Chapter 1726: Yuan Chonghuan's Grand Plan

"Father Marshal at Yiyuankou, the slave rebels really do mean to strike Shanhai Pass!" Zhao Guangyuan, a man in his thirties with the build of a tiger's back and bear's waist, jabbed a thick, long finger at Shanhai Pass on the map and said to Zhao Shuaijiao, "The moment Yiyuankou is broken through by the slave rebels, Shanhai Pass's rear will be in danger. We have to go relieve it at once!"

"Relieve what? We've got only four thousand headquarters-battalion troops and a thousand household retainers in hand altogether. How can we send them out the moment the fighting starts?"

No sooner had Zhao Guangyuan finished speaking than his brother Zhao Guangrong came into the room and, the moment he entered, took the opposite side from his elder brother.

Zhao Guangyuan glanced at this half-brother of his. The fellow was refined and bookish in appearance; if he stayed out of the sun a little more he would pass for a pale-faced scholar, and his belly was full of twists and turns, too — all winding and circuitous, nothing like a man who lived by the sword.

"Second Brother," Zhao Guangyuan said in a muffled, heavy voice, "Yiyuankou is our defense sector. Now that it's under attack by the slave rebels, if we don't go relieve it, who can? If Yiyuankou falls and the higher-ups come down on us, how are we, father and sons, supposed to bear it?"

"We can ask Governor Yuan in western Liaodong to send troops," Zhao Guangrong said. "Western Liaodong now has close to forty-six thousand effectives, and its defense sector consists of only three places: Shanhai Pass, Ningyuan, and Juehua Island. Moreover, it's still early autumn, the sea hasn't frozen over, and Juehua Island isn't under attack by the Jianzhou slaves at all, so what Governor Yuan actually has to defend is only Ningyuan and Shanhai Pass. What need is there for forty-six thousand troops? He could perfectly well divide his forces to hold the Great Wall line at Lengkou, Jielingkou, and Yiyuankou."

During this period, through the efforts of Sun Chengzong and part of the Donglin Faction, the salt-transport offices had essentially been brought under the control of the Censorate, and the kaizhong system had been partially implemented. Although it still could not fully replace the Liaodong levy, it had loosened Yuan Chonghuan's purse strings in western Liaodong, allowing him to recruit and expand his army there.

By early in the seventh month of the first year of Chongzhen, the effective strength of the western Liaodong army under Yuan Chonghuan had reached nearly forty-six thousand men (eighty thousand on paper), and it was well equipped and well trained, far surpassing the Jizhou Garrison Army, the Xuanfu Army, and the Capital Camps in strength.

Yet such a large force of elite troops had been placed along the line from Ningyuan to Shanhai Pass in eastern western Liaodong, where it was unlikely to be attacked by the Later Jin and from which it could not launch an attack on the Later Jin either.

Though this deployment was far better than the previous long-snake formation of more than sixty thousand effectives stretched from Jinzhou to Shanhai Pass, it was still a serious waste of troops.

So when the Later Jin host appeared beyond the border wall of Jizhou Garrison, the Ming side found itself in the predicament of a great western Liaodong army with nothing to do, while the Jizhou Garrison's thirty thousand-odd weak troops had to defend a Great Wall line of seven or eight hundred li.

"Second Brother, what are you talking about?" Zhao Guangyuan glared at his brother. "Do you think our father is the Supreme Commander of Ji-Liao? That he can move Governor Yuan's troops? Even the Supreme Commander of Ji-Liao can't control the Liaodong Governor's troops anymore!"

The current Supreme Commander of Ji-Liao was still Wang Zhichen, presently stationed at Yongping Prefecture. This Wang Zhichen was feeling rather dejected at the moment, because after Zhu Youjian took the throne he had ruthlessly pared back his authority: on the one hand appointing a Liaodong Military Commissioner (Yuan Keli) to oversee military affairs at Denglai, southern Liaodong, Tianjin, and other places; on the other hand restoring Yuan Chonghuan as Governor of Liaodong to direct military affairs in western Liaodong. All that was left to Wang Zhichen was the single Jizhou Garrison, and even that he shared with a Jizhou Regional Commander.

What made it worse was that Jizhou Garrison had no actual territory, and Wang Zhichen had no authority over Shuntian and Yongping Prefectures either, so this Wang Zhichen was in truth an empty-title Supreme Commander just marking time.

And the reason Zhu Youjian had arranged things this way was actually that he wanted, when the Jisi Incident of the second year of Chongzhen occurred, to command the Ji-Liao military affairs in person — he reckoned that by then he would already have brought the two territorial garrisons of Datong and Xuanfu to heel, that his mounted retainers would number twelve or thirteen thousand, and that Sun Yuanhua would have brought the foreign officers, foreign troops, and foreign cannon back to Beijing. What he had not expected was that Hong Taiji would not follow the "script" and would come a year and more early to attack the Jizhou Garrison's Great Wall!

Now things had gotten a bit chaotic!

"That's easy to handle!" Zhao Guangrong said. "I'll accompany Father Marshal on a trip to Yongping, and have Supreme Commander Wang invite Governor Yuan to Yongping as well. The three sides can meet, work out a defensive plan, and then submit it to the Ministry of War."

