Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 70: Sixty Miles of Camps

Wu Sangui and Wu Guogui joined forces and marched forward, reaching the second long wall at the end of the third hour of the second day.

After carefully examining it with the telescope, Wu Sangui slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

This wall is not as exaggerated as the first one.

It's only ten feet high, so it's not impossible to see the end.

It is not so exaggerated as to erect a wooden wall on the hills and mountains.

But it’s still difficult to cross.

There are still some flat areas outside Hanlong Pass, but when you go deeper into Mubang, the lowlands are covered with dense jungles, with tall trees and intertwined vines.

Looking at the creeks and swamps on the mountains, it is clear that it would be difficult for the army to advance.

Wu Yingqi said, "Father, another five hundred Tusi soldiers escaped last night. If we continue to fight, I'm afraid the army will riot."

Wu Sangui had already anticipated this and said directly, "Tell those chieftains."

"For those who fight vigorously, I will petition the imperial court to exempt them from taxes and tribute for three years."

"Those who escape without permission, even if we are defeated, we will return and massacre the village and the people."

Wu Guogui also said, "Your Majesty, Mubang is surrounded by mountains, and the army's advance is extremely difficult."

"Of the 10,000 soldiers I led, nearly a thousand were killed on the road alone. General Ma Ning could rely on the Nu River to transport supplies, so he might be better off than me, but not by much."

They had made some estimates before they set out.

When they attacked Guizhou from southern Sichuan, they also traveled through mountains and rivers to bypass Li Dingguo's pass.

But I didn't expect that this border area would be even more difficult to penetrate than the Guizhou and Guizhou regions with their rugged terrain.

Wu Guogui gritted his teeth and continued, "Even if the barrier behind Zhu Cixuan isn't as strong as the first two, we won't be able to break through his tortoise shell."

"Furthermore, Zhu Cixuan's bravery is rare in the world. My elite cavalry pursued his remaining cavalry, but he easily repelled them."

Wu Sangui wiped the raindrops falling on his head.

Take a look at the sky filled with dark clouds.

He muttered to himself, "It's the spring equinox."

All things are sprouting and plants are waking up.

As the vegetation began to grow lush, their marches and assaults became increasingly difficult.

In half a month, when Qingming Festival arrives, miasma will begin to rise and plague will break out in the army.

Wu Sangui turned to look at his son and confidants, and they were already thinking of retreating.

"I lost more than 5,000 soldiers outside Hanlong Pass. Even including the losses of your Wu Guogui and Ma Ning's troops, the losses were only 7,000 to 8,000."

"Only a few thousand soldiers will be lost in the Manmo direction."

"Do you think the Qing government allocated three million silver and transferred countless grain and fodder from Huguang, Guangxi, and Guangdong, just to see us suffer only ten thousand casualties and withdraw without even conquering a single enemy city?"

Wu Sangui narrowed his eyes and slowly stated his strategic intentions:
"The losses were so small that the Qing court would inevitably think we were avoiding fighting and conserving our strength."

"Thirty thousand people, it would be enough if half of them were killed or wounded."

At least half of the 10,000 chieftain soldiers and 30,000 old Dashi troops will be consumed.

Wu Sangui looked at the second wooden wall and said, "We shouldn't even think about attacking Lashio and Ava."

"Conquer Xingwei City and use it as a stronghold. Defend the way with the wooden walls and passes built by Zhu Cixuan."

"With this explanation, the Qing court should be satisfied."

"Wait until General Ai Xing'a arrives, then consider whether to go directly south to Awa City along the Jinsha River."

Even if the Ming army retook Xingwei at that time, they could blame it on the weather, which made it inconvenient for the Qing army to fight.

Wu Sangui was silent for a few breaths, then gave the order:
"It's only eighty miles to Xingwei City. Ma Ning is a valiant general from Hexi, on par with Zhang Yong. He will definitely be able to surprise attack Zhu Cixuan from behind."

"Wu Guogui, take Shen Yingshi and Yan Zhen, and use another 10,000 soldiers to bypass this wooden wall."

"Wang Yongzuo, prepare the artillery and build a batch of siege equipment overnight."

The next day, Wu Guogui, exhausted, led his troops to continue the attack.

Wu Sangui led an army of 20,000 and fought again with the Ming army a few days ago.

……

Fierce fighting ensued at Hanlong Pass on the eastern front, and the battle at Manmo Tiebi Pass on the western front also reached a fever pitch.

After a few days of testing and testing, Shangshan made a move.

With the support of He Jinzhong's feint attack at Nanyaguan, they began to attack Li Dingguo's camp.

Li Dingguo sent dozens of elephants to fight the enemy.

Shang Shan was not worried but happy: "I've been waiting for your move."

After Li Dingguo used an elephant assault to behead Kong Youde in western Guangxi, the Qing army also began to use this tactic after entering Yunnan and Yunnan.

Shangshan immediately sent out ten war elephants to counterattack.

The number of elephants was far less than that of the Ming army, so of course they could not stop them.

But Shangshan only wanted the Ming army's elephants to slow down their charge slightly.

Amid the low roar of elephants and the sound of the earth shaking.

The sound of horse hooves clattered across the battlefield.

