Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 107 The Last Hope
Chang Denggui led the Tianqi Battalion to attack in two directions, quickly passing through the flat land outside the city where there were no trenches or earth walls, and soon ran into the first batch of Eight Banners cavalry who came to support.

These Eight Banners horsemen were all deployed by Duoduo outside the trench for guard and preparation for battle. In order to avoid alerting the Ming army, there were not many troops at each position, and they had just been assembled at this time.

Due to the crisscrossing trenches, their movements were greatly restricted, and they could only pass through the flat lands divided into pieces by the trenches.

Chang Denggui, leading hundreds of cavalrymen under his command, quickly seized the initiative on the battlefield and quickly repelled the Qing cavalry that had hurriedly arrived.

However, he did not continue to pursue, but relied on the restrictions of the trenches to firmly block this passage.

The trench positions of the Qing army east of Fengyang City spanned nearly twenty miles from north to south. There was no flat land separated by trenches elsewhere, so the Qing cavalry could certainly pass through, but what awaited them would be a barrage of artillery shells.

Chang Denggui dared to go into battle with only five or six hundred cavalrymen in command of the Tianqi Camp because the wall behind him, facing the flat passages, was already filled with various artillery pieces.

But the Qing army that was ambushed had no idea of ​​this. After the first batch of cavalrymen were repelled, they immediately bypassed the passage guarded by Chang Denggui and launched a new offensive from the north.

As a result, these Qing cavalry had just passed the flat land in the middle of the trench and had no time to make a detour to encircle the enemy when they were hit by a torrential fire from the artillery on the city wall.

Amidst the flashes of artillery fire, hundreds and thousands of shells swept past. Within a distance of fifty steps, these shells easily penetrated the double layers of armor worn by the Qing cavalry, and then smashed both the men and their horses to pieces. Countless broken limbs flew in the dark night, and blood mist sprayed out.

Not only the cavalry, but also many of the Eight Banners soldiers who were sent to the trenches by Duoduo early and rushed to the south to reinforce at the beginning of the war, turned back immediately after being attacked in the north, and those who wanted to encircle the enemy were also driven back into the trenches by the artillery on the city wall.

Duoduo dug the trench to this distance, which naturally made the siege easier, but the danger was also greater. Any soldiers who did not rely on the trench for protection would become a sitting duck for the Ming army's artillery.

Of course, the same thing happened to the Ming troops on the two earthen walls outside Fengyang City. If the Qing army set up artillery in the earthen walls at the edge of the trench, without the cover of the breastwork, they would be unable to take any action.

Without any restraint, the main force of the northern wing night attack led by the brothers Lin Changfeng and Lin Changfu quickly advanced southward, while the northern route of the Qing army, which had been struggling to hold on with the cover of trenches, had now suffered an irreversible defeat.

In the wilderness, the trenches of the Qing army were arranged horizontally from east to west and crisscrossed from north to south and from west to east. Like a flood that broke through a dam, they quickly evolved into dozens of defeated troops of varying sizes, fleeing to the east and south, and a few fled to the north.

Not only that, the scattered soldiers and horses in the trenches of the Qing army were quickly swept away by these fleeing soldiers. The French cannons that had played a huge role in blocking the Ming army were now almost unable to stop the attack of the Ming army because of the presence of the fleeing soldiers.

In fact, most of the commands were impossible to carry out in the battle at night. It was completely impossible for the Qing army to reorganize a counterattack in such a swift attack and such a chaotic battlefield.

The party with the advantage can quickly expand its local advantage, which is why Zhu Cilang made a prompt decision and quickly deployed reserve troops.

The battlefield at this time was noisy and violent. For the Ming army, it was a one-sided massacre. The Ming army in the north did not leave any troops to cover the flanks, but chose to pursue with all their strength.
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Kong Youde was at the edge of the artillery position behind the trench at this time. He was carefully observing the battle in the trench.

Looking at the continuously defeated Qing army, he was very shocked. Those were all the elite Eight Banners soldiers under Duoduo's command. Even the baoyi soldiers were a minority, and they were defeated by the Ming army so quickly!
The space in the trench was limited and it was close to the city wall. If too many troops were deployed, they would easily be noticed by the Ming army dozens of steps away. After weighing the pros and cons, Duoduo chose to send out the elite Eight Banners armored soldiers in the army.

You must know that all the most dangerous tasks that were carried out at the forefront were completed by surrendered soldiers and civilian laborers, in order to preserve the core combat power of the Qing army - the Eight Banners armored soldiers.

