-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Don't say anything else, let's all go farming together. Kitty picks up a hoe. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM
Chapter 231
"Your Majesty?" Fu felt a bit strange. Why was the Little Emperor spacing out so frequently today?
Zhu Ci snapped out of his daze, rubbed his chin, said, "My imperial manor is truly being put to good use."
Fu Lue understood Zhu Ci's meaning upon reflection and immediately asked, "Does Your Majesty mean that this place is the most suitable for growing those crops?"
Zhu Ci circled the territories conquered by Li Zicheng with his hand and said, "These places are all very suitable for planting corn and potatoes, especially here.."
He pointed his finger at the area covered by the Right Wing of Balin and continued, "If I remember correctly, this place is almost a golden corn belt. A little further east, this area has chernozem, which produces a lot of grain."
Zhu Ci's eyes grew brighter as he spoke, wishing he could seize this entire area immediately.
The Mongols are truly wasting such a precious resource; with such fertile land, they don't use it for farming, but instead spend every day thinking about rushing into the Central Plains!
Fu certainly didn't understand what black calcium soil was, but he could tell from the Little Emperor's tone that it was fertile land.
Fertile land.
He looked at that place and wanted it as well.
Zhu Ci muttered, "Don't just look at how the abundant rainfall in the south seems suitable for farming; if we're talking about land, the northeast and that part of Siberia are the best."
At first, Fu looked at the areas Zhu Ci had marked and thought they weren't that outrageous; without ambition, how could one be an emperor?
It was only when he heard the words "Siberia" that he felt somewhat unwell. He looked at Zhu Ci with a rare, hesitant expression, after a long pause, he said tactfully, "Your Majesty, Siberia is too far away."
Zhu Ci didn't understand his meaning at first and said casually, "It's alright, it's not that far."
Fu sighed softly. Fine, if it's not far, then it's not far.
Zhu Ci only realized what Fu meant after hearing him sigh, he couldn't help but turn his head to pat the other's shoulder, saying, "Don't worry, that place isn't within the short-term plan."
Then it is still within the scope of the plan.
After studying the map for a long time, Zhu Ci suddenly said, "Dorgon should have already set out to attack Datong by now."
Just as Zhu Ci said, Dorgon had indeed led his troops toward Datong.
After he received the request for aid from Balin, or more precisely, the request for aid from the Blue Banner of Chahar, he immediately realized that this was the best opportunity.
Li Zicheng personally led his troops to raid Khorchin, which meant Datong's defenses were empty; at this time, going to aid Chahar and Balin would be a poor strategic move.
Dorgon made a decisive move, leading his men to launch a surprise attack on Datong.
Datong was actually well-prepared as well. Li Zicheng naturally knew that once he led his troops away, Dorgon would realize it and wouldn't let the opportunity slip by; now, it all depends on which side is more formidable.
Although Li Zicheng has retreated to Guihua City, his next target is Duolunuoer, after which he will turn back to attack Zhangjiakou.
Although it was a bit of a detour on the map, this way could eliminate pressure from the north; the only possible reinforcements would come from the Right Wing of Khorchin.
Li Guo led his men to grit their teeth and hold Da-tong City, he did not need to win; he only needed to stall Dorgon here.
Compared to Dorgon, neither the defenders of Duolunuoer nor those of Zhangjiakou were particularly capable; in any case, they were no match for him.
Clearly, the defenders of these two places did not expect to be attacked at this time, especially Duolunuoer. According to Li Zicheng's previous route, he clearly would not be heading to Duolunuoer, but would instead travel from Baoding to Juyong Pass and then head south to attack Beijing.
However, Li Zicheng has now taken a detour and headed north.
No one understood what Li Zicheng was thinking; attacking Jundu Xing from Zhangjiakou to Xuanhua and then proceeding to Juyong Pass was definitely not a wise choice.
To assault Juyong Pass, one must first pass through the forty-li-long Jundu Xing.
