Chapter 1744: A Court That Gives Blind Orders?

To be fair, the strategy Fan Wencheng proposed — "strike Changping, raid the imperial tombs, lure out the Capital Camps" — was still a brilliant one. As long as the Ming court could function normally, it was certain to fall into the trap!

Those were the Changping imperial tombs! The resting place of the Zhu Ming dynasty's ancestors — within the capital region, apart from Beijing city itself, what could be more important than the Changping imperial tombs?

Now that the Great Jin's tomb-touching Great Khan Hong Taiji and the tomb-raiding Beile Dorgon were heading to Tianshou Mountain in Changping to dig open the tombs and seize their treasures, how could the Ming court not be anxious? How could the young Emperor Zhu Youjian not be hopping mad? Impossible! Once their composure shattered, they would of course force the Liaodong garrison troops and the Capital Camps to abandon their turtle-shell tactics and advance rapidly to seek a decisive battle with Hong Taiji!

And once the Capital Camps' phantom-ledger troops advanced at speed, they would no longer be able to protect one another with their wagon formations and advance by alternating positions — and the Great Jin's celestial soldiers would have their opening!

Because infantry combat depends on forming hard formations, holding strong fortifications, and occupying key terrain — infantry drawn up in hard formations find it very difficult to march. To march quickly they must form columns and take the official highways. The Capital Camps' phantom-ledger troops, organized into thirty-six wagon-camp squares, had no way to use the official highways — how could a square formation of one or two thousand men march on a highway? So they could only advance through the wheat fields, and therefore their speed could never be fast.

And infantry formed into columns on the official highways, though fast, found it very hard to organize resistance when faced with a sudden assault by massed enemy cavalry. Drawing up formations and building ramparts takes time! Moreover, the wagon formations the Ming infantry habitually used were extremely troublesome to set up — far less easy to deploy than the Western-style squares and line formations.

Therefore, when a large infantry force was on the march, it needed a small number of elite cavalry screening and scouting to the front, rear, left, and right, to guard against surprise attacks or ambushes.

But the Later Jin's white-armored soldiers were simply too formidable — their individual and small-unit combat power was off the charts. The Ming army's night patrols were no match for them and were easily killed or driven off. Ming infantry that lost its cavalry screen naturally became blind and deaf, and then had no way to form a hard formation in time or seize favorable terrain when the Later Jin Eight Banners troops came at them.

Furthermore, the Capital Camps and Ji-Liao troops currently in the field had all adopted a step-by-step, consolidate-as-you-go approach: they marched only six or seven li a day, then halted and made camp. Nor did they start from scratch — they looked for existing manors or villages to convert. The capital region was, after all, prosperous country, with villages, towns, and estates everywhere; it was easy to find one to convert.

Once the conversion was complete, it became a strongpoint that could shield the rear and the supply route. A few hundred picked troops left to hold it firmly, and the supply route and rear were both secure. If the main force suffered a setback while advancing, it could fall back to the strongpoint and hold out. One could call it steady and sure, positioned so as to be undefeatable.

But the Ming army's "undefeatability" was built on the premise that the Later Jin army was stalled beneath the strong walls of Shunyi.

Now that the Later Jin army had suddenly dashed eighty li westward, straight for Changping where the Tianshou Mountain imperial tombs lay, the steady and sure Ming army ought to be getting anxious, right? Even if the Ming army wasn't anxious, the court hiding inside Beijing city ought to be hopping mad, right?

"Minister, have you received the urgent report from the Changping garrison? The Jianzhou slave army has already closed in on Changping county seat and the Tianshou Mountain imperial tombs!"

"Minister, quickly send orders to the Duke of Chengguo and Yuan Yuansu to march day and night to relieve Changping!"

"Yes, we absolutely must not allow the slightest mishap to befall the Changping imperial tombs!"

"Minister, give the order at once!"

In Beijing's imperial city, inside the Ministry of War yamen outside the Meridian Gate, the place had been like a boiling pot all morning. A great crowd of grand secretaries and ministers had arrived, all clamoring for the Minister of War, Wang Zaijin, to send orders to Zhu Chunchen, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhang Fengyi, and the rest.

Although these laymen all knew that this frantic urging to fight might very well turn into urging men to their deaths, defending the imperial tombs was politically correct — no one dared make a mistake on this issue!

And Wang Zaijin's answer was three words — "Must request an edict!"

Wang Zaijin swept his gaze over the ministers who had rushed over to demonstrate their political correctness, and said unhurriedly: "The mobile court at Xuanfu sent word yesterday that His Majesty returned to the garrison city the day before, and that today he will lead thirty thousand troops out of Xuan garrison toward Juyong Pass. Once His Majesty arrives, the battle within the capital region will be commanded by His Majesty in person. Whether the Changping garrison troops, the Capital Camps, or the Ji-Liao troops — all are troops personally led by His Majesty. The Ministry of War can only request an edict; it cannot directly issue orders urging battle."

The politically correct grand ministers were all taken aback. They mulled it over carefully — it did seem to be the case!

