Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 98 Each has a plan
how to say?

Ming Dynasty is now trapped in Zhaoqing. To a certain extent, it is actually playing into Zhu Jing'an's ambitions.

The reason why I say this is that on the one hand, Zhu Jing'an is preparing to stock up troops in Zhaoqing for repairs and wait for more supplies ordnance to arrive from the rear.

In order to enhance the combat effectiveness of the Ming army and increase the bargaining chips for the next war between the Ming army and the Qing army.

The second reason is because Zhaoqing is not easy to play.

Zhaoqing is a fortified city located in a strategic location and is the west gate of Guangzhou.

Backed by the Xijiang River, the terrain is difficult and the city defense is strong, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even Li Dingguo suffered losses under Zhaoqing City back then.

In 1653 AD, the seventh year of Yongli reign in the Ming Dynasty, and the tenth year of Shunzhi reign in the Qing Dynasty, Li Dingguo led troops out of Guangxi to coordinate the reactionary Hao Shangjiu's troops to attack Guangdong.

However, they were trapped under Zhaoqing City and could not be conquered for a long time.

Then the old traitor Shang Kexi came to help with his troops and overturned the situation.

Li Dingguo failed to capture Zhaoqing back then, and now it is equally difficult for Zhu Jing'an to capture Zhaoqing.

Of course, if Zhu Jing'an is ruthless and willing to take casualties, Zhaoqing will definitely be able to defeat it.

After all, the Qing army today is no better than the Qing army more than 100 years ago.

No matter how strong the city is, it still needs someone to guard it.

To put it bluntly, talent is the key to defending the city!

But Zhu Jing'an has no intention of attacking Zhaoqing immediately. His idea is to use Zhaoqing, a strong city, to train his troops.

In the Battle of Deqingzhou, the Ming army captured tens of thousands of prisoners of war.

If you want to turn these prisoners of war from the lousy soldiers of the green camp who collapse in a rush to elites who are able to fight and dare to fight, they must be dragged to the battlefield, trained more, and the best can be eliminated.

The Zhaoqing City in front of us is the whetstone Zhu Jing'an found.

He wanted to use Zhaoqing City to polish up the bad soldiers in the green camp and turn them into elite troops who dared to fight.

The third reason is that Zhu Jing'an is planning to encircle the Qing army in Guangdong at the foot of Zhaoqing City to provide reinforcements.

Now, Guangzhou General Yong Wei and more than a thousand Eight Banners soldiers from Guangzhou City are surrounded by the Ming army in Zhaoqing. All towns in Guangdong will definitely have to mobilize troops to help.

Rather than letting the Ming army attack the Qing army's garrison positions one after another, Zhu Jing'an preferred to let the Guangdong Qing army gather in Zhaoqing to die.

As long as the Qing garrison in Guangdong is annihilated, wouldn't the huge Guangdong province be allowed to come and go by the Ming army?

Zhu Jing'an has always understood the principle of saving land and losing people, and both people and land are lost; saving people and losing land, both people and land are saved.

It makes no sense for him to send people to seize the territory before destroying the effective strength of the Qing army in Guangdong.

……

The Ming army received the order and quickly prepared and organized an offensive.

A defeated soldier who escaped from the battle was raped and slipped out.

Taken to the front of the formation, the supervising team ignored the cries and begs for mercy of the defeated soldiers and executed them together in front of everyone.

The heads were thrown away, and the air was filled with the smell of blood.

The entire Ming army couldn't help but feel awe-inspiring!

The soldiers of the forward battalion who were rotated out received white silver coins as a reward for their attack on the city.

Under the guidance of one hand with carrots and the other with sticks, there were fewer and fewer thorns in the Ming Army's forward camp.

Zhu Jing'an became more and more skillful in commanding the army.

Soon, the Ming army launched another attack on Zhaoqing City.

Amidst the roar of heavy artillery, the soldiers of the dark forward battalion, wrapped in red turbans and still wearing their original green battalion uniforms, fought towards Zhaoqing City under the cover of the Ming army's firepower.

The Qing troops at the top of Zhaoqing City were also fighting back.

Shotguns and artillery aimed at the Ming army's attacking troops and began to pour fire.

Boom!Boom!
There was a continuous sound of gunfire inside and outside Zhaoqing City.

Guangzhou General Yong Wei was sitting in the lobby, listening to the faint sound of gunfire outside, his face full of sadness.

In front of him, Pan Rui, the eunuch who came from the capital to deliver the order, was pacing and murmuring.

"What can we do about this? What can we do about this?!"

