When Zhu Jinsong concluded his discussion on anti-encirclement operations at Menglianggu, Agui, Mingxing, Fu Huan, and Fukang'an had already mustered their troops and departed from Jinan City in a grand procession. By the time Zhu Jinsong led his soldiers away from Menglianggu, Agui, Fu Huan, and Fukang'an had already covered fifty li from Jinan City.
On the surface, it seemed that Agui, the imperial commissioner of the Qing Dynasty, had gained the advantage. However, when Zhu Jinsong reached Zichuan, Agui and his contingent had only arrived at Puji.
Theoretically, the soldiers of my Qing Dynasty, with the backing of the Qing court, could mobilize a vast number of oxen and laborers, and had numerous soldiers equipped with armor. Marching a hundred li a day should not have been an issue.
But then again, theory is just theory, because marching is not like a casual stroll. Simply walking is not the whole story; it's crucial to be able to fight on the battlefield, which consumes a tremendous amount of stamina. Therefore, the normal marching speed is only around thirty li per day.
To achieve the effect of marching a hundred li a day, one would either need a purely cavalry force or abandon supplies and march at an accelerated pace.
The issue was that Agui, the imperial commissioner, was leading a colossal army of 130,000 soldiers, along with a vast quantity of supplies and provisions. Moreover, upon arriving at Puji, he received news that Zichuan had fallen into Zhu Jinsong's hands. Naturally, Agui dared not allow the Qing soldiers to maintain an accelerated marching state. Even the Western cannons were pushed along, with the soldiers responsible for transporting ammunition following closely behind the cannons.
Fukang'an, who had never clashed with Zhu Jinsong, felt contempt, believing Agui had been thoroughly frightened. If not for Agui holding the imperial commissioner's seal, Fukang'an would have even taught Agui how to conduct himself.
Clearly holding an army of 130,000 men and operating within Jinan Prefecture, and yet fearing a sneak attack from those few bandits at Menglianggu?
It was a complete disgrace to my Qing Dynasty!
If this lord had 130,000 troops at his disposal, the Eight Trigram Sect in Caozhou would have been annihilated long ago!
Fukang'an sat upright on his horse, proceeding slowly as per Agui's orders, while inwardly cursing Agui, the useless imperial commissioner.
After a short while, the silhouette of a village appeared in the distance. Fukang'an's expression, previously as foul as dog excrement, finally softened a bit.
Fukang'an reined in his warhorse and instructed his personal guard, "Come here! Go to the village ahead, requisition laborers from Nikan to help transport supplies, and have the women in the village prepare food."
The village blocking Fukang'an's path was not very large, with about a hundred households. It was autumn, on the cusp of winter, and the afternoon sun was beginning to descend in the west. Several children were playing at the entrance of the village.
Among these children, the oldest was no more than three or four years old. Seeing Fukang'an's army slowly approaching, these children scattered in a rush, each running towards their own homes.
Fukang'an glanced at the children dispersing, initially unconcerned. He merely let out a cold snort, lowered his eyelids, and intended to stop in the village to rest.
However, suddenly, Fukang'an's ears twitched, his expression turned cold, and he reined in his warhorse before shouting, "Guards!"
Fukang'an was, after all, mounted on a horse, making him much faster than those three or four-year-old, or even two or three-year-old children. As Fukang'an approached the children, he heard them shouting as they ran, "The Tartars are coming! The Tartars are here!"
After his personal guard responded with a "Yes, sir!", Fukang'an ordered, "Relay my command: massacre the village! Leave not a single chicken or dog behind! Furthermore, send men to check all the villages ahead, see which ones still have people shouting the word 'Tartars', and massacre them one by one!"
Fukang'an's personal guard immediately took his orders and, with the cavalry of the Straight Province Eight Banners, galloped away.
Soon, there was no longer any screaming from the entire village, only corpses on the ground and houses reduced to ashes.
Fukang'an remained seated upright on his horse, his expression chillingly grim as he commanded, "Move out!"
...
On the city wall of Zichuan County, Zhu Jinsong held a telescope in his left hand and a flintlock rifle in his right, pondering how to ambush the vanguard of the enemy led by the surname Fu.
