Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 270 Battle of Cangzhou
In the original history, the main force of the Qing army was divided into left and right wings, breaking through Qiangziling and Qingshan Pass in Jizhen, and entering the Great Wall to plunder for the fourth time.

After the Battle of Julu, Lu Xiangsheng was killed in battle, and the task of commanding reinforcements from all over the world naturally fell to Sun Chuanting.

In order to show his respect for him, Emperor Chongzhen continued to promote Sun Chuanting and appointed him as the Governor-General of Baoding, Shandong and Hebei.

But Sun Chuanting knew the level of his troops.

He submitted a special memorial to Chongzhen to explain:
The group of experienced soldiers that Yang Sichang temporarily assembled for him might be able to help him break the siege, but if they encountered the main force of the Qing army head-on, they might be defeated and flee, leaving him behind. What would he do?
Therefore, Sun Chuanting held his ground, waiting for the Qin soldiers he had brought to their positions.

Yang Sichang realized that the Qing army would attack Cangzhou in northern Zhili next, and then turn to Shandong, so he ordered Yan Jizu, the Shandong governor who came to Bazhou to defend the king, to bring his troops back to defend the city.

But what Yang Sichang didn't expect was that the Qing army knew that Dezhou had heavy troops deployed, so they turned a corner, broke through Linqing Pass, crossed the Huitong River directly, and dived eastward into the hinterland of Shandong, with the target being Jinan!
As a result, the main force of the Qing army took a detour to attack the Central Plains, and soon arrived at the city of Cangzhou and captured it.

Of course, although the Qing army was known as an "army of 100,000" at that time, in reality there were probably only 20,000 to 30,000 combat soldiers.

Today, for a fortified and heavily guarded city like Cangzhou, these troops are not even enough to completely besiege the city.

But back then, things were different.

At that time, facing the defenders of Cangzhou, the Qing army found that most of them were local militiamen who had not been tested in actual combat.

Despite this, due to insufficient manpower and deployment loopholes, the Qing army's siege of the city was not smooth. It was not until the last moment that they barely broke through the city, and paid a considerable price.

Cangzhou City is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and even the once brave and battle-hardened Qing army suffered a lot.

Now, although Zhu Cilang's army is divided into three armies: front, middle and rear, the main force plus Zhang Mingzhen's navy and the auxiliary troops accompanying the army have a total strength of nearly 50,000.

But these are soldiers who have been fighting for a long time, and their fighting spirit is no longer as strong as before.

Therefore, despite his strong strength, Zhu Cilang still had no intention of adopting the strategy of siege and attack.

After all, although Cangzhou City has great political significance, most of the people in the city have already fled. It is not worth it to pay a heavy price to capture such an empty city.

More importantly, Zhu Cilang understood that the battle situation inside and outside the Great Wall had not yet ended completely, and the troops in his hands were still his greatest asset for dealing with unknown battle situations in the future.

The symbolic significance of Cangzhou City cannot be ignored, but storming Cangzhou City, which is occupied by the Qing army, is obviously not the best option.

Zhu Cilang understood that if the Qing army was allowed to continue occupying this strategically important city, it would not only delay the army's progress northward, but would also have an extremely adverse impact on his prestige and the overall situation.

He urgently needed to capture the city quickly with the least cost.

Therefore, Zhu Cilang not only did not order the army to block all exits of the city, but instead ordered all units to carefully plan when building fortifications to ensure that a certain amount of space was left for the Qing army to break out.

He knew that if the Qing army was completely trapped in the city, Duoduo and Hong Chengchou might choose to defend Cangzhou in despair, and might even hold out in the city for a year or two.

This situation is undoubtedly the worst for Zhu Cilang.

In order to lure the Qing army to break out, Zhu Cilang did not hesitate to set up a "strategy to lure the enemy".

In addition to building a solid defense line in the camp in the south, he adopted a loose outside and tight inside deployment in other directions.

Especially since the terrain on the west side was complex, Zhu Cilang intentionally left some weak links to make the Qing army believe that they could successfully break through from here.

In addition, Zhu Cilang knew very well that if the Qing army wanted to move north, it would have to march quickly.

The Qing army's musket unit, with limited combat effectiveness, could hardly fight against the Ming army.

Therefore, he specifically instructed Zhang Mingzhen to make it seem as if the defense was loose when blocking the canal, so as to create an illusion for the Qing army that they could break through by water.

Zhu Cilang deliberately showed insufficient defense in key positions, which not only ensured that the Qing army would not feel that they had no way to escape, but also gave them hope of breaking through, further luring the Qing army into his carefully designed trap.

Zhu Cilang took great pains to come up with this strategy of "luring the enemy deep into our territory."

