Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1710 Rising Storm (Nineteen)

Major Junio ​​has just been awakened from his sleep by the orderly.The orderly told him that the Fifth Division of the Zhejiang New Army had just defeated a Qing army in a night battle and was currently heading towards Tongzhou and was expected to arrive before dawn.

"The fifth division has improved, and it can fight well in night battles, isn't it fooled?" Junio ​​wiped his dry eyes, stretched comfortably, and said teasingly: "Okay, let's go to March ahead and see what happens."

This is the territory of Tongzhou on the north bank of the Yangtze River. It has been two full days since the army on the east bank landed here.Due to the frequent activities of warships on the east bank in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the banks of the rivers in Yangzhou, Songjiang, Suzhou, Changzhou, and Zhenjiang have basically become wild fields overgrown with weeds, and there is often no one in sight for a long time.

The reason for this is that they are actually afraid that the people under their rule will be robbed by the army on the east bank, so they have to make this bad strategy.You know, every commoner is a source of wealth and taxation. If you have one less in the Qing Dynasty, you will have one more on the east coast.He even wanted to retreat thirty miles, but this was the Yangtze River, not the southeast coast, so it was impossible to do so.

Generally speaking, there are basically no people living within five to ten miles from the river bank on both sides of the Yangtze River.Even though there are a lot of fertile fields here for fishing, the people are reluctant to leave, but they are forced by the government to move out, and then leave behind a number of firework piers, with a dozen or so people stationed inside, who can monitor whether there are any People secretly came here to reclaim wasteland, and at the same time, they used it to look out for the enemy's situation, to see if there were any yellow-clothed warships or soldiers attacking.

For example, this time, when Major Junio, the battalion commander of the 1200th Mixed Battalion, led more than 3500 officers and soldiers of the whole battalion (some wounded and sick remained in the rear, and the battle damage gap was not fully replenished) and the number had increased to about [-]. After the Fifth Division of the Zhejiang New Army landed in Tongzhou, Yangzhou Prefecture, some fire roads set up on the riverside immediately ignited beacon smoke, sending an emergency signal to the rear.Afterwards, these people closed the gate of the pier tightly, and waited for the verdict of fate inside with trepidation—it was not that they didn't want to escape, but the military order was strict. Before their reason had completely collapsed, they didn't dare to let go because of their cowardice. Family members in the rear are not involved in any way.

Of course, their luck was not bad. After the army on the east bank knocked on the broken wooden door of Huoludun easily, they did not embarrass these poor people with shining bayonets. Instead, they put them all in prison and sent them to the rear. In the future, they will either serve hard labor in Ningbo, or immigrate to the mainland on the east coast. In short, the situation will not be too bad.The only consequence is probably that they will never be able to see their family members again in this life, which may be the real bad news for them.

The army on the east coast did not stay by the river for too long.Although it is reported that a large number of Qing troops in Yangzhou Prefecture have been transferred southward to Shaoxing and Songjiang for reinforcements (people on the east bank learned from the interrogation of prisoners), the territory may be relatively empty, but after all, there are only a few thousand troops landing on the east bank, which is far from At that time, the so-called allied forces of [-] to [-] were organized to conquer the Yangtze River Basin. Therefore, once they encountered a large Qing army brigade, although they were not very afraid, it was always a troublesome thing.Therefore, when Junio ​​had just settled down the headquarters, he immediately ordered the Fifth Division of the Zhejiang New Army to march overnight with torches and head towards the nearest city of Tongzhou.

At that time, Junio ​​was not suitable for marching because of the wind and cold, so he stayed overnight in the temporary headquarters of Langshan Guangjiao Temple, and handed over all matters to the deputy commander of the [-]th Mixed Battalion, the combat staff officer and others.It was not until five or six o'clock in the morning that the orderly came to wake him up in a hurry, and briefly described to him the battle process of last night. After receiving the order, the Fifth Division of the Zhejiang New Army did not dare to neglect. Go to Tongzhou City, trying to take down this empty city before the enemy reacts, but on the way, they encounter a force that is heading towards them.

At that time, the two armies each held torches and hurried on both sides of a river. After finding each other, they immediately exchanged fire.At this time, the advantage of the high degree of weaponization of the army on the east bank became apparent. The officers organized wave after wave of gun salvos, and carried out intensive strikes on the opposite bank of the river, which was only more than 20 meters away, causing considerable casualties. .

