Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 135 Siege Plan
"The Ming Emperor has come, the Ming Emperor has come, the Ming Emperor has come!!!"

Zheng Siwei listened to the sound of drums and trumpets coming from outside the city, rubbed his eyes vigorously, and lay down on the edge of the parapet in a somewhat dejected manner, muttering to himself, as if he still couldn't believe it.

He never thought that Emperor Ming would personally lead the army to besiege Jingzhou City. Jingzhou is 18,000 miles away from Jiangnan. Why would Emperor Ming come to the battlefield instead of staying in the palace to enjoy himself?
Furthermore, weren't those tens of thousands of soldiers outside the city the Shun army led by Li Guo and Gao Yigong? Why didn't they engage in battle with the Ming army? It even seemed as if the two were colluding with each other.
"Damn it, Li Guo and Gao Yigong, those two ungrateful bastards, actually betrayed Dashun and took their troops to join the Ming!" Zheng Siwei looked at the large dragon flag hanging high in the distance and fluttering in the wind, and cursed viciously, not knowing where he got the confidence from.

However, the current situation obviously cannot be solved by just cursing.

Li Guo and Gao Yigong had no cannons and could not break through the city of Jingzhou. Although Zheng Siwei kept asking for help at the beginning, he soon realized that he was no longer in danger. He continued to ask for help only to show off his reputation in front of the Qing court and win great credit in the future.

But this time Emperor Ming brought dozens of cannons and thousands of soldiers and horses that covered half of the plain. It seemed that he was determined to capture Jingzhou City. Zheng Siwei broke through the defense and cursed because he realized the danger.

Soon, Li Qifeng, the councilor of Huguang Jingnan Road who was transferred by Ajige to monitor Zheng Siwei, heard the news that a large number of Ming troops were gathering at the foot of the city, and hurriedly climbed to the top of the city wall.

He looked at the army gathering outside the city and suddenly panicked. He grabbed Zheng Siwei and pointed at the large formation filled with flying dust outside the city and asked:
"General Zheng, what's going on? Why are the Ming army suddenly... No, the dragon banner, that's the dragon banner. The Ming Emperor is here! The Ming Emperor is here, too?"

Zheng Siwei had calmed down at this time. He said to the panicked Li Qifeng in a gentle voice:

"Don't worry, sir. Jingzhou City has high walls and is impregnable. The rebels can't take it, let alone the Ming army. They can't fill up the moat alone. I'm well prepared. No matter what methods the Ming army uses or what conspiracy they plot, they will not escape my eyes!"

Upon hearing this, Li Qifeng looked at Zheng Siwei, then turned his head to look at the sparsely standing armored soldiers on the top of the city wall, and then looked up at the densely packed Ming army outside the city, which covered the ground like ants. He was speechless for a while. He simply could not believe what Zheng Siwei said.

Zheng Siwei saw this and then said:
"Sir, I have ordered large vats to be buried throughout the inner walls of the city, and have soldiers hidden inside them, monitoring the situation day and night. If the Ming army makes any movement underground, I will know immediately.

In addition, I also ordered trenches to be dug inside the buried vats and diverted river water into them. If the Ming army tried to dig a tunnel from outside the city, even if they managed to break through, they would be immediately submerged by the water.

After hearing this, Li Qifeng remembered that Zheng Siwei had already made so many preparations when the Chuang army was besieging the city. His tense nerves finally relaxed a little, but looking at the cannons arranged in the Ming army formation outside the city, he still did not feel safe.

"It's different now. The Ming Emperor has brought in dozens of cannons. If they bombard the city walls for ten days or half a month, not to mention Jingzhou City, even Wuchang City would probably be unable to hold out. We must build another wooden wall inside the city just in case."

"I have been planning this, but I still need your permission to recruit the civilians in the city." Zheng Siwei immediately bowed and clasped his fists.

After hearing this, Li Qifeng nodded, and then immediately said:
"I will send someone down shortly. The laborers will be called up tonight. The wooden wall must be built as quickly as possible. Also, have you sent anyone to ask Tong Yanghe for help?"

