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

Chapter 248: In the Navy
Sanshui County of Guangzhou Prefecture is located in the Pearl River Delta, where the Xijiang River, Beijiang River and Suijiang River meet. It is densely covered with rivers and the terrain is mainly plains, making it difficult to defend. This place was originally a commercial port. It was established as a county during the Jiajing period. It is 120 miles east of Guangzhou, 130 miles southwest of Zhaoqing, and 130 miles north of Qingyuan.

On April 18, Dan Chu led the main force of the Ming army to Sanshui.

The eunuch Pang Tianshou came out of the city to greet him. He was overjoyed to see Danchu and said, "The general is wise and brave, and he has led tens of thousands of elite soldiers to help us. I can finally put down this heavy burden on my shoulders."

His face was haggard, his voice was hoarse, and his eyes were bloodshot, and he had obviously suffered a lot. Emperor Yongli and his ministers fled from Zhaoqing to Wuzhou, but Pang Tianshou volunteered to supervise the battle at the Sanshui front, which was even more commendable.

Historically, Pang Tianshou flattered Sun Kewang and forced Yongli to abdicate, and was therefore considered a traitor by traditional historians. But like many Southern Ming figures, he was a complex person who could not be evaluated with a single standard of black and white.

Danchu had a feud with Pang Tianshou. Now, he is the general who supports the suppression of the rebellion and controls all the towns. He should treat people with sincerity and not take revenge for personal gain.

"Eunuch Pang is loyal to the king and has defended Sanshui for two months, which is already quite difficult. I have come to Sanshui to take over the defense, and I will need to rely on you for military advice in the future."

"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it." Seeing Dan Chu's humble attitude, Pang Tianshou felt relieved and told Dan Chu everything about the situation at the front line.

On March 9, Shang Kexi, the Prince of Pingnan under the Manchu Qing Dynasty, led his army to attack the northern city of Guangzhou. Guangzhou is a famous pearl in Lingnan, with high walls and thick walls. The Qing army had just arrived and lacked siege equipment, so they had to hastily build ladders to attack the city.

Du Yonghe, the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi during the Ming Dynasty, was originally a member of Li Chengdong's central army. He was known for his bravery and good fighting skills. He led the army in defense and defeated the Qing army.

Shang Kexi realized that the Ming army was still strong and that if he attacked Guangzhou, he would suffer heavy casualties. So, he asked the Qing court for help while sending soldiers to capture people and dig trenches around the north, west and east of Guangzhou to try to besiege the defenders. He also recruited the pirate Xu Tulong to surrender and tried to control the Pearl River estuary south of Guangzhou.

The war in Guangzhou was temporarily suspended, and Shang Kexi divided his troops to capture the surrounding counties and prefectures, trying to cut off the branches and isolate Guangzhou.

Sanshui connects Guangzhou and Zhaoqing and was attacked by the Qing army. Pang Tianshou led 5,000 defenders and, relying on the city walls and navy defense, repelled the Qing army's three attacks. More than 1,000 defenders were killed or wounded, and they have survived until now thanks to Zhaoqing's occasional support.

……

"I heard that the Tartars have started to cast cannons and build warships?" Dan Chu had already obtained the relevant information and deliberately asked Pang Tianshou.

"I have heard a little rumor that the Tartars are casting red cannons in Conghua County and supervising the construction of warships in Qingyuan and Yingde."

The intelligence collected by the Intelligence Bureau was more detailed. Shang Kexi knew that the walls of Guangzhou were strong and there were many Ming troops in the city. "It would be difficult to achieve success without cannons," so he ordered Ji Yisheng, the magistrate of Conghua, to speed up the casting of cannons. Ji Yisheng was originally an official of the Ming Dynasty and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty not long ago. Conghua had iron mines, and Ji Yisheng knew how to cast cannons, so he volunteered to cast cannons for the Qing army.

The Qing army already had 27 red cannons, some of which were brought from Ganzhou, Jiangxi, or captured from the Ming army. Shang Kexi ordered Ji Yisheng to cast 53 cannons, making a total of 80.

As for shipbuilding, Shang Kexi also attached great importance to it. He ordered General Xu Erxian and Lieutenant General Sheng Dengke to supervise the construction of warships in Qingyuan and Yingde respectively, with a plan to build an additional 120 ships.

The Qing army's deployment was remarkable. The chief commander, Shang Kexi, was born into a family of brave generals in Dongjiang Town and was familiar with naval warfare. The Han troops under his command were good at firearms, so they were able to defeat the larger force with a smaller one, forcing Dongxun to defend himself but not fight back.

Pang Tianshou saw that Danchu was lost in thought, so he stopped talking. When he saw that Danchu's expression had eased, he said, "General, there is something I need to remind you of."

