Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 291: When the Tartars approach, open fire with all your strength

With the wonders of nature and the rise of maritime trade, Guangzhou gradually became one of the largest cities in the Ming Dynasty. However, due to various factors, the defense of this important economic and trade center was far from commensurate with its economic status.

This is inevitable. Although the Japanese pirates also caused a lot of harm to Guangdong in the past, due to their origin and geographical location, their activities were mostly concentrated in Fujian and Zhejiang.

Afterwards, Hu Zongxian won a great victory, followed by the opening of the Longqing Pass. The old Japanese pirates could no longer pose a threat, and the new ones were cut off. The southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty was completely stable, and there was no need to station troops in places like Guangzhou.

Further back are the red-haired people and the French.

Their ultimate plan was to occupy a place as a transit station for maritime trade, so their style of action was not like that of the Japanese pirates who would run away when they saw a large group or rob a small group. They always wanted to annihilate the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense forces in one fell swoop before doing anything else.

As a result, although the fleets on both sides fought several times at sea, the major cities along the coast were not greatly affected.

As a result, Guangzhou's city defense became increasingly lax over time, even to the point where people of unknown origin could enter the city openly.

Fortunately, Xu Renjue has not been idle in the past three or two months. Although matters such as recruiting new troops and strengthening city defenses are not decided by him, the reorganization and training of local garrisons began after the talents in Guangdong and Guangxi were stabilized.

just
"What should I do? What should I do?"

When he first climbed the city wall, Gu Yuanjing was frightened by the red-haired warships that covered the surface of the river. Later, although he discovered with Xu Renjue's reminder that the enemy's shells rarely hit the city walls, he had served in Guangdong for such a long time, how could he not know how weak the defense of Guangzhou City was.

It's not that he is timid. The Red Hairs have always been at odds with the navy of the Zheng family in Fujian and have hardly taken any action against the city of Guangzhou. This time they are attacking with such great momentum. How could they mobilize such a large force if they were not 80% to 90% sure?

"Zhongcheng, although General Xu has gone to reorganize the army, the number of soldiers in the city is still too small. We should mobilize the people in the city to help defend the city as soon as possible."

Seeing Gu Yuanjing's reaction, Song Yingsheng considered his words and spoke immediately.

His current official position is the Governor of Guangdong. Since the prefect of Guangzhou sent by the imperial court has not yet taken office, he often runs between the two yamen. No one knows the situation in Guangzhou city better than him.

There are more than 2,000 troops stationed in the city. If the troops brought by Xu Yinjue are included, the total number can be barely 3,400 to 3,500.

Such a force is just a drop in the bucket for the long Guangzhou city wall. If the Reds are really determined to attack the city, then they will have to defend everywhere, but there will be loopholes everywhere.

So after seeing the red-haired man putting up such a scene, although he was shocked for a moment, it only took him a moment to realize what was the top priority for them, the civil servants.

"That's true, that's true."

After hearing what Song Yingsheng said, Gu Yuanjing reacted immediately. He didn't know whether the panic had not yet subsided from his heart or he was too anxious to make himself stand still, but he only responded twice and turned around to go down the city.

Seeing the other party's behavior, Song Yingsheng didn't react much. After all, the red-haired man came too suddenly, and Gu Yuanjing was not a smart person, so he started to think after watching him leave.

There is really no reason why the red-haired man came.

Not to mention whether they could capture Guangzhou, even if they did, how could they defend such a big city with such a small number of people?
As an official in a coastal city, Song Yingsheng naturally knew that there were Dutch strongholds on Taiwan Island, but at the same time he also knew that there were only one or two thousand soldiers in those strongholds.

You have to know that in the eyes of the imperial court, the Dutch just wanted to find a place to settle down, so when there was trouble in the north, they were allowed to gain a foothold in Taiwan.

But if they really occupy a big city like Guangzhou this time, the court will no longer turn a blind eye to them.

Needless to say, Guangxi will send troops by then, and even Hunan and Jiangxi will send troops as well.

Under such circumstances, even if their firearms were slightly more powerful, how could they defend such a big city?
Do they regard the Ming Dynasty as the indigenous people of South America?
As his thoughts turned, the doubts in Song Yingsheng's heart became more and more intense.

