The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 260 Abstract Zheng Sen

Although Zheng Sen, the ruler of Zheng, had been informed by Huang Wufu and knew the overall battle plan, the Zheng army's movement speed was still very slow.

The main reason is that Zheng Sen had no experience in leading a large army.

The imperial studies he received also made Zheng Sen believe that when leading such elite troops to destroy a country, power should not be in the hands of others.

Therefore, when Zheng Sen was unable to command the army, he did not appoint a qualified commander, but instead required the governors and commanders of each army to obey him directly.

This caused the entire Zheng army to completely lose its unity, with the front, middle and rear armies acting completely independently. On the surface, they were all obeying Zheng Sen's command, but in reality they were all doing their own thing.

Among them, Huang Tingti's vanguard troops were good at cutting through mountains and building bridges across rivers, but they were good at robbing people everywhere and harming the people of Guangnan who were hiding.

Zheng Sen strictly ordered Huang Tingti to move no less than 40 miles a day, but in fact he only walked more than 20 miles a day. As for the main force of the army, it was even slower.

However, the central army led by Nguyen Pan of Thanh Hoa and Nguyen Chu of Shanxi Duan were at odds with each other, quarreling and even hostile to each other along the way.

As commanders of the outer garrison troops, they were also dissatisfied with the three-prefecture army that was guarding Zheng Sen.

Because of the lack of a mature supply system along the way, the army's supplies have been tight.

However, the three prefecture armies guarding Zheng Sen enjoyed great privileges, and food and fodder were always supplied to them first, which naturally made the garrison troops in Qinghua and Shanxi very dissatisfied.

They looked down on the Three Prefectures Army who claimed to be the emperor's guards, and the Three Prefectures Army looked down on these poor soldiers from other towns, and even broke out in small-scale conflicts among themselves.

Afterwards, the Qinghua and Shanxi soldiers were unable to defeat the Sanfu Army, so they simply intercepted the supplies that were to be sent to the front army.

Here, Huang Tingti was still happily leading his soldiers to "hunt in the wild", burning, killing, looting and plundering, when suddenly the food and grass were not delivered.

Can this be tolerated?

As the second adopted son of Huang Wufu, Huang Tingti has never been submissive to anyone except his elder brother Huang Tingbao and his adoptive father Huang Wufu since he was a child. Naturally, he was unwilling to suffer such a loss.

So the vanguard general ignored the important task of being the vanguard, and actually abandoned his 8,000-strong army and ran to Zheng Sen with two or three hundred trusted elite soldiers to make a big fuss.

The fool Zheng Sen only now realized that the situation below was in chaos. However, as the king, Zheng Sen still had a certain prestige.

So under his mediation, the military governors and commanders found the troublemakers who did "bad things" and punished them severely. Then everyone had a "peaceful" banquet together, which was considered to have barely settled the matter and set the rules.

My goodness, the national army is going to war, it's like a gang holding a meeting to ask grandpa and uncles to uphold justice, even the brothers who take the blame are ready.

Moreover, Huang Tingti's unauthorized departure from the army was tantamount to forcing the emperor to abdicate. Zheng Sen did not pursue the matter, and no one else mentioned it, as if Huang Tingti had not violated military law at all.

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, Mo Zibu had been waiting in Xiangcha County for four full days, but there was still no sign of Zheng's army, not even any scouts from Zheng's army.

This made Mo Zibu think that he had made a mistake in prediction, or that his intention had been revealed, so the Zheng army did not go through Xiangcha County but headed south.

Pei Dexuan was so frightened that his forehead was covered in sweat. He shook his head and said to Mo Zibu affirmatively:
"General, the entire Pei family of Haiyang lives by the sea and is involved in maritime trade. If you disagree, then forget it. But if you agree, we will never disobey.

Besides, my uncle Pei Shida has no need to resort to trickery. He can just follow the conditions offered by the general. If he succeeds, the Pei family will become a noble family in Beihe, and if he fails, there will be no loss. Why bother with this unnecessary effort?"

Mo Zibu thought about it for a while and realized that it was true. There was really no need for Pei Shida to trick him.

Moreover, Mo Zibu would know the route of Zheng's army's advance sooner or later, and he would have enough time to retreat calmly, so no trick could harm him.

Wu Shixiu and Chen Lian also showed expressions of agreement. Wu Shixiu even made a wild prediction:

"Could it be that the Zheng army encountered a plague on the way, or that there were other changes in the Beihe River, causing the army to slow down its advance southward or even turn back?"

