Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 81 Duoduo surrenders
Although the news of the 200,000-strong Qing army marching south had been refuted by a series of rumors, it quickly became a million-strong army as it spread.

Although Zhu Cilang had made sufficient preparations before and even sent troops north to win a victory to inspire people, when the Qing army really marched south, unrest was inevitable in the prefectures and cities north of the Yangtze River.

Countless people who were originally in villages outside the city began to flee south, and some people who were originally unwilling to pay grain, accept the unified arrangements of the government, and even resisted any migration and were unwilling to enter the city, finally stopped hiding secretly at this moment.

But in contrast, hundreds of thousands of people who had already entered the cities in Jiangbei felt regretful after hearing the news that one million Tartars were heading south.

In just half a month, there were more than twenty cases of entire villages and families fleeing together. And these were just the cases where they were not discovered and successfully escaped from the city.

After all, those so-called worldly-wise civil officials in Fengyang City were like frightened birds and panicked in an instant when they heard the news that 200,000 Qing troops were heading south, not to mention the ordinary people who learned that the Tartars had a million-strong army.

Not only that, the officials and generals sent by Fengyang to various places to appease the military were also afraid of the Qing army, and they habitually spread rumors to show that their information was reliable.

These actions undoubtedly further fueled the panic and anxiety among the people, and to a certain extent shook the already unstable morale of the army.

This is why Zhu Cilang ignored all objections and refused to back down.

Otherwise, half of the cities in Jiangbei would have fallen into chaos before the Qing army arrived, and might even surrender without a fight, just like Shaanxi after Li Zicheng fled.

As long as his flag is still flying on the city wall of Fengyang, the panic caused by the Qing army will not be infinitely magnified, and at least the leading generals will continue to wait and see.

After all, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is not in a hurry yet, and all the civil and military officials in Zhongdu have not set off yet. Even if the sky breaks, how big of a danger can it be?

Isn’t there a saying? If the emperor is not anxious, why should you, a eunuch, be anxious?

Of course, the armies in the cities of Jiangbei had undergone previous reorganizations, and their military appearance and discipline were no longer the same as before. The people who entered the city had also been organized into households. These officials were more than capable of suppressing a few frightened people.

However, under the dark clouds of war, unrest and disorder are always inevitable.

The most serious thing was that during the new round of large-scale migration of hundreds of thousands of people, rumors spread everywhere, especially in Bozhou, Mengcheng, Suzhou, Xuzhou, Suqian and other places north of Fengyang. Rumors about the Tartars eating people, having three heads and six arms, and being invulnerable to swords and guns were everywhere.

For this purpose, Zhu Cilang specially ordered the Jinyiwei to escort two real Tartars captured by the Tianqiying scouts to tour various cities, torturing them in front of the people to let them see that Tartars were also human beings, afraid of pain, and would beg for mercy, in order to dispel rumors. At the same time, he sent imperial doctors to keep them alive.

As a result, the morale of the military and the people in various places was finally stabilized a lot, and most of the rumors that were spread by word of mouth were self-defeating.

As time went on, Duoduo quickly conquered all the prefectures and cities in Henan, and in mid-March, he recalled all the troops that had been sent to various places to collect grain and conscripts.

The scouts sent by Duoduo had already learned about Zhu Cilang's series of actions, including clearing the countryside in Guide Prefecture and reorganizing the army in Jiangbei, and were naturally prepared.

However, Duoduo did not take the Ming emperor's meaningless struggles to heart.

After all, since the southern expedition, there have been several major battles, which have forced the Shun army, which had already forced the Ming army inside the pass to flee in panic, to say nothing of the southern soldiers.

Without a strong army, no matter how hard the Ming emperor tries, it will all be in vain!

By the time he led his army into Guide Prefecture, the Qing court had already learned that the Central Plains had been pacified, and issued an edict to praise his contributions, bestowing him with a pearl-inlaid sword and gold-plated shoelaces as a reward, which made Duoduo even more proud.

