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

Chapter 287 This King's Aura
The Red Army took Hongsha'ao, but they did not dare to take it lightly. From Hongsha'ao to the northeast, there is still a mountain road of 30 miles. If the Qing army gathered the defeated soldiers and built fortifications on the mountain road overnight, it would be enough to delay the Red Army.

Danchu issued an order: "March all night and do not camp or rest until you reach Yongfu County."

Yongfu County is located at the confluence of Xihe River and Luoqing River, about 35 miles away from Huangshaao. When the Red Army reached Yongfu County, they had walked out of the Taihe Mountains and had a smooth road ahead, so they could attack Guilin and Yanguan directly.

The cavalry first passed through the wooden city, then lit torches and marched while chasing the Qing army. If they encountered anyone who could not escape in time, anyone with a braid would be killed without mercy.

Danchu led his personal guards to the rear, and after passing through the wooden city, he set fire everywhere, completely burning the city. No captives were spared, and all were executed. For a time, the flames in Hongshaao shot up to the sky, as bright as day.

Today we have been marching and sieging the city. The soldiers are physically tired, but with victory in sight, their morale is high and everyone is in high spirits.

The Red Army had already achieved half of its goal by taking Hongshaao. Danchu was very happy and rode on his horse with great confidence.

Zhou Yiming was ordered to accompany him. While on the way, he narrated to Danchu about the surprise attack on North City.

"…The Tartars only cared about their own interests and the defense of the northern city was very weak. They also did not send anyone to guard the mountain…When our army entered the city, we found that the defenders were not many. Later, we asked the prisoners and learned that the Lian Guoan had sent troops to reinforce Liuzhou, and the defense of Hongshaao was weak.

"…Soon after, the grain ships caught fire. The Tartars had no idea how many troops we had, and they saw enemies everywhere, so they fled in panic. The defenders at the north gate were the first to flee, leaving the city gate wide open. The soldiers inside the city were defeated…"

The attack was very successful. The Red Army lost only 16 of its 200 elite soldiers and captured and killed 128 Qing soldiers.

Zhou Yiming is indeed a talented general. With his military exploits and abilities, he is qualified to be a battalion commander. However, because of his lack of experience, he is still a deputy battalion commander. After the war, he should be promoted to battalion commander to show his talents.

"Yiming, you led the team deep behind enemy lines and were the first to attack the wooden city. This shows that you are both wise and brave."

"You are wrong to praise me, General. It is only thanks to your brilliant plan and the dedication of our soldiers that we were able to successfully capture Hongshaao."

"Yeah." Danchu responded without saying anything else. He had been traveling all day and had only dry food for three meals. He was a little tired physically, but very excited mentally.

Looking into the distance, the mountain road is full of torches, like a winding fire dragon. The moonlight is dim, the sky is full of stars, and the river breeze is refreshing. How nice it would be if there was a pot of light wine to quench my thirst at this time.

"Xiao Hu, bring the snuff bottle."

Xiao Hu is Cen Danchu's personal bodyguard, from Yong'an, Guangxi. Danchu saved his life.

"General, please."

After taking a pinch of snuff, Danchu suddenly felt refreshed and his fatigue was relieved a lot.

The Ming Dynasty had introduced tobacco from America, which was called "yellow tobacco". It could be used as dry tobacco or hookah. Yellow tobacco was very popular in both the military and the people. However, the upper class officials preferred snuff, believing that snuff was more elegant than yellow tobacco.

Zhou Yiming looked up at the starry sky and sighed, "General, look at the night sky above your head. It is dotted with stars and shining brightly. This is the aura of a king."

Xiao Hu echoed, "Wherever the general goes, the royal aura follows him, and the army often wins the battle. Therefore, the army says that as long as the general leads the troops to the battle, the Red Army will be invincible." "Hehe." Dan Chu smiled and didn't respond. The Red Army was founded by him, and most of the senior generals and mid-level generals like Zhou Yiming were promoted by him.

In addition to the staff system, the training system, the military academy, and the naval academy, Danchu had absolute authority over the Red Army. The officers and soldiers worshipped him as a god, and no one dared to question his position as commander. The situation similar to the three prefectures of the Dashi Army competing for supremacy and the various towns of the Zhongzheng Camp being in a state of disunity did not exist in the Red Army. As long as Danchu gave an order, even if he claimed to be king or emperor now, the Red Army would support him wholeheartedly.

