Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 232 Siege of Xiangyang
On the city wall of the west gate of Xiangyang City, Shang Kexi was holding a telescope, carefully observing the Ming army scouts galloping back and forth on the plain in the distance. He had asked Xu Erxian to send cavalry to intercept them, and at the same time asked the other side to act according to the situation.

At this time, Zhu Cilang had already led the main force of the Ming army to encircle and encircle them. His military strength was quite strong. Although Nanyang and Xiangyang were not far apart, Dorgon had already retreated, and the Ming army was well guarded, with navy deployed in the Han River. It was impossible for the latter to move south again in a short time.

The Dongting Lake Navy took advantage of the special terrain of the delta where the Han River and the Bai River meet to set up numerous obstacles. If the Eight Banners Army went south, they would be blocked at every step and would not be able to rely on surprise attacks to quickly remove the watchtower defense line built by the Ming army along the way.

This is why Shang Kexi lacks confidence. He knows very well that he will not have any reinforcements in the short term. All he can rely on now is the impregnable fortifications of Xiangyang City.

You know, although Shang Kexi and Delekhun got more food and soldiers with the help of Dorgon, and the defense plan they formulated was very comprehensive, but he was facing Emperor Ming and the Palace Army, so how could he feel at ease?

After all, Zhu Cilang had dispatched an army of 40,000 to 50,000, and there were troops being organized on all sides, which would soon reach a certain scale. The Ming army seemed to have sufficient food and armaments necessary for the siege, and there was no need to raise any.

He and Delekhun were currently in Xiangyang City, with a combined force of over 10,000 vassal and Eight Banner troops, over 4,000 Green Camp troops, and over 20,000 civilians. His fierce general, Xu Erxian, was currently commanding his cavalry outside the city to intercept Ming scouts, but was completely outnumbered.

Thinking of this, Shang Kexi turned the telescope to the southeast. At the newly built dock of the Ming army, a Ming navy transporting military supplies was approaching the shore in his field of vision.

Soon, a team of Qing army scouts hurried back from outside the city and went straight into the city. They came to Shang Kexi and reported the latest military intelligence they had obtained.

Shang Kexi listened to their report, then put down his telescope and gave a few brief orders to his deputy general. Xu Erxian was already struggling alone and would soon be forced to retreat, so he needed to send troops to support him, just in case.

During this round of southward advance of the main force of the Qing army led by Dorgon, nearly 10,000 soldiers were lost. The Eight Banners under Dorgon and Ajige suffered heavy casualties, especially Ajige's troops, who suffered more than 5,000 casualties. Shang Kexi and the various Green Camp troops in the north also lost hundreds to thousands of soldiers.

Most of these losses occurred during the Qing army's retreat. Ajige was hit hard by the Tianqi Army and suffered the heaviest casualties.

In the later stages of the siege, the Qing army saw that the offensive was unfavorable, and during the retreat, they directly destroyed all the grain fields and water conservancy facilities around Xiangyang and Shuanggoukou Town, and even the farmland and water conservancy in southern Henan. They all knew very well that in the end, no matter what happened to Xiangyang and Nanyang, these places were destined to be recovered by the Ming Dynasty.

These destructions by the Qing army undoubtedly had a devastating impact on production in southern Henan. Northern Hubei and southern Henan, already war-torn and severely depopulated, were now essentially deserted for hundreds of miles, which would create enormous difficulties for Zhu Cilang's subsequent military operations.

Now, Zhu Cilang not only needs to properly resettle the civilians rescued from the Qing army, but also has to find a way to ensure the supply of materials for the army besieging the city and the recovery of local production. This is crucial for next year's Northern Expedition.

The Ming court did not lose many troops in this battle, and the losses of the Tianqi Army were mainly concentrated in the pursuit battle, but such losses were very worthwhile strategically and did not cause any fundamental damage to the Tianqi Army.

The strength and determination of the Qing army were far less than Zhu Cilang had expected. Even the Jingzhou City, where he had planned to retreat to at the beginning, was never threatened by the Qing army.

After the tempering of this battle, all the units of the Palace Army, especially the Heavenly Cavalry Army and the Xiaoqi Army, have gained actual combat experience against the Eight Banners. As long as they receive a little training or replace their equipment based on the feedback from actual combat, they will be able to be more at ease in the future Northern Expedition.

