Chapter 468: Land

At noon on the twelfth day of the third month, in the Mobile Corps General's residence at Jiayu Pass, Ding Guodong listened to his subordinate's military intelligence report.

The messenger was a soldier stationed on Turtle Cap Mountain east of the Hanging Wall, reporting that an army of over three thousand from the Marshal's Command had approached the city wall through the trench and had begun chiseling at it.

Hearing this news, Ding Guodong's face showed no surprise; on the contrary, his demeanor was extremely calm. He simply held his tea bowl and said, "Understood. Go back and keep watching. Tell your centurion to withdraw as ordered — good wine and meat are prepared at the pass."

The reporting soldier also showed no panic, his expression one of taking it for granted. After saluting, he withdrew joyfully.

The rumble of cannon fire outside the pass continued unabated. After the soldier left, Ding Guodong took another sip of tea, sighed softly, and rose to pace slowly through the Mobile Corps General's residence.

All his subordinates had been dispatched by him; this mansion felt far too empty.

The few days Jiayu Pass had been besieged felt longer than three hundred years to Ding Guodong, and his state of mind had shifted again and again — from an initial eagerness to give battle, to later pinning his hopes on holding firm and awaiting relief. It changed almost daily.

He had just taken two paces when the sound of heavy footsteps came from outside the government hall — thud, thud, thud. That weighty noise was unmistakably Hei Chengyin, the Suzhou Guard battalion commander.

As Ding Guodong turned his head, sure enough, Hei Chengyin entered the hall carrying his tasseled helmet under his arm. He was about to salute when Ding Guodong stopped him: "Skip it. Report."

Hei Chengyin tucked his helmet under his arm, clasped his fist, and said, "General, Zhao Zhirui has been defeated."

The garrison of Jiayu Pass harbored resentment toward Suzhou Mobile Corps Vice Commander Zhao Zhirui. All soldiers in Gansu were border defense troops, and the soldiers stationed from Chijin Fort to Jiayu Pass were border defense troops among border defense troops.

Strategically, every border defense soldier knew the duty they bore was not to achieve victory. The sacred mission on their shoulders was to use their lives in wartime to delay the enemy's advance into the interior — stalling for one hour, two hours, one day, two days… until the rear was ready to meet the foe.

When the great battle came, the border defense troops would not live to see the day of victory. People had garrisoned this place for generations; every male of every generation knew that they would ultimately become a single line in the history books: In the spring of the seventh year of the Chongzhen reign, the bandit army pressed the city. Jiayu Pass fell. Mobile Corps General Ding Guodong and all below him died for their country.

Every last man in the garrison thought there was nothing wrong with this.

But you, Zhao Zhirui, as the commanding officer — Jiayu Pass is under siege, you had to come relieve us, didn't you? Where are your men!

"Do not address him by name."

Ding Guodong still held respect for his direct superior. Hearing this news, his face still showed no great fluctuation. He asked, "How was he defeated?"

"Unknown. The field dispatch only says he divided his forces. The Suzhou Battalion cavalry was routed in the great desert of Malian Beach. The bandit who defeated him is called Zhang Tianlin."

Hei Chengyin paused, then said, "Right now, apart from the military households in Suzhou city, only Battalion Commander Mi Layin remains, besieged at Linshui Relay Station… There are no relief troops."

"None, then, so be it." Ding Guodong gritted his teeth slightly, then turned and asked, "How goes the scorched-earth withdrawal?"

Liu Chengzong's siege preparations outside the pass had not frightened Ding Guodong. From the very beginning, he knew Jiayu Pass would most likely not escape the outcome of relief being cut off and the city falling, so he simply made no harassing moves against the besieging army, instead using the time the enemy spent preparing their assault to wholeheartedly carry out a scorched-earth withdrawal.

What he was clearing out was not the land beyond the pass — outside Jiayu Pass there was nothing but Chijin Fort and Shanma City. Ding Guodong was clearing the land inside the pass. He ordered his troops to haul every edible thing, every dismantlable thing, every usable thing from the surrounding area into the pass.

If there was no room inside the pass, they were to transport it to Suzhou city. In short, nothing was to be left for the army outside the walls.

Even Ding Guodong himself could not clearly say what mental state he was in when he gave such an order. To say he wanted to fight to the death — he actually lacked the firm resolve to do so; to say he thought of surrendering to the enemy — he absolutely had no such thought either.

