Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 341 Xiangyang Incident

After Lin Shiqi ordered someone to report to Meng Jun urgently, he organized the army, loaded food and supplies onto the carts, sent scouts to investigate Bai Yintu's whereabouts, and sent people to Kuidong to make contact.

The news reached Meng Jun day and night. Meng Jun read the letter and sighed to Gu Yanwu: "An old horse in the stable has a thousand miles to go. Although Meng Hong is old, he has made many achievements. This letter implicitly said that Du Yinxi could not completely control the Loyalty Camp. He only relied on popularity to maintain it. There are more than ten tribes, each doing their own thing. There are more than 100,000 soldiers. This is a God-given general to me."

Gu Yanwu said with some worry: "Your Majesty, our army just fought a bloody battle and attacked Wuchang. Most of the soldiers are exhausted. Is it too hasty to attack Jingzhou again?"

Meng Jun shook his head slowly and said in a deep voice: "The situation is pressing. Are we going to watch the Loyalty Camp fight Baiyintu alone? If so, wouldn't it be a great loss of support?"

It seems that after the Battle of Huguang, the shadow of war is still not far away, and the Battle of Jingzhou is about to start again.

…………

Just when the situation in Jingzhou was turbulent, Wu Sangui, who had been the first to escape during the decisive battle in Huguang, was now full of worry. He had run away happily when he retreated, and Duoduo's defeat was within his expectations. However, he did not expect that Baiyintu's troops had not suffered much damage.

Wu Sangui was hesitant, not knowing whether to kill a scapegoat and apologize to the court, or to go all the way. After hearing Fang Guangchen's words, Wu Sangui made up his mind.

Fang Guangchen said bluntly: "Your Highness, the defeat of Huguang, whether it is Prince Yu or the Regent, will definitely throw the blame on you. Even if the court is now too busy to punish you, once the court withdraws its hands, can you still stay out of it?"

Seeing that Wu Sangui was still hesitant, Fang Guangchen advised: "Your Highness, now that the imperial court has just been defeated, they may try to appease him with kind words, but Your Highness disobeyed the military order and led the army away. Others will not say anything, but Prince Yu will definitely feel like a thorn in his throat. Your Highness, now that the matter has been done, you must not be indecisive and change your mind every day!"

Wu Sangui was silent for a long time, then waved Fang Guangchen away and stayed alone in the military tent until the next morning, when Wu Sangui summoned Fang Guangchen again.

When Fang Guangchen saw Wu Sangui, he was shocked. He saw that Wu Sangui's eyes were red and he looked like he was hating someone.

Before Fang Guangchen could speak, Wu Sangui said ruthlessly: "It has come to this point. There is no point in saying more. Since we have done it, we must do it thoroughly until the imperial court dares not touch us!"

Fang Guangchen was in high spirits and said excitedly: "Your Highness is indeed a man of talent. When the Ming lost its power, the whole world was chasing it. The Qing court was defeated repeatedly and lost the trust of the people. Meng Jun is just a common man, but he was able to seize such a territory. How can Your Highness be weaker than others!"

Wu Sangui slammed the table and said in a deep voice: "If a man cannot eat from five cauldrons while alive, he should be cooked in five cauldrons after death!" After that, Wu Sangui shouted: "Come here, gather all the generals, I have something important to announce."

Wu Sangui then summoned various generals, including He Jinzhong, Sun Wenhuan, Wei Zhiping, Zhang Jian, Guo Hongwei, Xia Guozhu, Tong Shisheng, Zhang Guozhong, Wu Sanji, Fu Wenyuan, and several Mongolians, such as Wei Lahai, Keshitu, Ha Yu, Bakyong, Zhu Keshi and others.

All the generals put away their weapons when entering the camp and went into the tents. The spacious tents were packed with so many generals.

When Wu Sangui saw that everyone was gathered, he signaled Fang Guangchen to speak first to test the waters.

