Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 858 Southern Theater ([-])

"...To sum up, after the [-] people from the middle camp of the Shun Army led by Guo Sheng entered the Yuanzhou Mansion in Jiangxi from the east, they made rapid progress due to the small number of Qing troops in front of them." Yin County Government Yamen, from Shandong Jiaozhoubao rushed to the southern theater with a group of staff officers, and the first-class staff officer, Lieutenant Junior, pointed to a hand-painted map of the central area of ​​Ming Dynasty and said: "The remaining troops of the Shun Army have already met with the local chieftain in Chenzhou Prefecture. Reconciliation was reached. The two sides took the current actual control line as the boundary. At present, Li Guozheng led the main force of the rear battalion to carry out the finishing work on the newly occupied land in Chenzhou Prefecture. More than ten thousand troops."

It is said that in order to cope with the anti-Qing situation in the southern battlefield, in the second half of last year, the east bank sent inland river gunboats to Huguang. While sending a batch of weapons and military supplies to the Shun army, it also suggested that they should not fight with those bitter people in western Hunan. Instead, they turned to the east and entered the relatively affluent Jiangxi Province from the eastern fortification area (the mountainous area east of Changsha) to expand their living space. At the same time, they could also support the more than ten Wang Deren tribes who were struggling in southern Jiangxi. Ten thousand people (who have annexed the remnants of Jin Shenghuan who fled there).

Li Guo may be looking at the people on the east coast who have been unremittingly helping them all the year round, and maybe he really thinks that going east to Jiangxi is a good move, so he gathered his troops and resolutely attacked some armed forces that surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in the Chenzhou government. Those who were ambiguous and neutral were comforted by good words and let go lightly, thus liberating a large number of people. This is the reason why Guo Sheng, General You Guoyi of the Zhongying, was able to bring more than [-] people east to Yuanzhou Mansion.

In the Jiangxi battlefield of the Qing court, after the more than 1 Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners led by the veteran Ji Erhalang were transferred away, they all relied on the 1 to [-] Qing troops led by Geng Zhongming and Shen Zhixiang. Six or seven thousand, and the rest are either recruited local troops, surrendered Jin Shenghuan troops, or newly recruited battalion leaders, and their combat effectiveness is not very strong.It's just that their opponent Wang Deren is also a scumbag. His headquarters only has more than [-] bandits who came all the way from Shaanxi. The morale is very low, the armaments are not complete, and the military system is also very chaotic, and it is impossible to effectively use its numerical advantage.

On the other hand, although the Qing army of the two traitors was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, they had well-equipped armaments, strict military discipline, and sufficient supplies. Therefore, they suppressed Wang Deren's troops and continued to attract some of Wang Deren's men to surrender. , the balance of power between the two sides has been changing in favor of the Qing court.

And the Qing court also had a great help in Jiangxi, and that was the support of the gentry.As we all know, Wang Deren's bandit nicknamed "Wang Zamao" was one of the rogue armies in the late Ming Dynasty. Although he had taken refuge in Nanming at this time, he was still deeply despised and feared by the local gentry.Coupled with the complicated sources of its ministry and poor military discipline, this further aggravated the resentment of the local gentry, which made it operate in southern Jiangxi for several years, but it still failed to establish a foundation.In addition, he annexed tens of thousands of Jin Shenghuan's remnants, and these people had slaughtered many cities in Jiangxi, and the people of Jiangxi hated them deeply, so they couldn't get the support of the people of Jiangxi.

As a result, such a situation appeared on the Jiangxi battlefield, that is, the relatively well-disciplined braided army actually received the support of local traditional gentry and scholars, and the "Ming army" with its inferior numbers overwhelmed the superior force and retreated steadily. , is also a rare spectacle.In fact, if the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty responded effectively at this time and sent highly respected ministers to Jiangxi to endorse Wang Deren and wash the land, and at the same time contact the local gentry to play the national sentiment card, it may not be able to regain some disadvantages.It's a pity that this decadent imperial court is currently in constant political disputes and tricks, and the ministers who surround Emperor Yongli don't seem to be able to do great things.

Therefore, this time Shunjun entered the Yuanzhou Mansion eastward, which relieved Wang Deren's subordinates who were at a disadvantage. They no longer felt resentment towards Dashun's "grabbing the territory". En——it's this time, and it's meaningless to mention sectarian opinions. On this point, these warriors are much more straightforward than literati.

