Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 85 Geng's surprise attack

Under the cover of night, the muffled sound of horses' hooves hitting the ground continued to be heard. Several Ming army scouts circled the plains, rode their horses from the western plains back to the two deserted villages where thousands of troops were hiding, and reported the situation of the Qing army in the north to Chang Denggui.

At this time, Chang Denggui was standing on the wall of a mud house that had half collapsed, his eyes staring straight at the dark north. All around him were soldiers who had taken off their armor and were sitting on the ground to rest. Behind him, at the edge of the village, many war horses were snorting.

The thousands of elite Ming troops heading north are now divided into eight divisions based on the Qian headquarters: Tianwu Left Camp, Tianwei Central Camp, Wuyong Camp (six divisions), Tianqi Camp (one division), and the three cavalry units assembled in the Jing Camp (another division).

At this time, all these soldiers were organized according to their organization and huddled in the ruins of the deserted village. Apart from occasionally moving their bodies, they made no sound at all.

Although the flags of each unit were not raised and the war drums and bugles were not sounding, the soldiers' advance and retreat were in an orderly manner, reflecting the excellent discipline developed through long-term training.

Zhu Cilang had previously required each unit of the Palace Army to organize a night drill every half month, and added pork liver and carrots to the diet to treat the soldiers' night blindness. This was the effect he wanted. Even the Beijing Camp, which had a slightly lower supply level, met the requirement of conducting a night drill once a month.

However, although they had experience in night exercises, it was impossible to command them to launch a night raid on Geng Zhongming's troops without actual combat experience.

When Chang Denggui saw the scouts coming back, he immediately jumped off the earth wall. After listening to their report, he gave a few more instructions. The two officers who came to report received the order, immediately jumped on their horses, and rode away.

Without waiting for their backs to disappear in the darkness, Chang Denggui immediately rushed with his personal guards to the deserted village courtyard where Zhu Cilang was now. There was no fire here either, and the entire lighting depended on the moonlight from the sky.

Outside the wooden fence of the courtyard, there were soldiers of the imperial guards led by Lin Changping. Inside the courtyard, Hu Maozhen, Lin Changfeng and other generals surrounded Zhu Cilang and were discussing the next battle strategy.

"Your Majesty, the scouts sent north have just returned. Before dark, Geng Zhongming's Qing army only built a simple pontoon bridge for the scouts to cross the river. Aside from sending a few dozen scouts across the river for surveillance and intelligence gathering, the main army camped directly to the north. It seems their baggage and artillery haven't been transported yet, so they're afraid to let their troops cross the river first."

After Chang Denggui saluted Zhu Cilang, he immediately cupped his hands and said:
"Most of the dozens of scouts who crossed the river were on guard about ten miles south of the lake. They were very aggressive. In the battle just now, we lost four cavalrymen.

But they don't seem to have any intention of exploring further south. We haven't found any traces of Qing scouts near the deserted village where our army is stationed."

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang nodded. The current situation was basically within his expectations, which made him feel very relieved, but he also felt a little empty, as if everything was going too smoothly.

After all, it was the first time that he led such a large army to fight, and the one he faced was the cunning Geng Zhongming. Zhu Cilang was actually very nervous under his calm appearance.

"The Qing army had won so many victories in Huaibei before, so these scouts are naturally arrogant. If they were to be submissive, that would be strange!"

Zhu Cilang paused, then instructed, "Send out more scouts to subtly contain them. We absolutely cannot allow them to continue moving south. As soon as Geng Zhongming's troops cross the river tomorrow, we will immediately begin our action."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Chang Denggui immediately accepted the order.

"What is the approximate strength of the Qing army under Geng Zhongming? Do you have a more accurate estimate now?" Zhu Cilang asked again.

"There should be around 4,000 people. Geng Zhongming's original troops are nearly 3,000, and Liu Zhong's old troops are over 1,000. They are basically all wearing armor. The cavalry should not exceed 1,000, but must be more than 600. In addition, there are more than 5,000 civilians following behind. Dozens of them fell down on the road. They must have died of exhaustion." Chang Denggui said again.

At this time, as the distance between the two sides narrowed, the scouts sent by Chang Denggui had further understood the strength of Geng Zhongming's Qing army, which was nearly a thousand less than what the scouts had reported previously.

