Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 162: The Qing Army Crosses the South
At the end of December, as the main force of the Qing army led by Dorgon gained a foothold outside Jingzhou City and sent troops to try to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river, Chen Fu immediately led the left army of the palace northward and, with the cooperation of the Dongting Lake navy led by Zheng Sen, deployed them to Songzi, Zhijiang, Hudukou and other places.

In this way, Li Guo's Zhongzheng Camp in Jingzhou City on the north bank of the Yangtze River, Chen Fu's troops stationed in various cities on the south bank, and the Dongting Lake Navy deployed in the cities on the south bank, supported each other across the river, and firmly tied down Dorgon's army.

Under Zhu Cilang's deployment, the Left Palace Army under Chen Fu received more than 1,200 war horses after the "Battle of Jingmen Prefecture", and all the reserve cavalry in the army were converted to regular soldiers overnight.

All these made it difficult for Dorgon to test the strength of the Ming army on the south bank. Even if a small number of cavalry managed to cross the river successfully, they would soon be driven out and annihilated by the cavalry of the left army in front of the palace.

You should know that the Jingzhou section of the Yangtze River is very wide. In some places, it is like a big lake. The river is seven or eight miles wide, and three or four miles wide at the narrowest point. This greatly increased the difficulty of the Qing army's forced crossing and made it impossible for them to quickly deploy troops.

However, Dorgon did not give up easily. He continued to send troops and horses to try to cross the river near Jingzhou to avoid the Yuezhou Prefecture City heavily guarded by Zhu Cilang and to encircle the Changsha Prefecture City.

Chen Fu's analysis was generally correct, but he overestimated Dorgon's determination and underestimated Dorgon's battlefield insight. He did not expect that the other side had made two preparations, breaking through in Jingzhou on the one hand, and deploying troops into Wuchang City on the other.

The two huge armies confronted each other along the Yangtze River for more than ten days, and fought and tested each other no less than twenty times. Under the cover of the Dongting Lake navy, Chen Fu's army was not afraid of the Qing army at all.

During this process, Chen Fu's troops ambushed in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River finally waited for the action of the Qing army. Dorgon had obviously planned it for a long time and sent hundreds of elite Eight Banners soldiers to complete the smuggling under the cover of night at dawn at Huya Mountain and Jingmen Mountain upstream.

To this end, he specially mobilized a large army and made it look like he was preparing to storm Jingzhou City. Inside and outside the Qing army camp, there were noises of troop movements and the roar of artillery fire.

But with the assistance of the Jinyiwei and the Central Army's Ye Bushou, Chen Fu had already anticipated this. He hid nearly a thousand cavalry and thousands of infantry in the mountains of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River in Jingzhou Prefecture, and secretly mobilized part of the navy.

The troops that Dorgon secretly mobilized had long been under their surveillance. Chen Fu had not taken any action, allowing things to develop quietly, for fear of alerting the enemy and arousing Dorgon's suspicion.

Under the cover of night and mountains, this Qing army raiding force quickly crossed the river smoothly by boat. On the south bank of the Yangtze River, the Dianqian Zuo Army, which had sneaked to the vicinity of Changyang City early, also quickly took action and launched an offensive.

The Qing army that sneaked across the river near Jingmen Mountain was not the main force of the Qing army's surprise attack. The hundreds of cavalrymen, without the cooperation of the main force, were no match for the left army in front of the palace and would soon be surrounded and annihilated by Chen Fu's ambushed troops.

You know, even the river surface sandwiched between Huya Mountain and Jingmen Mountain is also very wide, with a distance of more than two miles from north to south, so it is very difficult for the Qing army to sneak across.

Moreover, as the Ming navy held an absolute advantage, it would be extremely difficult for them to retreat once they were discovered after crossing the river.

This was also the reason why Dorgon went to great lengths but ultimately only dared to send a small force of several hundred horsemen to cross the river. He was very worried that Zhu Cilang would set an ambush on the south bank, and this was just a test on his part.

The role of this cavalry is to quickly occupy a strong position around Jingmen Mountain as a foothold to support the Qing army on the north bank who are already ready and waiting to cross the river.

Dorgon knew very well that as long as he had an army that could gain a foothold on the south bank and prove that he had the strength to continuously transport troops to the south, Zhu Cilang would not dare to continue sending troops to harass.

