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

Chapter 252 Divine Weapons from Heaven
The massacre was like a plague; once it started, it was difficult to stop. Besides killing, it was often accompanied by robbery, rape, and fighting, until military discipline collapsed and could not be stopped.

The Ming army originally planned to fight and retreat quickly, burn down the shipyard and return to Sanshui immediately. However, the shipyard was adjacent to Qingyuan Port, which was full of shops and merchant ships. The army quickly lost control, and the soldiers broke into Qingyuan Port, burning, killing and looting everywhere.

Ma Bao was a brave warrior, after all, he was a general of Dongxun, and if the army was not educated, it would not be able to control itself. The soldiers were already blood-thirsty and scrambled to loot property.

Dongxun's salary is not enough, and he has been in arrears for many months. This time, he has made a fortune, so he lets his brothers indulge themselves. He thinks that the Qing army is well prepared, so there should be no big problem. Ma Bao is unable to enforce military discipline, so he can only let it go.

At the time of Shen, dust was flying in the north, as if a large army was attacking.

A Red Army scout came riding up and found Ma Bao, saying breathlessly, "Marshal Jue, the Tartars are here, led by Deputy General Gao Jinku."

Hearing the words "Gao Jinku", Ma Bao's expression changed and he asked, "How do you know it's Gao Jinku?"

"The banner they flew was 'Gao, Deputy Governor and Deputy General of the Southern Jiangxi Left Association'."

Gao Jinku, a native of Yichuan, Shaanxi, was originally a general under He Renlong and served as a deputy general. After Sun Chuanting killed He Renlong, Gao Jinku had no one to rely on, so he surrendered to the Manchu prince Duoduo and followed Hong Chengchou to attack Jiangxi and stationed in Ganzhou.

Li Chengdong led Dongxun's army of more than 100,000 to attack Ganzhou twice, but was defeated by the defenders. The Qing Dynasty officials stationed in Ganzhou were Liu Wuyuan, the governor of Nangan, and Zhang Fengli, the inspector general, and Hu Yousheng, the general of Nangan, and Gao Jinku, the deputy general.

Afterwards, Gao Jinku was promoted to deputy governor and given a dragon robe. With his qualifications and military exploits, he had a good chance of being promoted to general. This time, when he went south to reinforce Guangzhou, Gao Jinku wanted to take the opportunity to make merit and win the favor of Shang Kexi, the Prince of Pingnan.

The two battles of Ganzhou also left a shadow in Ma Bao's heart. The names of Manchu generals such as Hu Yousheng and Gao Jinku lingered in his mind.

When the enemy attacked, his subordinates were still burning, killing and looting in Qingyuan Port, and it was difficult to fight in such a hurry. He was really careless. Ma Bao regretted it very much and said, "Pass the order down, gather the troops immediately to fight the Tartars. Anyone who covets property will be killed without mercy."

Ma Bao had two hundred personal soldiers under his command, who came at the call and hastily formed a battle line to fight.

The Qing army arrived suddenly, with cavalry in front, at least 500 of them. The Green Camp soldiers from Ganzhou had bright armor and sophisticated weapons, and looked very elite.

They had defeated the Guangdong Army twice before and seized a lot of food and equipment, so they were very confident in fighting Dongxun. The commander Gao Jinku relied on his large number of troops and led his troops to launch an attack first.

The Ming army was small in number, had traveled a long distance, and was exhausted. They were clearly no match for the Qing army. Ma Bao frowned and had no choice but to fight to buy time for his subordinates and gather his soldiers.

"Swoosh, swish, swish!" The cavalry fought, and as usual, they started by riding and shooting, each firing a rain of arrows.

The Ming army's arrows were not as dense as the Qing army's, and more than a dozen riders fell before the battle began. Ma Bao was furious, and became more and more courageous after each defeat. He rushed into the enemy's formation, and his whip spear was like a dragon emerging from the sea, crackling in the air. Wherever the whip blade touched, the enemy was either dead or disabled, and no one could resist within seven or eight steps.

The morale of the personal soldiers was greatly boosted, and they shouted in unison, following the commander to charge at the enemy. Ma Bao's 200 personal soldiers were the elite of the elite in his army. They were usually well-fed as servants, and they fought desperately in war.

However, the Qing army was too numerous, and cavalry continued to arrive. The defenders in Qingyuan City also got the news, and Xu Erxian personally led the army and took a ferry to the east bank of the Beijiang River to cooperate with Gao Jinku to counterattack the Ming army.

Ma Bao still had 600 cavalrymen who were looting in Qingyuan Harbor and could not gather them all at once. Even if some soldiers joined the battlefield, they would have no intention of fighting after looting.

By the early evening of the twentieth hour, the Ming army was gradually losing its strength. Ma Bao was hit by two arrows. Although he was protected by armor, he was still wounded. His bravery was gone and his prestige was greatly reduced. The Qingyuan defenders also crossed the river and joined the battle.

