Chapter 1819
The battle situation is tight
Chapter 1819 The battle situation is tight
After being repeatedly squeezed by Haihan many times, to be honest, the North Korean treasury has not had much oil and water so far, and the gold in stock has long been less than a thousand taels. Part of the military expenses handed over to Haihan before is Kim Sang-heon Some wealthy businessmen and landlords who called on the South to support the main combat faction pieced together.Now that he wants to get another 1000 taels of gold to save the war situation, Jin Shangxian certainly doesn't expect to spend a few pennies from the state treasury, and most likely he has to rely on his old face to ask for alms from the people.
Even though Kim Sang-heon has a high position and influence in North Korea's officialdom, he still has to spend a lot of effort to raise a thousand taels of gold when it comes to such a practical situation of large expenses.But if the battle continues to be defeated like this, I am afraid that the gold owners in the south will not be able to hold on for too long - if they spend a lot of money and still cannot defeat the Qing army, why not just surrender and give the money to the Qing army, at least It can also reduce the hatred value and keep the family safe.
Jin Shangxian gritted his teeth and replied: "I can try to raise military expenses, but the offensive of the Qing army must be effectively slowed down. Otherwise, the hearts of the people in the country will fluctuate, and it will be difficult for the old man to persuade His Majesty to continue to insist on taking a tough stance against the Qing. The difficulty is , I hope General Qian will forgive me!"
Kim Sang-heon really didn't mean to complain. The main combat faction he leads is not having a good time. Since the Haihan fleet withdrew from the Yalu River, the Korean army has almost no victories. It has retreated hundreds of miles since the battle with the Qing army. And judging from the current situation, the defense zone has to continue to shrink to the south. This is naturally not a situation that the ruling and opposition parties are happy to see.On the other hand, the other faction in the officialdom, who advocated peace talks with the Qing Dynasty, had already died down with the arrival of the Haihan Army, but now it has started to make noise again, trying to leverage the status of Jin Shangxian's faction in the North Korean officialdom.
Although King Li Ji had a lot of trust in Jin Shangxian at the beginning, and even paid a lot of money to ask Haihan to send troops, but now Haihan's actions are equivalent to killing North Korea, and North Korea's own army is completely unable to withstand the offensive of the Qing army. .He, the leader of the main war faction, has not been in the capital for a long time, and the king may not be able to remain firm as before under the constant persuasion of the main peace faction officials.At this time, it is really necessary to change the direction of the battle, at least let the king see a glimmer of hope, so that the cooperative relationship between the two parties can continue.
Qian Tiandun didn't understand what the other party meant. One of the purposes of the Haihan Fleet's withdrawal from the Yalu River and letting the Qing army enter the DPRK was to make the North Korean monarchs realize that they could only rely on external forces to complete the great cause of fighting the Qing Dynasty.Now it seems that the effect is quite good, and the Datong Jiangxin Base also needs more construction time to complete the most important defense line and wharf project, then it is time to take action to block the Qing army going south.Of course, the money that should be collected still has to be collected. Even if it is on credit, the funds must be obtained first.
"Master Jin, I understand your difficulties. How about this? We will arrange an armed fleet to enter the Daning River Basin as soon as possible to prevent the Qing army from crossing the river and attacking Anzhou City. However, we also hope that the military expenses and material support required Your country can be in place in time, after all, you have to invite other countries to send troops to fight, and only when you put out the conditions will they be willing to work hard, Master Jin said, is this the truth?"
"Yes, yes, General Qian, what you said is right!" Jin Shangxian didn't seem to be perfunctory when he heard Qian Tiandun's words, so he quickly responded first before speaking.Only after the current crisis is resolved, can he secure his position. Even though he was cheated by Haihan once before, he still firmly believes that Haihan Army is the real savior of North Korea.
After sending Jin Shangxian away, Qian Tiandun personally used the radio to contact Wang Tom who was far away on the Liaodong coast, explained to him the progress of the Qing army in North Korea and Jin Shangxian's situation, and informed him of his plan.
As soon as Xu Yuzhuo fell asleep, a subordinate came down to inform him that Tom Wang invited him to discuss matters.Xu Yuzhuo knew that Tom Wang was a very pragmatic person, and he must have a serious business to discuss with him at this place where he should be sleeping, so he got up quickly and took a traffic boat to the flagship where Tom Wang was.
