Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 88: Geng's Army Destroyed
Geng Zhongming looked at his troops, who were being routed and beaten to a pulp, and felt a sudden chill in his heart. He had never imagined that the Ming army in the south could be so powerful. This was beyond his imagination!

At first, he thought that the enemy was just an ordinary Ming army with strong combat capabilities. Although their strength was more than twice that of his, their combat power was probably less than 30% of his elite troops.

After all, the troops gathered in Jiangbei at this time were nothing more than defeated troops, rebel troops, even bandits and civilians. Almost all of them were driven to Jiangbei by Li Zicheng. What combat effectiveness could they have?

Not to mention, Emperor Ming was in the middle of the army, and those civil officials were most likely there too. When civil officials were on the battlefield, they would definitely intervene and command the army's operations. So what was there for him to be afraid of?

Therefore, even after seeing the Ming army's strict and extraordinary military formation with his own eyes just now, Geng Zhongming did not think that he could not defeat the enemy. He just had a premonition that it would take some effort.

The Qing army had won too many victories over the Ming army. This was the confidence built up by years of victories on the battlefield. Geng Zhongming did not take the Palace Army and the Nanjing Jingying seriously at all.

However, the counterattacks by the Palace Army and the Nanjing Beijing Camp severely woke him up. From the heavy losses suffered by the vanguard and the disastrous defeat in the musket fire, to the battle between the two armies, his troops did not gain any advantage at all. Even the servants who charged into the battle suffered heavy losses due to the disadvantage in manpower.

When Geng Zhongming came to his senses, he suddenly realized that he had suffered three consecutive defeats in less than an hour. The lines of his troops were constantly retreating, and it was obvious that they were unable to hold on and were on the verge of complete defeat.

Looking at the army that had lost more than 20% of its troops and the precarious front line, Geng Zhongming couldn't help but tremble in his heart and breathe heavily through his nose.

It was not until this time that he thought of the signs that before the battle, the Ming army's scouts had sneaked to the edge, and the cavalry led by Geng Jimao had been tightly pinned down on both wings, etc., which were all signs of the Ming army's strength. He then slapped his thigh, feeling extremely regretful - Damn it, I should have thought of this earlier!

However, the firm will honed through years of fighting on the battlefield enabled him to quickly suppress the uneasiness and anxiety in his heart. He turned his head sharply and scanned the battlefield in front of him.

"We're defeated, we're really going to lose!"

With his many years of battlefield experience and his almost instinctive thinking, Geng Zhongming immediately made a judgment on the situation on the battlefield. He gritted his teeth and his hands holding the reins trembled slightly.

After realizing that he could no longer win the battle and would even suffer a crushing defeat, he did not hesitate at all. He whipped his horse and turned around to gallop west with the remaining dozens of servants guarding him.

At the same time, he also sent Tangma to convey the order to retreat to Geng Jimao and the Eight Banners soldiers who stayed behind on the opposite side of the lake. He planned to take the remaining cavalry under his command and retreat to Bozhou City where Duoduo was located, where there were tens of thousands of invincible real Manchu soldiers to rely on.

Geng Zhongming wanted to take away his own son Geng Jimao, and he also had to take away the Eight Banners soldiers who were sent by the Qing court to monitor him and were currently guarding the cannons in the north.

You have to know that they were all genuine Manchu soldiers. If one of them died, he might be held accountable by Dorgon in the future!
Out of their trust in him and their mission to escort the red-coated cannons, these Eight Banners soldiers had not followed directly. After all, Geng Zhongming had been in the Qing Dynasty for more than ten years, and the Qing Dynasty still trusted him very much.

Of course, compared to these thousands of Han soldiers, cannons are obviously more valuable to the Zhenyi who were assigned to supervise the army.

After all, they would not be punished if a few Han soldiers died, but if the red cannon was damaged, it would be a big problem!

For Geng Zhongming at this time, the most important thing was to preserve the remaining troops under his command. Temporary gains and losses on the battlefield were not that important.

It is impossible for Emperor Ming to lead this army to pursue the enemy to Bozhou, right?

