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

Chapter 323: Surprise Attack on Antelope Canyon

"Broken! Broken!" The Red Army soldiers cheered. The first chain had indeed broken in the middle. Both ends gradually sank into the water, causing a whirlpool.

There was only one iron chain left! The morale of the Red Army was greatly boosted, and dozens of warships moved in front of the iron chain. A fire ship bravely took the lead and was the first to get under the iron chain, setting up an oil pan to roast the iron chain.

But with a loud bang, the oil pan exploded, and the flaming oil splashed all over the ground. Several Red Army soldiers were splashed with the flaming oil and screamed in pain. The river water could not burn out the flaming oil, so only sand could be used. But the oil pan had already overturned, the hot oil was all over the ground, and the fireboat was on fire everywhere. It was basically impossible to put out the fire, so the remaining Red Army had to jump off the boat and escape.

The remaining fireboats were not afraid and continued to burn the iron chains. Fighting is an extremely dangerous thing, and you must have enough backup. The Red Army used three fireboats to burn the iron chains at the same time. One fireboat was destroyed, but the other two could continue to burn.

"Damn it!" Luo Kunyu was furious. He looked forward and saw several Tartars shouting happily on the raft. It was their Weiyuan cannon that hit the Red Army's fireboat just now.

"Three shots! Shoot down that Tartar cannon for me!"

"promise!"

The chief gunner, nicknamed "Sanpao", was an expert in artillery and had a good relationship with Luo Kunyu. When Luo Kunyu was a sentry commander, Sanpao was his gunner. After Luo Kunyu was promoted to deputy battalion commander, Sanpao was also promoted to sentry commander, but he still stayed by Luo Kunyu's side and served as his gunner.

This guy had a talent for firing cannons. He stretched out his right hand and made a rough estimate. He was confident and used the gun gauge to adjust the main gun. With a "bang", the cannonball hit the Qing army's Weiyuan cannon, smashing the gun carriage to pieces and killing a Qing army gunner on the spot.

The Red Army cheered, and Song Jian also broadened his horizons and looked at Sanpao with a new respect.

At noon, the second iron chain was burned off. Once the iron chain was removed, the Qing army could no longer stop the Red Army. The Red Army's three-board and long-long warships could deploy iron cannons and fire iron bullets, which had an overwhelming advantage over the Qing army's warships.

Luo Kunyu's three-ship was once again in the front, heading straight for the raft.

The first batch of hundreds of warships had been ready to go. At this moment, the sails were filled, the oarsmen were rowing, and the oarsmen were rowing. They ignored the Qing army's warships and rushed straight to the lower reaches of the West River. According to the plan, they would not engage in a fight with the Qing army, but would go down 40 miles directly to attack the natural barrier of Lingyang Gorge.

Luo Kunyu was originally the sentry commander of the first battalion, and was transferred to the third battalion when he was promoted to deputy battalion commander. In the Red Army system, officers were often promoted across units, firstly to avoid factionalism, and secondly to avoid officers and soldiers with more seniority in their original units.

The thought of rowing 40 miles eastward and attacking Antelope Gorge by surprise was exciting. Such a good thing could only be given to the first batch with the most seniority and the strongest fighting power. Luo Kunyu was in the third batch and could only sigh at the river and comfort himself: Just fight these Tartars honestly, if you do well, you can also make great achievements!
The Qing army's raft was very large, and the anchor had sunk to the bottom of the river, so it could not move. Seeing the Red Army sailing down in unison, the Qing army was already frightened. The smart ones grabbed the sampans and paddled desperately towards the shore. The slow ones couldn't even grab the sampans, so they could only hold a piece of wood and escape into the river. Some of them couldn't swim, so they simply gave up and threw away their weapons, sitting on the rafts, and letting the Red Army kill them.

The three three-panel boats of the first battalion were put on rafts, but no Qing army came to fight. Song Jian was very surprised and it was unbelievable. Luo Kunyu was not surprised. The Qing army had not yet established a firm foothold in eastern Guangdong, and the navy was either surrendered or recruited recently. Now that the defeat was certain, who would fight for a few taels of silver?
"Old rules, no prisoners taken." Luo Kunyu's words were light, but full of murderous intent.

