Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 141 A Group of “Good People”

January 7

Dianshan Lake is located at the junction of Huating and Kunshan. It mainly receives water from the Taihu Lake basin. The water flows into the Yangtze River estuary through Huangpu River to the East China Sea. There are many rivers flowing in and out of the lake. It can be regarded as an important node in the Taihu Lake water system. From this point, it can also be seen that this lake should be the remnant of the ancient Taihu Lake.

When Zhu Cilang made the plan earlier, he thought that this lake could connect the east and the west and hide his army in it. However, at this time, scouts had already discovered the movements of the Qing army, and it was not very important whether Dianshan Lake could connect to the west.

"My Lords, the Qing army will reach Huangpu in one day. Please make a decision as soon as possible on what to do."

Seeing that several officials were slow to make a decision, Hou Chengzu, who had the lowest official rank, couldn't help but urge them anxiously.

Originally, according to Zhu Cilang's idea, if the Ming army hiding in Dianshan Lake learned that the number of Qing troops far exceeded expectations, their morale and will to fight would definitely suffer a considerable blow.

But the actual situation was somewhat different from what he had imagined. Although some ordinary soldiers knew that the Qing army's strength was far beyond expectations, the news was not spread widely, so their morale and will to fight had not been greatly affected for the time being.

But it is conceivable that this will happen sooner or later.

But before this happened, disagreements arose among the four generals of the Lu camp.

"My Lords, the power of the navy's artillery is far beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Even if there are more Tartars, our army will be able to trap them to death."

Chang Guanlin knew that Hou Chengzu was right, so he repeated his reasons again and stared at Yang Tinglin without saying a word.

He is Zhu Cilang's direct descendant and comes from a frontier army background. After listening to His Highness's description of the firing of thousands of cannons, he was naturally able to imagine the general picture based on his early experience.

But Zhang Guowei and Yang Tinglin were different. Although they had never been in a battlefield like Huang Daozhou, Zhang Guowei focused on flood control in his early years and only recruited new troops in his later years. Yang Tinglin was mostly responsible for logistics supply under Lu Xiangsheng and had very few opportunities to fight in the battlefield.

Therefore, in their minds, war still depends on hand-to-hand combat, and the so-called artillery is just an auxiliary thing.

Therefore, Yang Tinglin felt that the military situation had changed and the plan should be adjusted accordingly. However, Zhang Guowei obviously did not have his own ideas, and when the other two had disagreements, he did not know who to listen to.

"General Chang, I am not a coward, otherwise I would not lead the rebel army to reinforce Hangzhou."

"I'm not"

After hearing what Yang Tinglin said, Chang Guanlin wanted to make some explanation, but he was interrupted by Yang Tinglin after saying only a few words.

"These 60,000 soldiers are the only ones left in Hangzhou. If they are really lost, not only will Hangzhou be lost, but Yingtian will also become a truly isolated city. The situation that Your Highness has worked so hard to build will be overturned. Even if we die a thousand times, we can't atone for even a single sin."

"Lord Yang, the power of artillery is far greater than anything else. Our army won a great victory outside Hangzhou City earlier with the help of artillery."

Chang Guanlin knew that it would be difficult to convince the old man with words alone, so he used the battle outside Hangzhou city as an example.

But who would have thought that after the words fell, Yang Tinglin was not convinced, but frowned and said in a slightly blaming tone:

"Don't exaggerate. I've been to the battlefield and found that most of the shells didn't even land on the battlefield.
This battle was the result of the desperate resistance of Fang Guoan's troops and the proper charging of General Chang's troops, not the work of artillery. "

Yang Tinglin's words were well-reasoned and Chang Guanlin really didn't know how to respond.

As an eyewitness of that battle, how could he not know that the artillery only played a role in disrupting the morale of the Qing army and boosting the morale of his own side in the initial stage.

But he could never have imagined that Lord Yang had actually been to the battlefield and even determined so much from the bullet holes.

As a result, his plan to use that battle to fool the old man was completely thwarted.

But at the same time, he knew very well in his heart that with the current strength, the Tartars could definitely be annihilated. If the plan was changed as Yang Tinglin said, then His Highness would have wasted so much time preparing for it.

So even though he was speechless, he did not intend to compromise.

At this point, the situation came to a standstill due to the disagreement between Yang and Chang.

