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

Chapter 289 Tian Yuan Adds a Stove
The next morning, at daybreak, the world was still peaceful. Cen Danchu personally led 3,500 main forces, all with their mouths sealed and their horses restrained, and moved north to Yanguan Pass.

There was still 120 miles from Guilin to Yanguan, and one had to cross the Li River along the way. If they forced a march, they could reach Yanguan in one day, one day earlier than originally planned.

Yanguan Pass is a place of strategic importance. The pass is complete and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Kong Youde sent Cao De, the general of the right wing, to guard Yanguan Pass first. If the Red Army wants to seize Yanguan Pass, they must race against time and reach Yanguan Pass before the Qing army reinforcements.

In order to buy time and confuse the Qing army, Cen Danchu ordered the soldiers to travel light and leave their tents and other belongings in Guilin. The soldiers carried very few daily necessities and only used a blanket to keep warm at night.

The remaining less than 500 cavalrymen, led by Tian Yuan, the deputy commander of the cavalry battalion, stayed outside Guilin's South Gate and Wenchang Gate to monitor the Qing army. They were dispersed and lived in four camps, making a big fuss and acting as decoys.

As the sky gradually brightened, the main force of the Red Army moved away, leaving behind a series of empty tents.

Tian Yuan summoned officers above the rank of captain to arrange military affairs: "Let's make a fire and cook as usual this morning, and try to create more smoke so that the Tartars can't figure out how many troops we have."

Most of the people who came were low-ranking officers from the Fourth Cavalry Battalion. A captain asked in a low voice, "Biaotai, did the general really take his troops away?"

The camp was already empty, so it was impossible to hide it. Tian Yuan hesitated for a moment and said, "To be honest, the general led the main force to the north to seize Yanguan, leaving us 500 men to monitor the Tartars in Guilin."

Everyone was whispering, and someone asked, "The Tartars are coming out of the city to challenge us, what should we do?"

"Don't be afraid of that." Tian Yuan said calmly, "The intelligence is very accurate. There are only 4,000 Tartars in Guilin City, and 1,000 of them are surrendered soldiers of the Ming Dynasty under the command of Yang Guodong and Pu Ying. The remaining 3,000, there are less than 1,000 old Tartars in Liaodong, and their combat effectiveness is not worth mentioning."

"What if Xian Guoan returns to rescue us and attacks us from both inside and outside together with Kong Youde?"

Before Tian Yuan could answer, someone answered for him: "The Second and Fourth Infantry Regiments are attacking the Tartars in Liuzhou. Kuang Xietai and Li Xietai are good at fighting. It's hard to say whether Lian Guoan can return to Liuzhou!"

"Yes!" Tian Yuan said with a smile: "Even if the old thief Xian Guoan leads his troops to support Guilin, the First Bu Group has launched a counterattack from Yong'an Prefecture and will surely arrive in Guilin to reinforce us."

He was the son of the chieftain of Jinxiu, but he was studious since childhood, elegant and polite, and was well-known in the army as a Confucian general. At this moment, he couldn't help but curse: "Don't let your imagination run wild. We are alone outside Guilin City to confuse the Tartars. If the Tartars come out of the city to attack, we don't have to fight to the death. We can delay the Tartars for one day at a time. Even if the Tartars see the flaws and attack us desperately, we will not entangle with them, but go north to surrender to the general."

Everyone felt relieved. It seemed that the higher-ups did not regard them as sacrifices. If anything went wrong, they could just walk away with two horses each.

"Today's breakfast will be eaten with great fanfare by each team, with smoke everywhere. In the morning, each team will send fifty riders out of the camp to chop firewood. In the afternoon, each team will send another fifty riders out of the camp to fetch water. When returning to the camp, these fifty riders will circle outside the camp so that the Tartars can see them."

The cavalry all had war horses with obvious characteristics, so it was difficult to deceive the Qing army. Tian Yuan had to act boldly, raising smoke from cooking fires and sending people to cut firewood and fetch water, just to deceive the Qing army.

After the arrangements were completed, everyone was about to say goodbye. Tian Yuan could not help but said, "After you go back, you must educate the soldiers well and guard the camp gates. When going out of the camp to cut firewood and fetch water, at least the deputy team leader must lead the team, and soldiers are strictly prohibited from acting alone. Each team must arrange personnel to observe the flags of the central army, and act in unison in case of emergency."

"Yes!" Everyone took the order and rode back to their camps.

Tian Yuan was still worried and walked around the camp. After walking a few steps, he heard a group of soldiers complaining:
"How did this happen? We are serious soldiers, carrying guns and riding horses to charge into battle. How come we have become stokers and have to light fires and cook by ourselves?"

"It would be fine if we just made a fire and cooked, but the captain also gave us a weird order to wet the firewood. Look, after making the fire for a long time, the fire is not strong, and there are clouds of smoke, which makes us choke and cry."

"Cooking is still okay. Didn't you hear what the captain said? After breakfast, the whole team will send fifty riders out of the camp to chop firewood. When the time comes, you can get a pile of wet firewood for us to burn."