"Damn Duoduo, it seems like he really doesn't take us seriously!" Hu Maozhen cursed after hearing this, then bowed and clasped his hands towards Zhu Cilang and said:

"Your Majesty, with our current military strength, as long as Geng Zhongming's troops cross the river, we can definitely annihilate them in one fell swoop. I am willing to lead the charge and take this fellow's head."

"Geng Zhongming is just relying on the power of others. The Tartars can fight, but they can't. He dares to leave the main army and head south with such a small number of troops. We must teach him a lesson." Lin Changfeng also spoke in support.

"Geng Zhongming has fought for so many years, and his Dongjiang veterans are quite capable. Besides, Huaibei is full of flat lands. It's not easy to take his head!"

Zhu Cilang looked at the burly and strong Hu Maozhen, smiled, and then said:
"But since he dared to come, I absolutely cannot let him go. Hu Maozhen, you will be responsible for outflanking the rear. How the troops assigned to you fight will be decided by you. I want to see this guy's head."

"I will definitely live up to your mission!" Hu Maozhen immediately bowed and said with a firm look in his eyes.

The last time he and Chang Denggui led troops to Wuhe to provoke Nikan, they needed to lure the other side to attack, but they did not succeed. The opportunity to make merit that he had been thinking about was missed. This time when facing Geng Zhongming, he naturally would not miss such a rare opportunity.

As for Lin Changfeng, the infantry he led was not very mobile, and he was destined to have no chance of carrying out operations such as encirclement and ambushes, but his mission was to lead the troops to defeat Geng Zhongming's troops head-on.

Chang Denggui still seemed to be taking his time. As an all-round deputy, he was like a brick. His position often depended on how Zhu Cilang arranged it.

Soon after listening to Chang Denggui's report, Zhu Cilang issued the final pre-war orders based on the current military situation.

Before dawn, Chang Denggui led the Tianqi Camp to set out in batches and operate on the eastern wing, while Hu Maozhen led the cavalry of the Jing Camp to operate on the western wing. According to the plan, after all of Geng Zhongming's troops had crossed the river, they would attack from both wings and use cavalry to destroy the latter's baggage and artillery.

Among them, after Hu Maozhen completed the first phase of the combat mission by attacking Geng Zhongming's Qing army, he had to withdraw troops according to the situation to prevent Geng Zhongming from fleeing with his troops when he saw the situation was not good.

The infantry of Tianwei Camp, Tianwu Left Camp, and Wuyong Camp surrounded Geng Zhongming's troops in the south, tightened the pocket, and cooperated with the cavalry on both wings to eliminate the Qing army's vanguard.

Zhu Cilang's battle plan was not complicated, and was even a bit too ordinary. It was the most common and typical method of luring the enemy deep into the territory and ambushing on three sides, which had occurred countless times in the history of war.

But on the battlefield, what determines victory or defeat is almost never fancy strategies, but soldiers, soldiers who can truly execute combat orders.

Whether Zhu Cilang can win this time actually depends on whether the soldiers under his command can fight. Otherwise, even if he successfully ambushes Geng Zhongming's troops, it will be useless.

After this simple military meeting, Chang Denggui immediately returned to the army and sent additional scouts to the north in advance to monitor the Qing army's every move. Ma Zhenfeng received the order and quickly rode out with a small team of cavalry under his command.

They had been on the plains between Huaibei and the Rui River for more than ten days, and even in the middle of the night, with only moonlight, they were familiar with the route. However, relying solely on moonlight did slow their progress.

Under the cover of night, Ma Zhenfeng and his men's armor, helmets, and even the tips of their guns were covered with military uniforms or covered with cloth, and the horses' hooves were also wrapped with cotton cloth. If you didn't get close and heard the muffled sound of the horses' hooves hitting the ground, you wouldn't be able to discover their whereabouts at all.

On the way, Ma Zhenfeng and his ambush troops usually communicated with each other by the sounds of birds and animals to avoid being hurt by their own people. He paid a little attention and saw two corpses along the way, which showed that the Qing army also wanted to further explore the south.

It took them two full hours to get around from the west to the place where the Qing army scouts were densely ambushed, and then they began to monitor the latter's actions.

