Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 183 Tunqi's trump card
After Zhu Cilang summoned all the generals, he quickly formulated a new plan for attacking the city. He had to take action before the troops gathered and adjusted their deployment.

Otherwise, the secret channel used by the Jinyiwei to communicate between the two sides and transmit messages would most likely be cut off after Wang Tizhong and Wang Deren's troops were completely replaced.

After all, Wuchang City has four walls and nine gates, and the Eight Banners soldiers are watching everywhere. Without the cooperation from top to bottom, Wang Tizhong and Wang Deren would not dare to act rashly.

When it comes to things like uprising on the battlefield, the most feared thing is procrastination. The longer it is delayed, the more likely problems will arise!
As time passed, small-scale battles between the scouts of the Ming and Qing dynasties under the city became increasingly frequent, but Tunqi never took the initiative to attack. The two sides only won and lost alternately, but the casualties were almost negligible.

By the thirteenth day of the siege, the siege equipment built by various units of the Ming army and the construction of the army's artillery positions were finally completed. Zhu Cilang immediately ordered all units to begin the siege the next day.

The next morning, just as the sky was getting light, under the personal command of Zhu Cilang, more than 30,000 troops including the Palace Front Army, the Tianqi Army, the Changsha Standard Camp, tens of thousands of civilians, nearly 50,000 horses, directly formed a battle formation on the south side of the city wall.

Not only that, outside the gates of Binyang, Zhongxiao, Wusheng and other cities in the east and north of Wuchang City, Chen Fu and Tian Jianxiu were also leading their armies to prepare for the siege.

Of course, they were just setting up their battle formation, and the actual number of troops deployed would not be too many. Most of the more than 200 artillery pieces brought by Zhu Cilang were concentrated in the south.

Under the current situation, he must take measures as soon as possible to delay the plan of garrison rotation and continue the siege to cover the actual deployment of troops.

Tunqi actually had very limited knowledge of the military situation outside the city. As long as Zhu Cilang made careful moves, he would not be able to detect it at all.

With Wang Tizhong and Wang Deren's rebellion and the two armies' "internal and external cooperation", he only needed to deploy a few thousand soldiers in the early stages. This meant that there was no possibility of being exposed in the mobilization of tens of thousands of troops.

Tunqi, Zakana, Tong Yanghe, Wang Tizhong and others led their Han and Manchu generals to climb up the city wall of Baoan Gate. Inside the Baoan Gate's city wall and on the city wall, nearly 10,000 Qing soldiers also stuck their heads out.

However, when they looked at the Ming army formation outside the city, their eyes no longer had the contempt they once had. Instead, they showed a variety of expressions, including fear, worry, and a few eager to try.
"General, the south of the city is the main direction of the Ming army's siege, and the Ming Emperor is leading the troops himself. Look, that's the Ming Emperor's banner. The main force of the siege is the Palace Army, led by General Chang Denggui. There are also other Ming troops, totaling over 30,000 men, with over 3,000 cavalry, and tens of thousands of civilians assisting..."

Tong Yanghe couldn't help but frown slightly as he spoke, but he quickly collected his expression and continued:

"The Ming army has been preparing for nearly two weeks, and this time they've mobilized most of their elite troops outside the city. Zhu Cilang is personally in command. I'm afraid this attack is more than just a test!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tunqi sneered:
"If Emperor Ming wants to attack the city with such a small number of troops and the siege equipment he has just made in the past ten days, he will be disappointed. This equipment may not even be able to cross the moat. Does he really think that as long as he is in charge, those Nikans will be invincible?"

"General, you are absolutely right. Emperor Ming had a lucky victory before, and he is probably dreaming of quickly taking down Wuchang City now!" Tong Yanghe responded immediately after hearing this.

"Wang Fuchen, you just came from the east side of the city. Whose troops are attacking the city from the east side? Have you found out?"

