Chapter 1043 No Direct Assault
Wang Pu found himself credited with a major achievement for no apparent reason. Staring at the more than a hundred captives and the thousand-plus Manchu heads now in his possession, he was utterly bewildered.
He quickly sought out Bai Mao, saying, “Generals Wang and Ma, you’ve achieved such a great feat the moment you arrived. I must report this to the imperial court and commend your accomplishments.”
Bai Mao, however, shook his head. “This is all due to your masterful leadership, General Wang, which allowed us to decisively defeat the Qing forces. Neither of us dares to claim credit; these achievements are rightfully yours.”
Wang Pu, thinking Bai Mao was subtly testing him, quickly waved his hands. “How could that be? No, no, this is your achievement. I cannot take credit for it.”
Bai Mao pressed, “General Wang, you were the lead commander this time, you led us here, isn’t that right?”
Wang Pu hesitated. “Well... yes, that’s true.”
Bai Mao continued, “When fighting a battle, the commanding general doesn’t need to charge into battle personally. But the achievements of his subordinates are certainly attributed to him. Remember how Zhuge Liang once set Xinye ablaze? Did Zhuge Liang personally go to the battlefield to hack at enemies? Of course not, but the feats accomplished by his soldiers, the enemies they killed—wouldn’t those still be attributed to Zhuge Liang?”
Wang Pu pondered this carefully. “Hmm? That actually makes sense.”
Bai Mao declared, “This decisive defeat of the Qing forces is a testament to your skilled command, General Wang.”
Wang Pu was certainly not foolish, so he conceded, “Very well, since you two brothers insist on attributing this credit to me, then it would be rude to refuse. In any case, when I receive the rewards, I will certainly share a portion with both of you. My word is my bond.”
Bai Mao chuckled. “You’re too kind, too kind.”
Ma Shouying merely snorted beside them, unwilling to speak.
Wang Pu then stated, “Now that we’ve won a battle against the Manchu western flank, we can consider retaking Changping City.”
At his words, all three men’s gazes turned toward Changping City in the distance.
Changping City was a strategically vital area of the capital region, upgraded to a prefectural city during the Zhengde Emperor’s reign. To better defend the capital, Changping City was built tall and imposing, easily defended but difficult to attack.
No one knew how the Qing forces had managed to capture it so easily.
The Manchu Eight Banners soldiers, defeated by the Gao Family Village Militia earlier, had now retreated into the city, guarding its walls. Qing-made cannons were mounted atop the battlements.
Wang Pu took one look at the city walls and shook his head. “This is truly awful. It will be incredibly difficult for us to assault these walls.”
Ma Shouying also turned to Bai Mao and Wang Er. “Gentlemen, this city is not easily attacked. My cavalry will be of no use in a siege.”
Bai Mao murmured, “If we bring our cannons, the city walls won’t be an issue.”
Wang Er, however, shook his head. “Our Gao Family Village’s special artillery should not be used here.”
Bai Mao was puzzled. “Why not?”
Wang Er whispered, “The soldiers defending the city are not our Ming troops.”
Bai Mao looked perplexed. “Not Ming troops? Why does that mean we can’t use cannons?”
As he finished speaking, he suddenly understood. “Oh no, I see now. There are many of our Ming civilians still in the city! If we bombard it, the Qing forces will push the common folk onto the city walls, lining them up in rows... they won’t have any pity for our Ming people.”
Wang Er nodded. “Exactly. It seems you’ve figured it out.”
This was the trouble with an enemy occupying a city belonging to one’s own people and then defending it.
The civilians inside were their own, but the defending soldiers were from the enemy nation.
A hasty assault would only lead to the deaths of more innocent people.
Bai Mao’s face was etched with embarrassment. “In that case, let alone cannon fire, even if our flintlock rifles fire indiscriminately at the walls to suppress the Qing soldiers, they’ll just push the civilians out as targets.”
“Yes!” Wang Er affirmed. “We should not attack for now. In fact, we should withdraw further to avoid making the Qing forces feel threatened. We absolutely must not corner the Manchu soldiers in the city. Otherwise, if they torch the city, slaughter the populace, and then open another gate to make a clean getaway, we’d be utterly helpless.”
Bai Mao was thoroughly frustrated.
Just then, Ma Shouying leaned in and whispered, “I have a plan that could save the civilians.”
Wang Er’s eyes lit up. “Please, speak.”
Ma Shouying explained, “After capturing a city, the Qing forces don’t actually hold it for long. They’ll kill anyone who resists them, then march the remaining people back to Liaodong as slaves.”
Wang Er raised an eyebrow. “Strike under cover of night?”
Ma Shouying chuckled. “Precisely. We’ll first retreat some distance, feigning abandonment of the siege. When the Qing forces believe we’ve left, they’ll tie up the city’s civilians, each with one leg bound, and dispatch a small team to escort them back to Liaodong. We’ll then ambush that escort team halfway back to Liaodong, and rescue the civilians from their hands.”
Wang Er asked, “What if they take the civilians hostage?”
Ma Shouying responded, “We’ll move with extreme speed, cutting off their head and tail, eliminating the escort officers before they have a chance to give any orders. If the officers don’t order the use of civilians as hostages, then the foolish soldiers below won’t largely resort to it. At most, a few cleverer soldiers might use them as human shields, and our losses can be greatly reduced.”
Wang Er and Bai Mao exchanged glances, gritting their teeth. “There will still be losses this way, but it’s better than mass casualties among the civilians. Let’s do it.”
With their plan set, the three of them, pulling Wang Pu along, retreated towards the capital.
The Qing forces in the city, rattled by their earlier attack, were too timid to dare to come out and fight. Seeing them heading towards the capital, they mistakenly believed this powerful firearm unit was going to defend Beijing, and exhaled a sigh of relief.
While the Qing forces sent someone to inform Ajige about the powerful Ming firearm unit, the soldiers in the city, after confirming the Ming army’s retreat, indeed tied up the city’s civilians with ropes, each with one leg bound, just as Ma Shouying had predicted.
They then dispatched five hundred men, opened the East Gate, and led the civilians northeast.
Their main force, meanwhile, abandoned the city and continued to search for their next target to plunder.
Their movements were extremely cautious. To prevent the powerful firearm unit from faking a retreat and ambushing them, the Qing forces spread their scouts wide and far, with numerous cavalry ranging tens of li away.
This ensured that no enemy scout could monitor the movements of their main force.
However...
What they didn’t know was that Gao Family Village’s hot air balloon was drifting several li away in the sky, observing the land through telescopes. No matter how widely the Qing scouts dispersed, they couldn’t block the eyes scrutinizing from above.
A bamboo tube slid down from the hot air balloon, and the paper scroll inside quickly landed in Ma Shouying’s hand.
Ma Shouying declared, “I’ll go rescue those civilians.”
Wang Er shook his hand. “I’ll go engage the main Manchu force.”
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