In the fifth year of Yongli, the year is Xinmao, August 8.

September 22, 1651.

The orderly strode into the headquarters of the Haikou Station, and Zhou Luqing, the governor of Guangdong, and Yang Tangqing, the deputy chief soldier of Haikou, followed behind.

Zhou Luqing has been promoted from the political envoy of Guangdong to the governor of Guangdong, and Hai Shuzu took over as the political envoy.

Take off your military hat and untie your neckline, and pick up a piece of watermelon that has been towned in the well.

"Tell me about the battle."

Andrei, the commander of Dongshui Camp, opened the curtain on the wall, and there were four surrounded cities in Haibei Province, and the bright red circles on the map were very eye-catching.

The Cantonese Tatars had a total army of about 45,000. Shang and Geng each had 10,000 troops under the domain, and the rest followed the green battalions in Jiangxi and Jiangnan, and the green battalions of the Ming Dynasty were recruited, and the newly recruited sailors were about 25,000.

Shang Kexi sat in Guangzhou, and divided the troops to determine the Ming army in the mountainous areas of various places.

In the Dongjiang area, there are three green battalions of Hao Shangjiu, Su Li, and Wu Liuqi in Chaohui, with a total of about 5,000, and the main task of this army is to defend Zheng Chenggong.

Geng Jimao led his army to western Guangdong, and after several reinforcements, the Tatar army in the battle had 30,000 people.

The Ming army pulled a fortress line from the mouth of the Pearl River to Leizhou, and Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao also divided their troops to deal with it.

Yang Tangqing: "Wang Huizhi is based on Lantau Island near Hong Kong, and frequently lands and attacks Dongguan, Shunde, and Xin'an. Shang Kexi recruited the great pirate Xu Long, with Xu Long as the deputy commander of the Dongguan Nantou Naval Division, and confronted Wang Ao's lord across the Lingding Ocean. ”

Shang Kexi haunted the waves of the Liaohai Sea in his early years and knew a little about water warfare. As early as last year, when he besieged Guangzhou, he recruited a 2,000-strong naval division, which was no match for the Ming army at that time. After occupying Guangzhou, Shang Kexi recruited the great pirate Xu Long again. Xu Long had more than 100 ships and nearly 2,000 soldiers. Shang Kexi sits in Guangdong Province, and the resources are comparable to those of Qiongzhou, and with the support of Guangzhou, Xu Long's strength has grown rapidly. Wang Huizhi only relied on his familiarity with the sea conditions in the eastern part of the Pearl River Estuary to fight back and forth with Xu Long.

If there is no Wang Huizhi to contain it, Xu Long, a relatively strong sailor, will be given freedom of action. Shou Xuan didn't think that Xu Long dared to come to the west of the Pearl River Estuary, and he would probably go to reinforce Jieshi Town Suli to fight against Zheng Chenggong.

Orderly: "What are the Tan people doing?" ”

Andre: "Zhou Zhen, Zhou Yu, and Li Changrong are mainly active on the west side of the Pearl River Estuary, and often rub against Chen Qice's department. ”

Shou Xuan nodded, the Tan people were outside the official administrative system, no matter whether the Tatars or the Ming army in the city of Guangzhou, they were unlikely to die for it.

Shou Order: "What about Wang Xing in Wencun and Chen Qice in Shangxiachuan Island?" ”

Yang Qianqing: "Although Wencun Fort is the closest to Guangzhou, it is secluded in Guanghaiwei Cape and cannot radiate the main road, Geng Jimao only sent a little army to monitor, and did not send troops to attack. Chen Qice trained troops on Shangxiachuan Island, and occasionally landed in Xinning and Xinhui to collect grain. ”

More than 3,000 people of the Tatar general Guo Hu pressed at the mouth of the Moyang River and confronted Zhang Yue, Wu Wenwen and others. It was a strange journey, as the two armies reportedly sat in silence on the front line, occasionally firing artillery in the air, and there was no real fighting. ”

Shou Xiang laughed out loud after hearing this.

