In the first year of Hongguang, Xiao Yuanying went to Jiangxi and set up the old camp in Jinggangshan.

There were several rebel armies against the Tatars in Jinggang Mountain, and Xiao Yuanying maintained a relationship with them that was both cooperative and fighting.

There was not enough production in the mountains to raise troops, so the small Yuan battalion had to often go down the mountain to attack, taking advantage of its location at the junction of the two provinces, and choosing the right time, sometimes hitting Hunan, sometimes Ji'an, Jiangxi. Tatar rule in the south was confined to the main roads of the Gan and Xiang rivers, and they were unable to send troops to defend the prefectures and counties close to the mountains.

Xiao Yuanying could only barely survive at first, but Jin Shenghuan made Yuan Shizhong make a lot of money anyway, and the team grew to nearly 10,000 people.

The crisis did not come from the Tatars.

Last year, Li Guogao stationed troops in Chaling and prepared to reinforce Nanchang from Luoxiao Mountain, which posed a serious threat to Yuan Shizhong. In the Central Plains, Yuan Shizhong almost lost his life at the hands of Li Guo, and he was actually more afraid of a tiger than the Tatars.

Fortunately, the loyal battalion did not enter Jiangxi, and went south from Chenzhou to Guangdong, and Yuan Shizhong survived the crisis safely.

Later, Nanchang was lost, and the preface called Xiao Yuan's camp. Yuan Shizhong did not leave immediately, he continued to persist in Jiangxi for half a year.

The nearby friendly forces were defeated one after another, and Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, Geng Zhongming, and the three miners of the Dongjiang River joined forces to march south, and the army was too strong. The road to the southwest of Jiangxi has been cut off, and you can only go to Hunan. Along the way, he was plundered by Li Guo, and Yuan Shizhong had to wait until the autumn harvest.

The Nanchang garrison was not all of the Ming army in Jiangxi. In fact, there are still many cities in Jiangxi that are holding on. When Li Chengdong died in Meiling, even Ganzhou had four or five cities in the hands of the Ming army in Jiangxi. In the first month, Shang Kexi went south and closed Meiling, and the last Jiangxi Ming army lost its retreat to Guangdong.

Xiao Yuan's battalion followed Li Guo's old road and suddenly appeared in Chenzhou, quickly defeated a small number of local green battalion soldiers, and responded to the Jiangxi Ming army that broke through from Ganzhou.

Yuan Shizhong's army quickly swelled to nearly 20,000 people, including family members and men and women who were being held captive along the way, and he led a group of nearly 70,000 displaced people.

Xiao Yuanying first set up the old camp in Chenzhou, and after depleting Chenzhou, he turned southwest to Guiyang Prefecture to establish contact with Hezhou Town. After that, he backed Nanling and deployed his army in the three cities of Lanshan County, Linwu County and Ningxisuo, and took grain from nearby prefectures and counties to raise troops.

There are six avenues in the north and south of Lingnan, and Lingqu, Meiguan, and Huizhou Longchuan are obviously not used.

Shang Kexi broke through Shaoguan and took over Lianzhou and other places. The road from Chenzhou to Lianzhou, or from Yizhang to Lianzhou, was also broken.

The war situation in Guangdong continues to deteriorate, and after Kong Youde in Hunan settles Xiangxi, he will definitely fight Xiao Yuanying. The enemy forces are superior, and the decisive battle is not wise. If Xiao Yuanying wants to continue south, he can only take the Xiaohe Ancient Road.

Yuan Shizhong put down the handwritten letter of the orderly and said to Zhang Shijie: "Your great ruler has given me two choices, if I have no intention of fighting the Tatars, he will transport my people to the South Seas by ship, and the territory of the colonization will be hereditary. ”

"What's the other option, General Yuan."

"If I am determined to fight the Tatars, he will give me a piece of territory in Gaozhou or Leizhou."

"What does General Yuan mean?"

"I ran from the Yellow River to the Yangtze River, and then to the Pearl River, and I was about to run into the sea." Yuan Shizhong's laughter stopped abruptly, "Yuan won't run anymore." ”

Zhang Shijie clenched his fists and bowed, "General Yuan understands the righteousness, and Zhang Moudai has thanked the Cabinet and the Great Commander first." ”

"Don't thank me. If it weren't for the great unification, Yuan might have been buried in the Central Plains long ago. ”

"General Yuan, there are too many men and horses under you, so it's best to set off some of them in advance. Our people will walk with you. ”

"I'll arrange it right away."