The two brothers have always been interested in the study of things, and thus they not only had some contacts with missionaries from the West, but also verified what they said was the "Kunyu World Map" left by Zheng He's fleet.

From this, he also knew what had happened on the continent named South Asia America in the "Kunyu World Map".

But Westerners have been dealing with the Ming Dynasty for a long time. During this process, not only did they have very close trade relations with the Ming Dynasty, but they also suffered heavy losses several times due to their impulsive thoughts.

Under such circumstances, even if they really wanted to make things difficult for the Ming Dynasty, they would not have sent out so many troops.

Could it be that they wanted to take advantage of the gap between the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars to bite off a piece of meat?
just
"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

Just as Song Yingsheng's mind was full of thoughts, a burst of extremely dense gunfire suddenly brought him back to reality. When he turned his gaze to the river in surprise, he saw that more than ten ships of the enemy fleet, which was still quite far away from Guangzhou City, had approached him.

"Have all the officers arrived?"

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, I have sent someone to call him."

After hearing the answer from his attendant, Song Yingsheng was anxious but there was really nothing he could do.

As soon as he heard the sound of artillery fire, he had sent people to gather all the officials from the two yamen, but now at least three or four quarters of an hour had passed, and there was still no sign of the officials.

He was naturally a little dissatisfied with such a speed, but this would be the case wherever he went after a long period of peace, so he hesitated for a moment and finally just urged it again, but did not make any further moves.

After all, although the Ming Dynasty was in turmoil during the past few decades, Guangzhou was generally stable.

Under such circumstances, not to mention the yamen runners, even the Guangzhou garrison troops who had been trained by Xu Renjue for quite a while might not be much better.

"General! Red Hair's boat is approaching!"

After seeing the situation in the river clearly, Xu Renjue went directly to the camp in the city. Afterwards, although he gathered all the troops in the camp together at a not too slow speed, before the enemy's situation became clear, he only assigned his soldiers to their respective defense areas but did not actually send them out.

Why?

After all, the power in his hands was limited. How could he dare to deploy these soldiers onto the city wall before the enemy revealed their true intentions?
Xu Renjue understood clearly that the power of the Red Hairs was limited after all. With the strength they had demonstrated, there would be no problem in blocking the river, but relying solely on these warships would not pose any real threat to Guangzhou.

So in his opinion, the Red Hairs either wanted to take advantage of the time when the Ming Dynasty was fully focused on fighting the Qing army to force the court to agree to certain of their conditions, or they had other cards in their hands that they had not played yet.

But this card has too many possibilities.

Looking at the dozen or so enemy ships approaching, Xu Renjue's mind was racing. Could there be an insider in the city?

Probably not likely.

The big families in the city all have families and businesses, and His Majesty has already promised to help them reopen trade routes. Those who have made their fortunes through maritime trade will soon gain huge benefits. So even if the big families don't die for His Majesty, they should at least live in peace. How could they collude with the red-haired man?
With this in mind, Xu Renjue originally wanted to order each team to go to different defense areas, but after a little hesitation, he finally looked at the river without saying a word, but never issued any military orders.

"General, give the order to fire."

Faced with Xu Renjue's performance, the local military generals under his command, although somewhat anxious, still showed a certain degree of understanding.

They naturally knew how the Yingtian Army had dealt with the Jingjiang Rebel King who had besieged Ding Kuichu for a long time as easily as cutting melons and vegetables in that battle. But at the same time, they also knew that it was General Hu and his troops who had annihilated the enemy's land camp in that battle. The second son of the Duke of Wei's mansion probably just ran with the navy and did not play a big role.

Therefore, in their opinion, the reason why their superior, who came from a noble family, remained silent after organizing his troops was probably because he was frightened by the formation created by the enemy.

In this way, when they found that their superior had not yet come to his senses, someone would risk offending him and remind him.

just
"hold on."

"General, the city walls have been in disrepair for a long time. If we let the red-haired man get close to them, I'm afraid they won't be able to hold out for long."

"Can our artillery hit it at this distance?"

After Xu Renjue finished speaking, the generals, who had various thoughts in their minds, couldn't help but be stunned.

Can’t hit it?

Probably not clear.

This cannon has not been fired for many years since the Japanese pirates disappeared. If Xu Renjue had not had some knowledge of various types of cannons because Your Majesty was accustomed to using the navy, I am afraid that no one in Guangzhou would know how far this display on the top of the city wall could fire.

