On November 10, 1651, Li Dingguo led 16,000 elite Western troops from Zhaoqing to Guangzhou. Later, he divided his troops into two groups and attacked Shaozhou Prefecture all the way to the north, threatening Jiangxi; and attacked Huizhou Prefecture and Chaozhou Prefecture all the way east to advance into Fujian.

.

Yuan Zongdi and Li Laiheng's troops joined forces with Li Yuanyin's Ming army to sweep southward to sweep Gaozhou Prefecture (today's Maoming City, Guangdong) and Leizhou Prefecture (today's Leizhou Peninsula area).

However, the Qing army of more than 8,000 people from Hao Shangjiu's army attacked Qinzhou for half a month. They suffered heavy casualties and were unable to defeat it. When they heard that Shang Ke was happy, Geng Jimao, Huang Yingjie and other main forces of the Qing army suffered a huge defeat at the gates of Nanning and fled all the way back to Guangdong. In great fear,

Then he gave up the attack on Qinzhou and turned around and ran towards the east.

However, as soon as Hao Shangjiu had not escaped far, he received a reward from the scouting horse. The Ming army from Zheng Sen's army, which had rebelled from Fujian a few months ago, landed near Hepu County, Lianzhou Prefecture (today's Beihai City, Guangxi), and quickly occupied Hepu County and stood ready on the east bank of the Lian River.

, blocking their eastward route.

In desperation, Hao Shangjiu led his troops to turn around and return west. Taking advantage of the unpreparedness of the Qinzhou defenders, he sneaked across the Qinjiang River and then fled along the coast towards Annan.

On November 18, Hao Shangjiu captured Haining (now Mangjie City, Vietnam) at the junction of Annan and Daming, and Dongxing (now Dongxing City, Guangxi) occupied the coastal plain area. At the same time, he deployed heavy troops on the south bank of the Beilun River to prevent the Ming army from continuing to pursue.

The Great Western Army not only achieved major victories in the Guangdong and Guangxi areas, but Liu Wenxiu, who used his partial division to attack Sichuan, also achieved consecutive victories and made smooth progress. On September 20, Liu Wenxiu ordered Lu Mingchen to take Zunyi first and then attack Chongqing, while Liu Wenxiu led his troops to cross the Jinsha River.

, September 24, attacked Jianchang (now Xichang City, Sichuan), defeated Yuan Tao and Wu Dading, and forced them to surrender.

On October 2, Liu Wenxiu led his troops north to capture Jiading (today's Leshan, Sichuan). On October 10, he captured Xuzhou (today's Yibin City, Sichuan). On October 14, he captured Yongning (today's Yongning, Luzhou, Sichuan). In October

On the 27th, he joined forces with Lu Mingchen in Fuzhou (today's Fuling, Chongqing) and defeated them in the sea. Li Zhanchun occupied southern Sichuan.

Li Guoying, the governor of Sichuan in the Qing Dynasty, was frightened. In addition to repeatedly asking for help from the Qing court and asking the court to send a large army to Sichuan as soon as possible, he also sent Qing troops to Chengdu, Xuzhou, Fuzhou, Yongning, Long'an (today's Linshui, Sichuan) and other towns.

They all gathered in Baoning (now Langzhong, Sichuan). Li Guoying knew very well that dispersing his troops was a taboo for military strategists. If they were stationed in various places, they would not only be unable to defend the territory, but they might be defeated by Liu Wenxiu one by one.

Sun Kewang, King of Qin, commanded an army of more than 70,000 and advanced to Changsha at the end of September. Immediately, he divided his troops into two groups and ordered Feng Shuangli to lead 20,000 troops to pass through Yiyang and attack Changde. He himself led an army of 50,000 to pass through Yuezhou and Xianning and attack

Wuchang. At the same time, Sun Kewang also ordered people to collect a large number of ships in Yuezhou, preparing to attack Wuchang by land and water.

Forced by Feng Shuangli's overwhelming superiority, the Qing troops stationed in Changde under Shen Yongzhong did not dare to fight. They abandoned the city and fled to Jingzhou in the north. A few months ago, they received the decree from Emperor Shunzhi that "no waste is allowed."

