Chapter 135: Time to Play an Empty City Strategy

Inside the primary military tent of the Manchu army's grand camp, Dorgon and Yoto sat centrally. Although both held the position of secondary Prince Regent, a subtle difference in status remained between them. Neither in ability nor in prestige could Yoto be compared to Dorgon, who moreover was Yoto's elder; consequently, Dorgon was seated on the left.

Arrayed in two ranks were the remaining Manchu nobility: Abatai, Babutai, Shoto, Sahaliyan, Dudu, Tangguda, Ajige, Dodo, and Hooge. Though each was a Prince of the First or Second Rank, or at the very least a Beile or Beizi, no seats were set for them in the presence of Dorgon and Yoto.

This was a typical plenary council of the Eight Banners. With the sole exception of Jargalangk of the Bordered Blue Banner, virtually all the nobility of the Manchu Eight Banners had gathered. Such a grand assembly convened only when vital matters were at hand, and indeed, the Manchus were currently facing a grave crisis.

That crisis was simple: Should they continue the siege of Datong?

Dorgon had originally counted on a desperate, all-out assault succeeding. If Datong could be taken at one stroke, suffering some casualties would be entirely worthwhile, for capturing Datong and seizing Wang Pu alive would immensely boost the morale and fighting spirit of the Manchu army, while vastly enhancing Dorgon's own prestige among his people.

Yet the final outcome left Dorgon utterly stunned!

The losses were indeed staggering. Dorgon had committed a total of seventy thousand troops into the fray, comprising thirty thousand from the Han Eight Banners, thirty thousand from the Mongol Eight Banners, and five thousand elite troops from each of the Plain Yellow and Bordered Yellow Banners. After a single day of fierce combat, the thirty thousand men of the Han Eight Banners were nearly wiped out, while the thirty thousand Mongol troops suffered over fifty percent casualties. Only the two Yellow Banners, held in reserve at the rear, escaped without significant loss.

In truth, not all those Manchus had been killed outright; a greater number had merely been wounded, perishing from blood loss solely because timely medical treatment was unavailable.

Dorgon heaved a soft sigh and said with a heavy heart, "I have just received word. In today's battle, our Great Qing army lost a total of over forty-six thousand men. Among them, twenty-nine thousand belonged to the Han Eight Banners, sixteen thousand to the Mongol Eight Banners, and over a thousand were elite soldiers of the two Yellow Banners."

Expressions shifted across the faces of the Manchu nobles in the tent. Although they had anticipated substantial casualties from today's engagement, they had never dreamed the losses would reach forty-six thousand. Even though the Great Qing had mobilized an unprecedented force of one hundred seventy thousand men, fighting at this rate would leave not a single hair of their army remaining after four days.

In the history of warfare between the Manchus and the Great Ming, this was unprecedented. Never before had the Great Qing army suffered such a crushing defeat.

"What of it?" Ajige said dismissively. "Was it not just the loss of over twenty thousand Han bondservants and ten thousand Mongols? Have our own Eight Banner elites lost more than a thousand? That is merely skin and hair."

"Indeed," echoed Abatai, whose temperament was similarly reckless. "Two thousand Han slaves dead—cannot we simply plunder more people from the Central Plains on our return? As for the ten thousand Mongols, that matters even less. Among the dozens of Mongol tribes in the south and north of the desert, their banner troops number over four hundred thousand combined. What does the loss of a few thousand signify?"

Dorgon's brows instantly knitted together. The remarks of Ajige and Abatai were plainly nonsense. The twenty thousand lost troops of the Han Eight Banners were by no means ordinary Han bondservants, and could never be replaced merely by seizing tens of thousands of able-bodied men from the Central Plains and dragging them to Liaodong. Nor was the death of over ten thousand Mongols a minor matter.

The Mongols merely submitted to the Great Qing for now; they had by no means truly integrated into it. In other words, the Mongol Eight Banners were currently nothing more than auxiliary forces to the Great Qing army. If pushed too hard, causing the Mongols to believe the Great Qing was taking the opportunity to weaken them, they would very likely harbor rebellious intentions.

If the expedition against the Ming resulted in the defection of the Mongols, the loss would far outweigh any gain.

A retreat was already taking shape in Dorgon's mind. To bury all the elite forces of the Eight Banner under the walls of Datong merely for the sake of one Wang Pu would be far too costly. It was a responsibility Dorgon could not afford to shoulder.

Nevertheless, as Prince Regent, Dorgon could not voice this thought directly. If he proposed a retreat at this juncture, while it would preserve the elite Banners and the vitality of the Great Qing, the blame for failing to take Datong would fall squarely upon his shoulders.

Dorgon's political ambitions extended far beyond merely being a secondary Prince Regent; naturally, he had no desire to bear that blame.

Secretly, Dorgon exchanged a glance with Dodo.

