Just when the Suzhou Qin family was preparing to invest heavily in purchasing new textile machinery, they were trying to use these new textile machines to regain the leading position of their Qin family's Su Qin cloth in the market and further expand the market.
The war in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang has also entered the most tragic stage!
Since the Chu Empire Army ended the war in northern Zhejiang in January this year, the strategic focus has gradually shifted to Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangbei.
After entering the Jiangbei region, because the operations in the Jiangbei region were more complicated and Yangzhou City was more difficult to capture, and the empire had formally formulated a plan to move from south to north, the strategic focus began to shift to Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang.
Therefore, after March, the Da Chu Empire Army's 5th Division, 7th Division, 6th Division, and 12th Mixed Brigade, a total of four main forces, launched attacks from the reserved areas with the cooperation of many garrison troops.
Among them, the seventh division that first achieved results was the 7th Division that launched an attack from the south of Chu. The division successfully attacked Ganzhou in March, and then went south to seize Meiguan of Nanxiong Prefecture, the northern gate of Guangdong.
Then the Seventh Division quickly went south and captured Nanxiong Mansion. In May, it deployed troops in Qujiang, the capital city of Shaozhou.
During this process, the 7th Division, together with the 11th Garrison Division and other independent units, defeated tens of thousands of enemy troops.
Including the various units under the governor of Southern Jiangxi, some local troops in Guangdong under the governor of Guangdong, and most of the left army of the Guangdong and Guangxi New Standard Army under the personal command of the Southwest Governor Xiong Wencan.
Of the tens of thousands of Ming troops fighting in the area of Ganzhou Prefecture and Nanxiong Prefecture, only more than a thousand left troops of the New Standard Army of Guangdong and Guangxi and several thousand guardsmen fled to Ganzhou in a hurry.
In this series of battles, the Chu army actually killed not many people, but mostly used fire strikes to force the enemy to collapse or even surrender.
Therefore, the number of prisoners of war was quite large. More than 30,000 troops were captured. According to the old rules, some of these prisoners of war were reorganized. A very small number of them were replenished to the 7th Division on the spot. More than 3,000 people were successively replenished to the 7th Division. 11th Garrison Division.
Later, some of the additional reorganized troops were temporarily reorganized into the 16th Garrison Division.
In other words, the Chu army that fought from the west of the Yangtze River to the south became more and more numerous.
There were about 24,000 people before they launched the Battle of Ganzhou, but by the time they reached the gates of Shaozhou City, they had grown to about 30,000 people.
Facing the powerful Chu army, the Ming army in Qujiang, the capital city of Shaozhou, could not resist it.
Before the Chu army launched its attack, the Ming army in Shaozhou City had less than 10,000 troops. In fact, there were many troops in this city before. For example, the Zuo Army of the Guangdong and Guangxi New Standard Army was stationed here before.
However, the left army of the New Standard Army was transferred to Nanxiong Mansion to fight against the Chu thieves and suffered heavy losses. Only about a thousand people escaped and they lost all weapons and equipment such as guns, armor and so on.
There are not many local guardsmen, not to mention that their combat effectiveness is very poor.
Shaozhou City like this cannot stop the powerful Seventh Division, Eleventh Garrison Division and other units.
On May 14, Lieutenant General Huang Xiangbin, the garrison commander of Guangdong and Guangxi and the commander of the 7th Division, led his troops to seize Qujiang, the capital of Shaozhou.
After capturing the city, it meant that the Chu Empire's troops and supplies from the Jiangxi direction could go all the way to Guangzhou along the Beijiang River.
This is of extremely important strategic significance for the Chu Empire's Guangdong and Guangxi strategy.
For this reason, Army Lieutenant General Huang Xiangbin specially wrote a handwritten letter reporting the victory.
Not only Lieutenant General Huang Xiangbin's consecutive victories in the direction of Guangdong, Army Major General Lin Siyong, deputy commander of the Guangdong and Guangxi garrison and commander of the Fifth Division, also performed well in the direction of Guangxi.
First, the main force of the 7th Division, together with the 3rd Garrison Division, captured Lingui, the capital of Guilin, and severely damaged the right army of the Guangdong and Guangxi New Standard Army stationed there, forcing more than 2,000 remnants of the army to flee in panic to Liuzhou.
Immediately afterwards, a reinforced regiment detached from the division, with the cooperation of the Sixth Defense Division, captured Pingle, Pinglefu City.
In addition, a reinforced regiment under the Seventh Division had already taken Hexian County and other places first, which means that the Chu army had completely broken through the resistance of the Ming army on the Guangxi front and gradually won the Important places on the front line.
After entering May, the Chu Army's Seventh Division and the three cooperating garrison divisions were still divided into three groups!
The main force of the 7th Division went towards Liuzhou.
A reinforced group attacked Zhaoping and planned to attack Wuzhou City along the Guijiang River.
As soon as they strengthened the group, they headed towards Huaiji.
