He glanced at the three of them; these three seemed quite willing to advance and retreat together. This current plan was clearly the result of consultation, there was no sign of any resentment between them.
This made him very gratified; he had previously worried that bringing Zhang Huangyan and Zheng Chenggong along might lead to a situation like the one involving Dodo and Jirgalang.
It is quite good for now, but..
Zhu Ci asked with some confusion, "Why do you keep talking about how to defend?"
Li Guo was momentarily bewildered. He and the other two looked at each other, finally Zheng Chenggong asked cautiously, "Does Your Majesty mean.."
Shouldn't it be to take the initiative and strike?
Zhu Ci spoke as if it were only natural, but his words startled the other three.
Take the initiative to attack? They could barely manage passive defense; wouldn't taking the initiative play right into Dorgon's hands?
Zheng Chenggong and Li Guo both looked toward Zhang Huangyan together. Zhang Huangyan could only sigh inwardly and say, "Your Majesty, Dorgon's tactics are flexible and ever-changing; he excels at surprise attacks and flanking maneuvers. I fear it will not be easy for our army to launch an offensive."
Zhu Ci immediately laughed, "What a coincidence, I am also skilled at surprise attacks."
The three men were momentarily stunned, immediately realizing that in the battle where the Emperor first gained fame, it was he who had led the surprise attacks against the Qing Army—and he had done it twice.
This forced the Qing Army to retreat, thereby saving Yangzhou.
Li Guo was immediately eager to try: "How does His Majesty wish to strike?"
Zhu Ci looked at the map without saying a word, when a messenger rushed in from outside and said hurriedly, "Report! Your Majesty, the Tartars are rushing toward the North Gate!"
The atmosphere in the discussion hall instantly became oppressive, the expressions of the three people grew solemn.
Zhu Ci said nonchalantly, "Send Jiang Quan."
Zhang Huangyan had originally intended to request to defend the city himself, but he did not expect the Emperor to assign someone directly.
He looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated; he knew Jiang Quan well.
The Jinyi Guard Commander is incredibly young, but he is an old retainer from the Emperor's former residence; he has always been by the Emperor's side, the Emperor trusts him, he has earned no small amount of military merit.
It's just.. is this young man really capable?
He is even a little bit younger than Zheng Chenggong.
The three looked at each other, but none dared to offer any more persuasion.
The Emperor's direct commands were no different from imperial edicts, especially since he was the Commander of the Jinyi Guard and a close attendant to the Son of Heaven; who would be foolish enough to offend him?
Jiang Quan immediately accepted the order and hurried toward the North Gate.
Zheng Chenggong looked at Jiang Quan's high spirits and felt an immense sense of envy for a moment.
He was just like this when he first arrived, but even the greatest passion was crushed by Dorgon.
This person is truly quite unreasonable.
After Jiang Quan left, Zhu Ci stood up and said, "That's enough. You should also go and patrol the other city gates."
Zhang Huangyan hesitated slightly; he had originally thought the Emperor would personally go up to the city walls to supervise the battle.
After all, this was the first time his Jinyu Guard had truly fought an independent battle; as for the so-called rebellion suppressed before.. to be honest, Zhang Huangyan hadn't even taken that rebellion seriously.
They are nothing more than a bunch of dreamers, daring to rebel without even a single firearm in their hands.
It was just that the Emperor appeared far too calm, which made him doubt the combat effectiveness of the Jinyi Guard. Could it be.. that they had truly underestimated the Jinyi Guard?
In fact, after His Majesty, the calm Emperor, left the council hall and returned to his study, he sat in his chair without much movement, the book placed before him remained untouched.
Nie Wu and Ding Qi sat obediently to the side, categorizing the battle reports, glancing at each other without daring to utter a single word.
In truth, they envied Jiang Quan. They were both older than Jiang Quan, the thought that he was already a Jinyi Guard Commander made them lament how some people are simply born better than others.
If they could, the two of them would even be willing to serve under Jiang Quan, as long as they had the chance to go onto the battlefield.
Unfortunately, the soldiers under Jiang Quan's command were all Jinyi Guard, His Majesty would not allow them to serve as Jinyi Guard, nor did they wish to serve as such themselves.
Compared to Nie Wu and Ding Qi, the other three in the group were quite calm. Once the Emperor had left, Zhang Huangyan stood up and said, "Let's go. Although the North Gate was attacked, we cannot let our guard down at the other gates either."
It just so happened that the three of them would guard the three city gates.
Zheng Chenggong and Li Guo naturally had no objections either.
However, it didn't take long before the three of them stood there in the inner gate of the North City, looking at each other with awkward yet polite smiles on their faces.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Three useless things, all get out of the way! I came here to smash Dorgon! Kitty picks up a giant hammer. jpg
Next update at 6 PM~
Chapter 238
"Ahem, everyone is here." As the elder, Zhang Huangyan was the first to speak.
Li Guo, being the lowest in rank, also spoke up: "Yes, this general has come to see if Commander Jiang requires any assistance."
Zheng Chenggong said very tactfully, "It seems the other three city gates are relatively safe for now. In that case, let's go up and take a look."
They really wanted to know exactly how Jiang Quan would defend the city.
As a result, when they climbed onto the city walls, they found that they couldn't see Jiang Quan's figure at all, they didn't even see many Jinyi Guards!
After a Jinyi Guard Hundred-man Commander hurried over and saluted, Zhang Huangyan bypassed the pleasantries and asked, "Where is your Commander?"
The Hundred-man Commander said calmly, "The Commander has taken his brothers and is preparing to leave the city to meet the enemy."
"What?" the three of them said in unison.
