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

Chapter 177 Jiang Ge is back
After leaving Guilin, Danchu led his troops northward and arrived at Yanguan at the end of March, where Feng Jiali, director of the Intelligence Bureau, was waiting for him.

"What's the situation on the front line?" Dan Chu asked impatiently as soon as he sat down.

"General, the situation on the front line is not optimistic. The Qing army has captured Hengzhou. The Yunnan army has retreated to Quanzhou, and the Chu army has retreated to Yongzhou. The Zhongzheng Camp is stationed in Chaling and fought a fierce battle with the main force of the Qing army, but was defeated. Baoqing has also been captured, and Ma Jinzhong and Wang Jincai have retreated to Wugang and Xinning."

Hengzhou is today's Hengyang. It "straddles the north and south of Jinghu Lake, and has Jiao Guang (Yuebei) as its neck. With Hengshan Mountain behind it and Xiang River in front, it is an important town in eastern Hunan." Its geographical location is extremely important.

It is most convenient to go from Lingnan to Huguang and even to the Central Plains through Hengzhou. Similarly, going east from Hengzhou over Wugong Mountain can also easily enter Jiangxi. Therefore, Hengzhou is like the gateway to Lingnan. To defend Lingnan, one must first defend Hengzhou.

Now that Hengzhou has been lost, the Qing army can advance to Yongzhou and Quanzhou, directly threatening Guangxi.

The situation was grim. Danchu's eyes flashed with worry, and he asked, "Where is Xinxing Hou?"

"The Marquis of Xinxing is in Xing'an. The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Zhang Tongchang, is in Quanzhou, in the same city as the commander of the Yunnan Division, Zhao Yinxuan."

Danchu couldn't help but frown when he heard the name Zhang Tongchang. Zhang Tongchang was the great-grandson of the famous prime minister Zhang Juzheng, and was also a student of Qu Shisi, with whom he had a close relationship.

Qu Shisi was reluctant to go to the frontline, but the frontline needed a commander to unify and control the generals. The most suitable candidate was naturally Du Yinxi. However, Du Yinxi was a member of the Wu Party, while Qu Shisi was a member of the Chu Party. Qu Shisi naturally could not use Du Yinxi, but instead recommended Zhang Tongchang as the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War to "supervise the various garrison troops" and control the generals on the frontline on his behalf.

In fact, there is no strict boundary between the Wu Party and the Chu Party. They cannot be simply divided based on their place of origin, or whether they rebelled or remained loyal (whether they had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and shaved their heads).

Qu Shisi was from Changshu, Jiangsu, a typical Wu person, but he joined forces with the Dongxun Group and was considered a Chu Party member. Du Yinxi was from Yixing, Jiangsu, but he was not in harmony with the Chu Party leader He Tengjiao, so he was considered a Wu Party member by the Chu Party.

The imperial court was in Zhaoqing, which was located in the territory of the Chu Party. The court relied on the Chu Party in everything, so the Chu Party naturally gained power. The backbones of the Wu Party, such as Du Yinxi, Chen Bangfu, Ma Jixiang, and Pang Tianshou, lost power for a while. Du Yinxi worked hard and made great contributions, but he has not even been promoted to the title of Earl.

Cen Danchu could not help but complain: "Although Du Gebu is a member of the Wu Party, he is upright and capable, and has been operating in Huguang for many years. Ma Jinzhong and other brave generals all obey his control, so it is legitimate for him to succeed the commander-in-chief. The Chu Party controls the government, belittles Du Gebu, and appoints Qu Ge Lao as the commander-in-chief, which is a mistake.

"The overall situation is devastating. The Qing invaders have already broken through Hengzhou. The commander-in-chief does not take the overall situation into consideration. He has deep-rooted prejudices against his own factions and is unwilling to use Du Yinxi as the commander-in-chief on the front line. He would rather use Zhang Tongchang, an unknown man. With the enemy at the doorstep and no commander, each town is fighting on its own. Even if our Red Army fights desperately on the front line, what can it accomplish?"

Feng Jiali was the head of the Intelligence Bureau. He was a cautious person and never talked about others behind their backs. He said cautiously:

"After the death of the King of Zhongxiang, the Yunnan army had no one to rely on. Zhao Yinxuan had already surrendered to the commander-in-chief and was willing to be his subordinate. Therefore, Zhang Tongchang entered Quanzhou. It is said that Zhang Tongchang and Xinxing Hou were both the commander-in-chief's confidants, and most of the major plans on the front line were guided by Xinxing Hou."

Zhang Tongchang controlled all the towns and had no talent for commanding battles. He relied on Jiao Lian for everything. But Jiao Lian had no talent for generals either, and his qualifications were not as good as Ma Jinzhong, Wang Jincai, and Li Chixin. How could he control them? How could he fight against the Qing army if the military orders were not in line?
Wang Jincai, Zhao Yinxuan, Xiong Zhaozuo, Cao Zhijian and other generals were all from He Tengjiao's school, so they would not willingly obey Du Yinxi's control. It would not be appropriate to make Du Yinxi the commander-in-chief on the front line.

It seemed to have reached a dead end. If anyone was to blame, it could only be blamed on factionalism. The factionalism in the Ming Dynasty was already incurable and beyond cure.

Therefore, there is a fallacy in the world that when the eunuch party was in power, the Tianqi Dynasty was still able to resist the Qing invaders, and Wei Zhongxian was a treacherous hero in troubled times. In fact, the overall situation of the Tianqi Dynasty had not collapsed because the eunuch party eliminated dissidents and the court was highly centralized. Wei Zhongxian monopolized power and was able to do things easily, so he was not constrained.