Jundu Xing is also known as Guangu, a passage featuring multiple layers of fortified passes, sheer cliffs, narrow paths, water hazards. These multiple layers of fortified passes refer to the continuous cluster of fortresses within Guangu; from north to south, they are Chadao City, Badaling City, Shangguan City, followed by the main city of Juyong Pass.
Within the main city of Juyong Pass, there are also fortifications built across the water, two north and south gates, a barbican; beyond Juyong Pass lies Nankou City.
To attack these places, one could only advance in a straight line and capture them city by city. These locations could not even be bypassed, meaning one could only utilize the Long Snake Formation; however, the Long Snake Formation makes it very easy for the head and tail to lose contact with each other, it also poses a massive challenge to supply lines.
The defenders only need to employ depth defense, firepower suppression, flank ambushes to easily inflict heavy casualties on the invading enemy.
This was also the reason why Dorgon dared not return to reinforce, as the defenses in Beijing were very strict, Jirgalang had already returned to Beijing.
Previously, when Jirgalang returned to Beijing, many people had grievances regarding Dorgon's arrogance, but now Dorgon finally has a reason. For instance, he suspected that Li Zicheng would attack from the north, so he found a way to transfer Jirgalang back to Beijing.
What? Why not just issue a direct transfer order?
Of course, since Jirgalang is also a Regent, the two of them are of equal rank; an official transfer would be useless, the Central Government would not agree to it.
In any case, it served as a way to save face for Dorgon's previous actions.
However, he personally led his troops to attack Datong, yet failed to take it for half a month straight, which truly caused many in the imperial court to voice their complaints.
He was the Qing Dynasty's number one general, with illustrious military achievements, but who was the person on the other side? A mere unknown brat, yet he actually managed to halt Dorgon's offensive!
However, Dorgon was in no hurry; he did not fear a war of attrition with the Great Ming. Li Guo's defense was not infallible and was already showing cracks bit by bit. With just a little more time, he would certainly be able to take Datong Prefecture. As long as he captured Datong, it wouldn't matter even if Li Zicheng captured Balin.
Dorgon knew very well that Li Zicheng would not be able to hold those places.
What no one expected, however, was that Li Zicheng had not brought his troops to attack Juyong Pass at all. He didn't even lead the charge at Zhangjiakou personally; instead, he performed a feint and then vanished from everyone's sight with a force of ten thousand men.
"No, where did he run off to?" Zhu Ci was completely stunned.
Although he did not interfere much with the generals' marching strategies while they were away, that did not mean his subordinates could run wild to such an extent!
The mighty Grand Secretary Fu shook his head, clearly not knowing where Li Zicheng had gone either.
"No, that was over ten thousand people, they just vanished like that?" Zhu Ci could not help but stand up and pace back and forth.
Fu also stood up to comfort the Emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, the Chuangwang has survived countless battles; he must have his own considerations."
Setting aside everything else, being able to lead ten thousand people to vanish from everyone's sight is no feat for an ordinary person. According to the intelligence sent by Jirgalang, even within the Qing Court, no one knows where Li Zicheng has gone.
The Qing Court maintains close ties with the Mongols, which means the Mongols haven't been able to track Li Zicheng's movements either. This is quite extraordinary.
Zhu Ci said with a slight headache, "I'm worried he'll get lost on the grasslands!"
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Don't go wandering around in unfamiliar places! The kitty flicked its tail in annoyance. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM
Chapter 232
Given Li Zicheng's life trajectory, he probably had never set foot on the grasslands before.
Because the grassland has such unique geographical features, it is very easy for people to lose themselves within it. Once lost, one wouldn't know where they would end up; with so many people, even the supply of provisions would become an issue.
Even if Li Zicheng had brought guides from the Tumet tribe before setting out, it wouldn't have helped; most guides are only familiar with their own small territories, Li Zicheng's current location was already very far from the Tumet.
Fu thought for a moment and said, "The terrain around Duolunuoer and Zhangjiakou isn't particularly complex; they shouldn't get lost."
"That's exactly the problem—the one attacking Zhangjiakou isn't Li Zicheng himself." Zhu Ci couldn't help but lightly strike the imperial desk.
