Chapter 439: Dorgon's Decisiveness

The speaker was Kong Youde, who was responsible for covering the rear of the retreating Qing army.

He and Abatai each led three thousand cavalry and infantry trailing behind, to prevent the Ming army from pursuing and slaughtering the routed troops of the Two White Banners and others.

In fact, apart from the musketeers, most of the Ming army was busy clearing the battlefield and searching for the wounded, with no time at all to pursue the Qing troops.

Only after the Qing army had withdrawn into their main camp did Sun Yingyuan command the wagon battalion to slowly press forward. Abatai led three thousand cavalry spreading out in the distance to watch the Ming army's movements, while Kong Youde brought his men back into the camp.

After observing the dozen or so red barbarian cannons deployed around the Qing camp, Sun Yingyuan immediately ordered the wagon battalion to disperse at a distance of three li from the enemy camp, so as to avoid being bombarded by the cannons.

As the southward-advancing Qing army suffered defeat after defeat, tens of thousands of elite troops found themselves helpless against a Ming army that was smaller in number. The entire force had lost all its fighting spirit, and morale had sunk to rock bottom.

Especially within the Han Banner troops, many soldiers privately discussing the Ming army's formidable combat power spoke with fear in their voices, and some mid-ranking officers also held a pessimistic attitude toward the current campaign.

Kong Youde feared that Dorgon and the others might either fail to see the current danger clearly or, out of proud self-respect, be unable to swallow their pride, leading to a strategic misjudgment of the situation. So he hurriedly continued to offer his counsel.

"This slave believes that the reason our great army has suffered repeated setbacks is not that we are no match for the Ming army, but truly because we know too little about their true capabilities!

In this campaign, whether in defense or offense, the Ming army's various new tactics are things we have never seen before. Especially this cannon cart—we cannot find a way to counter it for the time being, which is why we have been unable to win!

This slave feels that we should quickly withdraw to the Song-Jin line, then send word of the battle situation back to Shengjing and ask His Majesty to make the decision. After that, we can think carefully about how to counter the Ming army's many new tactics, and when the time is ripe, gather our forces and march south to break the enemy in one stroke!"

Kong Youde's suggestion and analysis were fairly sound, and both Dorgon and Yoto nodded repeatedly upon hearing them.

In the eyes of the senior Eight Banner generals, if the two armies were to fight blade to blade in honest combat, the Ming army would be no match at all—they only gained the upper hand in engagements by relying on the power of their firearms.

Though no way to counter the Ming firearms could be found at present, that did not mean none could be devised in the future.

There had never been a weapon without a counter.

Just as where there is a spear, there must be a shield.

Moreover, even if no counter could be found, why shouldn't the Eight Banners simply copy this set of equipment from the Ming army?

Whether it was the muskets or those projectiles that exploded upon landing, including this newly appeared cannon cart—so long as they devoted enough thought and spent enough silver, the Great Qing could produce them all the same.

If their armaments were equal, wouldn't defeating the Ming army be a natural and effortless matter?

"What the Obedient Prince says is reasonable! The Ming only rely on the sharpness of their firearms; when it comes to true skill on the battlefield, we Eight Banners are still unmatched in the world! Now that we have pursuers behind and pressure ahead, continuing to fight the Ming head-on would be unwise. The only option is to withdraw to the Song-Jin line and think of a way to break the enemy there!

However, how the entire army is to return north safely must be discussed carefully—we cannot give the Ming any opening to exploit!"

Dorgon paced back and forth in the tent with his hands clasped behind his back, then stopped and directly set the tone for the retreat.

Yoto had no objection to this.

Though he was nominally the Regional Commander of the southward army, at this moment he had no heart to quibble with Dorgon over who had the final say.

In fact, he knew well in his heart that although he was an outstanding figure among the younger generation of the Eight Banners, whether in strategy or in battlefield command, he was no match for this Fourteenth Uncle before him.

Dorgon's words plunged the tent back into silence.

Retreating now was not really a major problem—after all, although the Ming army's cannon carts had extremely fierce firepower, their poor mobility and slow speed were also very obvious weaknesses.

As long as the Qing army struck camp and headed north, the Ming army could do little more than follow and pressure them from behind; inflicting large-scale casualties on the Qing army would be beyond their reach.

But the biggest problem lay in how to deal with the Ming army blocking their retreat route.

Once the northward-returning Qing army clashed with the intercepting Ming troops, unless they could defeat them in an extremely short time, the Ming cannon cart formation would catch up, and the entire army would face the situation of being attacked from both front and rear—the consequences would be unimaginable.

Shang Kexi, who had fled back alone after his unit was routed by the Ming wagon battalion, stole a glance at the expressions of his two masters. After confirming that they did not know of his flight from the battlefield, the heart that had been hanging in suspense finally settled.

"Your two Highnesses, regarding the matter of the army's return north, this slave does have some ideas to offer for Your Highnesses' consideration!"

Shang Kexi spoke after saluting Dorgon and Yoto.

"Speak plainly—what need is there for so much empty ceremony at a time like this!"

Dorgon waved his hand impatiently.

"Yes, yes, then this slave will speak! This slave believes that at present, only the Ming army's cannon carts pose the greatest threat to our forces; all else is not worth mentioning! And the Ming cannon carts have two great drawbacks—they move slowly and present large targets!

As long as our Han Banner red-clothed cannons fire upon them, and then we have the booi bondservants dig trenches and build ramparts to block their northward path, our army can return north at leisure. Even if the Ming block our rear route, we can easily defeat them! This method was also something this slave realized after observing the Ming army's defensive works—I beg Your Two Highnesses to consider it!"

"Excellent! Hahahaha! The Wise Prince's plan is superb! I was only thinking of how to counter the Ming cannon carts and completely forgot that we also have many cannons of our own! Digging trenches and building walls is even more brilliant!

Let us first pull the army back several li, and have the booi bondservants dig everywhere within this area of several li. If the Ming want to fill in the trenches, it will cost them many days! It's settled then!"

Shang Kexi's proposal filled Dorgon and Yoto with delight, and the others also breathed sighs of relief. The oppressive atmosphere that had hung over the tent suddenly became relaxed.

That afternoon, after the hour of shen, under Dorgon's orders, the main infantry forces of the Qing army began quietly withdrawing north in succession, while the red barbarian cannons deployed at the front fired volley after volley at the Ming wagon battalion.

After one side-cart was struck by a cannonball, killing two men and wounding three, Sun Yingyuan had no choice but to order the wagon battalion to retreat five li to avoid the Qing army's red barbarian cannon fire.

As night fell, the Qing army lit countless bonfires before their camp palisades, and the cannons continued to fire in rotation, to cover the great noise made by the main force's withdrawal.

The Qing troops in the rear camp lit torches and, organized by company under each jalan janggin's banner, pulled out northward through the night.

After the main force had fully withdrawn late into the night, tens of thousands of booi bondservants began digging trenches and building walls everywhere under the light of countless great bonfires. By daybreak, this long, narrow stretch of flat plain had become an impassable terrain of ditches and gullies.

When Sun Chuanting and Qin Liangyu, upon hearing the news, rushed to the now-empty Qing camp, what met their eyes was a landscape of deep trenches and low walls crisscrossing for several li, along with filth and refuse scattered everywhere on the ground.