Now that the young Emperor was personally leading the campaign, the armies outside Beijing naturally had to obey the Emperor. How could the Ministry of War move troops without an edict?

No! This wasn't moving troops without an edict — it was taking the blame without an edict!

Did Wang Zaijin not know what sort of goods the Capital Camps troops were? Right now, even holding a cautious, slow-advancing turtle formation didn't guarantee they could protect themselves. Order them to rush to Changping and they might well fall apart halfway there!

Once the Capital Camps scattered, and the Ji-Liao troops then made a lone rapid advance, they would surely be routed when they collided with the slave bandits' main army.

If both great armies in the capital region were routed, then Hong Taiji would be having the time of his life — he could plunder wherever he pleased! At that point, Wang Zaijin, as Minister of War, wouldn't just be thrown into the Imperial Prison — he'd lose his head.

This Wang Zaijin truly lived up to being a veteran official of four reigns who had entered government service in the twentieth year of Wanli — brilliant indeed!

With the imperial tombs and the safety of the capital region at stake, the slightest error meant losing one's head. If the blame could be shifted, it had to be shifted!

The Chief Grand Secretary Huang Liji stroked his beard, brows tightly knit: "Minister, it is two hundred li from Xuan garrison to Juyong Pass. How long will it take His Majesty to arrive? If anything should happen to the Tianshou Mountain imperial tombs..."

Wang Zaijin thought seriously for a moment, then said: "His Majesty is a sovereign born to the saddle, and a ruler of utmost filial piety. Hearing that the imperial tombs are in danger, he will surely ride a thousand li a day to return — by now he has most likely already reached Juyong. At present the Son of Heaven is outside leading the troops while we remain within. If we were to move troops without requesting an edict, would that not be usurping the Son of Heaven's authority to command on the battlefield?"

That was a heavy enough charge, and the skill at shifting blame was high enough — the words were utterly watertight!

Wang Zaijin paused, then added: "However, the edict must still be requested, Chief Grand Secretary. The Ministry of War has already drafted a memorial urgently transferring the Capital Camps and the Ji-Liao troops to relieve the Changping garrison. It only lacks the Grand Secretariat's endorsement."

This fox was no ordinary cunning old schemer!

Wang Zaijin knew perfectly well that the Capital Camps and Ji-Liao troops must not be sent to their deaths, but in order to shift the blame, he had still drafted the memorial urgently transferring the two armies to the rescue.

It was just that from Beijing city to Juyong Pass was over a hundred li, and there was even the possibility of running into Tartar white-armored soldiers blocking the road — whether the memorial could even be delivered was hard to say! Even if it was delivered, and the young Emperor approved it, and it was sent back to Beijing, and then the Ministry of War issued orders to Zhu Chunchen, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhang Fengyi, and the rest — how many days would all this back-and-forth take? By then the Capital Camps and Ji-Liao troops would have practically crawled their way to Changping!

One only wondered whether the imperial tombs on Tianshou Mountain would already have been dug open by Dorgon by then.

If Dorgon knew that everyone on the Ming side called him the "tomb-raiding Beile," he would surely cry injustice. Because he had absolutely nothing to do with the harassment of the Tianshou Mountain imperial tombs. The idea of striking Changping was Fan Wencheng's! And Dorgon hadn't even gone along to Changping — Hong Taiji had given him the job of bringing up the rear and keeping watch on the two "turtle armies." So he and Dodo had taken more than two thousand cavalry of the two White Banners and were prowling around between Shunyi county, Changping subprefecture, and Beijing city.

By the twenty-second day of the ninth month, Hong Taiji, who had set up his main camp ten li west of the Changping subprefecture seat, had waited and waited without receiving any word of the "turtle armies" turning into "rabbit armies." Growing impatient, he gave Dorgon a few hundred Kharchin Mongol cavalry and a baiting mission. Hong Taiji wanted him to feign defeat in a few skirmishes and see whether he could lure out the inexperienced Capital Camps troops.

And so the moment for Dorgon to leave his name in the annals of history arrived!

"They're coming, they're coming! Commander, the Jianzhou slaves' main force has finally come — looks like several thousand of them!"

In the early morning of the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, after crawling along the Wenyu River (which bends westward west of Shunyi county seat and flows toward Changping) for nearly ten days since leaving Beijing's earthen wall, the Capital Camps' great army finally met the Later Jin "main force" they had been longing for.

Zhu Chunchen, who was having breakfast in a mansion of unknown ownership with several Vice Regional Commanders and the Vice Minister of War Zhang Fengyi, shot to his feet upon hearing the urgent military report delivered by Li Zunzu, the Earl of Ningyuan (the Earl of Ningyuan's household still had some serviceable retainers who could keep watch around the army). His expression was one of shock and delight.

The shock was that the Jianzhou slaves were attacking!

The delight was that at last the ledgers could be balanced!

Strongly recommend the new work by the great author Yixiu Qiankun, "The Number One Ruthless Man of the Southern Ming" — the ruthless man Zhu Youlang, ruthless beyond compare!

(End of Chapter)