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

Chapter 254 Du Yonghe sends an envoy to ask for help

On May 4, Duke of Rui and Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi Du Yonghe sent Wu Wenxian to the Red Army to ask for help from Cen Danchu.

Du Yonghe regarded Guangzhou as his own territory and repeatedly refused to send reinforcements. Li Yuanyin, Marquis of Nanyang, Pang Tianshou, the eunuch in charge of ceremonies, and Wang Xing, the general of the Tiger Guards and the Earl of Guangning, all led troops to reinforce Guangzhou, but were blocked by Du Yonghe.

When the Red Army first arrived in Sanshui, Du Yonghe also sent envoys to express his condolences and politely declined reinforcements. Why did Du Yonghe take the initiative to ask for help from the Red Army at this time?
Time is the trend. In just half a month, the situation in eastern Guangdong has undergone a shocking change.

It turned out that after the Qing army invaded Guangdong, Wu Liuqi, the general of Raoping, surrendered. Wu Liuqi was extremely poor when he was young and begged for food in Jiangnan. He was nicknamed "Iron Beggar". He was familiar with the terrain and sent his younger brother Wu Han to meet Shang Kexi and "ask him to guide the army and recruit people from other counties to serve."

Once Wu Liuqi surrendered, Jieshi General Su Li also surrendered. Jieshi Town and Raoping Town were important coastal defense towns in eastern Guangdong. Wu Liuqi and Su Li surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and Chaozhou and Huizhou were suddenly threatened.

To make matters worse, the general Zhu Chenggong, who was recruiting the Duke of Zhang, took advantage of the situation and led his army to attack Chaozhou. Chaozhou is adjacent to Zhangzhou in Fujian and has abundant grain production. Zhu Chenggong had no guarantee of grain supply and had repeatedly gone to Chaozhou to buy grain, or to rob grain.

General Dongxun - Xintaibo Hao Shangjiu was stationed in Chaozhou and had fought with Zhu Chenggong many times. This time when Dongxun was in trouble, Zhu Chenggong not only did not rescue him, but also added insult to injury, and sent troops to attack Chaozhou on the grounds that Hao Shangjiu was "unclear". Hao Shangjiu received Du Yonghe's order to help Guang, but he could not send troops at all.

Soon after, the defender of Huizhou, Fenghua Earl Huang Yingjie, surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and killed the Ming Dynasty princes living in Huizhou in order to win favor from the Qing army.

Huizhou is sandwiched between Guangzhou and Chaozhou. Once Huang Yingjie surrendered, Hao Shangjiu's situation became even more difficult, so he simply surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.

The towns in eastern Guangdong were all Du Yonghe's old brothers and fellow townsmen, and were not directly threatened by the Qing army. Du Yonghe originally thought he could get reinforcements from them, but he didn't expect that disaster would come his way. With the eastern aid cut off, the only one he could count on was the Red Army.

The situation on the battlefield changed very quickly. Du Yonghe had no foresight and was caught off guard by the sudden change.

"The general was very clever and attacked the Tartar shipyard and cannon foundry by surprise, which was a success. When the news reached Guangzhou, the soldiers and civilians cheered and believed that the Ming Dynasty would have a chance to revive and the Tartars would never return. Duke Rui ordered me to send you 100 taels of gold and 2,000 taels of platinum as a gift. I hope the general will accept it as a reward for the soldiers."

Wu Wenxian's words were flattering and he didn't have the confidence to speak. He was only trying to please the Red Army. This man, named Zhenwu, was from Tongxu County, Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan Province. He was a fellow villager of Du Yonghe and also his confidant. He was a general and had the title of governor-general. As the defender of Guangzhou, Du Yonghe ordered him to lead the navy, a very important position.

"I appreciate Duke Rui's kindness." Dan Chu waved his hand, and his personal soldiers came forward and carried away the gold and silver treasure chests.

"I was ordered to help Guang, and I had no choice but to lead my army across thousands of miles to make peace with Dongxun. Last time, Duke Rui sent an envoy to dissuade him, but this time, he sent someone to ask for troops. Why was he so arrogant at first and respectful later?"

Wu Wenxian was sweating on his forehead and looked flustered, thinking about how to deal with it. But he heard Yang Yuqi, a military officer of the Red Army, say, "Perhaps, Duke Rui killed Shang Kefu and Zhang Dagui, which shows that his troops are strong and can deal with Shang Kexi's tens of thousands of Tartars alone."

In March, the Qing army came from afar and attacked the northern city of Guangzhou. Du Yonghe sent troops to attack and defeated the enemy, killing the Qing light cavalry commander Shang Kefu and the guerrilla Zhang Dagui.

Shang Kefu was Shang Kexi's cousin, who was killed outside Guangzhou. Du Yonghe sent letters of victory to Wuzhou, "so the imperial court was not safe." He did not overestimate his own capabilities, thinking that with the support of the towns in eastern Guangdong, he was able to defend Guangzhou and repeatedly blocked the reinforcements from western Guangdong.

The situation has changed. Du Yonghe is trapped in an isolated city and must ask Cen Danchu for help. While the Red Army is still there, he must break the Qing army's blockade of Guangzhou as soon as possible.

