Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 239: War Begins

Meng Jun crumpled up the urgent report and threw it on the table. At this point, even if the Qing army suddenly crossed the river and approached Nanjing, he could not retreat. He would not return until the Jin thieves were destroyed!

July, 20th.

Jin Shengheng's vanguard has appeared in the south of Nanling City. Meng Jun, Gu Yanwu, and Shen Congwen, under the protection of Yu An, climbed a small slope and carefully observed the enemy's vanguard through a telescope.

In the wilderness, there were clusters of people. Their figures were as dense as an ant colony. From a distance, they looked like moving forests, fluctuating with the terrain, like an unrolled scroll.

However, after careful observation, they all discovered that although Jin Shengheng's vanguard had a large number of people, not many of them were well-equipped and had armor. It seemed that their morale was not high and the team seemed disorganized.

In this huge army formation, some people can be seen from time to time. They have haggard faces and their eyes reveal anxiety and confusion. The armored soldiers should be officers, who wave whips from time to time or shout something.

Shen Congwen pondered for a moment, then turned to Meng Jun and said, "Your Majesty, the Jin bandits have forced the young men to fight, and their morale is low. They will not be able to fight for long."

Gu Yanwu frowned, clenched his fists and said angrily: "The bandits are cruel to the people, and the Jin thieves deserve to die!"

Yu An watched as the enemy's vanguard sent out a large group of troops and rushed towards him and his men. He said to Meng Jun nervously, "My lord, it's time to go."

"Let's go back to the camp and prepare for battle." After Meng Jun finished speaking, he took another look at the scattered Jin troops, then mounted his horse and galloped towards the main camp.

The vanguard chose a place to set up camp, waiting for the arrival of Jin Shengheng's main force. The scouts of both sides began to fight, but what excited Zhang Chengsheng was that his side had always had a lower casualty ratio than the Qing army. This time, when they encountered Jin Shengheng's troops, the Zhou army's scouts had a clear advantage. From time to time, a team would achieve a record of one to three, or even one to five. The Zhou army's scouts suppressed the Jin army's scouts on the battlefield, leaving them almost powerless to fight back.

Meng Jun knew that to his north, Jin Shengheng's general Hu Zhan was marching towards Wuhu. If Hu Zhan went south to join Jin Shengheng and attack the Zhou army from behind, something unexpected would happen. So Meng Jun ordered Wang Fugui to delay Hu Zhan at all costs, and at the same time ordered scouts to closely investigate the north.

Wu Yuanzhong was furious and reprimanded Jin Shengheng, the vanguard general. He ordered an investigation into the situation in Meng Jun's camp and Nanling City. Unfortunately, he failed to do so until Jin Shengheng arrived.

July, 22nd.

Jin Shengheng arrived in person with a large army. Looking at the boundless and huge army, he suddenly felt heroic and said to his attendants: "I personally lead an army of more than 200,000, and there are more than 100,000 soldiers in the remaining several hundred thousand. The whole army of Meng thief is only 100,000, and he also has to defend against General Li in Guangdong and defend the river defense. When facing me, he has at most 50,000 people. With an army six times as large as mine, how can we not win!"

The guards flattered him one after another, and every word they said was to belittle Meng Jun and praise Jin Shengheng. Although Jin Shengheng was happy to hear that, he also knew what kind of people were under his command.

Jin Shengheng wanted to go back to his old skills and use the bandits' tactics to break Meng Jun's army. He knew Meng Jun's soldiers were better than his, but he had more people. In the past, the bandits always used the old and weak as the vanguard, followed by the slightly stronger ones, and then the stronger ones, wave after wave, like an endless tide, exhausting the officers and soldiers' arrows and gunpowder, making them exhausted, and then using the elite troops to break through the formation. Jin Shengheng felt that the men he had forced to recruit were all young and strong, much better than the old and frail people who were so hungry that they could not walk.

Jin Shengheng listened to Wu Yuanzhong's words, waved his hand, and said nonchalantly: "The army will rest for a day and march towards Nanling City. If Meng thieves do not come to fight, then we will capture Nanling City first."

Jin Shengheng looked at the map and asked his subordinate Qi Bingyong, "Where have Hu Zhan's troops reached?"