But now, in order to show that the Eight Banners soldiers were fully capable of easily defeating the Ming army in field battles, Duoduo finally chose to place these elite troops at the forefront of the battlefield.

But he never expected that his actions would make Zhu Cilang's night attack reach an unprecedented level in strategic significance.

The most elite Eight Banners soldiers in the Qing army could not defeat the Ming army in a field battle. This would be an unprecedented shock to the morale of both sides!
Kong Youde was a seasoned veteran, and he had a clear understanding of the current situation. A forced attack on Fengyang City was nearly impossible. If Ajige couldn't advance down the river from the west and capture Nanjing, a retreat northward was inevitable.

Although he was not frightened, he was very anxious when he saw the Ming cavalry following the infantry that was attacking southward, constantly blocking the Eight Banners cavalry who were trying to make a detour, saw the countless flames moving southward and rushing into the flank of the Eight Banners soldiers who were fighting fiercely in the south, and heard the collision sounds and shrill screams from the countless weapons and helmets thrown into the air in the trenches.

If such a powerful Ming army turned around and attacked him, could he resist it?
Now, Kong Youde could not give an answer in his heart, or rather, he was unwilling to accept such an answer. The myth of the invincibility of the Eight Banners Army was gradually disintegrating in his heart.

But he had to react and show his bravery in killing the enemy. Otherwise, he would definitely not have a good ending after this battle.

"Xian Guoan, Quan Jie, immediately lead your troops to harass the Ming army from the north."

"We?" Xian Guoan and Quan Jie both showed an incredible expression. If they were asked to go up at this time, wouldn't that be like sending themselves to death?
"I'm not asking you to fight to the death. If you really encounter the Ming army, retreat immediately, but find a way to throw all those mines and bombs out. Make a big noise so that Duoduo and Tulai can see them."

Kong Youde narrowed his eyes and then said:

"Remember, try not to lose any troops. If you can't fight, retreat. With troops here, Duoduo won't be able to do anything to us. Otherwise, you'll end up like that bastard Geng Jimao."

Xian Guoan and Quan Jie felt relieved after hearing this, and immediately went down to summon their troops.
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At this time, the Qing army, which was originally fighting a stalemate with the Ming army on the southern battlefield, finally heard the dense footsteps and shouts of killing coming from the north.

The Ming army pursued and killed all the way, driving away hundreds of Qing army's defeated soldiers, and soon disrupted the Qing army's deployment from the flank. Countless armored soldiers then rushed forward, risking their lives to break through the Qing army's flank.

The Ming army rushed out of the trenches. The powerful force of dozens of men and horses was like a huge tentacle, firmly grabbing and cutting from the side the Qing army that was blocking the Ming army in the east.

Under the overwhelming offensive of the Ming army, the Qing army, which was attacked from both sides, soon lost its strength. Facing the chaotic soldiers and the sudden attack on the north wing, many armored soldiers were even directly exploded into small groups of three or five, breaking away from the main army and fleeing to the south.

At this time, it was no longer a question of fighting spirit and morale, but an instinctive reaction. The Qing army was unable to quickly adjust the direction of artillery fire, and the muskets and arrows were basically used to consume the rushing fleeing soldiers. Faced with the Ming army that came directly to kill them, they were simply unable to stop them.

Those Eight Banners soldiers were either taken away or died on the battlefield.

The Ming army's charge became more and more fierce, and soon broke through the defensive formation deployed by Duoduo. The remaining Qing army soon became chaotic. The two groups of Qing troops retreating to the east and south collided directly with each other, and the scene was very chaotic.

The Ming army soldiers who rushed here saw countless embarrassed figures with their backs to them, running for their lives in panic. These fleeing enemies even trampled on each other, and the killing instinct in their bodies erupted even more violently.

Zhao Zhengdong held his flag spear and led his soldiers from the north to the south of the battlefield. He looked at the Qing army in front of him that was fleeing in disarray. His mind seemed to be blank, but his hands never stopped moving.

Amidst heart-wrenching shouts of killing, he and the army behind him charged forward with unstoppable force towards the two Qing armies that had already converged.

With the passionate shouts of killing, the central area of ​​this night attack - the east side of Fengyang City, also merged from the north and south battlefields into one battlefield in the south. Thousands of Ming troops surged like a tide, quickly overflowing the criss-crossing trenches and engulfing everything in them.

Such a fatal blow was irreversible for a feudal army, and the Qing army had completely lost the strength to fight back.

