Chapter 1687: Hong Taiji by the Daling River

Zhu Youjian, for all his calculating brilliance, had still missed one thing: in the third month of the first year of Chongzhen, just as he was preparing to open war in the fifth month against the Chahar tribe of the Hutudun Khan, the Ming dynasty's true mortal enemy, Hong Taiji, was at that very moment camped by the Daling River, only three or four hundred li beyond Xifengkou on the Ji Garrison's border wall!

Hong Taiji's camp lay beneath Mulan Mountain on the upper reaches of the Daling River. It was a typical cavalry camp, seemingly a bit disorderly at first glance, with large open spaces left between tents, shallow narrow trenches, and palisades thrown up carelessly. Only the watchtowers had been built with care, tall and massive. Such a camp was meant solely for cavalry use; men and horses had enormous freedom of movement within it, and large bodies of horsemen could advance or withdraw with ease. Yet from a high vantage point one could see that the camp was somewhat small. Given that it housed only space-hungry cavalry, the force quartered there was not large—at most a little over ten thousand men.

Beside this Later Jin main camp stood another, newly erected camp, this one with deep moats and high walls, tightly and solidly constructed. But the tents within were of every sort and color, a chaotic jumble, and there were even sheds built of timber and thatch. Moreover, this camp had no arrow towers or watch platforms; instead, raised platforms had been built outside the walls and manned with archers. From time to time, armored cavalrymen of the Later Jin army rode patrols beyond the palisade. Clearly, this was a camp for holding prisoners. Those confined inside were all members of the Duoluote battalion of the Chahar tribe—over eleven thousand of them, all disarmed and dumped inside the camp, waiting to become booi slaves of the Eight Banners lords.

Hong Taiji himself lodged in a great bright-yellow tent in the middle of the cavalry camp, guarded around the clock by several dozen white-armored elite soldiers. From time to time, Eight Banners officers and men dressed as Mongol nobles rode up, only to be stopped outside the yellow tent by those white-armored guards—the Great Khan was occupied with important matters! Anyone wishing to see the Great Khan would have to wait patiently!

Inside the yellow tent at that moment, Hong Taiji sat upright on a folding camp bed, with two camp stools set beside him, on which sat two young men in white battle dress. The elder of the two looked somewhat frail, his complexion sallow, with the air of a chronic invalid. This was Hong Taiji's fourteenth brother, Dorgon!

The other looked only fifteen or sixteen, but was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with a square, imposing face that somewhat resembled Hong Taiji's. For all his youth, his face already bore a brutish cast, the look of a savage who reasoned with his fists. This was Dodo, Hong Taiji's fifteenth brother.

This campaign in which Hong Taiji marched to the upper Daling River is known to history as "Hong Taiji's First Punitive Expedition Against the Chahar." It set out on the eighth day of the second month of the second year of Tiancong of the Later Jin. The reason for the expedition was an invitation from the thirty-six tribes of the Kharchin Mongols—the Kharchin Mongols had originally been vassals of the Ming, settled beyond the border walls of the Ji Garrison, Xuanhua, and Liaoxi. They lived close to the Liao River bend, the original home territory of the Chahar tribe, and had long been contested over by the Ming and the Chahar.

After the main Chahar force migrated west, however, the chieftains of the thirty-six Kharchin tribes sent envoys to Shenyang on the first day of the second month, asking Hong Taiji to send troops and help them attack the Duoluote battalion that the Chahar had left behind to hold the Liao River bend.

Upon receiving the invitation from the Kharchin chieftains, Hong Taiji marched on the eighth day of the second month! Because the expedition had been mounted in haste, there had been no time to assemble a large army; he brought only a little over ten thousand elite troops, marching at speed, and struck the Duoluote battalion before it could react, catching them completely off guard. He pursued them all the way from the Liao River to the Daling River—called the Aomulun by the Mongols—and there, on the banks of the Daling, joined forces with the Kharchin and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Duoluote battalion, capturing over eleven thousand prisoners and seizing countless cattle and sheep.

After this battle, the Chahar tribe's prestige among the Left Wing Mongols suffered a severe blow. Within a few months, the Mongol tribes—including the thirty-six Kharchin tribes and the five Inner Khalkha tribes—would become vassals of the Great Jin state.

And the route by which Hong Taiji could bypass the passes and enter China proper was now completely opened. Even if that fool Yuan Chonghuan sold grain to relieve the Kharchin and Inner Khalkha tribes in their famine, it would change nothing.

After all, Hong Taiji had just shown them his killing skills. Truly, he slaughtered Mongols like chopping melons and slicing vegetables!