Quick-witted, Dodo rapidly grasped Dorgon's intent. He stepped forward from the ranks and said, "The loss of over twenty thousand men from the Han Banners and more than ten thousand from the Mongol Banners is certainly not enough to break the bones and tendons of our Great Qing. Yet, Seventh Brother, Twelfth Brother, have you considered tomorrow and the day after? While today we have the Han and Mongol Eight Banners to deploy and command, what of the future? Once those forces are entirely depleted, will our elite Eight Banners be able to stand unscathed?"

Ajige snapped unhappily, "Fifteenth Brother, by your meaning, are we to give up on Datong?"

"Datong can no longer be attacked," Dodo declared without hesitation. "At the very least, no more frontal assaults."

Words of retreat coming from Dodo's mouth carried no peril, for Dodo was not a Prince Regent; he was not the one making the final decision, and therefore bore no responsibility.

Sahaliyan spoke up: "True, continuing such heavy assaults incurs losses that are far too great. Even if we eventually took Datong, our Great Qing army would be severely weakened. In my view, rather than gnawing on this difficult bone, we should march directly upon Beijing! If Wang Pu is troublesome, I refuse to believe that that little Chongzhen boy within the walls of Beijing is equally troublesome."

"No!" Hooge barked as he stepped forward angrily. "We cannot let Wang Pu off so easily!"

Seeing Hooge leap into the fray, a flash of coldness suddenly crossed Dorgon's eyes.

Having failed in the contest for the throne, Hooge had been demoted from Prince Su of the First Rank to Prince Su of the Second Rank. Yet regardless of his title, he remained a prince of the blood and the eldest son of Hong Taiji, with deep-rooted influence within both Yellow Banners and the Plain Blue Banner. Dorgon could not afford to lower his guard against the day Hooge might make a comeback—should that day truly arrive, Dorgon would find himself without a burial place.

Whenever an opportunity arose to destroy Hooge, Dorgon would never let it slip.

In an instant, a brilliant plan to kill two birds with one stone formed in Dorgon's mind—a scheme that would deflect his own responsibility while using a borrowed knife to eliminate Hooge!

Scarcely had Hooge's voice died away when Dorgon stood up in agreement. "What the Prince of Su says is not without reason. Wang Pu is our Great Qing's mortal enemy, and we must not let him escape so lightly. However, the Princes of Yu and Ying also speak sensibly. The primary objective of this expedition against the Ming remains Beijing and that Chongzhen boy."

Hooge frowned and asked, "What precisely is the Prince Regent proposing?"

Dorgon replied indifferently, "I propose dividing our forces into two routes. Let the Prince of Su, Hooge, lead ten thousand elite troops from the two Yellow Banners along with twenty thousand Mongol troops from the Jasag and Tushetu to remain behind and continue the siege of Datong. The Prince Regent of Rites and I shall lead the main force of the Great Qing army directly to press upon Beijing. What are your thoughts, gentlemen?"

Yoto nodded immediately. "The Fourteenth Uncle's proposal is excellent. In my view, let it be thus."

The rest nodded one after another. Since the two Princes Regent had agreed, what more was there for these princes, commandery princes, and beiles to say?

Hooge offered no objection either. In truth, he felt rather pleased. Rather than suffering indignities under Dorgon's command, it was far better to lead an independent force. Though three thousand troops were somewhat few and certainly insufficient for a frontal assault on Datong, they were more than enough to maintain a siege. Furthermore, should he manage to breach Datong and capture Wang Pu alive, that glory would not be snatched away by Dorgon.

Seeing that everyone concurred and Hooge raised no objection, the matter was thus settled.

Inside the city of Datong, at the Regional Commander's yamen.

Zhen Youcai entered the yamen with a worried expression and reported to Wang Pu, "General, the results are out."

Without lifting his head, Wang Pu asked, "What are the casualties?"

Zhen Youcai replied, "Nine hundred ninety-seven killed in action, one hundred three heavily wounded, and over four hundred lightly wounded."

Wang Pu's brows instantly furrowed. Although he had long prepared himself mentally, hearing such heavy casualty figures all at once still gave him a shock. After a single day of fierce battle, his musketeer corps had suffered over fifteen hundred casualties. At this rate, in less than three days, his musketeers would be wiped out entirely.

By then, the Manchus would not even need to draw swords or fire weapons; they could simply walk into the city.

"And the ammunition?" Wang Pu asked again. "How much was consumed?"

Zhen Youcai answered, "The Dragon King cannons have been fired nearly to exhaustion; little more than a hundred chests remain, amounting to slightly over two thousand rounds. The consumption of paper-cartridge rounds has not yet been fully tallied, but calculating from the intensity of today's fighting and the rate of fire of the Firearms Camp, your subordinate dares affirm that the remaining paper cartridges certainly do not exceed twenty thousand."

Wang Pu sighed without speaking.

The intensity of today's combat had far exceeded his expectations. Although the number of enemy Manchus killed was likewise far beyond his projections, the consumption of ammunition had been equally staggering.

"General," Zhen Youcai said with a bitter smile, "if the Manchus launch another ferocious assault like this tomorrow, we shall have to stage an empty-city stratagem."