Logically speaking, after delivering the decree, Pan Rui should immediately return to the capital to report back to the emperor.

However, the general of Guangzhou and the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi led their troops to the west to fight against the bandits.

Pan Rui waited in Zhaoqing for a few days in order to get first-hand information on how to defeat the thief.

He thought that after he received the good news, he would return to Beijing with the successful news and report the good news to the emperor.

In this way, he can show his face in front of the emperor!

But unexpectedly, after waiting for a few days, what he got was the bad news that the imperial army was defeated in the battle against the thieves, and even the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi was not in the battle!
Then, before he could react, the Ming army marched from Deqing Prefecture to Zhaoqing and surrounded Zhaoqing.

Pan Rui and Yong Wei were surrounded by the Ming army in Zhaoqing City.

Now he couldn't even leave even if he wanted to!

"Eunuch Pan, stop turning around!"

"It makes me upset!"

Yong Wei banged the table in front of him with the back of his knife, making a muffled sound, and spoke with an irritated look on his face.

Seeing this, Pan Rui's circling movement subconsciously stopped, and then he spoke.

"General, the war in Zhaoqing is so urgent. The Ming thieves are about to board the Zhaoqing city wall. How can you still sit still!"

When Yong Wei heard this, he rubbed his brows, his tone was a little helpless, and he persuaded her earnestly.

"Eunuch Pan, don't worry. Zhaoqing City is high and deep. It cannot be captured by thieves in a short while."

"Every town in Guangdong should have received orders from my general to mobilize troops by now. I believe they will send reinforcements to Zhaoqing soon."

"As long as reinforcements arrive, Zhaoqing will have no worries!"

"We will wait for the imperial envoys sent from the capital to mobilize troops from several provinces and press the border with a large army. The coalition forces will encircle and suppress the Ming thieves, while the civilian thieves will just wait and see."

"The current situation is not that bad yet!"

If Zhu Jing'an's current plan is to use Zhaoqing to train troops, he also wants to encircle the Guangdong Qing army in Zhaoqing and provide reinforcements.

Then, Yongwei's plan was to use Zhaoqing as bait to catch the main force of the Ming army.

In order to prevent the main force of the Ming army from continuing to fight eastward, endangering Guangzhou, and even ruining the war situation in Guangdong and Guangxi.

As for who of the two parties can achieve their goals in the end, it depends on their respective means.

When Pan Rui heard this, the expression on his face became better.

But he couldn't help but ask.

"Does Guangdong still have reinforcements to reinforce Zhaoqing?"

Yong Wei slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, smiled bitterly, and spoke.

"some!"

"There are still a lot of troops that can be deployed in various towns in Guangdong."

"And I also ordered local officials to organize team training to protect the environment and the people."

"Guangdong will definitely have a lot of troops to reinforce Zhaoqing."

Of course, this so-called group training must be shady.

Judging from the extent of the Manchu and Qing court's precautions against the Han people, if the Manchu and Qing court knew about it, the Han people in Guangdong and Guangxi began to organize group training.

With his own weapons.

Then Yongwei will definitely have to walk around without being able to eat!
Therefore, the group training organized by local officials is only temporarily used for emergency purposes.

After the imperial court eliminates the thieves, the government will definitely ask for disbandment as soon as possible.

At this moment, Yang Zhong on the side spoke.

"General, the student has something he doesn't know whether to say or not."

After Yang Jingsu committed suicide by taking poison in Deqingzhou City, Yang Zhong and others were sent to work under Yong Wei.

Yongwei also chose to take them with him.

Yong Wei frowned slightly when he heard this, but still spoke.

"speak!"

Yang Zhong bowed slightly in front of Yong Wei, and then spoke.

"To tell you this, General, this is what the students think."

"Since the main force of the Ming thieves is now in Zhaoqing, their rear must be empty."

"If the General sends a message to Guangxi at this time and orders the Guangxi side to send troops to attack the rear of the Ming rebels, he may be able to force the Ming rebels to withdraw their troops and return for reinforcements to relieve the siege of Zhaoqing."

Hearing this, Yong Wei lowered his head and frowned in thought.

Before that, he had listened to Gao Sheng's words and had always thought that the main force of the Ming army was in the direction of Yong'an Prefecture.

He even wrote several articles to commend Guangxi Admiral Gao Sheng for his bravery in battle and loyalty to state affairs.

Therefore, we were never prepared for the Ming army's sudden attack on Guangdong...

If it hadn't been for Yang Jingsu's insistence that the Guangdong Qing army gather troops in Zhaoqing, they would be ready to march westward to suppress the bandits.

