Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 237 Catching a turtle in a urn
South of Xiangyang City, inside and outside the main camp of the Palace Army, and even in front of the central army tent, there was already a melee at this time, and the troops of the Ming and Qing dynasties were constantly fighting.

Under Zhu Cilang's deliberate deployment, the western side of the southern camp was breached by the Qing army, and the defenders "retreat step by step", but under the personal command of Chang Denggui, the various troops in the camp finally set up the pocket smoothly as planned.

As the commander of the central army in front of the palace, Chang Denggui was already a veteran at this time. He and Shang Kexi cooperated very well, one controlled the speed of retreat, and the other controlled the speed of attack. Both sides were wary of each other, so the situation did not get out of control.

Of course, as an unprepared party, the Palace Army was able to operate so smoothly in the dark thanks to its daily training, especially the night exercises organized every month.

Such regular night exercises eventually made the Palace Army's night combat capability far superior to that of the Qing Army. Although there was a lot of temporary chaos during the retreat of the various troops, it ultimately did not lead to a greater crisis.

The situation in the western camp was completely within Zhu Cilang's plan. Neither Xu Erxian nor Zharkana made any further progress. They were directly blocked outside the camp. The Ming army inside the camp was organizing troops and preparing to encircle the Qing army that attacked at night.

Of course, the main battlefield was still the camp in the south. Especially after Shang Kexi made a breakthrough, he sent Tang Ma back to the city for help and released signal flares.

As long as he could lure Delekhun out of the city and to the outskirts of the Ming army camp, he would be unable to escape. If he could lure him into the Ming army camp, he would have made a great contribution.

You should know that in many places outside the Palace Army camp, trenches more than ten feet wide were dug intermittently, and sharp wood was inserted under the trenches to prevent night attacks by the Qing army.

Shang Kexi only wanted to lure the Qing army into the camp, and then block the places where the trenches were not dug. Even if the Qing army realized that something was wrong and wanted to retreat, they would have no way to escape.

Now, in order to finally deceive Delekhun, the situation on the west side of Zhu Cilang's central army camp looks very serious.

Shang Kexi had already led the charge personally at this time. Although his offensive was repeatedly stopped by the Tianqi Army under Lin Changfeng, he did not give up. Instead, he became more and more courageous, breaking through the Tianqi Army's lines many times and attacking the Ming army camp.

All of this was seen by the Eight Banners soldiers supervising the battle. They naturally thought that Shang Kexi wanted to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve great things.

After all, they had already attacked the Ming army camp, and the Ming emperor was close at hand. Whether for the purpose of scaring the enemy or wanting to kill the enemy at all costs, they should attack fiercely and kill with momentum at this time.

In the eyes of the Eight Banners soldiers who were supervising the battle, as long as the timing was right, the last breath of the Nikan soldiers who were holding on under such a sudden attack could be lost at any time.

However, the situation was not as smooth as they had imagined. Under the command of Lin Changfeng, the Tianqi Army was "resisting step by step" and its combat effectiveness was quite strong. Shang Kexi was soon blocked everywhere and was unable to achieve the expected breakthrough.

As the other two divisions of the camp's front troops, with nearly two thousand soldiers, joined the melee from both wings, most of Shang Kexi's troops were tied up, and for a while they were completely unable to organize a new counterattack.

Therefore, the troops left behind by Delekhun in the city became the key to the outcome of this battle.

"You must return to the city immediately and report the battle situation here to Beile!" As soon as Shang Kexi withdrew from the front line, several Bayala officers who were supervising the battle and several Tangma with flags behind them immediately reined in their horses and stopped beside him.

"The Ming army is just holding on. The Ming Emperor is only four or five hundred paces away from the front line. He must be retreating now. The Ming army will soon be in chaos. Tell Beile that if we send a large force to break through the Ming army from here, the Ming Emperor will definitely not be able to escape."

After Shang Kexi finished speaking, he began to gather his soldiers without any hesitation, preparing to charge again and expand the results of the battle from this breakthrough point.

The Bayala officers who heard the news also nodded in agreement. Seeing this, the Tangma soldiers did not dare to delay at all and immediately rode their horses towards Xiangyang City, ready to deliver the latest military information to Delekhun.

In their view, Shang Kexi finally realized that after being repelled by the Ming army many times, he could not quickly break the situation by relying on his own strength alone, and ultimately he had to rely on the Eight Banners to quickly defeat the Ming army.

