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

Chapter 173: Sending troops to fight against the invaders
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, the candlelight flickered. In the Nanning General's Mansion, the top leaders of the Red Army gathered together and were passing around Qu Shisi's manifesto.

In early February, news of the deaths of Jin Shenghuan and He Tengjiao reached Nanning. Cen Danchu then secretly ordered preparations for war, and it has been a month and a half since then.

He had been wondering how the imperial court would respond and when would Qu Shisi order him to send troops?

Unexpectedly, the court was slow to respond and missed the opportunity. Apart from appointing Qu Shisi as the next commander-in-chief and posthumously conferring the title of two-character king on Jin Shenghuan, He Tengjiao, Li Chengdong and others, the court had no constructive measures or substantive actions.

Qu Shisi knew that he was not up to the task of commanding the troops, so he declined the offer again and again.

In fact, Du Yinxi was more suitable to take over the post than Qu Shisi. Du Yinxi was brave and daring, with outstanding talents and far-sighted vision, and could be called the first strategist of the Southern Ming Dynasty. He had previously led Li Chixin and Ma Jinzhong to recapture Hunan, leaving only Changsha and Liuyang unconquered, which showed that he was capable of taking on a great task.

However, he had little experience and a straightforward personality. He always advocated uniting with the invaders to pacify the barbarians and was too close to the peasant army led by Li Chixin. He was a member of the Wu Party. At present, the Chu Party was in power in the court, and Emperor Yongli would never use Du Yinxi as the commander-in-chief.

Qu Shisi was in Guilin, and he repeatedly submitted a petition to resign from the post of military commander. Emperor Yongli was in Zhaoqing, and he repeatedly refused. After several rounds of correspondence between the two places, by the time Qu Shisi reluctantly took over the post of military commander, it was already March.

At this time, the Qing army was invincible and had approached Quanzhou, posing a direct threat to Guangxi.

Qu Shisi immediately issued an order to all towns in Guangxi to reinforce Quanzhou. By the time Danchu received the order, it was already March 16th.

At this moment, he looked calm and his eyes were sharp as torches. He said, "Everyone, the news is confirmed. The Guangdong Army was defeated and retreated to Dayu Mountain. Duke Huiguo died in the battle and was posthumously named King of Ningxia. The Qing invaders have no intention of advancing into Guangdong and are focusing on using troops in Hunan.

"Because Quanzhou was threatened, Commander Qu ordered my troops to reinforce Quanzhou and come under the command of Xinxing Marquis. When the country is in trouble, it is the duty of the warriors to do their part. Since I am the son-in-law of Commander Qu and I have received the kindness of Xinxing Marquis, I will reinforce Quanzhou without hesitation.

"At the meeting tonight, there is no need to talk about obstruction, and those who oppose reinforcing Quanzhou do not need to speak. We will only discuss how to reinforce Quanzhou, how many soldiers to use, how much food is needed, and how to use the troops."

Before the meeting, Dan Chu set the tone to prevent any opposition that might shake the morale of the troops.

This was not an unfounded worry. After the Spring Festival, the families of the Red Army, the artisan camp, the ironware bureau, the military equipment bureau, etc. moved to Nanning one after another. The officers and soldiers were able to reunite with their families and move into the prosperous Nanning. Most of them were satisfied, and some were content with the status quo.

Some people also advocated keeping a low profile, continuing to develop in Nanning, racing against time to train the Red Army, and then fighting a decisive battle with the Qing army when the Qing army attacked Nanning.

These assumptions are of course unacceptable. The army needs to fight frequently to gain experience. No matter how well they are trained on the spot, it is not as good as fighting a tough battle with real guns and real bullets.

In troubled times, generals can switch sides at any time, becoming allies today and enemies tomorrow, leaning on one person today and relying on another tomorrow. If Dan Chu is ambitious to rule the world, in addition to strengthening his strength, he must also constantly "cultivate his reputation", that is, cultivate his own reputation and improve his reputation.

Reputation is something that cannot be seen or touched, but it can be regarded as the "soft power" in troubled times and can even play a key role at critical moments.

Last year, Du Yinxi led the Loyalty Camp to attack Changsha fiercely. The Qing army only had 3,000 defenders in Changsha, and Changsha was in imminent danger.

But the reputation of the Loyalty Camp was too bad. When Li Zicheng was still alive, the Dashun Army would torture officials and wealthy families as soon as they broke into a city. After Li Zicheng's death, the Loyalty Camp became even more disorganized. They had no one to rely on in the Huguang area, no food or money, and often plundered.

Changsha residents were worried that the Zhongzheng Camp would rob the city and rushed to help the Qing army defend the city. The Ming army's failure in attacking Changsha was closely related to this.

