Chapter 155: Hundred Miles Attack
In the evening, snowflakes fell and danced between the sky and the earth with the howling north wind. More than seventy miles southwest of Jingmen City, the densely packed low hillsides on the west bank of the Zhangjiang River seemed to be covered with a layer of white gauze, appearing quiet and solemn.

Ma Zhenfeng gently pushed away a piece of snow with his hands, revealing the dead grass and frozen soil underneath. Then he slowly climbed to the edge of a slightly higher rock and raised his "clairvoyance" to look into the distance.

At this time, he was leading a team of night raiders, lying quietly in the bushes on the snow-covered hillside, his body pressed tightly against the ground, almost blending into the surrounding scenery.

These Night Soldiers are the most elite scouts in the Palace Army. They wear white cloaks for camouflage, which can not only protect them from the cold wind but also conceal their whereabouts.

This is northwest of Dangyang, west of the Zhang River, a buffer zone where the Ming and Qing armies fought. Ma Zhenfeng has been here for five days. The six Night Guards lying behind him are waiting for his final order of action.

Before Zhu Cilang led his army into Huguang, Ma Zhenfeng had already led the Night Warriors belonging to the Palace Front Army into Jingzhou Prefecture and began to use the map drawn by Du Yinxi to scout the terrain, while counterattacking the Qing scouts who were also conducting reconnaissance like them.

The Ye Bushou of the Palace Army suffered heavy losses in the "Jianghuai Defense War". The team that originally had nearly a hundred people was reduced to less than fifty after the "Battle of Tushan".

Although the southern expeditionary army led by Duoduo was ultimately defeated, the casualties it inflicted on the Palace Army were considerable, especially the Palace Army's Night Guards, who often could not rely on the cover of the city walls when performing their missions.

After the war, at the instruction of Zhu Cilang, Chang Denggui personally presided over the reconstruction of the Palace Army's Night Soldier Team, and changed it to be directly under the command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army. Ma Zhenfeng was also promoted to commander for his merits.

Previously, the management and system of the Yebushou were not perfect, the quality was uneven, and even the names were varied. Their duties included intelligence reconnaissance and transmission in peacetime and wartime, as well as espionage, camp raiding, burning, and persuading surrender. It can be said that they did almost everything and moved to wherever there was danger and emergency.

For the post-war expansion, at the request of Chang Denggui, Ma Zhenfeng redefined the functions and rules and regulations of the "Night Guard" based on the lessons learned from the "Jianghuai Defense War" and compiled a clear expansion plan.

After the expansion, the number of soldiers of "Yebushou" has reached nearly 200. The newly added more than 130 people all come from various armies and camps. Most of them are the original scouts of each camp, and some are outstanding fighters or have some special abilities, such as off-road rock climbing, night vision and water skills.

Under Ma Zhenfeng's rigorous training, their overall strength had greatly improved over the past six months. The few scouts Ye Chen had sent to Dangyang had either been wiped out or had voluntarily retreated.

In order to lure Li Guo to lead his troops north, Ye Chen took the initiative to withdraw the reconnaissance scouts sent to various directions, creating the illusion that the army was weak and could not withdraw troops because of the siege.

But Ma Zhenfeng's mission did not end there. After Zhu Cilang decided to raid the Qing army, Chang Denggui gave him a new order. At this time, in the north of Dangyang, there were secret sentries everywhere who were on duty all night and were always monitoring the actions of the Qing army in this direction.

This place is only about seventy miles away from the main camp of the Qing army in the south of Jingmen Prefecture. Apart from some hillsides, there are vast plains between the two places. Zhu Cilang plans to run along the edges of these hillsides to avoid exposing his whereabouts.

"Commander, when are we going to advance eastward? Since we killed those two Tartars two days ago, there are probably no more Tartar ambushes in this area."

Yan Xiaoqi looked at Ma Zhenfeng, who was lying motionless at the edge of the bushes, his body already covered with a layer of snow, making it impossible for him to be discovered. Finally, he couldn't help but ask:

"We can go north first, go around to the north of Jingmen Prefecture, and then attack the Tartars from there, catching these bastards off guard."