"Your Highness, these Nikans are truly despicable. All the cities in Guide Prefecture have been emptied, and the official roads leading south have been completely destroyed. Even the Nikans near the counties and prefectures of Guide Prefecture have already fled. With the thousands of young and strong Nikans captured in Kaifeng, it will probably take more than ten days to repair the roads to Xuzhou and Fengyang."

Boro said this, as if he thought of something, paused, and then said angrily:
"Not only Guide Prefecture, but also Bozhou, Xuzhou and other places, the Ming Emperor had already made preparations. The people there had basically been relocated, and the grass, trees, and wells outside the city and on both sides of the official road were all destroyed.

Even the scout team we sent to Dangshan was ambushed by the Ming army, and four of their cavalry were killed. It seems the leader was Yang Chengzu, a general under Ming general Gao Jie.

"Hahaha, the Nikan of the South only has this much ability. If they could fight, why would they do all this useless work of clearing the countryside?" Duoduo didn't care at all. He smiled contemptuously and then shook his head.
"These are nothing more than the dying struggles of the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He is simply daydreaming if he thinks he can use them to stop the iron cavalry of the Qing Dynasty."

"Your Highness is right. According to the scouts, the Ming Emperor has made many preparations to resist the Qing Dynasty. At least 200,000 troops have been deployed in Jiangbei, and there may even be more than 300,000." The military intelligence that Bolo received was also far from reality.

"Hahaha, 300,000 troops?" Duoduo couldn't help but laugh. "Li Zicheng also claimed to have a million-man army, but what was the result? If the Ming emperor only had 300,000 troops, then his forces would be much weaker than those of the bandits!"

After hearing this, Bolo also laughed. Rarely did he remind Duoduo to be careful. In his eyes, the southern soldiers were no different from those unarmed Nikans, and chopping them up would be no more difficult than cutting vegetables.

The reason he was so angry just now was actually because the four people who died were his sock puppets, which guaranteed his position. Boro originally wanted to use his position to help them gain more merits, but he didn't expect to steal the chicken and lose the rice instead.

"Your Highness, the scouts have also detected information about the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He is now in Fengyang, south of the Huai River. As soon as the road is repaired, we will head straight to Fengyang and catch him off guard." Bolo suggested again.

"This news may not be true." Duoduo has a different opinion.

"Fengyang is most likely just a cover. Although the Emperor of Ming is quite courageous and dared to take advantage of our western expedition to send troops north to destroy Xu Dingguo, I personally led the army south. He should have been coerced and fled by those cowardly officials by now.

An emperor who is only in his teens and has just ascended the throne, even if he wants to hold on, can he withstand the united rebellion of those ministers?

Even if the Ming emperor is still in Fengyang, he will probably flee as soon as we arrive. The rivers north of the Yangtze River are already flooded, and with the Huai River blocking the way, we can't surround him."

"Your Highness, do you mean that we should sweep Huaibei first?" Bolo narrowed his eyes and asked again.

"No, the most important thing for us now is to first capture Bozhou, Suzhou and other hubs heading south, then take them by surprise, detour through Huai'an and quickly cross the river.

After the army crosses the Huai River, split into two groups, one heading straight for Yangzhou and the other encircling Fengyang. Then I want to see where the Emperor of Ming will flee!"

Duoduo curled his lips, and then said proudly:

"Those ministers of the Ming court must have thought that I would first capture Xuzhou to resolve their worries, but I intend to catch them by surprise and scare them to death!"

"Bozhou is being defended by Chen Qianfu, who retreated south from Guide. The Ming troops stationed in Suzhou, Xuzhou and other places are the remnants of the border army led by Gao Jie. Huai'an is guarded by the southern troops led by Huang Degong. If it is a field battle, these people will be vulnerable, but if it is to defend the city, I am afraid we will still have to spend a lot of effort.

In particular, the scouts reported back military intelligence from Xuzhou, Huai'an, Fengyang and other places. The Ming court had already specially reinforced these three cities and built earth walls around them.

Not only that, the Ming troops stationed in these cities are very brave, and their scouts are extremely fierce, much more powerful than those in Jizhou. Our armored personnel are unable to get close enough to investigate for the time being."

