Chapter 361: Where Did Wu Sangui Go?

On the first day of the third month of the second year of Shunzhi of the Great Qing, more than forty thousand troops under Wu Sangui, Prince Who Pacifies the West of the Great Qing, took a solemn oath at Lingbao east of Tong Pass. Wu Sangui brought out the savings that he and his father had amassed through years of corruption and lavishly rewarded the three armies, then made a pact with them: "Take the Pass region, and share wealth and glory." After that, he led the three armies in a great westward advance, and on the third day of the third month he passed through the strategic stronghold of Tong Pass!

The news that Wu Sangui's entire army had passed through Tong Pass and entered the Pass region was delivered that very day by the Shun army's relay riders to Chang'an, the Shun capital, two hundred sixty li from Tong Pass.

"Good! Good! Good!"

In the Hall of Martial Valor, Li Zicheng, dressed in a blue dragon robe, received the news that Wu Sangui had entered the Pass and cried "Good!" three times in succession. A smile spread across a face that had been gloomy for many days. He swept his single eye over the assembled ministers in the hall, then laughed again: "Heh heh heh, once that traitor Wu Sangui enters the Qin Pass, he is a dead man!"

"Imperial Lord," Liu Zongmin, Marquis of Ru, stepped out from the ranks to the center of the Hall of Martial Valor, kowtowed to Li Zicheng in salute, and then said: "Let me take the first battle! I failed to kill that traitor at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, but this time I will not let him get away!"

"Heh heh," Li Zicheng laughed and shook his head. "Huang Hu, We know you have been holding back your strength. But this first battle cannot go to you, because this first battle can only be lost, not won!"

"Why?" Liu Zongmin did not understand.

Li Zicheng said: "Because that traitor Wu is still very cautious. The relay report from the Count of Wushan says that after entering the Pass, the traitor Wu did not advance rashly, but instead built a strong fortified camp below Phoenix Ridge. It seems he wants to advance steadily and fight step by step!"

"That is nothing to fear!" Liu Zongmin said. "Our army has plenty of cannon, and six Hongyi cannon as well. No matter how strong Wu Sangui's camp is, we can damn well blast it open!"

These days Li Zicheng had in fact made considerable preparations for a decisive battle. Besides carrying out trial land reforms in the prefectures of Xiangjing and Yunyang, he had also ordered the craftsmen of Chang'an to cast Great General cannon and crouching-tiger cannon, and had gathered six imitation Hongyi cannon to form an artillery battalion, which he placed under the command of Luo Hu, Count of Tong Pass.

"Heh heh," Li Zicheng laughed. "We still need to lure the tiger into the cage! We must not drive that traitor Wu away!"

"Gao Yigong!" Li Zicheng called the name of his own brother-in-law, Gao Yigong.

"This subject is here!"

A sturdy man in his thirties wearing a blue robe stepped out from the ranks to the center of the hall, and with full ceremony kowtowed to Li Zicheng.

"How is the training of the Newly Attached Battalion coming along?" Li Zicheng asked.

The Newly Attached Battalion was made up of new recruits that Li Zicheng had raised after retreating back to Shaanxi, totaling about fifteen thousand men, and had cost a good deal of the silver brought out from Beijing.

"Imperial Lord, the soldiers of the Newly Attached Battalion can barely fight, but armor and weapons are still insufficient."

Li Zicheng smiled: "No matter. Yigong, take the Newly Attached Battalion and go test your skills against Wu Sangui. Do not fear losing. As long as you can draw Wu Sangui to the walls of Chang'an, it will count as a great achievement!"

Gao Yigong kowtowed: "This subject receives the decree!"

Gao Yigong received Li Zicheng's decree and led fifteen thousand raw recruits off to "their deaths" — in order to draw Wu Sangui toward Chang'an, Li Zicheng was truly spending blood and treasure! This really was a case of not being able to catch Wu without sacrificing new recruits!

But in the view of Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Zhang Linran, and the other strategists of the Shun court, there was no need at all to lure the enemy. They only had to hold beneath the walls of Chang'an, and Wu Sangui would deliver himself to their door.

Wu Sangui had already entered Tong Pass. If he did not come to Chang'an to die, where else could he go? Would he huddle around Tongzhou, Huazhou, or Huayin?

