Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 139 Your Highness, you must not be stubborn and self-willed!
In the original history, after the war in the south of the Yangtze River eased a little, Dorgon urgently ordered Duoduo and Ajige to lead the Eight Banners soldiers back north.

Although the apparent reason was that the weather in the south was hot and humid and the soldiers found it difficult to adapt, if one thinks about it carefully, there may be other considerations.

Before entering the Pass, the Qing government probably felt that since Shanhaiguan was open, it would be a shame not to enter and plunder.

But after fighting with the Shun army, Dorgon found that the enemy in front of him was simply vulnerable. Some Ming officials even turned to support the Qing army out of hatred for the Shun army.

As a result, the Qing Dynasty decided on a three-pronged attack strategy.

In fact, at this time, Dorgon probably just wanted to push the defense line forward a little so that he could completely take the capital area into his possession.

But the success of the war far exceeded everyone's imagination.

In just a few months, Duoduo advanced to the Hangzhou area, Ajige occupied most of Jiangxi, and although Hauge was a little slower, he had also forced his way to Hanzhong.

Just imagine, in such a situation, would Dorgon, the regent of the Qing Dynasty, be happy about the rapid progress ahead or would he be worried that a few people would become more powerful than him?
If this is the case, how could it be possible that the urgent order for the troops to return north was simply due to the hot and humid weather?
Of course, at this time and space, Duoduo discovered that the Eight Banners soldiers were rapidly corrupting due to the obstruction of his military momentum, and the return of the Eastern Army to the north was changed from Dorgon's order in July to Duoduo's request in June.

However, such changes will not have much impact on the current situation.

After all, according to Zhu Cilang's idea, the outcome of this battle would be clear in about seven or eight days.

At this point the bait had already been thrown out, and the net could be pulled in as soon as the fish entered it. However, who would have thought that the fish heading towards the net was so big that it might even break the net he had carefully laid out.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Cilang, who was in Hangzhou, became really anxious.

"Your Highness, military situations are unpredictable. It would be a great victory to defeat 3,000 Qing troops."

After Zhu Cilang reported the current situation, Ma Shiying, who had not spoken for a long time, was the first to stand up.

He had some doubts when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince made the plan earlier, but due to the matter of "seeking reinforcements", he couldn't say much, so he acquiesced.

Of course, it doesn’t matter much if he doesn’t agree.

At this time, his two greatest supports, the position of Prime Minister and the tens of thousands of troops, had been taken away by Zhu Cilang, and his words really had no weight in the court.

But why is he speaking out now?

In fact, Ma Shiying knew very well that his reputation had become extremely bad after this series of events. If this small court was destroyed because of this war, then his official career would probably be over.

Therefore, in order to maintain the existence of this court and to prolong his own political life.

As the situation had changed significantly, Ma Shiying naturally had to find a way to stop this already reckless plan.

Although he did not mention how to respond, everyone could tell that his words assumed that withdrawal was the only option.

If Zhu Cilang really had no intention of fighting any further, he only needed to respond to his words and the order to withdraw could be issued directly.

In this way, the excuse of having to abandon the original plan due to the enemy's reinforcements was provided, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could step down.

just
"What do you guys think?"

Zhu Cilang naturally understood Ma Shiying's subtext, but he didn't seem to have any intention of backing down. After waiting for three or two breaths, he took the initiative to ask when he saw that no one answered.

After this statement was made, the hall, which was already silent, became even quieter. Even Huang Daozhou, who had always advocated war and was at odds with Ma Shiying, just lowered his head and looked at the ground, without any intention of expressing his opinion.

Seeing this situation, Zhu Cilang felt helpless and confused.

The frustration is that the people standing in the hall now, whether they are in favor of war, peace or surrender, almost all know nothing about military affairs.

Apart from having a pro-war or pro-peace stance based on their own feelings and intuition, they are unable to offer any useful suggestions in actual response.

But at the same time, there was another person in the hall who was different from them. The reason why this person didn't say a word was the source of Zhu Cilang's doubts.

"Zhendong Hou, what do you think?"

"what?"

Hearing Zhu Cilang's voice, Fang Guoan seemed to be awakened from his sleep. It was not until he saw that everyone was looking at him that he finally reacted.

"Your Highness, this."

"Just say whatever you want to say. Why are you so fussy during a war?"

Is Fang Guoan a fussy person?
The way he fought, that was definitely not the case.

But as the only military general present, he actually lost his focus while discussing military affairs, which did make Zhu Cilang unhappy.

But this cannot be blamed on Fang Guoan.

After all, Hangzhou is not a makeshift city like Yingtian. It not only has a relatively complete civil service system, but also maintains the traditions of the Ming Dynasty for many years.