"I have already sent two groups. The Ming army has just arrived and there is chaos outside the city. They will bypass the blockade of the rebels from the north and will definitely be able to pass the news to Wuchang." Zheng Siwei immediately bowed and clasped his fists.

"No, send two more groups. It's a time like this, and we can't afford to make any mistakes." Li Qifeng's face darkened and he said sternly.

"Yes, I'll do it right away!" Although Zheng Siwei felt that this was completely unnecessary, he didn't want to have any unpleasantness with Li Qifeng over such a matter, so he immediately agreed.

"However, Wang Tizhong..."

Facing Zheng Siwei's hesitation, Li Qifeng immediately understood what he meant and said coldly:

"I wrote this petition for help myself. If Tong Yanghe dares to stand by and watch someone die without helping, the imperial court will definitely not let him off. As long as Tong Yanghe gives the order, Wang Tizhong will not dare to refuse to come."

After hearing this, Zheng Siwei finally felt relieved. He was a newly surrendered person, and his words carried far less weight than those of an old traitor like Li Qifeng. Tong Yanghe had said since the beginning of the siege of the city that he would try to send troops to support, but until now, he had not seen any sign of the reinforcements.

Li Qifeng naturally knew this. Before this, the rebel army did not have large artillery and was reluctant to use soldiers to fill the ditch. Therefore, they had not yet attacked the base of the wall, let alone digging and blasting. He was not worried at all that Jingzhou City would be breached.

But now it’s different. Emperor Ming actually led the army to attack the city in person. This is a force that even Duoduo cannot defeat, and the soldiers and artillery are so powerful. He estimated that Jingzhou City could not hold out for a month.

"From now on, send more soldiers to patrol the city at night, and incorporate all the civilians into the city defense forces to strengthen the defense force. We must defend Jingzhou City until reinforcements arrive."

"Don't worry, sir. I will arrange it as quickly as possible." Zheng Siwei immediately bowed and clasped his hands together.

Upon hearing this, Li Qifeng turned his head and looked outside the city. The large group of Ming troops that had gathered on the plain, under the guidance of the cavalry, flowed towards the open spaces outside the city like black streams, and seemed to be preparing to set up camp.

The alliance between the Ming army and the Chuang army far exceeded his expectations, and the fact that Emperor Ming personally visited Jingzhou City made him feel incredible and unbelievable - the other side had just defeated Duoduo in Fengyang, so how could they suddenly come to Huguang?
Faced with such a situation, Li Qifeng had no confidence at all in defending Jingzhou. The Ming-Chuang coalition forces outside the city had more than ten times the strength of the defenders, and they were all elite soldiers and generals. How could they possibly defend the city with only Zheng Siwei's troops?
Thinking of this, he closed his eyes in despair, took a deep breath, and then beckoned Zheng Siwei to come closer, and then whispered:
"General Zheng, if Tong Yanghe's reinforcements don't arrive in time, we'll have to find another way to survive. I think it's going to be difficult to defend Jingzhou City. Even if we can hold it for a while, we won't be able to hold it for long."

After hearing this, Zheng Siwei also turned his head to look outside the city. After taking a deep breath, he said in a deep voice:

"Don't worry, sir. I will make sure to arrange a retreat in advance."

Soon, taking advantage of the chaos when the Chuang army and the Ming army met outside the city, two teams of cavalry rushed out from the north of Jingzhou City, harassing and restraining the scattered Chuang army cavalry on the periphery, while the Tangma hiding among them waited for an opportunity to break out.

Although Li Guo had made arrangements in advance, his forces were concentrated in the east of Jingzhou City. After the few cavalry deployed were tied down, they were completely unable to stop the Tangma sent by Zheng Siwei.

However, Li Guo did not care about this. He even hoped that the Qing army would send reinforcements as soon as possible so that he could at least win a battle, reduce the prestige of the defenders in the city, and boost the morale of the army.

By evening, the more than 20,000 troops brought by Zhu Cilang finally entered their respective camps, began digging trenches, setting up wooden fences, and setting up camp.

At this time, the Palace Army maintained its usual high wartime standards. Zhu Cilang was conveying a message from beginning to end - the victory in the Jianghuai Defense War was not accidental!

