Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 536 Return to Liaoyang

"Whoa!" At dusk, a tall chestnut horse came to a steady stop at the gate of the Shenyang Central Guard Command. Sun Chuanting, now dressed in his civilian uniform and having taken off his armor, lightly jumped down from the saddle.

Ever since Xiong Tingbi entered Shenyang under the banner of the king's decree, this official residence, even more imposing than the palace of the Great Jin Khan, had become Xiong Tingbi's headquarters. Over the past few days, the constant comings and goings had worn the wooden threshold flat.

"Greetings, Inspector Sun!" The guards at the gate had been replaced by soldiers from the General's Battalion. But they still recognized Sun Chuanting's face at a glance.

"Thank you." Sun Chuanting handed the reins to the soldier from the standard camp who came towards him.

"You're too polite, Inspector Sun." The guard took the reins and let Sun Chuanting in without asking any questions or reporting.

Sun Chuanting went straight to the lobby and found that Xiong Tingbi was not there.

Under the guidance of a military assistant, Sun Chuanting trotted to the signing room. Entering the signing room, Sun Chuanting found that there were not only the general Xiong Tingbi who had sent someone to summon him, but also the supervisory officer Gao Bangzuo.

"Greetings to General Xiong and General Gao." Sun Chuanting saluted as per protocol.

Gao Bangzuo stood up to return the greeting, while Xiong Tingbi simply nodded softly from his seat. In the dim glow of the setting sun, the half-paralyzed Xiong Tingbi looked like a withered, wrinkled orange with a face covered in white hair.

"Please sit down." Xiong Tingbi pointed to the chair in front of him facing Gao Bangzuo.

Sun Chuanting followed the instructions and approached, but did not sit down immediately. "Are you sick?"

"It's just a relapse of my chronic illness. I'm just a little weak. I've already asked the military doctor to see me. It's nothing serious." Xiong Tingbi pointed at the chair again. "Sit down and talk."

Sun Chuanting nodded and sat down. "You didn't ask anyone to make the medicine?"

"No. There's no rush. It won't be too late to take the medicine after returning to Liaoyang." Xiong Tingbi closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Treatment is all about preventing problems before they develop, but we can't wait!" Sun Chuanting kindly advised, "If we delay for too long, this minor illness will become a major one."

"Such a nagging," Xiong Tingbi shrugged and smiled. "It'll only take two more days. Yidao and I will leave for Liao tomorrow." Yidao was Gao Bangzuo's pen name.

"Leaving tomorrow?" Sun Chuanting was a little surprised. He had originally thought that Xiong Tingbi would stay in Shenyang for a long time.

"Yidao," Xiong Tingbi turned his head and said to Gao Bangzuo, "Please show Boya today's military report."

"Okay." Gao Bangzuo stood up, walked to the large desk, picked up a small stack of military reports, and handed them to Sun Chuanting. "These were received today."

Sun Chuanting nodded and took it, reading it one by one, and found that these military reports were all reconnaissance reports about "enemy situation" or the lack of enemy situation.

"There's no trace of the bandits in Puhe Fort, Yilu Fort, New Castle, or near the western Great Wall, including Songjiabo Fort, Dingzibo Fort, Shifangsi Fort, Shangyulin Fort, Pinglu Fort, and Jingyuan Fort. The scouts who went north to investigate Panhe Fort and Tieling Guard haven't reported back yet, but I'm pretty sure the bandits have completely retreated." Xiong Tingbi closed his eyes, seemingly resting. "Since Shenyang is safe, I should probably go back to Liaoyang."

"Are the enemy really retreating like this?" Sun Chuanting couldn't believe it. "They were fighting so fiercely a few days ago." Sun Chuanting handed the military report back to Gao Bangzuo, but Gao Bangzuo mistakenly thought that Sun Chuanting was asking him a question.

"Not only around Shenyang, but also around Fengjibao, Hupiyi, and Weiningying, there are no large-scale bandits. Only a few scattered scouts are still active. Nurhaci must have withdrawn his troops, at least temporarily. Haha." Gao Bangzuo took the military report and smiled awkwardly. "I'm ashamed of my scholarly views and my empty talk."

Gao Bangzuo had been feeling awkward for the past few days, so embarrassed he barely dared see anyone, especially those who had listened to his analysis. It had proven that Nurhaci wasn't pulling any diversionary tactics, luring the enemy out of their lair. Gao Bangzuo's self-proclaimed stratagems were nothing more than wishful thinking and empty speculation. Fortunately, he hadn't caused any unnecessary trouble, otherwise he would have really found a hole to hide in.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. The army is established by deception, moved by profit, and adapted by division and reconciliation. It's swift as the wind, slow as the forest, plundering like fire, immovable as a mountain, unpredictable like the shadow, and powerful like thunder." Xiong Tingbi never meant to ridicule or even blame Gao Bangzuo. If Nurhaci had seen through it so easily, the Jianzhou tribe wouldn't have become the monstrous thing it is today. "Old Wild Boar Skin realized that attacking Shenyang was unprofitable, so he decisively used a thunderous offensive as a deception and quickly withdrew his troops. I have to say, Old Wild Boar Skin's move was truly brilliant. I didn't expect it."

