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

Chapter 3 March
After returning to the camp, Cen Danchu also bought a set of equipment. Although time was tight, he was already Jiao Lian's personal soldier, and he would respond to any requests. Soon he had a mount, a horn bow, and a waist sword. At first glance, he looked like a combat soldier.

At noon, the rain became more and more dense, but the officers and soldiers of the standard camp were not discouraged and set out in the rain. There were a total of 327 standard soldiers, all of whom were cavalrymen. Each of them had two horses, one horse for the mount and one horse for carrying armor, dry food and other items.

Although the team cannot be said to be huge, it should not be underestimated.

Guangxi does not produce horses, and war horses are even more scarce. In addition to eating grass, war horses also have to eat black beans and other horse feed. The supplies needed to raise a war horse can feed several soldiers.

When Cen Dan first entered the military camp, he was satisfied to be assigned a war horse, and did not expect to have two horses like other standard soldiers.

He only had a small bow and a sword with an old scabbard, no armor or extra weapons. An old horse and simple weapons were enough to carry his ambitions.

The spring rain kept falling, hitting my face and feeling very cold. The sky was overcast, and although it was noon, it was as dark as dusk. The wind was whistling, mixed with miserable cries, as if there were countless lonely ghosts.

Just as the messenger said, the road was muddy, and rain washed down from high places, exposing bones from time to time.

"Bones are exposed in the wild, and no rooster crows for a thousand miles." The standard-bearers are accustomed to this and turn a blind eye.

It was Cen Danchu’s first time to go to the battlefield. He was shocked to see the bones left uncollected, and an inexplicable sadness welled up in his heart.

These bones may be those of brave soldiers in the past, or they may be those of innocent civilians.

If he was a soldier, it is likely that in the 16th year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong attacked Hunan and the Ming army fought against him. Jiao Lian participated in the battle and rescued Prince Yongming. After Prince Yongming became Emperor Yongli, he had a good impression of Jiao Lian and awarded him the title of "General of Supporting and Suppressing the Enemy".

If it was a commoner, he would most likely have died at the hands of Liu Chengyin. Liu Chengyin had been entrenched in southern Hunan for a long time, with a large number of troops and horses, but no food or money, and he often robbed the common people, being even more cruel than bandits.

The front army suddenly slowed down, interrupting Cen Danchu's thoughts. He looked up and saw a depression in front of him, with water deeper than the horses' bellies. The standard-bearers in front held up their dry food and weapons, while the standard-bearers behind lined up across the water and crowded together.

There are too few model soldiers!

The standard-bearer is both a personal soldier and a standard and model soldier, directly under the command of the general. His first task is to protect the general, second is to wait for opportunities to kill the enemy, third is to set an example for the troops, and fourth is to suppress his subordinates.

Whenever a general takes charge of an army, he will do everything he can to expand the standard camp. Jiao Lian was an open-minded person. The troops under his command were foreign troops, and the standard soldiers were all from Shaanxi. For various reasons, Jiao Lian had only 3,000 combat soldiers and only 300 veteran soldiers from northern Shaanxi in the standard camp.

Now, Jiao Lian wants to use these 300 standard bearers to rescue Guilin and resist the Qing army, which is at its peak. Can he succeed?
Guangxi is mountainous, with mountains all over the north. Quanzhou is located in the north of Yuechengling Mountain Range. After crossing Yuechengling and heading south, passing Yanguan and Lingqu, the front is slightly flat, and you can reach Guilin through Xing'an and Lingchuan counties.

It was more than 300 miles from Quanzhou to Guilin by land, but most of the roads were mountainous and it was raining heavily. It was really difficult to reach Guilin within three days.

Jiao Lian led the way, and Cen Danchu stayed beside him. When it was their turn to wade through the water, Jiao Lian said, "Boy, keep an eye on my bowstring. Make sure it doesn't get wet."

High-quality bowstrings are mostly made of ox tendons, or even tiger tendons or bear tendons. These animal tendons are tough, reliable, and durable, but they are afraid of fire and water. Once wet, they will become soft and swollen and lose their elasticity.

Cen Danchu carefully took out a small copper stove from his chest and replied, "Don't worry, Marshal. There is always charcoal in the copper stove, which will keep the bowstring dry and ready for use at any time."

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, it was a period of transition from cold weapons to hot weapons. The reliability, power and firing rate of muskets were not satisfactory, and sometimes even worse than bows and arrows.

The Manchu Eight Banners were the most powerful cavalry in Asia. Their most important weapon was the Manchu Great Bow, which had a strong pulling force and was as powerful as a musket, but its firing rate and reliability far surpassed that of a musket. Coupled with their war horses and armor, the Manchu Eight Banners had a strong ability in field battles and were rarely matched.

Jiao Lian had been in many battles and also attached great importance to bows and arrows. He carried a copper furnace with him and placed the bowstring next to the furnace to keep it dry, ensuring that he could string the bow and shoot the arrow at any time.

Cen Danchu felt a little thirsty, so he opened his water bag to drink some water.

