Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 311 Retreat

In the lobby of Hengzhou government office, officials from Huguang gathered
He Tengjiao sat in the main seat above, and on the left below were Zhang Kuang, Fu Shangrui, Wu Jinxi and other civil officials of the Governor's Office, and on the right were Hao Yongzhong, Ma Jinzhong, Wang Jincai and other generals of the Ming army who fled to Hengzhou.
After Hao Yongzhong, there were Man Dazhuang, the general of the Dubiao Battalion, and Hu Yiqing, the lieutenant general of the Aid Jiangxi and Yunnan Battalion.

As the commander-in-chief of the Dubiao Battalion, Man Dazhuang should have sat at the top, but now he was at the bottom. This alone showed the decline of He Tengjiao's strength.
The generals in the hall sat down according to their strength. He Tengjiao didn't care at all at this time. He Tengjiao glanced at the hall and said

"We just received news from our scouts that the main force of the Qing army occupied Hengshan yesterday. Kong Youde and his vanguard have already reached Leijiabu and will arrive at Hengzhou soon."

Wang Jincai and the others below looked at He Tengjiao, who looked calm, and their hearts sank.

Cao Zhijian and Zhang Xianbi led the main force to flee. Although they also left a so-called 20,000-strong army in Hengshan City to guard it, the people of Hengzhou Prefecture did not have any hope for those people at all. Everyone had been in Huguang for a long time, and everyone knew what these so-called armies were.

Although everyone had expected the fall of Hengshan, they still felt heavy in their hearts when they heard that the Qing army was advancing so quickly.

A trace of fear flashed across Wang Jincai's face. In the Changsha battle, Wang Jincai's troops suffered the most serious losses. The 15,000 veterans who were originally inherited from Shun's army, after the defeat in Changsha, only 5,000 of them withdrew from the battlefield.

After Li Zicheng died at Jiugong Mountain, the East Road Dashun Army led by Li Zicheng was suddenly leaderless. Under Ajige's pursuit, the various units of the Shun Army were in chaos and fled for their lives.
Wang Jincai was originally a general in Shun's army. During the escape, the commander of Wang Jincai's camp was killed. The soldiers in the camp saw that Wang Jincai was tall and had a beautiful beard. They thought that he must be a rare brave general in ancient and modern times, so they elected Wang Jincai as the general and continued to lead everyone to escape.
After Yuan Zongdi, Tian Jianxiu and other Eastern Route troops retreated to Hunan Province, most of them eventually chose to go west and join forces with Li Guo's Western Route Shun Army. Only a few people, such as Wang Jincai and Hao Yongzhong, eventually stayed in Hunan Province and attached themselves to He Tengjiao.
Why did Wang Jincai stay in Hunan Province? Because his status in the original Shun Army was too low.

Once Wang Jincai followed Yuan Zongdi and others back to Shunjun, he would probably be devoured by other high-ranking generals in Shunying.
Wang Jincai was originally just a general in charge of a thousand men, but under the influence of the times, he suddenly became the commander of a large army of tens of thousands. Wang Jincai actually had no ability to command tens of thousands of troops.
After Wang Jincai escaped from Changsha, his men kept fleeing as he retreated to Hengzhou. Wang Jincai was unable to gather his men together. When he arrived in Hengzhou, he only had about 3,000 men left.
Wang Jincai suffered heavy losses, and the rest of the troops were not much better off.
Ma Jinzhong and Wang Yuncheng's troops were on the left wing. Although the left wing collapsed last, Ma Jinzhong and others withdrew from the battlefield before the rout, but in the chaos, they still lost half of their troops, leaving only more than 5,000 people.

Hao Yongzhong was in the rear of the central army. Seeing the front line collapse, he also fled very quickly.
Although Hong Yongzhong only withdrew 2,000 elite troops in the end, Hao Yongzhong's previous supply base was in Chenzhou, south of Hengzhou, and was not greatly affected. At this time, Hao Yongzhong was still able to gather 5,000 combat troops.

Ma Jinzhong's army had 5,000 men, Hao Yongzhong's army had 5,000 men, Wang Jincai's army had 3,000 men, plus the 1,000 men from Hu Yiqing's army in Yunnan who had just been recruited by He Tengjiao, and the hundreds of men under Man Dazhuang. There were only 15,000 men left in the towns of Huguang.

Cao Zhijian and Zhang Xianbi led their troops to flee westwards, and Huang Chaoxuan left without saying goodbye. Huang Chaoxuan initially used food and salary as an excuse to shirk his responsibilities, but after the Qing army left Xiangtan, Huang Chaoxuan did not even respond to the imperial edict of the Huguang Governor's Office, and just wanted to defend You County.

In fact, everyone in Hengzhou already knew what Huang Chaoxuan was thinking. These 15,000 to 16,000 men were all the troops that the Huguang Governor's Office could mobilize.
Wang Jincai was getting more and more panicked after thinking about it. The 60,000-strong imperial army under Changsha was defeated by the Tartars in one battle. Now there were only 10,000 or so defeated soldiers left in Hengzhou. How could they stop the army of Kong Youde and the other three kings?