If the Ming army persisted, they would be in danger of being annihilated. Seeing this, Ma Bao had no choice but to call off the troops and retreat to the south.

The cavalry came quickly and was defeated miserably. This was because war horses were more delicate than humans and had less endurance. After the cavalry had forced a march, humans could still hold on by gritting their teeth, but war horses had lost a lot of horsepower and it was difficult for them to continue the forced march. The Qing cavalry, however, did not have to endure the hardship of the march, and their war horses still had enough horsepower to speed up the pursuit. Xu Erxian and Gao Jinku joined forces, and relying on their large numbers, they decided to boldly pursue the enemy overnight.

The Ming army fought and retreated, and at first they were in formation, but soon they were scattered. After twilight, the sky gradually darkened, and the Ming army was eager to retreat, becoming even more embarrassed.

Fortunately, a Red Army scout had been following Ma Bao, leading the way for him, preparing to break out at night.

Someone suggested to him: "Why not lead the troops to retreat eastward and join forces with He Biaotong. He Biaotong launched a surprise attack on Conghua and must be on his way back. If the two armies are combined, they should be able to stop the Qing army."

Ma Bao sighed and said, "Our army was defeated because of looting. The soldiers were in disarray, fighting on their own, and only knew to retreat southward. If I lead the troops eastward, it would only add a burden to He Biao. Moreover, some of my subordinates must have been unaware and retreated southward without knowing it, and were killed by the Tartars. I have asked the general for help, and I should gather my troops and insist on marching southward."

The commander's loyalty impressed everyone and they followed Ma Bao to retreat southward. Ma Bao also ignored his own safety and insisted on carrying the central army flag and constantly gathering the defeated soldiers.

At night, the Qing army pursued them relentlessly, holding torches and chasing them. The Ming army was so frightened that they saw enemies everywhere.

Night battles were very difficult, and the organizations of both sides were in disarray. Even when they occasionally engaged in battle, it was mostly a melee. The Ming army's casualties mainly came from trampling and accidental injuries, while the Qing army suffered very few casualties.

When the sky brightened, Ma Bao looked back and saw only about 200 cavalrymen left. Some of his personal soldiers had died or scattered, leaving less than 100 cavalrymen. The Qing army was approaching, and the sound of shouting and killing was clear to his ears.

"Marshal, there are Tartars behind us!"

Ma Bao was shocked when he heard the news. He turned his head and saw a group of Tartars with a flag bearing the word "Xu". They must be Xu Erxian's cavalry.

This old fellow was born in Dongjiang Town. He was full of tricks. I don't know when he sent a group of elite soldiers to attack the Ming army from behind.

Ma Bao's eyes went dark, as if the sky was about to fall. "Form a formation!" He shouted, and drew out his whip gun again, ready to fight the Qing army to the death.

The remaining 200 cavalrymen knew that they were about to die, but no one dared to surrender. They formed a battle formation, stood back to back, and prepared to attack the two enemy forces at the same time.

The two sides fought for a quarter of an hour, and the Ming army suffered heavy losses. The remnants were already trapped in a tight encirclement, and if they continued to fight, they would surely die. Ma Bao had no choice but to break out, and ordered the central army flag to be abandoned, in order to save his life first.

He whipped his horse as hard as he could, and his men followed him as hard as they could. But the enemy was also cavalry, with more powerful horses. Where could Ma Bao break out?

At 9:00 pm, the Qing army caught up with Ma Bao again and surrounded the remaining dozens of Ming army cavalry. Ma Bao showed his bravery again and killed more than a dozen Qing soldiers with his whip spear. However, his troops were getting fewer and fewer, and his strength was getting less and less. Seven or eight arrows pierced his armor, and there were three knife wounds, and blood seeped into the armor.

Ma Bao was exhausted and about to be captured, but he heard a burst of rapid and passionate swan trumpet sounds, and the earth shook, as if countless cavalrymen were galloping towards him.

"Bang, bang, bang!" The bullets rained down like heavy rain, and the Qing army on both wings were immediately thrown to the ground.

Using a bird gun on a warhorse? This skill is only possessed by the Saurons in the world. How could it appear on the battlefield in eastern Guangdong?
The Qing army was defeated and retreated northward. Ma Bao was panicking and tried to escape, but he saw a large group of Red Army soldiers rushing towards him. The red army flags fluttered in the wind, and a large flag in the middle, with the words "Duke Ningguo aids and suppresses General Cen", shone brightly in the morning light, dazzling and eye-catching.

The iron cavalry was like the wind, the spears were like a forest, the saddles and armors were dazzling, and the Red Army was like heavenly soldiers descending to earth, which shocked and moved Ma Bao. He finally felt relieved, and all his strength was exhausted, as if he had unloaded a heavy burden, and he fell off the warhorse.

(End of this chapter)