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

Chapter 353 Deputy Marshal of the Army

In the first month of the sixth year of the Yongli reign, the Red Army swore to march north. Cen Danchu led the Huben Regiment and the Second Infantry Regiment, a total of 80,000 troops, to march north to Jiangxi. This time, he used the title of "Deputy Marshal of the Army of the World".

In recognition of Cen Danchu's contribution to the restoration of Guangdong and Guangdong, Yongli Emperor Zhu Youlang conferred on him high titles such as "Grand Tutor" and "Deputy Marshal of the Army of the World". The next rank above "Grand Tutor" is "Grand Master", and there is no more official title above "Grand Master". "Deputy Marshal of the Army of the World" is a step higher than "General of the Conquering the Enemy" and has a more prominent reputation.

From ancient times to the present, the titles of official positions have been constantly expanding. The highest and most important military position was the general in the pre-Qin period and the general in the Qin and Han dynasties. By the Wei and Jin dynasties, the term general had become widely used and was no longer considered an important military title.

During the Southern Liang Dynasty, the powerful official Hou Jing created a military position that was unprecedented and unparalleled: "General of the Universe" and "Commander-in-Chief of All Military Affairs in the World".

Since generals were no longer respected, the position of "Grand Marshal of the Army of the World" was created since the Sui and Tang dynasties, and was usually held by the crown prince, prince, or even the emperor. Military generals of other surnames, no matter how great their merits or prestige, could only be given the title of "Deputy Marshal of the Army of the World".

Cen Danchu founded the Red Army and his original position in the army was marshal. This time he was appointed as the deputy marshal of the army, which was considered a recognition by the court.

On the 20th day of the first lunar month, Danchu arrived at Meiguan with the vanguard, where he met the commander of the Second Town, Kuang Shi, and the deputy director of the Intelligence Bureau, Lu Shouyi.

Last year, Kuang Shi led the Second Regiment to conquer northern Guangdong, and then he settled in Nanxiong to guard the northern gate of Nanyue. This time, the Red Army marched north to Jiangxi, and Kuang Shi led his personal soldiers to Meiguan.

Whenever the Red Army had a major expedition, they would first vigorously collect intelligence and often send capable generals to the front line to scout the enemy situation. Lu Shouyi was a Yao from Yong'an, had made outstanding contributions, and had a high prestige in the Intelligence Bureau.

"Lord, there is top-secret information." Lu Shouyi lived up to everyone's expectations and was very effective in collecting intelligence.

Danchu was leaning on the railing of the gate tower and gazing into the distance. All the generals accompanying him were his trusted confidants, including the commander of the Second Regiment Kuang Shi, the commander of the Huben Regiment Ma Bao, the director of the Operations Bureau of the Military Advisory Office He Zhaoji, and the head of the Second Regiment Camp Affairs Office He Jin.

"We are all family, so go ahead and speak."

Kuang Shi dismissed the outsiders and said, "Li Dingguo killed a famous Manchu general in Hunan and captured Hengzhou and other major cities. He must have captured a lot of spoils, but he paid very little tribute to Sun Kewang. Sun Kewang believed that Li Dingguo secretly hid the spoils and rewarded the soldiers to show his favor, which made him very dissatisfied.

"After the Hengzhou battle, Li Dingguo killed the fake prince Nikan in battle, and his reputation was greatly enhanced, and his achievements surpassed his master. For the first time in history, Dingguo reported the victory to Emperor Yongli, which angered Sun Kewang.

"But Sun Kewang was quite cunning. He pretended not to care and sent an envoy in the name of the King of Qin to confer the title of King of Xining on Li Dingguo. Li Dingguo refused and said, 'The title was conferred by the Emperor. Is it right to confer the title of King on a King now?'

"Sun Kewang became even more suspicious and was certain that Li Dingguo had turned his back on him. He ordered Zhang Hu to lead troops to retake Chenzhou and sent letters urging Dingguo to meet him in Jingzhou. Dingguo became suspicious and his subordinates tried to dissuade him."

It started! The internal conflict between Sun and Li in history started ahead of time.

Danchu remained calm and said, "There is a map in the gate tower. Let's take a look at the distribution of the Western Army first."

"Yes, it's on the first floor."

Kuang Shi was a general of the Red Army, with the highest level of comprehension and the deepest knowledge of Danchu. He loved to look at maps. The longest time he stared at the map was for more than an hour.

The soldiers of the Second Town were very supportive of the Town Commander, because Kuang Shi was used to making plans before taking action, and always made long preparations before going to war. Once a military order was given, it would not be easily changed. The soldiers followed the order and often achieved the greatest results with the least casualties.

This is in stark contrast to the First Town. The First Town was characterized by daring to fight and charge, fighting at all costs, but the casualties among soldiers were also very high. The Red Army implemented a bureaucratic organizational structure, with highly centralized military power, and the generals had a great influence on the troops. The difference between the Second Town and the First Town was exactly the difference between the two commanders, Kuang Shi and Wei Guosong.

