Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 99 The Invincible Image

The Ming army's counterattack was so powerful and unstoppable that it only lasted half an hour. It basically drove the Qing army out of the outermost horse-blocking ditch and quickly recaptured the position outside the city.

At the same time, a large group of auxiliary troops in the city followed behind these combat soldiers and advanced continuously. Like these brave and combative armored soldiers, they were very familiar with the terrain outside the city. While treating their own wounded along the way, they were also constantly harvesting the heads of the Qing army on the ground.

The main force of these auxiliary troops, after entering the ditches with tools, soon appeared beside the earthen walls that the Qing army had just built. They worked together and quickly destroyed the low earthen walls.

Bai Yintu had never expected that the Ming army was so powerful. Their attack was like a storm, swift and powerful. His original order to fight and retreat in order to avoid exposing any flaws directly led to the casualties of nearly a thousand armored soldiers.

But when things got to this point, it was too late for him to regret. He could only order the cavalry on both wings to provide cover, while continuing to order the army to retreat and lure the Ming army into battle.

However, before his order could be passed on, the Qing cavalry deployed on both wings had already been attacked. Baiyintu could no longer bear it and immediately wanted to mobilize troops to counterattack, but it was too late and he had to give up.

The attack of the Tianqi Camp was more swift than that of the infantry. These cavalrymen galloped out from the passage in the earth wall and launched a surprise attack when the Qing cavalry on both wings were unprepared.

The Ming army was very familiar with the crisscrossing defensive fortifications outside the city, but the Qing army had just arrived and was completely blind, so they had no time to react. Once they were attacked, their weaknesses were immediately exposed, and they were completely unable to resist the attacks of the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp.

However, when Baiyintu rode his horse and led his troops to retreat, he did not hear the expected sounds of pursuit and shouting. When he turned back to see if the Ming army had caught up, he found that the Ming army, which had been attacking fiercely just now, had not caught up with him at all.

The soldiers of the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp had ended their charge and were deploying their troops along the Lanma Ditch. The yellow light from the fires left behind by the Qing army illuminated the dark shadows, and the sound of bamboo whistles continued one after another.

The cavalry was roaming on both wings, and there were constant explosions on the earth walls. After the dazzling flames, the Qing cavalry who attempted to harass from both wings were immediately hit.

"what???"

Bai Yintu's eyes widened with disbelief, and he almost thought he had seen it wrong. After a while, he simply turned his horse's head and went around to the side, staring blankly at the ravines that were gradually returning to calm.

"What are those Nikans doing? Chasing them? Why aren't they chasing them anymore? Why aren't they chasing them?"

Looking at the Ming army that had no intention of pursuing, it was not only Baiyintu who broke the defense. Duoduo and Tulai also had gloomy faces at this time.

The two men looked quietly at the fleeing Qing army in front of them, as well as the earth walls that had just been built and were now being destroyed. They were filled with hatred, but there was nothing they could do.

"How could this happen? How could Emperor Ming see through my plan? This is impossible, this is absolutely impossible." Duoduo soon couldn't help but howl, unwilling to believe it at all.

Tulai did not respond. He was a little confused about Zhu Cilang at this moment. At such an age, with his hair not yet fully grown, how could he be so meticulous and counterattack so quickly and appropriately.

He had originally supported Duoduo's night attack against all odds, hoping to take advantage of Zhu Cilang's youth and lack of battlefield experience to deal a heavy blow to the enemy and break the backbone of the Ming army. At the very least, he could take the opportunity to build an earth wall and speed up the siege.

But now it seems that the enemy is probably a genius in the use of troops. Every move made by Duoduo was completely within the enemy's expectations. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of his troops is not weak, and they are completely incomparable to the ordinary Ming troops in other places.

Thinking of this, Tulai couldn't help but sigh. He stared at Fengyang City in front of him. There were defeated soldiers retreating one after another beside him, and civilians fleeing in the distance. His brows were furrowed.

In his opinion, this means that from now on, there is no other way but to attack the city honestly!
However, he had no idea that Zhu Cilang had not thought of this at all. He simply maintained his strategic composure and did not do anything that he was not sure of. He was well aware of his own weaknesses and resisted the temptation to expand the results of the battle, so he did not fall for it.

Duoduo and even Tulai were overconfident because they won too easily against Li Zicheng. They went to great lengths to lure the enemy, but when Zhu Cilang did not accept the challenge, it was like a punch hitting cotton.

In other words, neither Zhu Cilang nor Duoduo actually knew each other's deployment and strategy, nor did they have the so-called perfect response, but in fact they directly and perfectly avoided each other, and eventually ended up fighting each other.

