User:Zrnstnsr/Battle of Guilin (1652)

The Battle of Guilin in 1652 was a major battle between Southern Ming and Qing dynasty, ending with Ming's victory. Kong Youde, the commander of Qing troops in Guilin, committed suicide after fall of Guilin. This battle is known as part of "Li Dingguo defeating named kings twice"(李定國两蹶名王), along with the following User:Zrnstnsr/Battle of Hengyang.

Prelude
In 1650, Sun Kewang occupied southern Sichuan and Guizhou. Meanwhile, Qing captured Guilin, Guangzhou and Nanning, forcing Zhu Youlang, the Yongli emperor of Southern Ming, to union with Sun. In May 1651, Sun ordered Feng Shuangli to led tens of thousands of troops to attack Yuanzhou (present-day Zhijiang), and Feng captured Yuanzhou on 2 June.He then attacked Chenzhou (present-day Yuanling) but failed. Shen Yongzhong, the commander of Hunan, managed to keep the stalemate with his 20,000 troops.

In May 1652, Li Dingguo led his army into Hunan and joined with Feng. They then attacked Jingzhou, defeated Qing's troops and occupied Jingzhou and Wugang on 27 June. Shen was unable to deal with the offensive, and sought help from Kong Youde in Guilin. Kong, however, had a grudge against Chen and refused him. As a result, Shen was forced to retreat to Changsha on 7 July, and further fled to Yuezhou (present-day Yueyang) on 8 September.

Battle
Shen's retreat exposed the north of Guangxi, but Kong, arrogant, did nothing to his military deployment but ordering his generals to defense Quanzhou on 2 July, resulting in strength shortage in Quanzhou. After capturing Wugang, Li Dingguo led his troops to Quanzhou. He captured Quanzhou on 1 August and killed the commander of its garrison. Kong was shocked by fall of Quanzhou, and led his armies to Xing'an County, attempting to relying on its steep terrain, however, defeated by Li. Ming troops then reached countryside of Guilin on 3 August.

On 5 August, while Li was besieging Guilin, Kong ordered his generals in Nanning, Wuzhou and Liuzhou to retreat to Guilin, knowing that it was hard to guard Guilin with his limited strength, which, however, proved to be too late. Wang Yuncheng, who had surrendered to Qing, served in Kong's troops, shared a past with Ma Jinzhong, who served in Li's troops. Ma yelled to Wang to call him for surrender, who did not dare promise and reported Kong. Kong knew he were unable to guard his city, and told Ma that he could promise Ma and reported Kong what Ma said. Wang then went to the top of the city wall and communicated with Ma on surrender. According to Wang, Kong attempted to surrender but succumbed to his generals.

On 7 August, Ming troops took Wusheng Gate and entered Guilin. Kong Youde signed sadly, 'that's it!' and committed suicide in his house, after tolding his retinue to burn his house and jewelry. His wife entrusted his son, Kong Tingxun, to his guard, saying, 'If you could escape, you would become a monk. You should not be a traitor like your father, otherwise you would end with this.', before hanging herself. Kong Tingxun, however, was tackled by Ming troops and executed several years later. Kong Sizhen, Kong's another daughter, managed to escape.

Aftermath
After capturing Guilin, Li Dingguo stayed in Guilin and ordered his troops to occupy the whole Guangxi. Ming troops then continued to capture Pingle and Liuzhou. Qing troops were defeated continually and fled to Wuzhou, which was on the west of Guangdong. On 17 September, Li captured Wuzhou, and Qing forces in Wuzhou all fled to Guangdong, marking that Li managed to recapture the whole Guangxi. Qing forces in Guangdong were also frightened and ready to flee.

However, Sun Kewang learned that Nikan was marching to Hunan, and ordered Li to enter Hunan. On 22 December, Li Dingguo defeated Nikan in the decisive Battle of Hengyang, killing Nikan. The two victories were a huge inspiration to those resisting Qing, and many remnants of Ming troops and former Ming officials were inspired, marking the third, last and most influencial anti-Qing climax.

After Li's departure, many cities in Guangxi was recaptured by Qing. On 7 October, Qing captured Wuzhou. On 16 Febraury, 1653, Qing captured Guilin. During 1653, Ming attempted to recapture Guilin twice, but neither succeeded.

Death of Chen Bangbo
Chen Bangbo, the former Duke of Qing, along with his son Chen Zengyu, was captured in Guilin. They were taken to Guiyang and executed on 4 October. Sun Kewang ordered the duo to be flayed and their bodies to travel all over the country. Li Ruyue, a censorate, then impeached that Sun killed indiscriminately and behaved like Wang Mang and Cao Cao, accusing him of a usurper. Yongli court did not publish his essay and flog him 40 times. Li, however, copied his material and sent to Sun, causing he to be flayed.