Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 148: Hitting Dorgon

Zheng Zhilong was not an exception. At this time, no matter whether the various factions inside and outside the court believed that Zhu Cilang could defeat the Qing army again, all they could do was wait and see.

After all, before the Qing army marched south, even Zheng Zhilong would have no chance of winning if he rashly confronted the court.

Today, the Ming court not only forcibly collects overdue taxes, but also sets up a large number of tax checkpoints at various transportation hubs. Many state-run workshops have been reformed and have a new look, which has also threatened the interests of many gentry and merchants in business.

Although Zhu Cilang's reforms were considered very mild and not fully implemented, many people inside and outside the court were dissatisfied.

However, these gentry and merchants neither controlled the military nor dominated public opinion, so Zhu Cilang could easily suppress them.

Anyway, these people basically follow whoever wins and cheer for whoever wins. The most important thing for them is to decide the outcome with the Qing army on the battlefield.

Before experiencing the barbarity of the Qing Dynasty, many gentry and merchants in Jiangnan held unrealistic fantasies about the Qing Dynasty.

After all, the Mongols and Yuan Dynasty were not much worse towards the Han gentry in the south. They were even much better than Zhu Yuanzhang, who "skinned the daylilies" and imposed heavy taxes on the south of the Yangtze River.

However, after participating in the entire process and truly witnessing Zhu Cilang's ability to lead troops to repel the Qing army, the ministers in the Ming Dynasty who were closer to the center of power chose to believe in the Ming Dynasty more.

They always had a sense of superiority over the Manchus and were full of hope for the future of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, no one even mentioned peace talks anymore.

These are the important officials who truly hold power in the Ming Dynasty. Their words are appealing and people listen to them.

Now, Zheng Zhilong, a minister who had been hesitant since Zhu Cilang ascended the throne, and who had lost his first chance to show himself and almost couldn't sit at the table, began to hesitate.

He always remained skeptical about the strength of the Ming Dynasty!

But the pace of war never stops because of hesitation from either side. As time came to November of the second year of Dingwu, the grass and trees on both sides of the Yellow River gradually began to wither and turn yellow, and the Qing army immediately launched large-scale military operations.

Ajige first launched surprise attacks in Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou and other places to clear out the Tangma deployed by the Ming army on the periphery.

He personally led thousands of cavalrymen, divided into two groups, one heading straight for Xuzhou City, the other detouring to Qingzhou and raiding Haizhou of Huai'an Prefecture. The two armies moved at lightning speed and wiped out almost all the Tangma deployed by Gao Jie and Huang Degong on the periphery in two days and nights.

Behind Ajige's army, a baggage transport team consisting of thousands of Green Camp soldiers and hundreds of boats was rapidly moving south along the canal, with more than 50 large and small artillery pieces on board.

More than a dozen county towns in Yanzhou, Qingzhou and other provincial capitals were soon recaptured by the Qing army, but these county towns were already in ruins at this time. Not only had all the surrounding people been relocated, but even many of the city walls had been demolished and became materials for the construction of military garrisons in Xuzhou, Huai'an and other places.

Although Gao Jie and Huang Degong were well prepared, they were still unable to withstand Ajige's swift attack. Gao Jie led his personal cavalry to repel the Qing army's vanguard, but before he could show off for a while, he was immediately beaten and fled by hundreds of Eight Banners cavalrymen who rushed over.

Afterwards, Ajige's army advanced rapidly and arrived directly at the city of Xuzhou. They once again chose the place where Duoduo's army had camped last time and quickly ordered all troops to set up camp.

The army he brought this time was quite powerful. There were more than 5,000 elite Eight Banners cavalrymen alone. In addition, there were tens of thousands of Green Camp soldiers, as well as tens of thousands of civilians recruited from various prefectures in northern Zhili and Shandong.

Gong Adai led an army of more than a thousand to attack Haizhou, attempting to lure Huang Degong's troops to come to the rescue and then surround and attack the reinforcements.

However, because the Ming army in the city was heavily defended, and the Qing cavalry led by Gong Adai had no equipment and the ability to attack and break the city, Huang Degong was not moved at all, and Ajige's attempt ultimately failed.

With the experience of dealing with the Qing army and especially the confidence in defending the city, Gao Jie and Huang Degong performed excellently. They did not fight recklessly, but simply blocked the Qing army's vanguard. Once they found that the situation was not right, they immediately retreated into the city.

