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

Chapter 314: Change of Plan and Advance to the East
On the 22nd, Cen Danchu led the Huben Town to Cenxi. Cenxi County of Wuzhou Prefecture in Guangxi and Luoding Prefecture in Guangdong are adjacent to each other. They are both located in the Yunkai Mountain Range, with many high mountains and steep ridges, making travel difficult.

Cenxi is located deep in the Yunkai Mountains, but it is well connected. To the north, it can reach Wuzhou, Guangxi, to the east, Luoding Prefecture, Guangdong, to the west, Yulin Prefecture, Guangxi, and to the south, Gaozhou, Guangdong. The paths along the way are all mountain trails and are difficult to travel.

The Red Army could go east, west or south from Wuzhou to Cenxi County, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

Going east to Luoding Prefecture, we can engage the enemy as soon as possible. Luoding Prefecture is a basin with many plains around it, which is convenient for deploying troops and fighting. Once Luoding is captured, the Red Army can attack Deqing in the north and Yangjiang in the south, directly threatening the Qing army's rear. However, Luoding is far from the coastline and close to the north line. The Qing army stationed a large army here. The Red Army went east to Luoding, which was too far away from the rear supply line. If the Red Army failed to capture Luoding after a long attack, it would easily fall into the encirclement of the Qing army.

To go south, one needs to cross three large mountains: Dawengding, Daren Mountain, and Shigen Mountain. The mountain road is the longest, but it can go directly to Xinyi County, Gaozhou Prefecture, and can also threaten the retreat route of the Qing army on the southern line.

Going west to Yulin Prefecture, the mountain road is the shortest and leads directly into the Red Army's control area, which is convenient for logistical supply and the safest. Cen Danchu originally planned to take this route, go south through Yulin Prefecture, and fight Shang Kexi head-on.

Unexpectedly, that afternoon, Li Yuanyin and Li Jianjie heard about the movements of Huben Town and led dozens of light cavalry to catch up, saying that they had something secret to tell. Li Yuanyin originally defended Zhaoqing, while Li Jianjie assisted Du Yonghe in defending Guangzhou. After the Red Army returned to western Guangdong, Zhaoqing and Guangzhou were successively lost. The two Lis joined forces to defend Luoding Prefecture. After Luoding was lost, they joined the Red Army.

"May I ask..." Li Yuanyin was halfway through his words when he realized that something was wrong and changed his words: "May I ask the Lord, do you want to go west to Yulin Prefecture?"

Li Yuanyin and his brothers were defeated, and the remaining troops were less than 1,000, and they were no longer qualified to attend the meeting of the front line.
"That's right." Danchu said calmly: "The Tartars are advancing too fast on the southern front, and their troops are too numerous to respond to the northern front. They can be shot at first."

"Why bother going far away? I have been defending Luoding Prefecture for two months, and there are many old soldiers in the prefecture. Instead of retreating west to Yulin, it is better to advance east to Luoding, so as to avoid running back and forth and tiring the soldiers."

"Haha," Danchu disagreed and blurted out, "What my Red Army Huben Town is best at is long-distance raids and catching the enemy by surprise."

Luoding Prefecture was lost to Li Yuanyin and his brothers, so they naturally wanted to recapture Luoding as soon as possible.

"No," Li Yuanyin refuted, "In the past, the Red Army made long-distance raids in order to find the weak points of the Tartars and directly tear open a hole in their rear, just like killing a pig and bleeding it, which was often fatal in one blow.

"Yulin Prefecture is not the rear of the Tartars, nor is it their weak point. It is not wise for the Red Army to go all the way to Yulin Prefecture and let the Tartars wait for them to tire themselves out. Even if we win in Yulin Prefecture, Lian Prefecture, and Lei Prefecture, the Tartars can transfer troops from the north to reinforce the south, which will not fundamentally change the situation."

That really makes sense. Danchu nodded in praise and said, "Please continue, dear brother."

Li Yuanyin was encouraged and continued, "The northern and southern Tatars are hundreds of miles apart, with mountains in between. Only near Luodingzhou are there many plains where we can station a large army and store food and grass.

"It was like a carrying pole, with the northern and southern Tatars at the two ends of the pole, and Luodingzhou in the middle. When the Red Army captured Luodingzhou, the carrying pole was broken, and the northern and southern Tatars were divided into two halves, making it impossible for each to support the other.