As soon as Yan Xiaoqi opened his mouth, another Yebushou officer, Tan Xiong, who was also lying on the ground, immediately asked:
"Yes, Commander, there should be no Tartars in this area. Even if there were, they have probably all fled after our raids so many times."

However, Ma Zhenfeng remained silent. When he first received the order, he was actually somewhat puzzled, even baffled. However, as the commander of the Yebushou, he knew there were some things he shouldn't ask, and he couldn't ask too many questions.

And as Chang Denggui sent someone to deliver the latest instructions yesterday, he had roughly guessed the whole story, but for a moment, he was hesitant to believe it - His Majesty actually wanted to rush hundreds of miles to attack the Eight Banner Army camp south of Jingmenzhou City!
For Ma Zhenfeng, this was truly incredible. His Majesty actually had such courage. He was excited, worried, and at the same time very excited. Complex emotions surged through him.

You know, before this, this was something he would never dare to think about in his dreams. Not only him, but also Chen Fu, Chang Denggui and others were the same!

That was the invincible Eight Banners Army, the iron cavalry that the Manchus were proud of. They had always been able to attack the Ming army for hundreds of miles. When did the Ming become so brave and fearless?

This is unbelievable, but it really happened!
Seeing that Ma Zhenfeng still didn't say anything, Yan Xiaoqi and Tan Xiong, the two night watchmen, didn't dare to ask any more questions.

They always felt that there was an indescribable sinister aura from the other party, and coupled with the whipping they received during training, Yan Xiaoqi could feel the oppression every time he talked to Ma Zhenfeng.

They had all heard of Ma Zhenfeng's deeds of going deep into Geng's army camp for reconnaissance in Huaibei, and finally breaking through Geng's numerous obstacles, and sending the intelligence back to the camp despite being covered in wounds.

Ma Zhenfeng also knew how to control his subordinates. When he was training these new recruits, their bodies were covered with scars, and during the desperate battles with the Tartars with real swords and guns, Ma Zhenfeng's skills and strategies made them admire him very much.

"Xiao Qi, you will lead your men to cross the river secretly from the north side of the hillside. After crossing the river, you don't need to go around to the north, but sneak directly from the foot of the mountain. Leave marks along the way, but be careful not to alert the Qing army."

Ma Zhenfeng looked up at the endless white plain in the distance, and then said:
"Your Majesty will be arriving soon with the Heavenly Cavalry. We must reach the outskirts of the Qing army camp before tomorrow night and intercept all the Qing scouts returning to report the news."

"Your Majesty is coming?" Yan Xiaoqi was stunned when he heard this. This was something he had never expected. He originally thought that their mission was to counterattack the Qing army scouts.

"Is Your Majesty going to directly raid the Qing army camp?" Upon hearing this, Tan Xiong thought of this instantly. He was originally a cavalryman under Chen Fu, and followed Zhu Cilang all the way south. He had witnessed Zhu Cilang's courage.

Ma Zhenfeng nodded and then said:
"This operation is extremely risky. We must not let the Qing army discover your majesty's plan, otherwise it will be a difficult battle. Your majesty has been very kind to us. All the Tatar sentries along the way must be eliminated. If we cannot eliminate them, we must intercept them."

"Since Your Majesty is determined to fight, then you have at least a 70% to 80% chance of winning. We haven't encountered any Tartar scouts in several days. This is most likely because the Tartars have been lured south."

Tan Xiong then continued, his face full of excitement, and then he smiled in a suppressed voice:

"Hahaha, I've been feeling suffocated for a long time. If I had encountered the Tartars on the battlefield before, I would have started killing them. Why would I be lying in the snow like this, motionless?"

After hearing this, Yan Xiaoqi couldn't contain his excitement. After all, this was a proactive raid on the Qing army, something he hadn't even considered before. However, when he realized it was about to happen, he surprisingly didn't feel the slightest bit of fear, but instead was filled with anticipation.

"If this surprise attack succeeds, the Tartars will be completely annihilated, leaving not a single one alive. The so-called Tartar main force in the north will also be completely terrified. Your Majesty is truly a god!"

