Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 102 War of Attrition
After Ajige learned that Duoduo had suffered a setback, he immediately became very alert and began to deploy his army of more than 100,000 to advance eastward.

How could he not seize such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
However, after calming down, Ajige also realized that things were not simple - the Emperor Ming, who was rumored to be insignificant, should be difficult to deal with, at least stronger than Li Zicheng!

Otherwise, Emperor Ming would not have been able to tie down the two armies led by Duoduo and Zhunta, totaling hundreds of thousands of soldiers, in Jiangbei. Duoduo captured Tongguan in just over ten days.

You know, although Duoduo is not good at fighting, Bolo, Tulai, Junta and others are all veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles. With so many soldiers in their hands, the current situation should not be what it is now.

Thinking of this, Ajige immediately began to pay attention to the Ming army in northern Jiangxi and dared not take it lightly anymore. When he was in northern Shaanxi, he was heavily blocked by the Shun army, which delayed him a lot of time, so that Duoduo took advantage of him.

Now, he had to move faster, capture northern Jiangxi, and then lead the army eastward. At least he had to tie down all the tens of thousands of Ming troops in northern Jiangxi to ensure that their retreat was unobstructed.

Ajige naturally did not think that these Ming troops were his opponents, but he had no time. An army of hundreds of thousands could not be marched south with just a word. He had previously thought of making a detour and then heading north back to Beijing, and was not prepared at all for an eastern expedition.

According to the surrendered generals of the rebel army, even if they only sent out the navy and advanced lightly, going downstream from Jiujiang without stopping day and night, it would still take at least six or seven days to travel smoothly.

As for the early stages of packing up baggage and preparing food and fodder, it would take more than ten days, otherwise so many war horses, artillery, and food and fodder would not be able to be moved onto the ship.

But the Ming army in northern Jiangxi must be dealt with. In Anqing, Luzhou, Taiping and other places, there will definitely be Ming army blocking the way in the complex terrain. There will definitely be many obstacles on the nearly 1,000-mile Yangtze River waterway. In the end, it will probably be difficult for him to reach the city of Nanjing within a month.

Ajige fought his way from Beijing to northern Shaanxi, and then from northern Shaanxi to Huguang, crossed the river and entered Wuchang, and pursued Li Zicheng all the way to Jiugong Mountain. It was truly an eye-opener.

If Li Zicheng had not run for his life all the way and dared not to stop him, he would not have been able to get away so smoothly.

The so-called "thirteen battles all won" were actually only three of the main battles involving tens of thousands of troops, and two of them were sneak attacks in which he caught up from behind.

In other words, if Li Zicheng had taken advantage of the Qing army's unfamiliarity with the terrain of Huguang and its reckless underestimation of the enemy and fought a serious battle, the outcome would probably have been completely different.

After Ajige sorted out his thoughts, he called Wang Tizhong and asked him to take advantage of the time when the army was collecting supplies to incite the Ming army stationed in northern Jiangxi, especially Ma Jinzhong and Jin Shenghuan, to rebel.

If surrender is unsuccessful, he will immediately organize the navy and launch a strong attack to intimidate the Ming army in northern Jiangxi, and then seize the opportunity to advance eastward.

He actually knew nothing about the military situation in the east, and relied entirely on the few words from a few surrendered generals and civil officials of the rebel army. However, with his previous victories, Ajige was now full of confidence and not worried.

However, Shang Kexi had no idea whether the Jingzhou navy led by Zheng Siwei was reliable. He hadn't been in the water for more than ten years, so he had no idea whether it could still fight!
At this time, Duoduo had been besieging Fengyang City for more than half a month, consuming tens of thousands of artillery shells, and had destroyed hundreds of artillery pieces alone.

As the war progressed, he gradually began to focus his attack on the east, and the number of siege artillery increased to nearly 100.

To the east of Fengyang City, at the huge Qing army artillery position, the gunners, as usual, loaded the propellant bags and primers, and immediately covered the firing port with thick cloth to prevent the primers from being blown away by the wind.

These Qing army artillerymen were equipped with various tools for aiming, measuring and calculating. After receiving the Western artillery and a large number of well-conditioned artillery brought by Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, the current professional level of the Qing army's artillery was quite high.

Soon, as the central army's flag was waved, a loud military bugle sounded on the battlefield. The Qing army gunners who had adjusted the angle of their artillery raised their ignition forks, and the artillery officers were waiting for the final order.

"boom!"

Suddenly, a golden sound was heard from the center of Tulai's army. The Eight Banners cavalrymen who were originally provoking outside the earth wall and shooting arrows at the city wall from time to time in an attempt to lure the Ming army to fire cannons retreated one after another.

