Fu Qiulu replied, "No, Jiang Shanggong made up an excuse and hurried away at that time."
Fu Shixiao shook his head with a faint smile. "He hasn't improved after all these years; he's still just as reckless."
But it doesn't matter; His Majesty should have already received the news.
Based on the movement of grain and supplies below, His Majesty must have increased the marching speed.
I wonder if he will return before winter arrives.
Beside them, Fu Qiulu hesitated for a moment, feeling that she could not quite understand the Marquis's logic.
Previously, the Marquis had submitted a memorial to the Emperor, hoping that His Majesty could return before winter.
At that time, His Majesty had explicitly refused, his reasons were quite valid: he was not at ease if Dorgon was not dealt with once and for all.
Now that the Great Ming has reclaimed much of its territory, what if Dorgon makes a comeback once he leaves?
This kind of repeated stalemate is not a good thing for the Great Ming; it would be better to settle everything in a single battle.
After the Emperor refused, the Marquis used this method.
But.. will His Majesty really come back?
Fu didn't know either; he was just acting on a sudden whim to give it a try.
It seems the effect has been quite good so far.
His Majesty is, after all, different from everyone else.
Fu Chunsheng was thinking about these things when he received a letter from Zhu Ci. Upon opening it, his expression darkened, he said through gritted teeth, "Wu Sangui!"
Seeing that His Majesty already had thoughts of returning to the capital, now that Wu Sangui was causing complications, he truly worried that the Little Emperor would, in a fit of rage, set out to hunt Wu Sangui down.
Fortunately, Dorgon was still by his side, but one could tell from the handwriting on the letter, which was practically flying across the paper, that the Little Emperor was extremely furious.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: You're really looking for death, aren't you? Come on then, I'll grant your wish. Cat pushing a rocket cart. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM
Chapter 253
While writing a letter to the Emperor, Fu instructed, "Send someone to Ordos to investigate the situation."
Although the Ordos Mongols are currently embroiled in internal strife, the Great Ming maintains good relations with every tribe, they have consistently maintained a state of neutrality.
No matter which tribe it was, they certainly were dissatisfied with this state of neutrality, but on the surface, they were all very polite to the Great Ming.
Setting everything else aside, gathering information about a person is not difficult.
Fearing that Zhu Ci might suffer some ill effect from anger, Fu hurriedly wrote a letter to soothe him, telling him not to worry about Wu Sangui and that he would find a way to deal with him.
Zhu Ci was truly startled when he saw Fu's letter.
Although he was still fuming, he was more worried that Fu would be distracted because of this while still over in Ordos.
He was already exhausted to the point of falling ill, with even more work added to his plate, he feared that by the time he returned, he would only find Fu's corpse.
Zhu Ci hurriedly wrote a letter stating: the Ordos Mongols can be ignored for the time being, as Wu Sangui might not necessarily be trusted even if he goes there; the current focus remains on the Tartars.
Wu Sangui was already a stray dog, even if he reached the Ordos Mongols, he might not necessarily be given significant responsibilities.
As he wrote the letter, he felt another surge of resentment toward Wu Sangui, wishing a bolt of lightning would descend from the heavens and strike him dead.
After Zhu Ci finished writing the letter, the statistics regarding the current situation in Datong City were also sent up.
Datong Prefecture originally had two hundred thousand people, but now only twenty thousand remain.
Even if these were merely cold numbers, to his eyes, Zhu Ci felt they were far too tragic.
At this time, Datong City was much quieter than Huairen, the common people here seemed to have grown numb.
Aside from requesting the Imperial Court to send people to take over Datong and granting a five-year tax exemption for the area, Zhu Ci could do little else.
He did not even stay in Datong for long; after his subordinates had rested for two days, they continued their march.
He had truly had enough of the days when, after occupying every city, he had to face a population that consisted mostly of wandering ghosts and lonely spirits.
Because of this, he, who had originally planned to go to Baoding, changed his route directly. Initially, Li Zicheng had split his forces into three routes: one toward Baoding, one toward Juyong Pass, another following behind to provide reinforcements at any time.
Zhu Ci also prepared to take the Juyong Pass route this time.
Not only that, but he also ordered Li Guo to travel all the way from Jingping Post to Baoding to provide reinforcements, creating the illusion that the Imperial Army's main force was attacking Baoding.
Let Li Guo, Nie Wu, Ding Qi, Jiang Quan do their best to keep Dorgon tied down in Baoding.
As long as these four do not fight each other, they are actually very complementary. Nie Wu and Ding Qi have read the most military books, Jiang Quan follows Zhu Ci and knows more advanced military training concepts, while Li Guo is the most experienced among them.
With these four people present, there should be no problem in stalling Dorgon.
Zhu Ci advanced from Datong toward the northeast; without Dorgon, the Qing Army's defenses were like paper before the firearms of the Great Ming.
The Ming Army managed to conquer Bao'an and Huailai within just ten days, before finally charging straight toward Yanqing's Juyong Pass.
The geographical position of Juyong Pass is actually even more rugged than that of Pianlingkou. Situated at the junction of the Yanshan and Taihang Mountains, it is known as one of the nine strategic passes of the realm.
This place was originally a critical node for the Central Plains dynasties to defend against the northern nomadic tribes, but no one expected that Zhu Ci, the successor of the legitimate Central Plains dynasty, would pass through here to fight the nomadic tribes within.
