Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 228 The Big Net Re-Opened

Nan Yikui, Dong Xueli and other Green Camp generals ultimately failed to come up with a specific plan for rebellion. Although they were temporarily led by Nan Yikui, they did not completely trust each other and were just temporarily banding together for warmth.

When these generals left, they were divided into several groups, and Zhang Dayuan stayed in the last group.

However, after he left, he did not return to the military camp, but went directly to Hong Chengchou's mansion in Xiangyang City.

Since he had been assigned by Dorgon to monitor Hong Chengchou, he naturally didn't need to rely on him to climb the ladder. However, as Hong Chengchou's subordinate, if Zhang Dayuan didn't want to arouse his suspicions about tonight's plot, he had to continue to feign obedience, so as not to alert Hong Chengchou or the Manchus.

In other words, he needs to get past both Hong Chengchou and Dorgon, especially now that his future is uncertain, so he needs to leave himself a way out.

Besides, the Qing Dynasty is now restricted in every way. On the surface, it still occupies half of the country, but in fact it has reached the end of its rope. Hong Chengchou has always been well aware of this, even more clearly than Nan Yikui, Jiang Xiang and others. His strategic vision is not comparable to those of these generals.

Furthermore, he was also well aware that neither Dorgon nor Shunzhi had ever considered him their own. He had no troops or power, and was ultimately just an old man who could be discarded at any time.

After all, those Green Camp generals still have at least a few thousand soldiers in their hands as bargaining chips, and can at least offer some resistance when necessary. But if he breaks away from the Manchu system, the skin on his body will be of no use.

Of course, this does not mean that Hong Chengchou has a way out. As the former commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen even held a grand funeral for him. Zhu Cilang will definitely not let him go.

Moreover, at this point in time, Hong Chengchou, a man half buried in the ground, would not admit the mistake he made by betraying the Ming Dynasty and defecting to the Qing Dynasty out of fear of death.

Therefore, after listening to Zhang Dayuan's report, Hong Chengchou did not take it too seriously. He just asked the other party to continue paying attention and report to him immediately if Nan Yikui and others dared to rebel.

He watched Zhang Dayuan walk out of the mansion where he lived, and many memories of his journey south emerged in his mind, as well as the Xiangyang City, which was already quite depressed and dilapidated at this time. Then he looked up at the beams in the house, as if thinking about something.

Now, Hong Chengchou can only hope that Dorgon will win this battle, otherwise those Green Camp army generals who are ready to make moves will never stop.

Now in Xiangyang City, not only the Green Camp Army, but also many of the Baoyi soldiers were secretly preparing to escape.

Among them, many are new baoyi who have been recruited into the banners in recent years because of the loss of a large number of baoyi soldiers in the previous war between Ming and Qing dynasties. Some of them are even Han people from northern Zhili who had to become slaves because their land was occupied by the Eight Banners.

However, their desire to escape was not as strong as those of the Green Camp troops, especially since many of them had been bondservants for more than ten years and their families were all in Beijing. Except for some who were willing to leave their families behind, the others were completely powerless.

You know, if they cannot retreat north alive, the Manchus will definitely turn his wife and children into slaves of other people in the banner. This has always been the rule within the Eight Banners.

Moreover, those Bayala and Eight Banners soldiers were not only targeting the Green Camp Army, but also targeting them.

All the new baoyi soldiers actually knew very well that although their fighting ability was not inferior to that of ordinary Green Camp soldiers, and some of them were even better, it was almost impossible for them to defeat those ferocious Bayala, unless they attacked them by surprise.

At the same time, as Zhu Cilang gradually changed his strategy, Dorgon also realized that the situation was not good and began to send more troops to the south to cover his own actions.

Under the cover of night, on the plains and hills east of Yicheng and south of Lumen Mountain, the Eight Banners Army and the Palace Army began an increasingly fierce confrontation.

The various units of the Palace Army received new orders one after another and began to take the initiative to attack. Even the army that had originally retreated to Gucheng, Junzhou and other places in the west began to take action, responsible for blocking the Green Camp soldiers and Eight Banners soldiers who remained in Xiangyang City.

The new type of rocket developed and produced by the Yingtian Weapon Bureau finally began to be used.

After nightfall, the rocket soldiers of the Palace Army would advance to the outskirts of the Qing army camp under the cover of cavalry, and fire at the vast plain south of Lumen Mountain at a frequency of twenty rounds each time, causing great trouble to the Qing army's rest and deployment.