Song Jian also boarded the raft. Hearing this, he couldn't help but widen his eyes. The Red Army forbids killing prisoners, but the phenomenon of killing prisoners continues despite repeated prohibitions. When he was in school, he heard that the generals on the front line often killed prisoners without authorization. Especially now, when the war is in full swing, the soldiers have no time to take care of the prisoners, and some dishonest prisoners will take the opportunity to cause trouble. In this case, just let it go. Anyway, his position is low and he can't control them.

The soldiers had become accustomed to it. They boarded the rafts and quickly killed the Qing soldiers, cut off their ears, and hurriedly searched their pockets.

An old soldier saw Song Jian was at a loss, stamped his feet anxiously, and said: "Deputy, come up and help quickly. The Tartars have a lot of silver and money on them. If we find it, we can keep half for ourselves."

Song Jian finally came to his senses, put aside his scholarly arrogance, and began to search among the bloody corpses.

"As usual, it still takes half a quarter of an hour. Be quick with your hands and feet."

On the battlefield, soldiers often disobey orders in order to fight for spoils of war. Some generals often take advantage of this and lure the enemy with spoils of war. Many times, the enemy knows that there is a trick, but the military orders are not strict, and the soldiers still rush to grab the spoils of war, leading to defeat.

Luo Kunyu started out as a soldier, and rose from a Tanka recruit to a battalion deputy. He naturally understood the soldiers' psychology. He did not forbid the soldiers from snatching spoils, but they had to exercise restraint.

Today, the third battalion was not responsible for the surprise attack mission, and the Qing army had been defeated, so it was better to let his men seize half a quarter of an hour before attacking the next warship. He was well-respected, and when he said half a quarter of an hour, he meant half a quarter of an hour. When the time was up, not a second was allowed to be delayed, so as not to affect the overall situation.

"Go back to Sandaban!" Luo Kunyu shouted. Upon hearing the order, the soldiers did not dare to delay and trotted onto the Sandaban boat.

Song Jian didn't understand why and was the last one to go. Luo Kunyu grabbed him, gave him a symbolic kick, and said, "Hurry up and get on board. Let's go and capture the next ship. The wheeled boat in the distance must have some good stuff in it."

When they heard there was good stuff, everyone's eyes lit up, and they rowed and sped towards the boat.

The hull of the wheel barge is larger and can accommodate the Weiyuan cannon, but because the water wheel occupies the deck, there are not many guns on board.

The navy must have large and small warships to cooperate with each other in order to better exert its combat effectiveness. The Red Army's Neijiang Navy used long dragons as large ships and three-pan boats as small ships. The Qing Army's Neijiang Navy used wheel boats as large ships and Boshan boats as small ships.

Needless to say, a wheel-wheeled boat must at least be the battalion officer's boat. If one can capture a wheel-wheeled boat, the spoils will be rich.

The captain of the first team was nearby, and Luo Kunyu shouted to him, "Lao Fang, take your three three-panel boats and help me capture the wheeled boat. It will be counted as a joint achievement of the battalion headquarters and the first team."

Fighting against Boshan boats is really boring, and the credit is not high. Boshan boats are one size smaller than the three-plate boats, and can only carry light shotguns such as the tiger squat cannon, and are completely powerless in front of the three-plate boats.

The captain of the first team was very happy and said, "Deputy Battalion Commander, the first team listens to you!"

The four Sanban boats passed the Qing army's Boshan boats and happily went to chase the wheel boats. The long dragon was not fast, so it had to be guarded by the Sanban. At present, the overall situation was determined, and the Red Army warships were like snow, constantly heading downstream, and the battalion commander's long dragon did not need to be taken care of for the time being.

The wheelboat is equipped with sails and a water wheel. The crew can step on the water wheel under the cabin, making it faster than a boshan boat.

Luo Kunyu led the four boats down the river and barely caught up with the wheel boat. Never mind, just catch it first.

The three shots lived up to expectations. One shell hit the water wheel of the wheel barge, causing the enemy ship to lose speed and slow down a lot.

The four three-pan ships fired in succession, making bullet holes in the wheeled boat. The ship had a Weiyuan cannon, but the Qing army knew they were no match for the Red Army and did not dare to fire back. Instead, they raised the white flag.

Luo Kunyu laughed loudly and said, "I like this wheeled boat. Let's go and rob it. I'll leave it for the baggage train in the future!" Just as he finished speaking, Song Jian shouted, "Deputy Battalion Commander, the flag commander is here! He's also raised a flag signal. Burn, burn the enemy ship, and go down the river!"

