Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 159: Tianlu Battle Method
On the plain southwest of Pagoda Mountain, the rumbling sound of horse hooves soon rang out again. Without any hesitation, Lin Changfu led hundreds of assembled cavalrymen and began to pursue.

He had been with Zhu Cilang for so long, and had been influenced by him. In addition, he had personally led troops into battle several times in Fengyang, so his judgment of the battlefield situation had become very keen.

Now, Lin Changfu didn't need to hesitate. He just looked around the battlefield and the strategy of pursuit popped up in his mind directly, as if it was already his instinct.

At this time, there were still nearly a thousand defeated Eight Banners soldiers on the plains. After suffering several rounds of attacks from the Imperial Camp and the Heavenly Cavalry, they had long been disorganized and their morale was very low, making it almost impossible for them to form combat effectiveness again.

Not only that, with the end of the previous attack, hundreds of Eight Banners cavalrymen who had fled to the west were already fleeing to the southwest. The last line of skirmishers left by Lin Changfu was unable to intercept them all.

The west side was flat and the Eight Banners cavalrymen were all veterans with rich battlefield experience. After they recovered from the brief shock of the Ming cavalry charge, they immediately began to flee.

The main cavalry force under Lin Changfu was naturally unable to take care of them for the time being. He had just invested all his troops in order to give full play to the advantages of the cavalry formation, and now there were no soldiers left.

However, the hundreds of Eight Banners defeated soldiers on the east side of Pagoda Mountain had no way to retreat except to the south, but the south was the third line of skirmishers in the cavalry formation.

Ye Chen and several Bayala horsemen who were guarding him were soon driven to the eastern foot of Pagoda Mountain by the Tianqi cavalry in the third line of skirmishers in the chaos.

At this time, because of the one-sided crushing of the Ming army's cavalry, the once invincible Eight Banners defeated soldiers were completely panicked. In order to escape first, they even bumped into and squeezed each other. They were completely unable to organize themselves, let alone exert any combat effectiveness.

Ye Chen looked at the place where the two armies had just collided, and the dense corpses of soldiers and horses. His heart couldn't help but tremble, and the hands holding the reins couldn't help but tremble.

He had never imagined that the Ming cavalry would fight in such a reckless manner, not to mention that these were Ming troops from the south of the Great Wall!

In his opinion, the Ming troops inside the Great Wall would collapse at the first blow and had no fighting power. Even if there were some who could fight, they were rare and not worth mentioning.

Ye Chen never thought that the Ming court's cavalry could be so powerful, and that the Han people could have such combat power, which even surpassed the Bayara cavalry beside him.

"Emperor Ming is so terrifying!"

Ye Chen involuntarily shifted his gaze from the battlefield where the two armies collided to the camp. In less than an hour, the situation had changed drastically.

"It's not unfair that Duoduo lost in Jiangbei!"

At this moment, a Bayala leader beside Ye Chen suddenly pulled up his reins and said anxiously:

"Master, those Nikans are coming to kill us soon, let's run away!"

Ye Chen, who was still in shock and daze, was finally awakened from his dejected state by this shout. The spirit he had accumulated from years of fighting on the battlefield seemed to have returned.

He then turned his head to look towards the north, and saw that Lin Changfu had led a large group of cavalry and was coming back, and was estimated to be less than 400 steps away from him.

Although Ye Chen was really frightened by the cavalry formation just now, as the commander of an army, he still had the psychological quality, experience and courage to stand on his own, and his mind was not blank because of this.

Now, although the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse, he still has a keen judgment of the battlefield situation - this is the last chance to escape.

So, after seeing Lin Changfu leading the Ming cavalry that had just rushed past and rushing directly towards him, Ye Chen immediately took Bayala with him and charged towards the south.

He wanted to take advantage of the chaos in the Ming army, tear open a gap, break out, and even take away as many soldiers as possible if the situation allowed.

Except for a few new recruits who reacted quickly and escaped from the camp, most of the Eight Banners soldiers were elite warriors with rich battlefield experience. As long as they were given time to breathe, most of them could quickly recover a certain level of combat power and find opportunities to escape.

