******
After several months, the large-scale bandit suppression operation in Jiangxi came to an end. Twenty-four gangs of bandits of all sizes in Jiangxi were wiped out and 41 gangs were pacified. The entire Jiangxi region was at peace.
But what made Qin Mu unhappy was that this time, Gu Xiancheng was allowed to escape again. He was really an invincible cockroach. After his hundreds of troops ran to the vicinity of Yuanzhou and were surrounded by Cui Feng, he was the only one missing. He searched for a long time overnight but still could not find the whereabouts of this guy. For this, Yan Gaofei was severely criticized by Qin Mu.
Qin Mu also made corresponding adjustments to the deployment of troops in Jiangxi, transferring 1,500 troops to garrison Yuanzhou and another 10,000 troops to defend Nanchang. Now that he is the governor of the two provinces, he has the full power to make such troop deployments.
As for Zhou Ning, the former commander of Jiangxi, Qin Mu directly eliminated him on the grounds that Zhou Kui, the Earl of Jiading, had defected to the enemy and sent him to stay wherever he wanted.
After selecting some young and strong men from the original Nanchang garrison, all the old and weak returned to their hometowns as civilians. Cui Feng took over the defense of Nanchang with an army of 10,000.
This time Qin Mu went south to Yueyang. In addition to inspecting the development of warships and artillery, he also went to check on the training of garrisons in some places and the summer harvest along the coast of Dongting Lake.
After he arrived in Yueyang, although it still rained from time to time, overall, it did not have much impact on the summer harvest.
As for the training of the garrisons in various places, although the General Staff has formulated a strict training plan, and the Military Assistant and the Military Training Department are responsible for supervision, Qin Mu is still worried if he does not come to see it in person. After all, the Manchu cavalry of this era is really not exaggerated, and its combat power is indeed impressive.
At present, the Qin army is mainly equipped with cold weapons, while hot weapons only account for about 20% of the entire army.
When Qin Mu rode into the military camp of the Yueyang garrison, the soldiers were training intensively, and the shouts of killing were deafening.
The successor to the Yuezhou garrison commander was Liu Yongzhi, a general of the Dashi Army who surrendered in the battle of Liuyang. He was also the only rebel general who was valued by Qin Mu.
Liu Yongzhi knew that as a surrendered general, he had to work harder to gain recognition from the Qin army. When Qin Mu entered the camp, he was fighting with the soldiers on the training ground. Under the scorching sun, he was covered in mud like an ordinary soldier, and his clothes were soaked with sweat, as if he had just been fished out of the water.
When he came up to greet Qin Mu, Qin Mu found that he still had a wound on his cheek, and he was too lazy to bandage it. The wound was covered with dried blood and a layer of dust.
Qin Mu waited for him to finish his salute, then gave the order: "Liu Yongzhi, listen to my order. I order you to lead the firearms battalion immediately and rush to Partridge Ridge, 20 miles away, to conduct actual combat exercises."
"I obey your command." Liu Yongzhi agreed loudly.
"I'll be waiting for you at Partridge Ridge. Don't let me down." After saying this, Qin Mu rode out of the camp with his guards, leaving behind a cloud of yellow dust.
Although Qin Mu did not limit how long Liu Yongzhi would take to reach Partridge Ridge, his last words undoubtedly gave Liu Yongzhi a slap in the face, almost making him jump.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The drums of the central army sounded urgently, like thunder, and the soldiers in the camp quickly gathered. Liu Yongzhi temporarily entrusted the affairs of the camp to the deputy officer Yue Zhongliang. Then he ordered Lin Shaoxing, the captain of the firearms camp: "Lin Shaoxing, listen to my order. You must lead your troops quickly, prepare chariots, weapons, ammunition and dry food, and follow me to fight in Queqiao Ridge. The governor is waiting for us in Queqiao Ridge. This is not a drill, this is a war. Anyone who dares to procrastinate will be subject to military law."
As soon as Liu Yongzhi gave the order, the 1,200 soldiers of the Firearms Battalion, under the command of Lin Shaoxing, immediately rushed to the stables and carriage sheds.
Their standard equipment was that each person had a bird gun, a medicine can, 300 lead bullets, a walking stick, 5 kilograms of dry food, a water bag, and 5 iron-shell thunder mines (i.e. grenades).
In addition, each detachment had a horse-drawn carriage, each equipped with a Hundred Tigers Running Arrow and five Thunderbolt Guns. Each Hundred Households also had a light Portuguese cannon.
These weapons were stored neatly and orderly because of the frequent drills. Now, the thousand households commanded the hundred households, the hundred households commanded the general flag, and the general flag commanded the squad leaders. With loud shouts, the soldiers quickly prepared their own weapons, ammunition, dry food and drinking water according to the usual drills. The scene was busy and orderly.
Nearly an incense stick of time later, twelve hundred soldiers and horses, along with more than a hundred chariots, rumbled out of the military camp, roaring and neighing, and rushed towards Partridge Ridge, raising a cloud of yellow dust.
