Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 108 Post-War Planning
Zhu Cilang's judgment was once again proven true. Duoduo subsequently organized several raids in the west and south, hoping to seize the earth wall in the chaos and make up for the failure in the east, but without exception he suffered heavy blows from the Ming army.

Of course, Duoduo lost his composure in the disastrous defeat, but Tulai, Bolo and others did not. Although they had to carry out Duoduo's orders, they were very cautious in controlling the scale of the raid. Like Kong Youde, they only let their army make some noise, but did not actually launch a real attack.

Although the Ming army on the city wall fought back fiercely, it did not cause much casualties to the Qing army. After the Palace Army and the elite infantry and cavalry of the Beijing Camp that had attacked at night withdrew, the Ming army temporarily lost the ability to take the initiative to attack.

As the main forces of both sides withdrew to their respective positions, the fierce battle gradually came to an end. Only the fire in the Qing army's trench position in the east continued to burn until the second half of the night.

Until dawn, black smoke continued to rise from the baggage, siege equipment, and rain shelters that the Qing army had placed above and below the trenches and had not burned completely.

This time, the Qing army suffered heavy losses. Not only were more than 2,000 armored soldiers killed or wounded, but even the dozens of shield carts and ladder trucks that were originally parked at the edge of the trench were all burned by the Ming army.

Not only that, in this chaos, tens of thousands of civilians who were originally detained by the Qing army in the rear military camps and thousands of surrendered soldiers who were also under surveillance also rioted. In the terrifying camp roar alone, the collisions and trampling of nearly 20,000 people caused nearly a thousand casualties.

The camp roar caused by extreme fear caused the destruction of countless weapons, armor and supplies in the Qing army camp, and many people took advantage of the chaos to escape.

Some soldiers who had surrendered without knowing why had already plotted to escape. Now that they had finally waited for the opportunity, they took the opportunity to sneak attack the Eight Banners soldiers who were monitoring them, chopped off their heads and went into the city to claim credit.

Before this, the Ming army was making great progress in the east and the situation was critical. Duoduo did not dare to send these surrendered soldiers to the battlefield again, but he mobilized a large number of Eight Banners soldiers, which created a big loophole in the deployment in the rear.

This gave the courageous civilians and the surrendered soldiers who had rekindled their confidence an opportunity to take advantage of the chaos to escape and set fire to the camp. Not only the tents for accommodation, but they also threw torches at the Qing army's baggage camp.

As a result, the Qing army had to organize troops to put out the fire, and the pursuing troops were stretched thin. They could only watch the civilians and soldiers escape from the camp right under their noses.

The Qing army lost a lot of baggage and military supplies accumulated for the siege due to a sudden fire. The sudden fire, and the soldiers who were preparing to escape anyway shouting that the Ming army would launch a night attack, further exacerbated the chaos.

Duoduo, Bolo, Tulai and others had made preparations in advance, storing various materials separately, digging fire-proof ditches nearby, and the place where gunpowder was stored was even more heavily guarded. However, the wood used to build siege equipment and the food and fodder stored in the camp by the army were inevitably severely damaged due to their large scale.

When Duoduo noticed the "fire in the backyard", he really thought that the Ming army had sneaked around to the rear and raided his camp, and he was immediately panicked.

His hands and legs were trembling, and he gritted his teeth as he ordered the withdrawal of some troops from the front line to support the main camp.

By the time the Eight Banners troops retreated, dozens of fires had already broken out in the Qing army camp. The desperate civilians and soldiers who had fled had already broken through the outer fences, and hundreds of corpses filled the trenches they had escaped from.

During this back and forth, especially the fire in the rear, the so-called elite Eight Banners soldiers completely lost their morale.

In order to deal with possible night attacks by the Ming army, Duoduo carefully planned many interception and blocking, and even encirclement and annihilation plans.

But his plan was completely disrupted by this sudden accident. Even Duoduo didn't know what happened for a moment.
In this massive camp roar, dozens of Eight Banners soldiers were killed by the rebel soldiers, and thousands of civilians escaped from the Qing army camp, but most of them were killed by the Qing army that drove back and pursued them.

After all, whether it was the unarmed civilians or the surrendered soldiers, their combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of the Qing army. They had no horses and no support, so it was almost certain that they would be caught up.

