Chapter 1084: Wu Sangui Falls for It Again! (Please Subscribe)

Through the single-barrel telescope in the hands of the Prince of Jin, Li Dingguo, the gently undulating ridges, ravines, and gullies lay spread out below. The Ming army's fortifications were being built one after another along both banks of the Jian'an River. These fortifications were not star forts, only blockhouses built from sandbags and timber, all constructed with the aid of the rolling terrain, so their shapes were irregular. But they all looked reasonably sturdy, and probably would not be easy to take by assault.

At the southernmost end of these two "fortress lines," around two half-built forts, small units from both sides were engaged in combat. On the Ming side was roughly a battalion of infantry, drawn up in a firing formation with muskets in front and pikes behind. The Shun army had sent out five hundred-man companies to oppose them, each company a combination of saber-and-shield men, musketeers, and pikemen. Both sides had also brought out several cannons, all mounted on the hillsides, trading shots now and then — not firing at each other's infantry, because both sides had placed their infantry in positions difficult for enemy artillery to hit. So the Shun army's cannons were pounding the Ming forts, while the Ming cannons were firing at the Shun artillery positions. And Li Dingguo's own position, not far from his side's gun emplacements, was also within the field of fire of the Ming 12-pounder guns (not 12-catty guns, but old 12-pounder bronze cannons) mounted on the high ground.

The staff officers clustered around him, along with Li Dingguo's senior commanders — Dou Mingwang, Marquis of Tai'an and Regional Commander of the Dading Battalion; Gao Wengui, Marquis of Guangchang and Regional Commander of the Tianwei Battalion; and Chen Yongfu, Marquis of Wenshui and Military Commissioner of Yongchang — all wore expressions of delight, as if victory were right before their eyes. Yet the fighting ahead clearly showed the Ming army gaining the upper hand!

Although the Ming infantry battalion's organization and tactics were not designed for mountain warfare, their Hongxing 6th Year model matchlocks (only some Ming troops now had flintlocks) were still superior to the muskets used by the Shun army, with longer effective range and more reliable performance. So in long-range exchanges of fire, the Ming army always held the advantage.

What? Have the Shun troops charge through Ming fire to within twenty paces and deliver a volley?

That demand was simply too high. The Shun army could not be compared to English lobsterbacks; they were merely a stronger version of a feudal army.

The battle was already decided. The Shun troops, having suffered heavier casualties, were dragging their wounded back toward one of their own forts. Behind them, Ming musketeers and pikemen gave chase. A wounded man had been abandoned and let out a despairing scream, but Li Dingguo's face showed not a trace of emotion.

He turned his head: "What does everyone think?"

Chen Yongfu, Marquis of Wenshui and Military Commissioner of Yongchang, had been stationed longest in the Qiuchi Mountain area, had often fought the Ming army, and knew the Ming army's strengths and weaknesses best. He answered at once: "It's the Ming army's new army. The feudal troops under Wu Sangui should not be that strong."

Wu Sangui's feudal cavalry was not weak; he had both black cavalry and lancer cavalry in full. Although he lacked ocean-going horses, the Western Regions also produced fine horses, so the quality of his cavalry was quite good. But Wu Sangui's infantry was no good — no match for the Shun infantry, and far inferior to the Ming new army infantry.

Dou Mingwang said: "Your Highness, Prince of Jin, these days we have fought twelve engagements with them, and every time we have encountered the new army. It seems he has concentrated all of Shaanxi's new army on the Qishan front."

Gao Wengui also said with a smile: "Your Highness, Prince of Jin, your divine calculations are flawless — Wu Sangui has fallen for it again!"

Wu Sangui has fallen for it again. How pitiful!

Li Dingguo laughed: "Since he has taken the bait, it is time for us to move. Marquis of Wenshui, I leave the Qiuchi Mountain main camp to you!"

Chen Yongfu cupped his fist in salute: "Rest assured, Prince of Jin. With me here, Wu Sangui will never notice that Your Highness has already departed with the elite troops."

It turned out that Li Dingguo's "first march from Qishan" was nothing but a feint. He had never truly intended to fight Wu Sangui to the death at Qishan; instead, he had devised a plan of openly marching from Qishan while secretly crossing the Qinling Mountains.

