Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 221 Ajige's Ambition
In Nanyang City, tens of thousands of elite Eight Banners soldiers led by Dorgon, more than 10,000 Green Camp soldiers transferred from all over the north, and tens of thousands of forced laborers from all over the north have all temporarily rested.

Although Dorgon and Ajige were both eager for a decisive battle, they were by no means like headless flies, running around randomly.

They also needed to test the strength of the Ming army, and then determine a feasible strategy based on the intelligence gained on the battlefield.

Before the main force of the Eight Banners moved south, the Green Camp defenders in Nanyang City had been ready to move, especially when Aljin was defeated and fled to Kaifeng. Southern Henan, western Henan and other places were successively recaptured by the Ming army. When Chang Denggui and Lin Changfeng approached Luoyang City, the anti-corruption sentiment in the city was the most intense.

Chen Tai and Gao Di had been carefully guarding against the Green Camp troops transferred from Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan. In just over a month, they had seen countless small-scale rebellions in Nanyang City, but they had all been extinguished by them.

After all, there were already thousands of Eight Banners soldiers stationed in the city, including more than a thousand new Eight Banners from tribes outside the Great Wall, as well as thousands of bondservants. In addition, the families of the Shanhai Green Camp troops led by Gao Di were all in the north, and the defense of Nanyang City was extremely complex and strong. How could these scattered Green Camp soldiers succeed?
Nanyang City was an important stronghold deployed by the Qing court in southern Henan. As long as the Manchus, who were the core force, did not surrender, the officers and soldiers of the other many Green Camp Army and Baoyi Army would not be easily shaken.

After all, if they made any rash moves, they would most likely be exposed immediately or even executed suddenly.

In comparison, although Hanzhong City was equally strong and had a dangerous terrain, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack, the Green Camp soldiers in the city were basically from Shaanxi. Apart from the thousands of vassal soldiers and the Eight Banners of Han under the command of Wu Guogui and Li Guohan, there was no force to suppress the situation and stabilize it.

In other words, as long as they rebelled, with the joint efforts of Chen Fu and Gao Yigong's armies, the impregnable Hanzhong City could be captured in less than a day.

However, it is not so easy for Chen Fu and Gao Yigong to contact the Green Camp Army in Hanzhong City and achieve internal and external cooperation.

It was almost impossible for Wu Guogui and Li Guohan, as well as the few Manchu Eight Banners soldiers left behind by Yue Le, to surrender, especially the latter two.

After all, they were all well aware of the evil deeds they had committed on this land before. Once they were captured by the Ming army, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Chen Fu and Gao Yigong naturally thought of these things. They did not focus on attacking the defenders in Hanzhong City, but directly used the layout of the Jinyiwei in Shaanxi to contact Ding Guodong's rebel army in Gan Ning and other places.

In the original history, the Hui Muslim uprising in Hexi, led by Ding Guodong and Milayin, "against the Qing and restoring the Ming," lasted a year and ten months under the brutal suppression of the Qing army and ultimately failed. While this uprising dealt a blow to the Qing rule in the northwest, it ultimately lost its impact as the national situation deteriorated.

But now the situation is completely different. Zhu Cilang rebuilt the Ming Dynasty in the south, and the two armies marched north, with victory in sight. As a result, Ding Guodong was not surrounded and suppressed by the Qing army in Shaanxi and Gansu.

Otherwise, the few troops under Ding Guodong's command would have been completely annihilated within half a year under the encirclement of Wu Sangui's army. Even the historical record of the defeated troops retreating to Ganzhou would not have occurred. The difference in combat power between the two armies was truly enormous.

Now, the situation has changed suddenly. Wu Sangui and Yue Le have been defeated at a watershed. Chen Fu and Gao Yigong both hope that Ding Guodong can launch a new attack in Longxi to force the defenders of Hanzhong to retreat.

Although Hanzhong City had enough food to sustain a 20,000-man army for three years, to continue defending it was simply to wait for death. By that time, the Qing Dynasty would have been defeated, and Hanzhong would have become an isolated city. How could there be any reinforcements?

After all, without reinforcements and a field force strong enough to defeat the Ming army, the fall of Hanzhong City was only a matter of time. By the time the main force of the Ming army gathered, even a breakout would be useless.

In other words, if Chen Fu and Gao Yigong could use the rebel army to create a situation where Hanzhong City was isolated and helpless, the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses inside the city would definitely not be able to hold out. At that time, their only way out would be to break out to the north, or even escape outside the Great Wall.

