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

Chapter 220: Defeat of the Loyalty Camp

Chen Bangfu's navy was defeated. When the news reached the Zhongzheng Camp, it was like a thunderclap, shocking Liu Xiyao and Liu Fangliang so much that their expressions changed drastically.

Liu Xiyao's eyes widened with anger, and he cursed: "Damn it, I knew Chen Bangfu was unreliable, incapable of accomplishing anything, but always causing trouble. There is no way to expect him to escort us!"

Liu Fangliang was quite calm and said, "This is quite strange. The scouts said that the Red Bandits' navy was only recently trained and has only more than 20 warships. Chen Bangfu has been stationed in Guangxi for a long time, and his navy is known to be powerful. The warships he sent to our army numbered 50 to 60, including huge ships like the tower ship. How could they be so weak in battle?"

"It must be that Chen Bangfu is unwilling to fight to the death and is conserving his strength everywhere!" Liu Xiyao's face was distorted and he was furious.

Without the navy's escort, the Loyalty Camp was in big trouble. The old camp and the baggage were all transported by water, and could be threatened by the enemy at any time.

A few months ago, Du Yinxi, as the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion and Minister of War, entrusted Cheng Xun, the Vice Minister of War, to escort Du's family and some families of the generals of the Loyal Camp to Wuzhou. They took the waterway and boarded more than a dozen ships. When passing Fengchuan, Zhang Xiang, the guarding officer, was just a small deputy general, but he was instructed by Dongxun to fire and sink all the above-mentioned ships.

When the Zhongzheng Battalion attacked Wuzhou, the Southern Ming defenders "flew in flying boats and fired arrows and cannons". The Zhongzheng Battalion was almost unable to resist, but fortunately, it had a large number of troops and won a great victory on land, forcing the Southern Ming navy to retreat.

The painful lesson is still fresh in our minds. Without the navy's escort, the Loyalty Camp was like a lamb to be slaughtered, and it was simply a foolish dream to want to capture Nanning.

"Don't be anxious, find out the situation first." Liu Fangliang pretended to be calm and tried his best to persuade Liu Fangyao.

The relationship between the two Lius was also very delicate. Liu Xiyao had a long career, but his military exploits were not as prominent as Liu Fangliang's. After the founding of the Dashun state, Liu Xiyao was once appointed as the "Deputy General of the Left Camp" and became Liu Fangliang's deputy. Liu Fangliang regarded Liu Xiyao as a senior and respected him very much.

The two of them were like-minded and opposed to surrendering to the Ming Dynasty. They formed their own faction in the Loyalty Camp. Historically, the two Lius left the Loyalty Camp and flew solo, leaving Guangxi for Huguang. In Chenzhou, they were surrounded by the Ming army and militia, and with the epidemic in the army, the entire army was eventually wiped out.

Liu Xiyao had no choice but to listen to Liu Fangliang's words. He could only suppress his anger and wait for the scout's report.

"Although the Red Bandits are a latecomer, they have the potential to catch up. Cen Danchu was able to kill Jueluo Guoke in battle, and in the two battles with Lekedehun and Jirgalang in Quanzhou, he did not lose the upper hand at all. It can be seen that he is definitely not an ordinary person."

Liu Fangliang paused, and seeing that Liu Xiyao had calmed down a lot, he continued: "Today our army tried to attack Wutunso, driving the death squad forward, but suffered heavy casualties. The Red Bandits were as immovable as a mountain, and their guns and artillery were fierce. Although Wutunso is a small city, it is like a copper wall and an iron fortress..."

"What are you afraid of?" Liu Xiyao interrupted Liu Fangliang and said, "We started our rebellion during the Chongzhen period and have been fighting for many years. What kind of enemies have we not seen? Are we afraid of a mere red bandit?

"Right now, Li Chixin and Gao Bizheng are in a state of uncertainty, and the entire army is adrift and helpless. Only by seizing the fertile land of Nanning can we settle their families and stabilize the soldiers. The two of us volunteer to be the vanguard, and we must not waver in the slightest."

Having said that, the scouts continued to provide information, which made Liu Xiyao confused and uncertain.

"Reporting to the commander, the Red Bandits' navy only has about twenty warships, but they are all new in design, with fierce firepower and very fast speed. Chen Bangfu's navy was defeated, the tower ships were destroyed, half of the wheel boats were destroyed, and half surrendered, and most of the Boshan boats escaped."

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, the Red Bandits' navy only attacked Chen Bangfu's navy warships and has not yet attacked our ships."

"Reporting to the commander, the three camps of the Red Bandits have opened their gates and are in formation, ready to challenge."

……

When Liu Xiyao heard that the Red Army had left the camp and formed a battle line, he became furious and immediately ordered his soldiers to gather and prepare for battle.

Liu Fangliang advised: "The Red Bandits had sent envoys to negotiate peace before, and were willing to form an alliance with our army to deal with Chen Bangfu. Today, they only attacked Chen Bangfu's navy on the Xunjiang River, and did not attack our warships. Their intention is self-evident.

