Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 98: The Qing Army's Defeat
There were constant flashes of light in the sky above Fengyang City. To the east, south, and west of the city, if one only listened to the noises, it seemed that fierce battles had broken out. The cannons on the top of the city walls were constantly firing, and the roar of the cannons was one after another.

On the plains outside the city, countless fires lit up in the darkness not only on the east side, but also on the west and south sides. On the three sides, large numbers of civilian laborers driven by the Qing army were carrying sandbags and sharp wood, holding tools in their hands, taking the opportunity to dig trenches and build walls.

Under the threat of those furious Eight Banners soldiers, they worked extremely fast, and with a clear division of labor, they soon built a series of incomplete small earth walls about a hundred steps away from the earth wall.

Although these low earth walls still could not stop the shells of the Red Cannon, the most numerous French cannons and general cannons on the top of the Ming army's city walls could not cause enough damage to them, which could at least reduce the casualties of the Qing army in the siege by half.

In other words, Duoduo envisioned that even if his night attack failed to lure the enemy, he could still shift the front lines of future sieges to this location. A mere hundred paces away, even if he set up artillery to bombard the earthen walls, the power would be greatly increased.

"Your Highness, the Ming army has intensified its offensive in the south. Countless rockets have been fired from the city walls. The troops that just attacked were all driven back before they could even cross the Lanma Ditch."

Duoduo did not move when he heard the sound. He had been staring at that place since he heard the loud noise coming from the direction of Hongwu Gate.

The rocket salvo from the direction of Hongwu Gate was very spectacular. Even from his position, he could see countless rockets that had deviated from their orbits and were spinning upwards, propelled by the orange-red hot flames, soaring into the sky, like fire dragons tumbling in the night sky, bursting with dazzling light, and then exploding one after another with bursts of roars.

At the same time, the area around the top of Hongwu Gate had been dyed yellow by countless flames, as if the early morning sun had risen from the top of the city, and the orange-yellow light illuminated the originally dark night sky.

Chen Fu organized a large number of soldiers and fired rockets without regard for the cost, which created such a spectacular scene. Although nearly half of the rockets had quality problems and would deviate greatly from their trajectory and fall down before twenty steps, and 20% would fly into the sky, the remaining half was enough to scare off the Qing army.

"Is Emperor Ming planning to launch a surprise attack from the south?" Seeing Tulai coming up, Duoduo turned his head to look at the veteran and couldn't help asking.

He did not deploy enough troops in the south. If Zhu Cilang really counterattacked from the south, it would be extremely difficult for him to completely encircle and annihilate the enemy by temporarily deploying troops.

"On the contrary, this shows that Emperor Ming will definitely launch a surprise attack from the east. His attack in the south is just a feint to the east to attack the west, hoping to get us to transfer our troops there."

Tulai shook his head and laughed coldly, "Emperor Ming is still too naive after all. He wants to lure the tiger away from the mountain with such little tricks."

"That means the Emperor has been fooled, hahahaha!"

Hearing this, Duoduo laughed heartily as if he had taken a tranquilizer pill:

"My guess was correct. The Ming Emperor was afraid of the Qing cavalry during the day and did not dare to fight. At night, he would definitely be bolder. He must think that I was foolish to attack at night and that I had seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But he didn't expect that these were all my plans. If he dared to send troops to attack, I would kill him without a single piece of armor left. I'll see how he can fight me after losing all his elite troops!"

Duoduo was always worried that Zhu Cilang would not be fooled and would continue to hide in the city. If that happened, his night attack would be a loss. Not only would he lose thousands of soldiers for no reason, but he would also waste countless manpower. His prestige would even be greatly reduced, and he would not be able to suppress the generals in the army.

But since entering the Pass, even the series of battles to defeat Li Zicheng in the north were too easy. Although Duoduo realized that Zhu Cilang was not easy to deal with, he still couldn't calm down to fight a protracted war. He always wanted a quick victory to quickly end the war in Southern Zhili.

During the day, the Ming army did not dare to pursue, and each time they operated in the horse-blocking ditch where the cavalry could not play a role. But it was different at night, not to mention that he had taken the initiative to expose his flaws.

Even at night, as long as the Ming army dared to pursue them, Duoduo was confident of victory. He believed that without the cover of the city walls, the Ming army would definitely be defeated.

"However, we still need to be cautious and transfer some troops to the south to be safe." Tulai looked at Duoduo and reminded him:
"We have more than enough troops. Let Ashan lead Ahanikan and two Jiala over. Even if the Ming army sends five or six thousand elite soldiers, they will definitely not be able to defeat them."

After hearing this, Duoduo nodded immediately. He had plenty of troops, so it was no problem to set up an ambush on three sides. However, it would make too much noise and would most likely be noticed by the Ming army.