Therefore, at this time, in order to seize and defeat the Ming army, Delekhhun led his troops to attack and rush to support, which was their only option. And this was actually what Delekhhun had thought from the beginning.

However, Delekhhun himself probably did not expect that the situation would develop so smoothly.

But Delekhhun never expected that Shang Kexi would not be so easily intimidated, and the loyalty he showed in front of him was just a pretense.

Now, Shang Kexi only cared about his own survival, or even whether he could turn things around. As long as he could lure out Dele Kehun in this battle and help Zhu Cilang destroy the Qing army in Xiangyang City, then the great achievement of being appointed a marquis and prime minister would be his.

Of course, he didn't completely trust Zhu Cilang in his heart.

After all, whether it was Delekhun or Zhu Cilang, they might go back on their word after agreeing to his conditions. But only if he really helped one of them and destroyed the other, and made great contributions, would he be able to seize the initiative and have the bargaining chips to exchange for wealth and glory.

Soon, Shang Kexi gathered hundreds of soldiers, and then personally led the troops to charge forward under the noses of the Bayala officers who were supervising the battle.

At the same time, as the ambush troops divided into several groups in the west of the camp all joined the battle, Zhu Cilang had also received the military reports and had a clearer understanding and judgment of the battle situation.

As he expected, Shang Kexi grasped the scale well and did not launch an overly fierce attack.

As Lin Changfeng led the Tianqi Army to join the battlefield, with the help of this elite force, the Qing army's attack from the west side of the camp, which had originally had an advantage, was quickly curbed. Before the arrival of the Delekhun army, the two armies gradually became tense.

As a result, Shang Kexi's plan to break through from the side and attack the Palace Army camp was temporarily unable to make any progress. If Dele Kehun's reinforcements were not timely, they might even fail.

Zhu Cilang wanted to put pressure on the other party and force them to make a quick decision without being able to weigh the pros and cons.

Now, as the battle situation becomes tense, the Palace Army and the Heavenly Cavalry Army not only cannot retreat, but must take the initiative to attack and slowly reverse the situation on the battlefield.
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On the west side of the central army of the southern camp of the Palace Army, in the position where the thousand-man headquarters under Zhao Zhengdong was located, dozens of short axes were suddenly thrown out from the darkness and thrown towards the attacking column in the direction of the Qing army. At the same time, sporadic arrows were also shot out.

Accompanied by several miserable howls, several spearmen and archers in the Qing army were knocked to the ground. Immediately afterwards, the Palace Army launched a counterattack. Dozens of spears pierced out from the darkness and smoke, and fully armed ironclad warriors rushed out shouting.

The Qing army, already thwarted in their offensive, was now struck again, leaving them with no time to react. They immediately heard the order to retreat from their officers behind them. But then, the high-spirited Eight Banners sword and shield soldiers and spearmen swarmed forward, engaging the charging Palace Guards in a bloody battle. Both sides were incredibly formidable, and the battle was fierce and stalemate for a while.

Shang Kexi personally led the troops into battle, and his subordinates were also very brave. Since the surprise attack, the Ming army on both sides of the camp have been retreating step by step, and only now have they organized a decent resistance. The Eight Banners Army who supervised the battle were already ready to move and rushed directly onto the battlefield.

As the vanguard, the Pingnan vassal soldiers were naturally the first group of Qing soldiers to attack the Ming army camp at night. They killed and wounded not many Ming soldiers in this battle, and basically they charged and stopped.

Correspondingly, their casualties were not great. As most of the armored soldiers were unaware of the inside story, they were full of confidence at this time. Looking at the Eight Banners Army charging forward, their morale was boosted and they kept howling.

In the end, Shang Kexi would only take away hundreds of his own servants, and the rest of the people were people he could abandon.

Of course, he would take away as many soldiers and horses as possible under his command, as these were part of his strength.

Just when the two armies were evenly matched and at a stalemate, Delekhun finally arrived with his Manchu Eight Banners soldiers. As soon as these Eight Banners soldiers entered the battlefield, they immediately divided into several small teams and began to support the vassal soldiers who were fighting with the Ming army.

Delekhun, surrounded by dozens of Bayara's personal guards, rode his horse and galloped to the western breakthrough point, preparing to enter the camp of the Palace Army.

Based on the military report sent by Shang Kexi, he led all the combat-capable troops in the city and rushed here.

