The Rise and Fall of the Shun Remnants

The Loyal and True Battalion (忠贞营) emerged from the ashes of the fallen Shun Dynasty (1644-1645), a short-lived peasant rebellion regime that briefly captured Beijing before being crushed by the Manchu Qing forces. Composed primarily of former Shun troops under commanders Li Chixin (李赤心, also known as Li Guo) and Gao Bizheng (高必正, originally named Gao Yigong), this force represented one of the last organized military units still loyal to the Southern Ming cause during the chaotic late 1640s.

Originally based in the mountainous Kuizhou-Dongting (夔东) region, these battle-hardened veterans had been incorporated into the Southern Ming military structure under the Yongli Emperor’s court. Their transformation from rebel forces to Ming loyalists reflected the desperate alliances forming among anti-Qing factions. However, their integration was never smooth – many Southern Ming officials still viewed them with suspicion as former “bandits,” creating tensions that would ultimately undermine their effectiveness.

The Aborted Victory at Changsha

In late 1648, the Loyal and True Battalion was on the verge of a major strategic victory at Changsha, having besieged the city and positioned themselves for its capture. This could have provided the Southern Ming with a crucial stronghold in Hunan province. However, in a fateful decision that would alter the course of the resistance, Grand Secretary He Tengjiao (何腾蛟) ordered their redeployment to Jiangxi province under the pretext of reinforcing Ming forces there.

On November 16, 1648, Li and Gao reluctantly lifted the siege and began moving eastward. This proved disastrous – having moved far from their supply bases in Kuizhou, they found Hunan’s devastated countryside could not sustain their army. Worse still, local Ming warlords controlling Youxian and Chaling districts, fearing the powerful battalion’s passage through their territories, blocked their advance with armed resistance. The Loyal and True Battalion, numbering tens of thousands, suddenly found themselves trapped – unable to proceed to Jiangxi, unable to return to their bases, and rapidly running out of supplies as winter set in.

The Collapse of Jiangxi and Retreat South

By January 1649, the situation deteriorated further. Nanchang fell to Qing forces, rendering their Jiangxi mission meaningless. Simultaneously, Qing Prince Regent Jirgalang (济尔哈朗) launched a major offensive into Hunan. He Tengjiao was captured and executed at Xiangtan, his forces scattering before the Qing advance. Most of Hunan quickly fell under Qing control.

With no other options, Li and Gao led their starving army on a desperate southward retreat through Linwu, Lanshan, Jianghua and Yongming counties before crossing into Guangdong province. Their difficult march took them through Xingzi (in modern Lian County) and Yangshan before finally entering Guangxi at He County and Huaiji (now part of Guangdong). Their intended destination was Wuzhou, where they hoped to establish a new base.

The Wuzhou Incident: Allies Become Enemies

When the Loyal and True Battalion’s vanguard reached Wuzhou on May 24, 1649, they encountered shocking hostility from their supposed allies. Despite holding noble titles conferred by the Southern Ming court (Li as Duke of Xing and Gao as Duke of Yun), Guangxi officials denounced them as “bandit invaders.” The next day, when hundreds of the battalion’s boats approached Wuzhou, local Ming commanders – including Regional Commander Ye Cheng’en and Defense Circuit Intendant Liu Sikuang – launched a surprise attack, engaging them with arrows and cannon fire.

After repelling this assault, Li and Gao anchored their fleet at Jiangkou (about 40 li from Wuzhou). The Guangxi officials, realizing they couldn’t defeat the battle-hardened battalion militarily, summoned reinforcements from Deqing. However, internal divisions within the Yongli court eventually allowed the Loyal and True Battalion to pass through Wuzhou and proceed to Xunzhou and Hengzhou.

The Nanning Interlude and Political Intrigues

The battalion’s arrival coincided with a power struggle in Nanning between Ming Duke Chen Bangfu (陈邦傅) and local commander Xu Biao. After suffering defeats against Xu from September 1648 to May 1649, Chen saw an opportunity in the newly arrived Loyal and True Battalion. He invited Li and Gao to eliminate Xu Biao, promising them Nanning as a base.

On December 3, 1649, the battalion defeated and killed Xu Biao at Yongchun County before occupying Nanning. For about a year, Li Chixin garrisoned Nanning while Gao Bizheng stationed at Hengzhou. Chen Bangfu, having achieved his immediate goal, then schemed to redirect the battalion toward Guilin – home of the Yongli court’s more stable administration under Grand Secretary Qu Shisi (瞿式耜).

Chen employed elaborate machinations to manipulate the battalion leaders. He ceremonially adopted Li Chixin’s foster mother (Li Zicheng’s widow, Lady Gao) and presented his own daughter to Gao Bizheng as a second wife (even securing equal noble status for her). Only after these bonds were established did Chen reveal his true intention – urging Gao to march on Guilin and effectively take control of the imperial court.

When Qu Shisi learned of this plot, he petitioned to distribute Guangxi’s supplies among all military leaders to prevent conflict. The Loyal and True Battalion, content with their new bases, had no interest in Chen’s power plays. Li Chixin bluntly rebuked Chen: “Brother Chen advises me to seize the emperor – this means you still consider me a bandit at heart!” This rejection would have lasting consequences, as Chen later forged imperial edicts to manipulate other anti-Qing forces against the battalion.

The Tragic End of a Resistance Movement

As the Loyal and True Battalion retreated into Guangxi, their political protector – Grand Secretary Du Yinxi (堵胤锡) – barely escaped assassination attempts by paranoid local warlords. When Du reached the Yongli court at Zhaoqing, he faced accusations of losing Hunan (actually He Tengjiao’s failure) from officials backed by Qu Shisi and Li Yuanyin.

Despite being named Supreme Commander of multiple armies, Du found himself systematically undermined – denied troops, supplies, and funding. His five memorials requesting military funds yielded only 3,000 taels of silver, which were promptly stolen by Li Yuanyin’s men. In a final audience on August 24, 1649, a despairing Du told the emperor: “I go without horses for land travel or boats for water. I have a commander’s title but no means to reward troops… I dare not idle by the river inviting criticism. I must cleanse the realm to prove my loyalty. If all else fails, I shall sacrifice this body to repay Your Majesty.”

His last campaign was doomed from the start. Li Chixin’s sudden death left the battalion leaderless, and only a fraction of troops under Liu Guochang joined Du’s final march. On November 26, 1649, Du Yinxi died at Xunzhou, his farewell memorial bitterly condemning court intriguers who had sabotaged the resistance. The Loyal and True Battalion gradually disintegrated afterward, their potential never fully realized due to Southern Ming factionalism.

Legacy of Missed Opportunities

The tragic story of the Loyal and True Battalion exemplifies the self-defeating divisions that plagued the Southern Ming resistance. Capable military forces were wasted due to:

1. Deep-seated mistrust between former rebel groups and Ming loyalists
2. Provincial warlords prioritizing local control over unified resistance
3. Court factionalism undermining military coordination
4. Shortage of supplies in war-ravaged regions

Had the battalion’s victory at Changsha been consolidated, or had they been properly supported in Guangxi, they might have significantly prolonged Southern Ming resistance. Instead, their story became one of the many “what if” tragedies marking China’s turbulent Ming-Qing transition period. Local gazetteers like the 1673 Lianzhou Zhi preserve brief mentions of their passage, but the full significance of their doomed campaign deserves greater recognition in the history of China’s seventeenth-century conflicts.