"That's good. Ashan has always been a brave warrior. He has defeated the Shun army repeatedly before. Now that it's still dark, the Ming army's combat effectiveness will also be affected. Two Jiala will be enough."

With the support of Duoduo, Tulai gave a few instructions to a Bayara beside him. The latter immediately turned his horse around and ran to the rear with the other two cavalrymen.

Duoduo and Tulai then turned their heads almost at the same time, looking towards the Chaoyang Gate of Fengyang City with complicated expressions. The flickering firelight reflected on their faces, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

On the top of Chaoyang Gate opposite the two of them, Zhu Cilang was also looking at the bustling plains outside the city. Amid the flames burning everywhere, the earth walls being built made him feel a huge threat.

Now, he had to take advantage of the opportunity of the army going out to destroy those earth walls in order to eliminate the direct threat of the Qing army to the first earth wall.

After all, the Qing army was a veteran army. They had been in western Liaoning for many years and had extensive experience in sieges. During the five days of exploratory siege, in addition to digging trenches and building trenches on the periphery, they also tried various methods to avoid artillery shells. They were very experienced and not much work was in vain.

Zhu Cilang did not know about Duoduo's plan to lure the enemy, but he knew very well that as long as his troops did not leave the Lanma Ditch and as long as the artillery on the city wall could provide long-range fire support, no matter how many elite cavalry Duoduo had, he would not be able to do anything to him.

Zhu Cilang had no intention of leaving the protection of the city wall and launching a large-scale counterattack before the Qing army's morale was completely exhausted, otherwise the exchange ratio between the two armies would definitely be ugly.

At the most critical moment, he cannot use up all the veterans under his command. Even if the Qing army temporarily retreats north, it will soon come back. Zhu Cilang must rely on these veterans who have experienced the tempering of war to quickly expand the army.

This is a protracted war, and the defense of Jianghuai is just the beginning. He must have enough patience.

Of course, Xuzhou and Huai'an, the two thorns in the north and east, must be attacked boldly. The Qing army consumes huge costs in siege and must import supplies from Henan and Shandong. The task of Lu Zhenfei, Gao Jie and Huang Degong is to constantly harass and even intercept them.

In this case, Duoduo could only turn his attention to the south. On the road from Fengyang to Yangzhou, Zhu Cilang had already prepared a big gift. If the Qing army dared to go south, they would be in trouble.

Soon, Chang Denggui sent someone back to report the situation of the troops assembled on the front line, as well as the attack plans of various units. More than 2,300 armored soldiers and more than 1,100 cavalry had been assembled at this time.

Chang Denggui planned to attack from both wings of the area where the Qing army gathered outside the city. There were gullies and ravines there, which was very convenient for training the armored soldiers of the Mandarin Duck Formation to fight. Then the cavalry would rush out from the passage in the earth wall, provide cover on the periphery, and kill the armored soldiers of the Qing army who wanted to support.

At the same time, he also dispatched two additional artillery teams to the earthen wall battlements on both wings. The twenty French cannons and general cannons on the east city wall had just been transported there and were being set up.

If the Qing army's cavalry attacked from the flank, the peripheral artillery teams could provide cover. In this way, the cavalry of Tianqiying and Jingying would only need to deal with the enemy head-on without worrying about being attacked from the side.

After hearing the battle report from Chang Denggui, Zhu Cilang nodded in agreement to the plan, and immediately asked the drummer on the city wall to beat the drum to send a message.

However, amid the noisy background, Zhu Cilang was still a little worried when he heard the faint sound of a military bugle in the distance. The Qing army outside the city had a great advantage in manpower. Although Chang Denggui had assembled nearly 4,000 soldiers, he would still not have the advantage as long as Duoduo sent reinforcements.

The city now needs to be defended on three sides. Except for the elite troops of the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp, other troops are simply unable to fight at night. Even relying on the city walls is almost impossible. Such mobilization is already the limit.

Zhu Cilang pondered for a moment, then looked up at the situation outside the city. He roughly understood Duoduo's determination to win this time, and then said to Lin Changfu:

"Let's go, take the soldiers of the Imperial Guard and go with me to the watchtower in front. It's too far away to see the situation on the battlefield."

"Ah?" Lin Changfu was stunned when he heard this. However, even though he was usually slow to react and never objected to Zhu Cilang's orders, he immediately knelt down and said:
"Your Majesty, there is danger ahead. If the Qing army sets up artillery."

Zhu Cilang interrupted him before he could finish, saying, "I'm not at the first earthen wall yet. The Qing army won't have time to set up their artillery before daybreak."

