Chapter 407: Bring It On!

The thunder of hooves rumbled like rolling thunder. Several hundred bayara personal guards merely clustered around Dodo, Prince Yu, Great General Who Pacifies the Nation of the Great Qing, as he rode at the front.

Behind them, countless white, yellow, red, and green banners rolled and snapped, and endless cavalry and infantry followed. The main force of the Qing army in Shandong had now left the great camp outside the city of Qufu.

Behind Dodo, besides the elite troops of the Plain White Banner, Plain Yellow Banner, Plain Red Banner, and Bordered Red Banner, there were also the Green Standard troops commanded by Wu Weihua, Xu Dingguo, and Liu Liangzuo. The Great Qing's main force in Shandong, apart from a small portion holding Yanzhou, Dezhou, Linqing, and other places, was now entirely under Dodo's command. There were more than thirty-five thousand horse and foot, and their military supplies, gathered by plundering in every direction, were enough to last over a month — to get these supplies, Dodo had stripped Yutai, Pei County, and Feng County clean!

Every Qing officer and soldier wore a grim expression at this moment. Apart from the sound of hooves and the tramp of marching feet, there was almost no other sound; the whole army seemed solemn and oppressed. This campaign into Shandong, compared with the Qing army's sweeping conquests of Shandong in the fourth and fifth incursions, had truly been far too difficult. The "chives" not only ran off at top speed, but had also turned Qufu into an impregnable fortress! What was even more hateful was that the spirit of the Sage Confucius in heaven was also making trouble for the Great Qing, protecting the southern soldiers at Qufu so that "neither blade nor spear could pierce them," and causing the Great Qing's heavenly troops to suffer no small losses!

Throughout the Qing army, many already gnashed their teeth in hatred toward the Kong family of Qufu — what use was a Sage Confucius who did not know what was good for him? They would have to dig him up from underground to vent their hatred!

But for the time being they had no leisure to attack Qufu again, because their line of retreat had already been "cut off" by a great army of militia that had marched out from Jinan!

When Prince Yu led the army away from the Qufu camp, he had said that the coming battle already had the character of a last stand. If they won, the Great Qing still had prospects in Shandong. If they lost, then not only would the Great Qing fail to take Shandong, but these thirty-five thousand Great Qing heavenly troops would also meet no good end — the Qing troops had ravaged Shandong twice and killed two or three million Shandong people; they shared a blood feud with Shandong. If they fell into the hands of Shandong men, could it possibly go well for them? They would likely be flayed and have their sinews drawn!

Frightened by Dodo in this way, the tens of thousands of Eight Banners men and Han traitors all grew tense. A pack of murderers and arsonists now actually took on something of the air of a wronged army.

Dodo's own expression these past few days had been deathly grim, so much so that the bayara guards around him felt a pressure they had never known before.

Could this ever-victorious prince be about to meet his ruin here in Shandong?

At the head of the column, mounted couriers constantly galloped back with reports, informing Dodo of the situation ahead and the positions and numbers of the Ming forces.

"My Prince, Gushan Ejen Gang'atai with his entire force of over five thousand men has already established camp at Huakou Town on the north bank of the Daqing River, awaiting Your Highness's arrival!"

"My Prince, the southern rebels' central army has withdrawn into the county seat of Pingyin and is digging trenches and building ramparts, strengthening the city's defenses!"

Hearing the report, Dodo merely smiled. "The southern army's central force is the troops of the Prince of Lu's household? Their courage is rather too small, is it not?"

A jala ejen of the Plain White Banner beside him blurted out rashly, "My Prince, why don't we just strike their center nearby and swallow up this force of the southern court's Prince of Lu household first!"

Dodo cast him a faint glance and said with a smile, "Can you swallow them in one bite? If you cannot, and Gao Hongtu comes from the north, Shi Kefa from the south, and Zuo Maodi from the east, converging in a three-pronged attack, would we not be even more passive? We have already had our edge blunted at Qufu, and our supplies are not plentiful. We cannot act rashly again. If we fail to win again, the Shandong campaign can no longer be fought."

Dodo's manner was relaxed and he appeared to have a well-thought-out plan, but his subordinates were all somewhat dejected. The army's supplies would last only a month; the advantage lay in a quick battle, yet the Ming army advanced step by step, playing at fortress advance, clearly intending to drag things out.