But now, the Ming cavalry has regrouped and launched a new offensive at incredible speed, while the Qing cavalry group has long lost its command and its morale has collapsed.

You know, those Eight Banners cavalrymen who had dispersed to the two wings early and had not suffered too much attack from the Ming army were still very powerful. There were even dozens of cavalrymen who dared to dismount and shoot at the Ming cavalry with bows at this time, resisting the Ming army's skirmish line that was pursuing them.

But these failed to change the situation of the battle. As Lin Changfu launched a new attack, Ye Chen led several Bayala and dozens of Eight Banners horsemen to flee. The "wooooooo" sound of the trumpets of the Ming cavalry when charging also rang out one after another.

As the trumpet sounded, the Eight Banners cavalrymen who had originally wanted to fight back completely lost their fighting spirit. Before the cavalrymen could rush over, they turned their horses around and quickly fled from this horrific battlefield.

However, the Ming army's simple cavalry formation moved quickly and soon caught up. As the charge trumpet sounded three rapid blasts, hundreds of soldiers from the Imperial Camp and the Heavenly Cavalry Army galloped on horseback, accelerating to close the distance with the fleeing Qing army.

At this moment, the military flags of the Imperial Camp, the Tianqi Army, Lin Changfu's recognition flag, the thousand-man flags, the battalion-general flags, the hundred-man flags, and dozens of flag guns of each unit all leaned forward towards the Qing cavalry who were fleeing in a panic, and the Qing army was completely "defeated."

The Ming cavalry swept in from behind, chasing and killing these once invincible enemies, just as they had recklessly chased and killed the defeated Ming army. Most of the Eight Banners cavalry had already collapsed before they could even engage the enemy.

Of course, at this time, there were still some officers with rich battlefield experience among the defeated Qing army. They took advantage of the chaos after the Ming cavalry group had charged for hundreds of steps and slipped through the gaps in the Ming army's pursuit. Some even took the opportunity to shoot arrows in counterattack to cover their escape.

But Lin Changfu led a group of cavalry in pursuit, and most of the remaining Qing cavalry on the plains were unable to escape. They were quickly caught up and chopped down by the Ming cavalry, fell off their horses while fleeing, and were then overwhelmed by the cavalry.

The defeated Qing soldiers on the west side of the battlefield had no hills to block their way, so many of them managed to escape successfully. However, the Eight Banners soldiers on the east side were blocked by hills and could only run south. They were not so lucky.

After Lin Changfu defeated the fleeing Qing soldiers in groups, the newly assembled cavalry behind him quickly spread across the battlefield, cleaning out and killing those who fell off their horses, were injured, or had no time to escape.

On the battlefield south of Jingmenzhou City, the nearly 1,000 remaining Eight Banners cavalrymen were quickly overwhelmed by the violent pursuit of the Imperial Camp and the Tianqi Army cavalry!
The defeat of the Qing army was within the expectations of Zhu Cilang, Chang Denggui, Lin Changfeng and others. The Eight Banners cavalry troops led by Ye Chen did not have any advantage and were not well prepared. Naturally, they had little combat effectiveness after the cavalry charge.

However, contrary to Zhu Cilang's expectations, Ye Chen failed to escape successfully. He had just escaped for more than a mile with dozens of Eight Banners horsemen when he was caught up by Lin Changfu and eventually died in the cavalry pursuit.

With Ye Chen's death, Lin Changfu led the cavalry to chase for ten miles, and the Eight Banners Army was almost wiped out. The "Jingmen Prefecture Raid" also came to an end.

Most of the terrain near Jingmen Prefecture is plains. Once the Qing army successfully distances themselves from them, there will be no point in pursuing them.

Moreover, Bahana was leading a main force of over a thousand cavalrymen in the south. Zhu Cilang was still unclear about the situation in the south at this time, whether Li Guo had won or lost, or whether he had not fought with Bahana at all.

In this situation, it would be extremely risky for Lin Changfu to lead his troops in pursuit directly.

