Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 215: Tuning the Tiger
Tongan City, December 18th, early in the morning, the south gate of Tongan County opened wide, and thousands of soldiers suddenly marched out of the city and headed towards the southern dock.
Dozens of sand boats of different sizes were already waiting on the shore. When the Ming soldiers arrived at the shore, they carried bags of rice onto the warships.
When all the soldiers were on board the warships, the sails were hoisted and the flags were raised. Then, dozens of warships, led by a huge Fu ship in the center, set sail towards the north.
After the fleet set off, the city was in constant motion. The East Gate of Zhao'an was also wide open, with teams of soldiers marching out of the city, and mule and horse carts carrying grain were also being pushed out of the city in an endless stream.

The first 3,000 infantrymen to leave the city formed a battle array outside the city, and then, under the protection of more than a thousand cavalrymen, they headed eastward.

In Tongan City, countless soldiers were still coming out of the city, as if they were endless.

The Ming army's large-scale march out of the city could not be hidden from the Qing army outside the city. After seeing the warships heading north, the Qing army cavalry scouts hurried back to the Qing army camp to report.

In the Qing army camp, a long-faced deputy general rushed into the tent and reported the movements of the Ming army to Fuktala.

"Half an hour ago, the Ming navy set out to the north, and then left the city in large numbers with the Anlu division. Now the Ming army's vanguard is heading towards Anping."

"How many navy soldiers are on board, and how many land soldiers are leaving the city?" Fuktara asked with a serious face.

"It's hard to see the navy clearly, but we estimate there are several thousand people. All of the more than 40 warships of the Ming army outside Tongan City have set out. As for the land army, there are more people, at least 10,000 people. There are 3,000 to 4,000 vanguard infantry alone, and the Ming army's cavalry is following behind the infantry."

Fuketala's face darkened when he heard what the deputy general said. The thing he was most worried about had happened. Fuketala only had 3,000 Han cavalry. If he just wanted to harass the Ming army, it would be no problem. But if he wanted to defeat the tens of thousands of Ming troops in the city with these 3,000 people, it would be impossible.
There is a difference between cavalry and cavalry. If the three thousand men under his command were all Jurchen soldiers, then he might really dare to lead the cavalry to charge into the battle formation and see if he could defeat ten thousand with a thousand.
But the thousands of people he had now were all Jiangnan Han soldiers. They were called cavalry, but in fact they were just infantry on horseback. These three thousand people could suppress Shi Fu's cavalry because the so-called cavalry in Shi Fu's army was just a bunch of fakes, just like these Jiangnan Han cavalry.
These people can fight a favorable battle with more people, but if these 3,000 people are sent to charge the Ming army's 10,000 infantry formation, I'm afraid these Han soldiers will collapse halfway through the charge.
In order to preserve their strength, Shi Fu and his men had only sent a small group of cavalry out of the city to fight. Fuketala was still able to suppress the city, but at this time, the entire Ming army in the city came out, and Fuketala was instantly caught in a passive situation.

Fuktala was also a veteran in the army. As soon as he heard the Ming army's deployment, he immediately understood the Ming army's intention. The Ming army was now using force to suppress the enemy. The navy was heading north and the land force was heading east. The Ming army's target must be Quanzhou.
The main forces of the Qing army are now almost all gathered in Zhao'an and Changtai. East of Changtai, the Qing army only has 3,000 people in Fuketala in Quanzhou and 2,000 people in Zhang Cunren's hands in Fuzhou. Apart from them, the Qing court has no more troops in Fujian Province.
There were more than 20,000 Ming troops in Tongan City. Fuktala led several thousand people to monitor Tongan, so how could he dare to split his troops?

At this time, there were only two or three hundred Jiangnan Han troops guarding the huge Quanzhou City. Although he had urgently recruited young and strong men from all over the country to defend the city before leaving, Fuktala had no hope for these people.
Even a big city like Quanzhou is like this, so you can imagine the defense situation of other cities.
If they did not return to defend Quanzhou at this time, I am afraid that without the arrival of the land forces under Zhao'an City, the thousands of navy troops that set out first would probably be able to persuade all the counties in Quanzhou to surrender.

After Quanzhou is Xinghua, which also has no soldiers. After Xinghua is Fuzhou, which is the capital of Fujian Province. Now, rice from all over Fujian Province is also shipped from Fuzhou. If the Ming navy attacks the city, Fujian Province will certainly be greatly shocked, and Fuketala and Zhang Cunren will definitely be punished by the court.
Fuktara thought about this and made a decision in his heart. He looked at the deputy general beside him and said

"The Ming army is leaving the city at this time, and they must be attacking Quanzhou."

"Inform the army to immediately break camp and return to Quanzhou. We must not let the Ming court seize Quanzhou."

"Also, send someone to Changtai immediately to inform General Tulai of the Ming army's movements in Tong'an City. Then send someone to inform Governor Zhang in Fuzhou City and order him to send grain to Zhangzhou from Yanping Prefecture and not to come to Quanzhou."