At the same time, Tan Tai also launched an operation in Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan, and sent troops to attack eastern Henan. After the Ming army in Guide Prefecture symbolically resisted for a few days, it quickly broke through and retreated.

Tan Tai was a close confidant of Dorgon. In order to promote this brave general who had surrendered to the Ming Dynasty and captured Hong Chengchou in the Battle of Songjin, and also to carry out strategic deception on the Ming court, Dorgon concentrated tens of thousands of troops in Kaifeng, including 10,000 Eight Banners troops.

As a result, under Tan Tai's fierce offensive, the entire Guide Prefecture quickly fell, and Bozhou City was once again surrounded. Relying on his strong army, Tan Tai even wanted to attack the garrisons near Bozhou to replenish the supplies and manpower needed for the army's attack.

But like Ajige, who was cursing his mother in anger in Xuzhou and Huai'an at the time, he was defeated in the garrison and was even attacked by the artillery on the earth and stone walls.

In Zhu Cilang's design, Xuzhou, Bozhou, Haizhou and other prefectures were all the front lines of the battlefield, while Guide, Yanzhou, Qingzhou and other prefectures were buffers to buy time for the rear to prepare for war.

At the same time, Zhu Cilang did not set up defenses in these places in order to confuse the Qing army and make them underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. Then he relied on garrisons to block the enemy at every step and completely disrupt the minds of the Qing army generals.

The vanguards of the Qing army led by Ajige, Gong Adai and Tan Tai did not have the strength to attack. They could neither rely on surprise attacks to break into the city, nor could they capture the garrison with abundant food and grass and thousands of strong men guarding it.

On the Huguang side, Aljin in Wuchang City and the veteran general Ye Chen, who had just led his troops into Xiangyang a month ago, also began to act at the same time, constantly testing Jingzhou and Yuezhou, and were very arrogant.

In Yuezhou, Aljin was soon attacked by the joint forces of Liu Tichun and Hao Yaoqi. Zhu Cilang had previously provided them with hundreds of war horses, and the two of them originally had three or four hundred cavalrymen under their command. At this time, relying on the city, they were fully capable of fighting against the small cavalry of the Qing army.

Ma Jinzhong and Wang Yuncheng had also been closely following the situation in Wuchang City. After they discovered that Aljin had led his troops to attack Yuezhou, they immediately launched an attack from Jiujiang, forcing Aljin to send troops back for defense.

However, the conflict between He Tengjiao and Du Yinxi had intensified at this time. He Tengjiao soon ordered Ma Jinzhong and Wang Yuncheng to recall their troops on the grounds that they were advancing too recklessly.

Ma Jinzhong and Wang Yuncheng naturally knew what He Tengjiao was planning, but neither of them wanted to offend the other. After sending troops to show their attitude so as to avoid being caught by Zhu Cilang in the future, they naturally retreated happily.

When Aljin received the news that the Ming army in northern Jiangxi had retreated, he was a little confused for a while. He was very wary of the Ming army's abnormal behavior. Finally, after careful consideration, he retreated back to Wuchang.

After all, only if the Ming cavalry in northern Jiangxi and Yuezhou attacked at the same time could they stop him. Now one side has retreated, but the other side has not. This is most likely a trap.

In the direction of Xiangyang, Ye Chen, an old minister praised by Huang Taiji as a "brave general", was also leading his troops to harass Jingzhou, Chengtian and other prefectures, and began to plan to "prune branches and leaves".

Since Dorgon had listened to Hong Chengchou's advice and planned to attack Huguang, he naturally had to be extremely cautious in his personnel selection. A veteran general like Ye Chen, who was highly respected, was the best choice for him, and he could also silence others.

You should know that when Huang Taiji first ascended the throne, he set up "Sixteen Ministers" in each flag, with two dispatching ministers in each flag, and Ye Chen assisted in the affairs of the Bordered Red Banner.

By the fourth year of Chongzhen, Ye Chen had taken over as the commander-in-chief of the Bordered Red Banner. When he followed Huang Taiji to besiege Dalingh City, his troops camped in the southwest of the city. General Zu Dashou led his troops to attack. Ye Chen and his son-in-law Heshuotu led the troops to attack from both sides, annihilating more than half of the enemy and making great contributions.

From then on, Ye Chen was given more important positions and demonstrated his outstanding military talent in military negotiations and leading troops. If it were not for the limitations of his family background, he might not be in his current position.

