Chapter 390: Tactics

Jirgalang said with a smile.

Seeing everyone turn to look at him, Jirgalang felt immensely pleased with himself: "This time we'll still use the old tactic of digging trenches to besiege—but not just Jinzhou—we'll surround Songshan as well! Once these two great cities are encircled, the main Ming forces inside won't be able to sally forth freely, and the Ming troops in the remaining forts will be no cause for concern!"

Dorgon sneered after a moment's thought: "And here I thought you had some brilliant stratagem—turns out it's nothing special! Even if we surround Songshan and Jinzhou, the Ming troops in the other forts may be few, but their firearms are hardly lacking. Didn't Prince Cheng suffer a loss just last year? Does the Emperor think that taking the other forts before attacking Songshan and Jinzhou will be easy? Prince Cheng, you have the most say in this matter—tell us, are those forts south of Songshan really so easy to take?"

Facing the mockery in Dorgon's tone, Yoto spoke with an unruffled expression: "When it comes to the power of firearms, the Daxing and Xingping forts are not much inferior to Songshan and Jinzhou. The Ming army's newly trained troops are all stationed in these forts. I estimate that all of Zu Dashou's capable fighters have entered Jinzhou city, but it's still unclear where the cavalry of the Zu and Wu families are—that is a formidable force not to be taken lightly!"

When it came to the Guanning Iron Cavalry, the Eight Banners were somewhat wary. Though not afraid, if they truly had to face them, they would certainly rouse themselves to full alert.

Due to the tight seal on information, news of the split between the Zu and Wu families had not reached Jianzhou.

After Wu Sangui was gravely wounded in Jinzhou city last time, Wu Xiang, having obtained the Ministry of War's approval, personally went beyond the pass to bring his wife and son back inside.

Although the Zu brothers all came forward together to express their apologies and offer explanations to Wu Xiang, and even gave Zu Zehong, Zu Zeqing, and Zu Kefa a sound beating in front of Wu Xiang, Wu Xiang still forced a smile and said it was all caused by a misunderstanding—but both sides knew in their hearts that after this incident, the Zu and Wu families could never return to how things once were.

The cunning old fox Yang Sichang, Minister of War, seized the opportunity to suggest to Zhu Youjian that, taking advantage of the Zu and Wu families' new wariness, he should transfer portions of both families' cavalry to serve under Lu Xiangsheng, thereby weakening the military clans of western Liaodong.

Yang Sichang's suggestion proved effective.

With the rupture between the two families, Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang, seeing their own strength greatly diminished, showed complete obedience to the Ministry of War's transfer orders.

Zu Dashou sent Zu Kuan, Li Chongjin, and several cavalry units that had participated in entering the pass to suppress bandits back inside the pass, while Wu Xiang was even more direct—he placed all of the Wu family's nearly five thousand cavalry under the Ministry of War's disposal, and claimed that, being advanced in years, he wished to enter the capital to recuperate.

After careful consideration, Zhu Youjian issued an edict to console Wu Xiang but did not grant his request.

"Heh heh! Prince Cheng's concerns are not without reason, but His Majesty has no intention of storming the forts by force! I'll speak plainly—after we dig trenches and surround the cities, once we scout out where the Ming army stores its grain and supplies, our forces will seize it with overwhelming strength, cutting off the front-line Ming army's supply lines in one stroke, and the grain and materiel we capture will feed our own troops!"

Jirgalang gave two dry laughs, then laid out Hong Taiji's strategic intent.

If Zhu Youjian knew of Hong Taiji's strategic plan, he might well have expressed some admiration.

This battle plan bore an extraordinary resemblance to the island-hopping tactics the American military employed in the Pacific campaign during World War II—its intent being to temporarily bypass areas the enemy defended heavily, instead launching surprise attacks on what the enemy considered secure rear areas, then turning back to besiege the remaining enemy forces after success.

Hong Taiji was indeed the man with the greatest strategic vision in the Qing realm. Though Dorgon was also among the outstanding figures of the Eight Banners, in terms of intellect he was still a notch below Hong Taiji.

