Chapter 134 The Battle of Qinghai Upon learning of the fighting in Qinghai, Cheng Qian…
Knowing that war had broken out in Qinghai, Cheng Qianyue was filled with worry. Not for any other reason than that her brother, Cheng Yexing, was there! Cheng Qianyue desperately wanted to find out what was happening outside, but there was nowhere to inquire. Because the Yangxin Hall was constantly bustling with people discussing matters these past few days, she couldn't even see Yinreng, let alone ask about news from Qinghai.
While Cheng Qianyue was anxious, she sent someone outside to comfort her father and mother, telling them not to worry and that her brother would be alright.
Two or three days later, the imperial court made a decision regarding the war in Qinghai. Yinreng specially appointed the Fourteenth Prince as the Grand General of Pacification, leading 60,000 troops to quell the rebellion. This was the first battle of the new emperor's reign, and victory was imperative. Yinreng held a farewell ceremony for the Fourteenth Prince in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The Fourteenth Prince knelt down and, in front of all the civil and military officials, accepted the general's seal, a symbol of military power, with both hands. Then, he led his troops out of the Meridian Gate to depart.
Cheng Qianyue: The imperial court has already sent troops to support us. Brother, you must hold on outside and nothing can happen to you!
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In Xining, Qinghai, the soldiers stationed there remain within the city walls. This garrison was established after the Kangxi Emperor's reconquest of Tibet. Originally, there were 6,000 men, half stationed in Xining and the other half distributed in the surrounding areas. But now, only 3,000 men remain in Xining city.
Inside the city, the garrison commander summoned all the military officers for a meeting, including Cheng Yexing. When Cheng Yexing first arrived, he was a fifth-rank garrison commander, responsible for military affairs such as provisions. He had never made a mistake over the years, so he was promoted one rank last year after being assessed by the Ministry of Personnel. Now he is a fourth-rank commander.
The general pointed to the defense map near Xining and said, "The rebels have besieged the city for more than two months. They attacked the city frequently a while ago, but they have been attacking it much less recently."
The adjutant next to him nodded in agreement, saying, "It's cold in winter, and the city walls have been watered and frozen. They've been attacking for so long and they should take a break."
The general let out a breath and turned to Cheng Yexing, asking, "Commander Cheng, how long can the city's food supplies last?"
Cheng Yexing replied with a grim expression, "General, the army's provisions are only enough for the soldiers for seven or eight days at most. The grain transported from Sichuan by the imperial court will probably take another ten days or so to arrive."
The mere mention of food ignited a fire in Cheng Yexing's heart. The troops stationed in Qinghai purchased their grain locally. When the war first broke out, the barley there had just ripened, and he was leading his men to purchase grain from villages in various counties of Xining. On the way back, they encountered a group of rebels. Fortunately, the enemy was small in number, otherwise he would have been killed in a foreign land. Although he survived, he hadn't gathered much grain, and if supplies from the rear were slow to arrive, his men would have to defend the city on empty stomachs.
Upon hearing this, the general frowned and said in a deep voice, "Pass down the order that the soldiers must eat and drink frugally during this period until the supplies from the rear arrive."
All the generals inside the room replied, "Yes."
After a while, the general devised the next strategy: wait for the imperial reinforcements to arrive, and then launch a counterattack together with the reinforcements. After the general finished speaking, Cheng Yexing looked around and said softly, "The general is quite right, but I think this is also a good opportunity to harass the enemy." How can one gain merit by cowering here? He, Cheng Yexing, wasn't here to be a coward!
The general raised his head and said, "Commander Cheng, what are your thoughts?"
Cheng Yexing smiled and said, "Our army has been holding out in Xining for so long, the enemy must be exhausted by now. A night attack might be surprisingly effective."
Before he could finish speaking, the adjutant shook his head in disagreement, saying, "The enemy's strength is vastly different from ours. Even a night raid requires caution. If we are surrounded by the enemy, we risk losing many men and troops."
