Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 822 Southern Theater ([-])

"Kill pigs and sheep at night, and reward the sons and daughters!" Liu Guochang couldn't help grinning as he watched the Qing army's green battalion fleeing in embarrassment. The young general grinned in pain.After finishing speaking, Liu Guochang ignored the others, and said regretfully: "It's a pity that there is no cavalry, otherwise this pursuit will let Zhang Jie leave another 1000 horses."

This is the westernmost area of ​​Ningbo Prefecture, and it may have entered Yuyao County of Shaoxing Prefecture. Tens of thousands of peasants from nearby villages were driven here to build a small fort with bricks, clay, large stone strips, and thick logs.The perimeter of the fortress is only more than [-] meters. It has a strong bastion style. There are irregular towers protruding from the four corners, and basically there is no dead angle for shooting.Of course, this small fortress named Cheshang Fort (located in the northeast of Cheshang Mountain) is still a semi-finished product. After nearly five months of construction, it has been completed for the most part. I believe that there will be another two or three months. The fortress will be completely completed.

Two kilometers to the north of this fortress, another bastion of the same size named Tianluobao (located in the south of Tianluo Mountain) is also under intense construction.After the construction was completed, the two bastions were placed with many artillery brought by people from the east bank, and the firepower of their long-range cannons was basically able to cover the critical narrow passage from Shaoxing Mansion to Ningbo Mansion.If the Qing army wanted to pass through here, it would be inconvenient and vulnerable to firepower. It would be difficult to break into the eastern part of the Ningshao Plain, known as the land of fish and rice, without removing the two bastions that formed an angle.

As for taking a detour to kill from the front line of Cixi, that is quite risky.First of all, Cixi County at this time is located far east of Cixi in the later generations, not far from the coast, and the terrain is narrow, not to mention that it cannot deploy troops, and it is also easy to be cut off by the east coast army that has mastered the sea. collapse.And even if they break through the interception of Cixi County, the Qing army will still face the threat of Dinghai County in the east. At that time, they will be attacked from three sides (the direction of Yin County in the south, the troops returning to the fortification area in the west, and the garrison in Dinghai County in the east). Next, even the elite Manchurian Eight Banners might not be able to hold on.Therefore, it is basically only theoretically possible to detour and attack Ningbo from Cixi and Dinghai.

Therefore, if the Qing army wanted to take back the four counties and one guard in Ningbo Prefecture that had been "occupied" for several months (Xiangshan County and Changguo Guard were still in the hands of the Qing army), they really had to take this path.The people on the east bank built two strong bastions in this narrow mountain corridor. Their intention was nothing more than to use the terrain to keep the Qing army out, so that they could farm and tidy up the rear on the fertile plain.After all, the territory of Ningbo Prefecture is full of fertile impact plains, the land is fertile and has been developed for a long time, and the population and products are rich.Even in the war-torn late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the population of the entire Ningbo prefecture was too large to say, but there were still 60 to [-]!

In other words, as long as the land in the eastern part of the Ningshao Plain is not lost, then this is a population and material base that is firmly in the hands of the people on the east coast, and the food problem that has plagued the people on the east coast for a long time will also be solved.In addition, there is also the habit of raising silkworms and reeling silk, and it can also grow cotton and tea. It is definitely a rich land.So, it is the kingly way to guard the corridor and shut the Qing army out.Moreover, there are many such terrains along the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian, which are relatively isolated from the outside world, and the roads are difficult and dangerous, but it is extremely convenient to come and go from the sea. Isn't this a treasure land tailor-made for people on the east coast?What?You said that the Qing army could sneak across the Siming Mountain and other mountains to the Great Plains?Are you kidding, would the Qing army still have to fight?There is neither luggage, food, nor reinforcements. This is the rhythm of sending heads!

Of course, the Qing army is not a fool, they can naturally see the remnants of rebellion and the "malicious thoughts" of the bandits in yellow.Therefore, Zhang Cunren, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, attached great importance to this. He began to write letters to Nanjing again and again, asking for more troops to Shaoxing Mansion in order to curb the sudden deterioration of the situation here and regain most of the fallen Ningbo Mansion.Moreover, when his troops were extremely tense, he cobbled together an army from various places, and handed it over to Zhejiang Admiral Tian Xiong and Gu Shan'e Zhenjinli to lead his troops into Shaoxing Mansion and send them to Ningbo. direction to launch a tentative attack.

It's a pity that there are no capable troops on the ground in Zhejiang at this time. With the patchwork of six or seven thousand green battalions and a small number of Han troops (Jin Li headquarters troops and horses), it is really close to the well-equipped and high-moralized Dashun and East Coast coalition forces. 7000 people have nothing to do.In particular, more than a thousand old people from Liaodong brought by Jin Li, who is known as the elite, were defeated in the battle with the yellow-clothed bandits and ghost slave soldiers in December last year, and were beheaded more than 12 levels, and their morale plummeted.

Since then, the Qing army has not made much movement in the next period of time. Only Zhang Jie, who was appointed as the commander-in-chief of Ningbo, garrisoned Yuyao County and sent troops to harass the construction site of the bastion several times. The army repelled.And in January of this year, more than 1 large black-water fishing boats that spent the winter in Shandong went south, killing more than 30 people from the Chen Zhilong Department, an old-fashioned servant army of the people on the east bank Yu people) were transported to Dinghai County, and then quickly reinforced to Yin County, which completely stabilized the situation in Ningbo Prefecture.

