Chapter 584: This Time the Eastern Barbarians Are Surely Doomed!

Five armies marching out, driving straight at Beijing — it certainly looks formidable!

Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and Zhu Yihai looked at the thick red arrows on the map, each of them unable to contain their delight.

A strategy drawn up by the eminent men of the Grand Marshal's Office after all — it looks reliable at a glance! At the very least it is far stronger than the two-route northern expedition they had originally planned — the two routes of their northern expedition army were advancing in entirely different directions, one wandering about the Liaoxi Corridor and the other striking into Henan. If Dorgon had a sudden brainstorm and simply ignored Liaoxi, bringing his main force down into Henan to cut people down, wouldn't Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and Zhu Yihai have been left staring like fools? But this five-route offensive plan is far more ingenious — if even one of the five routes succeeds, the eastern barbarians are finished.

"Good, good — a five-route northern expedition, converging on Beijing! This time the eastern barbarians are surely doomed!"

"Even if Dorgon had three heads and six arms, he couldn't send troops out on five routes at once!"

"How many men do they even have? Split into five routes, won't they just be destroyed by us one by one?"

"Advancing along the canal is good — the grain route is secure, and if things go wrong, the line of retreat is convenient too."

"How could there be any retreat? The eastern barbarians are bound to be defeated. By the way, Military Advisor, is there an order in which these five armies will march?"

Li Yan answered with a smile: "The route setting out from Juehua Island moves first. Once the sea freezes over this winter, they will cross the ice to Ningyuan."

"Marching in winter?" Huang Degong was taken aback. "Ningyuan is terribly cold in winter. The government troops are southern soldiers — can they endure it? And winter is hardly favorable for attacking cities, is it?"

Wu Guoyong was a native of the Ningyuan Guard, and he said with a smile: "None of that is a problem. If it's cold, just dress warmly! Besides, the men of the Kenan New Army are overwhelmingly northerners to begin with — they don't fear the cold. As for attacking the city, climbing walls is hard, but what's there to fear about shelling a city with cannon? If anything, in cold weather the gun barrels cool down faster!"

"Bombard the Ningyuan Guard city?" Huang Degong thought for a moment. "The Ningyuan Guard city is solidly built. I fear even Hongyi cannon couldn't bite through it."

Huang Binqing, the Navy Commissioner, took up the question: "What are called Hongyi cannon are the Westerners' twelve-pound long guns — over in the West they hardly count as great cannon. The heaviest guns the Ministry of War's Firearms Bureau ordered from the Westerners are thirty-six-pound long guns, whose shot is twice again heavier than that used by Hongyi cannon. One may say nothing can withstand them!"

Shi Kefa interjected: "Can cannon that heavy be transported to Ningyuan?"

Huang Binqing said: "One has already been transported to Juehua Island! Once the sea is frozen over, this great cannon can be dragged over the ice on a sledge to the Liaoxi mainland."

"How does one get so heavy a cannon onto an ice sledge, and how is it unloaded again?" Huang Degong pressed on.

He was asking about details, because he knew that such seemingly trivial matters could sometimes decide the outcome of a war!

"We purchased several heavy lifting machines from the West!"

What Huang Binqing was referring to were human-powered treadwheel cranes, which had existed since ancient Rome but had never been transmitted to China.

Zhu Cilang had not thought of such a device either; it was the Dutchmen who had taken the Ministry of War's Firearms Bureau order who remembered it — once so large a cannon was shipped to China, how was it to be loaded and unloaded? How was it to be transported? Better to add an order for several cranes and four-wheeled wagons, and oh yes, also buy ten Shire horses to pull the guns.

By now the cranes, four-wheeled wagons, and Shire horses had arrived one after another, and among them the cranes and four-wheeled wagons already had "knockoff" copies. The thirty-six-pound cannon had also begun to be "knocked off." Only the Shire horses were beyond help, because the ten Shire horses that had been shipped over were all "eunuchs" — gelded.

"There are such ingenious contrivances as these?"

"Truly ingenious."

Shi Kefa and Gao Hongtu both exclaimed in admiration. He, listening at the side as Huang Binqing spoke of the "crane," was likewise greatly astonished — the minds of these Western barbarians were indeed clever, only a pity they had not applied them to the great Dao.

Huang Degong laughed: "With thirty-six-pound Western cannon, the strong city of Ningyuan will not be hard to take."

Gao Jie added: "Once Ningyuan is recovered, the eastern barbarians' old homeland beyond the passes will be left hanging. How would Dorgon dare sit by and not come to its rescue?"

Li Yan said with a cold laugh: "Marching a thousand li in the depths of winter to hurry to Liaoxi is no easy thing. Even the eastern barbarians would surely be left battered and exhausted, wouldn't they?"

