Han’s Son is Not a Slave

Zengcheng, like Xiangshan, is a county under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Prefecture. It is only 60 kilometers away from Guangzhou City and only 40 kilometers away from Yinpingzui Mountain, the nearest control place of the Taiping Army. Therefore, the Qing Army in Zengcheng is the closest to the Taiping Army except the Shunde Green Camp. Support the Qing Army.

Zhou Shixiang did not want to attack Zengcheng at first, because in terms of distance alone, attacking Shunde, which was closer, would allow the Taiping army to raid and retreat, while attacking Zengcheng would be much farther away, which was not conducive to the strategic intention of this operation only to capture food, and at the same time. It will also increase the transportation burden of the freight camp.

However, Zhang An spent a lot of money to buy information from Tang Sanshui, which showed that although the Qing army in Shunde was smaller than Zengcheng, with only 1,600 men in total, its combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of Zengcheng's Qing army, and there were 400 standard soldiers stationed here.

Zhou Shixiang was not afraid of the Han army flag soldiers in Shunde and did not dare to fight Shunde. Today, there are more than 1,000 Han army flag soldiers in his Taiping army, and the army has no longer feared the flag soldiers before. He really decided to attack Shunde. The Taiping army morale is not weakened by the presence of flag soldiers.

The reason why Zhou Shixiang decided not to fight Shunde but to fight Zengcheng was that the general of the Qing army garrisoned in Shunde was the Green Battalion General Ge Mingyi. According to Zhang An's intelligence, Ge Mingyi was known for his good defense in the Qing army.

Ge Mingyi was originally a low-ranking officer in Zuo Liangyu's army. After Zuo Menggeng, the son of Zuo Liangyu, surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he also surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Later, he was stationed in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province with Hu Yousheng, the southern Jiangxi general appointed by the Qing court. Five years after Shunzhi, Jiangxi Jin Shengheng, Wang Deren, Guangdong Li Chengdong and other generals who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty gradually returned to Ming Dynasty. In order to open up the connection between Jiangxi and Guangdong, Jin Shengheng and Li Chengdong successively attacked Ganzhou City. The troops attacked Ganzhou fiercely, and the city of Ganzhou was firmly controlled by the Qing army. In the end, the existence of this city also made Jin Shengheng and Li Chengdong lose their hatred.

In the battle of defending the city in Ganzhou, Ge Mingyi, who was the general manager at the time, offered a number of strategies for defending the city to the general soldier Hu Yousheng. After showing his amazing talent for defending the city, Ge Mingyi was later placed under the vassal by Shang Kexi, who went south. When Li Dingguo led an army to attack Zhaoqing the year before, Ge Mingyi defended Zhaoqing City with a guerrilla rank. As a result, Li Dingguo ran into a wall under Zhaoqing City and failed to return.

After that, Ge Mingyi participated in several siege battles one after another, and the result was that the Ming army who sieged the city failed, so it can be said that as long as there is Ge Mingyi in the city. It is impossible for the siege side to break through the city gates anyway. It is precisely because of Ge Mingyi's good defense that Shang Ke ≧■ style_txt; Xi ordered him to garrison the important military town of Shunde.

Shunde is close to Jiangmen and Foshan, and also connects Panyu and Xiangshan counties. It is an important support point for the Qing army's Sanjiangkou defense line. Once Shunde loses, Guangzhou will have no barrier at all. In such an important place, Shang Kexi naturally has to send a fierce general to guard it. This fierce is not fierce on the battlefield, but fierce in defending the city. Shang Kexi's generals are like clouds. Ge Mingyi is the only one who is excellent in defending the city, and he is the only one who can shoulder the responsibility of guarding Shunde.

The Taiping Army had just formed an army, the new battalions had just been reorganized, and the training of the recruits was still insufficient, so Zhou Shixiang could not take the risk of attacking a city with a good defender. The Qing army could endure a hundred defeats, but the Taiping army could not accept one defeat. Zhou Shixiang believed that the morale of the army, which he had worked so hard to manage, would be severely damaged.

