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

Chapter 30 Friction
After fighting for most of the day, the soldiers were tired and hungry. Now that they had captured the central army camp, they could finally take a breath.

The sky was gloomy and it was hard to tell the time. I guess it was past noon. Around the Qing army camp, shouts of killing, neighing of war horses, and screams of Qing soldiers could be heard one after another.

Cen Danchu assigned people to occupy the watchtower and the camp gate. The soldiers finally had some free time and took out their dry food and devoured it.

The battle was not over yet, and it was not the time to relax. The soldiers were extremely excited, munching on dry food while collecting spoils. Danchu came to the watchtower at the camp gate, munching on dry food while observing the battlefield.

Friendly troops arrived one after another and began to seize various camps. Danchu personally sat in the watchtower to prevent friendly troops from seizing the camp. The spoils of war were the most precious thing to the soldiers, and fights for spoils of war often occurred in the military camp.

The sky was getting dark, it should be the afternoon.

Danchu ordered the three teams to raise their flags in the camp. Despite this, the Ming army still came to spy from time to time. Seeing this, Danchu waved his hand and called for a halt. Seeing this, the friendly army had no choice but to give up. Cen Danchu was a favorite of the commander-in-chief and could not be offended.

He Guoju brought a bowl of mutton.

Danchu was confused and said, "Good boy, you found the meat so quickly? Be careful not to get poisoned!"

He Guoju smiled and said, "Captain, it's not poisonous! The lamb was just slaughtered and is still steaming."

What? Cen Danchu couldn't help but smile. Could it be raw meat?
He Guoju held the bowl and climbed up the ladder to the watchtower as if he were walking on flat ground, and handed the bowl to Danchu respectfully.

It smelled fishy, ​​it was indeed raw mutton.

He Guoju smiled and said, "Captain, we Yao people have a custom since ancient times to offer the most valuable parts of prey to the most respected people. I found a lamb in the camp and took the most tender meat from the lamb neck to offer to the captain."

This? I want to eat meat, but I don’t want to eat raw meat! But if I don’t eat it, I’m afraid I’ll offend He Guoju.

Cen Danchu smiled awkwardly, took the mutton and said, "Guo Ju, thank you for your kindness. I have never eaten raw meat before, so I want to try something new today."

Anyway, he had killed many people, so Cen Danchu looked at the bloody lamb neck meat without much scruples. He picked up a piece of raw meat and put it into his mouth.

It's not bad, not as bad as I thought. After chewing it carefully, it seems to have a different flavor.

He Guoju was overjoyed and said, "The captain is really great. He has given me a lot of face. Just now, I bet five taels of silver with someone. I said, the captain is not afraid of charging into battle, so why is he afraid of eating raw meat? The sergeant said that the captain loves reading and is a gentle man. He will definitely not eat raw meat..."

At this time, a group of people were knocking on the door outside.

Danchu took a closer look and saw that they were flying the flag of the Du Biao Central Army, so he said, "This camp has been occupied by the Du Biao Camp. You should go somewhere else."

The commander of the Central Army of the Dubiao was Feng Zhiji, a deputy general from Jiangxi. He defected to Jiao Lian last year and had 500 soldiers under his command. He was brave in battle, but somewhat unruly and unwilling to be controlled by other generals.

Jiao Lian took great pains to appoint him as the deputy general of the central army of the governor's flag, so that Feng Zhiji would not be subordinate to the generals in northern Shaanxi, but his actual status was lower than those of the generals in northern Shaanxi.

Feng Zhiji was a little jealous when he saw Cen Danchu's status rising suddenly, so he said, "Cen Danchu, our armies belong to the same commanding officer. We are comrades in arms. What treasures did you get in the camp? Can you let me open my eyes?"

Want to grab the loot? Not so easy.