Fang Guangchen saluted the generals and then said, "Prince Yu was defeated in Huguang, but before he withdrew his troops, he ordered us to attack. However, due to the situation at that time, the army was defeated and the prince had no choice but to withdraw his troops."

After finishing speaking, Fang Guangchen looked at the reactions of the generals. He Jinzhong said, "Your Majesty, we can write to the court and explain the situation at that time. The court will surely not blame you!"

Xia Guozhu also said: "Yes, Your Majesty, the court is in such a situation now, how dare you blame Your Majesty!"

Fang Guangchen smiled and said, "Yes, I think so too. However, we have no place to replenish our food and grass now. I suggest that Your Majesty stay in Xiangyang first to rest the soldiers. What do you think?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone knew that there was something else behind Fang Guangchen's words, but they didn't know what Wu Sangui's intention was. Everyone was silent for a moment.

Wu Sangui saw this and said, "I think what Tingxian said makes sense, but I am worried that the court will doubt my intentions. If Prince Yu had not been defeated, I would not be in such a predicament."

After saying this, Wu Sangui narrowed his eyes and looked around at the generals, observing their expressions. He saw that some had no expression on their faces, some seemed to be smiling, and some looked worried.

Bakyong had followed Wu Sangui for a long time. He immediately stood up and said loudly: "We swear to be loyal to the prince until death. We will do whatever the prince says."

Upon hearing this, the generals hurriedly responded. Wu Sangui appeased the generals again, saying that they would surely enjoy wealth and glory, and that they would be honored as dukes.

After unifying the hearts of his generals, Wu Sangui intended to seize Jingzhou first, but Fang Guangchen said: "Jingzhou City is close to the front line, and Bai Yintu will definitely return to Jingzhou. This city cannot be captured, and it will be harmful to capture it!"

After hearing this, Wu Sangui also felt that it was not suitable to stay here for a long time, so he passed through the city and went north all the way to Xiangyang. He then took control of the Xiangyang garrison, sidelined the Xiangyang garrison commander, and ordered his entourage to monitor all civil officials closely. Wu Sangui then sealed the city gates and strictly prohibited the leakage of any news. All official documents from the prefectures and counties had to be checked by Wu Sangui and Fang Guangchen before they could be issued.

As soon as Wu Sangui entered Xiangyang, he adopted Fang Guangchen's suggestion and wrote a letter to Dorgon to clear himself, saying that the defeat in Huguang was not his fault.

On the other hand, he recruited soldiers in Xiangyang City and ordered Xia Guozhu to lead the cavalry to march day and night to attack Nanyang and Fangcheng, thus blocking the road from the Central Plains to the Nanyang Basin.

After Yang Sichang's reinforcement, the walls of Xiangyang City were 45 feet high, 15 feet wide at the top and 30 feet thick at the bottom. There were more than 4,000 battlements, four police stations, and six city gates, all with moon-shaped walls.

The Han River was used as a moat in the north of the city. Later, Wu Sangui dug several trenches outside the city, built flying beams, set up crossbars, and sent soldiers to guard it.

After Wu Sangui captured Xiangyang, he recruited 4,000 soldiers in three days and gathered craftsmen in the city to forge weapons and armor. His ambition was obvious.

The Nanyang defenders had no idea what had happened in Xiangyang. When they saw a large group of cavalrymen holding Qing flags, wearing Qing armor and with shaved heads, they did not suspect anything. It was not until Xia Guozhu took control of the city gate and said that all the generals were following the orders of King Pingxi that the Nanyang defenders realized that something was wrong.

Nanyang prefect Xu Yunshen angrily scolded Wu Sangui for his wolfish ambitions and his intention to rebel, and was immediately tied up in his mansion by Xia Guozhu. Later, news came that the prefect had accidentally fallen into the water.

When everyone heard this, no one dared to say a word. After taking control of Nanyang, Xia Guozhu placed all the officers at all levels defending the city under house arrest, and then sent his cronies to control the army. After stabilizing Nanyang, Xia Guozhu sent 3,000 cavalry to attack Fangcheng and control the main road from the Central Plains to Nanyang.