Ming Empire

Chapter 262 Dorgon on the verge of collapse
A military meeting is also being held in Dorgon's big tent in the Jianshou camp.

It was completely different from the enthusiastic, excited, and excited look of the Ming army when they discussed the military situation. Dorgon's big tent was full of tragedy and depression, and everyone had gloomy faces. Dorgon's eyes were so red that they could bleed Come.

Today's attack with all its strength, Dorgon originally thought that the morale boosted by the Jurchen cavalry's desperate charge would definitely change the situation on the battlefield.The reckless charge of the Jurchens Jingqi will definitely show in the war. No matter what, it should not be a problem to break through one or two positions of the Ming army.But unexpectedly, the final result was still a disastrous defeat. At least 10 Qing soldiers died in front of the Ming army, and the Ming army's position was still unbreakable.Such casualties made Dorgon's heart bleed. He never imagined that the Ming army hiding in the trenches and shooting with muskets had such combat effectiveness, and they easily resisted the turn of nearly [-] soldiers of the Qing Dynasty. attack.

Among the more than 1 Qing soldiers who died in battle, at least [-] were Jurchen elite cavalry, and the Mongolian soldiers also lost at least [-] people.This was a completely unacceptable casualty for Dorgon. He was a little bit jealous, and even thought of throwing all his strength into a decisive battle with the Ming army. Even if he exhausted all his strength, he would take Dezhou and teach Cao Yue a lesson.

Fortunately, Fan Wencheng's persuasion, as well as Dorgon's own rationality, made him finally make a fairly wise decision. After suffering heavy losses, he decisively stopped the attack and retreated across the board.This decision saved countless Jiannu's lives. If Dorgon followed Dorgon's original plan and stormed recklessly until the defense line of the Ming army was broken, the price paid might be several times higher than it is now.

There is one thing that makes Dorgon very difficult to understand. The ammunition of the Ming army seems to be consumed. According to his estimation, the ammunition transported from Nanjing by water and land alone cannot meet the needs of the 10 people of the Ming army. .

In fact, what Dorgon did not know was that firearms workshops had been established in the recovered Shandong cities such as Dezhou, Liaocheng, Linqing, and Jinan. The production of gunpowder was not complicated, and these places originally had firearms workshops. The machinery and raw materials for making muskets are all there.The newly established firearms workshop can quickly produce gunpowder and some old-fashioned muskets.

Today's Ming army, except for some of the musket bullets used by the Ming army, are copper-shelled bullets with relatively complicated manufacturing techniques, and the rest are filled with gunpowder. As long as the gunpowder is sufficient and the musket is not damaged, it can basically do continuous shooting for several days. , Dozens of days.

Most of the gunpowder is produced in Shandong, and the bullets and artillery shells with complicated production processes are mainly transported from the south.The Nanjing Arsenal and other weapons workshops are producing at the highest efficiency, and the firearms workshops in Shandong are also producing gunpowder day and night. There will be no shortage of ammunition for the hundreds of thousands of Ming troops, at least during the period when the war just started.

"Everyone, you have all seen the battle situation today. With the help of trenches and muskets, the Ming army successfully withstood countless attacks from our Qing army. Our soldiers of the Qing Dynasty paid a heavy price and were unable to break through the Ming army. "Dorgon said with a gloomy face, gritted his teeth: "If our Qing army continues like this, within a few days, all of them will die under the guns of the Ming army, and our Qing will also perish. How to solve this crisis, you can express any ideas you have.”

After Dorgon finished speaking, no one stood up to express their opinions. The tragedy of the last battle in Liaocheng and the huge loss today have made them dumbfounded. The pride and courage of the past have all disappeared in the tragedy of these few battles up.Before the elite cavalry of the Qing Dynasty rushed to the opposing team, they were shot and killed by muskets and artillery. This is helpless, and there is no way to solve it, how can this battle be fought?
Most of the people hoped that Dorgon would give an order to stop attacking the Ming army's position, and withdraw in large strides to get out of contact with the Ming army. They knew that if they continued to attack like this, they might die on the way to charge tomorrow.Death is actually not terrible, but the most terrible thing is knowing that the god of death is waiting for them ahead, and they have to rush forward without hesitation, walking on this road of death.

The soldiers of the Qing Dynasty were not afraid of bloody fighting, even if the situation was very tragic in the end, they could accept it, but they were afraid of such a one-sided defeat and the way of fighting as a target for others.

But no one dared to stand up and suggest that Dorgon should no longer attack like this, and no longer send the Qing soldiers to the Ming army's guns in vain. The best strategy is to retreat and break away from contact with the Ming army.They were afraid that they would be beheaded by Dorgon for disturbing the morale of the army if they stood up and raised this opinion.

Even Fan Wencheng was helpless. He tried all the methods he could think of, but none of them worked. He never dared to speak out again.

Seeing that everyone in the tent looked like this, Dorgon became more angry, and the hand holding the saber was bruised.

At this time, Duo Duo stood up, bowed to Dorgon and said: "Regent, my brother thinks that our Qing army can no longer attack in this way, otherwise the loss will be even more tragic. My brother thinks that tomorrow The army was able to win mainly because of the huge lethality of artillery and muskets, as well as their way of fighting. They did not take the initiative to attack, but passively waited for our army to charge, lay in ambush in the trenches, and shot and killed my charge Sergeant. I believe that if we don’t take the initiative to fight and wait for them to attack, the outcome of the war may be completely different. If the Ming army took the initiative to attack, they would not be able to use their trenches, and their weak flanks would not be able to take advantage of the terrain cover. Our army will definitely find a way to break the gun array. Therefore, my brother thinks that our army should not attack on such a large scale, but like the Ming army, occupying the camp for defense. At the same time, we will continue to send small groups of troops to harass the Ming army and destroy the Ming army. The army's land and water transportation. Most of our army is cavalry, with strong mobility and adaptability to changing situations."

After hearing what Duduo said, Fan Wencheng, who was afraid to speak out, immediately stood up and expressed his agreement with Duduo's point of view: "Prince Regent, I think what Prince Yu said is very reasonable. In other words, if our army does not take the initiative to attack and adopts a defensive position, then the Ming army will have no chance to take advantage of it, and their trenches will be useless. If they take the initiative to attack, then their advantage will be wiped out, and at that time, This is when our army turned defeat into victory."

After hearing what Duo Duo and Fan Wencheng said, Dorgon's originally frowning brows relaxed a little, but he didn't express his position right away. He still wanted to hear other people's opinions.

It's just that the others didn't come up with any better suggestions, and in the end Dorgon waved them all away, leaving only Duoduo and Fan Wencheng.

(End of this chapter)