Under such a tradition, all strategies were formulated by civil officials, and military generals could only be regarded as tools of execution at best.

Therefore, as one of the more tactful military commanders, how could he possibly appear to be in control of the situation?
"Your Highness, I am a rough man. Whether to fight or retreat is up to you and the others to decide."

Hearing this, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but frown.

Because of the previous battle, he had already classified Fang Guoan as a potential confidant.

But who would have thought that at this time, he would dare to act so cunningly, and coupled with his previous behavior of pretending to be dead, it really made Zhu Cilang feel that he had misjudged him.

It’s just that everyone has his own way of dealing with things. Fang Guoan’s principle is to avoid offending civil servants as much as possible.

Even though he did have some ideas in his mind, when all the big guys remained silent, he instinctively chose to hide his shortcomings.

You know, as long as the other country is safe and can fight, then even if His Highness is unhappy, at most he will be reprimanded, but if he offends the civil officials.
I'm afraid I won't know who to sue even if I go to hell.

This kind of mentality was prevalent among the military generals at that time. Chongzhen was often fooled by civil officials and military generals.

The reason is simple, and it can be said that a county magistrate is not as good as the current manager.

The emperor was high above everyone else, but the civil officials were in charge of the army's supply and performance appraisal. Some commanders and generals could even order military generals to fight a battle that was bound to be a failure.

Under such circumstances, Fang Guoan naturally understood how to choose between offending His Highness and offending the civil servants.

However, Zhu Cilang was not aware of this. After seeing his behavior, he thought that the risk of this battle was indeed too great, so he started to make plans again despite his dissatisfaction.

He had a clear idea of ​​the purpose of this battle, which was to take advantage of the dense water network of Suzhou and Songjiang to maximize the lethality of the inland navy's artillery and thus deplete the Qing army's manpower.

In order to achieve this goal, he not only consulted the map, but also consulted many people who were familiar with the waterways of Taihu Lake. Finally, he decided to place all the ambush troops in Dianshan Lake.

The benefits of doing this are very obvious.

The Qing army had only two routes to choose from when going from Hangzhou to Suzhou. One was to go through Nanxun and advance along the edge of Taihu Lake. The other was to take a larger detour and advance northeast from Jiaxing, bypassing the entire Taihu Lake and the surrounding small lakes.

But no matter which one they chose, the Ming army in Dianshan Lake could find a suitable ambush site for the fleet by water.

As for the military strength, the four divisions of Zhang Guowei, Yang Tinglin, Chang Guanlin and Hou Chengzu had a total of 67,000 people. Although their combat effectiveness could not be compared with the 40,000 Qing troops, their task was only to block the gaps between the waterways, and the rest would be solved by the navy's artillery.

Judging from this plan, the Ming army should be able to win this battle. Zhu Cilang thought for a long time, but the officials in the field could not help but murmur in their hearts.

Ma Shiying has already set up the ladder, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is reluctant to step down. Does he really want to continue the battle?

This is sixty thousand versus forty thousand.

Not to mention that more than half of the troops in these 60,000 miles are new soldiers, even if they are all government troops, can they defeat the Tartars?

Thinking of this, everyone wanted to step forward and offer some advice, but after thinking it over, they didn't know where to start.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall became even more depressing.

Zhu Cilang, immersed in his own schemes, naturally did not notice these things. After he went over the entire plan, he felt that even if the Qing army really had 40,000 troops, there was still a good chance of winning the battle.

Under such circumstances, he could not give up, and then he said to his ministers: "I know that you all are not optimistic about this battle, but the key to this battle is not the strength of the land camp, so..."

"Your Highness."

Zhu Cilang had only said half of his words when he heard someone calling him, and then he saw Huang Daozhou coming to the center of the lobby.

"I dare to ask, if we lose this battle, can Jiangnan still be defended?"

As soon as the words fell, the hall fell into dead silence.

Everyone knows the answer to this question clearly, which is why all the ministers know that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to fight but no one agrees.

Your Highness keeps saying that the battle depends on the navy, but what can the navy do with its equipment? Even if we take into account the power of the artillery, it is probably just to scare people. Can we really expect all the Tartars to be killed by the shells?
But then again, what you think is one thing and what you say is another.

After all, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not a wimp like Hongguang and Prince Lu. He needs to be careful with methods and ways when giving advice. How can he just confront them directly?

If a conflict really breaks out, I don’t know how it will end.

"If we lose, Jiangnan will definitely not be able to be defended."

Zhu Cilang's answer was calm and not what the ministers thought. He even thought about it carefully after he finished speaking and added: "Even Jiangxi will fall into the hands of the Tartars."

"If that's the case, then why did Your Highness risk half of his kingdom to take such a risk?"

