Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 207 Hesitation
Bolo has been completely confused these days.

As for the specific reason, it was nothing else but the battle that day that could not be avoided.

In his opinion, although Ma Huabao's troops were not useful, there would be no problem in using them to suppress the Ming Dynasty's guards in Yingtian City.

Of course, as someone who had suffered defeat once, he naturally took into account the increase in the combat effectiveness of the Ming army.

Therefore, in Bolo's imagination, the ideal outcome of that battle should be that Ma Huabao's troops defeated the Ming army after a hard fight, and he would have a reason to refuse to go south.

After all, after realizing something was wrong, Tulai fled to Wuhu with nothing on his hands, and unexpectedly, he got a letter for help from Tunqi.

In this case, Yingtian is the only place in Jiangnan that can send troops. If Bolo doesn't find an excuse, he will probably have no choice but to reach out his good hand into that hole.

But eight out of ten things in this world are not as we wish.

Although that battle gave him a reason to refuse to go south, that reason was really too solid.

As soon as the two armies engaged in battle, he saw the difference between the two armies with the vision accumulated over the years.

Skillful coordination and desperate courage, even if their equipment is a little thin, cannot conceal the strength of their soldiers.

In the end, Ma Huabao's troops were defeated after only a short while.

If the battle group was not only a hundred or two hundred steps away from the main formation, it is possible that not many of the defeated soldiers would have been able to return.

At this point, the reason why Bolo was troubled became clear.

The Southern Army was weak, but its weakness did not lie in its weapons and equipment, nor in the skills of its soldiers, but in its courage to fight.

Take Ma Huabao for example. All his soldiers can be called veterans. After so many years in the army, even an old fly should be able to reach the level of skilled skills. Although their equipment is a bit inferior, how much better can the Ming army be?
With the two factors combined, if these guys were not afraid of close combat, how could they have been defeated so easily?

As someone who had fought against the Ming army for half his life, Bolo naturally knew this well.

He even divided the Ming army into different levels based on this. For example, the elite troops in the early years, although they suffered repeated defeats due to many reasons, were not afraid of hand-to-hand combat at all.

Later on, those elite troops grew old or died, and those who remained could only fight when the wind was favorable. Once the situation went wrong, they would run away like rabbits possessed, and even their shadows would be hard to find again.

As for what happened after entering the country.
Basically, all of Ma Huabao's troops are like this.

Not only Bolo believed it, but all the generals above and below also agreed with it. Coupled with the confirmation obtained from the surrendered generals, it became a consensus among the Qing army that the Ming army had no intention of fighting.

But this perception was broken after that battle.

Bolo could see clearly that the Ming army's tactics and equipment were all prepared for close combat, and they had no intention of engaging in long-range consumption at all.

Then the problem arose before Bolo.

Did they have the courage to fight from the beginning or were they affected by the war situation in the south and behaved like this?

If these hundreds of people were so brave from the beginning, it means that their number would not be too large. Otherwise, how could Hongguang, who had a strong army, flee directly to the south?
If such changes were caused by the war situation in the south, then it is hard to say how many people there are.

Earlier, with the intelligence support of the surrendered troops, the Ming Dynasty was completely defenseless against the Qing army. But now, not only has the situation of the war reversed, but the specific situation of the Ming army has also become confusing due to the emergence of this army.

Don't underestimate this little bit of confusion.

In Bolo's opinion, the battle in Jiangnan turned out like this because of Duoduo's initial division of troops. If not for this, even if the Ming army had the advantage of the navy, it would not be able to do anything to the main army.

Therefore, these days Bolo has been thinking about how to seize the military power from Duoduo legitimately and without any trouble, and then let him preside over the war in the south of the Yangtze River.

Once the army turns defeat into victory under his leadership, his status will inevitably make a qualitative leap, and he will have a great chance of becoming the first prince among his peers.

Of course, even though Duoduo suffered a terrible defeat in Jiangnan, it was not so easy to seize military power from him.

If he really wanted to achieve this goal, he would not only have to gain the support of Hauge, but also the support of old Daishan and the young emperor. The cost of this naturally could not be measured by gold and silver.

