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

Chapter 356: Cautious Blockade
On the second day of the second lunar month, the dragon raises its head. Danchu arrived in Ganzhou and observed the enemy's city defenses closely.

This Ganzhou city is indeed a strong city, facing the river on the north, west and east, and surrounded by mountains on the south. The city is more than 10 feet high, all built with bricks and stones, and the city foundation is black, which is the remains of the iron city cast by the Song Dynasty.

The Red Army had no navy, and only raised a lot of civilian ships from the surrounding counties and prefectures. It was impossible to attack the city from the north, west, and east. If they wanted to attack the city, they could only attack from the south. The south of the city was narrow and cramped, with Fengshan behind it. The mountains stretched for hundreds of miles, connected to the Zhang River in the west and the Gong River in the east.

The city walls were majestic, the river was surging, and the green mountains were rolling. Danchu couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the city and said, "What a strong city!"

"This city guards Jiangxi in the north and holds the eastern part of Guangdong in the south. It has been successively expanded and renovated and is known as magnificent. There were thirteen city gates in the past, five of which were closed during the Yuan Dynasty and three during the Ming Dynasty. Now only five gates remain. The circumference of the city is thirteen miles."

The commander of the Second Town, Kuang Shi, said: "Since the Song people built Ganzhou on a large scale, no one has ever taken the city by force. Ferreira and Wang Xihu have seen that bombarding the city with cannons and siege by digging holes are not feasible."

Since the Song Dynasty, there has been only one way for the army to capture Ganzhou: to impose a long-term siege and blockade, wait for the defending troops to run out of food, and then force them to surrender.

"According to the original plan, you led the Second Town to besiege Ganzhou for a protracted attack. I led the Huben Town to block the reinforcements." Danchu said, "We sent troops to the north just after the Spring Festival, and we thought it was very fast. Unexpectedly, the Tartars were so tenacious that they did not even wait for the Spring Festival and sent troops thousands of miles to help us."

Besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements, attacking the city became secondary, and attacking the reinforcements became the main purpose.

Ma Bao was brave and courageous, and said without hesitation: "Why does the king need to go out in person? Bao is in charge of the Tiger Guards and is enough to deal with Chen Tai."

Danchu smiled and said, "I raise the Huben garrison, just like the frontier troops raise their servants, in order to fight against the most elite Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners of the Tartars. When the servants fight, how can I, as the master, just sit on the sidelines and watch?"

Looking at the situation in Ganzhou from afar, the Red Army held a front-line meeting to determine the combat and defensive strategies.

Feng Jiali, who was in charge of intelligence matters, said: "Since our army entered Jiangxi, the Ganzhou Tartars have not fought, nor have they defended the prefectures and counties outside Ganzhou. In the past few days, they have been busy robbing food everywhere, and it seems that they intend to hold on for a long time and wait for reinforcements.

"There are three possible directions from which the Tartars may come to help. The first is Tunqi in the direction of Hengzhou, who has a large number of troops under his command. The second is Xia Yi'e, the governor of Jiangxi in the direction of Nanchang, who leads the Jiangxi Green Camp. The third is Chen Tai in the direction of Nanzhili. The one who is really worrying is still Chen Tai."

There were 20,000 Qing troops in the city. Including the families of the Jingnan vassal, the Qing army had to support at least 30,000 people. The number of war horses was not much less. Zhumala had more than 1,000 Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners under his command, and there were 2,000 baoyi Aha, which meant 2,000 war horses. Add to that the Jingnan vassal army, the border army, and the Nangan Green Camp, and the total number of war horses was close to 5,000.

In addition, there were the people in Ganzhou. Every day, the number of people and horses eating was huge. Although Zhumala tried his best to plunder food and grass, he could only get four months of military rations. If the reinforcements could not be relieved within four months, the defenders would have to rely on themselves.

Tunqi has the most troops under his command, but he is constrained by the Dashi Army and will definitely not be able to reach Jiangxi in a short time. The Jiangxi Green Camp is the closest, but the weakest, and was frightened by the Red Army in eastern Guangdong last year. Chen Tai is the farthest away, but he is heading straight to Ganzhou, with his troops heading straight for the Red Army.

The Intelligence Bureau copied the Qing court's Tangbao from Nanchang and verified the news that Chen Tai led his troops to help. Chen Tai took the official road from Ningguo Prefecture in Nanzhili to Huizhou, through Xiuning and Qimen to Fuliang (now Jingdezhen City), and entered Raozhou Prefecture in Jiangxi.

"Chen Tai came from Nanzhili and took the official land route. He would have to pass through Fuzhou and Jianchang to enter Ganzhou. After passing through Ningdu and Yundu counties, he could reach the city of Ganzhou. If we want to stop Chen Tai, Ganzhou is too close, Ningdu is too far, and Yundu is neither too close nor too far, so we can prepare a battlefield."

Danchu had made up his mind and said, "In seven days, I will lead the Huben Town to Yundu and set up a position."