The Ming Dynasty has currently established a complete system for training new recruits. The soldier assembly line can quickly train qualified soldiers for Zhu Cilang's army. He just needs time to allow veterans and new recruits to integrate. The combination of the two is the most effective way to rapidly expand the army at present.

At the same time, this is also to ensure that the expenditure of money and grain will not exceed the budget. Although the Ming court used certain financial means to expand its finances, resources are still tight, especially the cavalry will continue to expand in the future, which is a gold-devouring beast.

After all, the Manchu Qing wasn't particularly powerful. A small clan resisting a large nation was always its fatal weakness. Zhu Cilang needed only to achieve victory on the battlefield to quickly turn the tide. And now, victory had already given the Ming Dynasty a strategic advantage in the central battlefield, and the situation was far better than Zhu Cilang had anticipated.

As the fortifications of the Palace Army were completed, the vast army spread across the plains outside Xiangyang City, and the various transport convoys directly filled the official roads.

Zhu Cilang finally chose to set up camp in the south of this huge city, and the hundreds of cannons brought with the army would be the key to this siege.

He knew very well that to attack such a strong city, there must be sufficient firepower, siege equipment, and enough civilians to dig earth and stones, fill pits and trenches, in order to avoid casualties among the core combat forces. Therefore, Zhu Cilang had ordered all the civilians accompanying the army in Yicheng to head north.

At this time, the Ming army had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength in all directions of Xiangyang Prefecture. Shang Kexi and Delekhun had no choice but to choose to withdraw their troops and defend the city.

They didn't even dare to send troops to harass the Palace Army while it was still unstable, which dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Qing army in the city.

However, apart from the moat and artificial fortifications, the area surrounding Xiangyang was entirely flat and level. This was a significant advantage for the Palace Army, which held a significant advantage in terms of both manpower and cavalry. It was understandable that Shang Kexi and Dele Kehun were hesitant to attack.

After all, under this circumstance, the Qing army's surprise attack and counterattack would probably not only fail to achieve the desired results, but would even backfire.

The Ming army's cavalry had demonstrated strong combat effectiveness and a strong desire to attack in previous battles, which was a great deterrent to the defenders in the city who witnessed the defeat of the main force of the Qing Dynasty.

Although Shang Kexi and Delekhun's troops had been strengthened, they were still no match for the Ming army outside the city, and they were obviously aware of this.

But Zhu Cilang would not wait for them. Although he also hoped that the Green Camp Army in the city would rebel, or even that Shang Kexi would rebel, he knew very well that this would not be achieved by waiting, but by fighting.

“BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!”

"Boom, boom, boom!!!" To the west of Xiangyang City, the air was filled with smoke and the sound of cannons was like thunder. Thousands of attacking Ming troops directly covered the ground. Soldiers and armors were like clouds on the plains, and civilians of different colors filled the infantry squares and pushed the siege equipment.

More than forty thousand-jin cannons soon fired again. The orange-red flames flashed in the white smoke, and stone bullets weighing more than ten pounds flew through the air. Dust suddenly flew on the outermost earth wall of Xiangyang. In the wide trench, water splashed and the sound of water splashing came one after another.

Driven by the auxiliary troops of the Ming army, rows of shield carts were quickly pushed out. The land in front of them was full of gullies. The outermost ones were three winding horse-blocking ditches. Further back were cattle and horse walls that were more than a foot high. The moat in the middle was more than thirty steps wide.

There were countless pits in front of those horse-blocking ditches, which had to be filled before the Ming army attacked the city. Otherwise, the shield carts would not be able to continue advancing and would not be able to cover the soldiers' attack.

Not only that, these places are all on the earth wall, within the attack range of the Qing army defending the city. There is also a deep trench nearly two meters wide between the horse-blocking ditch and the earth wall, which is full of sharp wood and caltrops, and there are countless hidden dangers.

On the earthen wall and outer city wall, which was more than ten feet high and shaped like a sawtooth, with breastworks and battlements on top, there were nearly a hundred French cannons, general cannons, and more than twenty red cannons. The soldiers of the Palace Army had to be hit by these artillery pieces while passing through those pits and horse-blocking ditches.

In fact, the city wall fortifications of Xiangyang City also imitated the bastion-like system of the Ming Dynasty in Jiangbei. Therefore, Zhu Cilang knew without seeing it with his own eyes that there must be trenches and earth walls between the outer city of Xiangyang and the outermost earth wall, and there must be thousands of soldiers stationed in the middle.

