Chapter 405: Using Their Own Way Against Them

"Advancing from Shandong toward Guide Prefecture?" Zhu Cilang looked at the map. "That means crossing the Yellow River. Can Dodo get across? The Yellow River is at full flood right now."

Li Yan did not know much about the Qing army, so he turned his gaze to Wu Xiang.

Wu Xiang said, "The eastern barbarians may be northerners, but they can handle boats and oars well enough. Liaodong and Liaoxi have great rivers too. And Kaifeng and Henan prefectures have long been in the eastern barbarians' hands, so they have gathered boats capable of navigating the Yellow River. Crossing it is no great difficulty for them.

Therefore even in flood season, the Yellow River within Guide Prefecture can hardly stop Dodo's force. If Commander Huang could build fortifications on the south bank and hold firm, he might block Dodo from crossing south. But Commander Huang's troops are not many. Even with Governor Lü's provincial guard added, the fighting strength is only a bit over twenty thousand. Holding the Sui River and the Mashang River against Hooge is already a strain. Dividing his forces further to guard the Yellow River — I fear he simply lacks the men."

Li Yan shook his head. "Your Highness, even if we had enough men, we should not use them that way! Placing Commander Huang in Guide Prefecture was meant to lure the enemy in the first place. If Dodo crosses the Yellow River southward, we can turn his own trick against him and draw the Qing army to the north shore of Lake Hongze to seek a decisive battle."

Lake Hongze now lay at the confluence of the Huai River and the Yellow River, with abundant water and a vast surface, surrounded by a dense network of rivers. Though situated north of the Huai, its terrain was no different from Jiangnan.

Moreover, through the Huai River and the Grand Canal, Lake Hongze connected to the Yangtze. That meant the main force of the Kenan New Army deployed at Nanjing could move by water to Lake Hongze, and logistics could also be secured by water.

So a decisive battle on the north shore of Lake Hongze was the Ming army's first choice at present. The second was to lure the enemy across the Huai and choose a battle site south of the river. The third was a decisive battle at Xuzhou. As for fighting a decisive battle in Shandong or even Liaoxi, that was not within the Kenan Hall's consideration for now.

"If we can fight the decisive battle by Lake Hongze, that would of course be most advantageous." Zhu Cilang thought for a moment. "I only worry that Huang Degong may not be able to withdraw intact."

Wu Xiang laughed. "If he withdrew intact, without any losses, Hooge and Dodo would not pursue. But Commander Huang is a veteran commander, and his force still contains many old soldiers from the Valiant Guard Camp. They can still fight. Marching south from Shangqiu, they can also move along the Sui River and the Guo River. The main force should be able to get out."

This old man Wu was a professional at running away. He might not win battles, but his experience at slipping off the battlefield was more than sufficient.

"As long as the main force can withdraw, that will do." Zhu Cilang folded his arms, looked at the situation on the large map, and let out a soft breath. "When does our Model Army move north?"

"There is no hurry for now." Li Yan said. "From Nanjing north to the Huai River is only three or four hundred li. By water it takes six days; by land four days is enough. There is still no movement around Guide Prefecture, so we need not rush to send troops. After all, this battle must be commanded by Your Highness in person."

The Model Army's nominal Commander was Wu Sanfu, but in reality it was a "guards army" held firmly in Zhu Cilang's grasp, not to be touched by anyone else.

Wu Sanfu was used precisely because this imperial in-law knew how to be a good messenger.

In addition, the forces that would join the battle were not only the Kenan New Army and the Model Army — they were actually one system — but also the troops of Regional Commanders Huang Degong and Gao Jie, Governors Lü Daqi and Lu Zhenfei, and Governor-General of Jiangbei Hou Xun and others.

With so many Regional Commanders, Governors, and Governors-General, who but Zhu Cilang could command them?

So this anticipated great battle had to be fought under Zhu Cilang's personal command. Yet Zhu Cilang could not leave Nanjing for too long now, lest the Chongzhen Emperor start stirring again — Chongzhen alone, a bare pole, could hardly stir anything. But Zhu Cilang's court had recently extended the work of clearing military colonies, surveying fields, and reorganizing customs and tax posts to all of South Zhili, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang. And Zhu Cilang's "five-year tax exemption" had dealt no small blow to the southeastern gentry. They had never paid land tax anyway, so the exemption did them little good; instead it stripped away the benefits of fraudulent land registration.

