in2ebook Chapter 319 Qing Army Response
Chapter 319 Qing Army Response
The place of the decisive battle, the Zhou army camp.
At this time, many generals gathered in the camp, except for two who were kneeling on the ground. One was Wang Deren, the commander of Pingdu Town, and the other was Lü Kuan, an officer serving in the military camp.
Lü Kuan tearfully accused Wang Deren, saying, "Your Majesty, my troops were at the front, and the Qing army attacked several times. I and my men fought desperately, but Wang Tongzhen didn't fire a single arrow or send a single soldier, causing the army to collapse. Please look into this!"
Wang Deren was also anxious, and said in a hurry: "Your Majesty, the collapse of Pingdu Town was actually the collapse of the military camp under Lü Kuan. The defeated soldiers broke into disorder and the Tartar cavalry took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack. As for Lü Kuan's statement that I did not fire a single arrow or provide any reinforcements, it is really nonsense. I fought to find an opportunity, which is not what Lü Kuan said at all."
At that time, Duoduo used the elite Bordered White Banner to attack the scattered Pingdu Town. If Meng Jun had not dispatched the fire musketeers in time, Duoduo would have broken through Pingdu Town and then attacked the rest of the Zhou army's towns from the flank. With the army's morale uneasy, the outcome would have been hard to predict.
Meng Jun sat in the main seat, looked around at the generals, and said, "Everyone, please speak."
Lin Shiqi said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the collapse of the Xioming Army is understandable. Their troops held the line for a long time. Although Pingdu Town collapsed, it also blocked Duoduo's Eight Banners Army, buying time for the Po Lu Army to form a battle array."
Seeing his old friend kneeling on the ground with a face full of snot, Hu Zhan couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, this is a great victory, and we need you to help us. I hope you will be lenient with him!"
Some of the generals pleaded for mercy, some remained silent, and some showed a bit of disdain. Meng Jun secretly remembered the expressions of the generals. Those who pleaded for mercy were not necessarily old acquaintances with Wang Deren. They were all people fighting on the battlefield. No one could guarantee that he would win every battle. If he lost, he would be killed. Who could be sure that he would not be the next one?
At this time, a somewhat hesitant voice came out, "Didn't the king swear an oath with the entire army that if a soldier retreats, he will be killed, and if a general retreats, he will be killed?"
As soon as these words came out, both Lü Kuan and Wang Deren's faces changed drastically. Wang Deren didn't bother to find out which bastard was trying to plot against him. He knelt on the ground and cried, "Your Majesty, the world can bear witness to my loyalty to you. I have never had any second thoughts. As the old saying goes, victory and defeat are common in the military. Although I have been defeated, I will still resist until my entire army collapses. I... I... I..."
Wang Deren got stuck at the end of his speech, and Lu Kuan hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, since I surrendered at the city of Suzhou, I have fought in more than ten battles and have always strictly followed military orders. The reason for the defeat was that Wang Tongzhen had no support. Please understand!" After saying that, Lu Kuan touched the ground with his head and cried out with tears in his eyes.
Meng Jun was also a little conflicted. Killing him was not right, and not killing him was not right either. After hesitating for a moment, Meng Jun said, "Wang Deren and Lu Kuan will be detained first."
………………
In the direction of Ezhou City, after Bolo defeated the vanguard of Zheng's army, he forced the surrendered troops to continue building camps to provide shelter for the army.
It rained heavily for three days. In the Huguang area, which was shrouded in war clouds, the fighting between the Allied Forces and the Qing Army was forced to stop for three whole days.
In three days, the outcome of the battle between Meng Jun and Duoduo and its subsequent impact gradually became apparent.
As soon as the rain stopped, Hauge immediately broke camp and set off to return to Wuchang City. Even though the Zhou army camp outside Xianning City seemed capable of being breached with a little more effort, Hauge no longer had any interest in this place.
