Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 313 Do you all think I’m anxious?

Zhu Cilang could imagine how He Tengjiao and other Hunan officials would react when they received the military order.

He knew that at this stage, the safest approach would be to order the Hunan Ming army to advance into Jiangxi in order to contain the Qing troops stationed in the Dongting Lake Plain and the Poyang Lake Plain from moving south to support Ganzhou.

In this way, he could calmly liberate Chang Guanlin's troops from Fuzhou, and then annihilate Ajige who was trapped by mountains and rivers with lightning speed.

But he didn't want to delay any longer, and he didn't have time to delay any longer.

Although this strategy could surely wipe out the main force of the Qing army, if it was carried out step by step, the Qing army could simply sacrifice its soldiers to save its king and abandon this group of troops, and instead focus its defense on the Wuchang and Xiangyang lines.

If the Ming army wanted to drive the Tartars back to Jiangbei completely, they would have to attack one city after another, and the battle would have changed from a surprise attack to a serious battle of attrition.

Don't think that because the Qing army has not been in the pass for long, there won't be a city that the Ming army is helpless against.

There is no need to mention the distant past. Just take Xu Yong as an example. In the original history, he was a surrendered general who died for the Qing court. Among them, the three battles to defend the city best reflected his loyalty to the Qing Dynasty.

The first battle was the defense of Ganzhou during Jin Shenghuan's rebellion against the Qing Dynasty.

In that battle, Xu Yong, with only 3,000 soldiers, managed to hold off Jin Shenghuan's army at the gates of Ganzhou city for several months without any reinforcements.

This not only prevented the Ming troops in Hunan and Jiangxi from joining forces, but also bought enough time for the Qing army to mobilize troops. From a strategic point of view, it is no exaggeration to say that it saved the life of the Qing court.

The next battle will be to defend Changsha.

At that time, the Ming and Qing armies were basically fighting a decisive battle in Hunan, and Li Guo and Gao Yigong took advantage of the empty rear to conquer several states in succession. When the troops reached Changsha, Changsha was the only city still in the hands of the Qing army.

If Xu Yong had failed to defend Changsha in this battle, the situation in Hunan would certainly have changed. The Ming army, which had gained a precious breathing space, might have caused some trouble to the Tartars.

But even in such a situation, Xu Yong was able to delay the civil strife among the Ming army with his ability to defend the city.

At this point, He Tengjiao and others lost their last chance to change the situation in Hunan.

The last one was the Battle of Chenzhou.

Although Xu Yong, who was good at defending the city, was hacked to death by the Ming army in this battle, he used the small city of Chenzhou to hold off Sun Kewang's troops of tens of thousands for a month.

If Bai Wenxuan had not used war elephants to break through the city gate in the end, it is possible that his myth of defending the city could have continued.

Of course, Xu Yong, a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty, has now been stabbed to death by Hu Yiqing, but Zhu Cilang cannot guarantee that there will not be another Zhang Yong or Zhao Yong in the Qing army.

If Zhu Cilang had really waited until all of Ajige's troops were annihilated before turning around to attack Wuchang and other major cities along the river, who knows whether he would have also ended up with a bloody collision in front of a big city like Zheng Chenggong, Jin Shenghuan, and Li Guo?
At this point, some people may say that at this time the Ming Dynasty had already established a firm foothold south of the Yangtze River. Even if they attacked Ajige's troops first, which would give the Qing army time to make arrangements, by that time the Qing army would have no mobile force south of the Yangtze River.

As long as they spent some time, they could have taken all the big cities with the help of the navy. There was no need to take such a strategic risk and transfer the Hunan Ming army that could have been used to block Ajige's retreat to attack the city, which would have added unnecessary risks.

This is indeed the truth, but the stab in his waist by the Dutch was too painful. If he could not concentrate on hurting this group of robbers at once, he would not be able to achieve the final victory in the two-front war.

Zhu Cilang was not worrying over nothing. With his memories from later life, he was all too familiar with the temperaments of those white-skinned jackals.

Before the Opium War, the band of plundering beasts could still maintain a certain respectability against the Tartar regime due to the pressure accumulated over nearly a thousand years. However, the weak performance of the Qing court in that war caused the status of this old empire to fall from a first-class power to a second-class one in the eyes of white people.

Afterwards, under the repeated tests of the white people, the last fig leaf of the Qing court was torn off bit by bit. When the Qing court was defeated by the Japanese invaders in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the white people became even more unscrupulous.

If it weren't for countless people with lofty ideals and aspirations who came one after another, this civilization that has lasted for thousands of years would have ended up in the same situation as Africa, the Middle East, and South America.

just
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, we should take Fuzhou first, and then attack Nanchang after joining forces with General Chang's troops."

At this time, the Ming army's navy had successfully entered Poyang Lake, but because the waterways were not connected, attacking Fuzhou to free up Chang Guanlin's troops and attacking Nanchang to open up the waterway to Ganzhou became two contradictory choices.

Faced with this choice, Zhu Cilang did not express his opinion immediately, but raised the issue after summoning several generals to his cabin.

Obviously, everyone had thought about this choice for several rounds in their minds. When Fang Guoan took the lead in expressing his thoughts, they expressed their support one after another without hesitation.

"Your Majesty, I share the same opinion as General Fang. I also think that we should conquer Fuzhou first."

"Yes, Your Majesty, although Ajige's troops have become trapped, a lion must fight a rabbit with all its might. With the help of General Chang's troops, there will be fewer setbacks."

"The general seconded the proposal."

The first sentence was said by Hou Chengzu, the second sentence was said by Zhang Pengyi, and the third sentence was said by Xiang Rensheng. But after the two of them finished speaking, Zhu Cilang did not reveal his thoughts at all. Instead, after pacing for a while, he asked Hu Yiqing, who was serving as the imperial guard.

"what do you think?"

When Hu Yiqing heard His Majesty's question, he was stunned.

In terms of status, he was just a local deputy general; in terms of experience, the only thing he could show off was the battle of Ganzhou.

Under such circumstances, His Majesty actually asked him a question after all the generals had expressed their opinions one after another, which made this brave general who came from the border area feel tremendous pressure.

"Your Majesty, this is my general."

"Say whatever you think."

"Yes, I also think it would be safer to attack Fuzhou first."

After he finished speaking, Zhu Cilang nodded slightly and said no more. The cabin where several generals were standing fell into complete silence.

None of them is stupid. Even Xiang Rensheng, who was born a coolie, has learned a lot of things that he didn't understand before through nearly a year of training.

Under such circumstances, how could they not understand His Majesty's true thoughts.

"Your Majesty, Fuzhou is right beside the Fu River. With the help of the navy's artillery, our army will be able to capture it in a few months at most. By then..."

Time passed bit by bit, and Fang Guoan couldn't help but say one more sentence. But he had only said half of his words when he saw His Majesty gently raise his hand, and then heard His Majesty softly ask: "You all think I am a little anxious these days, right?"

(End of this chapter)