"Our cannon can't reach that far. Let's see if the red-haired guy will get closer."

When he saw his generals standing there in a daze because of his question, Xu Renjue followed up with an explanation. Afterwards, he didn't care what everyone was thinking. He kept evaluating the distance between the two sides and thinking about the real intention of Red Hair's move.

"Report~~~~! General, found five miles outside the city."

At this moment, a scout who had been sent by Xu Renjue to check the situation outside the city came back breathlessly.

According to common sense, Guangzhou was under artillery attack by the enemy at this time, and no matter how one describes the urgency of the military situation, it would not be an exaggeration. But who would have thought that at this critical juncture, the scout stopped halfway through his speech at the most critical point, and Xu Renjue, who had been keeping a calm face, was finally aroused by his performance and became anxious.

"Hurry up and tell me! If you delay the military situation, I will kill you!"

"Found. Found the Tartars."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone around him looked in disbelief, and even the thought of scolding the scout was stuck in their minds.

What a joke, it's not an exaggeration to say that the Tartars are thousands of miles away from here, how could...
Red-haired, Tartar.

Damn!
As their thoughts turned, an incredible possibility, which was 80% to 90% likely the truth, emerged in everyone's mind.

Then all the generals on the city wall turned to look at their superiors in surprise, but to their surprise, the young man who had been in a daze since he climbed onto the city wall suddenly laughed.

This... is probably crazy.

"I thought Red Hair had come up with such a brilliant plan, but it turns out that the two defeated generals were linked together."

Honestly speaking, although Xu Renjue's behavior was intended to stabilize the morale of the troops, it cannot be denied that there was also some sincerity mixed in.

For someone like him who has a family background in military training and has actually experienced battle, the only thing he fears is not being able to figure out the enemy's true intentions.

At this time, because of the report from the scout, Red Hair's mind was no longer shrouded in the fog, and all that remained was a fight to the death.

In this way, even though the outcome was still unpredictable, it was much better than knowing nothing before, and his laughter became more natural.

Now that the situation was clear, all that remained was to explain his ideas in detail to the generals. When he saw that the generals' concerns seemed to have been slightly alleviated, he continued.

"The Tartars have come from afar, their momentum will not last long, and their army will not be large. As long as we can survive this initial attack, we will surely win a great victory after their momentum is weakened. By then, I will definitely ask for credit for you in front of His Majesty!"

As soon as the words fell, no matter what the generals thought in their hearts, they all looked quite excited, as if they were bound to win this battle and the great credit was right in front of them.

"But having said that, this is my first battle as a general leading the army alone. If any of you embarrasses me in front of His Majesty..."

Before the generals could express their determination to win, Xu Renjue's words reached everyone's ears. However, there was a strong threat in his words, which made the generals present alert.

Having said this, Xu Renjue had no other words to boost morale except issuing military orders step by step.

Afterwards, he ordered a large group of troops to wait behind the southeast city wall, and sent people to Gu Yuanjing and Song Yingsheng to ask them to prepare matters such as roadblocks.

After finishing all this, the eight or nine generals who were surrounding him took their orders and left. There was no other sound on the top of the city except the continuous sound of artillery fire.

At this time, the more than ten warships of the Red Hair Army that had stood out from the formation had already stopped, and the sound of artillery fire that came into his ears gradually became more frequent. However, in Xu Renjue's estimation, the cannons on the top of the city that had not been fired for many years seemed unlikely to be able to reach that distance, so he hesitated for a long time before speaking to the general in charge of defending the city.

"Turn the guns around and fire at full force when the Tartars get close."

Some people may question the "Kunyu Wanguo Quantu" here, but if no one had discovered the "Tiangong Kaiwu" in Japan, we probably would not have known about Song Yingxing until now.

The history of the Ming Dynasty has been tampered with too much.

In addition, Taiwan’s TV stations once reported that “the Vatican acknowledged that the “World Map” was drawn by Zheng He’s fleet and deleted the content in which Matteo Ricci participated in drawing.”

Of course, given my lack of trust in the ethics of Taiwan's television stations, I don't think this is 100% true, but the claim that "Kunyu Wanguo Quantu" was drawn by foreigners is absolutely untenable.



(End of this chapter)