Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 19 Reason
What would happen to an army without its mid-level commanders?
Zhu Cilang was not sure what would happen in other places, but he was certain that the Ming army in Yingtian City would be much the same.

In his opinion, it was precisely because of these centurions, commanders and governors like Zhao Zhilong that the Southern Ming army collapsed at the first touch.

At first glance, such a conclusion seems a bit absurd, but it is the result of Zhu Cilang's painstaking thinking.

Take Jiangyin for example. If the city walls had not been destroyed by the red cannons, there was no telling how long they would have been able to hold out.

Naturally, the talents of Yan Yingyuan and others played a role here, but the lack of constraints from the old system is also an important factor that cannot be ignored.

What ability does Zhu Cilang have? How can he be so sure that Yingtian can be defended?
In the final analysis, he just wanted to follow Jiangyin's example and smash the old system, and then use a few days to build a new system that was still usable.

Indeed, there are certainly some special things that have enabled him to achieve what he has today.

The power vacuum created by Hongguang's escape gave him an opportunity.

Zhu Cilang in history did not seize this opportunity, but Zhu Cilang now seizes this opportunity.

He was not coerced by the volunteers, but instead took command of them, and was then able to give lectures to these hundred households in the military camp.

In this process, he clearly understood what he should do and how to do it, and he changed from being hesitant and uneasy at the beginning to being calm and composed now.

Of course, Chang Guanlin would not understand these principles.

He originally thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince only wanted to temporarily control those thousand households and use them as appropriate after identification, but who knew that His Royal Highness was actually planning to abandon them all.

His Highness's questions were extremely sharp, and with Chang Guanlin's eloquence he could only blush on the spot, but he always felt that this was not right.

"General Chang, you have fought in the north. At what level do our troops usually flee?"

"If a governor leads troops, he is a general; if a general leads troops, he is a commander; if a commander leads troops, he is a thousand households."

Zhu Cilang thought that he would recall it a little, but he didn't expect that the taciturn Chang Guanlin answered it immediately as soon as he finished speaking.

I think Chang Guanlin would often think about those days during the years he was in Yingtian.

"Then have you ever heard of a centurion running away first?"

"There have been some, but not many. The centurion has only about a hundred men under his command. If he dares to run away, the supervisory team can easily deal with him."

After this explanation, although Chang Guanlin understood His Highness' intention, he still had doubts.

"Your Highness, that being said, how can we unify the command if two layers are missing in the middle?"

"I don't need them to give unified command, as long as they can follow the procedures."

As he spoke, Zhu Cilang told him in detail his plan for defending the city.

Although Chang Guanlin still didn't quite understand, he finally realized that His Highness's plan was somewhat feasible and not completely random.

However, many key points were contrary to his understanding, and he did not understand how His Highness could be so sure that it would work.

"Tomorrow you can have someone divide the defense areas."

"Order!"

Chang Guanlin was about to go down to give instructions, but then he heard Zhu Cilang say, "Just keep me company, and let others pass on the message."

"Yes."

"Have you ever seen the Tartars when you were under Master Lu's command?"

"The Grand Master has fought many battles with bandits, but has never seen the Tartars."

Zhu Cilang nodded. He didn't mean to keep Chang Guanlin, so he didn't feel disappointed. But when he was about to turn around and go to the central army, he heard him say, "But I have a good friend who has fought several battles with the Tartars, and I heard some of it from him."

"Oh?"

This can be considered a pleasant surprise. Even though I have only heard about it from other people, it is a world of difference between this and knowing nothing at all.

Seeing that His Highness was interested, Chang Guanlin told him everything he knew.

When the Tatars fought, they usually used Aha to consume the enemy first, and when the enemy was tired, they used armored men to attack the weak points, and finally used flag soldiers to strangle the enemy.

Among them, Aha was a slave. They were poorly equipped and would be killed immediately if they dared to retreat. They were like cannon fodder.

The armored men are the bravest among the surrendered soldiers. Not only are they wearing heavy armor, but they are also fixed on horses. Once they enter the battle, they can only charge forward bravely.

The bannermen were completely different. They were real Manchus. Not only did they have double armor to protect themselves, but they were also free to move forward and backward. They were not used as tools at all.

There are also white-armored soldiers. They wear chain mail inside and iron armor outside, with a layer of cotton armor in the middle. They are truly like human tanks.

While listening, Zhu Cilang compared it with information from later generations.

After a moment, he realized that this did not seem to be a common tactic used by nomadic cavalry.

When he asked about his doubts, Chang Guanlin said in surprise: "The Tartars are good at fighting on foot. I have never heard of them using the tactics that Your Highness mentioned."

Zhu Cilang was increasingly puzzled: Isn't it said that the Eight Banners were unrivaled in cavalry and archery? How come Chang Guanlin described them as heavily armored infantry?
However, Chang Guanlin had no reason to lie to him, so Zhu Cilang started to analyze it according to what he said.

Although this tactic is simple, it is extremely effective when facing the Ming army. The reason for this can be fully explained by the four words "soldiers serve their generals".

When armies fight, they don't line up in a row as shown in later films. Then the two armies fight each other for a while, and whoever has more people left wins.

If there is no distinction between the center, flanks, main force and reserve, the result will be the annihilation of the entire army if something unexpected happens.

It is precisely this distinction that determines that there will be people who eat meat and people who gnaw on bones on the battlefield.

So the question is, if the military generals were given the task of eating meat, everything would be fine, but no one would be willing to let their own soldiers gnaw bones for others.

Therefore, if the military generals are assigned to do a difficult task, they will delay it as much as possible. If they encounter a situation where they cannot delay it, they will just run away.

As long as the left and right sides have strength, the civil servants can't do anything to me.

In the beginning, such a situation could be deterred and contained by the heads of generals, but when the generals had to rely on their own ideas to feed their soldiers, it was of no effect.

Fortunately, the South had not been ravaged by war, and raising private soldiers had not become a trend. Otherwise, how could Zhu Cilang capture the commander in front of a bunch of powerful servants?

As we chatted, it was already dawn.

During this half day and one night, Zhu Cilang took advantage of the power vacuum in Yingtian to do many things. If you look closely, you will find that it is not as simple as just seizing military power.

He used runners like Wang Fuping to control the clerks in the city. This way, even without the assistance of officials, he could ensure that his orders were conveyed smoothly, and his efficiency might even be higher than before.

This is not difficult to say, but few people can think of it in this era.

Most people think that to control administration one must control officials, but those inconspicuous clerks are the real administrative system.

As for the civil servants, to put it bluntly, they are just the emperor's mouthpieces, and these mouthpieces will even change the voices they hear according to their own ideas.

This may sound surprising, but it is indeed the case. Otherwise, why would there be so many legal advisers in the homes of grassroots officials such as county magistrates and prefects during the Ming and Qing dynasties?

Now that the civil service system has completely collapsed, it is a good opportunity for Zhu Cilang to try whether he can manage Yingtian's population of one million without them.

(End of this chapter)