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The Chu Palace in Wuchang is located on the southern foot of Gaoguan Mountain, facing south and backed by Gaoguan Mountain. It is 2 miles wide from east to west and 4 miles long from north to south. There are more than 800 palaces, pavilions, waterside pavilions and courtyards in the Chu Palace.
The surrounding stone walls are 29 feet high and have four gates. The main gate is called Zhenchu Gate. The main hall is 69 feet high. The main gate, front and back halls, and the walls of the four gates are decorated with green, and the corridors are decorated with indigo. The four main gates are painted with red lacquer and gold-coated copper nails. They are magnificent and magnificent, just like an imperial palace.
As the government office in Wuchang was badly damaged, Qin Mu moved into the Prince of Chu's Palace without hesitation after arriving in Wuchang. The palace had also been set on fire by Zhang Xianzhong's rebels, with nearly half of the houses burned down. However, the city walls were still there, and the remaining half of the palaces and pavilions were still large enough to accommodate thousands of people.
A side hall of the palace was designated as the General Staff Office. At this moment, more than 20 people including Ma Anma, He Liang, Ma Yongzhen, Zhuge Min, Li Yuan, and Yang Shen were sitting in the hall.
Yan Gaofei is reporting the intelligence he just received.
"Sir, the fall of the capital has caused great chaos in the Liaodong army. We have taken advantage of this opportunity to successfully recruit many members of the Yebushou. According to the information they provided, the surrendered general Tang Tong was sent by Li Zicheng to Shanhaiguan with 8,000 troops on March 28. Wu Sangui accepted the surrender and returned to Beijing with 40,000 troops on April 2.
When Wu Sangui arrived at Xishahe Posthouse in Yongping, he met his family who had escaped from Beijing. He learned that his father Wu Xiang was tortured by the Dashun Army in Beijing and his concubine Chen Yuanyuan was taken away. He immediately changed his mind and refused to surrender to Li Zicheng under the banner of revenge for the late emperor. He returned to Shanhaiguan to attack Tang Tong's army.
Yan Gaofei was talking about this when Qin Mu interrupted him and asked, "How is the matter of placing people there going?"
"Please rest assured, sir. We have successfully rescued two servants from Wu Sangui's family, a young couple, and then we have allowed them to return to Wu Sangui."
"That's good. Go on."
"On April 13, Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin led their army to attack Wu Sangui. On the 21st, they fought fierce battles with Wu Sangui at Yipanshi and Xiluocheng. At the beginning of the battle, Wu's army won a small victory at Xiluocheng. Then Li Zicheng's army attacked Dongluo and Beiyi. That night, Tang Tong and Bai Guangen's army of nearly 20,000 troops were suddenly attacked by the Tartar army at Yipanshi and retreated into the pass;
On the morning of the 22nd, the Tartar army advanced to within two miles of Shanhaiguan City. Wu Sangui led a handful of light cavalry to break out of the encirclement and rushed to the Tartar camp of Weiyuanbao, two miles east of the city, and knelt in surrender to Dorgon.
At 7:00 p.m. on the 23rd, the Dashun Army deployed all its forces from Jiaoshan to Bohai, deployed a long snake formation, and fought a decisive battle with Dorgon and Wu Sangui. The battle lasted until the beginning of the 3:00 p.m. on the 5th day of the 11th month. The Dashun Army was defeated, Liu Zongmin was shot and injured, and tens of thousands of Dashun Army soldiers died, and they hurriedly retreated to the capital.
On April 29, Li Zicheng proclaimed himself emperor in the Wuying Hall in the capital. The next day, Li Zicheng took the crown prince, two kings and countless treasures and evacuated the capital.
On May 2, a 100,000-strong Tatar army entered the capital, and Dorgon ordered the people to be pacified. He also sent his generals to pursue Li Zicheng's army with Wu Sangui.
After listening to Yan Gaofei's report, Sima An and others present all looked solemn, as if a storm was about to come.
He Liangxian said: "It is easier to invite a deity than to send him away. The Tartars have come out in full force this time. Their intention to spy on our Central Plains is obvious."
"There is no doubt that Dorgon is a man of great talent and strategy, and he should not be taken lightly."
"Sir, the Tartars have sent 100,000 elite troops into the pass this time. Together with Wu Sangui who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, the number of troops has reached nearly 150,000. In view of this, I think we need to increase our forces." Ma Yongzhen suggested.
Qin Mu thought about it. The summer grain harvest was imminent. Due to the turmoil in the world, Huguang and Jiangxi were the most peaceful, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Xu Yingjie transported the deposited silver back to Jiangxi in large quantities. Not only did it not cause any disturbance, but it made more people rush to deposit their silver into the bank.
Especially in Yangzhou and surrounding cities in the north of the Yangtze River, the approach of Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing's army made the wealthy families at that time extremely panicked, prompting them to quickly deposit their silver into banks and transport it to Jiangxi. Subsequently, many wealthy families moved their families to Jiangxi and Huguang for refuge.
The banks make a lot of money just by charging high exchange fees.
Now that money and food were available, Ma Yongzhen was not the only one proposing to expand the army.
