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

Chapter 326 Serial Explosions
The next day, the Red Army's Huben Town cavalry took the land route and rushed to the outskirts of Zhaoqing City. Another infantry unit took the water route and landed at Lingyang Gorge to strengthen the defense of Yunxi Valley. Cen Xun led his troops from Huangshatian and established a defense line at the foot of Jiangjun Mountain, plugging the last loophole.

By noon, the Red Army had completely cut off the Qing Army's retreat route.

Zhang Cunren was trapped in the isolated city of Zhaoqing with less than 20,000 soldiers under his command, and he was like a turtle in a jar. He had been in battle for a long time, and although he was in a desperate situation, he was still not discouraged. On the one hand, he offered a high price to recruit soldiers, and on the other hand, he recruited young and strong people to repair the city.

Zhaoqing was a big city with strong fortifications, and it was a must-fight for military strategists. Zhang Cunren was also a famous general, and he mobilized troops and generals in the name of the five-province strategy, and the response was very effective. It seemed that it would not be so easy for the Red Army to capture Zhaoqing.

Anyway, the overall situation had been decided, and Cen Danchu was not in a hurry to attack the city. He first dispatched troops to strengthen the outer defense line and cut off the Qing army's reinforcements.

At the same time, the Red Army's reputation spread far and wide, and volunteer armies from all over the country responded.

In Cenxi, Guangxi, Song Guoxiang and Wei Yingdeng followed the First Regiment of the Red Army, left Luoding, and attacked Dong'an and Xining.

In Wencun, eastern Guangdong, Wang Xing raised the banner of the Red Army and called on the coastal volunteers. He collected more than 200 warships and sailed directly into the mouth of the Xijiang River from the rivers in Xinhui and Shunde, harassing the Qing navy.

The Chu army led by Zhou Jintang and Xiong Zhaozuo were originally defeated and retreated into the mountains of Shaozhou and Qingyuan. They also joined forces with Ye Biao, Shi Shangyi and other volunteers from eastern Guangdong to attack Qingyuan.

……

The most exciting thing was the rebellion of Ma Xiong, a former general of Dingnan. Ma Xiong was from Guyuan, Shaanxi, and was the adopted son of Ma Jiaolin, the general of Dingnan. Like Ma Jiaolin, he was a Hui.

In the battle of western Guangdong last year, Kong Youde ordered Ma Jiaolin to attack Pingle and Yong'an Prefecture. In order to appease Ma Jiaolin, he ordered Ma Xiong to attack Wuzhou. Ma Xiong led his troops at the front line and escaped from there and entered eastern Guangdong.

The Red Army closed the gates and attacked the enemy, and military officers above the rank of deputy general of Dingnan were either killed, captured, or surrendered. Only Ma Xiong escaped. Most of the remnant soldiers of Dingnan who fled to eastern Guangdong joined Ma Xiong, who gathered 4,000 soldiers and horses and was highly regarded by all parties.

The Qing court falsely claimed that Ma Jiaolin had died in battle and ordered Ma Xiong to inherit the title. Soon after, he was promoted to the first-class Jingqinihafan (first-class viscount) and was made to be under the control of Shang Kexi.

However, Shang Kexi and Zhang Cunren did not trust Ma Xiong and transferred him to Huizhou to intimidate Dongxun's old subordinates in Huizhou and Chaozhou. Huizhou is located east of Guangzhou, and Ma Xiong was transferred to Huizhou, which is farther away from western Guangdong.

The Red Army sent a detective to contact Ma Xiong, bringing him a handwritten letter from Ma Jiaolin, inviting him to defect and return to the Ming Dynasty.

Ma Xiong was still a bit hesitant at first, but when he heard that the Red Army had completely wiped out the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia and killed General Bashan of Jingnan, he was moved. When the Red Army besieged Zhaoqing and Zhang Cunren was trapped in an isolated city, Ma Xiong knew that the time had come and immediately cut off his braids and turned against the Red Army.

This disturbance stirred up a hornet's nest. Huizhou and Chaozhou had always been occupied by Dong Xun. When Ma Xiong rebelled in Huizhou, Hao Shangjiu of Chaozhou immediately responded.

The coastal areas of Huizhou and Chaozhou have always been occupied by Wu Liuqi, Xu Long and Su Li. These three people were either robbers or pirates. They were first surrendered to the Ming Dynasty as military officers and then surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. They were all good at naval warfare and were relied upon by the Qing Dynasty. Wu Liuqi was even promoted to the admiral of the Guangdong Navy.