"I know that General Xu has been waiting for an opportunity to fight. Now I need a fleet to go to the Daning River in North Korea to block the route of the Qing army crossing the river, and to stand there for more than ten days. General Xu, are you willing to take this mission?"
Tom Wang explained the situation to Xu Yuzhuo straight to the point, and observed his reaction without any trace.If Xu Yuzhuo hesitated to refuse, then Tom Wang might call Simao and Zheng Ting again for advice, to see who has the strongest desire to fight, and then consider the distribution of combat tasks.
Xu Yuzhuo thought about it for a while, and then decisively agreed: "I wish to lead the army there!"
"Okay! Then make arrangements and set off as soon as possible. I will ask the North Korean side to arrange a guide who is familiar with the local area and meet you near the mouth of the Daning River." Wang Tom paused, and then urged: "Remember, at least block the Ten days for the Qing army, the longer the better! Wait for Liaodong to sweep a few more times, and the coalition fleet will return to North Korea. At that time, we will attack from multiple directions, and we will see how long the Qing army can last!"
Xu Yuzhuo didn't feel sleepy at all, and after returning to his own ship, he immediately notified his subordinate ships to prepare for departure.Although the size of the Fujian Navy's fleet going north this time is not large, its combat effectiveness is actually quite impressive. Not only are it equipped with several warships produced by Haihan, but the sailors on board are mostly veterans with rich sea combat experience.To deal with the Qing army with basically zero armed forces on the water, it is not really a big risk - at least Xu Yuzhuo currently holds such a view.
From the current position of the Fujian Navy to the estuary of the Daning River in North Korea, the straight-line distance is only [-] nautical miles, and it can be reached in a day and a night at full speed, which is completely ahead of the Qing army.
However, when Xu Yuzhuo led his troops to the destination and received the guides prepared by North Korea, he realized that the geographical conditions here were really suitable for the tactics Wang Tom mentioned.
In fact, there is not only the Daning River but also the Qingchuan River between Dingzhou and Anzhou. These two rivers share the same estuary.The location of Anzhou City is actually on the southeast side of the Qingchuan River, which means that there are actually two moats lying in front of the Qing army. They need to cross the two rivers before they can launch a direct attack on Anzhou City. .
According to the guide, the fifty or sixty miles of the two rivers near the sea can navigate the warships of the Fujian Navy, which gave Xu Yuzhuo a lot of room for movement.Coupled with the experience he had accumulated from traveling back and forth on the Yalu River some time ago, Xu Yuzhuo believed that he could completely overfulfill the task assigned by Tom Wang.
One day after the Fujian Navy entered the Daning River, the Qing army's vanguard battalion also arrived at the riverside.But they searched for [-] miles upstream and downstream, but they didn't even find a small fishing boat, because the Fujian Navy had rushed ahead and collected all the fishing boats that could be found on the river, and even the fishing villages along the river knew how to sail. All the fishermen have all moved to the other side of the Daning River.
Such measures are indeed very effective for the Qing army, which basically has no navy. In the case of being unable to obtain ships to cross the river, the Qing army can only retreat and try to use primitive vehicles to cross the river by cutting down trees and building rafts. Cross the Daning River.But after they spent a day making dozens of rafts, they found a row of warships bearing the banner of the Ming army appeared on the river.Some military officers who had stayed in Jiulian City for a while quickly recognized that these Ming warships seemed to have also participated in the operation of the Haihan Fleet to block the Yalu River.
Seeing the enemy warships cruising on the river, the raft was naturally unable to go into the water to die. The Pioneer Battalion had no choice but to give up the idea of crossing the Daning River quickly, and began to think about how to get this unsightly Ming fleet to leave here.
The safest way is of course to go upstream to find another point to cross the river. After all, the number of warships in the Ming Fleet is limited, and the length of the river that can really effectively blockade is also limited. Can find a safe place to cross the river.
However, the disadvantages of doing so are also obvious. In order to avoid the Ming fleet, they can only try to detour from the upper reaches. Entering the mountainous area, and there are even huge lakes in the middle, it takes nearly a hundred miles upstream to find a terrain that is more suitable for crossing the river, but the warships of the Ming army cannot reach it.
