Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1209

"What kind of shit!" Liao Xiaoyao anxiously looked at some requests for instructions handed over by the staff officer. There were many murders, rapes, robberies, arson and other evil deeds on the road, and they were captured by the gendarmerie.However, the chiefs of the various ministries often used their military exploits in the name (this is not entirely a lie, some troops have poor military discipline, but they are very brave in battle), and asked the commander to be lenient. He and his servants didn't dare to specialize in their emotions, so they reported it.

But these things Liao Xiaoyao also felt very difficult, because he didn't know what to do.

The war has progressed to this day, and the retreat of tens of thousands of Allied officers and soldiers in Huai'an Mansion is a certainty. The morale of the various ministries that have been plundered for a long time was originally quite strong, but after entering October, as the Qing army came from all walks of life , the casualties increased sharply, and the ministries—especially the Lu Wang, Zheng, and Guangdong Li Yuanyin’s ministries—had great complaints. After several months, there were countless casualties, and generally more than [-]% of the staff had been reduced; The attack was severe, and the fighting spirit was generally insufficient. This led to Suqian County, one of the fulcrums of the defense line of the Dong'an people in the north, being captured by King Doni of Qingxin County, and a big hole was opened in the defense line.

Fortunately, today is early December 1658. After more than a month of intensive transportation, the remaining people, grain, livestock and other materials deposited at Yuntiguan Wharf have been transferred in sevens and eights, leaving a little The finishing work is also proceeding rapidly, and it is expected that the shipment will be completed in the middle and late this month, and there is no need to worry about being taken back by the Qing army again.

After solving this big problem—it also means that the greatest battle has been achieved, and Commander Liao's future in the army is bright from now on—the next step is to plan how to gradually retreat from the front line.However, retreating in front of the enemy has always been a world-class problem, not to mention that the people on the east coast are now showing signs of decline, and the Qing army's patchwork of more than [-] troops is staring like a wolf, how to ensure that most of the active forces withdraw safely, It is indeed a very delicate job, and there is no room for sloppy work.

Liao Xiaoyao has been worrying about this matter recently. The ministries that originally stood firm in Suqian County (Commander Liao even went to cheer him up) couldn't last long under the inferior force. They have now withdrawn to the area of ​​Shuyang County. Decline, serious attrition.Tian Xing, who took up the military police business temporarily, reported: "... there are many shortages of supplies and armaments in various ministries. Because of the hasty escape and muddy roads during the retreat, many of them were abandoned. Many battalions did not even have three days' food on hand, and the soldiers were exhausted. The epidemic is rampant in the army, and there are countless people who have wandered in the ravine. The situation is unbearable to see, even though most of them are Allied soldiers, it is also amazing..."

People are so miserable, if you continue to hold on to the "little mistakes" made by the other party, won't you force them to rebel!Open your eyes and see, everyone is following you to make a fortune, not to die. Even the 8000 men and horses of Guangdong Li Yuanyin, who are said to be docile and obedient, have changed half of their faces so far. ?The army is full of surrendered soldiers from the Qing army and strong men brought in by force, and the veterans also have low fighting spirit. Do you think that such an army will not have the slightest complaint in their hearts?Give me a break!

Because of this, after thinking for a long time, Liao Xiaoyao crossed out the suggestion of public beheading and filled in the penalty of confinement and whipping. A "compensation" of fifteen East Coast silver dollars to each person-whether they accept it or not, the money will still be given.

"Commander Liu's broken banner of 'seeking Tartars to love the people' seems to be getting harder and harder to fight! On the contrary, the Tartars, at least in this Jiangbei land, seem to be gaining more and more popular support. Compared with us, they are more like the righteous side against foreign aggression." Liao Xiaoyao put down his pen, and said in a disinterested manner: "Well, they are invaders in the first place, and there is nothing to whitewash. For the slaves of the Qing Dynasty, they are bandits who kill without batting an eyelid. Order the various ministries to restrain the military discipline a little bit, and don't do it too ugly. I heard that when Commander Liu attacked Jiangxi, some village elders proposed that as long as our army restrained Military discipline, then they can cooperate with us, but in Huai'an Mansion, such things are very rare. I heard that only a descendant of the Han Yu family who moved to Suqian came to vote. vigorously."

On December 12, the main force of the Qing army led by King Doni of Xinjun of the Qing army began to go south along the Yellow River. During this period, the naval gunboats on the east coast continued to harass, but with little effect.Later, part of the navy under the King of Lu took the time to land on the side of the Qing army, which slowed down the pace of the Qing army a little bit, but that was all. The pace of the Qing army going south to Qinghe County was unstoppable. Some of the soldiers deployed nearby also retreated to Qingjiangpu Town one after another.

Beizi Luotuo, who was going south from Haizhou, was supported by Doni's troops, and then stormed Shuyang County with an army of tens of thousands.Due to the long-term battle of the people on the east coast, the guns were seriously damaged and the ammunition was also consumed. Currently, there are not many firearms—especially cannons—deployed in Shuyang County. This caused the defenders to defend extremely hard and suffered a lot of casualties. Not small.

