Chapter 438: Crisis at the Rear Route

When Geng Zhongming tactfully suggested protecting their rear route, Dorgon and Yoto were suddenly startled, immediately realizing the severity of the problem.

From Yoto's attack on the Ming army's baggage camp to the present, the Qing army had been thwarted at every turn and had suffered heavy losses.

All of this indicated that every step and strategy of the Qing army had long been anticipated and countered by the Ming army.

Including the rear route that Geng Zhongming had mentioned.

"He Ledai! You will immediately lead five thousand men north to inform the Twelfth Beile! Beware of the Ming cutting off our rear route! If Ming troops block your path, drive them back at once! Then remain in place with your forces and send word to Prince Zheng, asking him to bring troops to reinforce us!"

Dorgon did not consult with Yoto but immediately ordered He Ledai, a Meiren Janggin of the Two White Banners, to lead his forces to reinforce Ajige.

With the formidable Ming cannon carts pressing them from the front, if the rear route were also severed by a large Ming force, then these tens of thousands of Eight Banner troops and the equally numerous bondservants would find themselves in extreme danger.

The current situation was extremely grave. The Qing army could no longer consider how to seize Ming grain and supplies—they had to withdraw from the narrow Liaoxi Corridor as safely as possible, all the way back to Shengjing.

He Ledai made an obeisance and rose to leave when suddenly a clatter of chaotic footsteps sounded outside the tent. Before Dorgon could grow angry, the tent curtain was flung open from outside, and Ajige strode in, his helmet askew, his armor crooked, and large patches of blood staining his body.

"Old Fourteenth! Send men to the rear at once! The Ming have massed over ten thousand troops to surround me! And they're those new troops with the fearsome firelocks! Things are looking bad! Don't let the Ming cut off our rear route! Damn it! We Eight Banners have taken a huge loss this time!"

It turned out that just as Zhang Xi'an's Capital Camps were in dire straits under the Qing army's pincer attack, the three thousand men of Lei Sheng's unit of the Qin army, stationed at Desheng Fort, suddenly charged out, striking directly at the Qing army's flank and rear.

Caught completely off guard, Bote Bu could only hastily gather the remaining few hundred men of the center to meet the attack, and within moments they were routed by the Qin army. Bote Bu, clad in heavy armor, was struck by several bullets and died on the spot.

The Qing army's two hundred cavalrymen, being too close to build up speed for a charge, were also encircled by the Qin army's spearmen and routed in defeat, fleeing in disarray.

The Qin army then swiftly advanced, joining with the revitalized Capital Camp soldiers to strike from front and rear, slaughtering most of the Qing troops on both flanks. In the end, only a very few Qing soldiers escaped into the wooded hills on either side, vanishing without a trace.

Unlike Zhang Xi'an and his subordinates, who lacked experience in field command, the battle-hardened Lei Sheng had already led his troops to the wooded hills on the eastern side before the battle even began.

After having his men conceal their movements and rest while awaiting orders, Lei Sheng moved forward to carefully observe the Qing army's formation.

It had to be said that although Zhang Xi'an lacked combat experience, the battlefield he had chosen was extremely advantageous for the Ming army.

Because the battlefield happened to be the narrowest point of the elongated Liaoxi Corridor, only two or three li from the wooded hills on the eastern and western sides. Once both sides deployed their formations, large bodies of cavalry had no distance or space to maneuver, and could only wait three li away to pursue once the Ming army was routed.

Just as both sides became locked in fierce combat and all attention was focused on the battlefield, Lei Sheng ordered his eighteen hundred spearmen to circle around behind the enemy cavalry and charged out from the southeast.

Then eight hundred musketeers formed two large square formations, and together with twenty tiger-crouch cannon crews, two hundred sword-and-shield men, and two hundred archers, they deployed in formation from due east.

Under the three-layered long, medium, and short-range firepower of the Qin army, first the Qing center was routed, then the Qing cavalry driven by the spearmen also perished in large numbers, with only a few dozen riders escaping south through the gaps between the two armies.

