Chapter 58: Puppet Troops as Vanguard

After the great victory at the first battle of Shijingshan, Zhu Cilang was not satisfied, and further ordered the four Night Scout squads of the Longxiang unit to disperse and conduct reconnaissance, keeping watch on the movements of the Qing forces in the surrounding area.

Ever since learning that Battalion Commander Yang Qili of the First Squad had been disciplined by the Crown Prince, the Longxiang Night Scouts conducted their reconnaissance with even greater diligence.

On the second day, the Second Squad of Night Scouts discovered large numbers of Qing scout riders near Liangxiang. After the Second Squad sent word out, the Night Scouts of the other three squads quickly converged, intensifying their reconnaissance activities around Liangxiang city.

At the same time, they cleared out the Qing scout riders—whenever any Qing scouts appeared nearby, they were immediately spotted by the Longxiang Night Scouts and silently eliminated.

In the Yongwei Camp's main tent east of Shijingshan, the principal officers of the Yongwei Camp had all gathered together, and Zhu Cilang sat upright in the main seat examining a map of the capital region.

At this moment, the Battalion Commander of the Second Squad of Longxiang Night Scouts returned to the main camp and personally reported to Zhu Cilang: "Your Highness, the Tartar army has already breached Fangshan and Liangxiang. The barbarian chieftain Ajige is heading south toward Zhuozhou, leaving only the barbarian general Yangguli with ten thousand men to hold Liangxiang city."

Zhu Cilang nodded, then looked at the map and said: "Prepare the troops and set out immediately—march on Liangxiang city!"

The Night Scout Battalion Commander of the Second Squad said: "Your Highness, those holding Liangxiang city are all elite troops of the Jianzhou barbarians' Eight Banners!"

Before Zhu Cilang could speak, Huang Degong beside him shouted: "What this old man fights is precisely elites!"

Zhu Cilang immediately glared at him, and Huang Degong thought he had lost his composure before the prince by uttering crude words, so he quickly gave an awkward smile.

What he didn't know was that Zhu Cilang was angry because he had stolen his lines—this highly posturing phrase from Battalion Commander Li, which he had finally had a chance to use, had been snatched away by Huang Degong! How could Zhu Cilang not be furious?

Amid his anger, Zhu Cilang said: "Have the artillery battalion return to the capital and bring the Italian cannons—no, bring both the Franco cannons and the red barbarian cannons over here. This old man will blast them to hell!"

Upon hearing this, all the generals in the tent stared blankly at Zhu Cilang. None of them had expected that this refined and cultured Crown Prince would also utter crude words—but, they liked it!

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The Eight Banners army was composed of three parts: the Eight Banners of Manchu, the Eight Banners of Mongols, and the Eight Banners of Han Chinese. Many people mistakenly called them the Mongol Banners and the Han Army Banners.

In this great campaign against Ming, the Qing army dispatched a total of one hundred thousand troops—not only the Manchu Eight Banners, but also the Mongol Eight Banners, as well as the Han Eight Banners that had not yet been fully organized.

In the Qing camp at Liangxiang, thirty li from Shijingshan, Yangguli's right eye twitched violently. He had not received any message from Tandai's forces for two days.

Because he was waiting to rendezvous with Tandai's forces, Yangguli was now two days' march away from Ajige's forces. It was not until the third day that Yangguli could no longer bear it and sent men to Shijingshan to investigate the whereabouts of Tandai's forces.

Yangguli removed his outermost layer of cotton armor and kept wiping the sweat from his forehead. Such hot weather made it very uncomfortable for him to wear three layers of heavy armor.

The Eight Banners army's specialty was field combat; they were not skilled at defense. After capturing Liangxiang and looting the city extensively, they set up their main camp on a stretch of high ground outside the city, sending only a few Qing soldiers into the city to guard the plundered goods.

Yangguli's personal guards found a cool mat seized from a wealthy merchant's home nearby, spread it on the ground to invite Yangguli to rest for a while, and brought over a bowl of cold water.

Yangguli had just sat down, and before he could take a sip of water, a Qing scout rider came to report: "Reporting to the Imperial Son-in-law, the rear forces at Shijingshan have been completely annihilated by the Ming army."

