Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 251: Encirclement of Jinan
Duoduo naturally wanted to break out before Zhu Cilang led the main force to encircle him, and join forces with Dorgon, Ajige and other main forces of the Eight Banners.

But the problem is that according to Dorgon's deployment and plan, the city of Jinan cannot be lost, which makes things difficult.

However, for Duoduo, who was determined to retreat outside the Great Wall, it did not seem too difficult to do.

He lost it, so what?
Maybe they could withdraw to the border faster and preserve the last tens of thousands of Eight Banners troops.

Otherwise, once the decisive battle begins, will we be able to win?

Even if you win once, what about the second time?

Duoduo no longer holds any hope for the war situation. He now only wants to retreat safely outside the Great Wall, and maybe live a few more decades.

The current situation is indeed not optimistic for the Qing Dynasty.

As the Palace Army recaptured the city of Yanzhou, southern Shandong, eastern Qingzhou, Dengzhou, Laizhou, and even Jinan were all ablaze.

In fact, while the main force of the Palace Army was besieging the city of Yanzhou, Zhu Cilang sent out several detachments to the surrounding areas to surrender and recapture towns and cities. Many cities were captured without a single soldier.

The situation in Dengzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture, which were under the charge of Zhang Mingzhen, Huang Fei and others, was roughly the same after the news of the capture of Yanzhou City spread.

Many of the places that were originally resisting stubbornly have turned around and raised the flag of rebellion, fearing that they would fall behind.

However, there are still many places in various places that are still resisting, but they dare not send troops out of the city to harass. They even take the initiative to send secret envoys with money and property, hoping that the passing generals of the Palace Army will not take the initiative to attack their cities.

The Green Camp garrison commanders and officials in these cities were not actually loyal to the Qing court. They had just experienced the long-term struggle among the prefectures in southern Shandong and were worried about the subsequent retaliation of the Qing army, so they did not dare to rebel openly.

This situation is now particularly common in many cities such as Dengzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture in eastern Shandong. The Shandong rebel army cooperated with Zhang Mingzhen to send troops and successively recaptured several county towns around Jiaodong.

Many of the Green Camp defenders and officials in these two wealthy provincial capitals also stood firm and insisted on defending the city.

After all, as long as the city is not lost, they are not guilty.

However, these were just minor skirmishes. The biggest threat facing the Qing army was still the main force of the Palace Army, which was heading north to the south of Jinan Prefecture.

As time went on, the Qing army continued to defend the towns along the canal north of Dongchang Prefecture.

In order to avoid unnecessary losses, Zhu Cilang did not make a desperate attack on the city, which led to a stalemate in the situation.

However, Lin Changfeng and Gao Jie's troops began to show their true strength in the subsequent attacks. After quickly breaking through several cities defended by the Green Camp soldiers, the morale of the Shandong Qing army also fell to the bottom.

Duoduo originally wanted to send scouts to investigate the battle situation in the southern part of Jinan Prefecture.

However, Zhu Cilang had a strong military force and sent more troops to defend in advance. Many of the Qing army's scouts were killed along the way, making it impossible to conduct thorough reconnaissance, let alone obtain accurate military intelligence.

Duoduo was already a little timid, so in the end, he didn't even know how many troops Zhu Cilang brought with him in this northern expedition.

Duoduo's troops are now at a disadvantage. As he is on the defensive, it is very important for him to find out Zhu Cilang's total troop strength for his subsequent deployment adjustments. Even the layout of the Jinan battlefield depends on this.

But now, faced with the vague figures of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of troops reported by the scouts, he was unable to make any decision at all.

After all, if Zhu Cilang only had 50,000 troops, he could definitely fight this battle.

But what if it’s one hundred thousand, or even one hundred and fifty thousand?

At the same time, the navy under Zhang Mingzhen once again raided Dagukou, east of Tianjin City, and successfully landed. They fired dozens of cannons at the Qing army artillery positions and fortresses on the shore to demonstrate their strong strength.

This move also dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Qing army in Tianjin and Beijing.

Not only that, Zhang Mingzhen also sent small boats carrying the strongest soldiers in the army to launch a surprise attack ashore at night, burning several Qing army's observation and guard posts, making the Qing army soldiers on guard along the coast terrified every night and unable to have a moment of peace.

Nanyang Prefecture and Runing Prefecture in Henan, which are adjacent to Shandong, were also harassed by the armies of Liu Tichun and Ma Shixiu, and sieges broke out at many passes in the southwest of Runing Prefecture.

But outside the city of Nanyang, Tian Jianxiu led tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, but surrounded the city without attacking, as if he was just trying to tie down the Qing army in the city.

