Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 80 I Will Never Back Down
Southeast of Hulao Pass, southwest of Zhengzhou, on the edge of the bushes on the hillside at the northern foot of Dazhou Mountain, a team of scouts sent by Chang Denggui and two Jinyiwei have been lurking here and watching for a full eighteen days.

At this time, these scouts and spies were not only disheveled, but also had extremely irregular daily routines due to living in the wild for a long time. Their eyes were full of bloodshot, which looked very scary.

They have all gone through layers of screening and stood out from more than 700 elite members of the Tianqi Battalion to have the opportunity to carry out this mission. Among them are several experienced Ye Bushu who lead the team, and they have strong ability to adapt to the environment and psychological quality.

Therefore, even now, these dozen people still maintain strong combat effectiveness.

Although the Qing army had the surrendered local forces in Henan as guides, Xu Dingguo had been eliminated, and other local forces in eastern Henan chose to wait and see. If Duoduo wanted to attack Guide, he had to send out scouts to conduct reconnaissance in advance and understand the latest situation in Guide Prefecture.

As early as when Duoduo launched the offensive on Tongguan, the Tianqiying and Jinyiwei had completed their deployment in eastern Henan. They even fought with the Eight Banners cavalry sent by Hauge to the north of the Yellow River to contact the rebel forces in various parts of Henan, and successfully killed two of them.

However, in order to avoid arousing Hauge's suspicion and thus triggering Duoduo's vigilance, the Tianqi Camp was very restrained. It only established five reconnaissance forward positions in the northwest of Kaifeng, the northeast of Nanyang, and the direction of Kaifeng Prefecture, and did not launch any other actions.

Most of the Tianqiying camps were located in the mountains of central Henan. The terrain was quite complex and there were many rivers. The Qing army was unfamiliar with the local conditions and could not encircle and annihilate them unless they sent out a large number of scouts. This ensured the safety of their operations.

You know, the Qing army under Duoduo's command is powerful, with at least more than 30,000 powerful Eight Banners cavalrymen. Chang Denggui did not dare to take it lightly. He knew very well that with the current strength of the Tianqi Battalion, it was no match for it.

Ma Zhenfeng was born in Xuan Daye, and now he is the scout flag commander of the Tianqi Camp. He had previously received a secret report from the Military Intelligence Department sent by the Jinyiwei that the Qing army had captured Xi'an and would soon turn around and march south again.

Not only that, various signs indicate that the total strength of this Qing army heading south may be around 150,000. If it is accompanied by troops from Henan, the final strength may be further increased to 200,000.

Henan is full of plains. It was already late February and the lower reaches of the Yellow River had thawed. The Qing army could rely heavily on the Yellow River to transport cannons and food, which would greatly increase the latter's marching speed.

"Captain, the Tartars haven't shown any unusual activity in the past few days. Let alone a large army, not even the sight of scouts has been sighted. There are no extra grain transport fleets on the northern river. Weren't they said to have set out eastward ten days ago?"

"Wait a little longer. Since the Jinyiwei said the Tartars would come, then they will most likely come. We shouldn't ask so many questions."

Ma Zhenfeng glanced at the Jinyiwei who was staring at the front of the mountain without moving, took a deep breath, and then stared at the plain in the south. After waiting for so many days, his temperament was inevitably affected.

"Wait three more days. If the Qing army still doesn't show up after three days, we'll cross Hulao Pass and go over to the other side of the mountain to explore and find out their situation."

"Yes, Mr. Flag!"

However, just as Ma Zhenfeng finished speaking, he suddenly noticed some unusual movements on the plain in front of him, as if some black spots were jumping. He quickly squinted his eyes to look, and his originally tense face suddenly opened up into a grin, and he chuckled.

When the other men under his command saw this, they understood what was happening. They quickly stood up, jumped on their horses, and prepared to act according to the original plan without any panic.

