gūsa ejen Jirgalang.

Bordered Red Banner lord and gūsa ejen Dudu.

Bordered White Banner lord and gūsa ejen Dodo.

Plain Blue Banner lord and gūsa ejen Hooge.

Plain Red Banner lord and gūsa ejen Daišan.

The Mongol Eight Banners included: Plain Yellow Banner gūsa ejen Adai, Bordered Yellow Banner gūsa ejen **, Plain Red Banner gūsa ejen Enggetu, Bordered Red Banner gūsa ejen Buyandai, Plain White Banner gūsa ejen Yibai, Bordered White Banner gūsa ejen Suna, Plain Blue Banner gūsa ejen Wu Lai, Bordered Blue Banner gūsa ejen Hushibu.

The Han Eight Banners included: Plain Yellow Banner gūsa ejen Geng Zhongming, Bordered Yellow Banner gūsa ejen Ma Guangyuan, Plain Red Banner gūsa ejen Kong Youde, Bordered Blue Banner gūsa ejen Shang Kexi, Plain White Banner gūsa ejen Shi Tingzhu, Bordered Red Banner gūsa ejen Liu Zhiyuan, Plain Blue Banner gūsa ejen Zu Zerun, Bordered White Banner gūsa ejen Wu Shoujin.

Without exception, each banner of the Mongol Eight Banners and Han Eight Banners only had a gūsa ejen, with no banner lord.

Among the Mongol Eight Banners, only Adai, Enggetu, Buyandai, and ** were Mongols; the rest were all Manchus appointed to the posts.

Due to Wang Dou's influence, the Han Eight Banners were established earlier than in history, so certain gūsa ejen from history did not serve at this time. Only Liu Zhiyuan, Zu Zerun, and Wu Shoujin were the same as in history, though the banners they were attached to were different.

Zu Zerun was the Plain Blue Banner gūsa ejen, a decision Huang Taiji made considering that Zu Zerun was the eldest son of Zu Dashou. He had been constantly trying to induce Zu Dashou to surrender, and now, with heavy troops besieging Jinzhou, making his son a gūsa ejen of one of the Han banners was a stratagem to kill several birds with one stone.

As for Liu Zhiyuan and Wu Shoujin, apart from their repeated battlefield merits, it was also because both were quite proficient in firearms and artillery warfare. Huang Taiji was now full of interest in firearms, and his establishment of the Han Army of the Eight Banners was also meant to counter Wang Dou’s gun-and-cannon battle formations.

Not only that, inside the room, besides these Qing state banner lords and Gushan Ezhen, there were also gathered princes, dukes, and beile of the court, as well as the court’s governing ministers in great numbers.

Such as Raoyu Beile Abatai, subordinate to the Bordered White Banner; Gong’adai and Xihan, younger brothers of the Bordered Yellow Banner’s Gushan Ezhen Baiyintu, who were Bulwark Generals; and the Censorate’s participating officials Zhang Cunren, Zu Kefa, Duan Xuekong, Sheng Zhong, and others.

There were also the various tribes of the Outer Vassal Mongols, such as Emubu Chuhuer, Gushan Ezhen of the Tumed Right Banner; Shanba, Gushan Ezhen of the Tumed Left Banner; and the princes and beile of the Inner and Outer Kharchin, Chahar, Khorchin Left and Right Wing Middle Banners, Aokhan, and Alu banners.

There were even troops from the banners or tribes of the Outer Jasagh Mongols (within the territory of later Outer Mongolia) rushing to aid the fight, and the Korean kingdom had also sent ten thousand soldiers to curry favor with their master, making the Qing state’s campaign at Jinzhou this time an affair of immense scale. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to cast recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)