Chapter 375 Just be a good soldier in the Qing Dynasty
Shang Jianbao, the Jingzhou general appointed by the Qing government, was afraid of the enemy since the defeat of Dangyang and did not dare to lead his troops to rescue the city of Yichang that was besieged by the Xinghan army. As a result, this important town that controlled the upper reaches of the Yangtze River was easily captured by the Xinghan army.
After a short rest for a few days, the Xinghan Army rushed downstream to Jingzhou by land and water.
In order to rescue Jingzhou, Chen Huizu, the governor of Huguang, appointed the 80-year-old veteran Meng Yingrui as the commander-in-chief and Yue Jing, the second son of the famous general Yue Zhongqi, as the deputy general. He led the nearly 10,000 troops that Huguang had managed to cobble together to reinforce Jingzhou.
Since he commanded troops composed of flood troops stationed in various places and local yamen soldiers, although the number was nearly 10,000, Meng Yingrui believed that the combat effectiveness was really low, so he decided to first station troops in Shashi, downstream of Jingzhou, until the Han Dynasty army could not attack the city.
, when the men and horses are exhausted, they will march north in a large scale and attack the Eight Banners defenders of Jingzhou from both inside and outside. This will definitely defeat the Xinghan army.
Chen Huizu, the governor of Huguang, agreed with Meng Yingrui's combat plan, reported it to the court, and sent another person to Jingzhou to inform the city's general Shang Jianbao of Meng Yingrui's combat plan, so that Shang Jianbao could hold on and consume the Xinghan rebel army.
At this time, the Xinghan Army was approaching Jingzhou from both land and water sides. The Eight Banners Navy stationed in Jingzhou did not dare to defend against the enemy, and huddled warships, large and small, in the military port every day.
On July 23, the Xinghan Army Navy, composed of fishing boats and merchant ships, under the command of the brigade commander Qiu Ba from Huanggang, a member of the Hubei Tiandihui, quietly sailed towards the Eight Banners Military Port while taking advantage of the heavy fog.
After that, four fire boats were quickly fired to ignite the Qing army's two "Shun" sand ships and three "Guang" brand warships that were huddled in the port. Fishermen who were familiar with the water used skin bags to breathe in the water and scuttled the Qing army's "big" ships.
"A boat patrolling the river.
Qiu Ba also ordered more than a dozen small fishing boats, each with a drum on board, to beat the drums simultaneously in all directions on the river.
In the mist, the Qing army did not know how many ships and soldiers the Xinghan army had arrived. However, seeing that their own ships were constantly on fire and war drums were beating from all directions, they all abandoned their ships and fled ashore to the city.
As a result, the Qing Dynasty's largest navy in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River was completely wiped out without even seeing the enemy's shadow. The Xinghan Army captured as many as 19 warships.
After Qiu Ba defeated the Eight Banners Navy, he immediately asked his subordinates to control the Qing warships to turn around and bombard Jingzhou City with the artillery on the ships.
The destruction of the navy caused Jingzhou General Shang Jianbao to lose his seven souls and six of his souls. Every day he was confused and ignored military affairs. He only burned incense and worshiped Buddha. He even asked the monks in the city to cast spells on the city in the hope that God would send heavy rain to deal with the rebel army of the Han Dynasty.
Zheng Tai, the deputy general of Huguang Green Camp who retreated into Jingzhou with Shang Jianbao, learned about this and was dumbfounded. He secretly sent someone to inform the commander of the Xinghan Army, Gu Shidao, that Meng Yingrui was leading reinforcements towards Jingzhou. At the same time, he ordered his direct subordinates to camp.
Pack your bags and prepare for a strategic shift.
However, Qian Zongzong Zhou Linwang, a member of the Gongjin Association, suggested staying to help the Han army conquer Manchu City, so that the wealth of the Manchu people could be divided up and all the soldiers would become rich men.
"Short-sighted, short-sighted!"
Zheng Tai scolded Zhou Linwang for being confused and told him that the official uniforms they wore were the greatest wealth in the world. As long as the general's orders were implemented properly, would he be afraid that Lord Jia would not give them glory and wealth in the future?
"If good-looking officers and soldiers don't do anything, what kind of thieves can they be..."
Others also criticized Zhou Linwang's whimsical ideas.
Seeing that he could not get the support of everyone, Zhou Linwang had no choice but to prepare to evacuate. However, Vice General Zheng asked them to lead his troops to "demand wages" from the wealthy gentry households in the city.
"You can't take what's from the common people, you can only take what's your master's!"
Zheng Tai took out a list. They were all prominent and prominent families in Jingzhou City, and each family had a high-ranking official.