"With so much dust and smoke, the Tartars must have at least two hundred cavalrymen in their vanguard!" Ma Zhenfeng said, turning to lead his horse while muttering to himself:
"I told you these dogs would come. Want a surprise attack? Get past us first, and then we'll see if you sons of bitches dare to act so arrogantly again. Just run off!"
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Soon, as the scout outposts deployed by the Tianqiying and Jinyiwei in various places in Kaifeng Prefecture successively detected the presence of the Qing army's vanguard, the main force turned back to the south. From Suizhou to Yongcheng, from Xuzhou to Fengyang, the final campaign of scorching the walls and clearing the fields was underway everywhere. All the grass and trees near the cities and official roads were cut down, and those that could not be taken away were burned.

However, what has entered eastern Henan now is only the vanguard of the Qing army, and the main force of the Qing army has just entered Kaifeng Prefecture.

Duoduo defeated Li Zicheng's attacks many times in Tongguan, and forced Li Zicheng to retreat without a fight in just thirteen days. His confidence soared again, and now he is commanding his troops and leisurely taking over the prefectures in western Henan, without any rush.

Anyway, the red cannons were transported slowly and now fell behind the main army, so they couldn't move fast at all. If they went south without cannons, they would have to stop once they encountered a fortified city. It would be better to march slowly!
At this time, in Duoduo's eyes, the cities in Jiangbei and Nanjing were completely in his pocket. The duck in his mouth would never run away!

As for the hundreds of thousands of southern soldiers under Emperor Ming's command?

If more than 200,000 northern soldiers who still had some combat effectiveness surrendered, why wouldn't the hundreds of thousands of weak southern soldiers surrender?
Even if they don't surrender, killing them will be as easy as chopping melons and vegetables!

As soon as the Qing army's vanguard entered Guide Prefecture, they saw thick smoke everywhere along the way and the official road was bumpy. They immediately knew what was going on and sent people back to report.

However, these Eight Banners cavalrymen who served as the vanguard of the army did not stop to wait for the main force led by Duoduo, nor did they simply send out scouts to continue exploring southward. Instead, the entire army directly bypassed the edge of the official road and headed towards Fengyang Prefecture and Xuzhou Prefecture.

They were naturally well aware that the Ming army was very likely to have set up an ambush ahead, but in their eyes, the Ming army in the south did not pose any threat at all.

After all, when the Qing army entered the Great Wall, the farthest they went was Haizhou in Huai'an Prefecture, as if they were entering an empty land.

At this time, in Fengyang City, Zhu Cilang, who was supervising the preparations for war in various places in Jiangbei and handling military affairs in Huguang and Jiangxi provinces, and was worried about the placement of Zuo Liangyu's troops, finally received the news that Duoduo's army was heading south.

However, the news brought back by the scouts of the Jinyiwei and Tianqiying was like a bolt from the blue for the ministers of the Dingwu court - the Manchu Prince Yu Duoduo, with his 200,000-strong army, was divided into three groups and marched south. They had already captured various prefectures in Henan and would enter Nanzhili within half a month.

For a time, those ministers in the Fengyang Palace in Zhongdu who knew nothing about military affairs were in chaos again. Some of them even wrote to Zhu Cilang, asking him to immediately head south to temporarily avoid the Qing army and leave a general in Jiangbei to resist the Qing army.

After all, this was a Qing army of 200,000, and in less than two weeks, they had defeated the 500,000-strong army that the rebels had gathered in Shaanxi. If the Qing army was deliberately restraining its forces and hiding its strength, and in fact had more than 200,000 troops, that would be even more ominous.

The Ming army in Jiangbei had no more than 170,000 or 180,000 men at most, including the local militia and two naval forces that assisted in defending the city. In fact, the total number of infantry, cavalry and armored soldiers who were actually capable of fighting was less than 50,000.

However, there are still tens of thousands of rebel soldiers in various prefectures and cities in Henan. These soldiers are very likely to be forced to move south by the Qing army, and by then they will have an army of tens of thousands more.

Although Zhu Cilang said that he wanted to defend the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, he also set a bottom line for fighting. He did not act unilaterally and ignore the gap in military strength between the two sides.

He decided to move the capital to Zhongdu and block the Qing army in Jianghuai. He combined the original decision of Dorgon in history and made new deployments, including contacting the rebel forces in southern Shandong and eastern Henan, and luring tens of thousands of local armed forces to move south in advance in order to weaken the strength of the Qing army.

