Chapter 391: The Pursuit

The battlefield is the darkest place in the human heart — every blade and every spear is aimed at a living, breathing person.

Every battle-hardened commander is not only an excellent leader, but also a master at reading the hearts of men.

The scout cavalry is a special unit that has rendered Liu Chengzong tremendous service — they blanket the battlefield, seal off lines of sight, and artificially create a fog of war, plunging trapped enemies into the terror of foes on every side.

Especially now, with dusk closing in, enemies shrouded in this fear will usually dig in and fortify their camp on the spot, too afraid to move; after a whole night of frightening themselves, they are utterly routed at daybreak.

Liu Chengzong has fought many battles like this — only this time, a small mishap occurred.

Scout Cavalry Commander Ma Xiang came riding in frantic haste to find Liu Chengzong, who was moving with the army, and reported: "Grand Marshal, the scout cavalry can't hold them — the enemy is breaking out southward!"

Ma Xiang was also a surrendered officer; in his early years he had been a night scout beyond the frontier, later serving as a scout centurion in He Huchen's second batch of Ningxia troops; during the He-Huang campaign he surrendered to Dai Daozi in a clash of scout soldiers.

Because most of the scouts who surrendered at the same time were his former subordinates, and he had no family in Ningxia, Liu Chengzong appointed him to the post of Scout Cavalry Commander.

"They dare to move — and dare to move south?"

Surrounded by scout cavalry, blind on all four sides, yet still daring to run elsewhere — to Liu Chengzong, this was an act of great courage; the enemy commander had tremendous nerve and had seen through the bluff of the scout cavalry encirclement.

But running south... well, it was a lucky fluke; Liu the Lion had indeed not planned to send troops to seal the southern encirclement.

For one thing, after a forced march of a hundred and forty li, even the mules were worn out; even just closing in from two directions required mounting warhorses, and there was no spare strength for a four-sided encirclement.

For another, the south was precisely the escape route he had planned to leave open in his "surround on three sides, leave one gap" scheme, because that way lay the E'la Blue Mountains; as long as the route toward the Yangqu ferry crossing was blocked, the enemy could not get away.

Because to the south were mountains.

The E'la Mountains are a northern branch range of the Kunlun Mountains; the locals call those mountains the Blue Mountains.

Liu the Lion knew that area very well; last year, during his northern campaign from Nangqian, the battlefield where he smashed Ahai Daiqing's trebuchets in an inescapable river valley and slew the Choktu general Guyang Batur in formation was just south of the Blue Mountains, at Five-River Confluence.

Even if the enemy commander barely managed to cross the Blue Mountains, there would be no way back; there is only one road south, and the further south you go, the higher the altitude; after his long, grueling march to the highest point, he would run straight into Marshal's Headquarters Grand General Cao Yao.

Across the Gobi desert at dusk, three thousand foot and horse of the Oirat Dorbet tribe moved south; the Marshal's Headquarters scout cavalry circled them like a pack of wolves, while Liu Chengzong's main army followed close behind.

This was an encounter battle unlike any either commander had ever experienced.

Dalai Taiji had never seen the scout cavalry's method of blanketing the battlefield with musket cavalry, and Liu Chengzong, for his part, had never met such a sharp-witted opponent.

During the pursuit, Liu Chengzong leaned over his horse's neck, grinding his teeth, and ordered his guards: "Remember to remind me after the battle — tell the Armory Bureau to equip the scout soldiers with caltrops!"

Caltrops and chevaux-de-frise had been standard army equipment since the Qin and Han dynasties, but because the Marshal's Headquarters war industry had a weak foundation and scarce raw materials, it could only concentrate its efforts on manufacturing firearms and cannons, so these items were in very short supply at the Marshal's Headquarters.

But now, that situation could be turned around; with the occupation of the He-Huang Valley, a large population, and mines, the raw materials problem had been solved, and these shortcomings could all be remedied going forward.

