Chapter 112: Strategy and Command

Wang Manor, Datong. The Wang family’s intelligence network was no slower than the government’s. Almost the moment Wei Daben received word, Wang Pu was already informed that the rebel army had arrived at Bajiao Fortress. While Wei Daben, Zhang Zi’an, and the Prince of Dai were still deadlocked in their secret discussions, Wang Pu had already begun consulting with Zhen Youcai on how to defend Datong.

Defending Datong was Wang Pu’s duty, and no one else could possibly undertake it. Wang Pu had long maintained that even if the imperial court were to appoint someone else as the Regional Commander of Datong, he would have ways to render that person a mere figurehead. Only he, Wang Pu, could truly command the Datong border troops. In this corner of the world, Wang Pu—or rather, the Wang family—possessed that level of absolute confidence.

At this moment, Wang Pu and Zhen Youcai were hunched over a map, studying their strategy. Zhen Youcai pointed to a spot on the map and said, "General, look here. This is Bajiao Fortress. A few dozen miles ahead is Shuozhou. From Shuozhou, following the Sanggan River eastward for less than two hundred miles, you reach Laohekou. Then, from Laohekou, heading north along the Shili River for a few dozen miles, you arrive at Datong. The entire route is only about three hundred miles."

Wang Pu nodded, remaining silent.

Zhen Youcai continued, "Although it is already early April, the weather in Datong remains bitter. The ice on the major rivers has not yet thawed, allowing the rebel army to advance rapidly along the river valleys. In my humble opinion, they could reach Datong by the evening of the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Wang Pu asked, "So, we have three days to prepare?"

Zhen Youcai nodded. "That is about right."

Wang Pu then asked, "Youcai, if you were the Regional Commander of Datong, faced with an invasion by over a hundred thousand rebels, how would you defend the city?"

Zhen Youcai replied, "There is no other way but a scorched-earth policy."

"A scorched-earth policy?"

"Exactly! Relocate all the commoners of Datong Prefecture into the city, and gather all livestock and grain inside as well. The government can set up porridge stations to distribute daily rations. This way, the rebels won't find a single grain of rice. Without food, they will be forced to move on to other prefectures."

Wang Pu frowned. "You mean to move all the commoners into Datong city within three days? Is that even possible?"

Zhen Youcai explained, "It should be manageable. Excluding the tens of thousands of military households scattered along the border, the remaining hundred thousand or so residents are mostly distributed in the valleys of the Shili and Sanggan rivers. Most villages and towns are less than a hundred miles from Datong. Three days should be enough to relocate the vast majority of them."

Wang Pu asked, "With so many people seeking refuge in the city, is there enough food?"

Zhen Youcai calculated, "Assuming we move a hundred thousand people in, plus the existing thirty thousand residents and troops, the population will surge to one hundred and thirty thousand. If each person consumes half a catty of grain per day, we need at least sixty-five thousand catties, or about three hundred and fifty shi, daily. The eighty thousand shi of grain stored in the Wang Manor is enough to last for nine months."

Wang Pu said, "It seems the food supply is sufficient."

Zhen Youcai added, "I am, however, concerned about the twenty thousand shi of grain and over five million catties of cured meat stored at the Leigong Mountain camp. If that falls into the hands of the rebels, they could boil the meat with wild vegetables to stretch their supplies. If they hold out for two months, the wheat outside the city will ripen, and then we will be in serious trouble."

Wang Pu pondered this and shook his head. "The Leigong Mountain camp is a natural fortress; it is easy to defend and hard to attack, and it has its own water source. The rebels may not be able to take it. In a crisis, the troops there can threaten the rebels' rear and act as a pincer with Datong. We must not abandon it lightly."

Zhen Youcai grasped the point immediately and said respectfully, "General, your vision is far-reaching; I am nowhere near your level."

Wang Pu slowly stood up, looked outside the pavilion, and whispered, "The secret meeting at the prefectural office should be yielding results by now, shouldn't it?"

"General!" No sooner had Wang Pu finished speaking than the voice of Lü Liu sounded from outside. "Prefect Wei Daben of Datong requests an audience."

Wang Pu exchanged a glance with Zhen Youcai and chuckled. "Speak of the devil."

A mischievous smile appeared on Zhen Youcai's face. He whispered, "General, they are the ones begging us this time. The initiative is in our hands. You might as well demand a high price—make them hand over all the silver and grain from the Datong treasury. It would be best to make that old eunuch Zhang Zi’an and that miser, the Prince of Dai, bleed a little too."

Wang Pu nodded, agreeing. "Those two have sucked up too much of the people's blood and sweat; it is time for them to pay. They need to understand whether it is better to donate a portion of their wealth or wait for the rebels to break into the city and seize everything they have."

Zhen Youcai smirked, "You have a keen eye, General."

Wang Pu waved his hand and said loudly, "Let us go and meet this Wei Daben."

***

In Shuozhou, Li Yan’s command tent.

Because of the time required for official reports to travel, the actual progress of the Shaanxi rebel army was half a day ahead of what the government reports claimed. While the report sent by the Governor of Shanxi, Wang Qiaonian, to Prefect Wei Daben claimed the rebels had reached Bajiao Fortress, in reality, Li Yan’s elite forces had passed Bajiao half a day ago and had already taken Shuozhou.

They were called an "elite force" because Li Yan had left behind the elderly, weak, women, and children in Mizhi, taking only fifty thousand strong soldiers on the campaign.

Along the way, the rebel army’s progress exceeded even Li Yan’s wildest imagination.

When he first planned the route, Li Yan had been hesitant, as there were two ways to reach Datong from Mizhi.

