Zhang Yuliang led the Eighth Army to Shicheng County and found that Shicheng County had been captured by the Qin army.
Here he met Zhao Xinbu, the first division coming from Guangxi.
He looked at the dusty Zhao Xin and asked: "You attacked Nanning Prefecture, why did you join us so quickly?
Have all the Ming troops in Nanning Prefecture surrendered?"
Zhao Xin introduced the causes and consequences to Zhang Yuliang.
A large-scale flood occurred in Nanning Prefecture, and a secondary cholera epidemic occurred.
He reported the matter to the military headquarters and the governor's office.
The messenger sent did not catch up to the military headquarters.
Governor Su Xiong gave him new orders.
Things here in Nanning Prefecture are not handled by the regular army, but are left to the garrison to maintain order.
For the plague in Nanning Prefecture, the Guangxi Governor's Yamen will dispatch experts to take charge.
The river channel has been opened, and a steady stream of materials will be transported to Nanning Prefecture for disaster relief.
After Zhao Xin received the order, he led the first division to join the main force.
Went to Bobai County, contacted the secret guards, learned about the movements of the main force, and came to Shicheng County in advance to wait for the main force.
Zhang Yuliang also learned about the situation on the Wuzhou battlefield from Zhao Xin.
He immediately called a military meeting.
"Now the First Division has joined us, and our army has sufficient strength.
There was a flood in Wuzhou. If the First Army wanted to conquer Wuzhou, it had to wait for the flood to recede.
Now we are the most important force in the Guangdong-Guangxi battle.
Our army changed its operational objectives, not attacking Zhaoqing Prefecture first, giving priority to attacking Luoding Prefecture and Deqing Prefecture, and launching an attack along the Xijiang River towards Wuzhou.
Wuzhou City was attacked from both sides, and the Ming army lost reinforcements.
We can capture Wuzhou City just by siege.
The Second Division also moved to Leizhou Prefecture according to the original plan.
The First Division and the Third Division marched along the river, captured Gaozhou Prefecture and Luoding Prefecture, and controlled Xijiang River as soon as possible.
We only need to attack the main city that is heavily defended by the Ming army.
Some county towns were handed over to the garrison.
The surrendered troops of the Ming Army must also be fully utilized and allowed to assist the garrison in maintaining local stability."
After Zhang Yuliang held the meeting, the Eighth Army divided its troops in Shicheng County.
…………………………
Lu Xiaoqiu led two brigades south to Leizhou Prefecture.
He held a second division combat meeting.
"Leizhou Prefecture is a peninsula. The second brigade marched along the coastline on the west side, and the third brigade marched along the coastline on the east side.
Clean up the Ming navy along the way and attack the cities near the coastline.
Our two brigades met in Xuwen County and captured Leizhou Prefecture.
This place was handed over to the security division, and we immediately headed north to meet up with the main force.
According to the news brought by Commander Zhao Xin, officials at all levels of the Guangdong Governor's Yamen are waiting in Bobai County.
If we eliminate the Ming army in Leizhou Prefecture, we will notify them to come and take over Leizhou Prefecture.
I will follow the second brigade, and the chief of staff will follow the third brigade. The average speed must be fast, so as not to give the Ming army time to gather its forces."
Lu Xiaoqiu arranged the military plan, and the two brigades had almost the same credit.
There are more cities on the east coast, and the city of Leizhou is also on the east coast.
There are more Qianhu Stations on the west coast, and the navy stationed in Leizhou in the Ming Dynasty is also on the west coast.
…………………………
"This little Po Qianhu village still wants to resist our Qin army, who gave him the courage?
The Lemin Qianhu Institute surrendered directly, and the Hailian Qianhu Institute knew nothing about its own strength."
Lu Xiaoqiu has a somewhat arrogant personality, but he marches extremely cautiously.
If he can attack with artillery, he will not send soldiers to attack by force.