According to Zhu Cilang's previous prediction, the Qing army could not mobilize its entire army. Duoduo led a main force south, which was at most an army of 100,000.

If the other party really dispatched an army of 200,000 and brought all the troops from the north to attack him, it would be almost impossible for him to resist.

But even so, Zhu Cilang had no choice and nowhere to retreat. If he could not defend Jianghuai, he would have to retreat to Zhejiang, Fujian, or even Guangdong and Guangxi during the Dingwu period.

By then, the Yangtze River was controlled by the Qing Dynasty, and the south was divided into several independent parts. The situation was truly irreversible.

Zhu Cilang had a clear understanding of the situation. He knew that he had no chance to take his time and could only defend Jianghuai and fight for a desperate counterattack.

Seeing the sudden change in the situation, people in the court were in panic. Many officials who had originally followed the lead of the pro-war faction such as Gao Hongtu, Lu Daqi, and Chen Zilong showed their true colors.

After Zhu Cilang moved his capital, and especially after the rebellion in Suizhou was quelled, the war-avoiding and peace-loving faction, which had always been at a disadvantage in the court, began to perform again, hoping to take advantage of this opportunity to turn the tables.

It can only be said that the Qing army had not yet arrived, but the military intelligence coming from the front line alone had already scared all the ministers silly.

However, if it weren't for this incident, looking at the tough performance of these guys in the past two months, petitioning for a northern expedition and plotting restoration, he really thought that he had finally changed the court situation a little and made these people stand up straight.

Now it seems that these guys are still fence-sitters with no fighting spirit at all, and they even want to drag him, the emperor, into escaping the battlefield together.

But Zhu Cilang knew very well that when the military intelligence from the north came, they were not the only ones who were shaken. If they wanted to stabilize the people's hearts, they must first suppress this trend of fleeing south in the court!
He was really tired of fighting against the Qing Dynasty with such a group of insects!
"The Qing army couldn't possibly have 200,000 troops. At most, it was 100,000. In the Huaiqing battle last October, the rebels claimed to have 100,000 troops, but in the end, they only had 20,000 or 30,000."

Zhu Cilang looked at the noisy ministers below and shouted sternly:

"If it's just bluffing, I have a million troops in Jiangbei. What's there to be afraid of with Duoduo's mere 200,000 troops? This battle can still be won."

"Your Majesty, don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be prepared for the worst!"

To everyone's surprise, yet seemingly as it should be, Shi Kefa was the first to speak out after Zhu Cilang spoke out, admonishing:
“If the Qing army really had 200,000 troops, the Huaibei army would be tied down, and Huai’an, Yangzhou, and Luzhou would all be blocked, then Zhongdu would be an isolated city.

"And" "And what?" Zhu Cilang saw that Shi Kefa was hesitant to speak and asked directly.

"If Your Majesty is surrounded in Zhongdu, how will the morale of the armies south and north of the Yangtze River be stabilized? Will they come to rescue you?

If you don't come, where will your Majesty's safety be? If you come to rescue, how can you defeat the Qing army in a field battle? If then, won't the armies south and north of the Yangtze River be at a loss as to how to advance or retreat? "

Shi Kefa seemed very excited, and expressed his concerns word by word. His fear of the Qing army was engraved in his bones, and he did not believe that the Ming army had the strength to win. However, he immediately took the initiative to ask for orders:

"Your Majesty, I request to be the commander-in-chief of Jiangbei and remain in Zhongdu to defend the city for Your Majesty. If Your Majesty does not wish to cross the river, please move your capital to Yangzhou. If the Qing army truly has 200,000 troops, they can cross the river immediately."

"Move the imperial court to Yangzhou?" Zhu Cilang narrowed his eyes fiercely, clearly disapproving of the proposal. Shi Kefa's concerns were somewhat justified, but he couldn't possibly move the imperial court at this time.

"Your Majesty, I also think what Lord Shi said makes sense. Yangzhou can be advanced or retreated. If Your Majesty moves, the initiative will be in the hands of our dynasty."