That is to say, if you push back three generations, they are all traitors.
…
Meng Yingrui, who was rushing to Jingzhou, had no idea that the Eight Banners Navy had been defeated, so he traveled day and night to Shashi.
Unexpectedly, not long after arriving in Shashi, he received an urgent notice from Jingzhou, saying that a Han Dynasty army had captured Weishi Town, an important pass upstream. He hoped that General Meng could send troops to recover this place, otherwise the thieves' navy would be able to bombard it without any worries.
Jingzhou.
"The thieves are progressing so quickly?"
Meng Yingrui was greatly surprised and ordered someone to get a map. Knowing the importance of Wei City, he immediately changed his original battle plan and led more than 5,000 people to attack Wei City with his deputy general Yue Jing.
As a result, when Meng Yingrui and Yue Jing led their troops to Weishi Town, they were violently bombarded by more than 20 artillery pieces by the Xinghan army, which had already been waiting in formation. A dozen warships also sailed on the river where there were no warships.
Launch an artillery bombardment against them.
"I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble!"
The assembled Qing army suddenly became confused and retreated to the rear, shouting.
"You are not allowed to retreat. Those who retreat will be subject to military law!"
General Meng, who had fought in three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzong and Qianlong in his life, was so angry that he killed a retreating soldier with his own sword before he could stabilize his position.
At this time, dozens of elite soldiers of the Xinghan Army, wearing red scarves and armor, charged directly at the Qing army with long swords. The Qing soldiers were unable to stop them. Thousands of people were disrupted by dozens of people again.
.
Two more elite troops of the Xinghan Army outflanked the Qing army from both wings. At this point, the Qing army could no longer gain a foothold and was defeated across the board.
No matter how hard Meng Yingrui and Yue Jing restrained them, they could not stop the retreat.
In the chaos, Yue Jing was beheaded on the spot by the Xinghan army and cavalry.
Meng Yingrui's horse was hit by a musket, and after falling off the horse, he was wrapped up by the defeated soldiers and ran. As a result, he was too old and was out of breath before he could run more than a hundred feet.
The children of the Meng family wanted to carry their ancestors and run away, but they did not want the old general but did not want to suffer the humiliation of defeat, so they let their children and grandchildren escape on their own, and committed suicide with the pistol given to him by the famous Manchurian minister Bandi.
In this battle, the Qing army was severely defeated. Only more than 400 people were killed, but more than 4,000 were captured. Only more than 200 people escaped back to Shashi.
Ge Tong, the commander-in-chief of Wuchang who stayed behind in Shashi, heard that General Meng and General Yue had died for their country, and that more than 5,000 soldiers and horses had been wiped out. Without saying a word, he led more than 3,000 Qing soldiers from Shashi and fled in embarrassment toward Wuchang.
After the great victory in Wei City, Gu Shidao, the commander-in-chief of the Xinghan Army, ordered Meng Yingrui and Yue Ying to enter the city to persuade Shang Jianbao to surrender. He asked him to open the city immediately and surrender, which would save the lives of the Eight Banners soldiers and their families in the city.
However, Shang Jianbao did not see the envoys, and did not make arrangements to defend the city. He only locked himself in Jiangjun Yamen to eat fast and chant Buddha's name.
Zheng Tai, the deputy general of Huguang Green Camp who was guarding the outer city, saw this situation and directly led his troops to abandon the city and flee southward with the looted wealth.
Upon seeing this, Ding, the prefect of Jingzhou, and other officials wanted to flee south together with Deputy General Zheng, or else flee into Manchu City.
Suddenly, there were no officials from the Qing Dynasty in the outer city!
The community members in the city took the opportunity to open the city gate, allowing the Xinghan Army to occupy the outer city without destroying a single soldier. Then they turned the artillery deployed on the city head to deal with the Xinghan Army and continued to bombard the city.
On the 25th, the Xinghan Army officially launched an attack on Mancheng.
The captured Qing troops were forced to scale the city in droves under the coercion of the Xinghan Army. Two consecutive days of siege led to the consumption of most of the medicine and arrows of the Eight Banners soldiers in the city.
Due to the strict military discipline of the Xinghan Army, after entering the city, they set up lists to calm the people and strictly prohibited soldiers from disturbing the people. As a result, the people in the city developed a good impression of these "traitors" who wore clothes they had only seen on the stage.
Many people even gathered together to watch the Xinghan Army's ongoing attack on the city from a distance, and cheered from time to time.
Some people even sent melons, fruits and medicinal materials to the Han army, many of whom were traitors from their ancestors.