Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 104 Trouble Begins with Xiao Qiang
The Ming army was determined to capture Quanzhou, but He Tengjiao favored some over others. He arranged for Jiao Lian and other "side troops" to fight in the field to block the Qing army's reinforcements from Yongzhou, and arranged for the Yunnan Division, Chu Division and other "direct troops" to attack the city.

The troops were not united, and the attack on Quanzhou was not smooth. It was not until May 15 that He Tengjiao led the troops to attack Quanzhou. On the 19th, He Tengjiao strongly advocated the use of the fence method to attack the city.

The palisade siege is an ancient siege tactic with a wide range of applications. The attackers can set up palisades outside the city to avoid arrows and stones, to prevent the defenders from fleeing, and to cut off the connection between the defenders and reinforcements. Then they can concentrate their forces and attack the city from the area where the palisade is not set up.

The Ming army set up fences in the west and north of Quanzhou, focusing on attacking the east and south gates. The Chu army, which was also He Tengjiao's most loyal troops, guarded the fences, but they treated it like a child's play. The Qing army broke through the fences, and the other armies were horrified and almost defeated.

He Tengjiao personally supervised the battle, Jiao Lian cut off the Qing army's retreat, and Hu Yiqing fought hard with the Qing army before the situation was stabilized.

On May 24, the Qing army in Yongzhou attacked in large numbers, trying to reinforce the garrison in Quanzhou. The garrison also sent out palladium soldiers to try to get in touch with the reinforcements. Jiao Lian used Danchu's strategy and defeated the Qing army's palladium soldiers with flails.

Li Maozu, the governor of Guangxi in the Qing Dynasty, was helpless and had to withdraw all his troops into Quanzhou City.

On the 26th, He Tengjiao led the Yunnan and Chu armies, and with the reinforcements of Yizhang Earl Lu Ding and Baochang Marquis Cao Zhijian, after "eight battles and five attacks", they finally broke through Quanzhou and captured Li Maozu alive. General You Shizhong and thirteen cavalrymen managed to escape to Yongzhou.

He Tengjiao ordered the execution of Li Maozu and sent his head to Guilin and Nanning.

You Shizhong retreated to Yongzhou and sent people to threaten He Tengjiao not to attack Yongzhou, otherwise he would "humiliate his wife, kill his children, and dig up the corpses of his relatives."

It turns out that He Tengjiao was from Wukaiwei, Guizhou, and was born into a military household. Wukaiwei and Liping are in the same city, so people also think he is from Liping.

Liu Chengyin, the Duke of Anguo of the Southern Ming Dynasty, was nicknamed "Liu Tiegun" and was related to He Tengjiao by his son. After Liu Chengyin surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, the Qing court was very suspicious of him and forced Liu Chengyin to attack Liping and capture He Tengjiao's family members for blackmail.

He Tengjiao responded in a letter: "Those who work for the world do not care about their families, and those who work for reputation do not care about their bodies. Moreover, Tengjiao is a clumsy person. Each of us serves his own task, each serves his own master, and each preserves his own body." "You want to force me to obey, but I can't."

After taking Quanzhou, He Tengjiao was full of confidence and actively deployed his troops to prepare for the attack on Yongzhou.

Soon, changes occurred within the Ming army.

On this day, Danchu was discussing with Fang Yizhi in the camp about how to raise food. From Yong'an to Quanzhou, it was a journey of seven or eight hundred miles, and it was very difficult to transport food and grass. Before the expedition, Danchu expected that the war would last for two months at most. Unexpectedly, it has already lasted for more than three months.

An incompetent general can tire out thousands of troops. He Tengjiao was incompetent in commanding his subordinates, hesitated when faced with problems, and failed to organize a counterattack. The troops were not in harmony, and the counterattack on Quanzhou and Yongzhou progressed slowly.

This also caused a heavy logistical burden to the Ming army. Danchu was not in a high position and had no way to deal with this. For the time being, he had to follow He Tengjiao and suffer.

The army was short of food and could not sustain the battle of Yongzhou. Danchu discussed with Fang Yizhi and planned to buy food near Quanzhou and send troops to fight against the bandits to solve the urgent problem.

Suddenly, Cao Yu, the logistics staff officer, rode into the camp on a fast horse. Seeing Dan Chu, he was furious and angry. His face turned red and he said, "General, please send your guards away. I have something important to report."

Cao Yu is the sentry leader of the Third Team, an old soldier from northern Shaanxi. He is mature and steady, and knows how to calculate money and food. He is entrusted with an important task by Danchu and is responsible for the logistics of the army.

Danchu was startled, and dismissed his attendants, but asked with a smile: "Lao Cao, what's the hurry?"

Cao Yu said angrily: "Feng Zhiji led his troops to rob our army's food. The baggage train tried to stop them, and a sergeant, two baggage soldiers, and twelve civilians were killed."