The three fronts had a comprehensive breakthrough, and during the breakthrough process, it was not just as simple as seizing local cities, but more importantly, the Chu army also killed or captured enemy troops on a large scale, and even the enemy troops who escaped had to abandon their guns. Guns, armor, food and other supplies.
And these also made it easier for the Seventh Division and other Chu troops fighting in the Guangxi direction in subsequent operations.
After all, the Ming army's strength in the direction of Guangxi is also limited, and the main force is these new standard army troops.
However, the Right Army of the New Standard Army of Guangdong and Guangxi, which Xiong Wencan serves as the core combat force, used inferior troops and firepower to resist the main force of the Chu Army's 7th Division in the Battle of Guilin. Although they fought very tenaciously, they could not defeat them... …
In this battle, the right-wing army with the richest combat experience, the highest level of weapons and equipment, and the most powerful soldiers among the new standard armies of Guangdong and Guangxi was completely interrupted.
Before the battle, the Guangdong and Guangxi New Standard Army, which had nearly 6,000 men, lost at least 4,000 men in this battle, leaving only about 2,000 men who fled to Liuzhou. Of the 2,000 men who fled to Liuzhou, almost half of them were lost. With all the heavy weapons and baggage, many people didn't even keep much personal equipment.
The Right Army of the New Standard Army of Guangdong and Guangxi, this one comes from the New Standard Army of Huguang, and can be regarded as the first batch of New Standard Army in the Ming Dynasty. By this time, it was completely half disabled. Without a long period of rest and replenishment, it would not be possible at all. It may have returned to its original combat effectiveness.
But does Xiong Wencan have guns and guns to supplement them?
It may be possible to give Xiong Wencan a year and a half, but the Chu army will obviously not give Xiong Wencan such a long time. Let alone a year and a half, at most, the Chu army will reach Liuzhou in ten days and a half.
In fact, the troops of the 13th Brigade of the 7th Division of the Chu Army followed the retreat route of the right army of the New Standard Army of Guangdong and Guangxi all the way to Liuzhou.
Three days after the right army of the New Standard Army of Guangdong and Guangxi fled to Liuzhou, the forward troops of the 13th Brigade of the Chu Army had already arrived outside Liuzhou City.
The new standard army of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Right Army, can no longer assume the important task of being the core and main force of Guangxi's defense.
The New Standard Army in other directions did not fare much better. The two New Standard Army rear armies deployed on the Pingle front line originally had only about 2,000 troops, and they were still newly formed troops.
"The Sword Comes"
The unit suffered a devastating blow in the Battle of Pingle. It was completely wiped out by the 27th Reinforcement Regiment under the 7th Division of the Chu Army with the cooperation of the 6th Guards Division. More than 400 people were killed on the spot, and all the others were killed. As prisoners, only a hundred or so people escaped.
This unit was also the first main force of the Ming army in the Guangdong and Guangxi areas to be completely wiped out among the five armies of the New Standard Army of Guangdong and Guangxi.
On the other hand, the two new standard troops on the Hexian-Huaiji front line are better. This is not because they are difficult to fight, but because the 28th Reinforcement Regiment fighting in this direction has too long a battle line and limited supply. Still not impressed by the strong attack.
This is also the reason why the Ming army has been able to defend Huaiji so far.
Because in the past few months, the Chu army did not launch a large-scale attack in this direction.
Finally, there are the two new standard army in Wuzhou City. However, the strength of this army is very small. Before the war, there were only more than a thousand people. Even though Xiong Wencan tried his best to expand in the past two months, although the number of people was urgently expanded. There are more than 3,000 people, but the weapons and equipment have not increased much. Many of these newly expanded people are cold weapon troops armed with spears and bows.
The crucial two and a half kilogram and five kilogram field guns have not been increased at all.
As of early May, the Guangdong and Guangxi New Standard Army, which had a total of five armies in the front, rear, left, right, and center, with a total strength of 17,000 people, had been beaten to a pulp.
In particular, the left army and the right army, which were fully composed of mixed brigades, suffered a devastating blow. Even if Xiong Wencan is given one year, it is estimated that these two main mixed brigades will not be able to be rebuilt.
The rear army was completely wiped out.
Now, Xiong Wencan's available new standard army only has 3,000 people in the front army. The center army actually has 3,000 people but only more than 1,000 soldiers can fight.
Adding the two together, there are only just over 4,000 people who can fight.
As for the other Ming armies except the New Standard Army, Xiong Wencan himself has no hope...
Those local guardsmen could not even fight a pirate, let alone fight each other with the regular troops among the Chu thieves.
When the bad news ahead came one after another, Xiong Wencan in Wuzhou City became more and more desperate.
On May 14th, Shaozhou Prefecture was captured by Chu thieves. The last thousand or so people from the left army of the New Standard Army of Guangdong and Guangxi in the city surrendered to the thieves after a slight resistance.
After the news of the capture of Shaozhou City reached Wuzhou, Xiong Wencan was extremely angry, but he had no choice but to hurriedly try to mobilize troops to prepare for the subsequent defensive operations in Guangzhou.