Luo Kunyu hurried back to the pass and saw the third flag. Looking at the flag carefully, it really was burning the enemy ships and going down the river.

Now, there were no spoils of war left, not even the wheeled boats. The soldiers were greatly depressed, but Luo Kunyu was very excited and said to the puzzled Song Jian: "The commander-in-chief must be worried that the soldiers were greedy for spoils of war, so he ordered the warships to be burned and the enemy to be attacked in Zhaoqing."

Song Jian suddenly realized what was going on. He looked back and saw the flag flying high. There was already a fire in the rear, and all of them were Qing warships. The soldiers gave up their greed for spoils and began to row forward. The entire fleet began to speed up and head eastward.

"It's a big deal! Even our third batch can make a great contribution!"

The first battalion was established the earliest, followed by the second battalion, and finally the third battalion. In this naval battle, each battalion wanted to compete for credit, and naturally they had to rank according to seniority. The first battalion made the greatest contribution by attacking Lingyang Gorge. The second battalion first broke the iron chain, then rushed to Zhaoqing and burned the Qing army's baggage ship, which was the second merit. The third battalion had the least contribution and was a foil to the first and second battalions. It first covered the second battalion at the iron chain, and after breaking the iron chain, it had to entangle the Qing army's warships, allowing the second and third battalions to go east without worry.

Luo Kunyu became more alert. He drove the boat to the front of the captain and said, "Lao Fang, let's go around to the lower reaches of the Tartars and intercept them. The Tartars' retreat route is blocked, so they have to retreat to the north bank of the Xijiang River. If we join forces with the flag officers, we will surely be able to annihilate the Tartars."

The first and second ships were eager to sail eastwards, not to engage in a fight with the Qing army. The Qing army's warships all sailed along the north bank of the Xijiang River, and they were able to stay safe for a while.

The captain still had great faith in Luo Kunyu and said, "Deputy Battalion Commander, we will listen to you and leave quickly. We will stop as many as we can."

The four three-panel ships paddled quickly, and the first auxiliary warship had already set sail with thousands of sails, approaching Zhaoqing at noon.

The Qing army in Zhaoqing was in great panic. The south gate of Zhaoqing faced the river, and the defenders fired red cannons at it. Zhang Cunren was still in the city, shocked by the sound of the cannons, and when he heard that the Red Army navy had already arrived at Zhaoqing, he could not believe his ears.

In the morning, the Beiling Mountain position was still in the hands of the Qing army, and the Tang soldiers had sent Tang reports to Zhaoqing City. Now, in just two hours, the Red Army had actually broken through the Beiling Mountain defense line, cut the iron chain blocking the river, and the warships were heading straight to the city. It was unbelievable.

The soldiers and civilians in the city were in a panic, and no one believed it at first. It was not until they saw the Red Army warships with their own eyes that they realized the Red Army had arrived.

The Red Army followed the south bank of the Xijiang River, avoiding the Red Army cannons as much as possible, bypassing Zhaoqing City, and continued to sail downstream. There was a wharf in the southeast of Zhaoqing City, where the Qing army parked many grain ships.

The grain ships were returned to the second target, and the first target ignored the grain ships and continued downstream until it reached Antelope Canyon.

Lingyang Gorge, like Zhaoqing, is located on the north bank of the Xijiang River. It is more than 100 feet high and 10 miles long, facing Lanke Mountain on the south bank. When the Xijiang River flows to this place, it is clamped and flows out. It is very dangerous and has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.

Lanke Mountain, also known as Duan Mountain, is said to be the place where Wang Zhi watched chess. It is also known as Duan Mountain. It produces five-colored stones, which are famous strange stones in Lingnan. It is also rich in inkstones, which are tributes to the court. During the Ming Dynasty, Zhaoqing had to pay tribute to the court every year, which was a major malpractice in the local area.

After Emperor Yongli ascended the throne, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi Ding Kuichu was appointed as the chief minister for his support. In order to obtain the inkstone stone, Ding Kuichu sent the navy to the Lingyang Gorge and Lanke Mountain cofferdam to drain the river water and dig the inkstone stone from the old pit.

The weakness of the defense of Lingyang Gorge can be seen from this. The Qing army occupied Zhaoqing not long ago, and the defense of Zhaoqing City was the focus, while the upstream Beiling Mountain and the downstream Lingyang Gorge had to be taken into consideration, so the defense of Lingyang Gorge was even more empty.