If it was just a vanguard battalion, then the detour would be a detour, and at most it would only delay the trip for two days.However, if the main force of the subsequent Qing army wants to cross the river in such a large circle, the delay may be more than two or three days.Going to the upstream point of crossing the river requires crossing a mountain area with an area of nearly [-] square kilometers. This alone basically cuts off the possibility of detours for the army.
"How come there will be another Ming army!" Huang Taiji, who had already arrived in Dingzhou, was furious after hearing the news. The army was blocked by the Haihan fleet for half a month before it set off from Jiulian City. Unexpectedly This scene was repeated in North Korea.And judging from the reports from the front, it might not be easy to break through the water blockade of the Ming army.
The Qing army has always won more victories than the Ming army, and the psychological advantage is sufficient, but the so-called victories are basically the results of battles on land, and the record of battles with the Ming Navy is not so impressive.When the Ming Army of Dongjiang Town was still stationed in Phi Island, it relied on a navy composed of a group of remnants to deal with the Houjin Army at that time for several years.If it wasn't for Shang Kexi's rebellion and defection to Houjin, the Dongjiang Zhenming army's advantage in the sea would be even greater.
And the Ming army fleet that came to North Korea to fight this time obviously got the support of Haihan.According to the information held by the Qing army, this fleet is most likely the Fujian navy from the south, and its commander Xu Xinsu is also the only local warlord in the coastal provinces of the Ming Dynasty who has had close contacts with Haihan early on.
Fortunately, there seems to be no trace of the Haihan fleet in the Daning River Basin, which means that the Haihan people have not yet directly participated in this interception operation.Of course, if the Qing army is blocked by the Daning River for too long, the Haihan army may come out at any time. Huang Taiji does not dare to wait patiently and slowly dawdle with the Ming army in this place, so he must try his best as soon as possible. Just break through this chasm.
In fact, Huang Taiji himself couldn't think of any effective way, otherwise he wouldn't have been blocked in Jiulian City for such a long time, he could only convey the order to his generals, asking them to break through the defense line of the Ming army as soon as possible Cross the Daning River.
And the effect that this vague military order can achieve is that the crossing troops assembled by the Qing army on the riverside attracted the bombardment of the Fujian Navy.Although the Qing army also used its own artillery to fight back, it failed to cause too much damage to the Ming army warships on the river. On the contrary, many people were injured by the Ming army's artillery.
In addition to the troops of the Ming army fleet on the river bank, the Qing army decisively took advantage of the opportunity to attract the firepower of the Ming army and dispatched more than 3000 troops upstream, trying to cross the river from multiple rivers at the same time.
Xu Yuzhuo actually noticed this kind of movement of the Qing army, but due to the limited force, he could only dispatch a small number of warships to the upper reaches of the river to expel the small Qing army that was trying to cross the river. Inevitably.Fortunately, he has already contacted the North Korean garrison in Anju through his guide, and asked him to send 2000 troops to the delta area between the Daning River and the Qingchuan River. army unit.
But even with superior military strength, the performance of the Koreans is still frightening, and there are even ridiculous scenes where troops of hundreds of people are chased and killed by twenty or thirty Qing infantry.Xu Yuzhuo has already conveyed his intentions to the Anzhou defenders very clearly through a middleman. If the defenders do not live up to their expectations and cannot cooperate well, then at most they will be able to hold back the Qing army for about ten days. But if the defenders can cooperate with the fleet tacitly , then it is absolutely possible to create some troubles for the Qing army in this area, or even give them a little bit of suffering, and Anzhou may not be a precarious existence.
Xu Yuzhuo could see very clearly that if the Koreans were unwilling to resist the invasion of foreign enemies, even if they handed over their entire fleet here, they would not be able to stop the Qing army from going south.What the Anju interception battle can look like depends to a certain extent on the performance of the North Korean army.
After two days of fighting, the North Koreans seemed to realize that they could fight the Qing army by virtue of natural dangers, so they began to send more troops to the delta area, and even assembled a special group of [-] bows and arrows The troops formed by hand went to the relatively narrow place on the river to defend the Qing army from crossing the river.
With the direct participation of the Korean army, it became more and more difficult for the Qing army to cross the river. They had to continue to search for new crossing points upstream, and use more scattered crossing points to project troops to the opposite bank of the Daning River.The efficiency of this combat method is undoubtedly quite low. It is basically difficult for Qing soldiers who rely on rafts to land scatteredly to support a small army of more than a hundred people.