Fuketala issued orders one after another, and the Qing army also acted quickly. The two messengers rushed to Changtai and Fuzhou respectively, while Fuketala directly abandoned the camp and quickly retreated to Quanzhou with the cavalry.
Shi Fu and his men had been hiding in the city to preserve their strength, but they also knew where the Qing army was camping. At this time, a large number of Qing cavalry were withdrawing, and naturally they could not hide it from Shi Fu and his men.

Shifu sent his cavalry to test the situation several times, and after confirming that Fuctara had really withdrawn, he immediately sent all his cavalry out.
Before Fuketala withdrew, he left behind more than a hundred cavalry scouts to monitor the movements of the Ming army. However, when they saw more than a thousand cavalrymen of the Ming army coming to attack, these people did not say a word, did not put up any resistance, and fled directly to the front.
After the Ming cavalry drove away the Qing scouts, the 3,000 infantrymen in the front pretended to be marching, dragging branches with mules and horses to create the appearance of a large army, and continued to march towards Quanzhou.

Ten miles after leaving the city, the 10,000-plus Ming troops in the rear suddenly received a military order to return to Zhao'an. When Shi Lang led his soldiers to the shore, hundreds of tall warships had appeared on the seashore.
At the urging of the generals, the soldiers boarded the warships one after another. At dusk, more than 10,000 soldiers finally boarded the ships.
As the sun sets, the dark red evening light turns the sea into a bloody color. Hundreds of warships hoist their white sails under the bloody waves and then rush towards Zhangzhou in the south.
Zhangpu City, Zhangpu is located in the west of Zhangzhou. From Zhangzhou, through Zhangpu and Yunxiao, you can reach Zhao'an. Further west of Zhao'an is the Fenshui Pass of Guangdong Province and Chaozhou.
At dawn, outside Zhangpu City, there was a sound of shouting and killing.

On the top of Zhangpu City, countless simple ladders were placed on the edge of the city wall. The dark masses of Ming soldiers below the city kept climbing up the city wall along the ladders and fighting with the Qing soldiers on the city wall.

Shi Xian jumped onto the top of the city wall in iron armor, followed by dozens of guards in iron armor. At this time, the Qing army defending the city on the top of the city wall was also retreating step by step.
Zhangpu County had only a few hundred soldiers defending the city. The Ming army came straight to the city from the sea along the river mouth. The Qing army in Zhangpu City had no defense at all and was directly faced with the attack of thousands of Ming troops.
Shi Xian was wearing iron armor and was hacking and killing people on the top of the city wall. Under the protection of dozens of personal guards, the defenders on the top of the city wall were almost defeated.
Soon, as Shi Xian and his personal guards killed the city wall commander, the defenders on Zhangpu City Wall finally completely fled. At this time, it was only half an hour before the Ming army arrived in Zhangpu.

The defenders on the city wall were killed. Some of the Qing soldiers in the city knelt down to surrender, but were directly killed by the Ming soldiers who rushed to the top of the city wall. The remaining defeated soldiers saw that these Ming soldiers did not even want prisoners, so they also fled directly into the city.
The Ming army controlled the top of the city wall, and the gate of Zhangpu slowly opened. Countless soldiers immediately rushed into the city, searching and killing people in Zhangpu.
Shi Xian stood on the top of the city wall. As the Ming army rushed into Zhangpu, the city was in chaos, with cries of fear and screams everywhere.
There were only a few hundred Qing troops stationed in Zhangpu City, most of whom died in battle on the city walls. Only one or two hundred escaped into the city. At this time, thousands of Ming troops rushed into the city. How could there be so many rebels to kill?
At this time, the Ming army was looting the city. All the shops and houses on the street, any place that looked like a wealthy family's residence, were broken into by the Ming army soldiers. The rich people in the city were dragged into the street while they were sleeping, and any resistance was hacked to death.
Shi Xian stood on the top of the city wall, listening to the screams from all over the city, but his face was calm. Zhangpu City was occupied by the Tartars, and since the people in the city stayed in the city, they were traitors. In this case, why should we be polite to these people?
Before the siege, he allowed the soldiers to plunder freely after entering the city in order to boost morale.

Although the siege did not take much effort, if we prevented the soldiers from entering the city to plunder, it would probably lead to complaints from the soldiers and damage their morale.
Shi Xian waited for a while on the top of the city wall. Not long after, a deputy general came hurriedly and said:

"General, the seal and letter of the Zhangpu garrison commander have been found."

Shi Xian took the seal from the deputy general, looked at the copper seal of the general and the correspondence between Zhao'an and Zhangzhou, and a hint of joy flashed across his face. He immediately said

"Immediately send someone on a boat to deliver this seal and document to my eldest brother."

Shi Xian was Shi Lang's younger brother. In this operation, Huang Ting and Shi Fu stayed in Tongan to confuse the enemy. The one who actually commanded this operation was Shi Lang, who proposed the plan. The two guards took the copper-sealed letter and immediately ran down the city. Soon, a warship sailed towards the river mouth in the river not far from the city.
Shi Xian looked at the deputy general beside him, thought for a moment, and then spoke directly

"Notify the captains of each unit to evacuate Zhangpu in half an hour. Have them lead their men out of the city without delay."