"Report to the division commander, the third brigade has captured Leizhou Fucheng, and the Leizhou Guard commander has surrendered."
As soon as Lu Xiaoqiu sent troops to occupy Hailian Qianhu Station, he heard the news brought by the messenger.
"The third brigade moved quickly, but we moved faster.
At this rate, if we take Leizhou Mansion, we still have a chance to catch up with the Battle of Guangzhou."
Lu Xiaoqiu asked the security forces who followed him to take control of Qianhu Station, waiting for the arrival of the Leizhou magistrate.
Some deserters fled to the countryside.
This requires the establishment of a township office and can be handled by the local patrol.
He wanted to rush to Xuwen County as soon as possible. The Ming Dynasty's navy in Leizhou Prefecture was set up in the Qiongzhou Strait near Xuwen County.
…………………………
Lu Xiaoqiu wore thin linen clothes and kept wiping the sweat from her head.
It's really too hot here in Guangzhou. As a northerner, he is not used to the climate here at all.
He saw another soldier walking and fainted.
"Military doctor, come here and save people."
The military doctor walked over, immediately untied the soldier's clothes and carried him to a cool and ventilated place.
I gave him some small pills, which are drugs specially produced by pharmaceutical companies to deal with heatstroke.
In this kind of weather, we don't dare to march in a hurry.
"Teacher, this is the herbal tea provided to us by fellow Guangdong fellows.
The herbal tea has been distributed to the army, and the soldiers all agreed after drinking it."
Lu Xiaoqiu drank herbal tea. He felt that this tea really relieved the heat, and he felt chilled after drinking it.
He drank herbal tea and ate lychees bought from fellow villagers.
"When a red concubine rides on a horse and smiles, no one knows it's a lychee."
"The extremely expensive lychee in the north can only be eaten by the royal family and nobles.
I didn’t expect lychees to be so cheap here in Leizhou.
Cheaper than the Big Apple in my hometown.”
Lu Xiaoqiu was eating lychees when he suddenly saw fire shooting into the sky in front of him.
"What's going on? Send someone to check immediately."
Ahead is the Qiongzhou Strait, where the Leizhou Daming Navy is stationed.
Could it be that the Third Brigade moved so quickly and was already in contact with the Ming Dynasty Navy?
This shouldn't be the case. He led the second brigade, which had the fastest average speed. The third brigade also wanted to attack Leizhou City.
"Commander, we have found out clearly that the Daming Navy in Leizhou fled directly to Qiongzhou.
The Ming Navy directly burned the ships near the Qiongzhou Strait."
Lu Xiaoqiu understood the Ming Navy’s intention to burn the ships.
They were afraid that the Qin army would use these ships to land in Qiongzhou Prefecture.
The Qiongzhou Strait is very narrow, but no ship wants to swim across it, and there is the Ming Dynasty navy watching eagerly.
This is simply impossible, and no general would adopt this method.
The Eighth Army had no intention of occupying Qiongzhou Prefecture.
Li Qingmu, deputy governor of the Governor's Mansion and Minister of the Navy, brought a large number of officers and soldiers from the former Yangtze River Navy.
We are preparing to establish a South China Sea Fleet in Guangdong, but now the navy does not even have a single ship.
Even if they capture Qiongzhou Prefecture, they cannot hold Qiongzhou Prefecture without the assistance of the navy.
Lu Xiaoqiu quickly rushed to the beach. The place was in a mess, with smoking buildings everywhere.
Ships and harbors were doused with kerosene by the Ming army, and wooden buildings burned very quickly.
Thousands of people were still standing on the beach, looking at the sea and crying bitterly.
Lu Xiaoqiu immediately sent troops to understand their situation.
The soldiers soon brought a young man about twenty years old.
"Teacher, among this group of people, there is a person who can speak Mandarin. Let him introduce you to the situation here."
Li Pinglang was extremely nervous. The performance of the Ming army in the past few days was too crazy.
