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

Chapter 288 The troops are approaching the city
It was already afternoon and it was getting dark, which was not conducive to fighting. The Red Army had come a long way and was temporarily unable to attack Guilin. Cen Danchu had not yet mentioned the surprise attack on Yanguan, and ordered to set up camp outside Guilin, apparently intending to stay outside Guilin and prepare to attack Guilin.

Tonight, the army opened fire as an exception, the auxiliary soldiers made fire and cooked, and rewarded the soldiers with horses. The whole army was excited, thinking that the general was determined to capture Guilin, and from then on there would be no more suffering from marching, only the merit of breaking the city.

Today, the entire army has only marched seventy miles, and the soldiers still have strength left. They enthusiastically go up the mountain to cut wood and set up four simple camps outside the South Gate and Wenchang Gate.

When Kong Youde saw the tents outside the city like snow, his face was filled with worry, and he summoned all the generals to discuss the matter on the south gate tower.

Guilin's defenses were weak, with only 4,000 defenders in the city, including 1,000 Ming Dynasty surrendered soldiers. The Red Army suddenly appeared outside Guilin, which was beyond their expectations, and the defenders were panicked.

There were only two generals in the city, Sun Long and Li Yangxing, both of whom were former subordinates of Kong Youde's Dongjiang Town. The rest of the generals divided their forces to seize Guangxi. The left wing commander, Lian Guoan, was in Liuzhou and his location was unknown. The right wing commander, Cao Dexian, was old and sick and was guarding Yanguan. The expedition commander, Ma Jiaolin, made the most progress and his vanguard had already reached Wuzhou.

Sun Long, who was the closest to Kong Youde, was also known as Sun Datang and arrived at the palace first. In order to win over Sun Long, Kong Youde became a relative of Sun Long and betrothed his only daughter, Kong Sizhen, to Sun Long's son, Sun Yanling.

Some time ago, Kong Youde fell out with Shen Yongzhong who was guarding Hunan, so he had to transfer the families of the vassal army to Guilin. The person in charge of escorting the families of the old camp was Sun Long.

"Your Majesty."

"Old Sun."

When the two met, they looked worried. Before they spoke, they each sighed.

By chance, Li Yangxing arrived. He was a general of Dingnan, good at defending cities, and was responsible for guarding Guilin.

"Old Li, how many Red Bandits have arrived?"

"According to the scouts, the Red Bandits are all cavalrymen, camped in the area around the South Gate and Wenchang Gate, with a number of around 4,000 to 5,000 cavalrymen."

The families of the vassal soldiers were all in Guilin, so Kong Youde had little choice. No matter how many Red Army soldiers came, the vassal soldiers had to hold on to Guilin.

Sun Long advocated war and said, "Your Highness, the Red Bandits have come from afar and have not yet established a firm foothold. It is better to attack at night and perhaps win. As long as we have a small victory, the people in the city will be reassured and the city defense will naturally be stable. Back then, Liu Wuyuan and Hu Yousheng defended Ganzhou and defeated Jin Shenghuan and Li Chengdong's three attacks one after another, all because of this move."

Kong Youde did not speak, but looked at Li Yangxing. Li Yangxing was in charge of defending the city, so he had more say in this matter. He said, "No. Liu Wuyuan and Hu Yousheng have been guarding Ganzhou for a long time, so they dared to go out of the city to fight. Despite this, when Jin Shenghuan attacked Ganzhou, the defenders surrendered from time to time. Our army has just entered Guilin not long ago, the people's hearts are not attached, and the city defense is not solid. We cannot attack rashly.

"Otherwise, if the slightest sign of defeat is revealed, people will become even more uneasy, and the surrendered troops may waver. The only solution now is to strengthen the city defenses, investigate the spies, and then hold on and wait for reinforcements as a long-term plan. When the Laoxian, Laoma, Laoquan, and Laocao towns return to defend Guilin, the Red Bandits will be in chaos without a fight."

Sun and Li were both old friends of Kong Youde, and had followed him for 20 to 30 years. They were close friends. Their families were all in Guilin, and they showed no fear in the face of a powerful enemy, which made Kong Youde very happy.

He regained his composure and said, "Guilin is easy to defend but difficult to attack. There are many mountains to the west and north of the city, including Parrot Mountain and Diecai Mountain. The city wall is built along the mountain and connects the mountains, forming a northwest mountain city. The Yangjiang River is used as a moat to the west and south of the city, and the Lijiang River is on the east side of the city. This is a land of beautiful mountains and rivers, a gift from heaven. As long as we work together and hold on and wait for help, we will surely defeat the Red Bandits." Soon, Guangxi Governor Wang Yipin, Acting Provincial Governor Zhang Xingguang, and Inspector Wang Quanke arrived in Nanning one after another. When they heard that Kong Youde had summoned his generals, they guessed that they must be discussing whether to advance, retreat, or stay, and followed him in.

Kong Youde was quite frank and told everyone all the information about the invading Red Army.

