Chapter 412 The troops are approaching the city
The main force of Huben Town fought a draw with the Qing army in Xianning, but the First Brigade of the Imperial Guards achieved good results in Jinkou.

First, the two armies lined up outside the camp for a field battle. The Red Army had a large number of troops, and the First Brigade of the Red Army was an elite group of tiger soldiers. They defeated the Qing army in less than two hours. The Qing army fled into the camp and held on. The Red Army took advantage of the victory to attack the camp fiercely, and finally broke through the two camps.

After reading the report sent by the First Brigade of the Imperial Guards, Right Assistant General Yang Yuqi said in a joking tone: “The Tartars have set up six camps outside Jinkou Town, and our army has broken through two of them today. If we break through one camp each day in the next two days, we will be able to threaten the Tartars’ flanks the day after tomorrow.”

The situation in Tongshan was similar to that in Xianning, with the two armies fighting to a draw. However, the Fourth Town was on the offensive, while the Qing army was on the defensive, and the Red Army had a slight advantage.

“If the First Brigade of the Imperial Guards was in Xianning today, perhaps it would be able to defeat Oboi.” Dan Chu sighed. The First Brigade of the Imperial Guards was established the earliest among the three brigades and had the strongest combat effectiveness. It was known as the three pillars of Huben Town together with the Cavalry Brigade and the Artillery Brigade.

“We transferred the First Brigade of the Imperial Guards to Jinkou to fight, hoping to divide Aobai’s troops. But Aobai didn’t take the bait, so this plan was useless.”

“Or, should we coordinate the first batch of personal soldiers to Xianning?” Qian Bingdeng asked tentatively.

The Red Army had already captured Jinkou, built a camp, and had a navy controlling the river mouth. Even if the First Guard was deployed to Xianning, the important place of Jinkou could be secured. At the same time, deploying the First Guard back to Xianning would undoubtedly make it more certain to defeat Oboi.

“Either we transfer the relatives back to Xianning…” Danchu hesitated for a moment and said resolutely: “Or we can be more daring and go directly across Jinkou to the city of Wuchang.”

This? Theoretically, it is possible to cross Jinkou and attack Wuchang. But it is conceivable that the Qing army will launch a crazy counterattack when the rear is threatened. The First Corps of the Imperial Guards only has 12,000 troops. It is hard to say whether it can gain a foothold under the city of Wuchang.

“Go straight to the heart of the country, that’s brilliant.” Qian Bingdeng agreed to attack Wuchang directly, saying, “Wuchang is where the enemy must rescue it. If we personally lead our forces to Jinkou, the Tartars may not fight to rescue it. Wuchang is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is the key to several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. If we personally lead our forces to attack Wuchang directly, Oboi will definitely send troops to rescue it.”

“We still have the navy,” Yang Yuqi said, “even if the first group of the pro-China forces advance alone, the navy can deliver food, fodder and ammunition in time, and even send reinforcements by water.”

“It so happened that today our guild broke through two of the Tartar’s camps, creating a gap in their defense line. If we take advantage of the Tartar’s unpreparedness tonight and advance overnight, we can reach Wuchang tomorrow.”

“The people of Wuchang have long wanted to see the future. If the enemy and the army arrive in Wuchang, there will surely be a righteous army responding. Aobai’s rear is unstable, so even if he wants to hold on to Xianning, it will not work.”

Danchu thought about it silently and felt that this plan was feasible. He said, “Our army uses righteousness to call on the righteous people, and the Tartars use violence to control the Green Camp. Since our army’s eastern expedition, the territory has expanded day by day. We have recruited righteous troops for defense and appointed officials to take care of the people. Huben Town and the Fourth Town will concentrate their energy on the decisive battle with the enemy, and there is no need to leave troops to guard the rear. The number of troops in the two towns can be concentrated on the front line.

“The Tartars were passive everywhere. They used the Green Camp and the local militia as cannon fodder, which led to their defeat. They used the Eight Banners to guard the key passes, which led to their shortage of troops everywhere. Now that the decisive battle was imminent, Oboi had to concentrate the banner troops for the decisive battle, but his troops were still very scattered. There were 60,000 to 70,000 banner troops, who had to reinforce Nanchang and guard Wuchang, Tongshan, and Jinkou. There were less than 40,000 left in Xianning.

