Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 341 Falling into the trap
Dorgon's army advanced unstoppably, encountering almost no resistance along the way, which gave him more confidence. He never thought that these detachments were just bait used by Chen Wang to lure the enemy.

When the Qing army entered the territory of Haizhou Wei, the vanguard army led by Ba Ming encountered the vanguard of the Ming army led by Chang Denggui in Qimu City, and the two armies fought fiercely in the mountains and fields.

Although the Ming army fought bravely, the Qing army, with its absolute advantage in numbers and equipment, eventually defeated the garrisoned Ming army and wiped out more than 1,800 people.

In the previous battle of Tashanpu, Dorgon had also defeated the elite troops of the Ming army. Since entering Haizhou, his army has captured several cities in succession, and the Ming army's defense lines have been repeatedly lost.

At this time, the area within a hundred miles along the way was filled with defeated Ming soldiers, and there was no city to defend.

All this further strengthened Dorgon's belief: the Manchu cavalry was unstoppable and the Ming army in Liaodong was nothing but lambs to be slaughtered.

"Sage, what I said a month ago, is it right or wrong now?" On the official road leading to Gaizhou, Dorgon rode his horse with a relaxed look.

He looked up at Saige, a relative of the royal family beside him, his face full of pride and confidence. The slightly tired face of the Qing army regent looked particularly energetic because of the joy of consecutive victories.

As a member of the Manchu royal family and the current minister of the Qing court, Saige had little experience on the battlefield, but he always held contempt for the Han army.

When he heard Dorgon's question, he immediately bowed and clasped his fists, smiling broadly:
"Your Highness is wise! As you said, the Han army is nothing but a ragtag group with nothing but appearances.

They don't understand the art of war, and now that they're facing a commander like the prince, who commands troops like a god, they're naturally powerless to resist and can't withstand a single blow."

After hearing this, Dorgon felt even happier and his brows were full of confidence.

He snorted lightly, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and said:
“Sage, at the critical moment, you still have to rely on me!
Once we have annihilated the Ming Emperor Zhu Cilang and cleared out the remaining defeated troops in Liaodong, the Qing Dynasty will be able to seize the opportunity to enter the pass again. By then, the entire country will belong to us!"

Upon hearing this, Saige's face was filled with admiration:
"Your Majesty's great talent and strategy are unmatched in the entire court. When the Qing Dynasty re-enters the Central Plains, all of China will submit to Your Majesty's feet!"

Having said that, Dorgon paused and looked into the distance.

He raised his whip and pointed it in the direction of Gaizhou, his expression complicated, as if he was sighing and reminiscing. He said in a low voice:
"Saig, do you still remember the great feat of Taizu raising an army with only thirteen soldiers? Over thirty years later, the Eight Banners were established and the Qing Dynasty was founded.

We Manchus numbered only a few hundred thousand, with only fifty to sixty thousand males, yet with our fearless courage we defeated the mighty Ming and subjugated tens of millions of people. What did we rely on?
It is thanks to the invincible bravery of our Manchu soldiers, who are willing to sacrifice their own lives."

When Saige heard this, he quickly agreed:

"Your Highness is absolutely right! Emperor Taizu established his empire with this kind of courage.

Now that the prince has inherited the legacy and is once again armed to the teeth, how can those weak southern soldiers under Zhu Cilang be a match for our Qing cavalry? "

Dorgon smiled slightly, but his tone was a little more serious:
“Yes, the current situation seems to be extremely favorable to our Qing Dynasty, but we must not take it lightly.

Although Zhu Cilang is weak, he has recently shown extraordinary tenacity. He has gathered the remaining troops in Liaodong and received reinforcements from Jiangnan. His ambitions are not small. Although I am not afraid of him, I cannot underestimate him.

He raised his hand and patted the saddle, and said in a low voice:

"The people outside the Great Wall have already been wiped out by the Qing Dynasty. If Zhu Cilang uses this to provoke resistance from the old people in Liaodong, that would be a real problem.

All I've seen along the way are burned-down villages and corpses scattered across the ground. Zhu Cilang will not let me off easily. This battle cannot be lost."

Dorgon's words made Saige silent for a while. He knew very well that the Qing Dynasty had carried out a brutal massacre of the people when it conquered Liaodong. If this history of blood debt was used by Zhu Cilang, it might indeed trigger a terrible civil uprising.

But on second thought, the Qing army is now so powerful, why should we be afraid of resistance from a corner?
"Your Highness is right in your concerns, but I believe that with Your Highness's extraordinary talent, even if the Ming army still harbors the will to resist, it will only be a desperate struggle.

Our Manchurian soldiers have always been known for their bravery in combat. Within a day, they can move back and forth dozens of times, and can attack and defend, advance and retreat. Their formation remains strict, and the soldiers always obey orders.