After the war, the Duke Xushun of the Qing Dynasty could be said to have learned the essence of it. He retreated from Yongzhou, Hunan, to Changsha, and then to Changde, and now he has even fled to Jingzhou. He will never engage in "wandering wars" with the Ming army.

"Move to conservative".

Compared with Shen Yongzhong's Qing troops who continued to avoid fighting and move in, Kong Youde's Qing troops who fled to Wuchang had no way to retreat.

In early September, in order to ensure the safety of Wuchang, Nikan, who was named General Dingyuan by Emperor Shunzhi, had led 20,000 elite Eight Banners from the north and arrived in Xuchang. When gathering and recruiting Qing troops from Jianghuai, Shanxi, Henan, Jiangxi and other areas,

, Nikan issued a strict order, ordering Kong Youde, Zu Zeyuan and others to defend Wuchang and not to take a step back, waiting for the army to come for reinforcements.

There are only more than 6,000 remnants of the Qing army including Kong Youde, King of Dingnan, Xu Yong, Commander-in-Chief of Chenzhou, Du Rujin, Commander-in-Chief of Changsha, Xu Zhenghu, Commander-in-Chief of Yuezhou, etc. in Wuchang. Not only are their numbers far smaller than those attacked by Sun Kewang,

Moreover, all the soldiers and horses in the city were previously defeated troops, and their morale was low. They all planned to abandon the city and flee when the Western Army attacked.

Kong Youde and Zu Zeyuan received Nikan's military order to defend Wuchang and did not dare to disobey. Therefore, in order to boost morale, Kong Youde secretly ordered the defenders to loot the wealthy households in the city for three days. The entire Wuchang City suddenly became like a hell on earth, and the gentry

, more than a thousand wealthy families were massacred, and tens of thousands of ordinary people were affected at the same time.

On October 5, Sun Kewang led more than 50,000 troops to attack Wuchang City, and then launched a fierce attack on the city.

After being fully vented, the Qing soldiers broke out with rare fighting power and repelled the attack of the Western Army for several consecutive days. Faced with the fierce resistance of the Qing army, Sun Kewang was very angry and sent someone to send a message to Kong Youde in the city. If there was no attack within three days,

After the city was defeated, no chickens or dogs were left.

But Kong Youde was unmoved. Half a month ago, he reorganized all the garrison in the city and placed his trusted generals among them to lead them. He obtained the unified command and dispatch power of the military. At the same time, he also recruited more than 20,000 soldiers in the city.

Zhuang was responsible for carrying combat supplies and repairing gaps in the city wall. When the war situation was critical, he was responsible for supervising Ding Zhuang to rush to the front line.

The Western Army besieged Wuchang for a month. Artillery blasted down the city wall several times. However, due to the crazy counterattack of the Qing army in the city, they were unable to enter the city in time. Thousands of men and masons risked their lives under the coercion of the Qing army.

artillery fire and arrows

, quickly piled up bricks, stones and huge trees to block the gaps, and repaired them as they collapsed. In addition, the Qing army also forced the people in the city to build several strong barricades behind the city wall, and almost built several city walls into several urn city patterns.

On November 15, when the 50,000 Qing army arrived at Hankou Town on the north bank of the Yangtze River, Sun Kewang realized that it was impossible to capture Wuchang. So on November 18, he led his army to retreat to Yuezhou.

The Battle of Huguang, which lasted for several months, came to an end.

--------------------------

December 15, Huizhou.

Li Dingguo gently closed the book in his hand and nodded with satisfaction.

"Have all the documents in the hands of Qi's staff been completed?"

"Everything has been copied." Ma Siliang handed over his hand and said, "After I finished writing, I also checked it one by one with the documents written by the Qi State staff."

"From now on, whenever the military experiences a war, all ministries and generals and consuls will be required to record the battle in detail, starting from the pre-war military plan, to the war deployment, the battle process, the battle results... everything must be recorded completely. In this way, it can be used for the future.

Military generals can learn from it and avoid making the same mistakes in future wars."

"We..., I'm afraid we can't do it." Ma Siriang glanced at Li Dingguo in embarrassment, "Most of the generals in the army are crude people. Not to mention writing documents, even reading military orders and military newspapers... are difficult to do.