"No matter how strong a city is, it still needs people to defend it. Isn't Tongguan strong? Xi'an is even more impregnable, but so what?"

Duoduo didn't take Bolo's warning seriously. After all, no matter how strong the city defenses were, how strong could they be? A few days of bombardment from the red cannons would probably bring them down.

"As for the scouts being a bit fierce, it's not surprising. If they were really like they were in Jizhou back then, entering an empty territory as if they were there, then this battle wouldn't have been necessary at all."

Bolo actually shared the same view. Although the Ming army in Nanzhili was prepared, it was just like a mantis trying to stop a chariot and was overestimating its own capabilities.

He recalled the military intelligence reported by the scouts, and then continued:

"Yes, there are still Ming navy ships on the Huai River. There are probably hundreds of large and small ships. One of them has the word 'Dingyuan' embroidered on its flag. It has three cannons on its bow. The smallest one is even larger than the one brought by Kong Youde and others."

Duoduo naturally understood what Bolo meant, but he sneered and waved his hand, still not taking it seriously. In his heart, he thought the other party's caution was a bit ridiculous:
"These are all insignificant matters. If the troops cannot be commanded, they are not really troops. It's just like the bandits stationed in Luoyang three months ago. Although Gao Jie, Huang Degong and others had soldiers under their command, as long as they didn't have the strength to fight outside the city, they would be waiting for death if they just stayed in the city.

If I besiege Fengyang, will they dare not leave the city to defend me? By then, whether it is Xuzhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, or Fengyang, they will all be in my pocket."

Upon hearing this, Bolo's last remaining concerns vanished. Encircling a point and attacking its reinforcements was a brilliant strategy that had always worked for the previous emperor. He immediately clasped his hands and complimented Duoduo.

"Before the road is built, we will send people to persuade them to surrender. We will persuade as many as we can. As long as they ask for money and food, we will try our best to meet their demands. We don't have them, but there are plenty in Jiangnan. When the time comes, we can let them go and grab as much as they want.

In many places, there's no need for major wars. Just give them some money and food, and they'll be well fed, and those Nikans will be eager to serve the Qing Dynasty as slaves! "Dodo wasn't a man of courage without strategy. On the contrary, he was incredibly cunning and cunning, but he lacked the ability to fight tough battles. This time, Dorgon sent him on a southern expedition, which actually gave him a great advantage.

"Also, have the scouts heading south disperse outside the official roads and look for any more Nikans. I'm afraid the Ming Emperor has also damaged quite a bit of the official roads north of the Yangtze River. We must capture more people and repair them as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Bolo responded immediately after receiving the order.

Before the official roads leading to Fengyang and Xuzhou were repaired, a large number of scouts sent by Bolo entered Huaibei again, gathering military intelligence and trying to persuade the Ming army to surrender.

However, this time, they were not as lucky as before.

Before this, the Ming troops stationed in various places had not reacted and were indeed afraid of the Qing army. However, as the news spread that Yang Chengzu easily killed a group of Tartars, was promoted two levels, and was rewarded by His Majesty the Emperor, the garrison generals in various places, who all had dozens of cavalry under their command, were eager to give it a try as soon as they saw the Qing army scouts.

The Eight Banners cavalry were indeed powerful, but they were also used to being arrogant. When they were investigating military intelligence, they basically gathered in groups of three or five and scattered everywhere. Facing ten times or even more Ming army servants, they found it difficult to resist.

You should know that the garrisons in various cities in Huaibei are basically generals under Gao Jie and Huang Degong. Half of the dozens or hundreds of servants under their command have horses and are capable of fighting.

As a result, the scouts sent by Bolo soon suffered a series of fierce attacks, and finally retreated north in panic after leaving behind more than twenty corpses.

Duoduo and Bolo's fantasy of the Ming army in various prefectures kneeling down and begging for surrender not only did not come true, but the scouts they sent to scout were attacked before they even started to solicit surrender. Even when the Qing scouts retreated, many of them were killed by the Ming army who blocked their way.