Ma Xiong and Hao Shangjiu rebelled one after another, and the navy of Wu Liuqi and others was threatened, so they had to return to defend themselves.

The Qing army's backyard was on fire, and Guangdong Governor Li Qifeng was trapped in Guangzhou. He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan and had to ask for help from Zhang Cunren and Shang Kexi one after another.

The Qing army's losses on the southern front were not great, but since the northern front had collapsed, the southern front could not hold out on its own. Shang Kexi led his troops to retreat to Guangzhou in a hurry, but righteous armies rose up along the way and kept intercepting them.

Zhang Cunren was in an even worse situation. At the beginning, he was able to send out soldiers to seek help. However, since the 10th, the Red Army's siege became increasingly tight. The Qing army could not even send out soldiers, and there was no news of reinforcements. The Zhaoqing defenders gradually fell into a situation of isolation and helplessness.

On the 12th, the Red Army's 100-meter guns and Red-haired cannons were transported to the west of Zhaoqing, totaling 18 100-meter guns and 24 Red-haired cannons. On the same day, the Red Army's artillery began to show off its power, firing alternately between 100-meter guns and Red-haired cannons, disturbing the Zhaoqing defenders day and night.

However, Zhaoqing City was very solid. In order to prevent flooding from the Xijiang River, stone slabs were used as the city foundation. During the 270 years of the Ming Dynasty, the authorities repaired the city three times during the Hongwu, Chenghua and Chongzhen periods. In addition to building brick walls on both sides of the city wall, they also used broken stones mixed with loess to reinforce the rammed earth of the city wall.

The Red Cannon was not omnipotent. The Red Army bombarded the city wall with Red Cannon day and night, but failed to open a gap in the Zhaoqing city wall as they wished. They tried to attack the city with ladders and bamboo ladders, but there was no progress for the time being. Because the Qing army's city defense was very tight, it was not so easy for the Red Army to break through the city.

On the 15th, Cen Danchu arrived at the city of Zhaoqing to supervise the battle.

The army stopped at the gates of Zhaoqing City. The generals were worried that the king would blame them, so they complained:
"After the Tartars occupied Zhaoqing, under the supervision of the prefect Zhang Zhibi, they built six more artillery batteries on the city wall, 148 shelters, and two more artillery batteries at the South Gate Water City, making the defense more stringent."

"The Tartars' artillery is quite fierce. As soon as Zhang Cunren arrived in eastern Guangdong, he gathered craftsmen and cast red-haired cannons. There are ten artillery platforms on the top of Zhaoqing City, with no less than thirty or forty red-haired cannons."

"Zhang Cunren was the most despicable. After entering Zhaoqing, he further demolished the houses near the city wall and built new buildings and dishes. When our army approached Zhaoqing, Zhang Cunren became even more crazy and ordered a fire outside the city, burning all the houses and buildings outside the city."

"We originally planned to use ladders to storm the city, and we prepared more than a hundred bamboo ladders. A few days ago, the Tartars sent a group of assassins to harass our camp before dawn, and most of the bamboo ladders were destroyed. Now, the engineering battalion and the repair battalion are rushing to build bamboo ladders overnight. Once the ladders are completed, we will immediately attack the city."

……

Danchu held a telescope in his hand and looked at the city of Zhaoqing from afar. He saw flags flying on the top of the city wall, and countless flags were faintly visible. There were artillery batteries extending out of the city from the corners of the towers and walls.

This type of artillery was originally invented by the Liaodong Ming Army in order to eliminate blind spots and shoot at enemy troops under the city walls. Zhang Cunren was born in the Liaodong Ming Army and was originally a subordinate of Yuan Chonghuan. He was quite good at defending strong cities with cannons.

It was impossible to persuade the defenders to revolt. Zhang Cunren, Xia Shiwei, Zhang Zhibi and others were cruel and created white terror in the city. They slaughtered the townspeople who showed any sign of rebellion and confiscated their property to raise money for military pay and food. Zhang Cunren used both kindness and force to win over the generals with generous military pay and official titles, but it was still a bleak operation.

"How do you plan to break into the city?" Danchu asked the Second Town Commander Kuangshi.

Kuang Shi was in charge of the siege. He said without hesitation, "There are 50,000 to 60,000 Red Army soldiers gathered in Zhaoqing. Their morale is high, so we should fight quickly. I plan to supervise the construction of bamboo ladders and continue to attack the city. Break it in one fell swoop."

Zhaoqing has become the center of the war in eastern Guangdong and the focus of world attention.