Juyong Pass itself possesses a natural barrier consisting of two mountains flanking a valley; to the east is Cuiping Mountain, to the west is Jingui Mountain, both of which are very steep. Additionally, the middle is the river valley of the Wenyu River.
The terrain itself is treacherous enough, but when the fortress was originally built here, it was constructed relying on the valley; the city walls extend along the mountain ridges, directly sealing off both ends of the canyon, which further strengthens its defensive capabilities.
Although the situation was similar, this time Zhu Ci did not attack Juyong Pass in the same manner as he had at Pianlingkou; instead, he chose to launch a feint attack from the front while splitting his forces to circle around the back of the fortress via Baiyangkou.
Strictly speaking, this method of attack used by Zhu Ci could also be considered a continuation of the ancestral ways.
This was the same method used by the Ming Chengzu, Zhu Di, when he attacked Juyong Pass back then.
The focus of Juyong Pass's defenses was the main gorge; while the mountain ranges on the flanks were indeed steep, there were also some paths rarely trodden by humans.
However, these paths were never suitable for large forces; they could only be used by the Night Stealth Squad, much like the surprise raid on Huairen City.
The danger level for the Night Stealth Squad remained high, so they had to pin down the front to make the Tartars believe they only intended to launch a frontal assault.
Zhu Ci even came up with a clever maneuver for this; he made use of the Kongming Lanterns.
They are called Kongming Lanterns, but strictly speaking, they should be considered the precursor to hot air balloons.
These hot air balloons were very small, so they could naturally carry very little weight, but for Zhu Ci, it was already enough.
He only needed to have these small hot air balloons carry explosives over the walls of Juyong Pass, then use a long-range matchlock to shoot them down. The explosives contained internal vibration mechanisms, so they would naturally detonate upon landing on the city walls.
It sounds simple, but in reality, this thing is not easy to make.
Zhu Ci had been researching this thing since he left on his military expedition, it had taken two months for it to finally become barely usable.
So-called "usable" is also a matter of luck, because when the hot air balloon is blasted by a long-range matchlock, the vibration can also trigger the explosive charge.
Therefore, there was a certain probability that the explosive charge would detonate in mid-air, while the altitude of the hot air balloon did indeed leave the enemy archers helpless, they could still aim and shoot at the explosive charge as it fell.
This thing isn't exactly easy to use, but it's quite good for drawing the enemy's attention.
The first wave of hot air balloons released achieved excellent results, catching the Qing Army completely off guard.
However, the Tartars soon realized they couldn't allow this thing to drift aimlessly above their heads, so they began to try their best to have their archers deal with it.
But even for the Tartars, the number of archers was limited.
They either dealt with the enemy forces attacking the city walls, or they dealt with the hot air balloons in the sky.
The most hateful part was that not all of those hot air balloons carried explosive packs; many times, the archers would struggle to aim for ages, only to find they were empty.
But they could not simply let them be, because some of them were indeed real.
Initially, the defending generals had thought about dealing with the enemy archers; as long as the hot air balloon wasn't popped, it could drift wherever it wanted, since the surrounding area was sparsely populated, they didn't have to worry about it exploding and hitting anyone.
Even if it caused casualties, it wouldn't matter; most of those living here were poor Han people, to the Manchus, the deaths of any number of Han people were not worth mourning.
It was just that the Ming Army's long-range matchlocks had too much range; even the most skilled archers could not harm them from where they were positioned.
As for birdlock guns.. not to mention those, if birdlock guns were effective, they wouldn't have deployed archers in the first place.
Moreover, the Qing Dynasty doesn't have that many birdlock guns nowadays; most of them were taken away by the Imperial Uncle Regent.
Your Majesty, it has been three days, the Night Stealth Squad has yet to send any news. If this continues, I fear the Tartars will send reinforcements.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Things don't need to be perfect; they just need to be functional. A kitty peeking down from the hot air balloon basket. jpg
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock.
Chapter 254
Zhu Ci was very calm about this: "It makes no difference how many reinforcements are sent, unless Dorgon comes personally."
However, even if Dorgon arrived, it might not make much of a difference. The advantage of the terrain is a double-edged sword; while on the plains one could employ various strategies and tactics depending on the terrain, here at Juyong Pass, almost all available options are strictly limited.
Juyong Pass is a difficult point for the attackers, but isn't it equally a constraint for the defenders?
"But.. what if Dorgon really comes?" Wang Chang, who had been following Zhu Ci for the past few days, asked cautiously.
Zhu Ci smiled slightly. "Then that would be wonderful."
Dorgon had abandoned Huairen in such a hurry that he must have been seriously injured; gunpowder wounds were not ordinary injuries and were not easy to heal.
Even if we assume his injuries were not that severe, he certainly would not have had the conditions to rest and recover during the forced march to Baoding.
If things went smoothly in Baoding, there might have been a chance to recover from his injuries while staying in a defensive position, but what if the Qing Court hurriedly transferred him from Baoding back to Beijing?
Traveling continuously for a short period would exhaust even a healthy person, let alone an injured one.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ci suddenly had a new idea; perhaps he didn't necessarily need to focus solely on trying to kill Dorgon in a single battle.
As long as the Qing Army's defenses are riddled with holes and Dorgon is kept constantly on the run, without any opportunity to recover from his injuries or rest, he will eventually exhaust him to death.
Looking at it this way, the Night Stealth Squad's reckless rush to assassinate Dorgon was indeed a stroke of genius.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ci became even more calm and composed. He was in no hurry to attack Juyong Pass; he even hoped that Dorgon would come here.