Cheng Yexing said, "What the adjutant said makes perfect sense, but I still want to give it a try." He clasped his hands, knelt on one knee, and asked for orders, "I am willing to lead fifty men to fight to the death and launch a night raid on the enemy."
"What is the purpose of the night raid?" the general asked.
Cheng Yexing replied, "If we can destroy the enemy's supply depot, their army will be too busy to care about anything else." Grandma, if they have to tighten their belts, then you won't have an easy time either!
The adjutant thought for a moment and then said confidently, "Only fifty men? You don't plan to leave the city from the front?"
Cheng Yexing nodded confidently: "Yes, this general intends to exit from the north gate and take a detour to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's grain depot from the rear."
The general stared at the map for a long time, pondering, but two problems remained unresolved. First, Cheng Yexing was someone the Emperor had personally promoted, and also the brother of the Imperial Concubine. If something were to happen to him, they would have difficulty explaining themselves to the Emperor. Second, the garrison troops were currently neither particularly meritorious nor demeritful. Disrupting the enemy before reinforcements arrived would certainly earn them some credit, but to outflank the enemy from the rear would require crossing mountains and rivers. How could they ensure this was feasible?
Cheng Yexing knew what the general was thinking, and immediately said indignantly, "At the very beginning of the new emperor's reign, these traitors dared to rebel. If we keep hiding and not advancing, wouldn't we be tarnishing the emperor's reputation?! General, a subject's duty is to serve his sovereign with worry and die for his honor!"
The general's heart skipped a beat at what he said.
Cheng Yexing continued, "I know that you all have a heart to serve the country, but you must consider the overall situation and the thousands of soldiers in the city. That's why I thought of taking the lead in this matter, and I hope the general will approve."
The general gave him a deep look, and after a long while said, "What do you mean by this? Stand up and answer me." Then he called him forward and said, "Tell us your plans, and we'll all listen to complete them."
Three days later, late at night, the north gate of Xining creaked open, and a group of ghostly figures flashed past, disappearing into the night in the blink of an eye. They could be vaguely seen heading west. Including Cheng Yexing, there were fifty people in total, all carrying loads on their backs. Because of the cold and wind, no one spoke, only gesturing to each other.
After walking for about three miles, the group reached the top of the mountain. The snow on the mountain was as thick as a person's calf, but it was still manageable. There were many trees on the mountain, so the wind was a bit calmer. Cheng Yexing, who was in front, whispered to the people behind him, "We must cross this mountain before dawn."
A shorter man at the back said, "Yes." He then passed the order to the next person, and soon everyone quickened their pace. As dusk fell, they had just crossed the mountain. Halfway up, Cheng Yexing stared intently at the river in the distance below. Just across that river and another mile would be the enemy's encampment. With a wave of his hand, he ordered everyone to descend the mountain.
Before dawn, Cheng Yexing finally reached the riverbank, which had originally been a muddy swamp surrounded by withered reeds. Cheng Yexing first had two men scout the area, then ordered everyone to rest. Since they were launching a night raid, they naturally wouldn't go during the day.
Cheng Yexing placed a reed under his bottom, then pulled a hard flatbread from his pocket. Since they couldn't light a fire, this was their only option. Luckily, the flatbread wasn't cold in his pocket, so he took a bite, only to find his mouth full of crumbs. He chewed, crumbs falling onto his clothes. Cheng Yexing simply reached down and wiped the crumbs off his clothes, putting them in his mouth as well. And let me tell you, it was incredibly choking. He quickly untied his sheepskin water bottle from his waist, took a sip of water, and forced down the gritty mess.
The shorter guy next to him chuckled to himself at the sight of his own head, but then choked and almost spat out the biscuit he was chewing.
Cheng Yexing whispered, "You little brat, you're starving." He was so hungry that even a crumb of bread was extremely precious to him!
The short man took a bite of half a pancake and then said, "I really miss the days when we ate meat."
