Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 273 Night Battle
The imperial guards under Zhu Cilang personally answered the "night call" of the patrol camp, and then led a group of people to the camp gate.

The officer on duty came forward to check the badges, and after careful inspection, the imperial guards who were protecting Zhu Cilang were allowed to enter the camp.

The soldiers at the camp gate saluted in unison and watched the emperor enter the barracks.

The entire camp appeared to be in good order and the military appearance was solemn.

The barracks were brightly lit, and military judges were patrolling everywhere from time to time.

Now, with the war imminent, the frequency of inspections is more frequent than usual, and the number of military judges following the military judge has also increased from two to one squad.

They conduct strict patrols to prevent potential fires, riots, lurking spies, surprise attacks and other emergencies, ensuring that military discipline is impeccable.

After walking through most of the camp, Zhu Cilang and Zhang Huangyan inspected the area and did not find any problems.

The soldiers on duty in the camp were in high spirits and maintained strict military discipline, which made Zhu Cilang very satisfied.

Seeing this, Zhang Huangyan continued the conversation.

"Your Majesty, Gao Yigong defeated Jiang Xiang's vanguard near Taiyuan Prefecture and should be approaching Taiyuan City now.

Jiang Xiang is facing internal and external troubles, and his situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable. Defeat is only a matter of time. Li Guo is also attacking Datong, and the battle seems to be going smoothly at the moment.

Zhu Cilang nodded, feeling an unconcealable sense of pride in his heart.

He recalled that in history, Li Guo and the Dashun Army were defeated by Jiang Xiang and were eventually forced to retreat.

But now, with his own arrival, the course of history had changed dramatically, and this change made him feel comforted.

Zhang Huangyan continued:
"In addition, a certain Green Camp army unit in Shanxi mutinied in Anyi.

This group of Green Camp soldiers originally planned to support Jiang Xiang, but they mutinied at a critical moment, leading to internal turmoil.

They have now retreated to Linfen, apparently observing the progress of the battles in Taiyuan and Datong, seemingly waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang seemed to be thinking about something. He pondered for a moment and said:

"It seems it's only a matter of time before Li Guo and his men defeat Jiang Xiang in a field battle.

Those green camp troops seem to be united on the surface, but in fact they all have their own ulterior motives.

The Eight Banners Army of the Qing Dynasty is no longer able to compete with us, so how can they make any waves?

Once Jiang Xiang is defeated, the Green Camp soldiers throughout Shanxi will surely surrender like fence-sitters and will never again take advantage of the opportunity to bargain with us as they are now."

Zhang Huangyan smiled and agreed:
"Your Majesty is absolutely right. Jiang Xiang's military force is already insufficient. Dividing it into two groups will only make his situation more difficult.

I'm afraid the tens of thousands of people under his command won't be able to hold out for much longer."

Zhu Cilang's brows relaxed slightly, and a hint of relief appeared in his eyes.

He turned to Zhang Huangyan and said:

"The war in the north is expected to end within two months. Once Datong and Taiyuan are captured, the situation in Shanxi will be completely stabilized.

Most of the Central Plains has been recaptured by our army. Just as the Five Military Commandery had planned, the situation is rapidly turning in our favor."

Zhang Huangyan heard this and continued to report:
"Your Majesty, Du Yinxi has already dispatched officials from Changsha and Nanchang to take over the recovered Central Plains region.

The rebel forces in Shandong, northern Zhili and other places also acted quickly. They carried the banner of the Ming Dynasty and were extremely efficient in retaking cities.

All of this was made possible by the Jinyiwei's initial support in terms of food and training. It now appears that Your Majesty's decision was indeed a wise one."

Hearing this, Zhu Cilang smiled with satisfaction, and a surge of excitement surged in his heart.

The situation developed more smoothly than he expected. The vast territories within the Great Wall were almost completely under his control, and the speed of the Qing Dynasty's defeat exceeded his expectations.

He was thinking to himself that although the Qing court had relied on military force to quickly occupy the Central Plains since entering the Pass, it was ultimately a minority regime.

However, a small tribe ruling a big country will never be able to compete with the Han people's culture and system.

Although the Qing government suppressed resistance with brutal military means, the foundation of its rule was weak.

Once the military deterrence is lost, it will inevitably collapse like a building block.

He paused, looked into the distance, and continued:
"The Tartar regime is actually a more advanced slave-owning tribe. They rely not on the will of the people but on cruel rule.

Now that they have lost their military strength, they are doomed to lose their power. What we need to do is to completely dismantle their last line of defense when they collapse."

Zhang Huangyan agreed deeply and nodded:
"Yes, Your Majesty, you are right. The disunity within the Qing court is now irreparable.