"Your Majesty's divine might, do you even need to expound on it?" Ma Zhenfeng paused, then added, "Alright, enough of the nonsense. Prepare for action immediately. Only success is allowed, failure is not!"

"Yes!" Yan Xiaoqi said immediately.

After Ma Zhenfeng finished speaking, he immediately entered an ambush without making any sound. He raised his telescope and continued to observe the east side of Zhangshui River, where the Qing army sentries were located and the most likely place for an ambush.

He was not surprised by Yan Xiaoqi and Tan Xiong's reactions.

You must know that the actions and discipline requirements of the Night Soldiers are different from those of combat soldiers, and their training is also unique. They are originally very autonomous, so they value strength and courage more.

These people with excellent fighting skills and unique skills were the favorites of the officers and generals of various departments before they were selected to join the Yebu Shou. Naturally, they were a little arrogant. Naturally, they admired and recognized Zhu Cilang's risky decision and his courage to lead the army in person.

But deep down in their hearts, they still had a fear of the Qing army, especially veterans like Ma Zhenfeng who had experienced the Ming army's disastrous defeat in the past 20 years. The fear deeply engraved in their memories was not so easy to erase.

However, he was also the least afraid of the Qing army. If he encountered a Qing army scout, he would be the one who dared to fight and kill. This was the bloodiness of a veteran who had been fighting for more than 20 years.

It was precisely because of this that when he learned that His Majesty was planning a surprise attack on the Qing army, he found it incredible, and his heart was filled with excitement, anticipation, fear, and worry!
On the evening of the next day, on the east bank of the Zhangjiang River, on the hillside more than ten miles south of Zhanghekou Town, teams of cavalry were moving slowly. On the slightly higher hillsides around them, horses wearing white cloaks and wrapped in cotton cloth were vigilantly monitoring any movement around them.

Not only that, Chang Denggui also sent out more than 30 scouts in advance and scattered them to the hills and slopes ahead to prevent the Qing army scouts from detecting any abnormalities.

This place is only more than 40 miles away from Jingmen Prefecture City. Under the moonlight, the cavalry marched lightly along the edge of the hillside, following the route that the vanguard scouts had re-marked and that Ye Bushou had already explored.
The nights were now extremely long, and the mid-month moonlight was just right across the plains. The army, carrying no baggage other than armor and weapons, could easily gallop over forty miles in one night. Meanwhile, Li Guo had also launched operations south of Jingzhou, even prompting Ye Chen and Bahana to dispatch cavalry to counter them. This further weakened the Qing army's main camp south of Jingmen Prefecture.

Zhu Cilang led the Tianqi Battalion and galloped from Changsha day and night, crossed the river in Zhijiang, and then detoured to Yiling Prefecture and the foothills south of Yuan'an, successfully avoiding the Qing army's reconnaissance scouts.

Of course, Ye Chen's focus at this time was on Li Guo's troops in Jingzhou. He never thought that Zhu Cilang would dare to attack hundreds of miles away, so he naturally relaxed his vigilance towards the surrounding areas.

He concentrated more than 20 heavy artillery pieces in the army and continuously bombarded Jingmenzhou City. In order to force Li Guo to lead his troops north, he even fired more than 1,300 artillery shells a day at most, demonstrating his powerful strength. This frightened Liu Rukui in the city and he sent Tangma to ask for help again.

This seemed to really make Li Guo in Jingzhou City very anxious. The situation in Jingmenzhou became increasingly difficult to control under Ye Chen's fierce attack. Li Guo even sent Tangma to contact Jingmenzhou, but as expected, he was intercepted by Ye Chen.

However, what Ye Chen didn't know was that all of this was just a show put on for him by Li Guo at the instruction of Zhu Cilang, in order to make him and Bahana make a strategic misjudgment and shift the focus of their entire military operations to the south.

As Li Guo sent a large number of cavalry to assist the scouts, he began to shield the battlefield, expel the Qing army's scouts, and took the opportunity to mobilize the army to cover Zhu Cilang's actions. Ye Chen was indeed fooled.