"A total of 4,000 soldiers from Xianqiyu and Gao Jinku surrounded Dianbai, and the right wing of Geng Fan was able to complete 4,000 troops to surround Wuchuan."

Shou Order: "In other words, excluding these troops surrounding the coastal fortresses, Geng Jimao still has about 20,000 soldiers in front of us?" ”

"Yes."

"It's hard to break the siege in the field."

"We didn't dare to do it."

"Yes," Shou Xuan nodded, "deeply rooted in the roots, at least you can't go wrong." ”

Shou Xiang thought for a long time in front of the map, and placed many Ming troops in the Haibei region, in addition to the state and county seats, there are still several inspection divisions and large military forts.

Due to the mountainous terrain and river cutting, the land battlefield in Haibei is divided into two large and two small theaters.

The commanders of the two theaters were Xie Yuanbian, the governor of Qinlian, and Zhang Xiaoqi, the governor of Gao Lei.

The Qinlian Theater is scheduled to be fought against Guangxi, and the Gaolei Theater is targeted at Guangdong.

The two theaters were attached to Qinzhou and Wuchuan, two relatively independent small theaters.

At present, the main battlefield is the high-thunder theater.

Geng Jimao himself was stationed under the city of Huazhou. Huazhou City is located in the northeast of the Leizhou Peninsula, the mouth of the Luojiang River and the Jianjiang River, the two rivers converge and go south, and enter the sea in Wuchuan. Geng Jimao built a pontoon bridge in the south of Huazhou City, built artillery forts on both sides of the river, cut off the Jianjiang River, and surrounded Huazhou City on all sides.

Subsequently, Geng Fan divided his troops to besiege Lianjiang Prefecture, Suixi County, and Wuchuan County, and there were still more than ten small encirclements composed of more than 10 inspection divisions and camps around several major encirclements.

"How are our allies doing?"

Yang Qianqing: "Zeng's cabinet is stationed in Xu Wen's command, Zhang Xiaoqi is in Haikang, Xie Yuanbian is in Lianzhou, and all towns are resisting. ”

"What about Huazhou?"

"Jin Shiying fought very well in Huazhou, Geng Jimao personally sat in the town, and he failed several times in the strong attack, so he had to build a long trench to besiege him."

"Dengzhou soldiers", guarding the order and lighting pipes, "is much stronger than the southern soldiers." ”

When Huazhou City was built last year, it was considered that Huazhou blocked Donglai Avenue as the only way for water and land transportation, and it must be the focus of the enemy's attack.

In the end, Jin Shiying, the son of Jin Guofeng, was selected as the general soldier of Huazhou, and Yu Cuiqing was the governor of Huazhou.

Huazhou will definitely be surrounded by enemy troops, so the defenders, except for Jin Shiying's headquarters, are mostly selected volunteers. Haibei Province placed many Jiangxi troops, Chu troops, and Gui armies, and assigned them land to defend them in an orderly manner, drawing troops from various flood areas, with a total of 3,500 troops stationed in Huazhou.

Nanming's withdrawal to the seashore of these troops, there is no shortage of combat determination, what is poor is military discipline and combat skills, as well as ubiquitous internal contradictions, and the volunteers can be regarded as the least solution to internal contradictions.

"Can the fortifications of Huazhou hold up?" Geng Jimao has no other way to Jiancheng, he can only use artillery to fight, and the trick of digging tunnels is useless, and Huazhou has already dealt with it.

"The city reported that Geng Jimao set up more than 70 cannons and fired them for days, but the outer forts could be held for the time being."

The siege is just a rhetorical device. At that time, the Mongol army besieged Xiangyang for seven years, and did not completely cut off the connection between the defenders and the imperial court through the waterway of the Han River. In the thirty or forty kilometers of river from Huazhou to Wuchuan, there are always warriors with good water quality who can find a way to swim out.

Shou Xuan nodded, the shells and gunpowder were exchanged for earthwork, there was no room for tricks, the war was so boring, and the battle of Huazhou could not be completed in a short time.

"What about other states and counties?"

