Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 110 Time to Reward
Ajige, Tan Tai, Oboi, as well as Zhuobutai, Dunbai, Aljin and other middle-level generals of the Eight Banners never took Li Zicheng's defeated generals seriously.

Facing the Ming army in northern Jiangxi, although Ajige was much more vigilant than Duoduo and had foreseen the risks of his army rashly sailing eastward earlier, in his eyes, the Ming army was still much weaker than the Chuang army.

Zheng Siwei and Wang Tizhong's defeat in the first battle was indeed beyond Ajige's expectations, but when he thought of how these rebel troops surrendered without a fight, and he soon learned from Zheng Siwei that Wang Tizhong had been defeated by Zuo Liangyu, and then learned from Wang Tizhong that Zheng Siwei had suffered the same defeat, he no longer suspected anything.

Moreover, for Ajige, Wang Tizhong’s use has never been in fighting. If the other party can fight, he will really have a headache!

For Ajige, Wang Tizhong's greatest role was to use his previous connections in the Chuang army to help him surrender the Ming troops in various prefectures in northern Jiangxi. He wanted to take these troops and go straight to Nanjing.

Under his order, Wang Tizhong immediately sent servants to Nankang City to contact Ma Jinzhong. The latter bargained again and finally asked Ajige to send at least 1,800 cavalrymen to support, and at the same time send troops to attack Jiujiang to tie down the troops of He Tengjiao and Zuo Liangyu in the city.

After the two sides reached an agreement, Ma Jinzhong immediately began to treat Wang Tizhong's head servant with delicious food and drinks. He also gave him fifty taels of silver for travel expenses and a large bag of jewelry he had collected over the years, asking him to say a few good words for him in front of Wang Tizhong.

After the head servant had eaten and drunk his fill, he was still reluctant to leave. Seeing this, Ma Jinzhong sent three more concubines to him. It was not that he looked down on them, but he was really worried that something might happen to them, so he could not deliver his secret letter to Ajige.

After the head servant left, Ma Jinzhong immediately set off for Jiujiang to participate in the military meeting jointly held by He Tengjiao and Zuo Liangyu. As a key figure in the ambush on the Qing army, everyone was waiting for news from him.

It was also the first time that Ma Jinzhong was so honored. When he walked into the governor's office, Zuo Liangyu's deputy general Ma Shixiu and He Tengjiao's trusted military supervisor Zhang Kuang came to greet him in person, and were very respectful all the way.

For a moment, Ma Jinzhong not only had a smile on his bearded face, but he even raised his head slightly involuntarily. It was the first time for him to feel so proud in front of his superiors in the Ming Dynasty, and he was extremely pleased with himself.

Ma Shixiu naturally flattered He Tengjiao, a general who clearly favored him, hoping that he would also promote him. Zuo Liangyu was about to collapse, and he had to think more about his future.

Zhang Kuang was completely different. He was only polite to Ma Jinzhong, but still acted like a superior. But now Ma Jinzhong didn't flatter this little military supervisor at all.

Of course, as soon as he walked into the room, he saw He Tengjiao, who was standing with his hands behind his back, looking intimidating without being angry, and Zuo Liangyu, who was sitting next to He Tengjiao and obviously looked like he would not live long and was coughing non-stop. He seemed to have become a different person. He immediately bent his waist, sang well, smiled, and stood in the group of generals in an orderly manner.

Although Zuo Liangyu also forced himself to participate in the military meeting, the meeting was presided over by the commander-in-chief He Tengjiao himself. Ma Jinzhong did not show any discomfort and immediately told the contents of his discussions with the Qing army envoys, especially the words he got from the head of Wang Tizhong's servants.

"The commander of the Tartar vanguard army is Aobai? There are 1,500 Tartar cavalrymen in the vanguard alone?"

"Even if the 1,500 Eight Banners were in the ravines outside Nankang Prefecture, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to defeat us!"

"They say there are 1,500, but by then it might be 2,000 or 3,000. Furthermore, the commander is Aobai, who is said to have personally captured Pi Island, braving arrows."

"That's right. The slave chieftain Huang Taiji even named him Baturu. Later, during the Battle of Songjin, he led the troops and personally charged into battle, winning all five battles. Such a fierce general is definitely not easy to deal with."

"There are 1,500 Eight Banners cavalrymen, and they probably carry more than 3,000 war horses. I'm afraid our entire army can't even muster 3,000 war horses. If we fight this battle, our chances of winning are slim."

"."

As soon as Ma Jinzhong finished speaking, He Tengjiao and the generals under Zuo Liangyu immediately started talking, and everyone thought of the worst case scenario.

They had already learned from He Tengjiao the general situation of the Qing army in the west, especially the experiences and battle records of generals such as Ajige, Tan Tai, Aobai, and Zhuobutai.

