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

Chapter 154 Abandoning the City
At noon, the Zhaoyong Army had completely controlled Kunlun Pass. When Danchu entered the pass, all the generals came forward, beaming with joy, and voices of congratulations rose one after another.

Danchu looked calm and said frankly: "Kunlun Pass is a majestic pass, and I am not sure I can capture it. We should do our best and leave the rest to fate. We sent people to persuade them to surrender, treated the prisoners well, sent scouts to gather intelligence, and sent special forces to attack the pass from behind.

"Every bit of effort we make increases our chances of winning. Of course, the most important thing is the brothers in the personal guards and cavalry battalions who dare to charge into battle and risk their lives to storm the fortresses. That's how war works. Make every possible preparation, plan for the worst, and make the greatest effort."

Danchu felt regretful that he had not been able to defeat the enemy without fighting, and that the personal guards suffered heavy losses. What would the defenders do if the Eight Banners Army came? Would they still persist in resisting?
The generals were very satisfied and praised: "The commander-in-chief has a brilliant plan and can predict the enemy like a god. Even if Kong Ming were resurrected, he would not be as good as him."

"Haha," Danchu smiled and said, "I wanted to treat you to a hot meal, but killing the enemy is more important. After we capture Nanning, I will treat you to a good meal."

The enemy had already fled, so they were just pursuing them. Military merit was just around the corner, and all the generals requested to be ordered to do so.

"Kunlun Pass and Jiutang have been captured by our army. The enemy has lost its natural defenses. Datang and Batang are no longer a threat to the overall situation. Wu Jie?"

"The end will be here."

"You will lead the cavalry battalion immediately and go out of the pass to pursue the enemy."

"promise!"

"Where is the Warhorse now?"

The logistics and supplies were under the charge of the deputy commander. Feng Lin said, "They have arrived outside the north gate and can be cleared at any time."

The gate is narrow, so the speed of passing through is slow. Marching and fighting is a technical job that requires experience and carefulness. Feng Lin was thoughtful and wanted to pursue the victory, so he ordered the firearms battalion and the auxiliary soldiers battalion not to enter the gate, but to wait outside the gate first to avoid blocking the road.

Danchu was very observant and asked, "Is the warhorse in front from the imperial guard battalion? Or the cavalry battalion?"

"It's from the personal guard camp."

Without hesitation, he said, "Drive the war horses into the city gate first. No matter whether they are from the personal soldiers' camp or the cavalry camp, they should all be used by Wu Jie. Wu Jie, I won't keep you for dinner. You should call your men to set off first."

"Remember, do not linger along the way, from Datang to Batang. Even if you are attacked by the enemy, do not engage in a fight. It is about ninety miles to Nanning, and the cavalry battalion must reach Nanning before dawn tomorrow."

In the Ming Dynasty, one li was about 560 meters. Since ancient times, the marching speed of the army has not improved much. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, firearms were developed, and the baggage burden was further increased. Generally, infantry marched to li a day, and cavalry marched to li a day.

The fastest march Danchu had ever experienced was during the First Battle of Guilin. As Jiao Lian's personal soldier, he followed the standard battalion on a forced march, covering a distance of more than 300 miles from Huangsha Town, Quanzhou to Guilin. It was raining heavily, and they had to cross Yanguan and the Li River. The standard soldier had multiple horses, and it took him three days to reach Guilin, which was considered very fast.

For comparison, during the Battle of Shanhaiguan, the Eight Banners abandoned their baggage and rushed to Shanhaiguan overnight, and their forced march covered only 200 miles in a day and night.

As the commander of an army, Danchu had a more real understanding of the speed of marching. He realized that the ancients' claim of a rapid march of 500 miles in one day and night was mostly exaggerated and unreliable.

You know, the post station changed horses every 20 miles, and 400 miles a day was considered "expedited". War horses needed to protect their horsepower, and the army had to carry baggage, so 100 miles a day was considered a luxury.

The Zhaoyong Army's war horses were in poor condition, and the cavalry battalion had to travel overnight. There were enemy stations along the way, so Wu Jie had no idea whether they could reach Nanning by tomorrow morning.

But since he had conquered the natural fortress of Kunlun Pass, how could Wu Jie show his weakness? He patted his chest and said:
"Don't worry, Marshal. I am willing to sign a military order and guarantee that I will lead the cavalry battalion to Nanning tomorrow morning. May I ask, Marshal, after arriving in Nanning, should the cavalry battalion immediately begin to attack the city?"

"You have too few soldiers and cannot attack by force. You can only use wits to defeat them. You can pretend to be defeated and open the city gate. If the defenders are prepared, you don't have to attack by force. First, set up defenses in the east of the city to prevent Xu Biao from returning to the city, and wait for me to arrive with the main force."

