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

Chapter 249: Entering Foshan Town

Sanshui is close to rivers. The county seat is located on the east bank of the Beijiang River. It is separated from the Xijiang River to the south by the Southwest Creek. However, there are no large rivers on the east side, so it can go directly to Guangzhou by land.

If the Ming army wanted to defend Sanshui, they would have to fight with their backs to the water, which was quite disadvantageous. Danchu, relying on his large number of troops, decided to advance to Foshan Town to increase the depth of Sanshui's defense and demonstrate to Shang Kexi outside Guangzhou.

Foshan has a prosperous business. "Merchants from all over the world have their homes here, smoke from thousands of houses is everywhere, and all kinds of goods are gathered here. It is one of the "Four Famous Towns" along with Hankou Town in Hubei, Jingdezhen Town in Jiangxi, and Zhuxian Town in Henan, and is also known as one of the "Four Major Gatherings in the World" along with Beijing, Hankou, and Suzhou.

However, Foshan is close to Guangzhou, and the Ming court did not set up a prefecture or county here, but only set up a patrol inspection office to guard against empty defense.

Du Yonghe was in charge of the defense of Guangzhou and implemented a passive defense. The main forces were withdrawn to Guangzhou and naturally no defense was set up in Foshan. This world-famous town thus fell into the hands of the Qing army.

On April 20th, Cen Danchu led the main force to break camp and march eastward. Fifteen thousand troops advanced by land and sea, with great momentum.

You have to know that Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao only had 20,000 troops in total, of which less than 5,000 were from Dongjiang Town. During their march south, they recruited surrenders and rebels, and their forces expanded rapidly. Most of these surrendered troops were unreliable and would likely surrender again if the situation changed.

The Qing army thought that Cen Danchu was heading east to Guangzhou to join Du Yonghe and attack from both inside and outside. Shang Kexi was very nervous and deployed troops to guard the city strictly. On the one hand, he sent red flag pirates to patrol the Pearl River, and on the other hand, he sent land troops to garrison Jinli and Mude to ensure the Qing army's retreat.

Unexpectedly, Danchu made a feint and turned to Foshan on the 22nd.

This move was unexpected, quite bold, and even reckless. It should be noted that Foshan was just a town with no city to defend. It was surrounded by Xinanyong in the north, Xijiang River in the west, Foshan Waterway in the south, and the Pearl River in the west. It was a desperate situation in military terms.

Li Yuanyin was also unaware of this beforehand. Upon hearing the news, he tried his best to dissuade the enemy, saying, "Brother, Foshan is surrounded by water on three sides, and on the other side there is the Southwest Stream that separates the three waters. This is a hopeless situation. If the battle goes wrong, the army will have no way to retreat, and will have to fight over the floating bridge and trample on each other. This is a lesson learned from the previous experience of the King of Ningxia."

At the beginning of the third year of the Yongli reign, Li Chengdong attacked Ganzhou for the second time. He was eager to avenge his defeat and led his army deep into Xinfeng, Jiangxi, but was defeated by the Qing army. The Guangdong army was defeated like a mountain, trampling on each other when crossing the bridge, and Li Chengdong himself was pushed off the floating bridge by the chaotic soldiers and drowned in the water.

Cen Danchu disagreed and decided to station in Foshan Town against all odds. He said, "I decided to station in Foshan for a reason. First, the Tartars came from the north. Although they surrendered the Red Flag pirates, their navy is weak and cannot control the river. If our army is stationed in Foshan, we can face Du Yonghe across the Pearl River. The navy can be combined at any time. Even if we are defeated, we can retreat calmly with the navy to protect us.

"Secondly, Foshan is close to Gaoming, Shunde, Xinhui and other places, all of which are rich and have a lot of goods, which is enough to relieve military needs. The army is traveling thousands of miles, and the most worrying thing is the supply of food and grass. With Foshan Town in hand, our army's food and grass and military pay will be more secure, which is a long-term plan.

"Third, there are many rebel forces in Foshan, Gaoming, Xinhui and other places. If our army enters Foshan, we can appease the rebel forces and secure Gaoming, Shunde and other places. As long as Gaoming, Xinhui and other places are still in our hands, food and grass will be guaranteed, and we can strive to be invincible."

Cen Dan was initially appointed as the general in charge of various towns. Although Li Yuanyin had his doubts, he had no choice but to follow the commander's advice.

On the 23rd, the army approached Foshan. Foshan Town had no city walls to defend it, and the main force of the Qing army was east of the Pearl River. Foshan had only a small number of defenders. They did not dare to fight and fled before the battle.

Before the army arrived in Foshan, merchants had already come to greet them, offering 2,000 dan of grain and 5,000 taels of silver. This was a generous gift, showing how wealthy the merchants in Foshan were.

When you arrive in Foshan, you will see that there are many commercial ports and docks, and shops and craftsmen are lined up one after another. Although it was a time of war, merchant ships still docked from time to time, and you can occasionally see Southeast Asian and Western merchants.