"After that, the Red Army will hold Luoding with elite troops, and move north to Deqing to threaten the Tatars' retreat in the north, and move south to Yangchun to threaten the Tatars' retreat in the south. The Red Army can seize the initiative on the battlefield in one fell swoop and calmly counterattack eastern Guangdong."

Cen Danchu had considered advancing eastward to Luoding, but the Qing army had sent a large number of troops to defend Luoding, and the Red Army had no chance of success if they attacked Luoding forcefully. The Qing army in the north could easily dispatch reinforcements to Luoding, but the main force of the Red Army was far away from the front line and could not reach Luoding for a while. If the Red Army failed to capture Luoding, the Qing army reinforcements would arrive, and the Red Army would be attacked from all sides and fall into a dangerous situation. Whenever the Red Army faced a major battle, it was accustomed to luring the enemy deep into its territory and then striking back. First, let the enemy rush in. After a long time, the enemy's deployment would inevitably have weaknesses. Then, aiming at the enemy's weaknesses, the Red Army used its own soldiers to quickly maneuver and attack the enemy's rear, often with one fatal blow.

This tactic has been tried and tested many times. However, in this battle in eastern Guangdong, the opponents were Zhang Cunren, Bashan, Shang Kexi, and Geng Jimao, all of whom were known as famous generals of the Qing Dynasty and had been in battle for a long time. Their marching deployment did not reveal any obvious flaws. The Qing army on the southern front was prominent and its forces were dispersed. This was actually due to the special terrain of the southern front, and Shang Kexi's deployment did not have any obvious problems.

If Huben Town attacked from Yulin Prefecture, it would not only take a long detour, but it would not necessarily achieve a surprising victory. Once they arrived in Yulin Prefecture, they would have to fight the Qing army head-on, and would have to fight step by step, which would inevitably delay the progress of the war.

The Red Army only had enough food and grass to last for three months, so they had to fight quickly. If the original plan was followed, with the food and grass the Red Army had, they could only defeat the Qing army, recover lost territory, and occupy the counties in western Guangdong. There was no way to recover Guangzhou, let alone completely annihilate the Qing army.

On the contrary, the wealth of eastern Guangdong was ten times greater than that of western Guangdong. After the Qing army captured Guangzhou, they occupied the Pearl River Delta and the Beijiang River Basin. With the rich land of eastern Guangdong, it was very convenient to raise food and grass. Zhang Cunren had a high reputation and could mobilize food, wages and troops from Jiangxi, Fujian, Jiangnan and other provinces, which made it easier to fight for a long time.

If the war really turned into a protracted war, it would become a war of attrition. Western Guangdong was short of resources, and if it really came down to a war of attrition, the Red Army was no match for the Qing Army.

Danchu was a little tempted. He was used to making plans before taking action, and it was really difficult for him to make a decision to change the strategy at the last minute.

"Lord, the military order has been issued. If we change the route to Luoding, wouldn't that be too hasty?" said Cao Yu, the deputy commander of Huben Town. He was mature and prudent, and did not agree to march east to Luoding.

The director of the Operations Bureau, He Zhaoji, also objected, saying, "Since Marshal Li Jue already knows that the Huben Town has arrived in Cenxi, the Tartars must have heard about it, and Luoding must be on guard."

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the art of war had developed to a fairly mature level. Whenever a major war was about to begin, both sides would send out scouts from afar, and the front line would become almost translucent.

Cenxi is not far from Wuzhou and Fengchuan. Huben Town crossed the river in Wuzhou with great momentum, and must have been discovered by the Qing army.

Danchu did not say yes or no, but asked Li Yuanyin: "Brother, to be honest, our army does not have many siege equipment. If we want to attack Luoding by force, we must have internal support inside the city. Are you sure you can persuade the defenders to revolt?"

Li Yuanyin was in a dilemma. He had not been in Luodingzhou for a long time, and because he had been guarding the imperial court for a long time, he was not close to the Dongxun soldiers. There were many Dongxun surrendered soldiers inside and outside Luodingzhou, but the Qing army was very cautious, and Li Yuanyin might not be able to persuade them to rebel.

Li Jianjie, who had just turned 18, was a brave warrior. He said with emotion: "When two armies fight, they are fighting for their dignity in the end. The Tartars have already forced their way to our doorstep. The generals and soldiers are angry and the people are terrified. If the king leads the army west, the morale will be lost and the people will be disappointed. People like Ma Xiong and Hao Shangjiu who are indecisive will also hesitate and make their own plans."

"Good," Danchu was quite touched and decided to change his plan and head east to Luoding.

(End of this chapter)