Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 486 He has heavenly soldiers, I have million animals

The person delivering the letter was actually the chief steward of the He Mansion, Liu Quan.

The popular butler Liu, now dressed like a real traveling merchant, sneaked here all the way from Nanyang Prefecture.

It is true that Huguang is at war.
However, on the vast Han River Plain, scouts, messengers, and small groups of troops were still able to move freely.

just,

The army could not move smoothly.

Both sides kept their eyes on the other side's main force and did not dare to relax at all.

Around Jiyukou Town,

The Wu army scouts lingered around.

same,

As the 2nd and 4th Corps marched, the Qing scouts were like leeches.

Generally speaking,

The Qing army scouts were slightly better because they had more cavalry.

If it weren't for the numerous rivers in the Jianghan Plain, the Wu army's scouts would probably have been wiped out.

……

Chen Zuluo read it twice, then held a corner of the secret letter close to the candle.

The flames ignited, the paper fell to the ground, and turned into ashes~
Liu Quan glanced at the carbonized paper covered with handwriting.

Then he spoke:

"My Lord, are you ready?"

"I'm afraid the Emperor will pursue the crime of deserting my post. After all, I am the Governor-General of Huguang."

"Sir, if you keep the green mountains, you will never worry about lack of firewood. The master said that Huguang is already in the pocket of Wu thieves. In fact, the emperor knows it very well, but~"

"I listen to the Prime Minister."

"Yes."

Liu Quan left the tent. He was exhausted from the long journey and it was time for him to relax.

If it weren't for the fact that Chen Zuluo was indeed important,
There is no way that a trusted butler like him would risk his life by sneaking into a war zone.

……

Chen Zuluo was in the tent.

Calmly review the current situation.

The Wu army launched an attack from multiple directions.

They showed their strategic intention of swallowing up Huguang in one gulp, and judging from the battle situation, they did have the strength to do so.

The fall of Huguang was only a matter of time and how many casualties would be inflicted on Wu’s army.

He Shen told himself in the letter,
The emperor hoped that the blood of the Mongolian cavalry from outer vassal states would flow on the Jianghan Plain and mix with the blood of the Wu army.

If we can make Meng and Wu both lose,

It’s a great achievement for me!
but,

We need to achieve this goal quietly without making a fuss and disappointing the people.

……

Chen Zuluo stared at the lamp, lost in thought.

It was not difficult to escape from the Jianghan battlefield, and it was not difficult for a small group of troops to infiltrate and cross the Han River.

The Han River is so long.
The Wu army's navy could only block large groups of troops from crossing the river.

A small number of people and horses can just find a small boat and cross the river in a quarter of an hour.

The key is,
After crossing the river to the north, can he escape punishment and maintain his high position as governor?

Master Heshen said in the letter,

He will protect himself at all costs, and he has prepared a reason for himself - to serve the king!
……

"To serve the king! To serve the king! But the Wu army has shown no signs of marching north. Is it reasonable for me to rashly lead my troops north to Nanyang to serve the king?"

Chen Zuluo was deep in thought.

Suddenly outside the tent,

Someone reported:

"Sir, someone wants to see you. He said he escaped from Wuchang City and brought a letter from Governor Wang."

"Bring it in quickly."

The visitor is none other than
It was Zhao Zhuangwen.

After he left Wuchang, the fleeing team gradually shrank, from 5000 people at the beginning to only more than 2000 people in the end.

en route,

He also fought with small groups of Wu army scouts twice.

……

"Your subordinate greets the governor."

Zhao Zhuangwen remained unruly and just bowed.

Chen Zulo glanced at him in surprise and opened the letter.

The handwriting is illegible and the paper is badly folded.

Only 5 words:

"This person can be of great use."

Chen Zuluo looked up.
He looked him up and down and asked:
"I don't think I saw you in the shogunate when I left Wuchang?"

"Replying to the governor, it has been less than a month since my mentor knew me and accepted me as his student."

"Ah."

"I have one thing that I don't understand. Wuchang's walls are strong, its food and wages are sufficient, and its new army is loyal. Why did it take only half a day to ~"

Zhao Zhuangwen's expression also became extremely painful at this time.

