Chapter 393: Dispatch of Troops

"According to reports from several scouting parties, the location where the Ming stores its grain and supplies has been ascertained, and the Ming defenders there are few in number. This is truly a heaven-sent opportunity for our Great Qing! Let us now discuss who should lead the troops and how many soldiers to send to take that place. Whoever goes, they must take it with full force! Once we obtain the Ming army's grain and supplies, our Great Qing's great undertaking can be accomplished this time!"

Jirgalang, seated in the place of honor, looked at the assembled men with a beaming face and spoke with a smile.

In the Qing army's main camp, set up more than ten li northwest of Songshan city, a host of Princes, Beiles, and Beizis, along with the princes of the Mongol Eight Banners, Kong Youde, and others, gathered in the central command tent to discuss the next phase of their battle strategy.

"How could such an important location of the Ming army be so easily discovered by our scouts? I always feel this matter is not so simple! Previously, a white-armored soldier from the Two White Banners led ten men to scout the Ming army's grain route, and halfway through they were ambushed and killed by the Ming army! Only one of the ten escaped, and that white-armored soldier also died on the spot! This shows that the Ming army guards its grain routes very strictly—this is definitely not something Zu Dashou's men could have done! Now the other scouting parties all managed to detect such a vital location without any effort—could there not be some trap in this?"

The moment Jirgalang's words fell, Dorgon was the first to raise his objection.

A Qing soldier who had escaped from the skirmish with Cui Mingyun's force recounted what he had encountered, which put Dorgon—who had previously regarded the Ming army as nothing—on his guard.

Judging from the traces and the weapons carried by this small Ming force, it was clearly another unit of the Ming's new army. This indicated that the fortresses south of Songshan and Jinzhou were all garrisoned by the Ming's elite new troops.

The traditional Ming forces in western Liaoning would never send Night Scouts on routine patrols in their rear areas, and they simply did not possess those short-barreled firearms of tremendous power that could be fired at a moment's notice.

Since an unknown number of the Ming court's new troops were stationed south of Songshan and Jinzhou, why had the scouts Jirgalang dispatched from the east not encountered similar situations?

There seemed to be something wrong here.

Dorgon's words stirred considerable resonance within the tent.

For these senior Eight Banner generals who had fought wars for years, any suspicious point had to be thoroughly investigated before further action could be taken once it was confirmed harmless.

The Ming army truly could not fight, but this particular Ming army had already been locked inside Jinzhou city.

The Ming army they now faced was vastly different from before, and they absolutely could not be careless in battle, or the consequences would be hard to predict.

"Old Fourteenth speaks correctly! If it were against Zu Dashou's lot, aside from the western Liaoning cavalry, even if he dug a pit for us we'd still slaughter them until they pissed themselves running! But now the Ming has produced this new army, and that changes everything! It's not that we can't defeat them, but even beating them would cost us no small losses. Our Eight Banner sons are invincible under heaven—that's true—but our own numbers are truly too few, and losing even one man hurts to the bone. I say we still need to find a way to scout things out thoroughly before acting!"

Ajige once again stood firmly on his brother's side.

Setting aside other less presentable considerations, before the unknown danger was eliminated, Dorgon's caution was still very necessary.

As Ajige finished speaking, the Meiren Zhangjing and Jalan Zhangjing of the Two White Banners also stepped forward one after another to express support for their master, while the generals of the other banners did not voice their positions, though their expressions made it clear that most leaned toward supporting Dorgon and Ajige's views.

"Prince Cheng, how do you view this matter? Although what Prince Rui and the Twelfth Beile said seems to have some reason, our Great Qing has overawed the Ming forces beyond the pass for more than ten years. We should not shrink from battle over such a trifling matter, should we?"

As the Regional Commander of the army, Jirgalang felt somewhat humiliated and annoyed in his heart when faced with the objections of Dorgon and the others. In a fit of pique, he bypassed Dorgon and threw the question directly to Yoto.

