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

Chapter 389: Surprise Attack on Tiaoma Gorge

Tunqi knew very well that Xiangtan was too far from Changsha and had no strategic location to defend, so he did not deploy heavy troops in Xiangtan. But no one could have imagined that the Red Army would capture Xiangtan in just two days and mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians to clear the sunken ships and dredge the waterway.

The First Infantry Brigade of Huben Town crossed the river overnight, but only found 40 to 50 ferries. The upstream channel had not yet been opened, so even if there were thousands of ferries, it would not be able to carry the troops. Each soldier in the personal brigade had only one horse and a lot of baggage. With only a few ferries, only 300 to 400 soldiers could be carried at a time. In addition, it was dark at night, so it was not easy to cross the river. It took half an hour to go back and forth.

The Red Army had many soldiers but few boats, so they were very slow in crossing the river. Yang Fang saw this and was anxious.

The commander of the third battalion, Wang Debiao, requested a meeting. After the meeting, he bowed slightly and said straight to the point: "Taiwan Xie, there are too many people and too few ships. This is not a good way to go. Why don't I select a special force to cross the river first, and then disguise as the Green Camp Tartars and knock on the gate behind Tiaomajian. The Tartars defend the south of the pass with heavy troops, but the defense in the north is not tight. When the garrison commander launches a fierce attack in the south, the defenders will be in a state of confusion and will be deceived by me and open the gate obediently."

Wang Debiao was originally a surrendered general from the Jiangxi Green Camp. He was initially a subordinate of Zuo Liangyu, and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty with Zuo Menggeng. He surrendered to the Red Army in the Battle of Luoding, and now he has accumulated merits and has been promoted to the commander of the First Brigade of the Royal Guards.

Huben Town often served as the main force in the decisive battles of the Red Army. The soldiers were the most elite, and the officers had many opportunities to make meritorious deeds and were promoted quickly. Wang Debiao was able to be promoted to the commander of the personal guards as a surrendered general of the Green Camp. He must have had some extraordinary qualities.

The Qing army on the dangerous Tiaomajian Pass was mainly composed of the Green Camp, so sending Wang Debiao to launch a surprise attack was the most appropriate move.

The Qin Yi Association defeated the Tartars during the day and captured many Green Camp soldiers. The flags, clothing, and weapons were all ready. Yang Fang originally intended to launch a surprise attack on Tiaomajian, so he asked, "Very good, how many troops do you need?"

"Not many are needed. I will select three hundred soldiers from my army. One horse for each man will be enough."

Wang Debiao only brought 300 soldiers, so it would be difficult to wipe out the enemy at Tiaomajian. Yang Fang hesitated for a moment and said, "I originally thought that if I led the whole army to the north of the city gate, we could attack the enemy from both sides with the garrison commander, and we would be able to wipe out the Tartars completely."

This is a bit dogmatic. Wang Debiao, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, said bluntly: "Speed ​​is of the essence in war. There is no need to rush to wipe out the Tatars. The key now is to capture Tiaomajian Pass, so that the main force of the Red Army can smoothly move north to Changsha.

"I will lead 300 elite soldiers to Tiaomajian. As long as we can seize the gate, the Tartars will be defeated or even flee. The Tartars have more infantry and fewer cavalry at Tiaomajian. Our army still has cavalry support in the south of the pass. Even if we pursue them, we can annihilate the Tartars completely."

"Well," Yang Fang readily accepted the advice and said, "Go and prepare your clothes and flags. When you are ready, take the next boat to cross the river."

Just as Wang Debiao was about to leave, Yang Fang reminded him, "I'll ask the staff officer of the camp office to ask a questionnaire. If they have seized the seal of the Tartars, ask him to forge a document for you."

"promise"

At about 3:30 pm, Wang Debiao led his troops to the north gate of Tiaomajian Pass, and encountered several Qing troops interrogating him along the way. Because he was leading 300 cavalrymen, with strong troops and horses, and charging recklessly, the Tartars along the way were timid and did not dare to interrogate him carefully, and hurriedly let him go to Tiaomajian Pass.

It was a clear and crisp autumn day, and there were rice fields outside the city. Unfortunately, the war was approaching, and the people were harassed by the Qing army and hid in the mountains, leaving the rice fields empty.

There was a rumbling sound of cannons from the other side of the mountain, and gunpowder smoke was dispersed into the air. Needless to say, it must be Ma Bao who was leading the main force of Huben Town to attack the south gate of the city. Without the ten-year-old cannon and the red cannon, it was really difficult for Ma Bao to conquer the city from the front.