Guo Sheng's troops quickly captured Yichun and other four counties under the Yuanzhou Prefecture.It is worth noting that this time when the Shun army marched into Jiangxi, they did not torture the local gentry, nor did they share their fields. On the contrary, they did not offend them. Buy peace.And when the news spread to Yantai, Shao Shude laughed and scolded, "Dashun is also practicing revisionism now, and it will no longer be the slogan of equalizing land and exempting grain."

In fact, this was Shao Shude's joke. As early as a few years ago, the Shun Army had stopped torturing gentry in Hunan for money and food.Of course, they did not return the landlord's land confiscated in the early stage. Instead, they drove the auxiliary soldiers and their families to start military settlements on these lands to obtain the food and grass needed for the long-term battle of the army.The land in Hunan is fertile, the climate is suitable, and it has been developed for a long time. Dashun has farmed up and down the fields for several years, but he has gained a lot. Although it is not enough to support the needs of the entire army, it can also offset a large part of the consumption. The dilemma that the army is running around and can only loot everywhere is too strong.

"However, following the failure of the main force of the left camp of the Shun Army in Dengzhou, it is estimated that the 5000 men led by Guo Sheng will no longer receive reinforcements. Therefore, they are currently at the junction of Yuanzhou Mansion and Linjiang Mansion, while sending people to fight with them. The troops of Wang Deren in the south came into contact and kept a close eye on the movements of the Qing army." Lieutenant Junior paused at this point, and then gave some supplementary explanations: "The 2 people under Guo Sheng's direct control are proficient in fighting with firearms, and their morale is also high. It is more expensive; most of the remaining [-] people under his command are veterans who have been in battle and have seen battles, and they will not be so vulnerable, so they are not too fearful in the Jiangxi battlefield. Wanqing army. If we cooperate well with Wang Deren, it will be easy to reverse the situation in Jiangxi battlefield. Now the only worry is that as the Qing army marches into Henan, and will soon go south to Huguang, whether Li Guo will Transferring Guo Sheng, a more combat-friendly army, to Hubei to block the hole..."

It is said that the main force of the Qing army began to enter Henan one after another, which has been confirmed. There are about 8 to [-] people, of which more than [-] are the elite Manchurian Eight Banners, and the rest are the northern green camps, which are also quite good at fighting.In addition, Wu Sangui's department, which originally cleared up the mess in the Fugu area of ​​Shanxi, has also begun to enter Shaanxi in batches, preparing to unite with Li Guohan, Meng Qiaofang and others to calm the situation that has been boiling there, and then wait for an opportunity to enter Sichuan through the Hanzhong area of ​​southern Shaanxi, striving to seize Zhang Xianzhong completely controlled northern Sichuan—at present, Zhang Xianzhong led the main force to conquer because of the slow progress of Li Dingguo and others in northern Sichuan—before entering Sichuan, in order to find a good foothold, which would be beneficial to the subsequent operations of pacifying Sichuan, Guizhou, and Guangxi provinces.

That is to say, after quelling the rebellion in Shanxi Province, Dorgon was already tired of repeated world situations, so he did not intend to withdraw the precious Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners at hand, but sent a considerable number of them to go south via Henan and Jiangbei, In order to quickly calm the situation in the south.Among them, the one that went south through Henan was the main force. Thousands of its forwards had already fought a small battle with Liu Fangliang, the left battalion of the Shun Army in Dengzhou in January.

After the disastrous defeat, Liu Fangliang realized the gap between his army and the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia. Although the army that lost troops in Dengzhou was not considered the main force of the direct line, he was indeed shocked by being defeated so simply and neatly by the Qing army.The current strategy is to fight and retreat, and exchange space for time. As for Xiangyang Mansion, which has not been occupied for a long time, it may be difficult to keep it.

Dashun Zuoying had 10 soldiers when it went out, and now after a period of expansion, it has reached a huge scale of more than 14. The soldiers have been plundered for a long time, and their fighting spirit is not strong.Now it is still withdrawn to Jingzhou City, which was mainly operated and rebuilt before, relying on the strong city and convenient traffic conditions there to defend, and by the way, it can also communicate with Gao Yigong in the former camp and Yuan Zongdi in the right camp. will greatly increase.

