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

Chapter 291: The Enemy
From Guilin to Yanguan, there are two major dangerous passes: Gantang Ferry and Darong River. Wang Yongzuo abandoned Gantang Ferry, and the only place that could delay the Red Army was the Darong River.

At 3:00 p.m., the Red Army arrived at the Darong River, where the Qing Army had built fortifications.

Each Red Army soldier rode two horses at a very fast speed. They were still in Guilin last night, but today they broke through Gantang Ferry and approached the Qing army's defense line on the Darong River.

The Darong River, also known as the Dayong River, is actually the source of the Li River. There is also the Xiaorong River, a tributary of the Li River, which merges into the Darong River in Rongjiang Town, Xing'an County. From then on, it is called the Li River.

This area is called Rongjiang Town. In addition to the Big and Small Rongjiang Rivers, there is also the Lingqu Canal.

The southern end of Lingqu Canal starts from the Darong River, passes through Yanguan, and connects to the Haiyang River in Xing'an County. The Haiyang River is actually the source of the Xiang River. The Li River flows southward and belongs to Guangxi, while the Xiang River flows northward and belongs to Hunan. In terms of the source of the two rivers, they are actually both in Xing'an County, Guangxi, and the straight-line distance is very close.

Qin Shihuang dug the Lingqu Canal to connect the Lijiang River and Xiangjiang River systems, connecting Hunan and Guangxi, and thus incorporating Lingnan into the territory of China.

The Greater Rong River encompasses the Lingqu Canal and the Lesser Rong River, and connects to Yanguan Pass in the north. Its importance is self-evident. The Qing army built three camps here, which were actually the same as the Ming army camps.

Danchu was filled with emotion when he revisited the old place. He said to his attendants, "In the first and second years of the Yongli reign, the Tartar invaded Guangxi three times and approached the city of Guilin. I was filled with righteous indignation and joined the army as a boy. I personally experienced three battles of Guilin. This place is called Darong River. I fought against the Tartar twice here and passed by this place many times."

Many people in the Royal Guards Association had been to Darongjiang, some had participated in the Battle of Guilin, and some had gone north to Quanzhou to fight in the third year of the Yongli reign.

Someone suggested: "Wang Yongzuo guards Lingchuan. Although he has surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, it is not a big deal. The enemy in Darongjiang belongs to the old Tartar Cao Dexian. He certainly has no intention of surrendering. It is better to gather a large army to attack him and eliminate the worries of the army."

"No," Danchu refused clearly, saying: "Our army only has 3,500 troops, and our goal is to launch a surprise attack on Yanguan. We cannot delay, and we cannot disperse our forces.

"I heard that when the Tartars attacked Guilin, Yang Guodong defended the Darong River, Zhao Yinxuan defended Lingchuan, and Pu Ying defended Gantang Ferry. Kong Youde was so arrogant that he ignored Yang Guodong and directly crossed the Darong River to attack Lingchuan and Gantang Ferry. Zhao Yinxuan was frightened and abandoned Lingchuan without a fight. Pu Ying was defeated and the gates of Guilin were wide open.

"For this surprise attack on Yanguan, we must use their own methods to fight back, cross the Darong River and attack Yanguan directly."

The Qing army marched south to fight for Liuzhou and Wuzhou. The distribution of forces was top-heavy, and the defenses in the Yanguan and Darongjiang areas were empty.

Cao Dexian, the general of the right wing, had received the news that the Red Army had arrived in Guilin yesterday, but he was helpless and could only order all places to strengthen their vigilance. The Qing army thought that the Red Army had come for a long distance to capture Guilin, but they had never expected that Cen Danchu would take the Yanguan Pass by surprise and close the gates to attack the enemy.

The Red Army attacked in large numbers, and the Qing troops in Darongjiang dared not go out to fight, and stayed in the camp. The Red Army did not engage in a fight with them, but crossed the Darongjiang River and continued north to Yanguan.

The Lingqu Canal had been in disrepair for a long time, but it was still navigable for small boats. The Qing army used flat-bottomed wooden boats to transport supplies, and the boats were lined up one after another. Due to the Red Army's surprise attack, the soldiers at the Lingqu sluice station fled, and many Qing army boats were stranded at the sluice station.