Shi Lang's plan was divided into two steps. The first step was to capture Zhangpu and seize the seal of the garrison commander.

Now Shi Lang and other Ming troops are floating on the sea waiting for news. Only when Shi Xian seizes the seal of Zhangpu here, Shi Lang and others will officially land in Yuegang to attack Zhangzhou.

In order to ensure the success of this first step, Shi Xian had 4,000 to 5,000 men. Now that they had successfully obtained the seal of the Zhangpu garrison commander, they would naturally return as soon as possible to join Shi Lang and his men and attack Zhangzhou together.
The deputy general beside him heard Shi Xian's order, but a trace of hesitation appeared on his face, and he said

"General, the soldiers are very excited about the fight right now. If we ask them to withdraw so soon, they might complain."

"Moreover, I found 30,000 to 40,000 taels of silver, as well as a lot of silk, cotton cloth, copper coins, etc. in the county government office. I guess they were all robbed by these Tartars. Why not postpone it for another hour so that we can transport all the stolen goods out?"

The deputy general licked his lips, a trace of greed flashed in his eyes.

Shi Xian looked at the deputy general beside him, his face immediately turned cold, and he said

"I will say this one last time. Everyone gather outside the city and evacuate in half an hour."

"Tell those captains and captains that the warships will leave in half an hour. If they don't leave, I will let them be the garrison commanders of Zhangpu and let them stay here to rob as much as they want."

Shi Xian's face was cold. It would be fine if it was any other time, but what time was it now?

For this plan, the Shi family sent almost all of their troops to the battle.
Shi's army was short of horses. If they could not quickly attack Zhangzhou, once they were driven back by the Qing army in Changtai, the soldiers attacking Zhangzhou would not be able to escape and would most likely be wiped out under the city of Zhangzhou.
The Shi family put all their wealth on the line. On the one hand, they had to do it because of the situation. On the other hand, they wanted to help the imperial court defeat the Qing invaders in Fujian Province and win a long-lasting title for the Shi family.
Compared with this, a few tens of thousands of taels of silver is nothing. How could Shi Xian delay such an important event for such a small amount of silver?

Before Shi Lang arrived, he had given him strict orders to gather his troops and return to attack Zhangzhou immediately after the city was captured.

Shi Xian knew Shi Lang's character very well. Shi Lang had worked hard for this plan and even put himself on the line. If Shi Lang knew that he had wasted time for tens of thousands of taels of silver, Shi Lang would really kill him afterwards.
The deputy general's face changed slightly when he heard what Shi Xian said. Zhangpu is located between Zhao'an and Zhangzhou, and is surrounded by cities controlled by the Qing army. As long as the news spreads, I'm afraid the Qing army will immediately launch a large-scale attack.

They came here by boat this time. If Shi Xian left with the boat, the people left in the city would basically have no way out.

The deputy general saw Shi Xian's indifferent expression and knew that Shi Xian had made up his mind. He could only say it was a pity in his heart, and then hurriedly retreated from the tower and went to the city to inform the soldiers.
Half an hour later, under the scolding and urging of the generals, about 4,000 soldiers finally gathered outside the city reluctantly, but there were still 500 to 600 soldiers who were already eager to loot and completely ignored the military orders and remained in the city.

As expected, Shi Xian no longer cared about the soldiers who had not left the city, and directly ordered the soldiers to board the ship and evacuate.
On the river bank, a group of soldiers, all stuffed with luggage, boarded the ship one after another. After the last soldier boarded the ship, a fire suddenly burst out from Zhangpu City.

Thick smoke billowed in Zhangpu City, and the red flames reflected the river surface in bright red. Amidst the billowing flames and the screams of the whole city, the warships raised their sails and headed towards the distant sea.

On the sea, after Shi Lang received the seal and victory report sent by Shi Xian, he did not hesitate at all and directly ordered the ships to sail. More than a hundred warships anchored on the sea immediately headed towards Yuegang.
Yuegang is a major port in Fujian Province. When maritime trade was flourishing, thousands of ships set sail from Yuegang every day, handling countless goods. Whether it was foreign merchants or Fujian merchants, countless goods from the Central Plains gathered here, and then were loaded here and sold to Japan, Southeast Asia and even Europe.

However, as the war broke out in Fujian Province, the trade routes were cut off and Yuegang quickly declined.

The Qing court was now short of manpower in Fujian Province and did not take this so-called major maritime trade port seriously. It only sent more than a hundred Green Camp Han soldiers to guard it.

Shi Lang and his men suddenly appeared outside Yuegang with hundreds of ships. As soon as the seven or eight thousand soldiers on the ships arrived at the foot of the city, the Han soldiers in the city came out and surrendered.
Shi Lang captured Yuegang without a single drop of blood. However, he did not stop there. He only left a few hundred soldiers in the city to control the city and provide support. Then he led his soldiers and rushed quickly to Zhangzhou, which was not far away.
(End of this chapter)