nucmednet Chapter 613 The fisherman gets a profit
Chapter 613 The fisherman gets a profit
Liu Ye understood that under the conditions of this timeline, a night raid by infantry against cavalry was an impossible task in pitch-black darkness. Nightfall meant Abatai would have time to survive. Having failed to defeat Abatai during the day, and after a night's rest, both sides would have recovered some strength. The Later Jin cavalry, with one rider and two horses, could fully utilize their mobility advantage. Liu Guozhu's men were few in number and unable to continue the daytime tactics; further advance would be suicide. Pursuing Abatai was now only a theoretical possibility.
He angrily slammed his riding whip to the ground and said, "Damn it, after all this effort, we still couldn't stop Abatai!"
Yan Guang said, "If the Ministry of War's order had arrived earlier, and if General Wang Hong of Tianjin had been willing to fight, we could have stopped Abatai in Jinghai instead of having to chase him so desperately."
“Exactly. If the Ministry of War had been more accommodating, we could have legitimately conscripted local troops. If Wang Hong had half the awareness of Liu Guozhu, he could have created an encirclement even without the Ministry of War’s order, leaving Abatai with nowhere to escape.” Liu Ye sighed. “Unfortunately, it’s all just hypothetical. Abatai has already stepped out of our pursuit range, and it’s only a matter of time before he escapes completely.”
As night fell, the two sides, less than ten miles apart, stopped almost simultaneously and set up camp.
Even though the possibility of a night attack was not high, the Later Jin camp was still brightly lit, with torches burning all night long. The soldiers did not remove their armor or unsaddle their horses, in case the Qionghai Army suddenly appeared, so that they could escape at any time.
Abatai removed his heavy helmet, donned his chainmail, and sat in his tent, closing his eyes to rest. The day's pursuit and counter-pursuit had almost exhausted him; only this moment allowed him a brief respite.
Gartu entered the tent and asked worriedly, "Your Highness, according to the scouts, Qionghai Town is less than ten li away from us. Isn't that too close? Should we move the camp ten li away and get further away from them?"
"What? Gartu, the foremost warrior of the Plain Blue Banner, is now so afraid of the Ming army?" Abatai asked casually with his eyes closed.
Gartu blushed and explained, "I just wanted to be more thorough, not that I was afraid of them... But I doubt anyone would dare to raid the Jin camp at night. I was overthinking it."
“That’s not necessarily true. These people chased us all the way from Shandong to Tianjin like mad dogs. There’s nothing they wouldn’t dare to do.” Abatai opened his eyes slightly and said, “Although it’s unlikely, we can’t let our guard down. There’s no need to break camp. Order everyone to remain on high alert, keep the outside relaxed but the inside tight, and be ready to leave at any time.”
"My subordinates know."
After Gartu left the tent, Abatai closed his eyes again. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, making him drowsy. However, a deep-seated sense of humiliation kept him awake. When had the warriors of the Great Jin been chased like stray dogs by the historically weak Ming army? If such a humiliation happened to him, and Ajige and the others found out and reported it to Huang Taiji, he would become the object of everyone's ridicule and mockery—a stain he could never wash away.
During the pursuit, he briefly considered suicide to avoid endless humiliation upon returning to Liaodong. However, before he could even raise his saber, he convinced himself that it was better to live than to die. He had endured such severe suppression and humiliation at the hands of Huang Taiji in Liaodong, yet he had still survived. Besides, Qionghai Town was a formidable enemy he had never faced before. Losing to them was not shameful. Who dared to mock him? Let him fight! Abatai believed that under equal conditions, no one could do better than him, and he would ultimately be defeated by Qionghai Town. The only difference was how long he could hold out.
In his tent in Qionghai Town, Liu Ye couldn't sleep either. He was still resentful that the pursuit had failed at the last minute, and he was sulking all by himself.
The tent flap was lifted, and Qin Tian walked in, reporting with shame, "General, I have failed to complete the task you assigned me. Please punish me."
Liu Ye stood up: "Qin Tian is back? What's wrong? Didn't I tell you to reason with me? Just take it directly, what difficulties could there be? Can't you bring yourself to do it?"
"I underestimated their shamelessness. I never expected them to do something like this..." Qin Tian recounted his afternoon's experience with indignation.
"They burned all the granaries? This is a fatal blow, cutting off our escape route!" Liu Ye gasped. This eliminated even the last theoretical possibility. With the remaining supplies not lasting more than two days, he could only watch helplessly as the Later Jin army escaped right under his nose. He was filled with resentment. He stood up, hands behind his back, and paced back and forth, recounting the entire sequence of events.
“This matter is not as simple as it seems.” Liu Ye, having figured out the key point, stood still and said, “There must be a mastermind behind it all, and someone with considerable power and status, at least a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet or a Minister of the Six Ministries. It might even be the Emperor himself who gave the order. Otherwise, a mere military commissioner wouldn’t have the audacity to burn tens of thousands of kilograms of grain. Otherwise, he would have several heads to lose!”
Qin Tian asked doubtfully, "But we're far away in Guangdong, and we have no grudges against the big shots in the capital. Who would go to such lengths to deal with us, even at the cost of helping the Tartars? As for the emperor, that's even more impossible. Aren't we solving his problem by fighting the Tartars?"
"Politics is a dark place; who can say for sure?" Liu Ye said. "Since someone is willing to let the Tartars reap the benefits while cutting off our escape route, then I must find out the truth. It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. We can't stand in the open and let others use underhanded tricks to trip us up. We must find this person and eliminate future troubles!"
The next morning, the Later Jin army began to break camp. Their orders were to march a hundred li (approximately 50 kilometers) in one go, only eating and resting after reaching Xianghe County, so as not to give Qionghai Town a chance to catch up. The Later Jin soldiers, having recovered some strength, mounted their horses and turned north. The thunderous sound of hooves echoed across the plain, and in less than half an hour, everyone was gone.
Soon after, the army from Qionghai Town arrived here.
Qin Tian dismounted, touched the ashes of the campfire he had used for warmth, and then reported to Liu Ye, "General, the ashes are still warm. We've been traveling for less than half an hour!"
"There are no miracles in this world. In the end, they still got away. Alas, when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits!" Liu Ye sighed regretfully. "They each have two horses and can maintain a speed of two hundred miles a day. On our side, Liu Guozhu is almost a commander without troops. Without his cavalry to help us, we can't catch up on foot no matter what."