Chapter 149: Ambushed

Guguan — this name may not be familiar to many people today, but to those of that era, it was truly one of the most famous passes in the world.

Guguan, together with the Great Wall, ran from the Jiayu Gully at Niangzi Pass in the north to the mouth of Baijiu Village in the south, stretching over twenty kilometers in total — it was the only route from the Shanxi region to the vital towns of Zhending and Baoding.

Throughout the Ming dynasty, Guguan was an extremely important pass, known as one of the "Four Famous Passes West of Beijing" and a "Shield of the Capital Region." The other three famous passes were Juyong Pass, Zijing Pass, and Daoma Pass.

Chen Qiyu felt that although he bore the title of Governor-General of the Five Provinces, the scope he could actually govern was quite limited. But this was no longer the Chongzhen Emperor's fault — whatever authority the court could grant had essentially been placed in his hands already, which was an immense show of trust.

Without a doubt, of the five central provinces, all of Shaanxi had been completely occupied by Li Zicheng's bandits. Although Sichuan and Huguang each had sizable official armies stationed there under Qin Liangyu and Zuo Liangyu respectively, they were mired in chaotic fighting everywhere, with no unified command.

In Chen Qiyu's view, Huguang and Sichuan could more or less be considered lost as well. The only reason this was not mentioned at court was out of deference to His Majesty the Emperor's dignity.

The reach of the court's edicts extended only to Shanxi, Shandong, the capital region, and a few provinces in Jiangnan. Even so, all that remained of Shanxi was Datong alone.

Across Jiangnan, scholars were increasingly voicing criticism of court policy, and rumors even circulated about installing a new emperor. As the saying goes, "the mountains are high and the emperor is far away" — even the Eastern and Western Depots' influence in Nanjing could not match that of the Donglin Faction, let alone anyone else's.

Although the Chongzhen Emperor had appointed Ma Shiying as Minister of Personnel in Nanjing, and Ma Shiying had long-standing connections with the Directorate of Ceremonial and was a genuine imperial loyalist who acted only on the emperor's orders,

after several months, he and his associates had still failed to achieve anything particularly effective in Jiangnan. From this it was clear that Ma Shiying and his ilk could hardly cover the sky with one hand.

The current situation was worlds apart from years ago when he had been sent to the frontier as a soldier.

Roughly six kilometers from Niangzi Pass lay the fortress of Guguan itself. It was said that Guguan's water gate was built most uniquely — on both walls of the brick-arched water gate tunnel were carved finely crafted stone sculptures of water-guarding beasts, so lifelike they seemed ready to move.

Early in the morning of the first day of the tenth month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, cool winds gusted over Guguan. A tattered banner bearing the characters "Dashun" fluttered in the air, yet not a single figure could be seen on the city walls — the place looked like a ghost town.

Looking up, Dong Qi saw the two large characters "Guguan" above the gate. He gasped a few deep breaths and said with relief, "Governor-General Chen, look — it seems we've reached Guguan first."

According to what Chen Qiyu had said a few days earlier, Guguan was the lifeline of Zhending and Baoding. If they could seize it by surprise before the Dashun roving bandits could react, matters in the Zhending and Baoding region might yet turn for the better.

"Mm." Chen Qiyu let out a sigh of relief, but looking at the eerily silent fortress before him, he hesitated, muttering to himself: "Strange... even if Liu Fangliang hasn't returned, wouldn't the bandits leave someone to guard a vital place like Guguan?"

"Haha." A certain roaming general was utterly unconcerned. He spurred his horse forward, tapped the city bricks with his finger, and said casually, "What's there to worry about? The Governor-General thinks too much. In my humble opinion, those bandits must have heard of the court's great victory at military pay and provisions and been scared out of their wits — they've long since fled!"

"Hahaha!"

Hearing this, the other commanders all burst into loud laughter, clearly endorsing what the roaming general had just said.

Chen Qiyu continued to frown, and Dong Qi also felt something was off, though he could not quite say what. He looked down and noticed something unusual about the sandy soil on the ground.

"This..." Dong Qi dismounted, crouched down, and pinched a small handful of sand between his fingers to examine it closely. He sniffed it and said with a frown, "Governor-General Chen, this soil looks like it was disturbed not long ago — something seems to have been dragged back and forth over it."

