Chapter 179: The Great Ming Will Not Be Threatened!

Ejei's estimate was not wrong.

Just as Ligdan Khan took his hundred-thousand-strong army — or rather, the army that had been whittled down to a bit over ninety thousand — plus over twenty thousand herders and another twenty-odd thousand who had fled to join them, and began withdrawing toward the northern desert, apart from Lu Xiangsheng needing to hold Xuanfu, the Duke of Ying Zhang Weixian, Qin Liangyu, and Ma Xianglin had already led the Ming army in pursuit.

And thanks to Eunuch Wei Zhongxian's shameless, rapacious frenzy during the Tianqi years, the Great Ming at this time simply did not lack horses.

Add to that Chongzhen's willingness to spend money — especially the silver seized from confiscated estates, for Chongzhen never learned how to write the words "heartache" — and even the perpetually broke White Rod Army had traded their shotguns for cannons.

Each man had two horses, not to mention a full set of armor for everyone, and besides their white-wax staves, every man carried five or six crude grenades — the little porcelain-bottle hand-bombs.

Faced with the Ming army's utterly shameless way of fighting, Ligdan Khan and Ejei were so furious they wanted to vomit blood.

If you fight, well, everyone's cavalry with six legs, who's afraid of who? Just run. Once you've strung out the pursuers and thinned their numbers, you wheel around and blast them — that sour, tingling thrill, it's exactly like that Master Kang pickled-cabbage beef noodle bowl, absolutely perfect!

But if you left them alone, those shameless Ming troops behind you were like bloodsucking mosquitoes — you never knew when they'd suddenly strike. In particular, they wouldn't go after the main cavalry force but specifically picked on the twenty thousand herders bringing up the rear.

In the end, thoroughly exasperated, Ligdan Khan simply ordered those twenty thousand herders and the twenty-odd thousand who had later fled from the royal court to be placed under protection in the central army, denying the Ming troops any opening.

At the same time, he dispatched more scouts, ordering full alert the moment the enemy was spotted in the distance.

The final result was that the scouts began suffering heavy losses. It made Ligdan Khan feel as though he were no longer on the steppe but had instead strayed into Great Ming territory, with Ming barbarians everywhere causing him trouble.

This state of affairs continued until the forward scouts Ligdan Khan had sent out collided with the forward scouts the Chongzhen Emperor had dispatched — only then did it stop.

Ligdan Khan figured that since the royal court on the steppe had met disaster, the remaining tribes were probably no better off, so he sent out no small number of forward scouts.

The Chongzhen Emperor, for his part, felt that during Ligdan Khan's northward march, a bit of extra caution was best, and so he too dispatched a large number of forward scouts.

When the Chahar scouts, who were themselves Mongols, encountered the scouts who had originally served Obood Khan, the Prince of Shunyi, and were now the Chongzhen Emperor's loyal hawks and hounds, the meaning shining in both sides' eyes went something like this:

What're you looking at?

Looking at you — what of it?

Try looking again, I dare you!

Oh, fuck me, this little bastard's got some nerve! Watch me waste you!

Straightforward Mongol men are actually quite like the northeastern toughs of later ages, it's said.

For no reason other than having glanced at each other one extra time on the steppe, both sides launched into a great scout war of chases and counter-chases, slashing and counter-slashing, one after another.

And upon receiving the scouts' reports, the Chongzhen Emperor expressed great satisfaction.

This time, bringing along these Mongol underlings of his to seize Mongol territory had produced obvious results — at the very least, this ten-thousand-man cavalry force under the Prince of Shunyi, Obood, and Jorightu Khan now acknowledged him as Heavenly Khan from the bottom of their hearts, and without the slightest hesitation, drew their blades against their own kin.

Because of this, when these men faced the Chahar cavalry who had previously ground their faces into the dirt, they actually erupted with boundless strength and courage, beginning to slam headlong into them again and again.

No longer could one see the way the Chahar cavalry had once bullied them like dogs; it was as if overnight they had evolved from huskies into Tibetan mastiffs.