Take all their ships and burn them.
If these people didn't have some affinity with the Ming army, it wouldn't be as simple as seizing the ship.
He immediately knelt down to Lu Xiaoqiu, kowtowed and said:
"Sir, we are all Danhus from Guangdong and have lived on ships for generations.
These are the military men who took away our ships, not us who took the initiative to go ashore."
Danhu had a low status and lived on boats all their lives and were not allowed to go ashore.
They went ashore and were caught by the Ming government, which was a serious crime.
Lu Xiaoqiu asked the guards around him to help him up.
"You remember, we are not from the Ming Dynasty, we are the Qin army under King Qin.
Now you also belong to the people under the rule of King Qin.
The King of Qin has promulgated relevant laws and all lowly statuses have been abolished.
You can live ashore at will in the future and build simple houses here first.
After the magistrate here arrives, he will redistribute the land for you."
Li Pinglang asked in disbelief: "Sir, is this true?
We don’t have to live on boats for generations, we can live ashore, and you will allocate land to us.”
Li Pinglang simply couldn't believe that such a good thing could happen to him.
"It's true, your humble status was arranged by the Ming Dynasty.
Now that we have driven away the Ming Dynasty, everything here will be decided by us."
After Li Pinglang confirmed the news, he made three bows and nine kowtows to Lu Xiaoqiu.
After saluting, he ran back excitedly.
Danhu, who were crying at the beach, cheered when they heard the news from Li Pinglang.
Lu Xiaoqiu looked at these households. These were people who had lived on boats all their lives and had excellent water skills.
He asked the soldiers to ask if any of these people were willing to join the army.
The navy had just been established and there was no shortage of naval officers, but there was a serious shortage of soldiers, especially soldiers who were good at water and would not get seasick.
Before they left for the expedition, Governor Li Qingmu invited all the officers to dinner.
Let them capture as many soldiers of the Ming Navy as possible.
Lu Xiaoqiu felt that these gangsters were better soldiers.
They are more like farm boys in the army. Soldiers transformed from prisoners of the Ming army need to be trained in the new army camp for a long time to eliminate their minor problems.
They settled these households.
The third brigade soon arrived in Xuwen County and joined the second brigade.
All places in Leizhou Prefecture were controlled by the Qin army.
Lu Xiaoqiu organized his army and prepared to join the main force.
He had already selected a group of people from Leizhou Prefecture who were willing to join the army and sent troops to send them to the navy's new barracks.
Lu Xiaoqiu stood in the Qiongzhou Strait, looking at Qiongzhou Island opposite.
"We will come back. The day is not far away."
Lu Xiaoqiu led the Qin army northward to join the main force.
…………………………
Zhang Yuliang looked at the city wall of Gaozhou Prefecture.
As they marched along the way, the Ming army's Qianhu camp in other places in Gaozhou Prefecture saw the Qin army's massive attack, and all these Ming troops ran into the city of Gaozhou Prefecture.
"Let's attack! We must hit Xijiang as quickly as possible."
The Qin army surrounded the city on all sides, first attacking the city with artillery, and then the infantry carrying ladders launched an attack.
This attack method is very cliché, and a general will use it.
However, this method of attack was very effective. Most of the Ming army's cities could not stop the Qin army's three axes.
When the artillery regiment of the Eighth Army broke through the city wall of Gaozhou Prefecture, the war ended.
Along the way, he had not encountered a city wall that had been breached, and the Ming army had no morale to resist.
Zhang Yuliang was about to order the artillery regiment to fire.
A white flag was hoisted on the wall of Gaozhou City, and soon all four gates of Gaozhou City were opened.
The Ming army surrendered directly.
Zhang Yuliang asked Zhao Xin to control the capital of Gaozhou and at the same time put the army on alert to prevent the Ming army from falsely surrendering.
Zhang Yuliang accepted the surrender of many Ming army cities.