."

"... Then recruit some scholars to join various departments in the army." Li Dingguo was startled when he heard this, and then smiled bitterly, "In my opinion, the staff system in the Qi army is a very good military system, which can avoid leading generals as much as possible.

Committing some unnecessary mistakes. They will record each battle in detail as a military classic and example for the leading generals to learn from. This will allow their generals to gain more practical experience and lessons."

"I heard from those staff officers that they have a military academy in Hanzhou that specializes in teaching how to fight in battle." Ma Siliang nodded and said, "The Huguang War and the Guangdong and Guangxi War they recorded will definitely become one of the lesson plans in the military academy."

"It's no wonder that the Qi army assisted the Yongchu court in the Ming Dynasty for several years without losing a single defeat. It's not unreasonable." Li Dingguo said: "They not only rely on the sharpness of firearms and the convenience of boats to cross the rivers and seas, but also the rigor of the military.

The method of regulated staff consultation is how to strengthen the army! Unless necessary, I, the Ming Dynasty, will not make enemies of you from now on."

"..." Ma Siriang was stunned when he heard this, and then he was relieved. Since following Zhang Xianzhong to rebel against the Ming Dynasty, he has surrendered and rebelled at times, fought with the Ming army, and fought with other peasant armies. Now he has returned to the Ming Dynasty and started fighting against the Qing invaders.

Who would have known that in the future, things would change, or due to conflicting interests, or due to different positions, war would break out with the Qi State, which was bent on supporting the Ming Dynasty.

"Has Qi withdrawn from Zhaoqing and Guangzhou as promised?" Li Dingguo turned to ask his deputy general Hu Shun.

"After gathering tens of thousands of refugees, Qi State has gradually withdrawn from Zhaoqing and Guangzhou." Deputy General Hu Shun answered with his hands in hand: "However, they occupied Aniang Shoe Island (today's southwest of Dongguan City) on the east side of the Guangdong River (today's Pearl River).

Weiyuan Island, on the east coast of the Pearl River Estuary)... It is said that a commercial station will be established to connect the hinterland of Guangdong."

"Aniang Shoe Island?... They are clearly building a trading station, but in fact they are controlling the sea channel of the Guangdong River and can block Guangzhou at any time!" Li Dingguo murmured: "Does the State of Qi still have deep feelings for us?

Wary?"

"King Anxi, the State of Qi seems not to want an atmosphere of... discord within us." Ma Siliang hesitated and said boldly.

Although the dispute between Sun and Li was not made public, everyone in the Great Western Army knew that the conflict between Sun and Li seemed to be difficult to bridge. The two even came to a point where they did not want to meet each other. Originally, Sun Ke was expected to lead the army out of Guizhou and rush to Hunan.

Then he issued instructions to Li Dingguo,

Let him lead the troops to attack Changde and Jingzhou, and then attack east Sichuan along the Yangtze River from Yiling (today's Yichang City, Hubei Province), and join forces with Liu Wenxiu to attack Sichuan and seize the entire Shu territory. In this way, the five provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan and Guangxi will be connected.

to establish a solid southwest base.

However, Li Dingguo did not obey Sun Kewang's order at all. Instead, he directly led his troops south to Guangxi. With the cooperation of Qi, he launched the Guangdong and Guangxi Campaign. Although the Great Western Army was able to occupy the prosperous land of Guangdong, it also limited Liu Wenxiu, who had conquered Sichuan, to

The troops were insufficient and stopped in southern Sichuan. With the support of Wu Sangui from Hanzhong, Sichuan Governor Li Guoying was lucky enough to save half of Sichuan.

"What else did the people of Qi say?" Li Dingguo asked with a worried expression.

"They say that the King of Qin's local governance in Yunnan and Guizhou was quite effective. He dredged the sea mouth, saved farmland and harvested money, and was ready to do anything that was beneficial to the people. What's especially rare is that besides fighting, he could also build irrigation and clearing fields.

