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

Chapter 205: The Loyalty Camp is in a Dilemma
On June 10, after two days of trekking, the Red Army arrived outside Xing'an City. Jiao Lian kept his promise and set up defenses outside Xing'an City and built a floating bridge on the Xiangjiang River to help the Red Army cross the river.

When old friends met, Jiao Lian was full of generosity and said to Dan Chu, "I regretted the second attack on Quanzhou. I rushed the troops hastily and made mistakes in my planning, which led to a complete defeat. If only I had listened to you at the beginning, everything would have been fine."

Danchu comforted him, saying, "The enemy is strong and we are weak, so Jirgalang personally led troops to rescue us. On our side, Marshal Jue had a hard time winning over the various towns and took great pains to attack Quanzhou twice against the general trend of the world, which was enough to inspire people and boost morale. As for the defeat, it was not the fault of the war, but the unfavorable situation. Marshal Jue does not need to blame himself."

Having said that, Jiao Lian still felt very sorry and said, "The Chu army and the Yunnan army are already frightened birds and have decided to withdraw to Guilin to rely on the governor. The Chu army has already moved camp, and the Yunnan army is still in Xing'an. Hu Yiqing wants to wait for you to cross the Xiangjiang River before he is willing to move camp south."

When He Tengjiao was alive, he relied heavily on the Chu and Yunnan divisions and tried every means to win them over. Now that He Tengjiao has passed away, Qu Shisi has taken over as the commander-in-chief, and Du Yinxi is unable to take care of himself. For the Chu and Yunnan divisions, the best way out is to go to Guilin and join Qu Shisi.

Jiao Lian was originally a close confidant of Qu Shisi, and was ordered by Qu Shisi to restore Quanzhou. Now, Quanzhou is hopeless to be restored, and it is hard to say whether Jiao Lian can keep Xing'an.

Danchu understood Jiao Lian's difficulties and advised: "Xing'an is backed by Yanguan and Lingqu and faces Quanzhou. It is a desperate situation in terms of military strategy. The Chu and Yunnan divisions retreated southward, the Guangxi division is alone and helpless, and Jirgalang led the Tartars to watch covetously..."

"What do you mean?" Jiao Lian asked back unwillingly.

"Xing'an is a dead end. Once Jirgalang leads his army to attack, if our army is defeated, we can only retreat to Xing'an. This retreat route is uphill, the mountain is steep, and the road is narrow. Once the chaotic soldiers block the road, the consequences will be disastrous.

"It is better to give up Xing'an and defend Yanguan Pass. The Tartars are divided into four routes and their forces are dispersed. They will never dare to look down on Guangxi. Jiang Ge and Wang Yongqiang have rebelled in Shanxi and northern Shaanxi. The Tartars' capital is empty. Jirgalang will have to return to the north. By then, our army will fight back and recover Quanzhou easily."

Without Cen Danchu's full support, Jiao Lian would not be able to defend Xing'an. At this point, the Gui army was alone and Jiao Lian had no choice but to give up Xing'an.

The Guangxi and Yunnan divisions covered the Red Army's crossing of the river in Xing'an, then burned the pontoon bridge and camps and withdrew alternately.

Jirgalang led his army to occupy Xing'an and sent troops to pursue, but was stubbornly blocked by the Ming army. In midsummer, the weather in the south was hot, and the Qing army gradually developed epidemics and was unable to attack Yanguan.

On June 15th, Cen Danchu returned to Guilin.

This place is the capital of Guangxi Province and the station of the commander-in-chief. It has convenient transportation and is more informed. While the Red Army and the Qing Army were fighting bloody battles, several major events occurred in the small Southern Ming court, which had a profound impact on the current situation.

Zhu Chenggong decided to accept the Yongli Emperor and sent an envoy to the court. During his lifetime, Emperor Longwu knew Zhu Chenggong very well and gave him the surname Zhu, the title of "Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Camp" and "Yi Tong Fu Ma", which actually regarded him as an adopted son.

At this moment, Zheng Zhilong had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Zheng Cai was annexed by Zhu Chenggong, the Lu Regent regime was on the decline, and Zhu Chenggong became the largest anti-Qing force on the southeast coast.

Zhu Chenggong came to submit his allegiance, and the Yongli Emperor and his ministers were very happy. They conferred the title of "Marquis of Weiyuan" on Zhu Chenggong, and according to the decree of Emperor Longwu, he continued to hold the seal of "General of Recruiting and Suppressing Troops" and was "Prime Minister of the Restoration of Military Funds and Armor."

The Loyalty Battalion was defeated in Chenzhou and prepared to retreat to Guangxi through Zhenxia Pass. Zhenxia Pass was the territory of the warlord Cao Zhijian. Cao Zhijian was afraid of the large number of troops in the Loyalty Battalion and was worried that Li Chi would plot against him, so he closed the pass and refused to accept them.

Li Chixin had no choice but to lead the Loyal Camp from Jianghua, Yongming (now Jiangyong, Hunan) through Lianxian and Yangshan in Guangdong, and retreat to Hexian, Huaiji (now in Guangdong), Kaijian, and Fengchuan (now Fengkai, Guangdong) in Guangxi, where he wandered around.