On the south bank of the Yangtze River in Jingzhou Prefecture, the garrisons of the Left Army in front of the palace were very scattered. If it were not for a large river separating them, Zhu Cilang would never have dared to agree with Chen Fu's deployment of the defensive line. However, in order to prevent the Qing army from sneaking across the river, he had to disperse his forces.

Soon, the cavalry of the Left Army of the Palace, which had been on high alert near Jingmen Mountain, launched a surprise attack immediately after most of the Qing army crossed the river.

Zheng Sen then sent his navy, which had been hiding several miles downstream under the cover of night, up the river to intercept the Qing army crossing the river.

Dorgon sent Bolo to command the operation, but in order not to alert the enemy, he did not use the artillery positions deployed in advance to block the attack. He only sent a few fire attack ships for a surprise attack, and failed to successfully stop the Dongting Lake navy.

The Qing troops who had sneaked across the river were unable to react in time to the swift attack of the left army in front of the palace. Before they had time to counterattack, another infantry attacked. The hundreds of cavalry were quickly defeated. Then, because the boats crossing the river were blocked by the Ming navy and they were suddenly attacked, they were quickly dispersed.

By the time Bolo again learned about the Qing army on the south bank and sent thousands of cavalrymen up the river to the vicinity of Yiling Prefecture, intending to support the defeated soldiers and stop the Ming army's offensive, the situation had become clear.

However, although the Qing army's vanguard that crossed the river was not completely wiped out, they had already been defeated by the time they fled to the northern foot of Jingmen Mountain. They were intercepted by the Ming army's navy and could not cross the river. In the end, they were completely defeated by the Dianqian Zuo Army that caught up with them.

Under the escort of a team of his personal cavalry, Chen Fu rode his horse to a hillside at the northern foot of Jingmen Mountain, squinting his eyes at the Qing army on the opposite bank that was at a loss.

After the Qing army crossing the river on the south bank was ambushed, although a group of Qing troops on the north bank wanted to provide support, they were unable to launch any substantial action because they had no navy cover.

However, although the cavalry of the left army in front of the palace had the advantage in manpower, in such a melee, except for the successful ambush at the beginning, they did not gain much advantage, so they have not been able to completely wipe out the Qing army's vanguard until now.

Zhang Huangyan was standing next to Chen Fu at this time. He held up a telescope he had bought in Macau and observed the situation on the north bank while saying:
"Dorgon's action this time seems to be just a test. The Qing army on the north bank only has more than 2,000 cavalry. Although they have already taken action, they are unlikely to force a rescue."

"This group of Eight Banners cavalry that sneaked across the border is very powerful. They are definitely veterans who have been through many battles. I'm afraid Dorgon sent such elite troops just to test our true strength in the field."

Chen Fu shook his head, and after retracting his gaze from the north, he said with some regret:

"Now that these hundreds of elite horsemen have been devoured by this general, Dorgon will definitely not dare to sneak across the river again. Otherwise, if hundreds of elite horsemen are attacked again next time, his heart will probably bleed."

After hearing this, Zhang Huangyan responded with a smile, and then continued:

"The Central Army's Yebushou just reported back the military situation in Jingzhou City. After Dorgon repelled the Dongting Lake navy with shore artillery and fire attack ships last time, he is now building ships. He probably wants to use fishing boats as the bottom to build a floating bridge across the river to transport troops across the river.

However, it is unclear whether he is bluffing or truly intending to deploy his main force to force a crossing. After this failed attempt, the other generals in the Qing army should waver in their resolve, prompting Dorgon to change his plan.

After hearing this, Zhang Huangyan nodded in agreement, and then continued to analyze:
"The Qing army now occupies the northern bank of Jingzhou City and has built watchtowers and artillery positions on the shore as a foothold. If they were to force a crossing, they could probably transport thousands of troops and military equipment across the river in a day and a night. If Dorgon is determined, he should begin seeking a forced crossing within ten days."

"That depends on Dorgon's determination. If he crosses south from Jingzhou, he will surely suffer nearly 10,000 casualties. The Qing army probably doesn't have that determination. Your Majesty sent me to the west to stop the Qing army to stop this idea."

As Chen Fu spoke, he took the telescope from Zhang Huangyan and looked towards Huya Mountain. However, due to the fog between the river and the mountains, he could not see clearly who the Qing general leading the troops was.

"If there is a next time, we must bring a few more four-pound cannons in advance and pretend to defend to the death. Let's see if the Qing army dares to continue to force the crossing!"

