Chapter 1738: These Cities Look So Poor!

On the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the second year of Tiancong of the Later Jin — the Mid-Autumn Festival.

"This is..."

Climbing to a high point and gazing at the county seat of Yutian seven or eight li away, Hong Taiji drew a sharp breath. For what appeared in his telescope was a fortress somewhat similar to the county seat of Zunhua. Yutian County was rather far from the Jizhen section of the Great Wall and had not been rebuilt by Qi Jiguang, so its old walls naturally could not compare with Zunhua's, which had been rebuilt only a few decades earlier. But the moat outside the fortress was just as absurdly wide as Zunhua's. And beyond the moat, one could also see layer upon layer of ground spikes, chevaux-de-frise, and abatis — needless to say, plenty of horse traps had surely been dug as well!

Moreover, outside the northern gate of Yutian County, on the far side of the moat, Hong Taiji also spotted a "crescent-moon stockade" built with its back against the moat. Not a "formation," but a "stockade" — with earthen walls, palisades, arrow towers, and watch platforms. The outside of the stockade's earthen walls was densely planted with tiger-fall stakes (wooden posts for stopping cavalry), and beyond the tiger-fall stakes there was yet another ring of trenches.

As for ballistas, crouching-tiger cannons, and brave, battle-hardened elite troops who could hurl javelins — there were certainly no shortage of those either.

Gazing at the impregnable fortress before him, Hong Taiji felt his heart turn cold. He had thought that once they broke through the Jizhen border wall they could feast on meat to their hearts' content — but who could have imagined that any random county seat inside the wall would be on par with Jinzhou or Ningyuan!

The environs of the Ming Son of Heaven's residence were indeed a tiger's den and a dragon's pool. If he had known, he would never have come.

"Great Khan," said Amin, the Third Beile, who was at Hong Taiji's side at that moment. Having finished surveying Yutian's defenses, he was somewhat eager to try his hand. "Let this subject take the Bordered Blue Banner and the Inner Khalkha Mongol warriors up for a probe!"

Hong Taiji glanced at Amin and thought: You missed the earlier battle at Zunhua, so you still don't know how formidable they are!

At that time, Amin had led the Bordered Blue Banner and the Mongols of the five Inner Khalkha tribes at Yiyuankou, posing as the Later Jin main force, and fought several field battles against the main Jiliao Ming army commanded by Wang Zhichen, Yuan Chonghuan, and Zhao Shuaijiao. Though he had gained no advantage, he had still successfully accomplished the mission of breaking through the pass and luring out the enemy.

On the eighth day of the eighth month, when Hong Taiji's main force broke through San'ankou, Longjing Pass, and Xifengkou to invade, Amin was also at Yiyuankou, locked in a great battle with more than fifty thousand Jiliao main-force troops. Although Amin had fewer than twenty thousand men under his command, and the bulk of his force was Mongols of weak fighting ability, he still did not get the worst of it. Relying on the mountain terrain inside Yiyuankou, he resisted section by section and fought the Ming army for three full days. It was not until the night of the tenth day of the eighth month that he received Hong Taiji's order and withdrew his troops from Yiyuankou. Amin's force then marched west along the border wall to Xifengkou and entered the pass again, joining forces with Hong Taiji at Santunying on the twelfth of the eighth month.

After the rendezvous, the army Hong Taiji had assembled reached as many as fifty-eight thousand men! Of these, roughly twenty thousand were Eight Banners troops, about thirty thousand were Mongols, and around eight thousand were booi bondservants.

Yet the Tiancong Great Khan of the Later Jin, commanding fifty-eight thousand troops, chose not to advance eastward to seek a decisive battle with the Jiliao army massed at Qian'an, Lulong, and Luanzhou, nor did he attack Zunhua again. Instead, he bypassed Zunhua and marched west. Because they had to forage for provisions along the westward route, their marching speed was not particularly fast, and it was not until the fourteenth of the eighth month that they arrived outside the county seat of Yutian. After resting for one night, Hong Taiji led his beiles up to high ground to observe the enemy.

"Third Beile, take five thousand men and go probe that crescent-moon stockade — but be very careful." Hong Taiji naturally could not dampen Amin's enthusiasm. "The southern army may have gunpowder crossbow-spears specifically for blasting shield carts, so shield-cart formations probably won't work. Also, there are most likely horse traps all around that crescent-moon stockade. Until the pits are filled in, cavalry cannot go up."

Amin had of course already heard about the gunpowder crossbow-spears and the horse traps, but hearing about something and seeing it with one's own eyes are two different things. Otherwise he would not have requested this battle — and Hong Taiji's Later Jin army would not have suffered a setback beneath the walls of Yutian!

The Battle of Yutian, fought on the fifteenth of the eighth month, was almost an exact replay of the earlier Battle of Zunhua!

