Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 97: The Loyalty of the Chief
Now that Zhu Cilang had said this, the ministers naturally understood what he meant.

However, when it came to the specific planning, everyone had different opinions on what effect this night attack should achieve.

According to Chang Guanlin, the main purpose of this night attack should be to kill as many Qing troops as possible, but Yue Qijie believed that the main focus should be on destroying facilities and burning food and grass.

Zhu Cilang and others knew nothing about this, so they could only listen to the two people arguing from the side.

"Master Yue, what you said can certainly slow down the Tartars' siege, but who can tell where their food and fodder facilities are stored?"

"It shouldn't be that difficult to send three or five strong soldiers to capture a Tartar soldier."

"Master Yue, Duoduo's troops are stationed outside the city. They will definitely assist each other with visible and covert sentries. These Tartar soldiers are really not that easy to capture."

"So according to you, the night raiders were discovered before they even got close to the enemy camp?"

"Exactly."

"Then what about the night raid?!"

Yue Qijie seemed to be really angry when he spoke, but Chang Guanlin just smiled bitterly and explained in detail.

The likelihood of a successful night attack on a troop will vary depending on its quality.

For example, it is rare for the insurgents to think of leaving a sentry when setting up camp. Once they encounter a night attack, they will have no choice but to flee.

A strong army like the Tatars would definitely set up many sentries and scouts when setting up camp. Once they were discovered, they would attack fiercely and rush into the enemy camp to create chaos before the enemy could respond.

Otherwise, the night attack would turn into a forced attack, just like the Tatars did that night.

In this case, where would we have the time to find a place to store food and fodder?

It has to be said that although Yue Qijie has been in the army for a long time, he is not a bit inferior to Chang Guanlin in practical operations.

This is the biggest drawback of civilian leadership. No matter what their intentions are, they cannot help but take things for granted when making plans.

Having said that, there is no reason to argue further.

After deciding on the goal of causing chaos and killing the enemy, Chang Guanlin said something about equipment, and the time came to choose the troops to participate in the battle at this meeting.

To be honest, this is what gives Zhu Cilang the most headache.

Now he has three armies under his command: the garrison troops, the militia, and the guard camp.

After excluding the garrison troops needed to guard the city, the only options left are the guard camp and the militia.

It’s easier with the guard camp, after all, gang fights and nighttime burglaries can barely be considered combat experience.

But the militiamen were only trained for a short period of time at most. Even Sun and Bai Fusheng thought that there was no way to turn these people into elite troops in such a short time.

"Your Highness, fire prevention and chaos creation also require manpower."

I don’t know if Chang Guanlin didn’t want to miss this opportunity. Anyway, in his words, although these militiamen cannot be used as the main force, they are enough to be used as auxiliary.

Finally, the wise and powerful Regent decided to launch a retaliatory night attack on the Tartars outside the city with the guards as the main force and the militia as the auxiliary.

The specific time depends on the weather conditions of the day.

Don't think you can launch a night attack on the enemy on any night.

The so-called right time, right place and right people, our ancestors put the right time at the top of the list, which naturally meant they attached great importance to its impact on the battle situation.

Take Yang Tinglin who was trapped in Jixi, Anhui, for example. If the heavy rain had not blocked the road, he would have led the volunteers into Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Yang Tinglin was originally the director of the Military Affairs Department under Lu Xiangsheng, responsible for transferring military supplies, but after Lu Xiangsheng was defeated and killed, he was dismissed from his post for impeaching the then Prime Minister Yang Sichang for deceiving the emperor. After Yang Sichang's death, the court appointed him as the director of the Military Affairs Department again, but before he could take up the post, news came that Beijing had fallen and the emperor had died for his country.

Upon hearing the news, Yang Tinglin knelt on the ground and cried, almost fainting. He then recruited soldiers in Jiangxi and headed north.

Later, Hongguang succeeded to the throne and summoned him to be the left minister, but for some unknown reason he refused the imperial call.

Therefore, the Yingtian court ordered him to disband his soldiers on the grounds that he was plotting something bad.

If things had ended here, Yang Tinglin would probably have lived a carefree life for the rest of his life. However, within a few years, the Jianghuai area was lost, and the Tartar army was about to arrive at the city of Yingtian.

Under such circumstances, Yang Tinglin ignored the imperial orders and immediately recruited soldiers.

They had recruited soldiers once before, and this time they gathered more than 20,000 soldiers in just a few days. However, when they reached Jixi, heavy rain blocked the road and the army could not move forward, so they were delayed here.

"Sir, there are two kids outside the camp who claim to be from the Duke of Wei and want to see you."

Just as Yang Tinglin was looking at the sky with a sad face, the soldier's report interrupted his thoughts.

Yang Tinglin, whose family property had been emptied by recruiting soldiers, felt that he had nothing to be cheated of, so he nodded and signaled the soldier to bring the person over.

Soon, two poor-looking children, a boy and a girl, were brought outside the tent. He looked at them carefully before asking with some disbelief, "Are you from the Duke of Wei's family?"

"Yes, I am the Duke's younger brother, and this is the Duke's only daughter."

"The Duke's Mansion is far away in Yingtian, how did the two of you come to my place?"

It's really a long story, and it took a long time for the uncle and nephew to tell Yang Tinglin about their experiences one by one.

After rushing out of the crowd that day, they realized that they could no longer enter Hangzhou, but the world was so big that they didn't know where to go for a while.

It seemed to be God's will. After walking aimlessly for half a day, the two men met some traveling merchants. After learning from them that there was an army of rebels organized by court officials in Jixi, the two men headed west.

"I knew it! I knew it! How could His Majesty's bloodline be cut off so easily!"

After listening to the two people's stories, Yang Tinglin was not worried about Hongguang's capture. Instead, he paced back and forth in the tent, seeming to be overjoyed.

"Sir, you."

"Ah, don't be surprised, don't be surprised. I am really overjoyed to hear about the bloodline of the late emperor."

"My Lord, that incident was quite a big deal, didn't you know that?"

"What's the matter?"

"It's the fake prince case."

Hearing this, Yang Tinglin frowned immediately, as if he really knew nothing about the "fake prince" that was causing a stir in Yingtian.

Afterwards, Xu Wenjue explained the whole story of the case in detail, and Yang Tinglin immediately clenched his fists as if he was ready to bite someone.

"Traitor! Judging from the behavior of his father, Prince Fu is not like a monarch, and the officials of Yingtian court are even more accomplices to the tiger!"

This curse made the uncle and nephew blush. Although their father and brother did not play any role in Hongguang's succession to the throne, Xu Yinjue was, after all, one of the ministers of the Yingtian court, so how could he be free from involvement?

Just when the uncle and nephew were feeling extremely embarrassed, they saw Yang Tinglin walking straight out of the tent.

"Pass the order! Speed ​​up the road construction. I will build a road to Yingtian even if I have to use my body to push it!"

(End of this chapter)