When Wang Fuchen heard Tunqi calling him to ask a question, he did not dare to delay even a moment. He immediately turned towards the other party, bowed his head, clasped his hands together, and said:

"In reply to the general, east of the city is a large banner with the word 'Chen' on it. Based on the military intelligence we've gathered, it's likely Chen Fu, another formidable general under Emperor Ming. Chen Fu's army numbers approximately 20,000 men, and he's already deployed east of the city."

This Wang Fuchen was a subordinate of Jiang Xiang. He had changed masters seven times in history. Even Lu Bu, a slave of three surnames, had to admit that he was inferior to him when he saw Wang Fuchen. He was nicknamed "Lu Bu's Better".

"Yeah." Tunqi nodded, then looked at Aljin and Tong Yanghe and asked, "How are the preparations for the nine gates in the city going?"

Tong Yanghe heard this and secretly glanced at Wang Fuchen and another Green Camp general who was transferred from Shaanxi beside him, and asked quietly:

"General, the deployment of the four sides and nine gates has basically been completed. It's just the rotation of guards between the gates. Because the situation is urgent, especially with the Ming army harassing, there is no suitable opportunity yet."

"The situation is tense now. The Ming army is about to attack the city. It is indeed inappropriate to change defenses in the middle of a battle." Tun Qi said calmly.

"My army has been well prepared. There are carefully selected brave men stationed at each city gate. If the Ming army really dares to attack, I will make sure they never return." Zakana said arrogantly.

"Zakana, don't underestimate the Ming army, otherwise you will suffer the consequences!" When Tunqi heard this, he immediately remembered the appearance of Duoduo, Nikan and others.

"The general is right. The Ming army should not be underestimated." Aljin nodded. He looked at the dense crowds of Ming soldiers and countless civilians outside the city and said,

"The morale of the Ming army was high, and the conscripted civilians worked very hard. Otherwise, the Ming Emperor would never have been able to prepare for the siege in such a short time.

"For a dozen miles around, almost every blade of grass and tree has been burned by us. Even in the more distant areas, the main trees and grass are almost gone. Yet, the Ming army was able to find wood and set up camp so quickly, and also build siege equipment at the same time. It is truly incredible!"

Aljin and Tong Yanghe had been in Wuchang City for a long time. In order to repair the damaged city walls, they forcibly conscripted almost all the people around Wuchang Prefecture. There were even too many people killed or injured by the soldiers while supervising the repairs, and finally there was not enough manpower. Tong Yanghe had to recruit some civilians from Hanyang Prefecture, so that he could complete the repair and reinforcement of Wuchang City on time.

"The Ming army's speed is indeed incredibly fast!" Tunqi agreed.

"The Ming army only recruited about 100,000 civilians, but the work they have accomplished in the past two weeks is something we could hardly have accomplished even if we had forcibly recruited 200,000 civilians."

As soon as these words were spoken, Manchu and Han generals such as Aljin, Tong Yanghe, Zakana, and Wang Fuchen began to discuss the matter, but in the end they could not figure out the reason, and all of them were groundless guesses.

After all, in their minds, these forced laborers were always slaves. Whether they were conscripted temporarily or captured by force, they were all strong men to build trenches and ditches, and women to provide entertainment for the army. As for the elderly and children, they were all destined to die.

In other words, they never treated the laborers as human beings, but they thought they could unite as one and even work happily and efficiently. This was simply wishful thinking.

At the same time, Zhu Cilang and a group of ministers were standing on a temporary earthen platform outside the city. He was holding a new telescope bought by Du Yinxi from Macau, and was carefully observing the flags of Tunqi and others on the top of the Baoan Gate city wall, as well as the blurry tall figures.

The earthen platform where Zhu Cilang was located was about six miles away from the Wuchang city wall opposite. Although there were dozens of cannons deployed on the city wall, most of them were French cannons with an effective range of within three miles. Although the shells of those red cannons could hit the earthen platform, they were not accurate.