Speak out with difficulty:
"The new army doesn't know how to use artillery! They are being beaten without any resistance."

……

Chen Zuluo remained silent.
I want to continue to find out more about this person.

"According to your opinion, what are the chances of the imperial court winning the Huguang War?"

"No chance of winning."

"Someone in the court has proposed that the chief military minister, Agui, be sent to Yunnan and Guizhou, and at the same time win over the chieftains in the southwest in order to use them to block the Wu army's advance. What do you think?"

"Great idea."

"What's so wonderful about it?"

"Utilize waste! Buy precious time and prevent the Wu army from concentrating all its forces to march north."

"The Wu army has powerful guns and artillery, strict discipline, and abundant financial resources. What should the court do?"

Zhao Zhuangwen raised his head and looked at Chen Zuluo carefully.
After seeing a hint of displeasure on the other party's face,

Then he smiled and said:
"He has a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, and I have a million livestock."

……

"What did you say??"

"Yes. They ate coarse food, wore coarse grey coats, and at the commander's command, the animals carried crude weapons and faced the enemy's artillery fire, charging the enemy formation in a rough and sloppy manner, killing ten thousand and then another ten thousand. Even the wealthy heavenly soldiers could not endure such a war. This method is most suitable for a huge empire. It seems stupid, but it is actually ingenious."

Chen Zuluo's face turned cold.
If it wasn't for Wang Jie's consideration, he would have had this madman dragged out and chopped into two on the spot.

Madman?

This is not the Spring and Autumn Period or the Warring States Period.

We don't need crazy men, we only need obedient ministers.

……

Chen Zuluo lowered his head:
"At the request of your teacher, the court has promoted you to the fifth rank as assistant director of Hunan militia training. You can go to Hunan to take up the post."

After a while,
I looked up and saw Zhao Zhuangwen still standing there.

So he said unhappily:

"Why don't you leave?"

"I want to get a real job. Can I get a real job as a county magistrate?"

"Officials and titles are important to the imperial court. How can we bargain for them like this? If it weren't for the king~"

Zhao Zhuangwen suddenly cupped his hands:
"Governor, my mentor once told me that he has always been thinking about the favor of the Chen family, but he has not had the opportunity to repay it for decades, so he asked to guard Wuchang alone. Now~"

……

For a long time,

Chen Zuluo sighed.

Pick up the pen and ask:

"Tell me, which county do you want?"

"Yuanling County."

"Yuanling County is the capital of Chenzhou Prefecture and the seat of the prefecture."

"I understand."

Chen Zuluo wrote a few strokes and stamped the document with his seal.

Then throw it off.

A piece of official document fell to the ground.

Zhao Zhuangwen bent down to pick it up, his face calm as usual.

"Thank you, sir."

Go ahead and go.

……

Through the tent,
They both muttered to themselves.

Chen Zuluo: A mad man.

Zhao Zhuangwen: Stupid.

In short, people with different ideals cannot work together.

Zhao Zhuangwen borrowed several hundred dan of grain from the army and the next morning he and his men continued to flee south to take up their posts.

Chen Zuluo was also busy making his plans.

A dozen of the outer Mongolian leaders under his command received an unexpected surprise - the court allowed them to march their troops to the grass valley for two days.
Make sure morale is high, then rush to Jingzhou City for support.

The Chahar and Rehe horse teams were complaining and were very unhappy.

Always feel,
This time there is a distinction between insiders and outsiders, and favoritism is shown to some over others.

……

During the Qing Dynasty,
Mongolia is divided into Inner Mongolia (Eight Mongolian Banners) and Outer Mongolia.

There was no difference between Inner Mongolia and the prefectures and counties in the interior of the country. They were governed by officials sent by the imperial court, who had 100% control over them.

Outer Mongolia was in a semi-autonomous state.
It can also be divided into Inner Jasak Mongolia and Outer Jasak Mongolia.

If we compare the Qing court to a landlord,
Inner Mongolia (Eight Banners of Mongolia) was equivalent to a domestic slave, with no freedom. Inner Zasak was equivalent to a housekeeper of a suburban farm, with some freedom.

