Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2431 Liu Qi

In July, under the scorching sun, Liu Qi was frantically reviewing official documents.

To be honest, he has gained some weight recently.Maybe it's because the Sichuan shogunate's career is booming, which makes him, the secretary in charge of Jiedu, more and more powerful and happy. As the saying goes, he has a broad mind and a fat body. If he lives well, his figure will naturally lose shape. Anyway, he won't be like a warrior The gang beat their bodies.

The Chengdu shogunate now covers half of Yunnan and almost the entire central Sichuan.No, the word "almost" can actually be dropped.In the second half of last year (1700), Liu Zhonggui, the governor of Sichuan Province in Dashun, mobilized more than [-] horse infantry artillery and swore to the Northern Expedition to fight against the Qing army.

Yes, the Qing Kingdom and the Shun Kingdom are already at war.The reason was that the Dashun court found that the Manchus were fighting in two directions at the same time—in fact, there were not many troops sent to the Western Regions and Mobei, and the main force did not leave much—so they felt that there was an opportunity and wanted to gain some benefits from the Northern Expedition.

The battle started in the second half of last year, when more than 4 soldiers and horses from the Shun Army Jiangxi Jiedushi (not a real post, just an American official) marched eastward to attack the southern Anhui territory of the Qing Dynasty.Afterwards, the main force of Dashun also launched operations in the direction of Hubei. The army claimed to be more than 15. If the [-] dispatched by Yuan and He were counted, the total strength was as high as [-].

The Sichuan shogunate also received orders from the Changsha court, asking them to launch an offensive in northern Sichuan to support the main force in Hubei.It happened that Liu Zhonggui, the Jiedu envoy of Sichuan, also wanted to capture Hanzhong and add a barrier to his semi-independent kingdom, so he went along with the flow and went to the north.

At the beginning, the Sichuan army fought very smoothly, and captured the Qing army's few strongholds in northern Sichuan with lightning speed, and the casualties were very small.The reason why it went so smoothly was, to put it bluntly, with the help of the locals.The gentry in the area controlled by the Qing army had secretly communicated with the Sichuan shogunate a long time ago, and even dragged many Qing army officers into the water, which immediately opened up the situation. Even Liu Zhonggui did not expect it to be so smooth.

Liu Qi was not surprised by this.The intelligence expenditure approved by him in the past few years is more than 3 yuan, most of which are used in northern Sichuan and Hanzhong.This means that the Dashun Kingdom has become stronger, has established a firm foothold in the south, and has a certain atmosphere, otherwise the money will not be able to be spent even if it wants to be spent.Gentlemen, don't read a lot of poetry and books, but when it comes to the righteousness of the family and the country, they may not be as strong as many reckless people. Everyone only cares about the interests, and the righteousness of the nation is ranked behind.If Dashun can't give them hope and wants them to turn against him, that's a no brainer!

After the Battle of Northern Sichuan, the army went straight to Hanzhong without much rest.At this time, they encountered real trouble. The Qing army had tens of thousands of new troops here. Except for a small number of locals, most of the green battalion came from Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, and they fought very tenaciously.However, the terrain between northern Sichuan and Hanzhong is already dangerous and there are many passes. The attacking side is bound to pay a higher price than the defending side.Dashun soldiers and horses fought extremely fiercely in Hanzhong, and often had to attack a pass repeatedly, causing casualties.

Moreover, the Qing army also took advantage of the complex terrain and twists and turns in the mountains to set up ambushes many times to cut off the food, grass and supplies of the Shun army, which greatly restrained the strength of the Shun army.The most tragic time, in order to protect the newly transported cannons, a commander of the Shun Army almost fired all of them, and only then did they protect the cannons with the support of friendly troops who rushed over.After the battle, the commander looked at the corpses all over the ground, wept loudly, and refused to leave the battlefield no matter what.

Both Liu Zhonggui and Liu Qi can see that now is the time to compete for will to fight.Therefore, Liu Qi, who was in charge of logistics supplies, desperately searched for food, grass, silver, ammunition and other materials for the front line.He has even distributed donations to wealthy households in central Sichuan and parts of Yunnan. Even the Chengdu Commercial Station set up by people from the east coast gave 3000 yuan.

The irony is that Li Laiheng of Changsha did not give any assistance except for [-] rifles, [-] artillery pieces and some ammunition at the beginning.Even if the messengers from Chuanzhong went to Changsha one by one, they still didn't pay a penny, which is really annoying.The reason given by Changsha is that they are attacking the Qing army's defense line in Hubei, and the personnel and materials are extremely consumed. There is really no room to support Sichuan and let them "persist".

But Liu Qi found out through the intelligence network that because the Qing and Shun countries have been operating in Hubei for many years, the castles are densely covered, the military camps are everywhere, and the local rivers are criss-crossed—many of them are artificially dug out for military purposes— There are many obstacles, which are not conducive to the army's attack at all. Therefore, most of the troops sent by the Dashun court are in their own territory on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and they are divided by the terrain. There are not many people fighting on the front line. Combat strength is also limited.

Liu Zhonggui was furious when he heard the words, but there was no good solution.The imperial court is very wary of him, not comparable to Yuan and He.To put it bluntly, Changsha may not be willing to see Liu Zhonggui seize Hanzhong and invade Qin.Gein has really reached that stage, with Qinlong Bashu territory in his hands, and even half of Yunnan, the strength is not weaker than the Dashun court whose real territory is only three and a half provinces, how do you let Li Laiheng deal with himself?

