Chapter five hundred and forty seventh never give up
Major General Chen Keqiao was worried about Guilin because he was held back by the Ming army and could not move north quickly. Fang Xitong was also worried about the fate of thousands of defenders who were besieged in Xingquan City after their defeat in Liping Mansion.
Although Li Xuan had already instructed the Second Army that if the situation went bad, they could choose to abandon Xingquan Prefecture or even Liping Prefecture or even the entire Guizhou, and finally retreat to Liuzhou, Guangxi.
But now, it is actually very difficult for the Second Army to retreat completely.
If the Huguang Ming Army had sent 60,000 to 70,000 people into Xingquan Mansion at once, the defenders of Xingquan Mansion would have fled immediately without saying a word. After all, the Tang Dynasty did not have the tradition of not giving up an inch of territory.
If we really want to talk about tradition, it should be ‘victorious transition’.
However, the Huguang Ming army used a refueling tactic. Only 30,000 people came to Xingquan Prefecture at the beginning, and these 30,000 people actually entered dispersedly. The first Ming army that arrived at Xingquan Prefecture was only 10,000
There were only a few people, and other Ming troops were scattered in other places in Xingquan Prefecture, such as Zhengtai County.
This gave the defenders of Xingquan Mansion hope to defend Xingquan Mansion, so they adopted resolute blocking tactics and hoped to force the Ming army to retreat by inflicting heavy casualties on the Ming army.
However, the number of Ming troops is increasing. At first, there were only more than 10,000 people in Xingquan City, but it soon became more than 20,000 or even 30,000 people.
By now, nearly 50,000 Ming troops have gathered under the city of Xingquan Prefecture and in the surrounding areas.
By the time they realized that the situation was not good, it was too late for the defenders in Xingquanfu City to break out and leave.
This also led to an extremely passive situation, that is: even if the Tang Dynasty could abandon Xingquan Prefecture or even the entire Guizhou, it could even abandon two garrison brigades, but it would never give up half of the main force of the Second Army easily:
4th Infantry Regiment.
The huge Tang Dynasty only had four infantry brigades in total, and among these four infantry brigades, the fourth infantry brigade was now in vain. The whole brigade only had more than 2,000 people, with no more than three cannons and no more than a hundred muskets.
Even among the 3rd Infantry Brigade, only the 5th Infantry Regiment is fully equipped. The 6th Infantry Regiment is still waiting in Wuzhou for additional troops and weapons.
This means that among the four infantry brigades, only two and a half are actually fully formed, and one of them is the Second Infantry Brigade.
In the above-mentioned infantry brigade, there are only five infantry regiments with combat effectiveness, and one of them is the Fourth Infantry Regiment.
The loss of a Fourth Infantry Regiment may not be said to have devastated the Tang Dynasty, but it was also a major loss that cannot be ignored, and more importantly, Fang Xitong's Second Army's strength would be halved in an instant.
The 4th Infantry Regiment, never give up
What's more, if the Fourth Infantry Regiment is lost in Xingquan Prefecture, even if Fang Xitong leads other troops of the Second Army to retreat to other places in Guizhou, or even to Liuzhou, what can the Second Army do if its strength is greatly damaged?
Resist the Huguang Ming Army.
That was an army of 50,000 to 60,000 people, and this army of 50,000 to 60,000 people was not the kind of young and strong troops that were filled with a large number of temporary conscripts. They were all guard soldiers and recruits.
Because in several battles with the Tang Dynasty king's division, the young men temporarily recruited by the Ming army did not play even the slightest role except wasting food. After referring to the previous battles with the puppet Tang thief army,
, and at the same time, after listening to Song Zhiwen's suggestions, Zhang Yue, the governor of the four provinces, adopted a different combat strategy than before.
That is to exclude all the young men who were temporarily recruited from the front-line combat troops. The front-line combat troops only need regular troops. As for these young men, some of them are selected to continue training and paid. This model is actually
The mode of recruiting soldiers was adopted, and those who were not selected were all added to the civilian army to transport baggage in the rear.
As a result, although the number of Ming army combat troops fighting on the front line was reduced, their combat effectiveness was correspondingly increased, and their logistical support was more adequate.
Fang Xitong was aware of this situation and had already reported it to the Privy Council.
The regular army of 50,000 to 60,000 Ming troops is not a force that can be glimpsed. You must know that the Tang Dynasty King's army had gone through the Battle of Tonggu Acropolis and the Battle of Liping Fucheng. The Guizhou Ming Army was defeated. Although it was also said to have an army of 60,000,
But in fact, there are only half of them who are regular troops at most.
After moving south to Guangxi, they encountered Ming troops in large numbers, but the regular army only numbered 20,000 to 30,000 people.
Moreover, when they went south to Guangxi to fight with the Guangdong and Guangxi troops, the Tang Dynasty King's Division had a lot of troops, and even had a strength advantage for a time.
Now, as for the Second Army, if all the troops in Xingquan Prefecture are lost, the Second Army will only have a third infantry regiment and a garrison regiment, with a strength of less than 4,000.
It is extremely difficult to withstand the attack of 50,000 to 60,000 Ming troops.
Faced with such a dilemma, on the one hand, the frontline generals were racking their brains to find a way, and Li Xuan of Zhaoqing was also trying to find a way. The simplest, most effective, and most direct way was naturally to send additional reinforcements.
