Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 425: Battle (3)

The undercurrent in Beijing city is surging. The stalemate between Meng Jun, Jiang Xiang and Dorgon is like chess pieces on a chessboard, and the competition between them is on the verge of breaking out.

The atmosphere of a great war permeated the entire Hebei Plain. Meng Jun knew very well that he was not a genius in the use of tactics. His past career on the battlefield had allowed him to grow into a steady coach rather than a rare genius.

Facing this last battle inside the pass, Meng Jun chose to rely on his own advantages of strong military strength and sufficient logistics, and gradually disintegrate Dorgon's power through persistent consumption.

On June 18, the fourth year of the Yongli reign,

Meng Jun gave an order in Dezhou City, and the huge army headed north, heading directly for Cangzhou.

For Dorgon, Meng Jun's dispatch of troops was just what he wanted. He firmly believed that with the powerful Eight Banners cavalry of the Qing army, they would be able to quickly defeat Meng Jun on the vast plains.

What Dorgon had never expected was that Meng Jun had laid out a tactical layout that was different from the previous ones, which was to build a strong camp and advance step by step.

Meng Jun's army advanced northward, and built a small camp every fifteen miles. These camps not only served as temporary bases, but also were important nodes for defending against enemy night attacks and rapid counterattacks.

A solid large camp would be built between every two small camps. After the front army completed the construction of the large camp, Meng Jun's main force would slowly move in.

During the march, scouts were sent out everywhere, and scouts were the first to go into battle. They were the eyes and ears of the army, responsible for detecting the movements of the Qing army.

Shen Tingyang, who was in charge of logistics support, commanded the navy fleet to deliver food and supplies to the army along the Grand Canal route.

Just after Meng Jun dispatched his army, Dorgon had already made preparations for the expedition.

Dorgon left behind 16,000 Han troops, 4,000 of which were under the Eight Banners, with Baiyintu as the commander, to defend against Jiang Xiang's troops in the direction of Datong. He himself took 6,000 Solon soldiers, 30,000 Han soldiers, 8,000 of which were under the Eight Banners, and 3,000 Mongolian soldiers, a total of more than 47,000 people. Dorgon personally led the army and marched south to fight Meng Jun.

Before setting out, Dorgon urgently ordered Suksaha, who stayed in Zunhua, to wait for ten days before leading his troops south.

Dorgon was afraid that once Meng Jun learned that Suksaha's 45,000 cavalry had not left the pass, he would retreat back to Shandong.

After the Qing court lost Jiangnan and Huguang, the Qing army could no longer compete with Meng Jun in terms of economy, food, and military replenishment. Unless Dorgon gave up the areas within the Great Wall, even if Meng Jun refused to defend Shandong, Dorgon would send troops to attack Meng Jun again.

Dorgon went south from the capital, passing through Wuqing, Tianjin, Jinghai, Qingxian, and arrived in Cangzhou.

Dezhou is only 230 miles away from Cangzhou, while the distance from the capital to Cangzhou is more than 400 miles. Dorgon has already arrived in Cangzhou City, but Meng Jun has just arrived at the city of Nanpi.

The movement of an army of more than 100,000 soldiers naturally could not be concealed, and the Qing army scouts quickly found out that Meng Jun's main force was in Nanpi.

The small town of Nanpi opened its doors and surrendered when Meng Jun's vanguard arrived.

As more and more news came, Dorgon immediately knew Meng Jun's plan. There were densely packed small camps along the way, with a large camp every fifty miles. Even if the small camps were not strong enough, it would take some effort to take them down.

Dorgon, who was originally full of confidence, became a little impatient at this moment. Dorgon, who was thinking hard about how to defeat the enemy in the big tent, suddenly slammed the table and shouted angrily: "Cowardly thieves, hiding behind the wall!"

After cursing, Dorgon sighed. Moreover, with the navy transporting food and grass, Meng Jun no longer had to worry about the danger of food and grass being cut off. Dorgon sighed a little, thinking that Meng Jun was planning to use money and food to attack Beijing.

As time went by, Dorgon's impatience gradually turned into anxiety. The cavalry raid and galloping he had expected did not occur. On the contrary, Meng Jun's army was like nails, firmly rooted in Hebei after taking two steps.

Dorgon tried to attack the small camp, but even if he could take it down, the loss would outweigh the gain in terms of casualties. Moreover, if he took down a small camp today, Meng Jun would set up two more small camps tomorrow.

Dorgon knew that if Meng Jun continued to advance step by step, it would only be a matter of time before he reached the gates of Beijing. Anger and anxiety prompted him to break the deadlock.

On July 2, Dorgon ordered all available forces, including the elite Eight Banners cavalry, to launch a siege on a large Zhou army camp fifty miles outside Cangzhou city.

Dorgon first formed an array outside the Zhou army camp, and then sent a messenger to invite Meng Jun to a decisive battle. However, after the messenger had one ear cut off, he was driven out of the camp by the Zhou army.

The messenger replied that he did not see Meng Jun, only a thief named Qian under Meng Jun's command. He cut off his left ear and then threw down a sentence.

Dorgon asked, "What?"

"That Qian thief said, if you want to fight, then fight, if not, get out, why are you talking so much?"

Dorgon did not get angry when he heard this, but looked carefully at the Zhou army camp. This camp was naturally much inferior to the city wall, but it was much stronger than the chariot formation.

The Qing army had less than half the strength of the Zhou army, and Dorgon was not confident that he could capture the camp. Besides, except for the Han army, the rest of the Qing army were cavalry, and Dorgon could not use cavalry to attack the camp.

As for attacking the camp at night, Dorgon came to a conclusion after so many days of reconnaissance that Meng Jun's defense was much stronger at night than during the day. The Zhou army had tight defense at night, with reconnaissance posts everywhere, both visible and hidden, and the alert range even extended to five miles away.

Dorgon looked at the Zhou army camp for a long time, then suddenly smiled and said, "The thief Meng has set up camp and left. I want to see if he intends to stay in the camp forever!"

Dorgon immediately evacuated the camp. He was waiting for Meng Jun to send troops. Even if he wanted to set up a camp, he would need people to go out of the camp to build it. As long as people came out, he would always have an opportunity to take advantage of it.

However, when Meng Jun discussed with his subordinates in the Zhou army, they had already made a plan for this situation.

After discovering that the Qing army had been eyeing him covetously, Meng Jun used naval warships to transport 3,000 soldiers, crossed the Cangzhou city, and set up camp behind Dorgon by the canal. After setting up one camp, he continued to set up small camps forward, leaving a thousand soldiers in each small camp.

Dorgon was stunned when he heard the news. He had never thought that he could fight like this. He was furious and cursed again: "Meng is a rat thief! How can such a coward win the world!"