Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 236 Close the door and beat the dog
On the outskirts of the two large camps to the west and south of the Palace Army, the sounds of musket fire, bowstring vibrations, shouts, horse hooves, footsteps, and the friction of swords and spears had already filled the air.

The troops of Xu Erxian, Zharkana, Shang Kexi and others attacked one after another. In the darkness, orange-red flames suddenly lit up and then quickly went out, accompanied by violent explosions. The ferocious faces of the soldiers fighting between the Ming and Qing armies were illuminated in the flickering light, and screams came one after another.

Outside the camp, Xu Erxian failed to break through the defense of the Palace Army for a long time, but he still slowly besieged the hundreds of defending Palace Army, planning to launch a new offensive after Zharkana broke through the Ming army camp.

Of course, he didn't actually have any hope for this. What he really wanted was that if the situation was not right, he could immediately lead his troops to retreat.

You know, although Xu Erxian and Shang Kexi were mainly bluffing, their army had Eight Banners soldiers sent by Delekhun to monitor and supervise the battle. They couldn't just pretend to do nothing, otherwise they would be exposed directly and would have no way to retreat.

To this end, Xu Erxian even personally led his servants to supervise the battle in the rear of the army, and ordered his soldiers to charge several times, but whenever the battle did not make the expected progress, he would become extremely anxious and hesitant and ordered the army to retreat.

Seeing this, the Eight Banners armored soldiers who were supervising the battle had some complaints, but they could not say anything when they saw the powerful fighting power of the armored soldiers in front of the palace.

After all, in the melee, most of them did not have the ability to command the battle, and the combat effectiveness of the Palace Army was beyond their imagination. In fact, many places outside the Ming army's western camp had been broken through by Qing soldiers at the beginning.

But without exception, these places were quickly recaptured by the reorganized Palace Army. The Ming and Qing sides could only exchange deaths at the fence outside the camp. What followed was that the wooden fence was pierced by lead bullets and chopped by swords and guns. There was also the constant ping-pong sound of being hit by arrows and the screams of soldiers on the side who were injured.

The several teams sent by Xu Erxian were repeatedly repelled by the counterattack of the Palace Army. They were about to break through two fences, but were quickly defeated by several teams of Palace Army infantry and cavalry that came to support them.

Of course, this was largely due to Xu Erxian's indecision, or rather, intentional behavior. The Qing army's performance was much worse than it should have been, which kept the battle lines between the two armies basically unchanged.

You know, if they fail to capture the outer camps of the Palace Army, even if it is the western camp, with only the more than 2,000 soldiers under Xu Erxian and Zarkana, after the tens of thousands of Palace Army soldiers in the camp are ready, the two Qing armies will have no choice but to retreat.

Xu Erxian was very worried that his servants would be consumed too much, so he never sent these elite soldiers to the battlefield. However, those Eight Banners soldiers were watching them, and now was obviously not the time for him to conserve his strength blatantly.

So, he finally made up his mind and sent dozens of servants to gather the troops who had just retreated, and at the same time to guard against a quick counterattack by the Ming army.

These servants were extremely powerful and quick in their actions. They quickly led several teams of soldiers to rush forward at the same time and immediately stabilized the originally shaky front line.

However, the defense of the Palace Army was still very solid. They could not and had no intention of breaking through the Ming army's defense line. Instead, they chose to fight and retreat to maintain the line.

Xu Erxian was actually very helpless. He had to give an explanation to the Eight Banners soldiers who were supervising the battle, and then he could only choose to look in the direction of Zharkana. He officially suspended the offensive on the grounds that the other side had not made a major breakthrough either.

He knew that the Ming army was suddenly attacked at night. Although they could rely on the reserve troops to quickly launch a defense, it was not so easy to leave the camp and counterattack, especially at night, which would take a long time.

Therefore, he still had time and could wait for Shang Kexi's signal flare.

In the four years of war inside the pass, Xu Erxian had fought against the Palace Army several times. At first, he only thought that the troops under Emperor Ming were powerful, but he never thought that one day he would be completely defeated by the enemy.

But tonight's night attack told him this clearly.

Although he withdrew his troops, the reaction of the Palace Army and the fact that they had already attacked the outskirts of the camp but the situation quickly became what it is now all demonstrated the latter's powerful combat capability.

