Who says generals don't compete with one another? Li Zicheng had always been holding a grudge in his heart, wanting to prove himself.
However, contempt aside, even Li Zicheng could not figure out how to deal with the Dutch attacking from the sea.
Most of Li Zicheng's life was spent fighting on land and on inland rivers; he didn't know much about naval warfare, nor did he know how to defend against it.
When the news first arrived, he even felt a slight sense of relief.
One must know that at that time, he had even felt a bit envious of the southern line; after all, once Xuzhou was taken, the path north would not only be flat but much easier to traverse. Looking at it now, the north is still a better option.
The most wonderful thing now is that the Little Emperor's decree was exactly as he had planned; it truly was a case of great minds thinking alike.
After setting aside the Imperial Decree, Li Zicheng stood up and said with high spirits, "Deploy the troops!"
Li Zicheng split his forces, the Qing Army also split its forces.
Although Haoge and Ajige had a decent relationship and did not distrust each other like Jirgalang and Dodo did, having two voices in a single army was the most taboo thing.
No matter how well the two of them coordinated, it was useless; in the end, they still lost Xi'an and Tongguan.
However, being equally renowned generals of their era, they could also foresee how Li Zicheng would deploy his troops; they simply split their forces early on, defending Juyong Pass on one side while heading to Baoding on the other.
Before leaving, Haoge looked at Ajige, who was left with only one eye, asked with concern, "Your body.."
Ajige touched his eye, which was covered by an eye patch, coughed twice, said, "Don't worry, I won't die. Even if I do, I'll take Zhu Ci down with me!"
Ajige felt extreme hatred in his heart. If it hadn't been for Zhu Ci, he wouldn't have been left with only one eye. Once his disability was confirmed, the Imperial Court had intended to recall him.
If it weren't for the tight war situation and Haoge pleading for him, he would likely have returned to Beijing to face punishment by now.
Others might have a chance to turn their fortunes around after being punished, but if he is punished, he will likely spend the rest of his life idle at home.
Haoge thought to himself that although they had won a battle in the South, taking the Ming Emperor's head would likely not be that easy.
He cupped his hands and said, "In that case, take care."
After he finished speaking, the two parted ways.
Ajige claimed he would fight all the way to Nanjing, but in reality, he was retreating step by step.
He and Haoge failed to hold Tongguan, after which they split their forces; he then stationed himself in Huaiqing Prefecture.
Then he retreated from Huaiqing, only managed to stabilize his position in Pengde after losing both Huaiqing and Lu'an.
Ajige was anxious, upon hearing that the one leading the troops along the middle line was Li Guo, his anger flared even more intensely.
Back then, Li Guo fled alongside Li Zicheng, losing far more often than winning; he never expected that he would actually be putting up such a fight now.
It was just that the opponent's armament was indeed better than his, the enemy seemed to possess a special type of birdlock gun capable of continuous fire.
The original cavalry advantage of the Great Qing was almost completely obliterated under the impact of those rapid-fire guns.
What use are cavalrymen who cannot even get close?
Not only were they useless, but they also suffered heavy losses.
Even though their Manchuria horses were very precious, cavalry was even harder to train, almost no horses or cavalrymen could survive this round of sweeping fire from the opposition.
Not only was Ajige anxious and frustrated, but Haoge was also shocked that the opponent had updated his armaments again, he hurriedly submitted a memorial to the Imperial Court.
However, the Qing Court was also feeling quite overwhelmed at this time; the more joyful they had been when they had previously taken Xuzhou, the more vexed they were now.
Because they discovered that they seemed to have misjudged the Ming army's intentions.
After capturing Xuzhou, the Ming Army did indeed send reinforcements to Xuzhou, they also believed they had successfully pinned down the Ming Army's main force there.
According to their original prediction, Li Zicheng should have been recalled to reinforce the direction of Xuzhou, which would have lessened the pressure on the northern line and might have even allowed him to march all the way down to Nanjing from the north.
As it turned out, the Ming army did indeed dispatch reinforcements, but they did not recall Li Zicheng, which meant that half of the Qing Court's plan could be considered ruined.
In addition, they discovered that the Ming army had not increased their offensive against Xuzhou.
They were also attacking Xuzhou, but the intensity of their offensive was clearly not that great, was even inferior to that of the years past.
Liu Zhaoji and Shi Kefa acted as if they had lost all their spirit; they would test and harass the enemy with occasional skirmishes, but as soon as they realized the battle would be difficult, they would retreat, giving the Qing Army no opportunity to wear them down.
The Qing Army wanted to attack Xiaoxian but had no way to do so. The Ming Army's Dongfeng Bronze Cannons were not only capable of sieging cities, but they were also more suitable for defending them than the Red-coated Cannons. Thus, the forces of both sides remained in a stalemate here.
Both Jirgalang and Dodo felt somewhat disgusted and irritated.
They had already grown to loathe one another, now they were forced to remain here to continue cooperating.
At this moment, they realized it wasn't that they had held the Ming Army back here, but rather that the Ming Army had held them back.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Are you guys getting annoyed? That's exactly how it should be. Don't worry, let me plant some crops first. A cat digging in the dirt gets covered in it. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 191
To make matters worse, they didn't dare to split their forces, for who knew if the Ming army still had any trump cards up their sleeves? Tongguan had already been lost, it was clear that Juyong Pass and Baoding were also under immense pressure; if they weren't careful, they might even lose Xuzhou as well.
