lcionline Chapter 621 Outside Yongding Gate
Chapter 621 Outside Yongding Gate
Liu Ye welcomed any kind of collaborator, as having such people saved him a lot of effort. He smiled and patted Wang Dahai on the shoulder, encouraging him, "You're a promising young man, destined for greatness. Your departure might create a position for you, so make the most of it!"
Wang Dahai was several years older than Liu Ye, but he bowed and scraped as he accepted the pat with obvious relish, like a junior listening to the teachings of an elder. Hearing Liu Ye's "well-intentioned" suggestion, he felt a sense of relief and was overjoyed. Although with his abilities and connections, succeeding as a general was a pipe dream, a promotion to deputy general was still worth working hard to achieve. Unexpectedly, Wang Hong's incident turned into his opportunity.
With the defection of Wang Dahai and others, Jinghai County, which was originally shrouded in gloom, escaped unscathed. Qionghai Army dragged the cannons back to their positions and set off for the capital with Panda, Wang Hong and others.
Liu Ye settled scores in Tianjin. Abatai had already fled all the way back to the north, not daring to rest along the way. Many warhorses died, and many bondservants without horses fell behind halfway. By the time they reached Shunyi and joined forces with Ajige, only about 6,000 men remained.
Ajige's main base was located in Shunyi. Apart from the troops stationed around the capital to defend the emperor, there was no force in the vicinity of Beizhili capable of resisting the Later Jin army. Ajige conquered more than ten prefectures and counties, including Changping, winning all fifty-six battles, large and small, capturing over ten thousand people and livestock, enjoying unparalleled prestige. Just as he was basking in his glory, Ajige heard that Abatai had suffered a defeat and returned in disgrace, and he gloated as he came to visit him.
Upon arriving at Abatai's camp, all that could be seen were wounded soldiers and exhausted, dying warhorses; there were no chests of goods or Han Chinese people to be found.
Ajige entered Abatai's central army tent and saw that his renowned seventh brother, known for his bravery, was asleep in a chair, still wearing his armor. However, Abatai was very alert and woke up at the sound of footsteps, opening his bloodshot eyes to look at Ajige.
"Tsk tsk, what's wrong with Seventh Brother? You risked violating military discipline and sneaked into Shandong. You should have returned with a full load, but how come you came back empty-handed? Where are your valuables and your family? Judging from the situation outside, you must have suffered a defeat."
Faced with his younger brother's mockery, Abatai was extremely frustrated. He replied in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Prince Ying. I suffered a defeat in Shandong, losing all my wealth and people, and more than half of my men..."
"Losing more than half of our troops?" Ajige was taken aback. Abatai's deviation from the route and unauthorized entry into Shandong was already a violation of military discipline, and as the commander-in-chief of this military operation, he had the authority to punish him. However, suffering a crushing defeat with more than half the troops lost was beyond his control; it had to be dealt with personally by the Great Khan. The Later Jin dynasty was short-handed, and training a qualified soldier was not easy; every lost Niru (unit of military unit) was a heavy blow to the Later Jin. Losing nearly ten thousand men at once undoubtedly made them the culprits of the Later Jin, even if most of them were Han Chinese or other cannon fodder units.
If Abatai is punished for this, it would be normal to strip him of his princely title, and Ajige, as the commander-in-chief, would probably also be implicated. He had no time to mock the other party and quickly asked, "How many troops did the Ming dogs mobilize? Did they bring Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangshan?"
In Ajige's view, the Ming army inside the Great Wall lacked the strength to resist the Later Jin army. The only forces that posed a threat were the various bandit-suppression armies under the command of Hong Chengchou, the governor of five provinces, and Lu Xiangshan's Tianxiong Army. The only explanation for the devastating defeat inflicted on the battle-hardened Abatai was the combined forces of these two armies.
Abatai replied bitterly, "It wasn't Hong Chengchou, nor Lu Xiangshan, but a general from Guangdong, whose troops were similar in strength to mine..."
"Pfft..." Ajige, who was initially a little nervous, couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Seventh Brother, don't joke around. The Ming dogs have very few troops capable of fighting. I've never heard of a Guangdong army that can rival the Jin warriors. What kind of place is Guangdong? According to Fan Wencheng and those Han people, Guangdong is the southernmost, malarial land of the Ming Dynasty, where not a blade of grass grows. People from such a place might not even have enough to eat, let alone the strength to come to the north to fight?"
The Ming Dynasty had a vast territory, while the Later Jin were a relatively new civilization with little knowledge of the lands south of the Yangtze River. They only knew bits and pieces of information from surrendered Han Chinese, which were then spread through misinformation. In Ajige's eyes, Guangdong at that time was nothing more than a barbaric land filled with miasma. The idea that people from such a place could defeat the warriors of the Later Jin was, in Ajige's view, an absurd joke.
Abatai had no time to argue, and simply said, "If Prince Ying doesn't believe me, there's nothing I can do. If you see me on the battlefield one day, you'll understand that what I said is true."
Upon hearing Abatai's words, Ajige concluded that he was merely fabricating a lie to cover up his mistakes, and that he was too guilty to defend himself. He felt relieved, realizing that after the Battle of Hunhe, there was no army capable of directly confronting and inflicting a crushing defeat on the Jin warriors.
"Seventh Brother, if you don't tell the truth, even Twelfth Brother can't help you. Go back inside the pass and explain to the Khan yourself!"
After saying that, Ajige turned and left the tent. When he reached the door, he paused for a moment. "Three days later, we will leave Shunyi, go east through Tongzhou, and return to the interior from Lengkou. When we pass through the Ming capital, we will give your men a good talking-to and not let the Ming dogs laugh at us."
After Ajige left, Gartu whispered to Abatai, "The Prince of Ying has gone too far..."
Abatai closed his eyes, suppressing his anger, and slowly said, "The victor is king, the loser is villain. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't say anything nice either. But we suffered a defeat, so let's just bear with it..."
Three days later, the Qionghai Army arrived at Yongding Gate, south of the capital.
Compared to when Lin San arrived, Yongding Gate was now bustling with activity. Several large armies were stationed outside the city, with tents stretching as far as the eye could see. When someone went up to inquire, it turned out that the troops were coming to the capital from Shanxi, Xuanfu, Datong and other places to support the emperor.
Blocking the official road leading to Yongding Gate were the troops of Wang Pu, the General of Datong. Liu Ye ordered Qin Tian to go forward and negotiate with them to make way so that the Qionghai Army could enter the city through Yongding Gate, but they refused.
A garrison commander from Datong Town arrogantly said to Qin Tian, "You're here to support the emperor, aren't you? Don't you know the rules? Everyone else is camping outside the city. What right do you have to come in and enjoy yourself? Even if you're camping, there's a first-come, first-served rule. We've taken this spot. You can find another place to the west or east!"
Qin Tian secretly placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and said in a deep voice, "We are not here to serve the emperor, nor are we going to fight you for territory. Tell your leader to make way for us so we can enter the city."