"Boom, boom, boom......" The Tianwei cannon continued to wield, and more than a dozen black shells flew over a distance of thousands of meters and fell into the battle formation of the Qing army. Faced with the smoking iron balls rolling on the ground, even the most courageous Manchurian generals changed color on their faces and dodged one after another.

An explosion sounded, and clouds of black smoke rose from the Qing army's battle array, and the formation became more and more untidy after the continuous bombardment of Tianwei artillery.

Gushan Ezhen Zhuoluo stood under the banner of the general, feeling the surge of this formation, he couldn't help frowning, staring at the battlefield of fierce fighting. Under the bombardment of Tianwei artillery, the flag has moved several times, and the strict lineup has also been greatly loosened. It was too disadvantageous to go on like this, and he urged the drums of war, hoping that the troops who were rushing to kill would make a breakthrough as soon as possible and get rid of this passive situation.

On the battlefield, arrows rained down, shouting to kill the sky, row by row, the cavalry of the Qing army was like the waves of the sea, slapping on the battle formation of the Ming army. The central front of the Ming army has been bent, and the white-knuckle battle is extremely fierce, and the battle array seems to be about to be crushed soon.

"Boom, boom, boom......" The muffled sound sounded in the rear of the Ming army's battle formation, and the black-pressed sky-bombing artillery shells smashed into the charging Manchurian Eight Banners, and hundreds of small shells covered a considerable area in front of the battle formation.

The explosions came and went, and it was impossible to tell the difference. The smoke was thick, and the two armies, which were only a few hundred meters apart, could no longer see the shadow of the enemy on the opposite side.

Gushan Ezhen Zhuoluo's eyes widened suddenly, he didn't expect that the Ming army would also hide the killing move, and give a sudden blow when his own attack was the most dense and fierce. He regretted it a little, regretted that he should not underestimate the enemy, should not pursue rashly, and should not fight in this preset area of the Ming army. On the left is woods, on the right is the river beach, and a roundabout flank attack is impossible.

The Ming army fired another round of bombardment cannons. It completely disrupted the charge of the Qing army and interrupted the continuity of the Qing army's offensive formation. The Manchurian soldiers who broke into the battle formation of the Ming army had no follow-up support, and were soon besieged and killed by the surging Ming soldiers.

The smoke slowly dispersed under the blowing of the breeze, ......and with the sound of heavy footsteps, one after another rushed out of the smoke like demons. After a little formation, the war elephants wearing blindfolds and piercing ears rushed towards the Qing army under the control of the drivers.

More than twenty war elephants, draped all over their bodies, marched with indestructible steps, first in small steps, then faster and faster, and the earth seemed to tremble. This group of behemoths collided head-on with the Qing army, like a huge stone thrown into the water, stirring up huge waves.

The man shouted and the horse neighed. Countless war horses of the Qing army were caught off guard, and stood up in shock, the Eight Banners of Manchuria were all northerners, how many of them had seen this kind of monster, and they were so stunned that they didn't know how to move.

Click, click, click...... The Ming army marched in a neat pace, following a distance of forty or fifty meters behind the war elephants, and advanced forward, like the cold light of the swords and guns of the forest. Mercilessly slashed the wounded soldiers on the ground.

War elephants have rough skin and thick flesh, and they are covered with armor. Invulnerable, unstoppable; With a slight touch of its long snout, it curls up and smashes it to pieces: the great elephant's hooves step on the man, and the man becomes a meatloaf. The horses of the Qing army were terrified, neighing and running around, and no matter how many riders shouted and reined, it was useless.

Time. The brave Eight Banners were rushed into confusion by the war elephants, and countless fell off their horses. There were clever Qing soldiers who stretched out their bows and shot arrows at the riders on the war elephants, but unfortunately the riders on the elephant's back were covered with heavy armor and iron masks on their faces, which made it extremely difficult to hurt.

War elephants can reach speeds of up to 30 kilometers per hour when charging. And it could not be simply dissolved by an infantry phalanx armed with spears, unlike cavalry. The power of the war elephant charge lies in the sheer strength of their power. They overwhelm enemy formations, trample enemy soldiers, and wreak their tusks to wreak havoc.

And the part of the enemy army that is not crushed will at least be driven aside by the charge of the war elephants, or retreat under their oppression. In addition, war elephants do not need to be in contact with the enemy to cause panic, and the enemy will be overwhelmed by fear when they charge. The cavalry was not spared in the presence of war elephants, because the horses were not familiar with the smell of elephants and were easily frightened in front of elephants.

Due to the thick skin of the elephant and the armor it wears, it is extremely difficult to kill or defeat the elephant on the battlefield. The great advantage in height and weight of the war elephants provided considerable protection for their riders. The rider controls the war elephant, and there are two more archers in the war tower, shooting the enemy with bows and crossbows, and those who are close to them change their spears to defend themselves.

