Chapter 846: A Muddled Battle — Run, My Prince

Tianjin Garrison, the temporary residence of the Qing Emperor.

In the imperial study, the Qing Shunzhi Emperor was pacing round and round a long table spread with a large terrain map, nearly dizzy from it.

Not dizzy from the circling, but from staring at the map.

Ancient Chinese maps had no fixed rule of north-up, south-down, west-left, east-right, and were limited by surveying techniques, so they were all rather imprecise, sometimes looking more like landscape paintings.

But that was not the most dizzying thing. The most dizzying thing for Shunzhi and the Qing military strategists was that no one could tell him where Shi Kefa's main force was.

No one even knew whether Shi Kefa's army had left the borders of Shandong Province.

This was because Shi Kefa had scattered about three thousand black-gun mule soldiers across the southern part of Northern Zhili, half of them concentrated under Li Yuanyin's command dragging cannons around causing havoc, and the other half operating in platoon strength to keep sniping — that was dozens of platoons! How were the Qing outriders supposed to survive? If they went out in squads of three or five, running into these black-gun grim reapers was just walking to their deaths. Even going out in groups of thirty or fifty, if they ran into one black-gun platoon, they would still suffer heavy casualties!

And those black-gun fighters never came at you openly — if not an ambush, then a night raid. No matter how high your martial skill, you still fear a black gun!

If they went out in groups of one or two hundred, the old Manchu troops would be hard to handle, but if it was those prayer-chanting Mongol warriors, running into a forty-man black-gun unit would still get them beaten to a pulp!

And how many old Manchu troops were there? How could they send out half a niru or a whole niru at a time for reconnaissance? How many groups could that make? How much ground could they cover?

So the Shunzhi Emperor was now like a man blindfolded with black cloth, utterly ignorant of the enemy's true situation.

If you know nothing at all, how can you wield troops like a god?

The Shunzhi Emperor was a well-read military strategist, and he was thoroughly familiar with all the battles and campaigns fought by Nurhaci, Hong Taiji, Dorgon, Dodo, Ajige, and Abatai. Thanks to effective reconnaissance and espionage, the Qing heavenly troops had always had a clear picture of the battlefield — never this state of total blindness.

And in those cases, there had always been a military adviser who could divine the situation to solve it. But here in the Qing court, who could divine anything?

At this thought, the Shunzhi Emperor stopped pacing and looked at the group of Grand Secretaries and Inner Ministers standing beside him.

There were plenty of tiger-backed, bear-waisted men who looked like Guan Yu or Zhang Fei, but the only Zhuge Liang-like figure seemed to be Sonin! He looked the most like a Manchu Zhuge Liang.

"Sonin!"

Sonin hastily responded, "This slave is here."

"Calculate for Us: has Shi Kefa moved or not?"

"Calculate?" Sonin was taken aback. How was whether Shi Kefa had moved a question of calculation?

"Yes, calculate it the way Zhuge Liang would!" Shunzhi said.

Sonin understood. "Your Majesty means for this slave to guess?"

In a state of total blindness, all one could do was guess.

"Guess? Can you guess accurately?" Shunzhi was beginning to doubt Sonin's abilities.

"This slave cannot guarantee it."

So he was no Manchu Zhuge Liang after all!

Shunzhi sighed. "Then take a guess."

"Shi Kefa has moved!" Sonin said.

"Why?" Shunzhi pressed.

"Because the southern army's elite cavalry that the Mongols encountered at Dacheng did not break out and flee, but withdrew to Qing County and held it," Sonin analyzed. "The Mongol cavalry's fighting ability is abysmal. Given the toughness of the Ming mule soldiers, if they wanted to leave, could they not leave? The reason they stayed must be to draw the Mongols into besieging Qing County, buying time for Shi Kefa's main army to march north for a decisive battle."

That seemed to make some sense!

The Shunzhi Emperor nodded, thinking to himself: You, Sonin, may not be a Manchu Zhuge Liang, but you are a Manchu Xu Yuanzhi!

"Then is Shi Kefa advancing in one column or several? Advancing cautiously step by step, or driving deep recklessly?"

Shunzhi tossed out several more questions.

Sonin, just keep guessing.

"This slave believes," Sonin said, "that Shi Kefa must be advancing in separate columns, because although the Mongols' fighting power is abysmal, they run very fast. If he advanced in a single column, he would likely catch nothing. If he splits into several columns heading north, as long as one column makes contact, he could reap considerable gains.