He only knew that he was the Great Ming's Mobile Corps General of Jiayu Pass.

The cellars on the pass were piled with grain as never before, the inside of the gate fort was packed with defensive equipment, and doing everything possible so that the eight hundred soldiers in this tiny, isolated fortress all had the tottering Ming-character banner fluttering above their heads — that was his duty.

"Still half a day needed." Hei Chengyin drew a deep breath and spoke at length to Ding Guodong: "The Foolish Khan has sent men below the pass to demand surrender again. Still that same hard message wrapped in soft words, saying his military campaign aims to seize the entire Hexi Corridor, and if he can't even take Jiayu Pass, he won't march. He told the General to consider it carefully."

Having said this, Hei Chengyin turned his head and cursed under his breath, not even knowing himself whom exactly he meant to curse.

They were all military officers who spent their days tempering their strength, their bodies corded with muscle — not one of them had a good temper. Trapped inside the pass fort and forced to listen to surrender demands day after day, even a clay figurine would have a spark of fury.

After cursing, he clasped his fist toward Ding Guodong and said, "General, you should still go to Suzhou. The Hanging Wall will fall the moment they attack; we are powerless to stop it. We can only hold the pass to the death. Suzhou still has a chance."

For the first time, an expression appeared on Ding Guodong's placid face. He gave a scornful laugh: "I am the defending general of Jiayu Pass, not the defending general of Suzhou… We have grain now. Let the brothers eat and drink well. The pass stands as long as I stand. For everything else, let heaven decide the outcome."

Seeing he could not be persuaded, Hei Chengyin said no more. He cast one last look at the map spread across the main hall of the Mobile Corps General's residence, sighed, and took his leave.

On that map, Ding Guodong had placed wooden figurines everywhere based on field dispatches, even using short cords to trace the enemy's and his own army's marching routes. The whole of Gansu, north, south, east, and west, was crisscrossed by enemy forces advancing and retreating; enemies were on all sides, yet their own main army was turtled up like a living bastard eight hundred li away in Liangzhou.

For Ding Guodong and Hei Chengyin, they had seen in field dispatches more than once other generals describing Liu Chengzong's command style as often using sheer momentum to overwhelm opponents, but in the past no one understood what that meant, attributing it merely to the Marshal's Command army's valor and ferocity.

But only now did they understand that the Marshal's Command army's frequent victories against Ming forces were not because the Marshal's Command army was shrewd and disciplined, but because Liu Chengzong was skilled at warfare.

It is said that the truly skilled warrior achieves no dazzling merit. The Marshal's Command's use of troops held no startling ingenuity, and its generals had no uncanny stratagems for outwitting the foe. They simply struck the right opponent at the right time, step by step pushing their adversary toward despair. To march was to defeat an opponent already in a losing position, on a foundation of certain victory.

Mobile Corps General Ding Guodong had actually already grasped something. On this battlefield that had lasted several days, though there had been no real close-quarters combat, he could clearly feel Liu Chengzong attacking.

The encampment outside the pass was an attack; the roaring cannons were an attack; the dug trench was an attack; and Zhang Tianlin, rampaging unchecked inside the pass, smashing armies and destroying camps, was also Liu Chengzong's attack.

These silent, motionless attacks seized all initiative on the battlefield, confining his army to the pass, unable to take any further action.

In other words, it was only when the Jiayu Pass garrison no longer had any chance to strike back that Ding Guodong suddenly realized: Liu Chengzong's target of attack was not this Jiayu Pass. The target of every tangible action was his will.

From the moment he decided to leave a path of retreat and not use the greatest advantage Suzhou had — its fire oil — he had fallen for the stratagem of "surround three sides, leave one open." Only this time, what was surrounded was not three city gates, but himself.

Realizing it too late, the Jiayu Pass garrison was already fish meat on the chopping board, utterly powerless to counterattack.

That very night, the two armies besieging and defending Jiayu Pass shared an unspoken, tacit understanding.

As the garrison transported the last batch of provisions from White Deer Granary east of the gate fort into the city, cavalry subsequently fanned out to warn the commoners within Jiayu Pass's border wall that the wall was about to be breached. Along the way, monks and commoners alike hurriedly drove their carts, carrying their luggage, fleeing with their entire families toward Suzhou city and the wilderness.