As soon as they left, a muffled thunder-like sound erupted from the Qing army's artillery position. More than 90 cannons retreated at the same time, and the same number of iron bullets whizzed out, quickly crossed the air, and heavily smashed into the three outermost earth walls on the east side of Fengyang City.

Most of the more than ninety iron bombs that came whistling hit the city wall, exploding into flowers of earth on the riddled earth wall. Many battlements were smashed by these powerful shells, raising clouds of smoke and dust. Several iron bombs hit the moat outside the city, and roaring columns of water splashed up in response.

Not only that, many iron bullets flew directly over the first earth wall and hit the second earth wall, and even the outer wall of Fengyang City further inside. These places have been damaged to varying degrees after more than half a month of continuous bombardment.

Soon, new military bugles sounded on the Qing army's artillery positions. The gunners holding ignition forks bent over again to light the weapons. Deafening explosions erupted again on the smoke-filled artillery positions, much louder than before.

Along with the loud bang of heavy objects hitting each other, the three walls outside Fengyang City shook violently almost at the same time, and the sound of rubble collapsing could be heard everywhere.

At the same time, screams and cries of Ming soldiers were heard from the city wall. In the flying dust, several Ming soldiers hiding behind the parapet were hit by the rubble brought up by the shells and fell to the ground, rolling on the ground in pain.

After the Qing army's continuous artillery attacks, the bricks and stones on the outside of the three walls suffered considerable damage. Now, under the bombardment of artillery shells weighing more than ten pounds, they were completely covered in flying debris.

To a certain extent, the damage caused by these flying debris to the soldiers stationed on the city wall was much greater than that of the more than 180 artillery shells.

Tulai patted the frightened horse under his crotch. Because they were too close to this large-scale artillery position, even though it was not the first time, the rumbling sound of the artillery and the pungent smoke still made these war horses quite uncomfortable. Their two front hooves were stomping on the ground violently, making a clattering sound.

Duoduo immediately adjusted his tactics after the last military meeting, but the Qing army's actions did not slow down. On the contrary, because of the correct siege strategy and continuous improvement during the advancement, it posed a greater threat to Fengyang City.

In order to put pressure on Zhu Cilang in the city, he has tried his best. In the past half month, except for the rainy days, he has fired a round of artillery every day, and each cannon has consumed more than 40 shells every day.

This is because the artillery of this era dissipated heat too slowly. It could only fire twenty times per hour, and had to stop for a round of cooling after every three shots. Even if it fired continuously for a day, it could only fire a hundred rounds.

At the same time, the trenches approaching the earth wall from the outside were also being dug continuously. At this time, the last horse-blocking ditch had been dug, less than a hundred steps away from the first earth wall. Although the Ming army on the earth wall also wanted to fight back, most of the casualties were civilians.

After being attacked by tens of thousands of iron bombs weighing two to more than ten kilograms, the first earth wall is now riddled with holes. If it were not for its thickness and the addition of a layer of bricks on the outside when it was first built, the wall would probably be crumbling by now.

But if the Qing army continued to bombard the wall regardless of the cost, no matter how much the Ming army reinforced and repaired the wall, the wall would eventually collapse. Now it is just a quantitative change, which has not yet led to a qualitative change.

You know, most of those watchtowers and parapets have been destroyed now. In the face of iron bullets weighing more than ten pounds, these protruding parts can't hold out for long, and most of them can be destroyed by one shot.

After the three rounds of artillery bombardment, Duoduo also rode to the front line. He looked at the Fengyang City in front of him with rolling yellow dust, turned his head to look at the artillery positions filled with white smoke behind him, and then set his sights on the trench in front of him that began to become restless as the bugle sounded.

Seeing Duoduo coming again, Tulai immediately stepped forward and reported:

"Your Highness, if nothing unexpected happens, we'll be able to dig within fifty steps of the earthen wall in three days. By then, Emperor Ming will likely send more troops to harass us, so we must prepare early."

Duoduo nodded after hearing this, then snorted coldly:
"Hmph, I'm waiting for him. The night before I dig to fifty steps, I'll quietly send more soldiers. If the Ming army dares to come, I'll make sure they never return."

Tulai felt relieved after hearing this and said with a smile:
"No matter what, Emperor Ming can't stop us this time. In six or seven days at the shortest, or ten days at the longest, this earth wall will definitely be taken down by Your Highness."

Duoduo listened and nodded without saying anything. Since the failure of the last night attack, he has become much more stable and more aware of the strategic error of his previous initiative. Instead, he resolutely implemented the method of forcing the Ming army to fight.

Now the Ming army in the city is helpless. In more than half a month, they have only sent troops to harass the city twice. The capture of the first earth wall is just around the corner.

