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

Chapter 273: The Ming Army was Defeated

In October, the Ming army in the frontier towns of Guilin was defeated, and the situation in northern Guangxi was precarious. The brave general Jiao Lian was also defeated, Pingle and Yangshuo fell one after another, and the general Zhu Minru died for his country.

On the 12th, Jiao Lian gathered his defeated troops, leaving less than 5,000 soldiers, and retreated to Lipu and Xiuren. The Qing army was extremely arrogant and pursued them relentlessly, even crossing Lipu and attacking Xiuren directly. The Ming army soldiers were shocked and fled, and Jiao Lian was in a state of embarrassment, so he had to lead his troops to flee south again.

"General Jue, the Tartars are catching up with us." An old soldier from northern Shaanxi rode his horse to catch up with Jiao Lian. His right arm was covered in blood, having been shot by an arrow.

Jiao Lian looked back and saw dust flying behind him and the sound of horse hooves. He took out his telescope and saw countless Qing army flags, and a large flag with the word "horse" on it was particularly conspicuous.

Ma Jiaolin! Jiao Lian gnashed his teeth in hatred.

This man was from Guyuan, Shaanxi. Like Jiao Lian, he inherited the title of military officer in the Ming army. He was a well-known military hero and was well-known for his bravery in his early years. The two were from the same hometown and had similar backgrounds and experiences, so they felt a sense of mutual appreciation.

In the second year of Longwu, Ma Jiaolin was appointed as the deputy general of Yuezhou and was under the command of Ma Jinzhong. In that year, the Qing army attacked Yuezhou and the Ming army was defeated. Ma Jinzhong, Lu Ding, Wang Yuncheng and Wang Jincai fled south. Ma Jiaolin was unable to escape and was forced to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. He was highly valued by the Qing Dynasty and has now accumulated merits and has become the general of Huguang Chenchang.

This time Kong Youde attacked Guangxi with 20,000 troops under his command, with Lian Guoan as the commander-in-chief of the left wing and Cao Dexian as the commander-in-chief of the right wing. Guangxi was in a special situation, and the Qing army was still insufficient in manpower, so Ma Jiaolin was transferred as the commander-in-chief. Another Ming army surrendered general, Xu Yong, who had been a commander-in-chief under Zuo Liangyu, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of Huguang Chenchang.

As a result, the Qing army was left with only two regiments in Hunan, one under the command of Shen Yongzhong, Duke of Xushun, and the other under the command of Xu Yong, with a total of only 15,000 troops. Kong Youde ignored the instability of his rear and concentrated his main forces to attack Guangxi.

Ma Jiaolin had attacked Pingle twice and was familiar with the terrain and people of Pingle. This time, Kong Youde used Ma Jiaolin as a detachment to attack Pingle.

His detachment was so powerful that it not only captured the Pingle Prefecture City, but also chased Jiao Lian like a stray dog.

"Marshal Jue, what should we do?" Jiao Ke, the central army commander, asked when he saw that the commander had lost his composure.

"Oh," Jiao Lian responded and said, "Go to Maoerbao and send someone to deliver a message first."

Maoerbao is located 20 miles northwest of Yong'an Prefecture, where the Red Army built a camp.

The Ming army was in disarray and quickly retreated to Maoerbao, but the Qing army was relentless and pursued them.

Before reaching Maoerbao, the Qing army's light cavalry had already caught up.

The imperial guards protected Jiao Lian and fought desperately with the Qing army, but they were outnumbered and were no match for the Qing army.

Jiao Lian was also a brave general, defending various places in Pingle, so how could he not be defeated by Ma Jiaolin? There was another hidden story behind this.

The Qing army successively broke through Zhenxia Pass, Gongcheng, and Guanyang, and the imperial court was terrified. The Ministry of War ordered Jiao Lian to divide his troops to defend Huangzhu and the gate of Wuzhou, and specifically asked for the most elite troops to supervise the flag.

When disaster struck, the imperial court not only failed to help, but also caused trouble for the heroes and governors on the front line. This was a true portrayal of the small Yongli court of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

In order to strengthen the defense of Guilin, Qu Shisi also ordered Jiao Lian to send troops to Guilin.

Originally, the Red Army guarding Zhaoping was enough to protect Wuzhou. Jiao Lian could have completely ignored the imperial edict and did not need to divide his troops to Huangzhu. Danchu had already sent an envoy to meet Jiao Lian and revealed the plan of luring the enemy deep into the territory and then destroying them. Jiao Lian did not need to divide his troops to Guilin.

But he was a son of an aristocratic family, and he obeyed orders carefully, and he could be considered a clean official among the many meritorious officials. How could he not obey the imperial edict? How could he not obey the edict of the governor?

He repeatedly divided his troops, leaving himself with no soldiers to use. When the Qing army arrived, Jiao Lian was defeated repeatedly, and even his own garrison could not be defended. He had no choice but to go to Yong'an Prefecture to join the Red Army.

What is particularly tragic is that Ma Jiaolin, a Huihui, was highly valued after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, fought very hard, and made outstanding military achievements. His situation is quite similar to that of Huang Degong's generals Tian Xiong and Ma Degong, Zuo Liangyu's generals Li Guoying, Xu Yong, Jin Shenghuan, and Gao Jie's general Li Chengdong.