Jiao Lian reminded him: "Sweating is inevitable during the march. Rainwater washes the ground, and the water quality is poor, making it inconvenient to replenish water. Don't drink water unless you are extremely thirsty. When you want to drink, drink it slowly in small sips."

Cen Danchu stuffed the water bag tighter and said, "Thank you for your concern, Marshal."

After passing the big puddle, there was an uphill road ahead, but there was not much water. The rain had made the road extremely slippery, with exposed rocks, and the horses slipped from time to time.

Some horses were in pain and refused to get up after falling down. The standard bearers had to step aside and whip the horses with whips to urge them to start. Cen Danchu's mount was a red bay stallion, which looked to be seven or eight years old. Like most stallions, the red bay horse was castrated and had a relatively docile character.

War horses are usually put into service when they are two to three years old, and their peak period is only two to three years. After their peak period, they have to retreat to the second line and serve as logistics horses, which usually lasts five years.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Shenzong was ambitious and tried to revitalize the horse industry during his reign. He explicitly stipulated that the service age of war horses was limited to ten years old, and they had to be retired after the age of ten.

Jiao Lian's army was short of horses, and many old horses had served beyond their service life. Cen Danchu's mount had long passed its prime, its horsepower had declined, and it could no longer charge into battle.

Despite this, Cen Danchu still loved it and refused to whip it. When encountering obstacles, it would dismount and walk. The chestnut horse seemed to understand human nature and was very welcoming to its new owner and did not slack off.

By dark, the battalion had only walked less than 40 miles. The officers and soldiers were tired and hungry, and most of them were soaked.

As night fell, the rain continued to fall, the roads were slippery and difficult to walk on, and the torches would be extinguished soon after being lit.

Jiao Lian ordered to camp and found an abandoned village to stay. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the country was in turmoil and many villages were abandoned. The clans built forts to live together to avoid the war.

After traveling for half a day in the rain, the standard bearers were very happy to finally have a night's rest. However, Jiao Lian had something to say:
"Brothers, I have promised those who stayed behind that we will arrive in Guilin in three days. Everyone must rest well tonight and get enough energy. We will set off early tomorrow morning and must arrive in Guilin on the 11th."

The standard bearers were all veterans from Shaanxi who had served in the army for a long time and were hardworking and tolerant. They were like brothers to Jiao Lian and had no complaints about his orders.

The Ming Dynasty established four towns in northern Shaanxi, all of which were important border towns and produced numerous elite soldiers and generals. In addition, Li Zicheng and Gao Yingxiang's uprising in Shaanxi also trained many elite Shaanxi soldiers and generals.

If we talk about Han Chinese soldiers and generals in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Liao people should naturally be the first. After the Liao people, the Shaanxi people can be regarded as the second.

Cen Danchu was Jiao Lian's personal soldier. He had no time to eat dry food. He was busy cleaning the room, baking clothes, wiping the saddle and armor, and feeding the horses.

Seeing this, Jiao Lian said, "Danchu, this is your first forced march, go and rest first, I'll do the rest."

Cen Danchu was very obedient and said, "Marshal, I'm not tired. I'll rest after I'm done with my work."

Jiao Lian put on a serious face and said, "Go and rest now. This is a military order."

Cen Danchu had no choice but to give up and respected Jiao Lian even more. As a commander, one must not only be brave enough to charge in battle, but also share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers in peacetime.

As the night deepened, the rain gradually subsided. Cen Danchu lay on the ground, feeling very generous. We must strengthen our studies, not only from books, but also from practice, and learn from the strong, whether they are leaders or enemies.

The next morning, before dawn, Cen Danchu was awakened. He was young and strong, and after a good sleep, yesterday's fatigue was swept away, and he had endless energy again.

The rain subsided, and the standard bearers ate their rations and continued on their way. Today's journey was all uphill, with little water accumulation, and they arrived in Xing'an County in the afternoon.

Hearing that they were almost halfway through the journey, Cen Danchu was very excited. At this rate, the standard camp would reach Guilin tomorrow night.

Jiao Lian, however, poured cold water on him: "Boy, don't relax. Going further south is Yanguan, and the road is steep and difficult to travel. We have to speed up our march."

When Cen Danchu heard this, he was startled and said:

"General, the book says that Qin Shi Huang conquered the six kingdoms and sent troops south to conquer Lingnan and Jiaozhi. He took the Yanguan Pass. The first emperor also built the Lingqu Canal before and after Yanguan Pass to connect the Lijiang River and the Xiangjiang River. From then on, Lingnan and Jiaozhi were incorporated into the Han Dynasty."

Jiao Lian laughed and said, "You are young, but you have a lot of knowledge. I am also very pleased that the Cen family has an heir."

That night, the Biaoying camp marched in the dark and arrived at Yanguan Pass at 11:00 pm. Yanguan Pass was guarded by a large army and had complete facilities. The Biaoying camp stayed overnight at Yanguan Pass for rest, so there is no need to elaborate on it.

(End of this chapter)