Chapter 600: Off to the Northern Expedition!

At the Longjiangkou Wharf outside the outer wall of Nanjing, countless boats and ships lay spread across the channel of the Qinhuai River. These were not merchant vessels hauling grain or goods, but troop transports carrying the great Northern Expedition army accompanying the Emperor on his personal campaign, along with vast stores of supplies, provisions, and fodder — warships that would press northward all the way along the Yangtze and the Grand Canal.

At the imperial conference of the two councils held before the throne that day, Qian Qianyi's "case for demanding justice on behalf of the people of Datong" had steeled the still-hesitating Hongxing Emperor's resolve to launch the Northern Expedition ahead of schedule.

The blood of the hundred thousand and more innocents slaughtered in Datong could not be shed in vain. They had tied down the Qing troops for three or four years on behalf of the Great Ming, and therefore His Majesty the Zhu Emperor had a duty to demand justice for them. Whether Dorgon could be killed was a question of capability; whether to fight this war at all was a question of attitude.

If the Zhu Emperor truly lacked the strength, he would not have fought this war merely for political correctness. But the Southern Ming's situation was now quite favorable, and it could fully sustain a genuine Northern Expedition. If he did not fight, it would truly be hard to justify.

And so, on the day of the Qixi Festival in the twentieth year of Chongzhen of the Great Ming, Zhu Cilang formally issued the Great Edict of the Northern Expedition Against the Caitiffs. In that edict he openly declared that justice would be sought for the soldiers and civilians who had died at Datong, and that Dorgon would be called to account for his crimes of treachery, faithlessness, and the wanton slaughter of the innocent!

In fact, preparations for the Northern Expedition into the Central Plains had begun long before. Even without the Datong massacre, Zhu Cilang would have struck in the winter of the twentieth year!

Two divisions of the Model Army, along with large quantities of rice, grain, dry fodder, and other supplies, had been shipped by sea to Dengzhou before the end of the southeast monsoon in the summer of the twentieth year. One of those divisions — the First Division — had secretly landed on Juehua Island as early as mid-June.

In addition, Gao Jie, the Military Governor of Xuhai, had joined the cross-sea expedition because of his old grudges against Huang Degong and Shi Kefa. Before the end of June, he too had led a picked force of fourteen thousand from the Xuhai army north by sea, and was now also garrisoned at Dengzhou.

If one added the officers and men under the Northern Fleet, the Regional Command of Dongjiang, the Regional Command of Shandong, and the Governor's office of Denglai, the total strength of the northern-route Ming army reached more than seventy thousand!

Once they successfully landed in Liaodong and western Liaoxi, it would truly give the Qing Imperial Ama Dorgon a bellyful of trouble.

The southern-route army of the Northern Expedition was composed mainly of the four garrisons of Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and Zhu Yihai in Shandong, together with Huang Degong's command north of the Huai River. They too had spent several months preparing with all their might for this Northern Expedition.

Among them, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and Huang Degong had all become "debt-ridden commanders" for the sake of this campaign, because the subsidies Zhu Cilang had issued them were not quite enough. They had all borrowed money from the Sea Merchants' Bank and the Salt Merchants' Bank to purchase a batch of matchlock muskets and cannon, and had also built a good number of side-screened war wagons.

The present "Six Northern Garrisons" — namely Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, Zhu Yihai, Gao Jie, and Huang Degong — employed two different military systems.

One was the Western military system introduced by Zhu Cilang. The armies of Gao Jie and Huang Degong had both adopted the Model Army's methods, mixing pikemen and matchlock musketeers together, with a square battalion of roughly five hundred men as the basic tactical unit.

The other was the wagon-fort system of Qi Jiguang, which the four garrisons of Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and Zhu Yihai had all chosen.

They had not, however, copied it wholesale, but had improved it according to actual conditions. They eliminated the Folangji cannon wagons and rocket wagons, and dispensed with the trident-and-fork men. Instead, they combined pikemen, archers, matchlock musketeers, and sword-and-shield men with the side-screened wagons, while also assigning some light "Grand General" cannon (one-catty guns).

When engaging the enemy, the side-screened wagons could be linked end to end to form a wagon fort, which, combined with cannon and matchlock muskets, was enough to withstand the Qing iron cavalry. However, such wagon-forts had very poor mobility; they could only travel on main roads, their marching speed was slow, and they could only advance by steady, methodical steps.

At present, the four garrisons of Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and Zhu Yihai had each organized three to five wagon-forts, each at full strength of about thirty-one or thirty-two hundred men. Together the four garrisons could field sixteen wagon-forts, with a total strength of fifty thousand. Add to that the twenty battalions of Huang Degong's command and some auxiliary cavalry, and — not counting the civilian laborers accompanying the army — this route advancing north along the Grand Canal could also muster seventy thousand troops!