Breaking through the main camp would not have any impact on the situation and would only waste their own troops. Hauge already sneered at and hated Duoduo. As soon as Duoduo arrived in Wuchang, he withdrew his 20,000 infantry and turned himself into a detachment.
Hauge felt a strange mix of emotions, a little sad and a little happy. He was sad because Dodo's defeat would have a very bad impact on the Qing Dynasty, but he was happy because he could already imagine how ugly Dorgon's face would be. Hauge even wanted to abandon his army and rush to Beijing day and night to see Dorgon make a fool of himself.
The Qing army's move to break camp was soon noticed by Zhou's army in the camp.
Wang Fugui ran to the camp gate and watched the Qing army's every move. As he watched, Wang Fugui showed a smug smile on his face and said to his deputy general Chen Lei: "Your Majesty has won. If Haoge doesn't run faster, he will have no chance to escape. Hahaha."
Chen Lei also smiled happily. He said eagerly: "Tongzhen, this Tartar wants to escape. Do you think we should follow them and wait for the opportunity to hold them back, wait for the king's headquarters to join us, and then eat Haoge!"
Wang Fugui thought about this for a moment, and immediately threw it aside, saying unhappily: "What are you thinking about? How many people do we have now? How many people does Haoge have? How many cavalry do we have? How many cavalry do Haoge have? It's good enough for us to defend Xianning now. You still want to delay Haoge? Forget it. Send people to monitor the Qing army quickly. When they are far away, the army will quickly withdraw to Xianning for rest!"
………………
When Baiyintu received the news, he and Li Dingguo had already fought three battles. Baiyintu and Li Dingguo were not like Meng Jun and Duoduo. Both Meng Jun and Duoduo believed that they would win the battle in the field.
Bai Yintu actually hoped for a decisive battle, but Li Dingguo knew that his strength was much inferior to that of the Qing army. In terms of numbers, Li Dingguo's cavalry and infantry had more than 46,000 people, while Bai Yintu's troops had nearly 80,000 people, nearly twice as many as the Jin army.
Therefore, in the area from Yueyang to Changsha, Li Dingguo tried his best to delay the Qing army despite being at a numerical disadvantage.
Li Dingguo took advantage of the terrain and set up layers of obstacles, such as mountains, forests, and canyons. He also set traps and obstacles on the official roads, such as pits and tripwires, and used rolling logs and stones at high places, trying to slow down the Qing army's attack speed.
Li Dingguo also conducted psychological warfare from time to time, often trying to attack the Qing camp at night and make noise at the Qing camp, disturbing Baiyintu's troops who were exhausted from traveling during the day and wanted to sleep at night, but were harassed by the Jin army and could not rest well.
Inside the Baiyintu camp.
Baiyintu said to several generals with some emotion: "Once Prince Yu is defeated, we are like an iron barrel in Huguang. No matter how hard the rest of the land is, as long as there is a hole in one place, water will pour in."
Suo Hong asked doubtfully, "What does the Marshal intend? Should we withdraw our troops?"
Upon hearing this, Lai Ta said anxiously: "General, although Prince Yu was defeated, he must still have fighting power. Moreover, Prince Su is also in the Xianning area. Why don't we leave some troops to contain the western bandits, and march east to join the two princes and fight the Meng bandits again!"
Baiyintu shook his head and said, "The number of the Western bandits is about 50,000 to 60,000. How many people do we need to leave behind to contain the Western bandits? If we leave too many, how can we fight the Meng bandits? If we lose again, the situation will get even more out of control!"
There was a heated discussion in the camp, but Yang Zhenwei was silent. He kept his commander Jiang Xiang's words in mind, "Don't act on your own, don't talk too much, and don't try too hard in battle."
However, even though Yang Zhenwei tried his best to preserve his strength, after marching south for so long, more than a thousand of his subordinates had been injured, killed in battle, or missing. It should be noted that only 6,000 of his men had marched south, and so far there had been 15% casualties. Therefore, Yang Zhenwei did not say a word about what was happening in the camp. It would be best not to fight, and everyone should withdraw to the north and go home to live their lives.