However, the time is not ripe now. Danchu rose to prominence too quickly, fought few battles with the Qing army, killed few enemies, and his status among the heroes is not high. He needs to take his time to become king.

Intelligence Bureau Chief Feng Jiali had been waiting in front for a long time. When he saw Danchu, he immediately came over to report secretly: "Report to the general, the scouts in front have sent intelligence. Yongfu County is poorly defended. There are less than a hundred Tartars in the city, and there are more than 400 Ming Dynasty surrendered soldiers. We can defeat them in one blow."

Danchu was determined to seize Yanguan and cut off the Qing army's retreat. He had no intention of attacking Guilin, let alone the small Yongfu County.

In order to keep it secret, the Red Army did not disclose the destination of the attack. Many people thought that Danchu personally led the troops to counterattack Guilin and help Qu Shisi recover the provincial capital. After crossing the Luoqing River Valley, success was in sight, and Danchu decided to reveal a few things to everyone.

"Guilin is located in the northern part of Guangxi, which is too remote. Do you know why the imperial court chose Guilin as the provincial capital?"

Some people say: "Guilin is located at the confluence of the Yangjiang River and the Lijiang River, surrounded by many plains and abundant grain production. Guangxi is barren and mountainous, with few farmlands. With Guilin as the provincial capital, it is self-sufficient."

Zhou Yiming served as the deputy commander of the imperial guards. Following Danchu, he gained a lot of knowledge and said, "Taizu has no intention of expanding the border. The Ming Dynasty is not very powerful in military affairs, and its national defense strategy is relatively conservative. With Guilin as the capital of Guangxi Province, in case of an emergency, it will be very convenient to get support from the north."

"That's right," Danchu praised, "Qin Shihuang dug the Lingqu Canal to connect the front and back of Yanguan and incorporated Lingnan into the Central Plains Dynasty. The ancients said about the situation in Lingnan, 'The war in Lingnan was often caused by this'. If there is Yanguan, there is western Guangdong, and if there is western Guangdong, there is eastern Guangdong.

"Right now, the Tartars have invaded Lingnan, and the three feudal lords Kong Youde, Geng Jimao, and Shang Kexi are extremely arrogant. In this battle in Lingnan, if we want to completely annihilate the three feudal lords, the key is not in Guilin, but in Yanguan. The little Yongfu is even less worthy of mention."

Zhou Yiming reacted quickly and asked, "General, after the troops pass Yongfu County, will they go directly north?"

Danchu did not answer his question directly, but said ambiguously: "We will act according to circumstances. If we can easily capture Guilin, then we will capture Guilin. Otherwise, we might as well lead the army to attack Yanguan directly."

The Red Army's first goal was to capture Yanguan Pass. Danchu did not want to say anything final, nor did he want to reveal his combat intentions too early, lest they be discovered by the Qing army.

That night, the Red Army marched 35 miles overnight until they reached Bantanling outside Yongfu City, where they camped and rested. From here to the north, the plain was flat, the Lijiang Plain, and there were no more dangerous passes that could stop the Red Army.

At noon the next day, the Red Army broke camp again, marched along the right bank of the Luoqing River, crossed the Xiangsi River at Tonggu City, and rushed to Guilin. The road was flat and the cavalry marched very fast.

At 3:00 p.m., the Red Army's vanguard approached Guilin, defeated the Qing troops in the area of ​​Qixingyan in the south of the city, and approached the city of Guilin.

Who could have imagined that the Red Army would reach Guilin so quickly? On the 18th, the Red Army was still in Liuzhou, and on the 19th they broke camp. Only three days later, they had already reached the outskirts of Guilin.

Kong Youde was shocked when he heard the order, and ordered the city gates to be closed tightly, and rushed to the South Gate Tower. He saw countless red military flags floating in the distance, among which a large flag was particularly dazzling, with the words "Ningguo Gong Conquering the Enemy General Cen" written on it. The war horses were galloping, and the iron cavalry was like a forest. I wonder how many red troops have come?
He already knew that this group of Red Army soldiers had come from Liuzhou. Along the 300-li route, the Qing army set up eight stations, but failed to report the military situation in time. And then there was Xian Guoan. He was the most powerful general in Dingnan. How could he be so incapable of fighting? How could he allow the Red Army to attack Guilin?

Kong Youde felt hopeless and staggered, almost falling to the ground.

(End of this chapter)