Lei Sheng then held a brief discussion with Zhang Xi'an, and apart from leaving behind a hundred or so soldiers to tend to the wounded and clean up the battlefield, the two forces merged and continued advancing south.

On the southern front, the arrogant Ajige and his thousand men met a crushing blow from Wei Chuan's force of nearly three thousand.

Ajige employed almost exactly the same tactics as Bote Bu, but Wei Chuan was clearly a cut above Zhang Xi'an in on-the-spot command.

While deploying grenadiers to destroy the dozen or so shield carts in the Qing center, Wei Chuan, seeing that the Qing army intended to break through his flanks, dispatched his twenty tiger-crouch cannons to both sides.

After just one volley from the twenty tiger-crouch cannons, not a single Qing heavy-armored soldier in the front ranks survived. The Ming spearmen then advanced in formation and routed the Qing forces on both flanks in a crushing defeat.

In shock and fury, Ajige ordered his hundred-odd guards to charge the front, but they didn't even make it thirty paces toward the Ming musket formation before the hundred-odd riders were all dead or wounded.

Wei Chuan then commanded the entire Ming force to press forward. Having already lost nearly half their number in two engagements, the Qing army was powerless to resist, and Ajige had no choice but to order a full retreat, with Wei Chuan's forces pressing hard on their heels.

Ajige had already sensed that things were going badly. He had originally planned to return, merge with Huilibu who was responsible for support, then join with Bote Bu to defeat the Ming forces coming from the north, after which they would head north to rendezvous with Jirgalang, then lead the main army south to support Dorgon and the others at the front.

But before he could even return to the vicinity of the main camp, he received a message from Huilibu's men: Bote Bu had already been defeated and killed.

Ajige suddenly understood—the Ming army, seeing that his force numbered only slightly over four thousand, wanted to concentrate their forces and swallow him up in one bite, then either continue south to harass the rear of the Qing army at the front, or lie in ambush where they were, waiting for the Qing army to retreat north.

It seemed that Old Fourteenth and the others' main army was in trouble! At the very least, the campaign was going extremely poorly—otherwise the Ming troops along the way would not have suddenly gathered their forces and sallied out of their cities to attack him!

Upon learning that the Ming force coming from the north numbered a full five thousand, Ajige immediately ordered Huilibu to stop gathering the routed troops and quickly bring the bondservants to rendezvous with him, burning whatever grain and supplies they could, then the entire army would head south, cutting a bloody path through to join up with Dorgon and Yoto.

Because comparatively speaking, the Ming forces to the south were clearly fewer in number. They had to break out quickly before the northern Ming forces arrived—otherwise, caught between the Ming pincers, he might well die on this battlefield.

Huilibu brought over a thousand men, driving two thousand bondservants before him, to merge forces with Ajige. Seizing the moment before the northern Ming army could arrive, they drove the bondservants in front and the Qing soldiers behind, launching an attack on Wei Chuan's force.

As the two armies fought in bloody battle, Han Guan and Li Lu led a thousand men charging out from the wooded hills to the west, delivering a fatal blow to the Qing army's flank. Amidst the chaotic melee, Ajige slipped through the gaps in the fighting with his guards and fled south at full speed.

The exhausted Ajige plopped himself down on the seat of the now-standing Dorgon, tossed his iron helmet aside, and in a low, weary voice gave a brief account of the battle.

Upon hearing that of Ajige's four thousand-plus men, at least half had been killed or wounded in this one battle, the tent fell into dead silence.

The situation had now reached a critical tipping point. Under the Ming army's interlocking series of strategies, the Qing army of tens of thousands was in an extremely dangerous position. Whether to fight or retreat, they had to come up with a complete plan as quickly as possible.

"He Ledai! Do as I just said! Send out more scouts to search both sides, gather up the routed soldiers and send them back! If you encounter a large Ming force on the way, do not engage recklessly!"

After a long silence, Dorgon issued his orders.

"Two princes, two beiles, the current situation is extremely unfavorable for our army! After successive battles, our losses have been considerable. This servant believes we must find a way to retreat to the Songjin line as soon as possible and rendezvous with Prince Zheng—that is the proper course!"