After this, the Qing army scouts no longer dared to show off. When they went south to scout again, they basically formed teams of a dozen people. No one dared to act alone. Especially when they entered the vicinity of Xuzhou City and Huai'an City, the servants led by Gao Jie and Huang Degong were the most courageous in fighting.

When Duoduo and Bolo received this military intelligence, they were angry but had no place to vent. Even though generals such as Duolo Beile Nikan, Gushan Beizi Tunqi, and the third-class Duke Tulai vowed to take revenge, they could only suppress it temporarily.

As long as the roads to Fengyang and Xuzhou are not repaired, the army cannot advance, and Jiangbei will still be under the control of the Ming army. They can only continue to wait.

However, these are just small trails after all. They can inspire people, but it is wishful thinking to want to use them to stop the Qing army from advancing southward.

In early April, as the Qing army captured 30,000 civilians from all over Kaifeng Prefecture, the official roads leading to Bozhou and Dangshan were built. The Qing army divided into two routes, one advancing eastward to make a feint attack, and the other as the main force, began to march south in a mighty force.

But at this time, after the initial panic and the victory of the scout battle, the people in the cities north of the Yangtze River had calmed down a lot. Whether it was Duoduo heading south to Bozhou or Bolo heading east to Xuzhou, they all encountered obstacles everywhere.

On the city wall of Bozhou, Chen Qianfu directly killed the Qing army envoy who came to surrender, chopped the body into two pieces, and hung it on a wooden stake erected on the city wall to boost the morale of the army.

Not only that, he also loudly scolded Duoduo, the commander of the army, on the top of the city wall, and quoted classics to lash out at Nurhaci, saying that the Jurchens were the descendants of the Ming Dynasty's slaves and savages outside the Great Wall. Duoduo and others were so angry that they wanted to bombard Bozhou and dismember Chen Qianfu.

But the problem was that his artillery fell behind the army and had not been transported yet.

However, the two red cannons on the Bozhou city wall were the first to fire, killing more than a dozen Qing soldiers who rushed up in anger, and directly scaring away all the Qing troops who attempted to attack by force.

The soldiers and civilians on the city wall were overjoyed when they saw that the Qing army, which was once so powerful and had forced them to leave their homes and made them live in fear for months, was defeated. Their morale was greatly boosted.

On the other side, the same thing happened to Yang Chengzu who was stationed in Dangshan.

Faced with Bolo's persuasion to surrender, he directly killed the messenger and even wanted to take advantage of the night to launch a surprise attack on the city. However, Bolo was cautious and well prepared. His night attack failed and he lost more than a dozen servants. In the end, he could only retreat back to the city and continue to defend it.

Bolo's ambush was not actually a victory. Seeing that Dangshan was difficult to attack and the core of Xuzhou was not there, he immediately went around the city and rushed towards Xuzhou City where Gao Jie was stationed.

On the other side, Duoduo was in the same situation. It was not that he could not capture Bozhou City. As long as he waited for the red cannons to arrive, and with the nearly 100,000 troops in his hands, and captured tens of thousands of civilians to fill the ditch, it would be easy for him to capture such a small city.

But his target was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and Nanjing, and he didn't want to waste time on such a small city.

So Duoduo led the army around the city and ordered Tunqi to lead his troops to hide and ambush. If the defenders in the city took advantage of his retreat and went out to pursue him, they would be annihilated immediately.

Chen Qianfu had some understanding of the strength of the Qing army, and he was even more aware that the soldiers under his command were not strong enough. Even if they ambushed them, they could not defeat the regular Eight Banners soldiers. He did not pursue them rashly, leaving Tunqi and those hundreds of Eight Banners soldiers to feed mosquitoes for a whole night in vain.

Duoduo led the army to continue southward, and sent Nikan to lead hundreds of light cavalry to attack Suzhou, and even Wuhe, Huaiyuan and other cities on the Huai River. However, except for Wuhe City which had no soldiers stationed, all the other cities returned empty-handed.

As for the unimportant cities such as Mengcheng, Lingbi, and Hongxian, there were indeed no soldiers guarding them, but the cities had long been emptied and all the wells had been destroyed. Even if the Qing army occupied them, it would be useless.

