Chapter 250: The Capital's Counterattack (IX)
The latest personnel sent by the reconnaissance cavalry brought news that the Qing army was besieging Chenzhuang, which, together with the Qing army's movement trajectory sent by the previous reconnaissance troops, formed a complete roadmap.
Huo Chong couldn't figure out the Qing army's idea and was considering it. Gao Pang, who worked in the staff department, asked directly, "What does the Qing army want to do?"
No one could answer this question. Based on the current understanding of the war by the Han General Staff, the Qing army's actions seemed to be inconsistent with the basic laws of warfare. One staff officer asked tentatively, "Will the Qing army want to surround the enemy and attack the reinforcements?"
"It's too good to encircle us and attack our reinforcements on the plains."
"If you don't surround the enemy and attack the reinforcements, then you want to take people as hostages?"
“Well, it’s possible.”
Gao Pang had already sorted out the logic, and then he continued to participate in the discussion, "It's not a siege. To siege, the Qing army would disperse its troops. One part would besiege Chenzhuang, and the other part would disperse. So far, we haven't received any news that the Qing army has dispersed."
After all, everyone expected the Qing army to march towards Linzi immediately. Linzi was already prepared for the battle, just waiting for the Qing army to arrive. As for what strategy and tactics the Qing army used, it didn't matter.
Gao Pang saw Huo Chong deep in thought and felt a little anxious. Finally, he couldn't wait any longer, and while others were talking, he approached Huo Chong and whispered, "Is the governor worried that there will be mistakes in the field battle?"
Huo Chong was stunned when he heard this. What he was thinking about at this moment had nothing to do with the field battle, but other things. After Gao Pang asked this, Huo Chong quickly retracted his thoughts and interrupted everyone's discussion, "Send 15 battalions to deal with the Qing army."
"Commander-in-chief, isn't that Linzi's empty city plan?" Yang Wangfu immediately expressed his disagreement.
"You are just going out to fight. The enemy cannot reach the city. Even if they do, we still have two battalions here. There is no need to be afraid. It's the people!" At this point, Huo Chong took the opportunity to expatiate, "You know I am against foot binding. If there were not so many women with bound feet in Chenzhuang, the army would have covered everyone's retreat to Linzi long ago. After this battle... No, let me ask you now, do you still support foot binding?"
This is what Huo Chong has just considered. Since this era, Huo Chong has been against foot binding, and has tried every means to prevent women from binding their feet within his power. However, the results are very average. Very, very average! This level of progress has always made Huo Chong feel very frustrated.
Everyone was stunned. Even though everyone had thousands of thoughts and ideas in their heads, if we multiply the individual thoughts by the total number of people, we would get a huge number of ideas. What Huo Chong was thinking was completely beyond the expectations of everyone present.
Many people didn't even understand what Huo Chong was saying. They could only look at him in confusion and ask him to say it again.
"I said this before when the Eight Banners came to Shandong to carry out the massacre. The Qing Dynasty required Han women to bind their feet in order to torture them and not allow them to move around freely. If all Han women were like Qian Qing, how could the Eight Banners dare to come here? Are they coming here to die?"
Many people smiled when Huo Chong described Qian Qing's image. However, the smiles quickly disappeared from their faces because Huo Chong's expression was extremely serious and he could not tolerate any jokes.
"After defeating the Qing army this time, we will completely ban foot binding on the ground. Don't think that it is something for the future, it will start soon. I will tell you now, if you have time, think about it. Are you in favor or against it! All right, all armies, attack and annihilate the Qing army!"
Gao Pang looked at Huo Chong in shock, and also looked at the others. The others all looked puzzled, surprised, or indifferent. Gao Pang could understand their feelings, because Gao Pang had never expected Huo Chong to take this matter as a priority.
But Gao Pang could sense that Huo Chong was not joking, nor was he just talking. Huo Chong was serious!
Although he couldn't explain why, Gao Pang felt that this was serious. When the war was over, Huo Chong would implement this matter without hesitation.
Huo Chong did not notice Gao Pang's look at this time. The heavy pressure forced Huo Chong to think further about the difficulty. It was not easy to bind feet. It was really very difficult. Huo Zhi felt that the difficulty of this matter was probably more difficult than destroying the Qing Dynasty.
