Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 243 Don’t be in a hurry, this time has changed!
In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Changgan ate fruits while reading the battle report handed over by Liaodong. "Don't be in a hurry. Tell Li Banghua to advance slowly. What the Qing Dynasty wants is a decisive battle. We won't give him this opportunity."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Wang Chengen took the battle report and placed it on the table, then began to grind ink. "Your Majesty, this is a decisive battle, why are you not in a hurry at all?"

"It's different now~"

The Battle of Songjin, which was supposed to break out four years later, broke out ahead of schedule. At that time, the Ming court should have faced the dilemma of fighting on two fronts.

In the 13th year of Chongzhen, the situation in the Ming Dynasty was completely out of control. Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai fought thousands of miles in Sichuan and were unstoppable. In addition, He Renlong and Zuo Liangyu had their own troops and were already showing a tendency to become warlords.

In the 14th year of Chongzhen, worse news came one after another. Li Zicheng broke through Luoyang and killed Prince of Fu Zhu Changxun. Zhang Xianzhong broke through Xiangyang and killed Prince of Xiang Zhu Yiming and Prince of Guiyang Zhu Changfa. Li Zicheng concentrated 30,000 main forces to besiege Kaifeng. The commander-in-chief Yang Sichang who was away died of fear. Then Jinzhou City was broken...

The big city inside the pass fell, King Pan was killed, the strong city outside the pass was broken, and the defenders were trapped.

The most crucial thing was that the imperial court had no money or food, so Chongzhen and the Minister of War Chen Xinjia completely lost their minds and eagerly forced Hong Chengchou to go out and fight a decisive battle with the Qing Dynasty.

In the end, the main force of the Ming Dynasty was completely lost.

But now Zhu Changgan didn't have to worry at all. He had money and food, the peasant army inside had been eliminated, He Renlong and Zuo Liangyu were dead, and he still had five major camps of soldiers and a strong army.

As for the internal problems of the Qing Dynasty, such as the death of Huang Taiji, the issue of the two yellow flags, the issue of the border red flag, and the checks and balances between Mongolia south of the Gobi Desert and Korea.

In Zhu Changgan's opinion, in the Battle of Songjin, the strength of the Ming and Qing sides was similar, and the Ming Dynasty was even stronger than the Qing Dynasty.

Especially now that the Ming court has money and can provide supplies to the front-line troops, it is not in a hurry to fight. Although it has artillery and muskets, the number of cavalry is still weak.

On the plain, facing the excited and agile cavalry, even if you win, it will come at a huge price.

On the other hand, the Qing Dynasty relied solely on looting, just like bandits, relying on robbery as their source of income.

The Ming court had a large amount of fertile land and various minerals, so it could collect taxes, solicit donations, and increase taxes. If it ran out of money, it could just confiscate a few corrupt officials, salt merchants, and weaving manufacturers to make up for it.

Once the Manchus were unable to enter the country, their lives became completely different.

So the Ming Dynasty is not in a hurry.

……

Outside Jinzhou City,

"Send me the two yellow flags!" Dorgon felt his heart bleed as he watched the Eight Banners soldiers rain down from the Jinzhou city.

The reason why he ordered the princes to take turns leading troops to besiege Jinzhou, and the Eight Banners of Mongolia and Korean soldiers also participated in the siege of Jinzhou, was that his real purpose was to annihilate the main force of the Ming army that came to reinforce and then surround and attack the reinforcements.

Unfortunately, the Ming soldiers were not fooled, and Dorgon had no choice but to carry out his second goal, which was to capture Jinzhou City.

The fact was just as Zhu Changgan had thought. Before the autumn, two major wars broke out between the Ming Dynasty and the Qing army, one was the Battle of Entering the Pass, and the other was the Battle of Southern Mongolia. In addition, the Qing Dynasty sent a large army to Korea for support. Although no major war broke out, the consumption of food and fodder was extremely high.