Zhu Cilang prepared abundant supplies for this battle, and the rocket troops in the central army in front of the palace could maintain this shooting frequency every night for more than a month.

However, the Qing army's counterattack soon began. Dorgon was very worried that Zhu Cilang would see through his intention to withdraw his troops, so he sent cavalry to block him.

He knew that such a thing could not be concealed, and no matter what, the latter would definitely guess it in the end. But the later Zhu Cilang guessed, the greater his chances of winning would be.

The clash between the Ming and Qing armies continued with various exploratory attacks. Without the Qing army noticing, the various units of the Palace Army had already entered the designated battlefield in batches, taking advantage of the terrain and the cover of night to hide, waiting for the Qing army to retreat north.

Under the cover of night, on the edge of the east bank of the Han River, Zhao Zhengdong, wearing a suit of fine iron armor, stood on horseback on the north side of a hill by the river.

In front of him were two deserted villages and a group of hills, and to the north, at the northern foot of Dahong Mountain, the Qing army's artillery was bombarding the camp of the Palace Army. Many watchtowers and fortresses had been reduced to ruins.

The Palace Army originally built a large number of Houtai fortresses along the foothills and in the mountain valleys. Although these fortresses have now become densely packed ruins on the plains and the edge of the foothills, they can still hinder the passage of the Qing cavalry, forcing them to dismount and fight on foot.

According to the military intelligence gathered by the scouts during this period, the Qing army continued to send troops to this area. The number of Eight Banners soldiers alone had reached 7,000, and there were 5,000 Baoyi soldiers and more than 6,000 Green Camp soldiers. The situation was becoming increasingly serious.

Dorgon sent troops to intensify the offensive in the south and even increased the harassing troops. Naturally, this was to confuse Zhu Cilang and even to tie down part of the Palace Army's troops, causing Zhu Cilang to misjudge the situation and strengthen the defense in the south, thereby reducing the pressure on the main force of the Qing army to retreat northward.

But his goal clearly failed. Two days prior, a battalion of Lin Changfeng's Heavenly Cavalry had been diverted northward, and Chang Denggui's Palace Front Army had also been deployed. Zhao Zhengdong's battalion, nearly 3,000 men, had taken advantage of the night to sneak across the river, precisely to gain a significant advantage on the east bank of the Han River. However, they were currently gathering on the north side of the hill, preparing to ambush at the mountain pass on the western route of the Great Flood. If necessary, they could hold back the Qing troops advancing southward, or even take on the task of blocking them.

The terrain between the mountains is not conducive to the actions of the Qing cavalry. If they can ambush the Qing troops entering this area at the edge of the foothills, Chang Denggui will then lead his troops to gather from the surrounding areas and use the firearms advantage of the central army in front of the palace to wipe out the Qing troops heading south in the mountains and forests at the lowest cost.

In the darkness, the sound of horses' hooves trampling on the ground came from the direction of the northern foothills of Dahong Mountain. The cavalry under Ajige's command were launching a night attack. As one of the most powerful main legions of the Qing Dynasty, they had sufficient horses and were very powerful.

At this time, the Palace Army, which was still holding its position, also started a fierce battle with the Qing army in the mountains and watchtowers. The dim vision made the actions of both armies extremely chaotic, and they could only rely on officers at all levels to control the army. However, the Qing army, as the attacking party, obviously suffered greater casualties.

Thousands of Green Camp soldiers were forced to serve as the vanguard by the Qing army, and behind them were the Baoyi soldiers. The old Baoyi soldiers, like the Eight Banners soldiers, rode on horses, supervised the battle from behind, and forced them to advance.

These old Baoyi soldiers and Eight Banner soldiers who were supervising the battle were not easy to fool. The Baoyi soldiers with unclear intentions and the Green Camp soldiers who were ready to make moves rushed to the front and were completely unable to resist. Even if they had originally wanted to rebel, the current situation made them dare not think anything other than signing up.

With the cover of the defeated Green Camp soldiers, the Eight Banners soldiers successfully attacked the fortress of the Palace Front Army with minimal casualties. Although they could not avoid being discovered by the Palace Front Army during the night attack, they could use the Green Camp soldiers and the Baoyi soldiers to reduce casualties.

However, the Qing army's surprise attack only caused chaos in the Palace Army at the beginning, but did not achieve the effect that Ajige had expected. The resistance of the various units of the Palace Army was also very tenacious until this time.

This did not exceed Dorgon's expectations. The morale of the Ming army had always been very high. If the other side did not exert some combat effectiveness beyond the ordinary, he would instead think that something was wrong.

