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

Chapter 295 Wang Yongzuo Persuades Surrender

Guilin is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The city borders the Li River to the east and the Yang River to the west and south. The Li River is deep while the Yang River is shallow. There are many mountains to the west and north of the city, making it a city surrounded by mountains in the northwest.

If the Red Army wanted to attack the city, it would be best to attack from the north. It was also unrealistic to attack the city from underground tunnels, because Guilin is a karst landform with a lot of molten rock underground, making it difficult to dig tunnels. If they wanted to storm Guilin, there was almost no other way, except to use cannons or ladders.

On the afternoon of the 27th, the Red Army set up ladders and began to attack the North Gate and Lize Gate. Both gates were on the northwest ring mountain, and the walls were nearly two meters high. The Red Army was in high spirits and divided into three shifts, taking turns to mount horses and take turns to attack, day and night.

The battle was fierce. The Red Army had come a long way to attack Guilin, and they were determined to capture it. Everyone was vying for the first place to gain the credit. The Qing army had no way to retreat, so they had to defend the city.

The situation gradually became clear. The Red Army in various places won victory after victory. From time to time, infantrymen went to Guilin to inject manpower into the siege. The Qing army was defeated, and the newly surrendered Ming army defected. Generals Xian Guoan and Ma Jiaolin were the closest to Guilin and were most likely to rescue Guilin, but they were defeated in succession and only had the strength to protect themselves, and had no intention of helping Guilin.

On the evening of the 28th, the artillery battalion arrived in Guilin and immediately used 100% of its artillery to bombard the north gate.

The Qing army became even more frightened. Kong Youde went to the north gate to supervise the battle in person, but was injured by a Red Army artillery shell, with a wound on his forehead. He hastily retreated to the palace.

The Red Army kept coming to support, but the Qing Army's reinforcements did not arrive for a long time. As the strength of the two sides increased and decreased, the Qing Army knew that Guilin could not be defended, and all the civil and military officials were worried.

The next morning, Wang Yongzuo held a white flag and went to Xiqing Gate and shouted: "I am Wang Yongzuo, the Earl of Ningyuan of the Ming Dynasty. I invite the Earl of Yueyang to come out and speak."

Wang Yuncheng was named the Earl of Yueyang by the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty. Upon hearing that Wang Yongzuo was at the gate of the city, he immediately went up to the city wall to meet him and greeted him, "Brother Hushan, it is you indeed."

Wang Yongzuo got straight to the point and said, "Brother Le'an, I have joined the Red Army, and the general has promised me the position of leader. Now the Red Army has gathered and is determined to take Guilin. Kong Youde is isolated and has no help, so he will definitely fail. Brother Le'an is a brave general of the Ming Dynasty. If you join the army now, you will be valued by the general."

Wang Yuncheng waited and watched, thought over and over again, and said: "Brother Hushan, I appreciate your kindness. Prince Dingnan is also a former general of the Ming Dynasty. He impeached Shen Yongzhong and had long been planning to rebel. I will return to the palace to inform Prince Dingnan and then contact Brother Le'an."

The two men whispered for a while, and then Wang Yongzuo said goodbye and left.

Wang Yuncheng stood on the tower, watching Yongzuo leave. A deputy general approached and said, "General, the Red Army is strong and the Qing Army is weak. Guilin will definitely not be defended. If we open the gate and surrender now, it means we are surrendering the city to the Red Army, which is a rare achievement."

They were all brothers who had fought for their lives on the battlefield, so Wang Yuncheng didn't need to hide anything. He said, "I will go to the palace later to persuade the prince to surrender. You stay at Xiqing Gate and guard against Bai Xiazi. Be careful not to let the news leak out."

"Don't worry, Marshal. The brothers on the city wall are all our own people. They will live and die with us and will never betray us. I am just worried about Bai Xiazi. He is suspicious by nature and must be inseparable from the prince at this moment. Why don't you let me go to the palace and you stay at Xiqing Gate."

"Xia" means "guard" in Manchu. "Bai Xiazi" refers to Bai Yunlong, Kong Youde's first-class guard, who controls Kong Youde's guards.

Under the Qing Dynasty system, those who could serve as guards of the Eight Banners were the sons of noble families in the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the Eight Banners of Mongolia. Bai Xiazi was directly appointed by the Qing court to guard Kong Youde, which actually meant to monitor Kong Youde.

Kong Youde was already the Prince of Dingnan, and a member of the Eight Banners of the Han Army. He was also not trusted by the Qing court. As long as they were high-ranking officials of the Eight Banners of the Han Army, no matter how high their positions were, they were surrounded by guards similar to "white shrimps".

For example, Hong Chengchou was always accompanied by several Mongolian guards. Geng Zhongming was also reported by the guards around him for harboring a fugitive in his army.

