Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 93 First Round of Attack
Teams of Ming cavalry attacked from the earth walls on the west and south sides of Fengyang City, driving away the Qing scouts who were approaching to investigate outside the city walls.

The two sides then engaged in several clashes. After leaving behind several corpses, the Qing army scouts suddenly retreated in disgrace. However, seeing that the Ming army had not caught up with them at all, they quickly returned and continued to gallop outside the city, constantly provoking and trying to anger the Ming army.

In order to force the Ming army in Fengyang City to leave the city as soon as possible for a fight, and at the same time to further investigate the defense of Fengyang City and prepare for future surprise attacks to break the city, Duoduo continuously sent cavalry to harass and provoke.

However, Zhu Cilang's determination far exceeded his imagination. He did not waver at all. He even often climbed up the city wall and raised the dragon flag to provoke the Qing army.

You know, although Fengyang is the central capital of the Ming Dynasty, if Zhu Cilang and the main force of the Ming army, the two biggest baits, were not there, Duoduo and a group of Manchu nobles would not even take a second look at it.

In the original history, Duoduo only sent a surrendered general to capture the so-called Ming Dynasty Zhongdu, while he led the main army straight to Yangzhou.

But at this time, the situation was completely different. In the wilderness outside Hongwu Gate and Tushan Gate of Fengyang City, the Qing army's drums rumbled. In just three days, various siege weapons had been built and pushed to a place about three miles away from the outermost earth wall.

The siege force, consisting of more than 5,000 civilian laborers, pushed hundreds of shield carts, pointed wooden donkeys, trench carts and ladder carts at the front of the line. Behind them were more than 500 Eight Banners armored soldiers and a supervision team composed of more baoyi soldiers.

On the spacious watchtower of Hongwu Gate, under a dragon flag fluttering in the wind, Zhu Cilang was leading a group of ministers, gazing at the dusty and dusty Qing army positions in the distance.

The Qing army acted quickly. In just one day and two nights, they obtained the wood needed to build siege equipment from the mountains and forests more than 30 miles away. Then they mobilized thousands of laborers to dig up the river channel that Zhu Cilang had sent people to destroy overnight, and directly used the Hao River to transport the wood. The wood floated on the water and drifted downstream, saving a lot of time and manpower.

Although Zhu Cilang had thought of this and made preparations early on, the Qing army had sufficient manpower and quickly restored the river channel.

"It seems that Duoduo can't wait any longer and has built so many siege equipment overnight." Zhu Cilang laughed coldly. He didn't take these simple siege equipment seriously at all. In front of such a strong city, the Qing army would only become more and more desperate.

"How could these Tartars understand any strategy? Moreover, Your Majesty's strategy is a conspiracy that has been passed down through the ages. Even if they see through it, they can only follow Your Majesty's instructions and continue the attack."

Ma Shiying stepped out of the line with a bow, clasped his hands together, and was the first to offer compliments. Gao Hongtu still looked down upon such flattery, while Shi Kefa felt quite regretful, but he considered himself to be aloof and was unwilling to lower himself to show off.

"When he could no longer bear it, he sent his troops south to attack, but they were met with setbacks at every turn and retreated in disgrace. The morale of the army was irreparable."

"Furthermore, the weather will be hot and dry, with continuous heavy rain, making it even more difficult for the Qing army to attack the city. These Tartars all come from outside the Great Wall, and they will definitely not be able to withstand such a climate. Sooner or later, an epidemic will break out among the army."

Seeing Ma Shiying's behavior, Shi Kefa finally couldn't help but interrupt and flattered:
"All of this is within your majesty's expectations. Duoduo's defeat is now certain."

Not only that, as the situation changed, especially after the Ming army won several small victories, strictly speaking, except for the battle of Huaibei, none of them were small victories, but after both sides suffered casualties with the Qing army, the ministers in the Dingwu court changed their tone.

"That's right. Your Majesty is sitting firmly in Zhongdu, luring the enemy deep into our territory. Such a mighty and heroic strategy, how could a barbarian like Duoduo have imagined this? He must have thought he had seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"I have always admired your majesty's strategy. It may seem ordinary and plain, but it is actually adapted to local conditions and unexpected. It is truly brilliant!"

"From the looks of it now, the situation in all directions is completely under your majesty's control!"

"Your Majesty is truly a master of foresight, as if seeing through fire!"

"The revival of the Ming Dynasty is just around the corner. Restoring the mountains and rivers and returning to the old capital is just around the corner!"

"."

This group of civil servants seemed to have lost their memory and completely forgotten their previous political statements. Now they all turned to stand on Zhu Cilang's side. This is the benefit of winning on the battlefield!