Soon, as the cavalry deployed by Lin Changfeng began to attack, fierce battles broke out on the western plains, among the ruins of several deserted villages, and on the fields. The shouts and sounds of musketry continued, and both the Ming and Qing sides sent out thousands of soldiers and horses.

However, in the pitch-black environment, on such a vast plain with rivers crisscrossing it, the mobility of the cavalry was greatly affected. The attacks of both sides lacked the necessary direction and target, and appeared very chaotic.

There were bursts of shouts and gunshots coming from the mountains in front of him, and flames kept flickering in the dark mountain road. The intensity of the Qing army's attack was beyond Zhao Zhengdong's expectations, but he had not received any orders, and it was even more impossible for him to lead his troops north to the battlefield.

Of course, he also knew the reason. Although the hills and deserted villages in the north hindered the mobility and impact of the Qing cavalry to a certain extent, under the cover of night, these Qing soldiers dismounted and fought desperately, and their combat effectiveness was still strong. In order to avoid huge casualties, the infantry could not launch an attack at this time.

The roar of galloping war horses immediately lifted Zhao Zhengdong's spirits. After his thousand-man headquarters arrived at the western foot of Dahong Mountain, they had been waiting for the order to attack north, but until now, they had not received it.

Zhao Zhengdong was quite puzzled by this. In his opinion, if this was a night attack by the Qing army, they could now rely on their military strength advantage and send troops to approach. The Palace Front Army, which had experience in night training, would definitely achieve results beyond the Qing army's expectations.

But as an officer, and a captain at that, Zhao Zhengdong had to continue waiting as there were no orders from above. He stood on the edge of a rock on the mountainside, looking at the flickering flames on the northern hilltop. He was very anxious about the Qing army that was very likely to continue its attack.

Gu Defu listened to the sounds of gunfire and mine explosions coming from not far to the north, looking up, but he couldn't see anything clearly, just holding on to his rifle tightly. He couldn't estimate how long the fighting in the north would last, so he could only wait.

He quickly came to Zhao Zhengdong's side, looked at the thousands of soldiers lying on the ground behind him, and whispered, "Captain Qian, when are we going to attack?"

Zhao Zhengdong shook his head, then licked his chapped lips, turned to look at Gu Defu and said:

"Keep waiting for orders!"

Although he was already a thousand-man commander, he was unaware of the plans from above, and had no chance to learn about the army's final strategy, especially those that were somewhat secret in nature, let alone knowing that the Tianqi Army had already made other deployments.

To their north, although the mountains were relatively sparse, there were large areas of watchtower ruins, among which were scattered densely packed abandoned villages. Such terrain and obstacles prevented the Eight Banners from freely utilizing their mobility advantage.

However, Lin Changfeng had actually deployed more troops in those places to prevent the Qing cavalry from breaking through the defense line and going around to the rear to cause damage.

Zhu Cilang knew very well that once the Qing army began to retreat, it would be very quick, especially since they had the protection of Xiangyang City. He had to grasp the time well, and once he took action, he had to hold on to the Qing army to prevent the Qing army from breaking through unscathed.

Of course, he was also very clear that with the mobility of the Eight Banners, if Dorgon had made preparations in advance, he would not be able to bite off a big piece of meat like he did in Jiangbei.

Therefore, compared to fighting the Eight Banners Army in the field, he actually preferred to besiege Xiangyang City. By then, the soldiers in the city would be isolated and helpless, and many Green Camp troops would surely defect, and then he could replicate the victory of the Battle of Wuchang.

In other words, the current special situation has already made Zhu Cilang inclined to besiege the city. For him, it does not require additional casualties of more troops, nor is it a time-consuming and laborious siege. Instead, it is a shortcut to eliminate the Qing army in batches.

Zhu Cilang had already arrived at a watchtower north of Yicheng and east of the Han River. From here he could see the battlefield where the Qing army on the west bank was attacking the Dianqian Army's position at the foot of the mountain.

However, in the pitch-black night, the telescope had long lost its function, and he could only judge the battle situation based on the sounds and lights.

Zhu Cilang soon received a report from Lin Changfeng in the east, reporting that the Qing army had launched a sudden night attack. While the situation wasn't as smooth as expected, it was basically within plan. The garrison at the northern foot of Dahong Mountain had already stopped the Qing army's night attack.

At this time, Zhu Cilang's military deployment had been basically completed, and his network had been deployed again, waiting for Dorgon to start withdrawing his troops.

(End of this chapter)