If that were the case, it would actually be a good thing for him. Not only would he be able to atone for the crime of underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly, but he might even be able to take the opportunity to accomplish great merit.

In other words, the war situation had developed to this point and was already irreversible. Geng Zhongming had long since given up hope and even became extremely pessimistic.

Not to mention the two or three thousand men under his command who were caught in the melee, he already felt it was a great fortune to be able to take away the hundreds of cavalry deployed on both wings.

This Ming army is so powerful!
Apart from the real Manchu Eight Banners Army, he could not think of any other army inside the Great Wall that could easily defeat the enemy.

Geng Zhongming was a veteran of many battles and knew very well that only cavalry could withdraw from the battlefield at this time. He acted quickly and even abandoned dozens of cavalry originally sent to the east side of the battlefield, seizing the last chance to retreat.

You know, it's not so easy for him to run in such a plain with dense rivers and lakes on the north and south sides. If he hesitates for a moment, he will most likely be intercepted.

But what Geng Zhongming didn't know was that Hu Maozhen had fought a draw with Geng Jimao before because he had not used his full strength, and now he was leading hundreds of cavalrymen, waiting for him.

At the same time, Zhu Cilang had already dispatched the 3,000th headquarters of the Wuyong Battalion, and the four cavalry bureaus originally deployed on the two wings also began to launch a full-scale counterattack against Geng's army.

On the central front, the soldiers of the Palace Army were already blood-thirsty, waving all kinds of weapons in their hands, constantly attacking the Geng army who were retreating, and even turning around to flee, leaving their backs completely exposed in front of them.

In the chaos of the battle, the defeated Geng army soldiers kept falling down, and their desperate shouts were endless. In the mud mixed with green grass, there were pools of blood, and the soil was trampled into potholes by the soldiers in the fierce battle.

After the Palace Army received the order to attack, a considerable number of columns that had already gained the upper hand in the battle quickly contracted their formations, and then, under the command of their respective officers, began to change their formations according to the requirements of training.

These large formations based on the "Mandarin Duck Formation" fully demonstrated the flexibility of this formation at this time. The various units of the Palace Front Army quickly split into several small formations from the original tight large formation in order to pursue the defeated Geng army separately.

Zhao Zhengdong led his flag team to the front of the army. Gu Defu, Sun Da, Chen Tao and others were in the formation. Even Hu Laoqi had changed into a waist knife and followed.

They could hear the shrill screams of the wounded on the ground, and there was sticky blood-stained mud under their feet. However, the twenty or so people in the entire flag team who were still able to fight seemed to have heard nothing and felt nothing. Their eyes were fixed on the fleeing Geng army soldiers with their backs to them.

Seeing that the defeated Geng army soldiers were running too fast, Gu Defu led a few people to pull out the iron bone flowers attached to the belts around their waists. With a few "whoosh" sounds, eight iron bone flowers drew an arc in the air one after another and smashed towards the defeated Geng army soldiers in front of them with a sharp roar.

Three defeated soldiers of the Geng army were hit, screamed in pain, and then staggered and fell. Seeing this, the other soldiers of the Tianwu Left Camp also drew out the weapons hanging on the belts around their waists, paused for a moment, and then gathered strength and threw them out.

“Hoo, hoo, hoo!!!”

"Ah, ah, ah——"

The screams of Geng's defeated soldiers came one after another, and seven more people fell to the ground after being hit by heavy weapons such as iron bones, short axes, and even flying sharp knives.

"Kill!"

Zhao Zhengdong had thrown away all the weapons on his waist belt in the close combat just now. Seeing this, he shouted loudly, and rushed out with his burly body like a bear, and directly crashed into it. Gu Defu, Hu Laoqi and others followed closely behind.

They brandished their weapons and hacked fiercely at the defeated soldiers of Geng's army who had fallen to the ground. The ground, which was already stained red with blood and covered with corpses, was once again covered in blood. The defeated soldiers of Geng's army who had just fallen to the ground were quickly killed.

At this time, the armored soldiers of Geng's army behind the central army formation saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly turned around and retreated, abandoning their weapons and armor and fleeing thousands of miles away.