Seven days was enough time for the Second Town to set up camp outside Ganzhou City and deploy fortifications. After setting up the camp, Kuang Shi could stay outside Ganzhou City and keep a close eye on the enemy in Ganzhou.

"Ji'an has abundant grain production and the volunteer army is active. I would like to ask the king if we can divide our troops to seize Ji'an, first to cut off the reinforcements of Tunqi and Xia Yi'e, second to cut off the food supply of the Ganzhou defenders, and third to call on the volunteer army to seize Ji'an's food and grass for military use." Kuang Shi asked. Before the late Qing Dynasty, Jiangxi was a very prosperous province. First, Jiangxi is a land of fish and rice with abundant grain production. Second, Jiangxi is located on a major transportation route and is a must-go place for transportation between the north and the south of China. Goods from the north are generally transported to Lingnan through the Grand Canal, up the Yangtze River, and then through Poyang Lake and Ganjiang River, crossing Dayuling Mountain to enter Lingnan.

Ji'an is located on the bank of Ganjiang River, connecting Ganzhou in the south, Nanchang in the north, and Hengzhou in Hunan in the west. It has convenient transportation and rich people. Since ancient times, Ji'an has always been the place with the largest number of Jinshi, until it was surpassed by Suzhou in the late Qing Dynasty.

Danchu said: "We can send troops to Ji'an, but it is better to send one or two thousand troops to create momentum and call for the righteous army. There is no need to attack Ji'an by force. If we must attack, we should focus on the righteous army."

It is easy to say that the enemy is surrounded and attacked, but it is very complicated to implement. Ganzhou is a strong city, so it is necessary to send heavy troops to it, and the surrounding counties must be conquered by troops. Bridges must be built on rivers, and soldiers must be stationed at the passes of official roads. It is even more necessary to fight for important places like Yundu. Ji'an is far away from Ganzhou and is not as important as Yundu, but it is necessary to fight for it.

The Red Army gathered in Ganzhou, first built a strong camp and stretched out camps for several miles, and then began to blockade Ganzhou, without rushing to attack the city.

The city bordered the Zhang River to the west, the Gong River to the east, and the Gan River to the north, making it difficult to organize an attack. The Red Army built floating bridges on the upper reaches of the Zhang and Gong rivers and the lower reaches of the Gan River, taking the initiative and cutting off Ganzhou's waterway.

The south of the city was the only land and the only attackable place. The Red Army organized auxiliary soldiers and laborers to dig trenches, set up chevaux de frise, and divert river water into the trenches, hoping to block the Qing army.

Zhumala held on to Ganzhou, and originally wanted to close the gates to avoid fighting and wait for reinforcements to arrive. However, the Red Army dug trenches in the south of the city and came with great force.

On the morning of the fourth day of the second lunar month, Zhumala could no longer bear it and sent troops out of the city to attack the Red Army. The Qing army attacked from four directions, and their momentum was very fierce. Two of them went by land, going out of the Zhennan Gate in the southwest and the Baisheng Gate in the southeast. Two of them went by water, going out of the Xijin Gate in the west of the city and the Jianchun Gate in the east of the city.

Xijin Gate and Jianchun Gate are both water gates with floating bridges leading to the other side. This is the famous Ganzhou Ancient Floating Bridge, which was first built in the Song Dynasty.

The commodity economy of the Ming Dynasty was already quite developed, and many cities were built on the banks of rivers, making it very inconvenient to use boats to cross the river. The rivers in the south were wide, and it was inconvenient to build bridges across the river banks, so floating bridges were often built outside the city water gates and opened regularly every day.

The Red Army had never experienced a major battle since its launch, and had been gathering strength for a long time. The Qing army came out of the city to challenge, which was exactly what the Red Army wanted. After a brief panic, the Red Army reacted, and each unit fought to the death and withstood the Qing army's attack.

The fiercest battle took place outside the southern gate of the town. The Qing army dispatched the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia to try to break through the Red Army's defense line, scare away the soldiers digging trenches, and stop the Red Army from digging trenches. The Second Infantry Regiment relied on its superior forces and refused to retreat, eventually repelling the Eight Banners.

The Red Army had gathered 80,000 troops outside Ganzhou City. Not to mention capturing Ganzhou, it was more than enough to stop the Qing army's attack.

By noon, the Qing army was defeated and retreated. The Red Army seized the Xijin Gate and Jianchun Gate floating bridges and tightened the blockade of Ganzhou.

On the tenth day of February, the Huben Town broke camp, crossed the Gan River to the east, and headed to Yundu to block the reinforcements of the Eight Banners.

Before leaving, Danchu warned Kuangshi, "When you are besieging Ganzhou, you must be cautious and seal off the city. Do not fight recklessly or relax. Wait until I defeat Chen Tai, and then return to attack Ganzhou."

Kuang Shi said solemnly: "Yes, I will fulfill my mission."

(End of this chapter)