Not to mention the Korean and Mongolian soldiers, even the food consumption of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty was very large and it was difficult to sustain. In the past, there were Outer Mongolia and Korea, one provided war horses and the other provided food. If there was a shortage of food and fodder, there was Korea for supply. But this year, Korea and Mongolia south of the desert were all defeated by the Ming Dynasty, and it could no longer provide blood transfusions.

It can be said that the Qing Dynasty was much more urgent than the Ming Dynasty in besieging Jinzhou. The news brought back by the Jinyiwei showed that the Qing cavalry had two meals a day, while the infantry could only eat one meal a day.

Of course, there is another point. If the Qing Dynasty could capture Jinzhou, Songshan and other places, the terrain of the Liaoxi Corridor would allow it to completely cut off the Ming Dynasty's road to Liaodong.

No one would have considered this idea during the time of Nurhaci and Huang Taiji, but now Dorgon had to consider it.

Because the Ming army's combat effectiveness increased so quickly, in just a few months, it suddenly burst out with such great power that he had to make preparations in advance.

"Kill~"

At this moment, the sound of fighting was heard behind him. Dorgon looked at the smoke rising in the distance and vaguely smelled a sense of uneasiness. He felt that the Ming army was coming too fast.

"Your Majesty, it seems that the Ming army has no intention of fighting a decisive battle with us?" Yue Tuo led his troops forward, trying to block the troops of the five major camps, but when the horses started running, he found that the troops of the five major camps had retreated another five miles.

Further ahead were the mountains. Yuetuo, who had suffered losses at the hands of the five major camps, could only retreat again.

But as soon as they retreated, the Ming army pressed forward again.

"This is a difficult situation~" Dorgon frowned, but deep down he had an incomprehensible illusion about the Ming Emperor's tactics.

Is this really the work of the impatient Zhu Youjian?
"Your Majesty, should we station a troop of soldiers in Dalinghe City to prevent the Ming army from attacking our retreat?"

Dorgon shook his head. "The Ming court will not cross the Daling River. Given the current situation, they do not want to fight a decisive battle with the Qing Dynasty."

"The Qing Dynasty has gathered reinforcements from Korea and the Eight Banners of Mongolia. The overall number is roughly equal to that of the Ming army. The Ming army's food and wages are concentrated in Ningyuan, Xingshan, Bijiashan and other places. This is the fatal hidden danger they left behind. What we have to do next is to seize all the food and grass in these places, so that we can survive this winter."

Dorgon and the leaders of the various banners were extremely determined and decided to burn their boats.

As long as Jinzhou City and Songshan Fort could be occupied, the Ming Dynasty's road to Liaodong could be cut off, and the food problem could be solved, most of the Qing Dynasty's problems would be solved.

As for whether or not the main force of the Ming Dynasty can be destroyed, that is secondary.

……

As for Zu Dashou, he had fought against the Eight Banners Army for more than 20 years and was familiar with their tactics. He knew how to fight them most effectively, which was to form a solid battle formation, advance step by step, and defend the city without showing his head. He never took the initiative to fight. The best strategy was to fight and defend at the same time, and fight a protracted war with the Qing army.

Zu Dashou believed that as long as he could hold out for two months, the Qing soldiers outside the city would run out of food and money, and Korea would be suppressed by the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing soldiers would no longer have any food supplies.

There's no way I'd make it through the winter.

Especially when they saw that the reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty had arrived in the distance, they understood that they could not be fooled by the Qing army. Once Jinzhou City was lost, all their efforts would be in vain.

"Hold on a little longer. The Ming reinforcements have arrived and will defeat the Tartars."

He led his men to fiercely collide with the Eight Banners of the Manchus and pushed them down again.

"Hold on a little longer..."

……

Rufeng Mountain in the south of Jinzhou City,
The Qing cavalry was constantly pulled back by the Ming cavalry, while the artillery behind them continued to spew out flames and pour shells on the Qing camp.