Another reason for not being able to fight Shunde is that Shunde is related to the safety of the Sanjiangkou defense line of the Qing army, and Shang Kexi can let the Taiping army operate in Xiangshan. Because the activities of the Taiping Army in Xiangshan still cannot affect the safety of Guangzhou. But Shunde is different. If the Taiping army attacks Shunde, it will easily stimulate the nerves of the Ming army of Xinhui. If the Taiping army really takes Shunde, Chen Qice and Zhu Tong of Xinhui will definitely take the opportunity to attack Sanjiangkou. At that time, the Taiping Army was behind. With the Xinhui Ming army in front, the Sanjiangkou Qing army, which was attacked by the enemy, might not be able to support it.

As soon as Sanjiangkou was lost, Shang Kexi lost the initiative in the war. At that time, it would be up to him to fight or defend, so he could only react passively. Therefore, before the arrival of the Eight Banners in Manchuria. Shang Kexi must not tolerate the loss of the Sanjiangkou line of defense, which is destined for the Taiping army's rash attack on Shunde, which will attract Shang Kexi's crazy revenge. The newly created Taiping Army also could not withstand the blow of the Qing army in Guangzhou.

"Shunde has to keep it, it's not the time to fight!"

Zhou Shixiang rejected the proposal to attack Shunde, Song Xianggong and Qin Zhisheng could only submit Xin'an and Zengcheng counties for Zhou Shixiang's decision.

Xin'an County is also the location of some townships in Shenzhen and Dongguan in later generations. It is across the river from Xiangshan County. It is also the site that Zhou Shixiang looked for for the next development of the Taiping Army. To the east of Xin'an is Huizhou, and to the east of Huizhou is the Chaoshan area, which is the largest grain-producing area in Guangdong and the main source of food for the Qing army in Guangdong.

There were not many Qing troops in Xin'an County, because Chaoshan and Huizhou were both occupied by Qing troops, and the Ming troops in Xin'an were annihilated in Wutong Mountain and Qiniang Mountain, so there were only a few hundred people in the green camp. However, if you want to attack Xin'an, you must first deal with the Qing army in Zengcheng. Otherwise, the Qing army in Zengcheng will stick to the junction of Xin'an and Xiangshan like a nail, which will make the Taiping army very unsafe. The army cut off the passage between Xiangshan and Xin'an, and the water camp, which was only on paper, could not use the Pearl River to connect the Taiping forces in the two places. In the end, it could only be defeated by the Qing army. Therefore, it is very uneconomical to play Xin'an now, and it is extremely dangerous.

"Just hit Zengcheng!"

At the meeting of the military commander's mansion, Zhou Shixiang clapped the board, "Pre-emptive strike, the Eight Banners of Manchuria from Beijing have arrived in Guangzhou, Shang Kexi, that old tortoise will deal with them when they are finished resting, either he will deal with old General Chen of the Xinhui To attack, or to attack our Taiping Army, so we have to give him a guy before he starts, so that he will not be stable, or at least let his backyard catch fire, so we can't do it with all our strength!"

"The left battalion of the infantry and my personal battalion are responsible for attacking Zengcheng. In addition, Shao Chengguo's cavalry battalion is also involved in the battle. The cargo battalion follows the main force and stands by. Once our army captures Zengcheng, the cargo battalion will immediately enter the city and take out all the food that can be removed. Move back, not a single grain will be left to the Qing army! The people in the city who are willing to go back to Xiangshan with us will also take them, and those who are unwilling will give them some food to hide in other places, so as not to be slaughtered by the Qing army in retaliation."

"After taking Zengcheng, the cavalry battalion will cover the cargo battalion to move food and retreat. The left battalion of the infantry should not withdraw for the time being, but stay for 3 days. If the Qing army from Guangzhou comes over, stop them in Zengcheng. Don't fight against the Qing army. While fighting and retreating, try to attract them to Yinpingzui Mountain, I will bring the personal battalion there to meet up, and then ask the artillery battalion to set up an ambush there, and see if I can wrap up the Qing army that catches up!"

After Zhou Shixiang's series of orders, Qin Zhisheng asked a question. He said, "Commander, since we sent troops to attack Zengcheng, why can't we take it and withdraw it instead? Wouldn't it be bad to turn Zengcheng into the territory of our Taiping Army?"

