Chapter 77: Liu Fangliang Marches North

The Chongzhen Emperor wanted to deal with the Tartar-Qing threat in the north, but he lacked the power and ability to do so—his current troops could barely even fight the roving bandits, let alone face the Tartar-Qing iron cavalry.

Fortunately, Wu Sangui had not yet made a move, so let him continue guarding Ningyuan and Shanhai Pass—even the three hundred li of land beyond Shanhai Pass in the Ningyuan area could be abandoned.

The best outcome would be for Shanhai Pass to remain in the hands of the Great Ming.

No matter how the Jianzhou barbarians jumped around, in the end they would still come raiding through places like Xifengkou; the worst result would merely be another great plunder and retreat—after all, the Jianzhou barbarians were never the main concern.

As long as Shanhai Pass remained in his hands and the Guanning army remained imperial troops, wanting to establish their capital at Yanjing? Not going to happen.

As for news from the south—it was not Zhou Yuji and Bai Guangen losing Ningwu Pass, but rather that Li Zicheng's eastern army was already nearly upon the capital region. Hearing this news, the Chongzhen Emperor truly understood what it meant to sit on pins and needles.

Historically, the Dashun army had attacked Beijing from two directions; the reason he could not move the capital earlier was precisely because of Liu Fangliang's southern army.

The Chongzhen Emperor had placed too much importance on Li Zicheng's main force, using virtually all his troops to guard against that route, subconsciously overlooking Liu Fangliang. Fortunately, the news had not arrived too late.

Of course, this news naturally did not come from any minister's memorial—it was spies reporting directly in secret to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern Depot, who then delivered it to the Chongzhen Emperor. Without the Guard and Depot, he would have known nothing at all.

According to the spies' reports, Liu Fangliang, facing no constraints whatsoever and following a course much the same as in history—unaffected by the butterfly wings of any time-traveler—led his forces out of Shanxi through the Taihang Mountains, entered northern Henan and the southern capital region, took several places in succession, and was now driving straight toward Baoding.

Baoding was a place that, in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, had still been one of the bases where provincial officials' armies gathered to jointly suppress the bandits. At that time, troops from all routes had converged there, making it a heavily defended stronghold that was easy to hold and hard to attack—it should have served the same purpose as Ningwu Pass, an important checkpoint on Liu Fangliang's northward march.

But ever since Yang Wenyue, the Governor-General of Baoding, had died in battle at Runing with his troops, the various official armies had surrendered or fled one after another, leaving it nearly an empty city with virtually no defensive forces remaining.

The Chongzhen Emperor knew full well that the defenses of Baoding and even the entire capital region were a mere formality—even if there was resistance, it would be extremely scattered.

The only option now was to abandon the defenses of the other towns in the capital region, implement a scorched-earth policy, and even temporarily give up other places in the capital region—consolidating the existing strength of the official armies and absolutely holding Beijing city this year.

As long as Beijing city was held, his spring would come.

At this time, news transmission was not real-time. The Chongzhen Emperor estimated that by the time he received the news, Baoding Prefecture had likely already fallen, and Liu Fangliang's southern army should have entered the capital region.

Thinking of this, the Chongzhen Emperor suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck and said directly:

"The Directorate of Ceremonial shall draft the edict: Wang Chengyin, Regional Commander of Xuanfu, disobeyed the imperial order, refused to come to the capital's aid, and committed the crime of insubordination—these are capital offenses. Order the gendarmes to leave the capital and behead him. No delays!"

"Furthermore, Colonel Gao Jie, brave and eager in battle, sworn to fight the bandits, is hereby appointed as the Regional Commander of Xuanfu, with the additional title of Right Commissioner-in-Chief of the Five Armies Governor-General's Office. Upon assuming his post, he shall immediately lead his troops to the capital to aid the throne. No delays!"

"In addition, issue a 'Proclamation Denouncing the Bandits' and announce it to all under heaven! Order Chief Grand Secretary Wei Zaode to compose the proclamation, so that all men of insight across the realm may hasten to Huangcun to assemble!"

"Also, strictly order the official armies of Bazhou, Gu'an, Dong'an, Yongqing, and Wuqing to implement scorched-earth tactics, abandon their cities, and march north—all are to proceed to Huangcun to encamp and await my decree."

Having said this, the Chongzhen Emperor looked toward Wang Xiantong, the newly enfeoffed Earl, and said:

"We have now reached a critical moment of life and death. Newly Enfeoffed Earl, return quickly to Tongzhou, muster the troops of the three guards, and proceed to Huangcun. I want to give Liu Fangliang a great surprise!"

Sensing the fighting spirit radiating from the Emperor, Wang Xiantong's earlier worries vanished like smoke, and with his blood boiling, he clasped his fists and shouted:

"Your servant obeys the decree!"

"Transmit the edict: the capital region is placed under martial law!"

"Order Ni Yuanlu, Minister of Revenue, to audit all funds and grain inside and outside the capital—all are to be gathered in the capital, move as much as there is. The Troops and Horses Offices of the Five Wards, the runners of Shuntian Prefecture, and the Guard and Depot shall each divide their duties and search house by house on my orders."

"Aside from those refugees admitted into the relief institutions, those with families who meet the needs of the militia camps may also remain in the capital, and they shall be allocated housing. As for the rest, do not let them stay in the capital—drive out all who can be driven out."

"If anyone asks, say it is my personal decree. Anyone who obstructs—kill without mercy! Transmit the edict: order the Shenwu Army, the Capital Camps, and the militia camps to stand by at all times—once any disorder breaks out, deploy immediately to suppress it!"