Taking the firing angle into consideration, the fort cannot be set up on the top of a mountain, but can only be set up halfway up or at the foot of a mountain. What’s more, the Lingyang Gorge Fort is located at the end of the lower reaches of Lingyang Gorge. It was originally set up by the Ming Dynasty to prevent Japanese pirates from going up the Xijiang River.

Before the Third Marine Division approached the Lingyang Gorge Fort, a group of troop transport ships moored at the plank road on the north bank. Lingyang Gorge is close to the Xijiang River and is shaped like a cliff, which was originally impassable. Later generations carved a plank road on the cliff for boatmen to walk on. This is a famous scenic spot in Zhaoqing, and is now called the Lingyang Gorge Ancient Plank Road.

Three hundred Red Army riflemen, carefully selected from the First Town and the First Brigade, landed on the plank road, led by Wang Daquan, the deputy commander of the First Battalion. During the war years, most of the trackers were pulling boats for the Qing army. Seeing the Red Army descending from the sky, they were all terrified and fled downstream along the plank road.

Nearly a hundred warships of the First Battalion of the Navy continued downstream, intercepting and destroying the Qing army's warships and baggage ships from different directions, while suppressing the Qing army's artillery positions from the front.

The guns on the forts did not need to consider mobility, recoil and other issues, and the caliber could be made very large. The warships' guns were definitely no match for the forts' guns, and the Red Army did not intend to use the navy to seize the forts, but to use the navy to attract the Qing army's attention, use baggage ships to carry infantry, and attack the forts from land.

In addition to deploying infantry on the plank road, a large group of infantry landed downstream of the fort and attacked the fort from the east and west. This was a great overkill, and it was a sure win to capture the fort.

Wang Daquan led 300 special forces and walked anxiously on the narrow Lingyang Gorge plank road. The trackers had been walking for years, leaving long and thin rope marks and deep footprints on the plank road.

At 3 p.m., when the special forces were about to walk out of the plank road, gunshots suddenly rang out in the direction and two scouts fell down.

The Tartars have musketeers! It must be the boatmen who escaped and brought back the news of the Red Army's attack. Wang Daquan was not panicked at all and said, "Form a formation of three by three, and the first squad will go first!"

The three-three formation was a tactic invented by the Red Army riflemen in response to the mountainous and narrow mountain roads in Guangxi. A squad of ten musketeers, with the squad leader commanding from the back, and the remaining nine divided into three groups: front, middle, and back. Each group has three people, and they are less than two steps wide. In actual combat, each group shoots one round, and the next group moves forward alternately. When a squad has fired nine bullets, the next squad takes over, and the cycle continues, continuously firing bullets at the enemy.

Although the Lingyang Gorge defenders had gunners, they were defenders and their combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of combat soldiers. How could they have ever seen the three-three formation of the Red Army? How could they be a match for the wolf-like and ferocious Red Army?

After a short battle, the Qing army retreated, and Wang Daquan led 300 riflemen to approach the fort. The Qing inherited the Ming system, and the cannons on the fort were fixed and aimed at the surface of the Xijiang River, but they did not pay much attention to their own protection. This problem persisted for a long time and was not solved until the two Opium Wars.

The fort had very low walls and no trenches or other defensive facilities. The Qing army hid behind the walls and used bows and arrows and muskets to shoot at the Red Army.

Wang Daquan was eager to win, so he led his riflemen in a bayonet charge, but as soon as they approached the wall, the defenders collapsed.

Wang Daquan's surprise troops took the lead in seizing the Lingyang Gorge Fort and raised a red flag on the fort. Soon after, the main infantry arrived and saw that the fort had been recaptured, so they turned and led their troops north to fight for the Yunxi Valley Road.

To the north of Lingyang Gorge is Dinghu Mountain, "a huge town with a circumference of hundreds of miles, winding and dense, with no way to climb up, and a lake on the top of the mountain that never runs dry." There is a narrow valley between Dinghu Mountain and Lingyang Gorge, less than half a mile at its narrowest point, with a small river in the middle called Yunxi.

If the Red Army entered the Yunxi Valley, it would be possible to block the Qing army from Zhaoqing from returning eastward, thus forming a situation of closing the door and beating the dog.

(End of this chapter)