Afterward, the garrison on the Hanging Wall to the south contracted their defensive line, pulled down the Ming army banners from the wall, abandoned the defense of the long stretch of wall, and, shouldering their flags and holding torches, marched in formation from the Hanging Wall back to the gate fort.

The Marshal's Command army besieging Jiayu Pass turned a blind eye to this and did not seize the moment to shell the marching soldiers on the Hanging Wall.

Atop the earthen mound, Liu Chengzong, like the soldiers in the trench leaning against their heavy muskets, ate pickled vegetables, dried meat, and fried noodles, quietly watching the Ming-character army banners withdraw from the defensive line.

Once those banners had fully entered Jiayu Pass, a smile appeared on Liu Chengzong's face. The defending general's will to fight had been shattered. From the moment the Ming army withdrew from the Hanging Wall, it signified that the defending general was tacitly permitting the Marshal's Command army to enter the pass.

He descended the earthen mound, walking toward the command tent while ordering his bodyguards to summon the officers of his nine battalions for a council.

Of the nine battalions besieging the city, only five belonged to Liu Chengzong's main force; the other four were the Tianshan Army, soon to depart for the Oirat lands.

"The campaign has gone more smoothly than our preparations. The Marshal's Command's five battalions are about to enter the pass."

Once all the battalion commanders had hurriedly assembled in the command tent, Liu Chengzong came straight to the point with that statement, then said: "Commanders of the Right Brigade, receive your orders."

"Your generals await!"

Yang Yao, leading Gao Yingdeng and Wei Qian'er, stepped forward and saluted. They heard Liu Chengzong say: "I order your Left Battalion Mobile Corps Vice Commander Gao Yingdeng to blow open the Hanging Wall south of Turtle Cap Mountain tonight. The Tianshan Army will assist in clearing the rubble and transporting sand and earth. Advance first into the pass and proceed to besiege Suzhou."

Yang Yao immediately clasped his fist and accepted the order, then led his two subordinates back to stand at the side.

Liu Chengzong continued: "Cai Guan Right Battalion Mobile Corps Vice Commander Feng Rang, I order your battalion to enter the pass as the second wave. Sweep eastward and clear out the forts and stockades outside Suzhou Guard. Locate Zhang Tianlin's unit and coordinate with him to push the battle line eastward to Gaotai Battalion."

Feng Rang likewise accepted the order. Huang Shengxiao, standing not far away, looked left and right, then toward Liu Chengzong, his expression all too obvious — he was clearly anxious to know his own assignment.

Liu Chengzong let out a laugh and said, "Cai Guan Left Battalion Mobile Corps Vice Commander Huang Shengxiao, your battalion will serve as the rear guard. Continue besieging the Jiayu Pass garrison and cast cannonballs at Chijin Guard. Once the vanguard captures Suzhou city, move into the guard city and begin casting cannons at full speed."

Huang Shengxiao stepped forward, clasped his fist, and accepted the order, regretting for the first time his own versatility. Compared to serving as the rear guard casting cannons in Suzhou, he far preferred to lead his troops as the vanguard.

But as it happened, among all the Mobile Corps Vice Commanders in the Marshal's Command, he was the only one who could cast cannons. This mission could not be foisted onto anyone else even if he wanted to.

Liu Chengzong saw Huang Xiao's disappointment and admonished him, "Your unit's responsibility is no smaller than anyone else's — if anything, it's greater. You come from the garrison troops. The surrendered soldiers and military households of Suzhou Guard must be reorganized for our use as quickly as possible. Once the main army advances, the rear cannot afford any disorder."

Huang Shengyu hurriedly saluted. "Rest assured, Grand Marshal, I will keep Suzhou secure!"

The commanders of the Central Army's Tiger Guard Camp needed no further words — they would all advance with Liu Chengzong. It was the Dzungar's Batur Khong Tayiji who asked, "Great Khan, what of our four camps?"

The four camps Batur Khong Tayiji spoke of were the two newly formed Tianshan Camps under Liu Chengzu's Marshal's Headquarters, and two camps reorganized from the remnants of the Oirat nobility.

In truth, for Batur Khong Tayiji, this campaign of the Marshal's Headquarters entering the pass was a war he had to witness — it held tremendous significance for the Oirat, or more precisely, for the Dzungar.

