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

Chapter 294 Siege
On the 27th, Cen Danchu returned to Guilin and set up camp at Baishitan in the north of the city.

At this time, several Red Army troops had gathered outside Guilin. The land division mainly consisted of the Second Infantry Battalion, the First, Second, and Third Battalions of the Imperial Guard, and the Fourth Cavalry Battalion, totaling less than 5,000 troops. The Second Navy Battalion and the First Baggage Battalion also arrived in Guilin, transporting supplies for the Red Army on the front line. There were also more than 1,000 troops under Wang Yongzuo, and the rebel army under Qi Liangxun, totaling about 3,000 troops.

The main force had not yet arrived, but the situation on the battlefield had already reversed. Danchu had 8,000 troops under his command, enough to attack Guilin.

At 3:00 p.m., Danchu summoned all the generals to a meeting.

Director of the Operations Bureau He Zhaoji pointed to the map and said, "It's a mess, it's all messed up. The general personally led the army and went deep into the enemy's rear to attack Yanguan. The main force of the Tartars is at the front line, caught off guard and in complete chaos.

"All units made good progress. The Second and Fourth Infantry Regiments attacked the Qing troops of Lian Guoan and Quanjie in Liuzhou, and Hu Yiqing's unit of the Yunnan Division recaptured Qingyuan. The First Infantry Regiment sent troops to attack Zhenxia Pass. The Third Infantry Regiment occupied Wuzhou and Deqing, Guangdong.

"The Tartars were defeated one after another. Kong Youde defended Guilin with no sign of escaping. Lian Guoan was defeated in Liuzhou and fled to Pingle via Lipu, and seemed to be moving towards Guilin.

"Quan Jie followed Lian Guoan and retreated to Qingyuan, where he was killed by our army. Ma Xiong managed to escape from Wuzhou and fled to eastern Guangdong along the Xijiang River. Ma Jiaolin failed to capture Yongan, lost Zhaoping and Lipu, and retreated to Pingle and Yangshuo.

"At present, Yanguan, Zhenxiaguan, Qingyuan and Wuzhou have all been incorporated into our army, forming a situation of closing the door and beating the dog. Except for the loopholes in the direction of Hexian and Huaiji, the Dingnan vassal has fallen into our army's net and can't escape even if he has wings."

The deputy general of Dingnan, Quan Jie, was killed and his army was destroyed, the worst defeat. After the defeat in Liuzhou, Lian Guoan retreated to Pingle. The road was crowded, and Quan Jie had no idea what was wrong with his brain, so he led his troops to retreat to Qingyuan.

The Second Infantry Brigade divided its troops to pursue the enemy, and together with Hu Yiqing of the Yunnan Division, they advanced towards Qingyuan, and the chieftain of the Tan family responded. Quanjie was defeated again, and most of his troops rioted. The left battalion lieutenant general He Jiucheng was seriously wounded and died, and the rear battalion lieutenant general Shen Bangqing was shot dead. The right battalion lieutenant general Zheng Yuanxun and the central army guerrilla Cai Bin surrendered. The whole army of Quanjie was annihilated.

As for Hexian and Huaiji, they are located in the northeast corner of Guangxi, bordering Guangdong, and are located in Mengzhuling, one of the Five Ridges, with very poor traffic conditions. Even if the Qing army retreated to Guangdong via Hexian and Huaiji, there were mountains and ridges along the way, and it was impossible to expand or move fast.

The generals were overjoyed and talked about it. The war situation had turned around so quickly that it was completely beyond everyone's expectations. When the Qing army first invaded Guangxi, the Red Army did not move, allowing the Qing army to occupy important towns such as Guilin, Pingle, and Wuzhou. The Ming army towns were either defeated or defeated, and the future was bleak, as if the sky was about to fall. Who would have thought that the Red Army would create a situation of closing the door and beating the dog as soon as it took action, trapping the entire Dingnan vassal army in Guangxi.

"When will the artillery unit arrive?" Danchu asked.

Everyone stopped talking and looked at Ho Siu-kee at the same time.

"The artillery battalion, escorted by the fourth and fifth battalions of the imperial guards, has crossed the Luoqing River valley and entered Yongfu County. We will march quickly tomorrow and arrive in Guilin around dusk."

Cannons were indispensable for the assault on Guilin. The artillery battalion had nine 100% cannons, which could be used to attack the city.

On the map, the enemy and our own situation was clear. After a forced march, the Red Army's land divisions had advanced to Yongfu, Pingle, Lipu and other places outside Guilin, forming a loose encirclement of the Qing army. The Qing army had suffered repeated defeats and was shrinking its defense line, gradually retreating to Guilin.

The special forces led by Cen Danchu were surrounded by the Qing army and stood out on the map.

