Chapter 410: Attack Jinkou
On March 5, the Red Army advanced on three fronts and launched attacks on Jinkou Town, Xianning County, and Tongshan County at the same time.

The war did not go as smoothly as expected.

Jinkou Town controls the place where Jinshui River flows into the Yangtze River. There are not many defenders, but their resistance is extremely tenacious.

Nguyen Dinh Phong led the Red Army Navy and defeated the Qing Navy in one fell swoop, controlling the Yangtze River waterway. However, the defenders relied on the wooden fortress to hold on, planted wooden stakes as fences to block the river, and placed artillery on the wooden fortress, making it difficult for the Red Army Navy to go up the Jinshui River.

As a last resort, Nguyen Dinh Phong had to send ships to land downstream of Jinkou. The Red Army fought bravely, but the Qing army, taking advantage of the terrain, launched a crazy counterattack. Nguyen Dinh Phong lost more than 500 people and had to give up landing and confront the defenders across the river on the west bank of Jinkou.

The defenders were tenacious and were definitely not Green Camp soldiers. Ruan Tingfeng interrogated the prisoners and learned that Oboi had sent 2,000 Manchurian soldiers to reinforce Jinkou, including 1,000 elite Solon soldiers.

The Solon tribe belonged to the wild Jurchens, who lived in the bitter cold of the Heilongjiang River Basin. Both men and women made a living by fishing and hunting, and were therefore extremely brave. As early as the Nurhaci period, the Eight Banners often captured the Solon people and used them as slaves of the bannermen and as auxiliary soldiers on the battlefield.

After the Manchus entered the Pass, the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners declined rapidly due to deaths in battle, plague, and stationing in prosperous cities. The Qing court turned its attention to its homeland in the Northeast, recruited a large number of Solon people, and gave Solon soldiers the treatment of regular banner soldiers.

These Solon soldiers were already good at archery and matchlock guns. After formal training in the Eight Banners of Manchuria, their combat effectiveness increased sharply, even surpassing that of the ordinary Eight Banners of Manchuria.

Ruan Dinh Feng sent a letter to the Grand Marshal’s headquarters asking for help. After reading it, Dan Chu fell into deep thought.

Chief of Staff Qian Bingdeng, Right Assistant Army Yang Yuqi, Assistant Army Assistant Mo Guangshu, Operations Director He Zhaoji and others have read the chicken feather letter one after another. In order to better fight the Qing army, Right Assistant Army Yang Yuqi also came to the front line to assist Danchu in handling military affairs.

Qian Bingdeng said in a relaxed tone: “The Tartars are best at fooling the people. For example, these Solon soldiers are from the Solon tribe of the Jurchens. They eat raw meat and drink blood, are poor and backward, and have lived in the Heilongjiang River Basin in Jilin for generations, making a living by fishing and hunting.

“The Tartars did not allow the Solon people to migrate southward or engage in farming. They forced the Solon tribe to pay tribute of furs every year, which kept the Solon people busy with fishing and hunting all year round, and helped them maintain their hard-working, brave and courageous style.”

Yang Yuqi offered a suggestion: “The Navy Association suffered a setback in Jinkou Town, which is a rare defeat since the expedition. Our army must resolutely fight back and defeat the Sauron soldiers to boost morale.”

Mo Guangshu was more concerned about the issue of food and fodder, and said, “One hundred thousand troops are crowded in the front line of Xianning and Tongshan. Without the navy to provide food and fodder and ammunition, it will be difficult to last long. Jinkou Town must be taken down at all costs.”

“Well,” Danchu pondered for a long time and said, “There is a problem with our deployment of troops. Aobai Chen’s army is at Hesheng Bridge, and it is mutually supporting Xianning. We were led by the Tartars by the nose, and we put the elite troops of Huben Town on the front line of Xianning, and did not pay enough attention to Jinkou.”

Yang Yuqi, who had a lot of experience, asked, “Does the Lord mean to move the army to Jinkou and use Jinkou to break through the Tartar defense line?”

A large-scale military operation involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses is unprecedented in scale, so we should proceed cautiously and not take risky moves as we did in the past.

Judging from the deployment of troops by Oboi and Cen Danchu, both sides were following the rules, had no intention of achieving a surprise victory, and had no intention of taking unnecessary risks.

If the Red Army broke through the enemy’s defense line at Jinkou, they would have to line up with their backs to the water. This area has the Yangtze River in the northwest, the Jinshui River in the west, and Xiliang Lake, which is good for defense but not for attack. If they failed, they would have no way to retreat, which was no joke.

In contrast, Xianning and Jinkou were separated by Xiliang Lake, which connected the upper and lower reaches of Jinshui River. The water in the lower reaches was too deep for horses and men to wade, so a floating bridge had to be built. The water in the upper reaches was shallow, so the Red Army could easily cross Jinshui River without a floating bridge.

In fact, the Jinshui River originates from Damu Mountain, 40 miles southeast of Xianning. Damu Mountain is located between Xianning County and Tongshan County, and there is a post road connecting the two counties.