There were war elephants in front of the collision, and the Ming army was killed, and the Qing army's position was chaotic, and the room for maneuver on this flat land was too small, so it had to retreat step by step.

"Mingjin, retreat!" Gushan Ezhen Zhuoluo gave a wise order, the chaotic formation could no longer organize an attack, and the retreat would have very few casualties for the Eight Banners troops, which were all cavalry, unlike the rout of the infantry.

The sound of chaotic horses' hooves sounded, and the Qing army began to retreat along the main road, and the wounded soldiers and lost horses obviously had no way to live. Gushan Ezhen Zhuoluo looked back at the Ming army generals in the distance, and gritted his teeth hatefully. Li Dingguo, the puppet king of the Jin Dynasty, the most powerful general in the Southern Ming Dynasty, finally failed to defeat him, and in exchange for his own illustrious prestige! Gushan Ezhen Zhuoluo turned his head and rode away, as if to leave this regret and resentment behind him.

In the first battle of Nanhua County, Li Dingguo, the king of Jin, led 15,000 Ming troops, defeated 6,000 cavalry of the Manchurian Eight Banners, killed more than 1,000, and effectively restrained Chuxiong's Qing army. This is an elite to elite duel, although Li Dingguo's generals are fewer than Zhu Yongxing and Bai Wenxuan, but the veterans are the most, more than 10,000 people are the Ming army of the former Guangguo Gonghe Jiuyi who withdrew from Nanning, Guangxi into Yunnan Province.

Moreover, among the generals of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Li Dingguo, the king of Jin, was the one with the most psychological advantage against the Manchurian Eight Banners. He was the only one who led the army to carry out a large-scale movement war and field battle with the Manchurian Eight Banners in Hengyang, and beheaded the prince Nikan.

Dare to fight in the field and be good at field warfare, this is what Zhu Yongxing lacks at present. But he also felt relieved that the famous general Li Dingguo finally cheered up, regained his self-confidence, and it is also worth looking forward to creating brilliance in the future.

At the same time, Zhu Yongxing also realized the drawbacks of the excessively rapid expansion of the army and was determined to make adjustments and improvements. In terms of troops, there are now nearly 60,000 troops in eastern Yunnan, southern Yunnan, and Annan, but there are too many new soldiers, and the combat effectiveness is not strong. As for the native soldiers who assisted in the battle. Zhu Yongxing didn't dare to count too much. Therefore, it also caused beacons to be everywhere, but the number of annihilated Qing troops was not very large; The enemy was forced by force, but there was no plan to directly encircle and attack the Qing army group.

The Qing army stationed in Shiping lost more than 10,000 auxiliaries and more than 2,000 soldiers along the way, and retreated to Jinning at a fairly slight cost. I have to say, it's a pity. It was also caused by Zhu Yongxing's lack of confidence in the army's combat effectiveness and his dare not open his mouth.

The army cannot be expanded any longer, and food and salary are one problem, and changing to the strategy of elite troops is another reason. Moreover, Liu Xuanchu's guess was right, Zhu Yongxing did not want to seize Kunming at the moment. On the one hand, the climate and topography of Yunnan Province were used to contain and consume the Qing army, and on the other hand, they encroached on Annam, advanced Shugui, and developed the Mekong Delta, laying a solid foundation and accumulating money and grain. This is the grand strategy and will not change.

The fierce wind and fiery offensive unconsciously eased, and the Ming army posed a threat to Kunming in the southeast and southwest, and the occupied area advanced north to the line of Ashan, Tonghai, and Maitreya, and the southern Yunnan headquarters was moved to Lin'an Fu (now Jianshui). The newly established Eastern Yunnan Command was set up in Yanshan County, Weimo Prefecture, which could not only threaten Kunming to the southeast, but also use troops to Guangxi. East out of Funing County, take Tianzhou Tuzhou (now Baise).

Fang Guangchen's analysis that "the weak wrestle with the strong, and the poor compete with the rich for wealth" actually has some truth. But that's not entirely true. Now, the Qing court, which has been saddled with a huge mess, is not rich, and even because of the continuous use of soldiers, the finances are very difficult (historically, in the eighteenth year of Shunzhi, it even reneged on its promise to re-levy the "three salaries" added at the end of the Ming Dynasty). If you talk about strength and weakness, of course, it is true, clear and strong and weak. But Fang Guangchen obviously hadn't read the article "On Protracted War", let alone the subtle theory in it.

