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

Chapter 191: Unable to Pursue
The Qing army was defeated and Danchu breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking around the camp, it was a mess. The wooden walls were damaged in many places, the ground was stained with blood, and the bodies of both armies were lying in a mess. The fighting was the most intense at the east wing and the camp gate. The blood soaked the ground, and after being trampled by people and horses, it had become bloody mud.

The auxiliary soldiers were busy rescuing the wounded Red Army soldiers, while the cavalry were searching for and killing the wounded Eight Banner soldiers. The musketeers regrouped at the wooden wall, but because the wooden wall was damaged, the musketeers also suffered heavy casualties, and their firepower was greatly weakened.

The Qing army's retreat was quite methodical. The cavalry at the back retreated first, leaving a passage for the dismounted infantry. The infantry was divided into two groups, one blocking the Red Army outside the wooden wall and covering the other retreating to the stakes. When the infantry at the stakes were in place, the Qing army at the wooden wall retreated to the chevaux de frise to establish a defense line. In this way, they alternated to cover each other and retreated step by step. The cavalry at the rear formed a line and prepared to meet the Red Army reinforcements.

In the past, once the enemy's formation was broken, they would inevitably collapse. The Eight Banners soldiers under Lekedehun were brave in attacking and orderly in retreating, making him a famous Manchu general.

Danchu secretly admired him and felt terrified.

The Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming system. The Eight Banners attached importance to artillery, but not to muskets. Only the Han Army had an artillery team. In fact, the original intention of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to establish the Eight Banners of the Han Army was to form an artillery to counter the red artillery of the Liaodong Ming Army. In the seventh year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji named the Han soldiers "Wuzhen Chaoha", which means "heavy troops".

The Eight Banners had not yet formed a special firearms battalion. Historically, it was not until the 22nd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi that Emperor Kangxi ordered the establishment of the Han Army Firearms Battalion.

At that time, the Qing Dynasty had just put down the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories. Emperor Kangxi established the Han Army Firearms Battalion to accommodate soldiers from the former subordinates of Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming who were proficient in firearms in order to deal with the rising power of the Dzungar Kingdom.

The Han Army Firearms Battalion performed poorly in the battle against Dzungar, so Emperor Kangxi had to order the establishment of the Manchu Firearms Battalion in the 30th year of his reign.

After that, the Eight Banners continued to strengthen the firepower of infantry and cavalry, and the equipment rate of firearms such as muskets and rifles was extremely high. For example, more than half of the Manchu vanguard battalions were equipped with muskets, called "fowl gun vanguards", and the remaining vanguards were called "basic vanguards" or "general vanguards".

If Lekedehun's Eight Banners soldiers were equipped with a large number of muskets, they could shoot at the Red Army across the trenches. Would the Red Army still be able to hold the camp? With the current level of firearms manufacturing in the Qing Dynasty, it was entirely possible to manufacture matchlock muskets on a large scale.

To this end, the Red Army had to continuously improve its flintlock rifles and step up its efforts to equip itself with more advanced flintlock rifles to ensure that it remained ahead of the Eight Banners in firearms.

If Lekedehun had more than 3,000 bannermen under his command, and if he could divide his troops to stop the second battalion of the Red Army infantry, could the personal battalion still hold the Leigongling camp?

If defending a camp is so difficult, what about a field battle? What about an encounter battle?

Dan Chu was alert, and although he fought off the Qing army, he was surprisingly calm.

"General, the Second Infantry Battalion is about to arrive. Should the Royal Guards open the gate and chase the Tartars?"

Yang Yuqi asked, his face full of excitement. The Red Army went out to fight against the invaders for the first time, and killed Jueluo Guoke in one battle, and defeated Lekedehun in the second battle. From then on, they could become famous all over the world.

Danchu smiled slightly, revealing a hint of fatigue.

At this moment, the Qing army's rear guard had retreated to the chevaux de frise, waiting in full battle array, while the others were crossing the moat bridge one after another. If they attacked at this time, the soldiers would be exposed and would surely be injured by the Qing army's bows and arrows. The casualties of the imperial guards were already heavy, so it was inconvenient for them to leave the camp and fight in the field.

"No need. Even if we want to pursue them, we have to cross the trench bridge. There are only two available trench bridges. The troops and horses are crowded and it is difficult to cross in a hurry. The Tartars will take advantage of it. Let the artillery battalion continue to bombard the Tartars. When the Tartars withdraw from the chevaux de frise, send the musket battalion to occupy the chevaux de frise and attack the Tartars from a distance.

"Inform the Second Infantry Battalion to stand guard on both wings of Leigong Ridge. Do not cross Leigong Ridge without permission, and do not challenge the Qing army. If the Tartars dare to engage the Second Infantry Battalion, we will send our personal guards out of the camp to engage in battle."