In order to understand the siege of Xingquan, Li Xuan dispatched 500-mile horses to the Third Army, and asked Li Chunjing to send part of the main force of the Third Army north to Liping Mansion. This was to prepare for unexpected events, because the Third Army's own strength was
Not so good, no matter how many main forces are mobilized, there won't be many main forces available.
In addition, the tasks of the Third Army are also quite heavy. As the First Army marches eastward to Guangdong and the Fourth Army moves north to Guilin, the Third Army's defense area has expanded to cover most of Guangxi. It must not only continue in the western part of Guangxi
To fight and even threaten Yunnan, we must also maintain the defense of most areas of Guangxi, including Liuzhou, Xunzhou, Lianzhoufu and other places.
After careful consideration, Li Chunjing decided to move the defense center of the entire Third Army to Liuzhou. A garrison regiment originally stationed in Liuzhou rushed north to Liping Mansion. In addition, most of the main force of the 4th Infantry Brigade was transferred to Liuzhou to prepare for the follow-up.
Continue heading north.
Such a deployment also reduces the Third Army's power to suppress most areas of Guangxi, let alone expect to continue to advance westward into Yunnan. It would be good if it can maintain the rule of the existing areas in Guangxi.
Don't think that the Tang Dynasty can sit back and relax after conquering these places. There has never been a shortage of various rebellions in the past dynasties. This was true for the Ming Dynasty, and it was also true for the Tang Dynasty.
Some of these rebellions were caused by careerists who thought they saw an opportunity and raised armies under various names. Some were caused by the defeat of the Ming army. Some were simply the private armed forces of the gentry and landlords. Because of the unified agricultural tax policy implemented by the Tang Dynasty, especially
It can be said that policies such as dividing the land into acres and paying taxes to the gentry as a whole have greatly harmed the interests of these landowners.
Why?
Because they used to occupy tens of thousands of acres, but they never had to pay taxes. Now you ask them to pay a large amount of taxes every year. How uncomfortable it is.
Therefore, under the rule of the Tang Dynasty, armed resistance from landowners, especially big landowners, has always been endless. Otherwise, the Tang Dynasty would not have maintained a banditry camp in each county.
Even sometimes these raiding camps don't work, and the only option is to have the garrison suppress them.
Because the armed forces of the big landowners in the countryside are actually not weak. They can organize an army of as few as dozens or as many as hundreds of villagers at any time. A few big landowners can pull out an army if they join forces.
A large army of hundreds or even thousands of people came. There was no military station to suppress them, but they could not suppress these big landowners, let alone implement agricultural taxes.
Therefore, the reinforcements from the Third Army can only be used as a precaution. Don't expect them to be able to quickly move north to Guizhou to play a big role.
The real reinforcements Li Xuan prepared for Xingquan Mansion were not the Third Army, let alone the First Army. The First Army still had to fight in Guangdong. For the Tang Dynasty, it was impossible to lose Guizhou or even Guangxi.
Lost Guangdong.
Therefore, the First Army will never move. On the contrary, it will continue to strengthen the First Army. All weapons and ammunition will still be given priority to the First Army.
However, in addition to the First Army, Li Xuan still has some troops that belong only to the Privy Council and his own command, including the Guards, the Liuzhou Independent Regiment, the Third Guard Brigade, the Sixth Guard Brigade, the Seventh Guard Brigade, and troops that have not yet been officially issued
No. 5th Infantry Brigade.
Naturally, the reinforcements Li Xuan planned to send out could not be the Guards. They were his life-saving troops. Unless he led the army to conquer personally, don't expect the Guards to escape his sight and go to the battlefield.
It is also impossible to be the 5th Infantry Brigade. He thought that this brigade was just a paper plan brigade, and its soldiers were still in the new barracks. Li Xuan hadn't even selected the main officers of the brigade, and he hadn't even sent out any shadows.
Fight!
The Third Garrison Brigade is now cooperating with the Guards in Zhaoqing to defend the capital, and cannot be easily mobilized. What's more, the brigade was severely damaged in the battle of Wuzhou and has not recovered yet. It has made great achievements in this kind of attack
Li Xuan was unwilling to randomly send the garrison troops to the battlefield like ordinary cannon fodder troops, and always wanted them to rest for a while and take a breather.
Calculated in this way, it can only be the Liuzhou Independent Regiment and the two newly formed garrison brigades: the Sixth Garrison Brigade and the Seventh Garrison Brigade. It just so happens that these three troops are still in Wuzhou.
Soon, Li Xuan's transfer order was issued. The Sixth Garrison Brigade, which had just completed its reorganization and preliminary training, immediately joined the Fourth Army's combat sequence. In addition, a battalion was transferred from the Liuzhou Independent Regiment to temporarily support the Fourth Army's operations.
At the same time, he ordered the Fourth Army's own Sixth Infantry Regiment to immediately end their rest and move northward to receive equipment while fighting. For this reason, Li Xuan personally ordered the Ordnance Department to withhold a batch of supplies originally supplied to the First Army and the Guards.
The army's ordnance will be provided to the Sixth Infantry Regiment first, so that the Sixth Infantry Regiment will have preliminary combat effectiveness.
After Li Xuan's transfer order was issued, Chen Keqiao, who was in Guilin, finally breathed a sigh of relief. With reinforcements, things would be much easier.