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

Chapter 269 Forced Li Mingzhong to Surrender

It was midsummer, the weather was hot, and the army was not marching fast. On August 2, the vanguard of the navy arrived at Shuangyusuo, and the vanguard of the land army arrived at Taipingbao. After another 40 miles, they entered Dianbai County, Gaozhou Prefecture, which belonged to the territory of Li Mingzhong, the Marquis of Haikang.

Shuangyusuo and Taipingbao were still within the territory of Zhaoqing Prefecture and belonged to Wang Xing's sphere of influence. Danchu landed at Shuangyusuo and changed to a land route. The general's headquarters was also moved from the ship to the land in order to better command the army.

On the third day, the headquarters held a front-line meeting at Shuangyu Institute.

Intelligence Bureau Director Feng Jiali first introduced the enemy situation. Li Mingzhong ruled over Gao, Lei, Qiong, and Lian Prefectures, with the core ruling areas in Gao and Lei Prefectures. The other two prefectures, Qiong Prefecture, were isolated overseas, with mixed Li and Han people, poor land and poor people; Lian Prefecture was remote, far from Guangzhou, adjacent to Nanning, and bandits were rampant.

The Red Army was coming with great force, but Li Mingzhong did not sit idly by and wait for death. Instead, he actively recruited soldiers and horses and pacified the volunteers, and his troops expanded to 40,000 to 50,000 people.

Dongxun's control over the garrison area was not strict, and Li Mingzhong's four prefectures obviously could not support 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers.

Danchu asked, "How many soldiers did Li Mingzhong originally have?"

"He originally had 15,000 soldiers, including 3,000 naval soldiers, led by Deng Yao, and 12,000 land soldiers, led by General Ye Biao. In the past few months, Li Mingzhong has been recruiting soldiers. In particular, he recruited 3,000 familiar people in Qiongzhou and promised them huge benefits. I heard that it was quite profitable."

Han people generally divide ethnic minorities into two types: raw and cooked. Cooked Li are Li people who have been highly assimilated to Han culture and live close to Han people. Raw Li are the opposite, and generally live in deep mountains and dense forests.

"Yandi, is there any movement from Deng Yao?"

Yang Yandi was born a pirate, and once served under Deng Yao and Li Mingzhong. Danchu sent him to persuade Deng Yao to rebel.

"Yao doesn't want to betray Mingzhong, but he doesn't dare to fight against the general. Li Mingzhong is a smart man and has already relented and is willing to hand over Lianzhou Prefecture."

The Red Army Navy consists of three commanders: Yang Yandi, Chen Qice, and Liang Biaoxiang. Their strength is far superior to Deng Yao. If a war really breaks out at sea, Deng Yao will definitely not be his opponent.

Yang Yuqi, the deputy governor, said: "Our army has newly expanded by 20,000 troops, and there are more than 10,000 family members. The Second Naval Division has many ships, which is very expensive. Lianzhou alone cannot support the newly expanded Second Naval Division and the Third Infantry Division."

After all, it was a quarrel between brothers, which was not a good look. Danchu said, "For Li Mingzhong, we should appease him. He is from Dongjiang Town and has integrity. Although people do not support him, he is still a hero. I plan to seize Lei, Qiong and Lian Prefectures, and leave Gaozhou to Li Mingzhong."

Gaozhou borders Guangxi Yulin Prefecture to the north, Leizhou to the west, Zhaoqing Prefecture and Luoding Prefecture in Guangdong to the east, and the South China Sea to the south. Li Mingzhong, the commander of Gao, Lei, Qiong and Lian Prefectures, usually stays in Gaozhou Prefecture and regards Gaozhou as his base.

Once the Qing army captured Guangzhou, they would divide their forces to plunder the various prefectures in Guangdong. Zhaoqing, located to the west of Guangzhou, was guarded by Li Yuanyin and Wang Xing, and was the first to bear the brunt of the attack. After Zhaoqing, Wuzhou, Gaozhou, and Luodingzhou were to the west.

"The general is so kind and righteous that he left the fertile land of Gaozhou to Li Mingzhong. In my opinion, Li Mingzhong has not only achieved nothing as the governor of the four prefectures, but also caused public resentment. It would not be excessive for us to seize all the four prefectures, and leaving Qiongzhou to him is considered merciful."

Wu Jie said, quite positive about the war. He was already the commander of the Third Infantry Brigade. According to the plan, after the Red Army captured Leizhou, Lianzhou, and Qiongzhou, they would leave the Third Infantry Brigade to guard.

