mtl008 Chapter 448 The First Shot of the Qionghai Army
Chapter 448 The First Shot of the Qionghai Army
Upon hearing that even a victory couldn't save Zhu Dadian's official position, Su Hongtu's disappointment was palpable.
Upon seeing this, Liu Ye tentatively asked, "You seem to get along quite well with Lord Zhu. Otherwise, I'll try to keep his official position, and you can follow him from now on?"
Su Hongtu shook his head without hesitation: "I am the general's man. I was transferred to Lord Zhu's side only to help the general repay a favor. I can distinguish between the two. It's just that Lord Zhu has been very good to me, and I can't bear to see him lose his post..."
If Su Hongtu had denied it so readily, Liu Ye would have either suspected him of siding with Zhu Dadian or concluded that he was heartless and ruthless and would never be entrusted with important responsibilities in the future. However, Su Hongtu frankly expressed his feelings, which was enough to show that he was a person who both adhered to principles and had human touch.
Liu Ye patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "There's a high chance that Lord Zhu will be dismissed, but every cloud has a silver lining. If he can't be an official in the imperial court, he can come to our Lingao..."
Su Hongtu's eyes lit up: "Like Mr. Sun?"
"Hehe, why not? Of course, he might not be able to get over this hurdle all at once. You are trusted by him, so you can try to persuade him when the time is right..."
Su Hongtu nodded vigorously: "Your subordinate understands."
A few days later, the Second Regiment of the Qionghai Navy, having made all the necessary preparations, began boarding ships to cross the river.
Originally, Liu Ye wanted to leave the physically weak Zhu Dadian in Nanjing, but he refused and insisted on following the Qionghai Army to "recover lost territory." Unable to persuade him otherwise, Liu Ye had no choice but to take him along with the dilapidated battalion.
Shortly after Zhu Dadian crossed the river back to the north bank with the Qionghai Army, an imperial edict from the capital arrived belatedly. The messenger, who was supposed to receive the edict, had heard that Zhu Dadian, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner, had suffered a defeat and fled eastward. He had hoped to try his luck near Nanjing, but he was too late and missed him.
From Zhu Dadian's last escape across the Yangtze River to his return with reinforcements, less than ten days had passed, and the situation north of the Yangtze River had changed again.
As the allied forces of Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong advanced rapidly, with one foot already in the threshold of Jiangnan, a disagreement arose between their two leaders. Gao Yingxiang, hearing that Hong Chengchou's army had pursued them from Henan and was nearing Lu'an in Anhui, wanted to abandon his plan to enter Jiangnan and instead return to Shaanxi via Hubei through Henan to avoid a decisive battle with the main government forces. Zhang Xianzhong, however, proposed a route through Huainan, passing through Fuyang and Queshan, and then penetrating north of Henan back into Shaanxi. After some debate, Gao Yingxiang ultimately "persuaded" Zhang Xianzhong with his seniority and strength, and Zhang agreed to his route.
After the Qionghai Army crossed the river, they landed in Jiangpu County, which belonged to Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture. This was exactly on the route the Allied forces took on their westward return journey through Hubei. In other words, before any preparations had even begun, they were about to enter the rhythm of a major battle.
Qionghai Navy lacked cavalry. The unit trained by Ma Wei had not been in service for long and was not yet ready to be deployed to the battlefield. It lacked sufficient battlefield cover and reconnaissance capabilities. Although the newly established Military Intelligence Division had sent scouts to the area where the main force of the bandits was gathered, disguised as refugees, they could not send out effective intelligence in time. It was not until they encountered the bandits' scouts that they realized the enemy was right under their noses.
This sudden, small-scale conflict occurred in the early hours of the day after the Qionghai Navy crossed the river.
Originally, the Qionghai Army had no information about the movements of the Gao and Zhang allied forces. After landing and assembling, they were supposed to travel along the Yangtze River for transportation convenience, with supplies and food loaded on ships, and follow the main army to search for the main force of the allied forces at the border of Anhui and Jiangsu. However, the allied forces were unaware that a group of officers and soldiers had suddenly appeared. The scouts responsible for clearing the way were just doing their routine work, and the two sides bumped into each other unintentionally.
A dozen or so scouts casually entered the perimeter of the 1st Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment of the Qionghai Navy's vanguard. The company reacted quickly, forming a single-line formation known as the "Thin Red Line." A dozen or so cavalrymen were not enough to pose a threat to a fully manned company, so there was no need to use a hollow square formation.
The scouts of the bandits were dumbfounded. Anhui had basically been pacified by their own people. Before Hong Chengchou's army entered Anhui, there should have been no organized troops left in the territory. So where did these well-dressed and well-trained officers and soldiers come from?
However, the bandits were all seasoned veterans, especially the scouts responsible for reconnaissance. They were experienced and quick to react, immediately taking down their bows and arrows from their quiver and aiming at the musketeers opposite them.
At the same time, the soldiers of the company began loading ammunition and preparing to fire under the orders of their company commander.
The two sides opened fire almost simultaneously, with a hundred guns against a dozen bows. An asymmetrical battle began, and the Qionghai Navy fired its first shot after establishing the military town.
The gunshot startled the large force behind the Qionghai Navy. Everyone was taken aback. Had they encountered the enemy so quickly?
Xu Yifan, the commander of the Second Regiment in charge of the battle, immediately ordered: "The entire regiment shall remain on alert and advance in a combat posture."
By the time they reached the battlefield, the battle was already over. All of the dozen or so scouts had been killed by a hundred rifles, with none escaping.
Su Hongtu stepped forward to examine the scouts' corpses and found that the men were well-dressed and carried a lot of valuables. He quickly identified them and returned to report to Liu Ye: "General, these men are veterans of the bandits. It's unlikely that they are small groups of bandits who would use them as scouts to reconnoiter the route. In Anhui, there are only Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong left. They are nearby and will be approaching soon."
Liu Ye was not surprised but delighted. It was best that the bandits had delivered themselves to his doorstep, saving him the trouble of a long march. He pointed ahead and said confidently, "The big fish is just ahead. If we win this battle, our Qionghai Army will surely be renowned throughout the world."
Under Yan Guang's organization, the military staff office accompanying the army held its first pre-battle meeting since its establishment, and invited Zhu Dadian, Su Hongtu and others who had experience fighting against bandits to participate.
According to Su Hongtu's opinion, the bandits had cavalry, but most of them belonged to the old camp, their numbers were not too large, and they would not easily be deployed to battle. They were essentially the personal guards of Ming generals. Therefore, the Qionghai Army would have to face a force mainly composed of infantry.
"When they attacked Hezhou, the combined forces of Gao and Zhang numbered around 50,000. However, it is unknown whether they took more refugees with them after conquering both Hezhou and Chuzhou. It is difficult to determine their exact troop strength now..." Su Hongtu explained.
Zhu Dadian shook his head: "Anhui is close to Jiangnan, unlike poor places like Shaanxi and Gansu. There haven't been any major natural disasters in recent years. As long as the people have food to eat, no one is willing to risk their lives to join a rebellion. Where would so many refugees be forced into this? At most, the two traitors Gao and Zhang opened the prison and added some prisoners, but the number won't change much..."