Nikan, Tunqi and others were so angry that they howled and killed dozens of civilians they disliked to vent their anger. If Duoduo was not the commander-in-chief and did not want to lose face after seeing the calm look of the veteran general Tulai, he would have started a killing spree by now.

As for the army simply abandoning these heavily guarded cities of the Ming court and crossing the Huai River to catch the Ming emperor off guard, it is now completely unfeasible.

Because there was not a single boat to be found along the Huai River for hundreds of miles, and the Ming navy's ships were patrolling the river from time to time. There were even several Qing army scouts who were shot and killed by the Ming navy's firearms on the ships when they were secretly crossing the river.

You know, if there are only a few scouts, it is very easy to cross the river. The Qing army's scouts have sneaked across the Huai River several times, and this time it was just an accident.

But if it is an army of more than 100,000, it would be a huge project that would take several days. At least it would take several days to collect wood and build a pontoon bridge.

Duoduo had tried before. He stationed a large army at the bend of the Huai River, east of Wuhe, and prepared to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river.

But Zheng Sen led a navy consisting of seven large ships and dozens of small and medium-sized warships, and took advantage of the wind to attack, bombarding the shore to pieces. The iron bullets fired from the bow of the ship also killed several Bayala.

At this time, Duoduo's cannons had not yet reached Mengcheng. Facing the Ming navy on the surface of the Huai River, he was completely helpless and finally had to temporarily give up the idea of ​​building a pontoon bridge.

Zhu Cilang's preparations for such a long time in Jiangbei were useful after all. Duoduo looked at the military reports sent back from the south and felt for the first time that he had underestimated the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

This time, he seemed to have hit a wall. The Ming army's will to defend the city was so firm, and the castles on both sides of the official road and the only way to go south were really deserted. Not to mention food and people, there was not even a drop of water.

Just when Duoduo was at a loss as to how to advance or retreat, Bolo in Xuzhou suddenly received a piece of great news - Gao Jie, who was stationed in Xuzhou, was willing to talk about surrender, but the situation in Xuzhou city was complicated and he did not dare to make a decision on his own.

Seeing that the Ming army was heavily guarded and its navy was powerful, and the Huai River could not be crossed for a while, Duoduo finally had to temporarily give up the surprise attack. He neither continued to go to Huai'an nor to Fengyang. He left Nikan to garrison in Wuhe, and after sending Tunqi back to defend Bozhou, he led his troops directly north to Xuzhou.

Of course, there was another important reason - he saw in the Tangbao that Bolo said that the situation in Xuzhou City was complicated, the city defense was very strong, and it might be impossible to attack by force. He did not understand what was going on for a while.

If Xuzhou City is really impregnable and cannot be attacked by force, then Fengyang City must be even more solid. Although the Qing army's scouts had previously reported military intelligence saying that Xuzhou, Huai'an, Fengyang and other cities were quite peculiar, this did not attract Duoduo's attention.

After all, the Bozhou, Mengcheng, and Wuhe he saw along the way were all normal, except that the moat was widened and the city wall was reinforced, nothing special.

At this time, he and generals such as Bolo, Nikan, Tunqi, Tulai, etc. had not yet seen with their own eyes the cities that Zhu Cilang had focused on building.

Duoduo had just led his troops to the outskirts of Xuzhou City, and before he had time to ask anything, he was led by Bolo to the hillside of Yunlong Mountain.

Looking at the city of Xuzhou, which had been transformed into a magnificent, indestructible city emitting a murderous aura, he couldn't help but gasp several times and was speechless.

"Damn it! The Ming Emperor is so vicious!"

Bolo understood this feeling too well. When he saw Xuzhou City a few days ago, he was speechless. No matter who saw such city defense for the first time, they would probably lose their composure.

He waited until Tudor recovered and then spoke:

"Your Highness, Gao Jie Nanikan is trying to use this as an excuse to negotiate terms with us. He wants gold, silver, and an official position, and he wants us to fulfill these demands immediately, otherwise he will hold on to Xuzhou!"

　Thanks to the book friend "Yuekenlu Dazhuang" for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)