Seeing Cen Danchu's worried look, Feng Jiali added: "General, the Qing troops in Jiangxi have begun to cross the river and retreat northward. The Qing troops in Hunan have divided into several routes and their offensive has been temporarily slowed down. Since the capture of Hengzhou, their movements have become even slower. There is good news, but it has not been confirmed yet. Rumors have come from the north that Jiang Ge has rebelled in Shanxi."

"It's finally launched!" Danchu's worry turned into joy, his eyes sparkled, and a glimmer of hope rose in his heart. Jiang Ge, whose courtesy name was Hanpu, was from Yulin, Shaanxi. The Jiang family had been generals in Shaanxi during the Ming Dynasty. Jiang Ge was the general of Datong Town in Shanxi, holding the seal of General Zhenshuo. His elder brother Jiang Rang was the general of Yulin Town in Shaanxi, and his younger brother Jiang Xuan was the deputy general of Yanghe Town in Shanxi.

In the 17th year of Chongzhen, the Dashun Army invaded Shanxi and Jiang Ge surrendered. Li Zicheng wanted to kill Jiang Ge, but he was afraid of the consequences and still appointed Jiang Ge as the general to deprive him of his military power.

When the Qing army entered the capital, Jiang Ge led his troops to kill the generals of the Dashun army and supported the Ming royal family's Zaoqiang King. Soon after, the Qing army entered Shanxi and Jiang Ge surrendered again.

Like Jin Shenghuan and Li Chengdong, the Qing court was very suspicious of Jiang Ge, and the Manchu officials in Shanxi often humiliated Jiang Ge. After Jiangxi and Guangdong rebelled, Jiang Ge was ready to make a move and sent people to the capital to contact Liu Zeqing, a surrendered general of the Ming Dynasty.

When the Qing army suppressed the Shandong Liuyuan Army, they found a secret letter from Liu Zeqing and used it to put Liu Zeqing in prison. Jiang Ge was worried all day long after hearing the news.

In November of the second year of the Yongli reign, two Chukhuls of the Khalkha tribe of Mongolia attacked the border. Dorgon decided to send Prince Ying Ajige, Prince Duanzhong Bolo, Prince Chengze Shuosai, and Prince Duolo Wakda to lead troops to garrison Datong and strengthen border defense.

Jiang Ge was extremely worried, thinking that Ajige was going to plot against him, so he started an uprising on the night of December 3, calling himself "General of Suppressing the Enemy". He beheaded several Manchu and Han officials, including Meilezhang Jing Tong Yangsheng, Yuanwailang Naneng'e, Cavalry Duwei Zhong Gu, Shoudao Xu Yifan, and Garrison Huang Tingru.

The Jiang family had been a famous general for generations, and their students and former officials were all over Shanxi. When Wu Sangui was fighting in Sichuan, most of his food and money came from Shanxi, and the soldiers and civilians in Shanxi had suffered for a long time.

Jiang Ge rose up in rebellion, and soldiers and civilians from all over Shanxi responded. Before long, the Qing army was left with only Taiyuan as an isolated city in Shanxi.

The Shanxi uprising, the main forces of the Manchu Eight Banners were tied down in Shanxi. Wang Yongqiang, the lieutenant general of the Yan'an Camp in northern Shaanxi, took the opportunity to revolt, calling himself "the general of pacification". Shaanxi was full of heroes, and rebel armies rose up in various places.

The Qing government had no choice but to transfer the troops of Pingxi King Wu Sangui and Gushan Ezhen Li Guohan stationed in Hanzhong back to northern Shaanxi to suppress the uprising of Wang Yongqiang in northern Shaanxi.

Inspired by this, Ding Guodong of Ganzhou regained his momentum. In April of the second year of the Yongli reign, Ding Guodong, a Hui general, started an uprising in Ganzhou and supported Zhu Shibun, a member of the Ming imperial family, as the "Yanchang King". Suzhou, Didao, Minzhou, Weiyuan, Hezhou, Taozhou, Gongchang and other cities all joined, and the Hui tribes in Hami and Turpan rose up in response.

Wang Guangtai also attacked Xiangyang from time to time, and the Thirteen Families of Kuidong gradually gained power...

Most of Jiang Ge's former subordinates were Ming Dynasty border troops. They were brave and valiant, much more capable of fighting than Jin Shenghuan and Li Chengdong. They repeatedly inflicted heavy losses on Ajige, and the rebel army became increasingly powerful.

The northwest is the barrier to the north, and northern Shaanxi and Shanxi are the gateways to the capital. Dorgon did not dare to neglect it, and personally led the Jingjin Prince Nikan and others to personally attack Datong...

There were three major uprisings in the Southern Ming Dynasty: Jin Shenghuan rebelled in Jiangxi, Li Chengdong rebelled in Guangdong, and Jiang Ge rebelled in Shanxi. Jiang Ge rebelled the latest, and Jin Shenghuan was about to be defeated when he rebelled. However, Jiang Ge had the strongest army and dealt the greatest blow to the Qing army.

Danchu realized that Jiang Ge's rebellion would be the last time God favored him. The capital of the Qing Dynasty was threatened, and Dorgon would definitely recall the Eight Banners Army from the Jiangxi and Huguang fronts.

The Qing army will not be able to enter Guangxi for a while, and the Red Army will have a precious breathing space. In the upcoming battle of Quanzhou, the Qing army will also find it difficult to exert its full strength.

Thinking of this, Dan Chu felt a little relieved.

(End of this chapter)