Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1986 Upheaval (Part [-])

"Quick! Hurry up, Lao Tzu! Don't stop! Arrive in Zhoucheng within an hour, and each person will be rewarded with two dollars!" On June 1687, 6, somewhere outside Qinzhou City, Guangdong, a bearded man The officer stood on a small dirt bag, waving his arms and roaring loudly.

This is a team of soldiers and horses from Chaozhou Prefecture. The number is about 1000. They are equipped with classic 32-B flintlock rifles. They are sold by the Southern Exploration Team and manufactured in Sakhalin Island.Because this rifle does not have a bayonet, there are also a large number of spearmen in this army (the proportion is not high), which is a mixture of hot and cold weapons, and this is actually a relatively common combat formation in China today. Way.

This bearded officer is named Qian Jinbao. He is a guerrilla in Tai O. He has been stationed on the border with Fujian all year round. He has fought against Zheng Jing's soldiers and horses several times. His record is not bad, so he was sent out by Li Yuanyin this time. , Come to Lianzhou Mansion to "seek great things".Of course, this so-called plan for a big event has nothing to do with Li Yuanyin. They sent troops this time to help the people on the east coast.To put it more bluntly, it is to help the people on the east coast to take root in Qinzhou, an important place in western Guangdong, so that when the situation deteriorates, they will not be too busy and too passive.

It is said that since April 4th, after Chen Ming of the Chengdu Commercial Station received a secret letter from Zhang Guangcui, the envoy of the left wing of the Sichuan Shogunate, he immediately dispatched two capable officers as quickly as possible to arrive in Madang with a letter written in code. fortress.After receiving the news, the Madang Fortress did not dare to be negligent, and immediately dispatched a naval gunboat in the best condition, sailed to Ningbo Fuding Harbor at lightning speed, and sent the news to the Southern Exploration Team. Only twenty days have passed, which shows the efficiency.

The leader of the pioneering team, Liu Houfei, met the two messengers in Yin County. After learning about the situation, he sent people north to inform Liao Degong in Yantai, and at the same time ordered several naval armed transport ships to rush south, carrying a large amount of munitions. It took about eight days (this season is more windy) Change) arrived in the coastal waters of Chaozhou Prefecture. This day was May 1687, 5. It has been more than a month since the news first came out. The Shunguo troops in Sichuan and Hunan have begun to move out one after another, rushing towards Guangxi and Yunnan. go.

The envoys of the people from the east bank had a secret talk with Li Yuanyin in Haiyang County.The specific content of the secret talk is unknown to outsiders, but it can be seen from the fact that Li Yuanyin summoned the generals immediately after the talk ended, the secret talk still touched him greatly.Therefore, he may have been out of some considerations, or he may have been coerced and lured by the people on the east coast. In short, he quickly dispatched [-] soldiers stationed in the Tai O area, led by the guerrilla general Qian Jinbao, They boarded the ships of the people on the east bank in batches (at the same time, they also sent some Chinese sailboats to transport people and goods), and headed for Qinzhou Port, the capital of Lianzhou thousands of miles away.

Qinzhou is the important place in the west of Lianzhou Prefecture, and it is also the most prosperous place.For many years, although the people on the east coast have been focusing on the Guangzhou Bay area, and paid little attention to the relatively poor Lian, Gao, Lei, and Qiong, the four prefectures in western Guangdong, they still have some business contacts. , and established certain contacts with local officials.In the Kunming incident, Qin Wangsun was expected to be killed. The news spread to all provinces in southern China.What's more, now Dashun soldiers and horses have entered Guangxi from Baoqing, Yongzhou and other places, and the front line of the whole prefecture has even been handed over. As the so-called military situation is urgent, the messengers are always changing horses without changing people. Officials, big and small, from Gao, Lei, and Lei almost all knew about it in early June.

It was at this time that the envoys urgently dispatched by the Haizhu Island Commercial Station on the east coast also arrived at the Qinzhou Port Wharf by fast boat, and then directly asked to see the magistrate of Qinzhou.The magistrate of Qinzhou was appointed by the Nanming court. He was a greasy middle-aged man who had maintained trade contacts with the people on the east coast all year round. The relationship between the two parties was fairly close.

After meeting the envoys of the people from the east bank, they immediately asked for permission to send troops to land and take over several strategic locations in Lianzhou Prefecture as a precaution.This request immediately put Brother Zhizhou in trouble. Although he is greedy for money, he is also a serious official of the imperial court and has the responsibility of guarding the land.It's all right for you from the East to do some business, and everyone will be happy to make a fortune together, but why do you want to send troops ashore?Are you going to take the opportunity to swallow the Lianzhou government?When did you have such a big appetite?