"Hahaha, the Tartars can't afford to lose so many soldiers. Dorgon is far from being able to fight against Your Majesty!" Zhang Huangyan laughed.

"Don't underestimate the power of the Tartar cavalry. The Ming Dynasty was defeated for so many years because of these Tartar cavalry. Even though we have the advantage in military strength, we are still struggling."

Chen Fu quickly put down the telescope in his hand, thought for a moment, then turned to look at Zhang Huangyan and said:
"The Qing army in the north is still making moves. It seems we need to have the navy organize another offensive to inflict damage on the Qing army on the shore, so as to completely block the Qing army's attempt to transport troops to the south bank!"
.
As Bolo led the remaining troops back to the Qing army camp outside Jingzhou City, Dorgon immediately summoned all the beile and beizi and generals of each flag in the camp to renegotiate and adjust the strategy of the southern expedition.

Although the artillery positions that Dorgon set up on the north bank were effective, and the fire attack ships did play some role in the fight against the Ming navy, burning two patrol boats and four bird boats of the Ming army, the strength of the Dongting Lake navy was not fundamentally damaged, and it still had the strength to launch a surprise attack and even cut off the Qing army's pontoon bridge.

Zhu Cilang made such deployment originally intending to use the navy to cut off Dorgon's plan to cross the south from Jingzhou, force the enemy to Yuezhou, and thus seize the initiative on the battlefield.

"The Ming Emperor has deployed a large force on the southern bank of Jingzhou, so Yuezhou must be underguarded. Unless he transfers all the troops stationed in Changsha to Yuezhou, we should turn our weapons around and charge directly towards Changsha, catching the Ming army off guard."

Bolo looked at the princes and nobles beside him and said seriously:

"The Ming army has deployed heavy troops all the way to the south bank of Yiling Prefecture. There are over a thousand cavalry soldiers alone, and there are also naval forces to provide support. If there are no troops on the south bank to support them, by the time the main force of the Ming army in Yuezhou arrives to reinforce, I'm afraid thousands or even tens of thousands of soldiers will die before they can cross the river."

There was silence in the big tent. Dorgon and his Manchu nobles knew very well that if they crossed the river south from Yuezhou, they would most likely lose the initiative on the battlefield, so they wanted to open up a new battlefield.

These barbarians were extremely forward-looking in military affairs, otherwise Dorgon would not have sent Tan Tai in advance and sent another army to secretly detour to Wuchang just in case.

"Dodo, is everything ready at the camp?"

Dorgon quickly turned his head and asked Duoduo:

"When the various units urgently retreat, all the dozens of broken artillery pieces in the cities will be blown up and burned along with the ordnance left in the camps."

"Don't worry, Regent! Everything has been arranged. Nikan will arrange for mules, horses, and laborers to transport the useful artillery and most of the supplies tomorrow. This will ensure the Ming troops in the city remain unaware for a short period of time." "How are Nikan's preparations in Bailuoji? Are there any new movements by the main Ming army in Yuezhou?"

"Nikan has everything ready. The Ming army is on the south bank, so crossing the river is also inconvenient. Nikan has sent out thousands of horsemen to patrol day and night. We will definitely not let the Ming Emperor take advantage of us."

Although Duoduo was ostracized by Dorgon, as the Prince of Yu in the Qing court, he was still involved in many military affairs and was very important. Especially as Zhu Cilang's strength became apparent, the contempt he originally suffered was gradually disappearing.

"Everything is normal for the Ming army in Yuezhou City. However, in Wuchang, Tan Tai has reported new military intelligence, regarding his attack on Yuezhou from Puqi."

"What did Tan Tai say?" Dorgon asked immediately.

"He said that the mountains near Linxiang are not easy to hide in, and it would not be easy to ambush the Ming army, but he could ensure that our army could cross the river smoothly. As long as we can contain the Ming army to the north and east, the Ming Emperor will definitely not be able to move freely.

Linxiang City is not close to Yuezhou City, and is blocked by mountains, rivers and lakes on all sides. Once the Ming army loses the support of Yuezhou City, it will be difficult for them to compete with our Majia.

However, if we expose our forces, Emperor Ming's confidence in ambushing us here will be affected. The hills to the southeast are relatively flat and not enough to provide a sufficient barrier to cavalry. Even if Emperor Ming's infantry took over, they would still have no advantage over the cavalry."

