Chapter 786: Can't Afford to Die!

At this time, the Valiant Prince Dodo also climbed a low hill called Shijing Mountain behind his main camp and began surveying the terrain. Bolo, Oboi, Ebilun, and Helohui all followed at his side.

Although the Jieshi Mountain area fell under the jurisdiction of Yongping Prefecture, its defense had always been administered on behalf of the Shanhai Pass Angbang Zhangjing's office, so Oboi, Ebilun, and Helohui, who had all served as Angbang Zhangjing of Shanhai Pass, were very familiar with the terrain here. Choosing to camp west of the Yang River had been their suggestion.

"My Prince, we now hold the strategic pass of the Yang River, with the mighty fortress of Shanhai Pass at our backs. The Liaonan side is guarded by Prince Jingjin, and on the Heilongjiang side there is Tantai. We should be absolutely secure, so there is no need for us to rush into battle."

The one offering this advice was Oboi. This foremost warrior of the Manchus did not dare put on airs before the Valiant Prince Dodo; he stood with hands lowered and shoulders relaxed, the very picture of deference.

Dodo said, "Send someone to deliver a challenge to battle! Tomorrow we fight to the death, on the west bank of the Yang River!"

"What? That cannot be—"

"Forming ranks with our backs to the river? That is unwise!"

"My Prince, the risk is too great—"

"Indeed, our forces are inferior to the enemy's; we should not fight a set-piece battle."

Bolo, Oboi, Ebilun, and Helohui all voiced objections. In their view, although Ajige's rear was unstable and his camp riddled with factions, he had concentrated the elite of the Manchus in his hands, and his military strength still exceeded Dodo's.

If Dodo could hold the advantage of the Yang River terrain, stand off against Ajige, and at the same time work to win over the banner lords and princes of the eight ranks on Ajige's side, victory would be assured.

To rashly seek a decisive battle—especially to leave the fortified camp and form ranks with backs to the river on the west bank of the Yang—was sheer recklessness.

Dodo raised a hand, silencing the four men's remonstrations.

"Ajige cannot defeat me!" Dodo said in a low voice. "His Manchu elite may be formidable, but do they dare fight to the death? Now we meet on a narrow path—the brave shall prevail!"

When Bolo, Oboi, Ebilun, and Helohui heard their master's words, their faces all turned somewhat grim.

The Valiant Prince had put his finger on a fatal weakness of the Manchu elite: they were too few, too precious!

Not counting the Mongols, Han troops, Solons, and Barhu, the cream of the old Manchus amounted to only some 300 niru. For one niru to field 180 true Manchu warriors was already no easy feat. The total, at the most generous reckoning, was a little over fifty thousand—utterly incapable of sustaining a war of attrition!

And on a battlefield dominated by foreign rifles and cannon, casualties on both sides were appallingly heavy! In a battle involving over a hundred thousand men, losing twenty or thirty thousand was nothing at all!

What use could a mere few tens of thousands of Manchu elite possibly be?

Dodo said, "In the past, when Emperor Chengzong fought the Southern Ming, he always relied on the advantage of swift cavalry to blind the enemy's eyes and ears, and still he maneuvered with the utmost caution, daring to fight only after finding a favorable opportunity. What Emperor Chengzong feared was not defeat, but a ruinous victory!

Now I have 11,000 firearms (6,000 musketeers and 5,000 vanguard cavalry all carry firearms) and 30 three-pounder cannon, plus tens of thousands of expendable fake Manchus. Therefore I am the brave one who shall prevail!"

Being able to afford deaths was an advantage too!

Although the territory beyond the pass under Dodo's control had only a little over two million people, all of them had been enrolled in the banners and counted as a national race eligible for military service.

Moreover, the land beyond the pass was vast and fertile, so land grants were generous, and most of what was granted was good abandoned farmland. Since the original foundations remained, the cost of bringing it back under cultivation was relatively low and the returns were relatively good.

Thus these Han farming households enrolled in the banners all had some economic means, sufficient to bear a certain burden of military service.

Dodo paused, then added, "Let the envoy tell Ajige that if he is defeated, I will permit him to guard Emperor Chengzong's tomb at Jianling and live out the rest of his days!"

"What a Dodo—his arrogance knows no bounds!"

Ajige had just moved his main force to Caojiazhuang, eleven or twelve li from the Yang River, when Dodo's envoy arrived. The envoy was Duke Li Kaiyin of Geumneung County from Joseon—Dorgon's father-in-law.

He had come to the Great Qing to attend his son-in-law's funeral, but no sooner had he reached Shanhai Pass than he ran into a war and was promptly detained in Dodo's camp. Now he was being put to use as a messenger.

