In July, Wang Shanxu, who led his troops to continue fighting on the front line of Xingquan Prefecture, received an edict of commendation from the palace. The edict said this: Army Colonel Wang Shanxu was loyal to the emperor and fought bravely in the battle of Xingquan Prefecture. I am very pleased that I was awarded the rank of Army Major General.
Then the imperial envoy issued another imperial edict, removing Wang Shanxu from the post of commander of the 4th Infantry Regiment, transferring the 5th Infantry Division to the position of division commander, and allowing Wang Shanxu to return to Beijing to meet the Queen and take up the post.
When he heard the imperial envoy reading the imperial edict, Wang Shanxu, who was already a middle-aged man, cried with joy: Damn it, after all the anger and superciliousness, I finally got through it!
Speaking of which, Wang Shanxu was also quite unlucky. He was the commander-in-chief of the Guards at first, but after the Guards was formed, he was gradually marginalized during the great expansion of the army. He served as the commander of the Fourth Infantry Regiment for a long time, and Hao Bainian, Fang Xitong, Li Chunjing and others who were originally just under him were gradually promoted and served as brigade commander, army commander, and became his immediate boss.
This was naturally difficult for Wang Shanxu to accept psychologically, but he did not serve as deputy brigade commander like Huang Xueren and Fang Dongquan, and then went to serve as brigade commander in the garrison brigade. Although he quit the regular army, After all, he was still the commander of a brigade, and he didn't have Cai Erhu's good luck. Because he dared to fight and fight hard, he gradually rose up in the third garrison brigade and became an army major general.
He just clung to the position of commander of the Fourth Infantry Regiment. At the same time, he continued to learn and strive to master various tactics of the musketeers.
During the battle in Xingquan Fucheng, he faced a siege with almost ten times the number of troops and held on until reinforcements arrived. After being surrounded for several months, he lost more than ten pounds from hunger.
But hard work paid off, and all the efforts finally paid off. Because of his outstanding performance in the Battle of Xingquan Fucheng, Wang Shanxu also entered Li Xuan's field of vision again.
Li Xuan felt that although this Wang Shanxu was not outstanding in ability, he was loyal and diligent, and his ability was average. In addition, he had long-term experience in the regular army and commanded an infantry regiment.
Of course, this was also because Li Xuan could not find more qualified senior generals in a short period of time, so he brought Wang Shanxu back to use and first let him serve as the commander of the Fifth Infantry Division for a period of time. Let's see what he does. In the process of expansion of the Fifth Infantry Division, can it lead this main force with a total strength of more than 12,000 people?
If he can't lead him well, then Li Xuan will not be soft-hearted. He will then transfer Wang Shanxu to serve in the Privy Council, and then let him choose another person to serve as the commander of the Fifth Infantry Division.
If he can handle it, then let him continue.
With the joy of promotion, Wang Shanxu hurriedly handed over to the new commander of the Fourth Infantry Regiment and immediately rushed towards Zhaoqing. He would detour to Jingzhou, then go south to Guilin, and finally take a navy ship down the river to return to Wuzhou. , and then return to Zhaoqing.
A fifth infantry division that is being expanded is still waiting for him to take over!
Just as Wang Shanxu was rushing towards Zhaoqing, the various units of the First Army led by Hao Bainian also launched the final general attack on Shaozhou Prefecture. After more than a month of preparation, Hao Bainian finally launched the attack with a cautious attitude. The general attack on Shaozhou Prefecture.
Before launching the general offensive, Hao Bainian had actually commanded his troops to carry out an almost devastating blow to the Ming army in the entire northern Guangdong region, and successively captured Lianzhou, Lechang, Renhua, Shixing, Baochang and other places.
Almost all the Ming troops outside Shaozhou City were wiped out, and finally the nearly 10,000 Ming troops in Shaozhou City were surrounded from all directions.
The Ming army in the city was already panic-stricken, and its morale had almost hit rock bottom. On the third day after Hao Bainian launched the general offensive, the defenders in the city finally could not withstand the huge pressure, and some Ming troops in the city took the lead in rebelling.
, transformed into the Tang army, captured the city gate and helped the Tang army enter the city.
This battle was also the battle with the smallest casualties and the shortest duration among the Tang Dynasty's royal divisions. It took only three days and only 200 casualties, and they captured the fortified city defended by nearly 10,000 people.
Of course, the Ming army's own casualties were actually not that big. There were no more than a thousand casualties before and after, more than two thousand people surrendered in front of the formation, and nearly seven thousand people surrendered and became prisoners.
In the words of Hao Bainian's victory, all the enemy troops were wiped out in the battle of Shaozhou!
The recovery of Shaozhou Prefecture is in the process of being liquidated. When the Tang Dynasty King's Division conquered Guangzhou and freed up the main force of the First Army, the capture of Shaozhou Prefecture was basically a certainty. No matter how Zhang Yue gave orders, Shaozhou Prefecture would be captured.
The defenders in the state capital are useless. Even Zhang Yue himself knows that Shaozhou Prefecture cannot do anything. He has already deployed a new defense line in Yizhang at the southern end of Huguang in advance, and even mobilized them from all over Shaozhou Prefecture.
The soldiers retreated to Yizhang.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for the capital city of Shaozhou to be defended with less than 10,000 troops.
Withdrawing from Guangdong and returning to defend southern Huguang was a way for the Ming army to shorten the front line, reduce logistical pressure, and at the same time extend the supply line of the puppet Tang rebel army, exchanging space for time.
