Chapter 429: The Ming Has a Navy, the Qing Has Cannons

The boats on the Guo River, the West Fei River, and the North Fei River had of course all been left for the Qing army by the Central Capital Garrison Command on the orders of the Grand Marshal's Office, precisely to make it convenient for them to cross the Huai and push south.

Luring the Qing army across the Huai was one of two decisive-battle plans drawn up by the Grand Marshal's Office's Military Orders Guard on the authority of Zhu Cilang's decree.

The other plan was to fight the decisive battle on the northern shore of Hongze Lake — Huang Degong was now, in accordance with orders, withdrawing with his troops along the course of the Bian River toward Hongze Lake. On the same day that Hooge reached Mengcheng, his troops had already fallen back to the area around Hong County. If they withdrew any farther south, they would enter the territory of Sizhou. At this point the Huai River made a great bend in the Sizhou area, giving Sizhou a terrain surrounded by water on three sides (with the west and south facing the Huai, and the east bordering Hongze Lake), and within its borders there were many streams and a dense network of waterways. Moreover, Sizhou city had been rebuilt with bastion fortifications and was extremely strong.

As long as Huang Degong's force withdrew into Sizhou, it would basically be beyond all danger. If Hooge followed after him, then he would be about finished too. At that point Zhu Cilang would lead his army across the Huai, circle around behind Hooge, seal off his line of retreat, and force a decisive battle.

But this plan did not seem to have worked. Hooge merely sent two or three thousand cavalry to give Huang Degong a brief chase, and then paid him no further attention — in Hooge's view, Huang Degong was covering Gao Jie's flank, while Gao Jie's front faced Nikan, the trusted Doroi Beile of the brothers Dorgon and Dodo. If Huang Degong were smashed, Gao Jie might well run off again.

Then Pizhou, Suqian, Suining, Taoyuan, Shuyang, Qushan (the seat of Haizhou), Ganyu, and the other prefectures and counties would fall into Dodo's hands again. That would make Dorgon and Dodo far too pleased with themselves!

So after Huang Degong ran off, Hooge recalled his cavalry, and then the whole army advanced south along the Guo River, consolidating every step of the way.

That was right — from the moment this Qing army under Hooge occupied Bozhou, they had been setting up a stockade every twenty li, and moreover they placed their stockades along the Guo River. At each stockade they left a number of Eight Banners troops, Han troops, and Green Standard troops. They also stationed garrison forces in Bozhou, Suqian, Taihe, Yingzhou, Mengcheng, and other prefectures and counties, and appointed prefects and county magistrates.

Since Hooge had not pursued Huang Degong, the plan to lure him to the area north of Hongze Lake and deal him a crushing blow had failed.

That being so, the Grand Marshal's Office could only pin its hopes on luring the enemy across the Huai. That was why it had ordered the Central Capital Garrison Command to leave some boats for the Qing army when abandoning the territory north of the Huai.

But this maneuver was actually superfluous. Because Hooge and Oboi had made preparations from the very start to cross the Huai and push south — if the two of them had not had that intention, then with the military abilities of Zhu Chunchen, Hou Xun, and Li Yan, it would have been utterly impossible to trick men like Hooge and Oboi into crossing the Yellow River.

And the reason Hooge and Oboi dared to cross the Huai was of course that they had something to rely on. What they relied on, apart from the absolute superiority of their cavalry and the formidable "battle-supervising ability" of the Eight Banners' heavenly troops, was a powerful artillery force!

From the time of Nurhaci onward, the Manchus had placed great importance on firearms, especially the Hongyi cannon! And after they entered the Pass and moved their capital to Beijing, they had experienced many siege battles and encirclement battles, so naturally they always felt their firepower was insufficient.

Therefore Dorgon repeatedly ordered the Han troops of every banner to devote all their strength to casting Hongyi cannons, and also did everything possible to collect craftsmen skilled in casting, incorporating them directly into the Eight Banners' Han troops. In addition, Dorgon had also gathered quite a number of Hongyi cannons at Shanhai Pass and Xuanfu Garrison.

Thus by the second year of Chongde, the Han troops of all eight banners each had one or two Hongyi cannon niru.

And the Eight Banners Han troops that followed Hooge south came from five banners — Plain Blue, Bordered Blue, Plain Red, Plain Yellow, and Bordered Yellow — and were equipped with a total of four Hongyi cannon niru, altogether forty Hongyi cannons!

These cannons could not only be used to attack cities, but could also be set up along great rivers to blockade shipping lanes, and could even be used in field battles!

Therefore in the view of Dodo and Oboi, crossing the Yangtze might not be easy, but crossing the Huai posed no great problem.

Moreover, they planned to build pontoon bridges across the Huai, and to construct artillery bastions on both banks of the bridges, deploying Hongyi cannons to blockade the waterway and prevent the Ming navy from destroying the bridges.

