Chapter 88: Inviting the Bandits into the Trap

"Damn it, another empty city!"

Liu Fangliang cursed angrily, kicking the county magistrate who was kneeling before him to the ground.

"Where are the people? Where did everyone go?!"

The Dashun army now had long lost that thrill of conquering cities and sweeping all before them. On the contrary, every time they took a place and saw the city towers still empty of people, their unease grew by another measure.

Because of the Dashing King's orders, Liu Fangliang, though fully aware that the court had some scheme waiting for him, had no choice but to grit his teeth and press forward, dispatching some of his chieftains to the already-occupied territories to arrange for officials.

Unlike in history, the ones who surrendered in these places were all civil officials whom the roving bandits found useless. Suddenly having so many extra mouths to feed was undoubtedly adding frost to snow for the Dashun army as it stood now.

These officials were of no use whatsoever, and with no reinforcements from the original imperial troops to replenish their numbers, Liu Fangliang, unwilling to give up the towns he had already taken, could only keep splitting off troops to garrison various places.

In this way, within just a few days, the Dashun army's numbers sharply dwindled by more than tens of thousands.

No one had expected this move from the court. In seventeen years, the Chongzhen Emperor had done countless things that violated ancestral precedents. His face was as thick as the capital's city walls—he simply did not act like a normal emperor.

Issuing a self-blame edict directly to the army, abolishing the hereditary military household garrison system—compared to these, the old punishments of exterminating nine clans or even ten clans counted for nothing. And now he was even pulling off this scorched-earth policy in the capital region.

The withdrawal of the imperial troops was not the main point; the important thing was that they had taken away most of the granary wealth and supplies that the Dashun army depended on for survival. The small remainder was utterly insufficient for Liu Fangliang to stabilize the increasingly restless morale of his men.

The common folk and refugees that the Dashun army relied on to replenish its ranks had also scattered along with the imperial troops. The predicament of being unable to recruit new soldiers and unable to maintain military pay did not go looking for the Chongzhen Emperor—it found Liu Fangliang first.

The imperial troops, with the Chongzhen Emperor personally leading the campaign, were high-spirited and formidable, while the Dashun army was declining day by day.

Under these circumstances, Liu Fangliang had to consider his retreat. Should he attack the capital according to the original plan, or directly withdraw back to Shaanxi? Because it was clear that Li Zicheng was no longer going to come.

As for directly attacking the capital, Liu Fangliang understood that that dog emperor Chongzhen had twisted all the Ming troops in the capital region into a single rope, perhaps even now sharpening his blades up ahead. And with his own force being a detached column advancing deep, this battle would certainly not be as easy as before.

But when it came to withdrawing back to Shaanxi, he felt deeply unwilling. Having come all the way to the capital region, how could he so easily let that dog emperor off the hook?

Liu Fangliang ultimately decided to continue northward. In the early hours of the morning, over a hundred thousand Dashun troops rode out of Zhuzhou city at his single command, heading straight for their next destination—military pay and provisions.

Zhuzhou was also known as the southern gateway to the capital region. By yielding this place to them, the Chongzhen Emperor had essentially exposed the entire capital region before the Dashun army's eyes. military pay and provisions lay to the northeast of Zhuzhou, and was the last town on Liu Fangliang's northward march.

Since Liu Fangliang intended to go north, Zhuzhou needed troops stationed to hold it, and military pay and provisions was also a place that must be taken. Only thus could the Dashun forces form a position where they could attack or retreat at will.

military pay and provisions was merely a county town, very close to Huangcun. Under a forced march, it was only half a day's journey away. By the standard of ordinary county towns, the garrison stationed there was not large—around a thousand men or so.

If military pay and provisions had no imperial troops guarding it, that would mean all the imperial forces everywhere had withdrawn into Beijing city by imperial decree. Liu Fangliang planned to take military pay and provisions first, then assess the situation before making his final decision.

The capital region was actually no better off than the Central Plains. Bleached bones lay exposed in the wilderness everywhere one looked—some were common folk who had starved to death by the roadside, others were cattle, sheep, and horses that merchant caravans and mutinous soldiers had killed on the spot to fill their bellies.

Liu Fangliang had once been a farmer, and his wife had been harmed by government runners. The land beneath his feet now had all once been excellent fertile fields, but because the officials and local tyrants colluded with each other, the people had been driven to the brink of survival.