"What?" Danchu was furious. He stood up and asked, "How much food and grass was lost?"

"Twenty carts, about eighty dan of rice, about one hundred and twenty dan of black beans, and about forty dan of coal."

In the Ming Dynasty, one stone weighed about 150 jin, and 80 stones weighed 12,000 jin, enough for the Yong'an Army to feed for three days. Needless to say, black beans were necessary for war horses. The Yong'an Army was already short of food, and they had hoped to capture some food when they attacked Quanzhou. Unexpectedly, He Tengjiao did not let Jiao Lian participate in the siege. The Yunnan and Chu divisions were not as strong as the Guangxi divisions, but they were unambiguous in grabbing the spoils and were unwilling to share a single bit with their allies.

Feng Zhiji robbed the food, and the Yong'an Army's food shortage became even more severe. If the news got out, it would definitely shake the morale of the army.

"Damn it," Danchu cursed, "You are bullying me. Pass my order, all troops on alert, assemble immediately!"

"Marshal, you can't do that!" Fang Yizhi hurriedly stopped him and said, "Marshal, gather the troops, but are you going to call Feng Zhiji to task?"

"Of course it is."

The trouble started from within. Fang Yizhi said hurriedly, "Feng Zhiji is unruly and wants to change his allegiance. He is getting close to the commander-in-chief. The commander-in-chief should not consider the monk's face but the Buddha's. We should not march rashly, and we should not use weapons lightly!"

Always stay calm when facing a big event! Be patient! Dan Chu silently thought for a moment, but still couldn't suppress the anger in his heart.

He finally understood why Jiao Lian hated Hao Yongzhong so much. Wasn't it because Hao Yongzhong and Feng Zhiji were unruly? They dared to rob their fellow soldiers of their food and kill their fellow soldiers in peacetime. How could you expect them to stand by you in war?

Danchu suppressed his anger and asked, "Brother Mizhi, in your opinion, what should we do?"

Fang Yizhi was almost forty years old after all, and had experienced many ups and downs. He was much more mature and prudent. He said, "The Marshal should go to Xinxing Marquis and ask him to seek justice. In addition, he might as well make a big fuss about this matter and take the opportunity to return to Yong'an."

Danchu looked at Cao Yu, who also nodded. He had no choice but to give up and ride his horse to see Jiao Lian.

"Yeah," Jiao Lian said indifferently after hearing the news, "I heard about it."

Danchu stepped forward and said, "Marshal Jue, our army is short of food. Feng Zhiji robbed food and killed 15 of our soldiers and civilians. He must be severely punished."

Jiao Lian stood up from the tiger-skin chair, his eyes were sharp and his expression was unquestionable. He said, "Don't worry about this. I have my own way to deal with it."

Danchu was unwilling to give in. Seeing that Jiao Lian was indifferent, he thought for a moment and said, "Feng Zhiji is unruly and has the intention of changing his allegiance. If he dares to rob my baggage today, he will dare to rob Marshal Jue's baggage tomorrow. If he dares to kill my soldiers today, he will dare to kill Marshal Jue's soldiers tomorrow..."

"Stop talking," Jiao Lian said angrily, "Your soldiers, my soldiers, they are all my soldiers. You and Feng Zhiji are not on good terms, but he is older than you and has made many military achievements. You cannot use this as an excuse, let alone raise an army to accuse him. Go back first and appease your troops. I will handle this matter. You are not allowed to contact Feng Zhiji again, let alone provoke trouble."

Danchu was not convinced and said, "Marshal Jue, the military rations are really in short supply right now. Feng Zhiji's actions violated military discipline and were really too much..."

"Stop talking," Jiao Lian was really angry and said, "Not only was your Yong'an Army robbed, but even my Du Biao Youxie was robbed by Feng Zhiji. I'm not in a hurry, so why are you in a hurry?"

Danchu was shocked and said, "Feng Zhiji is tired of living, he dared to rob Marshal Jue's personal army!"

"Don't worry," Jiao Lian lowered his voice and said, "I already have a way to deal with it. You go back quietly and pretend nothing happened. Send a small baggage officer to Feng Zhiji's camp to argue. Don't make a big fuss and don't alert the enemy."

Danchu was startled. It seemed that Jiao Lian was going to deal with Feng Zhiji. However, Feng Zhiji was also a brave general who had performed bravely in several battles in Guilin and had recently become close to He Tengjiao.

You must be careful when dealing with this kind of poisonous snake. Otherwise, if you are not careful, you will be poisoned by it, which will be very bad.

Danchu was full of anticipation, wanting to see how Jiao Lian could subdue Feng Zhiji. As a military commander, if he couldn't control his subordinates, what was the point of leading an army and fighting a war?

You still need to study harder and master the art of controlling your subordinates as soon as possible!
(End of this chapter)