As for the speed of the advance, it should be very fast. He cannot advance step by step — although Shi Kefa used to like fighting that way, the Mongols are too hard to catch. If he advanced cautiously, they would certainly slip away."

Shunzhi nodded and let out a breath of relief. "Good! Sonin, you are indeed Our Xu Yuanzhi!"

Should it not have been Zhuge Liang? Sonin was a bit disappointed. He had worked so hard — how was he still just a Xu Shu?

Shunzhi laughed. "If Shi Kefa drives deep recklessly and disperses his forces, then we will most likely win! We shall learn from the Founding Emperor: no matter how many routes they come by, We go by only one!"

How to learn that?

The Grand Secretaries and Inner Ministers present were all baffled. Sonin had only made a rough guess; they had no idea of the enemy's line of march or force disposition. How could they go by one route? Which way?

Shunzhi looked at the "fierce Guan Yus and fierce Zhang Feis" before him. "Which of you is willing to serve as Regional Commander?"

No one answered, because no one was confident.

Shunzhi was somewhat disappointed. It seemed he had no Guan Yu or Zhang Fei under his command either!

"Very well, We shall go Ourselves!" Shunzhi was a newborn calf unafraid of tigers — but the Shi Kefa, Huang Degong, and Gao Jie facing him had all improved!

"Your Majesty, you are a body of ten thousand gold — how can you personally venture into danger?"

A loyal minister immediately stepped forward. Shunzhi looked — the loyal minister was the old general Aisin Gioro Baindu. Shunzhi did not have many battle-capable Aisin Gioros left, so Baindu and his brother Gung'adai counted as figures of some note.

Moreover, ever since gaining an Imperial Uncle, Shunzhi had begun to remember Dorgon's good qualities, so he now looked more favorably upon Baindu and Gung'adai, who had attached themselves to Dorgon.

"Good! Truly a warrior of Our Aisin Gioro clan!" the Shunzhi Emperor praised. "Baindu, since you have stepped forward, We appoint you Great General Who Pacifies the Barbarians, commanding the Vanguard, Firearms, Elite Cavalry, and Kheshig battalions, plus two thousand Tianjin Garrison infantry, and ten thousand Khorchin Mongol iron cavalry, to march south and cut off Shi Kefa's retreat!"

Now Baindu was dumbfounded. Why had he opened his big mouth!

Now he would have to lead over twenty thousand men south to fight a decisive battle with Shi Kefa!

If "Suo Yuanzhi" had guessed right, all well and good. But if he had guessed wrong, and Shi Kefa brought his main force to attack Tianjin, then would not his twenty thousand men be delivered straight into total annihilation?

In this campaign unfolding in southern Northern Zhili, Shunzhi was a blind man, fighting entirely on Sonin's wild guesses. And his opponent Shi Kefa was not much better off — Shi Kefa had only four thousand black-gun troops in total, with too many tasks to accomplish and no spare capacity for wide-ranging reconnaissance, so he too had to guess!

Then let everyone guess together!

First, Shi Kefa had not guessed that Shunzhi had moved to Tianjin. Had he guessed it, why would he still be fighting the Mongols? He would not even be besieging Dezhou — he would concentrate his forces, kill Shunzhi, and win! Even if he could not kill Shunzhi, if he besieged Tianjin, would he not be able to lure out the big Manchu fish?

But he was no immortal — how could he possibly guess that Shunzhi had strolled over to Tianjin Garrison with so few men?

Second, he had not overlooked the existence of the Tianjin Garrison fortress. In Northern Zhili, the Qing fortresses were Beijing and Tianjin — Shi Kefa knew this. So he guessed that Tianjin might hold a large Qing force, and that the defeated Mongols might also retreat toward Tianjin.

Therefore he sent Huang Degong with eight infantry regiments, one cavalry battalion, and two artillery battalions to advance north along the east side of the canal and envelop Tianjin Garrison.

Taking Tianjin Garrison was impossible — Huang Degong had only a bit over twenty thousand men, not enough strength for that. But threatening Tianjin, blocking the Mongol cavalry's retreat to Tianjin, and sweeping the outskirts of Tianjin was still feasible.

And so, in this great battle that came to be called the "Hejian Encounter," two large armies of more than twenty thousand men each advanced face to face — and neither commander knew the other existed!