Xie Ming

The enemy has been starving for several days and has no food left; boiling bowstrings and burning arrows is not enough to fill their stomachs.

They came from the south relying on the grain from Qinghe, but unexpectedly, a detachment cut off their supplies at night.

On the 28th of October, Xiao Jun feigned an attack to lure the enemy's stronghold into a trap. After that, Chen Jiulang and Lan Qi led 2,000 light cavalry to set fire to the grain depot and achieved a remarkable feat.

They bundled straw and lit fires, and the officers and soldiers rushed in with great fanfare. In an instant, flames rose up everywhere in the enemy's grain depot, and smoke filled the morning sky.

All the grain and fodder stored in the village were burned.

Upon hearing this alarming news, Dorgon was enraged and flew into a rage.

On the contrary, Xiao Jingchuan, seeing that his plan had succeeded, immediately decided to temporarily avoid confrontation.

Fortunately, the battle at the southern gate of Chuzhou was temporarily suspended.

Zhao Yingyuan's remaining troops, trapped in the city, were able to escape the city by taking this opportunity, and this moment was just right.

Therefore, without much time to spare, Xiao Jun withstood a wave of enemy cavalry charges, and then joined forces with Xiao and Zhao, fighting and retreating simultaneously.

They then hastily fled to Jiangpu.

Of course, having suffered such a great loss in this battle, how could Dodo, the enemy leader, simply give up and suffer in silence?
He then roared and issued strict orders, becoming hysterical, and dragged the entire army like mad dogs, chasing and biting southward in a massive attack.

At this point, people were already too engrossed in the fighting to care about anything else, like Chuzhou, Lai'an, or Liuhe.

He wished he could chase after Xiao Jingchuan, capture him alive, skin him alive, tear him apart, and grind his bones to dust to vent his anger.

And so it is, and so it is.

And so, they charged south in fury, pursuing and fighting on the north bank for two days straight, killing any soldiers they saw and slaughtering any cities they encountered.

To avoid the enemy's wrath and to evade their sharp edge.

After all, Xiao Jun's forces, stationed north of the Yangtze River, were indeed insufficient to withstand the enemy.

Left with no other choice, on the 28th and 29th of the month, Xiao Lang hurriedly led his troops to Jiangpu and Hezhou, and crossed the river to return south.

Completely withdraw from the defense of the northern shore, do not act rashly, wait until the enemy is eliminated and supplies are cut off before returning north, and then it will not be too late to make a comeback.

So Dodo pursued them to the water's edge, facing south and cursing them until his teeth were practically ground to dust.

However, he was ultimately unable to fight Xiao again.

Time is wasted.

After this battle, the two sides were once again locked in a stalemate on both sides of the Yangtze River.

This struggle continued until the beginning of October.

On the second day of the month, Dorgon's tens of thousands of troops, who were short of food, were waiting on the front line on the north bank for a large amount of supplies from Fengyang and Taoyuan.

The sky was already bad, and the snow made matters worse.

It is unknown whether Heaven, moved by the suffering of the people, intended to help Xiao.

However, it was only early October, and on this day, the afternoon was filled with heavy, dark clouds.

Before the hour of Shen (3-5 PM), a heavy snow began to fall silently.

Remote sensing data shows that the northern regions are getting colder year by year.

Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and all things are dogs.

This October snowfall is somewhat more extreme and severe compared to previous years.

Moreover, this snow did not fall in just a short period of time.

To everyone's surprise, the snow fell heavily for more than two days.

In dealing with this situation, Xiao's army in the south was in a better position, as they were a well-rested and ready force, and their preparations for winter were not too late.

The hardship, however, was mainly felt by the Qing soldiers on the north bank.

Most of the grain and fodder was destroyed. The logistics of transporting grain and supplies in Fengyang were limited. For further distances, supplies would need to be temporarily transferred from the Huai'an and Xuzhou areas.

The road ahead is long and arduous, and such efforts are like trying to quench a thirst with water from afar. The key issue is that even if we can provide temporary relief, it will be extremely difficult to gather such a large amount again.

Thus, these enemy soldiers were plunged into a dire situation of lack of clothing and food.

Their situation is getting worse and worse.

The longer this dragged on, the more soldiers suffered from hunger, frostbite, and death from the cold, every day.

Many soldiers were injured, and their morale was greatly reduced.

Then, based on this incident, Xiao analyzed that the turning point in the situation might lie within it.

