Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 164: Renewing Glory
While Dorgon was constantly taking action in Yuezhou, Changsha and other places, preparing to make a big move, Zhu Cilang also began pre-war preparations in Jingzhou. This was a great opportunity for him to defeat the Qing army one by one and force Dorgon to withdraw.

At this time, the Central Army, the Left Army, the Heavenly Cavalry Army, and even the Loyal Camp under Li Guo had all recovered a certain level of field combat strength. As long as the local strength of the Eight Banners Army was less than 10,000, Zhu Cilang was very confident of victory.

Of course, at the beginning, he actually focused his counterattack on the area around Yuezhou Prefecture City in order to contain the main force of the Qing army outside Changsha.

However, as the situation evolved, especially after confirming the powerful strength of the Dongting Lake Navy, Zhu Cilang keenly sensed the opportunity for battle in Jingzhou and immediately adjusted the original strategy of the Five Army Commandery.

These strategic adjustments were naturally based on sufficient military intelligence transmitted from the front lines of the battlefield. Zhu Cilang did not take action until Dorgon led the main force to encircle Changsha City, making it beyond his reach.

At this time, outside the city of Jingzhou, more than 8,000 Eight Banners soldiers and armored baoyi soldiers, as well as nearly 10,000 Green Camp soldiers, were completely unaware of the secret gathering of tens of thousands of Ming troops in the south.

Their attention was all focused on Jingzhou City and the north. Li Guo also received more than a thousand war horses as reinforcements. Now, relying on the cover of the city walls, he launched frequent attacks, making the remaining Qing troops miserable.

Not only that, since Xiangyang had become the logistics turnover center of the Qing army at this time, and because the main forces of the Qing army's southern expedition were transferred to the front line, the Qing troops in various places were very worried about the Ming army's surprise attacks on the food routes, and had to send a large number of troops to maintain the food routes.

On the official road northeast of Jingzhou City, each grain transport team was escorted by hundreds of Qing troops. They drove civilians and mules and horses, and transported the grain and military supplies from Xiangyang to Qianjiang City via the Han River waterway. They then loaded and unloaded the grain and military supplies ashore and carefully delivered them to the camp by land transportation.

However, since there was a large lake to the north of the Qing army camp and the surrounding area was almost entirely flat fields, especially with the end of the rain and snow, the snow that had originally covered many places had begun to melt. The Dianqian Left Army assembled on the south bank of the Yangtze River did not act rashly before Zhu Cilang arrived with the main force.

Of course, Zhu Cilang was not planning to use the same old trick again and launch a surprise attack under the cover of night. Such a tactic would hardly work against the heavily guarded Qing army camp.

But the Qing army could not break out easily, otherwise the strong camp they had painstakingly built outside Jingzhou City would be destroyed.

Moreover, for the Qing army, field battles were the fighting style they had always dreamed of. Whether it was to defeat the attacking Ming army head-on or to tie down the main force of the Ming army and wait for the main force to move north, both were better options.

Now, to the east of Jingzhou City, about five miles away from the Qing army's siege trench position, is the central military camp of Junta and Bahana. Junta is the main general of the Jingzhou garrison army, and Bahana is his deputy general assisting in commanding the army. The commander of the Green Camp Army is Wang Guangtai, the general of Yunyang.

Dorgon had previously mobilized a large number of forced laborers from Henan, Huguang and other places, and set up more than a dozen continuous camps on the east, west and north sides of Jingzhou City. The outer trenches were almost connected into one, and earth walls and wooden fences were built in the rear.

The Qing army was well prepared, storing a large amount of food and supplies in the camp. They also had all the necessary weapons for setting up camp and outer defense, such as caltrops, ghost arrows, small French cannons, etc.

During this process, Duoduo also personally presided over the construction of outer defenses of each camp, especially trenches, earth walls, and the deployment of outer ambush troops.

The lesson of Ye Chen's disastrous defeat caused a huge shock within the Qing army. After Zhunta learned that he had to stay in Jiangbei, he did not dare to relax at all. He always followed Duoduo and conducted random inspections to ensure that there were no omissions.

The Qing army naturally also had a complete set of military regulations for setting up camp, defense patrols, and marching. The craftsmen in the army could also make various equipment to assist in camping.

Prior to this, in order to demonstrate his understanding of the Ming army and his valuable experience in fighting against the Ming Emperor, Duoduo personally inspected the construction of the camp and put forward many new requirements.

He naturally wanted to build the camp not only to make it more secure, but also to take the opportunity to strengthen his prestige in the army. After all, Dorgon had no experience in fighting against the Ming Emperor, and Ye Chen had just been defeated and killed, leaving the army in a state of panic.