Cen Danchu sneered and said, "General Feng, I am the commander of the battalion and you are the commander of the central army. Although we are both commanders, we still have our own gates. This is the enemy's main camp. I am here to pay my respects to the Marquis. No antiques or valuables in the camp can be kept privately. They will all be disposed of by the Marquis." When Feng Zhiji heard about antiques and valuables, his eyes lit up. But Cen Danchu brought up Jiao Lian again, which made him afraid to act rashly.

Feng Zhiji said viciously: "Cen Danchu, don't think that just because you are from Shaanxi, you can ignore me."

Most of the generals in Jiao Lian's army were from Shaanxi, but not all of them. For example, Zhu Minru was a native of Guilin. Feng Zhiji was arrogant and domineering, and thought he should be on an equal footing with Ma Qijiao, Bai Gui and others.

Now, Zhu Minru donated money to expand the army and became the deputy general. Feng Zhiji was even more unwilling and looked at Cen Danchu more and more unpleasantly.

Before Cen Danchu could say anything, He Guoju said, "Mr. Feng, don't think that you can suppress us just because you are a high-ranking official. We captured the main camp, so we should give it to Marshal Jiao. Why should we give it to you?"

Feng Zhiji was furious and said, "You are just a soldier, who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like this! According to military law, you must be beheaded!"

Cen Danchu did not give in and said, "I will teach my own soldiers a lesson. It is not General Feng's turn to scare people here."

For a while, the two sides were on the verge of a fight.

Fortunately, Jiao Lian arrived in time, and Feng Zhiji left with a livid face.

Danchu welcomed Jiao Lian into the camp and recounted what had just happened. Finally, he said, "General Jue, I didn't mean to say bad things about him. Feng Zhiji is arrogant and difficult to control. He is unwilling to be inferior to others. He is not a good general."

Jiao Lian was immersed in the joy of victory, but this incident disturbed his mood. He sighed and said:

"I also know that he is domineering, but now is the time to use him. Feng Zhiji is brave in battle and has some merits. The mistake just now was his. I know what happened and I have ways to control him."

It's not easy. Being a head coach also has many worries and he has to spend energy to reconcile the generals.

The Ming Dynasty lost face, and the generals were arrogant. If I have the opportunity to be a commander in the future, I must have the skills to control my generals and keep them firmly in my hands.

Even a sow has to protect her calves. Just now, I confronted Feng Zhiji and defended He Guoju. If the story spreads, my prestige will surely increase.

Jiao Lian was more concerned about the war and said to Dan Chu:
"The Qing army has collapsed, and the remnants have fled back to Limuling. Our army has many camps, and we will not return to the city tonight. We will camp in the Qing army's camp and regroup to fight again tomorrow.

"Tonight, I will rest in this camp. Damn it, if Chen Bangbo sends troops to join the battle and supports us from the south, we can attack from both sides and annihilate the Qing invaders."

In the Southern Ming, do you still want to count on friendly forces? Cen Danchu smiled bitterly, feeling a little regretful. Jiao Lian's troops were still too few, less than 10,000, and more than half were new recruits.

Today's battle was a tough one, and we were not sure of winning, but fortunately we won. We won the tough battle, but we were unable to expand the victory. We could only watch the Qing army gather the defeated soldiers at Limuling and rebuild the defense line.

It’s really frustrating to think about it!

As dusk approached, the guards lit candles. By the candlelight, Cen Danchu caught a glimpse of the silver seal, and then a plan came to his mind. He said:
"General, you can't count on Chen Bangbo. He holds the seal of the General of Pingman and has the power to control all the armies, but when the Qing army arrived, he fled without a fight, abandoning Wuzhou, Pingle, Yangshuo, and Xunzhou, leaving the gates of Guilin wide open.

"If it weren't for the Duke and the garrison, Guilin would have been lost long ago. Although our army has won a great victory today, the Qing invaders are still gathering their defeated soldiers at Limuling and trying to make a comeback. It would be better to raid the camp overnight. I have a plan that may succeed."

(End of this chapter)