At the same time, Hao Yaoqi also sent a lot of troops into areas controlled by the Qing army, such as Runing Prefecture, and constantly harassed the important strongholds of the Qing army and communications towards Nanyang, making it difficult for the Qing army to detect the situation in Nanyang City, thereby disrupting the other side's judgment.

However, such harassment was soon counterattacked by the Qing army.

At this time, the Qing army led by Ajige and Gao Di was still in Nanyang Prefecture and Runing Prefecture, and their local military strength still had an advantage. The two sides launched a fierce cavalry battle at the junction of these prefectures, and each side lost a lot of cavalry.

By using the pretext of besieging Dagukou and landing in Tianjin, Zhang Mingzhen successfully found out the basic situation of the coastal cities in northern Zhili and contacted the local anti-Qing gentry.

The situation in various places had made progress. After Zhu Cilang reorganized his troops, he immediately began to march towards Jinan.

He stayed in Yanzhou Prefecture for so long, firstly because he had already sent out the vanguard, and secondly to further understand the intelligence of these places.

Of course, the most important thing is to allow the war in Yanzhou Prefecture to ferment, observe the reaction of the northern gentry, and finally determine the final offensive strategy.

If the situation in the north was beyond his expectations, he could have ended the war more quickly.

Although Zhou Shixian's Jinyiwei provided a lot of intelligence about the northern region, it failed to meet Zhu Cilang's requirements.

After all, a lot of intelligence cannot be provided by the Jinyiwei spies.

After Lin Changfeng basically eliminated the resistance forces in the north, the main force of the Palace Army quickly gathered together, and Chang Denggui led part of the army, marching along the official road, and encircling Jinan Prefecture from the side.

The army's weapons were transported by ships, and they advanced by water and by road in a coordinated manner.

"Your Majesty, Lin Changfeng has sent someone to deliver military intelligence from the front lines. Nineteen of the scouts we sent to the outskirts of Jinan were robbed and killed by the Qing army.

"Duoduo seems to have dispatched a number of elite Eight Banners soldiers, all of whom are scattered in the mountains south of Jinan City. Our scouts are unable to defend against them," Zhang Huangyan reported, cupping his hands.

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang frowned slightly and said thoughtfully:

"Tudor's ultimate goal was to sneak attack our vanguard, spy on our military intelligence, and seize the opportunity to destroy our army's baggage, delaying our siege. But he didn't realize that most of our baggage was on the ship, so his actions were futile.

Pass the order down, the navy and the army must advance in coordination. Have Chang Denggui dispatch his troops to occupy a prime landing site. We must not give these Tartars any opportunity to exploit our position."

Now the situation in various places is basically within Zhu Cilang's plan, and the actions of the Northern Expedition Army are also very stable. As long as they continue to advance in this way, it is only a matter of time before they encircle Jinan.

Zhu Cilang's military force was strong enough that he could divide his forces to contain the Qing troops in Dongchangfu and other places in the north, which made Dorgon's deployment in the north of Shandong useless.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhang Huangyan immediately responded, and then continued:
"Duoduo currently has less than 20,000 elite troops in Jinan, and another 10,000 less powerful bannermen and Green Camp soldiers. He definitely can't cause any trouble."

"You're right. Dodo doesn't have enough troops. This little fight is nothing. We don't need to slow down our march because of this. This will only allow Dodo to succeed."

Zhu Cilang paused, then continued with a smile:

"If we move faster here, Dorgon and Ajige will be even more anxious, and their preparations will be even more hasty."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Zhang Huangyan bowed and clasped his fists again.
.
Chang Denggui's troops continued to march towards Jinan. The Qing army suffered heavy losses in this night battle. After realizing that they could not rely on sneak attacks to consume or block the Palace Army, they quickly withdrew.

The various units of the Palace Army were now advancing both by land and sea, and had encountered only a few minor resistances before reaching Jinan. Duoduo did not have the confidence to engage in a decisive battle with Zhu Cilang's army on the plains, but instead tried his best to withdraw his troops and avoid losses.

Of course, whether in reality or on the surface, the Qing army was now defeated and had to retreat, eventually allowing the main force of the Palace Army to besiege the city.

After all, Jinan City covers a vast area and is located in Shandong, a densely populated and economically developed area. It is the most important stronghold of the Qing army in Shandong. The city itself has extremely strong political significance.

It can even be said that as long as Jinan was captured, the morale of the Qing army in the entire Shandong region would be lost in one fell swoop, and other cities could be taken without a fight. This is why Zhu Cilang abandoned other areas of Shandong and headed straight for Jinan City.