Duoduo actually didn't think that Zhu Cilang would send troops to travel hundreds of miles for a night attack, but for him, this was a good opportunity to show off, and he naturally would not miss it.

Soon, as Zhu Cilang led the imperial camp, two battalions of the Heavenly Cavalry Army, and three battalions of the Palace Front Army to the north, Chen Fu also immediately began to act. With the assistance of the Dongting Lake Navy and the containment of Li Guo, they soon landed on the north bank of the Yangtze River at Shatou, southeast of Jingzhou City.

Now, the entire Jingzhou-Yuezhou section of the Yangtze River waterway, including Dongting Lake, is controlled by the Dongting Lake Navy. Zheng Sen even sent a water camp to monitor the Qing army in the east, especially in the Daorenji area, to defend against any possible surprise attack from the latter, and keep an eye on the movements of the Qing army in Wuchang.

After the reinforcements led by Zhu Cilang joined forces with the Left Army in front of the palace, their strength reached more than 25,000. They then set up three large camps near Shatou, spanning the wilderness east of Jingzhou City.

As the main force of the Ming army landed on the north bank, the Qing army also responded quickly. The scouts of both sides surrounded the wilderness and deserted villages between the two camps and fought several scout battles. They did not stop even until late at night. Neither side allowed the other side's large scout group to get close to the camp and scout out more detailed military information.

Faced with the sudden gathering of nearly 30,000 Ming troops, Zhunta and Bahana were surprised, but soon calmed down. They saw Zhu Cilang's strong intention to fight a decisive battle from the aggressiveness of the Ming army's scouts and assisting cavalry.

The two men immediately sent Tangma to bypass Yuezhou and go south to Changsha to report to Dorgon, and ordered all units to gather their troops to prevent being divided and surrounded by the Ming army and defeated one by one.

However, the Ming army's military advantage was not obvious. There were less than 20,000 elite soldiers and horses in Jingzhou City, and less than 30,000 main forces of the Ming army outside the city, totaling no more than 40,000.

After Junta and Bahana quickly gathered their troops, including the Green Camp Army, they could send out more than 15,000 troops for field battles. In their view, this was definitely an advantage, and the two even began to plan an active attack.

After all, the Ming army was not strong in field battles. Even the so-called Ming emperor's personal army definitely did not have the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners Army. The mere advantage of two or three times the troop strength was not worth mentioning.

Moreover, they have a solid camp to rely on. If the situation is unfavorable, they can retreat to the camp and hold on for more than ten days without any problem.

Of course, they could not defeat the Ming army's naval advantage, so the two could only find ways to avoid it and withdraw the troops stationed in the camp near the south bank of the river.

According to the scouts' report, they had actually discovered that the Ming navy was transporting artillery away by ship, which was very unfavorable for their plan to hold the camp.

The terrain around Jingzhou City and the powerful combat capability of the Qing army meant that Zhu Cilang could not quickly launch a decisive battle. He could only concentrate his forces as much as possible to gain an advantage on the local battlefield.

Zhu Cilang went to great lengths to ensure that Dorgon could lead as many Qing troops south as possible. He knew very well that if they won this battle and severely damaged the tens of thousands of Qing troops, Dorgon's resolve to besiege Changsha would surely waver, and the entire world would be shaken.

On the evening of the third day of the confrontation between the two armies, Zhu Cilang was on the watchtower of the Ming army camp in Shatou, thinking about the current situation in his mind. The main force of the Qing army in the Changsha battlefield was still on his nerves, which was the key to determining the outcome of this battle.

However, when he turned around and saw all his trusted generals who had arrived at the watchtower, he felt a lot more relieved.

Chen Fu, Zhang Huangyan, Lin Changfeng, Lin Changfu, and the two generals Liu Rukui and Ma Chongxi who broke out of Jingzhou City to provide support were all by his side.

Li Guo naturally stayed in Jingzhou City to take charge of the overall situation and tie down the Qing army outside the city so that they could not launch a surprise attack while Zhu Cilang was still unstable.

Zheng Sen was busy on the river transporting artillery and military supplies for the army and coordinating logistics. At the same time, he led the main force of the Dongting Lake Navy to attack the Qing army in Daorenji and Bailuoji, blocking the Qing army's reinforcements.

Without these generals, he would never have dared to concentrate all his forces to fight such a life-and-death battle outside the city of Jingzhou with the Qing army's detachment, whose strength should not be underestimated.

"Your Majesty is truly a military genius. Dorgon could never have imagined that Your Majesty would lead his troops north at this time. By the time the reinforcements he sent arrived, I'm afraid they would be too late!" Liu Rukui said excitedly.

"That's right. If we win this battle, Dorgon won't be able to concentrate on besieging Changsha. Otherwise, his food supply will be cut off. Even if he has to settle for the second best and besiege Yuezhou, we will be completely free from worries!" Zhang Huangyan continued.

