You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 189 Chiang Kai-shek's Unique Strategy of Preserving Land While Losing People

Outside Jingzhou City, the Eight Banners soldiers, who had gathered upon hearing the drumbeats, stood in dense rows covering dozens of acres of land, their ranks perfectly aligned and the scene utterly silent.

The cow horns wailed.

Finally, a towering figure appeared atop the city wall.

Jiang Qingyun!
The moment he spoke, the morale of the troops was stabilized.

"I have good news for you: 10,000 iron cavalry from beyond the Great Wall will soon arrive in Hubei."

There was jubilation outside the city.

It's good to have reinforcements from outside the pass; the people from outside the pass are both hard-working and resistant to casualties.

When he got excited, Jiang Qingyun suddenly climbed up the battlements.

"Brothers, I have even better news. Last night, I observed the stars and saw a rare and auspicious alignment of the seven planets. It's a sign from heaven! The advantage is in our hands, and we are certain to win this battle."

The guards quickly pulled him down, explaining that giving a speech while standing on the crenellations was dangerous; if an arrow came from below or someone pushed you from behind, you could lose your life.

Everyone assumed that Jiang Qingyun was full of martial virtue, but they did not expect that there was still poison remaining in his body.

Not to mention others, even Jiang Qingyun himself didn't realize that he was a little crazy.

Below the city~
The flag bearers cheered again.

The celestial signs are auspicious; the celestial signs are reliable.

With fellow villagers and favorable celestial signs, our chances of winning are very high.

Compared to the collective excitement of the flag bearers, the senior officers remained calm.

They all knew that the so-called celestial phenomena were pure nonsense, and silently prayed that the new general had some real skills and wouldn't lead them all to hell.

Everyone's good days have just begun, I really don't want to die.

On one side, there was a collective cheering; on the other, there was an unusual calm.

Looking at the group of calm Eight Banners officials, Jiang Qingyun couldn't help but feel angry and secretly harbored murderous intentions.

You seem very cultured, don't you?

Just wait and see.

……

Across the Jingjiang River.

The central command tent of the Ming army.

Li Dingguo marked the troops already in place on the simple sand table. His army had just captured Songzi and was drinking from the Jingjiang River. He was in a good mood at the moment.

Blood flowed like rivers on the banks of the Jingjiang River, but the cause of resisting the Qing Dynasty flourished.

When will the King of Qin's army arrive?

"No, I don't know."

"Is there no news from the post station?"

"All the land and water routes to Yuanzhou are blocked, and our people can't get through."

"what?"

Li Dingguo was shocked.

"When did this happen? Why are you only telling me now?"

"I only found out last night, and I don't know what the King of Qin means, so I find it difficult to speak."

"Where are the military rations?"

"The agreement was to send supplies every 10 days, but today is the 15th. Yuanzhou said that the military supplies are on their way, but they are being blocked by floods."

Li Dingguo paced back and forth inside the tent, and suddenly, he seemed to have made up his mind about something.

"Immediately notify Feng Shuangli to come to the central command tent for a meeting, and prepare a team of axemen to ambush him behind the scenes."

"As ordered."

In the afternoon, the subordinate returned in a fit of rage.

"Your Highness, Prince Qingyang has passed away. This is a letter he left for you."

Where are his troops?

“The 3 men stationed in Yuezhou followed the Prince of Qingyang away.”

"Where have you been?"

"They went south."

"With a major battle imminent, how could they possibly... Hey, you take my handwritten letter and intercept Feng Shuangli, appealing to his emotions and reasoning with him. Even if we finish this battle first, we can part ways later."

Li Dingguo almost cried. The promising situation had been ruined in an instant. He felt as if a pair of large hands had gripped his heart and squeezed it hard.

……

The next day.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened! The Emperor is here!"

The disheveled Yongli Emperor almost burst into tears upon seeing Li Dingguo.

"Your Majesty, what has happened at Anlong Prefecture?" "My dear minister, that traitor Sun Kewang actually sent troops to besiege the palace. If it weren't for the Duke of Liao leading the Jianzhou Left Guard in a desperate breakout, I'm afraid I would never have seen you again."

Yongli's situation was on the verge of collapse.

Looking at the blood-stained armor of the Uerte and the few remaining soldiers of the Plain Blue Banner behind him, Li Dingguo was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

"Someone, help the Emperor up to rest."