Therefore His Highness the Crown Prince had to be on guard at every moment against someone stirring up a palace coup in Nanjing — at least until he defeated the Tartars marching south, he had to bear this worry.

Zhu Cilang let out a breath and turned the topic back to Shandong. "What reply do we give to Shandong?"

"Approve it." Wu Xiang said. "In any case it is Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and the Prince of Lu sending troops. They can always kill some Tartars!"

In truth, Wu Xiang did not think much of the Shandong theater at all. He had fought the Qing for years and knew that "advancing step by step and consolidating" alone could never defeat a man like Dodo.

But forts plus local militia, plus the policy of converting native chieftains to regular administration — a method that could greatly unleash the fighting power of local strongmen — could still turn Shandong into a quagmire that slowed the Qing's southward advance.

For Zhu Cilang, that was enough! Because his Kenan New Army was growing stronger day by day. If they could hold out for a year, then more than a hundred thousand new troops could all be brought up to Model Army standard, and then there would be nothing left to fear.

"Thousand Years," Li Yan thought for a moment and added, "this subject believes Dodo has run out of tricks. Those earth-bag bastion forts — didn't we test them all on the great parade ground? The Hongyi cannon truly cannot batter them down! What else can Dodo do? Pile up lives? Even at four or five hundred Tartars per bastion, he would not be willing!"

"True." Zhu Cilang thought for a moment. "Then draft the edict!"

"My Prince, My Prince, Gao Hongtu and Zuo Maodi have indeed moved out!"

Inside the great camp at Qufu, Dodo, who was sitting in his command tent studying a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, suddenly heard Helohui's voice full of delight.

He had returned from Pei County with his troops three days earlier, bringing back thirty or forty thousand Han civilians and large quantities of grain and supplies.

But Dodo did not set these thirty or forty thousand civilians to digging trenches outside Qufu. Instead he handed them over to Sun Zhixie, who had shifted his station to the prefectural seat of Yanzhou, and Sun Zhixie settled them around Yanzhou's prefectural seat, allotting land for them to reclaim and cultivate. The farming season had already been missed, so wheat could not be planted, but they could still sow soybeans, which would at least keep people alive.

As for the plan to dig trenches and besiege Qufu, Dodo had now abandoned it. He wanted to appear weak before the enemy. Digging trenches and surrounding the city looked far too aggressive — what if it frightened Gao Hongtu and Zuo Maodi into staying put? That would be troublesome.

Helohui strode into the great tent, first performed the kneeling salute, and then said, "Reporting to My Prince, Gang'atai has sent a field report from Liaocheng, saying that large numbers of southern barbarian troops and militia have been discovered building forts within Chiping County!

In addition, our scouts have also found large numbers of southern barbarian troops and militia in Dong'e County and Ningyang County, all building forts as well. It seems they mean to advance step by step and consolidate, to force us back!"

Dodo let out a scoffing laugh and spat out two words: "Fools!" Then he lowered his head and went back to his Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"My Prince," Helohui said again, "when do we send out our troops?"

"What's the hurry?" Dodo moistened his right thumb with a bit of spittle, then used it to turn a page. "We need not move until the southern army on the northern route reaches the vicinity of Liaocheng. These next few days, let the warriors rest well and build up their strength!"

Helohui still seemed somewhat worried. "My Prince, the field report says the forts the southern barbarians are building are very strange — all of them a square with four corners. They look hard to crack!"

Dodo waved his hand. "Let them be. This Prince will not make the warriors batter their forts head-on."

"Then how should we fight?" Helohui asked again.

Dodo smiled. "There are plenty of ways. At worst, it is fort against fort. Can our Great Qing not build forts? These foolish Nikans want to use forts to cut off this Prince's rear. This Prince will use their own way against them — repay them in their own coin. We will use forts to surround their forts and cut off the rear of this southern barbarian force marching toward Liaocheng. This Prince would like to see just how much grain they have brought with them."

This was trouble... Dodo had actually learned the trick of "using their own way against them." It seemed Romance of the Three Kingdoms had not been read in vain!

(End of Chapter)