Southern Ming Rebel Army

Lin Shiqi's Ningwu Town marched forward with flags flying. Finally, they arrived at the city of Changshu. The soldiers quickly took action and set up camp. The soldiers skillfully built tents, dug trenches, and established defense lines. In the camp, bonfires were blazing and smoke was curling, creating a busy and orderly scene.

Lin Shiqi and his men gathered outside the city to discuss the strategy for attacking the city. They observed the defensive facilities on the city wall and thought about where to break through.

"Commander-in-chief, in my opinion, if we fight seriously, we can take down the small city of Changshu in less than two days," said Zhang An, a subordinate of Lin Shiqi, confidently as he looked at the sparse defenders on the city wall of Changshu.

"Wuque, what do you think?" Lin Shiqi did not comment on Zhang An's words, but turned to ask Deputy Commander Song Wuque.

"Don't attack if you can avoid it. I don't think the defender of Changshu City is determined to defend to the death. Let's send someone to persuade him to surrender first. After all, there will be casualties in a siege. It would be best if we can defeat the enemy without fighting. Besides, Changshu City is the hometown of the Grand Commander, so it's better not to use force." Song Wuque put down his hands that were blocking the sun and said to Lin Shiqi.

"Well, that's fine. Let's send someone to persuade him to surrender first. Actually, the Changshu garrison commander Wang is my superior. Although he is afraid of death, he is quite nice to his soldiers and doesn't take their blood too much. Yang Yu, you go to the city to persuade him to surrender. Tell Wang Qingtuo that as long as he surrenders, I will keep him safe," Lin Shiqi said to a personal guard beside him.

"Yes, General." Yang Lu bowed in response.

"Tongzhen, aren't you going to give a letter? Just let Yang Lu bring the message over," Song Wuque asked in surprise.

"No need. Yang Yu is quite talkative. He also knows Wang Qingtuo. They are acquaintances, right?"

On the Changshu city wall, Guard Wang's legs were trembling with fear. If it weren't for the guards' support, he would have fallen to the ground.

Song Jianping had been promoted from a captain to a captain of the Green Camp in Changshu City. He used to be very proud of himself, but now he felt hopeless.

Song Jianping asked Wang Qingtuo in shock, "Sir, is this Meng Jun's army?"

“I don’t know, he has become a spirit, really a spirit,” Wang Qingtuo muttered as he looked outside the city.

Inside the city of Changshu, the county magistrate Li Pingfan paced back and forth in the county government office anxiously, and from time to time he stretched his head to look at the gate. Military affairs had always been the biggest headache for scholars like him.

At this time, the master outside the door ran in hurriedly, shouting as he ran: "Master, Guard Wang is here, here he is!"

Upon hearing this, Li Pingfan looked out the door anxiously and saw Wang Qingtuo running into the county government office at a quick pace.

As soon as Li Pingfan saw Wang Qingtuo, he asked anxiously: "Captain Wang, what's going on? How many people are outside the city? Can we hold it?"

“I can’t count…” Wang Qingtuo said with a bitter face.

"How can it be impossible to count them? How many soldiers are there?" Li Pingfan asked anxiously.

"Maybe... 10,000." Wang Qingtuo frowned and thought for a moment before adding, "Maybe 20,000."

Li Pingfan felt a little dizzy, but after calming down, he pointed at Wang Qingtuo and asked again: "How many soldiers are there in the city?"

"Oh, there are 800 Green Camp soldiers in our Changshu city, but there are actually 700 of them. If you add the yamen runners and others, we should be able to make up a thousand people," Guardian Wang counted on his fingers.

"Alright, alright, don't give up. Tell me, can we hold this place?" Li Pingfan waved his hands and asked with a hopeless look on his face.

“No, I definitely can’t hold it. If I can, I’ll be more powerful than Marshal Qi,” Wang Qingtuo replied with certainty.

At this time, the two looked at each other. Just when Wang Qingtuo was about to say that they should run away together, Wang Shoubei's guard ran in and said, "Sir, there is a man outside the city who wants to see you. I think he looks familiar."

"He looks familiar. Okay, I'll go and meet him, Lord Li. I'll go see what he wants to say outside the city first, and then we'll make plans," Wang Qingtuo said to Li Pingfan.

"Okay, okay, Lord Wang, don't forget me, your brother..." When Wang Qingtuo walked to the door, County Magistrate Li shouted with some concern.

……

"Lord Garrison, do you still recognize me?" Yang Yu said with a smile.

“Hmm, hmm, you look familiar. You are, you are…” Wang Qingtuo thought for a long time but still couldn’t figure it out.

It was not until Yang Yu could not help reminding him that Wang Qingtuo remembered and asked in surprise, "You said the troops outside the city are Lin Bazong's subordinates? Not Meng Jun's?"

Wang Qingtuo naturally knew Lin Shiqi, and he was also very familiar with Meng Jun. When he first heard the news that Meng Jun had rebelled, he took it as a piece of good news and did not believe it at all. But with Song Jianping's return to the city, he found that Meng Jun had really rebelled. After thinking about it for a few days and still couldn't figure out why Meng Jun wanted to rebel, he simply gave up thinking about it. Anyway, since he had rebelled, the old house of the Meng family would be empty. Wang Qingtuo then divided up the assets of the Meng family together with the county magistrate and the gentry in the city, and the old house where Meng Jun had lived since he was a child was occupied by Wang Qingtuo, along with the family's servants and a few who were left behind.

Yang Yu nodded and said, "Of course it's not the Grand Commander who leads the army himself. The Grand Commander now has hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, thousands of miles of territory, and tens of millions of civilians. How could he personally lead the troops to attack a small city like Changshu?"

"Then why did Captain Lin bring his troops to Changshu..." Wang Qingtuo asked hopefully.

Yang Yu rolled his eyes and said quickly: "Lin Tongzhen brought his troops to Changshu to conquer Changshu. He couldn't have brought his troops here just for fun, right?"

"It's over." Wang Qingtuo slumped in his chair. After a moment, he pulled himself together and asked, "Then did General Lin ask you to come here so that I can surrender?"

"Yes, the commander said that as long as the garrison commander Wang opens the city and surrenders, the commander-in-chief will ensure your safety."

Wang Qingtuo heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this, and then asked on behalf of Li Pingfan: "What about the county magistrate?"

"No, but as long as the city is opened, it should be fine. After all, this is the hometown of the Grand Commander," Yang Yu said confidently.

"Okay, open the city. I am willing to be the vanguard for the king." Wang Qingtuo looked at Yang Lu and gave the order immediately.

……

Since Changshu City surrendered without a fight, Lin Shiqi did not let the entire army enter the city. He only sent troops to control the city gates, and then entered the city with hundreds of guards.

"Wang Qingtuo, the garrison commander of Changshu, pays his respects to the general." Wang Qingtuo prostrated himself on the ground with his butt sticking out, and shouted respectfully.

Lin Shiqi looked at Wang Qingtuo and said calmly: "Get up."

"Yes, General. Let me lead your horse," Wang Qingtuo said with a flattering smile.

"I heard that you took over the old residence of the Grand Commander."

"No, this is a rumor. I'm worried that the old house will be damaged if no one lives in it. I'm guarding the house for the Grand Commander, how could I take it for myself? General, you see, we know each other after all, so you must say good things to the Grand Commander." Wang Qingtuo shook his head like a rattle and denied it repeatedly.