Chapter 845: The Fate of the Blind Cat and the Dead Mouse

This was the coldest time of year in the northeast beyond the Pass. The vast Liaoxi Corridor lay sealed under ice and snow, and even the nearby sea had frozen hard as iron, solid enough for men to walk on.

Every year at this season, the bannermen and their households stationed along the Liaoxi Corridor enjoyed their most secure time, with no need to worry that the ever more ferocious Ming army might suddenly land somewhere along Liaoxi's long coastline, nor even to guard against Ming spies and agents rowing small boats ashore to operate in secret.

The frozen sea was a natural barrier impossible to cross.

During these two months, the Liaoxi Corridor, though it leaned upon the great sea, became a land of ice completely sealed off from the Ming Empire.

Therefore, when the Qing Imperial Uncle Dodo led his great army in majestic columns along the Liaoxi Corridor, he had no need whatsoever to worry about being detected by the Ming side — even if Ming spies lurked here in Liaoxi, they had no way to send out whatever intelligence they gathered.

To achieve surprise in the campaign, Dodo had remained in his palace at Shengjing until the Liaoxi coast froze over, putting on the appearance of settling in for the winter. He had also repeatedly put out word that he intended to take the throne after the Shunzhi Emperor died for his country.

He was the Imperial Uncle, after all!

If Shunzhi died for his country inside Coal Hill Fortress, would he not be the Qing Emperor?

So it was perfectly natural for him to sit beyond the Pass with his own army and watch the Shunzhi Emperor meet his doom.

After putting out word that he was prepared to sit back and await the Shunzhi Emperor's death, Dodo, when winter arrived in the tenth year of Shunzhi, used the outbreak of war between Ming and Qing as a pretext to seal off the Little Black Mountain Pass and Liangfangkou Harbor in southern Liaoning, and also sent troops into the Joseon Kingdom's Uiju to establish defenses, thereby likewise controlling the passage between Liaodong and Joseon. With the roads sealed, the efficiency with which the Embroidered Uniform Guard agents operating under the Bordered Green Banner passed messages dropped sharply.

After that, Dodo issued orders to the one fu, four amban, and nine gūsa beyond the Pass to muster a great army!

Now, just after the New Year, on the official road through the Liaoxi Corridor frozen rock-hard, a great army of fifty-five thousand men drawn from the able-bodied of the nine banners beyond the Pass rolled forward under clear skies, marching under Dodo's command toward the mighty pass of Shanhai.

Unlike the composition of the eastern army at the great battle of Jieshi Mountain more than a year earlier, the forces now gathered under Dodo's command included far more cavalry and mounted units, because after the battle of Jieshi Mountain Dodo had pulled large numbers of old Eight Banners men out from inside the Pass.

And at the battle of Jieshi Mountain, Dodo had come to appreciate still more the value of mounted musketeers. After pulling large numbers of old Eight Banners men out beyond the Pass, he had concentrated on expanding the strength of the vanguard cavalry. By the end of the tenth year of Shunzhi, the vanguard cavalry under Dodo had grown from its original six thousand men to twelve thousand — a full doubling. There were also an equal number of elite cavalry, the traditional Eight Banners mounted armored troops.

Dodo had also selected two thousand "Bayara soldiers" for himself from the sons of the nine banners beyond the Pass. These Bayara soldiers were "year-round cavalry," equipped not only with long spears, bows and arrows, and round shields, but also with matchlock muskets imported from Hispania.

In addition, Dodo had taken the artillerymen originally attached to the firearms battalions and formed them into a separate "Ujen Cooha Army Office."

The Ujen Cooha Office was further divided into fortress Ujen Cooha and field Ujen Cooha. The field Ujen Cooha was organized into ten niru, each niru having twelve 3-pounder red-barbarian light cannon, for a total of one hundred twenty 3-pounders. At full strength, the field Ujen Cooha troops numbered over twenty-five hundred men, with more than three thousand horses. The fortress Ujen Cooha numbered about eighteen hundred men, divided into six niru, garrisoning six forts: Shanhai Pass, Haishenwai, Nurgan, Hailanpao, Little Black Mountain, and Liangfangkou.

