Chapter 853: Dodo Is Very Frustrated

In the eleventh year of Shunzhi, on the fifth day of the first month, the Qing Shunzhi Emperor led an army of ten thousand out of the Tianjin garrison fortress at dawn that day!

He had decided to stake everything on taking the field himself after receiving the military report sent by Baiyintu requesting a withdrawal.

After all, he was the third sovereign since the founding of the Qing, and a monarch who had grown up amid war; though his skill at fighting was poor, he did not fear the battlefield.

His state of mind now was somewhat like a gambler at the critical moment of a wager, ready to stake the last of his capital.

In his view, what Baiyintu had encircled on the Guanyintang battlefield at Zhuangqiao Village was surely Shi Kefa's main force! If it were not the main force, how could they first defeat Manzhuxili's Mongols, then fight a day and a night against the twenty thousand Qing elite led by Baiyintu, and not only avoid defeat but also annihilate the 2,500 fire-arms battalion soldiers under Zhuobutai holding Guanyintang?

The number was not large, but those 2,500 men were all true Manchus! Moreover, they were equipped with 1,000 Spanish matchlocks and 12 small red-barbarian cannon — firepower that could be called formidable — and they were defending fortifications. To be wiped out in a single day, they must have encountered Shi Kefa's main force.

And when Zhuobutai's entire force was annihilated, Baiyintu was still commanding twenty thousand Manchu and Mongol elite attacking on the outer line. For the Ming army to hold off Baiyintu's assault while simultaneously destroying Zhuobutai — without seventy or eighty thousand men, how could that be possible?

Therefore, in the view of Shunzhi and of Sonin, the "Manchu Xu Yuanzhi," the Ming army on the Guanyintang battlefield at Zhuangqiao Village was certainly the main force, at least seventy to eighty thousand strong. Given the Qing army's strength, swallowing these seventy or eighty thousand in one bite was impossible, but they could try to starve them out — at least Shunzhi felt he could rely on his cavalry to starve out seventy or eighty thousand Ming troops composed mainly of infantry.

If even that could not be done, then he, the Qing Emperor, would have to go and hole up in Beijing. At the thought of the Meishan fortress, the Shunzhi Emperor could not resign himself to it — he had to gamble, did he not? With the protection of the spirits of the Great Ancestor Emperor, the late Emperor, and Imperial Ama in heaven, was he still afraid he could not defeat Shi Kefa?

Mounted on a fine Mongol horse, the Shunzhi Emperor felt considerably reassured the moment he thought of those three spirits in heaven; then he raised his head to look at the great column of troops advancing on foot through the snow, and felt victory was in sight.

The elite troops now with him numbered about 9,000: among them 5,000 Mongol cavalry, 500 imperial bodyguards, 3,000 Green Standard soldiers of the Tianjin garrison, and another 1,500 Mongol cavalry whom Shunzhi had sent out as mounted scouts. In addition, 1,000 men remained to hold the Tianjin fortress.

These ten thousand-odd elite troops had left Tianjin city on the morning of the fifth; since the greater part were cavalry, and the 3,000 Green Standard troops had also been provided with mules and horses, their marching speed was very fast. They reached the territory of Qing County that same day, and that night encamped around a ruined village called Tushizhuang on the border between Qing County and Xingji County.

Because this was his first time personally leading troops to war, the Shunzhi Emperor was rather overexcited, and being young besides, he could not sleep late at night, so he simply summoned Sonin, Wu Keshan, Gong'adai, and the others to his tent for a council of war.

It was called a council of war, but in truth it was just a matter of saying pleasant things Shunzhi liked to hear to humor him.

Just as those uncles Sonin, Wu Keshan, and Gong'adai were forcing themselves to stay alert and avoid saying anything wrong, a clamor suddenly arose outside the tent, and then one of the Shunzhi Emperor's personal guards shouted: "Your Majesty, urgent military report!"

Urgent military report? What now? The atmosphere inside the great tent tensed at once, and the uncles' drowsiness vanished completely.

"Come in, quickly!" Sonin said loudly.

"Zha!"

The guard answered, then lifted the curtain and walked in, followed by a man wearing a Mongol leather robe.

"Surileheke, what has happened?" Wu Keshan recognized the Mongol as a warrior of his own tribe.

"My Prince, a great matter has occurred — tens of thousands of the enemy have appeared thirty li to our southwest!" the man named Surileheke reported in a trembling voice. "They are marching with torches raised, drawing out a column ten li long across the snow — a terrifying sight!"

"Tens of thousands — how is that possible?" Shunzhi was startled. "Could Shi Kefa have broken out?"

