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

Chapter 29 Pursuit
The Qing army was defeated and fled in panic. The Ming army should have pursued the victory, but the soldiers were busy grabbing the spoils. The battlefield was in chaos and the organization was completely scattered.

Cen Danchu tried to gather the first and second teams, but to no avail. The first and second team leaders were fighting for the spoils, and no one listened to his orders. They were on the same level as Danchu, and they were his seniors, so he couldn't use military law against them.

The Ming army was so poor that they could barely get enough food and clothing, and they couldn't even get military pay. Seizing spoils after winning a battle was an important way for officers and soldiers to supplement their military pay.

Cen Danchu had no choice but to ride his horse to find Jiao Lian and said, "Marshal Jue, the enemy has been defeated. We should chase them and prevent them from escaping into the camp!"

Jiao Lian suddenly realized. If they let the enemy escape into the camp, they could hold on to the camp, gather the defeated soldiers, and reorganize the army to fight again. The most urgent task was to pursue the victory, expand the results of the battle, and prevent the defeated Qing army from gaining a foothold.

So he hastily gave orders, leaving a small number of troops in each camp to guard the prisoners and spoils, and sending the main force to pursue, and not to withdraw until Limuling was captured.

Limuling is located 20 miles south of Guilin City. It is a small pass with continuous mountains. The Qing army set up a camp here, which also served as a granary. Once the Ming army captured Limuling, the Qing army's granary would be seized and they would be completely defeated.

The signal gun sounded, the flag was raised high, and the flag bearer rode to each camp to convey the military order. No one dared to disobey the commander's order. The generals of the Ming army received the order one after another, began to gather their formations, and sent troops to pursue.

Cen Danchu ignored the first and second teams and tried his best to gather his own troops to pursue the Qing army. There was a new soldier who refused to follow the flag and refused to return to the team. The flag bearer Wu Squadron was ordered to execute him immediately.

The three teams were disciplined and quickly gathered together. A quick count showed that there were 98 soldiers left, 18 of whom were unable to return to the team, either killed in battle or seriously injured and unable to move.

Cen Danchu left fifteen wounded soldiers to guard the captives and spoils. After the new soldiers were beheaded, the rest of the soldiers became more obedient, handed the spoils to the wounded soldiers, and continued to pursue the Qing army with Cen Danchu.

Danchu said loudly while riding his horse: "Brothers, if you want spoils, are there more on the battlefield or in the camp? Is there any need to think? Of course there are more in the camp! There are more than 20 camps behind us. Let's find the central army camp, cut down the military flags inside, seize the Qing camp, and all the precious treasures inside will belong to our third team!"

Cen Danchu understood this simple truth immediately. But on the battlefield, the soldiers were in a state of high tension and had already lost their rationality. As a general, you have to lead the soldiers to do rational things and grab more spoils.

The soldiers were forced to leave their spoils behind and were a little discouraged. But when they heard that they were going to the central army camp to snatch the spoils, they were all very excited and their morale was restored. They were eager to rush to the Qing army camp immediately.

The three teams were the fastest to form a team and were composed entirely of cavalry. They quickly rushed ahead of the friendly forces and into the Qing army camp.

The six camps in front had been breached by the Ming army yesterday. The Qing army repaired them overnight, and there would not be too many supplies inside, so Cen Danchu decisively gave up.

At this time, the three teams had already caught up with the Qing army. When cavalry fight infantry, they can take advantage of the speed of the horses and easily harvest the heads of the enemy without exerting any strength.

The Qing army was defeated and had no intention of resisting, and no one organized a resistance. Cen Danchu led three teams to kill people who looked like officers, further creating chaos.

Three teams of more than 80 cavalrymen went deep into the enemy camp, surrounded by defeated Qing soldiers on both sides. Cen Danchu looked back and saw that the friendly troops were chasing them, which made him feel relieved.

Well, we took advantage of the enemy's defeat and pursued them bravely. Looking at the Qing army in the distance, it seemed that they were trying their best to gather the defeated soldiers.