If it were any other time, the situation would have been stalemate, but now the Qing army was dozens of miles away from Huangpu, and if the Ming army did not take action, it would be too late to make arrangements.

"Mr. Minister, please make the decision."

While the two were still thinking about how to convince each other, Hou Chengzu bravely said something to Zhang Guowei.

Although he and the other three were leading an army alone this time, one of them was a minister and one was a noble. Even Chang Guanlin, who was of the same rank as him, was brought by His Highness from Yingtian.

Therefore, as a small commander in a remote corner, he had no room to express much opinion.

But dragging it on like this was not a solution, so he placed his hope on Zhang Guowei, who had been slow to express his position.

But what decision can Zhang Guowei make in this situation?
His official rank was indeed the highest among the four, and His Highness had indeed made him the master before he left.

But his expertise lies in river management, not fighting wars. When the Tartars invaded before, he was somewhat forced into a task. Now he thinks that what Yang Tinglin says makes sense, and what Chang Guanlin says is not nonsense.

When Hou Chengzu asked this question, he was hesitant and didn't know how to respond.

Doesn’t Zhu Cilang know that Zhang Guowei is not good at military affairs?
His earlier work was not in vain. Although he could not say that he knew everything in depth, he had some idea of ​​the four men's ability to lead troops. So while he arranged Zhang Guowei as the person in charge, he also paid attention to every detail like the driving god of Gaoliang River, trying his best to arrange everything properly.

But couldn't he assign someone who was good at military affairs to lead this battle?

The answer is obvious, just two words: No.

The only people in Hangzhou who had fought in wars and were good at fighting were the three military generals Fang Guoan, Chang Guanlin, and Hou Chengzu, plus the civil servant Zhu Datian.

Needless to say, Fang Guoan's troops had suffered heavy losses and would not be able to return to the battlefield in a short period of time.

Chang Guanlin and Hou Chengzu are just small commanders. If they were allowed to take charge, the two civil officials would probably be killed in front of Zhu Cilang before they could even send out troops.

The only one left is Zhu Datian.

If his relationship with Ma Shiying is not taken into consideration, letting Zhu Datian preside over this battle would indeed be a good choice. However, he is at loggerheads with the people of Donglin, and Yang Tinglin and Huang Daozhou are close friends. Does Zhu Cilang dare to take the risk of putting these two together?

In this case, the only people suitable to take charge of this battle are Zhang Guowei and Yang Tinglin, who are not good at military affairs.

This situation is obvious, so naturally, the Minister of Military Affairs Zhang Guowei had to preside over this battle.

Therefore, after being awakened by Huang Daozhou's disturbance, he would, under the influence of these reasons, hurriedly leave Hangzhou and head north to join the army.

I have to say, it is really difficult to do anything in an organization full of contradictions.

Zhu Cilang knew clearly that Zhu Datian was the person who was truly suitable to preside over this war, but various reasons unrelated to the war itself forced him to put Zhang Guowei in this position.

He once sneered at some historical figures for being stupid, and they actually did so many irrational things.

But when he was really in the middle of it, he found that those in high positions were all outstanding people, and the reason why they did things that even ordinary people thought were unreasonable was that they had no choice. Just when Zhang Guowei was still struggling with whether to follow the ideas of the prince's close ministers or the opinions of his allies, the news that the number of Qing troops far exceeded expectations gradually spread among the army as the soldiers disembarked.

Normally, this kind of news should be strictly kept secret before the generals make a decision. However, upon hearing the news, Zhang Guowei and his three companions fell into disagreement. For a moment, no one noticed that the scout had quietly retreated.

Afterwards, without receiving any decision from their superiors, the generals ordered their soldiers to land according to the original plan.

In this way, the news will be.
"Boss, I heard that there are many more Tartars than expected."

"Shut up! How dare you spread such a thing?"

When Zhou Xian heard what his soldiers said, he immediately looked around vigilantly. When he saw that everyone around him was from his own small flag team, he lowered his voice and scolded them.

On the second day after Zhu Cilang arrived in Hangzhou, he ordered the reorganization of the 30,000 people who came to Hangzhou with Ma Shiying. Later, Chang Guanlin dispersed the 2,000 troops under his command, and Zhou Xiancai became a small flagman.

In fact, based on his size and strength, he could have been selected into the Guard Battalion, but because he got separated from the main force that night, he was accused of disobeying orders, so after failing to be selected into the Guard Battalion, he became a subordinate of Chang Guanlin.