But this was an uprising that broke out spontaneously because of the cruel oppression of the Qing army, which was unbearable for countless surrendered soldiers and civilians. It was not something that was planned.

These civilians who were captured by the Qing army and forced to work like slaves actually knew very well that if they had no chance to escape, death would be waiting for them sooner or later.

Zhu Cilang soon received military intelligence from Tangma and learned that an uprising had occurred in the Qing army camp. However, both the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp suffered heavy losses in this battle. The three batches of 5,000 infantry and cavalry who attacked suffered more than a thousand casualties, especially the army on the south side that lured the enemy, which suffered the heaviest losses.

In addition, there are some soldiers who left the army during the pursuit from north to south and have not yet returned to the ranks. Their life or death is still unknown at this time.

In other words, the Ming army's current combat-ready troops were actually very exhausted after a night of fierce fighting, and there were less than a thousand people who could be organized to go out of the city to provide support.

Although the Qing army suffered heavy losses, its strength was still far superior to that of the defenders of Fengyang City, not to mention that there were trenches outside the city to block the cavalry's movements.

But Zhu Cilang did not sit idly by. He immediately organized hundreds of combat-capable soldiers and horses, ready to support the civilians and rebel soldiers who fled to the city wall.

In such a chaotic battlefield, there will inevitably be some people who can escape to the city. Zhu Cilang must accept these people. This is not only to obtain the latest intelligence of the Qing army, but also his duty as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

However, in order to prevent Qing army spies from taking the opportunity to sneak in and launch a surprise attack to capture the city, these civilians and rebel soldiers entering the city will be temporarily detained until it is confirmed that there is no threat, and they can rest within a limited range.

After dealing with these matters, Zhu Cilang immediately sent Tang Ma to deliver three newly drafted imperial edicts to Nanjing, Huai'an and Jiujiang. He gave new instructions to Li Banghua, Lu Zhenfei and He Tengjiao, especially He Tengjiao.

After this battle, what Zhu Cilang had to do was to rest the army and restore the combat effectiveness of each unit as soon as possible, while continuing to consume the main force of the Qing army besieging Fengyang, waiting for the final counterattack.

Lu Zhenfei was to continue to command Gao Jie and Huang Degong to harass Guide, Bozhou and other places, and at the same time cooperate with the rebel forces in southern Shandong and eastern Henan to continue to disrupt the logistics of the Qing army and force Duoduo to withdraw faster.

Zhu Cilang wanted to see the main force of the Qing army with low morale and extremely depressed, so that he could achieve the greatest results in the final pursuit.

As Ajige led the Western Route Army to join the battlefield, the role of Li Banghua and He Tengjiao in the entire battle situation also took a step forward, especially the coalition forces formed by He Tengjiao and Zuo Liangyu.

Therefore, the imperial edict that Zhu Cilang sent to Jiujiang was the longest. In it, he further expanded He Tengjiao's power to bestow rewards, but also required the latter not to command a large army to fight without authorization unless it was an extraordinary situation.

Zhu Cilang had no doubt about the loyalty of Minister He Tengjiao, but he had always been extremely wary of his military talent, especially his ability to steal credit.

After all, this loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty did not wait until the final victory to grab the credit, but began to have various small ideas when the situation was not stable.

However, when the enemy is strong and we are weak, such behavior is undoubtedly fatal, and even the best situation will be destroyed.

After seeing the imperial edict being delivered with his own eyes, Zhu Cilang listened again to the mobilization of the Qing troops outside the city and the latest deployment of each city head. After confirming that everything was correct, he immediately got up and went to comfort the wounded and appease the army.
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It was just dawn. Looking at the battlefield filled with corpses and black smoke, Duoduo felt mixed emotions. In a trance, he even imagined that if he had sent more armored soldiers to sneak into the trenches last night, the Ming army would definitely not be able to succeed, and might even be tied down and wiped out.

At this time, the war had already ended. The walls of Fengyang were shrouded in white smoke, and the sound of horse hooves could occasionally be heard in the distance. The night attack launched by Zhu Cilang started quickly and ended just as quickly, without any lingering battle.

But Duoduo's thoughts were unable to get out of the night attack. He regretted his previous decision very much, and was even more upset that the reinforcements he organized had no chance to be deployed.

At this time, he didn't even care about the unrest in the rear. As long as it was not related to Zhu Cilang, it seemed insignificant in his eyes.

