Chapter 618: Cutting Off the Rear

The Great Temple of Guihua City.

In the main Buddha hall, beneath the silver Buddha statue.

Erinchen, Jinong of the Ordos, burned incense and prostrated himself in utter devotion.

Ombu, Taiji of the Tumed, wore a jeweled cap atop his head and fingered prayer beads as he paced back and forth within the hall, his expression restless and uneasy.

And Chetu Taiji of the Yunzhong Garrison... this fellow was on a completely different wavelength from the others.

He wore a fully donned Northern Yuan-style cloth-faced armor, had set aside his swastika-inscribed helmet, and was seated in a folding chair tending a charcoal fire, using a Marshal's Manor military-issue small pot to boil mutton, washing it down with butter tea and eating with immense relish — drawing frequent sidelong glances from Sacang Taiji beside Erinchen.

Looking was useless.

Chetu Taiji had just withdrawn from the Jining front to the east; nothing under heaven was more important than filling his belly.

Sacang Taiji was not reproaching him for irreverence toward the Buddha. The Central Plains monks' vegetarianism originated with Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern Dynasties — they had no such precepts here. Besides, in these times, which of their military nobles did not take life?

He was simply curious about the change that had come over Chetu Taiji.

He had known Chetu in the past, knew him to be an exceedingly optimistic and easygoing Northern Yuan prince. He had no idea what exactly had happened on Ligdan Khan's journey to Qinghai to turn Chetu Taiji into the earnest, stern, and unsmiling figure he was now.

Chetu Taiji was not being stern — he was merely waiting for Yang Qi, while still immersed in his own world... He had fought the Later Jin!

His elder brother Ligdan Khan had spent half his life bristling at the Later Jin but had never once fought them in earnest, whereas Chetu Taiji, this time serving as Chief Commander of Yanmen Garrison, had truly and genuinely clashed with Later Jin troops.

Though they were only a few small-scale skirmishes between scouts, mounted patrols, and outpost soldiers — all told, the combined dead, wounded, missing, and captured on both sides did not even reach three hundred.

Yet for Chetu Taiji, this was an indescribably enormous step forward.

Even a full day after leaving the battlefield, he still could not suppress the excitement in his heart.

He was keeping a rigidly straight face solely to stop himself from grinning like a fool.

Just then, from outside the hall came the strange accents of Dzungar guards announcing in relay, drawing near from afar: "The Commander of Monan has arrived!"

Then the crisp, rhythmic clank of armor sounded from the long corridor as Yang Qi, flanked by Wang Cheng'en, Hu Sanhuai, Bai Wenxuan, and others, filed into the Buddha hall.

"Keep eating."

The moment Yang Qi entered the main hall, he swept his gaze over the assembly, first spoke a word to Chetu Taiji, and only then, amid the salutes of Erinchen, Ombu, Sacang, and the rest, walked beneath the silver Buddha, turned to face them, and said: "Three pieces of news."

"First, the sixty chiliarchies and forty-seven centurions of Yanmen Garrison have withdrawn with all their tribal followers into Yunzhong, and are withdrawing further into Ordos."

"The eighty chiliarchies and ninety-four centurions north of the Yellow River are withdrawing in good order with their tribal followers, crossing the Yellow River, and will enter Ordos in two days. Sacang Chiliarch."

Yang Qi looked at Sacang Taiji. "Ordos is to temporarily plan their encampment zones. Organize each chiliarchy and centurion into thousand-man units. Should a general engagement become unavoidable, they must assemble and march to the battlefield as swiftly as possible."

Sacang placed a hand on his chest and bowed his head, accepting the order, then glanced at Erinchen, a look of pleasure in his eyes.

Clearly, Yang Qi was designating Ordos as the rear area for Monan's current incursion. A massive influx of population, livestock, and wealth pouring into Ordos in a short time, while inevitably causing some disruption and chaos among the tribes, would likewise bring great benefit to their territory.

After all, these were not a crowd of paupers, but a victorious army laden to the brim with plundered spoils of war.

Erinchen also saluted and said, "Commander, I shall issue ordinances as soon as I return, to prevent disorder among the many tribes."

"Issue them right here. If there are matters, have Sacang go back to handle them. I need to be able to find you at a moment's notice."

Yang Qi waved his hand, then said directly: "Second piece of news. The situation in the east is amiss. Chief Commander Chetu of Yanmen Garrison earlier clashed several times with Later Jin vanguard scouts. Chief Commander He of Shuofang Garrison has now taken over the defense of the Daqing Mountains and has likewise clashed several times. Far too restrained."

