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

Chapter 261: Great Land Victory
Dazhou was a battleground for both armies. The Ming army concentrated its main forces to attack Dazhou, and the Qing army could not sit still and wait for death. Shang Kexi's troops were divided into two groups. One group crossed the Shijing River at the mouth of the Shijing River to attack the Ming army from the flank, and the other group crossed the Shijing River on the south bank of the Liuxi River to reinforce the Dazhou defenders.

Danchu remained unmoved and led the main force of the Red Army to continue attacking Dazhou. Wang Xing led his righteous army to the east to block the Qing army's reinforcements and prevent the Red Army from taking Dazhou. The Chenxiangsha camp was guarded by the remaining troops and closed the camp without fighting. When the Ming army captured Dazhou, the Chenxiangsha camp was naturally safe.

To aid Guang, the Red Army's land division only dispatched its personal guards, and the combat troops consisted of only three battalions: the cavalry battalion, the artillery battalion, and the personal guard battalion, with a total of less than 8,000 soldiers. The cavalry battalion had many war horses, so it did not go south to Foshan, but joined Li Yuanyin in attacking Jinli.

Excluding the troops stationed in Sanshui, Foshan, and Chenxiangsha, the Red Army had less than 5,000 soldiers available to attack Dazhou. This is how war works: no matter how many troops there are on paper, only a few can be deployed to the front line.

The long-silent battlefield finally erupted in smoke. No matter how the Qing army deployed, no matter how Li Yuanyin and Ma Bao performed in Jinli and Mude, Danchu led the Red Army to hold on to Dazhou and was determined to capture Dazhou.

This is the key point. If the Red Army takes Dazhou, Foshan, Sanshui and Guangzhou can be united. The Qing army's rear is threatened and it will not last long. It must withdraw from Guangzhou.

Therefore, Danchu personally led his troops to attack Dazhou with his most elite personal guards and artillery.

At 3 p.m., after half an hour of bombardment, the three artillery batteries in Dazhou fell silent one after another.

The Red Army navy dispatched three small boats to bypass the sunken ship at the river mouth and landed on the island in the middle of the Dazhou River to fight for the artillery position. The first and second battalions of the imperial guards arrived at the south bank of the Liuxi River and attacked the Qing army's wooden fort.

The wooden fences outside the wooden city had been completely destroyed by artillery fire. The Red Army's two battalions of soldiers rushed into the city and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the defenders.

Before the Red Army captured Mucheng, Wang Xingyi's division had already been defeated. The Qing army came from the east to reinforce Mucheng.

The friendly forces are not strong enough. Wang Xing had a small reputation in eastern Guangdong, but he had never fought a major battle with the Qing army. The fighting power of the volunteer army under his command was average, and it was really not up to the task. The volunteer army was like this, it could only serve as auxiliary troops and city guards, and could only be independent in naval battles. In terms of land battles, the volunteer army was no match for the Qing army and often delayed the overall situation.

The wooden city on the southern wing of Dazhou was on the verge of collapse, but the morale of the defenders was boosted by the arrival of reinforcements.

The Red Army's two battalions of soldiers continued to attack Mucheng. Danchu held his spear and mounted his horse, commanding the Red Army to line up and prepare to fight against the Qing army's reinforcements. The third battalion of soldiers was in the middle, the artillery was on the two wings, and the remaining small number of cavalry and auxiliary soldiers were in the back to protect the commander.

Unlike other battalions, the Royal Guard Battalion was composed of five battalions of main combat royal guards, with a total of more than 3,500 people. It was the largest battalion-level unit in the entire army. All of them were equipped with Dinglu-style rifles. Although they were called royal guards, they were actually light firearms units.

The Qing army was particularly treacherous, driving Wang Xing's defeated soldiers to attack the Red Army's battle formation. The defeated soldiers were also eager to escape, and seeing that there were Qing cavalry on both wings, they could only retreat forward obediently, completely ignoring the fact that there were Red Army comrades in front of them.

These righteous teachers are really incapable of accomplishing anything, and are always causing trouble!

"Intercepting fire!" Danchu gave the order, and the Red Army artillery opened fire, forming a fire net in front of the defeated soldiers.

Four 100-pound cannons were dispatched to stop the Qing army. "Bang, bang, bang," four shells were fired one after another. The power of this cannon was equivalent to that of a 2,000-3,000-jin red cannon. The initial velocity of the shells was extremely high. Wherever the shells hit, regardless of whether they were men or horses, they would all be smashed into pulp. After hitting the ground, the shells could also ricochet, like skipping stones on water, and could continue to strike the enemy in the column.