Zhou Shixiang understood what Qin Zhisheng meant, and directly occupied Zengcheng to gain an additional activity site for the Taiping Army, so that the Taiping Army would have a buffer in the future large-scale offensive of the Qing Army, or a place for escape.

He explained the reason why he couldn't do this, he said: "Our current strength is limited, each battalion is new, and the training is insufficient. As a field battle, the left battalion and the right battalion of the infantry can really fight only half of the entire battalion. The strength is not even half! If we want to defend Zengcheng, we will definitely not be able to deploy less troops. We must let the two most elite battalions, the left battalion of the infantry army or the right battalion of the infantry army, be placed there. Let me ask you, the left battalion of the infantry army Or if the right camp has been released to Zengcheng, how many troops can our military commander's mansion have to deal with the Qing army in the direction of Shunde? In case Shang Kexi decides to fight Xiangshan first, should we defend it? If we want to defend, should the soldiers from Zengcheng withdraw? If we want to withdraw, what are we going to do with it? If we don’t withdraw, we will have a total of 3,000 people in Zengcheng, and the remaining 7,000 people will be able to block the Qing army? Don’t forget, compared with the Qing army , our Taiping Army is still very weak, and every bit of strength at hand must be firmly grasped and must not be scattered!"

"I will understand at the end." Qin Zhisheng and Song Xianggong looked at each other and agreed with Zhou Shixiang's explanation.

Zhou Shixiang did not stop there, he continued: "We attacked Zengcheng but did not leave troops to guard it. The situation is different. The initiative is completely in our hands. Some forces can be concentrated in Xiangshan, so that we are not afraid of the Qing army coming to overturn our old nest... Let me ask you again, if we withdraw our troops from Zengcheng, will the Qing army continue to send troops to defend Zengcheng? If he sends troops again Shou, we will also find an opportunity to fight it again, and repeat it a few times, Zengcheng will become a chicken threat to the Qing army, unless Shang Kexi decides to deal with our Taiping army first, or they will give up Zengcheng themselves!"

"In a word, we can't defend the dead city and put ourselves in a place where we are passively beaten. No matter how good the city is, as long as our strength is not enough to shoulder the burden of guarding the city, then don't take it. The so-called saving people If the land is lost, the people and the land will be saved; if the land is saved and the people are lost, the people and the land will be lost.”

Zhou Shi is relatively confident in winning Zengcheng~www.wuxiaspot.com~ Because Zengcheng is really a soft bone compared to Shunde.

Zengcheng Green Camp was originally adapted from the Ming Army Guard of Nanhai Guard. The leader of the army, Qian Zong Jiang Shuangxi, was even more incompetent. With more than 1,000 battalion soldiers, he wanted to take credit for rescuing the good characters. More than 40 cavalrymen of the Taiping Army were defeated. With this kind of combat power, they can still be expected to defend Zengcheng. After Jiang Shuangxi fled back to Zengcheng, he still had lingering fears about the Taiping army, and ordered all the battalions under his command to retreat in Zengcheng, lest the Taiping army would invade his nest from Yinpingzui Mountain.

Guangdong Governor Li Shuitai heard that Jiang Shuangxi was defeated in Yinpingzui Mountain, and he was so angry that he ordered to immediately cut off Jiang Shuangxi's chief officer Qian, but Jiang Shuangxi could not fight, but he was a good person. He managed it properly. As soon as the Governor-General spoke, a group of staff persuaded him, saying that Jiang Shuangxi had no credit or hard work over the years, and because he took the initiative to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, he could not be so harshly blamed on him. Besides, victory or defeat is a common thing in military affairs. King Pingnan's gang of generals are so capable of fighting that they still face blood in Xinhui, not to mention Jiang Shuangxi.

Being persuaded by his subordinates, and this was also the case, Li Ruitai did not want to punish Jiang Shuangxi, and instead assembled 2,000 battalions from Huizhou and Conghua Prefecture and other prefectures and transferred them to Zengcheng for garrison.

...........To be continued.