The Chahar elite troops who had previously kept the Kharchin and Inner Khalkha tribes under their heel were utterly helpless before the Later Jin Eight Banners!

The Kharchin chieftains who got word of this naturally came flocking to submit, but today Hong Taiji had no time to see them.

Because Hong Taiji was in his tent warmly receiving two Han traitors—Fan Wencheng and Fan Yongdou.

These two traitors had learned of the great victory at the Aomulun on the eighth day of the third month. They had immediately left Zhangjiakou and, escorted by several dozen white-armored soldiers, traveled day and night, covering seven or eight hundred li in three days and four nights, and had finally reached Mulan Mountain before Hong Taiji could return to Shenyang.

The two of them had brought Hong Taiji a startling piece of news.

Hong Taiji frowned and asked, "Are you certain the little emperor of the Southern Court has pulled a large army from Liaoxi and sent it to Datong and the Ji Garrison?"

"Absolutely certain!" answered Fan Wencheng, kneeling on the ground. "Thanks to Fan Yongdou, who came with this slave, this slave has figured out what is in the little Southern Court emperor's mind. He is an emperor who loves grand achievements and wants to build his prestige by striking at Ligdan Khan."

"This Ligdan Khan really is hated by everyone!" Dodo broke in. "Everyone wants to give him a beating!"

Hong Taiji turned to look at his fourteenth brother, Dorgon. Dorgon was frowning, apparently deep in thought.

"Fourteenth Brother, what do you think?" Hong Taiji asked.

Dorgon inclined his body and replied, "The Southern Court is right to withdraw troops from Liaoxi and reinforce Datong and the Ji Garrison! Once we have taken the thirty-six Kharchin tribes, Jinzhou, Dalinghe Fort, and Xiaolinghe Fort will no longer need to be defended. Ningyuan, in fact, can also be abandoned; they should pull back to Shanhai Pass."

What Dorgon described was in fact the optimal plan.

Because Ningyuan and Shanhai Pass could not be held without fifty thousand men, whereas defending Shanhai Pass alone required only twenty thousand—and that number could be reduced further still, if the situation became urgent!

Fan Wencheng said, "The Southern Court seems to have held a court debate over whether to abandon the Ningyuan-Jinzhou defenses, but it did not pass. This slave estimates that in the end they will abandon Jinzhou and continue to hold Ningyuan."

"Great Khan," Dodo shouted again, "since the Southern Court also wants to fight Ligdan Khan, why don't we push harder and wipe out Ligdan Khan once and for all?"

Hearing Dodo's words, Fan Wencheng hastily offered his counsel: "Great Khan, it would be better to wait until the Southern Court and Ligdan Khan have decided a winner, and then decide whom to attack."

Dodo glared at Fan Wencheng with some irritation. "What does a slave like you understand? We should press our advantage and pursue now!"

"Fifteenth Brother!" Dorgon, however, checked his younger brother. "Fan Wencheng is right. There is no need to be in such a hurry now. If Ligdan Khan suffers a setback at the hands of the little Southern Court emperor, and we then step up our attacks, he might throw in his lot with the Southern Court.

If Ligdan Khan allies with the Southern Court, he may be able to absorb the Right Wing Mongols, and then the realm will be divided three ways again!"

Dodo snorted. "Ligdan Khan is nothing but a gutless coward. Even if he colludes with the Southern Court, he's no match for us!"

"Let us first see what the little Southern Court emperor is capable of!" said Dorgon. "Ligdan Khan is not that weak. If the little emperor cannot defeat Ligdan Khan, then there will be nothing to worry about. Otherwise, we had better break through the Great Wall as soon as possible!"

"Break through the Great Wall?" The moment Dodo heard about entering the Wall, his face lit up with excitement. "Excellent! When do we march? I'll be the vanguard!"

Hong Taiji glanced at this brother of his, his face full of hesitation. This brother looked like a true khan, and so was especially favored, having received the old khan's own Plain Yellow Banner (now the Plain White Banner)—his strength was formidable! And he had no sense of propriety, neither toward his elders nor his betters!

"We must wait a while," Hong Taiji said, not reprimanding his younger brother but speaking thoughtfully. "We will first return to Shenyang, then arrange a covenant assembly with the thirty Kharchin tribes. We can march in the sixth or seventh month. If Ligdan Khan defeats the Ming army, I will strike at him! If he is defeated by the Ming army... then we shall see."

He then said to Fan Wencheng, "Fan Wencheng, take this Fan Yongdou with you to receive a generous reward, then return to Zhangjiakou at once and watch how the little Ming emperor fights Ligdan Khan."

(End of Chapter)