As for the tactic of sneaking through breaches in the border wall, Hong Taiji had certainly considered it.

But after secretly sending scouts deep into Gubeikou, Juyong Pass, and other defiles to reconnoiter, he decisively abandoned the idea.

According to the scouts' reports, the Ming army had not only repaired and reinforced the previously damaged sections of the border wall, but had also deployed heavy troops to guard it—the Qing scouts had even spotted cannons at the more perilous passes.

From the banners on the walls and the soldiers patrolling, it was clear that the border wall, once almost undefended, was now heavily guarded, with troops patrolling day and night. The several small paths beyond the wall were strewn with boulders and felled trees—for the Qing army to approach the wall silently as before was now utterly impossible.

Because moving those boulders and tangled timber could not be done in an instant, and it was impossible to move them without making noise—this would easily alert the Ming army, turning a surprise attack into a frontal assault.

In terrain that could not accommodate large numbers of troops attacking simultaneously, the defenders held the high ground with an absolute advantage—the difficulty was several times greater than attacking Jinzhou city itself.

After consulting with Jirgalang, Daišan, and others on several occasions, Hong Taiji finally settled on this battle plan of epoch-making significance.

"But if the Ming army deploys heavy forces at their supply depot, what then? By that time our forces will have advanced too far—with enemy-held forts behind us, strong foes blocking our front, and the danger of our own supply line being cut, wouldn't one misstep spell annihilation for the entire army?"

After a long silence, it was Dorgon who first raised the objection.

"Heh heh heh heh, Prince Rui worries overmuch! The Ming army's numbers are finite to begin with. Jinzhou is held by Zu and Wu; the troops of the other border garrisons must defend their own posts—the Ming Emperor cannot possibly transfer them beyond the pass. Even if he sent all his newly trained troops out of the pass to oppose us, how many would such new troops number? Five thousand at most! And the Ming troops in the forts south of Songshan must hold their positions, must they not? Shanhai Pass must also be defended, yes? Once those fifty thousand are spread thin, how many men can he spare to guard his supplies?"

Jirgalang replied with a smile.

"Once our army strikes the Ming supply lines, then divides its forces to eliminate the forts one by one from south to north—with our own grain and materiel in ample supply, how long can Songshan and Jinzhou hold out? Even if Jinzhou city is spacious and stores great quantities of grain, the remaining forts are small to begin with—having to house both troops and grain, how many days' rations can they hold? No matter how formidable your firearms, how invincible your cannons, can soldiers who have gone hungry for days still take the field? And if they are forced to sally forth and give battle, would that not play right into our hands? Once the outlying forts are swept clean, would Songshan and Jinzhou not be ripe fruit in our grasp?"

Seeing that Dorgon, Ajige, and the others still looked less than convinced, Jirgalang proceeded to analyze further.

As one of Hong Taiji's most trusted men, Jirgalang naturally understood the thoughts of the Dorgon brothers.

If this great campaign succeeded, Hong Taiji's prestige would reach its zenith, and the wild ambitions in the hearts of the Dorgon brothers would be utterly shattered.

It wasn't that Dorgon didn't wish to see the Great Qing victorious—rather, the Two White Banners did not want Hong Taiji to monopolize the credit for setting the strategy.

But if the Two White Banners could propose a better strategy against Hong Taiji's plan, then even after victory, Hong Taiji would be unable to reap the greatest benefit.

"Prince Zheng, I have already sent elite troops of the Bordered White Banner ahead to scout, with the same aim of cutting the Ming supply lines—but directly attacking their main supply depot is something that should be approached with caution! Let us wait until the scouts return before discussing further!"

"Heh heh, Prince Rui is indeed thorough in his considerations! To be frank with Prince Rui, I too have dispatched several groups of scouts to reconnoiter—let us see which of our men returns with news first! For now, I announce that tomorrow the army will eat at the hour of Chen, after which the Mongol Two Red Banner cavalry will lead the vanguard, with the Han Banner troops bringing up the rear, escorting the booi bondservants ahead to Songshan and Jinzhou to dig trenches and surround the cities!"