“If we send a group of soldiers to Wuchang tonight and attack Wuchang tomorrow, Aobai will definitely dispatch soldiers to Wuchang to support him. Then, our army will have a better chance of winning if we fight them in Xianning.”

At four o’clock in the morning, the Qing army took advantage of the night, with their men holding their mouths shut and their horses’ hooves wrapped, and passed through the gaps in the Qing army’s camp, and unexpectedly attacked Wuchang.

Jinkou Town was only 60 miles away from the west city of Wuchang. The first regiment of the imperial guards had only one man and one horse, and they were very fast. At noon the next day, the imperial guards arrived at Hongshan, where they were discovered by the Qing army.

While the frontline troops were still fighting, the Red Army actually approached the outskirts of Wuchang. The defenders were horrified and urgently asked Oboi for help while dispatching troops to stop the Red Army. Li Guoying, the governor of Huguang and Sichuan, knew that the situation was urgent and personally went out of the city to supervise the battle. In order to boost the morale of the defenders, he offered a reward of thirty taels of silver for beheading the first level.

With such a high reward, the Qing army was quite fierce and launched wave after wave of attacks on the Red Army.

Yang Fang led the First Brigade of the Red Army, using the deer forts they carried as barriers, and dismounted to fight the Qing army. The musketeers formed nine layers and eighteen layers, blocking wave after wave of attacks from the Qing army.

When the battle was at its most critical, the barrels of the Red Army’s guns in the front tier had already burned red and could no longer fire bullets. The Red Army used bayonets to fight the Qing Army hand-to-hand, fighting to the death.

The navy arrived in time, first defeated the remaining warships of the Qing army, and then landed on Baishazhou. The Qing army had two camps on Baishazhou, but the garrisons were all Green Camp soldiers. After a little resistance, they all surrendered. Only a few soldiers escaped on boats.

The navy occupied Baishazhou, and the baggage ship also docked there. The problems of food, fodder, and ammunition of the Qin-Yi Association were solved, and they were more confident in fighting the Tartars.

Li Guoying led the Qing army, which was mainly composed of Han troops and Green Camp, to fight for a day, but failed to drive the Red Army into the Yangtze River. On the contrary, a riot broke out in Wuchang: the Green Camp soldiers who stayed in Wuchang clashed with the Manchu soldiers and fought each other.

Normally, the Manchu soldiers used to bully the Green Camp soldiers, who dared not even talk back, let alone fight back. Now that the Red Army was at the gates of the city, the Manchu soldiers, who were few in the city, still verbally abused the Green Camp soldiers, whipped them, and beat them with sticks. The Green Camp soldiers then rose up in resistance, and a fight broke out between the two armies.

Upon hearing the news, Li Guoying had to give up fighting outside the city and lead his troops back to defend Wuchang to quell the riots in the city.

The morale of the Qinyi Group was boosted. They swept through the Qing army’s strongholds and military stations in the west of the city, set fire to the Qing army’s food and fodder, cut off the Qing army’s food supply in the west of the city, and turned the Qing army’s defense line in the west of the city upside down.

When the news reached Xianning, the morale of the Qing army was shaken. Oboi knew that the Red Army intended to force him to send troops to Wuchang, but he had to do it. Wuchang was too important. It was not only related to the Qing army’s retreat and food, but also to the safety of Huguang and the Qing army’s rule in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

But for Oboi, a hasty retreat was obviously impossible and inappropriate.

On March 10, the two armies once again fought a fierce battle in the east of Xianning City. With the same battle formation and tactics, the two armies were still evenly matched.

When the battle was at its most intense, Cen Danchu sent 3,000 of his personal soldiers into the battlefield, and Ma Jinzhong also led the cavalry battalion into the enemy camp.

The Qing army had already reduced its strength and finally showed signs of decline. They took the initiative to withdraw from the battlefield and returned to defend the camp. Early the next morning, the Qing army broke camp and returned to defend Wuchang.

The Red Army launched a general pursuit, and the Qing army fought and retreated until they held their ground in Wuchang.

(End of this chapter)