Wu Wenxian said quickly, "General, Mr. Yang, there have been many misunderstandings before. Duke Rui also feels that he has been disrespectful and deeply regrets it. He is willing to apologize to the general. As long as the general puts aside the past grudges and leads the troops to lift the siege of Guangzhou, everything will be fine if we divide the garrison land in the future."

This is the lure of territory. The combined forces of the various Dongxun towns are as many as 200,000. They occupy the rich land of eastern Guangdong, but they do not think about making progress. They are just sitting there doing nothing. The people of western Guangdong are brave and strong. Eastern Guangdong is rich, and its tax revenue is more than ten times that of western Guangdong. If we can annex the two Guangdongs, we can rely on the dangers of the Five Ridges in the north and the benefits of the sea in the south, which is enough to form the foundation for hegemony.

The basic strategy of the Red Army was to first take over western Guangdong, then eastern Guangdong, and then to establish control over Lingnan. The three kings of the Qing Dynasty successively went south, and the order in Lingnan was in chaos. The Red Army could take advantage of the situation and seek to seize Guangdong and Guangxi.

Danchu smiled and said, "In this chaotic world, the garrison is the foundation of the town's survival, how can we give it up easily? We are brave warriors, and the garrison should be obtained by ourselves, how can we ask for it from others?"

Even if you give me the land, you don't want it? Seeing that Danchu didn't take the bait, Wu Wenxian thought that he didn't believe it, and he became very anxious. He said, "Marshal, the Duke of Rui is the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and he has the power to control the towns. Since he said that he wants to divide the garrison land, he definitely doesn't mean to deceive."

Control the various towns? Danchu laughed secretly. Wasn't Luo Chengyao, the Earl of Baofeng, killed by Cen Danchu and Li Yuanyin? Aren't Ma Bao, the Earl of Anding, and Zhang Yue, the Marquis of Boxing, under his control at this moment?
On the contrary, Du Yonghe's orders did not leave Guangzhou. The towns of Huizhou and Chaozhou all rebelled, and he was left alone.

"Well, I know that Duke Rui will not deceive me." Danchu said, "I have been ordered to help Guangzhou. Now that I have entered Foshan, I will have to fight the Tartars. Tell me, how is Guangzhou's defense? How strong is the garrison?"

Wu Wenxian felt relieved and said, "Guangzhou is surrounded by water on three sides, so it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Duke Rui built a new city in the north of the city to serve as Guangzhou's two wings and set up artillery batteries. However, the west city is at the foot of the mountain, so it is defended by trees, fences and stones. Three moats are opened to let in the sea tide, and the mud cannot be attacked. The Tartars have no choice but to dig a long moat to besiege it.

"There are still more than 30,000 defenders. In addition to Duke Rui, there is also Li Jianjie, the Earl of Ansu. Duke Rui wants to ask Zhang Yue, the Marquis of Boxing, to return to Guangzhou to assist in the defense. I beg the general to approve it."

Li Jianjie is also Li Chengdong's adopted son. He is only eighteen years old, but he is brave, loyal, brave and righteous.

Zhang Yue is a brave general of Dongxun and is currently guarding Zhaoqing. He cannot leave easily.

The defenders were strong enough to deal with the situation for a while. The Qing army's shipyard and cannon foundry were destroyed, and the date of the siege would be postponed. For the time being, the battlefield situation was still controllable, and Guangzhou was still safe.

As for the commander-in-chief Du Yonghe, he was once the top general under Li Chengdong and was in charge of the central army. He was no ordinary person because he was good at strategy and defensive warfare.

During the defense of Guangzhou, Du Yonghe personally went up to the city tower to supervise the battle, placed silver on the city wall, and generously rewarded the enemy. If a cannonball hit the enemy, he would be rewarded with silver, "the soldiers would be more willing to fight."

Danchu said: "Zhang Yue wants to stay in Zhaoqing, so it is inconvenient for him to help Guangzhou. If you want to transfer people to help defend Guangzhou, then transfer Xuanping Earl Dong Fangce."

Dong Fangce was from Yanchuan, Shaanxi, and was stationed in Deqing. Deqing was located between Wuzhou and Zhaoqing. Since Zhang Yue was stationed in Zhaoqing, there was no need for Dong Fangce to station in Deqing.

It is better to be still than to move. Transferring Dong Fangce to help defend Guangzhou is indeed a wiser choice than transferring Zhang Yue.

"The general is wise." Wu Wenxian complimented.

Danchu glanced at him and said, "Wu Wenxian, you are in charge of the navy for Duke Rui, so you know how important the navy is. With a navy in Guangzhou, we can break the blockade of the Tartars, and the military and civilians can obtain food and weapons continuously, without having to repeat the mistakes of Nanchang and Datong. I want to inflict heavy damage on the Tartars, and I will start with a naval battle. In the future, I will have to rely on your full cooperation."

Wu Wenxian was terrified and said, "Whenever the general needs me, I will serve him wholeheartedly and will go through fire and water without hesitation."

(End of this chapter)