Of course, one of the reasons was that Xu Erxian was reluctant to send out his elite servants and miss the opportunity to fight, but those who went out of the city for the night attack were the elite of the Pingnan Army. Even if they fought in a restrained manner, such a result was enough to show the strength of the Palace Army.

Nowadays, I am afraid that only real Manchurian soldiers can match them!
What shocked Xu Erxian the most was the adaptability and organization shown by this Ming army when facing sudden crises, which was something that the previous Ming army could never achieve.

You must know that the soldiers under Shang Kexi were almost all from the Ming army, and they knew the combat effectiveness of the Ming army very well.

Of course, Xu Erxian didn't know that the organizational structure of the Palace Army had undergone earth-shaking changes. Just to prevent night attacks, the Five Army Commandery had formulated several emergency plans based on various situations, and each thousand-man headquarters had military law soldiers to supervise.

However, this would be much less effective against the real Manchu soldiers led by Zarkana who were attacking with all their might.

As Zarkana personally led the fierce Bayara soldiers to join the battlefield, the hundreds of soldiers of the Palace Army who had been struggling to hold on in the Western Camp with the help of camp fences and a few arrow towers were finally unable to resist due to the huge gap in troop strength.

The Eight Banners quickly broke through the previously overturned fences and entered the western camp of the Palace Front Army. Spears and axes flew from outside the camp, instantly knocking several Palace Front Army soldiers down at the fences. The Eight Banners horsemen who were pursuing the fleeing Palace Front Army soldiers also took advantage of the situation and rushed in through the camp gate, attempting to push the over a hundred fleeing Ming soldiers into the hastily organized Palace Front Army formation to create even greater chaos.

In order to achieve the greatest strike effect, Zarkana directly sent all of his Balaya as the vanguard, and their troops were unstoppable wherever they went.

He knew very well that once the Ming army in the camp reacted, it would be difficult for him to carry out such an offensive due to the enemy's superior military strength. Only by expanding the results of the battle with the most rapid offensive at the beginning could he create greater chaos and tie down the Ming army in the West Camp.

Before the operation began, Zarkana had high hopes for this long-planned "night attack". Now that he finally led his troops to defeat the defending Ming army, he was greatly encouraged and immediately ordered all his troops to go into the battlefield.

In this way, Zharkana directly attacked the western camp of the Palace Army from the side. The Palace Army soldiers in the western camp were fighting and retreating, preparing to lure the Qing army into the camp and then close the door to fight the dog.

Zarkana's early progress was not smooth and too much time had been wasted, which gave the front troops in the camp ample opportunity to react.

Furthermore, the Palace Army's intensive pre-battle training often included nighttime combat drills, which greatly improved their nighttime reaction speed, and naturally, their various actions were much faster than the Qing army had anticipated. Meanwhile, Zhu Cilang, observing the two armies engaged in a fierce battle over 500 paces from the camp gate, showed no intention of moving. Instead, he ignored the relentless attack of the Qing cavalry and ordered his personal guards to raise the dragon flag high to boost morale.

After all, at this time, if his dragon flag suddenly disappeared, it would deal a big blow to the morale of the soldiers who chose to rush forward in panic and fight against the Qing army in the night attack.

In fact, the simultaneous attack of the two large camps in the west and south by the Qing army was also included in the contingency plan of the Five Army Headquarters. Zhu Cilang had sufficient troops under his command, so his safety was not a problem at all.

Of course, at this time, Chang Denggui temporarily mobilized two combat battalions, with nearly 6,000 soldiers and horses, to protect the emperor, greatly strengthening the defense of the central military camp, and his political stance was quite clear.

Zhu Cilang is not the kind of person who doesn't know military affairs. In such a situation,

Moreover, when breaking out of Beijing, Zhu Cilang often led the charge. Now he no longer has such an opportunity, but it is also impossible for him to retreat alone when the enemy attacks.

The Qing army had only one or two thousand soldiers and hundreds of cavalry, and he didn't take them seriously at all!
"Your Majesty, at present, in addition to the one thousand imperial soldiers, there are a total of eight thousand soldiers inside and outside the central army tent. There are only less than two thousand people on the front line of the battlefield. I have sent people to the front line to ask them to slow down the offensive and give Delekhun enough time to dispatch troops and rush to support." Lin Changfu bowed and reported.

