weaving

On the tenth day of the third month, there was no fighting on the west bank of the Shu River in Yanzhou.

Both the Ming and Qing armies exercised extreme restraint, with their scouts leaving their camps in shifts to probe each other in the desolate wilderness, but without launching any large-scale attacks on each other's positions.

Clearly, the Qing army's objective was to gather the scattered troops who had been defeated on the battlefield south of Vinegar Village, while also locating Abatai's main army and probing the Yongyi Army north of Vinegar Village.

Although Gadahun, Buyandai, and others guessed that even if the Ming army was strong enough, it must have suffered great losses after the Battle of Cuzhuang, none of them made a clear suggestion to launch an offensive against the Yongyi Army's position.

They were terrified, truly terrified—the brave and resolute army opposite them made them feel fear for the first time!
The reason they are holding on and not withdrawing their troops is simply because they are afraid to take responsibility for their desertion—as for gathering up the scattered troops and searching for Abatai's location, these are just excuses to comfort themselves.

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On the other hand, there are three reasons why the Yongyi Army did not continue its forced attack on Gadahun, Buyandai, and others...

Firstly, although the Battle of Vinegar Village was a substantial victory, crippling four banners of Jurchen soldiers and capturing two Jurchen chieftains alive, the Yongyi Army also suffered considerable losses. Many battalions were incomplete, and the consumption of ammunition, rockets, and other supplies was too great. Furthermore, they had to guard against the large Jurchen army led by Abatai, and for the time being, they did not have the strength to continue their strong attack on Gadahun.

Therefore, the only option is to strengthen the existing defensive lines, lie low for the time being, and adopt a defensive strategy as the means of attack.

Secondly, in this battle, the Yongyi Army only defeated the main force of the Jurchen Tartars in four banners, including Turge. They also had to take the opportunity to send cavalry to break through the Tartar camps one by one. Although there were only a small number of main forces and some bondservants defending these camps, there were still six or seven camps. This meant that almost all of the cavalry had to be sent out, leaving the attack on Gadahun without a mobile force.

Thirdly, the Yongyi Army rescued nearly 100,000 abducted refugees in this battle. Although the grain and fodder seized from the Tartars were enough to keep them alive, they could not be left in place to wait for the Tartars to come and abduct them again. In fact, transporting these refugees was more difficult than transporting supplies.

Not only is optimal route design and split-up transfer necessary, but also good organization is crucial; otherwise, how can the team move forward in a chaotic state?
All these factors have strained the morale and manpower of the Yongyi Army, leaving them unable to launch a strong offensive against the northern Tartars. Moreover, an even larger plan is underway...

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The east bank of the Shu River is not calm either.

Although the fighting here was not as fierce as on the west bank, it was still ongoing. However, someone was deliberately controlling the intensity of the fighting, which led to the misunderstanding that the main force of the Ming army was concentrated on the west bank.

However, what the Jurchens didn't know was that there were also more than 15,000 brave and resolute soldiers on the east bank of the Shu River!

Li Jiyu's Xuanwu Camp, Yang Mingqi's Cao Jun Zhong Camp, and Yuan Shizhong's Xiao Yuan Camp, the three main forces, were all deployed on the east bank of the Shu River. However, they were only on the periphery of the Jurchens, engaging in some minor harassment.

This is what caused Turger to develop a sense of contempt for him...

Of course, the main reason was that the fighting on the west bank of the Shu River was too fierce. The Jurchen soldiers of the four banners were suppressed and could only passively take the beating, completely powerless to fight back.

According to the Jurchens' conventional thinking, the Ming army would not have dared to attack the Qing warriors of four banners if it did not have 50,000 to 60,000 troops. And even then, it would have to be those few Ming armies that dared to fight tough battles.

To achieve such overwhelming dominance over the Qing warriors of four banners would have been impossible without 70,000 to 80,000 elite Ming troops, which is why Turgay made a misjudgment. Of course, he also paid the price for his miscalculation!
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In the Yanzhou area, the Shu River was originally connected by two stone bridges, one of which was on the south side. The stone bridge on the north side was controlled by the Jurchens, who also forced the captured refugees to build three pontoon bridges as the main transportation route between the two banks.

Since it was a vital transportation route between the two banks of the Shu River, the Jurchens naturally did not underestimate it and deployed heavy troops to defend both banks.

Although Li Jiyu had sent out scouts to investigate, they could only observe from a great distance using binoculars, and were unable to conduct a close-up investigation, let alone approach the bridgehead.

However, as the fighting on the west bank of the Shu River intensified, especially after Turgh led most of the Jurchen Tartars from the east bank across the river to reinforce the west bank, Li Jiyu also began to plan the capture of the pontoon bridge.

Although Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng and Li Jiyu could transmit information across the river, they could not achieve effective and timely communication. After all, the battlefield situation was constantly changing, and even the most perfect battle plan could not keep up with the sudden changes in the battlefield situation.

Li Jiyu had always stationed scouts along the banks of the Shu River to keep a close watch on whether any messages were being sent from the west bank.

Late at night on the ninth day of the third lunar month.

Scouts observed three bonfires burning on the west bank of the Shu River. Through binoculars, it was clear that the three bonfires were arranged in a triangular pattern, with a large banner in the middle bearing the character "攻" (attack).

Soon, the news reached Li Jiyu's command tent. He made a decisive move, sending the Xuanwu Camp cavalry to seize the pontoon bridge while simultaneously sending a message to the lurking Xiao Yuan Camp cavalry and Yang Mingqi's Cao army.

But it was too late. Two of the three pontoon bridges were burned down by the Jurchens, leaving only one pontoon bridge and one stone bridge, which Li Jiyu managed to seize.

Of course, this is the situation on the East Coast; the West Coast is much smoother than the East Coast...

After all, the Battle of Vinegar Village was a great victory for the Yongyi Army. Many of the Yongyi Army's cavalrymen immediately changed into Jurchen armor and, pretending to be Jurchen Tartars, easily seized the pontoon bridge on the west bank.

In fact, if Li Jiyu had acted a little slower, the Jurchens stationed at the bridgehead on the east bank of the Shu River might not have had the chance to burn down the pontoon bridge.

Although the two pontoon bridges were not completely destroyed—one was burned down to nearly a third of its length, and the other only had its eastern end section burned—even if only a small part of the pontoon bridge was destroyed, it was not something that could be repaired quickly.

Moreover, there is an entire banner of Jianzhou Tartar soldiers on the east bank of the Shu River, as well as some of the main Tartar forces left behind by other banners. Each of these places requires a separate force to attack, so where would there be time to repair the pontoon bridge?
Fortunately, they also captured a complete pontoon bridge, which, together with the stone bridge, was enough for Luo Rucai's Cao camp's central and right wing to quickly cross the Shu River. With the addition of their six or seven thousand main force...

The Yongyi Army on the east bank of the Shu River had a force of over 20,000 men. Wasn't that more than enough to deal with Aisin Gioro Fei Yangwu's Jianzhou Bordered Blue Banner?

…………

Li Jiyu, mounted on his warhorse, gazed at the Jurchen camp ahead, a smirk playing on his lips: "Fei Yangwu, huh? I heard he's the Jurchen chieftain's cousin. If we could capture him alive, that would be really great!" (End of Chapter)