The defeated soldiers of the righteous army and the pursuing soldiers of the Qing army were thrown to the ground and screamed in agony. The blocking shooting had a miraculous effect, and the defeated soldiers of the righteous army turned their direction from west to south and fled towards the old camp of Chenxiangsha.

The Qing army was determined to reinforce Dazhou and could not flee south. It had to use the defeated soldiers of the Righteous Army as cover and hastily formed a battle line to prepare for battle.

They didn't know why, and thought the Red Army was carrying red cannons, so they had to fight hastily. Geng Jimao was always brave, and he led the newly trained firearms battalion in the front line to fight the Red Army.

Last October, Shang Kexi and Geng Zhongming were reported by Manchu nobles for harboring fugitives in their army. After a court discussion, the Manchu Qing Dynasty planned to strip Shang Kexi and Geng Zhongming of their royal titles and fine them 5,000 taels of silver each. Dorgon was about to drive the two men to fight for their lives, so he decided to treat them leniently in the name of "surrendering at sea" and exempted them from being stripped of their titles, and reduced their fines to 4,000 taels of silver. Geng Zhongming committed suicide out of fear of punishment before he received the news. Dorgon decided that Shang Kexi would lead the troops of Pingnan and Jingnan, and Geng Jimao would take over the troops of Jingnan with the title of Asihahafan.

Asihahafan was a viscount, far from the title of King of Jingnan. After Geng Zhongming went south to Guangdong, he fought very hard, hoping to win the favor of the Qing court and inherit the title of King as soon as possible.

Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming were good at using firearms. Geng Jimao was inspired when he heard that the Red Army used bird guns to form a square formation and could compete with the Eight Banners of Manchuria. He gathered bird guns from all the clans and formed a battalion of 1,000 gunners, which he called the Firearm Battalion.

The Red Army had red cannons, so the Qing army did not dare to stop. Geng Jimao personally led the firearms battalion and sped up under the fire of the Red Army. Although the red cannons were powerful, their firing rate was too slow. As long as the two armies met, Geng Jimao was still confident of victory.

Seeing that the Qing army was so eager to engage in battle, the Red Army simply stayed where they were and waited for the Qing army to attack so that they could better exert the firepower of their artillery.

When they were within a hundred steps, more than thirty mountain-splitting cannons fired at the same time, and the Qing army's vanguards fell one after another. Hundreds of people were killed on the spot, and blood flowed like a river. These Qing troops were either veterans of Dongjiang Town or recruited from the Green Camp from various places. Most of them were elite soldiers who had experienced many battles. They were able to not retreat in the face of danger and continued to advance in formation.

Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi, Shen Zhixiang and other three kings and one duke had a special status in the Eight Banners. The three kings and one duke all came from Dongjiang Town, and Dongjiang Town had a deep relationship with the Later Jin Dynasty. Therefore, when Huang Taiji was alive, he treated the three kings and one duke with great courtesy. The relatives of the three kings and one duke were included in the Eight Banners of the Han Army, but their troops were not included in the Han Army. They were still under the sole control of the three kings and one duke, and their treatment was the same as that of the Han Army, far exceeding that of the Green Camp.

In the spring of the third year of the Yongli reign, the three kings were ordered to expand their army, and the Green Camps from all over the country joined enthusiastically. The three kings selected the 40,000 soldiers and horses under their command, which were quite elite. After Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao broke through Meiguan and entered Guangdong, a large number of Ming troops surrendered, and the new soldiers were treated as Green Camp soldiers. Together with the Green Camp reinforcements from Jiangxi and Fujian, Shang Kexi had 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers and horses under his command.

Those who can fight hard battles on the front line must have the best troops in the army to have a hope of winning. The Red Army led the battle with its own soldiers, while the Qing Army led the firearms battalion.

As the battle was about to begin, the Red Army artillery had no time to reload ammunition. The third and fourth battalions of the Red Army went forward, and the fifth battalion was the reserve. Since all of them were equipped with Dinglu rifles, the Red Army formation was extremely dense, marching side by side, with only two rows in front and back. The third and fourth battalions had more than a thousand riflemen, and the front width was less than 300 steps.

"Bang, bang, bang," the Qing army fired first. The bird gun, also known as the three-coin gun, had limited power and posed little threat to the Red Army at a distance of eighty or ninety steps.

However, a bird gun is still a bird gun after all, and it is much stronger than a bow and arrow. The world-famous Manchurian large-tipped bow is suitable for heavy arrows, has a short range, and is more suitable for close combat. Geng Jimao's training of gun soldiers in the army was indeed an improvement and was also praised by the Qing court.