Then this time the Ming army suddenly marched eastward to Guangdong and marched straight into Guangzhou. How bad might the situation in Guangdong be?

But, then again, since the main force of the Ming thieves is gathered in Zhaoqing, the rear must be empty.

If Gao Sheng, the governor of Guangxi, could lead his troops south from Yong'an Prefecture, attack the hinterland of the Ming thieves, and force the Ming thieves to return for reinforcements.

Then the situation in Guangdong and Guangxi may turn around...

Thinking of this, Yong Wei glanced at Yang Zhong approvingly, and then spoke.

"Very good, I will write a letter to the Admiral of Guangxi right now, instructing him to lead his troops south to attack the hinterland of the Ming thieves..."

……

The tug-of-war continues inside and outside Zhaoqing.

For ten consecutive days, the Ming army sent troops to attack the city every day. Although the war was temporarily set back, they were not depressed.

In the Ming army camp outside Zhaoqing City, there is constant sound of drills every day.

The Ming army is becoming more capable at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Zhu Jing'an led people to patrol the military camp. As he walked, he asked Zhang Jindao beside him.

"How is the tunnel digging of our army going?"

The Ming army had been in a stalemate with the Qing army under Zhaoqing City for such a long time. It could not be just training.

Zhu Jing'an ordered people to dig tunnels early, preparing to learn the Taiping Army's cave siege method and bury gunpowder in the tunnels to blast the city.

Since Zhaoqing's city defense is strong and difficult to attack, we might as well blow up the city wall!
I don’t believe that the Qing army can continue to resist even though the city walls are gone.

Zhang Jin heard this and resumed his way.

"If we return to the Metropolitan Governor, it will probably take another two or three days before our army can dig a tunnel to the bottom of Zhaoqing City."

There are many soldiers with miner backgrounds in the Ming army now.

It is not difficult for them to dig a tunnel to the bottom of Zhaoqing City and plant explosives in the tunnel.

"What about the Qing court's reinforcements?"

"How long does it take to arrive in Zhaoqing?"

Zhu Jing'an continued to ask. While asking, he took a brand new Type 14 flintlock gun and played with it in his hand.

Check the workmanship of the action and chamber!
Zhang Jin heard this and spoke.

"If we go back to the Governor, all the towns in Guangdong are now mobilizing troops and rushing to Zhaoqing. According to estimates, it will take about half a month."

Guangdong belongs to the Pearl River Delta, with rivers everywhere and convenient water transportation.

If the Qing army wanted to march long distances, they could use water transportation, and the march would be very fast.

Therefore, the Qing army in Guangdong was able to gather its forces and march towards Zhaoqing in such a short period of time.

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he nodded slightly.

"very good!"

"Hurry up and prepare for the war. When the Battle of Zhaoqing is over, our army can attack Guangzhou..." After Zhu Jing'an finished speaking, he put down the musket in his hand and continued to walk forward.

Zhang Jin followed quickly, with a hesitant expression on his face.

Zhu Jing'an slowed down, turned around and asked.

"Anything else?"

"If you have something to say, just say it. Don't hide it."

Zhang Jin pondered for a while, and then spoke.

"When I get back to the Grand Governor, here's what happened. The news came from Jintian Town, saying that the second prince has been provocative recently and wants to lead the army alone."

Although Zhu Jing'an was Zhu Jianzhuo's eldest son, he had a great reputation.

However, Zhu Jiazhuo was not the only son.

Instead, they have three sons and two daughters!
Among them, Zhu Jing'an and Zhu Xueya were both direct children, born to their first wives, while the rest were born to concubines.

The second son in Zhang's mouth is Zhu Jing'an's second brother. He is 16 years old this year and his name is Zhu Jingya.

His grandfather is Li Mu, the current Minister of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

Many people in the court were optimistic about him. As far as Zhu Jing'an knew, many people now went to his younger brother to burn cold stoves.

Zhu Jing'an paused when he heard this, but then he laughed and sneered.

"He's just a bastard! Just let him do whatever you like."

In this era, the distinction between direct descendants and concubines is very obvious.

Zhu Jing'an was the eldest son and the legitimate first-in-line successor to Zhu Jianzhuo. His status was not comparable to that of a concubine.

Besides, Zhu Jing'an now holds the main force of the Ming army.

Even Zhu Jianzhuo, the supervisor of the country, did not have as much control over the army as Zhu Jing'an.

In troubled times, military power is fundamental.

Zhu Jing'an understands better than anyone else that political power comes from the barrel of a gun.

Even if his cheap brother had some small thoughts, Zhu Jing'an wouldn't take it to heart.