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"Using the old to lead the new" is a good way to make the recruits mature as soon as possible, but it is not necessary to bring one with the other. Eastern Yunnan and southern Yunnan will face the pressure of the Qing army, so they will take two belts. or a belt of three; Annam is relatively safe, and it can be five in one belt, or seven in one belt, or even ten in one belt. In this way, it is possible to quickly form a strong force and a large number of new troops who dare to fight, and besides, it does not make much difference whether a veteran brings one recruit or five, and it does not make much difference to the growth of new recruits.

Of course, this will also lead to the phenomenon that some units have strong combat effectiveness and some units have weak combat effectiveness. But there are too many people and horses, and it is normal and unavoidable that the combat strength is different, and the commander can be reasonably deployed according to the battlefield situation.

As soon as the war eased slightly, Zhu Yongxing began to transfer troops, increasing the proportion of veterans of the Ming army in southern and eastern Yunnan, and on the other hand, the proportion of new recruits in the Ming army in the rear increased significantly. The recruits in eastern and southern Yunnan have also been selected, and the stronger ones are left, and the ones with slightly worse body and will are adjusted to the rear.

The battles experienced and the differences in the soldiers of the units also made the two major groups of Ming armies in eastern and southern Yunnan have different fighting qualities and expertise. Southern Yunnan has gone through the Yuanjiang offensive and defensive battles, and its subordinate army has more experience in defense and harassment, and the rate of musket equipment is slightly higher; The Ming army in eastern Yunnan was supplemented with a large number of Gu (Zhuang) and Yao recruits, who were better at mountain and jungle warfare, with cold weapons and more fierce wolf soldiers in battle.

"The wolf soldiers are fierce, and the world is called the most", and the Zhuang people's courage and good fighting are world-famous. Whether it is the war against the Japanese, the Qing Dynasty, or the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it has been clearly proven. It's just that the Tusi system has a lot of obstacles to Zhu Yongxing's large-scale recruitment of Zhuang soldiers, and for the time being, it can only be solved by losing the people and granting land, enlisting in the army, and becoming good. Of course, Zhu Yongxing has also prepared a follow-up move, and there should be no resistance to the local officials and local officials who have great public resentment and little power, and use the method of fighting local tyrants to divide the land. On the contrary, it can also be embraced and supported by many oppressed and exploited strong people.

Dominate the enemy with momentum. Zhu Yongxing still implements this line of thought. The current situation cannot be said to have the upper hand, but the integration of southern Yunnan and western Yunnan poses a greater or lesser threat to Kunming, Chuxiong, and Qujing occupied by the Qing army, so that the Qing army in Yunnan Province wants to hold these key cities, but it seems that the mobile force is insufficient, and there is confusion about how to start.

If you attack the west, you will go to the east, and if you attack the east, you will come from the south. The mobilized and inspired Ming army in Yunnan Province, including the native soldiers who rebelled against the Qing Dynasty, was no longer a scattered sand. With unified command and the power of coordinated operations, the Qing army felt that one was at the expense of the other.

Judging from their respective occupied areas, the Qing army still occupied northeast Yunnan, such a relatively prosperous and wealthy area, especially in big cities such as Chuxiong and Kunming. And the main occupation area of the Ming army is still outside the Sanjiang River, and it is a bit too much to say that it is a border wasteland, but in fact. In addition to Yongchang and Dali, which are still famous, there are really no famous cities.

"The countryside surrounds the city"? "People's war"? Well, it's a little interesting, but it's not exactly copied, but according to the reality, there are very big changes and changes.

Once prosperous and rich. Under the poisonous ravages and tyranny of the Qing army, it will become desolate and depressed; The once frontier wasteland, under the guidance of the right policy, can also be developed and built to flourish.

With the increase in the population under his rule and the continuous influx of fugitives, the land occupied by the Ming army in Annam was fully developed, but it also showed signs of inadequacy. The plan to continue to expand the land was forced to speed up the pace of implementation, and Zhu Yongxing made proper arrangements for everything and immediately rushed to Xialong, so as to make the most final implementation of the plan.

Zhu Yongxing wants to be light and simple. I even wanted to take a boat down the Red River to Thang Long, and then turn to Haiphong. But his subordinates were unanimously opposed, and after thinking about it carefully, Zhu Yongxing also felt that he was impatient and rash.

Prevention is the first to cause the injury to be the first. Knowing and acting cautiously, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, and he can ignore it. After a year of struggle, hard work, and struggle, the remnants of the Southern Ming Dynasty from all walks of life were pinched together, so that the Tusi of Yunnan Province helped the Ming. Coupled with Zhu Yongxing's identity, he is already the head of the southwest anti-Qing force. It is the glue of all parties.

If Zhu Yongxing had an accident at this time, the consequences would be unimaginable. Not to mention the psychological blow to people, as long as there is no successor who can satisfy and convince all parties, unity is an empty word, and infighting is likely to happen again. Even if it's not a self-attack, as long as it can't coordinate the battle. With each other's cooperation, the situation in Yunnan Province is also very likely to take a sharp turn for the worse and fall into passivity.

