Coxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty by Clements Jonathan

Author:Clements, Jonathan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Coxinga: And the Fall of the Ming Dynasty
ISBN: 97807524
Publisher: Perseus Books, LLC
Published: 2011-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

9

THE WALL AROUND THE SEA

The news was not well received in Beijing. On hearing that Coxinga was only days from Nanjing, the 21-year-old Emperor of Unbroken Rule flew into a fit of insane rage. He yelled that he would personally lead a relief army to Nanjing – a rash promise that was sternly and swiftly quelled by his mother Borjigid. The irate Emperor snatched up a sword and attacked his own throne, hacking chunks off it until the intervention of Adam Schall finally calmed him down.1

The Emperor demanded revenge, and ordered his generals to do everything in their power to stop Coxinga. Post-riders rushed to carry the news to other parts of the Celestial Empire, and troops in the distant hinterland were ordered to mobilise and converge on the Yangtze region. It was inevitable that the news would get out among the general populace, and the Manchus prayed that they would not have to deal with any civil unrest. All over China, Manchus eyed the conquered Chinese with suspicion, wondering if they secretly plotted to join Coxinga’s loyalist stand.

A Korean messenger arriving in Beijing noticed that the entire city was in a state of fear. Misinformed talk on the streets was that Coxinga had an army of three hundred thousand men, and that now Guazhou was in his hands, he intended to march north along the Grand Canal, on Beijing itself.2

Meanwhile, jubilation reigned among Coxinga’s fleet. Those who had formerly been scared by the experience of Sheep Mountain were now convinced that it had been a divine test of their mettle, ensuring that those who advanced on Nanjing were pure in heart. News came from upstream and inland of the continued successes enjoyed by Zhang Huang-yan’s advance party. All the indications were that Coxinga’s arrival was inspiring the local populace to come out in support of him.

With Guazhou Castle captured, the north bank was secure. Opposite on the south bank stood Zhenjiang, the city that had once been abandoned by Feng the Phoenix. In 1645, Feng’s departure had left Nanjing open to Manchu attack. Now, over a decade later, Zhenjiang was the next objective for the loyalist counter-offensive.

Zhenjiang was now held by Guan Xiaozhong, a turncoat general who had fought and won seventeen battles all over China. Although Zhenjiang was a good defensive position, Coxinga chose to land his forces on the western side, at the nearby slopes of Silver Hill, where the Manchu forces would have trouble deploying their cavalry.

Zhou Quanbin, the hero of the assault on Guazhou Castle, was on hand to spur on the troops. When a Manchu counter-assault arrived at midnight on the second day, it was Quanbin who roped off the escape route from his redoubt, in order to ‘encourage’ his men to hold their positions. However, although Zhou’s presence was probably enough to strike fear into his own men, let alone the Manchus, it was not he who won the day. That honour went to Coxinga’s elite division of specialist troops, the Iron Men.

The common soldiers called them Shenbing: ‘the warriors of the gods’.

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