Chapter 1086 – Occupying Land
Just as the huge change happened with the middle army, Guo Ziyi with the east army was also facing similar problems. Maybe there was an explanation for the Great Shun army in the middle army showing less of an effort.
It was like both Great Shun armies had planned it beforehand, leaving the camp at the same time and disappearing into the wilderness. One could foresee that this sudden storm would wrap up Shaanxi and even the entire north.
Within a night, the 120 thousand Great Xi army was busy claiming land in Shaanxi, totally not caring about the north conquest. The 60 thousand Great Shun army similarly showed little foresight and was following behind the dust of the Great Xi army.
The Southern Alliance Army was about to collapse.
Being influenced by this, the 120 thousand South Ming troops were showing signs of being unstable. If it were not for Li Jing seeing this coming and restructuring the soldiers of the Jiangbei four generals, replacing people with his trusted soldiers, the outcome would be catastrophic.
The bait that Dorgon threw out successfully messed up the Southern Alliance Army.
The stirring northern conquest was not even halfway completed and layers of thick dark clouds already hung over it.
……
Capital City, Yanjing.
Dorgon looked at the intel, and the corner of his smile revealed a slight smile.
When Ajige standing at the side saw this, he smiled, “Should it be time for us to act and lead the troops to retreat back to the Capital City?” Ajige felt really wronged, and he was eager to fight back.
“No!”
Dorgon kept his smile, and his expression instantly became solemn, “Now is not the time. After Great Xi and Great Shun engage and Li Jing is unable to clean up the mess, that would be when we act.”
The Qing army had a good analysis of choosing when to strike.
Too early, and it was easy to reveal their intentions and cause the Southern Alliance Army to gather together once more; too late, and the pressure from the Manchu nobles would increase. If it exploded, the results would be unimaginable.
The grasp of time tested the standard of the commander.
Dorgon was really clear-headed, “Send my orders for various troops not to act. Without my orders, no soldiers can be sent. If not, do not blame me for flipping and for being heartless.”
“Yes!”
Ajige was not afraid of the heavens or of hell; he only respected Dorgon.
“To succeed, one must be patient and bear the pressure.” Dorgon looked at the skies above the south sky, and his gaze looked unhurried. His understanding of Confucian classic words was really worthy of praise.
…
Within Jianye City, there was one person who felt really complicated in his heart, and he could not sleep at night. This person was not the Prince Regent Ouyang Shuo but the South Ming master by name – Hongguang emperor.
There was no emperor who truly had no ambition.
Since the Battle of Jianye ended, and they started the north conquering, Hongguang Emperor’s heart had been burning up. He felt that this was a sacred mission that the heavens were giving him – return me my Great Ming land.
If there was no hope then so be it.
However, when he saw the chance of restoring the glory of the country, his heart was not as calm anymore. Every victory on the frontlines could make the Hongguang emperor really emotional, as it meant that they were getting closer and closer to the target.
“Your highness, the situation is great, and the Qing army is being forced back. The Alliance Army is invincible wherever they go. They are going to arrive under Yanjing City soon,” said the reporting eunuch.
Yanjing was the land that the Hongguang Emperor dreamt on trampling.
There were the foundations left by the ancestors, far more prosperous than Jianye with a really majestic palace.
The Hongguang emperor was drowning in the bliss.
But the news spreading out during these past few days made the Hongguang Emperor really uneasy and also really unhappy, “How did this happen? How did the north conquering mission become an internal battle?”
Hongguang Emperor could not understand.
He felt hate.
He hated Zhang Xianzhong’s greed, and he hated the Great Shun army for stepping out of hand.
“Traitors are still traitors in the end; a leopard cannot change its spot.” The Hongguang Emperor realized that they could not let this continue. The South Ming army could not allow these two groups of people to pick up easy pickings whilst the South Ming army was fighting on the frontlines.
Hence, the Hongguang emperor sent a secret order to the South Ming general behind Ouyang Shuo’s back, “For the current north conquering, encircling the city is the top priority and sieging is second. Try to occupy land in the north and not let the traitors take advantage of us. Remember it, remember this.”
It was this secret order that riled up the South Ming army and added a lot of problems for Li Jing and Guo Ziyi. The South Ming army generals had the emperor supporting them, so they spoke with gusto.
The human heart was hard to predict.
Apart from sending the order to the frontlines, the Hongguang emperor was slowly becoming more and more active in the Imperial Court, using the officials close to him to plan the Northern Territory matters.
In the end, Hongguang Emperor was still wary of Ouyang Shuo, this Prince Regent, but he did not make it too obvious.
No matter what, the Imperial Court was slowly changing. Furthermore, sending officials to reclaim lost land was a normal matter and helped to calm down local problems.
Ouyang Shuo had no reason to interfere.
In truth, Ouyang Shuo did not interfere and was just a bystander from start to finish.
If it were him of three years ago, when he faced such a tough problem, he might show some emotion. Now, Ouyang Shuo had trained up, becoming stone hearted. He was unmoved like a mountain.
Prince Regent manor.
The letters from Li Jing and Guo Ziyi had arrived a day ago.
In truth, long before the north conquering, Jia Xu had made various sorts of deductions. Although Dorgon’s strategy was really bold, in the end, it was quite predictable.
Facing such a situation, there was naturally a solution.
“In the end, they are a bunch of untalented and useless people.” Ouyang Shuo shook his head in disappointment.
In history, it was not without reason that the Qing Dynasty was able to rule China.
Great Xi, Great Shun, and South Ming were all shortsighted, busy fighting amongst themselves right when they saw a little bit of benefit. How could they be better than the Qing Dynasty, which was rising up like the sun?
Luckily, Ouyang Shuo had not put all their hopes on them.
Before the start of the north conquering, with the help of Jia Xu, Ouyang Shuo designed two strategies. If Great Xi and Great Shun did not do anything out of hand, it would naturally be for the best, and they would just make their way to Yanjing.
That would be the best outcome.
In this scenario, they would use the 450 thousand Southern Alliance Army with Li Jing at the command. Along with the entire land as a shield, no matter how well Dorgon prepared, Ouyang Shuo had confidence about surrounding Yanjing to finally take down this Battle Map.
A lone city was hard to defend; that was the law of the military.
The other method could be called an emergency one. Ouyang Shuo naturally could not hold high hopes for uprising soldiers like Zhang Xianzhong.
At the crucial moment, he still had to rely on the player forces.
Of course, Ouyang Shuo did not hope to rely on just the Guards Legion Corps and the blazing legion corps to take down Yanjing. That would not be confidence but arrogance.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
Thinking about this, Ouyang Shuo looked at Feng Qiuhuang and smiled, “I’ll leave Jianye to you!”
“Do not worry and go!” Feng Qiuhuang nodded.