(End of this chapter)
After being repeatedly squeezed by Haihan many times, to be honest, the North Korean treasury has not had much oil and water so far, and the gold in stock has long been less than a thousand taels. Part of the military expenses handed over to Haihan before is Kim Sang-heon Some wealthy businessmen and landlords who called on the South to support the main combat faction pieced together.Now that he wants to get another 1000 taels of gold to save the war situation, Jin Shangxian certainly doesn't expect to spend a few pennies from the state treasury, and most likely he has to rely on his old face to ask for alms from the people.
Even though Kim Sang-heon has a high position and influence in North Korea's officialdom, he still has to spend a lot of effort to raise a thousand taels of gold when it comes to such a practical situation of large expenses.But if the battle continues to be defeated like this, I am afraid that the gold owners in the south will not be able to hold on for too long - if they spend a lot of money and still cannot defeat the Qing army, why not just surrender and give the money to the Qing army, at least It can also reduce the hatred value and keep the family safe.
Jin Shangxian gritted his teeth and replied: "I can try to raise military expenses, but the offensive of the Qing army must be effectively slowed down. Otherwise, the hearts of the people in the country will fluctuate, and it will be difficult for the old man to persuade His Majesty to continue to insist on taking a tough stance against the Qing. The difficulty is , I hope General Qian will forgive me!"
Kim Sang-heon really didn't mean to complain. The main combat faction he leads is not having a good time. Since the Haihan fleet withdrew from the Yalu River, the Korean army has almost no victories. It has retreated hundreds of miles since the battle with the Qing army. And judging from the current situation, the defense zone has to continue to shrink to the south. This is naturally not a situation that the ruling and opposition parties are happy to see.On the other hand, the other faction in the officialdom, who advocated peace talks with the Qing Dynasty, had already died down with the arrival of the Haihan Army, but now it has started to make noise again, trying to leverage the status of Jin Shangxian's faction in the North Korean officialdom.
Although King Li Ji had a lot of trust in Jin Shangxian at the beginning, and even paid a lot of money to ask Haihan to send troops, but now Haihan's actions are equivalent to killing North Korea, and North Korea's own army is completely unable to withstand the offensive of the Qing army. .He, the leader of the main war faction, has not been in the capital for a long time, and the king may not be able to remain firm as before under the constant persuasion of the main peace faction officials.At this time, it is really necessary to change the direction of the battle, at least let the king see a glimmer of hope, so that the cooperative relationship between the two parties can continue.
Qian Tiandun didn't understand what the other party meant. One of the purposes of the Haihan Fleet's withdrawal from the Yalu River and letting the Qing army enter the DPRK was to make the North Korean monarchs realize that they could only rely on external forces to complete the great cause of fighting the Qing Dynasty.Now it seems that the effect is quite good, and the Datong Jiangxin Base also needs more construction time to complete the most important defense line and wharf project, then it is time to take action to block the Qing army going south.Of course, the money that should be collected still has to be collected. Even if it is on credit, the funds must be obtained first.
"Master Jin, I understand your difficulties. How about this? We will arrange an armed fleet to enter the Daning River Basin as soon as possible to prevent the Qing army from crossing the river and attacking Anzhou City. However, we also hope that the military expenses and material support required Your country can be in place in time, after all, you have to invite other countries to send troops to fight, and only when you put out the conditions will they be willing to work hard, Master Jin said, is this the truth?"
"Yes, yes, General Qian, what you said is right!" Jin Shangxian didn't seem to be perfunctory when he heard Qian Tiandun's words, so he quickly responded first before speaking.Only after the current crisis is resolved, can he secure his position. Even though he was cheated by Haihan once before, he still firmly believes that Haihan Army is the real savior of North Korea.
After sending Jin Shangxian away, Qian Tiandun personally used the radio to contact Wang Tom who was far away on the Liaodong coast, explained to him the progress of the Qing army in North Korea and Jin Shangxian's situation, and informed him of his plan.
As soon as Xu Yuzhuo fell asleep, a subordinate came down to inform him that Tom Wang invited him to discuss matters.Xu Yuzhuo knew that Tom Wang was a very pragmatic person, and he must have a serious business to discuss with him at this place where he should be sleeping, so he got up quickly and took a traffic boat to the flagship where Tom Wang was.