After the artillerymen were removed, the various firearms battalions were expanded by Dodo into fourteen infantry battalions of musket niru. According to Dodo's arrangements, the one fu, four amban, and nine gūsa beyond the Pass had all evolved into local offices combining military and civilian administration. Each office had infantry battalion and cavalry battalion establishments, with the infantry battalion maintaining one standing musket niru and the cavalry battalion one standing mounted-armor niru, each niru being three hundred men strong. As for the other standing troops — including the twelve thousand vanguard cavalry, the two thousand Bayara soldiers, the twenty-five hundred field Ujen Cooha, the eighteen hundred fortress Ujen Cooha, the one thousand naval Jianrui Battalion, and the naval force composed mainly of "European bannermen" — all were standing troops directly subordinate to Dodo's Imperial Uncle Army-Governor Office.

The twelve thousand elite cavalry and the long-spear, sword-and-shield, and archer troops of the fourteen offices were all rotational troops combining military service with farming.

In other words, the army now under Imperial Uncle Dodo consisted of roughly thirty-one thousand standing troops and rotational troops numbering at most seventy to eighty thousand.

Its military strength already surpassed that of the Great Qing before it entered the Pass!

But the fiscal pressure was no small matter either. The thirty-one thousand standing troops cost nearly two million in cash and grain every year, roughly seventy percent of the Imperial Uncle Army-Governor Office's revenue.

Under the crushing weight of such enormous fixed expenditures, Dodo, for all his military might, feared nothing more than a protracted war with no end in sight.

So he could only seek to fight his opponents in a quick, decisive campaign!

And in order to end the war in the spring of the eleventh year of Shunzhi, before the sowing season beyond the Pass arrived, Dodo had this time secretly mobilized over twenty-four thousand men from ten local offices, plus eight thousand vanguard cavalry, eight thousand elite cavalry, all the Bayara soldiers, and eight field Ujen Cooha niru — the fighting troops alone amounted to forty-four thousand!

In addition, Jirgalang at Datong and Chang'adai at Taiyuan had also received Dodo's orders to each send three thousand picked troops to join him.

Thus the combined force of the three would number fifty thousand — not too many, but in Dodo's view sufficient.

Because his objective was not at all to drive back the Ming armies invading Henan and Shandong. He knew that was impossible! Even if he could win a few battles, casualties would be too heavy and costs too high, and he would be forced to withdraw from Shandong and Henan.

Dodo's objective was very practical: on the eastern front, hold Tianjin Guard; on the western front, fight a decisive battle around the great camps north and south of the Yellow River. If the battle went badly, he would breach the Yellow River dikes, flood Henan, create a vast Yellow River flood zone, and then fall back to defend the Zhengding–Baoding line, so as to protect Beijing and Tianjin.

In his view, the ground beneath the walls of Beijing and Tianjin was where the future tug-of-war between Ming and Qing would be fought!

The mighty pass of Shanhai was already in sight, bathed in the light of dusk and glowing a dazzling gold, towering and majestic.

Dodo, riding on the march, felt a touch of emotion, and could not help recalling the high spirits of nearly ten years ago, when he had fought his way into Shanhai Pass alongside Dorgon.

Who could have imagined that the loss of Beijing would become the starting point of the Ming revival?

Just then, a dozen or so riders came galloping from the direction of Shanhai Pass, found Dodo's great banner, and quickly rode up before him.

Dodo saw that the lead rider was none other than Holohoi, the amban janggin of Shanhai Pass.

Holohoi reached Dodo's horse and was about to dismount to pay his respects, but Dodo waved him off.

"If you have something to say, say it quickly!"

Holohoi cupped his hands from the saddle. "Imperial Uncle, the Emperor has gathered more than sixty thousand Manchu, Mongol, and Han troops and marched out of Beijing, heading south to attack Shi Kefa. He is now encamped at Tianjin Guard."

"What?" Dodo was taken aback. "He has taken the field in person?"

"Yes!" Holohoi said. "And this time the southern army's fighting strength is extraordinary. Their mounted units are much like our vanguard battalion, equipped with firearms — but seemingly even sharper. They are all flintlocks that need no match, so they can fight in wind, snow, and at night, and their rate of fire is much faster! Fan Wencheng's Plain Green Banner is simply no match for them. They have been completely surrounded at Dezhou, Liaocheng, and Anping, and even southern Zhili is being raided by the southern army's cavalry. Many cities have been broken. So—"

"Enough!" Dodo waved a hand and shouted to those around him, "Pass the order to the whole army: forced march! Within three days, we must reach Tianjin Guard!"