Therefore, Zhu Cilang and his generals showed no fear at all at this time. They all watched the army's siege operation very calmly. When Zhu Cilang's dragon flag and the recognition flags of his generals were raised, the army suddenly became boiling.

Of course, although this siege was massive and looked like an all-out attack by the entire army, Zhu Cilang was just putting on a show to stimulate the troops to gather together, and also to test the true combat effectiveness of the Qing army in Wuchang City.

As Zhu Cilang sat on the earthen platform, several military flags waved, and on the battlefield, the sound of war drums and bugles followed. The flag bearers of the various divisions of the central army in front of the palace began to respond one after another. The entire southern part of Wuchang City was filled with flying flags, and the momentum was as great as a rainbow.

Amid the thundering sound of war drums and bugles, the fully armed soldiers of the central army in front of the palace held their shields behind them, while nearly a thousand civilians pushed shield carts to provide cover in the front. More civilians pushed various siege weapons and followed closely behind, rushing towards the city wall like a tide.

When they advanced to a place about three miles away from the moat of Wuchang City, they stopped and began to make final preparations before the war.

At this time, south of Wuchang City, on the artillery position of the Ming army, as the sound of war drums sounded for ignition and firing, hundreds of artillerymen holding ignition forks bent down almost at the same time at the command of their officers and performed exactly the same movements.

“BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!”

A burst of lightning and thunder suddenly erupted, and thick white smoke instantly rose up from the Ming army's artillery position, covering dozens of artillery pieces.

Dozens of iron bullets weighing several to more than ten pounds whizzed out from the black muzzle, drew a parabola in the air, and then slammed into the thick outer wall of Wuchang City.

The Ming army's artillery technology was now quite sophisticated. After the test firing the day before, the accuracy of their shooting had been greatly improved, and most of the shells hit the earth wall.

On the outside of the earthen wall of Wuchang City, the newly laid bricks and stones were quickly shattered under the bombardment of powerful artillery shells. The broken stones flew everywhere with the flying shells, and fell into the moat outside the city with a rustling sound, splashing countless water.

These newly built earthen walls of the Qing army were not strong, but they were thick enough. Even if the artillery bombarded them intensively for several days, it would be difficult to knock them down. Not to mention the Qing soldiers on the walls, who would repair and reinforce the walls when the artillery stopped firing or when the artillery was turned off to dissipate heat.

The heavy artillery of this era still has a lot of room for improvement in heat dissipation and lifespan due to problems with the barrel material. The artillery has to stop to dissipate heat after every three firings and wait until it cools down before it can be used again.

However, Wuchang City had been damaged several times before this, and many of its walls were recently reinforced and repaired, making them far less solid than the original. Under the bombardment, the possibility of collapse was very high. After six rounds of volleys, over 400 iron shells struck the outermost earthen wall on the south side of Wuchang City, with over 200 more hitting the wall behind and the moat in front.

Under such bombardment, many bricks and stones on the earth wall were directly smashed to pieces, and smoke and dust were blown up by the wind. Many Qing soldiers hid behind the wall and dared not show their heads at all. Tunqi and others had already hidden in the city wall.

“Woo, woo, woo~~~”

Bugles sounded in the Ming army's formation, and hundreds of brightly colored flags were waved vigorously by the soldiers of the Palace Army, like fluttering butterflies. Countless troops quickly poured out from the front of the Ming army's formation, and under the leadership of their respective officers, they charged forward with shouts that shook the sky. Thousands of shield carts, trench bridges, and ladders appeared densely on the plain.

The Qing army further widened the moats on the east, north and south sides of Wuchang City. The nine protruding gates around the city wall were managed by Tunqi and Tong Yanghe, and the moats in front of the gates were widened to nearly six meters.

Not only that, in order to reduce the pressure on defense, after Tun Qi led his troops into Wuchang City, he immediately reduced the original nine city gates to six. The Zhongxiao Gate in the east, the Pinghu Gate facing the river in the west, and the Wenchang Gate are now blocked by newly built bricks and stones.