"I know that General Xu has been waiting for an opportunity to fight. Now I need a fleet to go to the Daning River in North Korea to block the route of the Qing army crossing the river, and to stand there for more than ten days. General Xu, are you willing to take this mission?"
Tom Wang explained the situation to Xu Yuzhuo straight to the point, and observed his reaction without any trace.If Xu Yuzhuo hesitated to refuse, then Tom Wang might call Simao and Zheng Ting again for advice, to see who has the strongest desire to fight, and then consider the distribution of combat tasks.
Xu Yuzhuo thought about it for a while, and then decisively agreed: "I wish to lead the army there!"
"Okay! Then make arrangements and set off as soon as possible. I will ask the North Korean side to arrange a guide who is familiar with the local area and meet you near the mouth of the Daning River." Wang Tom paused, and then urged: "Remember, at least block the Ten days for the Qing army, the longer the better! Wait for Liaodong to sweep a few more times, and the coalition fleet will return to North Korea. At that time, we will attack from multiple directions, and we will see how long the Qing army can last!"
Xu Yuzhuo didn't feel sleepy at all, and after returning to his own ship, he immediately notified his subordinate ships to prepare for departure.Although the size of the Fujian Navy's fleet going north this time is not large, its combat effectiveness is actually quite impressive. Not only are it equipped with several warships produced by Haihan, but the sailors on board are mostly veterans with rich sea combat experience.To deal with the Qing army with basically zero armed forces on the water, it is not really a big risk - at least Xu Yuzhuo currently holds such a view.
From the current position of the Fujian Navy to the estuary of the Daning River in North Korea, the straight-line distance is only [-] nautical miles, and it can be reached in a day and a night at full speed, which is completely ahead of the Qing army.
However, when Xu Yuzhuo led his troops to the destination and received the guides prepared by North Korea, he realized that the geographical conditions here were really suitable for the tactics Wang Tom mentioned.
In fact, there is not only the Daning River but also the Qingchuan River between Dingzhou and Anzhou. These two rivers share the same estuary.The location of Anzhou City is actually on the southeast side of the Qingchuan River, which means that there are actually two moats lying in front of the Qing army. They need to cross the two rivers before they can launch a direct attack on Anzhou City. .
According to the guide, the fifty or sixty miles of the two rivers near the sea can navigate the warships of the Fujian Navy, which gave Xu Yuzhuo a lot of room for movement.Coupled with the experience he had accumulated from traveling back and forth on the Yalu River some time ago, Xu Yuzhuo believed that he could completely overfulfill the task assigned by Tom Wang.
One day after the Fujian Navy entered the Daning River, the Qing army's vanguard battalion also arrived at the riverside.But they searched for [-] miles upstream and downstream, but they didn't even find a small fishing boat, because the Fujian Navy had rushed ahead and collected all the fishing boats that could be found on the river, and even the fishing villages along the river knew how to sail. All the fishermen have all moved to the other side of the Daning River.
Such measures are indeed very effective for the Qing army, which basically has no navy. In the case of being unable to obtain ships to cross the river, the Qing army can only retreat and try to use primitive vehicles to cross the river by cutting down trees and building rafts. Cross the Daning River.But after they spent a day making dozens of rafts, they found a row of warships bearing the banner of the Ming army appeared on the river.Some military officers who had stayed in Jiulian City for a while quickly recognized that these Ming warships seemed to have also participated in the operation of the Haihan Fleet to block the Yalu River.
Seeing the enemy warships cruising on the river, the raft was naturally unable to go into the water to die. The Pioneer Battalion had no choice but to give up the idea of crossing the Daning River quickly, and began to think about how to get this unsightly Ming fleet to leave here.
The safest way is of course to go upstream to find another point to cross the river. After all, the number of warships in the Ming Fleet is limited, and the length of the river that can really effectively blockade is also limited. Can find a safe place to cross the river.
However, the disadvantages of doing so are also obvious. In order to avoid the Ming fleet, they can only try to detour from the upper reaches. Entering the mountainous area, and there are even huge lakes in the middle, it takes nearly a hundred miles upstream to find a terrain that is more suitable for crossing the river, but the warships of the Ming army cannot reach it.
