Chapter 434: The Tartars' Brains Have Come Online

"What?" Hooge was stunned at these words. "Daling Ridge, Huangfu Mountain, Shigu Mountain — those are at..."

Oboi, who was beside him, set down the Analects at this moment and reminded Hooge, "My Prince, Daling Ridge, Huangfu Mountain, and Shigu Mountain are all on the border between Fengyang Prefecture and Chuzhou."

"Chuzhou? Then they came overland from the southeast..." Hooge was somewhat taken aback. "Have these Nikan gone stupid, or are they playing tricks?"

Oboi had no answer either, so he asked the three niru officers, "How many of them are there? Did you take any heads or prisoners?"

The niru officer replied, "Reporting to the gūsa ejen, the Nikan cavalry are not few in number. At Daling Ridge there were five or six hundred, at Huangfu Mountain over seven hundred, and at Shigu Mountain at least six hundred, with another two or three hundred infantry following... Moreover, their armor is sturdy, their weapons excellent, and their skill not bad either. They are not easy to deal with.

Our men were few, and both men and horses were weary, so after probing them once, we did not force a fight."

"Sturdy armor? Could it be that every man wears long lamellar armor?" Oboi interjected.

"Not long lamellar armor, but solid plate armor. Even our heavy arrows could not pierce it!"

Another niru officer added, "On the contrary, several of our men were wounded by their short muskets, and a few warhorses were killed..."

"What?" Hooge's brows shot up. "Wounded men and dead horses both? What were you all doing?"

"My Prince," the niru officer hastily explained, "those Nikan cavalry are not the same as before... skilled in bow and horse, brave and eager to fight, and they can even fire muskets from horseback."

"Yes, yes! Those Nikan cavalry had tremendous momentum and showed no fear of battle at all."

"And they were numerous... with infantry following too!"

These three niru officers were all in their early forties, battle-hardened Manchu warriors with extremely rich experience. They could tell how strong an opponent was just by testing them... The reason they had not clashed head-on was that they truly had no confidence.

What they had encountered was not the tofu-like Ming army of old, but the model cavalry of the Hard-Work New Army, which had trained bitterly for seven or eight months!

Of course, the model cavalry's bitter training was not up to the "997" standard — if they trained that way, the men could take it, but the horses could not! If the cavalry ended up trained into infantry, that would be a fine joke.

Although the training was not as brutal as "997," its intensity still reached the standard of the Wu family's "Yi Ding Raider Cavalry," and it was Wu Sanfu, a cavalry expert, who personally oversaw their training — so one can well imagine the level.

Zhu Cilang had also carried out a round of culling within his two cavalry regiments — not last-place elimination, but rather sending a batch of "Han Generals" who looked impressive but whose martial skills were not quite solid down to serve as junior infantry officers. At the same time, he filled the vacancies with veteran soldiers of the Shun army whom Li Yan and Hong Niangzi had poached.

In addition, Zhu Cilang had re-equipped all of them with spliced plate armor — spliced plate armor was much lighter than long armor and cloth-faced iron armor, reducing the burden on both rider and horse, while its defensive capability was still slightly superior to long armor and cloth-faced iron armor.

After a round of strict training and personnel changes, plus the sturdy protection of plate armor, the combat strength of the two model cavalry regiments naturally rose by several levels.

Moreover, some cavalrymen of the model cavalry regiments had purchased short muskets or matchlock muskets at their own expense — the cavalry used wheel-lock firearms, called self-igniting muskets in Ming times, which appeared in Bi Maokang's Illustrated Treatise on Military Equipment. Foshan also had some skilled craftsmen who could produce them in small quantities, but the technology was not quite reliable, quality was a serious problem, and output was too low, so they could not be equipped in large numbers. Still, Zhu Cilang had Zheng Zhilong send some as tribute, and distributed them to the light cavalry. Not to kill many Eight Banners scouts, but to cast a psychological shadow over them.

Thus in the skirmishes at Daling Ridge, Huangfu Ridge, and Shigu Mountain, the Plain Blue Banner cavalry encountered some Ming light cavalry firing muskets from horseback, and suffered a minor setback.

The Ming army had won only a small victory, and even that was achieved with numerical superiority and infantry support. But Hooge was still extremely displeased, and glared as he demanded, "Skilled in bow and horse? Brave and eager to fight? Are you still talking about Nikan?"

One niru officer said hurriedly, "Well, well... My Prince, we didn't suffer a major loss either!"

