Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 230: Guangxi's Biggest Military Leader

The Red Army dug holes in the ground to attack the city and broke into the city through the gap in the city wall. The gap was covered with blue bricks and was rugged and difficult to pass through. If the defenders resisted resolutely, there was still hope of driving the Red Army out of the city, repairing the city wall, and reorganizing the army to fight again.

However, Chen Bangfu's army was weak and morale-depleted, and the officers and soldiers were low and had no fighting spirit.

In less than two hours, the Red Army completely occupied Guixian County. Half of the defenders surrendered, and half fled out of the city. The Red Army pursued them relentlessly, and only a small number of enemy cavalry escaped.

Experience shows that the outcome of a battle often depends on the first few battles. Especially for a weak enemy like Chen's army, if they lose at the beginning, their morale will collapse, and they will suffer a crushing defeat later.

What is even more shocking is that after the Red Army captured Guixian County, Chen Bangfu not only did not actively prepare for war, but was frightened to the point of abandoning even his old nest in Xunzhou and fled to Wuzhou with all his belongings.

After the Zhongzheng Battalion left Wuzhou, the Red Army fought with the Zhongzheng Battalion at Wutunso, and a power vacuum appeared in Wuzhou. Chen Bangfu took the opportunity to send troops to occupy the city and took it into his possession. At this moment, the Red Army was approaching, and Chen Bangfu had no choice but to flee to Wuzhou.

After the commander left, the defenders of Xunzhou lost interest in fighting. The Red Army took the opportunity to instigate a rebellion, and the defenders surrendered. Cen Danchu captured Xunzhou without a fight.

The Xunzhou I had been longing for is finally here!
Xunzhou, located at the confluence of Qianjiang River and Guijiang River, is the collar of Liuzhou and Guilin, and the waist of Wuzhou and Nanning.

This place is very important. "If we don't take the lead in defense, the western part of Guangdong will be in trouble. When discussing the situation, we should not take Xunzhou as a slow plan." The Yao uprising in Datongxia during the Ming Dynasty and the Taiping Rebellion in the Qing Dynasty both broke out in Xunzhou.

The Red Army's capture of Xunzhou added a security barrier for Nanning and also connected Zhaoping and Yong'an. The significance is self-evident.

Xunzhou Prefecture only had one prefecture and three counties, namely Wujing Prefecture, Guiping County (attached to the city), Pingnan County, and Gui County. Although it was not large in area, it occupied the largest plain in Guangxi - the Xunjiang Plain.

Plains account for more than 70% of the total area in the prefecture. This is even more precious in Guangxi, where there are eight mountains, one river, and one field. Therefore, the grain production and population of Xunzhou Prefecture are considerable. The Red Army captured Xunzhou, broadened its financial resources, greatly alleviated the financial difficulties, and finally had a place to pay the officers and soldiers.

The smoothness of the war and the speed of the advance were beyond everyone's expectations. Wherever the Red Army went, the enemy surrendered. On the one hand, the Red Army had a legitimate reason to fight and occupied the moral high ground. On the other hand, a large number of tenants and untouchables responded, and the Red Army thrived in the enemy's territory.

By early December, the Red Army had occupied the entire Xunzhou Prefecture. Danchu, stationed in Xunzhou, decided to go all out and sent troops across Fancheling and into Wuzhou Prefecture to fight for Xingye County, Bobai County, Yulin Prefecture (now Yulin City), Beiliu County, Luchuan County, and Rong County.

The above one state and five counties are located in the Yulin Basin, which also has a large number of plains. Its area is slightly smaller than Xunzhou, but much larger than Pingle, Liuzhou and other prefectures.

Wuzhou is located in the center of Guangdong and Guangxi, and is known as a big prefecture in Guangxi. Its food, salaries and population depend on the above prefectures and counties. In addition to the above one prefecture and five counties, Wuzhou Prefecture City, Cangwu County, and even Cenxi County and Teng County are all surrounded by mountains, with only a small plain near the river.

In addition, the transportation from Yulin Prefecture and five other counties to Xunzhou Prefecture is more convenient.

Fancheling is just a small mountain range, belonging to the remnant of Dayong Mountain. Starting from Xunzhou, passing through Guixian, crossing Fancheling, you can enter Xingye County, and then enter the Yulin Basin and reach various places in Yulin Prefecture.

If you start from Wuzhou, you can only go by water, first go up the Xunjiang River to Tengxian, turn into the Beiliu River, then go up the Beiliu River to Rongxian, and then enter the Yulin Basin. The coast is full of mountains and ridges, making it inconvenient to travel by land.

This can also be verified from the Taiping Army in the late Qing Dynasty. There were many generals from Bobai, Yulin and Rongxian in the Taiping Army. It can be seen that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom spread to the Yulin Basin with Pingzai Mountain in Xunzhou as its center.