Cheng Yexing stuffed the unfinished flatbread back into his arms and whispered, "After this battle, I guarantee you'll have sheep to eat and wine to drink." He looked around and said, "Half on guard, half rest."
The group stayed in the reeds until nightfall, when it was time to cross the river. Everyone reached behind them and unfolded the straw mats they had brought, spreading them across the water. In the dead of winter, the Huangshui River was completely frozen, but the straw mats were brought as a precaution. Naturally, the mats served two purposes: firstly, to make rescue easier if someone broke through the ice and fell in, and secondly, to prevent people from freezing solid by lying directly on the ice. However, laying them out didn't make a significant difference, since they had to crawl forward, using their hands as "oars."
Cheng Yexing had just placed his hand on the ice when he was jolted awake by the cold, inwardly cursing the group of rebellious bastards on the other side of the river. The fifty people crawled across the frozen river like ants, appearing from above as tiny black dots on a white ribbon.
It took them about half an hour to climb across the river. There wasn't much shelter on the other side, so everyone lay prone in the snow. Cheng Yexing signaled to the scouts behind him to go and explore. After a while, a scout ran back and reported, "Commander, I took a look from a distance and saw three brightly lit areas in the barracks across the way. One is in the center, and the other two are to the east, west, and rear."
Cheng Yexing's eyes darted around: "The center must be the bandit leader's camp. The east and west places..." Could they both be enemy supply depots?
The shorter man leaned closer and asked, "Boss, what do we do?"
Cheng Yexing asked in a low voice, "Have you all brought fire starters?" Everyone patted themselves and replied, "We have." Cheng Yexing said, "Good. Remember, burn their grain and run back." His eyes narrowed. "Two places are good. It's windy at night. Once a fire starts in either place, it will definitely spread in all directions. I want to see if they have any extra men to chase us then."
After a while, the two teams split up. Cheng Yexing led his men, crouching low, eastward, while the others went west. Soon they arrived near the military camp. From a distance, they could see many soldiers patrolling with torches. Cheng Yexing seized the opportunity to kill two soldiers guarding outside the tent, then entered the tent, only to be met with a stuffy smell.
The short man sniffed and said, "This doesn't smell right."
Cheng Yexing stealthily lit a tinderbox, and a faint light flickered inside the tent. The short man pried open a box and exclaimed in surprise, almost in a broken voice, "Boss!" Cheng Yexing walked over, and after seeing what was inside, he quickly extinguished the tinderbox in his hand—the box was full of gunpowder, and there were two cannons inside the tent.
Cheng Yexing broke out in a cold sweat instantly. Firstly, he had just lit the fire; secondly, these people had actually prepared gunpowder. No wonder they hadn't been attacking the city much these past few days—they were waiting for this! But Cheng Yexing quickly smirked.
That's killing two birds with one stone!
As he was thinking, he heard a commotion in the distance, and red and yellow flames could be seen even through the tents. The short man said, "Big Beard and his men have succeeded."
Cheng Yexing picked up the cannonball and squinted his eyes: "Then let's give them another big gift!"
By this time, the rebel camp was ablaze. The rebel leader was awakened from his sleep by the commotion and opened the tent, shouting, "What's going on?"
Soon, the soldier on guard ran over and said, "Boss, enemy attack!"
Enemy attack?
The leader was stunned for a moment, then looked outside and suddenly his eyes widened. The fire was in the grain depot! He hurriedly said, "Quick, go put out the fire!" Then, he reached out to feel the wind direction and said, "Send someone else to check the artillery depot." As soon as he finished speaking, an explosion came from behind, and the sky seemed to collapse.
At this moment, Cheng Yexing led his men to the riverbank. A short while later, they heard a loud explosion behind them. He looked at the flames shooting into the sky in the distance, smiled slightly, and waved his hand: "Let's go!"
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Author's note: I'm not good at writing war scenes, so please bear with me [laughing and crying emoji]
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