Looking at the expressions of the Eight Banners generals around him, Dodo said with a smile, "The central southern army cannot possibly be commanded by the Prince of Lu. The southern court's princes have not led troops for over two hundred years. The highest-ranking man to come this time is at most a Regional Commander. And he is not bold either — before we even drew near, they ran off to Pingyin. If we frighten them again, they may well run off toward Mount Tai."

"So the real prize is Gao Hongtu's force on the northern route. As long as we encircle him, we need not worry that the other southern armies in Shandong will fail to come to his rescue. Then we besiege the army and strike the relief forces, breaking them one by one! Was our attack on Qufu not precisely for the sake of besieging the city to strike relief forces? We simply did not expect Qufu to be so hard to besiege. Is Gao Hongtu's northern force not advancing step by step?"

"This prince reckons he will not run off together with the southern army at Liaocheng. He is surely still counting on using his fortresses to force this prince out of Shandong!"

Dodo's words served as a reassurance to the generals under his command. Holoi said loudly, "My Prince, your subordinate requests the honor of the first assault, to lead the warriors of the Plain Yellow Banner and strike him first!"

"No need." Dodo shook his head. "This prince intends to make a great show of force and display our might. Perhaps Gao Hongtu will lose his nerve and flee. Such things we have encountered more than a few times!"

To tell the truth, Dodo had hardly ever seen a Ming army that did not fear the Eight Banners in the open field! If he could frighten Gao Hongtu into flight, the Shandong campaign would become easy!

The news that the main Qing force was approaching did not frighten Gao Hongtu into flight! Although the two generals Li Chengdong and Ma Degong were already terrified, and upon receiving the news had proposed either withdrawing or entering Liaocheng,

Gao Hongtu was not so nervous. He merely ordered the troops to speed up construction of fieldworks.

He had in hand twenty-two thousand militia troops plus six thousand men combined from the forces of Li Chengdong and Ma Degong. In nearby Liaocheng there were also more than ten thousand men under Liu Zhigan. The three forces together numbered over thirty-eight thousand! Moreover, their supplies were ample and morale high, and they had a city and wagon-forts to rely on. What was there to fear?

So beginning yesterday evening, Gao Hongtu's great army had been building ramparts on the south bank of the Tu River. First they formed a wagon barricade, then dug a ring of trenches outside the wagon barricade, and finally piled sandbags inside the wagon barricade to strengthen the defenses, even building a breastwork of sandbags on the side facing the Tu River. The more than twenty thousand "migrant laborers" were indeed hardy and hardworking, and they toiled until the latter half of the night before finishing.

At this moment it was just before dawn, and the banks of the Tu River were still utterly quiet, as though no one knew a great battle was imminent.

No one knew a great battle was imminent because last night scouts had come back with a report that the Qing army had been discovered crossing to the west bank of the canal by a pontoon bridge — clearly they were about to leave Shandong!

The Ming generals, who had been on tenterhooks, finally breathed a sigh of relief, but they did not dare let down their guard, and sent out the extra scouts that needed sending. All the soldiers slept in their clothes, and their weapons were placed where they could be easily reached. The gongrong cannons set in the middle of the wagon barricade had all been loaded with ball and powder, ready to fire and kill the enemy at any moment!

Zhang Mingzhen, Vice Regional Commander of the Shandong militia and of Nanjing meritorious-official lineage, was on duty tonight. He had not slept all night, but merely patrolled everywhere.

Although he had been recommended to Gao Hongtu by Qian Qianyi, his "origins were poor" after all — he came from Nanjing meritorious-official stock, and he also carried on his back the record of a case of encroaching on military farmlands. If he did not work hard, he truly would have no day of turning his fortunes around!

So under Gao Hongtu he was especially diligent, not daring the slightest slackness, and tonight even more so.

But Li Chengdong and Ma Degong were not as diligent as he was. They would not even send out many scouts, and those they did send merely circled around the camp, utterly unwilling to go far — Zhang Mingzhen even suspected that the report of the Qing army crossing the river westward was nothing but a false message meant to fool them.

At this moment, the distant horizon finally began to brighten faintly. The hard night was over at last! As long as they got through the coming day, this great camp by the Tu River would be secure — not daring to say it was invincible, but there would be no great danger.

But just then, Zhang Mingzhen suddenly felt the ground begin to tremble! Could it be that he was too tired? Befuddled? He hastily snatched a lantern from a soldier beside him and shone it on the ground beneath his feet, and saw that the pebbles and sand underfoot really were trembling faintly.

(End of Chapter)