As long as we proceed steadily and steadily, the fall of the Qing Dynasty is only a matter of time."

Then, Zhu Cilang thought of the current situation and asked:
"Is there any new situation with Li Guo?"

He knew in his heart that although Duoduo and the Qing army in the city were the current dilemma, the situation in Shanxi was equally important, especially the Mongolian tribes north of the Great Wall, who were ready to make a move.

The powerful mobility of the Outer Mongolian army has become a hidden danger that he has to face up to.

Zhang Huangyan looked serious, and after organizing his words briefly, he slowly replied:
"Li Guo is currently busy reorganizing his troops. In the battle in Shanxi, he successfully annihilated the main forces of two Green Camp armies, but his own core Old Camp troops also suffered losses.

Now he is busy recruiting the elite of the Green Camp Army, adjusting the organization, and trying to restore the strength of the army.

Otherwise, the only organized troops under his command would probably be Gao Yigong's troops.

Li Guo only brought less than 10,000 soldiers and horses with him on this trip north. After all, the main force of the Zhongzheng Camp was not under his control.

He paused for a moment and continued:
"In addition, governance in Shanxi and Henan is also progressing slowly, especially since Tian Jianxiu and his colleagues are seriously short of officials.

Although the Central Army has captured a lot of territory, the lack of governance makes it difficult for them to effectively control these newly recovered areas. I'm afraid it will take some time to fully rectify the situation."

Zhu Cilang sneered, with a hint of disdain in his tone:

"We didn't suffer many casualties in this battle, but the losses from those who fell behind were quite heavy. Even for our frontline troops, it would probably take half a year to fully recover.

Li Guo paid a heavy price this time to completely annihilate the main force of the Green Camp Army in Shanxi. I'm afraid at least one-third of his elite troops have been left behind."

Although the armies of Li Guo and Gao Yigong had been reformed, they still lacked a standardized and systematic training model compared to the Palace Army.

However, the Northern Expedition progressed too quickly and they were unable to quickly replenish their reserve forces.

As Zhu Cilang saw, every time Li Guo's troops lost a portion of their elite soldiers in a battle, it meant a severe blow to the vitality of the army.

Those newly recruited soldiers cannot be put into battle as quickly as veterans. They need time to grow gradually under the guidance of veterans and be tempered by actual combat before they can truly exert their due combat effectiveness.

He sighed softly, his expression slightly heavy. "This is the fundamental difference that I have been promoting in the Officer Training Corps."

Today's military is professionalized and systematized, and combat requires coordination and cooperation among multiple arms, which is a requirement for the high development of military technology.

In contrast, the society of the Ming Dynasty, after thousands of years of centralized power, had already become highly organized and atomized.

Once the main force is completely lost, occupying more territory will be futile. This is also the fundamental reason why the Qing court is in such a predicament today.

Zhang Huangyan nodded slightly. He knew what Zhu Cilang said was true.

In war, whoever can recover quickly will have the advantage in the next battle.

The Palace Army has achieved standardized training. Even if the soldiers suffer heavy losses in fierce battles, they can still quickly replenish new combat power through reserve and subsequent training.

Zhu Cilang hesitated for a moment and asked:

"Where's Gao Yigong? What's the situation over there?"

Zhang Huangyan replied:
"Gao Yigong is currently stationed in Shanxi, primarily responsible for stabilizing the newly recovered areas, especially those strategic locations.

However, the size of his troops was limited and he lacked experience in governance, so it would take a long time to consolidate these territories.

In addition, he and Li Guo need to coordinate operations and deploy troops, so it will be quite difficult to launch a new offensive in a short period of time."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang nodded slightly.

The organizational structure of the Loyalty Camp is not as strict as that of the Palace Army, and there will probably be many difficulties, especially when it comes to governing and ruling these newly recovered areas.

Although they are brave, once their core strength suffers heavy losses, recovery will be much more difficult than expected.

"However, the situation of Li Guo and Gao Yigong in Shanxi is not a cause for concern for the time being," Zhu Cilang said.

"But we can't let our guard down. The Tatars often have a strong desire to survive when faced with adversity. If we can't quickly control the situation, they will continue to be an obstacle to our advance northward."

Zhang Huangyan nodded in agreement, then said:

"Your Majesty, you are absolutely right. We need to dispatch capable civil servants to these areas as soon as possible to intensify the consolidation of these newly recovered territories."

Zhu Cilang thought for a moment, then gave the order:

Zhu Cilang had already made up his mind. He wanted to firmly grasp the initiative in this war and ensure that the pace of Ming Dynasty's revival would not stop.

As the night deepened, the lights in the camp still illuminated the world.

