Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 9: My Emperor Has the Aura of a Hero

In this situation, it is inevitable to break out and be discovered, it is just a matter of sooner or later.

Therefore, before breaking out, Zhu Cilang tried every possible means to gather at least one person and two horses. Otherwise, if there was any accident, it would be difficult for him to escape the pursuit of the Shun army.

You know, although the Shun army is not yet invincible in the world, it is no longer a bandit. The entire marching, deployment, setting up camp, and guard deployment all have a set of regulations.

At such checkpoints, scouts would come to check every once in a while and send out the night's duty command to communicate, in order to avoid the current situation from happening, while the army was completely unaware of it.

However, because the west and north of the city had just been breached, some of the scouts near the checkpoint had already taken advantage of the chaos to sneak into the city. After Zhu Cilang broke through the checkpoint, he only encountered three ambushes.

These ambush troops looked at the dozens of cavalrymen rushing past and did not dare to rush forward to stop them. They just fired red flares into the sky and then watched Zhu Cilang lead his troops away.

Of course, they didn't know that it was the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty who led the troops to break out, otherwise they would have gone up and fought no matter what!

It was not just for the credit, but allowing the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty to break out from the position he was defending was a crime punishable by death.

Chang Denggui drove the horse in front. He was very adept at dealing with the traps set by these former Ming army veterans. In the end, he only lost two war horses and broke through a safe passage.

As for the Shun army camp, which only realized something was wrong after a while, several former Ming army officers who had just surrendered to the Shun army were trying their best to cover it up, saying that the defenders of Dongzhimen were desperate and instigated the two Shun army officers sent by Li Zicheng to monitor them to launch a counterattack in order to deceive the public.

The two Shun army officers naturally did not believe what they said. After repeated questioning, they finally found out that it was the remaining soldiers in the city who broke through the checkpoints and broke out of the city.

But they are not happy to see such a situation. The new dynasty has just been established, and failure to achieve anything at this time is a mistake in itself. If they make mistakes again, what will happen to their future?

So, the two men sent out scouts to pursue and at the same time began to counterattack Dongzhimen, hoping to make up for their mistake.

When the former Ming army officer who was entrusted with the important task heard the order to send out only twenty or so scouts, he immediately understood what his two superiors meant.

Chase, you must chase hard!

Zhu Cilang didn't know the psychological thoughts of these veteran soldiers, but he didn't dare to slack off at all.

After all, when they attacked the checkpoint, they were too fierce. It was obvious that they were the only elite troops left in the capital, which would definitely arouse the suspicion of the Shun army.

The group of people galloped for nearly a hundred miles, and only dared to rest and catch their breath when it was almost dawn.

Of course, he also roughly guessed that the defenders of Dongzhimen would become scapegoats. No matter when, someone has to take the blame, not to mention that these are a group of weak soldiers who have just made a fortune.

Not only that, at dawn, Chang Denggui, following Zhu Cilang's orders, dropped several bags of gold, silver and jewelry along the way, intending to delay the pursuit of the Shun cavalry.

If the pursuers were a large force of Shun troops, with many people and many eyes, and they could be divided into groups to deal with them, it might be useless to throw away these gold, silver and jewelry, but the large force could not catch up with them anyway.

If it were a small group of Shun army cavalry, it would probably be hard for them not to be tempted by the gold, silver and jewelry scattered on the ground.

In other words, no matter what the situation is, the Shun army will not be able to catch up unless they are all saints who regard money as dirt.

At this time, all the soldiers who were accompanying him were no longer greedy for the property they carried with them, and they obeyed Zhu Cilang's orders unconditionally without any hesitation.

After all, after the successful breakout, Zhu Cilang's grand plans became a reality. At the same time, after the actual combat test, he successfully led everyone to escape, and his prestige was naturally firmly established.

As for the other difficulties and obstacles on the way south, seeing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince remained very calm throughout the journey, the others also felt reassured.

Next, it’s time to choose the route to the south.

However, before that, Zhu Cilang looked at Li Banghua and finally advised:
"Mr. Meng, please sit down and rest for a while. There's no need to worry about those empty formalities at this time."

"Your Highness, I am fine. I... Ugh—"

After running all night, Li Banghua was already walking unsteadily when he dismounted from his horse. Now he was supported by Zhu Cilang's two personal bodyguards and was able to stand up with difficulty.

After all, when he was suppressing the rebellion in Jiangnan two years ago, he was followed by a group of people. Although he also traveled dozens of miles a day for several months, it was ultimately an infantry march. It was nothing like now, where he could gallop nearly a hundred miles in just half a night.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang didn't refuse the old man's face and directly waved his hand to call Zhou Shixian and Chang Denggui over. "Northern Zhili and some prefectures in Shandong should have been surrendered by the Shun army. We can only be considered safe when we reach Xuzhou.

However, judging by the Shun army's concentration of troops outside the capital, Li Zicheng probably didn't allocate many troops. The various prefectures and post stations probably only had the original imperial court troops, and they might not even have changed their uniforms and armor."

Today, the main forces of the Shun army are concentrated in the two major cities of Beijing and Tianjin, as well as the two land and canal transportation hubs of Baoding and Jinghai, and have not yet had time to control the intermediate areas between these cities.

After breaking out, Zhu Cilang initially planned to go directly south to Dong'an, located between Beijing and Tianjin, and obtain the supplies needed to continue south in the surrounding post stations or villages.

