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

Chapter 354 Zhumala Defends Ganzhou

Dayuling is the eastern boundary of the Five Ridges, and Meiguan controls the dangerous road of Dagengling. It is 60 miles south of Nanxiong Prefecture in Guangdong and only 25 miles northeast of Nan'an Prefecture in Jiangxi. It is a strategic point between the north and the south. Since the Qin Dynasty garrisoned the Five Ridges and Emperor Wu of Han sent troops to the south of the Lingnan Mountains, Meiguan has always been a place that the world must fight for.

Similar to Yanguan, Meiguan has rivers to the north and south. The north is Zhangshui, a tributary of Ganjiang River, and the south is Lingjiang, a tributary of Beijiang River. Yanguan has Lingqu Canal connecting the north and south rivers, but Meiguan has no canal, so transportation is inconvenient.

Therefore, since ancient times, the first choice for conquering Lingnan from the Central Plains was to go through Hunan, enter Guangxi through Yanguan, conquer Guilin, and then go downstream along the Lijiang River and the Xijiang River. Logistical supplies were more convenient, making it easier to sweep Lingnan.

On the other hand, it is inconvenient to march northward from Lingnan to the Central Plains. Guangdong is rich and has abundant grain production, so it is the first choice to march northward from Meiguan to Jiangxi. However, Meiguan is not connected to the canal, making it inconvenient to transport supplies. Even if Jiangxi is captured, the enemy can attack from the side with Huguang in hand.

Throughout history, the Central Plains often won when conquering Lingnan, but it was rare for a country to establish its rule in the Central Plains from Lingnan.

However, things are in the hands of man. When the Dashi Army marched from Guizhou to Hunan, the roads they passed through were dangerous and transportation was inconvenient, but Sun Kewang still organized an army of more than 100,000 to march into Hunan.

After several reorganizations, the Red Army's organizational and combat capabilities were far superior to those of the past. In this Northern Expedition, Danchu led 80,000 people into Jiangxi, which was much more convenient than the Dashi Army's entry into Hunan.

On the 22nd, the Red Army broke camp and officially entered Jiangxi.

The Huben Town had a staff of 35,000 men, and 30,000 of them participated in the battle. The Auxiliary Soldiers carried small boats over the Dageng Ridge. The Changlong and Sanban warships of the Navy were too heavy, so they were left in Shaozhou and Nanxiong. The 5,000-man shortage was mainly provided by the Navy, with a small number of troops left behind.

The Second Infantry Regiment was established with 54,000 men, but actually had 56,000 men. Except for 2,000 men left to guard the barracks, the remaining 54,000 men all participated in the battle. Kuang Shi was very strict in his military discipline and ordered the entire army to go out, without leaving a single soldier behind.

Danchu personally led the main force of 70,000 troops, crossed Meiguan, and entered Nan'an Prefecture in Jiangxi. He also sent another detachment of 15,000 troops, led by Zhao Xing, the commander of the Second Infantry Brigade, to advance eastward from Nanxiong and enter Ganzhou Prefecture.

Ganzhou Prefecture is a long and narrow prefecture, adjacent to Huizhou Prefecture, Shaozhou Prefecture, Huizhou Prefecture in Guangdong, and Tingzhou Prefecture in Fujian, and is the largest prefecture in Jiangxi. This place is located at the junction of three provinces, so the volunteer army is active.

Zhao Xing was from Shaanxi and was a general under Jiao Lian. He was strict in military discipline and good at comforting his soldiers. He led a small army to Longnan and Xinfeng, and traveled to various places in the south of Ganzhou, contacted the righteous army, raised ships, and then went down the Taojiang River to attack Ganzhou directly.

This route was exactly the same as Li Chengdong's two northern expeditions to Jiangxi. When Li Chengdong attacked Ganzhou for the first time, he took Meiguan as the main attack direction. When he attacked Ganzhou for the second time, he changed his attack direction to Xinfeng.

The Red Army's deployment was similar to Dongxun's first attack on Ganzhou.

At noon, the Red Army's vanguard arrived in Nan'an. The main force followed, and the team was endless. Attacking Nan'an with more than 70,000 people was simply an overkill. The Red Army was not in a hurry to attack the city, and first set up camp outside Nan'an, preparing to besiege the city.

Nan'an Prefecture was small, and apart from Dayu County, which was attached to the prefecture city, it only governed three counties: Nankang, Chongyi, and Shangyou. What's more, Ganzhou Prefecture, which was attached to Gan County, was located on the western border of Ganzhou Prefecture and adjacent to Nan'an Prefecture.

The Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming system and established Nan'an Prefecture in the narrow area of ​​Nan'an. It also set up the Nangan Governor and Nangan General to manage the military and political affairs of Nan'an and Ganzhou Prefectures because the terrain here is critical and it is a must-fight for military strategists. The city of Nan'an Prefecture is close to Meiguan, and the city of Ganzhou Prefecture is close to Nan'an Prefecture, which is conducive to moving the defense line forward and strengthening defense.

Most of the Nan'an defenders were Green Camp soldiers. Seeing the overwhelming strength of the Red Army, they dared not resist at all and closed the city gates to defend themselves. That night, the defenders opened the north gate and fled to Ganzhou.