After speaking, they couldn't help but fall silent for a moment, momentarily recalling how His Majesty had just asked them, "Why is it all defense? Are there no proactive strikes?"
Now, the Jinyi Guard Commander is about to take the initiative.
Is this a case of like attracting like? His Majesty's Jinyu Guard seems to be just as aggressive as he is.
Those originally meant to guard the city gates had gone out to meet the enemy; the three of them, who were here to watch the excitement, naturally had to stay and guard this place, they also had to be prepared to cover for Jiang Quan in case he was defeated.
After a short while, Jiang Quan arrived with the Jinyi Guard and demanded that the city gates be opened.
Without a word, Zhang Huangyan and the others opened the city gates, then they all raised their single-shot telescopes together.
Zhu Ci was quite generous in this regard; although he did not have the time to develop binoculars for the time being, he had the merchant caravans bring in many single-shot telescopes from the outside, at the same time, many workshops capable of producing these things in the private sector sold them to the Imperial Court as well.
“Ajige is coming,” Li Guo said, his voice sounding somewhat heavy.
If it were them, they certainly wouldn't fear Ajige. Ajige's strengths and weaknesses are equally obvious, if they were to fight Ajige, they would both emerge with victories and defeats.
But the opponent was a famous general who had been renowned for a long time, while the commander on his side was a newcomer to the battlefield; he couldn't help but feel a sense of worry.
Huh? They changed formations so quickly?" Zheng Chenggong was somewhat surprised. "Wait, what kind of flag is Jiang Quan holding?
Zhang Huangyan and Li Guo did not answer him, because they did not know either.
They only saw Jiang Quan, who was riding on a horse, suddenly raise his hand, holding a red triangular flag.
After this triangular flag appeared, the Jinyi Guard formation immediately dispersed in an orderly fashion.
Standing on the city walls, one could clearly see the troops divided into several formations according to their different duties, with the rocket squad positioned at the very front.
The Hundred Tigers Charge Rocket Launcher was activated immediately once the enemy entered its range.
However, the offensive from the opposing side did not slow down, Zheng Chenggong could not help but sigh after seeing it.
The ones charging at the very front were composed of Han people and slaves; their role was to endure the brunt of the Single-shot Rocket Launchers and neutralize this round of long-range strikes from the Great Ming.
The Tartars were already very aware that the command capabilities of the generals here were inferior to theirs, the Han people had no cavalry; they even lacked horses, so they only needed to get close.
Watching the Tartar cavalry approach, Zhang Huangyan and the others couldn't help but lean forward, feeling quite concerned for the Jinyi Guard for a moment.
The three of them had all been defeated by the Tartar cavalry before, or rather, they simply had no particularly good way to deal with the enemy's cavalry.
The only way was to use heavy cavalry, much like how the Qing Army dealt with the Great Ming's firearms back then, by turning the army formation directly into a mobile fortress.
However, even so, they could only hold off the enemy's cavalry; they had no chance of launching a counterattack.
It was just that, to everyone's surprise, as the cavalry drew closer and closer, Jiang Quan raised the red flag in his hand once again and waved it twice, immediately after, the Jinyi Guard changed their formation once more.
This time, they were directly split into several teams and scattered.
This.. how can this work?" Li Guo squinted one eye, looking on with doubt. "If they are scattered like this, how can they fight?
Let's take another look," Zhang Huangyan said. "I once heard that the training of the Jinyi Guard is personally overseen by His Majesty.
Hmm? His Majesty personally oversees the training of the Jinyi Guard?
Then it must be seen carefully.
After the various Jinyi Guard squads dispersed, the trio on the city wall immediately saw through their telescopes that ropes were strung between each of the Jinyi Guard squads.
It was obvious that these ropes were intended to trip up the cavalry.
It was just that the momentum of a charging horse, combined with the weight of a fully armored rider, was not something two people holding a single rope could stop; it was more likely that the two people holding the rope would be dragged down.
It is certainly possible that many people on both sides would be pulled by the ropes, but they might be able to maintain their formation at first; once the first wave of cavalry falls, the opposing side will inevitably change their formation. How could they coordinate in the chaos of the battlefield?
The Mergen Ezhen of the Qing Army, who was responsible for command, clearly thought the same. It wasn't as if the Ming Army hadn't used this method before; as long as their cavalry continued to charge, the rope formation on the opposite side would immediately fall into chaos and collapse on its own.
However, this time, after the first wave of cavalry fell, the Ming Army did not fall into chaos for long.
The opposing leader raised the red flag once more and made two strange gestures, immediately followed by various units within the Ming Army raising similar flags, though the colors were different—yellow, green, blue, so on.. in any case, they used whatever color was available.
After these flags were waved twice as well, the Ming Army began to change its formation once again.
The three people standing on the city wall suddenly realized. Li Guo said, "Is this done by waving flags to command?"
Zheng Chenggong stretched his neck and said, "The current orders should be relatively simple, but I wonder how they will handle it if an unexpected situation arises."
Unfortunately, they couldn't see how things would unfold on the scene, because the Jinyi Guard acted with such order that all the squads maintained an Arrowhead Formation with almost no deviation.
The battlefield was divided into different sectors by these squads; while dealing with enemy forces within their own range, the more capable squads were even able to provide support to their allies.
Basically, the position of every squad was maintained such that two other squads could provide support.
Of course, it wasn't that no squads were broken up; after all, expecting to maintain absolute formations on the battlefield was somewhat delusional.
However, even if a squad was scattered, as long as there were people nearby—even if there were only three—the Jinyi Guard could quickly form a Three-man Formation and do their best to locate friendly troops.
Zhang Huangyan put down the single-shot telescope in his hands and sighed, "This military training is excellent."