Of course, the area around Dong'an was not safe either. After obtaining supplies there, he had to quickly head south and turn to Hejian Prefecture. Then, based on the specific conditions of the post stations along the way, he would decide whether to go south by land or through the canal.

During this process, he also had to ensure that he would not alarm the garrisons in the prefectures that had been captured by the Shun army. Although the Shun army troops stationed there were basically only a hundred or several hundred people, Jinghai still had Hao Yaoqi's troops. Once they were entangled, it would still be very troublesome.

In other words, breaking out of the capital was just the beginning. Zhu Cilang had to overcome many difficulties on his way south, and he had to get south within 25 days. Otherwise, once Prince Fu came to the throne, he, the real prince, would only be a fake prince.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid that those local officials have already surrendered to the rebels. Why don't we just use the rebels' banner? Maybe it will be safer along the way. After we reach Dongchang Prefecture, we can change back."

Chang Denggui paused, then clasped his hands together and said, "I'm worried there won't be many horses left at the post stations along the way. I'm afraid we'll have to take the canal in the end, and it's not convenient to move around on a boat."

"One of the bandits' routes is from Henan, passing through northern Zhili to besiege the capital. I'm afraid all the post stations along the way have been looted." Li Banghua gradually calmed down. This stubborn old man did not go down to rest, but stood by and listened. At this time, he could not help but speak out.

Chang Denggui received Li Banghua's approval and then said:
"Some of my men are from Qing County, and the transport gang there might be of use. Although it's a bit inconvenient to travel via the Grand Canal, if we travel day and night, it should only take less than ten days to reach Xuzhou.

Furthermore, if we have the protection of the Cao Gang on the road, it will be much safer. These Cao Gang members travel all over the country all year round, and the powerful people along the way will generally give them face, so obtaining supplies will be much easier."

Zhou Shixian didn't know much about these things, but he was born in a family of officials after all, so he was not afraid at all in such a situation, and he could even find something to say for himself.

"Unfortunately, most of the elite Night Warriors and the remaining war horses of the Three Thousand Battalions were taken away by Lord Li. When I was recruiting in the capital, I wanted to recruit some Night Warriors, but I couldn't find any.

If we can get one or two hundred horses from the Beijing Camp, we can gallop south and reach Southern Zhili in eleven or twelve days."

"Yes, if Chen Yanluo and his team of brothers from the Three Thousand Battalion could protect His Highness, there would be no problems in the journey south."

Chang Denggui said with a look of regret, "It's a pity that when Lord Li swore his oath to march out, he took most of the troops from the Three Thousand Battalion and the Divine Machine Battalion with him. Chen Yanluo is well-known, and I heard that he was the first one to be called upon."

In fact, if Li Jiantai had not taken away the thousands of soldiers from the Beijing Camp, especially the few hundred elite soldiers left, the Beijing Camp would still have been able to gather enough soldiers to escort Chongzhen south when Li Zicheng broke through Changping.

Of course, this was limited to Emperor Chongzhen, the Empress, Crown Prince Zhu Cilang, and several other princes and princesses. Various court secrets and archival materials required for national governance in Beijing could not be taken away.

The Ming Dynasty established its capital in Beijing for more than two hundred years. If all these things were taken away, it would probably be impossible without thousands of mules, horses, and vehicles.

After listening to Zhou Shixian and Chang Denggui, Zhu Cilang did not further inquire about the details of the Three Thousand Camps and the so-called "Chen Yanluo". Most of the soldiers and horses of the Beijing Camp that Li Jiantai led out had surrendered to the Shun Army, and some had fled back to the capital and the south. It would be useless for him to ask.

"This trip south, even if it's just to Xuzhou, is still thousands of miles long. Dangers and difficulties are inevitable. I never thought it would be smooth sailing.

But no matter how many difficulties and obstacles there are, I have the protection of my ancestors. I will build a path through the mountains and a bridge over the water. No matter how difficult and dangerous the situation is, I will definitely be able to overcome it."

Zhu Cilang already had a plan in mind. Now he just needed to gather ideas, check for omissions and shortcomings, and finally make adjustments and choices. At the same time, he also wanted to give his soldiers and generals some encouragement and boost their confidence.

He looked around and finally made his final decision:

"Based on the current situation, the Shun army in the capital will probably not be able to catch up with us. Along the way, we only have two choices. If we have horses, we can go by land. If we don't have horses, we can go by the canal. Both have their pros and cons, but both are acceptable.

The journey south should be flexible and adaptable, without having to stick to a specific plan. Once we reach Xuzhou and find a post station, we can change horses and head directly south to Zhongdu, where we'll find soldiers and guards, and everything will be safe.

Now, I intend to go to Dong'an as originally planned to see how the post station there is doing. If the situation is not optimistic, I will go directly south to Qing County and find a boat there."

Zhu Cilang's tone remained calm. Li Banghua, Zhou Shixian, Chang Denggui, the two Lin Changfeng brothers who were surrounding them, the Beijing Camp and the Jinyiwei all became extremely alert upon hearing his words.

Now, as soon as Zhu Cilang spoke, they felt relieved. Li Banghua looked at him calmly in the face of danger, and his composure remained unchanged even after running all night to break out. The Crown Prince, who was in charge of the strategy, was also cheered up because of running all night, and was even more delighted in his heart - our emperor has the qualities of a heroic ruler!
　Thanks to book friends 2021030110411934220, Shao Nian Yi Tu, and Liehuo Xiangfang for their rewards.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)