Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 465 So fast?
War is all about logistics.

Throughout history, this place has been a battleground and a must-fight place. To put it bluntly, the purpose is to reduce the logistical pressure on one's own country to the greatest extent possible.

It is like Hefei, which made Sun Shiwan a laughing stock for all eternity.

In the eyes of ordinary people, since the Wu army had already crossed the Yangtze River, it would be convenient for them to take Runan in the west or attack Xuzhou in the east. There was really no need to rush headlong into Hefei.

But if you put yourself in their shoes, Hefei became an important place that had to be attacked.

It is well known that the cost of land transportation is several times higher than that of water transportation. Without the support of waterways, Wu’s army would have to load military supplies onto ships and transport them across the Yangtze River, then unload them on the other side and load them onto trucks for transportation to the front line.

Let’s not even mention the feasibility and cost of protecting the grain route. After all this trouble, the cost of civilian labor alone is not something the Wu State can afford.

With this understanding, Hefei naturally becomes almost the only choice.

This place is the only connection between the Yangtze River and the Huai River. In the south, the Rushu River enters the Yangtze River from Chaohu Lake, and in the north, the Fei River leads to the Huai River.

By targeting it, the Wu State could not only transport logistical supplies to the front line in the most efficient and cheapest way, but after taking the city, the Wu State navy could also threaten surrounding cities along the Huai River through the river.

In this way, in the competition for the Huaihe River, the advantages of the southern regime will be fully utilized due to the opening up of the north-south water system, while the northern regime will be in a strategically passive position.

But then again, few things in this world remain constant.

After the construction of the Grand Canal, the three major rivers of the Yangtze River, the Huai River and the Yellow River were completely opened up, and the gap in logistical supplies between the northern and southern regimes was basically eliminated.

But the changes brought about by the development of the times are not limited to this. With the large-scale use of gunpowder weapons, logistical supplies are no longer just about food for people and horses.

To put it bluntly, money and food can be robbed, and if that's not possible, there are still sheep to be used, but gunpowder is gone once it's gone, and the Qing army couldn't get a few kilograms even if they turned the Huai River and Yangtze River regions upside down.

This is the basis of Zhu Cilang's plan.

At first, when he saw that the Qing army wanted to use Lianghuai as a bargaining chip, he naturally knew that Beijing did not have much confidence in defending Lianghuai.

From this, he felt that the Qing army's actions on the canal were just a show of attitude, and it was unlikely that they would send many troops.

Based on this, there was no obvious advantage or disadvantage among the three cities of Xiangyang, Hefei and Huai'an. He was actually a little hesitant about choosing which place to use as the breakthrough point for the Northern Expedition.

But a series of subsequent changes made him gradually lean towards Huai'an.

If the military intelligence gathered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard only made him slightly alert, the merchant ships intercepted by the navy at sea made him realize that the Qing army had big ambitions.

After all, it was basically a consensus among everyone that the Qing army could not defeat the Ming army in Lianghuai. Not only had the local gentry secretly contacted Yingtian, but even some of the local garrison troops were also unsettled.

Under such circumstances, the transfer of the Qing Dynasty's large army to Huaidong should be done in a high-profile manner to stabilize the local people's hearts, and should not be done in a sneaky manner as it is now.

The confidentiality of that group of people was almost at the top of the world. Even though the Jinyiwei sent a lot of people to Jiangbei and spent a lot of money, Zhu Cilang only knew that a large number of Qing troops had come from the north, but he had no idea about the details.

If we only look at this incident, it would probably be confusing and we wouldn't be able to figure out anything. But as luck would have it, the merchant ships sent out by the Dutch were captured by the navy. Seeing the number of firearms, everyone could understand that this was an attempt to surprise the Ming army.

Dorgon's plan was not fanciful.

In the past few months, the Emperor Ming had been "doing evil things". Although some people did not dare to take any real action, they had no pressure to leak some intelligence to the Qing army.

There were five thousand musketeers who participated in several battles, and two thousand dragoons who took part in the Battle of Hanzhong. Even if the gains from the military expansion in recent months were added, the troops equipped with firearms in the Southern Dynasty actually numbered only more than ten thousand people.

In comparison, the Qing army had purchased a large number of muskets from overseas, and with Beijing's own production capacity, it was able to form a musket unit that far exceeded the number of the Ming army.

At this point, the situation became clear.

The troops that came secretly to the south were most likely the Qing army's newly formed firearms unit. The reason they hid their tracks was to surprise the Ming army at a critical moment.

Faced with such a situation, Zhu Cilang's response was simple.