In other words, the Qing army had to spend countless lives to barely fill these outermost obstacles and conquer the outer earth wall. After that, they would face the pincer attack from the second earth wall and the outer city of Xiangyang. The narrow passages and countless trenches and potholes between the two earth walls would make the advancement of the attacking side very difficult, and the Palace Army would now have to go through the same experience.

If it was a forced attack, even if the Palace Army gave their all and finally conquered the two outer earthen walls, there would probably still be two inner and outer cities within Xiangyang that would also require hard attack. These walls had all been modified, with battlements added to all the walls, and each layer of fortification was independent and self-contained.

This was the bastion-like fortification that caused the once-mighty Qing army to suffer repeated defeats. In that era, there was almost no way to easily break through it except by combining internal and external forces.

After all, such defensive fortifications would be difficult for the attacking side to solve even in a war more than two hundred years later.

Shang Kexi had been watching for three consecutive days. Now, facing the huge troops and powerful artillery of the Palace Army again, even though he was in such a three-dimensional defensive fortification, he couldn't help but tremble with fear.

Through the telescope, he saw the Ming soldiers standing guard on the earthen walls outside Xiangyang City, as well as the fluttering flags. He no longer dared to estimate the strength of the Ming army.

Now, the Qing army in Huguang has no troops except this isolated city, so Emperor Ming does not need to leave large troops in other places to ensure the safety of the food route.

"Your Highness, should we wait until nightfall and send more troops out of the city for a surprise attack? Otherwise, the Ming army's daily bombardment will have a huge impact on the morale of our army!"

Xu Erxian was quite anxious as he watched the first batch of shield carts of the Ming army charging. At this time, the defenders on the outer earth wall were being bombarded by fierce artillery fire from the Palace Front Army.

"Emperor Ming is just testing our strength today. They will withdraw soon after this round of fighting." Shang Kexi shook his head. He had no confidence in the so-called night attack.

"If the Ming army is well-prepared, our night attack will be difficult to succeed. Wouldn't that only embolden them?"

"Your Highness is right. I am grateful for your advice." Upon hearing this, Xu Erxian did not refute but immediately bowed and clasped his hands together.

"Xu Erxian, you are the general under my command who is best at defending the city. Tell me, how long can we defend Xiangyang City?" Shang Kexi saw that he was not very determined, so he turned his head to look at his trusted general and asked again.

"Although Xiangyang is strong and seemingly impenetrable, if there are no reinforcements, even if Emperor Ming attacks head-on, I'm afraid he will always have a way to deal with it." Xu Erxian paused, as if thinking about something, and then said:

"Of course, this would also cause great losses to the Ming army, but other than camping outside the city and laying siege for a long time, the only option left is to lure us out and attack, which is the best strategy."

As soon as Xu Erxian finished speaking, he understood what Shang Kexi meant and couldn't help but admire him.

Shang Kexi naturally knew that for such a fortified city, the best solution was to resort to the crude method. If the Ming army wanted to truly break the city, they would have to fill in the holes and trenches outside the city, and they would also need people to attack the earthen walls. These would require elite armored troops, which the Ming emperor might not be willing to do.

"But you're right. No matter how strong Xiangyang City is, the food we have inside is always limited. Moreover, we have to feed the mules and horses. No matter how much food we have, it will eventually be eaten up. Once the food is low, the morale of the army will be disrupted."

Shang Kexi paused and continued:
"Besides, Dorgon retreated north this time, and I don't know when he will return. I heard that something happened in Shaanxi."

Shang Kexi spoke openly to his confidants. The current situation undoubtedly required careful consideration for the Pingnan Clan. The Ming Emperor was no pushover. He no longer believed Dorgon would continue his advance south, much less break out and advance north.

The current situation is really hopeless. Not to mention anything else, just the palace troops outside the city have no possibility of breaking out, and this is not even all the troops of Emperor Ming.

"Your Highness is right, and I agree." Xu Erxian immediately agreed. The battle had just begun, and Shang Kexi and his trusted men had completely lost the strong resolve forged through years of battlefield experience. They had already lost confidence in the situation.

After all, Emperor Ming had already defeated the powerful Eight Banners Army on the plains without suffering any serious damage. How could they still have the confidence to win?
(End of this chapter)