However, he was not dissatisfied with this. After all, his military pay would increase a lot after he became a small flag officer. If he really joined the guard camp, he didn't know when he would be able to make a name for himself.

"Where did you hear that?"

After a while, several small flag teams around seemed to be whispering something. Zhou Xiancai realized that something was wrong and asked the soldier again.

"When you went to report to the captain earlier, a scout passed by us. He seemed to have mentioned it when he was talking to the flagman next door."

Although Zhou Xiancai had only known these soldiers for a short time, the relationship between them during this time was extremely harmonious, and they were rarely on guard when speaking to each other.

This was probably due to the sense of closeness that the soldiers felt when they met someone from their hometown.

But it is undeniable that if the army's structure had not been broken up by the mutiny, the "fellow villagers" would not have displayed such amazing combat power in the battle outside the city of Hangzhou.

Then the reorganization of these tens of thousands of troops would never be as easy as it is now, and the integration of Zhou Xiancai and others would never be as smooth as it is now.

Time passed bit by bit. As the news that the Qing army's strength far exceeded expectations spread among the soldiers, a buzzing sound gradually arose in the military formation on the shore of Dianshan Lake, but the four generals had not yet reached a unified opinion.

"My Lords, we should decide how to proceed!"

At this time, Hou Chengzu's anxiety had reached the critical point, and there was some anger in his urging voice.

He knew that these gentlemen had no selfish motives and that their respective positions were all for the sake of the country, but now that the Tartars were approaching, they were still undecided about what to do.

If this continues, the final result will certainly deviate from everyone's original intention.

However, the biggest reason why this situation arose between Yang Tinglin and Chang Guanlin was that both of them felt that their ideas were the best for the country. In such a situation, even though they both knew that they should make a decision early, they were unwilling to compromise out of public interest.

This is indeed a very tricky situation.

Every participant in the incident was impartial, and in the original history they did their best to save the Ming Dynasty until they were ultimately defeated and killed.

But the current situation is that precious time is wasted because they cannot reach a consensus, and even in the end both plans will fail.

The parties involved are well aware of this, but because they are in the middle of the situation they are unable to compromise or give in.

If there is no external force with the ability to make the final decision, no matter what resolution is finally reached, the outcome of this battle will probably not be favorable to the Ming army.

"Lord Yang, this battle is of great importance. I hope you will trust me once."

"General Chang, how could I not know that this battle is of great importance? But how can we pin our hopes on artillery?"

Seeing that the two still could not reach a consensus and Zhang Guowei seemed to be at a loss, Hou Chengzu knew that he was powerless and could only turn his back to them and look into the distance.

He spent all his wealth and trained his troops, all for the purpose of fighting to the death at the last moment and doing his best to contribute to the survival of the country.

Although Hou Chengzu was busy all day at that time, he was completely desperate in his heart.

Later, after meeting His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on Chongming Island, he felt a glimmer of hope in his heart, and he felt that there was still hope for his country.

Afterwards, a great victory was achieved outside the city of Hangzhou, and the Tartars fell into a passive position strategically. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince devised an ambush strategy, and it seemed that everything was developing in a direction favorable to the Ming Dynasty.

But who knew that at the last minute the military situation would change, and the officials didn't know what to do.

Perhaps the Ming Dynasty has really run out of luck, and even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is powerless to save the situation.

Thinking of this, Hou Chengzu felt powerless.

But at this moment, he found that the army formation that was originally lined up on the shore was slowly separated. When he looked carefully, he saw a team of hundreds of people marching towards this side, and there were even some soldiers kneeling down to salute.

This situation did make him confused, but as they were still on the boat, they couldn't be sure who the visitor was for a while.

"Go and see who it is."

Hou Chengzu gave an order to the soldiers beside him, and then looked back at the military formation.

But before the soldier got off the boat and landed, he saw more and more soldiers kneeling down, and even bursts of cheers seemed to be faintly heard.

"Go!"

After another urging, the soldier's pace was indeed much faster than before, but after he landed, he ran for a distance and then seemed to be frozen by something.

Then, under Hou Chengzu's surprised gaze, the soldier knelt on the ground like everyone else.

By this time the cheers had become clearer, and Hou Chengzu, who was already feeling powerless, quickly walked towards the shore.

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

He finally arrived.

It's a little late, sorry.

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(End of this chapter)