However, Zhu Cilang was very clear about his strategic goals and strength, as well as what he needed to do to achieve this strategic goal, so the final outcome of the battle was in line with his expectations.

As the Qing army retreated in disgrace, Zhu Cilang had already led the imperial guards to the watchtower of the first city wall. He looked at the armored soldiers who were deploying defenses and dismantling the earthen walls below the city, and he was very excited.

The Qing army actually retreated directly and was not as difficult to deal with as he had expected. The hundreds of elite imperial guards led by Lin Changfu ultimately had no chance to go to the battlefield.

When Lin Changfu led his troops to escort Zhu Cilang up the earth wall, he was already prepared for battle, but he was still quite nervous.

Although he acted very bravely in the face of Zhu Cilang's questioning, he would go into battle immediately without blinking an eye as long as Zhu Cilang gave the order.

But the Eight Banners soldiers had a bad reputation. He had witnessed this kind of siege when he was in Dalinghhe. Zu Dashou led his servants to fight many times, but failed to make a breakthrough and always retreated in disgrace.

This is actually not a problem just for Lin Changfu. The Ming army's long-term failures have caused many officers and soldiers in the middle and lower levels of the Ming army to have an unspeakable fear of the real Tartars in their subconscious.

However, military orders are as heavy as mountains, and when the order is issued, they have no choice. This is the army built under Zhu Cilang's strict military discipline.

But Lin Changfu never expected that these so-called real Tartars were so weak that they could even be said to collapse at the first touch!
After this battle, the morale of the defenders in the city was greatly boosted again. The Qing army was unable to break into the city during the day, and now the massive night attack also ended in failure. Fengyang City can now be truly called indestructible.

As for those so-called Eight Banners soldiers, they were completely unable to stand up to the attack during their counterattack. They were chased and killed all the way, and eventually nearly a thousand of them were killed or wounded. This made the soldiers on the city wall who were watching all this ecstatic.

Zhao Zhengdong had been nervous, anticipating a bloody battle beneath the city walls. After all, Chang Denggui hadn't even sent his undermanned troops into battle, fearing they wouldn't have enough offensive power.

But he never expected that the war would develop in this direction. Those so-called real Tartars were so weak, and the army won so easily. Zhao Zhengdong didn't even know that he was so powerful!
After all, he is a recognized warrior in the army. If he really goes into battle, he will probably be able to kill those real Tartars.

Duoduo's plan backfired. His strategy of "luring the enemy deep into our territory" caused Baiyintu to lose command, which led to the rapid defeat of the army. In the eyes of the Ming army, this was a complete manifestation of low combat effectiveness, which instantly eliminated the fear of the enemy among the Ming army.

On the battlefield, only victory can bring confidence, and this is true for the Qing army and the Ming army as well.

Zhu Cilang quickly deployed his forces and sent out auxiliary troops from the city again. They repaired the earthen walls damaged in the fierce fighting and cleared the corpses piled up in the trenches. At the same time, they dismantled the earthen walls built by the Qing army and used the earthen bags that the Qing army forced the civilians to carry to repair the fortifications outside the city.

Amidst the bustling celebration of victory inside and outside Fengyang City, the sky soon brightened. After Zhu Cilang inspected the wounded who were transferred to the city wall for treatment, he listened to the basic military intelligence reports from the generals guarding the city gates.

As the Qing army was defeated in the east, the Qing army in the west and south also stopped their offensive. The thousands of Qing cavalrymen who had been ambushed in the east quickly withdrew from the battlefield and were discovered by the scouts sent by Chang Denggui.

When Chang Denggui received the information, his heart trembled. Chen Fu, Lin Changfeng and others were also shocked when they heard the news, and even had lingering fears.

They originally wanted to press on with their victory and expand their gains, but now they realized that they had almost fallen into Duoduo's trap. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they had one foot in the gate of hell.

So, all the generals spoke up in admiration and asked Zhu Cilang how he realized that Duoduo had set such a trap. At this time, they were already full of admiration for Zhu Cilang.

You know, for the people in the army, whoever can lead them to victory has supreme prestige and power. Even if they are ordered to charge forward and risk their lives, most people will do so.

Zhu Cilang did not use this as an excuse to be mysterious. Now that he knew the result, it was actually very simple for him to make things right. It was also easy to deduce Duoduo's motives.

After all, in this kind of matter, let alone him, even those civil servants who knew nothing about military affairs, if they knew the cause and effect, could make more sense than Zhu Cilang.

But for Zhu Cilang, this actually has little meaning except for strengthening his personal authority and deifying his image.