To the east of the city, the Binyang Gate retained by the Qing army is located on the southern foot of the eastern end of Sheshan Mountain, which runs across the central axis of Wuchang City. The terrain is very dangerous and it is a fortress for defending the city, easy to defend but difficult to attack.

As for Wuchang City’s only north gate, Wusheng Gate, its low terrain, open bay and nearby hills made it very easy for the siege army to advance.

Because of the terrain of Wuchang, Zhu Cilang eventually chose the South Gate as the main direction of attack. This was actually the reason why the two main generals of the Green Camp Army, Wang Tizhong and Wang Deren, were both arranged at the South Gate.

After all, before Tunqi led the Green Camp Army from the north into Wuchang, the Green Camp Army under the command of Wang Tizhong and Wang Deren were the main force defending Wuchang.

Although the moat on the south side of Wuchang City is wider, there are three city gates here, and the open plains outside the city are more conducive to the advancement of the army.

The Ming army's rows of shield carts creaked forward, and the strong civilians carrying trench bridge ladders followed closely behind the soldiers holding square shields. This way they could avoid being shot from above by Qing army archers when they approached the city wall.

This also shows why the civilians recruited by Zhu Cilang's army were so motivated, hardworking and efficient!
Of course, this only reduced the casualties among the civilians. The Ming army was not rich enough to have extra armor to equip these civilians who assisted in the war.

However, although casualties are normal on such a battlefield, the scale of casualties in a single attack is not large. In such a war where the total number of troops on both sides exceeds 200,000, the casualties in each siege are mostly no more than a thousand.

Otherwise, this war would not have been possible to last for several months, or even more than a year, and no matter how many troops there were, they would have been exhausted long ago!
As the smoke from the Ming army's artillery positions gradually dissipated, thousands of Qing soldiers began to reappear on the earthen walls south of Wuchang City. At the same time, the Qing army's artillery also began to move.

Facing the first siege by the Ming army in half a month, the Qing soldiers on the earthen wall, whether they were from the Eight Banners or the Green Camp, were all on edge and did not dare to relax even a little.

On the watchtower on the city wall behind the Weng Tower, as the Ming army's artillery fire stopped, Tunqi, Aljin, Tong Yanghe, Wang Tizhong and others immediately raised their heads and chests and began to watch the battle.

"Siege, speaking of it, is nothing more than artillery bombardment, trench filling, and ladder climbing. Even the Ming Emperor can't come up with any new tricks. We've suffered so much from sieges in the past two years, and now it's finally the Ming Emperor's turn to have a taste of it."

Tunqi looked at the battlefield in front of him and suddenly smiled bitterly. Then he said to himself: "Today is the first day. The Ming army should be testing the attack and will not use all their strength, but no one can let down their guard."

"General, you're right. No matter what Emperor Ming's conspiracy is, as long as we proceed according to plan, there will be no loopholes!"

Tong Yanghe paused and said in a very steady tone:

"Once the Ming army reaches the city, especially after crossing the moat and reaching the Sheep and Horse Wall outside, our ambushes stationed above and below the city walls can immediately move out and catch them off guard, which will surely significantly undermine their morale."

"That's right. As long as these Ming troops rush to the moat and enter the Sheep and Horse Wall, they will never be able to escape." Aljin also nodded in agreement.

"Zakana, this time, you will continue to lead the troops into battle and attack quietly from the small door under the wall. Make sure to kill all the Ming troops who have crossed the moat." Tunqi gave another order. This was his trump card against the Ming army.

"Zhe!" Zakana was still full of confidence. He had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.

At this moment, the rumbling sound of artillery exploded again on the battlefield.

“BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!”

As the Ming army's shield carts approached, Qing soldiers on the earth wall began to count their numbers. On the two earth walls and the artillery platforms on the inner wall, the Qing army's artillery also began to adjust the position and angle of their artillery, preparing to bombard the dense and continuous attacking Ming army.