In fact, according to the previous situation, this price had to be paid. After all, he would definitely get huge rewards after conquering Jiangnan for the Qing Dynasty.

But now that there was a little confusion, Bolo had no choice but to look more carefully.

You know, once he followed in Dodo's footsteps, the result would not be as simple as paying a price. Not to mention anything else, the counterattack of Dorgon alone was not something a small beile like him could withstand.

"Lord Beile, I have already selected the personnel to go to Zhenjiang. I wonder..."

"hold on."

Upon hearing the report from his generals, Bolo did not raise his head, but kept turning the tortoise shell in his hand, as if there was some magical power on it.

Seeing this, the general was about to say something, but seeing that his own prince was so engaged, he just opened his mouth slightly and then stood in the tent waiting for it to end.

"Hey~~~!"

After a while, Bolo sighed and put the tortoise shell on the table. Only then did he notice the general still standing in the tent.

"What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

The general who stayed in the tent naturally had something to say, but when he heard Bolo's question, he paused for a few breaths before he mustered up the courage.

"Lord Beile, we need to make a decision early on what to do."

Make decisions early.

Bolo naturally knew that he had to make a decision early.

But this is a matter of risking one's life and property, so how can it be an easy decision to make?
The so-called authorities are confused, but bystanders know clearly.

This sentence seems to be talking about confusion and clarity, but in fact it is talking about human nature.

To put it bluntly, bystanders have nothing to do with the incident and can talk without any worries. However, the price to pay may very well be the life and property of the authorities. How can they not weigh the pros and cons again and again?

"Lord Beile, if you really can't make up your mind, why not send the people to Zhenjiang first? The left and right camps are running out of food, so even if the prince returns, you can say that you are going to get food."

Seeing Bolo's hesitant expression, the general naturally knew that his master had fallen into his old habit again.

In this situation, he had no choice but to use this excuse.

This is actually the top priority. Regardless of whether Bolo can seize the military power from Duoduo, it is inevitable to gather troops and reorganize the army.

But returning to Jiangbei is reorganizing the army, defending Zhenjiang is reorganizing the army, and even staying in Yingtian camp can be considered as reorganizing the army. The difference between them is quite interesting.

Returning to Jiangbei means admitting defeat in the battle in Jiangnan. If he can successfully seize the military power and escape from Duoduo's control, there will be no problem in doing so. But if not, it will be a great honor for the current leader, and his future life can be imagined.

Although there are differences in the other two, there is no essential difference when you look at them in detail. In the final analysis, it means that although there are minor setbacks, they are not related to the overall situation. The process is broken.

Bolo is in this situation now. He can't make up his mind whether to seize the military power or not, so naturally he can't decide whether to let the soldiers withdraw to Jiangbei.

But military situation is as swift as fire and worldly affairs are as fast as lightning. Just when he was still trying to find some clues from the tortoise shell, a figure in white armor appeared outside the tent.

It was daybreak at this time, and despite the light from inside and outside the military tent, he was unable to see clearly who the visitor was at first glance.

However, the Eight Banners have always been distinguished by the color of their armor. Who could wear armor with white borders and dare to stand in the center of the military tent?
"Uncle Fifteen, what are you doing?"

Following the pace of the figure, Bolo finally confirmed his guess, but he couldn't figure out how Duoduo managed to get back to Yingtian in just a few days.

"Where are the uncles and nephews in the army?!"

Duoduo naturally did not look in a good mood at this time, even though he did not know what Bolo was planning. However, after entering the camp, he had already asked where those teams of soldiers who were ready to go were going.

Under such circumstances, even if Bolo did not do anything substantial, his evil intentions were obvious.

"You are quite alert and you even knew to send soldiers to escort the food and grass."

Hearing this, Bo Luo felt relieved, but before he could say anything modest, Duoduo continued, "After all, food and grass are of great importance. You should lead the troops and go there in person."

"what?!"

"Someone, send Lord Beile to Jiangbei."

As soon as he finished speaking, Goshaha came into the game. When his arms were tightly grasped by someone, Bolo finally reacted.

"Your Majesty! I am from the Zhenglan Banner! How could you do this?!"