Everyone here was still speculating and waiting anxiously for half a day before the news finally came. Then, the officers of the Xingtang Army were shocked.

Although he followed Mo Zibu later, Chen Lian, who was already accustomed to the efficiency of the Xing Tang Army, was greatly surprised.

"The Zheng army is only 400 miles away from Xiangcha County. Even if they don't rush, they should arrive in ten days. But now they haven't even covered half the distance in ten days. This is what the so-called elite troops of Beihe are like. Is this a trick?"

Chen Guangyao also found it incredible, "If the news is true, then Zheng Sen is not a qualified leader, because he can't control the soldiers and generals under him.

But, how dare he bring the entire nation's troops with him when he's already in this state? "

At this time, the generals of the Tang army were intimidated by the fact that Northern Zheng was once the strongest country in Southeast Asia, and basically regarded Northern Zheng as the same level as the Burmese army in its heyday.

Therefore, it is difficult to understand why the Northern Zheng army, under the command of Zheng Sen, the ruler of Zheng, was still so abstract.

In fact, they don’t know that Zheng Sen in history is much more abstract than this.

At that time, Huang Wufu stationed his troops in Hue, and Zheng Sen stationed his troops in the outer town of Thanh Hoa.

Northern Zheng appointed Nguyen Van Yuet as the vanguard general and the principal of Tây Sơn, and sent Nguyen Van Yuet to the front to attack Nguyen Phuc Anh in the south.

As a result, Nguyen Van Yue had a smooth sailing and killed all the Nguyen clan in Quang Nam, leaving only Nguyen Phuc Anh and a few small relatives.

However, without sending a single soldier, Zheng Sen first caused the Zheng army to quarrel among themselves in Qinghua Outer Town. As a result, the Zheng army had no choice but to bring the Three Prefectures Army back to Tokyo to quell the conflict between the Three Prefectures Army (superior soldiers) and the local town army (one soldier).

Then Huang Wufu stayed in Hue City, a familiar place that had been developed for hundreds of years, and there was no war. However, a plague broke out, and more than half of the 30,000 Zheng troops died of the disease. Even Huang Wufu himself died of the disease when he evacuated Hue.

Let's just put it in an abstract way. Compared with the amazing operations in history, we are just at the beginning now.

It was because of this that Nguyen Van Hue saw the weakness of Northern Zheng that he dared to lead the army to attack northward.

For a moment, everyone found it difficult to digest this explosive news, thinking back to how smoothly Huang Wufu had operated when he went straight to Hue.

It was just like the feat in operas of rushing thousands of miles to capture a king and destroy a country. Compared with the present, the difference is really weird.

While most people were still immersed in Zheng Jun's performance, which was beyond imagination, Reinstein had a different opinion. He smoothed his golden hair, then stood up and said to Mo Zibu:
"General, based on our analysis, the Beihe army's combat effectiveness is not strong. If we continue to wait here, I'm afraid the walls of Hue City will collapse, and the Zheng army will not be able to reach Xiangcha County."

"What's more dangerous is that once we occupy Xiangcha County, we will naturally cut off communication between the reinforcements and the Shunhua Zheng army. That eunuch general will discover the problem sooner or later.

As for our army outside the city, it actually consists of only two regiments, the Wuding and the Second Hakka Regiments, with no more than 2,000 elite soldiers and only 5,000 combat soldiers.

There are 15,000 Northern Zheng troops in the city. If we allow them to launch a surprise attack from outside the city, even if we can resist, the casualties will be heavy."

"This is very likely to happen. The army's secret in Xiangcha County can be kept secret for five days at most. After five days, even if it is not exposed, the enemy will guess it." The adjutant of the Bianhe Regiment, Prussian Lieutenant Colonel Frederick, also stood up and said.

Mo Zibu knew what these people were planning to do. He smiled and waved at Reinstein, "Commodore, tell me your suggestions."

Reinstein spread out the map and pointed to Shunzhou (now Donghe City, Vietnam) on the map and said, "Shunzhou is 130 miles from here and is still under the control of Beihe. I guess the Zheng army will definitely settle here.

I suggest that the General draw out the best troops from each regiment, only 6,000 men, with gunpowder and lead bullets, and launch a surprise attack to defeat them."

After hearing this, Mo Zibu paced back and forth and thought for half a minute, then smashed his right fist into his left hand.

"It makes sense. This is how the battle should be fought. Old Rui, do you want to lead this attack?"

Reinstein shook his head. "In this army, the only one who can make 6,000 selected elite soldiers obey orders completely, just like a son obeys his father, is the general.