On December 12, more than 16 people from the first army division of the Dynasty Army who was firmly guarding a certain fort outside Shuyang County misunderstood the rumors of the Qing army, thinking that all the nearly 1 defenders on the left side of Shuyang County had fled along the Shushui River. Shuoxiang Lake, the whole army was in an uproar.The unit, which had no fighting spirit, was pessimistic about the ensuing battle situation, so it immediately set fire to the baggage in the camp, then fled eastward along the Shushui overnight, and was discovered and killed by a cavalry team from the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia halfway. More than half of them were lost, and the organizational system was in total disarray. It took a week for the scattered soldiers to return to the shelter set up by the people on the east bank by the lake one after another. It was a tragedy.

And the more than [-] Imperial Guards of the Korean Imperial Battalion (half of whom were Ming people) who had recently been transferred to Shuyang City were panic-stricken after learning that the Lu King's Department outside the city had withdrawn, and their fighting spirit was low. Send a courier to request a retreat.Unexpectedly, a messenger was intercepted by the Qing army's reconnaissance cavalry. After hearing the news, Luo Tuo ordered a fierce attack day and night, and forcibly recruited the nearby people to sign the army.

On December 12, the people from the East Bank sent two elite battalions, one division of the servant army, and some Allied officers and soldiers from the area of ​​Shuoxiang Lake. The result of annihilating more than 19 enemies and disrupting the deployment of the Qing army for a while.Under the leadership of Gu Sheng and Pu Yan, the Imperial Guards of the Korean Imperial Battalion in Shuyang City broke through desperately to the wharf by the Shushui River, where they joined a group of more than [-] people from Li Yuanyin's troops stationed here, and then retreated under the support of the main force. To Shuoxiang Lake.The two Gu Sheng who had escaped from the sky cried bitterly, and cried bitterly to Captain Junior who commanded the Shuoxiang Lake counterattack, and bluntly said, "I almost doubt that the heavenly soldiers have abandoned us", but this is a later story.

At this point in the battle, the soldiers of the Allied Army had seen through the reality of the fact that the Qing army had no fighting intentions, so their energy and morale were getting stronger and stronger. Compared with the main attack of the Allied Army half a year ago, the morale was like a rainbow, and the Qing army was retreating steadily. The situation of a thousand miles away is completely adjusted one by one.However, perhaps the triumphant advance of the Qing army stopped here, and then they faced the endless Shuoxiang Lake to the east. Without the help of the navy, there was no possibility of going any further, and they could only look at the ocean and sigh.

At this time, the material transfer work of the people on the east bank has almost been completely completed. Now, except for some money, food and military equipment reserved for the Shun army, Yuntiguan is a piece of white land. The transshipment is complete - according to Liao Xiaoyao's words, it is "safety in the pocket".Therefore, although the commander-in-chief of the Qing army, King Doni of Xinjun, commanded his troops to move south quickly, except for the occupation of some strongholds on the east bank that the people on the east bank voluntarily gave up, they had almost no gains, and they were very frustrated.

On January 1659, 1, the people on the east bank collectively burned more than a thousand inland water tankers in Hongze Lake. This was the fourth time they had done so. , All those that could be burned were burned, and most of those that were not burned were split for firewood. The state-owned Qingjiang Governor Shipyard has accumulated many years of accumulation, and it has been destroyed so far.

On January 1, after the gunboats of the East Coast Navy destroyed many attempts by the Qing army to build a pontoon bridge, Liao Xiaoyao ordered the East Bank troops on the south bank to retreat. There was no need to hold on here.And before the retreat, the Shun Army, which has reoccupied Baoying County—has already drawn up a team of more than 5 people, but its combat effectiveness is very poor due to severe water injection—also received news of the retreat, and carefully weighed the pros and cons Afterwards, Liu Guochang and Liu Shijun thought that they could only retreat sadly because they could not withstand the attack of more than 3 Qing troops from the north and the south. "The complete failure of the plan.Even, whether Yunti Pass and Guanhekou City can be defended and how long they can last depends on the mood and assistance of the master of the East Bank. After all, they are just two strongholds without any support from the hinterland. Reasons to spend a lot of money to maintain here.

The entire January of 1659 passed under the tacit understanding of the two sides. The people on the east bank captured a large amount of people, money, grain, livestock, books and other materials, and the Allied forces also gained a lot (although the casualties were also in previous operations. The biggest one), so it was a full return; and the Qing army's Xinjun Wang Doni also reported to Beijing frequently, a small victory in three days, a big victory in five days, a few enemies today, and a hundred miles back tomorrow. In short, both sides are happy , leaving the huge Huai'an Mansion alone with chicken feathers and a mess. You know, this was originally one of the most affluent and densely populated state capitals in Ming Dynasty. Now it has become like this. Who is to blame?Maybe history will tell.

(End of this chapter)