"I actually didn't know Duoduo had set a trap, nor did I have any so-called ingenious plan." Zhu Cilang's words were concise, but his tone was very steady. He quickly glanced at the generals who had rushed back from the battlefield in front of him, and then said:
"But I know my own abilities, how many soldiers I have under my command, and I also know that the Qing army is formidable. Unless our soldiers can fight ten to one, we will not be able to win quickly. We must fight a protracted war with them, which could take as short as three years or as long as ten years!

I am just unswervingly implementing the original strategy and not being disturbed by any temptation on the battlefield. There are opportunities everywhere on the battlefield, and we may not be able to seize them. It depends on our ability. Those opportunities that cannot be seized are not opportunities for us, but traps.

This is the strategic determination I often tell you about, and it is the key to victory in this battle and our ability to avoid the Qing army's ambush. I say it again today because I hope you will remember that you are all pillars of the Ming Dynasty and will sooner or later take on your own responsibilities.

"Your Majesty, this is very wise!" Chang Denggui said hurriedly after hearing this. He had insisted on going to the war in the beginning and was feeling guilty now.

A number of generals also spoke up immediately, expressing that they would seriously understand the enemy and our own situation, learn advanced strategic spirit, guard against arrogance and impatience, and act prudently in the future.

After Zhu Cilang finished giving them instructions on the city defense and battlefield summary, he felt a little tired and returned to the palace. However, he still had to deal with the civil servants in the city before he could rest.

Under the leadership of Ma Shiying, these civil servants continued to flatter the emperor with endless nonsense, and at the same time their confidence continued to grow. They all clamored for a major counterattack in advance, and some even demanded the complete annihilation of the Qing troops heading south to achieve victory in one battle.

However, at this time, Zhu Cilang had already gained supreme authority in the war. Although these civil servants wanted to show themselves to gain Zhu Cilang's appreciation, they no longer dared to write letters of dissuasion and roar in the court as they had done before.

If they can't win battles, then they will have no say in military matters!

Zhu Cilang didn't care about their military advice at all, nor did he want to waste his breath on it, but he needed to prepare in advance for the civil affairs in the city and many post-war matters, all of which needed to be handled step by step by the civil service system.

The victory in this battle also gave Zhu Cilang full confidence. He has changed from being nervous and hesitant at the beginning to being determined now - the Qing army will definitely be defeated by him, and he will definitely bite off a piece of the enemy's flesh.

After listening to the civil servants' reports on the civil administration and food and grass dispatch in the city, he immediately ordered the various departments to begin planning the post-war imperial examinations, as well as issues such as financial and tax transportation in Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces.

After this battle, Zhu Cilang had to quickly expand the Palace Army, the Beijing Camp, and the two troops of Huang Degong and Gao Jie who had performed well, and reorganize Zuo Liangyu's troops and the remaining Shun troops who were stranded in Huguang. All of these required countless food and silver.

As the helmsman of this huge empire, Zhu Cilang must make preparations early and take one step at a time!

It was not until almost noon that he finally had some free time. As soon as he returned to the palace, his brain, which had been very active, was instantly filled with fatigue.

Zhu Cilang hesitated for a moment, recalling what had happened from last night until now. After making sure that he had not missed anything, he told Lin Changfu to wake him up in two hours, and then fell asleep.

Two hours later, Zhu Cilang felt as if he had just closed his eyes for a while when he was awakened by Lin Changfu's hoarse voice. But when he thought of last night's victory, his brain quickly regained its excitement. He soon led the imperial guards to the camp in the south of the city to meet with the assembled soldiers.

These soldiers had just completed their mission and returned to the camp. Many of them hurriedly lined up before they had time to clean the blood and dirt off their bodies.

However, there was no complaint on their faces, and each of them looked quite excited, especially on the side of their formation, where there were thousands of Qing army heads.

The look they gave Zhu Cilang at this moment was not only filled with awe for the emperor, but also with trust, a trust that the man in front of them could lead them to defeat the Tartars and achieve ultimate victory.

Such trust has disappeared in the Ming army for more than ten years. Now, with one victory after another, especially the victory over the real Tartars in the field battle, it has finally returned!
Zhu Cilang briefly met with these warriors. On the one hand, he encouraged them to make persistent efforts and continue to fight bravely to defend their country. On the other hand, he immediately announced that all the soldiers who had made meritorious contributions last night would be commended and rewarded separately.

Afterwards, he did not continue to bother these soldiers who were actually quite exhausted, and directly let them return to the camp to rest. Then he summoned his generals and listened to their reports on last night's battle.

Chang Denggui had been busy gathering troops and arranging defenses, and had not had time to summarize military intelligence. The spoils and results of this battle were basically all the responsibility of Zhang Huangyan.