"Don't worry about Emperor Ming's determination. Just act according to my original plan. The army will start preparing to retreat in three days. As long as the main force of our army crosses the Yangtze River and enters the plains of Yuezhou, Emperor Ming will die even if he wants to hold on." Dorgon made a prompt decision.

He knew that Tan Tai wanted a decisive battle, and he also knew that many people in the army wanted to use cavalry to kill the Ming army's fighting spirit.

But the problem is that these are not the key to this battle. If Tan Tai deliberately reduced his troops in order to lure the Ming Emperor and gave the Ming army an opportunity to take advantage, that would be a big mistake.

After Dorgon tried to sneak across the Tiger Tooth Mountain, he realized that the Ming army could rely on the navy to stop him from sending troops south for more than half a day. If Tan Tai did not have enough troops, it would be easy for him to repeat Geng Zhongming's mistake.

After all, if Emperor Ming was determined to launch an ambush, he would send a troop of soldiers to bypass those mountains and block the mountain road in the direction of Yanglou, thereby cutting off Tan Tai's troops' retreat to the north by land.

You know, retreating through the mountains is inherently slow, and although the Ming army couldn't pursue them freely and the cavalry's mobility couldn't be fully utilized, as long as the Ming army had troops guarding the various mountain passes, Tan Tai's troops would be unable to escape.

"It should have been done a long time ago. Once our army crosses the river and surrounds Changsha, even if Emperor Ming uses the same old tricks again, I will have a way to deal with it." Duoduo said proudly.

During this period, he gradually regained his confidence and even felt that he was the only commander in the army who had experience in fighting against Emperor Ming, so he became more and more active.

"I actually hope that Emperor Ming will come. Yuezhou is the best battlefield, both for us and for Emperor Ming." Dorgon said in a deep voice.

The deployment of the Qing army did not completely follow the predictions of Zhu Cilang and Chen Fu. During this period, Dorgon also constantly mobilized troops and changed the original decisions. This made the changes in the war situation in some aspects far beyond Zhu Cilang's initial expectations.

However, this is a very normal thing on the battlefield. There is no battle in which both sides directly deploy their battle formations and decide the outcome.

On the evening of the day when Dorgon began to dispatch his army south, Zheng Sen concentrated most of the ships of the Dongting Lake Navy and once again organized an offensive against the artillery positions and strongholds on the shore of Jingzhou City.

The Qing army's artillery positions were still strong, continuously firing shells to bombard the river surface, but as expected, they were still inaccurate and could only be effective through intensive volleys.

The warships of the Dongting Lake Navy had been improved. Although the number of artillery on board had increased, most of them were French cannons, which were not powerful enough and they quickly fell into a disadvantage in such a bombardment.

Seeing this, Zheng Sen naturally would not continue to resist. He immediately ordered the navy to retreat, allowing only a few ships to interfere. The main force took advantage of the time when the Qing army's artillery fired to dissipate heat and quickly retreated to a safe area.

The entire Dongting Lake navy was dispatched, but the losses caused by the Qing army's artillery bombardment were naturally not worth mentioning. The Qing army's fire attack ships became a joke at this time. Every time they were dispatched, they would be directly wiped out by Zheng Sen.

By this time, Dorgon finally realized the powerful strength of the Ming navy. In addition to gritting his teeth, he dared not organize a forced crossing without the support of troops.

Although Dorgon did not know that the strength of the Dongting Lake navy was more than that, when he looked at the enemy's battle results during this period, it was not difficult for him to imagine that as soon as the Ming navy arrived, the floating bridge he built to force a crossing of the Yangtze River would be destroyed in an instant.

However, as long as Tan Tai can gain a foothold in the south and have a large army to support him, he can just rebuild the pontoon bridge if it collapses. It will only cause a few thousand more casualties among the Han Eight Banners or Green Camp troops in the early stage, which is no big deal for Dorgon.

Ten days later, the Qing army gathered at the Bailuoji Ferry and, after sufficient preparation, began to build a pontoon bridge again, preparing to transport troops to the south bank.

At the same time, the Ming army in Yuezhou City and Linxiang City also began to take action. Half of the Dongting Lake navy was now upstream of Jingzhou, and only half was able to take on the task of blocking the Qing army.