The truth is that as long as you are weak enough, even if you show your teeth and claws, you are just cute in the eyes of others.

However, Zhu Jing'an still asked curiously.

"By the way, what is Father's attitude towards this matter?"

Zhang Jin leaned forward and said.

"His Royal Highness Jianguo rejected the second prince's request to lead the army, and he continued to study and study knowledge. He found several learned scholars as teachers for the second prince to teach him knowledge."

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he nodded expressionlessly, but the corners of his mouth turned up involuntarily.

It can be seen that Comrade Lao Zhu has no intention of supporting another son to come out and compete with Zhu Jing'an.

In any case, Zhu Jianzhuo's handling of the matter made Zhu Jing'an feel very comfortable.

……

Yang Zhong led Li Linxuan, He Qiang and others quietly out of the city at night, riding fast horses, accompanied by several Eight Banners cavalry, all the way to Guangxi.

In his arms was a troop deployment order handwritten by Guangzhou General Yong Wei.

The governor of Guangxi and the admiral of Guangxi were asked to immediately send troops to attack the hinterland of the Ming army in order to force the Ming army to return for reinforcements and relieve the siege of Zhaoqing.

The group of people flew all night, and it was not until dawn the next day that the group stopped to repair next to a dense forest.

He Qiang quickly turned over and dismounted, then ran to help Yang Zhong dismount, and then helped Yang Zhong feed the horse.

But Li Linxuan on the side lowered his head and fell into self-doubt.

He felt as if he had been struck by a disaster star recently and was extremely unlucky.

First, he worked hard to curry favor with Yang Zhong, the county magistrate, and finally got promoted from an ordinary catcher to a chief catcher.

As a result, Yang Zhong's father died and he was forced to live in Dingyou.

And he was squeezed out by the new magistrate because he flattered the previous magistrate too much, so he had no choice but to resign as the head catcher.

Later, under the recommendation of Yang Zhong, he followed Yang Jingsu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. What was the result?
Yang Jingsu defeated Deqingzhou and committed suicide!
Later, he followed the Guangzhou general Yong Wei.

and then?
Yong Wei was besieged by Ming thieves in Zhaoqing City...

Seeing Zhaoqing's city defenses in dire straits, one does not know when it will be breached.

When the time comes, Yong Wei may not end well.

He really felt that he had been extremely unlucky recently.

……

After Fulongan and his party set out from the capital and headed south, they first followed the Grand Canal and arrived at Zhenjiang by water transport.

Then he transferred from Zhenjiang to the Yangtze River waterway and arrived at Wuchang.

The plan is to go south from Wuchang, pass through Dongting Lake, and then go to Guangdong and Guangxi to preside over the war.

However, just as Fulongan arrived in Wuchang, he received urgent military information sent by Guangdong and Guangxi to dispatch fast horses.

The Qing Dynasty was defeated again!
"Report to the Imperial Envoy that Ming thieves raided Guangdong from Guangxi. The general of Guangzhou and the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi led their troops to meet the enemy. The two sides fought in Deqing Prefecture."

"Our army suffered a disastrous defeat. The governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Yang Jingsu and Yang Daman, died in the battle, covering the Guangzhou general's retreat to Zhaoqing to set up defenses."

"The war situation in Zhaoqing is urgent now, and General Guangzhou is in urgent need of support!"

An Eight Banners soldier from Guangzhou knelt in front of Fulongan and spoke with a worried look on his face.

"Please also ask the Imperial Envoy to send troops to rescue Zhaoqing as soon as possible!"

When Fulongan heard this, his face was full of solemnity, realizing the seriousness of the matter.

But he still forced himself to calm down, and then spoke.

"Get up first, get up first!"

"Tell me slowly, what happened to the war in Guangdong? When did the Ming thieves break into Guangdong from Guangxi..."

Fulongan is now confused about the war between Guangdong and Guangxi.

Even if he wanted to mobilize troops to reinforce Zhaoqing, he didn't know what to do.

The Eight Banners soldier got up from the ground and began to report to Fulongan, the imperial envoy, on the war in Guangdong and Guangxi.

After a long time, Fulongan's face was filled with solemnity.

Cold sweat began to break out on his forehead.

Because he knew that the Ping Thief matter might be in trouble this time.

The Ming thieves had actually entered Guangdong, severely damaged the main force of the Guangdong official army, and even had the intention of marching to Guangzhou.

Things are really in trouble!

Once Guangzhou was captured by the Ming army, it would be difficult for him to explain to the court.

The importance of Guangdong cannot be compared to Guangxi.