Since both sides' scouts had started trading blows over a single extra glance, that proved one thing — the Chongzhen Emperor and Ligdan Khan were not far apart!

And in fact, that was exactly the case. After three to five rounds of scout warfare, the two sides could already glimpse each other's vanguard troops in the distance.

What vexed Ligdan Khan even more was that the scouts sent from the rear army also reported back that the shadows of Ming troops were now visible.

Clearly, two groups of Ming troops had wrapped his Chahar forces up like a dumpling.

And when, during these past few days of scout skirmishes, he finally figured out exactly who the pursuers in the rear army were — especially when he learned that nearly ten thousand White Rod troops were among them — Ligdan Khan decided to decisively fold for this round.

Ligdan Khan did not fear other Ming armies, but toward the White Rod Army, he had always maintained a certain awe in his heart — there was no need to fight the White Rod Army to the death. Those were men who could fight the Jianzhou barbarians in the field and beat them like dogs.

So, with the White Rod Army behind him and the Chongzhen Emperor ahead, Ligdan Khan felt he could first try talking things over with the Chongzhen Emperor.

And so Ligdan Khan had men tie over a thousand Ming commoners to horses with ropes and drag them along, then advanced a stretch of distance with a ten-thousand-man cavalry force providing cover. After that, he received a reply from the Chongzhen Emperor opposite him expressing willingness to talk.

Ligdan Khan looked at the Chongzhen Emperor not far from him. Though he could not clearly make out the exact expression on his face, he imagined it could not be too pleasant.

Bowing with a hand to his chest from horseback, Ligdan Khan said: "The Great Khan of the Mongol Nation, of the Borjigin clan, Lindan Baatar, pays respects to His Majesty the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming. May His Majesty live ten thousand years without end."

Chongzhen, however, sneered: "Lindan, spare Us the empty courtesies. Today, if you release Our Great Ming commoners, there is still everything to discuss. If you do not release them, then there is nothing at all to discuss!"

Hearing this, Ligdan Khan also put away the smile on his face, which could not have been more fake. Though inwardly cursing this barbarian emperor for being truly crude, he still said: "When this Khan reaches the royal court in the north, I will naturally release them."

Chongzhen, however, said: "We command you to release them now!"

Ligdan Khan also laughed: "Your Majesty is far too naive! These Ming people are now this Khan's talisman.

If I release them, this Khan has no confidence in withdrawing intact with these hundred thousand troops and forty thousand clansmen. So whatever the Great Ming Emperor says is useless — this Khan will certainly not release them before reaching the royal court."

Chongzhen's expression flickered between dark and light as he said: "So you are certain We will let you pass?"

Ligdan Khan laughed: "Since Your Majesty styles himself Son of Heaven, herding the people on Heaven's behalf, I wonder — are these commoners enough to trade for a road?"

Chongzhen, however, suddenly chuckled darkly: "Fine. Today, your old man here will show you what is called the backbone of the Han people!"

With that, Chongzhen suddenly drew the Sword of the Son of Heaven from his waist, reached up, grabbed his own hair, and cut it off.

As the wind scattered the severed strands swirling through the sky, he shouted toward those thousand-odd Great Ming commoners whom Ligdan Khan had seized: "We are the Great Ming Emperor! That We cannot save you today is Our own incompetence!

But We swear — one day, every last Tartar of the Chahar tribe, from top to bottom, every single one, shall be buried with you!"

"Lift your chests high! Men of the Great Ming can die standing — they cannot live kneeling!"

"The Great Ming — will not be threatened!"

"Kill!"

The moment the cry of "Kill!" left his lips, the Chongzhen Emperor spurred his horse straight forward to attack.

The ten-thousand-man cavalry force following behind the Chongzhen Emperor did not understand why the Emperor had cut his own hair and then charged out ahead to start hacking at people — they simply chose to follow and hack along with him.

The Mongols and the Sibe people did not quite grasp the meaning of cutting hair in place of one's head, but how many among the Great Ming people did not know? To the soldiers of the Capital Camps, there was nothing more to be said about today's matter.