The first route followed the border. It was shorter, but it was lined with Ming military garrisons, outposts, and fortresses. Emperors Hongwu and Yongle had fortified the nine borders twice, establishing a dense network of military strongholds along the Great Wall. Within the narrow strip inside the wall, military posts were as numerous as hair on an ox.

The second route was to strike east into the heart of Taiyuan Prefecture before turning north to Datong. The advantage was bypassing the dense border fortifications, but the disadvantage was that the distance would increase from three hundred miles to five or six hundred.

After weighing the options, Li Yan chose the first route.

Events proved his choice correct.

Because they had long been denied their pay and had to endure the bullying and humiliation of their superiors, the Ming border troops stationed in these outposts had long since lost all faith in the imperial court. As soon as the rebel army arrived, these fed-up soldiers rose in revolt, killed the officers who had ridden roughshod over them, and joined the insurgent army without hesitation.

By the time Li Yan’s army took Shuozhou, they had broken through dozens of military outposts along the way. At least eight thousand government troops had transformed into rebel soldiers. Although many of these were poorly equipped and untrained garrison troops, they were still "elite" compared to the Shaanxi rebels.

More importantly, these defectors brought Li Yan a wealth of intelligence about Datong, including the total strength of the Datong border troops, the population of the prefecture, and how many soldiers were dispersed in surrounding posts versus stationed inside Datong city.

For a general like Li Yan, this intelligence was worth far more than the eight thousand soldiers themselves!

As soon as they took Shuozhou, Li Yan took advantage of a brief respite to summon Ma Shouying, He Yilong, He Jin, Liu Xiyao, Lin Yangcheng, Li Hu, Jing Maocheng, and Li Xuan to discuss their next move.

Li Xuan had originally been a commander at Gushan Fortress in the Yansui region. Because the local garrison commander wanted to kill him using the rebel army as a pretext, he had killed the commander in a fit of rage and led over eight hundred troops to join the rebels. Li Yan did not want these newly incorporated troops to be carved up by the five main rebel leaders, so he formed them into a separate battalion under Li Xuan’s command.

Once everyone was gathered, Li Yan said loudly, "Gentlemen, it is now confirmed that the total strength of the Datong border troops is around eighteen thousand. Eight thousand are stationed in the camp north of Datong city, while the remaining ten thousand are scattered across over a hundred garrisons and fortresses."

"Excellent!" Ma Shouying declared. "Our army now has over seventy thousand elites, while Datong has only eight thousand defenders. We have a nearly tenfold advantage. We are sure to win this battle!"

Li Yan shook his head. "There are not just eight thousand border troops in Datong; there are also five thousand of the Wang family’s private guards!"

"The Wang family has five thousand private guards?" He Jin exclaimed. "My goodness, this Wang family truly is the richest in Shanxi. To think they can afford to keep so many men!"

"So what?" Ma Shouying dismissed the concern. "Even with the Wang family’s five thousand, that is only thirteen thousand defenders. We still hold an overwhelming advantage."

Li Yan nodded, saying, "We do hold an overwhelming advantage, but we must not be careless. After all, Wang Pu is in Datong city. He is no simple man. Last August, with only a thousand cavalry, he broke through Shengjing and captured Hong Taiji alive!"

"Wang Pu is in Datong?" Ma Shouying was shaken. "That is indeed a troublesome character. We truly cannot be careless."

The other generals nodded in agreement. They had heard of Wang Pu’s reputation; it was deafening. They knew that a man of such fame must have real substance, and facing such a formidable opponent required constant caution.

"However, you need not overestimate Wang Pu," Li Yan said with a faint smile. "No matter how capable he is, he is only a man. He managed to take Shengjing because the Jianzhou Tartars were overconfident and never expected the Ming army to strike back. Furthermore, he was able to kidnap Hong Taiji not because he had supernatural powers, but because the Tartars were too busy fighting for power among themselves to care about rescuing him."

"Faced with absolute strength, all schemes and tricks become useless." A calm look appeared on Li Yan’s face as he continued, "In this battle for Datong, as long as we advance steadily and give Wang Pu no opportunities, we will secure victory through our sheer numerical superiority!"

Ma Shouying asked, "Brother Li Yan, just tell us, how should we fight?"

Li Yan calmly stated, "To win the battle for Datong, two things are critical."

Ma Shouying asked, "Which two?"

Li Yan replied, "First, we must not let the ten thousand border troops scattered in the hundred-plus outposts around Datong retreat into the city! We have seen the situation along the way; as long as we prevent them from retreating, the Datong garrison will lose ten thousand men, and our army will effectively gain that much strength. The disparity will widen further."

Ma Shouying asked, "And the second?"

Li Yan said, "We must not let the commoners outside Datong city retreat inside! Although we hold the advantage, this battle may drag on for several months. With the wheat not ripening for another two months, we need the support of the people outside the city to survive."

Though Ma Shouying did not fully grasp the depth of Li Yan’s strategy, he nodded seriously and said, "What Brother Li Yan says is indeed very important. We must ensure these things are done properly."

A faint smile crossed Li Yan’s face. "Therefore, I would like to invite the five of you to lead an elite force with me to set out immediately. If we can force a march of over two hundred miles in a day and a night to reach the gates of Datong, the commoners and the border troops in the surrounding outposts will have no time to retreat into the city."

"This..." Ma Shouying frowned. "Who will lead the main army that follows?"

"I have not yet decided," Li Yan countered. "Do you, General Ma, have a suitable candidate?"

This question stumped Ma Shouying. He could hardly suggest his own confidants for the command. Furthermore, even if he did, the other four might not agree. After some deliberation, Ma Shouying proposed that Li Hu should lead the follow-up army, and for the same reasons, the others agreed.