Although the Han River Plain is flat, with the current weather, it is unknown when it will snow again. If we attack rashly, we will easily be ambushed.

After all, with the cavalry pursuing at a rapid speed, it was difficult for the vanguard to clearly detect the enemy situation, and at a distance of dozens of miles, Zhu Cilang was unable to provide quick support.

Now that Zhu Cilang's strategic goal of a hundred-mile raid had been achieved, there was no need for him to take further risks. The "Huguang War" had only just begun, and larger and more important battles lay ahead. He needed to conserve his forces, not resort to momentary bravery!
During this battle of a hundred miles, Zhu Cilang did not forget his strategic goal. This is the most basic quality of a military commander.

Moreover, he also needed those fleeing Eight Banners cavalrymen to successfully return to Dorgon's southward army and spread the bravery and invincibility of the Tianqi Army to the main force of the Eight Banners Army, so that Dorgon would not dare to underestimate him again.

In this battle, Ye Chen's troops were almost wiped out. Thousands of Green Camp soldiers either died in the night attack or surrendered in the end. The core combat force of the Qing army, the Eight Banners Army, all died in the battle, except for less than 300 cavalrymen who escaped.

As for the Ming army, except for the three or four hundred cavalrymen who were killed or wounded in the cavalry confrontation, the losses at other times were almost negligible for the Tianqi Army with 5,000 troops.

When the Ming army raided the Qing army camp, Ye Chen was unprepared and almost marched straight ahead. The Qing army's counterattack after they reacted had almost no effect.

This is a fact that has been repeated over and over again on battlefields throughout history: the side with the advantage can unilaterally massacre the other side at almost no cost, whether in the East or the West.

As if he had anticipated Zhu Cilang's intentions, Lin Changfu, accompanied by his standard-bearers, quickly gathered the scattered troops on the battlefield. The Tianqi Army's captain, a thousand-man commander, was still there, along with two captains and seven hundred-man commanders, who quickly gathered their troops. As for the others, it was unclear whether they had been killed, injured, or simply too late to gather.

However, Lin Changfu did not just gather his troops. He also immediately sent a cavalry of more than 20 people to explore the south to determine the situation in Bahana.

At the same time, generals such as Chang Denggui and Lin Changfeng, after defeating almost all of the Qing army's large-scale last-ditch efforts, rode back to Zhu Cilang to report their results.

"Denggui, how do you feel after this battle?" Zhu Cilang asked with a smile on his face. He retracted his gaze from the battlefield and turned to Chang Denggui who was standing beside him.

When Chang Denggui just led his troops to charge, he had not noticed the tragic situation on the battlefield. Now, looking at the battlefield full of corpses, and the dense armored soldiers cleaning up the aftermath, especially collecting the war horses left by the Qing army, he was a little surprised.

The Qing army camp was suddenly attacked. Even the veterans with rich battlefield experience could only hastily take away a warhorse, while the new recruits brought by Bahana basically had no chance to take the horses away. In addition to the hundreds of war horses that were frightened and broke free in the camp, there were more than 4,000 excellent war horses tied to the rows of horse posts in the stables.

The Qing army was defeated so quickly that they had no time to take care of these war horses. However, Chang Denggui had already sent people to take control of them and preserved the most precious spoils of this battle.

However, he just took a quick look and did not expect that so many war horses were captured this time. The Qing army's reaction was not as fast as Chang Denggui expected. He now saw that everything was just as Zhu Cilang predicted, and even Zhu Cilang overestimated the Qing army. He was very excited.

From now on, the Eight Banners Army was no longer the formidable enemy that Chang Denggui had imagined he could not defeat in a field battle. The victory on the battlefield, with its unquestionable attitude, rebuilt his confidence.

"To avenge our previous shame and raise our heads in pride!" Chang Denggui's eyes were filled with unconcealed excitement. He paused and said:

"The Tartars have always looked down on us, believing that the so-called Eight Banners are invincible. Ye Chen is now reaping the fruits of his own actions. Dorgon must be deeply shocked to see such a large Qing army defeated by us.