Of course, the price of doing so is also obvious. The Palace Army cannot afford to have even the slightest flaw, otherwise those military leaders who originally surrendered will be ready to make a move.

After all, Zhu Cilang had not yet established enough prestige at this time, and he needed more victories to establish an unquestionable prestige.

Under the cover of night, after arranging the defensive deployment of the camp, especially the garrison of the artillery team, Zhu Cilang immediately summoned the generals of each camp and began to make preparations for the siege.

Li Guo, Gao Yigong, Liu Rukui and Ma Chongxi were still a little uncomfortable at this time. The process of their meeting the emperor was not much different from that of others. In fact, because Zhu Cilang had Tian Jianxiu and others by his side, those thorny issues of military pay and food, as well as trust issues between the two sides, no longer existed.

After all, although Tian Jianxiu only had a few thousand soldiers left, as the General in Charge of All Camps and Marquis of Ze, who was personally appointed by Li Zicheng, his reputation among Li Guo and Gao Yigong remained. They might not trust other people, but they had no doubts about Tian Jianxiu, their kind-hearted old brother.

However, Li Guo and Gao Yigong still felt very uncomfortable with Zhu Cilang's natural and even rightful command of them. Especially the officers under him and the guards around him, they also did not fully accept the fact that the army suddenly accepted the amnesty.

The Western Army led by Li Guo and Gao Yigong was different from the Eastern Army. Although they also fled south, they did not suffer successive defeats and their organizational structure was maintained. Not only did they not have generals like Hao Yaoqi, Liu Tichun, and Wang Jincai who usurped power, they even gathered a lot of troops along the way.

In other words, the morale of the Western Route Army was far from exhausted, and they still recognized the Dashun from the bottom of their hearts.

Before this, except for a few senior generals, no one else knew that Li Zicheng was dead. They rested in the Kuidong mountainous area, and then sent troops to capture Dangyang and Jingmen Prefecture. In fact, it was just to accumulate strength to continue looking for Li Zicheng and create glory again.

But now, the news suddenly came that Li Zicheng had died in Jiugong Mountain, and then the Dashun was gone. It was unknown when Empress Gao had accepted the Ming court's amnesty, and they would be the Ming army from now on.

Under these devastating blows, the morale of the various divisions of the Chuang army was inevitably shaken, but for the time being, it was suppressed, with no outlet for its anger. In fact, not only the lower-level officers and soldiers who had just learned of the Eastern Route Army's situation, but even Li Guo and Gao Yigong were still feeling dazed, feeling that something was amiss, but unable to put their finger on it.

But at the same time, at the invitation of Du Yinxi and Tian Jianxiu, the two of them led the commanders of several other battalions to participate in the joint military meeting.

Zhu Cilang had just led a large army here, and Zhou Shixian and Chen Fu did not know enough about the situation in Jingzhou City. Although the Jinyiwei could detect military intelligence, they were not gods after all, and they did not have such powerful strength to understand the battle situation in Jingzhou better than Li Guo and Gao Yigong.

Therefore, under Zhu Cilang's arrangement, the two main generals who led the troops to besiege Jingzhou for dozens of days naturally became the protagonists of this military meeting, and then began to introduce the battle situation of Jingzhou to the generals in the imperial tent.

Gao Yigong took the branch from Chen Fu and waved it across the simple simulated battlefield built of stones and mud. He first pointed towards the east of Jingzhou City and said loudly:

"After the reinforcements by Meng Changgeng and Zheng Siwei, Jingzhou City is now about seven miles long from east to west and two miles wide from north to south, with a circumference of nearly twenty miles. The city wall is about three feet high and has six towers. Inside the outermost brick city, there is an earthen wall that connects to the brick city. The city wall is quite wide and is estimated to be three feet thick, enough for cavalry to pass through.

Not only that, outside the brick city of Jingzhou, there is a wide moat, which is nearly ten feet wide and more than ten feet deep. It connects to Taihu Lake in the west and Changhu Lake in the east, and is connected to the ancient Grand Canal. It is suspected that there is an underground spring connected to it.

