Huang Fangshi

  "Wu Wu, 17th year (Ming Yongli 32nd year), spring, second month, Ming Zhaodou General's son Zheng Jing appointed Liu Guoxuan, Right Wuguard, as Zhongtidu and Commander-in-Chief of all the armies; later, Tidu Wu Shufu led the troops to conquer Haicheng."

  After the loss of seven counties, the army was stationed on the island. At that time, Governor Lang Tingxiang, Hai Cheng Gong Huang Fangshi, and Deputy Commander Hu Tu were leading troops in Zhangzhou, while Huang Lan was defending Haicheng, and separately defending Yuzhou, Shicuo and other forts. On the 10th day of the month, Guo Xuan led his army to Haicheng, defeating Yuzhou, Sanjiaohe, and Fuhu; soon after, they took Jiangdong Bridge, and the defending generals Wang Chonglu and Lü Tao fled in defeat. Just then, reinforcements from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou arrived, and Guo Xuan divided his troops to attack them. On that day, Guo Xuan won three battles, greatly boosting military morale. On the 23rd night, they took Shicuo, capturing defending generals Liu Fu and Yang Chaozong, and then stationed their army at Zushan Head to pressure Haicheng. Manchu General Deputy Commander Meng An came from Chaozhou to provide reinforcements, Guo Xuan retreated to garrison Shicuo, dredging the moat and building walls for defense; subsequently, he divided his troops to garrison outside Zhangzhou City.

  It was also his role, Guan Yu led the army to defeat Su Jing, beheaded him and exposed his head as a warning, all the generals were terrified; again he could lead by example, having been wounded, he would reward those who had been injured with his own money: therefore the troops were delighted and obedient, wherever they went they were victorious.

  "Min Hai Ji Yao"

  Under the sky, a fleet that was considered to be quite large in this time and space was anchored along the shore. Countless small boats were buzzing back and forth between the fleet and the mainland, transporting thousands of Ming-Zheng soldiers, along with their armor, weapons, war horses, and cannons, onto the beach. Meanwhile, the hundred or so officers and soldiers who had landed earlier were advancing in an orderly manner under the command of their superiors, leaving behind the crowded beach and marching into the depths of the mainland.

  It was also thanks to the war and the sealed border order that several thousand Zheng troops landed ashore with great fanfare, yet not a single outsider noticed. In just half a day, this army of several thousand disappeared into the depths of the undulating hills. Seeing that the friendly forces had already landed, the Ming-Zheng fleet also pulled in their small boats and quietly headed north under the gradually setting sun.

  The next day, after the Ming Zheng landing force landed, a larger Qing army marched south from the official road not far from the adjacent beach, carrying colorful flags. Due to the urgency of the war and the distance of the battlefield, the general commanding this Qing army did not carefully send people to search both sides of the official road, but instead urged his subordinates to speed up as much as possible.

  Suddenly, without any warning, arrows and shells rained down on the main road, while the cannons' thunderous roar began to reverberate. As the Qing army, battered by lead bullets and arrows, let out dying cries of despair, Zheng's troops, who had been lying in ambush on both sides of the official road, charged out with a loud shout.

  The Qing army, which was suddenly and violently struck, quickly collapsed, and even the Qing general who had drawn his sword to kill several fleeing soldiers had to flee in a hurry under the cover of his personal guards. Taking advantage of the great rout of the Qing army, Zheng's troops launched a pursuit, then gathered up some grain, armor, cannons, horses, and gunpowder as spoils of war, and immediately disappeared northward into the rolling hills, leaving behind only several hundred corpses of the Qing army waiting pitifully to rot.

  "Where is Liu Guoxuan?!" General Ninghai La Ha was furious in his own tent. "Five days ago, a report came that a battalion of the Segment Yinghui Department was defeated on its way to Quannan Shuitou, four days ago, a report came that Deputy General Xinghua was ambushed on the road south of Quannan Beipu, and today, it is reported that the Manchu Battalion in Chaozhou was attacked three days ago at the official road outside Chen Daizhen in Zhao'an, Northeast. Can Liu Guoxuan fly?! What are you all doing?!"