"I am following the order from my superiors to lead three hundred elite cavalry to reinforce Tiaomajian. You must open the gate quickly without any mistakes."

Wang Debiao's tone was arrogant and he would not allow the defenders to question him. The Green Camp soldiers were like this. The more polite you were to them, the more arrogant they became. It would be better to take the initiative and suppress them with your momentum.

After checking the documents, the gatekeeper was still somewhat suspicious and asked, "Since you are following the order of Governor Wang, why don't you defend Xiangtan instead of helping to defend Tiaomajian?"

Wang Debiao remained calm and said, "Xiangtan is as solid as a rock, there is no need to worry. The general ordered the governor to divide his troops to help guard Tiaomajian, so the governor sent us to help overnight."

"I heard that the Red Bandits have already attacked Xiangtan?" "The Red Bandits have attacked the city twice, but were repelled by the Heavenly Army both times, and more than 500 people were beheaded."

The gatekeeper was very excited and said, "General, please wait a moment. I will report to Governor Liu and open the gate immediately."

"Go quickly, don't keep me waiting."

It seems that the Tartars do not have many troops in Tiaomajian, with only one general in charge. Wang Debiao knew what was going on and exchanged glances with the brothers Wang Yishang and Wang Yibo behind him. The brothers were descendants of Wang Yangming, and joined the Red Army in Jiangxi. They were currently serving as officers under Wang Debiao.

"Biaotai, the Tartars seem to be suspicious." Wang Yishang said.

"It's okay. I'm coming with 300 cavalrymen to help. The Tartars will surely be tempted. There's not even a person in charge at the North Gate, so we know that the battle at the South Gate must be urgent. We're here at the right time."

Wang Debiao was very confident. The Green Camp soldiers were discriminated against in the Qing army. Not only were their salaries low, but their equipment was also poor. They were all reorganized from Ming army surrenders, and usually followed the Ming Dynasty border army organization, with the largest organization being a battalion. A battalion had 3,000 to 4,000 people, and cavalry usually accounted for 10%, or at most 20%. The defenders got 300 cavalry for nothing, which was a great advantage for guarding the pass.

Soon, the gatekeeper returned and said, "The battle at the South Gate is urgent, and Governor Liu is supervising the battle at the South Gate. Please be patient, and Governor Liu will come to greet you once the battle at the South Gate is over."

Obviously, the garrison commander was suspicious. Wang Debiao cursed, "Fuck you! I crossed the river overnight to reinforce, even robbed the ferry, and killed dozens of boatmen. You left me out here to make fun of me. Tell Liu Zhentai that I won't serve you anymore. Let's go!"

After saying this, Wang Debiao turned his horse around and made a move to leave.

The gatekeeper was horrified and panicked. He said, "General, calm down. General, calm down. I will open the door right away."

The drawbridge was lowered, the barricades were removed, and the heavy gate slowly opened. Wang Debiao remained calm, led the way across the drawbridge, and entered the pass.

The doorman was of low rank, so he came downstairs to greet him and said apologetically, "I hope the general will forgive me..."

Before he could utter the word "forgiveness", Wang Yishang took a step forward, and with a flick of his red tasseled silver spear, he hit the gate official right in the throat.

Three hundred Red Army cavalrymen rushed into the city, seized the South Gate, set fires everywhere, and rushed straight to the North Gate.

The fire in the backyard of the Qing army was completely unexpected, and the army fell into chaos for a while. Liu Zongbing wanted to counterattack the north gate, but Ma Bao outside the south gate received a signal and led his troops to attack fiercely, making it even more difficult for the Qing army to resist.

Wang Debiao knew that he had too few men to close the South Gate, so he opened it and allowed the Qing army to escape.

Tiaomajian Pass was not big, and it was filled with Green Camp soldiers, about 3,000 men and horses. Some of the guards at the north gate escaped the pursuit of the Red Army cavalry and were the first to flee from the north gate. Once someone took the lead, the rest of the people fled in droves, no longer caring about the battle at the south gate. Some people knew they could not escape in time, so they simply dropped their weapons and gave up the battle.

The Green Camp soldiers, like the Southern Ming official army, had a weak will to fight. They were defeated in one place and everywhere. The defenders of Tiaomajian were quickly defeated. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, General Liu also abandoned the city gate and disguised himself as a cavalryman to escape through the gate.

Soon, the Red Army opened the South Gate, and the cavalry rushed in. They then went straight through the North Gate, wantonly chasing and killing the defeated Qing soldiers.

The Qing army regarded the natural barrier of Tiaomajian as an impregnable fortress, and was easily breached by the Red Army.

(End of this chapter)