After the Red Army's personal guards were expanded, the rate of armor-wearing was not high. From time to time, riflemen were shot and fell, and their comrades on both sides consciously contracted their formation.

The most important thing in line shooting tactics is queue discipline. Soldiers must dare to face life and death and dare to advance in the face of enemy fire. The commander cannot easily give orders without reaching the shooting position. Without the commander's order, no one can stop and fire randomly.

The Red Army held back and marched forward in the rhythm of the whistle. It was not until they had advanced sixty steps that He Ping, the commander of the imperial guards, gave the order to open fire.

A quick whistle, followed by a long whistle, was the signal for concentrated fire. The Red Army finally stopped, and the front row of soldiers squatted and fired, while the back row of soldiers stood and fired. Because it was a flintlock rifle and used fixed paper shell bullets, the Red Army rifle's firing rate was greatly increased. The front and back rows of soldiers did not have to exchange positions, and each of them remained squatting or standing, so they could maintain a high firing rate without interfering with each other.

"Bang bang bang bang!" Bullets rained down. The Red Army deployed a thousand musketeers on the front line, who could fire three to four thousand lead bullets per minute.

Lead bullets are dirty bullets. The melting point of lead metal is very low, only about 300 degrees Celsius, and it is easy to process. Lead metal is very soft, and lead bullets will deform when entering the human body, further expanding the trauma. Lead metal is also toxic. If it is not removed from the body in time, it will cause lead poisoning to the injured.

The greater the initial velocity of the bullet, the more harmful the lead bullet is to the human body. The power and firing rate of the Dinglu flintlock rifle far exceeded that of the bird gun, and the Qing army suffered greatly from it.

The Red Army fired only two or three rounds, with each rifleman firing only three bullets, and the Qing army could not hold on any longer, leaving countless corpses in the front row.

Without waiting for Geng Jimao's order, the Qing army's gunners fled in defeat. It was a complete defeat. The firearms battalion, which was highly expected by the Jingnan vassal, was actually so cowardly? Geng Jimao was furious, but he was powerless to stop the fleeing soldiers, so he had to rush to the pontoon bridge.

The Qing army had been defeated, so we should pursue and attack them vigorously. Despite the lack of cavalry, despite the fact that the first and second battalions of the imperial guards had not yet completely captured the wooden city, and despite the fact that the Qing army had crossed the Shijing River and threatened the old camp of the Red Army, Danchu still resolutely ordered to pursue the Qing army's fleeing soldiers.

The Red Army's combat effectiveness was already established, and the combat effectiveness of the personal guards was the best in the entire army. Danchu was full of confidence and led his troops to pursue the defeated Qing army. The third and fourth battalions of the Red Army ran in teams to pursue the defeated Qing army.

The Qing army built two floating bridges on the Shijing River. The defeated soldiers ran back in a panic, scrambling to cross the bridges, trampling on each other, and looking very embarrassed. Seeing that the situation was not good, the Qing army guarding the bridges simply gave up their duties and rushed to cross the river.

The Red Army came roaring in, firing across the river, enjoying the fight. Geng Jimao was still in shock, and despite the fact that the defeated troops had not yet completely crossed the river, he abandoned the Dazhou defenders and ordered the pontoon bridge to be blown up.

As darkness fell, the battle drew to a close. The Red Army defeated Geng Jimao's reinforcements and captured Dazhou, winning a great victory, killing more than 800 people and capturing more than 700.

Shang Kexi led his troops to attack the Red Army's flank. The Red Army camp was built with deep trenches and high fortifications. They closed the camp and refused to fight, stubbornly repelling the Qing Army's attack. The Qing Army captured Wang Xingyi's camp, but was shocked to hear that Dazhou had fallen and Geng Jimao had been defeated, so they had to retreat to the other side of the Shijing River overnight.

That night, the Red Army camped in Dazhou. The personal guards and artillery units rested, but the navy and auxiliary troops were not allowed to rest. Danchu ordered them to clear the sunken ships at the mouth of Liuxi River overnight and build floating bridges on Liuxi River and Shijing River for the Red Army to cross the river the next day.

The cavalry battalion was also ordered to move south, preparing to cross the Liuxi River to join the main force and carry out the pursuit mission.

Wang Xing lost the main camp during the day, and was defeated by the Qing army in Dazhou. He was defeated in the field battle and the defense of the camp, and was in disgrace. He was eager to avenge his humiliation, and without waiting for Danchu's order, he took the initiative to gather the defeated soldiers and help the Red Army build a pontoon bridge overnight.

