Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 90 Emperor Ming should not be underestimated
Geng Jimao led more than a hundred cavalrymen and galloped northward day and night. They completed the journey of more than 400 miles in less than two days.

At this time, Zhu Cilang had just returned triumphantly and entered the Fengyang City Palace. The Tangma sent to Huai'an to deliver the victory news had not even entered the city. Xuzhou and Nanjing were still unaware of the great victory in the north.

After a period of planning and coordination, Duoduo has prepared everything. Even when he was discussing matters with Bolo, Tunqi, Tulai and others last night, he sent out a vanguard for himself to intimidate the Ming court officials in Fengyang City and make them feel complacent.

After all, in order to win credit, Geng Zhongming reported to him that the army advanced as fast as the wind after he went south, and the Ming army was so frightened that it was not worth mentioning at all.

Duoduo, Bolo, Tunqi, Tulai and others have even been able to imagine the Ming Emperor Zhu Cilang and the civil and military ministers of the Ming court in the past few days, with sad faces and helpless looks!
But he never expected that Geng Jimao would come back covered in dust at this time and tell him that Geng Zhongming was gone.

Not only Geng Zhongming, but also the vanguard he sent out, a huge group of soldiers and horses, including three or four thousand armored soldiers, three or four thousand war horses, dozens of artillery pieces, and so many civilians who were captured with great difficulty, were all gone.

Since Duoduo went on the southern expedition, even when he was cheated by Gao Jie in Xuzhou, he only lost tens of thousands of taels of gold and silver. How could he have lost thousands of soldiers and suffered a crushing defeat?
Not only him, but also Bolo, Tunqi, Tulai and other Manchu nobles were all shocked and very angry when they heard the words. They never thought that the Ming army would dare to take the initiative to attack and win a great victory.

After previous small-scale battles in Xuzhou, Suzhou, Bozhou, Suqian, Huai'an and other places, the impression that the southern Ming army was vulnerable in field combat had already been deeply engraved in their minds.

Geng Jimao looked at the shocked and angry expressions of these Manchu nobles and knew that something was wrong. Fortunately, he was well prepared. On the way back, he endured the pain of the bumpy ride and split thighs, thought of a countermeasure, and then began to defend himself.

"Your Highness, the Ming Emperor dispatched a full 30,000 troops, with 4,000 to 5,000 cavalrymen alone. Liu Zhong's thousand-plus former subordinates disobeyed orders, underestimated the enemy, and advanced recklessly, falling into the encirclement of the Ming army. I had no choice but to rescue them, and that's how they were eventually surrounded on three sides."

Geng Jimao knelt in front of Duoduo, Bolo, Tunqi and other Manchu nobles, and proved himself with tears and snot that he had only brought less than two hundred cavalrymen to break out this time, and even the Manchu Eight Banners who were supervising the army were still missing.

"If it weren't for Liu Zhong's former subordinates' greed for merit, my father would never have suffered such a tragic death in the army. It was they who implicated the vanguard troops. It's very likely that these people had been secretly in contact with the Ming army long ago."

"It's not that simple."

Duoduo frowned and his face looked gloomy.

"If Geng Zhongming hadn't insisted that I send him reinforcements, and I hadn't been able to suppress the rebellion, how could things have escalated to this point? I told him from the beginning that these surrendered soldiers should not be reused, but he pretended to obey!"

Duoduo was not much affected by the fact that Geng Zhongming was ambushed by the Ming army and died in battle. Instead, after this battle, he became more interested in the extraordinary Ming army in Fengyang.

But now, Geng Jimao is involved with Liu Zhong's old subordinates, so it has something to do with him. After all, it was he who personally recruited the troops and sent them to Geng Zhongming.

You know, Geng Zhongming originally wanted Duoduo to send an Eight Banners Army to help in the battle, but he did not take the Ming army in Huainan seriously at all, and only gave the other side more than a thousand surrendered soldiers and sent them away.

Duoduo is now in power and controls half of the Qing army, but these soldiers do not completely obey him. He is also always worried about Dorgon's backstabbing and it is impossible for him to get too entangled with Geng Jimao on such matters.

Geng Jimao was of course well aware of this, and he was merely using this opportunity to hint to Duoduo not to pursue the matter further and hold him accountable.

He also wants to inherit the title of King Huaishun!