Du Yinxi was also defeated in Chenzhou. Seeing that the Zhongzheng Camp retreated to Guangxi, he felt that the situation was hopeless, so he led more than a thousand of his own troops and retreated to Guangxi through Zhenxia Pass.

Cao Zhijian was instigated by Zhu Moulie, a member of the imperial clan, and believed that Du Yinxi came to Zhenxia Pass to help the Zhongzheng Camp in order to seize his territory. That night, Cao Zhijian led his troops to surround Du Yinxi and killed all of his 1,000 soldiers. He wanted to harm Du Yinxi and his son, but he was afraid to do anything wrong and detained Du in Zhenxia Pass. Hui Yannian was a general under Cao Zhijian, who was quite upright and released Du Yinxi privately. However, the most controversial and far-reaching event in the court was Sun Kewang's request to be named King of Qin.

The Dashi Army gained a firm foothold in Yunnan. The administrative genius Sun Kewang was good at pacifying the people. "With Yunnan being a small corner of the country, with elite soldiers and sufficient food, we wanted to launch a major attack to recover the Central Plains."

Looking across the country, the Dashi Army was already the strongest anti-Qing force. However, there was an intractable problem within it: the lack of a leadership core.

When Zhang Xianzhong died, he had no sons and no designated successor. Generals Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi were all adopted sons of Zhang Xianzhong and theoretically had equal status.

After Ai Nengqi died in battle, Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu called themselves "Western Palace" and "Southern Palace", and did not buy into Sun Kewang's ideas. In order to legitimately control Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu, Sun Kewang decided to honor the Yongli Dynasty as the legitimate dynasty and asked Zhu Youlang for a title.

In February of the third year of the Yongli reign, Sun Kewang sent Yang Weizhi and Gong Yi to Zhaoqing to ask Zhu Youlang for the title of king. He had a big appetite and asked for the title of "King of Qin" right away.

……

These events are bound to have a profound impact on the current situation and will also have a very important impact on the Red Army. As soon as Dan returned to Guilin, he immediately summoned the backbone of the Intelligence Bureau to learn more about the current situation.

The Zhongzheng Camp's hesitation at the border of Guangdong and Guangxi will undoubtedly have the most direct impact on the Red Army. Danchu was most concerned about this and asked, "Old Feng, you said that Chen Bangfu has sent someone to secretly contact Li Chixin. Is there any basis for this?"

Intelligence chief Feng Jiali said: "Although there is no concrete evidence, it is almost certain. Our army seized Nanning and expelled Hu Zhigong from Sicheng, and has completely fallen out with Chen Bangfu. He wants to use Li Chixin as a backup to deal with our army. The Zhongzheng Camp has been wandering around, and Li Chixin also wants to find a safe place."

"Hmm," Cen Danchu murmured, lost in thought.

Historically, Chen Bangfu led Li Chixin to the south to kill Xu Biao in order to fight for Nanning. After Li Chixin occupied Nanning, he gradually had conflicts with Chen Bangfu. In order to deal with Li Chixin, Chen Bangfu also made friends with Sun Kewang.

In this chaotic time, Xunzhen would do anything to protect himself and fight for power. Chen Bangfu dared to make friends with Li Chixin, and Li Chixin dared to fight with the Red Army for Nanning.

"Have you found out the movements of the Loyalty Camp?"

Feng Jiali was confident and said, "It is very likely that they will enter Guangxi. The Zhongzheng Camp was stationed at the border between Guangdong and Guangxi. The court was suspicious and sent the Minister of Military Affairs Liu Yuansheng to order the army not to disturb the imperial court. The Wuzhou garrison also sent troops to stop the Zhongzheng Camp from heading west. The Zhongzheng Camp was in a dilemma.

"Du Yinxi was ignorant of the current situation and wrote to the court, requesting that the Zhongzheng Camp be placed somewhere in Guangdong. Dongxun submitted a letter to refute, and Li Yuanyin claimed, 'When we were Tartars, he did not come to reclaim Guangdong. Now that we have rebelled, why would he come to fight for Guangdong? And the emperor is here, what is the purpose of him coming?'"

"Well," Danchu pondered, "Dongxun has a strong army and controls the government. It has been entrenched in Guangdong for a long time. Li Chixin has just arrived and will not dare to provoke Dongxun and will not enter Guangdong. The Zhongzheng Camp is either in Guangdong or Guangxi. Since Guangdong is out of reach, there is no doubt that they will march into Guangxi."

"This?" Feng Jiali frowned, worried. He was also an old soldier in northern Shaanxi, and had fought against the peasant army for many years in his early years. He knew how powerful the peasant army was. Li Chixin was Li Zicheng's nephew and the successor of the Dashun Army. He led the Loyalty Battalion to Guangxi, and was bound to clash with the Red Army. Thinking about it, this was definitely not a good thing.

Danchu was very open-minded and said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, Lao Feng. You and I are both from Shaanxi, and we are from the same hometown as Li Chixin and Gao Bizheng. This Zhongzheng Camp is just a facade, but it is actually at the end of its rope. If Li Chixin dares to come to Guangxi to fight for territory, I will definitely take over the Zhongzheng Camp."

(End of this chapter)