In addition, Danchu also issued an order to the nearby "community soldiers" to provide manpower and materials to assist the Red Army.

The so-called "community soldiers", also known as "tenant soldiers", were common local armed forces in the south in the late Ming Dynasty. Since the migration to the south, there have been many tenant and slave rebellions in the south. Some were suppressed by the government, while some tenants and slaves were more organized and would force their masters to form associations for self-protection and to prepare their own weapons, forming a community with common interests.

Community soldiers were quite common in eastern Guangdong. Apart from the two counties of Nanhai and Panyu within the Guangzhou Prefecture, community soldiers were also widely distributed in Xiangshan, Xinhui, Xinning, Shunde, Conghua, Qingyuan, Dongguan, Xin'an and other places.

The Shebing were mainly composed of tenant farmers and slaves. Their main purpose was to protect their own interests and improve their living standards. They had no intention of competing for power and were neutral in the Ming and Qing wars. No matter who was in power, as long as the government did not overly oppress them, the Shebing could live in peace with them.

Of course, when the Qing army invaded eastern Guangdong and the Red Army came to support Guangdong, the community soldiers could not stay out of it. The Red Army liberated the slave class, advocated equality, and rented land and paid taxes in western Guangdong, which had a natural appeal to the community soldiers.

That night, the Dazhou and Shijing River crossings were lit up with torches, making it as bright as day. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians worked all night long. To speed up the progress, soldiers and civilians once carried wooden boats from the south bank of Liuxi River to the west bank of Shijing River.

The Qing army was defeated in the daytime and was still in shock. Shang Kexi heard that the Red Army had gathered troops to build a pontoon bridge overnight, and he did not believe it, so he sent out scouts one after another. When the scouts sent back accurate information, Shang Kexi was so worried that he could not sleep all night, and ordered the preparation of weapons and weapons to prepare for another battle the next day.

At dawn the next day, the Dazhou shipwreck had been cleared and the channel was dredged for Guangzhou ships to pass through. Two floating bridges were built on the Shijing River and Liuxi River respectively, as if by divine intervention.

The cavalry crossed the Liuxi River and successfully joined forces with the personal guards, then crossed the Shijing River and marched quickly southward.

The Art of War says: "It's swift as the wind, slow as the forest, invasive as fire, still as a mountain, unpredictable as the shadow, and powerful as thunder." The Red Army's land division had been lying in wait for a long time, but once it launched a pursuit, it was as fast as a rabbit.

At 9:00 p.m., the vanguard of the Red Army approached Xiaoping, where the Qing Army had built a camp. They closed the camp to avoid fighting and adopted a passive defensive approach.

The vanguard was composed of cavalrymen, without artillery. The cavalry commander He Guozuo led his troops around the camp and headed for the western foot of Baiyun Mountain. Baiyun Mountain is located in the northeast of Guangzhou City, running northeast and southwest, and stretching all the way to Yuexiu Mountain in the north of Guangzhou City. It is a natural barrier that blocked the Qing army's retreat to the east.

If the Red Army cavalry were to cut off their retreat, the nearly 10,000 Qing troops on the front line would be in a bad situation.

The art of war says that one should control others rather than be controlled by others. The Qing army was passive in every aspect, so Shang Kexi had no choice but to dispatch troops and generals to advance and stop the Red Army.

The Red Army cavalry had replaced their Dinglu-style carbines, which were slightly less powerful than rifles but more suitable for cavalry use. After a short battle, the Qing army was defeated again.

The Red Army's personal guard had crossed the Shijing River and was approaching the north of Guangzhou on horseback. The 5,000 Red Army soldiers were all on horseback, all equipped with flintlock rifles, and were unstoppable, making the Qing army tremble with fear.

The Guangzhou garrison also went out of the city to fight and cooperate with the Red Army to counterattack the Qing army. The leader of the army was Ansubo Li Jianjie, Li Yuanyin's younger brother, who had extraordinary arm strength and was very brave.

The Qing army did not fight to the death and did not suffer heavy losses, but the situation was hopeless and the soldiers were terrified. Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao did not dare to fight and hurriedly led their troops to retreat eastward, escaping through the northern foot of Yuexiu Mountain and the southern foot of Baiyun Mountain, and retreating towards Zengcheng and Conghua.

It goes without saying that the Ming army took the opportunity to attack, capture and kill the Qing troops who had fallen behind.

(End of this chapter)