The once fierce Geng army supervision team was now ineffective and even ran faster. All of them joined the ranks of the defeated army.

After the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp launched a full-scale counterattack, Geng's army was completely defeated, and the ground was littered with the bodies of Geng's soldiers.

As Geng Zhongming fled, the cavalry covering both wings withdrew from the battlefield. In particular, the commander's flag disappeared. Some of Geng's soldiers who were still resisting on the front line also joined the last train of defeat, but it was too late.

At this time, how could they outrun the Ming cavalry that surrounded them from both wings?

These slow-reacting armored soldiers were quickly surrounded by the Ming cavalry. The Ming cavalry on horseback waved their swords and guns and mercilessly killed the fleeing Geng soldiers who wanted to break through.

Zhu Cilang watched the pursuit of the Palace Army excitedly. Lin Changfeng, who was leading the troops himself, had not stopped at this time. Under his leadership, the morale of the Palace Army continued to rise, and they were intercepting the Geng Army soldiers in the middle.

The cavalry's mobility and commanding attack position gave them the initiative on the battlefield. They could choose the most favorable moment to attack, and it was easy for them to deal with infantry that had lost their formation and cavalry cover.

If Zhu Cilang had not left many cavalrymen in the formation, making it impossible to completely encircle the enemy, Geng Zhongming would probably have been able to take away even fewer people.

At this time, the armored soldiers deployed by Geng Zhongming in the middle road had been surrounded by the Ming army. Except for a few who fled first and ran to get their horses, the rest of them were unable to escape.

Almost all of these people accepted the outcome of the defeat. Seeing that the situation was not good, most of them did not fight desperately, but wanted to lay down their weapons and surrender.

But the armored soldiers of the Palace Army were already blood-thirsty. After they caught up with these fleeing soldiers who had nowhere to escape, they killed them immediately without waiting for them to surrender.

Zhu Cilang looked at the corpses lying all over the plain, and he could not contain his joy. With these thousands of shaved and braided heads, he was able to prove to the world that he was capable of defeating the Qing army.

Hundreds of them can be placed on the city walls of Fengyang, Yangzhou, Nanjing, and even Huai'an, Luzhou, and Xuzhou to beautify the overly monotonous and serious city defenses, and at the same time inspire military morale and encourage the anti-Qing fighting spirit!

"Order the army to clear the battlefield, and let Chang Denggui seize Geng Zhongming's cannon. At the same time, order Hu Maozhen to stop Geng Zhongming and Geng Jimao, and don't let them run away!" Zhu Cilang turned his head and looked at the smoke and dust rising in the west. The swaying horse buttocks were getting smaller and smaller, and then he gave the order.

As two "cymbal crashes" sounded one after another, the flag chiefs and squad leaders of the infantry led the soldiers around them back to the formation positions before the battle. The flags of each unit also returned to their positions, and the archers drew their bows and arrows and stood guard on the spot.

Although Geng's army suffered heavy losses, they still had to remain vigilant.

According to the military law of the Palace Army, the first sound of "smashing cymbals" means that the armored soldiers of each flag team return to their own flag team, and the second sound requires each unit to withdraw in the form of a column in the form of a bureau.

At the same time, the scouts who had launched a counterattack from both wings were not among those who retreated. They would continue to pursue Geng Zhongming's defeated troops.

However, the battlefield was still in chaos at this time.

Under such circumstances, military orders could not be transmitted to every place quickly. Some of the pursuing armored soldiers had stopped and began to retreat, but some were still struggling to chase and kill the defeated Geng army soldiers.

This is the actual situation on the battlefield at this moment. It is impossible to enforce discipline!

On the plains, after the sound of drums and trumpets, officers at all levels of the Ming army were shouting out the latest orders, while many armored soldiers who had just stopped chasing were still immersed in the fierce and bloody battle.

Although the swords and guns in their hands had stopped, their spirits were still high. Many of them were confused in the pursuit and had no idea where their captain, flag general, and hundred general were.