Ma Xiong rebelled in Huizhou, Hao Shangjiu rebelled in Chaozhou, Wang Xing traveled across Xinhui and Shunde, Zhou Jintang and Xiong Zhaozuo started out in Qingyuan, and Du Yonghe and Zhang Yue set sail from Qiongzhou and headed north.

The Manchu rule in eastern Guangdong was on the verge of collapse. As long as the Red Army conquered Zhaoqing, it would surely deal a fatal blow to the Qing army. Therefore, Kuang Shi was eager to break the city. But Cen Danchu knew that it was not easy to break Zhaoqing. Historically, Li Dingguo had launched a large-scale attack on Zhaoqing in the seventh year of the Yongli reign, but was eventually defeated at the gates of Zhaoqing. His opponents were Shang Kexi, the lord of Pingnan, and General Xu Erxian.

"Haste makes waste." Danchu said, "Zhaoqing is a strong city, and Zhang Cunren is skilled in defense. If our army wants to attack Zhaoqing from the front, there will be heavy casualties. It is better to attack the city underground, and ask the engineers to dig a tunnel."

There are two types of underground sieges. One is to dig a tunnel into Zhaoqing City, and then the soldiers sneak into the city through the tunnel and fight with the enemy. The other is to dig a tunnel under the Zhaoqing city wall, bury explosives, blow up the city wall, and then send the dead soldiers to rush into the city through the gap in the wall.

The first method is simple and crude, and takes less time. The second method requires higher digging skills, takes longer, but is more effective. Historically, Li Dingguo used the first method to attack Zhaoqing, which was easily discovered by the Qing army.

"May I ask your Majesty, if we use underground siege, should we send soldiers to sneak into the city, or blow down the city wall?"

"Blow up the city wall." Danchu answered without thinking.

It was not easy to attack the city through underground tunnels. The Qing army had already burned down the houses outside the city. The Red Army had no cover when attacking the city through underground tunnels. There was no place to store the excavated soil and rocks, which easily exposed the location of the tunnels.

Piling up earth to form a mountain was a two-pronged approach. The Red Army first used cloth bags and baskets to fill the soil and piled it up outside the city to form a mountain, the height of which was the same as the city wall. In front of the mountain, wooden stakes were planted to block the wood and reinforce the mountain. Artillery was also deployed on the mountain to suppress the enemy's firepower.

Zhang Cunren was experienced. When he heard that the Red Army had piled up earth, he knew that the Red Army must be digging tunnels. He ordered the organization of manpower to dig deep trenches in the city to block the Red Army's tunnels and prevent the Red Army from sneaking into the city. He also collected blind people and hid large urns underground to find out the direction of the Red Army's tunnels.

The Red Army was indeed digging tunnels.

Zhang Cunren offered a high reward: "Anyone who can get out of the city and seize the enemy's tunnel will be rewarded with 50 taels of silver." 50 taels of silver was equivalent to four years of military pay for the Green Camp soldiers. As the governor of five provinces, raising food and money was not a problem. A high reward would surely attract brave men, and Zhang Cunren quickly raised a group of about a thousand soldiers.

In the early morning of the 18th, the Qing army dug a door on each side of the east and west forts, rushed out of the city and seized the Red Army's tunnel. The soldiers fought desperately, swarmed forward, shielded their heads with shields, and advanced with knives under the dense bullets of the Red Army.

The Red Army also refused to give in and first shot at the Qing army with rifles. However, the Qing army continued to fight and refused to retreat, gradually approaching the tunnel entrance.

The deputy commander of the Second Regiment was Wu Jie, a famous general of the Red Army. He was furious upon seeing this, put on his helmet and rode his horse forward to personally supervise the battle at the entrance of the tunnel.

The cavalry battalion directly under the town was responsible for counterattacking the Qing army. The battalion commander was supervising the battle behind the battle line. When he heard that the deputy town commander had arrived, he hurried over to wait for orders and carefully explained: "Town Governor, these Tartars are desperate criminals who don't care about their lives at all in a war. The cavalry under your command was newly built not long ago..."

Wu Jie was Cen Danchu Yuancong's elder brother, who was originally in charge of the cavalry. He pointed his horse spear at the commander and said rudely: "Your cavalry is the elite of the second town. The reason why you can't defeat the Tartars is because you supervise the battle from behind the formation and don't lead the troops. If you lose today, I will chop off your head first, and then disband your cavalry."