The battlefield situation changes rapidly. Although Zhu Cilang has already grasped the general military intelligence of the Qing army, sufficient vigilance is still needed before the battle. Ma Zhenfeng was assigned the task of in-depth reconnaissance because of his outstanding performance in Henan before.

After Geng Jimao led more than a hundred scouts across the river, although they scattered their troops around the temporary floating bridge ferry to guard, the farthest they could reach was only about ten miles.

The only area that these more than one hundred Qing troops could truly ensure control of was the area around the ferry, within a radius of three or four miles. They only arranged ambushes for other places.

You know, from the place where these lakes are densely distributed to the deserted village where Zhu Cilang's army ambushed, there are five or six villages around it, all of which are deserted. These ruins seriously block the view, and many scouts from both sides are hidden inside.

Moreover, this place is very close to Fengyang. If they march quickly, it will only take half a day to get there. Zhu Cilang had already arranged nearly a hundred scouts to ensure that he could detect any Qing army light cavalry raids in time.

Although the scouts had been strengthened, the Qing army wouldn't be able to detect any abnormalities in such a short period of time. Zhu Cilang would launch an attack tomorrow morning, once all the Qing troops had crossed the river. Ma Zhenfeng was unaware that Geng Zhongming and Geng Jimao were preparing for a surprise attack. He and his eleven men were currently nestling in the ruins of seven or eight dilapidated huts, observing the northeast direction.

The night wind was blowing, and dark clouds occasionally blocked the moonlight, making the surroundings sometimes bright and sometimes dark. More than a hundred steps in front of him was a small lake, and there was a small river beside it, which was less than five or six feet wide. When the moonlight shone down, you could still see the ripples on the lake.

This place is less than six miles away from the Qing army's camp, and only one or two miles away from where the Qing army's ambush troops are densely deployed, so you can often see Qing army scouts coming and going.

Ma Zhenfeng watched for a while and didn't notice anything unusual. He guessed that Geng Zhongming didn't expect that someone in the Ming army would dare to take the initiative to attack and investigate the military situation in depth, so he didn't make any corresponding deployments.

After all, although both sides sent out scouts, in such a vast area and at night, if these two or three hundred soldiers were scattered, they might not be able to find out anything, not to mention that most of the scouts were actually arranged as ambush troops.

"Captain Qi, should we move forward a little further?" A team member turned his head to look at Ma Zhenfeng and asked in a low voice.

"Wait a little longer. We must not alert the enemy." Ma Zhenfeng shook his head and said:

"There are too many Qing troops ambushing us ahead. We will be discovered if we get close. Although this Qing army is not a real Tartar, it is not weak either."

The team member also noticed some clues. Hearing this, he stopped talking and continued to look in the direction of the Qing army camp in the distance.

Ma Zhenfeng was actually hesitant in his heart. He looked up at the moon in the sky, estimated the current time, and wondered when to move forward, and how to escape if he was discovered during close reconnaissance.

As a night watchman in the army, his first priority is to bring back the military intelligence he has obtained at the risk of his life and hand it over to the commander-in-chief of the army, otherwise all his actions will be meaningless.

Soon, Ma Zhenfeng made a decision, then looked up at the moon again, confirmed the current time again, and then gave specific instructions for action to the eleven people he brought.

When there was still an hour before dawn, Ma Zhenfeng finally set off with his other seven scouts, each leading a horse, leaving four people behind to support and watch the horses.

The Qing army was so tightly defended that they naturally did not ride horses. Instead, they took advantage of the cover of night and walked towards the location where the Qing army had built a pontoon bridge. There were too many ambush troops here, and if they rode horses, they would be exposed quickly.

Relying on his familiarity with the nearby terrain, Ma Zhenfeng carefully avoided the most likely ambush sites of the Qing army, killed two ambush soldiers on the road, and injured one of his own men before finally finding his way to a ruin about three miles away from the Qing army's ferry.

Geng Jimao was able to sneak out of Fengyang City without being noticed, and the army in front of the palace also had such an outstanding night watchman.

But here, he no longer needed to move forward. Although there were still scattered ruins to hide in, it was easy to imagine how many Qing troops were lying in ambush there.

Most importantly, under the moonlight, he had observed that several pontoon bridges were being built in the rivers connecting the huge lakes. Qing troops had already begun to pass through two of them and were then gathering by the lake.