"All our ships are eight-oared boats, which can only carry family members and baggage, and are not suitable for naval battles. Since Chen Bangfu's navy was defeated, our baggage and family members are threatened, and we may be attacked by the Red Bandits at any time. The morale of the soldiers is low, and they have no desire to fight. Brother, why don't you send an envoy to inquire about the situation and then decide on a battle and defense plan?" Liu Xiyao was stubborn and said, "The Red Bandits have few ships, so they can only focus on attacking Chen Bangfu's navy. If they attack a little, they will definitely attack our army. They have already left the camp and formed a battle array. The situation is urgent, like an arrow on a string, which must be fired.

"If we can win, we'll go over there. If we can't, we'll cross the river and head south. What are you hesitating about? Brother, you haven't recovered yet, so stay and take care of the old camp. Watch me defeat the Red Bandits and show off my military prowess."

After saying this, Liu Xiyao led his troops without further ado and went to fight the Red Army.

At the beginning of the afternoon, the two armies engaged in battle. The Red Army used the second and fourth infantry battalions to directly attack the Loyalty Battalion, while the personal guard battalion was in the rear. Excluding auxiliary troops and guards, the Red Army had about 6,000 troops on the front line, which was equal to the number of the Loyalty Battalion. The two infantry battalions formed a hollow square formation to fight against the "three walls" of the Loyalty Battalion. The personal guard battalion remained in place and served as a reserve.

Liu Xiyao used the same trick again, driving the refugees as the vanguard, followed by the cavalry and infantry, which was the famous "three walls" tactic of the Dashun Army. The refugees were unarmed, mostly holding bamboo spears and farm tools. If anyone turned around and retreated, they would be immediately hacked to death by the cavalry. Similarly, if the cavalry turned around and retreated, their comrades behind them could be killed immediately.

There is nothing mysterious about the "three walls" tactic, except that it requires strict discipline. Soldiers advance without retreating, so they can often succeed.

However, when the Dashun Army was at its peak, they did not often use refugees in battle. The Zhongzheng Camp had no base, could not produce firearms on its own, and was less well-equipped with firearms than the Qing and Ming armies, so they often used refugees as human shields to consume enemy firearms.

The Red Army infantry formed a hollow square formation, a strange formation. Liu Xiyao had been in the army for a long time, but he had rarely seen this formation. The gunners were arranged on the outside of the square formation, and the bird guns had bayonets, like swords and spears. Because there were refugees in front, they did not open fire. There was also a large group of cavalry, placed behind the left of the infantry, and they were not in a hurry to engage in battle.

As they approached the Red Army formations, the white bayonets were so frightening that the refugees dared not move forward even if they were beaten to death.

The Zhongzheng Battalion had achieved its goal of using refugees to avoid gunfire and artillery fire. The cavalry trampled on the refugees and prepared to attack the Red Army's battle formation.

But then they heard "bang bang bang bang", a dense rain of bullets hit the loyal camp and threw them to the ground. The silk armor, cotton armor, and Ming armor were all useless, and most of them were pierced by bullets. The loyal camp suffered heavy casualties.

Liu Xiyao was inflexible in his use of troops and became angry and humiliated, so he ordered his cavalry to charge directly into the battle line, but they were repeatedly repelled by the Red Army.

Soon, the Red Army cavalry set out, bypassed the battle formations of the two armies, and went straight to the side and rear of the Loyalty Camp.

Liu Xiyao was not in a hurry and sent out a team of cavalry to fight the Red Army.

When two armies fought, cavalry often came last, so the commander had to keep enough cavalry as a reserve.

But the Red Army cavalrymen dismounted and formed a horizontal line, holding bird guns in their hands. They were the musketeers of the Royal Guards.

Cavalry dismounted and formed a battle array to serve as infantry? This method of fighting was so bizarre that the Loyalty Battalion was greatly surprised and secretly glad.

Unexpectedly, there were many musketeers among the Red Army cavalry, and their firepower was extremely fierce, which beat the cavalry of the Loyalty Battalion to pieces. Before the cavalry of the Loyalty Battalion rushed to the front of the Red Army, they were hit by the muskets and suffered heavy casualties, and almost lost their formation.

Another group of Red Army cavalry, armed with spears and sabers, took the opportunity to charge into the enemy camp and engage in close combat with the soldiers of the Loyalty Camp.

In less than an hour, the outcome was decided and the Loyal Camp was completely defeated.

Dang Shousu was only a day's journey from Wutunso and could come to reinforce at any time. The Red Army was unable to completely wipe out the two Lius, so they had to capture the leader first and concentrate their troops to capture and kill the two Lius.

Liu Xiyao tried his best to gather the defeated soldiers, but was killed by the Red Army's musketeers. Upon hearing the news, Liu Fangliang hurriedly mounted his horse despite his illness. His white horse and silver musket were very conspicuous. However, he did not expect that not long after he left the camp, his guards were dispersed by the Red Army and he was captured alive by the Red Army.

(End of this chapter)