That is to consume the Qing army's stored gunpowder through continuous artillery battles. When the river mouth fort can no longer fire its cannons, what will the new Tartar army hidden behind it do?
just
"Your Majesty, I think what He Tengjiao said makes sense. I hope you can consider it."

In the eastern warm room of the Qianqing Palace, Yuan Jixian, who was usually a man of few words, knelt upright in front of Zhu Cilang, holding a memorial.

The memorial was submitted by He Tengjiao. Although it also mentioned the issue of military farming in Hunan, most of the text was devoted to the benefits of attacking Xiangyang.

According to him, since Hanzhong and Xing'an were already in their hands, they should take advantage of the opportunity before the Qing army reinforced its troops and move south along the Han River to attack Xiangyang from both the north and the south.

Zhu Cilang had received countless similar memorials these days. He only made a few comments on He Tengjiao's memorial and sent it back to the cabinet for stamping.

But to his surprise, Yuan Jixian, who had rarely raised any objections since entering Yingtian, actually brought this memorial to the Qianqing Palace.

"Mr. Yuan, I won't hide it from you either."

He was naturally friendly to the old minister, and after opening the conversation with these words, he told the other party all the Tartar's plans.

In his opinion, Yuan Jixian was a man who understood the general situation. Since he had explained all the circumstances, the other party should be able to understand the purpose of attacking the river mouth.

But who would have thought that just as he finished speaking, Yuan Jixian's voice came over.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being blunt. Although the Jiannu never used firearms on a large scale for various reasons, this does not mean that they were unaware of the huge amount of gunpowder used."

When Zhu Cilang heard the words, a look of curiosity appeared on his face. Seeing his expression, Yuan Jixian started talking again.

"Back then, the Right Censor-in-Chief Yang Hao led his troops into Korea and used 70,000 kilograms of gunpowder in the battle of Ulsan Castle alone. The Jiannu were located in Liaodong, so they must have known something about the situation there."

After saying this, he glanced at Zhu Cilang's expression, and after seeing that his Majesty was calm, he spoke again.

"I know that Your Majesty wants to take advantage of the Qing army having to fight a battle in Huaidong to annihilate that group of people. But since the Tartars dare to make such a move, they must have made perfect preparations. If a battle really breaks out and our army only wins a miserable victory, wouldn't that be the same as Duoduo's retreat?"

I have to say that Yuan Jixian's words were quite harsh.

In his opinion, the Qing army at that time had both firearms units that were no less numerous than his own and newly built inland navy. Compared with them, the Ming army did not have much advantage at all.

If the war breaks out again in Huaibei and Huainan under such circumstances, the Ming army will certainly not be able to defeat the Qing army with a near-crushing situation as before. Even if they capture Huaibei and Huainan and kill or injure the enemy, the invincible image that they have worked so hard to build in the hearts of the Tartars will be directly shattered, just like the effect of the Jiangnan War.

Having said this, Yuan Jixian stopped talking and just waited quietly for Zhu Cilang to finish thinking.

He had been in the cabinet for almost a year and had gradually become familiar with the government affairs, but he did not have the huge power supporting him like Ma Shiying and Qian Qianyi.

So during this year he just did more and said less, trying his best not to make enemies in the court.

But this time he could no longer keep a low profile.

Judging from the current situation, Dorgon's enemy chieftains have seen through Your Majesty.

This arrangement in Huaidong not only gave the Ming army the opportunity to eliminate a large number of Qing army's manpower, but also gave the Qing army the possibility to stabilize people's hearts.

To put it bluntly, the Tartars were gambling that their own troops could fight on equal terms with the Ming army by virtue of their heavy deployment in Huaidong.

As long as he wins this bet, the myth of the Ming army's undefeated victories in every battle in the south will be completely shattered.

By then, the slight fear in the hearts of the Qing army would disappear. Even if the Qing army withdrew from Lianghuai after the war, Henan and Shandong, where the water network was relatively sparse, would be able to stabilize as people's hearts gradually settled.

Yuan Jixian had a clear understanding of this.

The saying "If there are less than ten thousand Manchus, they are invincible." made countless generals surrender even though they had superior military strength. If the battle in Jiangnan had not shattered this myth, how could there have been the subsequent victory in Ganzhou?

Now the positions of the Ming and Qing dynasties have been completely reversed, and as an important minister, he cannot let His Majesty follow in Duoduo's footsteps.

"Mr. Yuan is right, but the battle in Huaidong must be fought."

As soon as Zhu Cilang finished speaking, Yuan Jixian seemed to have made a rebuttal.

Seeing this, he raised his hand to signal the old minister to stay calm, and then spoke solemnly.