Wang Yipin was born in Liaodong Han Chinese, and was a member of the Eight Banners of the Han Army. He was addicted to power, but also afraid of death. This person left a bad reputation in history, and his life and deeds can give us a glimpse into the strict political and legal system in the early Qing Dynasty. In the fourth year of the Yongli reign, Wang Yipin followed Kong Youde into Guangxi and became the first governor of Guangxi in the Qing Dynasty. There were frequent wars in Guangxi, and Wang Yipin "feared and pretended to be sick" and returned to the banner for recuperation in the fifth year of the Yongli reign. In the eighth year of the Yongli reign, the Qing army defeated Li Dingguo and occupied Guangxi again, intending to appoint Wang Yipin as the governor of Guangxi. Wang Yipin was very frightened and bribed Chen Jiayou, the official in the Ministry of Personnel, with two thousand platinums, intending to stay in Beijing or the capital to serve. After the incident, the Qing court hanged Wang Yipin, and Chen Jiayou was exiled to Ningguta, becoming the first Han Chinese to be exiled to Ningguta in the history of the Qing Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, the Red Bandits are coming from Liuzhou with great force. Lian Zhen is leading the main force to attack Liuzhou, and his life or death is uncertain. Guilin's defense is weak, so it is better to rush to Pingle and Wuzhou and join forces with Ma Zhen..."

Dingnan Fan had many families and it was not easy to migrate. In the urgent war, the army was busy with its own affairs, so how could it have the energy to protect the families?

Before Wang Yipin finished speaking, Wang Quanke immediately jumped out and said, "What the governor said is absolutely unacceptable. Guilin is the capital of Guangxi Province and also the place where the king is staying. Gains and losses are of great importance. The morale of the 50,000 vassal troops of Dingnan and the outlook of the 3 million people of Guangxi are based on the strong city of Guilin.

"The emperor appointed the prince as the King of Dingnan and established his government in Guangxi, in order to use the prince's reputation to intimidate the soldiers and civilians of Guangxi. Just imagine, if the prince takes action without authorization, the soldiers and civilians of Guangxi will be shaken. How dare the defenders defend the city and resist? Wouldn't the people be more deceived by the red bandits?"

Wang Quanke was less than 30 years old, but he held an extremely important position - the Imperial Inspector, also known as the Inspector. This was only a minor official of the seventh rank, but he "tourned on behalf of the emperor", "reported major events and made decisions on minor matters", "had the right to speak frankly about the gains and losses of political affairs, the benefits and harms of the military and civilians", and had great power.

The censors were of low rank and were often held by young officials. These officials were not tainted by the decadence of officialdom and were often brave enough to take on tasks when they first assumed power. During the Ming Dynasty, many famous officials became censors soon after they entered officialdom and quickly stood out. However, in the late Ming Dynasty, the censors invaded the power of the governors, resulting in different powers of the governors, and local military and political affairs were often affected by them.

The Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming system and also set up inspectors in each province in the early Qing Dynasty. The Manchu governors were very disgusted with the inspectors, and governors often killed inspectors without authorization. In the late Shunzhi period, the Qing court simply abolished the post of inspectors and replaced it with sub-inspectors.

The Qing Dynasty's circuit governors became de facto subordinates of the governors-general and governors-general. They did not play the role of inspecting local areas at all. Instead, they added circuit governors between provinces and prefectures, making the administration more bloated. Compared with previous dynasties, the Qing Dynasty's officialdom paid more attention to seniority. Officials were incompetent and the officialdom was lifeless, presenting a political form of darkness.

Wang Quan was a Jinshi in the third year of Shunzhi, and later served as the Censor of Huguang. In less than four years, he was promoted to the Inspector of Guangxi, becoming a high-ranking official and was extremely grateful to the Qing Dynasty.

Kong Youde had been in the military for many years and hated scholars' discussions. He asked Wang Quanke, "Sir Wang Dazhu, according to your opinion, the Red Army has a lot of troops. What should our vassal do?"

Dazhushi is a respectful title for the governor-general in the officialdom. Wang Quanke was called Dazhushi by the King of Dingnan, and he did not look embarrassed. Instead, he talked freely and said:
"Your Highness was born in a commoner family, but he was granted the title of King of Dingnan and established his government in Guangxi. He is now extremely wealthy. Now Guilin is in urgent need, and Your Highness has the responsibility to defend the city. We, the governors of the vassal states, should live and die with Guilin, just like Your Highness."

Wang Quanke's words were so righteous that Kong Youde was deeply moved. He thought for a long time and asked the acting governor Zhang Xingguang, "What do you think, Governor?"

Zhang Xingguang was a thoughtful and strategic person, and was highly regarded by Kong Youde. He was also a Liao person, and was a member of the Eight Banners of the Han Army. He said:
"Your Highness was born a commoner, and has been in the military for thirty years. He led the elite troops of Dingnan, and his officers and men were loyal to him, so he was able to establish his government in western Guangdong. The Red Bandits are a rising star in the Ming army, but they started the rebellion hastily, and it has only been four years since then. Although they have a large number of troops, most of them are a motley crowd. Today, the Red Bandits managed to attack Guilin by chance, but they are already at the end of their strength. As long as we keep our minds focused, strengthen the city defenses, and then order the towns to come to our aid, we can attack from both inside and outside, and we will surely defeat the Red Bandits in one fell swoop."

This plan coincided with what Li Yangxing had said, and Kong Youde agreed with it. He said, "That's right. I have ordered all the towns to return to defend Guilin. Within three days, the reinforcements from all the towns will arrive in Guilin one after another, and then we will fight a decisive battle with the Red Bandits."

(End of this chapter)