Chapter 423: Thinking Alike Without Prior Consultation

"Reporting to the two Grand Secretaries and Lady Qin! The Jianzhou barbarians' main camp shows no signs of massing troops! Only scouts are galloping back and forth spying on our army! All is secure within our baggage camp! Regional Commander Sun is fully prepared and awaits only the order to lead the troops out of camp to meet the enemy!"

Inside the Ming army camp, ten li from the Qing army's main camp, a Night Scout was reporting to Sun Chuanting, Chen Qiyu, and Qin Liangyu the news he had obtained after being sent to make contact with Sun Yingyuan as ordered.

The Qin army and White Pole troops' main camp formed a pincer position with Sun Yingyuan's baggage camp, while the Yongwei Camp jutted somewhat further north; the relief army's main camp lay slightly to the southwest and behind them, with the two forces separated by roughly five li from east to west.

"Good! You may withdraw and collect your five taels of reward silver behind the tent!"

Sun Chuanting ordered in a low voice.

That Night Scout, beaming with joy, saluted and withdrew from the tent.

Since Sun Chuanting and Chen Qiyu were both Grand Secretaries, and Qin Liangyu also held the imperially conferred rank of First-Class Lady and Commissioner-in-Chief of the Left, the three were of equal rank, so no seat of honor was placed in the tent; instead they sat facing one another—Sun and Chen sat opposite each other, while Qin Liangyu sat in the lower position beside Sun Chuanting.

"Brother Yuxuan, Commissioner-in-Chief of the Left, our main army is about to arrive, yet given the eastern barbarians' warlike nature, they have not massed troops to meet us in battle—could there be some scheme afoot? What do the two of you make of this?"

Once only the three remained in the tent, Sun Chuanting looked at Chen Qiyu with a smile and spoke.

Although Zhu Youjian had not designated who would command the campaign beyond the passes, Sun Chuanting, following the division of duties, unhesitatingly assumed the role of commander of the southern route.

After all, Chen Qiyu bore only the title of Supervisor of Grain Transport Routes, whereas he himself had led twenty thousand Qin troops out through the passes to fight; so although the two were of equal rank, in wartime the one holding command of troops took precedence.

Though Qin Liangyu's rank was high, hers was a military post, and by convention she was to take orders from Sun Chuanting.

"Heh heh! Since Baigu asks, I shall cast out a brick to attract jade! I believe that after these successive setbacks, the eastern barbarians' morale has been crushed and their courage utterly spent! Seeing the imperial army too strong to resist, caught between advance and retreat, they are in the position of a rider who cannot dismount from a tiger! Unless I am mistaken, the barbarian chieftain before us will surely seek reinforcements from other eastern barbarian forces, hoping to defeat our army and then seize the grain and baggage. Our army should adopt a steady defensive posture and let them mass their troops, then fight a general engagement with them here—the longer the time, the better; when their troops are weary and their spirit exhausted, that will be the moment of our victory!"

After a dry laugh, Chen Qiyu frankly laid out his judgment of the enemy situation before them, his tone brimming with confidence.

Though Sun Chuanting's air of assuming command rankled him slightly, considering that the man was a favorite in the Emperor's eyes and possessed outstanding abilities in both military and civil affairs, and that despite his own seniority, his current position as Supervisor of Grain Transport Routes truly could not compare, he could only swallow his displeasure for the time being.

"Scholar Chen's words anticipate the enemy's moves perfectly—Qin fully concurs! Our grain and baggage, the vital ground, lies right before them and has become what the eastern barbarians are determined to seize; having expended so much, they would surely be unwilling to abandon it now! Moreover, our army's arrival from Ningyuan only reinforces their belief that this place's defenses are insufficient—once the Jianzhou barbarians' follow-up forces arrive, their courage will swell and they will surely launch a fierce assault. Our army need only hold them here in protracted battle and sap their morale!"

Though past sixty, with a still-erect frame and a resonant voice, Qin Liangyu spoke gravely in turn, and both Chen Qiyu and Sun Chuanting nodded repeatedly.

The Ming army's grain and baggage depot lay before the Qing army like a great slab of fat meat, yet they could only stare at it without getting it into their mouths—that feeling was the most unbearable of all.