Lin Changfu hesitated after hearing this. If he had gone to the second earthen wall's watchtower on his own, he wouldn't have felt dangerous. But with Zhu Cilang, the Ming Emperor, going there, he lost his composure and was completely unable to make a decision. "What? Are you scared?" Zhu Cilang said without further ado, making a move. "If the Qing army sets up artillery at the newly built earthen wall, it will be equally dangerous here. Even if I wear triple armor, it will be useless if the shells come."

"Your Majesty, I am not afraid. Since the breakout from Beijing, I have followed Your Majesty and have never been afraid. But Your Majesty is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and there must be no mistakes." Lin Changfu knelt on the ground, clasped his hands together, and explained with his head down.

Zhu Cilang helped Lin Changfu up and then shouted:
"If you are not afraid, lead the troops to clear the way. This is the defense line I personally built with you. I am confident that the Qing army will never be able to break through, and will never easily threaten my safety. It is simply wishful thinking for Duoduo to want to break the city with just one night attack.
Besides, you've been by my side for so long, don't you want to leave the city and fight? Go to the second earth wall. If the Qing army continues to reinforce and Chang Denggui's troops are insufficient, you will lead the imperial guards into the battlefield.

You are all elite soldiers in the army, but since you followed me into battle, you haven't had the opportunity to fight a serious battle. It's really not right when you think about it."

Lin Changfu was stunned again upon hearing this. This time, he understood the meaning of Zhu Cilang's words and understood the emperor's fighting spirit. Moreover, he had indeed long wanted to fight those damned Tartars. However, he was still stunned for a moment before leading his troops to clear the way.
.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

On the east side of Fengyang City, between the two outer earth walls, three balls of red fireworks suddenly rose up with a whistling sound. The three balls of red fireworks quickly exploded in the air, turning into three balls of gorgeous fireworks.

“Woo, woo, woo~~~”

Immediately afterwards, a military bugle call sounded below the city walls, and some Ming army armored soldiers who had sneaked to the edge of the trench immediately launched an attack. Following the light of their musket fire, they threw out the clay pot mines they had prepared early in the morning. These powerful homemade bombs quickly caused great chaos to the Qing army.

Zhao Zhengdong was on the watchtower, feeling quite nervous. His vision was limited by the earthen wall in front of him, and he couldn't see anything close to it. However, he soon saw several balls of fire rising into the air, followed by several loud booms.

Outside the first earth wall, dozens of dazzling flames exploded one after another, followed by a burst of tragic screams and howls. The attacked Qing army suffered heavy losses.

"Kill! Kill!"

The Ming army armored soldiers at the vanguard threw the earthenware jar mines in their hands, jumped into the trench, and rushed towards the Qing army while shouting. Some of them were holding shields in their hands. Before they arrived, several dazzling lights exploded in the trench where the Qing army was.

Inside and outside the trenches of the earthen wall, bursts of charge trumpets sounded quickly. Soon, groups of Ming army soldiers shouted in unison, rushed out from the thick smoke, and then rushed towards the Qing army outside the earthen wall, launching a full-scale attack on the Qing army.

At the same time, rows of archers emerged from the city walls, continuously shooting arrows at the Qing army outside the city, covering the charging soldiers.

Not only that, the Ming cavalry also quickly rushed out from the passage in the earth wall, detoured from the flank, and launched attacks in many places near the city. The cavalry that Baiyintu had spread out to cover the flank had not yet figured out their plan and were completely unable to stop the organized and planned raid of the first batch of more than 400 Ming cavalry.

Zhao Zhengdong listened to the chaotic sound of horse hooves and shouts of killing coming from afar. Based on his recent battlefield experience, he judged that the entire east had launched an attack. There were at least three thousand soldiers and hundreds of cavalrymen were surrounding the flanks.

However, he was still very worried that the troops he dispatched were insufficient to quickly defeat the fierce Qing army, especially since the latter had built an earth wall. If the earth wall had provided cover, fighting would be more difficult.

Soon, trumpets sounded in the Qing army's formation. The Qing soldiers who were originally firing guns and arrows at the earth wall quickly changed direction and fired their muskets. The sound of flying arrows came in waves.

But Baiyintu originally planned to lure the Ming army to attack and then slowly withdraw. There were loopholes in the deployment on the front line. As long as the Ming army launched an attack, it would easily suffer a crushing defeat.

In order to lure out Zhu Cilang's elite army, Duoduo spent a huge amount of money and seemed to completely disregard the lives of these armored soldiers!
After the soldiers of the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp rushed into the ravine outside the city, they quickly launched a pursuit, constantly catching up with and killing the Qing army stragglers they encountered in the melee. The Qing army was like being suddenly attacked, caught off guard, and its defense was very weak.

After the first armored soldiers rushed out and killed more than a hundred Qing soldiers, they did not encounter any strong resistance. The sound of bamboo whistles in the trenches continued, and teams of armored soldiers attacked one after another.