In this way, after crossing the Huai they would be able to advance or retreat freely, and even if they could not win a complete victory, they could still return laden with plunder.

If Hooge could return laden with plunder from south of the Huai, while Dodo remained stuck in Shandong, that profitless quagmire, unable to get out, then Dorgon's prestige would take a severe beating!

Mengcheng county yamen, headquarters of the Great Qing's Pacifying-the-Far Grand General.

A burly man with drooping eyebrows and a square face, whose mouth and nose were each a size larger than most people's, about forty years of age, strode briskly into the thatch-roofed main hall.

He ran up to Hooge, who was wearing only a short jacket on his upper body and fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, huffing and puffing, and respectfully performed a Manchu greeting. "Shang Kexi pays his respects to Your Highness."

The visitor was none other than the Wise and Compliant Prince, the Plain Blue Banner Han army gūsa ejen, and Regional Commander of Henan, Shang Kexi.

Hooge laughed heartily. "Yuanji, rise, rise. You and I are both princes, more or less equal — there's no need for such ceremony."

His words were polite, but he did not rise from the bamboo couch to help the great Prince Shang up.

Shang Kexi, however, did not dare show even the slightest displeasure. He stood up on his own and said with a smile, "How could I compare with you? You are the Pacifying-the-Far Grand General!"

In the Qing dynasty, "Grand General" was a temporary commission, but it was one that "outranked every official it met." Once outside Beijing, no matter what official one was, upon meeting a Grand General one was several grades lower.

At present in the entire Qing state, there were only four men holding the title of Grand General Prince: the State-Pacifying Grand General Dodo, the Pacifying-the-Far Grand General Hooge, the Pacifying-the-Frontier Grand General Ajige, and the Pacifying-the-West Grand General Wu Sangui.

"It's only a temporary Grand Generalship!" Hooge said with a laugh, pointing at a chair placed nearby. "Sit, sit. Attendants, remove the Wise and Compliant Prince's ceremonial robes, take his hat, and serve tea!"

Seeing Hooge's easygoing manner, Shang Kexi did not dare refuse him the courtesy, and changed into thin informal dress, then simply sat there waiting for Hooge to speak.

"Yuanji," Hooge asked with a smile, "how is the situation up ahead?"

"Your Highness—" Shang Kexi suddenly rose to his feet.

Hooge smiled and pressed his hand downward in the air, motioning him to sit.

Shang Kexi sat down again, then said respectfully, "Your Highness, the southern army has set up defenses at Huaiyuan county seat. It is a four-cornered fort, with four gun platforms, and great general cannons have been placed on the platforms. The terrain of Huaiyuan county seat is strategically difficult, the city being built in the angle between the Guo River and the Huai River. Therefore this subordinate did not launch a forceful assault. After a probing attack, I ordered men to dig trenches between the Guo and the Huai to seal off Huaiyuan city."

"That is called a bastion fort," Hooge said. "Dodo suffered a great defeat at the hands of such a fort in Shandong. He is still squatting outside Qufu city, unable to get in!"

"It is indeed hard to attack," Shang Kexi said. "This subordinate bombarded it with Hongyi cannons for several hours, and it seemed to have little effect."

"This kind of city must be stormed with infantry!" Hooge said, waving his palm-leaf fan. "Or else besieged — cannons are of limited use." At that moment, out of the corner of his eye he noticed Shang Kexi wearing a smiling expression, as if he had some good news. "Wise and Compliant Prince, what good news are you keeping from this prince?"

"Heh heh, Your Highness has keen eyes," Shang Kexi said with a smile. "I won't hide it from Your Highness — this subordinate also sent men across the Huai River!"

"They got across?" Hooge raised his eyelids.

"They got across!" Shang Kexi said with a smile. "With the Hongyi cannons providing cover, the southern barbarians' warships could not get close at all.

And the southern barbarians on the opposite bank did not dare fight us in the field either! So the cavalry this subordinate sent out rode all the way south, and even made a circuit outside the city of Fengyang Prefecture, where they discovered that Fengyang Prefecture city is not one of those so-called bastion forts!"

"Oh?" Hooge finally perked up. "Fengyang Prefecture city is still the same as before?"

"The same as before," Shang Kexi said. "Dilapidated and run-down, not particularly strong, and not a bastion fort either. If we concentrate twenty or thirty Hongyi cannons, we can certainly smash its walls down."

"Heh heh," Hooge laughed loudly. "That great general of the southern barbarians, Zhu Chunchen, really is a muddle-headed fool! The most important city of Fengyang Prefecture, and he didn't even bother to repair it properly."

He was just talking idly, of course. How large was Fengyang Prefecture city? To convert it into a bastion fort — how much construction work would that take?

"Good!" Hooge clapped his hands. "This is our opportunity!"

(End of Chapter)