Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1894 Stalemate and Waiting ([-])

The rumble of cannon had just ceased.

Outside the Maojiakou Fortress, Zhang Xiaomao, an auxiliary soldier, was walking on the muddy ground, with one foot deep and one foot shallow.Not long after the Qing army had just retreated, there was no one in the four fields. Apart from the whistling wind, the only thing that could be heard was the weak groans of some wounded.Obviously, these wounded were soldiers of the Qing army, because they retreated in such a hurry that the Qing army didn't even have time to take away the bodies of their own fallen brothers, let alone these wounded.

Waiting for the fate of these wounded soldiers of the Qing army is actually doomed, that is, the auxiliary soldiers of the Shun army who have been swept away on the battlefield will make up for it, and their heads will be removed as a basis for counting meritorious service.Of course, the slightly wounded may survive, because they are still valuable, but how many of these people can there be, very few.

The battlefield was a little muddy, partly due to the weather and partly man-made.The reason for the weather is actually easy to understand. Recently, there has been heavy snowfall, and after the snow thawed on the ground, it was muddy everywhere.As for the human factor, the main reason is that even in dry days, Maojiangkou village will find a way to flood the front with a little water from time to time to make the ground softer and muddy, which is not conducive to the movement of the army. Behaviors are uncommon and not easy to accomplish.

It would be already evening, the sky was getting dark, and the muddy ground was slowly freezing.Zhang Xiaomao sped up his movements, repaired two wounded Qing soldiers who were still panting, and then directed several strong men who obeyed his orders to gather the corpses together and load them into a car, intending to drag them to a farther place in a while Centralized incineration.

Although the climate is relatively cold now, if the corpse is not disposed of as soon as possible, it is still easy to cause a series of problems, such as epidemics and so on.The two armies of the Qing and Shun fought in Hubei in recent years. The corpses were usually buried in mass graves or burned directly, just like the officers and soldiers of the front battalion of the Shun Army in Maojiakou Zhai.

Yes, Zhang Xiaomao and others belonged to the former battalion of the Shun Army, and they all commanded a section under the command of Dang Jintang (son of Dang Shousu), guarding the Maojiakou Fortress.This fortress is located in Maoshi Town, Jianli County, Hubei Province, on the north bank of the Yangtze River. It is a fortress with a mixed structure of brick and wood.Its scale is small, and it can only be stationed with more than two thousand soldiers, but its geographical location is more critical. It is surrounded by the Yangtze River, Xiashui, Honghu and other water systems. It was developed, which was conducive to the exchange of personnel, materials, money and food with the outside world, so it was occupied by the Shun army very early and built forts, installed cannons, and stationed troops.

Moreover, perhaps because the navy of the Qing army was crippled by the east bank, in the area of ​​Hubei and Jiangxi, the Shun army has developed a medium-sized Yangtze River navy after decades of dedicated management. The appearance of more than [-] people.Shunguo's naval ships are still dominated by traditional Chinese ships. Only a small number of ships have absorbed the characteristics of Western and Eastern ships and have undergone certain improvements. However, the overall number of such ships is small because they may not be suitable for China. Climate and river characteristics.

But in any case, even though this Shunguo navy is not comparable to the navy of the previous separatist regimes in the south in terms of scale and quality, it has not suppressed the Qing Dynasty in Hubei and Jiangxi, controlled the rivers, and crossed the rivers and lakes. What a big problem, because the navy of the Qing Dynasty is far inferior to the regimes of the Northern Dynasties, so what can we say?

And it is precisely the existence of this dominant navy that enabled Shunguo to retain a considerable number of strongholds on the north bank of the Yangtze River as a powerful supplement to its defense line along the Yangtze River, such as Haoxuekou, Maojiakou, Bailuoji, Huangpengshan, Xin Beach Town and more.In these strongholds, there are as few as 3000 troops stationed, and as many as 7000 people. The city is high and deep, and it is extremely strong.And the shape is also a fortress designed by the engineers of the East Bank or a copy of the design of the East Bank. It has the characteristics of a bastion, with folded lines on the wall and a lot of protrusions. - At this point, the Qing army has been taught many times - it is very conducive to defense.Therefore, although a fortress only has thousands of soldiers, if arrows, ammunition, food and other military resources are well stocked, it is generally difficult to break through head-on.