In a sense, these were all veterans who had experienced the battlefield. They were not frightened by the blood. After hearing the "cymbal crash" sound that represented the retreat, they did not bother to clean the blood on their bodies, and began to return to their teams one after another, passing by the erected triangular flags and familiar faces.

As for the corpses scattered on the ground and the scattered weapons and armor, which represented the trophies of military merit, no one paid any attention to them for a while.

As each unit returned to its position one after another, the chief officers of each headquarters came to the central army flag after the sound of suona, and everyone looked excited.

This battle was of extraordinary significance. It proved that the Ming army could defeat the Qing army in a field battle, and that they were evenly matched, with no advantage in troop strength, no favorable time or terrain, and even when they were ambushed by the Qing army and had to fight back in a panic.

This will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the Palace Army, the Nanjing Beijing Camp, and the troops still holding out in various places in Jiangbei.

At Lin Changfeng's command, a gong sounded in the central army. The soldiers who had fought desperately on the battlefield and finally defeated the powerful enemy could finally sit down and rest.

At this time, Zhu Cilang had already walked down the observation deck and arrived at the battlefield, followed by Lin Changping, Zhang Huangyan and others. He looked at the soldiers in front of him with blood on their faces and excited emotions with a smile, shook hands with them and expressed his condolences, while nodding in affirmation of their performance.

Faced with the Emperor's cordial condolences, the soldiers of the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp who were gathering to rest were extremely excited and shouted excitedly.

"Long live! Long live! Long live!!!"

"Victory! Victory! Victory!!!"

On the plains, cheers were rising one after another, and the atmosphere of joy echoed all over the mountains and plains. The colorful flags of the Ming army kept swaying in the breeze, as if responding to the cheers of the soldiers.

"Each headquarters must dispatch a deputy commander and select some soldiers in good physical condition to immediately clean up the battlefield. If Chang Denggui can gather civilians, he will soon come to assist.

Zhang Huangyan, you must immediately arrange for the instructors and military law soldiers to conduct an inspection. At the same time, send people to count and inspect the spoils of this battle and verify the number of enemy soldiers killed. All of this must be completed before dawn tomorrow.

Lin Changfeng, immediately arrange for the Palace Army and the Wuyong Battalion to count the casualties and military equipment losses of the headquarters. The wounded must be treated with all possible efforts. Also, all accidents and flaws encountered by each unit during this battle must be recorded, summarized, and reported..."

After giving these instructions, Zhu Cilang turned his head and looked at the other two officers standing beside him and said:
"Fu Chunlai, you must immediately arrange for your men to take over the surrendered soldiers and put them under guard. Find the officers who are among them and have them denounce each other. If any of them are guilty of heinous crimes, they will be executed on the spot. The rest of the ordinary soldiers will be temporarily subjected to hard labor.

Also, send another troop to tell Hu Maozhen and Chang Denggui that if they can't intercept Geng Zhongming and his son, they should stop chasing them and let them go. This will also let Duoduo know that I am not someone he can easily deal with."

At this time, the most important thing for Zhu Cilang was to gather his troops and calmly withdraw to Fengyang City. Nikan was still leading thousands of cavalry in Wuhe. If Duoduo sent out light cavalry, it would only take a day and a half for them to react.

His enemies were still very powerful. Although this great victory was of great significance, it only dealt a superficial blow to the Qing army that was on its southern expedition.

Although Zhu Cilang proved that he had personally spent millions of taels of silver to train soldiers and horses capable of fighting, this did not change the situation that the Qing army still had military advantage.

When the enemy is strong and we are weak, he must also deal with it carefully. Only by continuously winning in local battlefields and accumulating small victories into big victories can he truly turn the situation around.
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At this time, on the outer battlefield, the sound of horse hooves continued to ring out. Hu Maozhen led his cavalry to gallop back and forth, intercepting and killing the fleeing soldiers of Geng's army who wanted to break through.

As Hu Maozhen, Chang Denggui and Geng Jimao received new instructions one after another, the three of them changed their combat strategies almost at the same time.

Geng Jimao took the initiative to attack with a weak force. He had already felt that his troops were running out of strength and realized something was wrong during the battle. Now, after receiving the military order from Geng Zhongming, he dared not continue to fight.