"You guys, go find Shang Kexi quickly." As soon as Delekhun entered the battlefield, he couldn't see Shang Kexi, so he sent Bayala beside him to look for him.

Upon receiving the order, the Bayala officers immediately rushed into the camp with a dozen or so armored soldiers under their command, preparing to look for Shang Kexi's recognition flag.

Delekhun was cautious after all. He did not lead his troops to attack immediately, but planned to wait for Shang Kexi to come back and find out the details of the Ming army in the camp before taking action.

Of course, the most crucial thing is that there are still many places that need the armor and soldiers of Pingnan Fan.

The Eight Banners Army had suffered heavy casualties in previous battles, so both Zarkana and Delekhun paid great attention to the protection of the armored soldiers. In any dangerous place, they chose to let the Han soldiers go first. After consuming the first wave of Ming troops and understanding the situation on the battlefield, the Eight Banners soldiers would take the lead in the attack and win the victory.

Delekhun was originally a little hesitant, but Shang Kexi directly explained that Zhu Cilang was in the army and the Ming army was in chaos. The opportunity could not be missed, so he took such a huge risk and went out of the city to help in the battle.

As the Eight Banners soldiers joined the battlefield one after another, the Qing army quickly gained the upper hand with its superior military strength. The defense lines of the Palace Army on both sides of the camp began to loosen. In the eyes of the Qing army, there were even many deserters in the troops that had just counterattacked.

In their view, as long as the Ming army did not receive sudden reinforcements, it was only a matter of time before their defense line was breached.

After the Qing army received reinforcements, their fighting spirit became even stronger. The armored soldiers on the front line held on to the palace army tightly, and the two sides soon fell into a more intense melee.

Delekhun looked at the gunshots and shouts around him, and saw that the defense line of the Palace Army was constantly retreating, which seemed to have been defeated by the Qing army. He couldn't help but laugh triumphantly.

Both sides are strong armies, but now it seems that the Qing army is obviously stronger. Although the Palace Army has an overall advantage in manpower, it is constantly being pressed towards the center of the camp by the Eight Banners Army and is gradually falling into chaos.

"Beile, the Ming army is about to be defeated. We must immediately send more troops and intensify the offensive. If we miss this great opportunity, we will never come across it again." Shang Kexi finally rode back from the front line.

"Is Emperor Ming really still in the camp? How many soldiers and horses are left with him? Have you figured this out?" Delekhun seemed to be more concerned about this. He had become so arrogant that he wanted to use this battle to kill Emperor Ming.

"This." Shang Kexi's confidence was instantly weakened. He knew that he couldn't say this casually, otherwise Delekhhun would definitely be suspicious. Then he stammered:
"Beile, I just saw with my own eyes that the Emperor Ming's banner was in the camp, but it is hard to say whether the Emperor Ming himself is there."

"The Ming Emperor is probably no longer in the camp. He couldn't possibly be so bold." Delekehun smiled smugly, then added, "This shows that the Ming army is truly in chaos."

Shang Kexi didn't expect Delekhhun to be so clever, and immediately agreed:
"The Ming Emperor may have already dispersed all his personal guards into the garrison to block our army's offensive. Now that Beile has led the divine troops to support us, the Ming army will surely find it difficult to hold on and may collapse at any time."

After hearing this, Delekhhun nodded and then gave orders to the officers around him:

"All units should attack immediately. We must defeat the Ming army here as quickly as possible."

The officers received the order and immediately led their troops into the battle. Shang Kexi was overjoyed when he saw this. He was about to bow to Delekehun and say that he would lead his troops to fight back, but Delekehun got there first.

"Shang Kexi, you've worked hard in this battle, and the credit for this goes to you."

"Your Excellency is too kind. This is my duty as a servant," Shang Kexi said immediately.

"Okay, then let's fight together and kill all the Ming army!" Delekhun said excitedly.

Shang Kexi also had the same intention. Only by taking action would he have the opportunity to leave the battlefield before the Ming army caught him in the trap.

So, under the deployment of Delekhun, Shang Kexi immediately rode his horse forward.

Under the command of the two main generals, Delekhun and Shang Kexi, the morale of the Qing army was further boosted, and they launched a more fierce offensive. Tents were overturned and trampled under the feet of the soldiers like a tide.

At this time, the two troops sent by Zhu Cilang to the side had already sent military reports. They only needed to wait a little longer to lure the Qing army led by Delekhun into the encirclement and annihilate them in one fell swoop.

(End of this chapter)