Do not believe?Take a look at the actual battles between Qing and Shun on the Hubei front over the years!Taking Wujiaxue Town in Huangzhou Prefecture as an example, it was initially occupied by the front battalion of the Shun Army, with more than 5000 troops stationed there.Later, Xiangyang agreed to mobilize soldiers and horses from Huangzhou, De'an and the neighboring Anqing and Luzhou to besiege it. It took a year before and after, and more than [-] soldiers and horses were lost.Moreover, this is only the loss of personnel, and the loss of artillery, firearms, siege equipment and other aspects is still unknown.Therefore, after capturing here, the Qing army also knew how powerful it was, so they also learned the tactics of Shunguo, using fortresses against fortresses, and fortified cities to overcome strong cities, and then made the front line of Hubei full of fortresses, making it difficult to move an inch.Not to mention, rivers, lakes, and swamps can be seen everywhere, which is even more unfavorable for large-scale army assembly, mobilization, and combat. I believe that if it is not to put pressure on the Shun State and restrain some of its troops, the Qing State will not try to attack the Shun Army in Hubei. control area.

Of course, even if the Qing army attacked the area controlled by the Shun army, there were only a small number of people who directly stormed the fortress.What they did the most was to try to eliminate the Shun army who rescued these fortresses by encircling the fortresses, attacking their transportation lines, and looting places. There are really few people directly doing it like Maojiakou Village. Because that's just not smart enough.

Therefore, when seeing more than 1 Qing troops attacking the Maojiakou Fortress, Zhang Xiaomao, the auxiliary soldier, was quite surprised. I believe that the commander of the castle was also quite surprised: although because of the muddy ground, the power of the artillery could not be defeated. There are few discounts, but the large number of crossbows and muskets in the city alone are enough to make you suffer a lot, and you still come to attack, and you don't know who is in charge of the attack.However, Zhang Xiaomao was a little speechless when he thought that sometimes Shunguo would organize land and water troops to besiege the forts stationed by the Qing army. There are also many generals in the middle camp and rear camp like this.

"Wang Jiu, what do you think you are still living here for? Why don't you cross the river and go to your relatives, maybe you can get a piece of land. You see, there are not many people in the town now? Those who fight twice every day, whoever No one can settle down." Zhang Xiaomao quickly searched and picked up the corpse, and said to a civilian man following behind.

This auxiliary soldier named Wang Jiu was actually a peasant from a nearby village who was recruited because of the war.In fact, you don’t have to be surprised. Historically, the see-saw area between the two armies was said to be a piece of white land, but that’s not true. There are still some residents living there. Although life is very difficult, they always persist in the local area for various reasons. with.Not to mention, a place with fertile land and a suitable climate like Maojiakou.When the Qing army came, the whole family ran to the boat, then walked away, and returned after the war was over. It was so difficult to maintain the life, just like the Wang Jiu in front of him.

"The ancestral tombs are all here, and I can't bear to go lightly." Wang Jiu, who also went outside when he was young, sighed, and said in a muffled voice: "Besides, where can I go now? My two sons are in The commander (Dang Jintang) has his subordinates carrying guns to eat, and it’s meaningless for me, a bad old man, to go to the south of the Yangtze River, so I might as well live here.”

Zhang Xiaomao also sighed.He is from Jianli County in the south. He used to work with a tea merchant, but Jianli County faced the Qing army's front. The business situation was not good, and the merchants could not make money. ) to develop.Zhang Xiaomao had no means of livelihood, so he went to the county to enlist as a leading soldier, and then was transferred to Maojiakou Village. It has been a year now.

During this year, Maojiakou Village was generally not peaceful.Perhaps because the Zuoying entered Sichuan and slaughtered the Quartet, the Xiangyang Camp of the Qing Army launched a series of offensives on the front line in Hubei (there were also counterattacks in Jiangxi), attracting a large number of troops including the front camp and the middle camp.

Although this kind of offensive by the Qing army was intermittent, it was surprising that the attack lasted for more than two years.Perhaps it is because they don't want to see a large number of troops from Hubei being easily transferred westward and then join the battle in Sichuan, so they have been working hard to carry out containment operations.But now this kind of diversionary battle seems to be coming to an end. First, because the situation in Sichuan has undergone a fundamental change, the situation has become much clearer. The Qing army has shrunk to the northern Sichuan area. Second, I have been attacking on the front line of Hubei for a long time. Although I have been fighting for a few months and resting for a few months, the overall consumption is also very large. Whether it is soldiers, food or supplies, it is not a small amount, and it is urgent to rest. and supplements.