"Huang Daozhou!"

As soon as the words fell, one could hear a pin drop in the hall. The ministers, who were already a little nervous, even felt a little breathless. Zhu Guobi, who was Zhu Cilang's "direct descendant", could no longer pretend to be dead.

Previously, he could use the excuse that he did not understand military affairs and watched Zhu Cilang fight alone, but Huang Daozhou's words almost meant that Zhu Cilang was going to destroy his ancestors' kingdom.

If he didn't stand up in this situation, it would be really unreasonable.

Just as he reprimanded, Zhu Cilang waved his hand slightly, and then he heard him say: "Mr. Huang, this battle focuses on killing the enemy with artillery, and the land camp only needs to guard the gap between the rivers, and there should be no problem."

"Your Highness, I am not unaware of the power of artillery, but the enemy is still alive. How could they allow artillery bombardment like a city wall without dodging it?"

"Mr. Huang, hundreds of artillery pieces are firing at the same time. Even if the Tartars can dodge, they will be unable to form a battle formation."

As a latecomer, Zhu Cilang naturally knew the power of artillery fire.

Of course, he also knew that the power of the artillery at that time was far from comparable to that of later generations, so in order to increase its lethality against humans, he even "borrowed" a considerable number of chain bullets and grapeshot from the Zheng family fleet.

Although humans have a certain degree of creativity, it is extremely difficult to imagine scenes that they have never seen before.

So, before he finished speaking, Huang Daozhou began to teach the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Highness, I know you want to restore the country as soon as possible, but the situation is pressing and you should focus on defending Hangzhou. Don't listen to the boasting of some people and ruin the situation that has been stabilized with great difficulty."

After hearing this, Zhu Guobi, who had been furious before, could hardly maintain his expression.

Having dealt with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for more than a month, how could he not know how cunning and sinister this gentleman was?
It's ridiculous that Huang Daozhou still foolishly treats him as a young man who grew up in the palace and is inexperienced in the world, but he doesn't know when he will be severely tricked.

Just when Zhu Guobi wanted to see how Huang Daozhou would be humiliated, Zhu Cilang was truly speechless.

He didn't know who the "some people" Huang Daozhou was talking about were, but he probably thought they were from the navy. Otherwise, how could the people from the land camp brag to him about the power of hundreds of cannons firing at the same time? They probably had never seen so many cannons in their lives.

I am speechless, but I still have to keep trying to convince those who need to be convinced.

After painstakingly explaining how the ambush terrain was suitable for the warships' artillery fire, and how much damage chain shot and grapeshot would cause to the army, Huang Daozhou still had an expression that said "Your Highness has been deceived."

Under such circumstances, Zhu Cilang no longer had the confidence to convince this stubborn old man from a technical perspective.

"Mr. Huang, the Qing army's division this time seems to be due to Susong's plan, but in fact it is because Zhenjiang was captured. If we miss this opportunity, how can we find another opportunity to disperse the Qing army so much?"

"Your Highness, this is absurd. Our Ming Dynasty is the legitimate dynasty. As long as we stabilize the situation, we will be able to drive the Tartars back outside the Great Wall. It is easier to ruin the good situation than to do it for a short period of time."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang became even more speechless.

Is Mr. Huang loyal to the Ming Dynasty?

The answer is of course yes. How could a man who could lead more than a thousand soldiers to his death calmly not be a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty?

But when it comes to the ability to do things.
As Li Guangdi said: "Although Shi Zhai was used at the time, I am afraid it would not help the chaos. To save the chaos, we need people with substance and usefulness."

Zhu Cilang felt that he could not convince this old minister, so he did not intend to waste any more words. After a little hesitation, he said directly: "This war is inevitable and has a considerable chance of success. I have made up my mind, so let's proceed according to the original plan."

"Your Highness! You must not do this! The late emperor forced Sun Chuanting to leave the country, which led to the defeat of the army and the situation became out of control!"

"Huang Daozhou!"

"Youxuan!"

"Your Highness, calm down!"

Before Huang Daozhou finished speaking, all the ministers in the hall became panicked.

If it were an ordinary person, he would also be angry when hearing someone talking about his father's mistakes, let alone speaking ill of the late emperor in front of the crown prince?

"Do you really think so?"

"Your Highness, you must not be stubborn and self-willed!"

I don’t know if Huang Daozhou realized that what he said was totally inappropriate. Although he still insisted on his original idea when answering, his wording no longer had any trace of Chongzhen.

In this situation, some of the ministers were still scolding, while others were trying to persuade them.

But who would have thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was not angry at all, but after a long silence, he directly ordered:

"Order the palace guards to follow me into battle!"

(End of this chapter)