Guangzhou, night.

The city is surrounded by water on three sides, and only the north side is open to land.

Shang Kexi came from Jiangxi, although he collected hundreds of broken ships on the Beijiang and Xijiang rivers, and lacked warships and naval guns, the Tatars did not have real fighting strength on the water.

The sea ships traced back from Humen, and under the cover of the second fort of Haizhu Stone and Haiyin Stone, they could directly dock at the Baietan's wharf and transport supplies to Guangzhou. Unlike the previous sieges of the Tatars in the south, the geographical environment of Guangzhou meant that without a sailor, it was impossible for the Tatars to besiege Guangzhou.

Shang Fan drove the people away and spent several months building a pontoon bridge across the Pearl River on the east side of the city of Guangzhou, trying to cut off the connection between Guangzhou and Hutoumen.

Upstairs at the East Gate, Du Yonghe toasted Zhang Yue with a large bowl of wine.

"Bo Xingbo, this pontoon bridge must be burned, otherwise we can only sit in the siege."

Zhang Yue drank dry wine, slammed the wine bowl on the ground, and smashed it.

"Guarding the bridgehead is Shang Kexi's old thief's subordinate left wing commander Xu Erxian, Yonghe Gong, please sit in the city, and wait for me to take Xu Erxian's head and come back to drink."

Zhang Yue hurriedly went down to the city after speaking.

The Ming army has organized a counter-charge force, and the equipment of the Ming army in Guangzhou is the highest in the whole army, and all the soldiers who attack are armored.

In order to increase the suddenness of the counterattack, the Ming army did not attack from the city gate. While the Tatars were building pontoon bridges, the Ming army had been planning this counterattack, and they had dug several caves in the walls for the attack. Du Yonghe wanted to give Shang Kexi the heaviest blow, and after the cave was dug up, the Ming army waited quietly for the Tatars to finish building all the pontoon bridges.

The Ming army knocked down the city bricks that covered the cave and attacked the bridgehead.

The Tatars built a half-moon fort at the head of the bridge to cover the defenders of the pontoon bridge.

When Xu Erxian built the pontoon bridge, he waited for the Ming army to attack. But the Ming army did not move, and the pontoon bridge and the Half Moon Fort were repaired, and Xu Erxian thought that there was no one in the city, but in fact, he was a little careless.

The Ming army braved the artillery fire and swarmed up, and Zhang Yue was able to strike a blow.

Shang Fan's predecessor was the sailor of Dongjiang Town stationed in Guanglu Island, and he could handle it at sea, and the Pearl River was naturally not a problem. Xu Erxian took off his armor, and although he was a little embarrassed, he still managed to swim and escape.

Zhang Yue burned the pontoon bridge and captured 300 ships and hundreds of armor, soldiers, and guns.

The two armies of Shang Geng invested too many resources, energy and expectations in the construction of this pontoon bridge, and their morale was greatly demoralized after months of hard work.

Geng Jimao was furious and ordered troops to attack the city.

Thousands of green battalion soldiers carried ladders from the north of the city to approach the city wall of Guangzhou. This area is full of waterway fields, and heavy siege equipment cannot pass through it at all. The Green Battalion soldiers trudged forward with difficulty, one foot deep and one foot shallow in the mud.

More than 20 Hongyi cannons in the city were fired in turn, and when the green battalion soldiers entered the firing range of the Franco, the muzzle flame at the head of the city was lit up into a line, and the gunpowder smoke filled the city wall of Guangzhou.

Although the mud weakened the power of the shells, it could not stand up to the many cannons, and hundreds of shells fired from large and small cannons smashed over like this.

The Green Battalion soldier threw down the ladder, turned and ran.

Geng Jimao's face was red, "Increase the troops, increase the troops." Guangzhou is where the future foundation of this domain lies, and if we can't take Guangzhou, we will have no face to see the imperial court. ”

Shang Kexi looked at the juniors who were already in chaos and increased the amount with his hands. Geng Jimao led the troops of the vassal with a mere jingqi nihafan (viscount), and he longed to conquer Guangzhou one day, report the victory to Beijing, so that he could atone for his sins and let Dolgon inherit the crown for him. Geng Jimao grew up in the Dongjiang River, went through ups and downs with his father, was brave and good at fighting, and was thirsty for killing, and everywhere Geng Jun passed, all were erosive.

Shang Kexi didn't have Geng Jimao's needs, and he was happy to see Geng Fan fight Guangzhou City with all his might.

