Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1616 Out of Control Situation

"My Great Qing" has really won some victories recently, if Xichuan Wu Sangui's record is also counted.

From the middle of 1670, after receiving the support of a batch of heavy artillery transported from Shaanxi and Gansu, Wu Sangui's main force quite wiped out some of the fortresses and fortresses outside Guiyang, cutting off the material traffic between the city and the outside world for a time. channel, saw the hope of conquering Guiyang City.If Li Dingguo hadn't won another great victory in Qujing Mansion, severely damaged the main force of Wu Sangui's general Ma Bao, and counterattacked into southern Sichuan, Guiyang City would have been destroyed by now, and Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu and others would have died long ago without a place to bury them.

But even so, Wu Sangui's army still has a great advantage in Guizhou, and has controlled many counties in the north, recruiting a group of grass-like chieftains, and their strength has not been lost too much.The Qing court was naturally overjoyed to see such a situation. It had just gradually recovered from the floods after the earthquake. The Qing court sent Yu Chenglong, the prefect of the neighboring Hanzhong prefecture, to serve as an imperial envoy to Chuanzhong to comfort Wu Sangui who had returned from the front line. Very much rewarded some rare jewels and illustrious titles to show the imperial court's importance to him.

Of course, Yu Chenglong's condolences did not stop there.When Wu Sangui talked about the continuous battle, the casualties of the soldiers were expensive, the equipment was damaged, and there was an urgent need for replenishment, Yu Chenglong only agreed to transfer some of them from the Shaanxi treasury to Chuanzhong.As for the artillery mentioned by Wu Sangui—iron artillery purchased from the British East India Company, some of them were quite expensive long-barreled heavy artillery. The Qing court transported them to Sichuan for a long distance, and I don’t know how much manpower and material resources were wasted—— Yu Chenglong pretended to be deaf and dumb, and didn't know what to ask. This made Wu Sangui very unhappy, but there was nothing he could do about it.The attack on Nanming could not be slapped, at least he, Wu, was also very enthusiastic about it, but now halfway through the fight, the supply of materials that the Qing court promised to support has begun to be discounted again, although it has long been psychologically prepared. But it's definitely uncomfortable.

But considering that this is an extraordinary moment—the old Wu army has been dispatched for more than a year, and the consumption of materials and personnel is not small. up.Who let the Qing court station the Manchurian Eight Banners and the elite Shaanxi-Gansu Green Battalion in Hanzhong and Guangyuan? This is the key to Wu Sangui!

Moreover, Wu Sangui's confidant Xia Guoxiang had a hard time resisting the Zuoying of the Shun Army in the area of ​​Chongqing Prefecture, and he had lost two battles in a row.I believe that if Zhao Liangdong, the deputy general of the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Battalion, rushed to help with more than [-] elite soldiers, there is a high probability that the whole government will be corrupted. Then the entire gate of Dongchuan will be opened, and Wu Sangui will be under the enemy's back, and the situation will be even worse.

Therefore, now Wu Sangui really can’t turn his back on the Qing court. Even if the Qing court’s attitude towards him is not as enthusiastic as before the war, he can’t get angry. He can only hope to defeat the tens of thousands of remnants of Nanming as soon as possible, and unify Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. In the three provinces, no one will be able to control him, although it doesn't look easy-Ma Bao's failure all the way to the division has already made the Nanming Li Dingguo Group have a hint of a threat to the main flank of the Wu army, so the situation cannot be controlled. Too optimistic, we need to continue to fight hard.

And if Wu Sangui's victory on the southwest battlefield is excluded, the only thing that the Qing court can barely claim to be a victory may be a decisive raid on the river near Zhenjiang. The situation attacked an east coast fleet returning from the upper reaches.At that time, a large number of arson ships were released from the lower reaches by the Qing army, taking advantage of the southeast wind to attack the fleet on the east coast, and then some soldiers also took advantage of the cover of night to kill them by boat, making the people on the east coast very nervous and in a hurry Turned around to avoid it, but because of the narrow surface of the Yangtze River, an inland shallow-water gunboat sank on the rocks, and a 72-ton small steamer ran aground, and was burned by the sailors on the east bank who abandoned the ship. It was barely a victory for the Qing court. Bar.