He deeply doubted whether he had been too lenient with Li Zicheng; otherwise, given his status, how would he dare to be so insolent and audacious.
One must understand that Li Zicheng could barely be considered a monarch of a fallen nation. In history, no matter how well a monarch of a fallen nation is treated, they are only granted a title and a comfortable retirement; they can never even dream of possessing actual power, let alone military authority.
Fu also fell silent; even he could not guess what Li Zicheng was actually planning to do now.
Zhu Ci sighed and said, "Forget it. I'll mention it to the Duke of Xin later. If any memorials mentioning Li Zicheng reach the Censorate, keep them withheld from imperial review for the time being."
Even though they claimed there was a separation between military and civil administration, censors or other court officials still occasionally impeached those military generals.
Of course, it has been relatively infrequent lately. After all, most of the generals are currently fighting on distant battlefields; regardless of how important they are, they are at least not so easy for the scholar-officials to find fault with.
However, this time Li Zicheng has committed a taboo.
Whether you want to launch a sneak attack or catch them by surprise, as long as you keep it from the Tartars, why are you still keeping it from the Imperial Court?
Fu said nothing; this was a matter for the Censorate, he generally did not meddle.
Zhu Ci merely mentioned it in passing, then added helplessly, "Let's not worry about him for now. How are things on Li Guo's side? Can he hold out? Arrange for reinforcements."
To be honest, Zhu Ci did not think Li Guo could hold out against Dorgon; he might manage for a day or two, but if it dragged on, the fall of Datong City would be inevitable.
It was just that even if he arranged for reinforcements, he didn't know who else could be a match for Dorgon.
After the surrender of Zhu Yujian and Zhu Yihai, the Great Ming indeed gained many more generals capable of leading troops, but their quality varied greatly, there were almost none capable of contending with Dorgon.
While Zhu Ci was lost in thought, the Ministry of War sent two battle reports in rapid succession.
The first should be news of victory. After being besieged for eight months, Zeeland City was running low on ammunition and provisions. Furthermore, after Zheng Chenggong led his troops to capture Utrecht Fort, the Dutch Governor Kui Yi finally could not hold out any longer and was willing to surrender.
From then on, the entirety of Taiwan was basically under the control of the Great Ming, which essentially relieved Zhu Ci of one concern.
However, another battle report was clearly not very pleasing: Li Guo had indeed failed to hold Datong.
The only upside was that he did not suffer a total defeat; upon realizing he could not hold the city, he immediately led his men in a sudden raid against the right wing of the Qing Army.
Although the city was lost, they had actually inflicted casualties on and captured many Qing Army soldiers, specifically killing three Jala E Zhen. Judging solely by the casualties, the number of prisoners, the spoils of war recorded in the battle report, it could still be considered a victory.
Zhu Ci held the battle report and sighed, "It's alright; it's actually quite good."
As soon as the Emperor spoke these words, the atmosphere in Wuying Hall lightened considerably.
Many people had been quite nervous upon hearing this news; the last time Xuzhou City was lost, the Emperor's expression had looked as if he were about to devour someone.
Although Datong is not as important as Xuzhou, it should not have been lost. If Li Zicheng hadn't gone off to fight the Mongols and ended up losing himself in the process, there would have been no way for Datong to fall.
Fortunately, the Emperor didn't seem to be that angry.
A group of scholar-officials relaxed slightly, even as they felt a hint of jealousy toward the Emperor's unusual leniency toward military officers.
It felt as though as long as a military officer did not commit a major error, the Emperor would not become particularly angry; in fact, he did not even intend to hold Li Zicheng accountable this time.
Although Li Zicheng's current whereabouts are unknown, it is not a major issue, as he can be convicted first, his crimes can be re-evaluated based on the actual situation once he is found.
The current situation was that the Emperor had suppressed all the memorials impeaching Li Zicheng, his intention was quite obvious.
It would be wonderful if we scholar-officials were ever granted such treatment.
Oh, Grand Secretary Fu must be excluded from this.