"We can't control so much about Dashun's mess, let's discuss the mess at hand." Liu Haiyang sat beside him for a long time, listening to Junior's introduction of the anti-Qing Qing in Huguang and Jiangxi. The situation, I was very depressed about the not-so-optimistic future, so I changed the subject and said: "Jirhalang arrived in Hangzhou last month and took over the military affairs of Fujian and Zhejiang. Although the old man Zhang Cunren is in name It is still the governor, but now it can only manage government affairs. Now Hangzhou is full of troops. Jierhalang has more than 4 people in the Eight Banners of Mongolia. For a while, our army defeated more than [-] people, and now there are still [-] people left; in addition, tens of thousands of green battalions have also been reinforced from Nanjing, and they have already pressed down on Shaoxing Mansion. Ten thousand people led by Chen Tai in the south have also gone north. The Eight Banners account for about half of them, and their strength and morale are very good. Faced with this situation, it may not be convenient to go out to fight Caogu in the future."

"It's inconvenient to go out, so don't go out." Wei Boqiu, who hadn't spoken yet during the meeting, puffed out a smoke ring, and said calmly: "It's better to clean up the place in Ningbo. We haven't done it yet in Yin County. Digestion, not to mention Dinghai, Cixi, Fenghua, Ninghai, Xiangshan and other places in the south. Ladies and gentlemen, the properties of the generals of the Qing army that we confiscated and the gentry's lands in Litong have almost been distributed, and now we urgently need new ones. The source of the land. I did some research in the three counties of Yin County, Dinghai, and Fenghua a while ago, and found that even the most desolate and barren land is now fucking owned, and the land deeds are generally in recent years Many of the new ones can’t tell whether they’re real or not—Nima’s gentry’s eating looks are too ugly.”

"That is to say, if we want to gain a firm foothold in these counties of Ningbo Prefecture, and don't want to be emptied by these bad-mouthed gentry, then we have to speed up the action of land distribution! Only in these places can we create a group Endorsing the vested interest class, we can continue to sing this drama in the south. Immigration, land distribution, crackdown on gentry and powerful, and development of industrial and commercial economy, only when these four things are done well, can we truly stand in Ningbo Prefecture Stabilize your footing, otherwise you will always be a rootless duckweed, and maybe a failure on the battlefield will cause chaos in the rear."

"We must have a group of local fundamentalists and supporters who share our interests. Otherwise, how will our policies be implemented at the local level? How can we find out the secret agents sent by the Qing army? How can the relatively abundant local human resources be mobilized? Ladies and gentlemen, What we want to establish in Ningbo is a system that we can control and trust by ourselves, instead of continuing to compromise with the gentry, the two sides will fish the common people together, and we will end the game sooner or later."

Wei Boqiu fired several shots in a row, and everyone was silent for a while.At the end, it was Liu Haiyang who slapped the table, stood up and said, "We don't engage in Dashun revisionism. The next key task is to re-measure the land in the three important counties of Yin County, Fenghua, and Dinghai. Some suspicious and outdated title deeds Don’t admit it, and take out a sum of money from the finances to forcibly buy part of the land from some landlords who are still obedient to us, and distribute it to the group of immigrants from Shaoxing. In addition, local production can’t be left behind. , Sericulture, cotton, and tea plantation cannot be left behind, and the affairs of Dinghai Salt Field, Yinxian Silk Reeling Factory, and Fenghua Tea Field cannot be relaxed. These matters are related to future development and cannot be ignored."

"By the way, the civil affairs are like this, and the military affairs can't stop. The Standing Squad, the South African Eight Banners New Army, and the East Coast Army must be on standby at any time. The two sea forces of Lu Wang and Zheng's should also strengthen ties, and support them when necessary. All in all, the Qing court cannot be satisfied. Now the main force of the Qing court in Fujian has been transferred to northern Zhejiang, and there are some green battalions in the local area with extremely poor combat effectiveness. The progress is also a little slow. Next, we will send someone over to ask if there is any difficulty. Why is the progress so slow? If we can’t put enough pressure on the Qing court, isn’t that just dawdling? This is absolutely not allowed Yes!" Liu Haiyang finally ordered.

Now that the Qing court has gathered heavy troops in northern Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu, which are known as the wealthiest areas, it is inevitable to loosen control over southern Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi. The opportunity to rush forward and grab the territory cannot be given up in vain.When necessary, the people on the east coast would dispatch ships to help the Zheng family and the king of Lu mobilize troops under the threat of a typhoon.

(End of this chapter)