It is said that when the city was first built, the imperial court poured glutinous rice paste into the cracks of the stones at the right foot of the city to prevent the city foundation from sinking and flooding. The city wall is very strong, so if we want to attack it by force, we need to go around it.

The city walls are also equipped with urn walls, watchtowers, battle houses, artillery platforms, soldier caves, and multiple city gates, forming a complete defense system. Currently, there are two soldier caves and nineteen artillery platforms discovered. Fortunately, the artillery on the city walls is old and not very powerful.

"It's difficult to build a bridge over such a wide moat. We have to fill it in first. Otherwise, even if we destroy the city walls, it won't help. The city suffered few casualties in the previous battles, and the Qing army now has sufficient manpower. Repairs from inside the city will be completed in less than half a day."

After Zhu Cilang finished speaking, he looked at the generals in front of him, then stopped his gaze on Chen Fu and said:
"During the previous battle of Fengyang, the Qing army suffered heavy losses when filling the trenches. Chen Fu, tell me how we can avoid this when we launch a strong attack now. I cannot use the civilians as human shields like the Tartars did."

Chen Fu seemed to have been prepared. As soon as he received the order, he immediately clasped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty, if we want to reduce casualties, building shield carts is essential. Judging from the Qing army's strategy of storming Fengyang, we need artillery cover. We can fire three to five rounds with twenty thousand-jin heavy artillery, and then use medium-sized artillery to fire shrapnel to cover large sections of the city wall. This will definitely greatly weaken the Qing army's counterattack capability.

Moreover, Jingzhou City is not as good as Fengyang City. Zheng Siwei has insufficient soldiers and horses under his command, and the firearms on the city walls are far inferior to those in Fengyang. In particular, the distance between the moat and the city wall is only dozens of steps, and the power of muskets and arrows cannot break the shield carts.

Based on the experience I gathered from my time in Fengyang and the commanders of the various camps, Jingzhou City is not difficult to attack. As long as our trench-filling operation is well planned, there will definitely not be too many casualties."

As soon as Chen Fu finished speaking, Li Guo took over the conversation and said in a rather dissatisfied tone:
"The main reason for the previous unsuccessful siege was the lack of artillery in the army. We couldn't blast through the city walls, nor could we protect the soldiers digging trenches. Furthermore, there were dense water networks near Jingzhou, and the tunnels were easily leaking. These old methods of breaking the city were ineffective."

Zhu Cilang nodded in agreement, then smiled and said:
"That's why I've brought over sixty artillery pieces to aid us in this battle. Jingzhou must be captured as soon as possible. Although the Tartar army has temporarily retreated north, they will soon march south again."

"Now that Your Majesty has delivered the artillery and ammunition, things will be much easier." Li Guo's originally tense face relaxed a little. As the military meeting progressed, his feeling of discomfort was slowly subsiding.

"The shield car camp has already built over 130 vehicles, and a large number of sand and earth bags for filling the trenches have also been prepared. In addition, there are siege ladders and wooden donkeys. It may not be enough to attack the city from three sides, but it is more than enough to attack one side.

"What the army lacks now is, first, gunpowder for muskets and artillery, and second, food and fodder for tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. Both Dangyang and Jingmen Prefecture are running low on food and fodder."

"Don't worry about the food and fodder. I've already asked Wu Jinxi to prepare them, and the Yuezhou navy will be here soon. I've also brought enough gunpowder for the siege, more than enough to capture both Jingzhou cities."

Zhu Cilang paused, then continued, "But we need to prepare more shield carts, sand and gravel bags, siege ladders, wooden donkeys, and trench bridges. If we want to reduce casualties, we must attack the city from all sides and disperse Zheng Siwei's troops so that he can't take care of both ends."

"Your Majesty, our army is concentrated in Jingzhou. The Qing army still has troops stationed in Wuchang. We also need to send troops to defend Yuezhou and Chengtian." Ma Jinzhong said immediately.

Upon hearing this, Chen Fu nodded in agreement. This was what he had just wanted to say.

"It would be fine if Tong Yanghe and Wang Tizhong came directly to rescue Jingzhou, but I'm afraid they would send troops from Wuchang and directly attack Yuezhou and enter Changsha. At that time, the initiative would be in the hands of the Qing army."