However, not everyone in the court was like this. The attitudes of Gao Hongtu, Lu Daqi and others were completely different from Ma Shiying. This was also a feature of the Ming Dynasty's party struggles - what the political enemies supported, I opposed, and the more the political enemies supported, the more I opposed.

Now, because of Zhu Cilang's victory on the battlefield, the two sides no longer have as big differences in their views on military strategies as before, but they still argue over how to defend the city.

Compared with Ma Shiying and others' strategy of holding their ground, constantly consuming the Qing army, and even forcing it to move south to attack Yangzhou, Gao Hongtu, Lu Daqi and others supported taking the initiative to attack and harass, firmly restraining the Qing army to prevent any accidents in the south.

After all, Yangzhou only had Zhu Dadian, Huang Fei, and a group of soldiers and horses gathered from all over the country. Their overall strength was not even as good as Huai'an, Xuzhou, etc. The most important thing was that Zhu Cilang, the pillar of the Ming Dynasty, was not in Yangzhou!
Nowadays, these civil servants are all worried wherever Zhu Cilang is not in charge.

"Your Majesty, I think we can take advantage of the disadvantageous situation of the Qing army in attacking the city and send elite troops to raid its camp. This will catch the Qing army off guard and accelerate its defeat." After Gao Hongtu waited until the flattery stopped, he immediately bowed and stepped out.

"That's right. If we don't show that our dynasty has a strong army, Duoduo will probably go south without restraint. After all, Yangzhou does not have a main force of the army. We must hold on to Duoduo and weaken his army heading south. This is the only way to be safe." Lu Daqi also echoed.

These two strategies are both the result of political differences among civil servants and the views of different generals in the military. In fact, both have their merits, but they must seize the right opportunity, otherwise they will backfire.

And this is exactly what these civil servants are worst at. They are good at boasting, but when it comes to actual combat, they make stupid moves one after another.

However, Zhu Cilang had already made a decision on this. After perfunctorily saying that the time was not right, he left behind these fawning civil servants and led a group of military generals to inspect the outer earth wall.

On the way, he once again asked about the latest situation of Chen Fu's granary, arsenal, gunpowder warehouse, fire prevention, night attack prevention, and the placement of wounded soldiers.

Chen Fu answered each question one by one, especially regarding the fire and moisture protection of fodder and gunpowder. Since the beginning of the war, all Ming army operations had been strictly implemented according to plans that had been continuously refined by officials from various departments, with basically no major mistakes.

Zhu Cilang watched the increasing number of shield carts and Qing soldiers outside the city and knew that Duoduo was about to launch the first round of assault. Once the battle began, these supplies would be his reliance on holding on.

"The weather is dry now, so fire prevention is paramount. We must ensure that nothing goes wrong and continue to strengthen the inspection of water tanks. Also, we must pay attention to the care of the wounded. Although we are the ones defending the city, if the Qing army attacks fiercely, casualties will certainly be significant. We must prepare rooms for treatment and recuperation in advance."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Chen Fu responded with a bow.

After Zhu Cilang finished speaking, he walked along the slope to the inner earth wall. He looked at the trench between the inner and outer earth walls, and the soldiers of the 1,000th headquarters of the Tianwu Left Camp who were resting on the south side of the trench, and couldn't help but smile.

This army left a deep impression on him. The Qianzong flag had been exceptionally dazzling on the Huaibei battlefield. They were also received by Zhu Cilang at a subsequent reward ceremony.

Naturally, all spoils of war on the battlefield must be handed over to the public, otherwise the atmosphere in the army will be ruined, and it may even affect the soldiers' values ​​and thus their performance on the battlefield.

But this does not mean that appropriate incentives are not needed. After the battle, Zhu Cilang issued rewards to various units, which were not less at all, and sometimes even exceeded the spoils.

Only by clearly distinguishing rewards and punishments can we motivate the morale of the soldiers to the greatest extent!
In addition, those surrendered soldiers who were not killed were also taken back to the city to do the hardest and most tiring work, which kept the morale of the civilians in the city very high.

The two earthen walls outside Fengyang City were about sixteen zhang apart, and the moat in the middle was more than two zhang wide, connected by a moat bridge for soldiers and horses to pass.

The Qing army probably had no idea that the outer earth wall was just a small appetizer!

Zhu Cilang walked along the corridor on top of the earth wall and headed west. Along the way, he saw the protruding battlements in the southwest corner of the outer city. These modified city walls also existed on the two outer earth walls.