It turns out that I am so important, not only as a banner of resistance to the Qing Dynasty, but also as the hope of everyone. The supreme leader of course. Zhu Yongxing was secretly proud, but he also had to obey the arrangements of his subordinates and take safety as the first priority. Escorted by 500 cavalry, they went to the place controlled by the Ming army, although it took time to go around, but it was foolproof.

Starting from Xuanguang, go to Beihu, Nari, Pingjia, Langshan, Tingli, and go to Xialong at the end of the road. Although Zhu Yongxing was tired and hurried, he walked for seven days before reaching his destination.

At this time, there was no name of Halong Bay, and the names known were Anbang, Lushui, Yuntun and so on. It was once the site of the construction of Annam's first ancient commercial port, but now it has long been replaced by other places.

When he came to Xialong, Zhu Yongxing had not yet gone to the beach to enjoy the scenery of Halong Bay, so he summoned Deng Yao, Chen Shangchuan and others who had already arrived here.

To Zhu Yongxing's somewhat surprise, the newly sealed Jinghaibo Deng Yao currently has Longmen in hand, but after receiving Zong Shouyi's edict and edict, he acted vigorously and resolutely, and used boats to continuously transport the families of Longmen soldiers to resettle, and the newly built grass houses and bamboo houses in Xialong Town were the residences of these immigrants.

"Your Royal Highness, the Qing army in Guangdong is dispatching troops, and it has the intention of attacking Longmen by land and water." Deng Yao took the initiative to inform Longmen of the current situation, which can be regarded as answering the doubts in Zhu Yongxing's heart, "The last general is small and outnumbered, and it may be difficult to resist." ”

In real history, the Qing army did conquer Longmen in April 1660 (the seventeenth year of Shunzhi), Deng Yao was cornered, cut his hair and hid as a monk in Guangxi, was seized by the Qing government, and was killed.

"Although the Dragon Gate is a place for the soldiers of all dynasties, it is difficult to defend it, so abandon it!" Zhu Yongxing did not have any harsh criticism for this, and also understood Deng Yao's practice of withdrawing his dependents first just in case, "Only a few soldiers and generals are left, and the Qing army will leave by boat if it is strong, if the Qing army does not attack, it will stand here to spy on the enemy." ”

"Your Highness is wise." Deng Yao thanked him and complimented: "I heard that His Royal Highness has won another big victory in Yunnan Province, and the Qing army is trapped in several lonely cities, and my Ming Dynasty will recover Yunnan Province just around the corner." ”

"It's easier said than done." Zhu Yongxing shook his head lightly and said with a smile: "Although the Qing army has lost a lot of territory, its strength has not been greatly damaged, and the war in Yunnan Province is afraid that it will last for a long time." ”

While talking, Zhu Yongxing kept looking at Deng Yao, observing his mannerisms and movements, and touching his personality and temper. Deng Yao also noticed it, so he lowered his head slightly, and did not dare to look at Zhu Yongxing, and beads of sweat slowly came out.

"Why didn't Yang Er arrive?" Zhu Yongxing's tone was displeased, and he asked in a deep voice.

"Your Highness." Zong Shouyi arched his hand and said: "General Yang was overjoyed when he received the decree from the seal, and he wanted to come to see His Highness immediately. However, his deputy general Huang Jin said that the Qing army was about to attack Jin and Xiamen, and he was afraid that His Royal Highness Yanping would be called to help in the war. ”

Zhu Yongxing sneered and said: "Huang Jin, the first born is a backbone, and he must be defeated; Yang Er, who was sealed and didn't obey the order, still couldn't get rid of it - hehe. ”

Chen Shangchuan's face changed color, and he hurriedly arched his hand and said: "Your Highness is angry, Yang Yandi does have disappointed His Highness's expectations, but he remembers his resolute resistance to the Qing Dynasty, and hopes that His Highness can forgive him a little." ”

"Resolutely resist the Qing Dynasty, but do their own thing, do not obey the order, how can they do anything?" Zhu Yongxing Huo Ran got up and said loudly: "The Manchu Qing Dynasty has occupied most of China, but everyone is still selfish, and there is no distinction between priority and priority, which is the way to bring about their own destruction. It is ridiculous to think that when I add a seal and issue a seal, I have a request for him. ”

Deng Yao, Chen Shangchuan and others also hurriedly got up, their faces were worried and panicked.

Taking advantage of the incident to get angry, Zhu Yongxing just wanted to be deterred, knocking and beating these new generals.

"Without him Yang Er, my Ming Dynasty would be hopeless? Hum. Zhu Yongxing felt that it was almost over, so he sat down again, snorting coldly and adjusting his breathing. (To be continued......)