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

Chapter 196: The Qing Army's Rapid Attack
The speed and strength of the Qing army's reinforcements completely exceeded the Ming army's expectations.

At 3:00 pm on June 4, Danchu was still fast asleep when the intelligence chief Feng Jiali knocked on the central army tent and said he had important intelligence. The guards did not dare to neglect him and hurriedly woke Danchu up.

The drizzle fell on the tent, making a rustling sound. Danchu jumped up from the bed, sorted out his clothes, and came out to meet Feng Jiali.

"Commander, I shouldn't disturb you so late at night..."

"Nothing," Danchu said, "What's the matter?"

"The Tartar reinforcements have reached Yongzhou."

"Ah?" Danchu was startled and his sleepiness disappeared immediately.

Yongzhou is located in the lower reaches of the Xiang River, only 160 miles away from Quanzhou. Cavalry can normally travel 100 miles a day, and can travel 200 miles a day if they march quickly. If the Qing army marches quickly, they can reach Quanzhou within a day.

Danchu couldn't help but look at the clock. The hands were pointing to a quarter past four in the morning.

Before he could ask, Feng Jiali said, "Yesterday at noon, the vanguard of the Tartars arrived in Yongzhou. The scouts approached and conducted reconnaissance. The Tartars were alert and sent light cavalry to pursue them. When they encountered any suspicious person, they killed them without distinction, regardless of whether they had long hair or short hair.

"Fortunately, a scout escaped and was helped by his comrades in Putianpu. He changed horses and hurried back to the camp half an hour ago. According to him, the Tartar army is endless and there are more of them than in the last battle of Leigongling."

The Qing army arrived in Yongzhou at noon yesterday. If they march quickly, they will arrive in Quanzhou at noon today. From now on, the Red Army only has four hours, or eight hours.

"Have you figured out which part of the Tartars they are from?"

"They are all cavalry, definitely the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners. Their armor and flags are of different colors, but there are many blue armor and flags, and the blue-rimmed flags are particularly conspicuous."

Jirgalang was the leader of the Manchu Bordered Blue Banner and the chief commander of the Qing army. This wave of Qing reinforcements was even larger than that of Lekedehun. Apart from Jirgalang, who else could have this ability?
"I guess it's Jirgalang who personally led the army to help us." Danchu said decisively and fell into deep thought.

"Where is the detective?"

"I'm in the Intelligence Bureau's tent. I called the old doctor to come and treat my injuries."

"I'll go see him."

The personal soldier handed over a straw raincoat and helped Danchu put it on.

Outside the tent, the rain was neither fast nor slow, and the raindrops were neither big nor small.

The rainy season in Hunan has arrived. In normal years, the rainy season usually lasts for a month. During this month, the weather is humid and rainy, with few sunny days.

This kind of weather had a greater impact on the Qing army, because the Qing army's trump card weapon was the Manchurian bow, which was afraid of moisture and rain. The matchlock gun naturally could not be used on rainy days, but after the rain stopped, it could still be used even if the air was humid.

The two of them braved the rain and came to the intelligence bureau's big tent. The staff inside had already gotten up, lit the oil lamps, and were busy. The enemy was approaching, so they had to speed up the collection of intelligence and the analysis of intelligence. Except for a small number of office workers, all other scouts were sent out.

Seeing the coach in person, everyone stood up.

The injured detective, who had just had his wounds stitched, struggled to get up, but was held down by Danchu.

"Old Immortal, how is your injury?" Dan Chu asked with concern.

The old immortal was named Li Qi, he was over 40 years old, came from a family of doctors, had superb medical skills, had saved countless lives, and was honored as the old immortal by the Red Army.

Danchu originally wanted to promote him to be the captain of the medical team, but Li Qi knew that he did not have the ability to lead troops in battle, so he strongly declined and was willing to be an ordinary military doctor.

"I was shot in the left arm and the bone was injured, but it's not serious. I will be healed after a few months of rest."

Since the bones have been injured, he will surely be disabled. The old immortal said this just to comfort the injured person and prevent him from being sad.

"General, I am incompetent..." "Brother, don't say that. If you hadn't discovered the Tartars in time, the army would be in danger."

Those who can become scouts are all smart and clever. The injured man knew Danchu's purpose and said, "General, there are too many Tartars and we can't see the end of them."

"According to your estimate, how many troops do the Tartars have?"