As Yongli left, Li Dingguo gave him a wink, and Wuerte immediately understood.

The two walked out of the camp one after the other.

"Lord of Liao, has Sun Kewang truly rebelled?"

"Yes, his troops came very suddenly. Arrows rained down, and only about 300 of my brothers managed to break through."

"Why??"

Ulte smiled bitterly:

"Your Highness Prince Jin, there is something I must say."

"Please speak, Your Excellency."

"Two tigers cannot share one mountain, unless one is male and the other female. The Qin and Jin states are evenly matched and could not coexist under one roof. They should have separated long ago."

Li Dingguo was stunned.

After a while~
"I know this, but I can't bring myself to do it, so we've been coexisting in a bumpy way, hoping that His Highness the Prince of Qin can understand the bigger picture and consider the overall situation."

Ulte remained silent.

At that moment, a small part of his heart collapsed.

……

Guiyang.

Qin Wangfu.

"The big picture? Whose big picture? Li Dingguo's big picture?"

Enraged, Sun Kewang drew his sword and held it to the neck of Wu Zhenyu, the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion whom he had captured.

"King Qin! The cause of resisting the Qing has just achieved a great success, and the southern half of the country is within our grasp. We cannot afford to fight among ourselves. It doesn't matter if you kill me, I only ask one thing of you: can you put aside your past grievances and assist the Prince of Jin in winning the Battle of Hubei?"

“Assist?” Sun Kewang’s face was full of hostility. “Grand Secretary Wu, I helped him defeat the Qing army. Guess what he will do to me next?”

"King Qin! The greater good is at stake."

"Screw the big picture."

Sun Kewang plunged his sword into Wu Zhenyu's chest.

“You keep talking about the big picture, while he keeps talking about the Ming Dynasty. If Li Dingguo had been content to be the second-in-command and respected me, his sworn brother, as king, would we be in this situation today?”

With a spurt of blood, Wu Zhenyu fell to the ground, dying with her eyes wide open.

On the same day~
Eighteen Ming Dynasty civil and military officials who were unable to escape were collectively beheaded, and their heads were hung at the city gate.

Sun Kewang ordered a citywide curfew in Guiyang and publicly arrested and killed civil and military officials of the Yongli Li Dingguo faction in the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi.

At the same time, his confidant Feng Shuangli took control of the entire prefecture, blocking Li Dingguo's only route back to Guangxi.

……

April 4th.

The Qing army began crossing the river, while the Ming army broke camp and withdrew.

Behind this seemingly tacit understanding lies an unexpected clash of ideas between the two head coaches.

Li Dingguo and Wuerte pondered for a whole night and concluded that the current situation was critical, with enemies on both sides, and that they had to defeat the Qing army on the front to have any chance of survival.

To achieve this goal, Li Dingguo ordered the vanguard to break camp and retreat, allowing the Eight Banners troops to cross the river safely. The two sides then engaged in fierce fighting, aiming to inflict heavy casualties on the Eight Banners troops in the open field.

It's difficult, but there's no better option.

Li Jinwang's thoughts were simple, while Jiang Dashuai's thoughts were complex.

First and foremost, we absolutely cannot lose.

If he loses, Emperor Shunzhi will kill him, and the Eight Banners will kill him. Emperor Yongli won't thank him either; if the Ming army really enters the capital, he will surely be torn to pieces.

Secondly, we must recover lost territory.

Only by regaining control of the three provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi can one demonstrate their value and solidify their position as the pillar of the Qing Dynasty.

Finally, the Manchu Eight Banners still needed to reduce their population.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Revenue, the number of Manchu bannermen was barely close to 9.

9? That's too much!
The number of Manchu bannermen must be reduced to below 7; otherwise, if Shunzhi does not realize the seriousness of the problem, he will be unwilling to delegate power, and his own path will still be narrow.

But it cannot be less than 5, otherwise, the Qing Dynasty would die suddenly from excessive blood loss.

Jiang Qingyun planned to use the blood of the Eight Banners soldiers to "reclaim" the three provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi, and also to let Li Dingguo get rid of Sun Kewang, start from scratch, and fight again, even if it meant hitting a wall.

Talented individuals are rare; we can acquire them when the time is right.

In summary, Chiang Kai-shek's strategic policy can be summed up in four words: "Preserve the land, lose the people."

(End of this chapter)