Foot binding was first and foremost a very private issue, considered a family matter. Even in the 21st century, the buying and selling of women, or the buying and selling of marriages, has not been banned.
No matter how much the Internet criticizes the sale of marriages, when the parties involved feel the need, they don't care about other people's opinions at all. They don't even care about the opposition of powerful government organizations.
Private matters concern private matters, and the saying that the imperial power does not extend below the county level is really not just talk. Even if Huo Chong reaches out to the villages and wants to directly manage other people's homes, he will also be fiercely opposed.
However, Huo Chong had been dissatisfied with foot binding for a long time, and his previous efforts had been ineffective. He suddenly remembered this matter and could not help but bring it up!
It is unknown how much the subordinates heard, but at least they each went to their troops and led their troops to Chenzhuang.
Seeing Gao Pang staying by his side, Huo Chong asked, "You probably want to go and see the battle, right?"
"Governor, I want to ask, why do you care so much about foot binding?" Gao Pang asked the question that was in his mind.
"Because foot binding is bullying. Because foot binding destroys the rights of poor women to go out. Because foot binding is not something girls ask for. Do you think these three reasons are enough?"
Gao Pang originally wanted to discuss it, but at this moment he decisively answered: "Enough! Enough!"
This was the first time Gao Pang had seen Huo Chong speak in such a tone. Huo Chong had proposed many strange and even fantastic ideas, and Gao Pang had often been surprised by them. But this time was completely different.
Previous thoughts were responses to things that happened, or were based on opinions on certain concepts.
This time, Gao Pang only heard Huo Chong's deep disgust for foot binding. The so-called explanation was just to make others understand, just for the sake of explanation.
"Han Feizi: On Difficulties": "The dragon is a worm, and it can be harassed and ridden. However, there is a scale under its throat that is one foot in diameter. If someone touches it, he will be killed. The ruler also has a scale. If the one who persuades him can avoid touching the ruler's scale, then he will be successful."
The following passage came to Gao Pang's mind. Han Feizi said that a dragon is an animal that can be ridden as a joke when it is tamed, but it has a one-foot-long reverse scale under its throat. If someone touches it, it will definitely be hurt. The monarch also has a reverse scale. It is enough for the person who makes the suggestion not to touch the monarch's reverse scale.
Family members know their own business, and foot binding was something Gao Pang had never considered. Gao Pang discovered that foot binding was Huo Chong's Achilles' heel. As long as he wanted to make a living under Huo Chong, he must not touch it. If he did, Huo Chong would probably not care who the other person was.
Gao Pang bowed and said, "Commander-in-chief, I will follow the troops. When we return from the victory, we will definitely do our best to promote the prohibition of foot binding."
The sun rose to its highest point, and the first line of defense outside Chenjiazhuang finally fell into the hands of the Qing army. Banlong, who was in charge of attacking the east side of Chenzhuang, looked at the corpses in the direction of attack, and felt his heart tighten.
At dawn, Banlong heard that the commander Basai wanted his generals to carry out a massacre in Shandong, and he felt indescribable resistance in his heart. If he defeated Huo Chong and killed all of Huo Chong's subordinates, Banlong would not care. Banlong did not think there was anything wrong with attacking ordinary people who were powerless to resist, but he felt uncomfortable.
At this time, Banlong felt that he might have underestimated those "weak-armed" civilians, and fought from early morning to noon. The Qing army was first defeated in the musket battle, and then mobilized a lot of artillery to bombard the bandits hiding behind the wooden fence.
When the artillery could no longer fire, the infantry was sent to charge. Unexpectedly, such fierce firepower failed to kill the bandits behind the wooden fence. The bandits repelled the attack with a musket.
Banlong was also furious. He didn't care about anything else, and the cavalry surrounded the enemy and the infantry charged. Finally, they rushed to the fence and engaged the enemy.
Unexpectedly, many people suddenly appeared near the fence and fought with the government troops with spears. Although they were not wearing much armor, they were skilled in spearmanship and were definitely not powerless.
The rebels used the legendary hand cannons to kill the government troops at close range, and the government troops suffered heavy casualties in the head-on battle. The battle line almost collapsed.
Fortunately, the cavalry finally got around to the side of the enemy army, and the enemy army had to retreat while fighting, and retreated to a position right next to the village.