"Oh no, we've fallen into a trap!" Ma Zhenfeng reacted immediately.

It was less than half an hour before dawn, and the Qing army's secret crossing of the river at this time clearly had other intentions.

"Captain, could it be that the Qing army has already discovered that we have a large army ambushing in the south?" A scout under Ma Zhenfeng asked with a frown when he saw this.

"Xiao Liu, take them both back immediately and deliver the news of the Qing army's secret gathering to General Chang." Ma Zhenfeng did not answer directly, but gave orders to several of his men.

"Captain Qi, what about you?" The scout named Xiaoliu turned his head and looked at Ma Zhenfeng and asked.

"I'll observe for a while. Geng Zhongming might have some other schemes. You go first and execute the order immediately!"

"Yes!"

After the scout named Xiaoliu and the other two team members quietly left on horseback, Ma Zhenfeng immediately observed the Qing army gathering by the lake.

At this time, groups of Qing troops were crossing the newly built pontoon bridges, and hundreds of them had already gathered by the lake. However, because the pontoon bridges were not stable, the Qing troops were not moving very fast, and the cavalry were basically led by their horses.

Just as Ma Zhenfeng was about to continue observing, Xiao Liu and his three companions who were retreating were discovered by the ambush troops arranged by Geng Jimao not long after they started walking. The two sides then engaged in a confrontation, with the whistling sound of arrows piercing the air and shouts of killing rang out one after another.

After Xiaoliu and his three companions were exposed, they immediately mounted their horses and rushed out, but the Qing army reacted quickly and they could not escape quickly. The three of them only resisted for a while before they were hit by several arrows, fell off their horses, and were killed on the plain by the Qing army ambushes that quickly pounced on them.

Seeing this, Ma Zhenfeng didn't care about anything else. After a dozen Qing army scouts on horseback passed by behind him, he immediately rushed out with his men and mixed in with the Qing army.

It was still dark at this time. Although there was moonlight, the plain was pitch black everywhere. Now it was in chaos. This was their only chance to break out.

You know, although they have horses, as long as they are discovered, the surrounding Qing troops will rush over and block them layer by layer, and they will be dead.

Ma Zhenfeng once again divided his scouts into two groups and ordered the other two to break out in different directions to increase the probability of successfully escorting the intelligence out.

The Qing army is now gathering and it seems that they are about to set out. He must send this military information out immediately, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable.

Fortunately, the surrounding Qing army ambush troops had all exposed their positions in order to wipe out the suddenly appearing Ming army. Ma Zhenfeng quickly led his scouts to take advantage of the chaos and blend into the Qing army's pursuing team.

In this way, as long as he runs two or three miles and gets support from his comrades in front, he will be basically safe.

At this time, Geng Zhongming and Geng Jimao, father and son, were not surprised by the news that the Ming army scouts had reached their border. This was a common occurrence during the battle between the two armies.

Now, their army is almost assembled and is only one step away from launching a surprise attack on the Ming army in the south.

Although the two men intended to surprise the Ming army, they couldn't sneak up on them without being noticed and then launch a sudden attack. The movement of thousands of troops, especially with cavalry raiding, the vibration of horses' hooves on the ground, would be noticed by the Ming army at a distance of several miles.

However, it takes time for the army to put on armor, assemble, form battle array, for officers to command, and for defensive deployments against enemy attacks. Geng Zhongming's surprise attack left the Ming army with no time to prepare.

"Dad, the Ming army's scouts discovered our movements and killed three of them, but I'm afraid there are still some who slipped through the net. They must be very powerful to have been able to find us here. There's no way they're the only ones."

After listening to the report from his subordinates who had just returned from the front, Geng Jimao immediately came to Geng Zhongming.

Geng Zhongming had not expected such a sudden situation to occur, but he had basically made preparations for the surprise attack and naturally could not give up halfway. He immediately said:

"First, lead your cavalry to attack from both flanks to disrupt the Ming army's deployment. The scouts can't run very fast. I don't believe this duck in my mouth can fly away!"

"With the speed of the Ming army, they won't be able to escape," Geng Jimao vowed. "Don't worry, Dad. I will definitely catch them. This time, I'll at least kill half of their troops and scare the crap out of those corrupt officials in Fengyang City."

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

　　
　
(End of this chapter)