However, it is not very realistic to reject the Dongguo people, because there are really not many soldiers in Qinzhou and even the entire Lianzhou Prefecture!The reason for the absence of soldiers can be summed up in a few words: a few twists and turns!Although Lianzhou is a poor and remote area, it was originally where several ranger battalions under the command of Lian Gao were stationed.However, in Li Chengdong’s later period, the Nanming court played tricks and split up Huiguo’s office. It successfully made the Lian, Gao, Lei, and Qiong houses in western Guangdong break away from Li Chengdong’s jurisdiction, and was taken over by the Nanming court—it was said to be taken over. At that time, it was still governed by the old department of the local Li Chengdong. Of course, they were already "men and horses of the imperial court" in name.

The good times of these Qiu Bawufu did not last long.How could they be the opponents of those civil servants playing politics, so they were quickly divided and disintegrated, and gradually lost their military power one by one. It was at this time that the Lianzhou government was "de-warlordized", and Lian Gao's general Most of the men and horses were driven back to Gaozhou, and Lianzhou left two so-called soldiers and horses with a heart for the imperial court, stationed in Hepu and Qinzhou respectively.

After years of uninterrupted tossing, the two ranger battalions have long since been tossed and scattered.Originally, they had a bit of blood and courage, but after years of transformation, they have now become a "paramilitary force" that can only suppress places in their hometown, and their field combat capabilities have almost disappeared.Coupled with factors such as corrupt officers eating empty salaries, the number of soldiers and horses that the Qinzhou Battalion can really pull out will never exceed [-], and most of them are some bad habits. The Chaozhou soldiers are not of the same class at all.

Therefore, we can see from this that the magistrate of Qinzhou has no capital to refuse, because he can't guarantee that when the small 2000 people in Qinzhou and Qian Jinbao's more than [-] soldiers fight, they will not collapse at the touch of a finger. The situation will only become more difficult to deal with.So he hesitated, struggled, resented, hesitated, his beard was almost pulled off, but he didn't give a clear answer.But the envoys from the east bank were not in a hurry, but sat peacefully in the living room of Master Zhizhou, sipping tea and waiting.

Of course he can afford to wait!Because while he was drinking tea, Qian Jinbao's men had already taken control of the entire wharf area, dispersed all the Nanming policemen and soldiers who had been hiding here, and set up a command post in a grandiose manner. The East Coast consultant who came has full command.

And behind them, there is still a large group of people coming on the boat one after another.Among them are the remaining [-] troops from Qian Jinbao's headquarters, and there are also troops recruited by the people from the East Bank in Xiangshan, Macau and other places. mercenary.After these people arrived in Qinzhou, the people from the east bank had nearly [-] soldiers and horses here, and it was easy to suppress the two ranger battalions in Lianzhou Prefecture. It can be said that they can walk sideways in the whole government.

Of course, their enemies are not the shrimp soldiers and crab generals in Lianzhou Prefecture, not even those from the surrounding counties (such as the General Lian Gao who is preparing for the army). What they really care about is the Dashun soldiers who may be killed from the northern part of Guangxi. .Therefore, after the people on the east bank got the news that the Shun army was about to attack Ming, they sent the news as quickly as possible, mobilized various troops, and finally let the vanguard troops rush into Qinzhou Port in early June. The various forces in western Guangdong and even Guangxi are still in a daze.

After Qian Jinbao's troops took control of the pier, they quickly sent people to rush towards the city, and finally arrived at the city within an hour.The yamen servants at the gate of the city trembled and wanted to show something, but when they were charged by the fierce Chaozhou soldiers, they immediately hid in a corner in desperation, never daring to stop them.

The 2000 people drove into the city one after another like this, and no one interfered with them from the beginning to the end.The men and horses of the Qinzhou camp kept looking in front of the barracks, but they never received an order from Shangfeng to let them go out to fight, until finally they were forced back to the camp by the fully armed Chaozhou soldiers and confiscated their weapons at the same time. The whole process was abnormal. Aggrieved.

Of course, what they didn't know was that their Shangguan (ie Qinzhou battalion guerrillas) fled away with their family and Xiruan long before Chaozhou soldiers entered the city.Fearing that the Chaozhou soldiers would take advantage of his head to show their prestige, this greedy man who was afraid of death immediately left the troops and fled decisively, which is quite in line with the style of a Nanming general.

