Chapter 189: Bloody Battle at Daming Prefecture (I)
The news of Yue Zhongqi's defeat was only spread among a few upper-class people in the capital, and no one dared to tell anyone. Old Thirteen frowned and thought in his study room, and he was really undecided. At this time, the guard came in and reported, "The Minister of War, Fu Hai, wants to see you."
Old Thirteen didn't want to see Fahai, but he knew he had to meet him, so he ordered someone to invite Fahai in.
"Your servant kowtows to Prince Yi." Fahai knelt down respectfully.
The Thirteenth Master's leg sore had been showing signs of recurring, so he quickly ordered the guards to help Fahai up. Fahai did not sit down, but asked directly, "Thirteenth Master, is the Emperor going to punish Yue Zhongqi this time?"
After hearing this question, the Thirteenth Elder felt both relieved and embarrassed. Yue Zhongqi had been badly defeated, so of course he should be punished. If he pleaded for him, it would be inappropriate considering Yongzheng's character and the current situation.
The comfort is that Old Thirteen feels that the situation is too extreme to handle, and now it seems that he is not the only one who feels this way.
However, Old Thirteen had not figured out how to deal with Yue Zhongqi, so he asked, "What do you think we should do, Shangshu?"
"Thirteenth Master, the most urgent task is the government troops in Jinan. Last time..." the Minister of War Fu Hai reminded.
Old Thirteen sighed again. The last time 20,000 Qing troops were annihilated outside Jinan, it had already shocked the imperial court. If the tens of thousands of Qing troops that fled to Jinan were annihilated again this time, it would not only shock the imperial court.
The Qing Dynasty had 200,000 Eight Banners and 400,000 to 600,000 Green Camps. If 120,000 were killed, nearly 20% of the official army would be wiped out. This would shake the foundation of the country!
But the Qing army withdrew from Shandong, which was safe. How could Yongzheng accept this? This was the most difficult part for Old Thirteen. But he had to face the matter , so Old Thirteen asked, "Fahai, if we send reinforcements now, where can we get them from?"
The Minister of War, Fu Hai, thought for a while and lamented, "My Lord Thirteen, if you want to mobilize troops, you can only mobilize the Beijing Camp."
After hearing this completely impossible option, Old Thirteen understood Fahai's idea, "Fahai, if this is the case, as the Minister of War, you should report this matter to the Emperor."
"But... Your Majesty..."
"The Emperor is a wise ruler, and he should understand your painstaking efforts." Old Thirteen continued to insist. There was nothing that could be done about it, and everyone knew that they would be scolded if they brought it up first. "Fahai, at least let Yue Zhongqi go to the north bank of the Daqing River to wait for punishment."
As expected, the Minister of War, Fu Hai, was scolded by Yongzheng. However, Yongzheng discussed the matter with the ministers of the newly established Military Affairs Council that afternoon.
Ma Qi was old enough to have some responsibility as an elder. He said that he could consider letting Yue Zhongqi withdraw to the north of the Daqing River.
Although Zhang Tingyu was a person carefully selected by Yongzheng, the Thirteenth Prince thought he could count on Zhang Tingyu's support. Unexpectedly, when he heard about "Daqing River", Zhang Tingyu's face changed, and he actually kept silent with a gloomy face.
Finally, Yongzheng asked the Thirteenth Prince, and he agreed with the suggestion of bringing the defeated army to the north bank of the Daqing River.
It can be seen that Yongzheng was extremely disgusted with this suggestion. However, Yongzheng trusted the Thirteenth Master very much after all, and after hearing that the Thirteenth Master agreed, he also thought silently.
If he could avoid escaping like this, Old Thirteen would not want to do so. But he really couldn't act on impulse at the moment. Old Thirteen even felt a little regretful. He should have helped Nian Gengyao back then, at least let Nian Gengyao give him advice when he was trying to eliminate Huo Chong for the second time. If he had used Nian Gengyao at that time, he would not have to face such a dangerous situation now.
Thinking of this, the Thirteenth Elder said, "Your Majesty, I saw that the Shandong Governor Sai Leng'e did not allow Yue Zhongqi to enter the city. If they are not allowed to go north of the Daqing River, let Yue Zhongqi lead the army into the city first. They are indeed guilty, but it is Your Majesty who has to kill them. It is not Huo Chong's turn to kill them."
After hearing his beloved thirteenth brother say this, Yongzheng was still moved. He sighed and said, "Order Yue Zhongqi to lead the troops across the Daqing River. Send Fuerdan to take charge of the troops, arrest Yue Zhongqi, and send him to the capital."
Old Thirteen was relieved to see that things finally had a barely acceptable outcome.
Soon, the Qing army retreated to the north of the Daqing River, and Furdan took over the troops.
Huo Chong was not idle either. He first pursued the enemy for a while, then stopped outside Jinan City. He released a few captured soldiers into the city and told them to tell the Shandong Governor Saileng'e in Jinan City that Huo Chong would not attack the city if he handed over 200,000 kilograms of gunpowder. Otherwise, if Huo Chong entered the city, Saileng'e and the officials in Jinan City would have no choice but to commit suicide like the county magistrates and prefects.
Saileng'e knew Huo Chong was not joking. He could indeed escape now, but where could he escape to? As long as Saileng'e had to deal with the court, he would die if caught.
The civil and military officials in Jinan were summoned for discussion, and all the officials were worried. However, no one said anything to give in to Huo Chong's threats. Everyone asked Saileng'e to "immediately seek help from the government troops on the north bank of the Daqing River." Saileng'e could only tell the officials that he had already done so. Before the government troops came to help, the officials in Jinan had to rely on themselves.
Hearing that they had to defend Jinan City by themselves, the officials looked ashen. At least these people did not think that their fighting power exceeded that of a hundred thousand troops. Even if they had a hundred thousand troops, wouldn't they still be killed by Huo Chong and flee to the north bank of the Daqing River?
Just when these officials were in a dilemma, someone brought a messenger from Fuerdan, a trusted general of the Qing army. Fuerdan asked Saileng'e to defend the city with all his heart, and at the same time brought a plan to attack Huo Chong from both sides. After reading this plan, Saileng'e thought it was quite feasible. Huo Chong's subordinates had suffered heavy casualties and were exhausted after a bloody battle. If Huo Chong could really take Jinan easily, wouldn't he have done it long ago?
Although the new general Fuerdan gave Seleng'e a plan, he also quickly sent his own plan to the capital. Soon, Yongzheng saw Fuerdan's memorial. After reading it, Yongzheng was very satisfied.
The plan was ingenious. While Huo Chong was stationed at the gate of Jinan, the Qing army secretly crossed the Daqing River from upstream and attacked Huo Chong from behind. With a strong city in front and 65,000 troops behind, Huo Chong was powerless.
Yongzheng originally thought that more than half of the 100,000 troops had been lost, but after Yue Zhongqi led his troops to retreat to Jinan, more and more Qing troops continued to return to Jinan. Now the number of troops has reached 65,000 again. The loss of 35,000 people was enough to make Yongzheng sad, but compared with the loss of 55,000, 35,000 was obviously more acceptable.
Lao Shisan thought the plan was fine, but could these 65,000 defeated soldiers defeat Huo Chong, whose morale was high?
However, to Old Thirteen's surprise, the Minister of War, Fu Hai, actually supported this plan. "Your Majesty, I think even if we cannot win, we can still force Huo Chong to retreat."
Yongzheng nodded repeatedly. This was what he needed most at this moment. Even if it was just to force Huo Chong to retreat, it would be enough to restore the morale of the army.
