Chapter 854: Where Is Dodo?

The Shunzhi Emperor's use of troops had completely exceeded Shi Kefa's expectations!

Shi Kefa had never imagined that the Shunzhi Emperor would get so hot-headed as to lead ten thousand men out of the Tianjin garrison to link up with Baiyintu. Shunzhi was the Emperor! And so young, and seemingly never having fought any battles — how could he possibly be so bold?

So when he learned on the evening of the fifth day of the first month that a large Qing force was encamped at Tushizhuang on the border between Qing County and Xingji County, his first reaction was that Tianjin had sent reinforcements to the Guanyintang-Zhuangqiao Village battlefield. Of course, he also had no idea that Shunzhi had only a little over ten thousand men with him in total — even if he had received such a report, he would not have dared believe it.

And at this moment, he had also learned that the Qing army had already deployed more than twenty thousand men on the Guanyintang-Zhuangqiao Village battlefield — and this Qing force was elite, having fought bitterly with Huang Degong's troops for a full day without a decisive outcome.

If the Qing army on the Guanyintang-Zhuangqiao Village battlefield received a large reinforcement, then Huang Degong would very likely be defeated!

And once Huang Degong's force of more than twenty thousand men suffered a crushing defeat, the eastern-route Northern Expedition army commanded by Shi Kefa would be in serious trouble.

Shi Kefa, who had gained experience from losing battles, could already smell the scent of defeat at this moment!

So Governor-General Shi did not dare take risks. He immediately abandoned the plan to attack Tianjin and instead led his troops south to support Huang Degong on the Guanyintang-Zhuangqiao Village battlefield.

No matter what, he had to ensure that Huang Degong's force did not suffer a crushing defeat!

And just as Shi Kefa was leading nearly 25,000 troops of two Ming infantry divisions southward in the dead of night to support Huang Degong, the Shunzhi Emperor once again "inexplicably" turned his main force around and headed north, shrinking back into the Tianjin garrison.

This maneuver completely "played" Shi Kefa, and at the same time it bitterly screwed over Baiyintu and the twenty thousand troops under his command.

Because by the time Shi Kefa learned that the Qing army that had marched south from the Tianjin garrison had turned back north, his main force had already force-marched past Xingji County into Cangzhou territory, and was not far from the Guanyintang-Zhuangqiao Village battlefield. Naturally, he could not turn back to attack the Tianjin garrison, so he had no choice but to continue south and deal with Baiyintu.

So Baiyintu was truly in a miserable position!

Before he had linked up with Wu Keshan, he had already received word that the Shunzhi Emperor would personally lead ten thousand men south as reinforcements, so the previous night he had laid out plans for another assault on Huang Degong. And in the early hours of the sixth day of the first month, when he learned that Shunzhi had returned to Tianjin, his twenty thousand troops had already entered the forward positions and begun making contact with the Ming army.

At this moment Wu Keshan arrived with a thousand men and told him that Shunzhi was not coming, and had gone back to the Tianjin garrison. Not long after, the cavalry on northern watch came galloping back in a panic, bringing news that nearly made him cough up blood.

Twenty or thirty thousand Ming infantry were coming from the north, and they were less than thirty li from the Guanyintang-Zhuangqiao Village battlefield!

Twenty or thirty thousand Ming troops to the north, and at least another twenty or thirty thousand Ming troops right in front of him on the Guanyintang-Zhuangqiao Village battlefield! And Baiyintu could not even handle the Ming troops on the Guanyintang-Zhuangqiao Village battlefield alone — with another twenty or thirty thousand added, could this battle still be fought?

"Th-this... what is to be done?" Baiyintu was completely at a loss. In this situation, even if Hong Taiji or Dorgon were brought back to life, they would cough up blood!

Moreover, the Shunzhi Emperor's skill at war did not look in any way like something learned from Hong Taiji or Dorgon — it looked more like he had received the true teachings of the Chongzhen Emperor! Could it be that he had found a military manual left behind by Chongzhen inside the Forbidden City in Beijing?

The Great Qing truly cannot do without the Imperial Ama!

Boom boom boom—

No one could answer Baiyintu's question, but several cannon shots rang out — these were the 3-pounder guns of Huang Degong's force opening fire.

In the battle on the fourth day of the first month, the Qing army had lost all twelve of its 3-pounder guns, so the only side able to fire cannons on the Guanyintang-Zhuangqiao Village battlefield was the Ming army.

And this cannon fire meant that the Ming army was about to launch an attack!

"Better to withdraw!" Wu Keshan said to Baiyintu. "Attacked from front and rear, there is simply no way to fight!"