As for me, I hope the general will hand over all the hussars to me. I have heard that there is an elite cavalry unit in Beihe. If we can capture them, then our cavalry regiment will have hope."

"Hahahaha!" Mo Zibu laughed loudly. No matter it was flattery or the truth, it always sounded comfortable.

"Then let's set the standards. This time, our first priority is to defeat the Zheng army, secondly, to kill as many as possible, and thirdly, to capture the Zheng army's elite cavalry."

As he spoke, Mo Zibu smiled contemptuously, "As for Zheng Sen and other high-ranking officials in Beihe, there is no need to arrest them deliberately, so as not to kill mediocre people and let heroes come to the fore." When the generals heard this, they all laughed.

Among the army that Mo Zibu was leading at the moment, apart from the garrisons in various places, there were only the Yuancong and Yulin regiments of the Imperial Guard.

The Longmen, Longqi and Baima regiments in Jiading Town.

The Central and Southern Volunteers and the Western Volunteers of Tangshan Town and the First Republican Regiment.

The rest were Chinese volunteers organized by Hui Liangren and escort soldiers from high-ranking officials in Hue, Beijing and Han dynasties.

After the order was issued, Mo Zibu quickly selected 4,000 people from the eight regiments of the regular army, 1,000 people from the Huiliang people, and 1,000 marines from the navy fleet.

A total of 6,000 elite troops were formed, led by Mo Zibu himself, and they marched north at night to attack the Zheng army.

As for the remaining troops, except for leaving a thousand people in Xiangcha County to protect the retreat, Louis Kulun, the captain of the Taixi Yicong Corps, secretly returned south to strengthen the military force besieging Hue.

. . . .

Lei Ahu spread out his headband, picked up a brush, and wrote the word "Longmen" in the middle of the bright yellow headband.

Since joining the army, this rural bully, a "capable man" who even beat their regiment leader Mo Gong and made him cry when he was a child, has finally begun to transform himself.

Although his military rank was still only sergeant, he was already well-known throughout the army for his bravery in combat and accurate shooting skills, and he was also literate, which made it even more difficult.

Seeing that his handwriting was very neat, his comrades nearby gathered around him and asked Lei Ahu to write his number on his headband as well.

Since this was a night attack, in order to distinguish between friend and foe, the marching department prepared two kinds of headbands, fiery red and bright yellow, the vermilion lacquered helmet with the word "Yong" wrapped in bright yellow, and the ordinary military cap wrapped in dark red.

Currently in the Xing Tang Army, except for the two guards regiments, only officers and soldiers above the rank of sergeant in other regiments wear red lacquered helmets with the word "Yong" on them.

The rest of the soldiers wore a soft cloth hat similar to the Fan Yang hat. Soldiers with some extra money would buy an iron shell lining and sew it up to barely increase their defense against cold weapons.

Even European soldiers were no exception. Their tall hats were not suitable for night combat, so they were also issued this kind of soft hat, which looked a bit out of place.

"Hutou, the supplies for tonight have arrived. Look, there are a lot of good stuff." Huang Silang smiled and handed him a cloth bag with the word "Lei Ahu" written on it.

These are temporary supplies prepared for tonight's surprise attack. They are now about thirty miles away from Shunzhou. According to the scouts' secret report, Zheng's army arrived in Shunzhou two hours ago and set up camp. This is the best time to surprise attack them.

Lei Ahu opened the cloth bag, took out something wrapped in oil paper, smelled it, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"The best glutinous rice is topped with syrup. Eat a big piece before the battle and you'll have energy for the whole day." Then he shook a small wine jug.

"It's just that the wine isn't full. Some people kill thieves without mercy, but they just can't drink the wine, hehe!"

Several Hakka soldiers looked at Lei Ahu with a look of dissatisfaction. If it weren't for the military law, they would probably have come up and beaten him.

The man who could not drink alcohol and strongly demanded that alcohol be stopped from being distributed as a pre-war courage drug was Ye Xianchun, a Hakka who became famous in a battle outside Qui Nhon City.

There are also factions within Mo Zibu's Xingtang Army. The largest and most mutually incompatible faction is the Mo family's fellow villagers from western Guangdong and the Hakka people whom Mo Zibu relies on as his confidants.

And it began to spread naturally from high to low, even Chen's little cousin and Ye's little sister began to get along with each other.

Just as a quarrel was about to break out, the assembly drum sounded. Lei Ahu and others quickly got up and helped their comrades who were melting lead blocks to make lead bullets to clean up.