"Brother Yuxuan and Governor Qin speak most truly! This scheme of the eastern barbarians to strike at our rear is not without cunning, but in their contempt for the enemy they have driven their main army deep into our territory, and their own rear is now imperiled! What Brother Yuxuan just said is no different from my own thinking—since the eastern barbarians wish to mass heavy forces to intercept our army, we need only hold them in stalemate; as time drags on and they fail to take us, their rear defenses will inevitably be weakened, while the garrison troops in the fort-cities along the way have long been resting and sharpening their blades. When the moment is ripe, our army will strike from front and rear, and the enemy before us is doomed to defeat!"

Sun Chuanting stroked his beard and nodded with a smile, his estimation of that famed minister Chen Qiyu rising another notch.

Though Chen Qiyu's words just now had not been fully spelled out, Sun Chuanting had grasped his meaning at once.

It coincided perfectly with the strategy he himself had conceived—the two men's judgments and countermeasures were almost identical.

Though the Qing army had this time arrayed itself in a formation of front, center, and rear supporting one another, unless he was mistaken, the Qing forces before them were surely requesting reinforcements from the central Qing army responsible for support.

And the central Qing army, apart from leaving a portion of troops to watch the Ming garrisons in the several fort-cities, would certainly dispatch the bulk of its forces to reinforce the Qing troops on the front line.

The Ming army now needed only to pin down the combined Qing main force and shatter their hope of a swift decisive victory.

If the Qing commander remained obstinate even then, the Ming troops in the several fort-cities would muster and drive south from the north straight at the Qing rear, while he himself led his current forces northward from the south, seeking to inflict a heavy defeat on these two Qing forces right here.

What mattered most now was having someone command the Ming troops in the several fort-cities, to crush the forces the Qing had left behind at the opportune moment and sever the Qing main force's line of retreat.

According to intelligence relayed by Night Scouts hidden in the mountain forests on both flanks, the central force of over ten thousand Qing troops south of Songshan should be over a hundred li from this place; from the time they received the front-line Qing forces' request for aid until they struck camp and marched south, they should need two to three days.

If someone was to go command the mustering of the Ming troops in the several fort-cities, they would need to set out immediately, threading through the mountain forests on the left and right flanks, then send men to contact the Ming defenders in the several fort-cities and watch for the right moment to launch the attack.

Having thought this far, Sun Chuanting could not help lifting his eyes to Chen Qiyu across from him—and as luck would have it, Chen Qiyu cast his gaze over at the very same moment. Their eyes met, and then both burst into laughter in unison.

The messenger Yoto had sent, riding one man with three horses, galloped without pause for several hours and finally reached the Two White Banners' camp before dark that day.

"Oh ho, heh heh! What's the matter with Prince Cheng? Not grabbing the credit for the first victory anymore? Don't tell me you've sent someone because you can't hold out? Leading thirty or forty thousand men and can't even take a grain and baggage depot—is this the doing of the rising star His Majesty is always praising?"

After hearing the messenger deliver Yoto's message, Ajige jeered with gleeful sarcasm.

"I know. You may withdraw and rest and eat."

Dorgon ordered with a furrowed brow, and the exhausted messenger performed a salute before bowing out of the great tent.

"I say, Old Fourteen, Yoto's taken a pretty hard loss here. So, are you really planning to send troops to support him? If you ask me, just tell him to take his Two Red Banners and get lost, leave the Mongol Banners and Han Banners for us—we Two White Banners will do the fighting!"

Seeing Dorgon's expression, Ajige knew his younger brother had already accepted Yoto's request and was preparing to lead the troops south.

"Enough! At a critical moment like this, Twelfth Brother, stop watching the show! Since things are tight at the front, we must hurry our men over to support them!"

Dorgon rose with a dark face and snapped irritably at Ajige.

"I know this is a critical moment, but back when he was grabbing the credit, he wasn't so soft! Now that he's hit a hard nut, he comes crawling and groveling?"

Ajige said indignantly.

"Twelfth Brother, we'll settle the score over the credit later! This time we must first destroy the Ming army to the south! Someone, pass the order! Tomorrow at the hour of Mao the whole army eats, and at the hour of Chen we strike camp and march south!"