After occupying the outer defense line of the bandits, Banlong discovered that the bandits had dug another defense line next to the village. The wooden fence over there was probably denser than the defense line that Banlong had taken with great effort.
It has taken so much effort to capture the outer perimeter. How much more effort will it take to capture the front line of defense, and how many people will die?
Banlong didn't dare to think about it anymore. He pointed at the captured firearms and shouted to his guards: "Keep half of these and send the rest to General Basai."
Aixinjuelu Basai was playing with the weapons of the Han army. In recent years, in addition to the comments that Huo Chong "used troops gracefully and fought solidly", the sharp firearms of the rebels had long been legendary. The rebel army under Huo Chong even had the saying of "strong armor and sharp guns".
Because the government was defeated every time, the sharpness of the cannon was just a legend. Playing with it carefully, Basai frowned.
The rebel army's firearms are of two types. One is a long spear, more than three feet long, with a barrel that is obviously much shorter than the five-foot musket of the Qing army. The structure is unusually simple. None of the many parts on the matchlock gun can be seen.
I don't know if it's because the structure is too simple, but the handle of the musket is very delicate. There is also a strange knife under the barrel, and I don't know how to use it.
The other type is a short gun. The size of a palm. The muzzle is much smaller than the Qing army's hand cannon. There is a strange cylindrical thing under the trigger. It rotates when you turn it, and it makes a clicking sound when you pull the trigger. The strange cylindrical thing is still rotating. It is really strange.
Putting these guys down, Basai shouted to the soldiers in charge of the various generals: "If you keep dawdling, it will be dark soon. These things are good, and there must be more in the village. Charge into the village and find all the things!"
"Yes!" The personal soldiers received the order and went to take General Bassey's order back to their respective masters.
Almost at the same time, outside Jining City, which was several hundred miles away, Qian Qing rode on his horse and said to the commanders who had rushed back: "It's almost noon. I don't think these Qing troops dare to escape into Jining City. How do you feel now that you're back from the front line?"
Hu Yue immediately replied: "Sister, it's hard to say. I think the Qing army is also hesitating. In fact, they want to escape into Jining City, but their commander seems to be very smart and stabilized these Qing troops."
After Hu Yue finished speaking, the commander of the 12th Regiment, Jing Shouke, spoke in an accent from southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu, "Commander, why don't we turn around and defeat the Qing army behind us first. Then send people to go around the flank of the Qing army and block them. By then, the Qing army commander will have to decide whether to defend the city or leave with his troops. It's not easy to leave."
Before Jing Shouke finished speaking, Qian Qing had already agreed with this plan. The Qing army and the Han army had been fighting for a whole morning, and the Han army's artillery completely suppressed the Qing army's garbage artillery. The other side also sent cavalry to raid the Han army's artillery, but they were shot into sieves by the Han army's muskets.
Seeing that there was almost nothing they could do, the Qing army, which had a four-fold advantage in numbers and surrounded the Han army on three sides, began to waver first.
Whether the Qing army will fight or retreat next, either choice will be very interesting.
The Qing army's commander, Ortai, was terrified as he watched from the top of the city wall. The enemy's 30,000 troops took the initiative to enter the Qing army's encirclement. While many of his subordinates were clapping and celebrating, Ortai felt an indescribable panic.
If we only look at the process , the center of the Qing army formation retreated in the face of the enemy. As if attracted by the retreating Qing army, the bandit army advanced in an orderly manner and occupied this open space. In contrast, the two wings of the Qing army did not move. This was a perfect way to lure the enemy deep into the territory. Afterwards, another group of Qing troops rushed to the back of the bandit army and surrounded it on all sides.
At this point, Ortai looked at Yue Zhongqi amid the joy and praise of his subordinates. As expected, he saw uneasiness in Yue Zhongqi's eyes.
The subsequent battle was as difficult as Ortai expected. The reason why he could lure the enemy was that he had to have a bait. The bait was that the bandit army occupied the only high ground on the battlefield. It was a small slope with a height of several feet. After the bandit army occupied the high ground, they immediately pushed the artillery to bombard the officers and soldiers.
The other bandits began to dig on the spot. Soon they lay down on the ground they dug and pretended to be dead dogs.