Duoduo still hasn't been able to accept the reality that he was defeated by Zhu Cilang again. Nearly three thousand of the most elite Eight Banners soldiers who were well prepared were on the defensive side. Even though the Ming army had a local advantage in manpower, they should not have been defeated!
He couldn't understand why, just half a year ago, when he was facing thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of Shun troops in Huaiqing, Lingbao, and Tongguan, he rarely dispatched 3,000 Eight Banners armored soldiers on a single battlefield. Often, a single armored soldier would lead 3,000 to 5,000 surrendered soldiers to fight together and easily defeat the enemy.

But now, the two Jiala Eight Banners soldiers were unable to stop the Ming army's attack. This made Duoduo even begin to doubt himself. Could it be that he really couldn't fight? Tulai, who had just returned from the front line, also said dejectedly:

"Your Highness, over 1,900 of the armored soldiers stationed in the eastern trenches were killed and over 400 were wounded. Most of them are seriously injured and will probably not survive until tomorrow night. There are still over 400 who escaped and are now being held in the main camp, awaiting disposal.

The situation was too critical at the time. These people could not actually be considered deserters. Most of them were forced to flee because those Nikans were too ferocious.

In addition, there was a riot in the rear, which killed over a thousand Nikans and injured dozens of our soldiers. The baggage was severely damaged, especially the food and wood."

"Tulai, do you also think those Nikan soldiers are fierce?"

Duoduo didn't care about the casualties of soldiers or the loss of supplies at the first moment. He had a rough estimate of these in his mind when he was overlooking the battlefield. Now he learned that more than 400 people escaped, which even exceeded his expectations.

"These Nikan soldiers are indeed powerful, otherwise they would never have achieved such a great result. The annihilation of Geng Zhongming's entire army must have been the work of these elite Nikan soldiers."

Unlike Duoduo, Tulai wasn't naive, dwelling on irreversible events. He had previously been dismissive of the elite troops under Zhu Cilang, but now, having seen the outcome, he immediately accepted it. This was the maturity of a veteran general, indifferent to the consequences of life and death.

"But fortunately, Emperor Ming does not have many powerful troops at his disposal. This battle must have cost a lot of these powerful troops. If we count the previous battles, Emperor Ming now has less than 10,000 troops capable of fighting in the field."

"You're right. The Ming army must have suffered heavy losses. Without these elite troops, the Ming Emperor would have no way of defending Fengyang City. The soldiers and civilians dispatched from those places are nothing but a mob."

Duoduo immediately agreed. He now needed to continue to restore some of his dignity as the commander-in-chief of the army. He also needed to prove his ability through military decision-making in order to regain the trust of his generals and even make them look at him with new eyes.

"Tulai, Bolo, after we gather our forces today, have Kong Youde continue the bombardment, have the laborers continue digging trenches, then harass with mines and send out the armored troops to attack the city. I will not allow the Ming army to rest in peace."

"My lord, no!"

Upon hearing that Duoduo wanted to increase the offensive to intimidate the Ming army, Tulai immediately stopped him and said:
"We shouldn't continue to attack aggressively now. We should just keep harassing and wear out the Ming army. We don't even need to continue digging trenches and advancing. The current distance is the most suitable for defense."

He knew that this would only lead to more casualties and was simply not worth it. With the civilians and surrendered soldiers acting as human shields, the losses from a single assault might not be significant, but the cumulative effects would be disastrous.

The Ming Dynasty had a large population, so it was very easy to replenish its troops. But it was different for the Qing Dynasty. If these tens of thousands of soldiers of the Qing Dynasty were gone, what would be the point of entering the pass?

"Tulai is right. We shouldn't continue to attack. Let alone the 10,000 elite Ming troops in this city, even if there were only 5,000 or 6,000, Fengyang City is so strong that it would be difficult for us to capture it. How many layers of walls are there inside and outside?
Even if we break through this outer barrier, there are still several more waiting for us inside. Even if we use up all our armor and soldiers, I'm afraid we won't be able to wait until Fengyang is completely captured."

Boro was now beside Duoduo, his expression also very grim. He sighed and said:

"In addition to these elite troops, there appear to be at least 20,000 to 30,000 defenders in the city. With the city walls and artillery to rely on, the situation is still very unfavorable for us.

