Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1159 Jiangbei ([-])

The first half of 1658 was really eventful for the Qing court. First, the veteran Ji Erhalang died of illness in Hangzhou, and then Dorgon, the powerful minister who had assisted the government for many years, fell ill and fell into bed. Amidst the gloom and gloom, the Eight Banners garrisoned in the capital, Tianjin, Jinzhou and other heartlands are frequently mobilized, as if they are facing a big enemy, which adds a little sense of tension to people-fortunately, there are still many veterans in the court Generals, such as Luck Dehun, Tan Tai, Azig, Sharhuda, Ji Xiha, Zhuobutai, Luo Tuo, Chen Tai, etc., there are also capable Han ministers who can entrust the situation in the local area. Such as Wu Sangui, Hong Chengchou, Shang Kexi, Shen Yongzhong, and Li Sutai, in short, the situation seems to be relatively stable.

However, there are also many hidden worries in the stability.Since Guo Sheng's Department of the Shun Army fought against the Qing Army in Jiangxi and wiped out more than [-] elite Geng Zhongming's troops and severely injured tens of thousands of Shen Yongzhong's troops, now more than two years have passed. After a partial attack on a large scale, and taking advantage of the Shun army's carelessness to capture Jingzhou City, there has been no progress so far.Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Shun army, which is in collusion with the overseas tycoon Huangyi thief, has basically established a firm foothold in the central area of ​​Huguang. The Qing army must mobilize the whole country to defeat them. difficult.

In addition, Wu Sangui, who has now entered Sichuan with his entire army, is also a bit guilty of an old problem. He led more than 5 horses and stationed near the Chengdu Plain. Strongly recruiting strong men, expanding the army, and at the same time asking the court for food and money, the trend of being too big to lose is already quite obvious.It is said that the Qing government has sent heavyweight ministers to lead more than [-] people from the Eight Banners of the Manchu and Han Dynasties to enter Sichuan via Shaanxi in the name of escorting military funds. When I grow up, I have thoughts that I shouldn't have.

Of course, with the passing away of the founding generals of the Eight Banners, such as Mandahai, Boluo, Jierhalang, and Wakda, it is difficult for the younger generation of the Eight Banners to take over. If there are three ups and two downs, then the Manchurian Eight Banners are likely to fall into a complete low ebb, and the result of this will undoubtedly be disastrous.Therefore, when deploying military operations against the south, the Qing government has paid more and more attention to adopting the policy of using Han to control Han, that is, driving the green battalion of the Han army to fight against troops from various walks of life such as Ming, Shun, and Xi. Waves of envoys either overtly or secretly appease the officials of the three parties, making them defect and join the "My Great Qing" side, which shows their painstaking efforts.

"Judging from the current situation, although the Qing army is blunt, it still maintains a strategic offensive posture against the Ming regime in the south. In particular, the Shun army just had friction with Nanming and expelled the Nanming governor who was stationed in Hengyang. , Many local camps of the Ming army originally reorganized from the surrendered Shun army also returned overnight to the rule of Dashun, which greatly stimulated the Southern Ming court. I heard that the Ming court stationed in Liuzhou has planned to move its capital to Kunming. The defense against Dashun The hostility between the two countries is quite obvious, and this must be observed.” In the newly established administrative office of the Ningbo area, Liao Xiaoyao, the commissioner of the administrative office, the commander of the Southern War Zone, and the deputy captain of the Blackwater Pioneering Team, is presiding over the meeting. The local military and political officials, just now a first-class staff officer from the Bingtuanbao, reported the summarized information to everyone.

"Zhang Mingzhen of the King of Lu regime just fought with Huang Binqing and others in Zhoushan on the grounds that this person had liaison with the Qing army. But according to our opinion, this is just a normal reaction of the King of Lu's regime looking for a way out after its failure on the mainland. At present, Huang Binqing is dead, and most of the troops have been annexed. A small number—about 11 people—float to Dinghai County a while ago and have been incorporated into our army. The designation is temporarily No.[-] Division. Live in Ninghai County, in case of an attack from the Qing army." The first-class staff officer flipped through the documents in his hand and continued.

The fighting within the Lu Wang regime occurred when Liu Haiyang left office. At that time, Zhang Mingzhen and others led troops in southern Zhejiang and northern Fujian to fight fiercely with Cai Shiying, the governor of Fujian, and Shi Tingzhu, the governor of Jiangxi. As a result, they were defeated and lost, and finally had to lead the remnant soldiers to break through to Taizhou Prefecture, which is close to Ningbo, to linger on their last legs.At this time, Zhoushan, which was originally looked down upon by them, became the last ideal shelter. In addition, Huang Binqing had always been at odds with King Lu's troops, so he was jointly made by Zhang Mingzhen, Wang Chaoxian, Ruan Jin and others. , It can be regarded as dying aggrievedly-however, after the Zhoushan local leader Huang Binqing was killed in a rush, the relationship between the Lu Wang regime and the Zheng family deteriorated further.

The current King of Lu regime has no more than one mansion, no more than [-] to [-] soldiers, withered talents and a shortage of wages and equipment. After so many years of tossing in eastern Zhejiang, they have always failed due to various reasons. In fact, it boils down to one point, or their foundation is too weak , is a congenital deficiency that cannot be made up by manpower.And under such circumstances, no matter how big the opinion of King Lu himself or Zhang Mingzhen is on the east bank, they can no longer stop them from moving closer to the east bank, because they have no choice but to rely on the people who can help them part of the food and pay. The "Yellow Army", otherwise, what awaits their regime may only be annihilation.