"Wang Zhihan of the Thousand Households of Yong'an reported that the Tatar cavalry appeared as far west as under their city."

Shou Xuan found Yong'an in the corner of the map, which is located at the junction of Leizhou Mansion and Lianzhou Mansion, surrounded by mountains and seas. The distance between the mountains and the sea is only 6 kilometers, this place is the junction of Zhang Xiaoqi, the governor of Gaolei, and Xie Yuanbian, the governor of Qinlian.

If Geng Fan breaks through Yong'an, he will appear in Lianzhou, seriously interfering with the deployment of the Qinlian Theater against the Guangxi Tatar army.

Wang Zhihan's fighting spirit is very resolute, but he needs to be reminded again.

"Send a ship to Yong'an and tell Wang Zhihan that Yong'an is his only residence on the mainland, and I hope he can keep his home."

"Yes." Yang Qianqing continued, "Cao Dahao of the Gan Army of Luchuan County reported that Geng Fan's cavalry appeared in the Wenshuizhai Inspection Division to the south of him, and he had drawn troops from the Nanliujiang defense line to the south to defend. ”

Geng's cavalry traced up the Jiuzhou River and entered the mountains. The Gan army in Luchuan County had a dual mission, and at the same time it was the second-line troops of Qinlian and Gaolei. Luchuan County was in the mountains, at least until Huazhou was conquered, and Geng Fan was powerless there.

"Zhanjiang Fort reported to Ming Shi, and Zhou Zhou Lie of Suixi County was also surrounded."

"Further south?"

"Haikang County has seen the Geng Fan Rangers twice, and our army went out of the city to counterattack and drive them away, and we have not seen them since."

Shou Xian stood in front of the map, "Let me sum up, the current main battlefield is in the square area from Jianjiang in the east, to the mountains in the north, to Suixi in the south, and to Yong'an in the west. In this area, there are nearly 10,000 officers and soldiers, including the Huazhou defenders, Xiaoyuan battalions, and Chu troops. For five months, from April to September of the Gregorian calendar, the enemy forces were unable to approach our core fortified area. ”

Andrey: "The Ming troops in the war zone either held the camp fort or collected troops into the city. The Tatars conquered some of the forts, and a few surrendered. ”

"Can you get in touch with Lianjiang, Hengshanbao and Suixi?" The three main fortified areas of one state, one county, one fort are most concerned about the order, and it is inevitable that there will be losses in the camp forts.

Yang Qianqing: "Yes, the Jiuzhou River Estuary Lingyuan Port is in our hands, and the enemy army is not tightly surrounded by Lianjiang and Hengshan Fort along the Jiuzhou River, so we can only gather the main force on one side and block other land routes with cavalry." We have regular contact with the city by water. ”

"Andrey, what do you think?"

The commander of the Dongshui battalion shrugged, "Your Excellency the Governor, before conquering Huazhou, the Tatar attack on Leizhou was weak, and the further south you went, the weaker it became. ”

Except for Andrei, several people looked at each other.

Shou Xiang clapped his hands and smiled, "Everyone, put away your weeping faces. Geng Fan has nothing to fear, we can't beat him in the field, but he can't help our castle either. ”

Zhou Luqing cautiously asked Shou Order: "Your Excellency, how do you plan to deal with this battle?" Do you need me to mobilize on Hainan Island after the autumn harvest? ”

"No, Hainan is fundamental, you still implement the plan in situ. After the autumn harvest, roads, canals, and land were leveled to open up the Shilu iron ore. ”

"Yes, the front line?"

"I'll go to Xu Wen, and I'll be in charge of the front line."

"Yes, sir."

Hainan is naturally very disadvantaged by one province to resist Guangdong Province.

Shou Xiang didn't like Sun Kewang's wave of bankruptcy, wars are sometimes affected by accidental factors, and the wave that does not leave a back hand will be over if it is not successful. Therefore, at this time, Hainan Island should still be based on deep roots.

Shou Ling took in so many Ming troops, and it was just that they needed to contribute at this time. These last generals and soldiers always defended the city above the passing line.