The Red Army burned the Qing army's baggage ships to prevent them from being used by the enemy. There was also a Qingjuntang station in Rongjiang Town, which the Red Army destroyed when passing by.

At the beginning of the evening, the vanguard approached Yanguan Pass. As dusk approached, the setting sun sank into the western mountains, and it suddenly became dark outside Yanguan Pass.

Danchu went to the front and observed the fortifications of Yanguan. In the past few years, there have been frequent battles in northern Guangxi, and he has been to Yanguan at least ten times, so he is very familiar with it.

This time, the flag of the Qing army was flying over the city wall. Occasionally, I met a few civilians. Although they looked like people from Guangxi, they had shaved their heads and kept braids, which made them look unfamiliar.

The Qing army was on high alert and had dug two trenches outside Yanguan Pass. The stag fences and chevaux de frise were clearly visible. The city wall was 17 feet high and built with stone slabs. There were two walls, one inside and one outside. The top of the city wall was densely covered with black gun muzzles. The north and south of the city were plains, with Lion Mountain to the west and Phoenix Mountain to the east, like a natural barrier, separating Guangxi and Hunan. In comparison, the conditions for passing Zhenxia Pass were far inferior to those of Yanguan Pass.

The defenders cut firewood on the mountain all year round, and Lion Mountain and Phoenix Mountain were bare, with no trees growing on them. There were beacon towers and artillery batteries on the mountain, and there were city walls connecting the mountain, leaving only a gate to connect the north and the south.

This is a strategic pass with a dangerous terrain, and it is known that "the war in Lingnan often took place here."

It was getting dark, and it was too late to attack the city. Danchu ordered his troops to camp, but he himself was not idle and summoned his generals to discuss the siege.

Fortresses are conquered from the inside. It would be great if someone from within the garrison responded! The generals looked at the Director of the Intelligence Bureau, Feng Jiali, hoping that the Intelligence Bureau could incite the garrison to revolt, but they were disappointed in the end.

"The Tartars were on high alert. Cao Dexian was also a veteran general in Dongjiang Town and had followed Kong Youde for more than 20 years. He was nearly 60 years old and had been injured in Hunan, but he was still as smart as ever and his deployment of city defense was remarkable.

"The Intelligence Bureau had ambushed several scouts in the city and instigated several Tartars to rebel. But Cao Dexian acted decisively and expelled all the servants in the city. All the chores in the city were managed by the Tartars themselves. However, we intercepted a secret letter and asked the general to take a look."

After saying that, Feng Jiali took out a secret letter, which attracted everyone's attention.

"Read." Dan Chu said few words, revealing calmness and majesty.

Feng Jiali read by lantern: "...Yanguan's military strength is also insufficient to defend. After three deployments, only 1,800 people are left in the city and only 800 people are left in Darongjiang. It is difficult to defend ourselves, and we cannot send more troops to reinforce Guilin...

"After much consideration, I decided to dispatch 400 soldiers from Yanguan and 200 soldiers from Darongjiang to rush to Guilin overnight. We expect them to arrive on the 26th..."

It turned out that Kong Youde learned that the Red Army was coming, and ordered Cao Dexian to send troops to reinforce Guilin overnight. Cao Dexian was too old to fight for merit on the front line. He was the general of the right wing of Dingnan Clan, theoretically the third most important person in Dingnan Clan. He had less than 3,000 troops under his command, but he had to defend Yanguan and Darongguan.

His reply letter was intercepted by the Red Army, and before the reinforcements he sent out had set out, the Red Army had already arrived at Yanguan.

After hearing the letter, the generals were overjoyed and said:

"The general is really good at predicting things. How could he know that the defense of Yanguan City was weak? How could he know that Cao Dexian's troops were short of manpower?"

"Although Yanguan Pass is dangerous, our army is at its best, like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, invincible!"

"Tomorrow we should lead our army to attack fiercely and try to recapture the city in one battle."

……

The generals were confident, and Cen Danchu was relieved. He said, "When two brave men meet on a narrow road, the brave will win. Back then, we attacked Kunlun Pass, and the situation was even more difficult than Yanguan Pass, but we still managed to capture it, didn't we? The army traveled a long distance just to capture Yanguan Pass. Now that Yanguan Pass is right in front of us, we must seize it as soon as possible at all costs."

(End of this chapter)