"Now there is only Wu Jinxi's militia camp in Yuezhou, and only a part of the standard camp in Changsha. The families of the soldiers who broke into the camp are still in Pingjiang and Liuyang. If they are attacked, the situation will be difficult to control." Du Yinxi also said.

"Tong Yanghe is a veteran in the Qing army. He knows the seriousness of the situation. With me here, he definitely won't dare to mobilize his entire army. Even if he sends reinforcements, they will probably only be Wang Tizhong's troops. The Eight Banners Army in Wuchang City will definitely not take any risks."

Zhu Cilang dared to come with his entire army because he had his own judgment of the situation, but he now had sufficient troops and was confident of victory. In fact, what was more important was safety. Ma Jinzhong, Chen Fu, Du Yinxi and others reminded him of this.

"Jin Shenghuan, Hao Yongzhong, one of you will lead the troops back to Yuezhou Prefecture to assist in the battle and defense, and the other will lead the troops back to the old camp in Pingjiang. Maintain vigilance. If the Qing army dares to move south, immediately intercept and hold them back."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Jin Shenghuan and Hao Yongzhong responded at the same time, bowing and clasping their hands.

After Zhu Cilang finished his deployment, he turned to look at Liu Fangliang and asked:
"Liu Fangliang, this Zheng Siwei was once a general under your command. Can you try to pacify or even sway some of the officers around him?"

Soon, as Liu Fangliang finished explaining his idea of ​​undermining the morale of the defenders in Jingzhou City, the rest of the siege plan was gradually agreed upon.

The relationship between Zhu Cilang and other generals such as Li Guo and Gao Yigong also underwent subtle changes during this process. This is the significance of his personal command of the Jingzhou battle!

After all the generals dispersed, Zhu Cilang, under the protection of Zhou Shixian, Lin Changfu and others, finally strolled in the military camp with the capable minister Du Yinxi.

This was the first time that he had privately discussed state affairs with this important court official who had already established a powerful position in Huguang in less than two years.

Of course, this was a great favor for Du Yinxi, showing that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had absolute trust in him, and even had the intention of promoting him.

In fact, Zhu Cilang had always wanted to promote him to the cabinet, but due to Du Yinxi's lack of qualifications, this plan could not be implemented. In his opinion, Du Yinxi's overall ability was far superior to He Tengjiao's.

However, things in the court are not that simple. The promotion and deployment of officials, especially those joining the cabinet, requires weighing the pros and cons to ensure that the interests of all parties are satisfied and to ensure the smooth progress of the war.

"Zhong Jian, the major events you've accomplished in Huguang have essentially laid the foundation for the next year's resistance against the Qing. After Duoduo suffered a loss in Jiangbei, the Qing army's next southward advance will likely focus on Huguang. Yuezhou and northern Jiangxi are both crucial points of defense."

Zhu Cilang stopped walking as he spoke, turned around, and praised Du Yinxi, who was standing respectfully beside him with his hands clasped together:
"Since ancient times, there have been only three routes to unify the world from north to south. I have already sealed off the Jianghuai route. Sichuan is now blocked by Zhang Xianzhong. Chongqing and Guizhou are also in my hands. The Qing army will face great difficulties in breaking through.

In contrast, the Qing army held the initiative in the Huguang battlefield. Moreover, only by achieving a breakthrough in Huguang could the Qing army quickly reverse the entire situation and move eastward to seize Jiangnan.

But as long as these 40,000 soldiers who broke into the camp are in my hands, once Jingzhou is recovered, it will be almost impossible for the Qing army to break through in the future. This is all thanks to your previous efforts, otherwise I would not have been able to subdue these soldiers so quickly.

Over the past year or so, you have raised funds and grain, overseen the construction of the Changsha weapons workshop, recruited artisans and laborers from various prefectures, relocated civilians to Changsha to strengthen the local economy, and collected taxes owed by the gentry from Hunan Province. All of this has far exceeded my expectations. Many things truly depend on human effort!

　Thanks to the book friend "Yuekenlu Dazhuang" for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)