"Our army sought to ascertain the enemy's troop strength and intelligence. According to prisoner confessions, the enemy commander-in-chief is Dorgon, Minister of Personnel of the Later Jin State, leading an expedition of fifty thousand troops. I do not believe it."

"Yet our outpost soldiers have clashed over ten times at Jining. Apart from Chetu Taiji once breaking through the blockade and sighting a detached force of over ten thousand, they have since been utterly unable to probe out clear intelligence, knowing only that the enemy has one battalion garrisoned at Jining."

"However, Dorgon sent a man yesterday to deliver a letter of challenge, claiming he has a great army of thirty thousand and inviting me to a pitched battle at Jining in four days."

Having said this, Yang Qi's gaze swept over Erinchen, Ombu, and the others. He asked: "In your past engagements with the Later Jin, has there ever been a case of them delivering a formal challenge like this?"

Erinchen and Ombu looked at each other, utterly baffled.

The former was thinking: I've never fought the Later Jin.

The latter was thinking: I've seen a Later Jin letter of surrender — does that count as a letter of challenge?

Seeing their expressions, Yang Qi understood at once. He shook his head and said: "During the Battle of Sarhu, when Military Commissioner Yang divided the great army into four routes, he could not conceal the movement from the Jurchen villages along the way, so he issued a letter of challenge declaring that on the fifteenth of the third month, four hundred seventy thousand troops in eight columns would advance to exterminate them."

"The actual aim was to dispatch four routes at the end of the second month, to confuse the enemy."

"At present, our army needs time to prepare. The Jin army has come from afar — their troops are weary, their provisions strained. By all common logic, Dorgon ought to be pressing his advance urgently, not issuing a letter of challenge that grants us breathing room to repair our ramparts."

At this point, Yang Qi stated his conclusion: "I believe that by the day we received the letter of challenge, Dorgon was already no longer at Jining."

"No longer at Jining?"

Chetu Taiji had indeed not considered this angle at first. Now that Yang Qi raised it, he furrowed his brow in thought, and after a moment asked: "Commander, could it be that what I saw was the Later Jin main force?"

In the earlier skirmishes, Chetu Taiji's Yanmen Battalion had briefly broken through the Later Jin scout screen, though that had seemed more like a feint by the Later Jin troops.

Because in small-scale combat, Chetu Taiji's Mongol cavalry held an advantage over the Later Jin soldiers.

But this was dictated by tactics. Mongol cavalry, when clashing and charging formations, habitually placed their elite troops in front and the old and weak behind, giving them formidable breakthrough power in short engagements — yet once the initial assault was checked, they could only seek another opportunity.

The Later Jin army, by contrast, habitually placed the old and weak — banner slaves, penal soldiers — in front and their elite behind, giving them stronger sustained offensive capability.

So Chetu Taiji had always assumed that in that battle, he had broken through the enemy defense line and thus sighted the enemy's detached force.

But it was more likely that he had been tied down by an enemy decoy, while the main enemy force was rapidly advancing toward him, preparing to outflank, encircle, and devour him.

Fortunately, he had fought quickly, spotted the enemy main body on the move, turned around, and withdrawn straight back to the Daqing Mountains — thus saving his own life.

At this thought, Chetu Taiji's expression turned grim.

The truth is always a sharp blade.

As for Chetu Taiji's conjecture, Yang Qi could not say for certain.

For his own part, when it came to enemy troop strength, one could only estimate high, never guess low.

Therefore he said: "Whether they come raiding with over ten thousand troops, challenging battle with thirty thousand, or pressing in with a full fifty thousand — we shall treat it as so much wind. True or false, I will not accept Dorgon's challenge."

"So Chief Commander He will continue to hold the Daqing Mountains defense line and need not attend this council of war. As for the rest of you, each has your own mission."

"Chief Commander Chetu of Yanmen, from this day forward, lead your troops to patrol Wuchuan. Ombu Taiji, dispatch Tumed cavalry to patrol Fengzhou Beach, advancing a hundred li to probe enemy movements."

"Chief Commander Wang Cheng'en of Wuyuan, lead your troops to establish beacon towers along the Yin Mountains. Prepare for both contingencies — guard against the north of the mountains, and stand ready to support the south."

"Should any of your forces encounter the enemy, prioritize ascertaining their strength and position. Engage only when you outnumber the enemy twofold — then swarm them and fight a quick, decisive battle. If your strength is insufficient, report back at once and withdraw to safe ground."

Having issued his military orders to the several chief commanders, Yang Qi then addressed them all: "The crux of this campaign is not annihilating the enemy. If we safeguard the population and livestock seized by the Mongol hereditary lords in their eastern campaign against the Kharchin, we shall stand on invincible ground."