Even if we suffer temporary setbacks and heavy losses, as long as we fight hard again, victory will eventually belong to us Manchus! "

Sage's words were sonorous and his expression revealed unquestionable confidence, but in fact, this confidence also came from his simple understanding of the battle situation.

After all, Saige is still young and has not experienced many major battles inside the Great Wall. He has not yet truly witnessed the sharpness of the Ming army under Zhu Cilang.

What's more, in recent years, the Ming army has risen rapidly under the leadership of Zhu Cilang, which has made many Manchu royal family members still have hope for their past glorious achievements and believe that the current setback is just a temporary one.

"So, how can the Han army win?" Dorgon couldn't help but feel overjoyed when he heard this.

He threw his head back and laughed, his heart surging with desire for victory. As the war progressed in the past few days, the heroic spirit in his heart grew stronger.

He patted the saddle and blurted out his ambitious words:

"Within a month, I will wipe out Zhu Cilang! Capture this abominable Han emperor alive and send him to Shengjing for public display!"

After saying this, Dorgon felt his blood boiling in his chest and he could no longer suppress his excitement. He suddenly raised his whip, laughed loudly, and galloped on his horse. The horse's hooves raised a cloud of dust and rushed straight forward.

Seeing this, Saige was immediately encouraged, and a strong fighting spirit burst out in his eyes. Without any hesitation, he immediately ordered his 3,000 elite Manchu cavalry to follow Dorgon at full speed and gallop forward with murderous intent.

That night, Saige was ordered to lead 3,000 elite cavalry to Tangchi Fort.

After that, the team had almost no rest and advanced at a speed of day and night. Before dawn the next day, they had approached the outskirts of Dapianling Pass.

This area was still under the control of the Ming army, and Sage's advance was extremely fast.

In fact, Saige could have chosen a more cautious marching strategy, but his underestimation of the enemy made him advance at full speed without thinking twice.

Deep down in his heart, he not only despised the Ming army, but also harbored a strong competitive spirit. He wanted to surpass Ba Ming, who was also a member of the royal family, by making great achievements, so as to win more appreciation from Dorgon.

This mentality of being eager for quick results was bound to lay hidden dangers for his actions.

Sure enough, because the army marched too fast, the Tangma scouting ahead of Saige's army failed to send back intelligence in time, causing the entire army to once again collide head-on with the Ming army.

However, this encounter was very different from previous ones. They ran into the main force of the Ming army led by Chang Denggui.

The Qing army's vanguard had just arrived, and the exhausted soldiers were stunned by the scene before them before they had time to form a battle formation.

I saw a huge Ming army appearing in front of me. They were strong in strength, with tens of thousands of people. It was obvious that the Ming army had been lying in ambush here for a long time, and the Qing army had no idea of ​​the enemy's whereabouts.

Saige was riding on the horse, his eyes full of astonishment, but it was quickly replaced by a disdainful sneer.

In his opinion, the Ming army's deployment was not a carefully planned one, but rather exposed their carelessness and ignorance. He smiled coldly and said to himself:
"This so-called Ming army is truly nothing more than a name. Even if they couldn't have predicted our army's godlike marching and unexpected attack, they shouldn't have been so careless!
"It's a joke that tens of thousands of troops didn't send enough Tangma to monitor the area ten miles away. This isn't carelessness, it's a lack of basic military literacy!"

Saige still underestimated the enemy. He believed that although the Ming army had superior manpower, it was obviously unprepared. Faced with the sudden attack of the Qing army's elite cavalry, it was impossible to organize an effective counterattack.

This thought excited him greatly. Instead of retreating cautiously, he raised his whip and shouted the order:

"All troops, listen up! Advance quickly! In today's battle, I will instantly destroy this so-called main force of the Ming army!"

However, Saige did not realize that the Ming army before him was not the "ignorant people" as he said, but the elite troops under Chang Denggui.

Chang Denggui was well aware of the marching characteristics of the Qing army and Saige's eagerness for success and recklessness, and he had already laid an ambush here, waiting for Saige to rush in.

Although there were experienced generals in the Qing army who tried to dissuade Saige and asked him to calmly observe the situation, their words seemed pale and powerless in front of this young member of the royal family.

Saige was completely immersed in the fantasy of defeating the Ming army. He firmly believed that as long as the entire army attacked properly, the victory of this battle would definitely belong to Manchuria.

He was even more convinced that after this battle, Dorgon would look at him differently because of his bravery and decisiveness.

As a great beile of the Qing Dynasty, Saige was proud of his outstanding military talent and confident that he could show his strength without waiting for the arrival of the main force in the rear.

Therefore, he decisively decided to lead the vanguard and the personal guards to launch a surprise attack and defeat the Ming army in one fell swoop.