Zichuan County was not far from Qingzhou Prefecture to the east, nor too far from Qing Shi Pass in Boshan to the south. Not far west of the city flowed the Xiaofu River. If planned properly, it would be entirely possible to ambush Fu Kang'an's vanguard army as they crossed the river.
However, before Zhu Jinsong could formulate a plan, Ke Zhiming, the intelligence chief, hurried over and bowed to Zhu Jinsong, saying, "Reporting to Young Master, urgent dispatch! Fukang'an is massacring villages near Puji!"
Zhu Jinsong blinked in surprise and asked, "What?"
Ke Zhiming bowed again, "Reporting to Young Master, Fukang'an is massacring villages near Puji. It is said this was because some children inadvertently shouted the word 'Tartars.' Furthermore, the Tartar soldiers have no military discipline whatsoever. Along the way..."
Ke Zhiming gritted his teeth and said, "Along the way, they have already ravaged many villages!"
Zhu Jinsong's expression gradually turned ferocious, his fingers gripping the telescope and flintlock rifle so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
All because a few children shouted the word "Tartars"?
Ravaging the common people?
Damn it all!
Zhu Jinsong narrowed his eyes and gazed in the direction of Jinan Prefecture, asking, "Where is Fukang'an?"
Ke Zhiming replied, "Reporting to Young Master, Fukang'an's vanguard has passed thirty li beyond Puji Town."
"If nothing unexpected happens, they will reach the west bank of the Xiaofu River in two to three days."
"Furthermore, Agui has changed their marching method. The Tartar soldiers, who used to march forty li a day, are now marching less than thirty li. The distance between Fukang'an's vanguard and Agui's main army has also shortened from thirty li to about twenty li."
A distance of twenty li between the vanguard and the main army is a very subtle range. It is neither too far nor too close. For the Tartar soldiers, who possessed a large cavalry force, a twenty-li distance was enough to ensure mutual support. As long as Fukang'an's vanguard was attacked, Agui's main army could quickly come to their aid, and vice versa.
Moreover, marching about twenty li a day was sufficient to maintain the stamina of the Tartar soldiers.
From these two aspects, Agui had indeed devised a clever plan and was worthy of his title as a Grand Scholar of the Hall of Valor.
If Zhu Jinsong had gone to ambush Fukang'an's vanguard without knowing the marching distance of the Tartar soldiers, the consequence would have been getting bogged down by Fukang'an's vanguard, and then Agui's main cavalry would have also come to participate in the annihilation. It would have been difficult for Zhu Jinsong not to face doom.
Unfortunately, Agui ran into someone like Zhu Jinsong, who possessed cheat-like abilities.
Zhu Jinsong sneered, turned around, and returned to the Zichuan County Yamen.
The Zichuan County Yamen had now become Zhu Jinsong's temporary command center. On the walls of the main hall hung large maps, and in the hall were two tables. One table was covered with maps, and the other was set with a sand table. A group of leaders, big and small, were gathered around these two tables discussing battle plans.
Zhu Jinsong strode into the hall, first recounting the news of Fukang'an's village massacre and Agui's marching arrangements, and then stated coldly, "The original battle plan needs to be changed. This time, we will leave Fukang'an behind!"
The leaders in the hall were mostly young men who had followed Zhu Jinsong in rebellion since he killed the scholar Liu. They were from Liu Miao Village, Geng Zhuang, or Shawo Village. These men had all suffered oppression from the Manchu elders in their respective villages. Upon hearing the news of Fukang'an's village massacre, they felt the injustice even more deeply.
Liu Hemin, the commander of the First Division, clenched his fist tightly and gritted his teeth, "Damn that Fukang'an! Boss, just give the order!"
Zhu Jinsong grunted and walked to the table where Liu Hemin was located, lowering his head to examine the sand table.
In Zhu Jinsong's original battle plan, a large number of ignitable landmines were to be laid on both the west and east banks of the Xiaofu River. When half of Fukang'an's vanguard Tartar soldiers had completed crossing the river, the mines would be detonated, causing Fukang'an to suffer a heavy initial blow. Then, they would directly withdraw, utilizing the advantage of Menglianggu's smaller force and high mobility to lead Fukang'an and Agui around like dogs.