Qin Mu asked Sima An and others for their opinions. Everyone thought it was necessary to expand the army. Qin Mu weighed the pros and cons and said, "Since everyone agrees to expand the army, then recruit another 50,000 troops for garrison in the rear. The General Staff should draw up a recruitment plan as soon as possible. The physical fitness of the soldiers, whether they have military experience, etc. should all be considered, so as to strive to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible."
He Liang quickly agreed and ordered his men to draft a recruitment charter.
Sima An went on to say, "Although Li Zicheng was defeated and fled to the capital, he still has hundreds of thousands of troops and controls Shanxi, Henan and other places. Strategically, he is still surrounding the capital. If Dorgon wants to gain a foothold in the capital, he must first completely defeat Li Zicheng. Moreover, the northwest has always been the Ming Dynasty's arsenal. Strategically speaking, if Dorgon wants to spy on the Central Plains, he cannot leave Li Zicheng in Guanzhong. There must be a fierce battle between the two."
Ma Yongzhen said: "Yes, the Tartars have limited military strength, so it is bound to be difficult to fight on two fronts. If Dorgon wants to march south in a large scale, he must first pacify Yanyun and even Guanzhong, otherwise he will be attacked from both sides."
"One year. I estimate that we still have one year before we have to face the elite Tartar cavalry. Although we currently have 150,000 troops, they have only been formed seven or eight months ago, so we still need to speed up training." Qin Mu frowned. Although the statement that if the Jurchens number less than 10,000, they are invincible if they number more than 10,000, is a bit exaggerated, the combat effectiveness of the Qing cavalry at that time was indeed amazing.
With his army that has been trained for several months, in a head-on battle, I am afraid that even with 10,000 soldiers, they would not be a match for 1,000 Qing cavalry. This is by no means to boost others' morale and destroy his own prestige.
Face your enemies and yourself squarely, and don't be arrogant. This is the way to survive.
Patience is still needed now. We should speed up the training of the army and strive to enhance the combat capability. At the same time, we should ensure that the people of Huguang and Jiangxi can live and work in peace.
On the other hand, he held high the banner of fighting against the enemy to attract talents to join him, but at the same time, he controlled the scale of the war, in order to achieve the effect of training troops through actual combat, but he could not really let himself fall into the quagmire of war. This was the overall strategy formulated by Qin Mu.
"Report, sir, Yuan Zongde has sent an envoy asking for a meeting." Li Shi suddenly came in and reported, causing the side hall to fall silent.
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "Bring the person in."
After a while, Li Shi brought in a thin middle-aged man in Confucian clothes and with an ordinary appearance. After entering the hall, he saw more than 20 people inside, most of them in military uniforms. There was a huge sand table in the hall, which was filled with flags of various colors. This was clearly a complete combat command center.
"Next week, I will pay a visit to the Marquis of Huaiyin."
"No need to be polite. Mr. Zhou, just tell me what your purpose is in coming here."
Seeing that Qin Mu was straightforward, Zhou Yongchang said, "Your Majesty is a powerful ruler in Huguang, and has never had any grudges against our Dashun Army. My General Yuan has no intention of going south to fight..."
"Why are you talking so much nonsense? I'll give you one more chance. If you don't tell me your intentions, I'll kill you." Qin Mu suddenly shouted in a deep voice, which scared Zhou Yongchang.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. Our General Yuan wants to negotiate peace with you. Both sides should stop fighting and from now on, we should not interfere with each other..."
Zhou Yong talked a lot like pouring beans, and seeing him so scared, everyone in the hall couldn't help but laugh secretly.
Qin Mu said in a deep voice: "I will not speak in a roundabout way in front of others. It is not difficult for me to withdraw the troops. You go back and tell Yuan Zongdi to withdraw from Xiangyang and use Shuanggou and Longwang towns north of Xiangyang as the boundary. From now on, he is not allowed to cross the boundary. Only in this way can we have the possibility of withdrawing the troops."
"My Lord, this is impossible..."
"Since it's impossible, there's no need to talk about it. Please go back."
Xiangyang is a strategic location that concerns the safety of Huguang. Qin Mu is determined to take it back this time. Su Jin and Li Jiu are now taking turns to attack the outskirts of Xiangyang. Ma Yongzhen's tens of thousands of troops are also ready to attack. As long as the opportunity comes, they will immediately lead their troops to attack Xiangyang.
"My Lord, wait a minute. General Yuan is willing to give you the entire territory south of Yicheng, with Yicheng as the boundary, to show our sincerity. My Lord, you should know that Xiangyang is located upstream of Jingzhou and Wuchang, and our army has a great geographical advantage. If you insist on being an enemy of Dashun, it will only do you harm and no good."
"Since you know what Xiangyang means to Huguang, you should know what to do to show your sincerity. Go back and tell Yuan Zongde that I am determined to take Xiangyang. If he doesn't let me, I will send troops to seize it."
Qin Mu dared to ask for such a high price because he knew very well that Li Zicheng had suffered heavy losses and was retreating step by step. Yuan Zongdi urgently needed to lead the right battalion to the north to reinforce Li Zicheng. (To be continued...)
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