But on the eighth day of the third month, unexpected news reached Chang'an. The Newly Attached Battalion led by Gao Yigong had on the sixth day of the third month seized the foot of Phoenix Ridge — Wu's great camp, completely empty! On the seventh day of the third month, Gao Yigong, together with Ma Shiyao, led troops and seized the undefended Tong Pass.

In other words, the tens of thousands of troops under Wu Sangui who had entered Tong Pass had vanished without a trace!

"Damn it, where has that surnamed Wu gone?" In the Hall of Martial Valor, Li Zicheng, Son of Heaven of the Shun, slowly paced around a map spread over two long tables pushed together, his single eye narrowed, his sharp gaze searching the map back and forth, over and over.

Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu, Gu Ying, and Luo Hu, the generals, all followed him in studying the map.

But none of them could see anything. Where had Wu Sangui gone? Where could he go? Was he not attacking Chang'an? If he was not attacking Chang'an, what had he entered Tong Pass for?

"Imperial Lord," Liu Zongmin stroked his great beard, "could Wu Sangui have seen through our scheme and led his troops back out of Tong Pass?"

Withdrawn?

Li Zicheng stopped at these words and shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye he suddenly caught sight of Song Xiance, who was sidling toward a corner of the Hall of Martial Valor — what was wrong with the great strategist? Did he need to piss or shit?

"Ah, Grand Strategist, reckon for Us where Wu Sangui is."

Hearing Li Zicheng ask this, Song Xiance groaned inwardly — again with reckoning where Wu Sangui is? His reckonings of where Wu Sangui was had never once been right! Could they not change the question?

"What? Cannot figure it out?" Li Zicheng at this moment also remembered that his strategist had been unable to divine since entering Beijing. Perhaps it was time to replace him?

Reckon it was, then! Seeing the dark look on Li Zicheng's face, Song Xiance did not dare delay.

But this time Song Xiance did not count on his fingers. Instead, he began to analyze for Li Zicheng: "This, this — what has Wu Sangui come into Tong Pass to do?"

"Need you even ask?" Liu Zongmin said. "To attack Chang'an, of course!"

"It must be to attack Chang'an!" Tian Jianxiu thought so too.

Li Zicheng nodded: "Attack Chang'an, seize the Pass region! What else would he come for?"

How would Song Xiance know! He was so anxious sweat was breaking out on his forehead, and he could only stammer: "Then if he is not attacking Chang'an, not seizing the Pass region, what else could he do?"

Right, if he was not attacking Chang'an, what else could he do? Come as a tourist? Make one loop and go back?

At this moment Luo Hu suddenly spoke up: "He could also go attack Yan'an, attack Pingliang, or go further west—"

"Huzi, what did you say?" Li Zicheng suddenly roared, and his face instantly turned ashen.

"Imperial Lord, I, I said Wu Sangui might also go, go attack somewhere else!"

"Damn!" Li Zicheng slammed the table. "A miscalculation! Wu Sangui is no longer government troops now. Without the Chongzhen Emperor driving him, why must he attack Chang'an?"

Truly, after being roving bandits for so long, they had fallen into a fixed way of thinking — still treating themselves as roving bandits and Wu Sangui as government troops under the Chongzhen Emperor's command!

If Chongzhen's government troops came into the Pass region, they would certainly attack Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi — what orders Chongzhen's court would give, Li Zicheng could guess without Song Xiance counting on his fingers.

But Wu Sangui was no longer government troops. He was a damn traitor, he was Qing troops. When had anyone ever seen Qing troops batter themselves to death against a fortress heavily defended by Ming troops?

To be honest, Li Zicheng now truly missed the Chongzhen Emperor a little. Ever since that fine opponent Chongzhen had been sidelined by his unfilial son Zhu Cilang, he had not won a single battle! Without Chongzhen, life was truly hard for Li Zicheng!

Li Zicheng rubbed his broad forehead. "Aiya, a miscalculation, another miscalculation. We are an emperor now, so why do We still always think of Ourself as a righteous army?"

Song Xiance breathed a great sigh of relief. This time it seemed he had gotten through. He walked to the edge of the map table and took a look. Around Chang'an were placed many small black chess pieces, representing the main forces of the Shun army.

And in the other prefectures and departments of Shaanxi Province, seven or eight pieces were scattered here and there, very sparse, all of them miscellaneous Ming troops that had been absorbed — with that little strength, they could not possibly stop Wu Sangui's main force!

As long as he bypassed Chang'an, Wu Sangui truly could go wherever he pleased!

(End of Chapter)