Another point is that this time, although he was an imperial envoy, he went south to Guangdong and Guangxi and was responsible for quelling the war between thieves and thieves.

However, because the court did not pay attention to the Ming thieves in Guangxi.

Therefore, Fulongan was only given the authority to mobilize the green camp garrisons in Guangxi and the three provinces of Guangdong, Hunan, and Guizhou adjacent to Guangxi.

Instead of delegating power to him, he could mobilize the military forces of the southern provinces.

Although Yunnan is also adjacent to Guangxi, it has only been a few years since the Qing-Burmese War ended.

Therefore, the Qing government needed to stay on guard against Burma, so it did not mobilize troops from Yunnan.

As for the three provinces of Guangdong, Hunan, and Guizhou, in his plan, Guangdong soldiers will be the absolute main force in defeating the thieves.

Because there are 7 Green Camp troops stationed in Guangdong, nearly [-] people.

The garrison in Hunan and Guizhou combined is not as large as the garrison in Guangdong.

But the current situation is that he, the imperial envoy responsible for leading the army to defeat the thieves, has not yet arrived.

In his plan, the Guangdong Green Camp, which was going to play the main role in the battle between the Ping thief and the Ping thief, was severely damaged by the Ming thief!
This is so...

There is no way to fight the war!
Fulongan's face was gloomy and scary...

……

Yong'an Prefecture, prefecture government office!

Gao Sheng kept pacing in the Yamen lobby.

During this period of time, Gao Sheng had not moved much due to being pampered in Yong'an Prefecture, and his whole body had swelled up like a balloon.

From a tall and muscular man, he turned into a fat middle-aged man with fat head and big ears.

However, as Guangzhou General Yong Wei issued an order to mobilize troops, Gao Sheng's good days came to an end.

The order given to him by the Guangzhou general asked him to immediately set off south to attack the hinterland of the Ming army in the Wuxuan area to share the pressure of the war situation in Zhaoqing.

Gao Sheng didn't dare to refuse, but after accepting the order, he didn't know what to do next.

Because he had been psychologically affected by the Ming army, Gao Sheng would never dare to take the initiative to attack the Ming army's territory.

"Admiral Gao, please send troops south as soon as possible. Don't let the General wait in a hurry!"

Yang Zhong urged.

Hearing this, Gao Sheng did not respond, but instead spoke.

"No rush, no rush, let me wait for the admiral to think about how to use the troops before sending them out."

As soon as Gao Sheng said this, an Eight Banners soldier following Yang Zhong was not so polite.

He put on his Eight Flags posture and said in a cold tone.

"Admiral Gao, it is best to send troops as soon as possible. Now the Guangzhou general and more than a thousand Eight Banners are besieged in Zhaoqing by the main force of Ming thieves. If something unexpected happens in the Zhaoqing battle, Admiral, you cannot afford it!"

This Eight Banners soldier was one of Yongwei's Goshiha and the younger brother of one of his concubines.

He is quite popular around Yong Wei!
Normally, the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi, governors of Guangdong, and admirals were polite to him, but he had no patience to listen to Gao Sheng's excuses.

Hearing this, Gao Sheng opened his mouth and could only speak.

"If that's the case, then... let's send troops..."

The other party has already talked to this point, and Gao Sheng cannot refuse.

Unless he dares to disobey...

As Gao Sheng's military order was issued, the main force of the Guangxi Green Battalion, which had been lying flat in Yong'an Prefecture for several months, began to mobilize and prepare to go south.

……

At the same time, the Daweishan defense line of the Ming army also received news that the Qing army in Yong'an Prefecture was moving and was preparing to move south.

"What's the situation? How many troops are there in the Qing army going south this time?"

Zhang Hu is now in charge of the Daweishan defense line in the Ming army. As soon as he received the emergency report, he led people to the front line to inspect.

The military officer on the side heard this and said with a very solemn expression.

"This time the Qing army went south, almost all the Qing troops in Yong'an Prefecture came out."

"The size of its troops has exceeded ten thousand people."

……

PS: Explain the update issues in the next few days.

The author's rented house in another place is about to expire, and he plans to return to his hometown the day after tomorrow.

In the past few days, I need to pack my things and prepare to move, and it also takes a day to travel back to my hometown.

So, no time to code.

You have to save some manuscripts in advance now to ensure that updates will not be interrupted.

In the next few days, almost until the 27th, the author can only guarantee six thousand or four thousand words of updates every day.

After you get home and settle down, you can resume normal updates as soon as possible.

Hope everyone understands...

(End of this chapter)