After all, the Qing troops in the city were far outnumbered by Zhu Cilang's army.

But they had enough food and supplies, and even had a certain number of firearms workshops that could produce muskets, cannons and other weapons and equipment.

This makes it possible for them to stick around for a long time.

Zhu Cilang was very clear about this, so his plan was not simply to wait, but to force the Qing army out of the city for a decisive battle.

He knew very well that as long as Duoduo and Hong Chengchou saw no hope of breaking out, they would most likely choose to hold on for a long time, which would lead to a stalemate in the battle situation for the Ming army.

To this end, Zhu Cilang tightly blocked the waterways to ensure that the Qing army could not escape from the canal and Haihe River, while at the same time releasing the possibility of the Qing army breaking out to the outside world. On the surface, he gave the Qing army a chance to break out, but in fact he was taking every step carefully, waiting for the Qing army to fall into the trap.

His entire tactical plan was to create a "seemingly" safe escape route for the Qing army when they were about to despair, so that the Qing army would voluntarily choose to break out, which was exactly the result Zhu Cilang wanted.

As the war progressed, the morale of the Qing army in Cangzhou City gradually declined. Although the supply of food and fodder was sufficient, the soldiers became uneasy under the constant psychological pressure.

Duoduo and Hong Chengchou also realized that if they continued to be trapped for a long time, with neither reinforcements nor retreat, breaking out became the only option.

However, they did not know that Zhu Cilang's trap had been quietly set, waiting for them to fall into it.

Cangzhou City, the gateway to northern Zhili, has become an extremely solid military fortress after more than a year of careful management by Hong Chengchou.

The city walls are covered with cannons and various defensive facilities are extremely complete.

Even if Zhu Cilang led the main force of the army to attack, it would probably take several months to break through. It might even take until the food and grass in the city were exhausted and the morale of the defenders collapsed before victory could be finally achieved.

After the military meeting, Zhu Cilang and his generals decided on a strategy to lure the enemy into breaking out, and the troops were quickly deployed.

Chen Fu's vanguard was sent to the east, where the complex terrain was not conducive to the Ming army's cavalry taking advantage, making it an ideal breakthrough point for the Qing army to contain the Ming army.

Therefore, Chen Fu's mission was to block the Qing army's harassment troops and ensure that the Ming army remained in chaos.

Chang Denggui led the main force of the central army to continue stationing in the south, a direction that the enemy did not dare to break through easily.

However, in order to prevent the Qing army from having any other tricks, he also sent a combat battalion and a cavalry battalion to garrison in the west, forming a pincer attack with the main force to ensure that the defenses in all directions had sufficient response forces.

At the same time, Lin Changfeng's army also made corresponding deployments.

He retained a combat battalion and a cavalry battalion as reserve forces, and the rest of the main force was sent to the north to prevent the Qing army from successfully breaking through the river.

Here, the Ming army was prepared to pursue the enemy in time if they found them crossing the river, ensuring that no one escaped.

The troops from various units quickly took their positions, and the layout of the palace army was extremely tight.

While making military deployments, Zhu Cilang also used written documents to persuade the Baoyi and Green Camp soldiers in the city to surrender. He knew that most of the Eight Banner soldiers were stubborn and unwilling to surrender easily, but he still gave the Manchus a chance to surrender in writing.

Of course, the conditions for surrender were extremely harsh, especially for the young soldiers who had just been incorporated into the Eight Banners. Most of these people were on the battlefield for the first time, were only fifteen or sixteen years old, and had not yet committed any heinous crimes on the battlefield.

Compared to the veterans whose hands are stained with blood, these new recruits are more likely to accept surrender.

Zhu Cilang understood that if he could reduce the casualties of his own soldiers, it would be more cost-effective to accept the surrender of these young soldiers rather than killing them.

Most of his soldiers were Han Chinese with families, and their lives were far more precious than those of the Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing army.

If it is possible to recruit some of the surrendered people and avoid large-scale fighting, then why not send all of these people to do hard labor instead of direct execution, which can be regarded as atonement!

To Zhu Cilang, these captives were not useless.

After the war, he planned to send them to mines and other places to perform hard labor, working to atone for the Ming Dynasty.

The fate of these Tartars was destined to be exploited to the limit, but it was more beneficial to the Ming Dynasty to utilize the value of their labor than to behead them directly.

Having these people take on the hard labor could free up the Ming army soldiers and save a lot of expenses.

In this way, not only do you not have to pay monthly salaries and benefits, but you can also gain huge productivity at a low cost.

In addition, Zhu Cilang already had a plan in mind.

