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

Chapter 179: Build a Stronghold and Fight a Stupid Battle

The Red Army settled in Xing'an.

The situation seemed to be under control. The Yunnan division was in Quanzhou, the Chu division was in Yongzhou, Li Chixin counterattacked Hengzhou, and Hu Yiqing captured Hengshan. Although the Ming army was defeated, its strength was still considerable.

The Red Army had traveled a long distance, so it was a good opportunity to rest and regroup. Needless to say, Cen Danchu sent out scouts to gather intelligence and step up preparations for war.

Not long after, the situation reversed again, which was unexpected.

The Qing army launched a massive counterattack, and the Ming army was defeated again. Hengshan, Anren, and Youxian were successively lost, and the generals Lu Shiyi and Gong Rui were killed in the battle. Hu Yiqing and Wang Yongzuo retreated to Quanzhou, Li Chixin retreated to Chenzhou, and Du Yinxi retreated to Yongning.

Jirgalang led his army to pursue the Zhongzheng Camp and sent Gushan Ezhen Tongtulai and Yibai to attack Yongzhou and Quanzhou.

Tong Guolai was from Fushun, Liaodong, and belonged to the Han army of the Zhenglan Banner. The Tong family was the Tonggiya family, and they surrendered to Nurhaci early. Although they were Jurchens, they were highly sinicized and were highly valued by the Qing emperor. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Tonggiya family was extremely prominent and was one of the eight major surnames in Manchuria.

Yibai was a member of the Manchu Zhenglan Banner and a member of the Hesheli clan, which was also one of the eight major Manchu surnames. He was a brave and warlike man.

Tong Tulai led his troops to attack Yongzhou. The Chu army collapsed. The Qing army easily captured Yongzhou and quickly divided its troops to attack Quanzhou.

……

At this time, Jiao Lian fell seriously ill. He forced himself to summon all the generals to the city to discuss matters:

"I never thought that the situation would deteriorate to this extent in just a few days. Yongzhou fell, and the Qing invaders marched straight into Quanzhou. I happened to be sick these two days and could not ride on a horse to fight the enemy, so I had to send Ma Zhen to lead the troops to reinforce. You must prepare your troops and horses and be ready to fight the Qing invaders."

Ma Qijiao has a long career, is both wise and brave, and is often regarded as a substitute by Jiao Lian. He has strong soldiers and horses under his command, and is known as the best among Jiao Lian's generals.

Xing'an is only a hundred miles away from Quanzhou. Cavalry can reach it in one day, and infantry can reach it in two days by forced march.

Danchu read the Tang newspaper in his hand again and asked, "Did Hu Yiqing also retreat to Quanzhou?"

Hu Yiqing was a general of the Yunnan Division and became brothers with Danchu.

The commander of the Yunnan Division was Zhao Yinxuan, and another general was Wang Yongzuo. Hu Yiqing and Zhao Yinxuan were cousins, and Wang Yongzuo was a good friend from the same hometown. When the Yunnan Division fought, Zhao Yinxuan often stayed behind to supply food and grass, while Hu Yiqing led Wang Yongzuo to fight on the front line.

"Yes, Hu Yiqing and Wang Yongzuo withdrew from Hengshan with 10,000 troops. They built seven large camps in Huangsha Town. The Chu army's Xiong Zhaozuo and Zhou Jintang retreated to Quanzhou City and defended the city together with Zhao Yinxuan." Jiao Lian replied, and coughed twice, obviously catching a cold.

"Marshal, Ma Zhen is reinforcing Quanzhou, and Tangjiapu is empty. I will lead the Red Army to Tangjiapu to protect Xing'an."

Tangjiapu is a commercial port located ten miles downstream of Xing'an. It is adjacent to Tianpingling in the west and Xiangjiang River in the east. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers and has a strategic location. It can be called the gateway to Xing'an.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, commodity economy developed, rural markets became important places for exchanging goods, and gradually rose to become towns. Tangjiapu outside Xing'an City is a typical town.

Quanzhou, Xing'an, and Tangjiapu are all located on the west bank of the Xiang River. Jiao Lian sent Ma Qijiao to garrison Tangjiapu to ensure the passage between Quanzhou and Xing'an. Once Ma Qijiao left, he had to send a brave general to garrison Tangjiapu.

Jiao Lian had only three brave generals left: Jiao Ke, Zhu Minru, and Cen Danchu. Jiao Ke was in charge of the central army and stayed by Jiao Lian's side at all times. Zhu Minru was brave but not smart enough, and had never been able to lead a team on his own.

Cen Dan's initial attack on Xu Biao attracted considerable attention at the time, so this time he took the initiative to volunteer.

Jiao Lian was very happy and said, "Very good, Zhuoru, you will lead your troops to move to Tangjiapu tomorrow."