The two of them sang the same tune and quickly put all the blame on Liu Zhong's former subordinates. The ambush was caused by the generals of Liu Zhong's former subordinates who were eager for merit, disobeyed military orders, and underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly.

After dealing with this top-tier matter, Duoduo immediately asked about the situation of the war. He was already prepared and was about to command his army to march south.

"Your Highness, this ambush was led by Emperor Ming himself. He led more than 30,000 soldiers and horses, which should be the main force of the defenders in Fengyang City." Geng Jimao continued to explain.

"Emperor Ming leads the army in person?" A hint of surprise flashed across Duoduo's face.

"Absolutely true!" Geng Jimao said firmly, his face even more resolute, even though he had only heard Tang Ma say it. "I even saw the dragon flag."

"This Emperor Ming is truly courageous and should not be underestimated!" After hearing this, Tulai frowned and said grimly.

When Duoduo heard this, he felt that Tulai had something else in mind, but he didn't say anything and continued to ask:
"Does the Ming army really have four to five thousand cavalrymen?"

In comparison, he was more concerned about whether the Ming army had the power to counterattack, and this depended on how many cavalry the Ming army had, not whether the Ming emperor had courage or how many soldiers the Ming army had.

"There should be some, and it seems that those four to five thousand cavalrymen should be all the cavalrymen in Fengyang City." Geng Jimao said in a firm tone.

"How many Ming soldiers did you kill or wound, especially the cavalry? What was the combat effectiveness of those Ming cavalry?" Duoduo frowned even deeper after hearing this.

"The Ming army probably lost three to five thousand soldiers and horses. In terms of firearms, even if all the Ming troops in the south were gathered together, they would definitely not be able to match my Geng family. After a few rounds of volleys, the Ming army suffered over three thousand casualties. However, their forces were strong, and the Emperor Ming personally supervised the battle, with both infantry and cavalry engaged. That's why..."

Geng Jimao had an expression of pain and regret on his face. He had no idea what had happened on the battlefield that day. He just came up with this reasonable explanation based on his own inference.

"The Ming army's cavalry wasn't very strong either. With over 2,000 men against my 900 or so, they were barely holding their own. If the Ming Emperor hadn't sent another 2,000 cavalrymen to join the battle, I would never have been defeated."

"That is to say..." Duoduo paused, then laughed coldly, "Two Ming cavalrymen are barely comparable to one of your retainers. It took four thousand Ming cavalrymen to defeat the nine hundred or so cavalrymen under your command!"

Duoduo directly took Geng Jimao's words as the actual situation on the battlefield, and made a very hasty judgment on the combat effectiveness of the Tianqi Camp.

After all, in his mind, the Ming army should be like this. Even when dealing with Geng Jimao, relying on several times the number of troops, and ambushing successfully, it was still very difficult.

"That's right!" Geng Jimao looked determined, without any sign of guilt.

"Hahahaha." Duoduo laughed heartily. "Then there's nothing to worry about. These Ming troops, aside from defending the city, are probably no match for our Qing cavalry!"

"However," Geng Jimao paused, then continued, "Fengyang City is even taller than Xuzhou City. With tens of thousands of troops stationed inside, it's probably going to be difficult to capture in a short time."

After hearing this, Duoduo raised his eyebrows slightly, then looked at the other three people in front of the god: "Bolo, Tunqi, Tulai, what do you think?"

This great victory of the Ming army was a huge shock to the Manchu nobles including Duoduo, Bolo, Tunqi and Tulai. They never thought that the Ming Emperor still had troops capable of fighting.

Of course, that’s all. In their hearts, the Ming army was still no match for the Qing cavalry.

After all, they knew the combat effectiveness of the soldiers under Geng Zhongming and the character of the more than a thousand elite soldiers under Liu Zhong's former command, so they were not afraid.

But these guys who had experienced hundreds of battles and participated in countless military and political events all realized at the same time that the Ming emperor in Fengyang City must be no simple person.

This is definitely not a Han emperor like Chongzhen who knows nothing about military affairs, but a very tough opponent!

At this time, not to mention Bolo, Tunqi and Tulai, even Duoduo realized that if Emperor Ming was not dealt with quickly, there would be endless troubles in the future.

However, if Fengyang City is really built taller than Xuzhou City, then it would be very time-consuming and laborious to attack it. Duoduo has been plundering from eastern Henan and northern Huaibei for almost a month, but has only captured more than 100,000 civilians. He is very worried that it is not enough to attack the city.