Of course, due to the short construction period and the simultaneous construction of four important cities, Fengyang, Xuzhou, Huai'an and Yangzhou, the Dingwu court's current human, material and financial resources were unable to support the construction of a real bastion. This transformation still relied on the old city wall defense system.

But it was enough to deal with the Qing army. The horse-faced armor greatly reduced the blind spots under the city and increased the firepower on the sides. If the Qing army wanted to break through, it would have to pay more than twice the casualties than before.

"Shixian, what's the situation in Xuzhou and Huai'an?" Zhu Cilang asked while patrolling.

"Your Majesty, after the Qing army completely withdrew from Xuzhou and Huai'an, Lu Zhenfei has coordinated with Gao Jie and Huang Degong to send troops. The two are currently operating in Xuzhou, Guide, and Fengyang. The general Zhunta, who was left behind by Duoduo, is under-strength and has been constantly busy."

After Zhou Shixian reported the good news, he paused and then said:
"However, the Eight Banners are more powerful. Gao Jie and Huang Degong are in Guide. Their raids on Bozhou and other places have not yielded much results. The Qing army's food supply route from Kaifeng to Bozhou and then to Mengcheng is still maintained." "Now is not the time to engage in a full-scale battle. We should conserve our strength and bide our time."

Zhu Cilang gave a simple instruction and then asked, "What about Jiangxi?"

"Zuo Liangyu is already terminally ill, and it's unclear how long he can live. Zuo Menggeng has completely lost the support of the people. Most of his troops have already defected to the imperial court and are stationed along the Nanchang-Jiujiang-Hukou line. Stopping the Qing army shouldn't be a problem."

"Haha, if Zuo Liangyu was not still breathing, no one would be able to control Zuo Menggeng." Zhu Cilang smiled and raised his brows. He had long guessed that Zuo Menggeng could not be helped, and he knew He Tengjiao's ability to reorganize and recruit troops and win over people's hearts.

"Now, the rebels have fled westward. In order to escape the pursuit of the Qing army, they are likely to cross the mountains and ridges from Wuchang Prefecture and enter Changsha, Yuezhou and other places."

Zhou Shixian then added, "Although some troops have been dispatched from Shizhu, Pianyuan, and Guangxi, it's probably still not enough to deal with tens of thousands of bandits."

Zhu Cilang listened without saying anything, but continued walking along the earthen wall. Soon he turned down the wall from a watchtower. There were a lot of artillery shells and gunpowder stored in the watchtower. Some soldiers were on duty and seemed to be in high spirits.

"Don't worry about the thieves. When they are at the end of their rope, they will naturally not dare to act arrogantly anymore. Du Yinxi will deal with them."

Having said this, Zhu Cilang, who had already walked to the bottom of the earth wall, suddenly stopped. Now his only enemy was actually the Qing Dynasty. Li Zicheng was still fleeing all the way and did not give him any surprises.

"Ajige, tell He Tengjiao to be extremely careful. No matter what, he must not be allowed to go down the river to the east. If Duoduo doesn't make any progress in Jiangbei, he will most likely lead his troops eastward and head straight for Yingtian."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Cilang nodded gently, then suddenly turned his head to look at Chen Fu, Chang Denggui and others following behind him, and asked with a smile:

"Duoduo has deployed such a large force now, they should be attacking the city soon. When do you think the Qing army will lose their composure, abandon the bombardment, and switch to a night attack or march south?"

"Well." The generals looked at each other, unable to answer for a moment.

Chang Denggui took a deep breath and said nervously, "I think it will take a few more days. Once Duoduo and those Tartar officials realize that a strong attack won't lead to a quick victory, they will start to waver."

"That's right!" Chen Fu suddenly said at this time:

"Zhongdu, Duoduo must fight, and he must do his utmost, otherwise his future will be over. Ajige has been chasing the rebels all the way, winning battle after battle, but he has been hindered at every turn. If the war stops, I'm afraid his position will be lost."

Zhu Cilang looked around at the officers who were looking at each other in confusion, listened to the two people's analysis, and nodded with satisfaction.

Both Chang Denggui and Chen Fu are worth training. During the previous military meeting, he asked Zhou Shixian to talk a lot about the internal factions and political struggles of the Qing Dynasty. Chen Fu really understood it and combined it with military decision-making. He even directly used the military intelligence in the west that Zhou Shixian had just reported.

He smiled and said:
"If Duoduo is defeated again, Dorgon will be able to control him however he wants. Even Hauge will get involved. If he doesn't have enough military merit to support him, people like Jirgalang will not be easy to deal with.

But these three brothers are still very united when dealing with foreign affairs, and they are not without sense of proportion in major events. Ajige is likely to lead a large army from Jiujiang to the east, which is what I am most worried about."