"Please speak, Eunuch Pang." "Du Yonghe is the governor of Guangzhou. He regards Guangzhou as his own territory. He defeated the Tartars in the north of the city a month ago. He is even more arrogant and confident. He does not allow his fellow soldiers to approach Guangzhou to prevent others from getting involved in Guangzhou. Li Yuanyin tried to reinforce Guangzhou, but was stopped by Du Yonghe. This old slave also tried to reinforce Guangzhou, but was stopped by Du Yonghe."

Guangzhou was surrounded by the Tartars, but the garrison commander still insisted on his own gate and prevented his fellow soldiers from approaching Guangzhou. It sounds incredible, but it is absolutely true and it is also something that really happened in the history of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

The fall of a dynasty generally begins when the imperial court loses its authority and local governments become too powerful to control it. The Yongli Dynasty was doomed from the beginning, and there has been no improvement since then, and the situation has only gotten worse.

"Du Yonghe stopped the friendly forces from entering Guangzhou, but he used the navy?"

"General, I understand." Pang Tianshou hesitated for a moment, but still plucked up the courage to ask, "I dare to say a few more words. The Heavenly Army has entered Sanshui with nearly 30,000 soldiers and hundreds of warships. The soldiers are fighting bravely and are full of vigor. I wonder how the general should attack the Tartars?"

In Pang Tianshou's opinion, it would be best to launch a counterattack immediately and fight a good battle to vent the anger of the dead Ming troops, and also to give the court a great victory and boost the morale of the imperial court.

"We must plan carefully before we act, first we must be invincible, then we can make progress. Eunuch Pang, you can go and have a rest. I came here to teach you a lesson."

After all, there had been a conflict, and Danchu was unwilling to let the eunuchs interfere in military affairs, so he simply excluded Pang Tianshou from the decision-making circle.

Sanshui and Guangzhou are located in the Pearl River Delta, with dense water networks. If you want to be invincible, you must strive for the right to control the river. In the evening, Danchu summoned Li Yuanyin, Chen Qice, and Ruan Tingfeng to inquire about the navy.

Chen Qice was in charge of the navy and was familiar with this. He said, "Duke Rui has two navies under his command, led by Generals Wu Wenxian and Yin Zhirong. They have no less than 200 warships and thousands of large and small ships. I heard that Duke Rui has submitted a petition to the court, recommending Wu Wenxian as Earl and Yin Zhirong as Commander-in-Chief to boost the morale of the navy."

Du Yonghe defeated the Qing army in the north of Guangzhou. The news of the victory reached Wuzhou. Emperor Yongli was very pleased and promoted Du Yonghe to Duke of Rui. Many of the generals of Dongxun were promoted to marquises, and most of the deputy generals were promoted to earls.

"The Tartars are also recruiting soldiers and horses, trying to strengthen their navy. Previously, Shang Kexi sent people to persuade the Red Flag pirate Xu Tulong to surrender. Xu Tulong also persuaded Liang Biaoxiang and Liu Longsheng to surrender. The three generals had a total of 125 warships, and their power was gradually growing.

"Shang Kexi was still not satisfied, so he ordered General Xu Erxian and Lieutenant General Sheng Dengke to supervise the construction of warships in Qingyuan and Yingde. At the same time, he recruited 2,200 sailors, marked out the ground as ships, and practiced naval battles day and night."

As Chen Qice spoke, he secretly glanced at Li Yuanyin, his tone full of regret.

Xu Tulong, Liang Biaoxiang and Liu Longsheng were "long-time bandits of the Red Flag Navy", in fact, pirates along the coast of Guangdong. Li Yuanyin recruited Liang Biaoxiang and Liu Longsheng to surrender, and organized them into the Zhaoqing Navy, stationed in the Zhaoqing Lingyang Gorge, and led by the Central Army Wang Jie. Wang Jie "tortured them", and Liang Biaoxiang and Liu Longsheng "suddenly rebelled and went to the enemy camp", and instead surrendered to Shang Kexi.

Shang Kexi was originally from the Dongjiang Navy, so he knew the importance of the navy. He appointed Xu Tulong, Liang Biaoxiang, and Liu Longsheng as deputy commanders of the navy, and tried his best to win them over. With the Red Flag pirates, the Qing army gained a firm foothold in Guangzhou and even began to organize troops to attack Sanshui.

On the other hand, the Navy Association brought more than 30 warships, all of which were long dragons and three-panel ships, and the ships were relatively small. Chen Qice had more than 100 warships, but not many Guang ships. Guang ships were made of iron wood, which was strong and durable and could withstand strong winds and waves. They were considered the best sea ships today.

Danchu sighed, "This battle depends on the navy. If the navy is not good, there is no way to talk about aiding Guangdong. If our army wants to aid Guangdong, we must first start by defeating the enemy's navy."

(End of this chapter)