Shang Geng's two feudal domains are not in the Eight Banners, the organizational structure is similar to the small Eight Banners, and the core force is the soldiers of the more than a dozen feudal domains. The green battalions on the left and right flanks under the command of the vassal king are of slightly lower importance, and the green battalions in Jiangxi and Jiangnan that are subordinate to the battle are even more cannon fodder.

The Beijing side may have deliberately arranged that Guo Hu, the general of the Green Battalion Guangde and Gao Jinku, the deputy general of Ganzhou, who were assigned to fight against the two feudal kings, were acquaintances with the Ming army in Guangzhou. Guo Hu, Gao Jinku, and Li Chengdong were the remnants of Gao Jie, and they surrendered near Guazhou that year. The former colleague Pao Ze is now divided into two camps, and he has to fight to the death.

The tragic siege battle lasted for three days, and Shang Kexi finally couldn't stand it anymore and stopped Geng Fan as the commander.

"Virtuous nephew, there are too many Nanban cannons in Guangzhou, and it is not a way for us to use people."

"What is the charter of the old prince?"

"We only have a total of 27 cannons, which is too few to use, and I have sent Ji Yisheng to step up the casting of cannons in Conghua. When this batch of cannons is cast, we will fight Guangzhou again. Now it is better to dig a long trench and fence it on three sides. ”

The Tatars allotted all the heavy artillery to the Eight Banners, and the Green Battalion had only some small cannons, light artillery, and rotten artillery.

Thanks to Guangzhou's well-developed weapons manufacturing industry, although Foshan was burned down, Shang Kexi still collected a group of blacksmiths from all over the country to cast cannons on the spot.

According to the Europeans' Practical Artillery Manual, siege guns are the least technical of all heavy artillery. Siege artillery was heavy, the army lacked the means of mobility, and in a long siege, many armies preferred to cast cannons on the spot. Anyway, it's a disposable cannon, just cast it in iron. Regardless of mobility, the walls of the body can be made as thick as possible.

Geng Jimao couldn't move anymore, Shang Kexi spoke, and Geng Fan just got off the donkey and stopped attacking the city.

The Ming army in the city of Guangzhou thundered,

Du Yonghe was very happy, "Come on, take a few women, and match them to the Hongmaoyi and Makassar gunners as wives." ”

The firepower of the Ming army in Guangzhou was strong, on the one hand, the defenders did have a lot of artillery, and on the other hand, there were 2 Dutch gunners and several Makassar gunners in the artillery team. Whether in China or abroad, a woman's fair-skinned and soft body is the best reward for a soldier after a battle.

……

Sanshui County, a small southern county. The Xijiang River and the Beijiang River converged here, and became the core strategic point of Guangdong during the war years. The Xijiang River is mighty, and there are thousands of warships of the Ming army, covering the river.

The Yongli court mobilized all its mobile forces to relieve the siege of Guangzhou, and troops from different factions gathered in Zhaoqing, and civil war was inevitable. Li Yuanyin fought a big battle with Liu Guochang of the loyal battalion, and drove Liu Guochang far away to Lianzhou and Yingde mountains in the north.

Li Yuanyin, Dong Fangce, Ma Bao, Luo Chengyao, the four Chengdong generals who were excluded from Guangzhou by Du Yonghe desperately attacked Sanshui County, as long as they broke through Sanshui County, the Ming army could go down the river, go straight to the back of the besieging army of Shang and Geng, and encircle the Tatars on a larger front.

In the era of firearms warfare, defense was always in a more advantageous tactical position than offense.

The Tatars, once they entered the pass, quickly abandoned what they called clear bows and heavy arrows, and although there were still some cold weapons in the army, there was no doubt that their army was fire-weaponized in battle. The Fujian Tatars fought with Zheng Chenggong, and Jin Li's Eight Banners directly set up thousands of cannons to confront Zheng Fan, and there were almost no bows and arrows in the battle. Of course, Shang Geng's second domain was no exception, and the Tatar defenders of Sanshui County had thousands of people and many guns, and the Ming army could not fight at all.

A dense burst of gunpowder smoke dissipated, and on the impact section of the Sanshui city wall, hundreds of corpses fell by the Ming army. The besieging forces retreated to the ships.