The army camped here, with 15,000 men and horses, and camped for three or four miles. There were also three or four hundred ships of various types, most of which were deployed in the Xijiang River and Foshan waterways, echoing the Sanshui.

Every time a war is about to begin, the military situation is always urgent and there is always something to do. This time, Danchu was not in a hurry to attack the Qing army on the east bank of the Pearl River. Instead, he took his time and seemed to be planning to stay in Foshan for a long time.

First of all, he naturally had to send someone to contact Du Yonghe to discuss a joint attack on the Qing army. However, when Danchu led his troops to Foshan, he entered Du Yonghe's sphere of influence, which touched Du Yonghe's cheese. Du Yonghe had twice prevented the Ming army from reinforcing Guangzhou, and he might have been very angry at this time. He would not ask Cen Danchu for help unless it was absolutely necessary. Danchu was not in a hurry to rescue Guangzhou, and sending envoys to communicate was just a gesture.

Foshan is a commercial center with a rich cultural heritage and many skilled craftsmen. The Red Army rarely enters Foshan, so they must cherish the opportunity and try their best to recruit talents and craftsmen.

Danchu focused his main energy on recruiting the rebel army. When he was in Wuzhou, he applied for 300 blank imperial edicts and 1,000 imperial edicts from the court, which were used to appoint officers and officials.

There were many rebels in western Guangdong, and there were no less loyal officials and righteous men in eastern Guangdong. Needless to say, there were many righteous armies of all sizes in Lingnan. Li Chengdong and Du Yonghe were both incompetent in governing the country. Dongxun divided the troops into different places and ruled eastern Guangdong with foreign troops, but he never established a stable rule, and righteous armies rose up in various places.

The Intelligence Bureau has drawn up a list. Danchu consulted Li Yuanyin and Chen Qice again to learn more about the various volunteer armies. He selected the most important ones and sent envoys to contact them in order to use them for his own purposes.

The most important righteous armies near Guangzhou include: General Wang Xing, who was born a thief and nicknamed "Embroidery Needle"; pirate Yang Yandi, nicknamed "Yang Er"; Tanka leader Zhou Yu, who refused to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and led the Tanka people to fish for a living and secretly supported the Ming army; Dongguan martial artist Chen Zhuangyue, who spent all his family wealth to raise an army to resist the Qing Dynasty; horse dealer Huang Heming, who ruined his family to help the people, raised an army to resist the Qing Dynasty; scholar Yang Shiyu, who raised an army in Xinhui; Foshan gentry Li Xianglu, who became a monk and secretly built Western cannons; clerk Liang Zizhi, who raised an army in Xiangshan...

Many volunteer armies came to join the army. For example, when the Red Army first entered Foshan, Foshan gentry Li Xianglu presented eight Western cannons and sixty craftsmen. The naval officer Yang Yandi came to join the army, which attracted Danchu's attention.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, many Ming loyalists were unwilling to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and chose to sail across the ocean to Southeast Asia. There were many Ming loyalists in Jiaozhi, who were called Mingxiang people. Saigon in Jiaozhi was still a wild land in the late Ming Dynasty. It was not until the Mingxiang people developed it that it became a big city. The developer of Saigon was Yang Yandi and his people.

Historically, Yang Yandi insisted on resisting the Qing Dynasty and cooperated with the Nguyen family of Guangnan in Jiaozhi to gain a foothold in Saigon. He sent troops to invade the Qing Dynasty from time to time, and the Nguyen family of Guangnan also received the help of Yang and gradually rose in Jiaozhi.

"General Yang serves under Deng Yao?"

In order to welcome Yang Yandi, Danchu summoned all the officers above the rank of battalion commander to show his importance.

Yang Yandi was a general under Deng Yao, and Deng Yao was a general under Li Mingzhong. Li Mingzhong was a marginal figure in the Dongxun Group, leading his troops to guard Gaozhou, Leizhou, and Qinzhou.

He was born in a humble family and was originally a pirate in the South China Sea. However, he was flattered by Cen Danchu's courtesy and said, "General, I was recruited by General Deng, but I can come and go as I please. I have heard that you are wise and brave and led your army to aid Guangdong. I do not want to live in Qinzhou, so I led my navy to come here to serve you."

"Very good," Dan Chu paused for a moment and said, "I am the best judge of people. Seeing your extraordinary appearance, I know that you will become a great man in the future. By the way, what position do you hold under Deng Yao?"

Deng Yao was only a general, with the title of governor-general and the seal of General Jingyi. Yang Yandi was a general under Deng Yao, so his official position would be even lower. He was a little embarrassed and said, "Commissioner."

"How about I appoint you as the commander of the navy?"

Yang Yandi was overjoyed, but soon regained his composure and said, "I heard that the general is respectful to the talented and humble, and a miner joined the Red Army, and the general also made him a general. I would like to be a Red Army officer and lead my men to join the Red Army. I beg the general to take me in."

Perhaps in the eyes of the rebels, official positions in the Red Army are more valuable than those in the imperial court.

Danchu was overjoyed and appointed Yang Yandi as the commander of the navy battalion, and organized his troops into the fifth battalion of the navy association.

(End of this chapter)