He believed with utter conviction that that emperor, sitting high above, feasting on fish and meat every day, was the chief culprit behind all of this. Every time he thought of it, Liu Fangliang felt boundless motivation rise within him.

"General, look—military pay and provisions is in sight!"

Liu Fangliang nodded, gazing at the corner watchtower rising on the horizon. He said nothing more, only ordering the advance to continue. In about the time it takes to burn one stick of incense, the mass of Dashun troops finally arrived beneath the city walls.

In truth, Liu Fangliang had long been watching for any movement on the city walls, his expression taut, ready at any moment to order battle. His long experience in warfare told him that the absence of men standing on the city towers did not mean there were no defenders within the city.

Unless the Chongzhen Emperor was a complete fool through and through, he could not fail to know the importance of both military pay and provisions and Zhuzhou. Nor did Liu Fangliang believe that the Chongzhen Emperor had pulled back the capital region's defenders merely to hold a single Beijing city.

"Hoo."

Liu Fangliang walked to the foot of the city wall and, after listening quietly for a good while, let out a relieved breath. He wondered if he had been overthinking things—if the imperial troops had been lying in ambush within the city, they would have struck long ago.

He waved his hand: "Enter the city!"

In times past, when Dashun soldiers stormed into a city, they would generally shout and yell with excitement, surging into the city in a mad rush, because they knew that many fine things awaited them inside.

But now, the Dashun soldiers were listless and dispirited. Even the last of the old camp troops were the same—shouldering their great banners, blades, and spears, they filed through the gateway beneath the "military pay and provisions" plaque in orderly fashion, yet no one had the energy left to run about. They only buzzed with hushed whispers.

"Another empty city..."

"Yeah, days now and we haven't seen a single ghost of a person."

After entering the city, Liu Fangliang still could not believe what lay before his eyes. He ordered his soldiers to search every corner of military pay and provisions county town, but after a full half day, they had not found a single imperial soldier.

It was not until evening that Liu Fangliang finally set aside his wariness. It seemed this Chongzhen Emperor truly was an out-and-out fool, a thoroughly hopeless tyrant!

Compared to the northern route army led by Li Zicheng, his own southern route army's progress could be called lightning fast. At Baoding prefecture they had encountered stubborn resistance from a portion of the imperial troops, but once they reached the capital region, there was not even a token fight.

The road north was not lacking in formidable cities—like Zhuzhou yesterday, and Bazhou, Yongqing, and other places in the past few days, all of which had been major strongholds Liu Fangliang had dreaded.

It was hard to imagine that the Chongzhen Emperor was so afraid of him that he would abandon all the land of the capital region, merely to defend a single Beijing city to the death?

Thinking of this, Liu Fangliang chuckled and mocked himself:

"With a tyrant like that, what moves could one possibly expect of him? I truly overestimated him."

That night, Liu Fangliang allowed himself a rare night of relaxation. After arranging a simple patrol of the city, he had his subordinates rest and recover here for three days before besieging Beijing city—first giving that tyrant a good scare.

Liu Fangliang still maintained half a measure of sobriety, but the several trusted chieftains at his side drank themselves into a complete stupor.

Liu Fangliang did not bother to discipline them, because he knew that at this point, Beijing city was like a virgin who had stripped off her clothes—all that remained was for him to charge in.

military pay and provisions was firmly in his grasp now. Even if the Chongzhen Emperor truly had a hundred thousand imperial troops in hand, he could only cower within Beijing city, scheming merely to preserve himself.

Liu Fangliang sat in the county magistrate's office, clutching his saber as he sank into a deep sleep. Not long after, a Dashun soldier patrolling the city wall with a torch seemed to notice something amiss. He rubbed his eyes and looked carefully, but saw no further movement.

"Damn, must've seen wrong—"

The Dashun soldier muttered under his breath, but his words came to an abrupt halt. From somewhere unknown, a cold arrow shot forth with a "whish" and pierced straight through his throat.

"All you soldiers, follow me, Huang Degong, to slaughter these bandit rebels!"

Immediately after, countless torches appeared from all directions in an instant. At the lead was a general with a ruddy-yellow complexion, wielding a great tiger-head saber, leading at least several thousand fierce and murderous imperial troops in a converging assault from every side.

"For the Emperor! For the Great Ming!"