Chapter 62: Everyone has plans for a decisive battle
After the Ming Navy completely destroyed all the warships of the Guangdong Navy along the Pearl River.
The initiative on the battlefield was completely in the hands of the Ming army.
Just like the Opium War in later generations.
The British army relied on its naval superiority and maneuverability.
Follow the coastline north.
The location of the battlefield depends entirely on where the British army wants to fight.
The Qing army had a strength advantage, but often the battlefield was over.
Most of the Qing troops mobilized from land have not yet arrived on the battlefield...
The same is true now.
After determining that there was no surface force at the Pearl River Estuary that could threaten the Ming army's fleet.
Napoleon suggested that the battlefield should be placed under the city of Guangzhou.
"We now have the initiative on the battlefield, and now we have troops stationed under the city of Guangzhou. At this time, our opponents have only two choices: shrink their forces inside the city of Guangzhou and concentrate their forces to defend the city; or lead troops to fight and confront us outside the city of Guangzhou. !”
"No matter what the opponent chooses, the initiative is in our hands. If the opponent shrinks the city of Guangzhou, we can attack other cities in Guangdong along the Pearl River and encroach step by step. In the end, the opponent will only have an isolated city in Guangzhou, and defeat will only take time. question."
"If the opponent chooses to fight in the field, that would be even better... We can gradually increase the number of troops and force the opponent to invest all their chips on the battlefield. We will fight a decisive battle with the Guangdong Qing army under the walls of Guangzhou!"
"Destroy the opponent's main force in one battle!"
The commander-in-chief of this battle was not Zhu Daohua.
It was Napoleon, the general adviser of the Ming Army beside him.
However, Napoleon also explained in detail why he placed the battlefield outside Guangzhou.
This is tempting the enemy.
For the Ming army.
A decisive battle as soon as possible is the best policy.
Therefore, the number of troops dispatched this time was not large.
Only the most elite First Brigade of the Army was dispatched.
It was led by Wang Dayong, commander of the First Brigade and one of the three hundred old brothers, and the Army's Second Brigade and Third Brigade, as well as a howitzer battalion, as well as two troops employed in the Straits Governor's Palace and Lan Fong Province. More than 10,000 civilians accompanying the army are still stationed on Lantau Island.
And began to build forts, ports, and camps on Lantau Island.
Lantau Island is located at the mouth of the Pearl River.
There is a natural deep water harbor.
According to Boss Zhu's plan, after acquiring Guangdong, he will carry out large-scale development of Lantau Island - the development of special economic zones. If nothing else, just speculating on land will make Boss Zhu rich.
in the hereafter.
Lantau Island, the largest island in Hong Kong in later generations, has not been developed much - those real estate developers are really evil. Millions of people are crowded on the small Hong Kong Island, and the land of Lantau Island is separated by the shallow sea. It was tightly suppressed by local wealthy families and refused to be developed...
However, Boss Zhu’s purpose of developing Lantau Island is certainly not for land speculation.
But to better develop maritime trade.
Therefore, the construction of Lantau Island by more than 20,000 people is not wasted.
These constructions were also useful after the war.
.........
Just when the Ming army landed in Huangpu.
In Guangzhou, about 20 kilometers away.
Fukangan was furious when he got the news.
"Go deep alone! So brave!!"
He slapped the coffee table and stood up suddenly.
After pacing back and forth for a few steps, the anger on his face had subsided.
"This is a tactic to lure the enemy!"
Fukangan said.
"But...it's too confident to dare to disembark at Huangpu with just a few thousand people!"
Fukangan said, already having some calculations in his heart.
"Pass the Governor's order!"
"The Eight Banners Han Army dispatched 300 cavalry troops from the upper three banners, 800 infantrymen from each of the lower five banners, the entire Zhongyong Battalion, 18,000 men from the left, middle and right battalions of the Guangdong Supervisor, and 18,000 men from the left, middle, and right battalions of the Guangdong Patrol Biao. Camp, get out of the city and obey orders!"
Fukang'an took action with 50,000 troops.
"Bit the men and horses of Ni Ming's brigade! I don't believe... Zhu Daohua, the leader of Ni Ming's thieves, would be willing to lose a brigade!"
"If he is unwilling to give up...then invest all his capital under the city of Guangzhou!!"
Fukang'an squinted his eyes and glanced at the local officials in Guangdong and Guangxi.
"I now have 150,000 regular soldiers on hand, and a lot of regiment training troops, enough to surround Ni Ming in Huangpu!"
"Even if we fight all these hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, as long as we can kill Ni Ming's three brigades of infantry, we will win!!"
The Qing government included the Han provinces, as well as Inner and Outer Mongolia.
We spent hundreds of thousands of Green Camp soldiers from Guangdong, Guangxi and several southern provinces, but the losses were heavy.
But it doesn’t stop at breaking your muscles!
On the contrary, Zhu Daohua must be reluctant to spend all his three brigades of infantry under the walls of Guangzhou.
Pay attention to both sides.
It's actually a decisive battle.
But the purpose is different.
Fukang'an wanted to fight a war of attrition and consume the more than 10,000 infantry soldiers in Zhu Daohua's hands.
As for Zhu Daohua...
His purpose was to use this decisive battle to reduce as much of Guangdong's support for the Qing Dynasty...
Catch them all! ! !
.......
It took almost two days.
Fukang'an then marched 45,000 troops out of Guangzhou.
It was already sunset when we arrived at Huangpu.
After giving the order to set up camp, Fukang'an and his entourage climbed to Huangpu Longtou Mountain and looked at the Ming army's military formation from the top of the mountain.
What Fukang'an saw was a defensive position composed of trenches and sandbags.
The position was backed by the Pearl River, and warships were passing by on the river.
In front of the position facing the land is an open area, unobstructed and unobstructed.
The position was lined with trenches and parapets made of sandbags.
The Ming troops in the trenches could easily move to the front of the trenches to fire volleys of guns through the communication trenches. At the same time, many artillery pieces were deployed behind these trenches and trenches.
Fukangan put down the telescope and frowned.
"Although Ni Ming's camp does not have high walls, it is indeed difficult to approach. Their trenches should be arranged to unleash the firepower of muskets."
It is not that Fukang'an has never fought with armies possessing European firearms.
The Jungar Ministry obtained many European weapons from Russia and other countries through trade.
"The Ming Dynasty army has formed a stronghold. It seems that they are not here to test, but they plan to fight on the edge of the Pearl River."
Sun Qijiao, the admiral of Guangdong Green Camp, said.
He was also from the Eight Banners Han Army.
The soldiers in Green Camp are all Han Chinese.
But the military commanders could be Han Chinese or the Eight Banners - on the contrary, it was impossible for Han people to become the military commanders of the Eight Banners.
The official shops of the Qing Dynasty were basically divided into two shops.
One is the Eight Banners, including the Eight Banners of Manchuria, the Eight Banners of Mongolia, and the Eight Banners of the Han Army. In addition to their dedicated Manchu officials, some official positions dominated by Han people are not restricted to the Eight Banners.
The Han people, whose population is much larger than that of the Eight Banners, can get far fewer official positions than the Eight Banners.
Fukang'an looked at the Ming army's camp ahead.
Get on your horse.
"It seems that this battle will not end anytime soon."
Sun Qijiao also looked at the sun and moon flag flying on the camp.
His face was so solemn that he could squeeze water from his eyes.
This is the Ming Dynasty.
They have been dead for more than a hundred years.
Why is it still lingering?