In addition, the Qing army also copied this tactic once in Chongmingsha.It's just that although they successfully drove away the fleet of the people from the east coast, because the remodeled Chongmingsha guarded thousands of households, the defenders were also very tenacious in fighting, and the Qing army was unable to capture it all night after a fierce attack.Later, because they were afraid that the gunboats on the east bank would come back to control the situation after dawn, the Qing army had no choice but to withdraw from the siege. This kind of action was repeated several times by the Qing army. Aside from causing a lot of casualties, it has almost no effect, because the fleet of the people from the east bank is still moored there during the day, and the flag of the east bank is still raised on Chongming Sand Island, which poses a threat to the shipping of the Qing Dynasty in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River Still haven't been lifted, so this one can hardly be called a victory really.

All in all, due to various reasons, the Qing court, which had just recovered from the more serious natural disasters that lasted for several years, was like a big fat man in trouble. Although he could beat several other opponents physically, he always Unable to fight with all his strength.The only few tentative attacks did not achieve ideal results, except for Wu Sangui.But then again, is Wu Sangui really under complete control? I'm afraid no one would dare to guarantee it.

People on the east coast are also very concerned about the current situation. The Southern Pioneering Team and the Denglai Pioneering Team have almost attracted more than 20 Qing troops, and the pressure is huge.No one can predict where the situation will develop in the next step. After all, as more and more foreign forces intervene in the game of chess in mainland China, the situation has long been out of control for the people on the east coast. The fighting power of the Shun, Shun, and Ming armies has all increased, and the military tactics and technical advantages of the East Coast people have gradually diminished. On the contrary, the disadvantages in numbers have not been narrowed. Therefore, it is no wonder that in recent years, the Qing army I began to slowly covet the Denglai Second Mansion, which had stumbled a few years ago. The co-author is that after importing a lot of foreign guns and cannons and hiring a lot of foreign instructors, the Qing army became more courageous.

As for how the people on the east coast will respond, it depends on the development in the future. Isn’t it a brave attempt by the members of the executive committee to loosen the industry in the Heishui area a while ago?

……

In late October 1671, one of the "roots" of the courage of the Qing army, the British East India Company's trading station in Xiangshui Port, the company's second-level agent Hawkes Clifford was sorting his luggage.I have also lived in the Qing Dynasty for several months. Little Clifford, who has long missed his hometown in England, is officially preparing to leave for China. A constant north-easterly wind was blowing, which was very good for sailing.

"Martin, this trip to the Qing Dynasty is finally over. I can't wait to go back to London now. I miss my family so much. But I always think sometimes, maybe when I go back to London, I will be very happy again. Miss Xiangshui." Little Clifford was wearing a silk shirt often worn by gentry in the Qing Dynasty, and said with a smile: "This is a magical place, a place that brings me great luck, I really will Miss it here."

"I miss the business here." Martin is still wearing a capable sailor suit, even though he is already the undisputed number two on this ship, but he is still used to wearing a white sailor suit, which will only listen to him teasing Little Clifford said: "My sir, I think next year you will definitely purchase more artillery and more other goods and come to the Qing Dynasty. Their customs officials are really interesting. They asked for cannons to be exchanged for silk and tea, and immediately Pay the bills and never default. I think that once such news comes out, it will surely drive the merchants of England crazy."

"The cost of their cannon casting is ten times higher than ours, and they can't cast heavy cannons with a long range, so they can only turn to us or the Dutch. It is said that their earliest cannon casting technology came from an official of the Ming Empire named Sun Yuanhua. He recruited a group of Portuguese cannon-casting craftsmen from Macau and trained many new craftsmen. However, in a terrible incident, most of these people were kidnapped across the sea and surrendered to the Emperor of Manchuria. The original source of the technology. So, their technology actually sucks, even though they have been looking for improvements all these years, it is still too backward, especially when it comes to casting heavy cannons, the success rate is too low and the quality is too poor to be used at all , can only be purchased. Martin, I have often wondered whether it is time for the East India Company to raise the price of artillery sold to the Qing, because the demand of the Qing is so strong that no matter what we or the Dutch can provide The number of cannons is limited. You know, this is a huge sum of money, I hope the company's senior management can think about it." Little Clifford said with a serious face: "And this is also beneficial to the Portuguese and the Dutch. Good thing, we should try to communicate with them, no one should refuse."

