Chapter 1710: What? The Prince of Dai Has Fled?

"Banners! It's the Son of Heaven's standard!"

A soldier on watch atop the city wall let out a great shout, and at once a huge stir spread through the East Gate Fortress of Datong. The officer commanding the watch at the East Gate Fortress was Ma Dengshan of the Ma family generals, along with twenty or thirty sons and household retainers of the Ma family, supported by over a thousand Datong regular troops. Calling them regular troops was generous—they were actually "temporary soldiers" hired with money by the various troop-commanding offices in Datong Garrison City. Datong Garrison had over one hundred thirty thousand regular troops on the books, but its pay allocation was only one million three or four hundred thousand taels, and of that, who knew whether even nine hundred thousand actually arrived? Such pay obviously could not support over one hundred thirty thousand men, to say nothing of the fact that everyone up and down the Datong Garrison had to skim their share from it. So shortfalls in the rolls were unavoidable. But Datong Garrison was after all a mighty frontier stronghold, and no one knew when the Tartars might break through the border wall and come killing and plundering. So Datong Garrison had developed the practice of hiring "temporary soldiers"—whenever the Tartars invaded, the Governor, the Garrison Commander, the Vice Regional Commander, the Assistant Regional Commander, and the other troop-commanding offices would each take out some of the funds they had withheld in normal times and recruit a few temporary soldiers to help defend the city.

The Tartars rampaging outside the city was no great matter—the ones who suffered were the common folk. As long as the Datong fortress did not fall, once the Tartars had plundered their fill and left, the officials inside Datong could naturally report their achievements and claim rewards.

So the officials inside Datong could ignore the lives of the common people outside the walls, but they were still quite diligent about the city's defenses. Ever since the Hutudun Khan had broken through the wall and invaded, the reinforcement work on Datong City and the surrounding forts had never stopped. By the time Zhu Youjian was about to return in triumph, inside the East Gate Fortress there were still many temporary soldiers chanting work calls as they hauled up great timbers and stones, reinforcing the battlements and replenishing the defensive equipment on the walls.

The East Gate Fortress's east gate, the Ying'en Gate, its north gate, the Beiyuan Gate, and its south gate, the Nanyuan Gate, were all blocked up solid with brick and stone, leaving only the west gate facing the Datong main city and the west gate of the Heyang Gate barbican unsealed. Between the west gate of the East Gate Fortress and the Heyang Gate barbican of the Datong main city there was also a very broad moat, with a drawbridge spanning it, which of course had now been raised.

Because between the East Gate Fortress's west gate and the Heyang Gate barbican there was only one moat and two narrow paths laid along the city walls, any enemy trying to pass through there would be struck by crossfire from the walls on both sides—there was simply no way to survive. So as long as the small East Gate Fortress held, the Yanghe Gate barbican of the Datong main city would never even come under attack. And the tall walls of the Yanghe Gate barbican in turn gave the west gate of the small East Gate Fortress sufficient cover, making it very hard to seize. One had to admit, the defenses of this Datong Garrison City were truly sturdy enough—sturdier even than Beijing's. It was only that the men guarding this fortress were somewhat unworthy of such a mighty stronghold!

On the very day Zhu Youjian arrived at Datong Garrison City, he issued orders to the imperial clan members of the Prince of Dai's line within the city, commanding them all to assemble at the North Gate Parade Ground before the third quarter of the yin hour on the eighth day.

But today was already the tenth, and who had seen a single Zhu clan member at the Datong North Gate Parade Ground? Not going to the North Gate Parade Ground to assemble was one thing—after all, this lot had not been cowards for just one or two generations. Zhu Youjian might say he would expel them from the clan, but in practice that was impossible—it would offend everyone!

But after the news spread through Datong City that on the morning of the eighth, the Son of Heaven had led over a thousand troops and encountered a large force of the Chahar tribe by the banks of the Yu River and fought a fierce battle, the Prince of Dai, Zhu Dingwei—who was wracked by grave illness and had not long to live anyway—was so terrified that his courage broke. Ignoring the pleas of the princely establishment's officials and eunuchs, he took several of his children and a crowd of wives and concubines, and under the escort of a small number of eunuchs and attendants, called up a few friendly Commandery Princes and fled.

And he had fled quite cleverly too. Taking advantage of the moment when the Garrison Commander Man Gui had left the city and the Governor Zhang Yiming was busy mobilizing troops and dispatching generals to support the front, he used the pretext of going to the North Gate Fortress to assemble, exited the Datong Garrison City's north gate, the Dingwu Gate, crossed the drawbridge, but then did not enter the North Gate Fortress's south gate, the Daxia Gate. Instead, outside the Daxia Gate he turned a corner, headed west along the moat and circled around the city, and after rounding Datong City, went straight south. That cleverness really did have a touch of his old ancestor's style.

But why couldn't this cleverness be put to good use?