As Bolo argued, the general under his command immediately drew the sword from his waist, and an internal conflict seemed to be about to break out.

In the beginning, the Later Jin was a union of tribes, and the people of each banner ignored even the so-called Khan except for their own banner leader.

However, after two generations of rectification by Nurhaci and his son Huang Taiji, this situation gradually changed.

At this point, even if the banner soldiers still call themselves slaves in front of the banner master and Ezhen, they may not disobey orders if a powerful force appears again.

This is Duoduo’s greatest confidence.

"You dare to draw your sword?!"

A rebuking voice suddenly came out of Duoduo's mouth, and the general's hand holding the blade trembled visibly.

Then, under his gaze, the general sighed and threw the sword to the ground.

"Lord Beile, has the art of divination been taught to this day?"

At this moment, the general felt extremely helpless.

If Bolo had sent the letter earlier, he would have dared to give it a try even if everything was still uncertain. But now Duoduo has returned to the camp and Bolo has not even made up his mind. He is powerless here.

At this point, the matter was pretty much settled. After Bolo and the general left the camp "escorted" by Gosha, Duoduo breathed a sigh of relief.

After he controlled Kong Youde, he led his army and quietly left Xuancheng according to the original plan.

However, the march of a large army took a lot of time. After careful consideration, he finally decided to abandon the infantry and return to Yingtian with only a thousand light cavalry.

Is it reckless?
Probably reckless.

If Bolo had made up his mind earlier, it would probably be him, Duoduo, who would be sent back to Jiangbei.

But Duoduo also thought clearly that as long as he showed up in the camp, Bolo would not dare to do anything to him even if he had ten thousand guts.

Under such circumstances, at most he would be deprived of his position as commander-in-chief, but he would have a great chance to seize an army from that superstitious fortune-teller.

In this way, his recklessness is actually the safest choice if he understands the enemy.

There is probably no need to say much about what happened afterwards, which was basically about subduing the generals and taking control of the Yingtian camp.

But after doing all this, when the generals thought Duoduo was going to lead the army to fight again in order to find a more decent ending to this defeat, he issued an order that surprised everyone.

"In this battle, it was because of my carelessness that Nikan was killed and many soldiers and generals were lost."

As soon as the words fell, even the sound of the breeze outside could be heard clearly in the already depressing atmosphere of the military tent.

Never shirking responsibility is an extremely rare quality in a leader.

According to common sense, the Ezhen of Zhenglan Banner should have relaxed after Duoduo said this, but not only did they not do so, they became even more nervous.

Seeing the generals like this, Duoduo didn't take it seriously and continued speaking at his own pace.

"These days, I have learned from my mistakes and I think that we must never underestimate the Ming army again, nor can we use past experience to judge them."

At this point, some of the generals nodded slightly.

Although they stayed in Yingtian these days, they were not completely ignorant of the war in the south. They naturally knew that the Ming army in the south of the Yangtze River accustomed to using the navy to fight the enemy, so they agreed with Duoduo's words.

"So, I am a little worried that the Ming navy will cut off our retreat."

Hiss~~~!

As Duoduo's rhythm progressed, several sounds of people sucking in their breaths of shock were heard in the military tent.

Everyone knows that in the Battle of Jiangnan, the Ming navy played a huge role, but they are now guarding the Yingtian camp. Even if the Ming navy is very powerful, they cannot go to land.

However, there is an extremely critical prerequisite, that is, to have enough food. Since the fall of Zhenjiang, the Qing army has been barely able to maintain its food supply. If the retreat is really cut off,
"My Lord, I wonder what you think."

Since it was a matter of life and death, the generals were not as nervous as before. But when someone bravely asked Duoduo this question, he looked hesitant, as if he had a plan in mind but was undecided.

"Your Majesty, Jiangnan is connected by water. If you have a plan, you should implement it as soon as possible without any hesitation."

Hearing this, Duoduo's face became even more hesitant, but after the generals' repeated persuasion, he finally expressed his thoughts.

"The best solution is to withdraw to Jiangbei as soon as possible, but Tulai and Tunqi are still in Wuhu, so we can't just ignore them."

(End of this chapter)