The Qing army, while digging trenches and being bombarded by artillery on the city walls, constantly summed up new methods to reduce casualties, improve efficiency, and advance day by day.

These savages who came from the mountains and forests into the plains have been focusing on war for years and months. They also have the habit of hunting. Their creativity and learning ability in war are amazing.

After more than half a month of confrontation and attrition, the Qing army was actually facing a shortage of gunpowder and artillery shells, and had now begun to mine stone shells from the mountains in the south.

Tulai looked at Duoduo in silence, knowing the reason without hesitation. He then continued, "Your Highness, there should be news from Prince Ying in a few days. We went from Huguang to Henan and then to Fengyang. The mountains and rivers are so severe that even if the Tang horses traveled day and night, they wouldn't be able to reach us that quickly."

"Well, I understand!" Duoduo nodded, but didn't say much.

At this time, he had not received any news from Ajige, which made him feel uneasy. Without Ajige threatening Nanjing, he was not confident enough to take Fengyang.

Duoduo had taken control of Tongguan and Xi'an in Shaanxi, so he was not particularly anxious now. Instead, it was Ajige who should be anxious. However, he would be worried until the other party sent him definite news.

In fact, Duoduo thought that Ajige had already seen his report and was preparing to move east. However, the blow Zhu Cilang had dealt him was too great, and he had even unconsciously developed a psychological shadow, which made him always in a state of anxiety.

After a long while, Duoduo finally turned his gaze away from Fengyang and suddenly said to Tulai:
"Ajige is in the west, and we are in the north. We must act simultaneously and intensify our offensive to let Emperor Ming know that I, too, have the power to break the city."

Tulai bowed and said "yeah", then sent someone to tell Kong Youde to continue the bombardment.

After receiving the order, Kong Youde rode his horse to the artillery position and personally directed the artillery fire. This was the fifth time he had personally directed the fire in the past ten days.

On the battlefield, the artillerymen of the Kong army who entered the gun position cleaned the gun barrel with a wet stick wrapped in wool, and quickly loaded bags of propellant into it. Then an artilleryman holding an iron spike pierced the powder bag from the vent.

The other artilleryman was priming the gun and covering the firing port while the gunner carefully loaded iron bullets into the muzzle of the cannon. After the iron bullets stopped, the gunner who had just cleaned the barrel immediately used the wool-wrapped stick to slowly press the iron bullets down.

The four artillerymen worked together and skillfully completed this series of actions. Then they immediately readjusted the position of the artillery according to the results of the measuring tools, and then started a new round of shooting.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

After three more rounds of three salvos, with nearly a thousand shells bombarding continuously, the two earthen walls outside Fengyang City were already covered in rolling yellow dust, and many places were destroyed by shells again.

Many of the battlements on the earthen wall that were hit by artillery shells turned into flying stones, hitting the helmets of the Ming army hiding under the battlements, making a tinkling sound. The screams and wails of the Ming army soldiers came one after another, and broken stones and mud kept falling from the outer wall, and the wailing was mixed with the sound of splashing water.

In a trench less than a hundred steps away from the earth wall, Shen Zhizhong lay in a hole, looking at the thick smoke and frequently flashing orange-red flames filling the artillery position, then looking at Fengyang City where dust was flying and screams could be heard faintly. His heart was beating fast and he felt dry mouth for a moment.

Although it was not the first time he had seen it, it was the first time he had seen so many artillery pieces firing so many shells in less than half an hour, causing such heavy damage to the city wall at such a close distance.

A lot of those hateful Ming soldiers must have died. They must have been blown to pieces by the artillery shells!
Thinking of this, Shen Zhizhong couldn't help but laugh happily, but then he changed his mind and became even more worried about himself.

The Ming troops on the earth wall suffered such a heavy blow. When they dug trenches to get through, the counterattack would probably be even more fierce. The cannons on the wall killed people without blinking an eye.

On the second night of the night attack, Shen Zhizhong heard Etuhun talking in his sleep and learned a lot of rumors. He was very wary of the Ming army in Fengyang City.

But now the trench has been dug within a hundred steps, and it is impossible for these baoyi soldiers to retreat.

He now only hoped that this war would end as soon as possible, and it would be best if the hateful Ming emperor would abandon the city and escape as soon as possible, so that he wouldn't have to fight so hard.

As for gold, silver, jewelry, women, and war horses, Shen Zhizhong no longer wanted to think about them. Not only did he not want to think about them, but after that night, Etuhun never mentioned them again.

Soon, the bugle sounded again. Shen Zhizhong and other baoyi soldiers stood up. After they were not attacked by the Ming army, they crawled up from the ground, waved their swords, and drove the baoyi soldiers pushing the shield carts forward.