After saying this, he rode his horse into the battlefield, followed by only a few guards. The cavalry commander was so ashamed that he immediately mounted his horse with his spear in hand and followed Wu Jie into the battlefield.

The deputy commander personally came to the battlefield, and the morale of the Red Army was greatly boosted. If the cavalry could not defeat the infantry, the cavalry would really have to be disbanded.

Wu Jie rode on a big horse, high above the crowd, and spotted a man who looked like an officer among the Qing army. There was a man holding a green flag next to him, and there were many guards around him, pointing and talking from time to time.

It's you. "Kill!" Wu Jie got angry and rushed forward on his horse. The enemy held a shield in one hand and a knife in the other. Seeing the cavalry attacking, he did not panic and raised his knife to meet them.

Daxi Ma dodged from the side, avoiding the swords and shields of the Qing army. Wu Jie saw an opening, turned his spear and killed a Qing soldier, then turned his horse around and attacked the Qing army again.

The subordinates understood and rushed into the enemy formation from both sides, surrounding the Qing army in the middle. The Qing army was trapped in the enemy formation and wanted to escape, but was blocked by the war horses, so they had to bite the bullet and fight. The Red Army cavalry had long weapons and were high up, which gave them an innate advantage over infantry. It didn't take long for them to kill the Qing army one by one.

By the time the battle was over, the Qing army was doomed to fail, and without waiting for orders from their superiors, they retreated into the city. The Red Army chased them to the moat, killing many of them and successfully securing the tunnel.

At noon on the 24th, Zhang Cunren jumped up from his recliner with a dull sound. After days of supervising the battle, Zhang Cunren was very tired and was taking a nap on the west gate city wall.

He hurriedly asked his guards: "What's that sound?"

There seemed to be a slight shaking under his feet, and the guards on both sides also showed fear and replied: "I can't hear it, it seems to be coming from a very far place."

"Ah, sneeze," Zhang Cunren couldn't help but sneeze. He looked up and saw some dust falling on the roof.

"Could it be?" He didn't dare to think too much, dusted off his clothes, and said, "Let's go to the observation deck and take a look."

At this time, a guard came galloping from the city wall on horseback. Seeing Zhang Cunren, he turned over his horse and bowed, saying, "Marshal, the red bandits dug a tunnel and destroyed a section of the city wall several meters long. The governor is leading the troops to block it."

Zhang Cunren was ill, but he had to summon his strength to go out of the city wall to check. He saw a field of dust flying not far away, about 200 steps east of the west gate. The Red Army had sent troops to attack the gap, while the Qing Army used bows, cannons, and muskets to stop the Red Army. At the same time, Zhang Zhibi, the prefect of Zhaoqing, was organizing people to fill the gap.

The Qing army had made sufficient preparations for defending the city this time. Even if there was a gap in the city wall, they could block the Red Army while organizing people to repair the city wall.

Zhang Cunren had fought in Liaodong for a long time and had a lot of experience. At that time, the Ming and Qing armies fought for Liaodong city by city, and the situation was much more tragic than this. The Qing army often used death squads to break through the city walls, and the Ming army repaired them as they broke, and never gave in.

As expected, the Red Army retreated soon, and the Qing Army cheered and regained their morale. Zhang Cunren breathed a sigh of relief and told the guard Xia to tell Zhang Zhibi to repair the city and make sure it was strong and not worse than the original one.

Zhang Cunren was still relieved about Zhang Zhibi. Zhang Zhibi was also a Han Chinese from Liaodong, who could read a little, but he could be promoted to the position of prefect. This was because the Qing Dynasty valued Liao people, and Liao people who could read a little and had some talent were all given important positions. For example, in the eighth year of Tiancong in the Qing Dynasty, Huang Taiji held an imperial examination, and sixteen people passed, including eight Liao people. These eight Liao people, including Ma Guozhu and Luo Xiujin, are now mostly high-ranking officials, serving as governors and governors outside and as ministers in the interior.

Unexpectedly, an hour later, there was another muffled "boom". Zhang Cunren was still in shock and hurried out to check, only to see that dust was flying in the distance, which was exactly where the Red Army had exploded just now.

The chain blasting method was a masterpiece of the Red Army engineers. That is, first blast a section of the city wall, wait for the Qing army to go up to repair the city, and then use more explosives to blast, not only to expand the gap, but also to kill all the soldiers and civilians who were repairing the city wall.

Soon, Guard Xia came over and said with a sad face, "Marshal, the soldiers and civilians suffered heavy casualties, and the governor also died on the spot. What should we do?"

(End of this chapter)