Chapter 178: Ligdan Khan Wants to Head Back North

As the saying goes, he who lashes out at others will surely be lashed out at in return.

Ligdan Khan brought over a hundred thousand of his boys to smash Chongzhen's windows, so he can't blame the Chongzhen Emperor for gleefully taking his own boys to wreck Ligdan Khan's turf.

Ligdan Khan himself was brimming with confidence about this turf-wrecking operation — for the sake of those hundred-thousand-plus boys, he'd even brought along nearly twenty thousand herders to handle logistics.

But his confidence wasn't worth a damn — if the Ming court leaked secrets like a sieve, then Ligdan Khan's royal camp was practically an open garden party, with not a shred of secrecy whatsoever.

As early as when he first planned to come fleece the Ming, Chongzhen already knew, and had made his own preparations, personally leading tens of thousands of his boys to go smash Ligdan Khan's windows.

So while Ligdan Khan was bleeding troops and officers beneath the walls of Xuanfu, thrashing about for nearly half a month without taking the place, the people fleeing his royal camp had also tracked down his main army.

One thing worth noting: of the twenty to thirty thousand who fled, there were both men and women. Though most were able-bodied adults, not everyone could endure the daily grind of hard riding at full gallop, and by this point, several hundred more had been lost from those twenty to thirty thousand.

When Ligdan Khan got the news, he practically wanted to vomit blood. Others might not understand — or might not know — the Chongzhen Emperor, but Ligdan Khan considered himself to have a certain grasp of the man.

From the earlier incident when he'd dared demand that Ligdan Khan let the Jianzhou barbarians through the passes to besiege the Ming capital, it was clear the Chongzhen Emperor was no pushover — calling him a man who'd repay the smallest grudge would be no exaggeration at all.

Only now did Ligdan Khan feel he'd still underestimated the Ming Emperor's nerve. Who'd given him the guts to plunge deep into the great desert with just fifty or sixty thousand cavalry? Didn't he know there were wolves out there — wasn't he afraid of being carried off and eaten?

But whatever the case, he was stuck eating this loss. The only possible outlet for his rage was to withdraw — pull back to the steppe and go settle scores with that dog of an emperor.

He could only hope the bastard hadn't already fled, or better yet, was heading south right now so they'd run into each other on the way!

When that happens, this Khan will tie up that dog emperor and drag him to death behind a warhorse! Ligdan Khan thought viciously, but there was no time to dwell on it. He immediately gave orders to strike camp and prepare to withdraw north.

But before Ligdan Khan's order could go out, his son Eje blocked it.

Ligdan Khan stared at Eje with a dark expression. "You'd better give this Khan a reason we can't retreat."

Eje placed his right hand over his chest and bowed.

"Father Khan, your reason for wanting to retreat now is simply to intercept the Ming's little emperor on the steppe, and because Xuanfu has withstood our attacks so long, which is also disadvantageous for our Mongols.

But if we retreat now, your son fears the gains will not outweigh the losses."

"First, what if that dog emperor takes a different route and we never encounter him? Second, the Chahar tribe may not be finished — as long as these people who escaped still exist, we will have a day to rise again from the ashes."

Ligdan Khan glared.

"This Khan knows all that!

But if we don't return to the royal camp, look at the men outside this tent — how many of them are still willing to keep fighting? Which of them doesn't have family back in the great desert?

Right now they probably wish this Khan dead! If we don't retreat soon, there'll be a mutiny right outside this tent!"

Eje said helplessly, "Even if we must retreat, we cannot do it right now. Retreating now would only give the Ming barbarians an opening. If they have some way to contact that Ming dog emperor and hit us from both north and south, we'll be in an even worse position."

Ligdan Khan, hearing this, replied, "You think this Khan doesn't know all that? But the retreat is already decided — what difference does it make whether we retreat a few days from now or today? Unless you have some good idea — spit it out!"

Eje bowed.

"We must retreat, that's certain.

