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

Chapter 320: Breaking Luo Ding Again
In the Battle of Luodingzhou, the elite Qing troops on the northern front were all lost, and the Red Army's personal guards also suffered heavy losses.

The Red Army's Royal Guards were the elite of the Red Army's elite, always leading the way in every battle and winning every battle. In the Battle of Luoding, the Royal Guards suffered heavy losses, with many squadrons and sentries killed in battle, severely damaging their vitality and temporarily unable to expand their victory.

The army stationed outside the city to rest and wait for the main force of the second town to arrive.

On the 27th, the weather cleared up.

The vanguard of the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Regiment arrived at Longshui, led by Deputy Brigade Commander Dang Shousu, mainly composed of the direct cavalry battalion, with about 500 men. The 4th Brigade was reorganized from the Zhongzheng Battalion, with Li Laiheng as the commander, and most of the backbones were veterans of the Dashun Army.

When Dang Shousu saw Cen Danchu, he said, "My Lord, I am late for coming. Please forgive me."

Although Dang Shousu was a veteran of the Dashun Army, he was a loyal and honest man with a humble and polite character. He always led the troops in battle and was unstoppable in bravery.

Danchu had a good impression of him and said with a smile: "Old Party, please stop being polite. Where is the Fourth Association?"

"The main force has arrived at Tibin Town, and they will all reach Longshui before noon tomorrow." Dang Shousu paused and said, "The king personally led the Huben Town and marched eastward at the right moment, and was able to defeat the Tartars and kill Cangdu Bashan in battle. When the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Brigade heard about it, they were all excited and in high spirits, and were willing to follow the king to achieve great things."

"Next, it depends on you." Dan Chu said with a smile and nodded to the Operations Director He Zhaoji.

He Zhaoji brought Dang Shousu to the map and introduced: "The Tartars were defeated in Luoding Prefecture, and the news has spread. On the northern front, Geng Jimao retreated from Fengchuan and is still defending Deqing. The southern front is far from Luoding, and we have not received any news of the Tartars' retreat."

Danchu couldn't help but interrupt him and said, "Shang Kexi has been in battle for a long time. I think he will withdraw from Yulinzhou, Lianzhou, and Leizhou and defend Gaozhou. I decided to take the northern route to fight for Guangzhou and try to annihilate the main force of the Qing army within three months."

If they wanted to take the northern route, they could go down the Xijiang River, which would make it easier to resupply their supplies. But Zhaoqing was a large and strong city, and it was also a hurdle that could not be circumvented. The intelligence was already accurate, and Zhang Cunren himself was in Zhaoqing, remotely directing the battle in eastern Guangdong. Next, the Red and Qing armies would inevitably engage in a fierce battle under the city of Zhaoqing.

"The day after tomorrow morning, we will prepare to storm Luoding. The Fourth Brigade will take the lead. The Royal Guard Brigade Artillery will provide artillery support. Starting this afternoon, nine guns with 100% firepower will be deployed outside the South Gate to bombard the city wall."

Dang Shousu was delighted to hear about the battle and said, "The Tartars have been badly defeated outside the city, Bashan has been killed, and the defenders must be terrified. Once the cannons are fired and the army is on the march, the defenders will surely be terrified."

"That's right," He Zhaoji said, "The Luoding garrison has more than a thousand former Dongxun soldiers who are willing to surrender. But the one in charge of the city defense is Hu Yousheng, the general of Nan Gan, who has 1,200 Green Camp soldiers under his command and is unwilling to surrender."

Hu Yousheng was from Jinzhou, Liaoxi. In the ninth year of Chongzhen, the Qing army besieged Jinzhou. Hu Yousheng and Cui Yingshi and others conspired to surrender to the Qing, with Hu Yousheng as an envoy. The plot was leaked, Cui Yingshi was executed, and Hu Yousheng and others escaped and surrendered to the Qing.

This Liao man who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty was highly valued by the Qing Dynasty and was incorporated into the Yellow Banner of the Han Army. After the Qing army conquered Jiangxi, they ordered Hu Yousheng to guard Ganzhou because of the strategic importance of southern Jiangxi. Hu Yousheng was quite talented and once defended Ganzhou alone and defeated the two sieges of Jin Shenghuan and Li Chengdong. He was awarded the title of Left General for his meritorious service and was promoted to the third-class Jingqinihafan.