With the failure of this Khoshut-led invasion of Qinghai, the Oirat alliance — centered on Dzungar-occupied Ili and Khoshut-occupied Urumqi — had suffered a severe blow. The old balance was shattered. Among the nobles of the four-tribe allied army returning to the Oirat lands, the Dzungar were the majority. Batur Khong Tayiji was that war's greatest winner.

The Dzungar tribe's rise on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains had become unstoppable.

But for Batur Khong Tayiji, one question remained unresolved: when he returned to the Tianshan, would his status be Batur Khong Tayiji, leader of the Oirat, or Baron Ba Du of the Marshal's Headquarters?

The Marshal's Headquarters was certainly mighty and imposing, but after all, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. From Xining through Golmud to Suzhou was two thousand li; from Suzhou through Hami to Urumqi was another two thousand li.

The world runs on strength. Batur Khong Tayiji had received much courteous treatment at the Marshal's Headquarters, but in the end, his status was no more than a captive, lacking leverage in any negotiation. That was why he agreed to every demand Liu Chengzong made — as long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of running out of firewood. Whether any of this would still count once he returned to the Tianshan — that all depended on the Battle of Jiayu Pass.

If Liu Chengzong could enter Jiayu Pass smoothly, then in a few years the Marshal's Headquarters' army could just as easily march out from Jiayu Pass and take Urumqi. In that case, whether Batur wanted it or not, he would have to be Baron Ba Du of the Marshal's Headquarters.

Conversely, if the Marshal's Headquarters could not take Jiayu Pass from the outside, then the journey from Xining to the northern Tianshan slopes would be a full four thousand li. In that case, all the Marshal's Headquarters could offer him would be weapons and equipment obtained through trade. Whether he wanted it or not, in the end he could only be his own Oirat leader.

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Now the situation was clear. Batur Khong Tayiji felt a reassuring certainty settle in his heart. Nothing left to make him waver or hesitate. Naturally, he wanted to ask Great Khan Liu when he intended for them to set out.

Liu Chengzong understood this perfectly well. He smiled. "Don't be in a hurry. Wait until I've entered the pass, then you can prepare to break camp."

Not long into that night, the Marshal's Headquarters soldiers below the earthen hill lit torches and waved signal flags. In mere moments, three signal fire arrows rose into the night sky beyond Jiayu Pass.

A quarter-hour later, several thunderous blasts erupted from the suspended wall south of Turtle Cap Mountain. A massive flash of light flared and vanished against the night. A three-zhang-wide section of the city wall was violently heaved upward as if an earth dragon were turning over, shattered bricks and hardened mud spraying down.

Amidst sky-shaking cheers and battle cries, the great road to Gansu for the Marshal's Headquarters' expeditionary army blasted open with a roar.

Gao Yingdeng's troops dismounted as one, donned armor, took up weapons, and scaled the breach, racing to leap into Gansu territory and splitting into small squads to guard against Ming surprise attacks. The Tianshan Army, which had rested all day, bustled into motion once more through the night.

Under the protection of Liu Chengzu's Tianshan Guard troops, the three thousand Oirat soldiers of the Dzungar Camp worked through the night clearing broken bricks and hauling sand and earth, laboring with fiery zeal.

By daybreak, the horns in the great camp beyond Jiayu Pass rose and fell in waves. Below Turtle Cap Mountain, the utterly blasted three-zhang breach had been filled into a ramp wide enough for horses to gallop. The various camps of the Marshal's Headquarters rolled up their banners and marched out of camp.

Beneath the earthen hill, column after column of soldiers raised their banners high, crossing the Great Wall and advancing into Gansu. Liu Chengzong held a wine bowl, toasting and clashing bowls with Liu Chengzu, Batur Khong Tayiji, and the others, bidding a reluctant farewell.

Liu Chengzong admonished them, "Entering the pass is imminent. All of you journeying far to the Tianshan are my elder brothers — take care. I'll spare you the sentimental words. Since we have already stood together, and peasants and herders suffer too bitterly in this world — you are all men of resolve, so I'm sure you know the reason why."

"The cold is coming. We need more land to raise sheep and plant crops. Whether that land belonged to the Tang dynasty or the Yuan dynasty, whether it belonged to an emperor or a khan — take back the land of our ancestors, all of it."