If every scout cavalryman had a small basket of those things, it would greatly help in restricting enemy movement, and at the very least, they would not find themselves helpless in the face of large-scale enemy maneuvers as they were now.

Liu Chengzong's horses lacked stamina, and the Oirat forces were a mix of foot and horse, so the distance between them closed only slowly; they pursued for half a shichen, and though it was almost dark, they were still seven or eight li apart.

It was not until they neared the foot of the Blue Mountains that these three thousand Oirat foot and horse finally took a charge.

From a great distance, Liu Chengzong watched through his telescope as a cavalry detachment approached the enemy from the outer perimeter, galloping straight toward the Oirat formation encircled by the scout cavalry.

The detachment was no more than two hundred riders, divided into four wedge formations; the young officer at their head, wielding a long-hafted guandao, was especially conspicuous — Liu Chengzong recognized him at a glance as Ma Ke.

That guandao of his was looted from Gao Yingxiang.

The cavalry wedges slipped through the gaps in the scout cavalry's elastic defensive line like a seam-ripper, then plunged headlong into the thousands-strong foot-and-horse formation shifting southward — like hot oil thrown onto cold water, they made the enemy explode apart in an instant.

The engagement lasted only a moment, and three wedges had already fought their way through the enemy from south to north, bursting out the rear of the shattered formation.

Liu Chengzong saw clearly: the fourth wedge was led personally by Ma Ke; they were not swallowed up by the enemy formation, but just as they were about to fight through, they wheeled around with Ma Ke and savagely bit into the enemy again.

The enemy formation scattered, but not because Ma Ke's cavalry had scattered them; to a great extent, it was because the enemy knew the main army was behind them and dared not get entangled — at the slightest shock they dispersed on their own and fled south in disarray.

By this point, Liu Chengzong was gradually guessing the strategy of the fleeing enemy commander; he sent troops to link up with Ma Ke while summoning Scout Cavalry Commander Ma Xiang and ordering: "Pull back half the scout soldiers and spread them twenty li to the east and west. Also send men to contact Brigade Commander Yang on the western route and order him to come reinforce us as quickly as possible."

Ma Xiang did not understand the purpose of the order, but having recently changed masters, he dared not ask questions; he could only rely on the obedience ingrained by his long military career and accept the command.

He cupped his fists in salute, wheeled his horse around, and went to relay the order to his subordinates; from his Ningxia scout soldiers, he also picked several who had experience as night scouts and sent them to locate Yang Yao's unit.

He Huchen, who was accompanying the campaign, heard Liu Chengzong's order and approached in puzzlement, asking: "Does the Grand Marshal think these two-thousand-odd Oirat Tatars have reinforcements coming?"

The sun was setting behind the western mountains, and they could already see the vast shadow of the Blue Mountains to the south.

Liu Chengzong turned to look at the somewhat weary He Huchen; instead of directly stating his conjecture, he merely smiled and said: "General He, are you tired?"

He Huchen shook his head and cupped his fists: "This humble general would not dare."

In years past, when He Huchen pursued roving bandits, campaigning east and west, he often led his troops a hundred li a day — but those marching experiences were nothing like following Liu Chengzong.

In the Ming army he was a Regional Commander; even when the imperial court's national strength was failing, before Liu Chengzong seized all the warhorses from the Guyuan Directorate of the Imperial Stud, he had always pursued the enemy on horseback.

Even counting after Liu Chengzong plundered the Directorate, for He Huchen and other government army officers, it merely limited the scale of their pursuit sorties — they still rode on horseback.

The soldiers, warhorses, weapons and equipment, provisions and supplies provided by the imperial court were all expendable to a field commander; even if one spoke of "loving one's soldiers like sons," that did not mean the soldiers really were one's sons — "loving soldiers like sons" was merely one means to achieve victory.

After all, soldiers belonged to the imperial court; even if they were called "household retainers," they were merely a special troop type the court permitted commanders to recruit, not the commander's private property.