"Raise the flag!"

Saige was dressed in silver armor, holding a spear, riding majestically on a warhorse, his voice like a loud bell, shocking the entire army.

At his command, the personal guards beside him quickly raised the flag representing him. The flag unfolded in the wind, fluttering in the wind, becoming a battle signal in the eyes of the Qing cavalry.

"Charge!" Saige swung his gun forward, his warhorse neighed, and its front hooves rose into the air.

Seeing the recognition flag waving, the hesitant Qing cavalry immediately rode their horses to follow, and the sound of horse hooves was like thunder.

In an instant, Saige led his personal guards and thousands of cavalrymen into a steel torrent, rushing straight towards the Ming army camp from the north.

This team is not only the vanguard, but also the elite of the Qing army. They are battle-hardened and strictly disciplined, like a sharp spear, piercing straight into the enemy formation.

At this time, the Ming army was in a short rest period, and the position seemed loose. Before tens of thousands of Ming soldiers could react, they heard a roar that shook the earth.

Dust was flying in the distance, which was the signal that the Qing cavalry was galloping towards them.

In an instant, an atmosphere of panic spread among the Ming army - most soldiers did not even have time to identify the enemy situation before their lines were torn apart by the sudden and powerful impact.

Saige took the lead, sweeping his spear across, raising dust under his horse's hooves. The Qing cavalry passed like a whirlwind, tearing a wide gap in the unprepared Ming army.

Everything before him was in a state of devastation: abandoned military supplies were scattered all over the ground, and soldiers were scattered in panic, running away without even having time to pick up their weapons.

Those soldiers who tried to resist were swallowed up by the cavalry that poured in like a flood before they could set up a defense line, and their corpses were scattered all over the ground.

"If the terrain were not so steep, the mountains so high, the forests so dense, and the roads so narrow, I'm afraid our cavalry would have achieved even greater results in this battle!" Saige thought to himself.

The Qing army's cavalry was born for fighting on the plains, but now it was struggling to advance in this mountainous area, and its speed and lethality were severely weakened.

Even so, the raid still cost the Ming army a huge price.

In fact, the Ming army began to retreat when the Qing cavalry launched the attack, but Saige's action was too sudden, making the Ming army's retreat seem hasty.

The soldiers tried to cross the woods in a panic while enduring the pursuit and oppression of the Qing cavalry.

Even though the terrain restricted the cavalry, the Ming army's casualties continued to rise as infantry faced cavalry.

On the mountain roads, hundreds of Ming soldiers died in the raid, and more soldiers were wounded and fell to the ground, left behind by their comrades and became the dead under the swords of the Qing army.

Although the Qing cavalry pursued fiercely, they were unable to launch a full-scale pursuit due to the narrow mountain roads and dense obstacles. Many Ming troops were able to hide in the mountains and forests and temporarily escape from the pursuers.

"A kind person cannot command an army." At this moment, the commander of the Ming army, Chang Denggui, felt a complex emotion in his heart.

He had long anticipated that the enemy might launch a surprise attack, so he deployed tens of thousands of soldiers here as bait.

Although these people need to withstand the initial impact, their task is not to hold their positions, but to slow down the enemy's pace, weaken the enemy's morale, and buy time for the subsequent counterattack of the main force.

The deaths, injuries, and hardships of these soldiers did not shake his resolve; ultimate victory was the only important goal.

Once the Qing army penetrates deep into this area, it will fall into a larger encirclement.

At this moment, Saige's elite cavalry has consumed a lot of physical strength, and their rear troops have not yet arrived. This adventure of advancing alone and deep into the enemy's territory is tantamount to providing the main force of the Ming army with an excellent opportunity to counterattack.

Although Saige led the troops, he was not completely relaxed. He was also aware that this mountainous area would hinder the cavalry.

Although he successfully broke through the Ming army's defense line, he was unable to expand the results of the battle to the extent he expected.

What made him even more worried was that there seemed to be more Ming army troops hidden in the mountains and forests ahead, and it remained unknown whether his elite cavalry could escape easily.

As night fell, the Qing army's offensive gradually slowed down, and the blocking forces deployed by the Ming army in the woods began to take effect, making the Qing army's advance increasingly difficult.

Saige waved his spear and urged his men to maintain formation, but he found that the neighing of the war horses gradually became chaotic, and the front and rear of the team gradually became disconnected.

His brows were furrowed, and he felt vaguely uneasy.

"Could it be that the Ming army was well prepared?" He looked back, hoping to see the flag of the main force, but found that the mountain road in the distance was still empty.

The situation on the battlefield began to reverse, and Saige could not help but tighten his grip on the spear in his hand. If he could not quickly escape from the current predicament, he and his personal guard Bayala would likely be surrounded by the Ming army.

(End of this chapter)