Half an hour later, Liu Yongzhi led all the firearms battalion members to Partridge Ridge. All the soldiers were soaked with sweat. Qin Mu was stationed on Horse Ridge, with a large black flag fluttering in the wind. Qin Mu was also very surprised that Liu Yongzhi could arrive in such a short time, but he still did not hesitate at all. Before the army stopped, he immediately asked Li Shi to issue an order with a flag.
As soon as Liu Yongzhi saw the flag order, he hurriedly ordered his soldiers to ride their horses and set up chariots. Ten Portuguese cannons roared first, followed by more than a hundred Hundred Tigers firing arrows at the same time. Countless rockets flew all over the sky like locusts.
The soldiers lined up behind the chariots, one hundred men in a row, five rows in total, and fired in sections with bird guns. Each soldier had to fire two shots to test their filling speed.
After firing a shot, the soldiers quickly took out the paper bag from the gunpowder can, bit through the paper shell, poured the prescribed amount of propellant into the barrel, tamped the propellant with a pole, loaded lead, tamped the lead, opened the firing door, lit the gunpowder, and closed the firing door. After completing a series of actions, they waited for orders to continue firing in unison.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After two rounds of salvos, throw another thunder bomb.
Since all weapons were fired with live ammunition without any fakery, there was a rumble of artillery fire, rockets flying in the sky, and gunfire as continuous as firecrackers during the New Year at Partridge Ridge. The thick smoke made the area below the mountain hazy, with only shadows left.
Qin Mu was very satisfied with Liu Yongzhi's speed and actual combat results this time. He gave Liu Yongzhi high praise and rewarded the Firearm Battalion with twenty big fat pigs for them to slaughter for a feast.
Qin Mu does the same thing wherever he goes these days. He only looks at the results of actual combat exercises and does not listen to reports or look at fancy things.
Doing so would certainly increase expenses, but he is not afraid of spending money. He is only afraid that in the future he will have money but no life to spend it.
***
In the north, after Dorgon occupied the capital, he did not immediately plunder the city like Li Zicheng did, but used Fan Wencheng's strategy to win over Han bureaucrats and landlords by various means, declaring that those who surrendered first would be given high positions and generous salaries.
At the same time, a funeral was held for Emperor Chongzhen, and the Qing Dynasty used the excuse of "avenging the emperor and father" to arouse the Han Chinese. It then announced the abolition of the three additional taxes (Liao tax, training tax, and suppression tax). As a result of these measures, many bureaucrats and landlords in the north actually surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.
The Qing army defeated the Dashun army twice in Baoding and Dingzhou, and even Li Zicheng was wounded by an arrow. After that, the Dashun army retreated again and again. The Qing army then attacked Shanxi. The former Datong general Jiang Ge was dissatisfied with Li Zicheng's sidelining of him, so on June 6th, he killed Datong defender Zhang Tianlin and surrendered to Qing Ying Wang Ajige.
It can be said that Jiang Ge was not a good person. He had a large army at that time. When Li Zicheng attacked Shanxi, he surrendered without firing a single arrow. Li Zicheng looked down on him very much and was ready to kill him. The reason was "The court relies on you for a vital town, why do you surrender first?" It was Zhang Tianlin who persuaded Jiang Ge to be spared. Now, when he saw Li Zicheng retreat, he immediately killed his benefactor Zhang Tianlin and surrendered to the Qing.
Jiang Ge's surrender to the Qing Dynasty caused chaos in the battle situation of the Dashun Army in Shanxi. Azige was unstoppable and defeated all the states and counties below Datong. The Qing army then attacked Taiyuan City defended by Chen Yongfu.
Chen Yongfu had only 10,000 troops. Since Li Zicheng did not care about the old grudge of him shooting one eye, Chen Yongfu was very loyal to Li Zicheng. He implemented the policy of fortifying the city and clearing the countryside and defending Taiyuan to the death.
However, Jiang Ge's surrender to the Qing Dynasty made the soldiers in the city panic. Chen Yongfu could not hold out for a few days before Taiyuan City was declared breached and Chen Yongfu himself was missing.
By this time, the Qing army had controlled northern Zhili, Shandong, and most of Shanxi. Seeing the smooth progress, the ambitious regent Dorgon, despite the opposition of many Manchu ministers, requested that the six-year-old Shunzhi move the capital to Beijing as soon as possible.
Dorgon's move was obvious to everyone. After seeing the true face of the Qing army, many bureaucrats and landlords in the north began to flee to Nanjing in large numbers. However, the naive Hongguang emperor and his ministers sent envoys to the north at this time, hoping to join forces with the Qing army to wipe out the "rebels".
The envoy sent by Hongguang was called Zuo Maodi. In the imperial edict brought by Zuo Maodi, Emperor Hongguang proposed four things: burying Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou, giving the land outside Shanhaiguan as the boundary, giving 100,000 annual tributes, "rewarding 1,000 taels of gold, 100,000 taels of silver, and 10,000 rolls of silk and satin", and establishing a country as he wished.
Dorgon disdained Hongguang's edict and directly imprisoned the envoy Zuo Maodi.
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ps: Next, I plan to use one chapter to briefly explain the major events of the Hongguang Dynasty, and then jump directly to the plot of the Qing army's march south. If you have no objection, please vote for me in support. If you have any objection, please speak freely in the book review area.
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.(To be continued..)
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