So, on the night of the fifth day, Chen Jiulang and Lan Qi, along with their two generals, boldly regrouped and assembled the elite cavalry of the camp, forming another three thousand riders, who then split into two groups and went to the left and right.

By secretly bypassing Wuhe, Fengyang, Baimahu, and other places to reach the enemy camp area, they specifically targeted and cut off supplies to disrupt enemy commuters behind enemy lines. This method of exhausting the enemy and entangled with them quickly proved highly effective.

And they couldn't wait more than five days.

On the tenth day, finally, Dorgon, who was on the north bank, gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, could no longer endure the torment.

Unexpected events could occur, and the army was running out of food and clothing, so morale could not be maintained for long.

Left with no other choice, he had to lead his troops back in bitterness.

On that day, several cities, including Jiangpu, Chuzhou, Liuhe, and Lai'an, were abandoned.

No longer were they hesitant and indecisive, like wilted eggplants or stray dogs; with a burst of energy, they retreated and split up, returning to Fengyang, Taoyuan, Huai'an, and other places.

Xiao Jun won a great victory in this battle, and the entire army was overjoyed.

Once the enemy was gone, Xiao's various units quickly seized the opportunity to retake the cities of Chuzhou.

Furthermore, nearly a month has passed since this incident.

It will be another 11 months before we know it.

Xiao then devised a plan to move Xing, the former military supervisor of Fengyang, back from the Southern Court.

Leveraging this person's influence within the Fengyang army, they cleverly devised a series of schemes to sow discord.

After the enemy retreated north, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, two generals under Dorgon stationed in Fengyang City, developed a rift with Gao Jinku's newly surrendered troops.

On the ninth day of the eleventh month, a mutiny and infighting broke out within the enemy leadership in Fengyang.

In the chaos, Gao Jinku was captured, beheaded, and killed. Seeing this, his more than 10,000 remaining troops from Fengyang collectively rebelled.

Seizing the opportunity, the scouts reported back, and Xiao was overjoyed. He immediately led his troops to the city.

Taking advantage of the situation, they seized Fengyang City and captured several thousand former Fengyang soldiers.

Generals Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming were slow to realize that they had fallen into Xiao's trap.

However, it was too late for regrets. With collusion from within and without, the southern gate of Fengyang City was wide open.

The forces of Kong and Geng were already doomed and could no longer withstand the attack.

Therefore, he fled hastily, abandoning the city and escaping north to Xuzhou.

A little later, Prince Dodo of Yu, from the distant Huai'an region, was enraged upon hearing the news.

Having already suffered a defeat, how could they possibly tolerate being plotted against again?

His nature was inherently fiery and hot-tempered. He immediately mustered his troops, intending to send them south again to recapture Fengyang.

However, for him, this was a case of misfortunes never coming singly.

It happened almost simultaneously, shortly after Fengyang City fell into the hands of Xiao's army.

Liu Zeqing's surrendered troops, who had been neglected recently, have also begun to harbor rebellious intentions after returning to their old stronghold of Yangzhou.

Liu Zeqing probably figured it out too.

They could see that the Qing soldiers and Jurchens were loud and boisterous, and their iron cavalry was brave and fierce.

But recently, with the ebb and flow of power, the Northern Army has become mired in the Huaibei region, unable to extricate itself or free its hands.

How can such a weak army be trusted to serve?

Therefore, this fickle and cunning person, after careful consideration, becomes even bolder.

They actually developed the idea of ​​becoming mercenaries on their own.

On the evening of the tenth day, he deliberately disobeyed orders over a trivial matter and killed more than ten Jurchen military supervisors in the army.

Thus, without prior notice, they completely broke off all pretense of civility and sought to break free entirely from the control of Dodo's army.

Establish itself in a corner of Yangzhou, extending along the line of Gaoyou, Yangzhou, Tongzhou, and Haimen, awaiting changes in the times.

The alarming news reached Huai'an in the north, just as Dorgon was preparing his troops for another battle.

Given this situation, how could he, the commander of tens of thousands of troops, not have concerns?

It's truly difficult to look after both sides at once; with winter looming, it's hard to wage war.

Even if you're furious and resentful, you can only swallow your anger and resentment.

I'll just swallow my anger and wait until next year to settle old scores.

At that time, the Qing army ceased hostilities and turned its offensive southwards into a defensive posture, no longer daring to easily invade the border. (End of Chapter)