As for warhorses alone, He Huchen had ridden no fewer than eighty or a hundred to death in his lifetime.

But at the Marshal's Headquarters, things were different; the Marshal's Headquarters regular army was forbidden to ride horses on the march — even donkeys and mules, under normal circumstances, were only used to carry armor and supplies, and men were forbidden to ride them.

Of that hundred-and-forty-li march, more than half was covered on the men's own two feet; only later, after they donned mail armor, were they allowed to ride on muleback.

Ever since He Huchen became an officer, when had he ever suffered such hardship... and yet he could not voice the slightest grievance, because the whole army was treated the same; aside from the scout cavalry, who had to ride, even Liu Chengzong marched with the column, only mounting his warhorse when the scouts delivered a warning.

In fact, he had performed the best of all; Wang Cheng'en and Yang Qi were also in the campaign column, and by now they had fallen so far behind they were hauling supplies with the Left Battalion of the Elite Troops.

Liu Chengzong smiled and consoled him: "Once we take Yangqu City, we'll heat up some water and have a good foot soak."

With that, he raised his whip and pointed south, saying: "Earlier I thought these Oirats were fleeing in panic, but after Ma Ke hit them like that and they still resolutely head south, I'm afraid they have a purpose."

"They can't possibly be planning to flee all the way south to Kangning Prefecture — they're not that familiar with this area. That leaves only one possibility: they intend to dig in at the foot of the Blue Mountains and hold out for reinforcements."

He Huchen reined in his horse, looked at Liu Chengzong, then at the Blue Mountains to the south, and said: "That mountain is not easy to climb."

"That's precisely why I think the Oirats have reinforcements coming."

As he spoke, Liu Chengzong led He Huchen toward a nearby sand dune, clearing the path trampled by the soldiers' mules; column after column of soldiers marched forward past the two men. He said: "The enemy is a mix of foot and horse, while we are all mounted on horses and mules — they can't outrun us. But the Blue Mountains are hard going."

He Huchen was a veteran; though unfamiliar with the terrain, he quickly thought it through: right now they were pursuing and the enemy was fleeing, and a stretch of the Blue Mountains lay dead ahead; the result would be that both sides would become infantry on the mountain, or even beyond it — which gave the enemy a hope of escape.

Realizing this, he said with delighted surprise: "Grand Marshal, since you've already guessed the enemy's intent, why not dispatch a flanking force — just five hundred cavalry, circling around the left side of the mountain? If they set an ambush early, they could win a complete victory; if late, they could still coordinate the pursuit."

Liu Chengzong, however, was not as enthusiastic as He Huchen had imagined; he shook his head and said: "General He does not know the terrain of the Blue Mountains. There is only one road through the mountains that can take a cavalry column, but the detour is extremely long — not worth the effort. My thinking is to drive them up into the mountains, and when the artillery unit arrives, storm Yangqu directly."

The Blue Mountains are hard for infantry to cross; on both the northern and southern ends of the only passable mountain road for carts and horses, the Marshal's Headquarters has established post stations, both right at the foot of the mountain.

The straight-line distance between the two relay stations was twenty-two li, but the road distance was a full one hundred and fifteen li.

If they abandoned the baggage train and accepted the risk, the Oirat army could cut straight through twenty li and reach the south side of the mountain in no time — even a cavalry detachment couldn't catch them.

"Attack Yangqu directly?"

He Huchen's first thought was that if enemy troops came to reinforce from east of the river and turned both banks of Yangqu into the main battlefield, this enemy force in the mountain flank on the west bank would become a threat to the main army.

But right after, he nodded to show he understood and said, "That's precisely why the Grand Marshal wants Brigade Commander Yang to transfer troops here, isn't it?"

Liu Chengzong nodded with satisfaction, confirming that He Huchen had grasped his strategic intent, and then asked, "General He, what do you think of this arrangement?"

He Huchen studied Liu Chengzong's expression tentatively, and only after making certain there was no anger on the Grand Marshal's face did he cup his fists and say, "Grand Marshal, in my humble opinion, taking Yangqu is worse than not taking it."

