Xie Ming

Pei Zhong's army displayed its might, employing tactics to attack cities and seize territory, disrupting the enemy's plans.

Meanwhile, heading north, Shandong was also in complete chaos.

They are constantly preoccupied with their own problems and their operations behind enemy lines never cease.

Among them, Huang Degong's troops were the most outstanding.

His remaining troops, after the fall of Jinan a month or so ago, gathered in Qingzhou despite being ill, and reunited with their old troops on the spot.

After more than a month of rest and recuperation along the Qingzhou and Laizhou lines, they are ready to resume their military might.

This time, it happened at a time when Dodo was heading south, confronting Xiao Jun head-on across the Yangtze River, and Shandong was preoccupied with its rear.

Huang Degong assessed the situation, seized the opportunity, and decisively launched another westward campaign.

They attacked from east to west and recaptured the three cities of Zhangqiu, Zichuan, and Changshan.

Seeing that the enemy's rear was empty and there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, they took advantage of the situation and besieged Jinan again, beginning to focus their efforts on the important city of Jinan.

However, Jinan is the core of Shandong after all, and the five or six thousand troops stationed in the city were all soldiers and cavalry transferred from their old stronghold in Cangzhou when Shi Tingzhu's rear army followed into northern Anhui.

These soldiers, having rested and prepared for battle, gathered in Jinan to regroup and prepare for war.

Now that we have finally met our match, we should be excited to show our strength.

Once they made contact, they immediately engaged in a fierce battle with Huang Degong's troops outside the city.

After this force fiercely defended the city, Huang Degong was exhausted and unable to capture it after a long siege.

Of course, besides this, there was another force operating behind enemy lines in Shandong.

That was Duan Hongcai, who was originally part of Pei Zhong's troops and remained in the Yimeng Mountains.

This guy has been running his own business and building up his army in the mountains for years.

After more than a year of development and expansion, it now has a membership of four to five thousand.

He had long desired to achieve great things, but had been suppressed by Xiao Jun's orders. This was the moment he was about to make his move.

So, with his troops watching the chaos in the south and Huang Degong heading west, how could they possibly hold out any longer?

Duan Hongcai rolled up his sleeves and said that the situation in the south was urgent, and as a general in the field, he needed to take the initiative to attack, which was in line with the situation of the main force.

Using this as an excuse, he impatiently led his troops down from Yimeng Mountain.

They launched surprise attacks and swift assaults in Pingyin, Tai'an, Laiwu, Xintai and other places.

Within a few days, they had occupied all four cities and used all the wealth they had accumulated over the years to recruit local militia.

Because it is in this area, when Qi Gang and Ming Lu were in power, they had already taken the lead in working with the people.

In just half a month, Duan Hongcai's troops quickly expanded to eight thousand men, enough to form an army on their own.

Given the current situation, Dodo was unable to press his advantage and destroy the Southern Court in one fell swoop.

Once this tug-of-war begins, and the dead situation resurfaces in various places, the situation will be far from optimistic.

Therefore, it was especially important for him to assess the situation and urgently request Dorgon's reinforcements to come south.

They feared that if the campaign dragged on, most of Shandong, and even large swathes of northern Anhui, would have to be returned and lost again.

If things really deteriorate to that point, I'm afraid even Dorgon's current army will be unable to retreat north intact.

Enough of the rambling, let it be as it is, and so on.

Having finished speaking about the North, let's return to the Yangtze River and talk about the South.

Now, let's talk about Xiao Jingchuan, who, after returning from Tianmu Mountain in a huff, traveled all the way back to Nanjing under the protection of Yuan Ping.

In the Jiangnan region, taking into account prominent cities such as Zhenjiang, Ningguo, Suzhou, Songjiang, Huzhou, and Jiaxing, the armies of Yuan Ping and Li Huchen have made significant breakthroughs and successfully recaptured several cities.

For a short time, due to the large number of enemy cavalry lingering in the southern border, it was not yet possible to completely wipe them out.

Meanwhile, the main forces of the enemy and our side were locked in a stalemate on both sides of the Yangtze River, and the passage for escaping north across the river in the Nanjing and Zhenjiang area was completely secured.

