Chapter 431: Confidence Is Absolutely Brimming!

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

Luring the Qing army across the Huai was one of two battle plans drawn up by the Military Orders Guard of the Grand Marshal's Office in accordance with Zhu Cilang's instructions.

The other plan was to fight the decisive battle on the northern shore of Hongze Lake — Huang Degong was now, as ordered, withdrawing with his troops along the Bian River channel toward Hongze Lake. On the same day that Hooge reached Mengcheng, his troops had already fallen back to the vicinity of 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 near Sizhou, creating a terrain where Sizhou was surrounded by water on three sides, with numerous streams within its borders and water networks everywhere. Moreover, Sizhou city had undergone bastion-fortification reconstruction and was extremely sturdy.

As long as Huang Degong's troops withdrew into Sizhou, they would essentially be completely secure... If Hooge followed them in, then he would be about finished too. At that point Zhu Cilang would lead troops across the Huai, circle around behind Hooge, seal off his retreat, and force a decisive battle.

However, this plan did not seem to work. Hooge merely sent two or three thousand cavalry to chase Huang Degong for a bit, 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 Doro Beile of the Dorgon and Dodo brothers. If Huang Degong were crushed, Gao Jie might well run off again.

Then Pizhou, Suqian, Suining, Taoyuan, Muyang, Qushan, Ganyu, and the other prefectures and counties would fall into Dodo's hands again... and then Dorgon and Dodo would be far too pleased with themselves!

So after Huang Degong fled, Hooge recalled his cavalry, and then the entire army advanced south along the Guo River, fortifying every step of the way.

That's right — this Qing army of Hooge's had been setting up a fortified camp every twenty li ever since they occupied Bozhou, and they did so along the Guo River. Each camp left behind 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 did not pursue and attack Huang Degong, the plan to lure him to the area north of Hongze Lake and deal him a crushing blow had failed.

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

And this maneuver was actually superfluous. Because Hooge and Oboi had made preparations to cross the Huai and push south from the very start — if the two of them had not had that intention, then given the military abilities of Zhu Chunchen, Hou Xun, and Li Yan, it would have been utterly impossible to trick characters 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-supervision capability" of the Eight Banners' heavenly troops, was a powerful artillery force!

The Manchus had attached great importance to firearms ever since the time of Nurhaci, especially the Hongyi cannon! And after they entered the pass and moved the capital to Beijing, they had experienced many siege battles and city-defense 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 he also tried every possible means to gather skilled casting craftsmen, incorporating them directly into the Han troops of the Eight Banners. In addition, Dorgon had collected 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 following Hooge south came respectively from the five banners of 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 assault cities, but could also be set up along the banks of 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 problem at all.

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

That way, once they crossed the Huai, they could advance or retreat freely, and even if they could not achieve complete victory, they could still return laden with plunder...

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

The Mengcheng county yamen, headquarters of the Qing Pacifying-the-Far Grand General.

A burly man of about forty, with eyebrows that slanted downward, a square face, and a mouth and nose each a size larger than ordinary, strode briskly into the thatch-roofed main hall.

He walked up to Hooge, who was wearing only a sleeveless jacket on his upper body and fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, huffing and puffing, and respectfully performed a half-kneeling salute. "Shang Kexi pays his respects to Your Highness."

The visitor was none other than the Prince of Wise Obedience, 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 in rank — there's no need for such formality."

His words were courteous, but he did not rise from the bamboo couch to help 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!"

The Qing dynasty's "Grand General" was a temporary commission, but it was one that "outranked all officials." Once outside the city of Beijing, no matter what official one was, upon meeting a Grand General one was automatically several grades lower.

At present, in the entire Qing realm, there were only four men holding the title of Grand General Prince: the Stabilizing-the-State 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 just a temporary Grand General post!" Hooge laughed and pointed to a chair placed nearby. "Sit, sit... Attendants, help the Prince of Wise Obedience remove his formal robes, take off his hat, and serve tea!"

Seeing Hooge's easygoing manner, Shang Kexi did not dare to refuse his courtesy. He changed into thin casual clothes and 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 made a pressing gesture with his hand, indicating that he should 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, with the city 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 Huai Rivers to seal off Huaiyuan city."

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

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

"This kind of city must be stormed with infantry!" Hooge waved 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. "Prince of Wise Obedience, 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 Hongyi cannon cover, the southern barbarians' warships could not get close at all.

And the southern barbarians on the opposite bank did not dare engage us in field battle either! So the cavalry this subordinate sent out rode all the way south, and even made a circuit outside the city of Fengyang Prefecture. They discovered that this 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 sturdy, and not a bastion fort either... If we concentrate twenty or thirty Hongyi cannons, we can certainly blast the city walls down."

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

He was just talking idly and casually — how large was Fengyang Prefecture city, after all! To convert it into a bastion fort, how much construction work would that require?

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