The Qing army did not gain an advantage, but suffered heavy casualties. Lekedehun saw the Red Army infantry approaching and did not dare to fight, so he led his troops to retreat. The Qing army was composed of cavalry, and they moved back and forth like the wind.

Danchu did not order a pursuit, and the Red Army cleaned up the battlefield, collected the bodies, and repaired the fortifications. In the evening, Jiao Lian asked the military supervisor Bai Guozhen to come to Leigongling to meet Danchu.

After the greetings, Bai Guozhen said, "The Marquis of Xinxing was worried and sent me to check on you. If the general needs reinforcements, just let me know."

Having said that, Danchu also understood the situation on Jiao Lian's side. Jiao Lian attacked Quanzhou fiercely and failed, so he ordered his soldiers to be divided into three shifts and work day and night. It was said that the artillery team fired too frequently, the barrels were red, and several guns exploded. He probably couldn't spare any extra troops, and even a lot of troops guarding the pontoon bridge were transferred away.

"No need to bother you, Marshal." Danchu's eyes were bright and he was confident. He said, "The focus of this battle is Quanzhou. Marshal, you should attack Quanzhou with all your strength. Quanzhou is in a critical situation, and Lekedehun will have to cross the river to reinforce Quanzhou. At that time, I will lead the army to follow them and attack them when they are halfway across the river. Maybe we can succeed."

"General, this is a very good idea. What is the result of today's battle?"

"It can be called a tragic victory." Although he had won, Danchu was not happy. He replied, "We killed 600 enemies and lost 400 of our own, and they were all our elite troops. The Tartars are confirmed to be the troops of Lekedehun, with no less than 3,000 cavalry, and they have retreated to Suoyiferry."

"So, the Tartars intend to cross the river at Suoyiferry?"

"It should be. The Tartars have already collected boats at Suoyi Ferry and can cross the river at any time."

Bai Guozhen knew about this, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "The Marquis of Xinxing once sent troops to attack the Suoyi Ferry and burned many ships. He plans to attack the Suoyi Ferry again tonight. What do you think, General?"

Jiao Lian attacked Suoyifur without Cen Danchu's consent. This move might cause trouble for Danchu - the Qing army might stay on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River, threatening the Red Army at any time. Therefore, Jiao Lian sent Bai Guozhen to inform Cen Danchu.

However, if Jiao Lian had courage and insight, he could set up an ambush at Suoyi Ferry and wait for the Qing army to cross halfway, and then join forces with Cen Danchu to attack the Qing army, perhaps achieving great success.

Danchu hesitated for a moment and said, "I set up camp at Leigong Ridge and formed a battle array with my back to Guanjiang River in order to stop the Tartars. Marshal Jue wants to attack Suoyifur, and I fully support it. I do have an idea..."

Bai Guozhen said quickly: "General, please speak."

"There is a Lion Ridge near Suoyi Ferry, with dense trees. It would be better if you ask the Duke to ambush the troops at the Lion Ridge and wait for the Tartars to cross halfway before attacking them. I will follow them on the other side and attack them with drums and drums, perhaps we can achieve great success."

This is a good idea. Bai Guozhen thought for a long time and said, "Although the plan is good, I am afraid it will not work."

"Why?" Danchu already knew the answer in his heart. It must be that the Yunnan and Guangxi divisions were not strong enough.

"General Jue has 20,000 troops from Yunnan and Guangxi. Excluding auxiliary troops and guards along the line, there are less than 10,000 troops that can be used to besiege Quanzhou. Quanzhou City is strategically located, and Tong Tulai is in charge. He is cunning and brave, and an extraordinary thief.

"General, you have been through a lot of battles, so you naturally know that attacking a city is different from defending a city or fighting in the field, and the difficulty is twice as much. It is already difficult for the commander to besiege the city with 10,000 troops, and he is actually unable to ambush Lion Ridge."

You don't know how difficult something is until you experience it. Danchu became the commander of the Red Army and felt deeply about this. In many cases, there are many soldiers on paper, but not many who can fight, and even fewer who can be deployed to the front line.

The total number of the Red Army was 20,000, but less than 10,000 could be used for frontline combat, so they had to mobilize the chieftains' soldiers and followers. This time, the only people who could fight the Qing army in Leigongling were the 2,500 personal soldiers. Excluding the auxiliary soldiers, there were only about 2,000 people who could fight.

After fighting again at Tangjiapu and Leigongling, the personal guards had lost 600 men and horses, and the number of men was less than 2,000. At this time, if they still wanted to pursue the victory and attack the enemy halfway across the river, it would be completely a pipe dream.

(End of this chapter)