"I can only say that it's a good idea, but it needs to be implemented carefully. Because from my experience of living in China for many years, officials in this country are very sensitive and have high self-esteem. If they think that our behavior of increasing the price of artillery makes them If you are offended, then the consequences will be serious, and maybe we will no longer be able to do business happily here. And what is more terrible is that if the situation of the war is affected because we increase the selling price of artillery, things may become more serious. Seriously. The Dutch have been in China far longer than us, and they probably know this very well, so Mr. Captain, although the Qing people are eager to improve their army's tactics and equipment, I still hope that you Be more careful."

"I see, Martin, thank you for your reminder." Little Clifford turned around, looked at his adjutant, and said, "Let's talk about something else. I heard a friend of the Qing Empire official who I knew said, When the spring of next year arrives, Mr. Tong Guowei, the favorite of the Emperor of Manchuria, will bring a large-scale mission to the Russian Empire. It is said that there has been a lot of trouble in their capital, Beijing, and many people know about it. God, The union of two huge land-based countries, who is this against? The East Coasters? Maybe they're in big trouble!"

In fact, Tong Guowei's mission to Russia was basically decided as early as last year when the Russian Seytkur Ablin mission arrived in Beijing.It's just that only a few people knew about it at the time. Now that the departure is approaching, the news can't be concealed, so it began to spread in the Forty-Nine City as if it had grown wings, and finally even spread to the Jiangbei area. Even the British heard about it. magic.

Tong Guowei’s delegation went to Moscow this time, and brought a lot of gifts and the Kangxi Letter of Credence written in Manchu, Mongolian, and Russian, and planned to submit it to Tsar Alexei of Russia. The people on the east bank who are rising in the Amur River area of ​​the Far East have relieved the serious worries of both sides.As for other matters such as trade, they are all trivial details and are not worth mentioning.

Ah, yes!The Manchu Qing court wanted to strengthen relations with the Russians, and it also meant to jointly suppress and deal with the Junggar and Mongols.You must know that this prairie empire has a vast territory and a large population. Needless to say, its combat effectiveness is very strong.The Russians have been repeatedly attacked by them in Central Asia, and have always been at a disadvantage. At present, they only rely on the stronghold city of Tobolsk to support them. They dream of joining hands with others to deal with Junggar and Mongolia.

As for the Qing court, although it has not been directly invaded by much, the Junggar's efforts to infiltrate the various ministries of Mongolia have never stopped, which violates the taboo of the Qing court!You must know that the integration of Manchu and Mongolian has always been the national policy of the Qing government, and it was strictly established during the era of the Huangtaiji era, and future generations are required to implement this policy to the letter.As a result, Oirat Mongolia has actually started to infiltrate, win over the rest of the Mongolian tribes, and unify the grasslands—although it doesn’t seem obvious at the moment, it’s just a sign—where will the Qing court be placed?Therefore, the Qing court is really annoyed by the Junggar Mongols now, and it is normal to send envoys to Moscow to discuss with Russia to jointly squeeze and deal with these grassland peoples.

Therefore, under the current international framework, the two great empires of Manchu and Russia actually have a common language.The two sides have a common enemy, the Junggar Mongolians and the people from the east coast, and have a good trade foundation. Coupled with the similar systems, confluence is inevitable, although I don’t know how long their so-called confluence will last.

"The alliance between Russia and the Qing Empire can only deal with people from the east coast." Martin smiled gloatingly when he heard this, and said, "In fact, the people from the east coast have occupied China's trade for so long, and their attitude is still so arrogant. We, The Portuguese and the Dutch have been dissatisfied for a long time. I can only say that the exchange of missions between the Qing Dynasty and Russia and the strengthening of ties are a good thing, a great thing! Haha, we are not the only ones who want to see people from the east coast joke. .”

"Yes, maybe we should wait and find out what happened when we come next year." Little Clifford also said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)