Wang Jincai looked at He Tengjiao above and couldn't help but speak

"Governor, once Hengshan is lost, there will be hundreds of miles of fertile land behind us. The Tartars are coming aggressively. Hengzhou is an isolated city and can no longer be defended."

"We should prioritize preserving our strength at this moment. Please order the Governor to evacuate Hengzhou as soon as possible."

Everyone below nodded secretly when they heard this. Hao Yongzhong and others looked at He Tengjiao above, their eyes flickered slightly.

Hengzhou is located in a plain, with no strategic location to defend. At this time, the Qing army was attacking in large numbers, and it was obvious that they could no longer stay in Hengzhou.

Hao Yongzhong and others had already reached a consensus and decided to evacuate Hengzhou before the Qing army arrived. However, even if they wanted to evacuate now, they had to take He Tengjiao with them.

Hengzhou is the southernmost part of Hunan Province. Although there are Changning, Leiyang and other counties in the rear, they are not even going to take Hengzhou as the capital, let alone defend these counties.

Now their only way out was to retreat to Guangxi Province via Yongzhou, and use the mountainous terrain on the Hunan-Guangxi border to stop the army of Kong Youde and others.
But there is a problem with retreating to Yongzhou and Guangxi Province, that is, Yongzhou and Guangxi Province are the territory of the imperial court.
Now, all the generals in Hengzhou Prefecture have some problems in their backgrounds. If they rashly withdraw to the area controlled by the court, they will inevitably be ostracized and suppressed by the court.
If we take He Tengjiao back to Guangxi, this problem will not exist.

He Tengjiao is a senior official in the court, a serious frontier official. With He Tengjiao's status and qualifications, he is enough to block the pressure from all sides in the court.
He Tengjiao lost his base in Huguang and suffered a great loss. If he wanted to gain a foothold in the court, he could only rely on the support of the Huguang military towns.
In this way, both parties will benefit from cooperation, and no one will have to worry about the other party abandoning their efforts.

The only problem now is that He Tengjiao is stubborn and wants to defend Hengzhou to the death, but Wang Jincai and others are not worried about this. If He Tengjiao doesn't want to leave, then they can force him to leave.
It's not like they haven't done this before. They just did it once under the city of Changsha. Afterwards, whether it was He Tengjiao or Zhang Kuang and others in the Huguang Governor's Office, didn't everyone also acquiesce in it?
At this time, saving lives is the most important thing. These civil officials are too proud to speak up, so the military officials will bear the blame for them.

He Tengjiao only took a glance at the expressions of the people below, and immediately understood what Wang Jincai and others were thinking. However, He Tengjiao did not show any anger, his face was calm, and he said softly
"Where are you going to retreat to?"

"We withdrew to Yongzhou, and then to Guangxi Province, taking advantage of the geographical advantages of the Hunan-Guangxi border to deploy defenses again and fight against the Tartars."

He Tengjiao looked at Wang Jincai, who had a serious face, and then glanced at Hao Yongzhong and others who were silent in the field, but suddenly shook his head and laughed.
Hao Yongzhong and the others looked at the old man who suddenly chuckled above them, and they all looked at each other in bewilderment. However, He Tengjiao ignored their expressions and looked directly at Man Dazhuang below, and said

"Bring the things up here."

Upon hearing this, Man Dazhuang's face became solemn. He stood up, bowed to He Tengjiao, and walked out of the hall.
Man Dazhuang hurried out of the hall, and after a while, he returned to the hall holding a wooden box half an arm high. Everyone's eyes immediately fell on the square wooden box.
He Tengjiao glanced at the generals in the field, but without delay, he opened the wooden box directly. In the wooden box, a pale head appeared.
Wang Jincai and the others stared at the gray-white head on the table, stunned for a moment, and then everyone stood up in shock, looking at the head on the table with shock on their faces. If the head on the table was not Cao Zhijian, who else could it be?
Cao Zhijian had just led his army to leave the camp not long ago, and now, just a few days later, he was killed, and even his head was chopped off and sent back.
"Cao Zhijian led his troops to flee westward, ignoring the imperial court's orders and breaking into Yongzhou Prefecture without permission. The governor of southern Hunan followed the imperial court's order and led his troops to kill the rebels and beheaded Cao Zhijian. This head was just sent from Yongzhou this morning."

Wang Jincai and the others stared at the gray-white head on the table for a long time. A few months ago, when Liu Xiangke went to Changsha to report the Qing army's movements, he also warned everyone not to retreat to Yongzhou.

But no one in the Huguang towns took it seriously. They never thought that the imperial court would dare to kill the Huguang troops who retreated to Yongzhou.
All the generals in the hall took their seats, but the atmosphere suddenly became solemn. After a long silence, Wang Jincai suddenly spoke in a deep voice.

"Cao Zhijian abandoned the city and lost the land, and he did not obey the order of the governor's office, and led his troops into Yongzhou without authorization. He deserves to be killed." "But we are different from this traitor. Cao Zhijian evacuated Hengshan without authorization, leaving Hengzhou without a strategic location to defend. That's why we have no choice but to abandon Hengzhou."