Not only that, after realizing that the situation was not right, he neither waited for the cavalry sent to the east nor waited for Geng Zhongming to break out. After the father and son reunited, he planned a retreat and directly led the more than 300 cavalrymen around him to rush towards the northwest.

Geng Jimao is good at investigating military intelligence and has first-class intelligence analysis capabilities. Now that he has figured out the situation, he naturally has to run ahead.

After all, if he was any slower, he would be trapped here by the time the Ming cavalry completed their encirclement and launched a full-scale attack.

Moreover, the most crucial thing is that compared to his own head, Emperor Ming must want Geng Zhongming's head more. With the other party dragging him down, the Ming army may not pursue him with all their strength!
With this thought in mind, Geng Jimao did not even look back, and fled from the northwest with more than 300 cavalrymen before Hu Maozhen could encircle him.

In the blink of an eye, the entire outer line of Geng's army collapsed. Teams of Geng's cavalry, which were still fighting with the Ming army, turned their horses around and fled for their lives.

While commanding the cavalry charge, Hu Maozhen kept a close eye on the movements of Geng's army on the plains to the south. He didn't know that Geng Jimao had already escaped, and he was still thinking about capturing Geng's father and son in one fell swoop.

During this period, Hu Maozhen led his cavalry and continued to charge. In the yellow smoke, behind the big flag with the word "Hu" was seen hundreds of cavalrymen following closely, which quickly swept across the plain and wiped out Geng's army that had no time to retreat.

Hu Maozhen was always known for his bravery in the army. At this time, he personally led the charge. After causing a major collapse of Geng's cavalry, he began to rush east and west, and quickly wiped out the more than one hundred blocking soldiers left by Geng Jimao.

Along the way, whenever Geng's soldiers saw his recognition flag, they would dodge and no one dared to intercept them. The so-called cavalry left behind by Geng Jimao took turns to cover the retreat, and the entire army was defeated in an instant and was chased all the way.

Soon, Hu Maozhen saw Geng Zhongming emerging from the south. His eyes kept following the opponent's recognition flag, and then he quickly surrounded the enemy in three directions with his superior troops.

While shooting and killing the scattered Geng cavalrymen who were fleeing with their backs to him, he was also chasing Geng Zhongming's royal flag. Although he had only two or three hundred men and horses, his momentum was so strong that no one could stop him.

The dozens of personal guards brought by Geng Zhongming have now become frightened birds and have completely lost their will to fight.

Looking at the Ming army rushing towards him with great momentum, Geng Zhongming lost his mind for a moment and secretly repeated Geng Jimao's name several times. When he saw the scene of corpses all over the ground in front of him, he thought that Geng Jimao had been killed by Hu Maozhen.

Before he could come to his senses, he was already being pulled away by his personal guard leader, following the mount under his crotch, and the personal guards guarding him on both sides also began to change direction.

They are all veterans who have been through hundreds of battles and have extensive experience in escaping on the battlefield. Although they have not been able to use this skill for more than ten years, they have not forgotten it.

Geng Zhongming didn't have time to think about it at this moment. After he came to his senses, he quickly turned his horse around with his personal soldiers and retreated to the north. The only thing he was thinking about now was how to escape.

But at this moment, he suddenly discovered that a group of cavalry suddenly appeared on the west side in front of him. Judging from the flags and armor, they were a Ming army that was encircling them from the side.

This was the detachment that Hu Maozhen had just dispatched. It failed to stop Geng Jimao, but it was more than enough to deal with Geng Zhongming, who had a weaker force and arrived late.

Geng Zhongming was furious when he saw this. With a loud "whoosh", he pulled out the sword he had used for many years. The slightly concave marks on the handle of the sword in his hand were quite obvious.

He had not given up at this time and wanted to lead the servants around him to charge in another direction and break out.

But just as he turned his horse around and ran not far, another group of cavalry of the same size appeared on the east side of his sight, and the yellow dust raised by their horses' hooves rolled towards him.

　Thanks to book friends "Yuekenlu Dazhuang" and "Qingshanxi" for their rewards.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)