Now, they have dug the last horse-blocking ditch. The Ming army had previously set up many new traps and pits in the ditch. Before digging, they must send out shield carts to provide cover, so they need to fill the road ahead first.

Just as they took action, rumbling cannon fire rang out from the smoke-filled earth wall, and hundreds of deadly stone bullets flew into the Qing army line that had rushed to the last horse-blocking ditch.

At such a distance, even though the Qing army's shield carts had been reinforced long ago, those foot-thick wooden boards were like paper and were quickly penetrated by the shells that flew in one after another, raising a cloud of blood mist.

Faced with the Qing army's continued advance and already at the gates of the city, the defending Ming army, in addition to artillery, also sent the traditional firearms that they had previously disdained onto the battlefield.

At a distance of less than a hundred steps, what the Qing army feared most was "a hundred tigers running together". These arrows shot out like fireworks flew everywhere, and no matter how winding the trench was, they could not be avoided.

The most crucial thing is that the productivity of the Jiangnan workshop is too strong. There is still a large amount of inventory in the arsenal. The previous night attack on Chen Fu was just a bluff, and only less than 10% of it was used.

Shen Zhizhong waved his knife to urge the laborers to dig quickly, while preventing them from taking the opportunity to escape. He was also dodging the rockets that kept coming at him, and he was very panicked.

Occasionally he glanced at the military flags fluttering in the thick smoke on the wall. Without even having time to curse, he immediately hid in a hole in the trench to avoid being hit by the whistling rockets.

At this time, Zhu Cilang was looking at the situation on the battlefield from the top of the city wall. Through the thick smoke in front of him, he could still see the dense Qing army covering the ground in the distance, as well as the large cavalry deployed by Duoduo outside the range of the artillery.

Relying on their superb mobility, these cavalrymen were able to quickly pass through the potholes and horse-blocking ditches that had already been filled by the Qing army, effectively preventing the Ming army in the city from harassing the construction teams.

The Qing army worked for more than half a month, and worked every day except on rainy days. After sacrificing the lives of thousands of laborers, they had already dug through three horse-blocking ditches.

At this time, the civilians who were like ants in the war were still gathered around the dozen or so shield carts in the front, enduring the attack of the Ming army's artillery fire and desperately digging the soil to fill the holes.

As long as the call to retreat did not sound, they could not retreat a single step. All around them were wooden planks and corpses shattered by shells.

Zhu Cilang knew very well that Duoduo was using the flesh and blood of these people to gradually undermine the city defense firepower of Fengyang City, but this was the only way he could respond.

After half a month of fighting, Zhu Cilang had a deeper understanding of Duoduo. Looking at the deep trenches they were digging, the earthen walls they were building, and the high earthen ramparts they were building to observe the defense deployment of Fengyang City, he was actually under a lot of pressure.

At this time, the situation in Jiangxi was still unclear. It was still unknown whether He Tengjiao and Zuo Liangyu's army could resist Ajige. The situation was far from good enough for him to rest assured as long as he could defend Fengyang City.

Moreover, the temperature has just risen and the rainy season in Jianghuai has just begun, so the Qing army can still endure for a long time. Under such climatic conditions, as long as there are sufficient supplies, the Qing army's military operations will basically not be affected.

Chen Fu, Hu Maozhen and others also came to the top of the city wall at this time. Looking at the Qing army advancing in front of them, Chen Fu bowed to Zhu Cilang and said:

"Your Majesty, once the Qing army has dug through the horse-blocking ditch, our artillery will be unable to fire. By then, their advance will likely be even faster. We might be able to take advantage of their position to launch a surprise attack and catch them off guard."

Zhu Cilang nodded and agreed, "It's time to fight a battle! But now is not the time yet."

"Your Majesty, do you want to wait until the Qing army advances to within fifty steps before attacking?" Hu Maozhen asked immediately.

"That's right!" Zhu Cilang paused, then continued:
"Duoduo must be waiting for our surprise attack, but we won't fight first. We will make a strong attack, then weaken, and finally exhaust our strength. We will continue to fight the Qing army. Now we are fighting a war of attrition. It depends on who has the patience and can sit still."

"Your Majesty is right. As long as the Qing army continues to advance and the earthen wall on the trench is not built, the closer it is to us, the greater the chances of our surprise attack." Chen Fu nodded in agreement.

Zhu Cilang smiled, then turned his head to look at the location of Duoduo's banner and said, "It's been more than half a month. Even if Duoduo had been prepared, he couldn't defend against us!"

　Thanks to book friends "Yuekenlu Dazhuang" and "Ah, little lady, don't run" for the rewards.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)