The Prince of Dai of Datong might have long been raised like a pig, but he was still the pillar of morale for the soldiers and civilians of Datong City!

As long as the Prince of Dai remained in the city to hold the defense, the soldiers and civilians of Datong knew that Datong Garrison City was still as impregnable as a golden fortress. Even if the Tartars outside the walls were as numerous as ox hairs, everyone's hearts would remain steady.

But the Prince of Dai and several Commandery Princes had fled—and what was more, they had deserted in the face of battle while the Son of Heaven himself was on campaign and had gone out of the city to meet the enemy. Did that not tell everyone that the present Son of Heaven had, like Emperor Yingzong at Tumu Fortress, been captured by the Tartars?

Would the hearts of the people in Datong City not fall into utter chaos?

Once hearts were in chaos, how could the city be defended?

So when Governor Zhang Yiming of Datong got the news, he sent men to pursue the Prince of Dai, Zhu Dingwei, while at the same time dispatching the sons of the Ma and Ma family generals in Datong City, with their household retainers and temporary soldiers, to take up separate defense of the four barbicans (four city gates) of the Datong main city and the east, south, and north gate fortresses (Datong had no west gate fortress). He also had the three gates of the east, south, and north gate fortresses blocked up, leaving only one gate facing the Datong Garrison City open, and had the Datong west gate, the Qingyuan Gate, sealed as well. And Ma Dengshan was appointed by Zhang Yiming as acting Assistant Regional Commander of the East Gate Fortress, and with over a thousand men he had busied himself in the small East Gate Fortress for two days and two nights, finally managing to block the three gates and set up quite a bit of defensive equipment on the walls.

Once the defensive arrangements were roughly settled, Assistant Regional Commander Ma, who had been busy for two days and two nights, truly could not hold up any longer, so he found a quiet room in the tower above the East Gate Fortress's Ying'en Gate and dozed off. He was sleeping soundly when someone shouted in his ear: "The Son of Heaven is back! The Son of Heaven is back with his troops!"

What? The Son of Heaven is back?

Ma Dengshan groggily opened his eyes and saw the old, excited face of an elderly Ma family retainer.

"The Son of Heaven won?" Ma Dengshan asked.

"He won—it looks like he won!" the old retainer said. "They don't look like an army that lost a battle—majestic and grand, and they've got quite a few captured Tartars under escort, and they're driving along many cattle, sheep, and horses! Looks like a complete victory!"

"No—no, how is that possible?" Ma Dengshan felt something was wrong the moment he heard this. There were a hundred thousand Tartars on Baideng Mountain! How many men did the little emperor have? His front-camp army was no more than ten thousand, and the household retainers, garrison headquarters troops, and some useless regular troops Man Gui had taken out—at the very most, twenty thousand all told. How could they have won a great victory?

He scrambled to his feet at once, and without letting anyone help him into his armor, just casually grabbed a robe and threw it over his shoulders, then strode out of the gate tower.

Once outside, he found that the "temporary soldiers" in the fortress had all dropped their earth and stones and were mingling with the Ma family retainers, gazing at the scene to the east and letting out cheers great and small.

Ma Dengshan immediately shouted: "Stand to! Stand to! Beware of a trick!"

At his shout, the men below also immediately grew wary—the Tartars were very cunning; this could not be them impersonating Ming troops to sneak into the city! Those twelve triangular dragon banners—could they not have been seized from the little emperor's front-camp army?

"Quickly, quickly, send someone to invite Governor Zhang!" Ma Dengshan sent a man to notify Zhang Yiming, and only then took out a spyglass and began to peer and survey.

After looking for a while, he spotted, among the troops fording the Yu River, the beaming Datong Garrison Commander Man Gui and the garrison headquarters Assistant Regional Commander Fang Zikun.

Judging by the two men's jubilant appearance, they did not look like men who had lost a battle and been captured!

Could the little emperor really have defeated the "Running Khan" whose might awed the steppe?

Ma Dengshan quickly ordered a Battalion Commander under him to hold the fortress strictly, then took a few personal attendants and galloped out the west gate of the small East Gate Fortress of Datong, circled around the small fortress, and raced toward the Ming army column that was fording the Yu River. He was soon stopped by alert cavalry and then led before Zhu Youjian's horse.

Zhu Youjian had met this Ma Dengshan before, so after the man dismounted and kowtowed, he said with a smile: "Ma Dengshan, where are Governor Zhang and the Prince of Dai? This time, thanks to the protection of our ancestors, We have won a complete victory. Tell them to prepare the victory banquet at once, and come out to welcome Us!"

"Your Majesty," Ma Dengshan said, "this subject has already sent someone to invite Governor Zhang; he should arrive shortly. But His Highness the Prince of Dai cannot come."

"What? Has he fallen ill?" Zhu Youjian frowned. "Is his illness that grave?"

"No." Ma Dengshan shook his head. "He—he has fled!"

"What? Fled?"

(End of Chapter)