Upon hearing the warning, the Qing Dynasty's General Zhumala of Pingnan returned from Yundu ahead of schedule and went back to Ganzhou to take charge of defense.

Zhumala is just fifty this year. He followed Nurhaci very early and can be regarded as a long-lived Manchu general. Before leaving Beijing, he had served as Gushan Ezhen of the Plain White Banner Mongolian and Minister of Personnel, and his hereditary title was promoted to the third-class Ashanihafan. Liu Wuyuan, the governor of Nangan, and Liu Bolu, the general of Nangan, went out of the city to greet him. Zhumala did not see Geng Zhongming and asked, "Where is the King of Jingnan?"

"Prince Jingnan is in the city, in charge of the city defense, and is vigorously eliminating spies."

Zhumala had his trusted troops stationed in the city, so he was not afraid of Geng Jimao's rebellion. He said to his subordinates, "Send someone to invite King Jingnan to my headquarters to discuss military affairs."

Without waiting for Zhumala to invite him, Geng Jimao was already waiting in front of the general's camp. After seeing Zhumala, he exchanged a few pleasantries and asked, "I heard that Marshal Jue made a lot of gains during his trip to Yundu?"

Yundu is now Yudu, located 80 miles northeast of Ganzhou, connected by Yunshui. Yundu is surrounded by Ruijin, Ningdu, Huichang, Shicheng and other counties, with many mountains and rivers, making it inconvenient to travel by land. It is also located at the junction of Fujian, Jiangxi and southern Ganzhou, and the volunteer army is very active.

Shunzhi ordered troops from Fujian, Jiangxi, and southern Jiangxi to be dispatched to Zhumala for unified command to wipe out the righteous army there. Who knew that Cen Danchu sent Wang Xing to lead troops into Jiangxi to control the "four major camps" and the righteous army mostly obeyed his call. Wang Xing did not occupy cities, but only entered villages and towns. When the Qing army came, he hid in the mountains, and when the Qing army left, he went down the mountains to harass everywhere.

Zhumala wanted to fight but was unable to do so. His division was old and his soldiers were tired, so he was in a very miserable state. He had no choice but to vent his anger on the common people and massacred many people in villages and towns.

With his trusted followers around him, Zhumala did not shy away from speaking frankly, "Not good, not good. I have finally figured it out. The Red Bandits sent Embroidery Needle Wang Xing to control the bandits, and even Jie Chongxi followed his orders.

"Wang Xing is cunning and fierce, ten times more cunning and fierce than the Gan bandits, and the people are mostly fooled by him. If we want to annihilate this giant bandit, we must mobilize a large army, surround him from all sides, blockade him for a long time, cut off his food and grass, and force him to run out of food. At present, the situation in southern Gan is urgent, so I have no choice but to return with my whole army to provide assistance."

The reality was even worse. The Qing army only occupied the county towns of Yundu, Ruijin, Ningdu, Huichang, and Shicheng. Outside the county towns was the world of the righteous army. Many gentry and common people cut off their braids, grew their hair, and walked openly on the official road outside the city.

Entering the lobby, Zhumala took off her helmet, wiped her face with clean water, and then stared at the map on the wall.

Liu Wuyuan looked at Geng Jimao, Liu Bolu and other officials who stayed behind and asked, "Marshal Jue has dispatched the Green Camps in three places to suppress the bandits. Now that the situation in southern Jiangxi is urgent, can the Green Camps in Jiangxi and Fujian stay to help defend?"

"The Jiangxi Green Camp stayed behind, and the Fujian Green Camp returned." Zhumala said without hesitation: "The Quanzhou Green Camp soldiers rebelled and surrendered to Zhu Chenggong, and the Fujian Green Camp rushed back to suppress the rebellion."

Liu Wuyuan was deeply worried and calculated that the troops available in Ganzhou were only 22,000, including 5,000 Manchu, Mongolian and Han Eight Banners, 4,000 Jingnan Fan Army, 3,000 Nan Gan Green Camp, 4,000 Jiangxi Green Camp, and 6,000 Northern Green Camp.

Last year, the situation in eastern Guangdong was urgent. The Qing government selected 24,000 elite troops from the northern border towns and the green camps in the hinterland and placed them under the command of Zhang Cunren and Hong Chengchou. Before the reinforcements crossed the Yangtze River, Zhang Cunren had already been defeated, and the Dashi Army attacked Hunan fiercely. Zhumala rushed from Jiangning to Ganzhou urgently, and 6,000 of the 12,000 northern green camps were intercepted by Prince Jingjin Nikan.

"Have you figured out the invading Red Bandits?"

"At least two towns have come, claiming to have 200,000 soldiers, but the actual number is no less than 100,000."

Zhumala had been in battle for many years, but he had never fought against the Red Army. The fact that he could serve as the Minister of Personnel as a military commander showed his extraordinary talent.

"The enemy is strong and we are weak. Don't attack rashly. It will not take long for us to lose soldiers and generals, and it will also damage morale. Order all units not to go out to fight, but to close the city and defend. First, eliminate the spies in the city, and then rely on the strong city to hold out and wait for reinforcements. When the enemy's morale is exhausted, we can attack from both inside and outside with the reinforcements."

(End of this chapter)