"If you want to chop wood, you don't need to send out fifty cavalrymen at once, right? We are the only team left in this camp, plus the auxiliary soldiers we sent over, there are only about a hundred people in the camp. If we send out fifty cavalrymen at once, what if the Tartars come over? Will we still be able to keep this camp?"

After hearing this, all the soldiers were shocked and felt that staying in the camp would be dangerous. However, they were members of the Royal Guards Association after all, and they had been through many battles. After a moment of silence, they quickly became active again.

Someone changed the subject and said, "Well, the navy is better. They eat better than us, and can march by boat instead of riding horses. They even use coal to make fire on the boat. We have to chop wood to make fire." "Hey, just be content. Naval warfare is extremely dangerous, and the casualty rate of sailors is much higher than that of cavalry. When it comes to the hardships of marching, the infantry brothers should be counted first. We at least have horses to ride, while the infantry can only walk on their own two legs. It's hard just thinking about it."

"By the way, I heard that several third-class warships arrived at the Li River yesterday. Who told you that? I forgot to tell you that a fellow villager of mine is a platoon leader in the first battalion of the imperial guards. We enlisted together in the third year of the Yongli reign. I ran into him yesterday and he told me this himself."

"It must be the navy's vanguard. Since the vanguard has already arrived in Guilin, the main force should be here soon."

"Sergeant, your fellow countrymen have all become platoon leaders, why are you still a sergeant?"

"Fuck you!"

……

Tian Yuan suppressed his laughter and cleared his throat. The soldiers were surprised to see the deputy commander and stood up to salute him. He was originally the battalion instructor and regarded himself as a Confucian general. He had a way of teaching the soldiers. He said, "Have you heard of the story of Sun Bin reducing his belly?"

The deputy commander did not blame anyone, so everyone breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said no.

"During the Warring States Period, Sun Bin was a native of Qi. He was said to be a descendant of Sun Wu and a student of Guiguzi. Do you know who Sun Wu was? And what about Guiguzi?"

The sergeant knew nothing about the question. After all, he had been taught in the army, so he answered, "Sun Wu is Sun Tzu, and the Art of War was written by him. Guiguzi is a master of strategy, and Sun Bin, Pang Juan, Su Qin, and Zhang Yi are all his disciples."

"Well, that's good." Tian Yuan said, "Sergeant, you are a thoughtful person and you know a lot."

The Red Army emphasized strict compliance with orders, and superiors also focused on maintaining the prestige of officers among the soldiers.

There are many more things to say, but Tian Yuan will make it short: "There are five trades in our folk that respect Sun Bin as their ancestor, namely shoemaking, leather, coal, tofu, and clay sculpture. In fact, Sun Bin was also a great military strategist. The two stories of Tian Ji's horse racing and Wei Wei saving Zhao both came from Sun Bin.

"As for Sun Bin's reduction of cooking stoves, it is also very interesting. One year, Sun Bin led 100,000 Qi troops to fight in Wei. On the first day, he ordered to leave cooking stoves for 100,000 people in the Qi army camp; on the second day, he left cooking stoves for 50,000 people; on the third day, he only left cooking stoves for 30,000 people.

"The Wei army fell into a trap, thinking that the Qi army had fled in large numbers, and they underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. As a result, the Qi army still had 100,000 soldiers, and they defeated the Wei army. Now, the general is leading the main force north to seize Yanguan, leaving us to monitor the Tartars.

"Last night, the army camped in Guilin, and there was smoke from the cooking of four thousand people. If there is no smoke today, wouldn't it tell the Tartars that the main force of our army has left, and only a small number of troops are left in the camp?"

Everyone suddenly realized what was going on and immediately apologized to the deputy commander. The sergeant flattered him, saying, "In ancient times, Sun Bin reduced the number of stoves, and now Tian Biao has increased the number of stoves. The Tartars are blind and Kong Youde will die without a burial place."

However, a scout came on horseback to report: "Report to the flag station, Qi Liangxun is leading the righteous army to join us."

"Qi Liangxun? Where did you come from?"

"He claimed to be the governor-general and the deputy commander-in-chief, holding the seal of General Ningyuan. He was originally stationed in Guanyang, assisting Cao Zhijian in defending Zhenxia Pass."

Tian Yuan remembered that Qi Liangxun had followed the minister Lu Zhenfei and served as the flag bearer of the central army. Lu Zhenfei was an important minister in the late Ming Dynasty. He once rescued Emperor Longwu from the imperial mausoleum in Fengyang and served as a regent in the Longwu Dynasty. After Emperor Longwu died in Tingzhou, Lu Zhenfei came to Guangxi to respond to the call of Emperor Yongli and died on the way. Qi Liangxun attached himself to Qu Shisi and was ordered to guard Guanyang and protect Guilin.

The Red Army camp was empty, so Tian Yuan didn't dare to bring Qi Liangxun into the camp, lest he discover the truth. But Tian Yuan was short of troops at the moment, so he might as well find out what Qi Liangxun was thinking before making any plans.

The plan was decided, and Tian Yuan immediately ordered: "Gather eighty cavalrymen and follow me out of the camp to welcome Qi Liangxun."

(End of this chapter)