Chapter 1761: Strike While the Heat Lasts: Go Beyond the Wall, Withdraw the Troops to Drive Off the Enemy

It had only been two or three days since Zhu Youjian first proposed going beyond the border wall to open up the Yanshan and western Liaoning mountain regions. By all reason, such a major undertaking should have waited until they returned to Beijing and thoroughly discussed it with the Grand Secretariat before a final decision was made, right?

But Zhu Youjian insisted on bypassing the Grand Secretariat and acting on his own. He did not even wait for Hong Taiji to withdraw his troops before he had already finalized the plan to go beyond the wall and open up new territory.

In this finalized plan, the Great Ming would establish ninety Chiliarch (guard) posts in the Yanshan and western Liaoning mountains beyond the wall—this not even counting the Mongol Chiliarchs belonging to the two Myriarch ordo of the Uriankhai and the Doyan.

These ninety Chiliarch posts would be placed under the jurisdiction of two garrisons: Western Liao and Yanshan. The Western Liao Garrison would administer thirty Chiliarch posts and would also be garrisoned by a large force of Liao troops (at least half of whom would need their accounts settled), with Zu Dashou appointed Regional Commander and He Kegang as his deputy.

The Yanshan Garrison would administer sixty Chiliarch (guard) posts, with Zhao Shuaijiao appointed Regional Commander and Sun Zushou as his deputy. It would likewise be garrisoned by fifteen thousand recruited soldiers.

In addition, the former Shanhai Pass Garrison and the Eastern Route Brigade of the Ji Garrison would be merged to form the new Ji Garrison. The Regional Commander post would go to Ma Dengyun, formerly Regional Commander of the Liao Garrison, with Wang Wei's son Wang Shiqin as his deputy. The former Shanhai Pass Regional Commander, Zhu Mei, would be transferred to the Chang Garrison to replace Zhang Weixian, who had resigned after Tianshou Mountain was burned.

Above the Ji and Liao (Western Liao) Garrisons, Zhu Youjian also established a new office of Supreme Commander of Ji-Liao, with Yuan Chonghuan appointed Supreme Commander—though of course his command could not reach Mao Wenlong; he could only command the forces of Western Liao and Shanhai Pass.

The former Supreme Commander of Ji-Liao, Wang Zhichen, was dismissed by Zhu Youjian because the Ji Garrison's section of the Great Wall had been breached, and was sent home to retire—he had actually been sabotaged by Yuan Chonghuan, but Yuan Chonghuan was Governor of Liaodong, and his own defense zone had no problems at all. Moreover, he had led troops into the pass and won a victory, so he could hardly be made the scapegoat, could he?

The Central Route and Western Route Brigades of the Ji Garrison would be merged to establish the Miyun Garrison, and the Miyun Regional Commander post was given to Hou Shilu, who had led troops from Xuanfu to come to the emperor's aid.

Above the Yanshan and Miyun Garrisons, an office of Governor-General of Yan-Yun was also established, with Gao Hongtu appointed Governor-General of Yan-Yun. Gao Hongtu's post as Governor of Shuntian would be taken over by Hong Chengchou.

Furthermore, because Hou Shilu was transferred to Miyun, the post of Xuanfu Regional Commander became vacant. Zhu Youjian had Hei Yunlong, a man of Xuanfu origin, take it over, while at the same time having Cao Wenzhao take over Hei Yunlong's position as Regional Commander of the Headquarters Army. Cao Wenzhao's post as Brigade Assistant Regional Commander was then taken over by the former battalion Mobile Corps Commander Zhu Ji (of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses' Three Battalions origin).

The Governorship of Xuanfu was also changed, going to Yang Sichang, who had "distinguished himself in resisting the slaves."

This dizzying round of personnel changes, in ordinary times, would have required who knew how many court deliberations. But these were extraordinary times: the Son of Heaven was personally on campaign and had just won a great victory! Therefore, in military personnel matters, he could of course exercise sole authority, and the Grand Secretariat could only obediently cooperate, drafting the rescripts with astonishing efficiency. By the fifth day of the tenth month—the third day after the first battle at Tangzhi Mountain—the formal edicts with the Secretariat's draft rescripts had already been delivered into the hands of the civil and military officials whose posts had been changed.

After this round of adjustments, Zhu Youjian's "actual territory under control" had expanded considerably. Following the Datong Garrison, the Xuanfu Garrison and Miyun Garrison were now also completely under Zhu Youjian's control. And the most important Shuntian Prefecture had partly fallen into the hands of Zhu Youjian's trusted men. As for the Yanshan Garrison, it would of course also become Zhu Youjian's "actual territory under control"—the reason it was "would be" was that on the fifth day of the tenth month, Zhu Youjian's great army was still at Tangzhi Mountain, locked in a standoff with Hong Taiji's great army.

Although Hong Taiji's defeat in this campaign through the passes was already certain, he had not lost by much, and he still had in hand a good deal of wheat cut from the farmland inside the passes or plundered from the estates he had broken into, enough to hold out for quite some time.

But Zhu Youjian had no intention of protracting matters with Hong Taiji beneath Tangzhi Mountain.