"Unless Brigade Commander Yang arrives quickly, our main force's two divisions will be blocked by the Yellow River, and the Oirat Tatars will also learn that the Grand Marshal has brought heavy cannon. It would be better to besiege Green Mountain, deliberately leave a gap to let them call for help, and wait for the enemy reinforcements to cross the river — then seek a swift victory."

At the words "swift victory," a smile surfaced on Liu Chengzong's face.

A former government army commander like He Huchen, even after switching allegiance, couldn't shake the habit of wanting a swift victory in just a short while.

Because he was too used to lacking grain.

In all kinds of military supplies, compared to the imperial court, the Marshal's Manor was the poorest of the poor; but in troop provisions, Liu Chengzong's Marshal's Manor was wealthier than the government armies by who knows how much.

Liu Chengzong did not need a swift victory. What he needed was to deal the Oirat coalition a powerful blow, one that would make them dare not raid the border again.

Still, He Huchen's suggestion was very meaningful, because at this very moment, He Huchen's line of thinking probably coincided with that of the grain-short Oirat chieftains.

The Oirat definitely wanted a pitched battle.

Liu Chengzong gazed at Green Mountain in the distance and slowly nodded. He could indeed create an opportunity — give the Oirat a pitched battle, one they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

Soon, night fell.

Dalai Taiji, who had fled in disarray for dozens of li, finally reached the northern foot of Green Mountain, but his mood did not lighten for a single moment just because he had escaped with his life.

Breaking out of the scout cavalry's encirclement had been a huge gamble — the bet being that the Marshal's Manor's encirclement had not yet fully closed. It seemed he had won that bet.

Had he hesitated for half a shichen, the scattered campfires flickering in the distant darkness would have fallen upon his army like a wolf pack and torn them to shreds.

Just as He Huchen was not fully familiar with the terrain here, Dalai Taiji did not know Green Mountain well either. He had always known there was a mountain here, so he had hoped to use the mountain range to block the Han army's scout cavalry.

But when he abandoned the livestock and fled up the mountain, he received news from his scouts that was both gratifying and vexing.

The mountaintop snow was beginning to melt due to the hot weather, making it difficult to climb. People could not cross this high mountain to reach the other side.

This was both good news and bad news.

On the night-shrouded ridge, Dalai Taiji consoled himself like this: at least they wouldn't have to worry about a water source while holding their ground.

Gritting his teeth, Dalai Taiji ordered his men to dig fortifications, construct trenches, and prepare earth and stone on the mountain path. At the same time, he sent men under the cover of night to feel their way toward Yangqu City, attempting to seek reinforcements from the State Preceptor Khan to the east.

Soon, heartening news came from Yangqu City.

Several thousand Han troops had encamped five li from the mountain's base. Although they had sent cavalry to seize their camels, cattle, sheep, and warhorses, the men seemed utterly exhausted from the long march and had no intention of forcing an assault on the mountain tonight. They had already lit campfires in the encampment and were roasting lamb to eat.

And in the direction of the Yellow River ford, a Han force of nearly a thousand men had lit torches and was besieging the Yangqu City outpost. They had no cannon, using wooden war carts as cover and firing at the ford city's defenders with muskets and bows.

The two sides traded blows back and forth. The defenders of the east city were building a pontoon bridge to reinforce the west city. It looked as though the ford city showed no signs of falling in the short term.

Most importantly, five messengers from the Dörbet tribe fought their way through the enemy encampment zone at the risk of their lives. One soldier broke through the enemy siege camp, threw himself into the seventy- to eighty-pace-wide Yellow River, and was finally fished out by the Khoshut defenders on the opposite bank — delivering Dalai Taiji's surrounded plea for help to the other side.

In the flickering firelight, Dalai Taiji clenched his fists and rallied the Dörbet princes seated around him: "Hold out for two days, and we will surely return to the Tianshan Mountains!"