The Ming army soldiers wielded sharp spears and swords, slashing and stabbing in rounds. On the Qing army line, bursts of blood mist spurted out. The Eight Banners soldiers who had lost their fighting spirit and the Baoyi soldiers were mentally collapsed by the killing. The narrow trenches prevented their retreat.

The trenches were filled with corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowed like rivers. There were even many baoyi soldiers who threw down their weapons and knelt on the ground to surrender. The morale of the army was low and the front line was falling apart. They had completely given up resistance.
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Kong Youde led his troops and quickly deployed their defenses, quickly gaining a foothold. The soldiers he sent out had already prepared mines early and threw them towards the earth wall in the trench in front, creating the sound of a battle between the two armies.

Under the cover of night, the nervous Ming army on the city wall thought that the Qing army was going to launch another charge in this direction, so they opened fire and dealt a heavy blow to the Qing army hiding in the darkness.

Seeing that the Ming army on the city wall had been fooled, Quan Jie immediately ordered his soldiers to continue throwing mines in order to create a bigger noise and be ready to retreat at any time.

He also knew Duoduo's temper to some extent. Now that the young Tartar prince had suffered such a crushing defeat again, he would definitely try to find a scapegoat. Kong Youde had to perform well, otherwise even if he was not wrong, he would be in danger.

Meanwhile, Duoduo had already left the barracks and reached the watchtower opposite Chaoyang Gate. He watched the flickering orange-red flames in the trenches recede westward under the pitch-black night sky, unable to believe it. But judging by the current situation, his northern defenses had been breached by the Ming army, and even the entire eastern front had been pierced. Duoduo estimated that he had lost at least a thousand soldiers.

If the south and west are included, the loss of armored soldiers may have exceeded two thousand, and almost all of them are Eight Banners soldiers. This is a fatal blow to the morale of the army.

But the current situation is not about the loss of hundreds or thousands of armored soldiers, but that the Ming army has gradually become a nightmare in the hearts of those surrendered soldiers.

If they lost this battle, the Eight Banners' psychological suppression of invincibility would be gone. This was completely different from the previous defeat of Geng Zhongming's army.

Duoduo never thought that the Ming army would be so powerful. For a moment, a deep feeling of powerlessness surged in his heart.

He couldn't imagine how he would capture Emperor Ming after this battle, and how he would win this battle that he had been losing constantly and seemed to be unwinnable!

Moreover, the war situation changed too quickly, and Duoduo could not be sure of the real situation on the front line.

Now, there were sounds of gunfire and shouts of killing from the east, south and west directions, and the Tangma deployed in these three directions had sent back the latest military intelligence.

They also discovered the rapidly gathering Ming army at Tushan Gate and Hongwu Gate, with a strength of more than a thousand men. It was very likely that the Ming Emperor wanted to pursue the victory and expand the results of the battle.

At this time, the Ming army had already dispatched cavalry in these two directions at the same time. The artillery on the earth wall was extremely powerful, and a large number of infantry cooperated in the attack. It did not seem like a bluff at all.

But where did the Ming army get so many troops to launch a full-scale counterattack?

But the battlefield situation was so tense that Duoduo had no time to think carefully. After receiving these pessimistic military reports from the front line, he immediately discussed it with Tulai, Bolo and others.

After all, Tulai had fought for so many years, and Bolo seemed very calm, and both of them seemed to be able to deal with the current situation better than he could.

With the assistance of Tulai and Bolo, Duoduo quickly regained the mind of a veteran on the battlefield.

However, after carefully analyzing the military intelligence reported by the scouts, they still found it difficult to determine the situation of the Ming army's deployment, and they could not even determine whether the Ming army had started a new offensive in the west and south.

Duoduo's previous deployment had major flaws due to insufficient troops. He did not expect the Ming army to attack the north while making a pretext to attack from the south, nor did he expect the Ming army's combat effectiveness to be so strong. As a result, after the troops were concentrated in the south, the north was immediately at a disadvantage.

The only thing he could pray for now was that the attacking Ming army would suffer greater losses, so that he could at least save some face when summarizing the war afterward.

After some discussion, Duoduo was still unable to determine the Ming army's combat intentions. He immediately decided that he must take action and send out troops on three sides to at least bite off a piece of meat from the attacking Ming army.

The military intelligence obtained by the scouts at night was always limited. Without a clash of troops with the Ming army, Duoduo found it difficult to judge the true situation of the battle.

The distance between the Qing army camp and the trench position was not far, but because of the crisscrossing trenches, the cavalry could not enter, and even the infantry would find it quite difficult to move out.