Now, after more than a year of management by Duoduo, the city wall defense system is more complete and solid than it was in history.

Relying on the city walls and moats, the Qing army also built many watchtowers outside the city, forming a solid line of defense outside the city.

As the various Ming troops advanced towards Jinan City, Zhang Mingzhen's navy also advanced westward along the Daqing River from Bohai Sea to join forces with the main force of the Palace Army.

Zhang Mingzhen's troops, with the support of the rebel army in Jiaodong and Gao Jie's detachment, recaptured all the important cities along the Daqing River.

At the same time, Chang Denggui's troops, who came by land, sent two battalions of soldiers and successfully controlled most of the county towns west of Jinan City, completing the siege of Jinan City.

Soon, Zhu Cilang's imperial flag appeared outside the city of Jinan.

However, both Zhu Cilang and Duoduo knew very well that given the size of Jinan City and the troops on both sides, it would take at least a year or two to resolve the battle if they resorted to direct attack and defense.

This is Jinan City, not Yanzhou City, and it can be taken in a month.

After receiving the news that Jinan City was under siege, Ajige, who was in Henan, felt the seriousness of the situation.

He doesn't have much time left now. If he can't get to the Shandong battlefield as soon as possible, Jinan will be trapped sooner or later.

As Zhu Cilang's army besieged Jinan, Shandong, except for a few prefectures in the north and west, had basically been recovered by the Ming army.

As a result, the Qing Dynasty's rule in the Central Plains was divided into two parts: Henan and northwestern Shandong.

Not only that, influenced by Zhu Cilang's siege of Jinan, the rebel forces in Shanxi, northern Zhili and other places took advantage of the lack of manpower in the Qing army's hinterland and became active again.

With the support of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and local gentry, the fighting capacity of these rebel armies was greatly enhanced. If they were not lacking in armor, gunpowder, ammunition and siege equipment, their momentum would be even greater.

However, Jirgalang held on to Shanxi and harshly suppressed local forces in Shanxi, and the rebel army did not make any progress.

However, the constraints of the rebel army made him very exhausted and he did not dare to act recklessly.

At this time, Jirgalang was restricted in many ways because of the Qing Dynasty's defeat in the Ming-Qing War and a series of subsequent changes in the situation.

But the current situation is still unclear. If he wants to be invincible, he needs more troops.

However, Dorgon naturally would not agree to his request.

After all, these two old foxes have experienced so many intrigues and survived many life-and-death experiences on the battlefield. Their political acumen has become extremely sensitive, and both of them are wary of each other.

Dorgon's evasion and perfunctory attitude also made him realize that he had to take action and could no longer sit idly by.

After all, if he made selfless contributions, his end would definitely not be good, and there would be no place for him in Emperor Ming's place.

In fact, after receiving the news of the fall of Yanzhou City, the Qing court began to replan its deployment in the northern Zhili region.

As the situation worsened, it became a top priority to withdraw thousands of precious elite Eight Banners troops from northern Zhili to the south to assist in the battle.

Among the Manchus in Guizhou of the Qing court, many have made preparations for the worst, retreating to the outside of the Great Wall to defend themselves, or even continuing to retreat north to Heilongjiang. They have now received the attention of Dorgon.

Dorgon even sent ministers out of the country to make preparations, especially the bad news that kept coming back from the Heilongjiang River basin, which now became an extremely important matter for the Qing court.

Bolo of Northern Zhili sent troops south many times to harass the Ming army outside the city, but all returned in vain. However, there was no loss of troops. Both sides were still in a stalemate because of their lack of military advantage - Jinan was still in the hands of the Qing army, and the Ming army was still outside the city.

Outside the city of Jinan, after the initial melee and harassment, the situation became more peaceful, and Zhu Cilang had no plans to attack the city immediately.

He now has troops under his command, including Chang Denggui, Chen Fu, Lin Changfeng, Zhang Mingzhen, Gao Jie, and Huang Degong, with a total strength of more than 100,000. This does not include auxiliary troops, but real combat troops. However, he does not have much advantage over Jinan, a fortified city that is much larger than Xuzhou.

Zhu Cilang was actually also waiting for news from the main force of the Eight Banners in the north.

Although Jinan City has extremely strong political significance, Zhu Cilang has no intention of capturing it at all costs. It would be a pity if his troops were sacrificed in the siege.

After all, if the main force of the Eight Banners is defeated, the morale of the defenders in the city will surely collapse. Only then will we be able to truly conquer the enemy without fighting and achieve victory at the lowest cost.

(End of this chapter)