Upon seeing this, Ma Shiying also stepped out, clasped his hands together, and offered his help:
"If the Qing army is truly powerful, temporarily avoiding its front and using the Yangtze River as a barrier would be a wise strategy. If the Qing army is merely bluffing, then Your Majesty can lure the enemy in Yangzhou and divert them from all locations north of the Yangtze River. This way, the Qing army will inevitably be caught off guard and fall into a difficult situation.

What Mr. Shi said was by no means to avoid war, nor was it advocating fleeing south. Rather, it was to assess the situation, seize the opportunity to turn around and advance, and then lure the enemy deep into our territory, so that our dynasty can better counterattack the Qing army that is marching south in the future."

Ma Shiying did not believe that the Qing army really had an army of 200,000, but since there was such an excuse to launch an attack, he naturally had to make good use of it. It didn't matter whether it was true or not.

"But if I move my capital to Yangzhou, will the people of Jiangbei be appeased in this way?" Zhu Cilang sighed, shook his head, and asked in return:
"Since I'm already in Zhongdu, there's no reason to retreat without a fight. Otherwise, how will the people of the world view me? How can I regain the morale I've finally managed to rally?"

"Your Majesty, your heart is filled with the whole world and the people of the world. Why bother with such trivial matters at this time?"

After hearing this, Shi Kefa became even more agitated and started to argue directly:
"Moreover, if he is truly loyal and righteous, he will definitely put the greater good first and understand your majesty's painstaking efforts. If he is not loyal and righteous, even if your majesty does not move the imperial court to Yangzhou, he will definitely have other intentions."

"If that were the case, then why did I move my imperial court to Zhongdu, why did I send troops to suppress the rebellion, and why did I prepare for this war for over six months?"

Zhu Cilang did not tolerate Shi Kefa either. He knew that almost every minister in the hall was waiting. They had already been frightened by the Qing army. As long as he showed the slightest hesitation, they would swarm over him.

"If the Qing army can win, why would they lose just because of my preparations? If the Qing army can't win, why should I prepare? Mr. Shi, is this what you just wanted to say?"

"Your Majesty." Shi Kefa was speechless for a moment.

"For these hundreds of days and nights, what I have been fighting for is nothing more than this chance of victory. Who wants me to stop fighting now?"

Zhu Cilang turned to look at the ministers in the hall, but no one dared to answer. They were, like the others who remained in the cities north of the Yangtze River, hesitating, judging, and making choices. This was the human heart. Once he moved south, once the people dispersed, it would be difficult to gather them back.

"I moved my imperial court to Zhongdu and led the army in person, simply to win the support of the people and let everyone in the world know that I am meeting the enemy, I am not retreating, and I am not afraid of the Tartars.

Now, the Qing army hasn't arrived yet, but you are afraid and want me to retreat directly to Yangzhou or even Nanjing. Is this what loyalty to the Ming Dynasty is?
Could it be that you haven't read the military reports of the past few days? Don't you know that the rebels retreated again and again, from Beijing to Shaanxi, from Tongguan to Xi'an, and finally lost the capital and four provinces in the north?"

All the ministers in the hall lowered their heads, and no one dared to speak out. Even Ma Shiying did not dare to speak at this time.

He actually guessed that Shi Kefa's words would lead to such consequences, but he still expressed his support for moving the capital to Yangzhou. This was so that when the Qing army moved south and Zhu Cilang saw the latter's strength and retreated, he could take the lead.

After observing for a period of time, Ma Shiying already thought he understood Zhu Cilang very well. He knew that the other party would not cry until he saw the coffin. If he could not fight a battle and could not watch his army suffer a disastrous defeat, he would never retreat.

However, the more this happened, the greater the impact would be. As long as Zhu Cilang saw the army's disastrous defeat, he would probably never talk about a decisive Northern Expedition again. Then, he and Shi Kefa's proposal of avoiding war and negotiating peace would completely gain the upper hand in the court.

Of course, the prerequisite must be that the Ming Dynasty is still there, His Majesty Zhu Cilang is still there, and the Qing army has not successfully taken over Jiangnan.

Otherwise, who would he be the Prime Minister of? Which dynasty would he hold power in?