The outer zasak is equivalent to a short-term hired worker in the surrounding area during the busy farming season. On the one hand, they are free, but on the other hand, they are not free.

Anyway,

The Qing court held a saber in one hand and a rope in the other.
It took nearly 200 years to recruit, win over, divide, suppress and disintegrate the various Mongolian tribes.

Different management methods are implemented for each department according to the three factors of the time of attachment, the method of attachment, and the distance from Beijing.
The complexity of the distinctions and the cumbersomeness of the rules are so great that even historians are frightened.

……

To fight the enemy is to commit armed robbery and murder.

This is the nomads’ favorite activity, bar none.

Gold, silver, women, cloth, silk, everyone took everything.

This also brings people's memory back to the time when the Eight Banners Army entered the Pass, which was also so wild.

After all,

It's still the colonial mentality.

You will definitely cherish your own house, but you will mess up the house you rent.
The Mongolian Eight Banners Cavalry were left behind to serve as the governor's guards!

8000 Outer Mongolian cavalry and 7000 Green Camp soldiers left Jiyukou Town and headed towards Jingzhou.

Next to Chen Zuluo,
The number of troops dropped sharply to less than 5000.

……

Such a large-scale mobilization of troops,

Wu Jun scouts responded immediately after investigation and confirmation.

At the same time, he rushed back to Wuchang to inform the commander-in-chief of the Huguang Campaign, Lin Huaisheng.

While reminding the 2nd Army which is about to arrive in Jingzhou.

Two consecutive days of rain.

It slowed down the pace for both the offense and defense.

The 2nd Corps set up camp in Tanqiao Town, southeast of Jingzhou City, to temporarily avoid the rain.

Zheng Hean remained silent in the tent.

Plans cannot keep up with changes. How could the Qing army, which had been hiding for a long time, suddenly take the initiative to attack?

Thus,
The established plan to attack Jingzhou and take Yichang is likely to fail.

……

Wu Jun routine,

The staff has the authority to make recommendations and provide the commander with alternative plans.

But the final decision lies with the commander!

If you win,

7% of the credit goes to the commander, and 3% goes to the staff who proposed the specific strategy.

If you lose,

The responsibility lies entirely with the commander.

Anyway,

Wu Jun’s staff team is a special group, half civil and half military.

Although the staff officers were powerless, they were familiar with battlefield military affairs.

The path to advancement is broad.
Some returned to the General Staff Headquarters as department heads, some went to the Army Ministry as civilian officers, some were appointed as lecturers at military academies, and some were appointed as chiefs of logistics hubs.

Anyway,

Your Majesty is deliberately training a group of military scholars who are more than just "paper talkers" and may be of great use in the future.

……

Zheng Hean listened to the four staff officers and each of them explained his own plan.

Then I chose the one I thought was the safest.
The next day,

The rain stopped and the sky cleared.

The legion marched forward at once,

They arrived at Shashi, east of Jingzhou City, and began to build strong fortifications and deep camps.

More than 8000 soldiers of the corps, plus the service battalion, were fully committed to the construction.

Not only that,

More than 1000 people from the surrounding areas were also temporarily conscripted.

The officers told the people:
"Tianbing has arrived in Hubei. Anyone who actively responds will not be treated unfairly afterwards. Don't think about anything now. Just work hard and perform well."

They were then incorporated into the baggage camp and provided with meals.

Responsible for digging ditches, setting up barricades and other heavy physical work.

General Hengling of Jingzhou,

They only sent scouts to observe from afar, and had no plans for a field battle.

Unknowingly,

The Qing army collectively suffered from "field combat panic disorder."

……

The next day,

The camp had not yet been completed when the Mongolian cavalry arrived.

"Nikan is so arrogant that he dares to go deep into Jingzhou with only more than 10,000 infantrymen?"

The person asking the questions was the Taiji of Alxa Eleuth Banner, Halabarsi, which means Black Tiger in Chinese.

[It was called Wala in the Ming Dynasty and Eleuth in the Qing Dynasty. Eleuth was divided into five tribes, namely Durbet, Khoshut, Junggar, Khohuite, and Torghut. The first four tribes can be collectively called the four tribes of Oirat. ]

The Halabarsi tribe was originally defeated by the Dzungar tribe, but later surrendered to the Qing court and assisted in the encirclement and suppression of the Dzungar tribe. They were granted official titles and pastures.