It will be truly difficult for the Great Qing to turn the tide.
"Where on earth did the Han people get so many firearms?" Jirgalang paced back and forth, appearing somewhat agitated.
A person wearing an iron mask stood below the hall. This person stood there motionless with his head bowed, neither moving nor speaking, appearing somewhat respectful.
Dodo sat in the seat of honor, looking even more composed than Jirgalang: "Alna, are you certain that the firearms the Dutch sell to us are their most advanced?"
Alna replied very respectfully, "Reporting to the General, at least these are what they are using in Taiwan. As for whether their home country has better ones, I do not know."
Dodo leaned back and patted the armrest, looking somewhat puzzled. "Where on earth did the Ming Army get so many new firearms?"
Although they had only seen the Dongfeng Bronze Cannon here, the reason for the consecutive defeats in the north had still been reported.
Now the Imperial Court has begun to pressure them to capture Xiaoxian within the shortest possible time.
But the problem was, how could it be that easy?
Even if the Regent Dorgon came here, he wouldn't have any better solutions.
Now they could only continue to buy firearms from the Dutch, especially the Red-coated Cannon.
Although the Ming Army possessed Dongfeng Bronze Cannons, after many clashes, they knew very well that the number of cannons on the opposing side was limited. As long as they had enough Red-coated Cannons and attacked the city gates simultaneously, even the most formidable Dongfeng Bronze Cannons on the opposing side would not be able to withstand it.
Of course, this decision was made by Dorgon; neither Jirgalang nor Dodo had the authority to issue orders.
Only the Regent could disregard all voices and act arbitrarily.
However, it was said that the Empress Dowager in the palace also supported Dorgon.
Dodo and Jirgalang called Alna over specifically so he could negotiate with the Dutch.
However, the imperial court's funds were currently scarce, so they could only use ports and maritime trade as exchange.
To this end, the Qing Court even decided to hand over all maritime trade and ports to the Dutch, exempt the Dutch from taxes for fifty years.
Anyway, they wouldn't have used those ports, so they might as well have given them up.
Although Alna felt it was somewhat inappropriate, he did not try to dissuade them.
Although he had successfully returned to his position as Jala E Zhen by introducing the Dutch, he still had no room to intervene in such a major matter.
Moreover, the Great Qing truly has no better choice now; otherwise, why would Alna have insisted on using Zheng Zhilong to connect with the Dutch in the first place?
It was a pity.. He had originally thought he could secure the shipping routes held by Zheng Zhilong, but now it seemed they would have to be sold to the Dutch.
When Alna received the order to withdraw, he looked up at the sun in the sky and couldn't help but frown.
He also could not understand where the Ming Army had obtained those firearms.
However, he did not know, but perhaps.. someone else did.
Alna made his way all the way to the dungeon, where many people were imprisoned, at the end of the dungeon, Zheng Zhilong and several of his sons were being held.
At this time, Zheng Zhilong no longer possessed his former high spirits; he looked as if he had aged ten years, curled up in a corner.
Alna stood outside the door with his hands behind his back and spoke, "Boss Zheng, I trust you have been well."
Zheng Zhilong, who had been motionless, couldn't help but shudder upon hearing his voice, curling his body even tighter, yet he gave no response.
“An old friend has come to visit, why is Boss Zheng so silent?" Alna ordered someone to open the cell door, walked inside, grabbed Zheng Zhilong by his hair, hauled him up.
Zheng Zhilong's filthy face was numb with expression. His cloudy eyes stared at Alna for a long time before he said tremulously, "I have already told you everything I know. Please, spare me, please spare me."
Alna ignored his pleas and asked, "Are you finished? Not necessarily. Tell me, where exactly did those firearms of the Ming army come from?"
Zheng Zhilong's eyes flickered at the mention of the Ming Army, he remained silent for a moment.
Alna threw him to the ground, took a thin leather whip soaked in salt water from a slave beside him, lashed out with it.
Zheng Zhilong let out a cry of pain, struggling to retreat toward the corner of the wall, but where was there any place for him to hide?
“Will you speak or not?” Beneath the iron mask, Alna's face was contorted with rage.
After letting out a few pained cries, Zheng Zhilong said, "I.. I don't know either. The intelligence Zhu Yujian obtained previously indicated that all the military firearms were improved by Zhu Ci."
Nonsense!
Alna did not believe him for a single second, lashed out again with the whip.
It wasn't until he whipped Zheng Zhilong into unconsciousness that he confirmed the man was not lying.
After walking out of the dungeon, Alna took a look toward the south.
Although it felt unbelievable, perhaps that was the truth.
Just what is the background of this Zhu Ci? The Imperial Court had gathered all of his intelligence, but after studying it over and over for a long time, they still couldn't find anything wrong with it.
Could it be.. that he is just like him?
No, even if they were the same, the Ming Army could not produce so many powerful pieces of firearm equipment.
Unless he had been exposed to even more!
Alna stopped speculating; thinking any further would only make him feel terrified.
He also did not understand; since Heaven favored him and gave him a chance to start over, why did it have to add another Zhu Ci?
Alna went to find the Dutchmen with a heart full of frustration, but instead received news he did not want to hear.
“What did you say? Withdraw the troops? Why withdraw the troops?” Alna looked at the other man with a face full of disbelief.