Because Zhu Youjian, whose art of war was the finest under heaven, knew that what the enemy wanted to do was generally disadvantageous to one's own side. Since Hong Taiji wanted a standoff at Tangzhi Mountain, then a standoff would surely be disadvantageous to the Ming army.

"Your Majesty," said Hei Yunlong, who had just been promoted to Xuanfu Regional Commander but had not yet taken up his post, now serving as an ad hoc "senior advisor" to Zhu Youjian, offering a suggestion at the military conference on the fifth day of the tenth month, "our main forces are now massed here, already a hundred thousand strong. We can certainly storm Tangzhi Mountain by force!"

Having won a string of victories, Hei Yunlong's confidence had risen.

Zhu Youjian waved his hand and said with a smile, "A frontal assault would cost too many casualties and is not worth taking. Though our army is numerous, our elite troops are not many. If we lose too heavily, morale will inevitably fall, and it will be hard to fight again."

"Your Majesty is sagacious!" said Yuan Chonghuan. "Our army is amply provisioned, far superior to the slave bandits. As long as we protract matters and exhaust the slave bandits' provisions, victory will be within easy reach."

Heh, so now you realize that military provisions can also be a weapon? Zhu Youjian smiled inwardly, but still shook his head. "Dragging on is no solution either. It is already the tenth month. If we drag on any longer, it will be freezing cold! We wish to advance into Rehe before the heavy snow seals the mountains and roads, and spend the winter in Rehe."

The Rehe he spoke of was the Zhenwu River near the later Chengde Mountain Resort. Because the hot springs in the Chengde Mountain Resort flowed into the Zhenwu River, the Zhenwu River did not freeze over in winter, and so the locals called it the "Hot River."

Besides this "Hot River," which could provide a warm water source in winter, there were also many fertile valleys around the later Chengde Mountain Resort that could be opened up for farming and military colonies, and most of them were easy to defend and hard to attack. As long as one spent some time and invested some capital, they could certainly be developed.

Once Rehe was developed, the Great Ming would have a major stronghold deep in the Yanshan Mountains.

About three hundred li northwest of Rehe, there was another critical point: a highland grassland called Saihanba, part of the Bashang Grassland, extremely lush and fertile. Since the Liao and Jin dynasties, it had been the imperial hunting ground of the emperors of both dynasties. Zhu Youjian had already instructed the Grand Princess of the Uriankhai to gather as many Mongols in the Yanshan range as possible into the Doyan Myriarch ordo, and then use Saihanba as their base.

Thus, with Saihanba in the north and Rehe in the south, the Great Ming's position in the Yanshan Garrison would be somewhat secure.

Saihanba was now already in hand; only Rehe remained!

"Your Majesty," said Gao Hongtu, Governor-General of Yan-Yun, somewhat puzzled, "if we are to enter Rehe before the cold sets in, and yet we do not launch a fierce assault now, I fear there will not be enough time, will there?"

Zhu Youjian smiled. "We intend to withdraw the army to drive off the enemy!"

"Withdrawing the army can also drive off the enemy?" Gao Hongtu did not quite understand.

"Correct!" said Zhu Youjian. "The one up on Tangzhi Mountain is inwardly quite nervous. He is surely afraid that we will take a side path out beyond the border wall and circle around behind him."

Most of the passes in the Ji Garrison's section of the Great Wall were still in Ming hands, so it would not be difficult for Zhu Youjian to go out beyond the Great Wall, and quite a few generals had already made such a suggestion.

"Your Majesty," Hong Chengchou offered, "why not actually take a side path out beyond the Great Wall?"

"We do need to go out beyond the Great Wall," said Zhu Youjian, "but a side-path flanking maneuver behind the enemy is unnecessary. A flanking move would have to be made with light troops, and a lone force deep in enemy territory would be no match for the White Armor and Red Armor troops. Frightening Hong Taiji a bit should be enough!"

He was unwilling to do this because he knew that the Later Jin army had a considerable advantage in mountain warfare. Had not the Later Jin army, in the Battle of Sarhu back then, relied on its own formidable fighting strength to carry out a mountain flanking raid, defeating the enemy one by one?

Zhu Youjian said, "We can do this: first withdraw, then lie in ambush, and then use the Headquarters cavalry to screen all directions, making it hard for Hong Taiji to discern our true situation. Within a few days at most, he will inevitably move east. Then we will go out beyond the frontier in force, and everything west of Mameng Mountain will be ours."

"Father Khan, Father Khan, the southern troops are retreating!"

The voice, almost a cheer, came in from outside the great tent, waking Hong Taiji, who had just fallen asleep. Still groggy, he did not hear clearly, and thought the Ming army was about to attack. Startled, he scrambled up from his bed, grabbed his blade, and was about to rush out of the tent when he collided with a young man coming in from outside.

The young man was none other than Hooge. He said to Hong Taiji urgently and rapidly, "Father Khan, the southern army has retreated—they are withdrawing en masse. Should we go after them?"

"No!" Hong Taiji narrowed his eyes. "The Southern Emperor is up to tricks again... The moment we pursue, we will certainly be beaten!"

"Then what do we do?" said Hooge. "The southern army's withdrawal is very likely to go out through Gubeikou or some other pass..."

"We will withdraw too!" Hong Taiji laughed. "And then use a stratagem to lure the little emperor of the Southern Court into pursuing us!"

(End of Chapter)