Yangguli jolted with a start, sat up straight, and said: "Nonsense! Where did a Ming army come from? How could they possibly annihilate the rear forces?"

The Eight Banners army had been invincible all along the way; the Ming forces had all retreated, and even those who offered some resistance could not withstand their powerful attacks and abandoned their cities to flee one after another.

If Tandai's forces had encountered a Ming army, it could only have been the Capital Camps' forces. But from what Yangguli understood, the Ming Capital Camps were full of useless men—how could they possibly annihilate Tandai's three thousand Eight Banners elite?

"This slave does not know which unit they were, but from afar their great banner was a red great dragon banner." This Qing scout rider said with lingering fear.

Many of their scout riders had died inexplicably out in the field, and he had barely escaped with his life to return.

"A red dragon banner—that should be the Ming Emperor's personal army. Where is Tandai?" Yangguli suddenly said in a deep voice.

"Lord Tandai has died in battle. The Ming army cut off his head and hoisted it on a flagpole."

Yangguli clenched his fist tightly, veins bulging on his forehead, and roared: "This pack of southern barbarians—I will bathe in their blood to avenge my brother Tandai!"

Not long after, another scout rider came to report that a Ming force was heading this way from the direction of Shijingshan, only two or three li from the camp.

Yangguli looked in the direction he pointed, then climbed up to a high platform to observe. Before long, he indeed saw dust flying in the distance as a large body of troops advanced toward them.

Yangguli was somewhat skeptical—this Ming force numbered at most five thousand men. How could they possibly have annihilated Tandai's three thousand troops?

His master Hong Taiji had once said that if the Ming army fielded ten thousand men, the Eight Banners only needed one thousand; if the Ming army fielded one thousand, the Eight Banners only needed one hundred—that would suffice to win.

Yangguli was, after all, a battle-hardened veteran. Seeing that the Yongwei Camp's formation in the distance was strictly ordered, he knew they must have some real strength. He immediately ordered the entire army to form ranks and prepare to meet the Ming forces. At the same time, he sent men to deliver a message to Ajige with the vanguard, informing him that a Ming army had them in their sights.

The Qing army had fought campaigns for years and was indeed well-trained; even while resting they remained perfectly orderly, and upon receiving Yangguli's orders they quickly formed their ranks.

By this time, the Yongwei Camp's main force had also arrived. Zhu Cilang surveyed the surrounding terrain and ultimately positioned the Yongwei Camp on a small hillside about one li away.

The small hillside was not steep, with a slope of only about ten-plus degrees. After the Yongwei Camp formed its battle array, it advanced step by step down the slope for fifty paces before halting.

The battle formation was the same as when facing Tandai—the Yongwei Camp still arranged itself in front and rear lines, except that the musketeers spread horizontally in the front formation had increased from three rows to five rows. Zhu Cilang used the hillside terrain to enhance the firepower and strike density of the musketeers.

When he first saw this formation, Yangguli, like Tandai, found it utterly baffling—the Yongwei Camp had actually deployed such a formation with no depth at all.

No matter how Yangguli thought about it, he couldn't understand: how could these few rows of musketeers possibly withstand the charge of the Great Qing's iron cavalry? Did they think that little hillside could stop cavalry?

That Tandai had actually lost to such a Ming force, and even lost his life, was truly baffling.

Yangguli decided to first use the Han troops as cannon fodder to probe the enemy, so he ordered out one Han niru company, totaling over one thousand eight hundred troops, including three hundred cavalry, to launch an attack on the Yongwei Camp.

After receiving the order, the Han commander of this company had no choice but to steel himself and lead his men out of formation, advancing toward the Yongwei Camp.

As soon as the Qing forces moved out, the Yongwei Camp immediately raised their muskets, each man seeking his own target, waiting for the Qing troops to approach within one hundred paces before opening fire.

Seeing that the Ming formation showed no change at all, Yangguli grew even more frustrated. Were these Ming troops here to die, or did they truly have strength? This kind of tactic was far too inferior—completely useless!

Zhu Cilang couldn't be bothered to study tactics; he simply took the experience that later generations had explored over nearly two hundred years and proven through history, and put it into practice.

At this moment, one company of the Han Eight Banners had already separated from the Qing main formation and began charging the Yongwei Camp.