Chapter 406: Three-Way Expedition
On February 20, the weather warmed up and the Red Army marched northward in large numbers. The Huben Town and the Fourth Infantry Town had a total of 130,000 troops, divided into three groups, and successively moved out of Hengzhou, Changsha, and Yuezhou, heading towards Wuchang.

They traveled by water, split into two routes, one set sail from Hengzhou and the other from Changsha, followed the Xiangjiang River into Dongting Lake, then into the Yangtze River from Dongting Lake, and then went down the river, heading directly for Wuchang.

The front route was escorted by the First Marine Division, which brought with it the Artillery Division, the Auxiliary Marine Division, and a large amount of ammunition, etc. The rear route was escorted by the Second Marine Division, which brought with it a large amount of food and supplies.

The Second Naval Association was established just over half a year ago, with only more than 30 newly launched third-generation warships and four long-length warships. Thanks to Nguyen Dinh Phong’s fruitful work, Huben Town established a shipyard in Hengzhou and built more than 30 warships in less than half a year.

Fortunately, a large number of Tanka people joined the Red Army, making up for the shortage of sailors and ships. In order to better command the Neijiang Navy, Cen Danchu promoted Ruan Tingfeng to the deputy commander of Huben Town, directly leading the first and second brigades of the Navy.

He really wanted to recruit a new navy, but considering the financial constraints, he had to give up for the time being.

Another deputy commander was He Guoju, who was born in Guangxi as a Yao ethnic group. He was a trusted general of Cen Danchu and directly led the First, Second and Third Brigades of his personal guards.

The Huben Town had too many soldiers, with a total of more than 70,000 soldiers, and Ma Bao found it difficult to lead them. With Ruan Tingfeng and He Guoju as assistants, Ma Bao felt much more relaxed and could concentrate on commanding the war.

The second route was composed of cavalry and personal soldiers from Huben Town, passing through Yuezhou, Linxiang, and Jiayu, generally along the east bank of Dongting Lake and the south bank of the Yangtze River, responding to the navy from a distance. This route, especially along the south bank of the Yangtze River, was where the Qing army focused its defenses.

The Cavalry Corps marched in front, and the Third Corps’ personal soldiers marched in the rear. After the great victory in Changsha, the Red Army seized a large number of war horses, which greatly alleviated the predicament of the personal soldiers’ lack of war horses. Basically, each person could have one horse, so they marched very quickly.

The third route was composed of the Fourth Infantry Regiment, passing through Xiangyin, Tongcheng, Chongyang, and Xianning. This route was the shortest, but it passed through Damu Mountain and Jiugong Mountain, which was prone to ambush by the Qing army.

This battle with Oboi was a decisive one, and Danchu led the army in person as usual. The Central Army always followed the Central Route Army, so this time he did not take the water route, but followed the First Brigade of his personal soldiers.

Danchu was riding on his horse, full of confidence, and said:

“At this time last year, our army left Meiguan and marched north to Jiangxi. Over the past year, the Red Army has been on the march, fighting the Tartars in Ganzhou, Yudu, Hengzhou, and Changsha. We have always won battles and always defended well, so we were able to recover Hunan and Jiangxi. Now that the weather is getting warmer, it is suitable for fighting. I hope that this time’s expedition to Wuchang will be as successful as last year.”

It is early spring, the grass and trees are sprouting, and the world is full of vitality again.

The Red King took the lead, and the generals who followed him began to discuss:

“The Tartars are not afraid of the cold, but Oboi is guarding Changsha, waiting for reinforcements. It is clear that he is timid and has no desire to fight.”

“The heavy snow in the first month of the year was really freezing cold. Our troops stationed in Changsha were still freezing and many of them got frostbite. Fortunately, the grain station transferred a lot of coal, which the soldiers used to keep warm, and the frostbite was relieved a lot.”

“It had to be the brothers of the Engineer Corps. Many of them were miners from Chenzhou. They organized miners in Chenzhou and Yongzhou and dug a lot of coal. They wetted the coal, mixed it with loess, and made it into coal mud. They made it into a honeycomb shape, which was both resistant to burning and warm.”

“If there hadn’t been that heavy snow in the first month of the year, we would have set out long ago and started fighting with the Tartars long ago. Now we’ve moved camp a month late, and the Tartars have taken their time to respond. So they sent a guy called Lotho?”