"Those cavalry aren't a big deal, and the infantry are even less of a concern. The key is Fengyang City. Without 30,000 to 50,000 men to fill the trenches, we can't capture it!"

Tulai did not think that the Ming cavalry could compete with the Eight Banners cavalry, and he never took Geng Zhongming seriously. However, after a long period of fighting with the Ming army in western Liaoning, he knew very well that attacking a city was not easy.

"And even if we could capture tens of thousands of Nikans to fill the trenches and attack the city, the Ming Emperor is inside the city. Having won a victory this time, the army's morale is high. It will probably take several months to capture it."

Tun Qi also said immediately: "It's already April. If the war is delayed, the subsequent supply of food and fodder, as well as whether the army can adapt to the hot and humid climate of Jianghuai, must be considered."

"Why worry about a lack of manpower? Once we've surrounded Fengyang City, we'll send troops south to plunder. Huainan's population is denser, so we can capture as many Nikans as we want. Do you think the Ming army would dare to leave the city to stop us?"

Bolo was not worried about this, but he was also concerned about the climate:

"But if we still can't capture the city by June, I'm afraid there will be Ming troops from the south heading north to defend the emperor. The situation will be extremely unfavorable, and we might even repeat the mistakes of the previous year."

After hearing this, Duoduo nodded in agreement. He was actually worried about this problem. Although the Ming army was still weak in field battles, it was probably strong enough to defend the city. If they could defeat Geng Zhongming, they would probably have 70% to 80% of the strength of the Liaozhen army back then.

"There's no need to worry about other places. I'm going to concentrate my forces and attack Fengyang with all my strength. Once Fengyang is captured, the Ming troops in other places will naturally surrender."

"The troops in Huai'an can be withdrawn, but we still need to make some preparations in Bozhou and Xuzhou. Otherwise, Gao Jie will definitely send troops to harass us. If the food supply is disrupted, it will be disastrous," Bolo warned. Tulai nodded and said, "Fengyang is hundreds of miles away from Bozhou and Xuzhou. If Gao Jie sends troops, we won't be able to intercept them quickly. We should retain two Jiala troops."

When Duoduo heard Gao Jie's name, his expression immediately turned ugly and he said sternly:
"Then have Zhunta withdraw and garrison Guide and Bozhou to guard against Gao Jie. Kong Youde will follow me south to assist in the battle. The troops originally sent to Huai'an to contain Huang Degong's forces will also be withdrawn to Fengyang to assist in the siege."
.
On the same day, the Tangma sent by Zhu Cilang crossed the river and finally delivered the news of the great victory to Huai'an City. A group of civil and military officials headed by Lu Zhenfei, Huang Degong, and Zheng Hongkui all gathered together to discuss the subsequent strategy for Huai'an to deal with the enemy.

"I'm afraid these Qing troops outside the city will withdraw soon!"

On the top of the city wall, Lu Zhenfei looked at the Qing cavalrymen galloping past on the plain outside the city from time to time, riding their horses provocatively, and said in a cold voice:

"After this loss, Duoduo should no longer dare to underestimate Your Majesty and divide his forces. Geng Zhongming marched south alone and was completely annihilated. With such a great lesson before their eyes, the Qing army should now know that Your Majesty is not to be trifled with!"

At this time, Huang Degong and Zheng Hongkui both looked very excited.

Huang Degong always considered himself as Zhu Cilang's direct descendant. Ever since the Fengyang Rebellion was suppressed, he knew that Zhu Cilang had the talent of a sage ruler. It was natural for him to expect that he would defeat a small-time Geng Zhongming.

However, Huang Degong had never expected that Zhu Cilang would behead 3,000 people in one battle, almost destroy his entire army, and kill the fake king Geng Zhongming in battle.

After all, annihilating and defeating in one fell swoop are completely different things!

Last year, he had inquired about the combat capabilities of Geng Zhongming, Kong Youde and others from Liu Zeqing, who had made military achievements in the battle to recover Dengzhou twelve years ago. Although they were not as strong as Liao Zhen, they were definitely not weak.

Huang Degong joined the army in Liaozhen. During the battle against the Jiannu, he was promoted to guerrilla for his merits. Then in the ninth year of Chongzhen, he was promoted to deputy general, in charge of the garrison troops of the capital.

He was very clear about the combat effectiveness of the Liaozhen troops, so he roughly guessed the strength of Geng Zhongming and other troops, but he did not expect that the Palace Army and the Nanjing Jingying had been trained to this level in just one year.