Zhao Guangyuan thought for a moment and said, "We can't just not send troops either. How many defenders does Yiyuankou have? If the Jianzhou slaves break through, our responsibility will be enormous!"

Jizhou Garrison was truly a "scapegoat garrison" — few troops, heavy responsibility!

Having said all they had to say, the two brothers Zhao Guangyuan and Zhao Guangrong both turned their eyes to Zhao Shuaijiao.

Zhao Shuaijiao sighed: "We'll divide our efforts. Second Brother, you accompany me to Yongping. Eldest, you stay behind and move the troops. First send a thousand men to Xifengkou, then a thousand to Han'erzhuang. Lead the remaining three thousand yourself and advance along the Great Wall toward Yiyuankou."

Once the assignments were made, Zhao Shuaijiao set out from Santunying with his son Zhao Guangrong, galloping for the Yongping prefectural seat of Lulong. In less than a day they reached Lulong, and upon arriving at the Supreme Commander's yamen within Lulong city, they discovered that Yuan Chonghuan had already arrived ahead of them and was in the central hall of the Supreme Commander's yamen, discussing military affairs with Supreme Commander Wang Zhichen over a map.

Probably because the discussion had reached a critical point, the two did not even pause to greet Zhao Shuaijiao when he arrived. Seeing the great Regional Commander Zhao enter, Wang Zhichen smiled and beckoned to him: "Commander Zhao, you've come at just the right moment. Yuan Yuansu has just proposed a grand strategy; give us your thoughts on it too."

Zhao Shuaijiao saluted the two civil officials, then strode quickly forward to the table where the map was spread. He swept his eyes over the map and saw that in the area west of Shanhai Pass and east of Funing Guard City, many black and white chess pieces had been laid out.

"Governor Yuan," Zhao Shuaijiao said, looking at the chess pieces on the map, "do you intend to let the slave rebels enter Yiyuankou, and then fight a great battle with them inside Shanhai Pass?"

Yuan Chonghuan nodded and said with a smile, "Xilong, do you think this strategy can succeed? Right now western Liaodong can put forty thousand elite troops into the field, Supreme Commander Wang has four or five thousand headquarters troops, and how many do you have in hand? Scraping together fifty thousand men shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

Zhao Shuaijiao thought for a moment and said, "Fifty thousand men can indeed be scraped together, but can fifty thousand men alone defeat the slave rebels?"

"They can!" Yuan Chonghuan nodded, looking full of confidence. "Inside Shanhai Pass is our ground. We have Funing Guard City, Funing County seat, Shanhai Pass city, and also Tu'er Mountain, and many forts, stockades, villages, and towns to rely on — and we can also have our backs to the sea."

"Your Excellency means to draw up the line with our backs to the sea?" Zhao Shuaijiao asked, looking at the pieces on the map.

"Correct!" Yuan Chonghuan said. "The terrain inside Shanhai Pass is one great sack. We hold Shanhai Pass at one end and defend Funing Guard, Funing County, and Tu'er Mountain at the other, and the slave rebels won't be able to get out — they'll have no choice but to fight us to the death inside the great sack! And our own men won't be able to run away either. When the time comes, I'll take eight thousand men and hold Shanhai Pass; the Supreme Commander will take ten thousand and hold Tu'er Mountain, Funing Guard, and Funing County; and you will take thirty-two thousand troops, draw up with your backs to the sea, and fight it out with the Jianzhou slaves!"

This was truly a grand plan that screwed oneself before screwing the enemy!

Yuan Chonghuan meant to drive his own western Liaodong elite troops into a great sack with no way out, to fight to the death against the Later Jin troops breaking in through Yiyuankou!

"Can thirty-two thousand men fight it out with the Jianzhou slaves' great host?" Zhao Shuaijiao still had his doubts!

"They can!" Wang Zhichen spoke up. "Yuan Yuansu's tactic is to divide the thirty-two thousand Liaodong Garrison elite troops among several forts and stockades to hold firm, supported by cannon and matchlocks, and to strip the countryside bare. We force the slave rebels to come attack us, rather than fighting a decisive battle with them in open country."

That did seem to have some merit!

Yuan Chonghuan added: "Right now the Son of Heaven is at Datong, drilling troops and strengthening the military, and already has twenty thousand iron cavalry. As long as we can lock the slave rebels into a stalemate inside Shanhai Pass, the Son of Heaven will surely lead his iron cavalry to the rescue. With the Son of Heaven's twenty thousand iron cavalry, what fear is there of not defeating the slave rebels?"

Zhao Shuaijiao shot Yuan Chonghuan a sidelong glance, thinking: You've even schemed the Son of Heaven into your calculations!

"Can we decide this on our own?" Zhao Shuaijiao asked. "Should we report to the Ministry of War?"

"It's already been reported!" Yuan Chonghuan said. "Supreme Commander Wang and I submitted a joint memorial; the memorial has already been sent out. But as generals in the field, we do still have this much latitude to act on our own!"

Wang Zhichen also nodded: "Xilong, the Jizhou Garrison's border wall is too long; dividing troops to hold every pass cannot hold it. Yuan Yuansu's plan has the better chance of winning. You might as well pull the troops out of Yiyuankou and let the slave rebels in!"

(End of Chapter)