But first, we can send out small cavalry detachments into Han territory to slaughter a few villages or towns, and capture some more slaves to make up for our losses — especially those craftsmen who know iron-casting, they're treasures.

What's more, if we capture enough people, even if the Ming barbarians really do attack from both sides, we can use their common folk as hostages and force them to open a path for us to return north to the great desert."

Ligdan Khan pondered for a long moment, then nodded to Eje.

"Not bad.

You make a fair point." He then barked, "Someone!

Relay this Khan's order: dispatch two ten-thousand-man cavalry units in rotation to go harvest among the Ming barbarians. Any craftsmen, able-bodied adults, or women — seize them all and bring them back.

The deadline is sunset tomorrow; tomorrow night we head north to the great desert. And make it clear to the men: all the spoils are theirs — this Khan wants not a single share!"

It must be said, Eje's idea was wicked to the point of smoking.

Xuanfu might be a critical Ming military stronghold, but it couldn't possibly be so fortified that every village had heavy troops guarding it, much less every pass and every footpath had sentries — and that gave the Mongol iron cavalry their opening.

Two ten-thousand-man units would ride out at a time, then split into twenty thousand-man squads, each seeking out small unguarded passes or little villages to plunder and seize captives.

By the time Ligdan Khan actually led his army in retreat, they had successfully abducted over a thousand people — among them several dozen blacksmiths whom Ligdan Khan felt he'd lucked into like precious treasure.

As for the losses suffered by the men Ligdan Khan sent out, in his eyes they were utterly negligible. Each time he dispatched two ten-thousand-man units, at worst they'd lose a few dozen, maybe a hundred men — tops.

As long as they didn't dismount to fight on foot, whom did the Mongol iron cavalry have to fear?

Ligdan Khan was feeling mighty pleased with himself. Meanwhile, gathered together inside Kaiping Garrison were Lu Xiangsheng, Qin Liangyu, along with Ma Xianglin — who'd wanted to follow Chongzhen to the steppe but hadn't been allowed — and the Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian.

These people were in a mood to devour someone alive.

Ma Xianglin, the least able to hold his temper, suddenly shot up from his chair and said in a heavy voice, "No! I won't swallow this outrage! I'm taking troops out of the pass right now to go settle scores with Ligdan Khan!"

The Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, glanced at Ma Xianglin and spoke. "General Ma's eagerness for battle is something this Duke understands well. But this is not the right moment to sally forth."

Ma Xianglin raged, "Your Grace keeps saying it's not the right moment — then this officer would like to ask Your Grace, when exactly is the right moment?

In barely twelve hours, over a thousand of our Ming subjects have been abducted, including many blacksmiths the Tartars don't have. How are we supposed to answer to His Majesty for this?"

Before Zhang Weixian could open his mouth, Qin Liangyu snapped first, "Insolence! Is that how you speak to the Duke of Ying? Apologize to His Grace at once!"

Ma Xianglin had half a mind not to apologize, but seeing his aged mother's furious expression and fearing her anger, he could only hang his head dejectedly and cup his hands to Zhang Weixian. "This officer was rash. I beg His Grace's pardon."

Zhang Weixian stroked his beard. "Do you take this Duke for such a petty man? General Ma's concern is for the Ming's people. Were it before this Duke, or even before His Majesty himself, no one would take offense. General Qin and General Ma, set your minds at ease."

Seeing Qin Liangyu and Ma Xianglin cupping their hands in thanks once more, Zhang Weixian likewise cupped his hands toward the north.

"The messenger His Majesty dispatched arrived yesterday and relayed the order: we are to hold Xuanfu securely.

If Ligdan Khan retreats north, we are to shadow him from a distance, seek an opportunity to link up with His Majesty, and then strike from both north and south — making sure Ligdan Khan can't squirm his way out of this."

I recommend a book, "Sole Arbiter of the Great Ming" — another premium historical novel on Qidian. Unlike "The Tyrant," this one requires you to read slowly and engage your brain, or you'll hit too many so-called poison points.

But if you read carefully, those supposed poison points aren't really problematic at all.

(End of chapter)