Hearing this, Chen Qiyu suddenly realized what was happening. He waved his hand and shouted, "Not good — it's an ambush!"

"Kill the government troops!"

"Kill the dog government troops!"

Just then, battle cries erupted from the city walls and from both the east and west sides. Countless Dashun soldiers in white archer's tunics surged out from every direction.

But what arrived first was not them — it was a volley of arrows.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh——"

Caught completely off guard, the camp soldiers standing on the flanks of the formation fell one after another. Before Dong Qi could even react and give orders, the Dashun soldiers charged down and plunged into a chaotic melee.

The roaming general who had stood before the gate earlier fared even worse — a massive boulder dropped directly onto his head, and without so much as a grunt, his entire body was smashed into pulp.

"Protect the Supreme Commander!" The moment Dong Qi recovered, he drew his blade and took his place beside Chen Qiyu. Hearing his command, the camp soldiers began to close ranks.

"Hahaha, you dog government troops do have some skill after all! I've been squatting here for half a month, and finally I've caught one!" With a burst of utterly arrogant laughter, Liu Fangliang appeared on the city wall, completely unharmed.

When Liu Fangliang had fled to the outskirts of military pay and provisions back then, he had been utterly exhausted, only to suddenly encounter a cavalry force. At first he thought he had run into a government ambush, but as the fighting dragged on, he realized this unknown army could not possibly be government troops.

The government troops besieging the city were far stronger than the garrison soldiers of various guard stations, but in a fair, head-on battle, Liu Fangliang was confident he could smash them with his Old Camp. But the men outside military pay and provisions were different.

That cavalry numbered only a little over two thousand, yet their fighting power was comparable to twenty thousand!

One had to understand — Liu Fangliang was leading the Old Camp that had fought across the north and south with Li Zicheng. Every man in it had been tempered through countless battles, and Liu Fangliang had always considered them invincible, sweeping all before them.

But when they faced this cavalry, it was like children meeting adults — they were chopped down like vegetables with no ability to resist whatsoever.

At the time, a loyal Old Camp soldier had put on Liu Fangliang's clothes and fled in the opposite direction, which was the only reason Liu Fangliang escaped with his life. Even so, by the time he made his way back, every soldier he had brought was lost.

In truth, Liu Fangliang and Gao Yigong were among the rare bandit chiefs who possessed both literary and martial talent. Though Liu Fangliang was not Gao Yigong's equal, he was no reckless brute like Liu Zongmin either. He naturally understood the importance of Guguan — only as long as Guguan remained in Dashun's hands could they establish a position from which to attack when advantageous and defend when necessary.

The moment he escaped, Liu Fangliang disguised himself and fled toward Guguan. On the way, he did not even stop at Baoding Prefecture, which was still in Dashun's hands — compared to Guguan, Baoding and Zhending were far less important.

The government troops in those two places had already been completely routed by Liu Fangliang. Even if the Ming army later pursued him there and recovered them, it sounded nice in name, but in reality it would still be a waste of manpower and resources.

As long as he held Guguan firmly, the Zhending and Baoding region was nothing more than fish on the chopping block beside his mouth — he could eat whenever he pleased.

Moreover, Liu Fangliang had lost his entire army at military pay and provisions, and that battle had left him utterly bewildered. Even after returning to Guguan, there was much he still could not figure out.

For instance, judging by the four-sided encirclement that night, the Ming court had assembled no fewer than a hundred thousand troops. So the question arose — how on earth had the Ming court managed to gather over a hundred thousand men to counterattack in such a short time?

And then there was the cavalry he had encountered after fleeing military pay and provisions — their fighting power was so formidable that Liu Fangliang had no idea who they could possibly be.

To him, who had never encountered the Jianzhou barbarians, there was only one possible explanation for such a crack cavalry force: Wu Sangui must have brought the Guanning Iron Cavalry to the capital to defend the emperor.

In fact, it was precisely his conviction that Wu Sangui had come to the emperor's aid that was the main reason Liu Fangliang so decisively abandoned Baoding and Zhending.

And come to think of it, Liu Fangliang did not even know that the government army he was now ambushing was led by Chen Qiyu. He had simply felt guilty toward Li Zicheng and thought that returning with a victory would make for a better story than returning empty-handed.