Wu Guoyong said: "That is certain. If the eastern barbarians truly make that journey, then the northern expedition is already half won!" He paused. "Shandong, Huaibei, and Xuhai strike as the second wave, advancing after next spring begins, pushing north along the canal to draw the eastern barbarians south.

The Haisha Island and Dagu Fort route strikes as the third wave, setting out half a month later than the Shandong force. First they will seize Dagu Fort, then attack Dongzui Island city and the Tianjin Guard city.

As for His Highness the Prince of Dai up in the Lüliang Mountains and Commander Wu in the northwest, the timing of their march will be set only after contact is made."

Zhu Cilang said in a low voice: "It is only spring now, so there are at least eight months to prepare. Every garrison must work in earnest and give their all! Grain, equipment, draft animals, and gunpowder must all be made fully ready. If court subsidies are needed, requests must be submitted before the end of the fifth month.

Furthermore, the way of war lies in striking where the enemy least expects it! So the marriage alliance with the eastern barbarians will continue — and all of you must remember to keep your mouths shut like sealed bottles!

What has been discussed today must not be revealed to any outsider in the slightest. Is that understood?"

"We subjects obey the decree."

After Zhu Cilang took power, the Ming court's secrecy work had greatly improved — at the very least, confidential and critical matters were no longer casually published in the Capital Gazette. Moreover, it was the small pre-dawn court conferences of the two offices that truly decided affairs, and few people attended these conferences, which also made secrecy easier.

Yet for so massive a military operation, keeping it entirely secret was still extremely difficult.

But in late third month, the marriage envoy Zu Kefa, far away in Beijing, had absolutely no idea that Zhu Cilang was preparing a large-scale northern expedition!

He still believed that the marriage alliance was finally going to succeed, and that the northern and southern courts could henceforth live in peace.

The Forbidden City, the Hall of Martial Valor.

Zu Kefa, all smiles, presented a gift list with both hands, then said: "Our court's Emperor wishes the Imperial Ama, the Prince Regent, and Her Highness the Empress Dowager a long life together and an early birth of a noble son!"

"Hahaha—" Dorgon, already dressed in dragon robes befitting his status as Imperial Ama, now sat beside Shunzhi, stroking his beard and laughing heartily. "This fine son-in-law of mine certainly knows how to talk!"

The little Shunzhi Emperor wore a gloomy expression. An early birth of a noble son — and would the child count as Our younger brother?

Zu Kefa continued: "Our court's Emperor has already ordered men to build the Penglai Palace for the Heshuo Princess in Penglai County, Dengzhou. At most two years and it will be complete."

The matter of building the Penglai Palace was true enough, though it would not take two years, because the Penglai Palace was an expansion built on the foundation of the Penglai Pavilion on Danya Mountain, and would be finished before year's end. By then Zhu Cilang would go north to the Penglai Palace and from there direct the five-route northern expedition.

"Good, good," Dorgon seemed to have fallen for the Hongxing Emperor's trick, nodding repeatedly. "Nothing could be better. Once the Penglai Palace is finished, we will send the princess over."

Zu Kefa smiled and added: "Imperial Ama, Your Majesty, our court's Emperor also wishes to recall the forces of Regional Commander Jiang Xiang of Datong and the troops of His Highness the Prince of Dai, and requests that you grant him this convenience."

Recalling Jiang Xiang and Zhu Cijiong was impossible, but Zhu Cilang wanted to use this opportunity to lift the siege of Datong.

This round of the Datong siege had begun last winter, and by now the city had been under siege for five months!

Because the battle for Datong had dragged on for two or three years, not only had it consumed enormous resources, but agricultural production around Datong had also become impossible. Thus this strong city had reached a perilous point — and with Zhu Cilang so far from Datong, unable to send troops to relieve Jiang Xiang, he could only devise this plan of "surrendering the city to save lives."

"Very well!" Dorgon smiled. "Granted, granted. As long as Datong city is handed over, Jiang Xiang will be let off."

Zu Kefa cupped his hands and added: "Imperial Ama, Your Majesty, perhaps you might be a little more generous still — spare the Ming troops inside Datong city and their dependents as well."

Dorgon was still all smiles: "Very well. But they must hand over Datong city intact, and withdraw first to the Lüliang Mountains!"

"That is wonderful!" Zu Kefa was overjoyed at heart. He had originally thought that even if Dorgon agreed to release the officers and men inside Datong, he would not let them go to the Lüliang Mountains. He had not expected the newlywed Qing Imperial Ama to be so easy to talk to.

(End of Chapter)