After the Battle of Shanhaiguan, the Qing army entered the pass. Dorgon mobilized various troops to pursue Li Zicheng. Ye Chen was also ordered to attack Shanxi. Finally, he captured Taiyuan, which was held by the Shun army. He successively pacified nine prefectures, 27 states, and 141 counties, appointed officials, and established effective rule.

Ye Chenjie also recruited Li Jiyu, the Henan General of the Ming Dynasty, Tang Tong, the so-called Dingxi Earl who had surrendered to the Dashun Dynasty, and Deputy General Dong Xueli. He even recruited and recommended twelve people, including Ming Dynasty Hanlin Zhu Zhijun and Chief Hu Quancai.

In other words, Ye Chen was almost the most suitable non-royal member to be sent to Xiangyang, especially since Dorgon hoped that he could completely compress the Ming army into Jingzhou before the main force of the Eight Banners arrived.

Although Li Guo was very good at ambushes and Zhu Cilang also provided him with more war horses, in less than three months, the armaments and training of the 20,000-strong army had not caught up.

In this situation, the combat capability of the Loyalty Battalion was completely "more than enough to defend the city, but not enough for field battles."

Moreover, Ye Chen was also ruthless and cautious in fighting. He never underestimated the enemy and made any rash moves. Relying on the advantage of cavalry, he took the initiative on the battlefield and was not fooled at all.

However, Ye Chen quickly mobilized nearly 20,000 Green Camp troops from Yunyang, Xiangyang, Chengtian, De'an, and other prefectures, putting immense pressure on Li Guo. Du Yinxi, on the other hand, was unable to reinforce Jingzhou due to a call for help from Yuezhou. Under these circumstances, Li Guo was forced to withdraw his troops from some prefectures and counties along the Chengtian coast. Facing veterans like Ye Chen, while he didn't dare directly engage the Qing army in a field battle, he managed to lure the Qing army into pursuit, ambushing them twice.

However, Ye Chen led the cavalry in pursuit very quickly, and Li Guo's counterattack was very limited. In the end, Yunyang Prefecture, Xiangyang Prefecture, and the prefectures and counties recovered to the north of Chengtian Prefecture basically had to be abandoned one after another.

Following the military intelligence reports from Jiangbei and Huguang, Zhu Cilang immediately summoned the generals of the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp to the Five Military Commandery to discuss the current situation and the next strategy.

Inside the hall of the Five Military Commandery, the commanders of each army and battalion gathered in a solemn and tense atmosphere. With Zhu Cilang relocating all military meetings, large and small, to the Five Military Commandery, other civilian officials, aside from a few ministers from the Ministry of War, were essentially prohibited from interfering in military affairs.

After Chen Fu and Zhou Shixian briefly summarized the latest military information from Jiangbei and Huguang, Zhu Cilang glanced at everyone, personally picked up the slender wooden stick hanging on the long table, pointed to the location of the city marked on the map, and said:
"Ajige in Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Qingzhou, and Tan Tai in eastern Henan and Fengyang, launched raids almost simultaneously, with over 10,000 troops. This was just the cavalry. If the Green Camp troops from Henan and Shandong provinces were included, I'm afraid the final strength of these two Qing armies would be around 40,000.

In addition, the Qing troops of Aljin and Ye Chen were constantly probing in Jingzhou, Chengtian, Yuezhou and other places, and they also repelled the harassment of Ma Jinzhong and Wang Yuncheng. It is unknown why Aljin suddenly withdrew his troops.

Dorgon's intentions are clear: he wants to force me to divide my forces and overwhelm us. His main attack direction must still be Huguang. During this period, the large group of Qing troops that Tan Tai secretly assembled in Kaifeng has not yet been dispatched and can enter Huguang from Nanyang at any time."

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. The armies of Hauge and Wu Sangui have already entered Hanzhong. It seems that they are very likely to attack Sichuan. Ajige must have been squeezed out to Shandong by Dorgon as Your Majesty said. His main attack direction this time must still be Huguang." Chen Fu immediately spoke out in support.

In fact, when the Embroidered Uniform Guard reported that Hauge and Wu Sangui were leading an army of nearly 10,000 to station in Hanzhong, Dorgon's intention to exclude all parties was already obvious.

At this time, except for Duoduo, who suffered a great defeat in Jiangbei, the other Manchu princes were a threat to his position. Therefore, Jirgalang stayed in Beijing, Hauge was sent to Hanzhong, and Ajige stayed in Jiangbei.