"The Qing army has only 20,000 troops outside Jingzhou City, half of whom are Green Camp troops. They will definitely be defeated in this battle. Your Majesty will surely win a great victory and create another glorious record!" Chang Denggui also spoke.

"." Zhu Cilang listened to what several people said and just laughed twice, while the others present nodded in agreement and spoke freely. It seemed that everyone was full of confidence in the outcome of this battle and the future of the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, the most urgent military situation seemed unworthy of discussion. After all, in such a terrain, if Zhu Cilang launched an attack, Zhunta and Bahana would have no choice but to fight back.

As expected, Zhu Cilang had already made preparations and would soon be able to launch an attack on the Qing army. Next, he would have to wait and see how the Qing army reacted to determine the final strategy.

At this moment, Chang Denggui suddenly came back on horseback from the dark sky in the south. After he stopped his horse under the watchtower, he turned over and jumped off without waiting for the guards to come and hold the horse, and ran up quickly.

He had been observing the movements of the Qing army at the front line and should have returned half an hour earlier, but starting from this afternoon, the Qing army's movements were very frequent. He quickly realized that something was wrong and stayed in the deserted village on the front line to continue observing.

As expected, the Qing army assembled a large number of cavalry in the wilderness east of Jingzhou City. They not only dispersed the scouts deployed by the Ming army, but also advanced directly to the confrontation line formed by the two armies relying on the deserted village in recent days, less than 300 steps away, and frequently attacked and harassed them.

"Your Majesty, the Qing army has sent over 2,000 cavalrymen to block the eastern battlefield. Our scouts are now unable to detect any military intelligence. The scouts deployed outside the confrontation line have just been driven back by the Eight Banners."

"The Qing army is about to take the initiative to attack?" Zhu Cilang looked at Chang Denggui, narrowed his eyes and asked: "Apart from sending a large group of cavalry, has the Qing army made any other moves earlier?"

"The Qing army's actions were very cautious. Until the afternoon, except for the occasional encounters between scouts, everything was calm and there was nothing unusual." Chang Denggui then bowed again.

"Zhunta and Bahana actually dared to take the initiative to attack. They are simply overestimating their own capabilities!" Lin Changfeng sneered when he heard this. He had long lost all fear of the Qing army.

"I'm afraid things aren't that simple. It's very likely that Junta and Bahana are bluffing. Otherwise, there would be no need for them to act at this time. Perhaps they are trying to scare us."

Zhang Huangyan did not agree with Lin Changfeng's words and immediately said:
"The battle in Jingmen Prefecture was so brutal, Bahana couldn't help but emphasize to Junta that they shouldn't have the courage to take the initiative to attack, otherwise they would be really overestimating their own capabilities."

"Although the Qing army was completely annihilated in the battle of Jingmen Prefecture, their courage will not be frightened so easily." Zhu Cilang smiled and immediately gave the order:
"Pass on my military orders. The Heavenly Cavalry Army and the Palace Front Central Army will each send a thousand-man headquarters to station in the deserted village to the east. They must stop the Qing army's attack. The rest of the troops will act according to the plan made earlier and be ready to fight at any time.

No matter what these two Tartars, Zhunta and Bahana, intend to do, I do not wish to delay any longer. This battle must be concluded swiftly and without further delay! "

"Yes, Your Majesty!" All the generals bowed and clasped their fists.
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Meanwhile, outside Jingzhou City, east of the Qing army camp, Wang Guangtai rode his horse atop a high embankment, gazing out at the sunset battlefield, flanked by dozens of cavalrymen. These were his personal guards, most of whom had been with him since he was a bandit.

Wang Guangtai didn't have the confidence of the two Manchus, Zhunta and Bahana. Instead, he was extremely worried about the upcoming battle. All his belongings were outside Jingzhou City. If he lost this battle, even if he escaped death, his fate would probably not be much better.

As the sky gradually darkened in front of him, he could hear the sounds of cavalry fighting from time to time, and even occasional violent explosions. He knew that they were the Ming army's mines, which were also used in large quantities by the defenders of Jingzhou City.

These mines are quite dangerous. Although they cannot kill people directly, the fragments produced by the explosion will seriously injure the soldiers who are hit, severely damaging their morale.

In the past few days, the scout battles between the two armies have been very fierce. Not only the Eight Banner Army, but also the Green Camp Army's scouts have suffered more than a dozen casualties in just three days.

Now, looking at the Ming army camp blazing with orange-yellow light to the east, Wang Guangtai couldn't help but feel a little distracted. Ever since Zheng Siwei's defeat in the Battle of Jingzhou, he had harbored thoughts of rebellion, and with the complete annihilation of Ye Chen's army, these thoughts intensified.

