Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 51 Undecided
As the saying goes: The moon is fullest on the 16th.

Although it was already sixteen after midnight, the moon hanging in the sky was still slightly obscured by darkness. Combined with the bright moonlight and the empty wilderness, it had a somewhat sad and beautiful feeling.

Although Duoduo was in the picture at this moment, judging from his serious expression, he seemed to have no intention of paying attention to these things.

According to the original plan, the attack on Yingtian was the first and most important battle after the army crossed the river.

As long as this battle is won, the Pseudo-Dynasty, which is already in constant conflict, will no longer be able to unite, and no one will be able to reverse the Qing Dynasty's trend of swallowing up the world.

However, Hongguang's escape to the south and the appearance of Zhu Cilang brought subtle changes to all this, and these changes put Duoduo into a dilemma.

If he had enough troops, he would naturally pursue Hongguang while besieging Yingtian. But now, even if he counted all the surrendered troops in his hands, there were only more than 200,000 troops. It was impossible for him to carry out two battles of such scale at the same time.

So he has to choose between the two.

Capturing Hongguang would certainly plunge the Ming Dynasty into a struggle for the throne again, but leaving the evil-minded Crown Prince Chongzhen on the retreating army would be a death sentence.

But if he chose to capture Yingtian and then fight step by step, he really didn't want to give up such a good opportunity.

In the end, Duoduo ordered Nikan to lead the main force under the guidance of Liu Liangzuo to pursue Hongguang, while he and the tens of thousands of troops left behind were responsible for containing Yingtian and guarding the retreat.

This was an extremely risky decision, but it was the best solution that Duoduo came up with after weighing the pros and cons and considering it over and over again.

In his opinion, although the southward troops were alone and deep in the enemy's territory, Hongguang's escape would certainly lead to a breakdown in military orders, and it would be impossible for the Ming troops in various places to complete their encirclement under such circumstances.

The remaining troops are here.

Although the surrendered generals said that the Yingtian defenders were vulnerable, they were still an enemy force several times larger than their own. Once a battle broke out with them, there would inevitably be considerable casualties, which was absolutely unacceptable to Duoduo.

At this point, the problem facing Duoduo became much simpler. It was just a matter of trying to stabilize the Yingtian garrison.

That was why he divided his troops and set up camps to deliberately create the illusion of a large force, and bargained with Zhu Cilang to provide sufficient reasons for postponing the siege.

If things didn't change at this point, the brutal siege would not really begin until one of the parties was ready. However, the news coming from the south during the day gave Duoduo a new idea.

As soon as Nikan left Yingtian Prefecture, he encountered a large number of defeated soldiers. Not only did he learn about Hongguang's general whereabouts from these people, but he also got a clear picture of Yingtian's strengths and weaknesses.

Duoduo naturally did not want to let go of such an opportunity easily, but the reality made him feel quite restrained when planning.

The lack of troops would have been fine, as the worst that could have happened was that he could just focus on one point and attack with all his might, but the lack of siege equipment meant that he couldn't even organize a decent attack.

At other times, Duoduo might just sigh for a while and wait for Nikan to finish the matter before making any further arrangements.

However, Yingtian has a large population and rich resources, and if it is delayed for too long, there is always room for change.

After some thought, Duoduo finally felt that instead of waiting outside the city, it would be better to take advantage of this opportunity to launch a surprise night attack.

Even if we can't take the city, we can at least let that kid understand the power of the Eight Banners Army, so he won't have to bring up unnecessary things.

"It's still too hasty."

Duoduo looked at the dim city wall under the moonlight, but still felt a little regretful because of the lack of siege equipment.

If there were enough siege equipment, a large number of enemy troops could be tied down, and the possibility of successfully capturing the gate would be much greater.

It’s not like now, where we have tens of thousands of troops but can only bluff outside the city.

However, it is a pity, how can everything be prepared when marching or fighting?
What's more, those who are responsible for climbing the city first are all brave men wearing double-layer armor, so it is possible that Yingtian City will be captured in one battle.

"Your Highness! Go up!" The shout from the side pulled Duoduo out of his thoughts, but when he looked into the distance, he could only roughly make out the outline of the city wall.

"Did you see it clearly?"

"My Lord, you still don't believe in my eyesight?"

This kind of joking answer would be common in other places, but Duoduo has always been dignified, and few people in the army dare to speak to him like this.

What's more, the one who spoke was Tulai, so everyone around wanted to watch the fun.

"There is really no one in Manchuria with better eyesight than you," Duoduo said, nodding slightly, and then paused for a moment before continuing, "You keep an eye on it and report to me if anything happens."

Duoduo spoke calmly, without any words of praise, but Tulai dismounted and knelt as if he had received great praise: "Zha~~~!"

Tulai was the commander of the Bordered Yellow Banner Guards and was from the prominent Manchu family Guwalja. Even if Duoduo had a high status, there was no need for him to do so. The bad thing was that when they were fighting for the throne years ago, he stood firmly on Hauge's side.

Although neither family got the throne in the end, Dorgon became the real controller of the upper three banners as the regent, and he, the commander of the Bordered Yellow Banner Guard, who theoretically belonged to the emperor, became embarrassed and dangerous.

Duoduo knew Tulai's thoughts very well, and he had even thought of many ways to deal with them before he sent out his troops.

Recruiting them is naturally the easiest way, but killing them in battle, dying suddenly, or being tried by military law does not actually require much effort.

Anyway, the emperor was young and the three banners were already meat on the chopping board, so it didn't matter how to deal with it.

The only thing to worry about is my brother and that...

Thinking of this, Duoduo's brows, which had originally relaxed slightly, frowned again.

"Your Majesty! The people behind are going up!"

Tulai's somewhat excited voice brought Duoduo back to reality again. When he looked again, he saw that there seemed to be many figures shaking constantly on the city. It was obvious that this situation would only occur due to strenuous activities of people.

Seeing this, Duoduo's heart sank. A night attack requires suddenness and secrecy. How could they make such a big fuss if they hadn't been discovered by the defenders?
unless?

"Cao Hu."

Duoduo shouted calmly, but Cao Hu was startled, then he turned over and got off his horse and knelt on the ground: "Your Highness, I dare to guarantee with my head that Yingtian is full of garrison troops!"

At this time, he regretted very much why he did not go with the Marshal to lead Nikan, but instead coveted the opportunity to get close to Duoduo.

At the same time, he was also very puzzled as to why those hungry people in Yingtian City, who were usually too lazy to even participate in training, were so alert now.

"Don't panic. Even if there is a crime, it's not your turn to bear it."

Seeing that he was like a frightened bird, Duoduo couldn't help feeling a little disgusted.

Who does this guy think he is?

Not to mention that the weakness of the Yingtian defenders has been verified by many parties. Even if there were any mistakes, Duoduo would never let a surrendered general take the blame.

But then again, no matter how much they are disgusted with these surrendered generals, they still have many uses, so unless it is necessary, it is better to appease them.

Taking his eyes off the dirty guy, Duoduo once again focused his attention on the battle in front of him.

"Should I quit or continue?"

(End of this chapter)