Because he had fought with the puppet Tang rebels for so long, he also discovered that although the firearms of the puppet Tang rebels were sharp, they also consumed a lot of various materials, and these ammunition had to be transported from the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, which were thousands of miles away.
If they stay in Guangdong and fight against the puppet Tang Dynasty, these puppet Tang rebel armies will be able to get sufficient supplies. However, if they retreat to Huguang to fight, these puppet Tang rebel armies will be short of various combat supplies.
He had already seen this during the wars in northeastern Guizhou and Jingzhou.
Therefore, although the fall of Shaozhou Prefecture was due to the strength of the puppet Tang rebel army, it was also due to Zhang Yue's voluntary abandonment. If it were not for the political influence, he even withdrew all the troops in Shaozhou Prefecture.
However, in order to prevent outsiders from saying that he fled without fighting, he put nearly 10,000 troops in Shaozhou Prefecture. They were all old, young and weak, and there were no elite recruits.
This is also the reason why the First Army was able to quickly capture Shaozhou Prefecture with little casualties. After checking the strength of these captives, people from the former Ministry of War and the current Recruitment Department of the Ministry of War shook their heads.
The quality of the Ming army's surrender was simply the highest among all the Ming army's surrenders!
It's the worst kind!
Either they are old veterans who are lazy and eager to eat, or they are child soldiers of thirteen or fourteen years old, or they are senile diseases in their thirties and forties, and there are not many young and strong people in their twenties.
Even if there is, it is the kind whose quality in all aspects is not very good.
If we follow the previous practice, although the quality of these surrendered soldiers is poorer, they will still be integrated into the garrison after selection. But now that the garrison is being reformed, the way of handling the surrendered soldiers will naturally be changed accordingly.
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In the end, the people of the Recruitment Department selected only 300 soldiers after selection. These people were all soldiers of acceptable quality and were willing to continue serving as soldiers.
As for the others, it is naturally impossible to let them go directly. Those with good attitudes and willingness to surrender can be incorporated into the reclamation regiment!
The Reclamation Corps mainly conducts military settlements. After serving for one year, they are freed and given a small amount of travel subsidies. Those who are willing to stay can continue to farm, but they will only receive wages.
Of course, the policy of free land allocation is no longer available. That is the treatment of regular army officers!
Those regular army soldiers fought desperately on the front line, many of them just to be able to divide their fields. If you want to divide your fields as soon as you capture a prisoner and you are an unqualified prisoner, how can there be such a good thing!
As for those with a bad attitude and those who are unwilling to surrender, they will not be let go. Instead, they will be sent directly to the Ministry of Industry to work as diggers and road construction workers as before. Now the Ministry of Industry is aggressively digging mining, iron ore, and coal mines in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions.
, copper mines, all usable minerals are being mined vigorously, and there is a huge gap in labor.
However, the living conditions of prisoners of war have now been improved. Food is still provided. In addition, as long as they work for three years, they can leave the prisoner of war camp and gain freedom.
But now the attitude of many people is actually relatively soft, and many are willing to surrender. Anyway, they don’t have to go to the battlefield. They just farm for a year. It’s a bit hard and tiring, but they don’t have to lose their lives, and they can still be alive in a year.
They received a not too small amount of travel expenses. In fact, this travel expenses can be regarded as their salary for the past year.
But prisoner-of-war camps are not so easy to treat. Although the Tang Dynasty has improved the treatment of prisoners, the labor intensity is still very high, and the food is also very average. In fact, those with poor health can easily get high in these three years.
Those who lost their lives through intense labor.
The new way of dealing with prisoners of war caused the garrison to lose its source, but it increased the source of the regular army's troops.
And with such increases and decreases, the strength of the First Army was actually neither more nor less.
After taking Shaozhou Prefecture, the First Army did not continue to go north, because if it continued to go north, it would be Huguang. Huguang had already deployed heavy troops in Yizhang and guarded many important passes.
Coupled with such a long period of continuous fighting, after the battles in Guangzhou and Shaozhou Prefecture, the First Army suffered great losses, and the soldiers were exhausted and needed time to rest and recuperate.
At the same time, a period of rest was also needed to complete the reorganization task of the First Infantry Division. Therefore, after capturing Shaozhou Prefecture, the various units of the First Army suspended their large-scale northward offensive and began to rest and reorganize.
After rest and reorganization, the 1st Infantry Brigade will be expanded into the 1st Infantry Division, the garrison brigades will be directly abolished, and the temporary fourth regiment will also be reorganized.
However, the actions of various units of the First Army stopped. However, the actions of the First Mixed Regiment, which was formed from units of the First Army after the Battle of Guangzhou, did not stop. Instead, they stepped up their offensive. After conquering various parts of Huizhou Prefecture,
, the first mixed regiment, with the cooperation of nearly 10,000 garrison troops, quickly captured Chaozhou Prefecture.
The remnant soldiers led by Wang Yue were defeated continuously in Huizhou. Even if they retreated to Chaozhou, they still could not hold on. In the end, Wang Yue had no choice but to retreat to Nan'ao Island with thousands of remnant soldiers. Relying on the sea and the navy, he could stop the madness all the way.
Escape situation and gain a foothold on Nan'ao Island!
It's not that Wang Yue willingly wanted to go to Nan'ao Island, but that he had no choice. As the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, if he continued to retreat to the northeast, he would have retreated to Fujian. If Wang Yue went to Fujian, would he still be the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi?