Chapter 438: Zhu Chunchen Is Too Sinister! (Fourth Update)

The sound of footsteps rumbled on without any sign of slowing. The four model divisions of the Hard-Work New Army, except for the cavalry on sentry duty, had all wrapped their legs in puttees and were advancing on foot... Among them was the Ming's Army-Soothing Crown Prince, Zhu Cilang!

More than fifty thousand troops rolled forward like a stream of iron. After leaving Dingyuan County, their marching speed was practically flying.

About a year of hard training, plus quite decent food, plus the "no-argument" elimination of the lowest performers, and on top of that the benefits of land, fields, and money — all this had already given the Hard-Work New Army a bit of the look of an elite iron force.

The two hundred li from the Jiangbei Grand Camp through Chuzhou to Dingyuan, and then the sixty or seventy li back from Dingyuan County to the vicinity of Shigu Mountain near Chuzhou, truly meant nothing to them.

And Zhu Cilang was also at the age of youthful vigor, paid attention to exercise in ordinary times, and would run laps around the Hall of Literary Splendor when he had nothing to do, so he could march quite well too — only he did not carry a load as the ordinary officers and men did.

But leading by example to this degree was enough to spur the officers and men to quicken their pace.

After crossing the Chi River, the troops marching through the night could already see from afar the firelight flickering above Daqiang Ridge.

Hooge's great army had set up an open camp on Daqiang Ridge, brightly lit with lamps, and had also lit several bonfires that illuminated the camp's surroundings. This also let the rapidly approaching Ming army know their exact position.

On the morning of the twenty-second, while the army was resting and eating breakfast, Zhu Cilang convened another council of war.

He called Wu Sanfu, Li Yan, and Shi Rui'en before him, and the four sat in a circle, gnawing on hard flatbread while discussing the next move.

"Your Highness, look here..." Li Yan used a few small stones to lay out the rough terrain north of Chuzhou on the ground. "This is Daqiang Ridge, this is Shigu Mountain, this is Qingliu Pass, this is Chuzhou City... Right now the Tartar caitiffs have set their formation on Daqiang Ridge, and we have come from afar and are extremely weary, so we cannot immediately pass directly beneath Daqiang Ridge to Qingliu Pass. Therefore we can only set up a great formation at Shigu Mountain first, establish a defensive posture, and stand off against the enemy. Then we can look for an opportunity to move to Qingliu Pass. As long as our main force reaches Qingliu Pass, the Tartar caitiffs will have no way to continue south."

"Crown Prince," Shi Rui'en offered a suggestion at this point, "the area around Daqiang Ridge is not particularly strategic. The vanguard division can launch an attack on the Qing troops there! As long as we mount a night raid, we are confident we can drive the Tartars off the ridge."

This foreign devil certainly has nerve! Zhu Cilang nodded, thinking: There must be at least fifteen thousand Tartars on Daqiang Ridge, right? Using fourteen thousand men to drive them down — can that really work?

"Too risky!" Wu Sanfu immediately voiced a dissenting opinion. "Better to go up Shigu Mountain first, then look for a chance to shift camp."

Shi Rui'en shook his head. "What about Fengyang? It is under siege right now... If it falls, the Tartar caitiffs will gain a major stronghold south of the Huai River."

"No need to worry," Zhu Cilang said with a smile. "Zhu Chunchen is not so easy to beat... We can take our time dealing with the Tartars on Daqiang Ridge!" He paused. "Let us go to Shigu Mountain first, set up our formation, and stand off against the Tartars for a few days before deciding."

Shang Kexi, fully armored and helmeted, stood with his arms crossed beside the gun emplacement. Three li ahead of him was the northwest corner of Fengyang Prefecture's city wall.

Although Fengyang was the seat of the Ming Central Capital Garrison Command, somehow no reinforcement work had been done on it. The wall was still of rammed earth, and the sections damaged in the eighth year of Chongzhen during the Battle of Fengyang had only been patched up hastily, the work done carelessly. So just a few years later there were cracks everywhere, and a small section could collapse in wind or rain. Now, after being bombarded by twenty Hongyi cannons for two full days, how could it possibly be in good shape?

Directly in front of where Shang Kexi stood, a great stretch of the wall had collapsed from the waist upward, exposing seven or eight gaping breaches, barely three feet above the ground, and the fallen rammed earth had piled into a gentle slope that could be climbed without even setting up scaling ladders.