Thinking of this, he felt a little scared for a moment. The tens of thousands of troops under his command might not be so important at this time!

Zheng Hongkui, however, had been wavering due to Zheng Zhilong's fickleness and had never been able to serve Zhu Cilang wholeheartedly. He even had the idea of ​​immediately leading the navy and taking Zheng Sen back to Fujian if the situation turned out to be wrong.

Zheng Zhilong didn't think Zhu Cilang could succeed at all. On the one hand, he appeased Zheng Sen and asked him to place an extra bet. On the other hand, he sent someone to deliver a secret letter to Zheng Hongkui.

If it really came to the time to decide whether to keep the navy or go, with Zheng Zhilong's secret letter, Zheng Sen and the crew members and sailors heading north might not necessarily listen to him.

This is the most typical example of the countless officials and gentry who are watching from the sidelines within the Dingwu court. The South has enormous potential for war, but people's hearts are always in disarray.

But now, with Zhu Cilang defeating the Qing army in a field battle, Zheng Hongkui finally gained confidence in the Dingwu court and the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

In this case, Zheng Zhilong is far away in Fujian, and Zheng Sen is still very young, just leading the army and lacking experience. This is a great opportunity for him to show his ability in front of His Majesty!
"Your Majesty has defeated the enemy in one fell swoop, killed the false king in battle, and shocked the world. If Duoduo still doesn't realize that he has misjudged the situation, then the hundreds of thousands of Qing troops will suffer greatly in his hands." Huang Degong sneered.

Zheng Hongkui nodded in agreement and said, "If the Qing army wants to retreat, we can hold them tight. Now that the canal is flooded, we can deal with those Qing troops who have crossed the river and are harassing Suqian and Qinghe!"

Huang Degong listened and immediately agreed: "That's right. Once the Qing army wants to gather its troops, they will be eager to retreat and have no desire to fight. This is a rare opportunity."

"The Qing army is still strong in field battles. The navy can harass and intercept them, but if we want to use cavalry to attack and contain them, we must contact Gao Jie in advance. He lost a lot of soldiers in the previous night attack. I wonder if he still has the courage to do it."

Lu Zhenfei was cautious after all. After this period of time, he had already figured out the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners' armored personnel. Huang Degong's most elite 300 servants were no more capable than him.

"We must conserve our strength now. It will be of great use in the fierce battle of Fengyang. Even if Duoduo withdraws the cavalry from Huai'an and the outskirts of Xuzhou, he will definitely leave two to three thousand cavalry in Guide, Bozhou and other places. Otherwise, his retreat will be difficult."

Huang Degong and Zheng Hongkui nodded at the same time after hearing this. They had been working closely with Lu Zhenfei for some time and knew that he was foresighted and had an accurate assessment of the situation. This time would probably be no exception.

"If that's the case, we'll need at least seven or eight hundred cavalry to pose a sufficient threat to the scattered Qing troops. Otherwise, it will be like scratching the surface."

Huang Degong paused, then continued, "I can dispatch 470 cavalrymen here. The rest depends on Gao Jie!"
.
"Hehe, Huang Chuangzi has some self-awareness. Without us, he wants to deal with the Tartars with just the few cavalry under his command?" Gao Jie said with disdain.

He had received the victory report from Fengyang yesterday, and was mentally prepared for Lu Zhenfei's intention to mobilize his troops to jointly fight back against the Qing army.

After all, the latter controlled the military and political affairs of Xuzhou and Huai'an. Although he was not under Lu Zhenfei's supervision, he was very good friends with Yan Yingyuan and had a lot of autonomy, but he did not dare to disobey Zhu Cilang's orders.

"Your Majesty's victory this time is truly beyond our expectations!" Xing dismissed his attendants and chuckled:
"It looks like the Qing troops outside the city will be withdrawing soon. Duoduo must be anxious and wants to concentrate his troops to fight Zhongdu to the death. Fengyang City has a full 50,000 to 60,000 troops, including the local militia. He will never be able to capture it in his lifetime."

Gao Jie was also very excited at this time. Zhu Cilang's victory in this battle was unexpected, especially since Geng Zhongming, the pseudo-king of the Qing Dynasty who led the army, died in the battle and his body was hung on the top of Fengyang City, which made the significance of this battle even more far-reaching!