These military generals who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty were not well-known in the Ming Dynasty, but after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, they showed amazing fighting power and often played a role on the battlefield that exceeded that of the Eight Banners.

Li Chengdong and Jin Shenghuan were late in achieving their goals and were still aware of the rebellion. Ma Jiaolin, Xu Yong and others were determined to join the Qing Dynasty and were willing to serve as its vanguard.

People like Jiao Lian were loyal to the Ming Dynasty and followed orders carefully, which was even more precious. But good people are not rewarded. He was chased by the Qing army and had nowhere to go. He was about to die on the battlefield.

The Ming army also had a general named Ma Yanglin, who was only one character different from Ma Jiaolin, but he was loyal to the king and was ordered to help defend Guilin. Is this loyalty or blind loyalty? Is the Ming Dynasty doomed, or is the court incompetent?

Jiao Lian was filled with grief and indignation, with nowhere to vent his anger. Since he was powerless to change the situation, he decided to die on the battlefield and leave his name in history.

He stood on his horse with his spear across his shoulders, turned his horse's head, and shouted, "Good men, who dares to help me stop the Tartars and protect the old and weak from retreating?"

Jiao Lian was good at commanding the army and often shared the joys and sorrows with his soldiers. Therefore, the soldiers were willing to obey his orders and could be counted on to fight to the death in battle.

"Marshal, I will follow you to stop the Tartars!"

"Master, I want to stay!"

……

The subordinates responded one after another, and the scene was quite tragic.

"Good man, follow me! Be careful with your arrows and don't shoot them carelessly."

As their arrows were running out, the Ming army had no choice but to engage the Qing cavalry, which was exactly what the Qing army wanted. They had seized a lot of war horses and armor in Hunan and Zhenxia Pass, and had added a lot of cavalry.

Soon, the two armies came into close combat. Jiao Lian swung his spear vigorously and killed three Qing soldiers in a row. However, his troops were few and his generals were few, especially his cavalry, and he was gradually surrounded by the Qing army.

The Ming army was getting smaller and smaller as the battle went on, and Jiao Lian also suffered multiple wounds and was almost exhausted.

Ma Jiaolin prided himself on his righteousness and intended to capture Jiao Lian alive. Upon seeing this, he immediately mobilized his personal soldiers and tried to give Jiao Lian a final blow.

At this critical moment, a Ming cavalry came from the east at lightning speed, with bright armor and flying red flags, which was very eye-catching in the sun.

Ma Jiaolin was shocked when he saw this. He had heard of the Red Army for a long time, but he did not expect that after entering Guangxi, the Red Army was in name only and refused to fight. Today, he was about to engage in battle with the Red Army, so he must not underestimate the enemy.

Jiao Lian took the opportunity to lead his troops to break out and join forces with the Red Army. The Red Army intended to rescue Jiao Lian and had no intention of fighting a life-and-death battle with the Qing army.

Ma Jiaolin was also on the sidelines. In addition, his troops were exhausted after a long raid and had no intention of fighting the Red Army.

The two armies had their own thoughts, and after a brief contact, they each withdrew.

A Red Army general wearing Ming armor rode up to Jiao Lian and immediately dismounted to apologize: "General, I am late in coming to your rescue. Please forgive me."

It turned out to be Zhao Xing!
Zhao Xing was originally a general under Jiao Lian. Last year, he fought with the Yunnan army and the two armies almost came to blows. Jiao Lian wanted to behead him as an apology, but fortunately, Cen Danchu stood up for justice and Zhao Xing was saved.

"Zhao Xing, get up quickly!" Jiao Lian also dismounted, helped Zhao Xing up, and sighed, "Without your help, I would have died!"

Zhao Xing was a general he brought up. When he was a general under Jiao Lian, Jiao Lian had complete control over his life and death. But now, he was entrusted with important tasks by Cen Danchu and became a general of the Red Army. He was no longer the same as before. Jiao Lian had to rely on Zhao Xing and needed his protection.

He laughed loudly and said, "I pride myself on my bravery. I have fought against the Tartars for many years, but I have never been in such a mess as I am today. Ma Jiaolin has bullied me too much. I must avenge him. Zhao Xing, when will you lead your troops to counterattack?"

"Uh..." Zhao Xing was tongue-tied and didn't know how to answer.

Standing next to him was a flag instructor, a student of the first batch of the military academy, known as the "Longmen First Batch" in the army. He was very smart and helped Zhao Xing out, saying, "Marshal, you don't know that the superiors are very good at using troops and are planning a major plan. They have repeatedly ordered the soldiers on the front line not to go into battle without permission. Those who disobey orders will be executed. Today, the flag instructor went out of the camp to fight, which is a violation of military orders. As for counterattack, the superiors have not given the order yet."

The teaching position was a unique military position created by the Red Army. It was assigned from the team level to the assistant level. It held the power of supervision, selection, assessment, propaganda, and education, and its status in the army gradually increased.

Cen Danchu was already a general in charge of suppressing the rebellion, and his power and position were higher than Jiao Lian's. Jiao Lian looked quite dejected, so he had to give up.

(End of this chapter)