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

Chapter 282 Counterattack
Inside the central army tent, everyone rushed to read the secret letter from Guilin. They couldn't believe that the long-awaited "secret" of the general and the "opportunity" for the Red Army's surprise attack was the Qing army's families entering Guilin.

After careful consideration, they suddenly understood. The families entering Guilin would be a heavy burden for the Qing army. Once the Red Army launched a large-scale counterattack, the families of the Qing army would not be able to escape in time and would be easily captured by the Red Army. With the families in hand, would the Qing army still fight to the death? Would they still flee to Hunan and Guangdong?

Cen Danchu had calmed down from his initial excitement and began to prepare to issue military orders. Right Army Officer Mo Guangshu ground the ink and prepared to record.

Mo Guangshu was from the Yong'an Mo family. He was originally in charge of criminal cases. He was outstanding and famous. The positions of left and right assistants in the Red Army were very important, so it was not convenient to select them from among the military commanders. Danchu boldly promoted Mo Guangshu and appointed him as the right assistant.

Whenever faced with a major military decision, Danchu would always habitually come to the map, look at it carefully, and think over it repeatedly.

At this moment, the map in the central army tent was covered with pins. The red pins represented the Red Army, the blue ones represented the Qing Army, and the black ones represented the friendly forces. The combat staff adjusted the positions of the pins at any time based on the latest intelligence.

In recent days, the number of blue pins has increased, and they are gradually heading towards Liuzhou and Wuzhou. The number of black pins has decreased, with some disappearing and some turning blue. The number of red pins is also changing, with the total number increasing slightly, and they are gradually concentrating in the four directions of Liuzhou, Laibin, Tengxian and Yonganzhou.

Using three types of pins to mark the map can intuitively show the current enemy and our own situation. There are a lot of blanks around Guilin, which means that the Qing army is short of manpower and there is an opportunity to take advantage of. There are also a lot of blanks around Nanning, but the Red Army's Third Infantry Brigade and the Second Navy Brigade are deployed in Lianzhou, Leizhou, and Qiongzhou to the southeast of Nanning, which are enough to deal with the enemy in eastern Guangdong. Once Guangzhou is in an emergency, these two Red Army brigades can come to rescue Guangzhou nearby.

Coincidentally, the intelligence staff sent the latest information, and the operations staff immediately adjusted the map.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and observed the latest enemy and friendly situation.

"Enemy situation: Ma Xiong led 3,000 Tartars to occupy Wuzhou; Ma Jiaolin led 5,000 Tartars to attack Yong'an Prefecture from Xiuren and Zhaoping; Cao Dexian was stationed in Yanguan and dispatched 1,000 Tartars to reinforce Liuzhou; Quanjie's 1,500 Tartars were defeated in Qianjiang, and more than 1,000 escaped and returned to Qingyuan along the same route.

"According to our information, the First Infantry Brigade, the Auxiliary Brigade, the Royal Guard Brigade, and the Artillery Brigade have passed through Xiangzhou and are waiting in hiding 30 miles south of Liuzhou. The main force of the First Infantry Brigade is defending Yong'an and refusing to fight. The Third Brigade has advanced to Teng County and is waiting. Ma Bao, the deputy commander of the Third Infantry Brigade, led the Seventh Brigade to reinforce Wuzhou and has stationed in Cenxi, ready to counterattack Wuzhou at any time."

The moment of the decisive battle has finally arrived. Everyone looked at the map and then at Danchu, expecting him to issue military orders as soon as possible.

Danchu had been observing the map for a long time and rubbed his eyes. The guard beside him understood and handed him a small snuff bottle.

The war was imminent and the military situation was numerous and urgent. Cen Danchu suffered from insomnia from time to time. He needed to drink alcohol to help him sleep at night and snuff to stay awake during the day.

After sniffing a pinch of snuff, Danchu was much more energetic. He stretched his muscles and bones, and had a comprehensive understanding of the entire battle situation. He resolutely said, "Right Army Officer, you come to record the military order."

"Yes." Mo Guangshu was cheered up, picked up the brush and responded.

Everyone held their breath, only to hear Cen Danchu's calm tone, without hesitation, saying: "Order, the personal guards, the second infantry, and the fourth infantry will form the Western Route Army, led by me. The personal guards will cross the river tomorrow, and join the cavalry and the fourth infantry to defeat the Qing army outside Liuzhou. The day after tomorrow, the personal guards, the personal guards, and the cavalry will break camp and serve as the vanguard of the Western Route Army, led by me personally, through Luorong, Luzhai, Guilin, Lingchuan, and go straight to Yanguan. "Attention, the entire cavalry will be dispatched, about 2,500 cavalry, one man and two horses. The personal guards will dispatch the first, second, and third battalions, about 1,500 riflemen, and the fourth, fifth, and baggage battalions will all be handed over to the first, second, and third battalions to ensure two horses for each man. Four thousand Red Army soldiers and eight thousand horses must not seize cities along the way, and must not linger in battle. Carry 20 days of dry food and arrive at Yanguan before the 23rd."