Fighting a war will certainly result in casualties, but rather than wasting troops in vain, it is better to surround and not attack, waiting for the situation in the south to change. The outcome will be the same then."

He had originally firmly supported Duoduo, and due to his royal family background, he had a high prestige in the army. However, Emperor Ming had repeatedly thwarted Duoduo's attacks, and now he had defeated his own army in a field battle, which implicated him. The respect he had in the eyes of Nikan, Tunqi, Ashan, Baiyintu and others was no longer there.

After hearing this, Tulai nodded and then said:

"This is the difficulty we have been facing. Your Highness also wanted to draw out the Ming army in this battle, but unfortunately the timing and location were not favorable, allowing the Ming army to take advantage of the opportunity."

After hearing this, Duoduo felt grateful. Tulai was indeed a sensible man. Not only did he not have any intention of slandering or mocking him at this time, but he also helped him save face to a certain extent.

"But no matter what, Emperor Ming will never dare to fight outside the city. Although we have lost several thousand soldiers, we are far from being seriously injured. If Emperor Ming dares to fight, I can defeat him in one battle."

"Although Emperor Ming is young, he is very cautious and resolute. He knows the strength of our army, but this is where the trouble lies."

Bolo still frowned. He hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke:

"If Nanjing doesn't fall, Emperor Ming will definitely not take the initiative to lead the army to attack, and it will be almost impossible for us to capture the city."

When Duoduo heard this, he narrowed his eyes and a cold light flashed in his pupils. He didn't expect that Bolo would completely turn to Ajige's side so quickly. The meaning of these words was obvious.

The other generals in the army were probably in the same situation at this time, or even worse. Even Bolo turned his hopes to Ajige, and no one else probably believed in him anymore.

This is the battlefield. If a military commander cannot lead his soldiers to victory, he will not have enough prestige. Huang Taiji was able to integrate the Eight Banners because of his repeated victories on the battlefield.

When Duoduo was in western Liaoning, he often suffered defeats. In addition, he was the youngest among his brothers. If Dorgon had not been in power and Jirgalang, Hauge and others had not been marginalized, it is likely that he would not have been able to lead the army on the southern expedition.

Most of the time, only military victory can bring political advantages. Duoduo has now hit the iron wall of Zhu Cilang, and his political prestige has been completely destroyed.

You know, after Li Zicheng missed the opportunity to rescue Taiyuan City, he chose to launch the Battle of Huaiqing in order to win a victory on the battlefield and stabilize the morale of the Shaanxi army. Otherwise, the surrendered Ming troops in various parts of Shaanxi would never have been so obedient before his defeat.

What caught Dodo off guard the most at this moment was that, considering the overall situation, Tulai also fully supported Bolo's proposal, and even spoke more directly:
"We can just sit back and wait. Emperor Ming's troops are insufficient, so he shouldn't be able to launch a second round of night attacks. Even though we have sent out our armored troops to hold the fort this time, we are not afraid of him coming again.

Once Prince Ying captures Nanjing, and even Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, and other places, the Ming Emperor will naturally have to fight, and the Ming troops that were originally defending other places will inevitably surrender one after another."

After saying this, Tulai glanced at Duoduo's expression secretly. He knew that the other party was very angry, but the situation had come to this point and he had to consider the overall situation.

The command of the army is naturally still in Duoduo's hands. As long as the specific strategy to deal with the enemy is thoughtful and reasonable, he will still support the other side together with Bolo. However, such a devastating defeat must never happen again.

Although the Qing Dynasty suffered repeated defeats each time without causing serious damage, it was short of manpower. If it suffered three or five more such defeats, the army heading south on the eastern route would be completely destroyed. This was half of the Qing Dynasty's troops.

Duoduo had no choice but to accept it after hearing this, but he was still unwilling to admit that he had a problem, and said bitterly:

"Emperor Ming is truly cunning and treacherous. He always resorts to these despicable sneak attacks. This bastard is nothing but a villain. Once I capture Fengyang, I will skin him alive!"

When Tulai and Bolo heard this, they knew that the arrogant Dodo had finally surrendered after losing the war.

Now they can only wait for Ajige to launch an attack in the west. They all believe that as long as the Western Route Army advances eastward, everything will be fine and the situation will be reversed immediately!
(End of this chapter)