And last week, with the end of the immigration transport season, under the escort of powerful naval warships, seven well-maintained 1200-ton sail transport ships landed in Dinghai County again with a large number of supplies and personnel, and then began Material transfer work.A large number of cold weapons such as bows, spears and arrows, protective gear such as leather armor and iron armor, and consumables such as gunpowder and lead ammunition were basically concentrated in Yin County, Ningbo Prefecture, under the hard work of civilian husbands.In addition to the 3000 people from Ding Weiyue's "regiment training army" who had just joined the ship, there were also more than 500 German mercenaries who had just arrived from Australia (there were more than [-] people when they left New China).

With the successful arrival of a total of 7000 reinforcements from these three troops, the armed forces (including allied forces) of the Dong'an people in Ningbo Prefecture have exceeded 4, and the degree of firearms is very high.Although the Qing army in Shaoxing Prefecture on the opposite side also received some reinforcements from Nanjing, their numbers were only comparable to those of the people on the east coast, and their combat power was so different that it was completely incomparable.Today (April 10th), Zhang Jie, the commander-in-chief of the Qing army in Ningbo, led more than [-] men to attack Chestable Fort, and was repelled by less than [-] soldiers led by Liu Guochang of the Dashun Army. This is the best proof.What the Qing army should be worried about now is whether the people from the east bank after the rectification will move westward to occupy Shaoxing Prefecture. After all, here and Ningbo Prefecture share a coastal impact plain. There is no reason not to eat the meat on the lips, it is just a matter of time.

Liu Guochang rode his horse to wait and see under the fort for a while, and then headed towards the inside of the fort under the retinue of his personal guards.Although the Stables Fort is a semi-finished product and is still under construction, it is not impossible to garrison troops in the fort.Now, in addition to Liu Guochang's headquarters of more than 3000 people, there is also a Black Eight Banners heavy armored infantry battalion and a small amount of artillery stationed here, and there are [-] soldiers led by Shunjun Yuan Bao, Zhang Guangcui, Zhang Jingchun and others outside the city; In Tianluobao, which is less than two kilometers away from them, there are also nearly [-] soldiers led by Dashun Yuehou Liu Shijun and Cai Huaze. Nearly [-] people from Ding Weiyue's servant army on the east bank arrived.The two fortresses can echo each other, and the soldiers are well-trained. If there are countless times more battle-hardened soldiers, it will be difficult to attack them in a hurry.

"What is Marshal Liu on the east bank doing recently? It's been a long time since he visited the western front." On the way back, Liu Guochang suddenly asked his entourage.

"Returning to the general, Marshal Liu from the East Bank has recently brought two thousand newly arrived firecrackers to sweep back and forth in the four counties of Yin County, Fenghua, Dinghai, and Cixi. The livestock were confiscated, and the land was distributed to thousands of soldiers from Ding Weiyue, Sun Shouzheng and others who followed them south." At this point, the entourage settled down, and then continued: "Looking at the meaning of Marshal Liu, I'm afraid it's better to go to the outside world first. The way inside is to first stabilize the rear and eliminate hidden dangers, then divide the territory to improve the morale of the troops, and finally lead the army westward and march into Shaoxing Mansion."

"The eight counties and one guard in Shaoxing Prefecture have a prosperous household registration. I'm afraid there are millions of people?" Hearing this, Liu Guochang also coveted the wealth of Shaoxing, and he said, "I just don't know what this Marshal Liu is fighting for." My idea is that now that old man Zhang Cunren has few soldiers and horses, it is an excellent time to attack Shaoxing Mansion. In case a large number of reinforcements are raised from Nanjing, although they are all weak and unbeatable mud legs, they will be troublesome after all. Sigh, I'd better go to Yin County in person to see what kind of charter the Yellow Clothes Army is and when they will leave. The treasured sword in my waist has long since become too hungry and thirsty!"

And just when Liu Guochang was thinking about meeting Liu Haiyang, Liu Haiyang was also leading a team of thousands of people, with a large number of pigs, sheep, chariots and horses, heading south from the direction of Cixi, and the destination was naturally his temporary lair. , Yin County, the capital of Ningbo Prefecture.This army was Liu Haiyang's troops who went out to collect food and taxes, with a total of more than [-] soldiers-the main force was naturally the more than [-] "German Volunteers".The eyes of these Semu people are dark here, so they can only obey the orders of the people on the east coast, and they are not ambiguous in fighting, and they are not as diverse as those servants who are wise, so they are very easy to use.

This time, Liu Haiyang brought this team back and forth to search the puppet officials and the families of the gentry and noble families who sympathized with the Qing court in the four counties and one guard of Ningbo Prefecture. More than [-] taels, more than [-] stones of grain and beans, and more than [-] heads of livestock (only); at the same time, the confiscated land of Qing army officials and tyrants was also distributed to the [-] Rugao soldiers who accompanied Sun Shouzheng's army. soldier.As for these German soldiers, each of them scored a meritorious service. After the war, they could go to Sakhalin Island, the Amur River, Ezo and other areas to subscribe for land.

(End of this chapter)