Moreover, they had to withdraw their troops as quickly as possible, otherwise, once the Ming Dynasty's rule in the north was consolidated, their breakout would become a farce. If the Qing Dynasty was completely gone, what would the breakout be?
However, at this time, Dorgon in Nanyang City did not care about the actions of the Ming army in Shaanxi and Gansu at all. He was planning a surprise attack, preparing to annihilate the main force of Zhu Cilang's palace army on the plain between Nanyang City and Xiangyang City.

Unexpectedly, the person in charge of presiding over the meeting this time was not Dorgon himself, but Prince Ying Ajige, the most brave and warlike Prince of the Qing Dynasty.

Ajige's previous record in pursuing Li Zicheng's Dashun Army, coupled with his results in blocking the Ming army in Jiangbei in the previous two years, especially the fact that his Niulu did not suffer a major defeat, have all led to his current status in the Eight Banners Army being unprecedentedly elevated.

In the specific deployment of this round of southern expedition, he led the troops by example and was ordered many times to lead troops to attack major Ming army strongholds in Henan, recovering more than a dozen prefectures and counties, and his prestige was further enhanced.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of repeatedly making military achievements, Ajige took the initiative to ask Dorgon to let him preside over the combat meeting for the surprise attack on the Ming army, and received the support of Dorgon, who was in a depressed mood at the time and worried that the situation would further deteriorate.

"Dengzhou City has only two walls from the inside out, and the circumference is only a dozen miles. The walls are not very high or thick. If we use artillery to bombard it continuously, it will probably take three to five days to break through. Emperor Ming certainly does not intend to hold out for a long time.

However, there are at least 70,000 to 80,000 Ming Dynasty infantry and cavalry gathered in Dengzhou City. If we rashly launch a strong attack, we may suffer heavy losses and will find it difficult to achieve any results in a short period of time. We may even lose a large number of soldiers and generals in vain during the siege..."

After Ajige introduced the basic situation of Dengzhou City, he pointed to Xinye City, southeast of Dengzhou City, near the main stream of Baihe River. This is the junction of Nanyang Prefecture and Xiangyang Prefecture. The terrain is flat and the conditions for marching are excellent.

"The Ming army has a naval division stationed in Xinye City. According to scouts, this division has over 500 ships of various sizes, a small portion of which are warships equipped with small artillery. It's not easy to deal with them.

"The Ming navy, stationed in Xinye, can easily advance north to Nanyang, Dengzhou, and other places, blocking our army from all directions. The Emperor of Ming made such a deployment, presumably to prepare for a quick retreat from Dengzhou."

Although Ajige had prepared for this military meeting for a long time, the overall effect still did not meet his expectations. However, the current situation faced by the Qing Dynasty did not allow Dorgon to continue the internal struggle.

While the Qing dynasty's internal struggles were constant, they never erupted at crucial moments, destabilizing the war effort. This was no different now. "The Ming navy is quite formidable. We must not overreach on the water. If the Ming emperor truly intends to use the rivers as cover to advance south, we'll likely be hard-pressed to stop him," Tan Tai said, his brow furrowed in worry.

"That's right. Now our army has recovered all the prefectures in the northern part of Nanyang. However, there are rivers crisscrossing Xinye, Dengzhou and other places. Emperor Ming concentrated the navy nearby. He must want to use the power of the navy to stop our army." Hong Chengchou also spoke from the side.

Dorgon, Ajige and other Manchu nobles did not care about the Ming army's cavalry and infantry, but they were worried and afraid of the Ming army's navy, let alone five hundred ships, even if there were only one hundred ships.

"If our army can bypass the two wings, the Ming navy will be irrelevant." Ajige suddenly said, then pointed to the west of Dengzhou City, then turned to look at Dorgon and said:
"Regent, the Ming Emperor's deployment clearly shows that he is afraid to fight a decisive battle with our army. However, we have to fight this battle. We must not let the Ming Emperor use the river as a barrier to prevent our army from pursuing us at any time.

The Han Chinese cavalry and infantry are inferior to our Eight Banners cavalry. If we can take advantage of the Ming army's unpreparedness and send two or three thousand cavalry across the river to support them, we will definitely catch the Ming army off guard. With nearly 100,000 Ming troops gathered in one place, it will not be easy to withdraw.

Dorgon looked at the place Ajige pointed to. There were indeed many rivers nearby, and most of them ran north-south, making it difficult for the Qing army to move south. Although the Eight Banners Army was not far from Dengzhou, it was still a long way from truly surrounding Dengzhou, let alone attacking the city.