However, no matter how strange the bandits were, the artillery battle between the government troops and the bandits failed. Ortai finally had the honor to see with his own eyes how the artillery destroyed the artillery. The bandit artillery shells landed right next to the Qing army artillery, first killing many Qing army gunners one after another. The Qing army gunners immediately fled in all directions.
At this time, Ortai felt that something was wrong, something was very wrong. He simply dismissed everyone and asked Yue Zhongqi in a low voice, "Brother Yue, do you want to continue fighting?"
Yue Zhongqi swallowed hard and shook his head in embarrassment, "Governor, I don't know how to make a decision now. Although you and I both know that something is wrong, things have come to this point. Let's not fight any further. If we still don't win, how will we explain ourselves!"
Ortai felt as if he was falling into an icy cave, and he was about to collapse. It seemed that his strange feeling was not an illusion. Even Yue Zhongqi said so. The situation was probably really going to be desperate.
Looking at Yue Zhongqi's helpless expression again, Ortai figured out what Yue Zhongqi was thinking.
Yue Zhongqi was from Chengdu, Sichuan. His father Yue Shenglong was a minister of state and governor of Sichuan during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. I don’t know what they were thinking, but the Yue family claimed to be descendants of Yue Fei. When he followed Emperor Kangxi to the west to fight against Galdan, he made great contributions. Emperor Kangxi once gave him a plaque with the couplet "There is no war in peacetime, and the general’s merit lies in stopping the war."
When he was young, Yue Zhongqi and his friends often played games by using stones to form battle formations. Other teenagers would challenge him, and those who broke the rules would be punished, because they were all afraid of his strength. When he was not studying, he often talked about swordplay and military strategy with the soldiers, and his unique tactics were admired even by the adults.
Such a person, saying such unexpected words at this time. I think he is not kidding about Yue Zhongqi's own face. Yue Zhongqi has already lost to Huo Chong, so he has no face to speak of. If he really loses at this time, Yue Zhongqi will have no way out.
Thinking of this, Ortai ordered: "Brother Yue, how do you think we should retreat?"
Yue Zhongqi quickly told his idea to Ortai. Ortai thought it was a good idea and ordered, "Please ask Brother Yue to personally command the troops. I will watch the battle from the top of the city!"
Yue Zhongqi didn't waste any words and led his soldiers straight to the city. Ortai held the city wall with his hands, feeling indescribably sad.
In the 19th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1680), Ortai was born. His ancestors surrendered to Nurhaci, the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and served as assistant commanders. His grandfather Tuyantu was a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, and his father Ebai was a chief academician of the Imperial Academy.
In the 25th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1686), Ortai entered school at the age of six and studied the Four Books and Five Classics. He began to write and practice calligraphy at the age of eight. At the age of sixteen, he took the boy's exam and passed it the following year. At the age of nineteen, he was admitted as a student on government stipends. At the age of twenty, he passed the imperial examination and entered the official career. At the age of twenty-one, he inherited the hereditary post of Zuoling and served as a guard. He has been active in officialdom ever since.
In the fifty-fifth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1716), when he was thirty-seven years old, he was appointed as a deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, he was unable to make any progress and was very troubled by his disadvantageous position in the officialdom.
On New Year's Day in the sixtieth year of Kangxi's reign (1721), when he was 42 years old, he wrote a poem and lamented: "I am getting old when I look in the mirror, and the grass hasn't grown when I open the door." He also chanted in his poem "Song of Thoughts": "It seems that if I am still like this at forty, I will know what it will be like at a hundred."
Looking back on the past, Ortai only felt that he was so pessimistic at that time and never thought that he would become a general or a prime minister in the future.
The turning point came after Yongzheng came to power. In the first month of the first year of Yongzheng (1723), Ortai was appointed as the deputy chief examiner of the Yunnan provincial examination. In May, he was promoted to the governor of Jiangsu, becoming a local official.
From then on, Ortai rose rapidly to prominence. He became the most powerful official in the southwest of the Qing Dynasty by taking charge of the reform of the native system.
Yongzheng's appreciation for Ortai remained unchanged. He continued to support Ortai and promoted him to higher positions.
Until Ortai suddenly learned of Yongzheng's death, he still went against his conscience and prayed for Yongzheng.
The current war is a national hatred and family feud, and it must be avenged!