This military intelligence was gathered by the Jinyiwei and supplemented by Zhu Cilang based on his memory. As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle. Compared to He Tengjiao's self-righteousness and his direct attack on the Qing army, Zhu Cilang hoped that the other side would understand the situation clearly and take steady steps.

In the original history, both Zuo Liangyu's group and the four Jiangbei towns had almost no knowledge of the two Qing armies in the north. Fighting independently, they were already facing a survival crisis and had no ability to obtain military intelligence.

After Zhu Cilang reorganized the Jinyiwei, he gained a certain intelligence advantage over the Qing army. The Qing army relied on the judgment of the general situation within the Great Wall by a group of Ming civil and military officials who surrendered, led by Hong Chengchou, Fan Wencheng, and Zu Dashou, the surrendered troops from various Central Plains, and the military intelligence obtained by scouts, to gain a basic understanding of the Nanjing court.

However, these understandings have gradually become unreliable due to the emergence of Zhu Cilang. Whether it is the well-trained Palace Army and the reorganized Beijing Camp, or the performance of Gao Jie and Huang Degong, or even He Tengjiao's performance in northern Jiangxi, they are far beyond what Hong Chengchou and others could infer.

He Tengjiao looked at the performance of the generals in front of him and knew that his worries were right - even if there were countless reports of victory from the north, as long as they had not personally defeated the Qing army, the Qing army would always be invincible in their hearts.

In other words, if they did not fight a battle and directly dispersed to defend the city, some people would definitely not be able to hold on under the coercion and inducement of the Qing army and would eventually surrender, thus causing the overall collapse.

If the entire army was united in their hatred of the enemy, he would certainly be able to defend northern Jiangxi and force Ajige to return empty-handed. However, this time the vanguard of the Qing army and the generals who came to surrender were the rebels Zheng Siwei and Wang Tizhong. This clearly showed that if he had been like Li Zicheng and was afraid to fight a battle, the outcome would most likely have been different.

In He Tengjiao's opinion, the soldiers and generals under Zuo Liangyu would be no different from bandits if they were not careful and did not keep a close eye on them, and were not worthy of complete trust.

Thinking of this, He Tengjiao secretly glanced at Zuo Liangyu, but the other party did not show any reaction. It seemed that he did not want to fight this battle, let alone boost the morale of the army.

"As long as there is a chance of winning this battle, we must do everything we can to win. We don't need a complete victory, but at least a small one. This is our only chance.

General Ma sacrificed himself to lure the enemy so that Ajige could send out the vanguard. Now there are only 1,500 Tartars, or maybe even only 1,000 of them. It will be difficult for us to fight them. If the entire Tartar army comes, is it still possible to attack?

Ajige now completely disregards me, nor do you generals. Taking advantage of his underestimation, we can launch an ambush and achieve a small victory. This is the best we can do before we fully retreat to our cities."

Zhu Cilang's great victories in Jiangbei, in which he killed tens of thousands of Qing troops, were a story He Tengjiao knew was distorted, but he also believed it. He was also influenced by this, thinking that if His Majesty could adapt to local conditions and win battle after battle, he could do the same.

However, Zuo Liangyu didn't even need to open his eyelids to see what He Tengjiao was up to. These civil officials didn't know how to fight, and they were self-righteous. They thought about getting promoted all day long, and they were stubborn.
"Your Majesty, cough cough cough. Your Majesty is a genius, a master of military strategy, and has countless brave generals under his command. That's why you were able to achieve successive victories in Fengyang and kill tens of thousands of enemies. Cough cough cough."

Zuo Liangyu forced himself to endure the discomfort, coughing and saying with difficulty:

"How can we, the remnants of our defeated army, compare with His Majesty's elite troops? Everyone in this room, ahem, ahem, ahem, can even compare to a single finger of His Majesty's?"

The anxious generals, upon hearing these words, felt relieved. These were indeed words of praise for His Majesty, and it was hard to deny that they were not sincere.

After all, although Zuo Liangyu was a coward, he was also betrayed by the even more cowardly Ming Dynasty. He was considered a very capable commander among the Ming army commanders within the Great Wall. Otherwise, Zhang Xianzhong would have already conquered the entire Jiangnan region.

He couldn't fight, that was when he was facing Li Zicheng, but it was completely different when he was facing Zhang Xianzhong.

Therefore, when Zuo Liangyu saw the victory news from Fengyang, he was half-believing and half-doubting, but he was very impressed by the military talent of the young emperor Zhu Cilang.

After all, even if the number of enemies killed in the victory report was reduced by 90%, it would still be an extremely terrifying number for him, and it was a record that was unattainable for all the previous commanders in the interior.