Upon hearing this, Chang Denggui immediately clasped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty, although the Qing army is strong and aggressive, it relies on cavalry raids. If Dorgon focuses on attacking Huguang, the Qing army in Jiangbei will definitely not have many artillery. Your Majesty has deployed so many garrisons and fortified cities in Jiangbei that they will definitely be able to stop Ajige. With the right strategy, the Qing army may not even be able to threaten Fengyang."

At this time, Lu Zhenfei suddenly stepped out and said with a resolute expression:
"Your Majesty, I have already made defensive preparations in Fengyang, Xuzhou, and Huai'an, and have ordered the garrisons in the three cities to step up their guard to ensure that any surprise attack by the Qing army will be unsuccessful.

Although the Qing troops under Ajige, Tan Tai, and others have frequently harassed us, the defenses I have deployed are more solid. Whether it is a city or a garrison, the Qing army will find it difficult to break through without heavy artillery. Your Majesty, please lead your troops to Huguang."

Zhu Cilang nodded, then agreed:
"Duoduo led hundreds of thousands of Qing troops, but he could only flee in disgrace. Ajige and Tan Tai combined only had 10,000 cavalrymen. Even after Tan Tai retreated north, he only had a few thousand men. I have nothing to worry about him."

Afterwards, Zhu Cilang signaled Chen Fu and Zhou Shixian to continue introducing the situation in Huguang, which would be his next main battlefield.

The generals who participated in the pre-war meeting all listened attentively. Since last month, Zhu Cilang had required them to provide military intelligence briefings after each military meeting.

"After months of reconnaissance by scouts and the Imperial Uniform Guard, the Qing army will deploy over 100,000 troops in Huguang after the war begins. The Eight Banners alone may outnumber the original southern expeditionary force led by Duoduo. This is consistent with your majesty's previous estimates."

Zhou Shixian recalled the military report he had summarized before the meeting and analyzed it clearly:

"Combined with the intelligence gathered by the Jinyiwei in Northern Zhili and Shaanxi, we estimate that Dorgon wanted to complete his mission in one fell swoop, so he not only transferred the main force of the Eight Banners in Beijing, but also the Green Camp Army in Shaanxi.

In the past few months, the Qing government has increased its financial and grain input to Huguang, even mobilizing tens of thousands of civilians to enter Xiangyang. The transportation of grain and fodder by oxen and horses is continuous, and some of it has even been transported to Wuchang via Daode'an.

In the original history, the Southern Ming Dynasty fell rapidly due to the collapse of the Hongguang court, and the entire Jiangnan region fell. Although due to the issue of shaving the hair, the Jiangnan rebel army rose up everywhere, but the entire Yangtze River Basin no longer had the power to launch a full-scale counterattack and change the situation.

Although the remnants of the rebel army were in Jingzhou, and He Tengjiao, Du Yinxi and others had also organized a large army in Hunan, the Qing court did not pay much attention to these remnants and did not invest much in troops, money and food in Huguang.

For a long time, they relied on Liaodong generals and hundreds of Eight Banners soldiers, along with Zheng Siwei and the surrendered Ming and Shun troops, stationed in several strong cities to maintain basic rule.

At that time, only when the Ming army in Hunan, or more accurately the "Zhongzheng Camp", began to launch a large-scale offensive, would the Qing court send out a detachment of the Eight Banners to advance westward from Jiangnan or southward from Beijing to suppress it.

But now, Zhu Cilang's deployment in Huguang and Jiangxi exceeded Dorgon's expectations, and the Qing court, facing the rapidly recovering Ming Dynasty, chose to dispatch its main force for a decisive battle in Huguang.

“At present, even if all the Qing troops stationed in Xiangyang and Wuchang launched an attack, they would only be equivalent to Ajige’s army. Moreover, because they are hundreds of miles apart and separated by the Yangtze River, they cannot respond to each other.

Although Li Guo, Ma Jinzhong, Wang Yuncheng, Hao Yongzhong, Liu Tichun and others had cavalry, the quality of their horses was not as good as that of the Qing army. Their cavalry numbers and combat experience were also better than those of the two Qing generals, Aljin and Ye Chen.

"Dorgon's deployment is likely intended to lure us into an offensive, and then he will suddenly lead his cavalry south to launch a surprise attack."