"Reporting to the Marshal, General Hu reported the day before yesterday that the army has conquered Tongling and is heading towards Wuhu." Qi Bingyong replied respectfully.

Jin Shengheng pondered for a moment, then said: "Order them to go south and attack Meng thief from both sides!"

"Yes, Marshal."

After the Jin army rested for a day, on the morning of the 24th, Jin Shengheng personally led the army out of the camp and headed towards Nanling City. In the wilderness, the Jin army was densely packed and all over the mountains. They marched out on foot with great momentum.

As soon as Jin Shengheng moved, Meng Jun knew it and ordered the entire army to leave the camp.

Outside the camp, Meng Jun galloped his horse in front of the battle array and shouted, "What shall we do when the enemy troops arrive?"

Generals such as Gao Yi, who had already made preparations, shouted in unison: "Kill the bandits, kill the bandits, kill the bandits!"

Meng Jun stood in front of the army, pointed his whip forward, and shouted: "Soldiers, do you still remember the oath you made in the past?"

The personal soldiers shouted loudly separately, conveying his words to each army.

"If a soldier flees, kill the soldier. If a captain flees, kill the captain. If a lieutenant commander flees, kill the lieutenant commander. If the commander-in-chief flees, kill the commander-in-chief!" The generals shouted one after another, and the soldiers roared along with the words, with their voices getting louder and louder.

Meng Jun showed a satisfied smile on his face and shouted loudly: "Wansheng!"

"Ten thousand victory, ten thousand victory, ten thousand victory!" The soldiers responded again, and the sound was so loud that it reached the sky. Jin Shengheng, who was still marching, could vaguely hear the roar of the Zhou army.

"send troops!"

Soon, in the south, two cavalrymen, going against the crowd, galloped to Jin Shengheng and reported loudly: "Report, Marshal, Zhou troops have been spotted ten miles ahead!"

Jin Shengheng was inspired when he heard this and said, "Okay, I will set up my formation and fight with Meng the thief."

Many of Jin Shengheng's subordinates also braced themselves and prepared for battle. At this moment, there was a commotion ahead. After a moment, a cavalryman whipped his horse's buttocks frantically and shouted to Jin Shengheng from a distance, "General, the enemy cavalry is charging!"

Jin Shengheng's face changed and he was furious. He roared in a low voice: "Capture this thief, he must be an enemy cavalry!" This idiot actually dared to shout in the army and disrupt our morale!

At the vanguard of the Jin army, Wu Yuanzhong's face turned pale. He looked up and saw cavalrymen coming across the field, raising clouds of dust. He saw these cavalrymen holding high their spears, with the sharp tips of their spears flashing coldly in the sun.

Three thousand cavalrymen, led by Huang Cheng, attacked Wu Yuanzhong's troops like a torrent. This was because Meng Jun saw that Jin Shengheng's vanguard was really disorganized, so he made a prompt decision and ordered Huang Cheng to launch a tentative attack and strictly ordered him not to go too deep.

More than 3,000 cavalrymen under Huang Cheng formed an arrow shape, with Huang Cheng as the arrow head, and charged straight into the enemy formation. Liu Kun was beside Huang Cheng, and he looked at Huang Cheng's profile, which was so brave and fearless. The war horses charged forward like an earth-shaking force, and more than 3,000 war horses hit the Jin army like a huge wave.

"Kill!" Liu Kun's blood boiled and he couldn't help but shout loudly.

"Quick, form a formation and defend against the enemy cavalry!" Wu Yuanzhong shouted at the top of his lungs.

The Jin army's attack was as swift as the wind and as aggressive as fire. The vanguard of the Jin army had no time to form a tight line, not to mention that many of the soldiers were forcibly conscripted and were essentially civilians. They were already frightened out of their wits when they saw this horrifying scene.

Before the Jin army's spearmen had time to form a tight line and the archers had just shot a few arrows in panic, the Zhou army's cavalry had already charged forward with tremendous force.

The Jin soldiers who were hastily forming their battle array were knocked away by the horses galloping at full speed. Their bodies flew backwards and hit the soldiers behind them. They vomited blood on the spot and died instantly.

Screams, shouts, and sounds of fighting instantly appeared on this originally quiet plain!