From now on, those Tartar princes, beile, and Tartar soldiers will probably not dare to fight us easily when they see our army again. Your Majesty's plan to gradually block the main force of the Qing army has been largely successful."

"If Ye Chen had taken the defense seriously and deployed an ambush army ten miles away to provide early warning, today's disastrous defeat could have been avoided. However, such opportunities will be hard to come by in the future!"

As Zhu Cilang spoke, he gently stroked the mane of the war horses under his crotch. Under his careful care, the hair of these war horses became very soft and felt very comfortable to touch.

“However, after the lesson of nearly 10,000 soldiers being annihilated this time, especially the death of veteran Qing general Ye Chen, the Qing army will probably not take it lightly again.

What these Tartars are best at is actually using cavalry to move back and forth, constantly harassing, and using the cavalry's mobility and impact to win. Unless they have an absolute advantage in terms of manpower, they will definitely avoid direct confrontation with the Tianqi Army."

Chang Denggui, Lin Changfeng, Liu Rukui, and Lin Changfu, who had finally rushed back from the front line of the battlefield, all expressed their agreement upon hearing this. They were now full of confidence in the combat effectiveness of their own army.

"In this case, Dorgon will definitely leave heavy troops in Jingzhou, Yuezhou, and even Jiujiang. Even if he is not afraid, those Eight Banners generals who stay behind to maintain the food supply will definitely be frightened and uneasy." Lin Changfeng bowed and clasped his fists.

"This is the real purpose I want to achieve by launching this night attack. Compared with the final victory of the Huguang Campaign, the thousands of Qing troops annihilated in this battle are just a means to achieve the goal." Zhu Cilang smiled slightly.

In later generations, Xue Yue created the "Tianlu Tactics" in actual combat, making full use of the weaknesses of the Japanese invaders and his own advantages to win the Battle of Changsha.

Of course, the so-called "Tianlu Tactics" was not as invulnerable as Xue Yue boasted. It was actually a tactic of "retreat and decisive battle", which was to lure the enemy deep into the territory and then surround and annihilate them.

The so-called "Sky Furnace" is to deploy troops into a network of strongholds in a preset battlefield area, and use ambushes, decoy attacks, flank attacks, and tail attacks to gradually consume the enemy's troops and morale, so as to achieve the effect of the enemy's decline and our own growth.

At the end of the battle, when the enemy is "dragged" to the decisive battle zone, they will be surrounded and annihilated to achieve the strategic intention of defeating the strong with the weak.

You know, from Yueyang to Changsha, there are dense river networks along the way, and there are complex mountain cover on the east side. These terrains were extremely restraining to the well-equipped and heavily-armed Japanese army in later generations.

But now, from Xiangyang to Changsha, there are mountains and rivers blocking the way and densely packed fortified cities. This is very unfavorable for the Qing army, which is good at cavalry field battles, external operations, and has extremely long supply lines.

However, the "Tianlu Tactics" has a fatal flaw. Once the enemy has sufficient troops and enough to ensure the safety of the supply lines, the so-called Tianlu will eventually become ineffective.

This is why Zhu Cilang launched this night attack. He was organizing the army to fight from the strategic height of the entire battle and would never waste a single soldier.

However, the Tianqi Army's strength was still seriously insufficient compared to the main force of the Qing Army, which became the most worrying issue for the generals in the final battle.

"Our cavalry formation is powerful, and the combat phalanx is not weak either. When the time comes, the densely packed spears in the formation thrust forward, coupled with the volleys of muskets and artillery in the formation, it will not be easy for the Qing army to find a flaw." Zhu Cilang was also full of confidence when talking about the combat soldiers of his army.

However, Lin Changfu, the once foolish man, also discovered some problems after commanding the cavalry charge. As soon as Zhu Cilang finished speaking, he immediately continued:
"Although our cavalry is brave, if the disparity in strength is too great, or if the battlefield is wide, the flanks of the cavalry will be exposed during the attack. The Tartar cavalry will likely circumvent the flanks, and we will be in a passive position."