"We are retreating to Yongzhou at this time in order to preserve the available troops and join forces with the army in the court to jointly resist the Tartars."

"The Tartars are invading the south, and we are evacuating now to defend the territory for the imperial court. I don't believe that the imperial court will dare to attack us when our tens of thousands of troops arrive at the city of Yongzhou."

Hao Yongzhong and the others nodded inwardly when they heard this. The world is so big, how could it be bigger than the Tartars?
Kong Youde and other Qing troops followed and could attack Yongzhou and Guangxi at any time. They did not believe that the imperial court would dare to attack them at this time.

He Tengjiao glanced at the generals on the field, but shook his head and suddenly said softly

"Do you know where Hengzhou is?"

After He Tengjiao finished speaking, he did not wait for the people below to respond, and continued

"Before His Royal Highness the Regent ascended the throne, he was the Prince of Gui. Do you know where the Prince of Gui's mansion is located?"

"Don't think about it, the place where the Prince of Gui's mansion was established is Hengzhou"

He Tengjiao chuckled and said

"Hengzhou is the residence of His Majesty the Regent. If you lose Hengzhou, you will lose the birthplace of the imperial court. Do you think my head, He Tengjiao, can shield you from the guilt of losing the birthplace of the imperial court?"

When Hao Yongzhong and the others heard this, their expressions suddenly changed. They had never noticed before that Hengzhou was actually the fiefdom of Gui Jianguo.

Since Hengzhou was the residence of Gui Jianguo, the guilt of losing Hengzhou at this time might be greater than losing Changsha.

They were also bandits. During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, they burned the imperial mausoleum in Fengyang. How many governors, provincial governors, and generals died in the Ming court?
The significance of Hengzhou to the imperial court of Guangdong Province is like the imperial mausoleum of Fengyang at that time. If the imperial court did not investigate, then their abandonment of Hengzhou was just a last resort due to the situation. If the imperial court investigated, it would be a grave crime of exterminating the entire clan.
Given the court's attitude towards them at this time, there is no need to think about how the court will deal with them later.
In the hall, whether it was Zhang Kuang and other civil officials of the Governor's Office, or Hao Yongzhong and Wang Jincai and other generals, everyone was silent. There was silence in the place. After a long time, He Tengjiao spoke softly again.

"Hengzhou is the place of death prepared by the imperial court for us. If we can defend Hengzhou, we will still have a chance to survive. If Hengzhou is lost, I will also be punished and executed."

"I have decided to defend Hengzhou to the death. Are you willing to follow me to defend the city?"

The generals below were silent when they heard this. After a long time, Hu Yiqing below suddenly spoke up and said in a deep voice:
"I and my companions fled to Huguang in a panic. Fortunately, the governor took us in when we were in danger. Only then were we able to settle down in Huguang."

"I am willing to follow the Governor to defend the city, but all my soldiers are from my hometown. The elders of my hometown have entrusted their children to me, so I need to be responsible for them."

"If things become hopeless, I will take them away and not let them die in vain."

He Tengjiao heard this and his face was calm. He said

"General Hu came here to help Jiangxi, and he had no intention of returning to Huguang. If I had known that the situation would be like this today, I would not have stopped you from returning home. I forced you to join my army, but now it seems that I have harmed you."

"The Yunnan Camp has been under my command for only three months. The affairs of Huguang have nothing to do with you. I will later cancel the records of your assignment to Huguang and write down your situation. When the city is really captured, you can leave on your own."

Hu Yiqing's expression relaxed when he heard this, and he bowed to He Tengjiao above him.
When Wang Jincai and the others heard what He Tengjiao said, their eyes lit up, but before they could say anything, He Tengjiao spoke in a cold voice.

"General Hu is a foreign soldier from Yunnan Province. He can leave, but I and the rest of you cannot."

"We, the officials of Huguang, have been living off the fat of Hunan for several years. All the financial resources of Huguang have been consumed by us, and the people of Hunan have also worked hard to support us. Now the Tartars are invading the south and slaughtering people in Hunan. How can we, who have been living off the fat of Hunan, dare to abandon Hunan at this time?"

"Hengzhou is the border of the country. As long as the city is there, the people will survive. If the city is lost, the people will die. This time, I will never retreat again. It is up to you to choose whether to stay or leave. I can't control you, but this time, I will never leave."

"I have guarded Huguang for several years, but I have not been able to defend the borders for the country, nor to provide relief to the people. There are many military towns in Hunan Province, and the rebels are rampant. The people are exploited and suffer day and night. I feel ashamed of the great kindness of the late emperor and the people of Hunan Province. I should die in Hunan Province to thank the world."

"A minister who serves as a frontier dies in his frontier, and this is a worthy death. It is what he deserves, it is what he deserves."

After He Tengjiao finished speaking, he stood up and walked out of the hall without paying any attention to the stunned faces of the people below.
After He Tengjiao left, Zhang Kuang, Wu Jinxi and other governor's officials also stood up silently and followed He Tengjiao out of the hall. Man Dazhuang and Hu Yiqing also stood up and followed the governor's officials out.
(End of this chapter)