"Your Majesty said in the secret decree that the heads of 300 Qing soldiers would be sent to us soon. When that happens, I will cut off the heads of 500 Tartars and send them to Fengyang to show Your Majesty my abilities!"

"Huang Degong probably thinks the same!" Xing saw Gao Jie's expression and knew that he was starting to get arrogant again. She immediately reminded him solemnly:
"Your Majesty, if you can win in the field, you will have no problem defending the city. At least you can stop the Qing army in Jianghuai. Once the Qing army retreats, Your Majesty will definitely expand the army again. The Palace Army and the Beijing Camp will be one part, and we and Huang Degong will definitely be the other part."

Gao Jie looked at Xing, frowned slightly, and looked like he was thinking. He seemed to understand what Xing said, but he didn't seem to understand the true meaning of the words.

Seeing this, Xing smiled and said:

"Liu Zeqing has fallen from favor, or at least lacks His Majesty's trust. Liu Liangzuo has been sidelined. Zuo Liangyu is far away in Wuchang, and he has repeatedly disobeyed orders and established his own separatist regime. If His Majesty has the time, he will definitely deal with him.

Li Benshen and Hu Maozhen are highly valued in the Beijing Camp, each in charge of a battalion of troops. Both of them are your direct subordinates. Huang Degong and Liu Zeqing are different. They were transferred to the Beijing Camp, and they were not your trusted generals.

Your Majesty will absolutely not allow anyone to interfere with the Palace Army, but the Capital Camp is where Your Majesty wins over the people. Ultimately, we are just pieces on the chessboard, and our positions depend on how Your Majesty arranges them!"

"Zuo Liangyu's subordinates no longer have much capital. They are all soldiers gathered from all over the place. Now He Tengjiao has taken away many of his men. If Your Majesty takes action, he will definitely not be able to win the support of the people." Gao Jie laughed.

When he said this, he looked like he was gloating. He never thought that he was actually in the same situation. Especially after Li Benshen and Hu Maozhen were transferred away, the number of elite troops under his command was reduced a lot.

Seeing that he had no self-awareness at all, Xing secretly sighed in her heart, thinking that he didn't understand at all!

However, Gao Jie was completely baffled by the situation. After a moment's thought, he instinctively asked, "Madam, do you mean we should continue to conserve our strength?"

After all, Xing's previous proposal has always been to preserve strength and escape as the best strategy!

"No, what good would it do even if we preserved our limited strength?" Xing shook her head and asked, "Could it be that you still harbor thoughts of fighting His Majesty?"

"You thief, even if I had ten guts, I wouldn't dare to fight with His Majesty. Have you forgotten how Lu Jiude died?" Gao Jie was shocked and cursed directly.

"That's right!" Xing smiled and continued, "Now that the Qing army is marching south, it's time to fight tooth and nail. As long as we gain His Majesty's trust, we will definitely be able to surpass Huang Degong in terms of military expansion. This is the most crucial thing."

"But the fighting power of the Tartars."

Gao Jie was obviously hesitant. The five hundred heads he just mentioned was actually just a boast that came to his mind. If he really had to chop off the heads of five hundred Eight Banner soldiers, he would not be sure.

"I'm worried that even if we use up all our savings, we won't be able to win."

"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing your child." Xing looked at Gao Jie and said sternly, "We've finally found the right person. With Jiangnan's financial resources, material resources, and manpower, and your Majesty's talent, are you still worried that we won't be able to make up for it tenfold or a hundredfold in the future?"

Gao Jie listened, his expression pensive again. After a while, he finally put aside all his worries. Since Zhu Cilang came south, he has always been clear about rewards and punishments for matters big and small, and has always been very discerning. As long as he can truly make achievements, he will have no worries about his future.

"We will only retain the troops to defend the city. As for the rest, we will wait until Duoduo leads the main force of the Qing army south, and then send them all out to fight with all our might. Lu Zhenfei knows military affairs and is a fair and impartial person. As long as we contribute, he will definitely not favor Huang Degong."

Xing continued to instigate Gao Jie. Now that she had seen this opportunity, she would not give it up easily:
"No matter how much we lose, as long as we can achieve military merit and expand our army after the war, we will definitely be able to surpass Huang Degong and become the strongest force outside of the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp."

"Alright!" Gao Jie slammed the table and said, "I'm going all out this time. Let's see if that damn Tartar dares to risk his life to fight me."

(End of this chapter)