"Impossible," Gong'adai said. "No word has come, and they only fought bitterly yesterday — their losses cannot have been light. How could they break out so quickly?"

"It cannot be Shi Kefa," Sonin added. "If it were Shi Kefa, they would come from due south. How could they come from the southwest?"

"Then who are they—"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several gunshots rang out, cutting off the Shunzhi Emperor's words.

"Where is the shooting?" Sonin shouted. "Go and see at once!"

"Zha!" The guard who had brought Surileheke in answered and left the great tent. The moment he stepped out, another dozen or so shots rang out in succession!

Clearly this was no accidental discharge — the Ming army's firearm cavalry had crept up on them!

If the Ming firearm cavalry had already reached the Qing camp, then the force marching thirty li away must be the Ming main body — and the Ming army had already discovered the location of Shunzhi's camp!

"Your Majesty, you must leave at once — this place is dangerous!" Sonin, after all, was the Qing's last-ranked Baturu, known as the "Manchu Xu Yuanzhi." Though his skill at war was nothing special, he had experience and judgment, and knew immediately that they had to move.

"Go where?" Shunzhi was suddenly at a loss.

"Your Majesty," Gong'adai advised, "please move south and join with Baiyintu's main force — then all will be secure."

"No!" Sonin said. "There are only 1,000 men in Tianjin. What if the southern army thirty li away takes the opportunity to strike at Tianjin?"

Gong'adai said: "The southern army most likely does not know Your Majesty has left Tianjin, so they will surely strike at Tianjin. We, meanwhile, can escort Your Majesty south; after joining Baiyintu, we may either crush the southern army on the Guanyintang–Zhuangqiao Village line, or withdraw the entire army to Beijing."

Crushing the Ming army at Guanyintang and Zhuangqiao Village was mere talk; Gong'adai's true intent was to withdraw the whole army to Beijing.

Defending Beijing, Taiyuan, and Datong, with the Mongols and the Manchu lands beyond the passes at their back, resisting the Great Ming and turning the Ming-Qing war into a Liao-Song standoff — that had been the intent of the Imperial Uncle Dodo all along; it was only Shunzhi who was unwilling and still wanted to make one last effort.

Now the result of that last effort was already apparent — it seemed they had lost. And having lost, one must accept it!

The moment Shunzhi heard that Tianjin was to be abandoned, he was not at all pleased.

"How can we abandon Tianjin?" Shunzhi said. "At this moment the two armies are locked in stalemate. If we abandon Tianjin, have we not lost? Would the three feudatories of the Central Plain still have the courage to keep resisting?"

"Your Majesty," Gong'adai said, "if we fall back to hold Tianjin, what of Baiyintu?"

"Can he not withdraw?" Shunzhi asked.

"If Your Majesty were besieged, would Baiyintu dare not come to the rescue?" Gong'adai shook his head. "Your Majesty's person is worth ten thousand in gold. If you fell into peril, all the armies within the passes would have to come to your aid, and then Shi Kefa would destroy them one by one! The late Emperor and Imperial Ama fought no few battles of that sort!"

Shunzhi shook his head: "Tianjin cannot be abandoned! We have decided — Wu Keshan!"

"This slave is here!" Shunzhi's father-in-law Wu Keshan hastily rose to answer.

Shunzhi said: "Take 1,000 Mongol warriors south to join Baiyintu, then move west with him to rally the Mongol forces on the western line, and thereafter maneuver against the southern army."

"This slave receives the decree!" Wu Keshan paused. "Your Majesty, if this slave and Baiyintu should disagree, who is to take precedence?"

Shunzhi thought for a moment. "You take precedence!"

Although Wu Keshan was a Mongol prince, he was after all Shunzhi's father-in-law and maternal uncle. If anything truly befell Shunzhi, his heirs could only rely on Wu Keshan and Bumbutai to find a way to protect them.

"This slave receives the decree!" Having received the imperial order, Wu Keshan went to muster his personal guards and prepare to move out.

Shunzhi then said to Sonin and Gong'adai: "We must move quickly — do not let the Ming army get ahead of us!"

Seeing that Shunzhi had made up his mind, Gong'adai, who had campaigned for years at the side of Hong Taiji and Dorgon, could only sigh. Entering Tianjin meant waiting to be besieged! Moreover, the twenty thousand men under Baiyintu might also be struck by two Ming columns converging; once they suffered heavy losses, the capital in His Majesty's hands would be nearly all gambled away.

After that, there would be nothing left but to hold the city to the death and wait for that Imperial Uncle to come to the rescue!