And today, leaving Nanjing by water would be the Hongxing Emperor personally leading the rear army of the Northern Expedition: two infantry divisions, two cavalry regiments, two artillery regiments, and Zhu Cilang's bodyguard battalion — about thirty-five thousand men in all. According to plan, these two divisions would decide where to advance based on the progress of the northern and southern routes of the Northern Expedition army.

If the two routes of the Northern Expedition army advanced smoothly and succeeded in drawing the main Qing forces to the Liaoxi and Shandong theaters, then Zhu Cilang would personally lead these two divisions in a landing at Dagukou, advancing along the Tianjin Wei River and the Grand Canal to strike at Dorgon's lair.

If the two routes of the Northern Expedition army — especially the southern route — made poor progress, then Zhu Cilang would lead these two divisions as reinforcements.

In the Nanyang–Xiangyang area, in the Fengyang Prefecture area, and within Yingtian Prefecture, one division of the Model Army had been stationed in each location. This was to guard against Zhang Xianzhong or the Qing army sweeping into the Southern Ming heartland in force — Zhang Xianzhong might be driven toward Southern Ming territory by the Qing troops, and Dorgon might also resort to the stratagem of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao," using the Qing army's mobility to suddenly strike south of the Huai and force the Ming army to turn back. So Zhu Cilang had to take precautions.

These three divisions also served as a reserve force. In particular, the two divisions deployed in Fengyang Prefecture and Yingtian Prefecture could move north by water at any time to reinforce the Northern Expedition army.

The officers and men of the Kenan New Army's Guards Division and Rear Army Division had all changed today into brand-new red military jackets and splint-and-bar iron armor, equipped with fine sharp pikes and matchlock muskets, flying brand-new banners and standards, and hauling bronze-cast cannon. They formed up and marched out from the great parade ground east of Nanjing's outer wall, then ascended the wall of Nanjing's inner city by the Zhengyang Gate horse ramp, and proceeded along the top of the wall to the Yifeng Gate barbican and Yifeng Gate Avenue near the Longjiang Wharf.

The time for boarding had not yet arrived, so the thirty-some thousand officers and men enjoyed their final meal before departure in the avenue and inside the barbican. This food had not been prepared by the army's mess cooks, but had been brought directly out from the imperial palace — nominally "bestowed food" made by the Empress herself together with the palace ladies. In fact, it was ordinary white-flour steamed buns stuffed with salted pork, plus two boiled grass-fed chicken eggs per man, and each man also received a little over half a canteen of yellow wine.

And this Empress was none other than Wu Sanmei!

Wu Sangui's conditions for defecting, combined with Dorgon's crime of the Datong massacre, had together put an end to the ranking contest in Zhu Cilang's inner palace. Princess Dong'e was eliminated outright — she was not even qualified to be Imperial Noble Consort. Zheng Chagu, though pregnant again, could only be relegated to second place in the inner palace, because Wu Sangui was simply too important.

Wu Sanmei was thus smoothly promoted, becoming the mother of the realm, and was formally enthroned as Empress on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the twentieth year of Chongzhen of the Great Ming.

Suddenly, west of the Yifeng Gate barbican, the families of the Northern Army troops who had come to see off their sons and brothers burst into cheers. The cheering swelled from far to near, growing ever louder. Then several hundred armored cavalrymen of the Imperial Bodyguard were seen escorting a few figures slowly forward. The arrivals were none other than the Hongxing Emperor, Empress Wu, Imperial Noble Consort Zheng, Consort Ning, and Consort Fei. The Hongxing Emperor and Empress Wu both rode on horseback, side by side. The pregnant Imperial Noble Consort Zheng sat in a Western-style four-wheeled carriage presented as tribute by the Macao Municipal Council, traveling behind the Emperor and Empress. Ning Xiangyu and Fei Zhen'e shared a two-wheeled carriage, bringing up the rear.

Zhu Cilang was dressed entirely in military attire, armor on his body, full of high spirits. As he advanced, he was explaining some matter to Empress Wu.

"Sanmei, We entrust the Seal of Regency to you. After We depart, you shall have full authority over affairs in the capital. The State Father-in-Law, the Chief Grand Secretary, and Imperial Kinsman Zheng will all remain in the capital to assist you. If any matter cannot be decided, send it to the front by six-hundred-li express. Chagu is with child; We trouble you to look after her with care. Xiangyu and Zhen'e both accompany Us on campaign; with them attending to Our food and daily needs, you may rest easy. In addition, you must also keep a close watch on the Retired Emperor's side!"

As Zhu Cilang spoke, the party had already entered the Yifeng Gate barbican. The officers and men of the various armies, who had just finished their noon meal, roared out in unison, "Long live His Majesty!" The sound surged like waves, beating one after another against the hearts of all manner of people throughout the city of Nanjing.

With an army of such soaring morale, this Northern Expedition should surely be all but assured of success, should it not?

(End of Chapter)