"I hate traitors the most in my life, especially these Liao traitors. If it weren't for them, the Qing Dynasty would not have been able to rule the Central Plains so smoothly." Danchu said bitterly: "I heard that Sun Kewang from the West Camp has already captured Chenzhou and killed the great traitor Xu Yong. This Hu Yousheng claims to be a famous general and has held on to Luoding and refused to surrender. Old party, I ask you to capture Luoding tomorrow, enforce justice on behalf of heaven, and kill this traitor."

"Don't worry, my lord!" Upon hearing about the Dashi Army, Dang Shousu also became excited and said, "If the West Camp can capture Chenzhou, our Fourth Brigade will definitely be able to capture Luoding. If Sun Kewang can kill Xu Yong, I, Dang, will definitely be able to kill Hu Yousheng."

"Well, there is one more thing... Forget it, I have to talk to Li Laiheng about this." Danchu hesitated, and finally said: "The Royal Guards suffered heavy losses and currently has a shortage of at least 4,000 people. The First, Second, Fourth, and Garrison Armies must each send 1,000 officers and soldiers to fill the Royal Guards."

"This is a good thing." Dang Shousu said calmly, "The Red Army soldiers are all proud to join the Imperial Guards. Commander Li understands the righteousness of the cause and will certainly agree."

On the afternoon of the 27th, the Red Army used nine 100-gun artillery to bombard the south gate of Luoding. At first, it was just a harassment, firing periodically to disturb the enemy's morale, and it ended in the evening. The Red Cannon was inconvenient to transport, and the Qing army had just conquered Luoding and had no cannons in Luoding, so they had no ability to fight back.

After noon on the 28th, the artillery fire became intensive and almost non-stop for a while. The gun barrels became hot and two gaps, each four or five feet long, were blasted in the city wall.

Hu Yousheng was terrified, thinking that the Red Army was going to attack the city, and organized people to fill the gap overnight. The Qing army was in a panic, searching for coffins in the city, placing them at the gap, and filling the coffins with bricks and soil. They also used baskets and sacks to fill the gap between the coffins and the city wall.

Fortunately, the Red Army did not attack the city, so the Tatars had nothing to fear.

In the early morning of the 29th, just after daybreak, the Red Army artillery once again showed its might, pouring shells into the gap of yesterday.

The artillery was the treasure of the Red Army and had not participated in the hand-to-hand combat. Everyone was excited at this moment. Commander Ferreira ordered: "Fire quickly, don't be stingy with the shells, fire as many as you can!"

The infantry was about to storm the city, so the gunners did not dare to delay and fired at maximum speed. At 12:00 pm, the Red Army opened a gap at yesterday's position again, and the width expanded to 150 to 180 feet.

Gradually, the sound of artillery fire faded and the agreed time for attacking the city had not yet arrived.

The Fourth Brigade had been waiting for a long time. Dang Shousu came to the artillery position and asked, "Old Fei, what's going on?"

"The barrels are too hot. Six of the guns cannot fire."

"Then stop, let's attack the city in advance."

"okay!"

Soon, the Fourth Corps of Death Soldiers carried the bridge across the moat and rushed towards the gap in the city wall.

With the gap, the Red Army only needed to cross the moat to rush into the city. Fortunately, the moat in Luodingzhou was not wide, and a simple bridge across the moat could be made using bamboo ladders.

At the same time, the artillery battalion moved forward and fired shrapnel into the city.

Hu Yousheng fought stubbornly and led the Green Camp soldiers to the gap to resist stubbornly.

Not long after the battle, the bell tower in the city caught fire. Dongxun's former subordinates revolted, using the fire as a signal, opened the east gate, lowered the drawbridge, and surrendered to the Red Army.

Yang Fang led the cavalry to bypass the north of Luoding City and blocked the Qing army's retreat. The Fourth Brigade divided its troops and entered the city through the east gate, joining the Dongxun surrendered army and the Jiangxi Green Camp in street fighting.

By noon, Hu Yousheng was exhausted and captured, and was executed without mercy. Except for a small number of Green Camp soldiers who escaped by boat through the West Water Gate, most of them died or surrendered.

(End of this chapter)