This was undoubtedly the most important military order in this battle. Everyone thought that Cen Danchu would lead the cavalry to attack Guilin. Unexpectedly, he was even more daring and bypassed Guilin to attack Yanguan.

Today is November 18th. Tomorrow, the imperial guards will cross the river and defeat the Qing army in Lian Guoan. On the 19th, we will move our camp northwards, crossing the Luoqing River valley and traveling 400 miles before we can reach Yanguan.

The vanguard had to reach Yanguan before the 23rd, running an average of 100 miles a day. If it was just a march, it wouldn't be a big problem, but the Luoqing River Valley Road was the most convenient passage between Guilin and Liuzhou, with high mountains and narrow roads on both sides, so the Qing army would definitely set up defenses here. Along the way, they had to cross the Xiangsi River, Yangjiang River, and Rongjiang River. It was not easy to defeat the Qing army's blockade and reach Yanguan on time.

However, capturing Yanguan was of great significance. The Red Army would cut off the Qing army's retreat and hopefully catch them in the trap, thus creating conditions for completely annihilating the Qing army in Dingnan.

The combat staff immediately adjusted the pins. The two largest red pins, representing the Royal Guards and Cavalry, were the most elite forces of the Red Army. They suddenly appeared in Yanguan and attracted special attention on the map.

It is not difficult to see that once the Red Army appears at Yanguan, the entire battlefield situation will be disrupted, and the Qing army's rear will be threatened, so they will desperately rescue it. If the Red Army's vanguard fails to capture Yanguan smoothly, it will be attacked from both sides by the Qing army. If the main force behind it cannot keep up in time, the vanguard will be short of food and grass and will fall into an extremely dangerous situation.

Danchu had sorted out his thoughts and continued to issue military orders: "Order, the remaining troops of the personal guards, the second infantry, and the fourth infantry are the main forces of the Western Route Army, under the command of the right military officer Mo Guangshu. The second infantry will move out tomorrow and cross the Liujiang River before the 20th to join the fourth infantry to attack the remaining troops of the Qin Guoan. When arriving at Luorong, the fourth infantry will advance eastward to Pingle and establish a defense line in Pingle Prefecture City to separate the enemies of Guilin and Wuzhou. The rest of the troops will go north along the Luoqing River Valley Road and arrive in Guilin before the 30th to join the first infantry to attack the city.

"Order, the 1st Infantry Regiment and the 7th Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment will form the Eastern Route Army. The 1st Infantry Regiment Cavalry Battalion, Firearms Battalion, and the 1st Battalion will immediately move camp and march north to attack Zhenxia Pass. The 2nd Battalion will march west to Guilin and join the Western Route Army to attack Guilin. The 3rd Battalion will be assigned to the 3rd Infantry Regiment and will be under the command of Ma Bao, the deputy commander of the 3rd Battalion."

"Order Ma Bao, deputy commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, to command the 3rd and 7th Battalions to counterattack Wuzhou, occupy Deqing Prefecture in Guangdong, and keep an eye on Zhaoqing.

"Order, the 3rd Infantry Brigade and the 2nd Navy Brigade will move forward to intercept the enemy in western Guangdong and threaten the enemy in eastern Guangdong. The commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, Wu Jie, will control the remaining troops of the 3rd Brigade and move forward to Leizhou. The Qiongzhou soldiers will move to Leizhou, and Wu Jie will lead the camp to Suixi County, Leizhou Prefecture. The first battalion of the 1st Navy Brigade will be assigned to the Western Route Army, the second battalion will be assigned to the Eastern Route Army, and the third battalion will be assigned to Ma Bao, the deputy commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade. The 2nd Navy Brigade will move forward, and the commander Yang Yuqi will lead the flagship to Haikang County, a sub-county of Leizhou Prefecture, and maintain vigilance on the sea in western Guangdong."

After issuing several orders in succession, Danchu felt relieved. The red pins inserted into the enemy-occupied area were like sharp blades piercing the heart of the enemy, which made everyone excited.

The Red Army had endured for a long time and was finally able to fight the enemy to the death.

"General, there are still several friendly troops in the town. How should we deal with them?"

"In the Yunnan Division, Zhao Yinxuan was beaten to death on the pretext of delaying military operations and deserting the battlefield, and Hu Yiqing was ordered to counterattack Qingyuan. As for the rest of the regiments, except for Jiao Lian, Yang Guodong, Pu Ying, and Ma Yanglin, which were temporarily retained to accompany the Red Army, all other regiments were disbanded and incorporated into the garrison association."

(End of this chapter)