The Qing army was in a panic under the sudden blow, and the officers shouted hoarsely to fight back, but many people ran around in the dark night, drowning them all in the chaotic crowd, and finally these officers had to give up This plan turned to shouting to retreat, intending to take advantage of the familiar geography to go to other places to clean up the remnants and reorganize the troops.

The members of the Fifth Division of the New Army were still very nervous, but when they saw the enemy being so cowardly, they immediately became more courageous. They even organized some relatively capable personnel to cross the river and pursue the enemy to a limited extent. gain.And until the two infantry companies of the Seventh Mixed Battalion heard the news and caught up, they kept their morale high, which made people quite happy to see.

However, the Fifth Division also exposed many shortcomings in this battle.For example, there are many new recruits and insufficient training. For example, there are also some command failures in the dark (but much lighter than that of the Qing army), such as slow response due to the lack of officers, etc. In short, you don’t know if you don’t fight. One jump, usually it seems that they have practiced well, but once they fight with real swords and guns, there are always many problems. This can only be hoped that they can correct them in future training.

After finding a liaison staff officer and asking him to inform the Fifth Division to continue marching towards Tongzhou City, Junio ​​took two staff officers and sat in an oriental-style carriage, studying the information at hand while chasing the main force ahead. .

The information at hand was a lot and complicated, and it was basically about the mobilization of troops in the Qing government along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.Everyone had nothing to do, so they took out the information and sorted it out carefully, and had a general understanding of the deployment and direction of the Qing army's troops at the moment, so they made up their minds to break through one or two counties in Yangzhou Prefecture and collect as many as possible. Some population, in case there are not enough people to immigrate in the next few years.

After talking about this, Junio ​​and others relaxed and chatted about the current situation on the mainland.According to the news just received from Shunguo, when Wu Sangui, a hero of the generation, led his army to conquer Kuizhou in the middle of this year (1675), his body suddenly collapsed due to long-term travel and fatigue and the recurrence of old injuries. To the point where it can't be seen.

The fall of Wu Sangui's illness naturally caused the hearts of his subordinates to fluctuate. His confidants Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu and others escorted Wu Sangui who was lying on the hospital bed overnight to return to CD, in order to stabilize the overall situation.After Shunjun discovered Wu Jun's abnormality, he inquired and probed many ways, and finally came to the conclusion that Wu Sangui might be ill.The overjoyed Shun Army Zuo Battalion immediately mobilized the whole army, starting from their respective garrisons in Kuizhou Mansion, storming westward all the way, and successfully entered the territory of Shunqing Mansion and Chongqing Mansion.

The Qing army stationed in the Guangyuan and Jiange areas in the northern part of Baoning Prefecture had no choice but to dispatch urgently to help Wu Sangui.It's just that they only have more than 2 troops (they suffered a heavy blow during the battle of Kuizhou Mansion, and a considerable part of them had to stay in the Guangyuan area). Liu Zhonggui wantonly expanded his army after most of the prefectural capital. At present, there are more than 6 people who have entered Sichuan, and 5 or 3 people stayed in Yunyang Prefecture) is no different from a drop in the bucket. Hard to resist, try to slow down the pace of Shunjun Zuoying.In the face of such a dangerous situation in Sichuan, the Qing court had no choice but to mobilize 5000 new troops from Zhao Liangdong's department who were training in Hanzhong to go south to reinforce Sichuan, although it is not known whether it will have any effect.

Li Laiheng, the Emperor of Dashun in Changsha, was also a little caught off guard by this sudden change in Sichuan, as if happiness came too suddenly.The day before, Wu Sangui arrogantly led tens of thousands of elite troops to conquer the Shun Army of Kuizhou Prefecture, but within a few days he became seriously ill and was unable to manage the council, and the tens of thousands of elite troops retreated back in haste like a storm. The generals and soldiers of the Wu army in Kuizhou and other places were also panicked, and they were swept away by the Shun army, surrendering or fleeing. The defense line that had been built for many years collapsed in an instant.

After reacting, Li Laiheng tried his best to gather an elite team of more than 1 people from Hunan, and under the leadership of veteran Zhang Neng, he marched westward along the Yangtze River, intending to enter Sichuan to support the military operation.As for why Li Laiheng didn't send more people into Sichuan to grab the territory, it's not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't!The Qing court was not a fool, and they naturally understood that the situation in Sichuan had reached a critical stage, so they tried their best to mobilize the local troops in Xiangyang, and launched offensives of various scales against the Shun Army-controlled area. The main purpose was not how many territories they could occupy It was also to contain the strength of the four main forces of the front battalion, middle battalion, rear battalion, and right battalion of the Shun Army, so that it could not reinforce the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from the left battalion that had already entered Sichuan, and relieve Wu Sangui's pressure.