The moat in front of this stretch of wall had originally been very wide, and water from the Huai River had been channeled into it, surrounding Fengyang on all four sides. But over more than two hundred years, no one had dredged the moat, and silt brought by the Huai River had kept accumulating, so that by the time Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng came to attack, the moat was almost useless.

And after Zhu Chunchen became Central Capital Garrison Commander, he had likewise ignored the moat; everything remained as before. While Kong Youde directed the cannons bombarding the city, Bai Guang'en had also led Green Standard troops to block the channel connecting to the Huai River, so now the moat outside Fengyang had mostly dried up, and one could cross it on foot.

Looking at the city's defenses before him, Shang Kexi could not help bursting into laughter.

"Fourth Brother, what are you laughing at?"

A middle-aged uncle a few years older than Shang Kexi, a size smaller in build, with a baby face but a full, bushy beard, came over. This uncle was Shang Kexi's second brother, named Ke'ai... Whether it was because he had been especially adorable as a child, he had somehow gotten such a name.

Perhaps the name had been badly chosen, and his looks carried no intimidation either. So this Shang Ke'ai had always been a minor background figure — first following his father Shang Xueli, then after Shang Xueli died in battle following his elder brother Shang Kejin, and after Shang Kejin died for the country following his younger brother Shang Kexi. When Shang Kexi later fell and became a traitor, he likewise just drifted along.

"Second Brother," Shang Kexi said, "I'm laughing because that little Zhu crown prince, cunning as he is, still doesn't know how to use men. To actually make a silk-pants wastrel like Zhu Chunchen the Central Capital Garrison Commander... The Ming's fortunes are just about at an end."

"Ai," Shang Ke'ai only shook his head. "It's not that he doesn't know how to use men. What men does the Southern Court have left to use? All the useful ones were done in by his old man!"

Shang Kexi smiled. "True enough... Any word from Prince Su?"

"Yes!" Shang Ke'ai nodded. "An order just arrived... Prince Su's twenty thousand troops are at Daqiang Ridge, standing off against the little Zhu crown prince's thirty or forty thousand men."

"The little Zhu crown prince's troops? He's leading them personally?"

Shang Ke'ai grinned. "The order says the Zhu Crown Prince is commanding in person... So Prince Su is pressing us to take Fengyang quickly, then join forces with him and fight the little Zhu crown prince to the death!"

Zhu Cilang had his own specially made "Grand Progenitor Emperor Reborn" banner and six dragon banners, so after Zhu Cilang's force set up formation at Shigu Mountain, Hooge knew that this Crown Prince had personally taken the field.

This delighted Hooge beyond measure... Zhu Cilang was now the Army-Soothing Crown Prince holding great power! If he could be killed, the Great Qing would very likely unify the realm!

What a tremendous merit that would be!

With such merit, if the little emperor happened to die young, shouldn't Hooge advance a step?

So Hooge had hastily sent men to Fengyang to press the matter.

"Heh heh, it seems the Great Qing truly has the Mandate of Heaven..." Shang Kexi glanced back.

The first wave of assault troops was already carrying bamboo and wooden ladders, ready to go. This unit was all Green Standard troops, led by Shang Kexi's younger brother Shang Kele — this Shang Kele was Shang Xueli's adopted son. He had been only eight when Shang Xueli died in battle, and had since followed his elder brothers. Now he was a fierce general under Shang Kexi!

At this moment the Hongyi cannons that had roared for two straight days had fallen silent, and the entire battlefield suddenly went quiet, the atmosphere oppressive to the extreme.

Shang Kexi breathed in a mouthful of air thick with the smell of gunpowder, then drew his saber and thrust it sharply forward.

Shang Kele, not yet thirty, was the biological son of a household retainer of the Shang family who had saved old Shang's life. He had inherited his father's tall, burly frame and a face full of surly flesh, topped with a wild, unkempt beard, making him look especially ferocious. Seeing Shang Kexi slash his blade forward, he immediately let out a great roar: "Beat the drums! Advance!"

The drums sounded, and three thousand Green Standard soldiers, each just paid two taels of reward silver, charged forward with loud battle cries. Their starting position was less than three li in a straight line from Fengyang Prefecture's city wall, and in less than half an incense stick's time they had already crossed the moat and rushed all the way to the wall where multiple breaches had collapsed, quickly setting their bamboo and wooden ladders against it.

But on the walls of Fengyang Prefecture, there was not the slightest movement!

Fengyang Prefecture, it seemed, had just fallen like that!