The defender of Yutian, Lü Daqi, was, like Shi Kefa, a die-hard, stubborn scholar — and equally versed in military affairs and capable in battle. In the original history, he had been a commanding minister of the Southern Ming in Sichuan, fighting the Qing army until he died of illness at the front!

Under his direction, the fighting power of the three thousand Yutian militia was not one whit inferior to the Zunhua militia! Moreover, he had "copied" the ballista from Zunhua, and had also copied the crescent-moon formation from the Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government — and then upgraded it, building the crescent-moon stockade.

A strong stockade, ballistas, trenches, horse traps, and three thousand simple, honest militiamen fighting to protect their homes and families — together they beat back three successive fierce assaults by Amin, the Third Beile of the Later Jin, killing and wounding four to five hundred Manchu and Mongol soldiers and booi bondservants, and forcing Hong Taiji's great army to once again shift its advance.

Avoid the strong and strike the weak, after all!

Yutian was plainly hard to take. Even if they could gnaw it down, they would have to throw in four or five thousand men. For a single county seat, it simply was not worth it!

So Hong Taiji decided to try his luck at a different prefectural city, and led his great army onward to Jizhou.

Waiting for Hong Taiji at Jizhou was the Circuit Intendant of Jizhou, Yang Sichang. Yang Sichang had taken up his post together with his father. His father was Yang He, a veteran minister of four reigns, renowned for his integrity and well versed in military affairs (after the Battle of Sarhu he had offered a great deal of after-the-fact wisdom, all of it sounding very reasonable, as though he were a military strategist), who had been dismissed for opposing Wei Zhongxian.

After Wei Zhongxian was executed, no one knew how many people recommended Yang He to Zhu Youjian, hoping he would come out to serve as Grand Secretary or Supreme Commander. But Zhu Youjian simply would not be moved! His son Yang Sichang had even obtained a Circuit Intendant post, while he himself was still waiting for appointment. And so, to demonstrate his own military talent, Yang He accompanied his son to his post and helped him supervise the training of the militia in Jizhou.

Because Yang He was a hot favorite for Grand Secretary, the great and wealthy households of Jizhou had to give him some face, contributing men and grain to help the Yang father and son rebuild Jizhou's walls to the same standard as Zunhua.

At the same time, Yang He, relying on his own prestige and reputation, helped his son invite Meng Qiaofang, a former Vice Regional Commander idling away in Yongping, to join them. With Meng Qiaofang's assistance, they recruited and trained as many as six thousand militiamen.

On the twentieth of the eighth month, Hong Taiji and his companions climbed Chuangzi Ridge north of Jizhou to look down upon the city — and this time they did not even draw a sharp breath. All that remained was sighing.

Within the Great Wall, it truly was strong city after strong city!

The two county seats of Zunhua and Yutian had both been built up to roughly the level of Jinzhou and Ningyuan, and Jizhou, a prefectural seat, went without saying. One look told them it would be hard to take: high walls, a wide moat, and an endless mess of obstacles outside the moat. Without three to five days, there was simply no way to clear it all!

But now shield carts could not be counted on. Were they supposed to make the booi bondservants do the work while bearing the Ming army's ballista fire? Impossible! The booi bondservants were not made of iron. Without Eight Banners warriors to supervise them, how would those bondservants be willing to risk death filling in the pits? But if the Eight Banners warriors went up — the warriors were not made of iron either!

Hong Taiji and the assembled beiles, great and small, of the Eight Banners did not know what to say for a moment. The scene was unbearably awkward! In the end, it was the quick-witted "Tomb-Raiding Beile" Dorgon who spoke up: "Ah, this Jizhou city is so broken-down and shabby. The houses inside are all thatched, and it looks terribly poor!"

Jizhou — broken-down, shabby, and poor?

A few dull-witted beiles were about to argue with Dorgon, but Hong Taiji had already caught on. "The Fourteenth is right. Jizhou plainly has no plunder worth taking. Let us find somewhere a bit richer! Fan Wencheng, you have been to Northern Zhili a few times — tell us, where is wealthier?"

Fan Wencheng, clever as ever, immediately understood Hong Taiji's meaning and quickly said to him: "Shall we go have a look at Pinggu? If that does not work, then head straight for Shunyi. Shunyi has always been a commercial route out of the capital's northern gate, and is very prosperous."

"Good, good," Hong Taiji nodded repeatedly. "Change of destination — we go to Pinggu, and if that fails, to Shunyi!"

The assembled beiles, great and small, finally let out a breath, followed by a chorus of "Zhe!" But Fan Wencheng still had not grasped the situation. As it turned out, Pinggu and Shunyi were both poor! As poor as Zunhua, Yutian, and Jizhou — one look and there was plainly no value in looting them!

And after the Later Jin army reached the outskirts of Shunyi, the choices laid before Hong Taiji were three: south to Tongzhou and Beijing, north to Miyun, or west to Changping.

(End of Chapter)