Ever since Cao Cao pulled that stunt of cutting hair in place of his head, cutting hair had become synonymous with offering one's head.

Now, to have the Emperor driven to cut his hair in place of his head before the battle lines — was there anything more shameful than this for the soldiers of the Great Ming?

There was! The two Emperors Hui and Qin of the fallen Song were even more disgraceful! But in these three hundred years of the Great Ming, when had such a thing ever happened? Never!

The cavalry of the Capital Camps, their eyes bloodshot from the shock of this turn of events, exploded with a roar.

The Emperor had not only cut his hair in place of his head, he had also led the charge into the enemy formation himself — what did a lowly grunt like himself have left to cherish in his life? At worst, it was just one worthless life.

Die, and you could still enter the Shrine of the Loyal and enjoy blood offerings — this old man's life was worth it!

With exactly this mindset, when the fifty thousand troops of the Capital Camps charged, they were even fiercer than the ten-thousand-man cavalry cobbled together from the Prince of Shunyi and Jorightu Khan, and fiercer than the three thousand cavalry of the Wanyan tribe who regarded the Chongzhen Emperor as their own clan's son-in-law.

Ligdan Khan, however, was dumbfounded. This was not how the script in his head was supposed to go!

Shouldn't the Chongzhen Emperor, for the sake of earning a reputation for benevolence, righteousness, and love of the people, have opened the road and let him pass?

Even if in the end he himself had to promise a few other things, swallow his pride, and admit defeat — no matter what, today should not have come down to just drawing blades and hacking at each other!

But now, whatever he thought was already too late. The little Ming emperor, having gone berserk, was leading his troops straight at him — he could not afford to fold now!

Seeing this, Ligdan Khan, unwilling to admit defeat, no longer cared about the lives of those thousand Great Ming commoners and directly ordered his great banner waved, signaling the attack.

The deep, drawn-out notes of the ox-horn sounded. The Chahar cavalry and the cavalry of the affiliated tribes, who had long since learned that their tribal clansmen had basically been slaughtered clean by Chongzhen, also charged at the Ming army opposite them with reddened eyes.

And Zhang Weixian, Qin Liangyu, and Ma Xianglin, who had originally been trailing Ligdan Khan's great army from afar, upon hearing the horn calls and the sounds of slaughter, all exchanged glances. Their hearts cried out — disaster!

Up ahead, they must have encountered the Chongzhen Emperor, and by now the two sides had likely already begun to engage.

At this point, Zhang Weixian's eyes also went red. The Great Ming had finally, after the Martial Ancestor Emperor, produced another emperor who understood military affairs — nothing could be allowed to go wrong!

No longer planning to hold anything back, he clasped his fist toward Qin Liangyu and said: "If we reckon by the days, up ahead they should have already joined battle with the cavalry His Majesty is leading.

His Majesty has only fifty or sixty thousand horsemen — we must increase our speed and ensure His Majesty's safety at all costs!"

Qin Liangyu likewise clasped her fist: "At the Duke's command!"

Their original plan of pincering Ligdan Khan from front and rear with the Chongzhen Emperor was thus thrown beyond the ninth heaven.

Some say a single horseshoe nail destroyed an empire. Here, it was a few words from Ejei that nearly wiped the Chahar Mongols from existence.

This battle lasted from afternoon until sunset. In the end, Ligdan Khan could only flee far away with fifty or sixty thousand horsemen — the rest all died in battle.

The Chongzhen Emperor, who had originally intended to take prisoners and use them to build roads, had lost all reason and directly decreed: "Transmit Our edict — in this battle, no prisoners are to be taken. All are to be made into a Jingguan!"

Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of the Chongzhen Emperor: The Emperor campaigned against the Mongols. On his return, he encountered the Chahar tribe.

He slew one hundred thousand in battle and made them all into a Jingguan. The Emperor said: "Those who slight the Han, those who harm the common people of the Great Ming — though they be far away, they shall surely be put to death."

True indeed are these words! Since ancient times, never has there been one who made a Jingguan of a hundred thousand foreigners, and those driven to do so by the Emperor were also Mongols.

(End of Chapter)