"Well, Prince Ying is right, but the difficulty lies in doing it quietly. Nanyang is so open, and the Ming army controls the river. It will be difficult for us to move south without being noticed."

As Dorgon spoke, he couldn't help but think of Ajige's previous record in chasing Li Zicheng. The opponent's performance was amazing. He actually felt that the Ming army's cavalry should not be much faster than Li Zicheng's cavalry.

"Unless, this Ming army is actually similar to the rebels. As long as we are fast enough, they won't be able to escape. It doesn't matter if we can't catch up on the first day. As long as we can catch up on the next day, we can still catch them off guard."

"That's what I mean, Regent."

Ajige paused after hearing this, and then continued:
"According to the intelligence sent back by the scouts, the Ming army currently has approximately 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers and horses inside and outside Dengzhou City. Half of them are the Ming Emperor's personal troops. Of the remaining troops, half are reorganized from various bandit groups, and the other half are former subordinates of Zuo Liangyu. What difference can there be between these troops and the original bandit groups?
Moreover, the Ming Emperor had been stationed in Nanyang Prefecture for a long time, and the various military supplies taken away by the previous withdrawal were very sufficient. The army not only had tens of thousands of mules and horses, but also thousands of craftsmen, artillery, muskets, ammunition and armor. These supplies would definitely make it difficult for the Ming army to move quickly.

Although most of the Ming Emperor's personal troops are elite veterans with extremely strong combat capabilities, they must have suffered heavy losses after the watershed battle. If we can mobilize them and launch a surprise attack before they enter the city, we will surely inflict heavy casualties on the Ming army.

At this point, all the Manchu and Han generals present looked at each other, then nodded in agreement. Dorgon also gave Ajige a look, signaling him to continue.

Yue Le had already lost tens of thousands of Eight Banners soldiers at the watershed, but the overall situation in the world was far from settled. Like Dorgon, Ajige and other Qing generals, they did not want to suffer too many casualties. They also wanted to replicate the victory they had when they were chasing the remnants of the Shun army.

"Go on." Dorgon looked up at Ajige and said again.

Ajige nodded, then pointed to the plains south of Dengzhou and said:

"To the north of Dengzhou is a turbulent river, and to the north of Xinye is the Baihe River. It would be much easier for the Ming army to move south than for us. Moreover, the Ming Emperor is different from Li Zicheng. He has been operating in Xiangyang for many years and can certainly rely on the city's defenses, so we must move quickly.

Therefore, the boats in Nanyang City must also play a role, at least to contain the Ming navy for an hour or two, to ensure that they cannot affect our army's southward advance."

On the water gate tower southwest of Nanyang City, Ajige looked at the hundreds of fishing boats moored by the river in the city, then turned his head to look at Chen Tai, with a look of dissatisfaction on his face, and asked in a deep voice:

"Are these the hundreds of ships you mentioned?"

"Prince Ying, these ships should be enough to deal with the Ming navy. Anyway, we are not going to have a decisive battle with the Ming navy. Prince Ying does not need to worry?" Chen Tai said respectfully.

"You spoke so confidently at the military meeting just now, I thought you had secretly hidden hundreds of giant warships, but I didn't expect it was just these small fishing boats."

Ajige shook his head, and seemed a little disappointed with the result, but he was very confident in himself, and then said:
"That's all we have. The most important thing now is the cavalry that's about to sneak across the river. These fishing boats may be small, but they should be more than enough to contain the Ming army. Anyway, cavalry is the key to dealing with the main force of the Ming Emperor."

Chen Tai listened to Ajige's words and didn't say much. No matter how much he said to defend himself, it would be useless. Instead of continuing to embarrass himself, it would be better to shut up.

It is said that Chang Denggui's guess was correct. Chen Tai had indeed made preparations in the city. Before the Ming army besieged the city, he had already prepared the materials needed for the main force of the Qing army to cross the river and build a pontoon bridge to the south.

Ajige also took advantage of the surrounding terrain and the cover of the army's movements to secretly send out more than 2,000 elite troops, who were now hiding in the hills on the north bank of the major rivers in the Baihe River basin.

Dorgon, Ajige, Chen Tai, Tan Tai and other senior Qing generals now all agree that a decisive battle on the plains and replicating the victory in pursuing Li Zicheng's army is the best opportunity to annihilate the main force of the Ming army and the fastest way to end the war within the Great Wall.

If Zhu Cilang successfully withdrew his troops from Nanyang and the plains of Huguang back to places like Jingzhou, with nearly 100,000 troops defending the city, then the battle would be difficult to fight.

(End of this chapter)