Estimating the number of people is also a technical job that relies on experience. It can be judged based on the length of the enemy's troops, the number of tents and stoves, etc. It is obviously impossible to accurately count the enemy's troops in a short period of time.

"There should be at least 5,000 of them, all cavalry, with many blue flags and blue-rimmed flags."

"Did it rain in Yongzhou when you were there?"

Quanzhou has been cloudy for days. It drizzled yesterday and the rain got heavier at night. Yongzhou is only 160 miles away from Quanzhou, so the weather should be similar.

"Yongzhou was cloudy, but it hadn't rained yesterday at noon. I was rushing back yesterday, and it started to rain after I passed Shuangpai."

After the questioning, Danchu returned to the central army tent. It was already dawn.

Yang Yuqi, the director of the Operations Bureau, also rushed over upon hearing the news and sighed, "This group of Tartars must be Jirgalang, coming from Chenzhou and taking the east bank of the Xiangjiang River. Our army is camped on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River and will bear the brunt of the attack."

Feng Keyi said: "The Tartars learned their lesson at Leigong Ridge last time, so they may cross the river downstream."

"We are still not strong enough!" Danchu sighed, "The Tartars sent 5,000 cavalry to reinforce us, which is enough to shake our defense line. Our army besieged Quanzhou with tens of thousands of troops. Our number is far greater than that of the Tartars, but the difference in combat power is huge. If our combat power is equal to that of the Tartars, or even slightly lower, we can send troops to Huangsha Town or even Dong'an County to stop the Tartars. Why do we have to huddle in Suoyifal and do passive defense like we are now?"

There is nothing we can do about it.

There was a moment of silence in the tent, and Yang Yuqi asked, "Marshal, should we notify all the camps to get up early and make preparations?"

"No need," Danchu said in a deep voice, "We don't care about this little time, so as not to disturb the soldiers and make us look panicked."

After a brief pause, Danchu ordered: "Report the intelligence to the Gui, Yunnan, and Chu divisions, order the Second Infantry Battalion and the Tusi soldiers to strengthen their vigilance, and the Intelligence Bureau to speed up the collection of intelligence."

The rain continued to fall, and it did not stop even after daybreak. The scouts from the Intelligence Bureau and the Operations Bureau entered and exited the camp more frequently. More intelligence was transmitted, and the enemy's movements became clearer.

Manchu Prince Zheng Jirgalang personally led his army to help, bringing with him about 6,000 soldiers from the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners. At 3 p.m., the Qing army's vanguard arrived at Huangsha Town, then stopped to camp and built a pontoon bridge near Huangsha Station, apparently preparing to cross the river.

Upon hearing the news, Jiao Lian led the Guangxi and Yunnan divisions to attack Quanzhou in the rain, hoping to capture Quanzhou before Jirgalang.

Chu's division commander Xiong Zhaozuo urgently asked the Red Army for help, hoping that Cen Danchu would send troops to the west bank of the Xiangjiang River to help him block the Qing army.

The enemy situation was unclear and the Qing army had not yet crossed the river. Danchu did not send troops, but only paid close attention to the Qing army's movements and promised Xiong Zhaozuo to send troops for reinforcement.

Send troops to Huangsha Town for a surprise attack while the Qing army is still unstable?

There were many Ming troops on the front line, but no one went to Huangsha Town to launch a surprise attack on the Qing army. It was not because they did not want to, but because they did not have the strength.

The Guangxi Division led by Jiao Lian had 15,000 troops, the Yunnan Division led by Hu Yiqing and Wang Yongzuo had 8,000 troops, the Chu Division led by Xiong Zhaozuo and Zhou Jintang had 5,000 troops, and the Red Army led by Cen Danchu had 11,000 troops. The total number of troops seemed large, but excluding the guards and auxiliary troops along the way, no more than 30,000 troops could be deployed to the front line.

It was already very difficult for the various towns to not retreat when they heard that the Qing army was approaching. Under the circumstances at the time, if it were any other Southern Ming army, they would have run away long ago without a trace.

The next day, the rain stopped, making it suitable for fighting. The Qing army split into two groups. One group crossed the river at Huangsha Town and reinforced Quanzhou along the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, with about 2,000 cavalry. The other group continued south along the east bank of the Xiangjiang River, with about 4,000 cavalry.

What you fear will come to you. Danchu was deeply troubled upon hearing the news and ordered all the regiments to close their camp gates, build strong camps, and fight in a static battle, and not to go into battle without orders.

(End of this chapter)