"The court officials are only worried about the disadvantages of defeat or stalemate, but have never thought about what victory will bring," Zhu Cilang paused, then stood up from his chair, walked out from behind the desk and continued, "As long as we win this battle, not only will those accomplices be terrified, but even the serious Tartars will find it difficult to have the will to fight again. By then, not to mention the Jianghuai area, even the four provinces of Shanhe will surrender at the sight of us."

"Your Majesty! You have already submitted to the government and the people when you were just 20 years old. Now the Tartars are already at a disadvantage. There is really no need to gamble with them!"

It was obvious that Yuan Jixian felt some anxiety from his Majesty's words, and he could fully understand the source of this anxiety.

To this day, the situation of the Ming Dynasty is almost the same as it was in the fourth year of Jianyan. It is understandable that Your Majesty is worried about repeating the mistakes of the Southern Song Dynasty.

But at that time, Zhao Gou only knew how to escape. Not only did he not take control of the military power, but he even found it difficult to maintain the stability of his regime.

In comparison, the status and power of His Majesty the present emperor have long been as secure as a rock through one victory after another. As long as he does not lose his fighting spirit, who south of the Yangtze River can stop him from marching north?

After these words, Yuan Jixian thought he had hit the nail on the head, but who would have thought that Zhu Cilang just gave a bitter smile.

He originally thought that after fighting a war with the Dutch, the court officials would realize the various threats around them. But looking at Yuan Jixian's current appearance, they probably just thought that after defeating the Tartars and returning to the old capital, the world would be completely peaceful.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang was willing to have a good talk with this important official. After he had sorted out his words in his mind, he spoke them out in detail.

Judging from the balance of power within the Ming Dynasty alone, the Ming Dynasty had indeed established an advantage over the Qing Dynasty, but now the Dutch have reached out.

If the strategy of taking things step by step was really adopted towards the north, which delayed the unification of the Ming Dynasty, Britain and France, smelling blood, would have the possibility of intervening.

Compared with the ambitious Ming Dynasty, the Manchus, who had no ambitions overseas, were naturally more in line with their interests.

By then, the balance of power between the Ming and Qing dynasties would inevitably be reversed due to the intervention of Westerners, and it would be highly likely that the mistakes of the Southern Song and Eastern Jin dynasties would be repeated.

And this is just the uncertainty that comes from the sea; the situation in the north should not be taken lightly either.

At this time, the northwest of the Ming Dynasty was still surrounded by many countries, but within a few years, Junggar would rise strongly.

By that time, Yarkand, Khoshut, Kazakhstan and other countries were successively destroyed, and a powerful grassland empire appeared in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty.

You should know that the Dzungar Khanate was not a nomadic empire in the ordinary sense. Not only did it build many cities within its territory, but at its peak it even had the ability to manufacture firearms.

In the original history, the war with the Dzungar Khanate lasted for three generations, Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. It was not until the middle and late period of Qianlong's reign that this great enemy in the northwest was completely pacified due to constant internal strife.

At that time, resource-rich Siberia had fallen into the hands of Tsarist Russia, and there was no more vacant land on the sea.

If Zhu Cilang really allowed Westerners to fully intervene in the war of unification for the sake of stability, he would ultimately end up being one step behind at every step.

By then, some troops will be involved here and some money will be divided there, and the Ming Dynasty will inevitably miss this grand era of plunder.

"So the war of unification cannot be delayed!"

After speaking for a while, Zhu Cilang looked at Yuan Jixian who was still kneeling on the ground.

At this time, the old minister was so shocked by the huge plan of his Majesty that his mind was scattered. Even if he had words in his mind, he didn't know how to express them.

He understood that His Majesty's intention was to quickly deal with the Tartars so as to regain control of the northwest. After that, he would learn from the Westerners and occupy territory overseas.

As an important cabinet official of the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Jixian could naturally understand the underlying logic.

But he still didn't quite understand why England and France wanted to intervene in the Ming Dynasty's war to suppress the rebellion, and why His Majesty never mentioned Spain.

Having said this, he was content to understand every detail of His Majesty's words. However, while he was still organizing his thoughts, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the pavilion, and then a palace eunuch holding a memorial appeared at the door of the warm room, and then reported excitedly.

"Your Majesty! The Marquis of Zhennan broke through the Hekou Fort this morning and has now marched towards Yangzhou!"

When he heard the words, even Yuan Jixian, who did not advocate a forceful attack on Huaidong, couldn't help but reveal a look of joy. But when he looked back, he saw that his Majesty was frowning, as if something was wrong.

(End of this chapter)