Zhu Cilang looked at these people and didn't want to waste any more words with them. He then looked at Chang Denggui, Chen Fu, Huang Degong, Liu Zeqing and others and asked:
"Chang Denggui, tell me, is the information gathered by the Heavenly Cavalry Battalion and the Embroidered Uniform Guards true or not? Did the Qing army really have 200,000 troops?"

Chang Denggui was called, and immediately stepped out of the group, clasping his hands and saying:

"Your Majesty, I believe the Qing army definitely does not have a strong army of 200,000, but it is likely to have a strong army of 100,000. As for the remaining 100,000 troops, it is probably the rebels who were recently surrendered, as well as the rebels from Henan and Shandong."

The Tianqi Camp was led by Chang Denggui himself, and the commander of the Jinyiwei was Zhou Shixian. No matter what, he could not say that this military intelligence was wrong, and could only make a reasonable explanation on this basis.

Otherwise, the civil officials would definitely seize on this issue and constantly attack the Jinyiwei and even the Palace Guards. At this time, the civil officials were really mentally abnormal, seeking fame by accepting punishment in such matters.

"Go on!" Zhu Cilang's tone softened a lot.

"As far as I know, the total population of the entire Tartar tribe is no more than 100,000. This time, they are divided into two armies, Ajige and Duoduo. Each army probably has only 40,000 to 50,000 Zhenyi, supplemented by 30,000 to 50,000 Mongolian and Han people, and tens of thousands of surrendered troops from the north. This makes up the hundreds of thousands of troops we discovered earlier.

The Qing army was bound to suffer losses in this westward expedition. There were loyal and righteous people in each prefecture of Henan who were determined to resist the Qing, so the Qing army would have to leave troops to garrison. The number of elite soldiers that Duoduo could finally bring to Nanzhili should be less than 100,000.

As for the remaining rebels and surrendered soldiers, I don't think they have any armor, and they are no better than those Xu Ni had gathered before. I don't think they are anything to be feared."

The most difficult part of war is often intelligence analysis, especially in situations like this where the enemy is strong and we are weak. How to analyze the correct intelligence and use the already tight military forces to the best effect is related to the success or failure of the battle.

Having been with Zhu Cilang for so long, and with the intelligence gathered by the Embroidered Uniform Guards over the past six months, Chang Denggui's abilities have been greatly improved, and his analysis is basically accurate.

In fact, Zhu Cilang was so determined because he knew very well that Dorgon had Hong Chengchou to help plan the southern expedition, and he knew clearly who his biggest enemy was. As long as Li Zicheng was not dead and the main force of the Shun army was not destroyed, the only one who would go south was Duoduo.

The elite troops under Duoduo's command were no more than 60,000, and the rest were just riotous soldiers whose combat power was about the same as that of the young and strong men in the cities of Jiangbei today.

In this regard, Zhu Cilang made a careful analysis based on the memories of later generations. He concluded that Duoduo should have only more than 30,000 Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners and more than 20,000 Han Eight Banners under his command. Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming had a total of 5,000 to 6,000 troops. After Xu Dingguo's surrender, the number of troops gathered in Henan was estimated to be no more than 50,000.

In other words, the Qing army only had 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers who could actually fight. The rest were just there to make up the numbers, boost morale, or fill the trenches during the siege. He had a chance of winning this battle.

"Chen Fu, what do you think?"

"I feel the same!" Chen Fu was not too afraid of the Qing army.

"Huang Degong, what about you?" Zhu Cilang asked again.

"The same goes for me!" Huang Degong was also not afraid of fighting against the Qing army.

"Liu Zeqing, tell me!"

"I think General Chang is right. The Qing army must be bluffing this time. Everything is within Your Majesty's expectations." Seeing this, Liu Zeqing immediately followed the trend.

"Lord Shi, Lord Ma, do you think the words of my generals can be trusted?" After asking the military generals, Zhu Cilang turned to the two weather vanes in the court who were seeking to avoid war and negotiate peace.

"I'm making this clear today. As long as Zhongdu remains, I will not retreat a single step. If anyone dares to speak nonsense and shake the morale of the army again, don't blame me for being rude!"

(End of this chapter)