Zhu Jinsong did not initially intend to kill Fukang'an or Agui directly. After all, Fukang'an was suspected to be an illegitimate son of the Qianlong Emperor, and Agui was an extremely capable "transport captain." Killing them would not only mean losing a stable supply source but also easily provoke the Tartar hive led by the Qianlong Emperor.
Unfortunately, they refused the path to heaven and insisted on entering the gate of hell. What could Zhu Jinsong, the ringleader of the most notorious rebels, do?
If he didn't kill them, Zhu Jinsong felt that his remaining shred of conscience would not allow it.
However, directly killing Fukang'an and making a large number of Tartar soldiers atone for their sins was not an easy task.
The first hurdle was the Xiaofu River.
The existence of the Xiaofu River was indeed conducive to the tactic of attacking a force crossing a river. If successful, the Tartar soldiers would suffer heavy casualties, and Agui would not have time to escape and reinforce.
But similarly, the existence of the Xiaofu River also made it difficult for Zhu Jinsong to pursue the Tartars. If Fukang'an escaped, Zhu Jinsong would be left on the eastern bank of the Xiaofu River, helpless.
After tracing the west and east banks of the Xiaofu River back and forth with his finger for a while, a bold idea finally emerged in Zhu Jinsong's mind.
Zhu Jinsong planned to have Liu Hemin lead the First Division to ambush on the west side of the Xiaofu River, just as they had ambushed the Tartar son-in-law, Nawangduolijian, and the Censor-in-Chief, Ashiha, last time.
Zhu Jinsong would also lead men to ambush Fukang'an on the west bank of the Xiaofu River. The difference was that Liu Hemin's men would not directly attack Fukang'an's Tartar soldiers but would launch an attack on the remaining Tartar vanguard only after Zhu Jinsong feigned defeat to lure the enemy and Fukang'an led the Tartar cavalry to pursue Zhu Jinsong.
The biggest problem in this was how to trick Fukang'an into falling for the bait and leading the Tartar cavalry to pursue him. After all, Fukang'an was not a complete fool; as one of the so-called famous generals among the Jurchens, Fukang'an had some skills.
The second issue was whether Liu Hemin's First Division could eliminate the remaining Tartar soldiers within half an hour.
This was because Agui, the coward, had shortened the distance between the vanguard and the rear army to twenty li, leaving Liu Hemin at most half an hour. If Liu Hemin's First Division could not eliminate the remaining Tartar soldiers within half an hour, Agui would likely arrive with the main army, and Fu Huan's rear army would also arrive within an hour.
If this happened, this battle would be completely ruined.
With only the First Division's 10,000 troops, facing Agui's 50,000 troops, even if they could win, the First Division would be almost depleted. Facing Fu Huan's 30,000 Tartar soldiers afterward would leave them with no option but to await death.
From this perspective, Zhu Jinsong's plan was indeed too risky.
However, from another perspective, Zhu Jinsong's plan was not without merit.
Fukang'an did indeed have 30,000 Tartar soldiers under his command. However, among these 30,000 Tartar soldiers, 10,000 were armored Eight Banners, consisting of 2,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry. The remaining 20,000 were from the Straight Province Green Standard Army.
Even if the Straight Province Green Standard Army was more capable than the Shandong Green Standard Army, Zhu Jinsong's First Division had several marksmen equipped with rifled flintlocks, who relied on a large number of bullets. As long as the leading generals of the Eight Banners and Green Standard Army were shot down, and followed by an intense bombardment with grenades, these Eight Banners and Green Standard soldiers would fall into disarray.
Furthermore, although Zhu Jinsong currently only had the First Division, Liu Ergou led the Third Division near Qing Shi Pass, which was another force of over 10,000 men.
If one also considered the nearby peasant association guards and other forces that could come to support, Zhu Jinsong could muster about 30,000 troops.
With 20,000 regular troops modeled after the "rabbits" and over 10,000 militia, possessing superior equipment, defeating twenty to thirty thousand Tartar soldiers would be a normal occurrence.
Once Fukang'an was eliminated, and with the peasant association guards guiding the way, Zhu Jinsong could lead his troops to escape overnight, continuing his original plan of treating Agui like a dog, and Agui would be forced to detach another vanguard.
After careful consideration, Zhu Jinsong finally made up his mind.
If we are to act, let's make it a big one!