His opening of military farms at the Xihe front was in fact also meant to deceive Wu Sangui — in a poor, remote place like Xihe, how many terraced fields could be opened? How much millet could be harvested? After a busy year, a hundred thousand shi would be the absolute ceiling. Li Dingguo's hundred-thousand-strong army consumed fifty thousand shi of grain a month; a hundred thousand shi of millet would last two months at most — would the Great Shun Celestial Dynasty be short of two months' millet? What the Great Shun Celestial Dynasty lacked was the grain for those other ten months!

Right now, what Li Dingguo was consuming on the Qiuchi Mountain front was grain stockpiled over many years, not grain temporarily transported from Hanzhong or Chengdu. Once the stockpiles ran out, given the difficulty of the Shu roads and the Shun state's limited resources, it simply could not sustain a hundred-thousand-man army in the attrition between Qiuchi Mountain and Qishan.

If they really burned through several million shi in a year, the Shun would be bankrupted!

So Li Dingguo's plan was still to cross the Qinling Mountains and strike directly into Guanzhong.

Guanzhong was now full of rich households and farms. If they could fight their way in, they could still seize several hundred thousand shi of flour. With those several hundred thousand shi, fifty thousand Shun troops could hold out for one to two years in the Wuzhang Plain and Heshang Plain area north of the Baoxie Road. This was called feeding on the enemy and sustaining war through war!

The morning light in the east had not yet risen; north and south of the Qinling Mountains, all was still darkness. The fourth and fifth months were the rainy season, and these past few days the clouds hung low, blotting out the moon, but still allowing those accustomed to night travel to make out the backs of the people ahead and follow closely without falling behind.

In the darkness, a force of as many as fifteen hundred men was silently making its way along a mountain path in the Qinling range.

The Qinling Mountains run east to west, and only a few extremely precipitous valleys allow passage from north to south — the Baoxie Road, the Ziwu Road, the Chencang Road, the Dangluo Road — all were terrain of this kind. At the most dangerous points, there was not even a proper road to walk, only perilous plank paths built along cliffs. Even such roads had now all been blocked by Wu Sangui, making frontal passage utterly impossible.

So these fifteen hundred elite Shun troops had no choice but to climb the mountains. The path they now walked was the route used by private salt smugglers traveling between Guanzhong and Liuba County. It was no longer merely dangerous — it was practically impassable terrain for a large army.

At least in the eyes of Wu Sangui, who had little experience in mountain warfare, such impassable terrain was no place for men to walk at all.

But to Sima Yu, who lived in Liuba County and had fought the salt smugglers for years, such a mountain road could still be traversed — and moreover, only such mountain roads could be used. If one took a main road like the Chencang Road, how could any smuggling be done?

Sima Yu and his fellow Liuba natives walked with heads lowered, strung out in single file beneath the pre-dawn darkness. To him, the road underfoot did not feel difficult, because this was now the downhill stretch. They had already crossed the Qinling range and were advancing toward Heshang Plain.

Because they were people accustomed to mountain roads, such a path did not seem difficult to them at all.

After walking with head down for he knew not how long, Sima Yu raised his head to look at the sky. It was still pitch dark, but a streak of red light had appeared on the eastern horizon.

They had to hurry now. They must reach Heshang Plain before the sky fully brightened and seize that loess plateau.

Then they would wait there for the main force led by Regional Commander Wang Xi — fewer than 1,400 elite troops — to arrive, after which they would launch a surprise assault on Dasan Pass near Heshang Plain. The plan seemed risky, but it was not without confidence of success.

If the sky were bright now, one could see the source of their confidence.

Including the hundred men under Sima Yu, the 1,500 elite troops led by Wang Xi were all dressed in the Ming army's red uniforms and black breastplates, wearing black iron helmets. Their weapons and equipment were also exactly identical to the Ming army's.

This was a force of Shun elite troops meticulously disguised as Ming soldiers.

Moreover, through spies planted near Dasan Pass, they had thoroughly mapped out the Ming defenses there. The Ming new army previously stationed at Dasan Pass had already been transferred away. Now guarding Dasan Pass were three battalions, a total of 1,500 men of the Shaanxi army — that is, the provincial commander's headquarters battalion (nowadays the Ming governor-general was not a standing post, so there was no governor-general's headquarters battalion, and the title of headquarters battalion had been given to the provincial commander). They could hardly be called elite troops.

And once Dasan Pass was taken, the Chencang Road, the easiest of the Shu roads, would be in Shun hands!

Then Li Dingguo himself would lead fifty thousand troops out through Chencang to strike Baoji, the chief county of Fengxiang Prefecture. Once Baoji was taken, the Shun's position in Guanzhong would be wide open!

(End of Chapter)