“Why should we be afraid of him? Loto comes at the right time. We can just eat him together!” “Hahahaha!” everyone laughed.

Aixinjueluo Luotuo, grandson of Shuerhaci, Prince Zhuang of the Manchu Dynasty, and eldest son of Beile Zhaisanggu. Luotuo was 39 years old at the time and a famous general in the early Qing Dynasty, but he was stripped of his title and imprisoned for “rebellion and violation of the law” during the reign of Huang Taiji.

“An epidemic broke out in the capital, and countless Tartars were killed or wounded. All the famous generals died. Even second-rate people like Nikan and Tunqi could serve as generals, let alone a nobody like Loto?”

Danchu smiled and said to the Intelligence Bureau Director Feng Jiali, “Old Feng, tell us about Loto’s background.”

“Yes,” Feng Jiali was in a high position with great power, but he was a humble and taciturn person, and he had a good reputation among the generals.

“Loto has an uncle who is an old acquaintance of everyone, Prince Zheng of the Qing Dynasty, Jirgalang. Jirgalang’s father is Shuerhaci, the second brother of Yezhupi, who was imprisoned to death by Yezhupi. Jirgalang’s eldest brother is Amin, who was imprisoned to death by Huang Taiji.

“Now that Dorgon is dead and Fulin is young, Jirgalang has taken over the family. When the Red Army rose up, he fell ill and could not manage the affairs. Lotto rose up and was reappointed as the third-class general of the state.

“It is because there are no great generals in the court that Liao Hua is the vanguard. Jirgalang recommended Luotuo as the commander-in-chief of the Bordered Blue Banner Manchuria, and gathered eight banners of Manchu, Mongolian and Han, claiming to have 50,000 banner soldiers, to go south to reinforce Oboi. His actual strength should be more than 20,000 eight banners…”

More than 20,000 Eight Banners soldiers? This is not a small number. Together with the Eight Banners soldiers under Oboi, there will be about 70,000 Eight Banners soldiers gathered on the Wuchang battlefield, plus the Green Camp escort army, the total force should be more than 120,000.

Following Cen Danchu, the soldiers had already established confidence in victory and were quite optimistic about future battles.

“Wu Sangui and Sun Kewang are fighting each other. We don’t have to worry about it anymore, so we can focus on dealing with Oboi. The people’s support is with me, the navy is with me, and the firearms are with me. This decisive battle will surely be a victory soon.”

“We need to be more cautious in Jingzhou. The defending general Aljin is known as a famous general, and now there is Li Guohan, who should not be underestimated.”

“Hu Zhentai is brave and good at fighting, and the Fifth Town also has local soldiers from western Hunan and veteran soldiers from the Shun army. If Aljin dares to take advantage of the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, he will never return.”

“Last year our army won a great victory, and Luo Xiujin, the Tartar governor of Huguang and Sichuan, died of fright. His successor, Li Guoying, can do something. If we can persuade him to rebel, I think it will be of great benefit to future wars.”

Li Guoying, a native of Datongwei, Shanxi, was a hereditary military commander of the Ming Dynasty’s frontier army. He was brave and good at fighting. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, he was a general under Zuo Liangyu, and was a colleague of Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan, Wang Yuncheng, Xu Yong, etc. After Zuo Menggeng surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Li Guoying was determined to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, showing outstanding military and political talents. In the second year of the Yongli reign, he was promoted to the governor of Sichuan by the Qing court and incorporated into the Han Army Zhenghong Banner.

His name is similar to that of another traitor, Li Guohan, but they are actually not related. He is now stationed in Wuchang, cooperating with Oboi to fight against the Red Army.

“Although Oboi has an army of 120,000, only 70,000 Eight Banners soldiers are really useful. The other 50,000 to 60,000 Green Camp soldiers, even if they are elite and capable of fighting, will definitely wait and see and will not fight hard.”

Danchu said decisively: “The Tartars are a foreign race and are tyrannical and unpredictable. The people do not support them. They discriminate against the Green Camp, and the Green Camp does not follow them. Although Oboi is smart and capable, he cannot change this situation. He is to Li Guoying like Tunqi is to Shen Yongzhong. The Battle of Wuchang is just a replica of the Battle of Changsha.”

(End of this chapter)