He then began to show weakness and gather his troops in an attempt to lure the enemy, and withdrew the already small number of scouts deployed on the east and west sides. This put the Qing army at a complete intelligence disadvantage and made them deaf and blind on the battlefield.

Zhu Cilang acted quickly, and the movement of the Tianqi Army was very covert. Three battalions, five thousand cavalry from the headquarters, plus Zhu Cilang's imperial camp, covered more than 700 miles from south to north in four days without anyone noticing.

Chang Denggui rode his horse up to a high point at the foot of the mountain, came to Zhu Cilang's side, bowed, and reported:

"Your Majesty, I have just received news from Ma Zhenfeng that the Qing army camp outside Jingmen Prefecture has sent more than a thousand cavalrymen south this afternoon. The leader of these cavalrymen should be Bahana, the Manchu governor who led his troops south to Xiangyang to reinforce Ye Chen some time ago.

By now, the main force of the cavalry should be not far from Jianyang Town. According to the military intelligence Li Guo sent over earlier, the army he led should encounter them near Jianyang Town tomorrow afternoon.

"The Qing army outside Jingmenzhou City should only have two to three thousand cavalry and four to five thousand infantry!" Lin Changfeng smiled proudly, turned his head to look at Zhu Cilang, and said respectfully:

"Your Majesty, if this is the case, our chances of victory will be even greater. Once we have cleared out the Qing troops outside Jingmen Prefecture, we can march south and join forces with Li Guo to attack the Qing troops led by Bahana. We will surely be able to annihilate all these Tartars.

This time, it seems that these thousands of Eight Banners soldiers sent by Dorgon are simply here to kill us. I really want to see his expression after receiving the news that the Qing army in Xiangyang was completely annihilated! "

"Heh!" Zhu Cilang exhaled a breath of white air, looked up at the white ground around him, and said coldly:

"I have five thousand cavalry and infantry in Jingmen Prefecture to support me. As long as Ye Chen is not prepared, even if Bahana does not send troops, the initiative on the battlefield will be in my hands."

"Your Majesty is wise, but this place is full of plains. Although there is snow cover, the Qing army is best at using cavalry. Once they are prepared, I am worried that the surprise attack will turn into an encounter battle." Chang Denggui bowed and said worriedly.

"Ye Chen can't possibly notice it. Once we're about five or six miles outside the camp, even if he starts to notice it, it will be too late."

Lin Changfeng was full of confidence. When he heard about Zhu Cilang's plan of a 100-mile raid, he was shocked and immediately expressed his support at the military meeting. At this time, he naturally raised his head and said proudly:
"By then, no matter how many cavalry Ye Chen has, it will be useless. We just need to block the front and back of the camp, and then the cavalry will charge. Those unprepared Tartar horsemen will have no choice but to lie down obediently and wait to be killed by us."

After the Jianghuai Defense War, Lin Changfeng was transferred to the Tianqi Army as admiral. During his time in Liaozhen, he became familiar with the use and training of cavalry. In cooperation with Chang Denggui, his various tactics improved rapidly.

Zhu Cilang nodded and agreed:

"What I want is a surprise attack, to catch Ye Chen off guard, and let him know that the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty can also charge hundreds of miles and destroy the enemy in one battle."

After saying that, he turned his head and looked at Chang Denggui, saying: "However, what you said actually makes some sense, but you overlooked one point."

"Overlooked something?" Chang Denggui asked doubtfully.

"That's right." Zhu Cilang looked at the cavalry advancing rapidly along the hillside passage and smiled, "I know what you mean."

Chang Denggui's face darkened upon hearing this, and he immediately perked up. He knew what Zhu Cilang meant, and then said:
"But cavalry movements, especially galloping, make too much noise. I believe it is necessary to slow down. I would rather wait a day to avoid letting Ye Chen notice anything is wrong."

"But the key to my surprise attack this time is speed. If it's not fast enough, how can we achieve the effect of a surprise attack?" Zhu Cilang paused, then continued:

"Our cavalry rested for a day on the west bank, replenishing their supplies of beans and salt. They've only advanced forty miles overnight, which isn't very fast. As long as the Qing army doesn't have time to prepare, or even if they do, with our superior numbers, we can still inflict heavy damage on them.