The main attack direction of Huben Town is Xianning, so it does not have to worry about forming a battle line with its back to the water, and can also respond to the Fourth Infantry Town in the direction of Tongshan.

Because of this, Aobai set up camp at Hesheng Bridge to support the Xianning defenders. “We can give it a try by attacking Jinkou instead,” Danchu said. “Before the battle, the enemy and our forces were equal. But the Tartars deployed green camps and local militias on the front line, and suffered heavy losses. Our army became more and more courageous, and suffered very little loss. After dividing our troops to occupy the key passes of the city, we still have enough troops on the front line, so we can take the risk of fighting.”

Qian Bingdeng said: “The Art of War says, attack others instead of being attacked by others. Aobai camped at Hesheng Bridge, so he can take care of Xianning and Jinkou at the same time. Hesheng Bridge is closer to Xianning, and Aobai obviously wants to fight a decisive battle in Xianning. We don’t want to fight a decisive battle in Xianning, and we have the navy to help us. It is more appropriate to use Jinkou as a breakthrough point.”

“Good,” Danchu made up his mind and said, “Dispatch the First Brigade of the Imperial Guard to reinforce Jinkou, and then dispatch a battalion of boat and bridge soldiers from the Auxiliary Brigade to Jinkou to build a floating bridge.”

“Should we continue the offensive in Xianning?” Yang Yuqi asked.

“Continue the attack, but don’t use all your strength. First, build a camp on the north bank of the Jinshui River, dig deep trenches and build high fortifications, and feint to attack Xianning to see how Oboi reacts.”

The lower reaches of the Jinshui River meander back and forth, forming a series of U-shaped river bends, which objectively played a very good role in shielding. The Red Army chose to cross the river at Shizi’ao, which was less than two miles away from the Yangtze River and 15 miles away from the mouth of the Jinshui River, that is, Jinkou Town.

The navy collected small boats and moored them on the river bank in advance. The Red Army mobilized tenants, boatmen, fishermen, etc. to carry the small boats over a two-li land route and deliver them to the crossing point at Shizi’ao.

The next morning, a floating bridge was built, and the First Brigade of the Imperial Guards crossed the Lushui River. The main force stayed on the east bank of the Lushui River, and the First Brigade rushed straight to Jinkou. The Navy Brigade assisted from the Yangtze River, pretending to attack Jinkou by force.

After the victory the day before, the defenders were full of confidence and sent out 4,000 Manchurian soldiers to fight, and also placed the Solon soldiers in the vanguard. Among them, there were 2,000 Manchurian reinforcements. When Oboi saw that the Red Army had increased its troops in Jinkou, he also transferred another 2,000 Manchurian soldiers to Jinkou.

At the critical moment, Oboi did not dare to make use of the Han army and the Green Camp, and had to use the limited Manchu soldiers to the best effect.

As soon as they started fighting, they saw that the Sauron soldiers were indeed formidable. They had already been equipped with the latest flintlock rifles and could shoot skillfully on horseback, just like the Red Army cavalry.

No wonder Nguyen Dinh Feng was defeated by the Sauron soldiers and had to ask for help from the Marshal’s Headquarters.

The first regiment of the imperial guards was the first vanguard of the imperial guards and rushed forward first. Neither army formed a battle array, but rode on horseback and shot at each other. Before the battle had even started, the rear army of the first regiment sounded a golden gong, and the soldiers turned their horses around and hurriedly retreated. In order to speed up, they rushed to throw away their bags.

The Sauron soldiers had lived in a cold and bitter land since they were young, and had been afraid of poverty since they were young. They only knew how to fight bravely and did not know how to adapt. They did not know that it was a trick, and thought that the Red Army was really defeated. Seeing that there were spoils to be taken, they rushed forward to chase. There was a golden water in front of them. As long as the Red Army was driven into the golden water, the Sauron soldiers would be able to win a great victory.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded from the Red Army, and the defeated soldiers split into two wings. The Sauron soldiers were startled, and then they split into two groups, ready to chase the Red Army separately.

Through the dust, thousands of Red Army soldiers crawled up from the ground, holding Dinglu rifles with bayonets already fixed on the muzzles, and quickly formed a battle formation.

“Beep! Beep, beep!” A long whistle and three short whistles were the signal for concentrated fire. The ambush troops opened fire, and the Sauron soldiers were in the front, bearing the brunt of the attack. Soldiers and horses were hit one after another, and immediately fell to the ground.

The First Brigade soldiers, who had pretended to flee in defeat, also turned their horses around and shot at the flanks of the Sauron soldiers.

The Qing army was small in number and fell into the Red Army’s ambush, and immediately fell into chaos. The Sauron soldiers were very brave and wanted to charge into the Red Army’s battle formation, but they suffered heavy losses under the dense bullets. Even if some soldiers rushed into the Red Army’s battle formation, they were killed by the Red Army’s bayonets.

The battle lasted only an hour, and the Manchurian soldiers were defeated. The Red Army pursued the victory, burned four camps in a row, and then attacked the wooden city of Jinkou Town.

On that day, the Red Army captured Jinkou and opened a gap on the edge of the Qing army’s defense line.

(End of this chapter)