During the Ming Dynasty's revival, a large number of people were needed to perform heavy labor, especially in harsh environments such as mines, and these captives were the most ideal candidates for laborers.

Their lives were not as valuable as those of Ming army soldiers, and they could even be replaced at any time. This utilization could also avoid the waste caused by direct execution after the war.

At the same time, Zhu Cilang was also quite cautious in dealing with the Manchu Eight Banners Army.

Although he did not intend to accept the surrendered Eight Banners soldiers on a large scale, he still gave the opportunity to surrender to those young recruits who had just entered the battlefield and had not yet committed serious crimes.

Rather than letting these people continue to work for the Qing court, Zhu Cilang would rather adopt a conciliatory approach towards them.

For these recruits, laying down their weapons in exchange for a chance to survive might be the way out they would prefer.

As the Ming army's troops gradually arrived, Zhu Cilang's plan unfolded step by step.

Whether it was luring the enemy to break out or persuading them to surrender, this battle was firmly under his control.

The Qing army in the city will face an insurmountable natural barrier, and the fate of Cangzhou City will ultimately be decided by Zhu Cilang's deployment.

The kite-borne message was indeed effective. When the document flew into Cangzhou City, a bloody storm followed.

The tense situation in the city became increasingly intense. Thousands of Green Camp soldiers were killed on the spot by the Qing army, and hundreds of baoyi soldiers were captured while trying to escape. None of them escaped and were all killed by the army led by Duoduo himself.

This series of bloody purges heightened the tension in Cangzhou. Fear and suspicion spread throughout the city, and the thousands of Green Camp and Baoyi soldiers under Duoduo's command became practically useless.

Not only can they not be trusted, they may even become enemies.

Despite this, Hong Chengchou, a veteran minister who had fought in many battles, still gained Duoduo's trust.

Hong Chengchou's position in the Qing army camp was very stable. It was almost impossible for him to rebel, and he had no way to retreat.

However, Subai had doubts about this.

The vigilance against the Han people never dissipated among the Qing army.

Su Bai has always been wary of Hong Chengchou, and even in times of victory, the so-called loyalty of those Han ministers is often questioned.

At this critical moment, Subai dared not risk letting his guard down.

In such an atmosphere, the crisis of trust within the Qing army and the external oppression gradually approached the limit.

The situation in Cangzhou City is becoming increasingly tense, people are unsettled and morale is low.

Faced with the situation of being attacked from both inside and outside, Duoduo had no choice but to advance the breakout plan by two days.

The breakout, originally planned for a few days later, now has to be accelerated.

The Green Camp soldiers and Baoyi soldiers in the city may collude with the outside world at any time, open the city gates and surrender to the enemy. The danger will double with every day of delay.

Although the Eight Banners soldiers had almost no possibility of rebellion, the mental stress of living in the same city with the Green Camp soldiers and the Baoyi soldiers, a group of potential enemies, was close to collapse.

The defeat of the Qing Dynasty was inevitable. No matter how hard the Manchu Eight Banners soldiers resisted, they realized that this was their only way out.

Breaking out and heading north to return to Beijing became their last hope of survival.

At this time, the thousands of Eight Banners soldiers were like wild beasts trapped in a desperate situation, and they could collapse at any time due to the slightest disturbance.

In the city, high-ranking Qing generals such as Duoduo and Subai gathered with Green Camp generals such as Hong Chengchou, Kong Youde, and Nan Yikui to discuss the final breakout plan.

This was a superficial military meeting, and the plan appeared to be detailed and conservative, with the intention of minimizing losses.

However, after Hong Chengchou, Kong Youde and others left, Duoduo quietly summoned Su Bai back to his mansion for a more secret discussion.

The real breakout plan was not made public, and even Hong Chengchou was not fully aware of it.

The core of this plan was to prevent the Eight Banners Army from being intercepted and killed by the Ming army when breaking out, so they had to be more cautious.

Originally, Ji Du, another important figure among the Manchu nobles, should also have participated in the defense of Cangzhou City.

But before Zhu Cilang's army besieged the city, Jirgalang took action in advance, using his qualifications and influence to beg Dorgon to transfer his son Jidu away from the front line.

Jirgalang made such arrangements not because he was afraid of fighting, but to save his son's life.

He had foreseen the difficulties that the Qing Dynasty might face long before the war began. In order to prevent the current situation from occurring, he prepared a retreat for Ji Du in advance.

The current situation has proved that his foresight was correct, and the situation in the Qing Dynasty has almost developed in the worst direction.

Although Jidu was saved, the Qing army in Cangzhou City could not avoid the disaster.

Breaking out to the north became the only option, but with so many generals with different intentions and a complex situation, it was far from certain whether the breakout would be successful.

(End of this chapter)