Because Liu Rukui's troops in Jingmenzhou City did not have the strength to go out of the city to counterattack, the camp built by Ye Chen was not very strong and the defense was not very strict. In order to lure the enemy, he even withdrew the scouts and sent out Bahana.

But this enemy is a veteran who has experienced hundreds of battles. He hasn't reacted yet. But if we slow down, and wait until the next night or day, the Qing army scouts will notice something is wrong. By the time they react, this battle will be difficult to fight."

"Your Majesty, what you mean is that what we took advantage of was actually Ye Chen's mistake?" Chang Denggui said with sudden enlightenment.

"Well, this is why I asked you to participate in the 'military discussion on the situation simulation' hosted by the Five Military Commanders' Office." Zhu Cilang nodded, and then said:
"Often, a military commander relies on personal battlefield experience, or even genius intuition, to direct operations. Ye Chen, a veteran of the Qing army, is not known to be a natural born commander, or to have developed his abilities through practical combat experience and gradual study. However, judging by the Jinyiwei's military intelligence reports, he possesses a keen eye for warfare."

"Based on this guy's performance before and after entering the Pass, he seems like a natural born general." Chang Denggui also agreed.

"Your Majesty once said that the strength of an army actually depends on whether it can win battles. From this point of view, the Eight Banners Army led by Ye Chen is extremely strong." Lin Changfeng responded from the side, but there was no fear on his face. Instead, he was looking forward to defeating the powerful enemy.

Zhu Cilang had already gradually established a systematic framework for training generals, though it was still in its infancy. Furthermore, most of his generals lacked experience in mobile warfare. Previously, those trained during the "Jianghuai Defense War" had primarily been in city defenses, as well as raids and pursuits based on these defenses. The cavalry, in particular, had received significant training.

Except for a very small number of geniuses, the training of generals and commanders must be carried out through actual combat. The Ming Dynasty's personal army, such as the Palace Army, the Heavenly Cavalry Camp, and the Nanjing Jingying Camp, still has a long way to go in this regard.

"So, this is a rare opportunity for us. With a strong army and a strong general, if we can seize the opportunity and defeat him when he makes a mistake, we can achieve the greatest results at the lowest cost."

Zhu Cilang smiled, then said coldly:
"Dorgon was right to send Ye Chen to lead the army south. Ye Chen's performance during this period is worthy of his trust. If we can defeat this battle-hardened veteran of the Qing army, then the situation will be reversed. Dorgon's deployment was a terrible move, a move that couldn't be worse."

"I'm afraid many of these Tartars still don't take us seriously. In this battle in Jingmen Prefecture, we must let them see the powerful army of our Ming Dynasty." Lin Changfeng seemed to be encouraged and said excitedly.

"I also understand that the purpose of this battle is to truly intimidate the Tartars and force Dorgon to leave a large number of troops stationed in Jingzhou and Yuezhou. This is truly in line with the overall strategy." Chang Denggui also said immediately. He always kept in mind what Zhu Cilang said in military meetings, but he was more cautious.

"The Qing army has been fighting both inside and outside the Great Wall for so many years, especially last year when they were pursuing Li Zicheng. Their mobility was not even matched by the rebels who came from the past. In this regard, our Ming army has always been on the defensive. Ye Chen certainly didn't expect that I would dare to do this and have such strength."

Zhu Cilang raised his eyebrows slightly, looked towards the east towards Jingmenzhou City, and then said in a deep voice:
"This is the Qing army's current strategic misconception, which I can exploit. Moreover, the Heavenly Cavalry can only rush to the outskirts of the Qing army camp at most, and it is impossible to directly raid into the camp. The Qing army will definitely organize a limited counterattack.

However, in that short period of time, even a veteran like Ye Chen did not have time to organize a real counterattack. The so-called counterattack was meaningless. In fact, these attacking Qing cavalry just filled the ditch for my iron cavalry.

Deng Gui, you understand now, those minor details are unimportant. There are certainly risks, but our chances of winning are much greater, which makes it worth fighting. Otherwise, how can we achieve a victory that will terrify the Tartars?"

(End of this chapter)

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