"Haha." Gao Bangzuo smiled and shook his head. "I should read my grandson again."

"General Xiong," Sun Chuanting said, sitting upright, "since the enemy has retreated, why don't we take advantage of the situation and pursue them, recapture Tieling and even Kaiyuan?"

"See?" Xiong Tingbi ignored Sun Chuanting and looked at Gao Bangzuo with a smile. "That's what a scholar thinks."

Gao Bangzuo didn't say anything, just smiled.

"Please give me some advice." Sun Chuanting acted humble and asked for advice without any annoyance.

"Don't you think it's scary?" Xiong Tingbi rubbed his stuffy chest.

"What's so terrifying?" Sun Chuanting was puzzled.

"You just mentioned taking advantage of the situation. But we have no situation to take advantage of. 'Swift as the wind, slow as the forest, plundering like fire, immovable as a mountain'—Sun Tzu's words are only sixteen words, but how difficult is it to actually do it? Nurhaci actually did it, and it wasn't just one or two battalions of three or five thousand men, but one hundred thousand men from the four colors and eight banners! One hundred thousand men, all evacuated overnight. What does this mean?"

Xiong Tingbi did not wait for Sun Chuanting to answer, and continued to speak: "This shows that Nurhaci can control his soldiers as if they were his own arms. Look at the soldiers under my command," Xiong Tingbi supported his head with one hand and stretched out the other hand to count: "Old soldiers from Liaodong, new soldiers from Liaodong, reinforcements from Jizhou, reinforcements from Xuanda, Shanxi, reinforcements from Gansu, reinforcements from Guyuan, in addition to these border troops from various towns in the north. There are also southern soldiers including the reinforcements from Zhejiang and local soldiers from the southwest," Xiong Tingbi sighed:

"These reinforcements are truly elite. If taken individually, I believe they can face an equal or even greater number of slave soldiers head-on. But if these reinforcements, coming from all directions, were to be deployed in a direct field battle against the slave bandits, it would be like a tiger among wolves. This is why I've chosen to defend the entire force while engaging in some field operations."

"You're right," Sun Chuanting nodded. "You've been in Shenyang for some time, so you should have heard about the current situation in Kaiyuan and Tieling." Xiong Tingbi, enduring a headache, propped up his head, and continued, "Although I didn't set the cities on fire, I did manage to turn them into empty fortresses, easily attacked but difficult to defend. Retaking Kaiyuan and Tieling is indeed easy; we could send a lieutenant general with two or three thousand soldiers, but even if we did, we wouldn't be able to hold them. Rebuilding the defenses will take time, but Old Wild Boar Skin won't give us that opportunity."

"Old Wild Boar Skin will definitely send troops to fight us while we're trying to rebuild the city's defenses. If we want to maintain our position, we have to increase our forces to a level that can confront the enemy army head-on or even engage in open battle. I estimate that if we want to hold Tieling, a city with almost no defenses, against the enemy's preparedness, we'll need at least 40,000 to 60,000 well-coordinated soldiers."

"Even if those foreign troops cooperate well, I can't easily withdraw them, otherwise there will be gaps in the defense lines in other directions. Old Wild Boar Skin is so cunning that he will never miss such an opportunity. He will definitely take advantage of the situation and advance deep into the hinterland. Even if he can't take Liaoyang, he can force our army to return empty-handed. In this way, the manpower and material resources raised to restore Tieling will be wasted in vain."

"Isn't this unsolvable?" Sun Chuanting said solemnly, "Tens of millions in military pay, millions in grain. Is the imperial court spending so much money and grain only able to maintain a line of defense that allows the bandits to come and go freely?"

"Of course there is a solution." Xiong Tingbi still had that tired posture, but his eyes were open.

"How do you solve it?"

"Young man," Xiong Tingbi said with a tired smile. "The answer lies within your own puzzle."

"Riddle?" Sun Chuanting tilted his head, his face full of confusion.

"Tens of millions in pay, a million in grain, a hundred thousand soldiers. Even if Nurhaci's soldiers don't want pay, they can't just eat stones to survive, right?" Xiong Tingbi's eyes flashed with both bloodshot and shrewdness. "Old Wild Boar Skin conquered Beiguan, devoured Fushun, and swallowed Kaitie. That's how he's managed to survive until now. Now that he can't take Shenyang, how are you going to survive this winter?"

"Do you mean a fight between slaves and thieves?" Sun Chuanting asked.

"It's a battle of attrition!" Xiong Tingbi nodded. "As long as we can maintain this line of defense that leaves no room for the enemy to exploit, they will collapse on their own."

