Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 424: Battle (2)

Meng Jun put down the official document, looked at Shen Congwen who hurried in, and asked in a deep voice: "Congwen, what's the matter?"

Shen Congwen saluted Meng Jun and said, "Your Majesty, two urgent messages, one for military information, and one for the Qingluan Guards."

"bring here"

Meng Jun first opened the military report, which was sent by Jiang Xiang. At this moment, all documents from Jiang Xiang had to be expedited.

This letter was written by Jiang Xiang himself and was only submitted to Meng Jun after being polished by his lawyer.

Letter: "Your Majesty, I bow down to you. I have not seen you in person for a long time. My heart is with you. I wonder how you are doing these days? Although I live in a remote place, I still have a sincere heart and pray day and night for your health and happiness.

Looking back on the past, when the world was on the verge of collapse, Your Majesty raised an army of righteousness, wiped out the bandits, spread benevolence far and wide, and displayed extraordinary military strategy. Whenever I think of this, I am convinced. The world was saved from danger, all thanks to Your Majesty’s wisdom and the people have all benefited from your kindness.

Today, Your Majesty has raised a large army and swept across Qi and Lu. Your grand plan is gradually unfolding and your military power is growing. This is truly an inspiring thing. I have also recruited righteous men and have gathered an army of 50,000 men, stationed between Hunyuan and Lingqiu, ready to fight and waiting for orders.

Your Majesty has millions of soldiers at your disposal and is determined to conquer the world. When you lead your troops to the north, I will immediately lead my troops out of Lingqiu to support you and work together to drive out the Tartars and recover our country.

Although I am a fool, I am willing to serve the king with my sword and blood, and I will not refuse death. I only wish the king good health. I, Jiang Xiang, bow my head a hundred times. "

After reading the letter, Meng Jun felt a little upset. Baili had sent an urgent letter praising him. The most useful sentence in the letter was actually that Jiang Xiang was now stationed in Hunyuan and Lingqiu areas.

Meng Jun put down the letter. Now Jiang Xiang had also sent out troops. The news from the capital was that at this time in the capital camp, the Qing army had only 60,000 troops, of which more than 40,000 were Han troops. The Manchu and Mongolian troops added up to only 20,000 people. But Meng Jun was a little puzzled. What was Dorgon's intention?

Meng Jun sent Gao Jinku to attack Liaodong with a small army. His original intention was to mobilize 10,000 or 20,000 people from Dorgon, but why did Dorgon send out 50,000 people? Was it because Dorgon was afraid of the consequences of losing the territory outside the Great Wall?

Meng Jun shook his head and picked up the secret letter from Qingluan Guard again. Liu Guquan's secret report became much simpler.

Letter: "Bolo has 50,000 cavalrymen out of the capital, but not all of them have left the border. There seems to be a large number of cavalrymen in the Zunhua area. I am urgently investigating."

Seeing this, Meng Jun's face slightly changed. After a while, he shook his head and said, "Dorgon is so confident that he can defeat me even with Jiang Xiang and I attacking from both sides."

Shen Congwen replied, "Your Majesty, when I was a child, I saw a gambler. At first, he only bet small amounts, but when he kept winning, he thought he was lucky, so he bet bigger and bigger. But once he started to lose, he would not give up. Even if he lost everything, he would still try again."

Meng Jun nodded slightly after hearing this and said, "You mean, this is Dorgon's state of mind now?"

Shen Congwen replied, "That's right. Your Majesty, think about it. Dorgon just took power and fought several battles in succession. He was almost always victorious. Naturally, he became arrogant and his desire for the world increased. He is like a thirsty deer chasing water. Even if there is an abyss in front of him, he will still fantasize about jumping over it."

At this point, Shen Congwen went on to explain: "Dorgon is now like a gambler who has lost everything. If he does not fight and withdraws from the border, it means he has lost everything. It would be better to have a decisive battle, where he still has a chance to win. He may really believe that as long as he gambles everything, he may be able to turn the tide."

Meng Jun laughed when he heard this and said, "Dorgon lost when he was about to win the world. If I were him, I would not be willing to withdraw from the interior of the country like this."

At this point, Meng Jun's face straightened and he said in a deep voice: "If he wants to fight, then fight. A three-way pincer attack. I have more troops and money than Dorgon. If I still don't dare to fight, then what's the point of the Northern Expedition?"

When Shen Congwen heard this, he was also excited and said: "Your Majesty, as long as we win this battle, there will be no more wars in the world!"

Meng Jun wanted to test Shen Congwen, so he asked, "Then in your opinion, how should we fight this battle?"

Shen Congwen pondered for a long time, and then slowly said: "Your Majesty, the art of war says that if you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger. Since Dorgon has hidden his troops in Zunhua, he may take a risky move. So we might as well do the opposite, take steady steps, and advance step by step. After all, the capital is there and cannot escape."

This idea coincided with Meng Jun's. Without a large number of cavalry mobile forces, there was nothing they could do on this plain except advance step by step.

Although the Zhou army still has few cavalrymen, after taking Huaibei and Shandong, the number of horses in the Zhou army has begun to increase. It is no longer like before, relying on captured horses to barely maintain a cavalry team.

In the following days, Meng Jun discussed and planned the route of advance in detail with the generals and others, adjusted the strategic deployment and prepared a large amount of military supplies. Meng Jun had decided to fight a static battle. Every time he advanced, he would set up a strong camp and leave soldiers garrisoned in each camp. He would never engage in a field battle with the Qing cavalry.

………………

As Meng Jun launched the Northern Expedition and Shandong Governor Lu Fengchun surrendered, Meng Jun became famous and the Qingluan Guards became more aggressive. In Hebei and Zhili, the Qingluan Guards were still cautious, but in Henan, the Qingluan Guards' actions were not blatant but rampant, as if they regarded the Qing court's sticking stick as nothing.

Just when Meng Jun moved his troops to Dezhou, on June 10th, the fourth year of the Yongli reign, the county magistrates and officials in Guide Prefecture, Shangqiu, Ningling, Luyi, Xiayi and Yongcheng all cut their queues and returned to Zhou in one day.

In Guide Prefecture, only Yucheng and Suizhou were unwilling to surrender. However, the surging public opinion in the two cities was beyond the ability of the county magistrate to stop. The magistrate of Yucheng resigned at night and disappeared without a trace.

The magistrate of Suizhou was captured by the yamen runners. A yamen runner named Wang forcibly cut off the magistrate's braids and forced him to raise the Zhou flag instead. Magistrate Li burst into tears and cried out, "I have received great favor from the emperor and have been entrusted with this important task. I wanted to work hard, love the people, and serve the country, but the thieves are so rampant that they have come to this."

The leader Wang cursed, "Don't scholars always say that our bodies and hair are given by our parents? You have shaved your head, are you still worthy of the saints? Cry, cry, cry, cry, I am saving you now, don't you know that?"

Li Zhixian shook his head and said, "You are just a common man, how can you understand integrity and righteousness? I was born in the third year of Shunzhi and was a Jinshi. Thanks to the grace of the emperor, I govern a county. Once I am an honest official, I will be an honest official for life. This is loyalty and righteousness!"

Band leader Wang was overwhelmed by what he heard and decided to lock up the magistrate in the government office. However, he never expected that at night, Magistrate Li left a suicide note on the table and hanged himself.

His book says, "Strong winds reveal strong grass, and turbulent times reveal good ministers."

Qingluan Guard passed the news to Meng Jun, which made Meng Jun very disgusted. Damn it, the person is dead, and he still feels disgusted.