As the party that was ambushed, the Qing army's reaction was certainly a little slow just now, but Duoduo was well prepared. It didn't take much time to dispatch troops, and many orders were conveyed very quickly.

Tulai personally led more than 3,000 Eight Banners soldiers to attack immediately, hoping to support the retreating army and at the same time contain the pursuing Ming army.

Not only that, he also led more than a thousand Eight Banners soldiers and passed through the side of the trench position, intending to directly kill the blocking Ming cavalry and encircle the main force of the Ming army that was attacking at night.

However, in the current situation, although the Eight Banners soldiers outside the city have completed their assembly, they are obviously one step behind, whether they are serving as reinforcements or as troops to counterattack the Ming army.

After successfully defeating the Qing army, the Ming army did not linger in the battle. Chang Denggui, commanding the Tianqi Battalion, kept moving with the infantry, so that they could intercept the Qing cavalry who wanted to encircle them at the critical moment.

He took advantage of the mobility and flexible tactics of the cavalry, as well as the support of artillery on the earth wall, and intercepted Tunqi without much effort.

Under the cover of the Tianqi Battalion, Lin Changfeng and Lin Changfu successfully launched a night attack and successfully withdrew most of the troops back to the city.

As the attacking troops were all withdrawn, the sounds of gunfire and shouts of killing from the east, west and south sides of Fengyang City quickly stopped in the second half of the night.

The Qing troops stationed in the entire eastern trench position were defeated by the Ming army, which was mainly composed of the Palace Army and the Imperial Camp, and suffered heavy casualties. However, because the Qing army's support arrived quickly, they had no time to cut off heads.

However, the attacks from the west and south were unable to defeat the Qing army at the beginning because the main force was not deployed. The Qing army also responded very quickly, and the Ming army did not achieve the expected success in these two places.

After suffering hundreds of casualties and failing to launch an effective offensive, Chen Fu did not choose to continue the attack, but continued to bombard the Qing army that attempted a counterattack with artillery on the city walls.

After receiving the news of the great victory in the night attack, Zhu Cilang immediately descended from the city wall and personally deployed the city defense and support. He had been watching the progress of the battle, and from the fierce gunfire and flames, he had already formed a general assessment of the situation.

"Your Majesty, in this battle, on the eastern front alone, the Tartars suffered at least two thousand casualties, possibly even close to three thousand. However, they retreated so quickly that the soldiers didn't have time to count them. The trenches are now filled with corpses."

"Well done! I will credit you all with great achievements in this battle!" Zhu Cilang smiled and cheered loudly.

Upon hearing about the casualties of the Qing army, the generals immediately became excited. This night attack caused huge casualties to the Qing army. With the arrival of the rainy season, it would be even more difficult for the Qing army to continue to attack Fengyang City.

At the same time, on the battlefields in the south and west, as soon as Chen Fu and Bai Yongfu repelled the Qing army, they immediately sent Tang Ma to report military intelligence.

"Your Majesty, the Qing army's counterattacks from Tushan Gate and Hongwu Gate have been repelled."

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang looked up at the direction of the two city walls. There were still flashes of fire there, but the sound of gunfire had obviously become sparse.

"Pass on my military orders. With the exception of the troops that just attacked the Palace Army, the Beijing Camp, and the Imperial Camp, all other troops in the city will begin operations according to the established plan. Be vigilant against a counterattack by the Qing army. Duoduo has suffered such heavy losses this time, he will definitely not give up!"

"Yes!" all the generals responded in unison.

On the other side, in the trench east of Fengyang City, when Tulai saw the piled bodies of soldiers in the trench, even though he was mentally prepared, he still couldn't help but show horror.

At this time, the battle in the trench had just ended. The bodies of the Eight Banner soldiers killed and wounded by the Ming army had not yet been collected. They were all lying on the ground in a mess. Pools of blood oozed out of the ground. The fishy smell mixed with gunpowder smoke made the air in the trench very turbid.

"What kind of magical power does Emperor Ming have that he can make a group of southern soldiers so fierce?" The golden flames swaying in the wind reflected on Tulai's face. His eyes were a little empty and he murmured in despair.

For a time, Tulai, like Kong Youde and others, placed his last hope of conquering the Ming Dynasty in the south entirely on Ajige.

He now had to accept that even if he, Duoduo and Bolo were combined, they could not defeat the unfathomable Emperor Ming in Fengyang City!

(End of this chapter)