"I feel that what Prince Rui and the Twelfth Beile said is very reasonable, but no matter what, since we have already ascertained what our Great Qing needs, there is absolutely no reason not to take it! Don't the Han have a saying: 'If heaven offers and you do not take, you will surely suffer for it'! The Ming has always had a precedent of civil officials leading troops. This time it may well be their commander's attempt at mystification—perhaps he used this tactic out of fear. As for how to proceed, let Prince Zheng make the decision!"

Yoto spoke at length, and on the surface it seemed he offended neither side, but in reality he still leaned toward Jirgalang.

As the two Princes most loyal to Hong Taiji, Jirgalang and Yoto had also become one of Hong Taiji's important means of balancing the Two White Banners.

"Prince Cheng's words are well spoken! Since we have already ascertained what our Great Qing urgently needs, we must take it no matter what! But since the Ming army now appears to be on guard, let us discuss what methods we should use to deal with it! I think that advancing with overwhelming force is the most effortless approach. No matter how they guard against it, those grain and supply stores are piled up like mountains—even if the Ming wanted to move them away, they wouldn't have time!"

Jirgalang nodded toward Yoto and then stated his own view.

In truth, from the entire Jianzhou high command, including Hong Taiji himself, none of them understood anything like Sun Tzu's Art of War. Whether fighting the Ming army or sweeping through the Mongol tribes, they always employed this same simple and direct method—using the Eight Banners' formidable martial might to crush their opponents flat.

The Eight Banners, from top to bottom, accustomed to this way of doing things, held nothing but contempt for the various ancient Han military strategies.

In their view, no matter how many clever schemes you devised, in the end it still came down to blades and spears—if you lost on the battlefield, everything else was nonsense.

"A hard frontal assault is feasible, but we must take good care of our rear supply route. This time all the villages around Songshan and Jinzhou have been emptied of people, not a single grain of food left behind—we'll have to rely entirely on the provisions we brought ourselves. If this army advances nearly two hundred li forward, with the Ming forces in Songshan, Jinzhou, and the various fortresses around, having our rear cut off would be a troublesome matter!"

Yoto spoke with some unease.

From the moment it was learned that the Qing army had begun gathering toward Yizhou, Hong Chengchou, in his capacity as Supreme Commander, had issued orders for the people and hereditary military households south of Songshan and Jinzhou and north of Ningyuan to withdraw in sequence to the south of Ningyuan. Aside from the crops still greening in the fields, everything that could be carried away was taken, leaving nothing usable for the Jianzhou barbarians.

This scorched-earth method left the Jianzhou barbarians, who wanted to forage for grain far and wide, returning empty-handed.

"Prince Cheng is right—although our hundred-thousand-strong army is unmatched by anyone in this world, being cautious is not a bad thing. In my view, let us split the army into three columns: one column to attack and seize the Ming army's supplies, another to set up camp along the way and be ready to respond back and forth at any time, and the third to remain where we are now to keep watch on the Ming forces at Songshan and Jinzhou. This way, even if the Ming army has any schemes, they won't be able to put them to use. What does Prince Zheng think?"

"Prince Rui's plan is largely sound, but I think the vanguard should be given more troops and then split into two groups—one to attack the Ming army's main supply camp, and the other to take up positions to the south to intercept any reinforcements the Ming sends from Ningyuan, so as to prevent the force attacking the supplies from being caught between two enemies!"

After pondering for a moment, Yoto made corresponding additions to the plan Dorgon had proposed.

"Then how should the troops be divided? And who should personally lead each of the three columns?"

Ajige interjected from the side.

"The vanguard will be led by Prince Cheng with the Manchu and Mongol Two Red Banners, the Two Blue Banners, and the Han Banner troops. Prince Rui will lead the Two White Banners in the center to provide support. I will lead the remaining troops to keep watch on Songshan and Jinzhou! It's settled! Tomorrow at the hour of Chen, scouts will be sent out ahead, and the main army will follow after!"