Facing the Qing cavalry led by Tan Tai, the Tianqi Army sent by Zhu Cilang continued to block them and repelled two unprepared Qing raids in succession. The Qing army's forced crossing on the north bank did not seem to affect their will to resist at all.

After all, the Linxiang River section, where the width of the river exceeds three miles, is not so easy to cross by force, and Dorgon's plan was soon thwarted again.

However, as Tan Tai's cavalry demonstrated their powerful combat capability in the field battle, the Dongting Lake Navy became anxious, as the south bank was about to be controlled by the Qing army.

Of course, all this was just a deception set up by Zhu Cilang. When the report of Chen Fu's ambush victory in Jingmen Mountain and the military report of Tan Tai's troops' action in Puqi were placed on his desk at the same time, a new plan emerged in his mind.

Otherwise, it would not be that only half of Zheng Sen's Dongting Lake navy was in Yuezhou, and the Tianqi Army was just there to show off its muscles. After showing weakness, it had a legitimate reason to withdraw, allowing the Qing army to calmly build a pontoon bridge again and continue to cross the river.

Although Dorgon was quite dissatisfied with the army's previous performance, the development of the war was ultimately within his plan, and the performance of the Ming army was in line with his expectations - it had certain strength, but limited field combat strength.

As Tan Tai's troops gained a foothold in Linxiang, Dorgon's previous strategies and arrangements suddenly seemed safe and thoughtful, which greatly enhanced his prestige in the army and made him even more confident in his military talents!

When the Tianqi Army and the Dongting Lake Navy, under the order of Zhu Cilang, fought and retreated, and the Qing army used a temporary floating bridge built on the river by boats to travel with them, Dorgon became very excited, and even the haze of the two previous failed forced crossings was immediately swept away.

"Emperor Ming has withdrawn his troops to Yuezhou City. His plan to stop me has completely failed. Now, he has only one choice: to hold on to Yuezhou and Changsha and wait for an opportunity to launch a harassing counterattack."

At the Bailuoji Ferry, Dorgon was riding on his horse, full of vigor and vitality. He changed his usual calm tone, turned his head and looked at Duoduo and said with a smile:

"You are right, Duoduo. The Ming Emperor is still strong. The fighting power of these Ming troops is indeed not to be underestimated, especially the navy. If I hadn't sent Tan Tai to support us in advance, there would be no chance of success in this forced crossing."

Duoduo naturally knew what Dorgon meant by praising Zhu Cilang so much. He was trying to show that he was stronger. He did not respond, but let Dorgon talk to himself.

However, Duoduo did not respond. At this time, the beile and beizi started to talk more, especially Nikan and Tunqi, who were in charge of this battle. They immediately took over the conversation and praised the regent of the Qing Dynasty, Dorgon.

"Now that the Regent has come to the battlefield in person, Emperor Ming may never have another chance to win. Yuezhou will definitely be his burial place." Tunqi flattered with a fawning look on his face.

"The only things Emperor Ming can rely on are strong cities and navy. Now that our army has successfully crossed the river and has completely controlled both the north and south banks, Emperor Ming's navy is no longer useful." Nikan also spoke.

"Emperor Ming should not be underestimated. If I had not been prepared in advance and made a feint to the east and attacked in the west, it would have been difficult for our army to cross the river so smoothly so quickly." Dorgon said proudly.

He was very proud of his plan. You know, the attack on Jingzhou was not successful, the forced crossing was frustrated many times, and the attempt to explore Huya Mountain failed. These were all dark clouds hanging over the Qing army, which seriously hit the morale of the soldiers. It was not until now that the Qing army achieved a decent result.

"If Tan Tai had been given another 3,000 soldiers, the so-called cavalry of the Ming army would have been wiped out long ago. The so-called Heavenly Cavalry under the Ming Emperor is actually nothing more than that. Now his navy is useless and his cavalry is unable to fight. He will definitely not escape the fate of defeat." Nikan continued.

He was full of confidence and had secretly made up his mind to avenge the shame of Jiangbei's defeat.

"The Ming Emperor probably also knows that without the fortified city, he will not be able to stop the powerful army of the Qing Dynasty. I would like to see if he sheds tears when he sees the coffin!" Dorgon laughed after being flattered.

Duoduo listened to what they said with a gloomy expression, but he didn't interrupt. In fact, he had a feeling that the army's forced crossing was too smooth, which was really strange, but he couldn't put his finger on why.

(End of this chapter)