"This time our army took advantage of the turbulent situation in the Qing Dynasty to attack its Jiangbei provinces. Although Zhang Mingzhen and others were unwilling, they had no choice but to agree to send [-] land troops and [-] navy troops to the north to cooperate with our army. From this we can also see How embarrassing it has become for his ministry." The first-class staff officer said with a smile, "The Ministry of King Lu is like this, and the Ministry of Guangdong Li Chengdong is even more obedient. Although he has already cut off the population trade with our country under the pressure of the Ming court , but this time he sent his adopted son Li Yuanyin to send [-] soldiers to the north to support our army. He should have shown his attitude. Moreover, many of his troops have been stationed in Xuzhou for many years. Although it is difficult to say whether those relationships can be counted after so many years after the rebellion, I believe that as long as my army is approaching the city, there will always be some 'smart people' who will jump out."

"En." When the first staff officer said this, Liao Xiaoyao waved his hand, signaling him to pause, and then said: "This time, we will go north and land on the line of Yuntiguan and Guanhekou. We will focus on the wealthy Huai'an Mansion under the Qing government. Obtaining the population is the top priority, with cutting off the water transport and seizing the large amount of materials hoarded in the Qingjiangpu area all the year round as the secondary combat objectives. Therefore, this march will be as far as Hongze Lake, the canal, and the Lihe line, and try to radiate the Yellow River and the Huaihe River. Rivers such as Shu, Si, Yi, etc. flow through the area, attacking the fighting will and war potential of the Qing army, and looking for opportunities to annihilate a part of the Qing army in Jiangbei—if possible, find a new base for Dashun Liu Guochang, Liu Shijun and other troops, This made it impossible for the Qing court to take care of both ends, and created conditions for the development of various soldiers and horses in the south. The above is the strategy of this operation, do you have anything to add?"

"Commander Liao, I have something to say." Captain Sun Shengjun, an officer from South Africa and the new captain of the first regiment of the Standing Squad, stood up and stood at attention with a "snap", and saluted: "This time, there will be two brigades of the Standing Squad and the newly-built Squadron." The 4th, 9th, and 10th divisions of the army and all of the temporary 1st division, as well as artillery, cavalry, workers, and supplies, have more than 2 soldiers. In addition, our army also has more than 0.8 allied troops accompanying the battle If you count the Korean masters accompanying the army, the total strength will exceed [-]. As far as I know, the mouth of the lower reaches of the Yellow River is a tidal flat [-] miles east of Qingjiangpu because of the huge amount of sediment carried by the river. The river is narrow and silted, sandbars are everywhere, the river is overflowing and overflowing, and it is difficult for ships to pass. Or, even if it is passable, many sections of the river still need to be pulled by trackers, which is extremely difficult. The army has been preparing ships, equipment and personnel since the end of last year. Most of the ships in preparation are large ships. Of course, these ships can go up the Shuo River from the mouth of the Guanhe River, but they can go up to Yunti Pass in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. If they go up, they will be silted up and difficult to move. Of course, our army has a draft of only [-] meters The deep naval inland river gunboats can naturally flow unimpeded, but such ships carry limited personnel and supplies, and may not be able to supply the military resources of a [-]-strong army for a long time. I hope Commander Liao will be aware of this."

"Captain Sun is right, but he is a little overwhelmed." Liao Xiaoyao was slightly displeased when he saw someone questioning his plan to attack Huai'an Mansion. He said: "Most of the troops sent by the Zheng family of Fujian and King Lu of Zhoushan this time are naval divisions, and there are many small boats among them. It is not difficult to transfer food and military supplies. I have seen their soldiers and generals. I am afraid that it will not be possible to send them to battle. Yes, but it is not a big problem if it is to guard the supply line, transfer materials and personnel. Moreover, from Hongze Lake to the east for hundreds of miles, there are rivers, swamps, and tidal flats everywhere. It is a nightmare for the proud cavalry Running against the odds, our army's logistics transportation line can be safe. So, does Captain Sun have any questions?"

"The staff department is fine." Hearing this, Sun Shengjun sat down and said embarrassedly.

After the military meeting, the ministries began to prepare for the marching plan.However, since it was only late February 1658, and the immigration transportation operation was at a critical juncture, it was absolutely impossible to allocate much ship capacity to transport military supplies and personnel, so it would take mid-April to start the operation.

But before that, dozens of medium-sized fishing boats transferred southward from the Heishui area (the fishing season has not yet arrived) have arrived at Chongmingsha—to be precise, they went south for the winter—and there are two other navy ships Armed transport ships, two escort gunboats, four fast cruisers, one heavy cruiser ("Cadiz Rock"), two flute-shaped transport ships, with a total transport tonnage of more than 3600 tons, have already transported some combatants and The materials arrived at Guanhekou to establish a forward base.

Because the Qing army implemented a strict policy of relocating borders and banning seas in Jiangbei, it is strange that they did not know about the arrival of the people from the east coast.But no matter what, the real battle is not far away.

(End of this chapter)