After Lin Changfu finished speaking, Lin Changfeng's heart sank. Although he had come to his senses, he was not very smart. He actually said such a depressing thing at this time.

However, Lin Changfu had already spoken, and as the eldest brother, he could only immediately clasp his hands and say to Zhu Cilang:
"That does make some sense. The Tartar cavalry number in the tens of thousands, which is far more numerous than the Heavenly Cavalry. Not to mention the flanks being exposed, Your Majesty has deployed the troops in a meticulous manner, and with all the troops fighting in unison, the flanks of the cavalry formation must be difficult to expose.

But if the cavalry charged and ran directly into the rear of the Qing army, the Tatar cavalry in the main formation, who were waiting in full battle array, the situation would be disastrous. If we were to compete with the Eight Banners cavalry in terms of riding skills and horsemanship, we would definitely not gain any advantage.

"That's true. In today's battle, many Tartar cavalry fled. After they go back, they will definitely report our tactics to Dorgon. Even if Dorgon doesn't understand the specific operations for the time being, he will definitely be cautious and on guard." Chang Denggui then said.

After all, the cavalry formation is indeed inflexible, and can even be said to be very slow. While it gains unparalleled impact force, due to its excessive inertia, it almost completely loses the flexibility that cavalry should have.

You have to know that those armored, fully armed war horses and cavalrymen could not be controlled immediately during a rapid charge. By the time the cavalrymen regained control of their horses, the entire cavalry formation had already rushed several hundred steps.

This is a major issue that the Tianqi Army must consider when using cavalry formations on the battlefield, and it also constantly restricts the applicable battlefields of the cavalry formations.

Zhu Cilang had not failed to think of this. After hearing what they said, he nodded and then said:
"Cavalry is the decisive force on the battlefield. For our army, it is the key to field battles. It cannot be used lightly. If a punch is caught directly by someone, or even misses, how can we still win?"

"Your Majesty is right. When we fight, we still have to rely on infantry, muskets, and artillery, which are specifically designed to defeat cavalry." After hearing this, Liu Rukui immediately clasped his hands and said:
"During my time defending Jingmen Prefecture, I gained a profound understanding of this: muskets and artillery are expensive and difficult to equip quickly for military use. Training, however, is much simpler."

Zhu Cilang smiled and looked at the soldiers who were still cleaning the battlefield inside and outside the Qing army camp. Behind them were many civilians coming out of the south gate of Jingmenzhou City.

At the same time, some injured cavalrymen of the Tianqi Army were receiving emergency treatment on the battlefield. Although the Ming Army's current method of treating wounds was still relatively primitive, the use of alcohol and honey, as well as timely treatment by military medical staff, could greatly increase their chances of survival.

"After the main force of the Qing army moves south, we must avoid a decisive battle with them in the short term. As long as Dorgon divides too many troops, we can persist and consume his energy for several months, and he will definitely find it difficult to hold on.

After all, we have too few cavalry, and the cavalry formation cannot be used easily. The role of muskets and artillery on the battlefield is indeed significant, but it is not enough to reverse the entire battlefield situation.

However, with Dorgon invading the south with so many troops, the Qing army will not retreat unless they fight hard and inflict pain on him. They must fight, but they must find the right time to strike and win in one blow."

After Zhu Cilang finished speaking, he turned his gaze away from the battlefield and looked towards the Jingmenzhou City on his right, and said loudly:

"Liu Rukui, immediately organize the soldiers and civilians in the city. After the Heavenly Cavalry has rested, follow me south. We will go find Li Guo. Dorgon should be preparing to arrive in Xiangyang by now. We must retreat south as soon as possible.

The defense of Jingmenzhou City has completed its mission so far. Next, we can bury mines inside and outside the city and then throw them to Dorgon. I want to see if Dorgon dares to lead his troops directly to this empty city.

Also, Lin Changfeng, you personally led a thousand cavalrymen to stay behind and harass the vanguard of Dorgon's army. This will cause the Qing army to have no peace. I want all these Tartars to become frightened birds!"

(End of this chapter)