Zhu Cilang stood at the camp gate, hearing the marching footsteps of the soldiers and the shouts of the sentries.

At this moment, he has already taken control of this historical drama, and the future victory is approaching him step by step.
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Outside Cangzhou City, the night once again enveloped the earth, and the stars and the moon were hidden in the clouds. The Ming army had already completed its deployment and was waiting for the Qing army to break through.

After several days of covert assembly, the troops quietly lurked in the preset positions, using the cover of the mountains and the night to hide from the enemy's sight.

The entire battlefield is like a huge net, waiting for the prey to fall into it.

Zhao Zhengdong, wearing fine iron armor and riding on a horse, stood halfway up a small hill southeast of Cangzhou City.

His figure disappeared in the shadows of the mountains, gazing at the ruins and river not far away.

Two rolling mountains blocked his view. To the west of the mountains was the Houtai Fortress, which had been devastated by the Ming army's artillery fire. Broken walls and ruins covered the originally flat ground, and at the end of the fortress was the moat outside Cangzhou City.

Duoduo originally built a large number of Houtai fortresses around the moat in an attempt to strengthen the defense.

But these fortresses turned into ruins after the fierce bombardment by the Ming army.

The ruins not only failed to serve as a defense, but instead became an obstacle to the Qing cavalry's operations.

The moat had become an insurmountable barrier between the Qing army and the Ming army outside the city, forcing the Qing army that wanted to break out to pass through the narrow mountain path and the area where Zhao Zhengdong was located.

According to intelligence transmitted from the Green Camp Army in the city, the Qing army planned to break out from the southeast and was expected to send multiple batches of troops.

Among them were 3,000 Eight Banners armored soldiers, 1,000 Baoyi soldiers and 3,000 Green Camp soldiers.

Although these Green Camp soldiers had already shown signs of rebellious tendencies, the Baoyi soldiers, who were tightly controlled by the Eight Banners soldiers, still had no idea of ​​their attitude, and the situation remained unpredictable.

Duoduo mobilized troops in the east to launch harassment, intending to tie down the strength of the Ming army and try to create a breakthrough in the east, thereby forcing Zhu Cilang to strengthen the defense in the south and thereby reduce the pressure on the breakout in the west.

This tactic was quite clever. Duoduo obviously hoped to break the encirclement of the Ming army by dividing the troops.

At this time, the central army had already dispatched a cavalry battalion to support the eastern battlefield, while the elite troops under Zhao Zhengdong were deployed near the southeast city gate to fight against the Qing army that broke out from here.

Not only did they have to deal with the Qing army's frontal attack, but they also had to cooperate with ambush forces to form an encirclement at the critical moment.

In front of Zhao Zhengdong, two small hills stood tall, and the narrow pass between them was the only possible path for the Qing army to pass through.

The Ming army had already set up ambushes on both sides of the mountain. One hundred elite soldiers led by General Gu Defu were ambushed on the left side of the mountain exit, while another general led his troops to hide on the right side. They would take on the important task of blocking the Qing army from breaking through.

According to Zhao Zhengdong's plan, as long as they could successfully stop the Qing army at the mountain pass, they could take advantage of the geographical location and rely on the Ming army's firearms advantage to wipe out the Qing army here.

The mountains are dangerous and rugged, which is extremely unfavorable for cavalry operations.

If the Qing cavalry wanted to pass through, they would inevitably be slowed down in the mountain road.

At that time, Zhao Zhengdong will personally lead the army to encircle the enemy, launch surprise attacks from the rear and both wings, and eliminate the enemy as quickly as possible.

This tactical plan was sophisticated, aiming to defeat the enemy in a short period of time and reduce casualties among the Ming army.

In the night wind, the sound of horse hooves could be heard faintly in the distance, as if thousands of troops were galloping towards them from the direction of the moat.

As the distance got closer, the vibration of the ground became more and more obvious. That was the last main force of the Qing army, which still retained sufficient war horses and elite combat effectiveness.

At this moment, they had no way to retreat and could only fight with their backs against the wall and break out with all their might.

Zhao Zhengdong stared intently at the movement in the darkness ahead with his eyes as sharp as torches.

He knew very well that the Qing army must be in a desperate situation at this time, especially these Eight Banners cavalry, who were well-trained, experienced in combat, and extremely determined to break out.

Once the battle begins, the Ming army must attack quickly and defeat the enemy with overwhelming superiority, not giving them any chance to breathe.

In the mountains, the ambushed Ming army soldiers held their breath, gripped their muskets and swords tightly, waiting for Zhao Zhengdong's orders.

Time seemed to stop at this moment, and the air was filled with a tense atmosphere, like the calm before the storm.

(End of this chapter)