This was a powerful weapon used by the Ming army on the battlefield to command, communicate and support friendly forces, so as to avoid accidents and accidental injuries on the highly tense battlefield.

In the darkness of night, although there were lights in the distance, the eyes of the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp soldiers in the trenches were basically dark, and they could not even see what was twenty steps away. The soldiers' combat effectiveness was inevitably greatly affected.

Moreover, the winding trenches, which were particularly narrow in some places, temporarily made the formations that the Ming army had practiced hard ineffective. Although the soldiers had practiced the Mandarin Duck Formation, they could hardly perform it in such chaos.

But fortunately, speed and impact force determined everything at this time. Many soldiers fought in teams of twelve, with swordsmen and shieldmen on the outside and spearmen inserting their spear heads between the shields, forming an offensive and defensive formation.

At the same time, the Qing army performed even worse in such an environment. Its combat effectiveness could not be exerted at all. Faced with the sudden attack of the Ming army, it basically collapsed at the first touch.

Baiyintu was still unaware of the battle that had broken out under the earth wall. When he saw the Ming army charging out, he was overjoyed. He had lost so many soldiers and horses and finally waited for this moment. However, in order not to reveal any flaws, he ordered the army to slow down, fight and retreat, and let the cavalry on both wings provide cover to avoid heavy losses.

At this point, there was no need for him to deliberately lose troops and horses to gain the trust of the Ming army. The population of the Qing Dynasty was already precious. Moreover, he could only lure out more Ming troops by showing his fighting ability.

However, the development of the situation soon went beyond his control. The elite troops from the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp that Chang Denggui mobilized were more familiar with the terrain outside the city than the Qing army, and their individual combat effectiveness was not inferior to that of the Eight Banners armored soldiers.

Under the unexpected and fierce attack of the Ming army, the Qing army's plan of fighting and retreating immediately failed. Many Qing soldiers lost the best opportunity to retreat. They had no time to retreat and were killed in the trenches by the Ming army that caught up from behind.

The Ming army that went into battle was like a chicken with its blood pumped up. As soon as the leading officer blew the whistle, they would immediately attack in a certain direction, even though they had no idea how many troops the other side had. They just rushed forward and attacked.

Screams, shouts, the sound of musket fire, the echoing bamboo whistles, and the whizzing sound of arrows kept coming from the trench. As Zhao Zhengdong listened, he felt that the distance seemed to be getting farther and farther. Then a happy smile appeared on his face. He knew that this meant that the Qing army was retreating.

Soon, he saw the west side of the earth wall that the Qing army was building in the distance. In the firelight, black figures were constantly jumping up. They were the armored soldiers who were attacking and advancing rapidly. They were chasing the defeated Qing army who were fleeing.

A group of Qing army archers soon appeared on those low earth walls. Most of these earth walls were just piled up with sandbags, and the trenches had just been dug on the sides, so they were not complete at all.

The Qing army archers were unable to relay on the side and could only climb to the top, but some of the Ming army that was pursuing them stopped and shot heavy arrows with armor-piercing spikes towards the earth wall, quickly knocking down a large number of Qing army archers.

The Ming army armored soldiers who continued to pour out of the trench took advantage of this wave of cover and quickly rushed to the bottom of the earth wall. The armored soldiers holding shields covered the spearmen who were charging at the gap, and many soldiers carrying clay pot mines quickly ignited the "weapons of mass destruction" in their hands and threw them behind the wall.

"Boom! Boom! Boom——"

Amidst the violent explosions, a series of exclamations and screams were heard from behind the earth wall. The attacked Qing soldiers and civilians quickly became a mess. In great panic, the frightened civilians quickly fled in all directions.

The power of the clay pot mine was most terrifying in such a densely populated tunnel, and it quickly caused huge casualties in more than a dozen places surrounding the explosion.

The panicked civilians quickly dispersed, and the Eight Banners Armored Soldiers and Baoyi Soldiers, who had also suffered heavy losses and had to fight against the Ming army, began to climb out of the newly dug trenches and pushed and shoved their way out.

In such chaos, the Qing army soldiers who were originally scattered throughout the earthen wall to supervise the work of the civilians were unable to assemble quickly and were soon defeated and annihilated by the Ming army that broke through the gaps in various places and swept across.

Bai Yintu looked at the flickering flames inside and outside the earth wall, and the civilians who were constantly running towards him, some of whom were even soldiers. He was horrified, and the screams and howls coming from his ears kept challenging his original cognition.

He never expected that the Ming army in the city was still so powerful under such circumstances. His plan of fighting and retreating to preserve strength turned into a complete defeat in the blink of an eye.

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

　　
　
(End of this chapter)