This series of decisive decrees had already made clear the Chongzhen Emperor's resolve to hold the capital and fight the bandits to the death.

All the decrees and edicts were spoken personally by Chongzhen, with no regard for imperial dignity. Since the Emperor himself was like this, no one else had any further reservations—each had their own tasks, and they quickly dispersed completely.

"Your Majesty, great news, great news!"

The Chongzhen Emperor was just enjoying tea in the warm pavilion when he suddenly saw Li Chun rushing in hurriedly, and he asked with a delighted expression:

"What great news? Has Chen Qiyu returned?"

Chen Qiyu was a man of both civil and martial talents—skilled in strategy and capable on the battlefield.

In the fifth year of Chongzhen, Chen Qiyu served as Governor of Yansui, and in less than a year he had wiped out all the bandits in Yansui. At that time, his reputation shook the Guanzhong and Shaanxi region. Even the famous "Long-Legged General" He Renlong, under his command and direction, had been invincible and achieved great merit time and again.

It was said that the roving bandits scattered in panic at the mere mention of Qiyu's name—that was exactly the case.

The very next year, Chen Qiyu was ordered by imperial decree to serve as Governor-General of military affairs for the five central provinces. Historically, the Chongzhen Emperor had initially trusted him greatly, commissioning him with the sole task of "dealing with the roving bandits."

Chen Qiyu initially lived up to those expectations—first handling Hubei with a string of great victories, then suppressing Shaanxi, where his fame soared.

The roving bandits suffered successive defeats and were forced to flee into Sichuan. At that time, Hong Chengchou was Governor-General of the Three Borders and was likewise reporting victory after victory. He and Chen Qiyu, without needing to say a word to each other, jointly drove the bandits into the barren lands of Sichuan.

Chen Qiyu would not let any opportunity slip. Seeing that the bandits had already fled into Sichuan, he immediately sent proclamations to all the central provinces, strictly ordering the official armies to coordinate their suppression, intending to annihilate the roving bandits completely in Sichuan.

Official armies converged from all directions, and the remaining major bandit forces were herded by Chen Qiyu and Hong Chengchou back into Shaanxi. They were on the verge of total annihilation when, at this critical juncture, history repeated itself—the Jianzhou barbarians suddenly raided the border, plundering wildly throughout the capital region.

Historically, the Chongzhen Emperor had panicked and ordered Hong Chengchou to march to the capital region to aid the throne, creating a vacuum in the forces coordinating the Sichuan campaign in the north. However, Chen Qiyu was unwilling to abandon this heaven-sent opportunity—he sent proclamations to all his generals and forcibly pressed for a decisive battle with the bandits.

Seeing Chen Qiyu's ferocious advance, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, who had suffered repeated defeats at his hands, were both terrified beyond measure and fled in panic into the Chexiang Gorge of Xing'an.

For Chen Qiyu, this was a heaven-sent opportunity, because all the remaining major bandit chieftains were trapped inside, and due to their successive defeats, the refugees the bandits had coerced had long since scattered—leaving barely more than thirty thousand veteran camp soldiers.

The Chexiang Gorge was surrounded by steep rocky cliffs, with a length of forty li in the middle—easy to enter but hard to exit.

The bandit troops had stumbled into it by mistake. At the time, many common folk also lived in the mountains, and seeing Chen Qiyu leading official armies from various provinces to suppress the bandits, they cooperated bravely—throwing rocks and firebrands down from the mountains as the bandit army passed through.

Chen Qiyu quickly ordered men to pile up stone fortifications at the gorge mouth, stationed troops for strict defense, cut off the bandits' routes in and out, and sat watching the bandits who had ravaged the Central Plains be wiped out by his own hand.

At that time, torrential rain poured down for twenty consecutive days. The bandits had discarded most of their weapons, and the horses had no grass to eat—before long, many people starved to death. Even the veteran camp soldiers had lost all will to fight; one could say their defeat was already sealed.

At this point, all the official armies needed to do was press forward, and they could easily annihilate the bandits in one stroke.

However, historically Chen Qiyu clearly did not do this. He did not let the eager official armies enter the Chexiang Gorge to surround and destroy the bandits, but merely continued the siege from outside, sitting back to watch the outcome.

At this time, although Chen Qiyu had achieved a great victory over the bandits, Hong Taiji's second personal campaign against Chahar had the Jianzhou barbarians fanning out in all directions, bitterly plundering Xuanfu and Datong, causing an uproar in the capital region.

Under these circumstances, the historical Chongzhen Emperor clearly lacked the patience to wait for Chen Qiyu.

Under constant pressure from the court and the instigation of surrounding generals, Chen Qiyu committed the only—and greatest—mistake of his life: he accepted the surrender of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong and incorporated more than thirty thousand veteran bandit soldiers into his ranks.

Everyone knows what happened afterward—those two ungrateful wolves once again luckily escaped a certain-death situation, recovered their strength, and after biding their time, rebelled again after surrendering. Chen Qiyu was stripped of his post and exiled to the frontier by the furious Chongzhen Emperor, and the roving bandits subsequently swept across the Central Plains.

So one could say Chen Qiyu's flaw was obvious—he was too arrogant, overly confident in his own schemes, placed extraordinary trust in his subordinate officers, underestimated the strength of the official armies, and deliberately took reckless gambles in situations he was sure to win. Not only did he stumble himself, but he truly caused very serious consequences for the situation at the time.