However, the Qing army had always been keeping a very close watch on him, and many officers from Liaodong were stationed in Xiangyang City. Although he had the idea of ​​rebelling, he did not dare to act rashly.

You must know that the Qing army did not fully trust the recently surrendered Ming and Shun troops in the interior, and in order to ensure the interests of the old ministers in Liaodong, they had to give priority to re-employing them.

As a result, factional conflicts and unfair rewards and punishments within the Green Camp Army became increasingly serious. If Dorgon had not promoted a large number of Han Eight Banners as a check and balance, it would probably have been impossible to suppress it.

As a Ming army soldier who came from a bandit background and was recruited by Wu Sangui, Wang Guangtai naturally did not receive much trust or importance. He was just guarding Yunyang and could not move for the time being.

Now, facing tens of thousands of Ming troops, thinking that he was about to fight with this army that was already different from the past in such a wilderness, Wang Guangtai couldn't help but feel a little confused and didn't know what to do!
When he received the military orders from Junta and Bahana, he couldn't even believe it. It was obvious that his side was not at an advantage, but those two Tartars actually took the initiative to attack!

That's right, Junta and Bahana felt that the Ming army had only more than 40,000 field troops at most, and even more than 30,000 who could actually be assembled, and they had a great advantage, but Wang Guangtai didn't think so at all.

He couldn't guess who would win this battle, but he knew that the Ming Emperor was definitely not a simple person. The Ming army had undergone a complete transformation in just two years, which was definitely not a coincidence.

However, Wang Guangtai could not deny that the Manchu Eight Banners Army was still powerful. He only needed to send out 2,000 Eight Banners cavalry to defeat his 5,000 to 6,000-strong army.

But the problem is that in the "Battle of Jingmen Prefecture" more than a month ago, Ye Chen had a huge advantage, but still lost. This shows that advantages are not always useful and reliable.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the Manchus to successfully rise up and dominate Liaodong, repeatedly defeat hundreds of thousands of Ming border troops, and even suddenly enter the pass, occupy Beijing and proclaim themselves emperors.

In Wang Guangtai's view, the Ming Dynasty had always been at an advantage. In this regard, he, a local general far from Liaodong with almost no knowledge of the situation outside the Great Wall, was no different from those civil officials who only knew how to talk about war on paper. He couldn't understand how the great Ming Dynasty could be at a disadvantage!

But at this moment, he seemed to have no choice, let alone contact with the Ming army in the east. You know, if he was not careful before the battle, he would surely die!

"General, the order has been passed down. Should we go there quickly? The people who just arrived from Junta are urging us to hurry." The head servant under Wang Guangtai leaned over and reminded.

Zhu Cilang's guess was correct: Zhunta and Bahana had sent out a large number of cavalry just to bluff. The military order Wang Guangtai had just passed down was in preparation for tomorrow's battle; his troops would be the main attacking force for Emperor Ming.

"Let's go!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Guangtai clenched his fist, then glanced at the Ming army camp in the east, then whipped his horse and headed towards the Eight Banners Central Army camp in the north.

At dawn on the second day, before daybreak, hundreds of Eight Banners cavalrymen, under the command of Zhunta, took advantage of the dim sky and quickly launched a surprise attack on the defense line of the deserted village outside the Ming army camp.

However, under Zhu Cilang's deployment, the Ming army was well prepared. With the comprehensive defense of cavalry, infantry, deserted villages, earth walls, pits, and landmines, such a small-scale raid did not have any effect. The raiding Qing cavalry retreated in a panic after leaving behind dozens of corpses.

Just as this small-scale exploratory raid was over, the Qing army camp immediately dispatched thousands of cavalrymen to launch a larger-scale attack on the Ming army relying on the deserted village for defense, in an attempt to block the entire front of the battlefield.

This time, Bahana personally led the attack. The cavalry was no longer the main force of the attack, but was responsible for covering the main force moving out from the rear. Inside the Qing army's lines, more than twenty medium-sized artillery pieces were quickly rolled out. Large groups of strong civilians drove mules and horses to transport these artillery pieces from the deserted village that separated the two armies.

Not only that, in the Qing army camp, thousands of Green Camp troops under Wang Guangtai's command were also dispatched. They would serve as the main attacking force of the Qing army at the beginning and launch the first round of attack on the Ming army in the east.

Of course, Wang Guangtai knew in his heart that this was not the main attack force at all. His troops were completely used as cannon fodder by Junta and Bahana to consume the Ming army.

But he had no possibility to refuse. Junta and Banaha also sent a team of Eight Banners cavalry to supervise the battle. As long as his soldiers showed any fear of fighting, they would be treated as deserters.

(End of this chapter)