No one responded to him.

They all stretched their necks, some even stood on their saddles to look into the distance at the enemy camp.

The old nomad has poisonous eyes,

You can tell from a distance whether the enemy is strong or not, how much money he has, or whether the woman is beautiful or not.

The outermost shallow groove,

The second layer of chevaux de frise,
The third layer is the wooden fence and baggage cart.

Although it has yet to be completed, the key areas have been arranged.

……

Just now, thousands of cavalrymen were marching together, and their horses' hooves were shaking the ground.

In this case,

The infantrymen in the enemy camp continued to do their work calmly, without any panic.

The tribal leaders looked at each other and exchanged opinions in low voices.

The summary is: it’s not easy, so be careful.

have to say,

Qianlong saw through this group of people. He was even willing to give Wu's army a victory in order to inflict heavy damage to the Eleuth Mongols.

The Junggar tribe was unruly.
Aren’t the other three Oirats rebellious?
the same.

In Qianlong's mind, the Eleuths had long been expelled from Mongolian nationality.

The Mongols south of the desert are the orthodox of the grassland. How can the descendants of the Oirat produce loyal subjects?
……

The grassland leaders requested to enter Jingzhou while searching everywhere for loopholes.

The location where the 2nd Army camped was very tricky.

To the west is Jiangjin Lake, to the east is Yulan Lake, and 2 miles to the south is Jingjiang River.
Unable to attack in the east-west direction.

If the army were to take a detour along the river and attack from south to north, the distance would not be enough to increase the speed of the horses.

Anyway,

The choice of this piece of land was very tricky, which restricted the cavalry's performance to the greatest extent and prevented them from charging back and forth.

Miechi Naigai, the little prince of Tushetu Khan's Right Banner Taiji,
He cursed angrily:
"Let's go into the city and find the cannon."

We have all seen the world and know that there are two ways to break this situation:
One is to blast open the city with cannons and then charge in with cavalry.

One is siege and food shortage.

……

General Hengling of Jingzhou opened the city gates and welcomed the leaders of various tribes into the city.

but,

He did not allow the cavalry to enter the city.

This vigilant attitude caused extreme dissatisfaction among the leaders of various tribes.

When entering the city for a banquet,
The taiji of Alxa Eleuth Banner, Halabarsi, would guzzle Hengling wine whenever he got the chance.

When it comes to persuading people to drink, the men on the grassland are professionals.

After 5 bowls in a row,
Hengling is top-heavy and has a fiery throat~
He waved his hands repeatedly, indicating that he couldn't drink any more.

So it was Yin and Yang,
"General Heng, do you look down on me?"

Heng Ling was furious and cursed inwardly, "How can a Taiji be considered a prince? Poor bastard, poor bastard."

but,

You still have to be polite in your words.

He raised his wine bowl helplessly:

"My young lords, I really can't hold my liquor. I'm sorry, I can't drink any more after this bowl of wine."

……

Halabarsi relied on the fact that he had followed the imperial court in two attacks on the Dzungar tribe, had accompanied the emperor and had seen the emperor.

Asked again:
"Are there any beautiful women in the city?"

Heng Ling's smile froze, he put down his chopsticks, and said with a folded hand:
"I am worried that the unruly people will cause trouble, so I have dealt with all the Han people in the city. If you don't believe me, you can go to the west city to check the ruins."

Miechi Naigai, the young prince of Tushetu Khan Banner, was young and full of vigor.

I usually ride fast horses and shoot fast arrows, but when I mention women, I feel itchy~
asked:

"We are here to support Jingzhou under the order of the Governor. We are short of silver, medicine, provisions, tents, cannons, and servants. Could you please help us solve the problem?"

……

Hengling hasn't spoken yet.

A deputy commander nearby helped explain:
"Food and artillery can solve the problem, but there is really nothing else."

Mie Chi Nai Gai squinted his eyes,

Said:

"In that case, open the city gates and let the army enter Jingzhou. Don't bother with the gold, silk and woman, we will find them ourselves."

(End of this chapter)