The Qing Dynasty's artillery fire could not hit the Ming army, but the range of the Ming army's artillery was just enough to reach the enemy.

Being attacked unilaterally, the Qing Dynasty could only charge towards the Ming army again and again.

The Eight Banners Cavalry of the Qing Dynasty was like a huge wall, with their iron hooves flying. They always rushed over like a flood, but time and again it was like hitting cotton.

The Ming Dynasty cavalry did not engage in a head-on confrontation with them at all, because Li Banghua knew that the Ming Dynasty cavalry could not defeat the Manchu Eight Banners cavalry, even if they were of equal numbers.

This is the difference between the five major camps and the border town troops. With one order, all the camps work together smoothly.

One of the major reasons for the defeat in the Battle of Songjin was that the troops from the eight towns were gathered together and were not subordinate to each other, resulting in serious mountain divisions.

Hong Chengchou had no roots in Liaodong, and his direct subordinates were Cao Bianjiao and his gang. He needed time to coordinate and command the training of troops, to unify the authority, and to unify the thinking of all the armies. The biggest problem of the Ming army in the past was this.

Especially when they were besieged and exposed, Hong's direct subordinates fought to the death, while Wu, Wang and others who were not direct subordinates were the first to flee, directly killing tens of thousands of soldiers.

What we need to do is to tire the other party out. You eat two meals a day, and we eat three. You may have no strength left, but we still have.

This went on for half a day. When the Qing cavalry reappeared in small numbers, the Ming cavalry finally moved and began to speed up...

In the eyes of the Qing cavalry, the Ming cavalry was like a black torrent, surging towards them.

Only then did they realize that the Ming army was finally going to charge at them.

The Ming cavalry were lined up in strict formation, their steps rolling in an orderly manner as if stepping on human heartbeats. The soldiers in the front row held muskets and fired continuously. When they got close, they put the muskets on their backs and took out the sabers from behind.

He stared at her with a fierce gaze, and trembling all over, he shouted: "Kill~"

Tens of thousands of cavalrymen raised countless clouds of dust; the sound of horse hooves was like beating drums, overwhelming like mountains and seas.

……

Among the army, there was a slender figure holding an iron spear in her hand. She was as fierce as a cheetah and her spear was as fast as a dragon. Every attack took the life of a Tartar.

"one!"

"two"

"Three... four..."

Prior to this, the Ming Dynasty's tactics were to achieve some small victories by having the main force stay in the rear and small units go forward to engage in battle, gradually boosting the morale of the army and letting their men know that as long as the tactics were correct, they could defeat the Qing army in a field battle.

But tactics are tactics. When they were really put into use, not to mention the Tartars, even Lady Hong was almost wiped out of her fighting spirit by the Ming army's own tactics.

This was the case with the Ming army, let alone the Qing army.

The most terrifying thing is that the Qing army infantry only eats two meals a day, and they don’t care how full they are. Every charge is a huge consumption for them. When they really collide with each other, their combat effectiveness has been reduced to less than half.

There was little enthusiasm and caution left in my heart.

The morale of the Ming army was high, while that of the Qing army was low... As one grew stronger, the other weakened. When the two armies collided, the gap between them suddenly became apparent.

When Ehachu, the Jialazhangjing of the Bordered White Banner, started fighting with the Ming army, he immediately felt something was wrong. On such a flat ground, at such a distance, there were no other traps. As soon as he started fighting, the opponent would surely fall down.

Even if the enemy turned around and fled, they would inevitably lose their fighting spirit and be chased by the Qing cavalry, and would only die faster.

But now, he found that after just a few exchanges, his hands became weak, his heart was panicking, and he couldn't muster any strength. He heard a "whoosh" sound in his ears, and he lowered his head suddenly, only to find that he was a beat too slow to react. When he realized what was going on, it seemed that something suddenly flew up and fell to the ground...

……

Thank you all for your support. Yesterday’s chapter was posted this morning, and today’s chapter is here!

(End of this chapter)