But he didn't think that He Tengjiao had the military talent at all. Just because His Majesty could win didn't mean that he, He Tengjiao, could win, not to mention that he was facing Oboi. Even Zuo Liangyu, who was in his prime, didn't dare to challenge him.

"General Ma has already lured the Qing army here. As long as we mobilize our elite troops, set up ambushes, and seize favorable opportunities, we will surely win. We can concentrate thousands of cavalry and tens of thousands of soldiers in Nankang. With 1,500 Qing troops, what do we have to fear?" He Tengjiao naturally understood what Zuo Liangyu meant, and saw the generals' avoidance of battle. He then asked in return:
"Your Majesty faced hundreds of thousands of Qing troops in Jiangbei, yet you fought repeatedly. We faced 1,500 Qing soldiers in Ganbei, yet we didn't even dare to fight. Do you still have the nerve to continue to accept the money the people have contributed to the anti-Qing struggle as military pay?"

"But if we can't win this battle, the situation will deteriorate immediately, and the strength of the Qing army will become known to everyone. By then, people's hearts and minds will be completely lost, and morale will be completely destroyed. How can we defend the cities in northern Jiangxi?"

Behind Zuo Liangyu, Zuo Menggeng, who had been silent the entire time, clearly got the hint and suddenly spoke up. He didn't want to fight either, and was simply worried that losing would affect his future.

After Zuo Liangyu and his son Zuo Menggeng spoke in turn, a number of military generals in the governor's office also spoke out, expressing their concerns about the Qing army's combat effectiveness.

Almost none of them were willing to fight this ambush, let alone be the first to be attacked. For them, if all the troops gave their all, they could actually fight this battle, and there was a chance of winning.

But if that's the case, why bother fighting this battle with the powerful and invincible Eight Banners? Not fighting is the best option.

You know, if it weren't for the news of the great victory in Jiangbei that kept coming from Fengyang, the Ming Dynasty would have had a chance to keep half of the country, and their wealth and glory could have been preserved. These people would probably have run away or surrendered by now.

They are not He Tengjiao, who wants to repay the emperor's kindness with his death and go down in history.

"After His Majesty concludes the war in Jiangbei, he will personally visit northern Jiangxi to reward the meritorious officials of each department." He Tengjiao looked around at the generals in the governor's office, suddenly sneered, and shook his head.
"If the situation remains the same, I have no idea what merits or rewards His Majesty will give you!"
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Three days later, teams of Qing cavalry were passing through the mountain passages on the southern foot of Mount Lushan. Guard scouts had already been deployed on the surrounding hilltops, and were vigilantly monitoring any movement around them.

The secret report of Ma Jinzhong's surrender was quickly transmitted back to Ajige's central military tent in Ruichang by the head of the servants sent by Wang Tizhong to discuss specific actions. After that, Oboi immediately led his troops to attack.

At this time, not only was there a mountain passage at the southern foot of Mount Lushan, Oboi also sent Bayala, who led more than 30 horsemen to advance ahead and spread out to the mountains and hills ahead to guard against an ambush by the Ming army.

The cavalry that he personally led in secret at this time did not raise any flags, in order to prevent the Ming army scouts in De'an and other places from detecting any abnormalities.

After all, the main force of the Qing army was still near Ruichang and Jiujiang at this time and could not quickly reinforce Nankang. If Zuo Liangyu had noticed the clues early and sent troops to control Nankang City, it would have been difficult for Oboi to capture Nankang City with only 1,500 cavalry under his command, let alone support Ma Jinzhong.

Although Oboi was confident in his unparalleled fighting ability, the terrain with mountains and lakes interspersed and hills dotted around was not very suitable for cavalry to perform well. In addition, the disparity in military strength between the Ming and Qing sides made it obviously unsuitable for him to fight against the Ming army.

Ajige actually doubted Ma Jinzhong's intentions because of this, but when he learned that Ma Jinzhong's troops had been deployed in Nankang City early on, he dispelled his concerns.

Aobai's current location is only more than 30 miles away from De'an City where the Ming army is stationed, and less than 40 miles away from Nankang Prefecture City. The cavalry can arrive in less than a day if they travel light and only carry three days' worth of dry food and the beans and salt needed to maintain the physical fitness of the war horses.

Although these passages around the valley cannot meet the requirements of rapid passage of tens of thousands of troops, the movement of thousands of cavalry can still be carried out with ease.

The Qing army had already occupied Ruichang at this time and was threatening Jiujiang, De'an and other places. As long as they took the Nankang Prefecture and controlled Poyang Lake, they could completely cut off the communication between the northern and southern Ming armies on both land and water, making it much easier to surrender.