"Go and tell Dodo," Ajige said, "that I have 100,000 heavenly troops, all Manchu elite, and defeat is impossible! However, mindful of our brotherly bond, I will not take his life. When I capture him, I will let him live out his old age in his residence in Beijing!"

After sending Li Kaiyin off, Ajige began deploying for tomorrow's decisive battle.

He had been stationed at Jieshi Mountain for some time and had long since surveyed the surrounding terrain. He was also very familiar with the battlefield west of the Yang River that Dodo had chosen.

"West of the Yang River, there are hills to the north and south, and a stretch of about ten li in the middle that is relatively flat—enough to deploy a large army. But there are several villages in between that are of critical importance. First is Caojiazhuang, where my main force is stationed; second is Shihe Village; third is Xiaojiazhuang."

Ajige paused. "Fulehe!"

"Your son is here!" The one who answered was a young man of twenty-four or twenty-five, as robust and solidly built as Ajige himself, with a fleshy face and fierce, murderous eyes.

He was Ajige's second son and his heir, already enfeoffed as a Defender Duke. Since Ajige was now Regional Commander of the army, he could not personally lead the elite troops of the Bordered White Banner to the front, so he had delegated that role to his son.

"Tonight you will take troops and seize Shihe Village!" Ajige said. "Take 10 niru and bring 2 three-pounder cannon!"

"Your son obeys!" Fulehe thumped his chest. "With your son holding Shihe Village, even if Fifteenth Uncle's Bayara elite take the field, all will be secure!"

"Good!" Ajige nodded with a smile, then called out loudly, "Yierde!"

"This slave is here!" Yierde, the Gushan Ezhen of the Plain Yellow Banner, answered.

"Take 10 niru of the Plain Yellow Banner, plus 2 small red-barbarian cannon, and seize Xiaojiazhuang!" Ajige said. "There must be no failure!"

"Zha!" Yierde certainly did not want to be at the front, but the master of the Plain Yellow Banner, the Shunzhi Emperor, was still a child and Ajige held all power over him, so Yierde had no choice but to let Ajige push him around.

"Wakda, Naodai," Ajige continued, "Heifeng Mountain and Chengshan go to the warriors of the Plain Red and Bordered Blue Banners!"

"Zha!"

"Zha!"

Ajige then said, "Prince Dingnan, Prince Jingnan!"

"This subject is here!"

"This slave is here!"

The one who called himself "this subject" was Geng Zhongming; the one who called himself "this slave" was Kong Tingxun.

Kong Tingxun was the weakest of the three princes of the Plain Green Banner, and moreover his sworn elder brother Kong Sixi was serving in Dodo's army as superintendent of the artillery corps, while his younger sister Kong Sizhen had been adopted by Bumbutai as a foster daughter and raised in the palace, where she seemed to have something going on with the young Shunzhi Emperor. With a foot in three boats, Kong Tingxun naturally had to be extra submissive!

"Each of you will take your own Green Banner troops and form up between Chengshan and Shihe Village, and between Shihe Village and Xiaojiazhuang, to serve as the death troops for tomorrow's decisive battle!"

Death troops!

It seemed their fate was grim indeed.

Geng Zhongming and Kong Tingxun could not even cry. Had they not surrendered to the Great Qing precisely because they feared the Tartars? And now they were to serve as death troops against the Valiant Prince Dodo!

Had they known it would come to this, why had they ever become traitors to the Han!

Ajige continued, "Tomorrow's shock troops will be the Bordered Yellow, Bordered Red, Plain Yellow, and my own Bordered White Banner troops. I will command from Caojiazhuang, directing the entire army!"

At the same time, Dodo had also completed his deployment for tomorrow's decisive battle. His arrangement was far simpler: the vanguard cavalry on the two wings, infantry in the center, artillery at the front.

In addition, the infantry were all formed into squares—not Spanish squares, Maurice squares, or Gustavus squares, but the principle was much the same: pikes as the wall, sword-and-shield men as the ditch, with firearms and bows firing from behind the wall and ditch. Of the 20 battalions, 2 remained to guard the main camp, while the other 18 were divided into a front and rear line, drawn up with their backs to the water west of the Yang River. Thus the final number of troops committed was under 50,000, but since the battlefield was narrow, that was more than sufficient.

Once the deployment was complete, Dodo loudly announced the rewards: "Tomorrow, first eat your fill, then fight to the death! The brave prevail, the cowardly perish! All who render meritorious service shall be rewarded with land, booi, and hereditary posts! Booi may also be raised to a higher banner! If we take Beijing, the entire army shall have three days of free plunder!"

(End of Chapter)