What should we do next? Should we attack Guilin immediately? Or should we rest for a while and wait for the main force to get closer before attacking Guilin?

Everyone had this question in their mind, expecting the commander to make a decision sooner rather than later, but they heard him say, "Kong Youde is the strongest and most arrogant of the three kings and one duke, but he only has more than 4,000 old men in Dongjiang Town.

"Last year, Dingnan hastily expanded its army to 20,000, most of whom were from the Green Camp, and their combat effectiveness was quite average. Since entering Huguang, many Ming troops have surrendered, and Dingnan's military strength has swelled to 40,000 to 50,000, but there are not many who can fight. "Kong Youde was not satisfied with occupying Guilin, and dared to divide his troops repeatedly to plunder various places in western Guangdong. He is really courting death. This time, we must annihilate the Dingnan army and give Bashan, Shang Kexi, Geng Jimao and others a warning. "

The Qing general Bashan has arrived in Guangzhou and joined forces with the Shang and Geng clans to attack Guangzhou. Wu Liuqi returns and leads the navy to assist.

The two wing cities in the north of Guangzhou were destroyed. Li Yuanyin led troops from Zhaoqing to reinforce, but was repelled. Sanshui, Sihui and other cities also fell. Du Yonghe was left alone to defend Guangzhou, and the signs of defeat were obvious.

After conquering western Guangdong, the next step is to conquer eastern Guangdong. Previously, it was a distant possibility for the Red Army to occupy Guangdong and Guangxi, but now it is on the agenda. Looking into the future, there is a promising future.

"General, should we wait until all the artillery is in place before we start attacking the city?" He Zhaoji asked on behalf of everyone.

Danchu did not answer, but asked: "How many Red Cannons are there? When will they be delivered?"

"Shibamen, it can be transported to Guilin in three days at the earliest."

The city walls of the Ming Dynasty were mostly rammed earth with bricks and stones on the outside. As long as there were enough red cannons and the shells were dense enough, it would be easy to knock down the city walls.

However, the Red Cannon was too heavy and inconvenient to transport, so it was not taken seriously by the Red Army. In this battle with the Tartars, the Red Army urgently cast a batch of Red Cannon and handed them over to the navy to transport to Guilin. The navy used baggage ships to transport the cannons, first down the Xun River, and then recruited boatmen to pull the baggage ships up the Gui River and Li River, which was slow.

Danchu had not expected to use the Red Barbarian Cannon to attack the city, so he said, "No need. We will start the attack this afternoon. We don't need to use all our strength. We should first put pressure on the enemy and find the weaknesses in the city defense. By the way, which gate will Wang Yuncheng guard?"

Wang Yuncheng, courtesy name Le'an, was from Liaodong. He was an old friend of Kong Youde in the army. In his early years, he followed the famous general Deng Qi to encircle and suppress the peasant army. After Deng Qi's death, Wang Yuncheng was transferred to Zuo Liangyu. He was brave and good at fighting, and was nicknamed "Iron Cavalry King".

After Zuo Liangyu died of illness, Zuo Menggeng succeeded him as commander of the army and surrendered to the Qing. Ma Jinzhong, Wang Yuncheng, Lu Ding, Wu Ziqiang and others refused to follow him and went south to join He Tengjiao and Du Yinxi. Among them, Ma Jinzhong was the strongest and most brave, followed by Wang Yuncheng. The two had a close relationship and were both good at commanding cavalry.

When Wang Yuncheng was in Huguang, he allowed his soldiers to plunder because he had no food or money. Zhu Yuanwei, a member of the Ming Dynasty royal family, came forward to stop him, but was killed by the soldiers. The Southern Ming officials impeached Wang Yuncheng, saying that he killed the royal family without authorization. Kong Youde invaded Hunan, and Wang Yuncheng was worried about killing the royal family. He also had an old relationship with Kong Youde, so he surrendered to Kong Youde and led the Qing army to capture Quanzhou.

Kong Youde was cunning and wise, and tried his best to win over Wang Yuncheng, hoping to win over other Ming Dynasty heroes. Wang Yuncheng was grateful and was ordered to guard Xiqing Gate.

Historically, Wang Yuncheng rebelled again after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty and accompanied Emperor Yongli to Myanmar, where he died in a disaster caused by cursed water.

Feng Jiali said without hesitation: "Wang Yuncheng guards Xiqing Gate."

Xiqing Gate is located in the northwest corner of Guilin City. It was built taking advantage of the terrain of Parrot Mountain and is an important part of Guilin's northwest mountain city.

"Attack from the North Gate and Lize Gate. Do not attack Xiqing Gate for the time being."

Liangze Gate is located in the west of Guilin City, with Xiqing Gate and Wusheng Gate sandwiched between Beimen and Lize Gate. Wusheng Gate is steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack, so it is not the focus of city defense.

(End of this chapter)