By then, the Ming army's troops, which were originally distributed in several large cities around Poyang Lake, would find it difficult to concentrate. This would make it increasingly difficult for He Tengjiao and Zuo Liangyu in Jiujiang City to control the situation outside the city. Even sending Tangma to contact the south would become difficult.

In Ajige's idea, he just needed to concentrate all the red cannons in the current army, continuously bombard Jiujiang City, and then use Ma Jinzhong to persuade surrender, and someone in the city would definitely respond.

In this way, with the cooperation between inside and outside, it would be easy for the Qing army to capture the seemingly impregnable Jiujiang City.

Although Ajige didn't know how powerful Jiujiang City's bastion-like defensive fortification was, he hadn't thought of any other way to attack it except heavy artillery bombardment.

But in the current situation, he would not consider any method that would take more than ten days, so besieging the city and persuading the enemy to surrender became his only option.

After all, even if it were to follow natural evolution, even the Qing army, which was very good at learning and had rich experience in war, would need to spend a lot of manpower and time to develop an effective way to conquer such fortifications.

Although it took Duoduo's army only a dozen days to gradually find the trick to reduce casualties, Ajige could not wait for these ten days, not to mention that finding the trick did not mean that they could capture the city.

Under the coordination and planning of Ajige, the cavalry led by Oboi moved very covertly. Two days ago, more than 1,500 cavalrymen were divided into several groups and sneaked into the forests of Lushan Mountain.

Under the cover of tens of thousands of Qing troops who were heading to feign an attack on Jiujiang, they thought they had completed the operation without anyone noticing. However, they never expected that everything was part of the plan of He Tengjiao, Zuo Liangyu, Ma Jinzhong and others.

Since Ajige received the military report from Duoduo, he instructed his scouts to increase the deployment of forces in Jiujiang, Nanchang and other directions. He thought he knew the troop deployments of the Ming army in northern Jiangxi very well.

However, the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake are forbidden areas that the Qing army cannot enter at present. He was completely unaware that He Tengjiao and Zuo Liangyu had secretly mobilized troops.

In the valley passage south of Mount Lu, Zhuobutai rode up to a high point at the foot of the mountain and came to Aobai's side. With a smile on his face, he reported loudly to the latter:

"Brother, we haven't found any traces of the Ming army ahead. I've already met the deputy general sent by Ma Jinzhong to contact us. It seems to be true. Ma Jinzhong really wants to surrender to the Qing Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Aobai twitched the corner of his mouth and smiled complacently:

"Hahaha, I had expected this. The Ming troops inside the Great Wall are all of the same character. It's just that there are a few highly reputable civil servants in charge, so they dare not act rashly. Otherwise, they would have surrendered long ago.

Humph, you think you can fight the Qing Dynasty with just these troops? That's wishful thinking. All those elite troops we sent out to the borderlands were killed by the late emperor and us. Li Zicheng was even driven mad by us. What are these remnants of the defeated army worth?

"By then, as long as Ma Jinzhong surrenders, the other Ming troops in Jiujiang City will surely rush to surrender as well. Once He Tengjiao is captured, the entire northern Jiangxi region will be conquered."

Zhuobutai also said with a smile, he was very convinced of his elder brother's ability to fight, and immediately said:

"Brother, when we go east to attack the Ming court's southern capital, I want to be the vanguard, the first to reach the city walls and destroy those Nikans, especially the Ming emperor's prestige."

"Hahaha, Zhuobutai, you have great ambitions. When we destroy the Ming Dynasty and reward you for your merits, I will definitely ask the emperor to grant you the title of Baturu!" Aobai praised, but suddenly sighed and changed the subject:

"If we had known earlier that Li Zicheng was so despicable, we brothers should have followed Duoduo to fight against the Ming Emperor. There wouldn't be the disgrace that Duoduo's army of hundreds of thousands was blocked by tens of thousands of southern soldiers in Fengyang."

"Prince Yu has Tulai and Bolo under his command. Logically, this shouldn't be the case!" Zhuobutai had always found the war in the east strange, but he didn't talk too much about it in the army. "Could it be that Emperor Ming was truly a military genius, turning beans into soldiers?"

"What's so strange about this? It's just that Duoduo doesn't know how to fight. Wasn't that the case back when he was outside the Great Wall? If it were Prince Ying, Emperor Ming would have been captured long ago even if he had come to Fengyang in person."

Aobai said with disdain that he had made many achievements before, all of which were with Ajige, and he was also Huang Taiji's confidant, so he had no respect for Duoduo:
"Let's go! Everyone, speed up! After we capture Nankang and Jiujiang, we'll head straight for Nanjing. Then I'll personally escort the Ming Emperor north and present him to the Emperor!"

(End of this chapter)