  "Your Excellency, in my humble opinion, it's not that Liu Guoxuan can fly, but rather Zheng's naval forces are as elusive as ghosts. The governor Yang Xi, who was following the army, stroked his beard of over a foot long and analyzed: "With the help of boats, Zheng can travel day and night without rest, and boats can take advantage of the water currents and wind to cover much greater distances than horses or men on foot. Therefore, he can suddenly appear in the south or north, catching our armies off guard."

  "Naval forces? Again, naval forces." Laha, although he considered himself a noble and superior to others, did not dare show any disrespect to Yang Xi, this second-grade official with a high rank, so he could only slightly redden his eyes and put on a worried expression. "Your Highness has been in charge of the naval forces until now, but it's still not done, and instead, Zheng's rebel forces have been able to attack at will... is this really good?"

  Yang Xi analyzed the problem quite well, but when it came to solving it, he was somewhat unable. He hesitated and stuttered for half a day before finally coming up with one sentence: "For now, I'm afraid we can only proceed with caution, although there's a risk of being accused of holding back troops and letting the enemy escape, it's still better than acting rashly and suffering losses."

  "It's just like this." Laha had similar thoughts, but he was actually cunning and didn't want to take responsibility for the army's mistake, so he thought of a way to get Yang Xi to say this. "Damn it, I don't believe it, when we merge with the Green Camp in Quanzhou, Liu Guoxuan will still have such good luck, swallowing tens of thousands of people at once."

  ??”

  "The reinforcements from the north and south have suffered a setback, now they are at a standstill for three days. I reckon they won't dare to make any rash moves for a while. On the other hand, Huang Fangshi's victory over the White Army has given him an aura of invincibility, so I've decided to take him down next."

  The White Robe Army in Liu Guoxuan's mouth was an anti-Qing armed force supported by the Zheng faction of the Ming dynasty. Its leader, Zhu Yin, was a native of Zhangpu and originally a member of a heterodox sect. After the defeat of the Zheng army last year, he emerged and claimed to be Zhu San Taizi - there were more than a dozen people who claimed to be Zhu San Taizi, who was killed during the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty. Thanks to the foolish masses believing in the existence of immortal and ageless people, he gathered many remnants of the Zheng army and fought several battles with the Qing army, winning more often than losing, gradually becoming a force to be reckoned with. Because the emblem of this army was a white robe wrapped around their heads, they were called the White Robe Army by the Ming-Zheng faction, while the Qing court referred to them as the White Headed Bandits. Regardless of what name is used, in essence, it was just a motley crew.

  But Huang Fangshi did not think so, he thought that if he could defeat the White Army with tens of thousands of people, he could also contend with the Zheng army of the same number, so under the situation where all the other Qing armies were procrastinating, he took the initiative to attack, preparing to challenge the main force of the Zheng army, and also to avenge his family's hatred while reporting his merits to Kangxi.

  Of course, Huang Fangshi also knew that his troops were probably a little bit inferior to Liu Guoxuan's, so his plan was to build a camp and defend it to the death, preparing to become an iron walnut that could not be crushed or broken. However, Huang Fangdu obviously did not have the experience of Zheng Kezang, and he did not know that being an iron walnut would require paying a heavy price, especially when he had a relationship with various Manchu generals like Zhang Junlang in later generations who hoped others would give him face and pull him up.