As for what kind of troops will be mobilized, don't expect new standard troops or anything like that, they can only be ordinary guardsmen.
On May 18th, the Chu army captured Liuzhou City. The two thousand remaining soldiers of the two new standard army right armies in the city fled early when the situation was not good. There were not many casualties. Even during the escape process, they were still alive. I grabbed a lot of money in Liuzhou City and got a lot of armor, old cannons, and food for mules and horses.
In short, when the right-wing army of the New Standard Army of Guangdong and Guangxi escaped from Liuzhou City, the overall mental outlook was much stronger than when it fled to Liuzhou City.
As for the other Ming army guards in the city, they were either killed or wounded or surrendered. It is worth mentioning that very few of these local guards retreated to other places in an organized manner. Generally, they were unable to defeat and either surrendered or simply took off their military uniforms. Ran home.
Because these guards soldiers are usually temporarily recruited from the local guards, or they are simply young and strong county warriors recruited from the local people.
My home is right here!
As for those battalion sentry soldiers who were often recruited and organized into field troops for combat...these battalion sentry soldiers had been used up in the previous battles in Guilin and even the earlier Chunan battles.
Whether it was Yang Sichang before or Xiong Wencan now, they all mobilized a large number of guards soldiers from Guangdong, Guangxi and even Yunnan and Guizhou, and formed camp and sentry field troops to fight against the Chu army in the Huguang area.
And these battalion sentries basically never come back...
So when the Chu army reached the Guangdong and Guangxi areas, Xiong Wencan had to use a small number of soldiers left behind in the local guard station plus a large number of young guardsmen called guard soldiers, who actually had no military training, to resist. Chu is a thief.
Not only do these people have very low combat effectiveness, but also have very low morale, and they especially like to surrender at every turn...
As long as the Chu thieves don't kill them, these people will easily surrender to the thieves. Even if they don't surrender to the thieves, they will easily flee and then run straight home...
This also led to the fact that although the number of prisoners captured by the Chu army in the Battle of Liuzhou was not small, the quality was really not good.
The quality of these so-called guardsmen was not even as good as the young men recruited by the Chu army in their own rear areas.
As a result, the accompanying officers from the Military and Political Department looked at the thousands of prisoners captured in the Liuzhou Battle, shook their heads, and then gave up the idea of using these prisoners to replenish thousands of garrison soldiers.
As a result, in the huge battle of Liuzhou, the Chu army captured almost 7,000 people. In the end, only more than 200 people were selected to join the garrison, and the remaining 6,000 people were arranged to enter the settlement. Battalions, construction camps, transportation camps, etc. were placed first.
When the subsequent war subsides, we will gradually demobilize according to the old rules. Those who should go home will go home, and those who do not want to go home will be arranged to focus on farming or join the construction engineering team, or simply set up a small factory for them to work. of.
This is also the method that the Chu army has explored in the past two years to treat prisoners of war and refugees.
Regardless of whether they are captured prisoners or soldiers who surrendered on their own, regardless of whether they are officers and soldiers or bandits, it is all divided management.
Not to mention those who were reorganized into the garrison and even the main force, more were arranged into reclamation camps, construction camps, and transportation camps.
These battalions are under military management, but the personnel inside are not soldiers. Under the supervision of the army, they will carry out land reclamation, dig canals, build bridges and pave roads, or act as civilians to help the frontline troops transport supplies.
In short, there are two core points. One is centralized military management. This is to prevent them from becoming rebels and bandits after they escape and harm the local area. It is also to avoid arresting people today and releasing them tomorrow, and then these people will be discovered again in a few days. Ting has captured a strong man... Of course, this person will definitely be released or demobilized, but usually it takes a few months or a year, especially after the local situation is relatively stable. At the same time, if you are unwilling to leave, you can continue to stay. , and then arrange for cultivation, work, etc. on the spot.
The second is self-reliance. Although the Chu Empire will provide rations to support them in the early stage, the Chu Empire will not support them all the time, so they need to be self-reliant, either by cultivating fields, raising chickens and ducks, and engaging in various agricultural and livestock production, or Whether it is building various engineering facilities, or working as a civilian to transport supplies, there are also various other jobs...
In short, no matter what you do, you have to be self-reliant.
After all, although the Dachu Empire has a lot of money and food, it is impossible to really keep hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war in vain...it is not such a waste of money.
As for the large number of prisoners of war captured in the Liuzhou Battle, because they were temporarily recruited from the weak local guards and recruited county warriors, most of these people were arranged to enter various settlement camps, transportation camps, and construction camps. Went to camp.
A similar situation also happened after the Battle of Shaozhou!
In this situation, although it is difficult for the garrison to be replenished, it still makes Huang Xiangbin and other senior generals very happy.
Because this means that the enemy's regular army has lost all its troops, and they can only make up for it with these things that the Ming army themselves did not like in the past.
Under such circumstances, Huang Xiangbin appeared very optimistic in the battle report he sent to Jinling City in mid-May, and boasted: Guangdong and Guangxi can be defeated in a day or night!