"How is it that easy? We're on the verge of battle right now — how do we withdraw?" Baiyintu sighed. "My Prince, the southern army's cavalry and mounted troops are not weak either. We won't get away that easily. And where would we withdraw to? The Tianjin garrison is surely out of the question now, isn't it? And we don't have much army provisions on hand!"

"The Tianjin garrison is definitely out of the question," Wu Keshan shook his head. "How about going to the Hejian prefectural seat?"

Baiyintu shook his head: "I'm afraid that won't work. The Hejian prefectural seat has long been an empty city — by now it may well have been torched by the southern army!"

Because under the Great Qing's rule, the population of Northern Zhili had fallen sharply, and commerce and industry had shriveled drastically. Even a city of Hejian Prefecture's rank had very few registered households. And after the great battle at Jieshi Mountain, Dodo had hauled off large numbers of households from inside the Pass, while the Ten Banners households that remained inside the Pass had all been concentrated in cities defended by heavy garrisons. A middling city like Hejian had naturally become utterly empty.

Now that the Ming army had fought its way into Northern Zhili and was destroying the prefectural and departmental seats under Great Qing control everywhere it went, the Great Qing officials holding Hejian Prefecture had most likely already fled at the first sign of danger.

"Then let us withdraw directly to the area between Beijing and Tianjin!" Wu Keshan said. "There are plenty of banner estates over there, so we can always replenish our army provisions. If we run out of food on the road, we can either slaughter livestock or 'borrow' grain from the common people!"

"Borrowing" was impossible! Even the Chongzhen Emperor had failed to borrow back in his day, let alone the Great Qing now that its luck had turned. What Wu Keshan meant by "borrow" was, in fact, outright plunder!

Baiyintu stamped his foot. "That's all we can do. My Prince, you take the men and go first. Banbuer Shan and I will hold the rear guard together!"

Holding the rear guard was no good assignment. The Ming army's mobility was now very strong — the infantry marched fast, and there was also a pack of mule-mounted troops firing from ambush. Without getting skinned several layers deep, how could the Qing army possibly get away easily? And right now the Qing and Ming armies were already in contact! Once they withdrew, no one could say how many men would die!

And at this moment, Baiyintu and Wu Keshan still did not know that there was yet another Ming force of more than twenty thousand men on the Northern Zhili battlefield — namely, Gao Jie's troops. Their main force had just passed Dacheng County in Shuntian Prefecture, while Li Yuanyin's vanguard of "black-gun mule soldiers" had already skirted Triangle Lake west of the Tianjin garrison, broken into Wuqing County between Tianjin and Beijing, and begun destroying the banner-man estates in that area!

The Shunzhi Emperor, who had just returned to the Tianjin garrison still somewhat shaken, learned from the officials left in charge that Wuqing County had been "occupied" by the Ming army.

"What? What? Wuqing County too—"

The Great Qing Emperor, who had only just returned to his temporary residence, went black before his eyes and blurted out: "Imperial Ama, what is your son to do!"

The ministers following him all sighed inwardly: the Imperial Ama cannot come back! What is the Great Qing to do?

"Your Majesty, do not be alarmed. This slave still has good news," said the senior minister left at the Tianjin temporary residence, led by Grand Secretary Gang'atai, who still had a piece of good news to report. "The Imperial Uncle has already entered the Pass!"

"The Imperial Uncle? He—" The Shunzhi Emperor steadied himself slightly. "Where has he reached?"

"A report came in last night saying he has led his troops to Yutian." Gang'atai said. "By today he should reach Tongzhou. So Your Majesty need not worry about Beijing falling — you need only remain securely in Tianjin."

Remain in Tianjin? Shunzhi thought to himself: wait for the Ming army to take the city of Tianjin? Then once We have died, he can take the throne — what a fine scheme!

The Shunzhi Emperor gritted his teeth and said: "We want to return to Beijing!"

Gang'atai shook his head: "Your Majesty, for the time being you cannot go back. Northwest of the Tianjin garrison, the southern army's mule soldiers are everywhere, and their main force is most likely nearby as well. We have only some ten thousand men on hand. If we truly risk marching west, I fear we will be broken by the southern army!"

"Exactly!" added Sonin, who was already somewhat overwhelmed. "Your Majesty, the Tianjin garrison has strong walls and ample grain, enough to hold out. And with the Imperial Uncle leading troops outside, Shi Kefa will surely not dare linger near the Tianjin garrison."

Shunzhi looked at Sonin and Gang'atai, these two "honest slaves," and thought: if Dodo does not come inside the Pass, Shi Kefa might not dare besiege Tianjin. But now, what does Shi Kefa still have to worry about? Who would still dare come to rescue Us?

Imperial Ama, what is We to do?