If it was just a vanguard battalion, then the detour would be a detour, and at most it would only delay the trip for two days.However, if the main force of the subsequent Qing army wants to cross the river in such a large circle, the delay may be more than two or three days.Going to the upstream point of crossing the river requires crossing a mountain area with an area of nearly [-] square kilometers. This alone basically cuts off the possibility of detours for the army.
"How come there will be another Ming army!" Huang Taiji, who had already arrived in Dingzhou, was furious after hearing the news. The army was blocked by the Haihan fleet for half a month before it set off from Jiulian City. Unexpectedly This scene was repeated in North Korea.And judging from the reports from the front, it might not be easy to break through the water blockade of the Ming army.
The Qing army has always won more victories than the Ming army, and the psychological advantage is sufficient, but the so-called victories are basically the results of battles on land, and the record of battles with the Ming Navy is not so impressive.When the Ming Army of Dongjiang Town was still stationed in Phi Island, it relied on a navy composed of a group of remnants to deal with the Houjin Army at that time for several years.If it wasn't for Shang Kexi's rebellion and defection to Houjin, the Dongjiang Zhenming army's advantage in the sea would be even greater.
And the Ming army fleet that came to North Korea to fight this time obviously got the support of Haihan.According to the information held by the Qing army, this fleet is most likely the Fujian navy from the south, and its commander Xu Xinsu is also the only local warlord in the coastal provinces of the Ming Dynasty who has had close contacts with Haihan early on.
Fortunately, there seems to be no trace of the Haihan fleet in the Daning River Basin, which means that the Haihan people have not yet directly participated in this interception operation.Of course, if the Qing army is blocked by the Daning River for too long, the Haihan army may come out at any time. Huang Taiji does not dare to wait patiently and slowly dawdle with the Ming army in this place, so he must try his best as soon as possible. Just break through this chasm.
In fact, Huang Taiji himself couldn't think of any effective way, otherwise he wouldn't have been blocked in Jiulian City for such a long time, he could only convey the order to his generals, asking them to break through the defense line of the Ming army as soon as possible Cross the Daning River.
And the effect that this vague military order can achieve is that the crossing troops assembled by the Qing army on the riverside attracted the bombardment of the Fujian Navy.Although the Qing army also used its own artillery to fight back, it failed to cause too much damage to the Ming army warships on the river. On the contrary, many people were injured by the Ming army's artillery.
In addition to the troops of the Ming army fleet on the river bank, the Qing army decisively took advantage of the opportunity to attract the firepower of the Ming army and dispatched more than 3000 troops upstream, trying to cross the river from multiple rivers at the same time.
Xu Yuzhuo actually noticed this kind of movement of the Qing army, but due to the limited force, he could only dispatch a small number of warships to the upper reaches of the river to expel the small Qing army that was trying to cross the river. Inevitably.Fortunately, he has already contacted the North Korean garrison in Anju through his guide, and asked him to send 2000 troops to the delta area between the Daning River and the Qingchuan River. army unit.
But even with superior military strength, the performance of the Koreans is still frightening, and there are even ridiculous scenes where troops of hundreds of people are chased and killed by twenty or thirty Qing infantry.Xu Yuzhuo has already conveyed his intentions to the Anzhou defenders very clearly through a middleman. If the defenders do not live up to their expectations and cannot cooperate well, then at most they will be able to hold back the Qing army for about ten days. But if the defenders can cooperate with the fleet tacitly , then it is absolutely possible to create some troubles for the Qing army in this area, or even give them a little bit of suffering, and Anzhou may not be a precarious existence.
Xu Yuzhuo could see very clearly that if the Koreans were unwilling to resist the invasion of foreign enemies, even if they handed over their entire fleet here, they would not be able to stop the Qing army from going south.What the Anju interception battle can look like depends to a certain extent on the performance of the North Korean army.
After two days of fighting, the North Koreans seemed to realize that they could fight the Qing army by virtue of natural dangers, so they began to send more troops to the delta area, and even assembled a special group of [-] bows and arrows The troops formed by hand went to the relatively narrow place on the river to defend the Qing army from crossing the river.
With the direct participation of the Korean army, it became more and more difficult for the Qing army to cross the river. They had to continue to search for new crossing points upstream, and use more scattered crossing points to project troops to the opposite bank of the Daning River.The efficiency of this combat method is undoubtedly quite low. It is basically difficult for Qing soldiers who rely on rafts to land scatteredly to support a small army of more than a hundred people.
(End of this chapter)