It can be said that the situation has essentially reached a point of trapping and eliminating the enemy. I believe that given time, the remaining enemy forces in Jiangnan will be completely wiped out. As things stand now, especially since it is early June, and Xiao Lang has now assumed the position of commander-in-chief, his only concern in the short term is still the logistics, military pay, and provisions.

Considering the months-long battle between the two armies, it is not difficult to imagine the deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops and their fierce fighting.

In war, the most important thing is logistics and supplies.

At this critical moment, with expenses being consumed in the midst of a fierce battle, we dare not cut back on spending and thus cripple our capabilities.

However, upon closer inspection, the savings accumulated from a year of business operations in Henan are now almost gone.

Originally, when they marched quickly to block the rebel forces in Jiujiang and Anqing and quelled the rebellion of Zuo Liangyu, they also managed to capture a large amount of grain and military supplies.

If it were back then, disregarding the expansion, it would have been more than enough for our own expenses.

However, time waits for no one, and expanding the army is imperative.

Once they had gathered and recruited tens of thousands of naval and land troops, they immediately found themselves stretched thin and overwhelmed by expenses.

With such a depleted stockpile, by June, calculations showed that the remaining grain, fodder, and military pay would not even last for half a month.

Xiao Jingchuan was trapped in Nanjing, and he was deeply troubled by this and had no solution.

The tactics had to be adjusted multiple times.

The biggest change, however, was the suppression of the enemy in Jiangnan.

Left with no other choice, we urged Yuan Ping and Li Huchen to suppress the Jiannu Bahana tribe in various regions, and all subsequent spoils must be confiscated.

To make up for the expenses of the large army.

Furthermore, the balance between suppressing and releasing the enemy must be carefully maintained.

They wanted to strike hard and wipe out the enemy as quickly as possible, but in reality, they had to delay their advance. They could use the opportunity of the bandits plundering the silver and grain of wealthy families and powerful clans, and then kill them after they were full and fat.

Thus, there were many concerns about this situation, and the military orders were left ambiguous and unresolved, leaving each subordinate unit to decide for themselves.

I want to go, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Good thing!

They were waiting for Xiao Jun, who was anxiously searching for military supplies.

A person who offered timely help rushed forward.

This man was none other than Ma Weimin, who had led wealthy merchants from Yangzhou south to escape disaster.

After much planning, he sailed out to sea, passing through the mouth of the Wusong River. After more than a month of living on the sea, this old fellow finally saw the opportunity and landed in Qingpu near Jiading with his silver and wealth.

After making numerous inquiries, he rushed to Suzhou and finally managed to make contact with a group of Tiger Generals from the Eastern Route.

Later, Hu Chen's scouts reported back, and Xiao Fang learned the details of the situation.

Regardless of other factors, and focusing solely on the key issue, the most crucial question is how to best utilize the assets of these wealthy and powerful families who have privately sponsored their businesses.

Therefore, they rushed to the meeting, and by early June, this group of people, including Ma Weimin, Shen Chaozong, and many other prominent figures from Yangzhou, gathered in Nanjing.

The core issue from the outset is just one.

With Ma Weimin and Shen Chaozong taking the lead, Xiao Jingchuan hosted a banquet and made arrangements. Under the pretext of the imperial court's requisition of military supplies, and with the endorsement of the Duke of Jingguo's military prestige and reputation, he used a combination of soft and hard tactics to put on a grand show. Only then did he manage to persuade this group of local Yangzhou dignitaries to temporarily transfer their family assets to Xiao's army to cover military expenses.

Through this mediation, more than six million taels of silver were raised in court.

This money was truly a timely rain for Xiao Jun's current situation.

Xiao was overjoyed and relied on Lao Ma, who was also his nominal father-in-law, even more.

However, while the silver reserves have been temporarily replenished, the issue of provisions remains a serious problem, with a significant shortfall still in sight.

Therefore, Ma Minglu and Ma Weimin, this duo of two Mas, will surely have a lot to do in the future regarding the issue of "grain".

(End of this chapter)