He has yet to encounter the Ming army that pretends to surrender, but it is impossible not to be wary of this ancient strategy.
The takeover of the city went smoothly, and Gaozhou Fucheng did not surrender.
Zhang Yuliang entered Gaozhou Fucheng and understood the reason why the Ming army surrendered.
The prefect of Gaozhou had abandoned the city and fled. He took many Ming troops with him and fled to Zhaoqing Prefecture.
Wen Chenglin, the magistrate of Maoming, knew that he could not resist the Qin army, so he took the remaining Ming troops in Gaozhou City and opened the city gate to surrender.
Zhang Yuliang met with Wen Chenglin, the magistrate of Maoming County.
Wen Chenglin went to see Zhang Yuliang nervously.
Here in Guangdong, the thieves in yellow have been demonized and promoted.
He saw that the Ming Dynasty had no hope at all, and the army could not defeat the thieves in yellow.
The difference in military strength between the two armies was too big, and he lost the city again. If he went to Ming Dynasty, he would be held accountable.
Wen Chenglin is from Guangxi, and his hometown is in Guangxi. He surrendered to the Qin army without fear of hurting his family.
Wen Chenglin was ready to take a gamble. He usually read the newspapers passed to him.
The more strictly prohibited something is, the more it arouses people's curiosity.
The Qin army described in newspapers and the yellow-robed thieves propagandized by Ming Dynasty are completely two extremes.
Wen Chenglin feels that there are not so many extreme situations in the world, so let’s take a look at both aspects.
Surrendering to the Qin army will yield more benefits than fleeing to other places.
He, a civil servant, had to wait for more than ten years to become a county magistrate.
If there is a stain on his body, even if he is not punished by the Ming Dynasty, he will not be able to be an official again.
Zhang Yuliang looked at a middle-aged man in his forties.
"Wen Zhi County, do you have a large number of ships here?"
All their ships stopped at Lianzhou Mansion.
At present, logistics transportation is mainly carried out by land.
If you want to quickly attack Luoding Prefecture and Deqing Prefecture, taking the water route is the fastest way.
Wen Chenglin replied humbly: "Sir, there are not many ships in Maoming County, but we can raise four to five hundred boats for your use."
When Zhang Yuliang listened to Wen Chenglin's words, he felt that Wen Chenglin had misunderstood.
Four to five hundred ships are not many, and the Logistics Department only has 523 ships transporting supplies to the Eighth Army.
"Wen Zhixian, I'm not talking about small fishing boats, but merchant ships that can haul at least five hundred shi of cargo."
"Sir, the ships I'm talking about are the most commonly used merchant ships.
If you want a boat, it must be for transporting people and supplies. I can't introduce you to a small fishing boat.
Four to five hundred merchant ships are no problem at all."
"Wen Zhixian, I will leave the matter of raising ships to you. If you handle this matter well, I will personally take credit for you."
Just as Wen Chenglin was about to say goodbye and leave, the messenger came in, took out an official document, and whispered.
"Commander, the latest news from the Military Intelligence Bureau."
Zhang Yuliang read the information sent by the Military Intelligence Bureau.
"Wen Zhi County, do you have any outstanding shipbuilding craftsmen here?"
Wen Chenglin immediately replied: "Sir, we don't have craftsmen who build sea-going ships here.
We have many craftsmen here who can make merchant ships that can go on rivers."
Zhang Yuliang said happily: "Wen Zhi County, you go and recruit these shipbuilding craftsmen to work for us. The more craftsmen you recruit, the better."
As the magistrate of Maoming County, Wen Chenglin lived in the same city as the magistrate and was usually suppressed by the Gaozhou magistrate.
But he also has certain connections here.
Wen Chenglin quickly completed the tasks assigned by Zhang Yuliang.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Thanks to Onion Garlic Leek, Sergeant Hushan, and book friend 20190310173450201 for the reward.