Of course, the people from the east bank who had an office in Madang Fortress also received requests for material assistance from Shunguo. They did not dare to neglect and reported directly to Ningbo.After carefully weighing the situation, Ma Wenqiang, the new captain of the Southern Exploration Team, ordered the warehouse to be opened, and sold a large amount of military supplies and equipment to the Shun Army at a discounted price to help them stabilize the situation in the possible future war and prevent them from Qing was easily defeated.

Of course, such a decision was made not without the fact that the Qing army’s combat effectiveness has been increasing over the past few years. They are no longer a team that can be ignored at will, as they have been manipulating the new army and learning new tactics all over the country. Therefore, it is inevitable to further arm the Shun army and enhance their combat effectiveness.At this time, it is no longer appropriate to adopt a binding policy on Shunguo.It's time to loosen the iron chain around Shun Jun's neck, otherwise the situation may develop in a direction that people on the east coast could not predict.

And this time, a series of changes in the situation brought about by Wu Sangui's serious illness and the large-scale invasion of Shunjun Zuoying (in fact, it was the follow-up incident caused by Wu Sangui's conquest of Nanming), have already begun to stir up the situation in mainland China.Shun, Qing, and Ming have been at peace for many years, and there is a possibility of a national war breaking out again. This makes the people on the east coast a little scared, because they can't see how the situation will develop in the future. This is what they hate the most.

"I think that kid Liu Zhonggui is very aggressive. Now he has 3 to 6 horses in his hometown, and He Zhen and his son in Shangluo Mountain have helped them protect their flanks more or less, so Yunyang Mansion is relatively stable. Liu Zhonggui This fellow, probably able to take the [-] to [-] horses, and fight the Qing army in the Dongchuan area." In the swaying carriage, Major Junio ​​seriously analyzed the situation: "I still have a little confidence in the fighting power of the Zuoying Yes. Guo Puxia once told me that although Zuoying is the poorest, it is the camp leader who is most willing to spend money on buying weapons, military supplies, and hiring instructors. It also has a strong fighting spirit. It is said that it is the old foundation left by Liu Fangliang. Excellent, this has been passed down from generation to generation. Otherwise, they would not have been able to defeat the Wu army of the Prime Minister of Xia State and the Qing army of Baoning Prefecture who came to reinforce them with one enemy and two in Kuizhou Prefecture. It is indeed a bit level."

"Zuoying has entered Sichuan, so there are too many variables. After all, central Sichuan has been rich and prosperous since ancient times, and it is known as the land of abundance. If Liu Zhonggui seizes this place, he can easily pull up an army of more than [-], and the combat effectiveness will not be too bad. It is much stronger than Jiangxi, which was taken down step by step by Guo Sheng back then. I don’t know how Kangxi in Beijing and Li Laiheng in Changsha will think about this matter at that time. It’s quite interesting to think about it.” The intelligence staff pointed out directly Zuoying’s entry into Sichuan may bring about a series of changes, just listen to him say: “Once Shunguo annexes most of Sichuan and establishes a firm foothold, then this will greatly improve the strategic environment of the regime. Think about it, Hunan The three relatively affluent provinces of Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Hubei, plus half of Hubei, are three points more powerful than the heyday of the Shuhan regime during the Three Kingdoms period in history. Moreover, there is no Jiangdong regime like Wu in the east, so you can take it easy one by one Annexation, the trend of the Southern and Northern Dynasties is about to come out, the premise is that they can withstand the offensive of the Qing army in Xiangyang and successfully defeat the Wu army in Sichuan and the Qing army in Shanxi, Gansu."

"Don't think about these things. What we should consider now is how to make the correct choice that suits our own interests in a situation that may change drastically in the future." Major Junio ​​suddenly interjected: "In the past few years, the Qing Dynasty , the strengthening of Shun country's military power, and the major changes in Sichuan this year have all weakened our control over this land. I even have a hunch that in a few years, the situation in mainland China may develop to the point where even We are also incapable of controlling and influencing, and there may be big troubles at that time. Forget it, it’s meaningless to talk about these things that are too long ago. The staff officers in Yantai have been deducing these things all day long. They must see more clearly than we do. Far, more accurate, let’s take a step and see. Now, don’t think about anything, let me take Tongzhou City first!”

(End of this chapter)