Keep good men company and you shall be of the number; keep bad men company and you shall be far from it.

Over these past few years, his identity had changed multiple times, and that had profoundly reshaped Yang Yao's way of thinking.

He was no longer a Regional Commander of the Great Ming, and the meaning of military action was no longer about following orders — defending an assigned sector or chasing down a few bands of bandits.

How to put it.

A Regional Commander himself needs a brain, but a Regional Commander of the Chongzhen era did not.

Stationed along the border walls or in an assigned sector inland, whenever the northern caitiffs, the eastern caitiffs, or the roving bandits came, he had to muster however many men and horses he could muster, charge up and block them, fight them, hold them, chase them, cut them off.

Otherwise, in the blink of an eye, he would be dragged off in disgrace to rot in a dungeon, bearing the shame of a routed army and the guilt of ravaged common folk.

But now, with no superior to constrain him, and deeply influenced by Liu Chengzong's thinking on "national war," he could seriously ponder matters at a deeper level.

For example: the purpose of war, and the meaning of war.

From this angle, Yang Yao found it easier to grasp the current situation.

The Marshal's Command and the Later Jin were like two giants wantonly hurling their strength across the land.

But the distance between them was too great — even if they twisted their bodies and stretched their arms to the limit, all they could do was fight with two fingers at Guihua City.

Whoever came here was an arrow at the end of its flight.

Liu Chengzong, who had carved out a domain in the northwest, could project no more influence in Monan than leaving behind a bunch of orphans and beggars who could barely feed themselves.

And Hong Taiji, whose might shook the northeast, could only manage a Monan summer camp each year when the Liao River thawed — setting out in spring and having to return to Shenyang by autumn.

Whoever could endure here for the long term, he alone would be the true and undisputed king of the saddle.

So for Yang Yao, killing the enemy did not matter; the Yinshan defense line did not matter; Guihua City did not matter; the Yellow River line did not matter either.

The Monan Protectorate simply had no ground that must be contested at any cost.

There was only one thing of meaning: the Mongol population that had submitted or been seized, the livestock, the provisions, and the wealth.

The bar for victory was very low — if he could make the Later Jin army return empty-handed, that would be a great victory for him.

What Yang Yao never expected, however, was that as his orders went out, the Tümed taiji Ombu's face would shift again and again.

At last, his expression grim, Ombu asked Yang Yao, "Does the Protector-General mean… to abandon the city?"

The Marshal's Command had only one city in Monan: Guihua City.

And the symbol of the Tümed tribe was precisely this Guihua City, built by Altan Khan.

Ombu understood clearly — Yang Yao had no intention of fighting the Later Jin army to the death; instead, he wanted to move all the wealth, population, and livestock to Ordos, hoping the Later Jin army would withdraw on its own.

Yang Yao's face was impassive, as if Guihua City were something easily cast aside. He nodded and said, "If necessary, we abandon the city. So be it."

The look he gave Ombu even carried a trace of mockery and surprise.

He thought to himself: I, a Han Grand Protector-General, don't care about a city — how is it that you, a Borjigin, are so precious about your pots and jars?

But that was precisely the crux of the matter.

Compared to Yang Yao, who had spent these years roaming the northwest with Liu Chengzong and had even gone so far as to put down roots in Monan, the Tümed taiji Ombu was in truth more of a settler.

All his life, Ombu had been like a settled ruler, never leaving the bounds of the Tümed tribe. The few battles he had commanded in his life had all revolved around Guihua City.

And he had left Guihua City only once.

That was when Ligdan Khan marched west. Ombu could not match his strength and had no choice but to lead his troops out into the open steppe, only to be dragged back out of the grasslands after the Later Jin army occupied Guihua City.

That crushing defeat had shattered the vitality of the Tümed tribe. The remnant population was too small to sustain the prestige of Boshuoketu Khan, and they lost their illustrious standing as contenders for Monan.

Ombu did not want to suffer that kind of defeat again.

In truth, he was well aware that as a Mongol noble who had surrendered to the Later Jin and then defected to the Marshal's Command, if the Later Jin captured him again, they would absolutely not spare his life a second time.

Conversely, if he lost Guihua City and the Tümed tribe… Ombu felt he would then hold no value whatsoever for Liu Chengzong.

So he rose, walked through the gathering until he stood face to face with Yang Yao, and then saluted him. "Protector-General Yang, if there is any possibility of a decisive battle, Guihua City must not be abandoned under any circumstances. If we are to fight on the Fengzhou Plain, my Tümed tribe is willing to commit three thousand riders as the vanguard, mass the army, and give them battle."