He forced himself to walk to the map and said, "The Qing army's movements have been roughly figured out. They are divided into four routes. There are two routes in southern Hunan. Jierhalang and Lekedehun led the main force to attack Chenzhou and Yongxing, and pursued Du Yinxi and Li Chixin. Tong Tulai and Yibai led a small army to attack Yongzhou and Quanzhou.

"There is a route in western Hunan. The pseudo-Minister of War Ahanikan and Gushan Ezhen Liu Zhiyuan led troops to attack Baoqing. Ma Jinzhong and Wang Jincai were defeated and retreated to Wugang and Xinning. Ahanikan and Liu Zhiyuan continued to move westward, seemingly intending to attack Qianyang. The bandits Yuan Zongdi and Liu Tichun still have ten battalions of troops in Qianyang, and may be able to fight the Qing invaders. "There is another route of Qing invaders, whose leader is unknown and whose troops are unknown, and have penetrated deep into Liping, Guizhou, and seem to want to attack Hao Ni (Hao Yongzhong)."

Jiao Lian was the hereditary commander-in-chief of the Ming army. He fought against the peasant army for many years in his early years and had deep-rooted prejudices against the remnants of the Dashun Army, including Li Chixin, Hao Yongzhong, and Yuan Zongde.

Instigated by He Tengjiao, Hao Yongzhong attacked and killed the Ming general Chen Youlong, provoking internal strife among the Ming army in Huguang, and was even more hostile to the officials of the Yongli court. Since the third year of the Yongli reign, court documents openly called Hao Yongzhong "Hao Ni".

Jiao Ke, who was usually taciturn, said at this time: "The Qing army is small and weak, and they have penetrated deep into Huguang and dared to divide their troops into four groups. They are really courting death."

Having said that, it is an indisputable fact that the Qing army was divided into several routes and defeated the Ming army without any resistance.

War is a dangerous path. Cen Danchu did not dare to be blindly optimistic. After bidding farewell to Jiao Lian, he immediately dispatched troops and generals to Tangjiapu to set up defenses.

The second infantry battalion and the Tusi soldiers were the vanguard, deployed five miles downstream of Tangjiapu. The Tusi soldiers were on the left wing, with three camps located in the hilly areas of Qijialing and Yumi Mountain. The second infantry battalion was deployed from Qijialing to the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, with a total of three camps.

The personal soldiers were the central army, and they set up three camps two miles in front of Tangjiapu. The auxiliary soldiers were the rear army, and they set up one camp in Tangjiapu. During the war, the auxiliary soldiers were assigned to various units and went deep into the front line. Only a few officers and soldiers from the baggage camp stayed in the rear army.

The Red Army was deployed in the shape of an inverted Chinese character "品", with the front heavy and the back light. Danchu himself was in charge of the central army, directing the troops.

This battle was the first time the Red Army would face the Eight Banners of Manchuria, and it was a very serious matter. Danchu attached great importance to it and inspected the camps on horseback.

"Who is in charge of this camp?"

The second battalion commander Kuang Shi came forward and said, "As the battalion commander, I bear full responsibility. The camp trenches are not built properly, and the responsibility lies with me."

The second battalion commander, Mo Erzhen, blushed and replied, "I am the commander of this camp. The responsibility is mine."

Factions gradually emerged within the Red Army. Mo Erzhen belonged to the Yong'an faction and was from the Yong'an Mo family. His sister was Danchu's concubine.

"Let me ask you, what is the standard for the trench I set?"

"It is one zhang wide and one zhang deep, with sharpened bamboo and wood placed at the bottom. Soil must be transported two zhang away, and a chevaux-de-frise wall built to prevent the enemy from backfilling and to prevent the enemy's cavalry."

"How deep is it here? Not even seven feet? Why did you stop working?"

Naturally, the project was huge and the soil was hard. But the commander was angry, and Morzhen stammered and dared not speak, and the air seemed to be frozen.

What was even more unexpected was that Cen Danchu dismounted and jumped into the trench.

"Commander!"

Amid the exclamations of the crowd, Danchu jumped up from the bottom of the ditch, supported himself on the edge of the trench with his hands, pushed away the pulling of his personal soldiers, and climbed up alone.

"I can climb out of the trench with my bare hands. What's the use of your trench, which is less than seven feet deep? Morgen, you have one day to dig the trench. Otherwise, you will be subject to military law."

If the military law is followed, the punishment should be at least caning. Morzhen did not dare to neglect it and replied, "Yes."

"In this battle against the Qing invaders, we must build a strong camp and fight a stupid battle to put ourselves in an invincible position. The Qing invaders are coming with great momentum and are likely to break through Quanzhou and head straight for Xing'an."

The soldiers of the left wing Tusi camped in the hilly area, which was full of rocks and difficult to dig trenches. Danchu ordered them to cut down trees in the mountains and build a fortress around the camp twice.

(End of this chapter)