Danchu expressed his support for war, and other generals agreed. Fang Yizhi said: "Although the King of Yulin and the King of Ningxia have passed away, the volunteer armies in various places are still enthusiastic. In Fujian, the navy of the Earl of Yanping is elite and the best in the world. In Yunnan, Sun Kewang of the West Camp has been training troops for a long time and has an irreconcilable hatred with the Qing invaders.

"Although Tan Tai won in Jiangxi, he did not dare to send troops to Guangdong. I heard that he would return to the north. In my opinion, there must be a large uprising of righteous troops in the north, or like the Liuyuan Army in Shandong, directly threatening the capital.

"The Ming Dynasty is still in decline. The Red Army relies on the wisdom of the Marshal and the loyalty of the soldiers. We have no choice but to send troops to Quanzhou this time. We will surely win the battle."

Looking around the world, there were two powerful anti-Qing forces, but neither of them recognized the Yongli Emperor. One was Zheng Chenggong, the Earl of Yanping in Fujian, who recognized the Longwu Emperor as the legitimate emperor and had not yet recognized the Yongli Emperor. The other was Sun Kewang in Yunnan, who still recognized Zhang Xianzhong as the legitimate emperor and had no dealings with the Yongli Dynasty.

However, Sun Kewang's leadership position in the Dashi Army was not stable. Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu both regarded themselves as the Western and Southern Palaces, and were unwilling to be under Sun Kewang. Therefore, Sun Kewang had the intention of submitting to Yongli and wanted to ask the Emperor to make him a king, so that he could control his three brothers Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi with the help of the imperial court.

The Dashi Army was a well-trained army that had fought many battles and was still developing in Yunnan. With administrative geniuses like Sun Kewang and military geniuses like Li Dingguo, the Dashi Army was able to hold up the banner of the anti-Qing war in the southwest.

With the Dashi Army as a deterrent, the Qing army would not be able to destroy the Southern Ming for a while. Danchu made this judgment, so he dared to go north to fight against the invaders.

But this time, the Red Army faces a more powerful enemy. It will be the first time for them to fight against the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia, so they must not take it lightly.

After a brief discussion, Danchu decided to march north to fight against the invaders and dispatched his personal guards, the second infantry battalion, and the auxiliary troops to participate in the war, totaling 8,000 people, including about 4,000 combat soldiers.

The Second Infantry Battalion was established half a year ago. It was originally stationed in Zhaoping and Yong'an. After a long period of training, it is time to go to the battlefield for experience. The First Infantry Battalion stayed in Nanning and Taiping. The Third Infantry Battalion was established three months ago and will go to Zhaoping and Yong'an to take over the defense.

The Red Army was organized into three main forces under the command of the superior force. When the war was not urgent, one would fight, one would rest, and one would stand by. This was the initial formation of the Red Army.

In addition, Danchu will for the first time recruit Tusi soldiers to participate in the war, and dispatch 2,000 Tusi soldiers from Si'en and 1,000 Tusi soldiers from Tianzhou, led by Si'en Tusi Cen Xun.

The Red Army will march out in two days, and the Tusi soldiers will be ordered to march out within five days.

The personal soldiers and the Tusi soldiers took the land route, passing through Liuzhou and arriving in Guilin, where they joined the second infantry battalion. The auxiliary soldiers and the third infantry battalion took the water route, going down the Yu River to Wuzhou, and then up the Li River from Wuzhou. The third battalion stayed in Zhaoping and Yong'an, while the auxiliary soldiers continued to move north.

The entire army will set up three granaries in Hengzhou, Zhaoping and Guilin, and the food and supplies will be transported by water, escorted by naval flags.

The navy currently has one long dragon, one fast crab, and four three-version ships, and its escort mission is very heavy.

Chen Bangfu of Xunzhou only had the title of Duke, but he was not stupid enough to dare to be an enemy of the Red Army.

You Jun Fang Yizhi stayed in Nanning and took charge of military and political power. He was in charge of small matters himself and discussed major matters with Madam Qu.

Yu Houji, the left assistant general, was stationed in Zhaoping and was responsible for supplying food, fodder and ammunition to the front line. He was in charge of all matters, big or small.

The war was imminent, and in order to boost morale, Danchu ordered a reward for the entire army. The Red Army was still not paying military pay for the time being, and ordinary soldiers could only get silver from rewards and spoils of war. During the Spring Festival, the entire army had been rewarded once, and each person was rewarded with eight cents of silver and a set of clothes and shoes. Veterans and officers were rewarded with additional rewards. This time, each person was rewarded with another eight cents of silver, and the officers and soldiers who participated in the war were rewarded twice.

(End of this chapter)