Ombu spoke with fervor, but to his surprise, a derisive snort sounded beside him at the most inopportune moment.

It was Taiji Shaktu.

"No problem — you're the vanguard, I approve!"

Taiji Shaktu had never had a kind face for Ombu.

Because during Ligdan Khan's western campaign, the Khan had been jointly attacked by the Tümed tribes that had rebelled against him.

Taiji Shaktu had always looked down on Ombu, and now, hearing him make this impassioned speech about being the vanguard, he was both furious and amused.

The fury, of course, came from the fact that the first to clash with the Later Jin had clearly been his own Yanmen Garrison troops — so what kind of vanguard was Ombu supposed to be?

And the amusement came from… well, the Tümed tribe, now left with just over three thousand able-bodied men, truly could not field any decent crack troops. If it really came to a fight, they would probably struggle to beat even thirty Monan chiliarchs.

Even Erinchen looked at Ombu with a measure of sympathy.

To be honest, he understood Ombu very well.

Ombu was the fallen khan of the Tümed, a man who chafed under others' authority yet thought highly of himself.

During his brief time of surrender to the Later Jin, the Tümed army had been almost entirely placed under the command of Mongol generals subordinate to the Eight Banners, and the Later Jin's supervision of Guihua City could only be described as watertight and relentless.

Having endured that harsh period of strict control by the Later Jin nobility, with few trustworthy men around him, even now that he had defected to the Marshal's Command, he still felt a deep and gnawing insecurity and wanted to keep a death grip on Guihua City and his tribesmen.

Erinchen's own status was similar to his. Had he not had the history-savvy Taiji Sachen by his side, he feared he would be just like Ombu right now — frantic and jumping up and down in desperation.

But in truth, Erinchen knew perfectly well that Liu Chengzong, this Han khan, was far more tolerant of them, the Northern Yuan royal house, than Hong Taiji, that Sure Khan, had ever been.

Because Liu Chengzong, far from being wary of them the way Hong Taiji was — Erinchen felt that Liu Chengzong did not even care about them.

The Marshal's Command viewed them, the Borjigins, with almost no difference from how it viewed ordinary officers and tribesmen.

When all was said and done, even Erinchen the Jinong had to admit: Liu Chengzong was the true lord of the nomads, the most widely acclaimed khan under Heaven.

Too many Mongol nobles had sworn fealty to Liu Chengzong; too many Mongol soldiers fought for him; too many Mongol subjects pastured their herds under his rule.

To the north were the Marshal's Command's Oirats; to the south were the Marshal's Command's Khulochi. These two powerful pillars alone were enough to keep Liu Chengzong securely seated on the khan's throne as lord of the Mongols.

Such prestige was more than enough for Liu Chengzong to call a deer a horse and appoint anyone he pleased as the Tümed chieftain.

What was more, when it came to the Tümed alone, Liu Chengzong already had a sufficient pool of candidates in hand.

The Marshal's Residence had plenty of genuine Tümed taiji who had sworn allegiance from the start.

Take, for example, the three Huoluochi brothers, who lorded over the Tibetan lands. They were the great-grandsons of Dayan Khan's fourth son, Arsubolot. Their subordinate tribe was originally called the Dolon Tümed, an otog under the Tümed Tümen, one of the six tümens enfeoffed by Dayan Khan.

Those three noble lords of the Marshal's Residence could casually pluck a son from the mountains, rebuild the Tümed Tümen on the Fengzhou Plain, and it would still conform to tradition.

Liu Chengzong had no need to suspect them. In truth, in the entire vast Marshal's Residence, no one was irreplaceable except Liu Chengzong himself.

Soon, under Yang Qi's command, war banners unfurled across the Fengzhou Plain. Hundreds and thousands of mounted troops patrolled and scouted north and south of the Yin Mountains. In just two days, they found traces of the Later Jin army's movement.

Yang Qi's guess was correct. Just as he received Dorgon's letter challenging him to battle at Jining, Dorgon had already led his main army in a wide arc to the north, hurrying toward the pass between the Yin Mountains and the Lang Mountains.

The Chahar cavalry under Taiji Shaktu found traces of a large force's passage north of Wuchuan.

And those traces led all the way west. The chaotic hoofprints hammered heavily upon the heart of every commander in the Mobei Protectorate.

Because Yang Qi had deduced that Dorgon was not at Jining, and Dorgon had deduced Yang Qi's logistics supply line.

The Later Jin's target was almost ready to be named… the Ordos!

The Ordos, where the Mobei Protectorate had stockpiled all its grain, livestock, wealth, and population!