As soon as Zhu Cilang finished speaking, the roar of artillery fire suddenly came from the south. Everyone immediately looked up and turned their eyes to the south.

"Hahaha!" Zhu Cilang burst into laughter, and then immediately said: "The Qing army has begun testing the artillery. Go up to the city wall, I want to see how powerful Duoduo's artillery is!"

“BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!”

At the artillery position in the northwest corner of Fengyang City, a loud military bugle sounded, and the Qing army gunners raised their ignition forks one after another. A group of artillery officers were directing their soldiers to load powder and ammunition.

On a dirt platform farther away, Duoduo looked at Fengyang City in front of him with a firm and cold gaze. In front of him was a vast army formation, and at the forefront of the line were hundreds of shield carts.

"When the war drums sound, you can only move forward and not retreat. Whoever dares to take a step back will be killed by me!" A sturdy-looking Baoyi soldier wearing armor and waving a sword shouted loudly.

"These Ming troops are nothing to be afraid of. A few artillery shots will surely scatter them. Whoever can be the first to reach that earthen wall will be handsomely rewarded!"

However, the captured civilians looked listless. When they heard Shen Zhizhong's words, there was no other expression on their faces except pain, despair and fear.

Looking at the seemingly indestructible earth wall in front of them, which looked like a giant beast, they only regretted that they had not escaped across the Huai River, otherwise they would not have been caught by the Tartars.

Seeing that no one responded, Shen Zhizhong was so angry that he immediately stepped forward, raised the back of his knife, and while cursing, he waved the knife in his hand, hitting several civilians so hard that they shrank back and cried out in pain. Only then did he stop.

In fact, he didn't believe what he had just said. He looked up at Fengyang City in the north, especially the cannons on the earthen walls. Horrible memories flooded into his mind and he felt terrified.

Shen Zhizhong served as a baoyi for seventeen years and participated in the Battle of Dalinghe, the Battle of Sicheng, the Battle of Songjin, and the Battle of Ningyuan. As a baoyi, he had to rush to the front in many battles, blocking guns and artillery for the bannermen, and he knew the power of these artillery.

However, now that they have entered the Pass, life has become better. Although he is still a bannerman, he no longer has to be at the forefront. He can even manage the fifty or so people in front of him together with his master, which makes him very proud.

"Master, I've given the orders. When the war drums sound, they will push the shield carts and rush out!" Shen Zhizhong bent his waist and came to Bayala, who was much taller than him and wearing much better armor, and said with a flattering smile.

The Bayala just nodded, but suddenly asked, "Shen Zhizhong, how long do you think it will take to capture Fengyang?"

"We'll definitely be able to take it down soon!" Shen Zhizhong blurted out, "Once we fire our cannons and push our shield carts, we'll fill the holes and trenches outside the earthen walls, set up ladders and attack. Those Nikans won't be able to hold out, no matter how high the walls are!"

Etuhun seemed quite impressed by what he had said. He smiled and said, "In close combat, the Ming army always collapses at the first blow. It's just that this city wall is a bit of a hindrance. I don't know when it will fall down!"

"We have so many cannons. I estimate that we will be able to break through the earthen wall in three to five days." Shen Zhizhong continued to flatter, "When the time comes, I will definitely rush to the front and grab more gold and silver for my master."

"Three to five days? Ha, I think the Ming army will not be able to hold on within three days. Bozhou city was destroyed in just three days with only dozens of cannons." Etuhun grinned, looking extremely confident. He looked down on the Ming army from the bottom of his heart.

"The prince said, we'll attack the city and fight at Martinkou. We'll take it ourselves. You'd better be smart when the time comes. Don't take the silver this time, take all the gold. The Ming Emperor is in the city, there must be a lot of gold!"

"I understand!" Shen Zhizhong immediately bowed.

“BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!”

At the Qing army artillery position south of Fengyang City, three red cannons roared again at the same time and started a second round of test firing towards the southwest corner of the city wall, but only one shell hit the earth wall.

However, the Qing army did not stop. After four rounds of test firing, the Qing artillery finally adjusted the angle of bombardment, and the white smoke on the position gradually dissipated.

At this time, on the earthen wall in the southwest section of Fengyang City, some broken soil from the places that were hit was falling into the trench, accompanied by the sound of "dong dong dong" and splashing water.

Soon, a loud military bugle call flew over the Qing army's artillery position, followed by a round of earth-shaking artillery fire. In the white smoke rising into the sky, a flash of orange-red flames passed by. The Qing army gunners who were ready began a real concentrated fire salvo towards Fengyang City.

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

　　
　
(End of this chapter)