Xiao Yuanying was born in the peasant rebel army, and it is a very familiar business to pull out the camp and leave. Yuan Shizhong immediately convened the generals and agreed that his nephew and adopted son Yuan Anguo would lead half of the people to go first.

Yuan Shizhong himself still stayed in Ningxi Qianhusu, he was the backbone of this army, and he must stay in the old camp to preside over the overall situation.

The Jiangxi generals and gentry raised troops corresponding to Jin Shenghuan and Li Chengdong. Nanchang was lost, and the two lords of Jin and Li were defeated, but they still insisted on fighting.

The Tatars slaughtered in Jiangxi, and many family members of the Ming gentry and soldiers were killed, and many people shared the hatred of the Tatars. But the Tatars invaded Guangdong, and the prospects for waiting for the Ming army and gentry in Jiangxi would not be too good.

Yuan Shizhong wanted to pull his buddies in Jiangxi, and he had already contacted Cao Dahao, one of the commanders of the Ming Army in Jiangxi. This General Cao is a native of Chizhou Prefecture in Nanzhili, and once served as the deputy chief soldier of the Anqing and Chizhou Water Divisions. After the fall of Nanjing, he fought in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Fujian border area for a long time. Cao Dahao recruited many stragglers from Jin Shenghuan and Wang Deren's troops, and the families of these officers and soldiers were killed by the enemy, and they hated the Tatars.

While Kong Youde's main force had not yet returned from southwestern Hunan, the longer Xiao Yuan's battalion held out in the Chenzhou area, the more Ming troops ran out of Jiangxi.

……

By the time of the retreat to the south, the mixed army composed of the Xiao Yuan battalion, the Chu army, and the Jiangxi army had reached 40,000 soldiers and civilians. In order to ensure the safety of the march, in addition to the Ming troops who retreated south, Hezhou Town sent another 2,000 people to accompany them to the south.

This huge team surpassed Cao Junfu's ability to control, and Xie Yuanbian handed over the administrative affairs of Hezhou to Fei Changtong, and personally led the newly recruited sailors south.

For a new army, it is not necessary to go into battle as soon as it is formed, and non-combat tasks such as long-distance marching and transportation are also good exercises. In the course of carrying out their tasks, the officers and men got acquainted with each other and passed through the run-in period.

There are more than 500 large and small ships, hunting with flags, and they are mighty.

The town of Hezhou has built a lot of sampans out of wood that has only been dried for a year, and no one expects how long these boats will last, so they are disposable.

Women and children, the old and the weak, took boats, loaded heavy loads, and the young and strong took the official roads, advancing by land and water.

There is food to eat by the sea, and only one reason is enough. The weapons are not enough, and the young and strong use bamboo guns as soldiers. Singing on the newly made straw sandals, full of hope for the future.

The cavalry of Xiao Yuan's battalion opened the way in front, and the cavalry from the Central Plains and the north did not dare to provoke in Guangdong.

Xie Yuanbian was not worried that he would encounter obstacles on the way to the Nanliujiang River, and no one wanted to fight hard with such a team. He looked worriedly to the east. There are still tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Hezhou who need to retreat, and whether they can leave safely depends on how long Guangzhou can hold out.

Xie Yuanbian prayed silently in his heart.

……

Guangzhou, more than a month ago, the north wind period is coming to an end.

Standing in front of Li Chengdong's cemetery, the mood of the order was very complicated. The Ming army in Guangdong defected one after another, but the Chengdong Department resisted the most resolutely.

The tombs are luxurious. In order to unite people's hearts, Du Yonghe made a big deal about Li Chengdong's funeral. On the day of the burial, hundreds of armored cavalry lined up to escort the coffin, and they were extremely glorified.

The Tatar entry into the customs brought many barbaric customs, the death of the nobles of the Eight Banners, and the custom of burial with beautiful women. The status of concubines in law is only slaves, and they are all robbed female slaves anyway, and there are more Han women in Tatar aristocratic families than who are martyred. The senior generals of the Green Camp were deeply influenced by it, and Du Yonghe used the most gorgeous Han costumes to dress up the six Chengdong concubines, threw the women into the fire, and gave Li Chengdong a funeral.