Therefore, based on the above two factors, the Qing court estimated that this meaningless and costly offensive to both parties would soon be stopped.Next, if they have the heart, they should find a way to find a breakthrough in Jiangxi. After all, there are no continuous fortresses there, and it will be easier to attack. The pioneering team government signed a peace agreement with the Qing Dynasty long ago. The two sides have officially drawn up the border and started trading with each other. The Qing Dynasty’s Hangzhou Day Camp may be able to spare a considerable amount of troops to support the Nanjing Day Camp, allowing more troops to move westward. Stationed at the border between Jiangnan Province in the Qing Dynasty and Jiangxi Province in the Shun Kingdom, waiting for an opportunity to launch an attack.

"Keep it as long as you keep it. It is estimated that the hard days will soon be over, and there should be a long period of peace." After working for a while, Zhang Xiaomao was also tired, so he found a relatively dry place. I sat down at the place where I was sitting, and said pantingly: "I was eating in the village a while ago. I was lucky enough to meet the Commander. I vaguely heard him mention that the Tartars had a lot of troubles in the north. I was at that time I was killing sheep for the commanding envoy. It was a little far away and I couldn't hear it clearly. In short, the meaning is that there is a border trouble in the northwest of the Qing Dynasty, and the pressure is very high. We have to stop the war in our area. Well, the commanding envoy is also listening to the commanding envoy. He's not sure about what he said, but I think it doesn't look like a fake. So, Wang Jiu, just hang on for a while, and the hard days will be over."

"That would be the best." Wang Jiu was still busy on the ground.He found half a string of copper coins on a corpse just now, and Zhang Xiaomao signaled him to put it away quietly, so this meeting was more motivated, and he stacked a corpse of a Qing army whose livery had been stripped off on the big one without getting too tired. Che——Although the uniforms of the Qing army are not very useful, they cannot be worn openly in the Shunguo-controlled area, but it is still possible to take them back and disassemble them for other purposes, or to sew or mend the damaged clothes, so according to The usual practice is to pick them up, and the corpses of the Qing army are basically burned naked.

"Zhang Tou, you are actually right. I think it is true." After working for a while, Wang Jiu also sat down to rest for a while, only to hear him say: "Recently, many people say that those who fought hard The fiercest Shaanxi brats are gone, or even seen much less. I think the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Battalion of the Tartars has always been able to fight and fight, and they are extremely brave. It is always difficult for us to meet in the field. These people , Isn’t it all wiped out? Nobody should be able to do this, right? So, these people should have been transferred away! I used to think they went to Chuanzhong, but now I hear you say so. Said, on the contrary, I feel that they have all returned to their hometown in Shaanxi, so they should be on guard against such side troubles?"

In fact, as Zhang Xiaomao and Wang Jiu said, in the past six months, the Qing army has indeed taken advantage of the opportunity of combat to frequently adjust the deployment and deployment of troops on the front line, and transferred back a large number of Shaanxi-Gansu Green Battalions who were able to fight well in batches. In the northwest, guard against possible harassment from the Mongols.You know, as Galdan digested the southern Xinjiang and Oirat Mongolian tribes faster and faster, now he can draw more and more soldiers and horses to move eastward.

According to the Qing court's own statistics, in the past three years, Galdan and his servants have invaded the Hexi Corridor area five times. It's serious, and Emperor Kangxi in Beijing can't help not paying attention.

What's more, the infiltration of Galdan on the Mongolian grasslands is even more troublesome for them, because it threatens to shake the foundation of their "Manchu-Mongolian unity" foundation.Therefore, out of various considerations, the Manchu Qing court still decided to eliminate the threat of Galdan from both military and political aspects as soon as possible.

And to do this, a large number of soldiers and horses are essential!You must know that on the vast desert, there are often no people living for hundreds of miles. If you want to block Galdan's fine cavalry, you have to mobilize several times his number of cavalry to encircle him (this is the case in history), otherwise you may be encircled. Can't stand his cavalry.From this point of view, suspending the offensive in the south and mobilizing troops to the north to deal with the threat of Oirat Mongolia seemed to be an inevitable choice for the Qing court.

(End of this chapter)