With a combat plan in place, the troops of the Palace Army in the camp had already taken action. However, after Zhu Cilang met with Shang Kexi's envoy and made a quick decision, his goal was no longer to encircle the two Qing troops that attacked at night, but to surround Delekhun in Xiangyang City.

The thousands of soldiers and horses remaining in the central camp at this time will ensure that no matter what accidents occur, they can immediately engage in battle and stabilize the situation.

After all, in a sense, Zhu Cilang's action was quite risky. It was very likely a trap set by the Qing army, and Shang Kexi did it on purpose.

But he now has an absolute advantage in military strength and holds the absolute initiative on the battlefield, so he is not worried about Shang Kexi's possible tricks.

Moreover, the soldiers of the Palace Army had just recovered from the Qing army's surprise attack and were now able to organize a counterattack. If Shang Kexi had any conspiracy or trickery, he would be courting his own destruction.

"The Qing army should have only deployed 4,000 soldiers in the two camps in the west and south. Delekhun stayed in the city, and the number of Eight Banners soldiers who could go out of the city to fight in the field would definitely not exceed 6,000. He had to leave some soldiers to defend the city.

If Shang Kexi truly rebelled, Delekhhun, completely unaware of the situation, would have led his troops himself, but they would have numbered only four or five thousand men. We now have tens of thousands of troops inside and outside the camp, with three thousand to the east alone. If he leaves the city, he will be courting his own destruction."

Zhu Cilang was calm and said slowly:
"Lin Changfu, send a messenger immediately to tell Chang Denggui and Lin Changfeng that we are absolutely safe. If Delekhhun leads his troops out of the city, they must be completely annihilated. Remember to send out reserve troops in advance to block the Qing army's retreat."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Lin Changfu immediately accepted the order.

You have to know that these are nearly 10,000 elite Qing troops. If they can be defeated in one fell swoop, Xiangyang City can be captured in no time. After seeing the situation clearly, how could Zhu Cilang give up such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

You must know that the Palace Army now has nearly 40,000 troops deployed to the west and south of Xiangyang City. There are other troops around, but they can be mobilized at any time. As long as they are properly deployed, the Qing army that attacks the city at night will find it difficult to evacuate even a single soldier.

The most crucial thing was that Zhu Cilang deliberately left a flaw on his flank, and Shang Kexi happened to discover this flaw and led his troops to attack. Delekhhun got the news and was unwilling to give up such an opportunity, so he finally sent troops.

If this plan to lure the enemy out of their hole succeeds and the enemy can be lured into deep territory, Zhu Cilang can then rely on his superior military strength to attack them.

During this process, they had to expose their weaknesses and withstand the surprise attack of more than 2,000 Qing troops before Delekhun sent out his troops.

After all, there were many Eight Banners officers supervising and monitoring Shang Kexi, so it would not be so easy for him to deceive Delekhun.

This is actually what Zhu Cilang is more worried about. Shang Kexi may want to take advantage of this opportunity to make a breakthrough.

You know, if the army in the luring position really couldn't hold on and was directly pushed over by the Qing army, heavy casualties would not be the most serious problem. The most terrifying thing would be that they would become defeated soldiers and directly disrupt all the deployments in the camp.

At this time, it was still dark. If the deployment was chaotic and the front and rear could not take care of each other, the army in the camp would be swept by the Qing army and countless people would die. At that time, even if there were 40,000 troops, it would be useless.

At the most critical moment, if such chaos occurs, the countless supplies in the Palace Army camp will be destroyed.

The Qing troops sent out of the city were all elite troops with strong combat capabilities and rich battlefield experience. Once they became unstoppable, the situation would be difficult to control.

Zhu Cilang knew all this very well, so he did not order the soldiers to raise the dragon flag. He took command personally and even sent the two combat battalions that Chang Denggui had transferred to protect him as reserve troops.

Although he chose to take the risk, he was also fully prepared. Even if an accident happened, he would try his best to control it within the scope of his control.

In other words, Zhu Cilang still has enough troops in his hands, which is his greatest confidence.

In contrast, Delekhhun had no capital to take risks. If his night attack failed, it would bring disaster. Of course, if this night attack could succeed, the siege of Xiangyang City would basically be half lifted.

(End of this chapter)