"But the chieftain is so cunning that he will definitely not sit still and wait for death," said Sun Chuanting.

"So what we have to do now is to cut off their retreat." Xiong Tingbi closed his eyes again.

"What should we do?" Sun Chuanting nodded deeply.

"If the wild boar can't dig up the radishes buried deep in the ground, it will go to dig up grass roots to satisfy its hunger. Boya, where do you think this hungry old wild boar will go to dig up grass roots to eat?" Xiong Tingbi asked.

"Fengji, Hupi?" Sun Chuanting was unsure.

"If he dared to bite Feng and Hu, he would have done it long ago. He just didn't dare to bite Feng and Hu forcefully, so he came all the way to bite your Shenyang." Xiong Tingbi shook his head slightly. "Do you think he didn't expect that if he tried to bite Feng and Hu, he would be shut out?"

"Boya," Gao Bangzuo reminded, "broaden your horizons. Don't just focus on the Ming Dynasty."

"Relax a bit." Sun Chuanting pondered for a moment, then suddenly widened his eyes. "North Korea!"

"And the Tatars," Xiong Tingbi nodded slightly. "Either we go south to Korea or west to plunder the Tatars. These two pieces of grass roots are Old Wild Boar Skin's emergency winter food. Now that they can't dig up the carrot of the Ming Dynasty, it's time to dig them out and eat them."

"Will the bandits attack Tatar again?" Sun Chuanting asked in confusion.

"Why do you think not?" Xiong Tingbi asked back.

"Legend has it that the bandits and the Tatars are related by marriage," said Sun Chuanting.

"That's the theory, but marriages between barbarians are notoriously unreliable," Xiong Tingbi casually cited an example. "As far as I know, before I started the rebellion, Yangjilin, the chieftain of the Yehe tribe in Beiguan, married a daughter to me. This daughter gave me a son named Huang Taiji. If the legend is correct, Huang Taiji should be the Fourth Prince who brought a white flag to our reinforcements a few days ago. But this relationship didn't prevent the bandits from annexing Yehe. Not only did I swallow Beiguan without hesitation, I also killed my brother-in-law, Jin Taiji. Marriages within the Jurchen tribe are so problematic, and even more so between the Jurchens and the Tatars. Furthermore, the Tatar tribes are widely dispersed. Marrying into one tribe doesn't guarantee friendship with the entire grassland. Conversely, falling out with one tribe doesn't necessarily mean falling out with the entire grassland. Even if I suddenly developed some humanity, I could have spared just that one tribe."

"I appreciate your advice," Sun Chuanting bowed solemnly. "May I ask what the governor wants me to do?"

"There's nothing for you to do, at least not right now." Xiong Tingbi opened his eyes and gave a teasing smile. "I called you here just to tell you that we're going back to Liaoyang tomorrow."

"Huh?" Sun Chuanting was stunned.

"The court transferred you from Henan to Liaodong precisely to run Shenyang. You've done a good job, saving me a lot of worry. From now on, just do what you need to do." Xiong Tingbi looked at Sun Chuanting and said encouragingly, "After returning to Liaoyang, I will write a letter to the court to commend you for your achievements."

"You are too kind, General. I am merely a coordinator, and my duties are within the purview of a clerk." Sun Chuanting declined modestly. "The fact that Shenyang was not lost was mainly due to the bravery of our generals and the devotion of our soldiers."

"Haha, it's good for young people to be modest, but don't be too modest." Xiong Tingbi waved his hand weakly. "It's your ability to make the soldiers fight bravely. Besides, it's not a good thing for generals to be too brave sometimes. You have to restrain them. You Shigong is okay, but He Shixian's personality is brave to put it nicely, and reckless to put it bluntly. If he is the only one guarding Shenyang City, I will still be worried. You have to keep a close eye on him."

Xiong Tingbi considered He Shixian, while a capable and daring warrior, to be merely a lieutenant commander, unfit for the role of a general. Xiong Tingbi had considered withdrawing He Shixian from Shenyang and replacing him with someone else more than once. However, the Battle of Sarhu had cost the lives of many experienced generals, and before the arrival of reinforcements, Liaodong was left with only a few capable veterans. Therefore, Xiong Tingbi had no choice but to grit his teeth and let the daring and courageous He Shixian hold the front line.

After the arrival of reinforcements, Xiong Tingbi considered transferring He Shixian to another area. However, the court then dispatched Sun Chuanting, an unwarranted governor of Shenyang. This gradually dissuaded Xiong Tingbi from transferring He Shixian to the rear. If there was someone who could stabilize Shenyang's defenses, He Shixian would be a sharp and effective weapon.

"Yes, I understand." Sun Chuanting's eyes flickered, and he lowered his head slightly. Although he had told He Shixian that he would tell Xiong Tingbi about his rash departure from the city, he had never mentioned this matter to Xiong Tingbi, either publicly or privately.

(End of this chapter)