Kong Youde was very cunning and domineering, and the Qing court had long been dissatisfied with him. When Jin Shenghuan rebelled in Nanchang, Kong Youde retreated to Wuchang and ignored the Qing court's order, refusing to send troops to reinforce Jiangxi. Shen Yongzhong entered Hunan and guarded Baoqing and Hengzhou, but his troops were weak. The Qing court ordered Kong Youde to send troops to reinforce, but Kong Youde also ignored it.

Such people are experienced and can adjust their positions at any time as long as the situation changes. Therefore, Dorgon sent him a powerful guard named "Bai Xiazi" and ordered Bai Xiazi to take charge of Kong Youde's guards to hold Kong Youde hostage.

Besides, Kong Youde's wife also had the surname Bai, and was from the same clan as "Bai Xiazi". Wang Yuncheng thought for a moment and said, "No, I will go and see the King of Dingnan in person, so that my words will carry weight."

"Marshal, do you want to reinforce the guards to guard against the white shrimp?"

"No need. You are in charge of the army at Xiqing Gate, so Bai Xiazi won't dare to do anything to me. If I bring more guards into the palace, it will only arouse suspicion."

"promise."

After entering the Dingnan Palace, Wang Yuncheng reported his name and Kong Youde immediately summoned him.

Being a traitor is not easy. After not seeing him for two days, Kong Youde's eyes were dim and his face was sallow, which made him look very ugly. He had a wound on his forehead and applied a hemostatic medicine, which made him grimace in pain.

Bai Xiazi was very alert. He stood behind Kong Youde and listened to their conversation with his ears perked up.

Wang Yuncheng talked about a few unimportant things, then took the opportunity to say, "Your Majesty, there is important military information, please dismiss the attendants."

Kong Youde felt a little embarrassed. He looked at Wang Yuncheng and saw that he looked serious. He then said to Bai Xiazi, "Yunlong, I'm going to discuss some confidential matters with Xietai. You can go to the side and have a rest first."

The Qing Dynasty originally promised that all civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty would be restored to their original positions as long as they surrendered. However, the Southern Ming Dynasty had too many officials, and the Qing court could not fulfill its promise, so it had to demote them. Wang Yun became the Earl of Yueyang in the Southern Ming Dynasty. After surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, he was given the title of second-class Asihahafan, and his official position was only a deputy general, which was commonly called "Xietai" in the officialdom.

"Your Majesty, Wang Yongzuo sent me a message today asking me to surrender. I dare not act on my own, so I came here to ask for your instructions. The Red Army is strong and has already swept across western Guangdong. Why don't you follow the trend and surrender to the Ming Dynasty?"

For Kong Youde, surrendering to the Ming Dynasty was not unacceptable. Dingnan's troops were quite strong, and the Red Army wanted the Zhongzheng Battalion, let alone reject Dingnan's troops. Emperor Yongli also sent the veteran general Feng Yao to Guangzhou to confer the title of Marquis on Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao.

"Did the Red Army ever make any promises?"

Wang Yuncheng lied and said, "I didn't ask, and Wang Yongzuo didn't mention it."

Wang Yongzuo could not have persuaded Wang Yuncheng to surrender without proposing surrender conditions. Kong Youde knew this very well and did not expose Wang Yuncheng. He knew that the troops in the city were weak and would definitely be defeated. After thinking it over, he said, "You can just respond to Wang Yongzuo and see how the Red Army will respond to me."

The Qing army called the Red Army Red Bandits. Kong Youde suddenly changed the name, which made Wang Yuncheng a little uncomfortable.

Wang Yuncheng could surrender, but it was not so easy for Kong Youde to surrender. He was already the Prince of Dingnan in the Qing Dynasty. How would the Ming court arrange his position after surrendering? The four princes and one duke all despised Emperor Yongli and were ashamed to submit to the Yongli court. Cen Danchu's title was only the Duke of Ningguo, and Kong Youde could at most be arranged as a Duke.

Wang Yuncheng was about to leave, but couldn't help but persuade him: "Your Highness, the situation is urgent. Li Laiheng led the Loyalty Camp to surrender, and he can still be appointed as the assistant commander. The Dingnan vassal is strong and powerful, enough to be reorganized into a red army. As long as Your Highness has the military power, there is no need to worry about not being able to make a comeback in the future."

All the trusted generals were out of town, and Kong Youde's life was in Bai Xiazi's hands, so how could he have military power? He smiled bitterly and said, "Brother, go contact Wang Yongzuo first and see what conditions the Red Army offers."

The word "brother" made Wang Yuncheng feel mixed emotions. He saluted Kong Youde and left.

Bai Xiazi had been waiting outside the house, his face gloomy and murderous. Wang Yuncheng saw his terrifying expression and felt a little timid. He nodded to him, then hurried to the horse stall, mounted his warhorse and galloped away.

(End of this chapter)