So, everything depends on yourself.If you want to seize Hanzhong as a barrier for Bashu, expecting Changsha to help you is undoubtedly hopeless. After all, you have to rely on the swords and guns in the hands of your own soldiers to seize it.Liu Zhonggui asked himself that the army has been strictly governed these years, and the salaries and rewards that the soldiers deserve are not in the slightest. The morale of the army should still be maintained at a acceptable position.Then everything will be resigned to fate, everything will be rewarded if Hanzhong is captured, and from then on, Liu and Kangxi share the danger of Qinling.If it cannot be captured, then the loss will be great, not counting the casualties, and the foundation of this family is almost empty, and the threat of the Qing army is still hanging on the head. After all, it is much easier to go south from Hanzhong than to go north from Qinling.

As the confidant of the Duke of Shu, Liu Qi naturally understands the truth.Therefore, he was really doing his best to work on the great cause of the curtain master. For this reason, he hadn't returned home for a whole month, and he lived and ate in the yamen, which can be said to be exhausted.

But the current situation made him feel faintly worried.Although the Sichuan shogunate only mobilized 5 people to go north, to be honest, they are relatively capable first-line troops.The average combat power basically let them guard the place, and they didn't move out at all.But these [-] elite soldiers have been fighting the Qing army for half a year in northern Sichuan and Hanzhong.The Qing army has a good location and focuses on defense. No matter how the Shun army lures them, they will not come out. Make the most of the complex terrain and strong fortresses to consume your supplies and kill your lives, causing the Shun army to pay a huge price. .

Of the [-] troops before the expedition, more than [-] were killed, and twice as many were wounded and sick.If they hadn't maintained their offensive and continued to supplement the battle damage, these tens of thousands of troops would have collapsed long ago.But even so, Liu Qi judged from the various official documents sent back like flakes from the front line that they were almost at the end of their battles, and they had to take a good rest, otherwise they were afraid that something big would happen.

"The Tartars on the opposite side must be gritting their teeth and struggling, right?" Liu Qi put down his brush, picked up a teacup to moisten his throat, and said to himself: "I heard that the new army has lost thousands of people. The Green Battalion must have been dissatisfied with the rapid depletion in such a high-intensity battle. At this time, if we can make more efforts and attack for several months, we will definitely gain something! It's a pity that the commander-in-chief can't attack, it's a pity ah."

Thinking of this, Liu Qi's resentment towards the Changsha court deepened.Sit back and watch the Sichuan army fight hard, without sending any food or bombs, Hubei's 15 troops faced the Northern Expedition. As a result, only six or seven fortresses of the Tartars have been broken until now, and the progress can be called slow.That is to say, Jiangxi fought fairly smoothly all the way, and captured some counties and counties, but after all, there were few soldiers. I heard that they were recently overwhelmed by the heavy troops of the Tartar Nanjing camp.

If it doesn't work, I can only persuade the lord, don't force anything.During the Northern Expedition, they had already regained some territory, many of which were dangerous passes, such as Baishui Pass and Jiameng Pass.In the future, the safety of Chuanzhong can be further guaranteed. This is a real benefit. Why do you have to eat it all at once to become a fat man?

Nowadays, various industries in Sichuan are developing smoothly, and the amount of foreign trade has been rising year after year.The agricultural production in the prefectures and counties (former chieftain lands) that have been reorganized in southern and western Sichuan has also been on the right track.Give him another five years, as long as five years!He is confident that the production of food and commercial crops in Sichuan will reach a new level, the number of agricultural talents will be doubled, the manufacturing capacity of the Chengdu Manufacturing Bureau will be doubled, the amount of foreign trade will be increased by [-]%, and the government's fiscal revenue will be increased by at least [-]%. become!Moreover, the two northbound highways, which were designed and supervised by experts from the east coast, will also be open to traffic.

At that time, the commander-in-chief will bring 5 people to the north, not to mention 8 people, and the logistics supply will not be as difficult as it is now. Fighting will definitely have the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort!Five years, only five years!Hanzhong, in fact, is the meat of the mouth, which will be eaten sooner or later, and now it is only temporarily stored with the Manchu Tartars.

I heard that the Tartars also built a wooden-clad iron track in Hanzhong. When it is taken down, it can be extended and used as the main transportation line for the Sichuan army.Well, Hanzhong still has a certain grain production capacity and military manufacturing capacity, which provides the basis for stationing a large army.At that time, choose an experienced and prudent general to sit in Nanzheng, and tens of thousands of troops will be stationed in various places. The provinces of Qin, Long, and Henan in the Manchu Qing Dynasty will be shocked three times a day and will be in constant panic all day long.

Hey, there is no way for Changsha to make any progress in the muddy quagmire of Hubei.After decades of confrontation, any idea of ​​trying to break through that densely fortified area is delusional!No matter whether it is Manchu going south or Dashun going north, there is not much possibility.The only way out for the imperial court is to find a solution in the south of the Yangtze River, but that is where the Tazi's wealth is, how can they sit idly by?It must be a bitter battle, a battle to the death, take your time.

(End of this chapter)