But no matter what, Qinzhou City fell into the hands of the people on the east bank in this way, without firing a single shot, without even one person being killed or injured, and it was taken down without bloodshed.It was only at this time that the consultants from the east bank who came with him lamented that this was really the right thing to do. In this doggy Nanming court, Wen Tian and Wu Xi, the local military discipline is corrupt, and the military equipment is slack. The battle is probably on the verge of collapsing. .If the Shun army came here, it would probably only need a small-scale partial division and a few banners to easily take down Qinzhou and even the entire Lianzhou government.

However, now that the people from the east bank landed in Qinzhou first and took control of the whole city, there is still time to rearrange their armaments, control various key points, and wait for the possible arrival of the Shun army.Captain Liu of the Southern Pioneering Team has gone ruthless this time. In addition to the "borrowed" Chaozhou soldiers and mercenaries recruited in Macau, Xiangshan and other places, he also plans to transfer a new military division from the Ningshao area (tentative For the fifth division of the Zhejiang New Army), in order to fully support it.

To be honest, if a new military division is added, the troops from the East Coast will be more than 3000 in Qinzhou.Although nearly half of them are Chaozhou soldiers or mercenaries with average combat effectiveness, they are at least much stronger than the Ming army. They also have field combat capabilities, and they will not collapse at the first touch.

With these more than 1 people, they can not only firmly control the vicinity of Qinzhou City, but also spread out their troops to control the entire territory of Lianzhou Prefecture, build complete fortifications in key parts, and hoard combat supplies. When the soldiers and horses of the Shun army come over, they can wait for work at leisure.Of course, it is more likely that the Shun army gave up their plan to capture Lianzhou when they saw that the people on the east coast had already controlled Lianzhou.They rely heavily on various materials and machines on the east coast, and they cannot afford to lose the ally of the east coast, so there is a high probability that there will be no conflicts.

Of course, the appetite of people on the east coast may not be limited to Lianzhou Prefecture.According to the idea of ​​the Southern Pioneering Team, it is best to take Wuzhou Mansion together, so that the front line can be leveled, the defensive force can be saved, and the enemy can also be kept in Guangxi.And this is the main reason why the people from the east bank sent troops this time.

In the deduction of the people on the east bank, the fall of the whole province of Nanming Guangxi is inevitable, and the tens of thousands of veterans of the Shun army who set off from Baoqing Mansion and Yongzhou Mansion cannot be resisted by those decadent Nanming troops.The main problem now is that we can't let the people of Shunguo who have played out their temper bet their eyes on the ground of Guangdong. This is a rich province. Once it is captured by it, its financial shortcomings can be made up for a lot. The shipping company's trade income can support a lot of troops, let alone others.

Therefore, the people on the east bank were ruthless this time, and directly mobilized warships and soldiers to go off the field in person, and occupied Lianzhou and Wuzhou, the two critically positioned mansions, as quickly as possible, and then calmly arranged the defense line, so that they could take time off Waiting patiently for the arrival of the Shunguo army.They would like to see if Li Laiheng from Changsha feels that his wings are so hard that he can live without the people on the east coast, so that the people on the east coast will teach them a deep and unforgettable lesson-just from the rivers in Hubei and Jiangxi. Removing a large number of naval gunboats can cause a great shock to them.

The monarchs and ministers of Shun Kingdom would definitely not be very satisfied with the occupation of Lianzhou and Wuzhou, because it would block them on land, so close to the mouth of the sea but so close to the world, how could they be satisfied?But they really don't want to do anything to the people on the east coast, because the consequences are too serious, and it will shake the foundation of their country.Therefore, it is better to wipe out the Nanming court first, take Yunnan, Guizhou and most of Guangxi into your hands, relieve your worries, and at the same time let your country have a certain depth. This is also very important.

Therefore, the occupation of Lianzhou and Wuzhou prefectures by the people from the east bank appeared to be weak and dangerous on the surface, but in fact they were as stable as Mount Tai.Their only risk may be the local policy risk, that is, the local government does not authorize them to continue to expand territory in mainland China, so this kind of occupation is likely to be "illegal", and how to define it in the future is still a matter of debate.

Of course, this is all for the future. At least for now, the people on the east coast are still racing against time to control Lianzhou Prefecture, and then go north to plot Wuzhou Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)