After listening to Zhou Shixian's report, Tian Jianxiu suddenly stepped out of the group, bowed to Zhu Cilang, and said:

"The Eight Banners are particularly adept at raiding day and night, capable of marching for hundreds of miles continuously, with their combat effectiveness barely affected. This is how my brothers and I in the Chuang army were defeated by Ajige before. In the event of a sudden attack, our cavalry and infantry are completely no match for them."

"Well, that's right." After hearing this, Zhu Cilang instructed the generals:
"This is something we must take into account in our future combat deployments. The Qing army's advantage lies here, as does Li Zicheng's previous experience."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the generals said in unison.

After Zhou Shixian briefly introduced the military situation in the two places, Chen Fu immediately analyzed the war situation in Huguang, especially the situation in Wuchang City. This was a nail stuck in the Yangtze River defense line, and the Ming Dynasty had to pull it out.

He took the slender wooden stick from Zhu Cilang and said loudly:

“Although Wuchang City is surrounded by rivers and lakes and is easy to defend but difficult to attack, if we surround it with an army of over a hundred thousand and fire hundreds of cannons simultaneously, we can capture any fortress.

Moreover, Wuchang City had just been destroyed by Zuo Liangyu. Although it has been repaired, if we really ignore the ammunition, the city wall will definitely be blown down in a month or two, especially since we now have the thousand-jin cannons bought from Macau.

The people around Wuchang City have basically fled. Yuezhou and Jiujiang have been controlled by our army. If the main force of the Qing army is not in Huguang, with the Qing army's logistical supply capabilities and the food and grass reserves in Wuchang City, the number of Qing army soldiers left in the city would not exceed 10,000 at most.

But the problem is that the terrain around Wuchang is too rugged. Although the army's food and supplies can be transported by navy, if Dorgon leads the main force of the Qing army, we will have to fight a decisive battle with him, which is absolutely disadvantageous for us.

"Dorgon is probably eager for me to attack Wuchang. If he brings his troops to surround us, we will definitely not be able to retreat unscathed. If there are no strong troops to cover the retreat, it will be absolutely impossible for hundreds of thousands of troops to go all the way by water."

Zhu Cilang would naturally not make such an obvious mistake. "Besieging a point and attacking the reinforcements" is indeed a good method, but that is the tactic used by the side with superior military strength and is not suitable for the current Ming army.

“Wuchang City must be recaptured, and it must be recaptured, but now is not the time. If we want to recapture Wuchang, we must first control Hanyang and basically eliminate the Qing cavalry in Huguang, ensuring that the Qing army in the north cannot easily harass or reinforce.

This time, Dorgon sent all his main forces south. Although the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp had been expanded, the Left Town, the Loyal Camp, and the Huguang Camp also had tens of thousands of troops. However, these troops were scattered and even if they were concentrated, they would not be able to compete with the main force of the Qing army in a field battle. If they wanted to repel the enemy, they still needed to advance steadily.

Upon hearing this, all the generals nodded in agreement. Although their confidence had increased significantly due to their previous victory, they still did not dare to underestimate the strength of the Eight Banner Army. Coupled with Zhu Cilang's caution, this cautious atmosphere became the mainstream in the army.

Compared with the generals who were reckless and lost their elite troops in field battles, Zhu Cilang hoped that they would be more cautious. This was his consistent attitude, and it was also the bloody lesson taught to him by countless failures during the Chongzhen reign.

Moreover, once the South is fully mobilized, its military potential will be far greater than that of the North. It will be more beneficial for the Ming Dynasty to continue to consume the enemy now. This is the Ming Dynasty's current advantage outside the battlefield.

Seeing that all the generals had no objections, Zhu Cilang then said:
"Given the current situation, we have to put the matter of retaking Wuchang City aside for now. The most important thing now is to repel the attack of Dorgon's army. If we can't severely inflict pain on Dorgon and severely damage the main force of the Eight Banners that are marching south, directly besieging Wuchang will be self-destruction!

This time, we must also rely on the Jing-Yue and northern Jiangxi defense lines, using strong cities to wear down the Qing army. However, the Qing army will move south in November and December. If we allow them to siege for more than half a year, even a strong city like Yuezhou will probably be difficult to hold. Therefore, we must find opportunities to concentrate our forces on local battlefields, use superior forces, defeat the Qing army in field battles, and seek a breakthrough.

(End of this chapter)