Li Yuanyin angrily ordered his own soldiers, "The fleeing will be executed, the deserters will be killed, and then the troops will be sent to fight." ”

Anding Bo Mabao persuaded Li Yuanyin: "Admiral, this city is too difficult to fight." Chen Bangfu's army did not contribute to the work, and it was not of great use. We sent all our soldiers to Sanshui, and I am afraid it will not help. ”

"So what do you say? Guangzhou must be saved, otherwise we will die without a place to be buried. ”

Ma Bao sighed secretly, he was the deputy battalion commander of the old battalion of the Shun army, and Li Zicheng's subordinate brave general. Wounded and captured in the Battle of Shanhaiguan, Wu Sangui had some admiration for Ma Bao, and Ma Bao established contact with Wu Sangui from then on. Li Chengdong conquered Fujian and Guangdong from the south of Songjiang, and Beijing strengthened some Shunjun soldiers captured by Ma Bao and Shanhaiguan to Chengdong's department. Everyone is a fellow villager in Shaanxi, and Ma Bao quickly integrated into the army of Chengdong. Ma Bao's combat effectiveness is quite strong, anyway, he was named an earl along with Du Yonghe and others.

"Admiral, we have a lot of soldiers and few Tartar soldiers. I think it is not the best policy for the whole army to stop the soldiers and the veterans of the Sanshui City Division. Qingyuan on the Beijiang River can be called an important town, so I might as well divide our troops to attack, and by the way, we can also collect money and grain from northern Guangdong. ”

Ma Bao mentioned the money and food, and Li Yuanyin was terrified.

The soldiers of the four towns of Li were very dependent on Guangzhou for supplies, money, food, and munitions, and the Tartars surrounded Guangzhou, and this road to replenishment was cut off. The two prefectures of Zhaoqing and Wuzhou were unable to support the army on the Sanshui front. Ma Bao proposed to attack Qingyuan in the north, which could not only expand the source of income, but also regain control of the Beijiang River and cut off the connection between Shang Kexi Geng Jimao and the rear of Jiangxi.

Ma Bao is a general of Li Chengdong's generation, and in terms of combat experience and past achievements, he is far stronger than Li Yuanyin.

Li Yuanyin listened to Ma Bao's suggestion, so he could only reluctantly agree. The Ming army immediately divided its troops, and the second part of Ma Bao and Guo Deng traced along the Beijiang River and advanced to Qingyuan.

Li Yuanyin looked worriedly at the Ma Bao Department who was going away. His enemies are not only the Tatars in front of him, but also the undercurrents, and there are many open guns and arrows from behind. The Yongli Imperial Court, which retreated to Wuzhou, really began to counterattack Dongxun, and the Guangxi warlords and their allies in the court set off edicts and prisons, arrested Li Yuanyin's allies in the court, Jinbao and others, and tortured them to be beaten into tricks.

The TMD front line is fighting in the dark, the imperial court is still fighting among themselves, and they have to execute the allies of the front-line generals in the court, which is really a big death.

With internal and external troubles, Li Yuanyin was exhausted, and the young general felt that everything was getting out of control.

A few days later, the camp of the Red Flag Sailors.

The pirate leaders Liang Biaoxiang, Liu Longsheng, and Xu Guolong gathered on the Liang Biaoxiang boat to discuss secretly.

"Brothers, even Ma Bao has run away, and it is impossible for Li Yuanyin to capture Sanshui. The Ming Dynasty is out of play, the prince of Pingnan promised me the chief soldier of the water division, and the time has come for our brothers to do a big job. ”

Liu Longsheng couldn't suppress the excitement on his face, "Big brother, let's do it, in the new dynasty, a wife and a son, the prince Wandai." ”

Xu Guolong was a little worried, "Li Yuanyin's warship is in the way, where will we go after the incident?" ”

"Walking the Tanjiang River, we passed through Gaoming County from Shunde to Lingdingyang, and then went to Guangzhou."

Liang Biaoxiang planned a retreat, and that night, 125 warships of the Red Flag Navy Division suddenly defected, burned Li Yuanyin's heavy fleet, and killed Yuanyin's defending ships and participating in the general Ren Jie.

The overall situation of the siege relief army collapsed, and Li Yuanyin was forced to retreat to Zhaoqing. Changing horses in Zhaoqing, leaving the generals to rectify the remnants, Li Yuanyin galloped wildly in Wuzhou.

There was news in Wuzhou that the imperial court recruited Gao Yigong's loyal battalion to guard, trying to use the loyal battalion to compete with the Ming army in Guangdong. King is a tough guy who has been tortured but has never pleaded guilty. Li Yuanyin couldn't sit idly by and watch the imperial court execute his allies, he was going to rescue Jinbao and others.

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Note: Many chapters are not quoted, and it takes too much time to annotate. The battle of the pontoon bridge described in this chapter is from the 1655 "Accounts of the First Visit of the Dutch Envoy to China", and the Dutch took a neutral position, and the account should be quite accurate. Of course, the Dutch did not recognize Zhang Yue and Xu Erxian, and referred to Qian Haiyue's "History of the Southern Ming Dynasty" Zhang Yue's biography.