Under the cover of their own war elephants, the Eight Banners cavalry split into two groups, drawing their bows and shooting their guns around the chaotic elephant formation.

Arrows and stones flew everywhere, and the Hongsha soldiers on the elephants were sniped and killed one by one. Most of the cavalry went to Nanya Pass to stop He Jinzhong. The Ming army could only watch as the arrows and bullets of the Eight Banners soldiers rained down on the elephant formation.

The Qing army's war elephants were fully armored and were not afraid of the Ming army's spears and muskets at all.

In an instant, the Ming army formation began to stir.

Driven by the Qing army's war elephants and Eight Banners cavalry, the elephant herd counterattacked the Ming army camp, and Li Dingguo's troops completely collapsed.

The Ming army soldiers rushed to the stone bridge over the Daying River and fled to the other side.

Li Dingguo and his personal guards fought and retreated, covering the soldiers' retreat.

The Eight Banners cavalry drove the elephants onto the stone bridge, hoping to reach the other side in one go.

Li Dingguo, who had already reached the end of the stone bridge, caught a glimpse of the surging waters of the Daying River out of the corner of his eye.

Rain falls on the Spring Equinox.

The river is more turbulent than it was a few months ago.

It is not much inferior to the Lancang River.

It is far better than the Yuejiang River in Xinhui.

He was certainly not defeated, but the Eastern Tartars attacked him from the east and captured one of their camps.

Even if we retreat to Manmo, we can continue to hold out until the malaria breaks out during the Qingming Festival.

Li Dingguo just remembered that after the Battle of Xinhui, he retreated again and again and retreated to Hongsawadi.

Suddenly, the words that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said when we were about to fall asleep in the same bed that night rang in my ears.

"King of Jin, please stop dividing the Western Camp into the Loyal Camp and the Qin and Jin troops."

"Why are Bai Wenxuan, Wu Dading, He Jiuyi and Mu Tianbo willing to follow you, King Jin, even in a foreign land, fearing death?"

"Because you, King Jin, have defeated two famous kings and shattered the Eastern Tartars' reputation of being invincible."

"You gave them hope they shouldn't have, hope they knew they shouldn't have, but they still dreamed of victory. You knew it meant death, but they still dreamed of victory."

"Even if I die in a foreign land, I believe you can lead them to victory."

But I defeated the queen twice and never won again.

Li Dingguo gripped the long sword tightly in his hand and looked at the elephant which was only three or four feet away from him.

The Eight Banners cavalry on the shore kept drawing their bows and shooting arrows.

Li Dingguo faced the giant beast with a long sword in hand.

When the elephant was fleeing in panic, it saw a big monkey rushing towards it, and immediately swung its trunk, trying to shake off the person blocking its way.

Li Dingguo jumped up in two steps and avoided the elephant's trunk.

Soar into the air.

Under the gaze of the troops on both sides of the strait, the cold light was dazzling, as if it could split the Daying River in half.

Blood splattered on the stone bridge.

The elephant's trunk, as long as a human waist, fell into the waves of Daying River.

The elephant felt pain, roared in agony, and immediately turned around and ran away.

After an elephant was squeezed out of the stone bridge and fell into the Daying River, struggling and crying.

The elephants on the stone bridge immediately turned around.

With the momentum of a river collapsing and a mountain collapsing, he rushed back to the elephant formation.

The herd of elephants driven away by the Qing army suddenly fled and counterattacked the Qing soldiers again.

One man built a bridge and drove away hundreds of elephants.

The fleeing Ming troops shouted and cheered, their morale unprecedentedly high, and rushed towards the stone bridge and the Qing army formation.

Just when he was about to defeat Li Dingguo, his military force reversed the situation.

Shangshan's face turned pale and blue, and he hurriedly led his soldiers back to Tiebi Pass.

Standing on the top of the city wall, Shangshan looked at the Ming army soldiers showing off their might outside the pass, and he knew in his heart that it would be difficult for them to go out of the pass to fight in the field again.

"Wuerte, you are also from the orthodox family of the Two White Banners. Your father entered the Pass with the regent back then. I trust you."

Shangshan looked at the Manchu man in front of him.

"The rumors in Yunnan and Dian have caused the Queen Mother and the Regent to distrust us. Doni said that the two thousand Han Eight Banners I brought must die in Hongshawadi."

"Wu Sangui also wants us to hold back Li Dingguo. We can't let him move to Mubang and block their retreat."

"You take the Eight Banners soldiers to Nandian, guard the pass, build boats, and go directly south from the Jinsha River to Manmo."

Knowing that this was a dead end, Wuerte raised his head with disbelief on his face.

But he also understood in his heart that it was Yundian’s Fu Rui.

The imperial court didn’t care whether the Three Feudatories were in chaos or whether Wu Sangui rebelled.

The key point is that the rumor that Shunzhi died and Kangxi was enthroned is too complicated.

Not to mention him, even if Shangshan, the former Gushan Ezhen, were to die, it would not be enough to offset the suspicion of the two yellow flags.

Shangshan patted Wuerte's shoulder.

"Don't worry, in five days, He Jinzhong and I will come out to protect you."

"Whether it succeeds or not, we will stay at the border from now on."

(End of this chapter)