"You, you," Danchu said with a smile, "since you are already the assistant commander, you will soon be able to take charge of things on your own. You should always put the overall situation first. Li Mingzhong is not a Tartar, there is no need to kill him. Even if I leave Gaozhou to him, when the Red Army counterattacks Guangdong in the future, it will be easy to take Gaozhou. Why should we care about it for the time being?"

Chen Qice echoed, "The southeast monsoon prevails in the South China Sea in summer. The navy is heading westward against the wind and the speed is not fast. After the summer, the wind weakens and the ships cannot move. Therefore, we must speed up our westward advance and reach Lianzhou before the arrival of autumn." Accurate intelligence has been sent from western Guangdong that Shen Yongzhong, the Duke of Shun in the Qing Dynasty, has landed in Wuchang and is heading towards Hengzhou by land. The main force has passed Changsha. The situation is about to change drastically. The Red Army must deal with Li Mingzhong as soon as possible and prepare to fight against Kong Youde's army.

If Li Mingzhong could be pacified, there would be no need to start a war. The generals agreed and decided to use war to promote peace and win over the three prefectures of Leizhou, Qiongzhou and Lianzhou.

On the fourth day, there were strong winds, thunderstorms, and a typhoon at sea. The Red Army had already approached Dianbai County and had to set up camp there, while the navy entered the harbor to take shelter.

Dianbai County is backed by mountains and faces the sea, and is often thunderstorms, hence the name. During the Chenghua period, the county seat was moved from the old city to Shendianwei, and from then on the county and the Wei were in the same city.

On the sixth day, the rain stopped and the Red Army arrived in Dianbai one after another. The Lu Division had 25,000 men and horses, with tents like snow and camps stretching for several miles.

Dianbai is the eastern gateway of Leizhou Peninsula, and its geographical location is important, so the Ming court set up a city guard here. Once Dianbai is lost, the gates of Gao, Lei and Lian will be wide open.

Li Mingzhong sent Generals Ye Biao and Deng Yao to lead the army to reinforce Dianbai. Deng Yao did not want to fight against his own people, so he took the navy to Wuchuan to avoid the storm. The navy did not move forward, and Ye Biao was unable to support the situation alone, so he hesitated to move forward.

On the seventh day, the defenders of Dianbai surrendered the city when they saw that no reinforcements had arrived.

The Red Army rested in Dianbai for one day, and on the ninth day they moved north to attack Gaozhou, forcing Li Mingzhong to surrender. Another Red Army unit, led by Liu Fangliang, was part of the 6th Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, originally stationed in Yulinzhou, Guangxi, and also moved south from Luchuan County to join the main Red Army in attacking Gaozhou.

Wherever the Red Army went, Li's army either retreated or surrendered. On the 11th, the Red Army's vanguard approached Gaozhou.

Li Mingzhong had no idea what to do. Although he was old, he had great ambitions but little talent. He ruled four prefectures but the people did not support him. He led tens of thousands of troops but had no skills in commanding them. He wanted to abandon Gaozhou and flee, but he was unwilling to do so. After all, Gaozhou was the foundation of the country. Once it was abandoned, the country would surely collapse.

General Ye Biao, the most valiant general under Li Mingzhong, led his troops out of the city to resist the battle, but was defeated after a brief battle. Li Mingzhong had no choice but to close the city gates and dare not go out to fight.

The Red Army of nearly 30,000 soldiers surrounded Gaozhou, leaving no gaps, trying to capture Li Mingzhong and his followers in one fell swoop.

Li Mingzhong issued an order to gather reinforcements, but seeing the Red Army's strength, most of the troops hesitated to move forward. However, the Qiongzhou Li people were quite enthusiastic and led their troops from Wuchuan to Gaozhou.

The Shuli lived in remote areas and were good at using poison arrows, thinking they were brave and good at fighting. The Red Army met the enemy with muskets, firing first outside the range of the poison arrows.

On the 14th, the Red Army defeated the Shuli with muskets, and Gaozhou's reinforcements were cut off.

The Intelligence Bureau stepped up efforts to instigate the garrison. Cen Danchu issued an ultimatum to Li Mingzhong, demanding that he give up the three prefectures of Lianzhou, Qiongzhou, and Leizhou. As a condition, Li Mingzhong could retain Gaozhou.

On the 16th, the defenders in the west of the city paid tribute to the Red Army and surrendered. On the same day, Li Mingzhong, seeing that the situation was hopeless, surrendered the city.

Cen Danchu fulfilled his promise and allowed Li Mingzhong to continue to guard Gaozhou. His land division was incorporated into a garrison battalion with a quota of 3,000 people, and Li Mingzhong served as the battalion commander. Deng Yao's navy was incorporated into the Red Army and designated as the 7th Battalion of the 2nd Brigade of the Navy, with Deng Yao as the battalion commander.

(End of this chapter)