The Qing army was defeated, and it was impossible for them to gather the defeated soldiers. If they opened the camp, the rebels would rush in and trample each other, and they would collapse without fighting. If they closed the camp, the rebels would have nowhere to go, and the remaining soldiers were few in number. Once the enemy attacked, they would not be able to defend the camp.

There is only one possibility to stabilize the situation: the enemy is busy grabbing the spoils and does not pursue the victory.

Cen Danchu looked at the dozen camps in front of him and immediately spotted a large camp. This camp was located at the back, with the tallest and largest flags in the camp. There were wooden bars around the camp, like a wooden city, which was very eye-catching. The camp gate was closed, and armored soldiers could be vaguely seen on the gate tower. Most of the fleeing soldiers consciously avoided the large camp when they passed by it.

It seems that this is most likely Kong Youde's central army camp. Well, it's you. Cen Danchu took the lead and led three teams to rush over.

Before they got close, they heard a burst of gunfire. There were still bird guns, and they even had enough energy to fight back. What else could it be but the central army camp?
Danchu felt a pain in his left arm, having been shot. Fortunately, the Qing army's bird guns were not very powerful, and Danchu had two layers of armor to protect his body, so the bullet only caused superficial injuries.

A sentry leader, Wu Jie, rushed to the front and was also shot in the chest. He was a heroic man and refused to show weakness in front of his subordinates. He said, "Don't worry, the Qing army's bullets haven't penetrated my armor, they just tickled my chest."

The soldiers were relieved, the heavy cavalry moved forward consciously, and the light cavalry followed behind, continuing to rush towards the camp. There were also several Qing Dynasty fleeing soldiers beside them, who were also killed by their own muskets.

Fortunately, the matchlock guns fired very slowly, and the Qing army musketeers hid behind the camp, making it difficult to reload. Before they had time to reload, three teams of soldiers had already rushed to the outskirts of the camp.

There were no trenches dug outside the camp. Perhaps the Qing army could not find civilian laborers, so they had no time or manpower to dig trenches. The central army camp was located in the back row, so even if the Ming army came to attack, they would probably come one by one, not directly to the main camp.

The deer trap is slightly high and can only delay the enemy but cannot truly stop them.

The Yao soldier He Guoju became more and more courageous and bolder as the battle went on. He shouted, "Yao brothers, get off your horses and follow me!"

The new recruits should have been stopped from acting without authorization. But Cen Danchu appreciated him more and more, and allowed him to act on his own, saying, "New recruits from the Yao people, listen to He Guoju!"

A dozen or so captive Yao people dismounted and followed He Guoju. They were short and agile, and their movements were agile. They quickly moved the stakes away and let the cavalry approach the wall.

The wall was first nailed into the ground with wooden strips, and then the baggage and wagons were placed across it. It was relatively solid and was a common way to set up camps at that time. However, this kind of camp was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and was generally used in the central army camp or to defend important passes.

The wooden strips were at least ten feet long, and a person standing on a horse could barely touch the top of the wall.

However, He Guoju had another idea. He organized the Yao people to form a human pyramid and directly climb over the wall to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Qing army guards.

Absolutely! Danchu secretly admired it.

This He Guoju is a real tiger. If he is well trained in the future, he will surely become a fierce general. Although these Yao people were captives, they are hardworking, brave and brave. The Guangxi Lu soldiers are really not exaggerated. When expanding the army in the future, we can recruit soldiers from Guangxi, whether they are Miao, Yao or Han.

The Ming army entered the camp, and more Ming troops were pouring in from outside. The Qing army guards were defeated, gave up resistance, and fled through the back door.

He Guoju opened the camp gate and welcomed Cen Danchu into the camp. It was really a central army camp, and the layout and furnishings were very different.

Dan Chu first ordered his men to cut down the Qing army's flag, and then rode his horse straight into the central military tent. He saw a tiger-skin chair at the top, the room was in a mess, and a pile of documents were burning in the brazier.

He kicked over the brazier, asked someone to rescue the documents, and started searching the account. There were quite a few good things, including various rare and precious cultural relics, a precious sword, two telescopes, a set of golden armor, two sets of Manchu bows and arrows, etc.

The most surprising thing was that a silver seal of the Guangxi Inspector General was left in the account.

(End of this chapter)