The county's farmland covers tens of millions of acres

They praised the Xidanquan water conservancy project again and again." Ma Siliang said bravely: "Moreover, they believe that the King of Qin stipulates that the officials and gentry under his jurisdiction must pay grain together, which is even more necessary to fully tap and mobilize social resources...

"

"But do they know Sun Kewang's ambition?" Li Dingguo interrupted Ma Siliang's words, "He only wants to separate his own country and rule the country, and even has the rebellious behavior of establishing a new dynasty behind his back. Huh, all the Qi countries are leaving their country and leaving their hometown.

How do people know how difficult the world is and how evil people are in our Ming Dynasty?"

The veins on Li Dingguo's forehead popped out, and he kicked over the table in front of him with a look of anger on his face.

"If they ask you to bring it, what else is there?... Just say it!"

"... They said that everything must be done as a last resort, and we should tolerate each other first, and we must maintain a unified and stable situation with the outside world to fight against the Qing invaders." Although he is Li Dingguo's confidant general, and he is Li Dingguo's direct cousin, but in the face of fierce anger

Under Li Dingguo, Ma Siriang still felt frightened.

-----------------------

December 22, Grandma Shoe Island.

Qi Dajiang looked at Li Laiheng with a look of injustice on his face, and suddenly felt an unspeakable helplessness and disappointment.

"You don't want to withdraw from Gaozhou and Leizhou?"

"General Qi, our Dashun Army fought in Changsha and fell into disarray after the King's Battle." Li Laiheng said sadly: "Although we are reckless people, we don't want to cut off our hair and surrender easily.

Therefore, we and tens of thousands of people went south to join Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo and other Western armies."

"But over the past few years, Sun Li and others have not sincerely accepted us. Whenever they conquered the barbarians, annihilated the rebels, attacked the Qing captives, and fought fierce battles, they always put our troops at the front, trying to consume our Dashun army in battles one after another.

In the formation, as for the equipment and supplies, they are also occasionally available, and there is no one that can be used to support troops.

The place where we pay wages. If we hadn’t attacked Guangdong this time and received a large amount of ordnance and material support from your Qi State in Zhaoqing, how could our Dashun Army’s thousands of soldiers and horses sweep across Gaozhou and Leizhou in one month. Now, Li Dingguo wants to attack us again.

Thousands of our troops were transferred to Chaozhou Prefecture just to continue to consume our strength!"

"So, are you planning to use Gaozhou and Leizhou as a resting place for the Dashun Army in the future?" Qi Dajiang stared at Li Laiheng, "Or are you planning to separate the two prefectures in the future and passively avoid war?"

"General Qi, our troops are not trying to hide in the land of Gao and Lei and not fight the Qing captives." Li Laiheng shook his head and said: "We also know that if the skin is not there, the hair will not be attached, how can we be passive?

Avoiding war? We just don’t want to be used as cannon fodder by the Western army and be consumed in meaningless wars."

Qi Dajiang couldn't help but frown. The Daxi Army seemed to be at its peak now, but he didn't expect that there were so many internal conflicts, not only the dispute between Sun and Li, but also the difference between Daxi and Dashun, not to mention the existing traditional Ming bureaucracy.

Consistent hostility towards the identity of the Western Army.

"Li Dingguo received a message from Sun Kewang, asking him to assemble the main force to attack Jiangxi in order to divide the strength of the Qing army in Wuchang. Therefore, I feel that they may not want to use this to consume your strength for no reason." Qi Dajiang said in a deep voice: "In addition,

, in my opinion,

Chaozhou Prefecture has always been rich and is an important grain-producing area in Guangdong. It is much stronger than Gaozhou and Leizhou Prefectures. If you capture it, you can ask Li Dingguo to hand over Chaozhou Prefecture to you as a place for food and salary. When the time comes, I will help you.

Item 12 will definitely come true."

"...But if we want to attack Chaozhou, we need to cross thousands of miles. When the time comes, our divisions will be tired of veterans. How will we deal with the Zheng army who is waiting for work?"

"Haha..." Qi Dajiang suddenly laughed when he heard this, "How can we let you go all the way to attack Chaozhou? We have more than a hundred large and small ships, which can quickly transport thousands of your troops to the coast of Chaozhou.
Chapter completed!