Chapter Fifty-One: Abandonment

Sorry, I drank too much at the banquet yesterday and couldn’t update.

Wine can invigorate the blood, but it also clouds the mind; it is nothing good, nothing good.

...

If they didn’t go through Jin Family Fort, there was another path: out beyond the border wall, detouring through Prince City and entering Changyu Pass Fortress of the Right Garrison at Wanquan. This route also led to Datong, but none of them—including Lu Qing—had considered it. The detour alone added over two hundred li, and beyond the wall lay Mongol territory; the dangers of this path were no less than those of Jin Family Fort.

Yet the most critical issue wasn’t the detour or the Mongols beyond the wall. It was the families of the soldiers from Gentleman’s Fort traveling with them. With the loss of Horse Camp, they had missed the chance to head south ahead of the Oirats. These hundreds of elderly, women, and children had become a tremendous burden, for there was simply no safe fortress willing to take them in.

Lu Qing’s original plan was to send them into Jin Family Fort, then lead the rest south with Eunuch Guo. Now that Jin Family Fort was threatened by the Oirat army and could fall at any moment, that plan was no longer feasible.

Without the elderly and weak, the odds for a few hundred Ming soldiers to break through Jin Family Fort were perhaps thirty percent. But with them, the chances of slipping past the Oirats were less than ten percent, and even if they succeeded, perhaps only a tenth would survive.

Everyone realized this, their eyes fixed on the circle Lu Qing had drawn over Jin Family Fort. No one spoke; Lin Ji and the other two banner officers glanced, almost imperceptibly, at Niu Qing.

Niu Qing felt bitter at heart and hurried to say, “Jin Family Fort is much larger than ours, and it’s a thousand-household fortress—not mainly for farming like Song Stone Fort. Captain Qin still has many able soldiers. The Oirats can’t take it without a fight.”

“But what if they do?” Song Bangde shattered Niu Qing’s hopes with a single sentence. “Du Shi had so many troops holding it, yet it fell overnight. Most of Jin Family Fort’s fighting men were likely transferred to Du Shi. What does Captain Qin have to resist the Oirats with? We’re all seasoned fighters—we can’t deceive ourselves. Earlier, with Horse Camp ahead, Jin Family Fort couldn’t fall. But now Horse Camp is lost, do you really think Jin Family Fort can hold?”

Song Bangde had made his stance clear. Though he didn’t outright say to abandon the elderly and women from Gentleman’s Fort, his meaning was unmistakable.

Lin Banner Officer added, “If you ask me, Arak surely led his main force to support his son and brother. The troops coming down along Qing Shi River are just a detachment, maybe two or three thousand at most. But dragging such a large group south is too conspicuous—we’ll never break through. With fewer people, the Oirats might not even notice us, might just let us pass.”

“Exactly, that’s the truth. Too many people just won’t work.” Ji Banner Officer chimed in, agreeing that they should not bring a burdensome crowd south. “So, shall we do it this way?” He addressed Song Bangde and Lu Qing.

Song Bangde nodded slightly, his voice grave: “If Jin Family Fort really gets taken by the Oirats, we have no way. This many people can’t make it through. Better let them turn back.”

“That won’t do...” Lu Qing just began to speak when Eunuch Guo coughed softly twice. Lu Qing paused mid-sentence, understanding Guo’s intention: to abandon these elderly and women, taking only the able-bodied men. That way, the chance of breaking through Jin Family Fort would be much greater.

Lu Qing believed that if the worst came, Eunuch Guo would leave everyone behind without hesitation and escape with Lu Qing alone.

Truth be told, Lu Qing had thought about this himself, but his conscience couldn’t bear it. Yet conscience paled before reality. If Jin Family Fort truly fell to the Oirats, bringing these people along would be delivering them straight into Oirat hands. In the end, they’d likely blame Lu Qing for their deaths. If it weren’t for his meddling, they would still be in Gentleman’s Fort, able to survive a bit longer before the Oirats arrived. Now, because of him, they were doomed sooner—a well-intentioned deed gone bad.

Seeing that Eunuch Guo seemed intent on abandoning the women and children, Niu Qing grew anxious and pleaded, “Master, we cannot send them back! Over a thousand people at Song Stone Fort were slaughtered by the Oirats—if these women and children return, I fear...I fear...ah!”

Too agitated to speak, Niu Qing’s meaning was clear to all. Yet no one stepped in to help him.

“There’s nothing else to do. Who could have guessed Horse Camp would fall so easily? Captain Niu, at this point, what other options are there?”

“If we take them along, not only will we fail, but they won’t survive either. Why not let them turn back? Maybe the Oirats, busy heading south, won’t care about tiny Gentleman’s Fort.”

Lin and Ji Banner Officers spoke one after another, determined to abandon the people of Gentleman’s Fort.

The other newly appointed banner and junior officers said nothing. They’d escaped from Du Shi themselves, and for survival, would do anything. Having barely clung to life, with a bright future ahead among the guards, they were unwilling to risk it for a group of burdensome companions.

With everyone speaking thus, Lu Qing remained silent. Niu Qing grew hopeless, unable to voice agreement. After all, these people were his soldiers, his fellow villagers rooted in Gentleman’s Fort since his grandfather’s time. To utter words of abandonment would hurt more than death.

Seeing this, Eunuch Guo sighed, helpless: “There’s just nothing else to be done. I don’t want to abandon them either, but the Oirats got ahead of us. If they hadn’t, I’d have made arrangements, never left them behind. But now...ah, truly, there’s no way.”

Just as the matter seemed settled, Lu Qing suddenly suggested, “Why not have them leave the border and take the detour?”

“Leave the border and detour?” Everyone was stunned. That was surely a dead end. Not only was there the threat of Mongols beyond the border, but the hundreds of li would be unbearable for the elderly, women, and children.

“No, no!” Niu Qing shook his head like a rattle drum. “How could a crowd of elderly and women survive outside the border? It’s impossible, absolutely impossible!...”

Lu Qing shook his head, advising Niu Qing, “Beyond the border may be unsafe, but not necessarily death. If luck is with them, they might return to the interior alive. But sending them back—that’s certain death. At Song Stone Fort, only two of over a thousand survived!”

Before Niu Qing could speak, Song Bangde said, “I think this plan is workable.” He then addressed Eunuch Guo, “Master, why not let Captain Niu’s men escort them beyond the border, and we continue south?”

Hmm?

Everyone was surprised, but quickly understood: if the soldiers from Gentleman’s Fort didn’t escort the elderly beyond the border, they wouldn’t agree to head south. Rather than further discord, it was better to abandon all of Gentleman’s Fort.

Eunuch Guo pretended to ponder, then nodded, “Very well. They are all subjects of His Majesty—I can’t bear to see them harmed by the Oirats. Let Captain Niu lead his men to escort them beyond the border.”

“Master, me?...” Niu Qing was dumbfounded, realizing even he was being left behind. But Eunuch Guo then assured him his promises still stood—if Niu Qing got them to safety, he would recommend him to the Emperor for merit.

“Fine, but I must consult with Ge Ming and the others.” With Eunuch Guo’s words, Niu Qing knew he had no choice, and went to confer with Ge Ming and Wang Dade. In his heart, the border detour was too dangerous; better to defend Gentleman’s Fort, at least relying on its walls. Beyond the border, there would be no help from heaven or earth.

Eunuch Guo was eager for Niu Qing and his burdens to leave, not caring for his hundred guards. He comforted him a bit, and when Niu Qing departed, turned anxiously to Lu Qing: “Young man, what do you think are our chances of making it south?”