"Yes. I'll go right away." Wu Jie took the order and left.

The auxiliary soldiers could not enter the pass for a while, so Danchu didn't care and ate cold rice with other generals with salted vegetables. The Zhaoyong Army had rice cakes, vinegar cloth and other dry food for marching. This kind of dry food was complicated and difficult to make, and it was not easy to eat.

When marching to war, the auxiliary soldiers of the Zhaoyong Army got up early in the morning and prepared breakfast and lunch in advance. They ate cold rice and cold dishes for lunch and heated up food in the evening.

During the banquet, Danchu began to make arrangements. The three cavalry teams and one auxiliary team of the cavalry battalion would take half an hour to pass through the city gate. The personal soldiers battalion would take this time to have lunch and set off after the cavalry battalion. The firearms battalion and the training team would also set off this afternoon and head south to Nanning. The auxiliary soldiers battalion would wait until tomorrow morning to move south.

A team of auxiliary soldiers was left at Gulou Pass to guard the pass. A team of auxiliary soldiers and a team of artillery were left at Kunlun Pass to guard the pass, take care of the wounded, and deal with prisoners of war.

At 7:00 the next day, Danchu led his army to approach Nanning. Wu Jie was deploying troops at Qingxiu Mountain in the east of the city and sent troops to support Danchu.

"General, I arrived at the East Gate of Nanning at 3:00 pm and knocked on the door disguised as a defeated soldier. The garrison was on high alert and closed the door. According to the scout, beacons were set off from Datong to Jiutang yesterday afternoon, and all gates of Nanning were closed, prohibiting entry and exit."

Nanning is located on the north bank of the Yu River (today's Yong River). Not far upstream, the Zuojiang and Zuojiang rivers merge into the Yu River, which makes the Yu River abundant in water and convenient for navigation and irrigation. The green and beautiful mountains around and along the Yu River are filled with fertile fields, which are a delight to behold.

This was the base, and Danchu was determined to get it. He asked, "Where is Xu Biao now?"

The enemy's main force was not in Nanning, so it was known that Xu Biao was still at the front line. But Wu Jie could not answer where exactly.

"Where's Feng Jiali? Have you seen him?"

Feng Jiali was the chief of the Intelligence Bureau and rushed to Nanning before the war to take charge of intelligence work.

"I saw him in Datang last night. He went to Bachizhai to get information early in the morning and is about to come back."

Bashizhai is located in the lower reaches of Nanning, where Bashi River merges into Yu River, and Yu River makes a big bend here, forming a "U" shape. This is a strategic point of land and water, and also the eastern gateway of Nanning.

Wu Jie continued, "The Intelligence Bureau has scouts deployed in Nanning City who can serve as internal support. Feng Jiali and I have discussed that we should first let the scouts in the city stay put, and then let them raise fire to provide internal support when we attack Nanning."

"Well, very good." Danchu nodded approvingly and said, "You have considered this and are willing to abandon the city instead of fighting. This shows that you are a great general."

"It's all thanks to the Marshal's cultivation."

Soon, Feng Jiali rushed back to Qingxiu Mountain, dusty and out of breath. Hearing that the commander-in-chief had arrived, Feng Jiali immediately asked for an audience and said, "General, Xu Biao is leading his troops to retreat from Nanning, and the vanguard Tangqi has arrived at Ba Chi Village."

The Tangqi were scouts and messengers. The Ming army stipulated that when a large army was on the move, Tangqi must be deployed to scout the way. Each route should have 24 Tangqi, with five cavalrymen in each Tangqi, and every two cavalrymen were one li apart.

Normally, the separated Tangqi should be able to see each other, and each rider should carry a signal cannon to facilitate communication. When the Ming Dynasty army marched, they would send scouts a hundred miles away, which probably originated from the Tangqi system.

Although Xu Biao was born a bandit, he had been in battle for many years and knew how to use cavalry, which showed that he was no ordinary person.

Kunlun Mountain is the remnant of Daming Mountain, and runs roughly from northeast to southwest. The east side of the mountain range borders Yujiang River, forming a narrow passage on the north bank of Yujiang River. Hengzhou, like Nanning, is located on the north bank of Yujiang River.

If Xu Biao retreats from the front line, he will have to go to the north bank of the Yu River. As long as the personal guards take over the Ba Chi Village, they can cut off Xu Biao's retreat and form a pincer attack with the First Infantry Battalion. By then, Xu Biao will be surrounded by the Zhaoyong Army to the east and west, the Kunlun Mountains to the north, and the Yu River to the south, and he will definitely be defeated.

Danchu made a prompt decision and said, "Pass my order, the cavalry battalion and the personal guard battalion will set out immediately, advance quickly on light cavalry, and seize Bashi Village."

(End of this chapter)