Since it was not yet the steam age, Mo Zibu did not dare to invent the Minié bullet, so in this era when the calibers of muskets varied.

Except for the flintlock rifles, which were very well-made and barely had a uniform standard, the rest required soldiers to make suitable lead bullets according to the caliber of their own muskets.

Mo Zheng saw Lei Ahu and quickly called him over. He recognized Lei Ahu's strength. After all, he was beaten by this guy a lot when he was a child.

"I have secured a great and difficult task for our group. You go down and select people immediately.

This time, one company from our regiment and one company from the Second Hakka Regiment will lead the main force, along with a company of 300 Imperial Guards. Please don't bring shame to the people of western Guangdong."

Lei Ahu was overjoyed. This was the treatment of the vanguard. If you fight well, you will get great credit. He also knew why Chief Mo Gong said so, so he immediately promised:

"Don't worry, General Qian. I, Lei Lao Hu, am very smart. I know those Hakka people are good at fighting, and I won't deliberately exclude them."

. . . .

The moonlight sprinkled on the ground, and the white Fan Yang hat seemed to be emitting light. This light became the best reference for the soldiers behind, so that they would not lose their way at night.

All the soldiers held a piece of branch in their mouths. Anyone who wanted to speak had to take out the branch first to avoid speaking casually.

Lei Ahu walked in the front. His eyesight was so good that he could see the road clearly even with the faint moonlight and lead the team forward in big strides.

'pop'

A few crisp sounds of hand cannons were heard, and occasionally flashes of fire could be seen. Those were the elite soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty's Guards, who were dividing into teams to clear out the scouts of the Zheng army.

Hearing these sounds, Lei Ahu quickened his pace, because the Zheng army's scouts were very close, and since he could encounter them, Shunzhou City must be not far away.

The elite soldiers of Yuan Cong all used muskets, which must have meant that it was the last moment.

Sure enough, when the sound of gunfire became more frequent, the vanguard commander, Chen Guangzu, the captain of the Imperial Guards, came over.

"Stop the whole army!"

The soldiers took the branches out of their mouths, and the designated sergeant whispered the orders back to them.

At the same time, the military judge began to walk back and count the branches. Anyone who lost one would be punished.

"Shunzhou City is three miles ahead. There are four large camps outside the city. We will ignore the left and right camps and directly break into the middle camp.

The earthen wall of Shunzhou is about five feet and one inch (one and a half meters). Here, there is a gap that is even lower. Lei Ahu and Li Bao, you two should each lead fifty people to form the vanguard team. The first achievement is to climb over the earthen wall and open the city gate. Don't worry about anything else.

The rest of the Yulin guards will obey my command. Once the Shunzhou city gate is opened, drive the enemy into the city and let them cause greater chaos."

After saying that, Chen Guangzu glanced at all the monsters under his command like a ferocious beast.

"Officer, immediately repeat the mission. The rest of you must obey orders. Anyone who dares to mess up will be hung from the mast of the Loyalty by me personally and dried like a salted fish."

When meeting Chen Guangzu's gaze, even a fierce man like Lei Ahu felt heavy in his heart and had difficulty breathing. They all lowered their heads and kept the mission in mind.

While Chen Guangzu was making arrangements in the front, Mo Zibu also made clear the final orders in the rear. He pointed to the Shunzhou City Defense Map provided by Jinghan Gaomen and said:

"Zheng Sen lived in the Shunzhou government office, located in the north of the city, making it very easy for him to escape.

Therefore, our first target in this battle is not him, but Zheng Sen's reliance, the 8,000 elite soldiers of the Three Prefectures Army composed of Qinghua people.

Look, Zheng's army has basically wiped out all the people in the city. The three prefectures' troops have set up camp around the government offices, from the Confucian Temple, the provincial school to the City God Temple.

Our combat goal is to encircle them from both sides, pushing the three prefectures' troops towards the center, forcing them to rush towards the government office where Zheng Sen is located in the chaos, and then..."

Mo Zibu patted Colonel Jean Pierre, commander-in-chief of the Guards Artillery Battalion, on the shoulder and said, "I'll have Li Quan's three Hakka companies cover you. Concentrate all the field artillery and bombard the government offices. We must inflict as much damage as possible on these troops from the three prefectures."

Finally, Mo Zibu looked at Brigadier General Reinstein, Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Ney, and Zhu Wenjie, "I must capture the Beizheng cavalry, but we will prioritize the horses over the cavalry."

(End of this chapter)