"Didn't suffer a major loss..." Hooge blew at his mustache and shouted, "Is that all the ambition you have?"

"My Prince, this slave, this slave truly did his utmost..."

"Yes, My Prince, those Nikan cavalry really were quite formidable!"

"My Prince, this slave..."

Seeing Hooge's face turn livid, Oboi quickly waved them off: "All three of you, get out! Don't stay here provoking the Prince's anger!"

After driving them out, Oboi returned and said to Hooge, "My Prince, although these slaves were a bit timid, they did manage to ascertain the enemy's situation!"

"Ascertained?" Hooge glared. "Ascertained my ass!"

"My Prince," Oboi said, "what is coming from the direction of Chuzhou is the main Ming force!"

"How do you know?" Hooge asked.

"With that much elite cavalry clearing the way, it must be the main force!" Oboi said. "According to what the spies have found out, the southern brat Crown Prince currently has few cavalry at hand — only three to five thousand... The Plain Blue Banner's three niru ran into over a thousand! This slave reckons they are opening the road for the main army!"

Hooge narrowed his eyes: "Coming overland?"

Oboi nodded and smiled: "My Prince, it seems the southern brat Crown Prince is only good at training troops, and not much of a commander... He is walking right into the trap!"

"Oboi, how do you want to fight?" Hooge asked.

Oboi thought for a moment and said, "This slave suggests dividing our forces into two columns. One continues besieging Fengyang... using the Hongyi cannon to break the city!

The other swings around to the southern army's flank and rear, cutting off their line of retreat and forcing them to turn back, then we pursue with cavalry — that should win a great victory. If this southern army does not withdraw, then we entangle and delay them, and once Fengyang falls, the two columns join forces and strike from both sides!"

"Can Fengyang be broken?" Hooge asked thoughtfully.

"It can!" Oboi nodded with certainty. "This slave has already looked it over clearly. Fengyang's walls are not strong; three to five days will surely be enough to break the city. Leave the three commands of Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, and Bai Guang'en, with Shuozhan supervising the assault, and give them seven days — that will be sufficient.

This slave and My Prince will take twelve thousand Eight Banners troops and six thousand booi servants and head south first, to tie down the southerners. Once Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, and Bai Guang'en's three commands have broken the city, we join forces and can defeat the southern troops in one blow!"

At the same time, Zhu Cilang's great army was fording the Chi River. The Chi River lay north of Chuzhou, within the territory of Jiu County and Dingyuan County in Fengyang Prefecture. The water was not deep, and there were many places where it could be forded.

After crossing the Chi River, it was not far to Dingyuan County town. Dingyuan County town was a bastion-fortified strongpoint, garrisoned by one brigade of the New Army of the various guards, plus a good number of temporarily mobilized local militia.

As long as Zhu Cilang's great army entered Dingyuan County town, it would no longer need to fear a sudden attack by Qing troops sweeping down from the north!

He had now already forded the Chi River and was standing on a height by the bank, watching the great body of infantry, with their baggage train and artillery, wading across in a vast, mighty procession.

Wu Sanfu and Li Yan flanked him, one on each side. Wu Sanfu was nominally the Guard Commander of the Model Army, but in fact served as Zhu Cilang's Vice Regional Commander, while Li Yan continued to act as Zhu Cilang's military advisor. This northern military operation was in practice commanded by the three of them — Wu Sanfu, Li Yan, and the foreign officer Shi Rui'en.

Three dispatch riders came galloping from the direction of Dingyuan ahead, and in an instant reached the banner of Zhu Cilang's field headquarters, where they were stopped by his bodyguards. After the passwords were exchanged and the tokens inspected, one rider was chosen to ride up before Zhu Cilang. He dismounted and knelt on one knee, saying, "Reporting to His Highness the Crown Prince, Dingyuan Garrison Commander Qi Yuanfu has sent a report."

Qi Yuanfu was the second son of Qi Jin, and the elder brother of Qi Yuanbi, who served as a battalion commander in Zhu Cilang's Model Army. He had long been a military officer in the Central Capital Garrison Commission. He had been promoted by Zhu Chunchen to serve as Garrison Commander of his own home district of Dingyuan.

Zhu Cilang glanced at Wu Sanfu, who stepped forward to take the report, unfolded it, and laughed: "Thousand Years, the Tartar caitiffs are besieging Fengyang Prefecture... they've got the Duke bottled up inside!"

Zhu Cilang smiled: "The Duke is going to bring glory to his ancestors this time... For generations his family has had no one who could fight, and who would have thought it would produce a descendant like him."