Zhang Huangyan was already prepared. He bowed and saluted Zhu Cilang who had come to the military tent, and immediately reported:

"Your Majesty, in this battle, our army killed more than 1,830 Qing soldiers, including more than 1,340 Zhenyi, captured more than 250 people, including more than 60 Zhenyi and more than 190 Baoyi soldiers, and rescued more than 390 civilians.
In addition, our army suffered over 760 casualties, including over 100 seriously injured and over 260 slightly injured. Most of these casualties occurred at the beginning of the Qing army's night raid."

In this battle, the Ming army relied on the defensive bonus of the city walls and the subsequent swift counterattack to achieve an exchange ratio of more than four. Even if all the casualties were counted, because the Qing army also evacuated a lot of wounded soldiers, the final exchange ratio exceeded three.

Such fruitful results directly prove the current combat effectiveness of the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp. Even if they fight against the real Manchu Eight Banners Army, they will not be at a disadvantage.

However, since the Qing army was the one that took the initiative to attack, the spoils of this battle were little more than nothing. Apart from the armor and silver stripped from the corpses, there were also broken swords and guns left on the battlefield.

Zhu Cilang was mentally prepared for this. He did not value the spoils. What he wanted were the heads of the Eight Banners soldiers, which was the most important motivation for the army in the city.

After Zhang Huangyan briefly reported the results of the battle, Zhu Cilang immediately instructed Zhang Huangyan to start the publicity work for this battle, especially to completely break the image of the Eight Banners soldiers who were invincible in field battles.

"Besides the instructor's lecture, we can also think of other methods. Not only the Tianwu Left Camp and the Palace Army, but also the entire Fengyang garrison and the 100,000 civilians in the city need to know about our army's heroic performance in this battle."

"Your Majesty is wise. I have been thinking hard for a while and have come up with some ideas." Zhang Huangyan clasped his hands and said immediately:

"Most of the soldiers in the army were illiterate. Although formal lectures were necessary, they were too boring. If they were always in this format, the soldiers would get tired of listening to them.

After some inquiries, I learned that the officers and soldiers all liked to listen to storytelling. I thought this method could also be used in the army's propaganda. So I used the several battles in which our army defeated the Qing army as a model, and used storytelling and even opera to boost the morale of the troops.

Not only in the military, but also among the people, we should establish the image of our army as invincible, so that everyone will trust the court and the gentry will be loyal to us and support the anti-Qing war. Those who have money will contribute money, and those who have strength will contribute their strength. Only in this way can we gather the strength of the world and restore the country as quickly as possible."

Zhang Huangyan spoke frankly and generously, and Zhu Cilang nodded repeatedly, agreeing with his ideas. When they really got among the soldiers, they found good solutions to many problems.

Moreover, with this victory on the battlefield, the officers of the teaching team were able to speak eloquently and boost morale in front of the soldiers, and their backs were straighter.

Because the army did not have enough victories before, they could only inspire the soldiers' courage by focusing on defending their country and fighting for themselves.

But now, they can proudly tell all the soldiers that the Tartars' heads are military merits, and the Tartars are not invincible at all, and it is not difficult to defeat them!
The army's confidence can only be achieved through victory on the battlefield, and it must be victory after victory.

You have to know that those ordinary soldiers who were originally afraid of the Qing army and thought that the Tartars were invincible were not stupid. They could not be fooled by just a few words, and the ideas accumulated over the years would not change all of a sudden.

Zhu Cilang had previously instructed Zhang Huangyan to be cautious in encouraging the troops because he was worried that the prestige of the training team officers would be reduced in front of the soldiers due to exaggerated and false propaganda.

He needs to establish prestige in the army from the instructor, and then gain more invisible power, otherwise this system designed to check and balance the battalion officers will lose its due effect.

The launch of this military propaganda campaign was a crucial step in Zhu Cilang's expansion of his instructor system. He intended to use it to gradually establish the image of the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp as invincible within the army, in Southern Zhili, and even throughout the nation, thereby boosting anti-Qing morale.

Soon after listening to Zhang Huangyan's report, Zhu Cilang immediately ordered the generals of each camp, just like the previous "Battle of Suizhou" and "Battle of Jiangbei", to start summarizing the battle after returning and to give constructive suggestions on the defense of the city.

Zhu Cilang would collect any problems he found in actual combat, whether they were combat strategies, defensive deployments, problems with weapons exposed on the battlefield, or some tactical ideas, and hand them over to several military officers drawn from the army who had always been by his side for screening and disposal.

These are all valuable experiences and suggestions from the front lines of the battlefield. Zhu Cilang believes that many of them are valuable. When these gradually form a set of self-feedback mechanisms, the Ming army will be able to truly grow into an invincible army!

(End of this chapter)