  On March 2, the Western Route Qing army led by Lai Ta arrived late with over 15,000 troops and deployed their troops in a line behind the city of Zhangzhou, hoping to engage in a decisive battle with Zheng's army. However, Liu Guoxuan had already made up his mind to avoid direct confrontation and instead targeted Huang Fangshi's unit. He deliberately set fire to the camp outside Zhangzhou City, creating the illusion that he was withdrawing his troops. The Qing army's sharp edge at the time of entering the pass had long since disappeared after more than 30 years of corruption. Seeing the lifting of the siege of Zhangzhou, these Manchu and Green Camp officers naturally did not want to engage in a fierce battle with Zheng's army again. They entered Zhangzhou to rest and observe Liu Guoxuan's troops withdrawing from the east of Zhangzhou. However, they did not expect that Liu Guoxuan was just making a false move. As soon as he withdrew from the east of Zhangzhou, he immediately launched another attack on Shuitou, surrounding Huang Fangshi's army stationed in Shuitou Town.

  "Fire the cannon!" With a loud command, the thunderous sound of cannons announced the beginning of the siege. Huang Fangshi had sent out multiple messengers to ask for reinforcements before being surrounded, but firstly, the neighboring provinces were too far away, and secondly, neither the Manchu soldiers nor the Green Standard Army had any interest in sacrificing their lives to save this militia that would inevitably be disbanded after the war, so he had already resigned himself to the bitter fate of defeat.

  Under the tremendous kinetic energy driven by gunpowder combustion, the scorching lead bullets quickly broke through the thin town gate and shattered the not-so-sturdy town wall. At the moment when the town gate was broken, thousands of Zheng troops pushed forward with shields and newly-made cloud ladders.

  The Huang army desperately fired arrows and fire guns on the city wall, as if this could stop the Zheng army's attack. However, under the threat of artillery fire, the calmness of the Huang army's shooters was nowhere to be seen, and the trembling hands shot out arrows and guns, except for a few that hit their targets, the rest were lost in vain.

  The Zheng army's cannon fire had stopped, but before the Huang army could recover and improve their shooting skills, the cloud ladder was already set up. Under the cover of the archers and musketeers who were rushing forward, hundreds of Zheng soldiers with shields and blades in hand poured onto the wall head, and a fierce battle ensued.

  Huang Jun, with his long spear and large knife, charged at the Zheng army officers, but due to insufficient training, they rarely fought together, and as a result, they were defeated and scattered by the smaller Zheng army. When the fierce battle was raging on the city wall, the Zheng army, carrying wooden logs as battering rams, took advantage of the brief lull in fire from the city's defensive positions and smashed open the already damaged town gate, which had been weakened by cannon fire, and cleared away obstacles behind the door, rushing inside.

  Seeing Zheng Jun rushing in from the south gate, Huang Fangshi's ambition turned into an uncontrollable fear. He feared that his brother Huang Fangdu's fate would befall him, and he completely lost his courage. Without bothering to command his troops to resist Zheng's army, he instead drove his trusted family soldiers to break through the unbroken North Town Gate and escape.

  Huang Fangshi, who was fleeing on horseback, didn't even have time to turn his head and see what the situation was like in Shuitou Town after it fell. Knowing that there were pursuers behind him, he hugged the horse's neck and spurred it on desperately. The warhorse neighed in pain as it galloped wildly, but its legs suddenly went soft, and it fell to the ground, throwing Huang Fangshi off completely.

  Misfortunes never come singly, Huang Fangshi, who was still dazed from the fall, had not even had time to get up from the ground when the warhorses of the family guards trampled over him, and many iron hooves landed on his body. The unlucky Huang Fangshi completely fainted from pain, seeing that things were taking a turn for the worse, the family guards quickly reined in their horses and rescued him, then slipped away just before the pursuing troops arrived.

  Although Huang Fangshi was not captured, it was a regret for Liu Guoxuan's first battle in Shuizhou. However, this regret was soon made up for by the news that came later. Huang Fangshi, who was angry, anxious and hurt, finally failed to resist the call of death and died one month after the Battle of Shuizhou.

  Although archenemy Huang Fangshi was dead, Duan Yingjie and tens of thousands of Manchu soldiers and Green Standard Army finally arrived. Liu Guoxuan didn't even have time to celebrate his victory when a more intense battle loomed ahead.