When we arrived at the west wing on the first floor, we saw a map hanging on the wall, marking the latest enemy and friendly situation.

Danchu's attention was not on Jiangxi, but on Hunan. Kuangshi was confident and gave a brief introduction to everyone:
The Dashi Army left Guizhou and entered Hunan. Because there were many Tusi in western Hunan, they could only enter Hunan via Chenzhou Prefecture, Jingzhou Prefecture, and Wugang Prefecture in southwestern Hunan. This was also the key defense direction of the Qing army.

Before Nikan led the Qing army to aid Hunan, the Qing court ordered Xushun Gong Shen Yongzhong to stay in Hunan. Shen Yongzhong was incompetent and was defeated by the Dashi Army. Xu Yong, the general of Chenchang in the Qing Dynasty and the former general under Zuo Liangyu, held on to Chenzhou and was killed when the city was captured.

The Dashi Army's vanguard approached Changsha. When Nikan led the main force into Hunan, the Dashi Army lost the first battle. Li Dingguo set up an ambush in Hengzhou and killed Nikan in battle.

The Qing army's deputy commander Tunqi led his troops to retreat to Changsha.

Because of Sun Kewang's sabotage, Li Dingguo won a great victory in Hengzhou, but he was alone in the deep. He had few soldiers and thought it was difficult to defend Hengzhou, so he simply gave up Hengzhou and retreated to Yongzhou.

Most of the rest of the Dashi Army were Sun Kewang's trusted men, stationed in Chenzhou, Jingzhou, and Baoqing Prefecture in Hunan, with a force of 100,000. Sun Kewang himself led the Jiaqian Army and stationed in Wugang Prefecture in Baoqing Prefecture.

Tunqi succeeded the Qing army, with 40,000 to 50,000 Manchu, Han and Mongolian troops under his command. He took advantage of the opportunity to advance and reoccupy Hengzhou. Hengzhou Prefecture was adjacent to Baoqing Prefecture and Yongzhou Prefecture. Tunqi was stationed in Hengzhou and had to face the Dashi armies of Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo at the same time.

"There are two things worth noting, Kuang Shi concluded. When Sun Kewang entered Huguang, he convened a meeting of various towns, looked proud and repeatedly said he was disloyal. As soon as he arrived in Wugang, he ordered the place name to be changed and the original name of Wugang Prefecture was restored.

"Secondly, Yongzhou Prefecture in Hunan is adjacent to Guilin Prefecture and Pingle Prefecture in Guangxi. In case of emergency, Li Dingguo can retreat to Guangxi through Yanguan Pass in Guilin Prefecture or Zhenxia Pass in Pingle Prefecture. According to the notification from the Guangxi Garrison Association, Li Dingguo has sent people to Zhenxia Pass to negotiate the entry."

Emperor Yongli once visited Wugang. At that time, warlord Liu Chengyin was entrenched in Wugang. He took advantage of the chaos in Guangxi to hold the Yongli court hostage in Wugang and changed Wugang to Fengtian. Sun Kewang changed Fengtian to Wugang, which was exactly the same as Liu Chengyin's change of Wugang to Fengtian. He just took the opportunity to establish his prestige.

"I heard that Sun Kewang is planning to hold a Hongmen Banquet in Wugang, under the pretext of discussing military affairs, in order to capture and kill Li Dingguo and order Feng Shuangli to annex Dingguo's followers." Danchu said, surprising everyone.

Hearing that it was false, he just used his historical knowledge to infer that Sun Kewang was about to start an internal conflict. Judging from the current situation, the internal conflict between Sun and Li was imminent.

"The king is wise. Sun Kewang summoned Li Dingguo to Wugang and urged him to write a letter urgently. There are also secret messengers traveling on the road from Wugang to Yongzhou. They seem to be informers to Li Dingguo. We judge that Li Dingguo will not come to Wugang in all likelihood. Sun and Li may completely turn against each other."

Li Dingguo won a great victory in Hengzhou, and Cen Danchu's marriage to Li Dingguo undoubtedly contributed to the hostility between Sun and Li.

"Sun Kewang is narrow-minded. He dismissed Liu Wenxiu's military power after Liu Wenxiu was defeated in Baoning. To deal with Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang's methods will be even more vicious. When the Dashi Army first arrived in Yunnan, Sun Kewang, in order to establish his authority, punished Li Dingguo with a stick in front of the soldiers at the Kunming parade ground. This time, if Li Dingguo dares to go to Wugang, his life will certainly be in danger."

Danchu had already set his sights on Jiangxi. The Qing army in Jiangxi was weak, mainly concentrated in individual cities such as Ganzhou, Nanchang, and Jiujiang.

"The Western Army deployed troops in Huguang, attracting the main force of the Tartars. Our army can take this opportunity to march north to Jiangxi, first capture the strong city of Ganzhou, and clear the obstacles for the northern expedition. As for the dispute between Sun and Li, we should wait and see how it develops. When Li Dingguo is cornered, he will come to us."

(End of this chapter)