The Ming Dynasty inherited the legacy of the Mengyuan Dynasty, and there were many martyrs before the middle period. Just a few years later, the Tatars came again. Zhong Ni said: "The initiator, there is no aftermath." "The words of the sage more than 2,000 years ago were really in vain, and the historical process of China's development was interrupted again and again.

Shou Xiang held back the disgust of martyrdom in his heart, and gave Li Chengdong incense. In this way, he was getting closer to the warlords of Canton.

After Shou ordered to put the precious agarwood into the incense burner, Du Yonghe asked worriedly: "Great Commander, the people I sent to Siwu more than two months ago will be fine, right?" ”

Siwu is located in the lower reaches of the Rajang River, in the core area of Du Yonghe's territory, and the city has not yet been built at this time. There is a large indigenous tribe in the area.

Du Yonghe didn't worry about the natives who only had blowguns and baleng knives, and the hundreds of soldiers he sent with the ship were used to pacify that tribe. Du Yonghe cares about people and boats. With the encouragement of the order, Du Yonghe sent more than 300 sea ships to transport more than 10,000 people south to Borneo.

There are many warlords who occupy China's cities, and Du Yonghe easily sealed more than 1,000 ships in Guangzhou, and now these ships are moored near Haizhu Temple and Haiyin Stone. Population is also a small matter, the Ming army only took a few days to recruit more than 10,000 strong men, and stuffed them into the sea ship in one go.

"General Du, please rest assured, I guarantee that you will have a new home in Nanyang."

The reputation of the order at sea is outstanding, and Du Yonghe is slightly relaxed.

The battle of Guangzhou was imminent, and Du Yonghe could not trust the other Ming troops, he only believed in his own brothers. The commander of the Guangzhou Army was Bo Xingbo Zhang Yue, and the commander of the naval division was Wu Wenwen, the commander-in-chief. Chengdong's adopted son, the brave general Li Jianjie is also in the city. There are more than 10,000 defenders in the city, all of them are old buildings.

There were several Ming armies west of Sanshui, and the number of big numbers included Qingguo Gong Chen Bangfu, Anding Bo Ma Bao, Xuanping Bo Dong Fangce, Nanyang Bo Li Yuanyin and the loyal battalion departments, Du Yonghe did not allow them to cross the Xijiang River.

Shou Xiang can only sigh at this, this is no way to do it. The more soldiers the better, the relationship between the various departments of the Ming army was chaotic, and there was frequent internal friction, so it was better to defend Guangzhou with troops that could be trusted, and there were many troops of more than 10,000 people.

After Li Chengdong and Du Yonghe repaired for several years, Guangzhou's city defense is very strong, and there are two wing cities built in the east and west. The east and south sides of the city are the wide water surface of the Pearl River, and there are 2 miles of polders outside the moat in the north of the city, which is muddy. Only the west of the city is the foot of the mountain, and the Ming army built a wooden city on the mountain, which was garrisoned by heavy troops.

Thanks to Guangdong's well-developed iron-smelting industry, Du Yonghe has no shortage of cannons. There are forts around Guangzhou, and there are nearly 100 Hongyi cannons of various calibers. The Ming Dynasty fought with the Tatars for decades, and the firepower was never as sufficient as that of the Ming army in Guangzhou.

Unlike previous large-scale sieges, the Pearl River south of Guangzhou was too wide, Du Yonghe's sailors were not weak, and there was Linghai's general Chen Qice further south of Hutoumen, which meant that it would be difficult for the Tatars to completely encircle the city of Guangzhou.

"General Du, there are more than 200,000 people in Guangzhou City, and you still have many boats, so it is better to transport some more people away. So many civilians in the city are just wasting food. ”

"I'd like to, but it's too late to ship to Borneo now."

"Borneo can't carry so many people at once, and it only takes 10 days for the boat to go out of the Pearl River estuary to Houjiang, so it's better to go with me."

"Okay, I'll arrange it."

"General Du, there is one more thing I need to tell you."

"What's the matter?"

"I want it from Foshan."