When the Ming army's siege troops, under the cover of shield carts, entered the artillery's range, the Qing army artillery on the earth wall immediately fired hundreds of shells at the Ming army's direction under the command of the military bugle...

"Boom, boom, boom..."

On the city wall, orange-red flames flashed almost at the same time. More than twenty iron eggs weighing more than ten pounds and hundreds of goose egg-sized stone bullets flew out from the white smoke and hit the Ming army's shield car line. The sound of violent collision and cracking wooden boards was heard immediately.

Not only that, many artillery shells fired at the Ming army's siege team in the rear directly carved more than a dozen bloody paths on the plains, and there were constant wailing and screaming in the Ming army's formation.

The Qing army's first attack caused hundreds of casualties to the Ming army's charging troops. Several soldiers and civilians who were hit by artillery shells were broken in half, and the ladders and trench bridges carried by the civilians were thrown directly to the ground.

You have to know that these civilian laborers carrying ladders and rushing forward across the trench bridge had only a long shield held by the soldiers in front of them, besides the shield carts. The shield could block the arrows shot from the wall by the Qing army, but it was impossible to deal with the artillery shells weighing more than ten pounds.

These shells fired from the artillery platforms on the city walls, which are more than three meters high, are actually more powerful than those fired from the bottom up from the Ming army's artillery positions.

In other words, not to mention the civilians who generally did not wear armor, even the Ming army soldiers who were well protected would not be able to escape the fate of being killed on the spot or having their hands and feet broken if they were hit by the Qing army's artillery shells.

However, under the command of the officers, the soldiers in the center of the palace did not waver, but continued to charge forward. Behind them, there was also a group of fierce military judges. Desertion would only lead to death.

Those civilians who were on the battlefield for the first time and were frightened by the artillery shells and turned around to escape were directly defeated by the military court and chopped to the ground without mercy. This made the remaining civilians dare not have any dissenting thoughts.

On the battlefield, the most valuable thing is human life, but the least valuable thing is also human life. It is normal for the army to suffer losses during action.

After the Qing army's first round of artillery fire, the Ming army's shield car line began to accelerate its sprint, and the Ming army soldiers and civilians holding shields and carrying ladders and trench bridges followed closely.

In the subsequent attacks, the Ming army was bombarded by artillery fire from the Qing army several times, and eventually suffered hundreds of casualties before advancing to the Lanma Ditch outside the moat.

In front of the Lanmagou, there were countless holes and pits, which made it impossible for shield carts to pass through. The Qing army did not learn this trick from the Ming army, but the defense methods of both sides can only be said to be similar.

The Ming army had to fill these pits and then dig trenches to block the horses before they could get close to the moat. Otherwise, without the protection of shield carts, the army would suffer heavy casualties.

But things did not end so simply. Like all important military towns of this era, inside the moat of Wuchang City was a half-meter-high sheep and horse wall. Only after climbing over these low walls could the Ming army set up ladders on the flat area in front of the earth wall and climb up to attack the city.

The Yangma Wall was only thirty or forty steps away from the outermost earth wall of Wuchang City. When the Ming army soldiers climbed through these walls, they would undoubtedly become excellent targets for the Qing army musketeers and archers on the earth wall.

This was one of the most important lines of defense set up by Tunqi to consume the Ming army's military strength. He even sent his general Zakana to prepare to let the other side lead the Eight Banners soldiers to fight.

Because Yangma Wall was separated from the city by a moat, it was one of the few places where Tunqi dared to leave the city and fight the Ming army in the field.

However, Zhu Cilang and a number of senior generals in the army had already thought of this. Before the army set out, he had ordered the Military Affairs Department to prepare a large number of gunpowder bags, enough to blow down the Sheep and Horse Wall.

After all, although the Sheep Horse Wall was difficult to push down quickly with human power, it was ultimately just a thin low wall. It was not difficult to destroy it. At this time, several sections of the Sheep Horse Wall had been collapsed by the artillery shells fired by the Ming army.

(End of this chapter)