The Ming Dynasty assigned Yulin Prefecture and other prefectures and counties to Wuzhou to maintain Wuzhou's status as a major city. You should know that when the Ming Dynasty first established the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wuzhou was the resident.

The status of Yulin Prefecture should not be underestimated either. Yulin produces salt and is also an important transportation route in southeastern Guangxi. It has always been known as "where the salt is, boats and cars meet". Starting from Yulin Prefecture, you can go downstream along the Nanliu River to Hepu County, Lianjiang Prefecture, Guangdong. Hepu Port is a large port that can reach the South China Sea, Jiaozhi, and Nanyang. Going up the river from Yulin Prefecture, you can change to land at Tianmen Pass, and walk 20 miles to Beiliu County. In Beiliu County, you can board a boat and go downstream along the Beiliu River to Wuzhou. The Nanliu River and the Beiliu River are parallel in the upper reaches, and the narrowest part is less than ten miles apart, so Yulin Prefecture has the convenience of water conservancy.

The Red Army must seize Yulin Prefecture, which would, firstly, solve the salt problem, secondly, expand financial resources, and thirdly, extend strategic depth.

When the Red Army entered the Yulin Basin, Chen Bangfu had nowhere to retreat, so he sent his son Chen Zengyu to the front to supervise the battle. The two sides fought fiercely in Fancheling and Rongxian. Chen's army was defeated, abandoned Yulin Prefecture, and retreated to Wuzhou. By late December, the Red Army achieved its combat objectives, occupied the Yulin Basin, and took Xingye County, Bobai County, Yulin Prefecture, Luchuan County, and Rongxian into its pocket.

All the generals volunteered to take Wuzhou City in one fell swoop. However, Danchu was not very enthusiastic and ordered the frontline soldiers to restrain their troops and not to attack Wuzhou City without authorization.

That morning, the Spring Festival was approaching, and it was Laba Festival. Danchu had just finished eating Laba porridge when his personal soldiers came to report that several generals from the front line had come to pay a visit to the headquarters, including Wei Guosong, commander of the first infantry battalion, Wu Jie, commander of the third infantry battalion, and Chen Wu, commander of the auxiliary battalion, saying that they had important matters to report.

Wow, the frontline generals who have gone deep into the Yulin Basin have arrived.

Danchu asked the Right Assistant General Feng Lin: "Do you know what this is about?"

Feng Lin smiled and said, "It's probably about the capture of Wuzhou."

The general had something to do, and Dan Chu had to see him.

As soon as they met, the generals saw that Dan Chu seemed to be smiling, and they knew that he was in a bad mood, so they exchanged glances with each other.

Danchu saw this and asked, "When did you come to Xunzhou?"

The Intelligence Bureau was omnipresent, and the generals dared not lie. Wei Guosong, the commander of the First Infantry Battalion, was the most senior and spoke on behalf of everyone, saying, "Reporting to Marshal Jue, we arrived at the south bank last night and crossed the river early this morning and entered the city through the south gate."

"Did you arrange to come together?"

Military generals making friends with each other has always been feared by the superiors. Wei Guosong exchanged glances with Wu Jie and Chen Wu, and said with a stiff face: "I dare not hide it from you, Marshal, yes."

Wu Jie is from the direct lineage of Danchu, and is the sergeant of the third team. He is a very straightforward person, and he echoed: "The New Year is approaching, and the brothers prepared some gifts and asked us to pass them on to Marshal Jue. They are all worthless things, just to show their appreciation."

Chen Wu also said: "Marshal Jue has worked hard day and night. We are very grateful and have come to pay our respects before the Spring Festival."

The wording was very clumsy, so Danchu did not point it out and asked, "Is Yulinzhou still stable?"

Danchu has decided to change Yulin Prefecture into Yulin Direct Prefecture, which is under the jurisdiction of the military government and governs five counties: Bobai, Luchuan, Xingye, Rongxian and Beiliu.

As a result, the Red Army directly controlled Nanning Prefecture, Taiping Prefecture, Sicheng Prefecture, Xunzhou Prefecture, Yulin Prefecture, Yong'an Prefecture, and Zhaoping County. Si'en Prefecture, Tianzhou Prefecture, Qingyuan Prefecture, Zhen'an Prefecture, Guishun Prefecture, Siming Prefecture, and other places were mixed with locals and Han people, and all obeyed the Red Army's orders.

The entire southern and western parts of Guangxi had actually fallen into the Red Army's territory. Cen Danchu had replaced Chen Bangfu as the biggest military leader in Guangxi.

"Thanks to Marshal Jue, Yulin Prefecture has stabilized. Chen Bangfu has occupied Yulin Prefecture for many years, and the people have been complaining. The defenders surrendered, and our army is making very smooth progress."

"That's good. I appreciate your kindness. Come, give you a bowl of Laba porridge." Danchu was relieved and turned to the right military officer Feng Lin and said, "Take something from the treasury and give it back to you."

The generals were delighted and eager to try.

(End of this chapter)