Southern Ming Rebel Army

Li Chengdong's subordinates included Ma Bao, Li Yuanyin, Du Yonghe, Yan Keyi, Hao Shangjiu, Luo Chengyao, Huang Yingjie, Yang Dafu, Zhang Daoying, Guo Hu, Zhang Yue, and Wu Wenxian, a total of twelve people. Since surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, Li Chengdong has always been the vanguard of the Qing court and made great contributions to the Qing Dynasty's southern expedition.

At this time, more than 2,000 people gathered in Jiading City under the leadership of Zhu Ying's rebel army. Zhu Ying led the rebel army to reoccupy Jiading, but was soon defeated by Li Chengdong's army again. Zhu Ying was also beheaded, and Jiading City was once again slaughtered.

"Marshal, we should go back and retake Suzhou. The rioters in Jiading are almost all killed. Suzhou is extremely rich," Du Yonghe said with a grin.

"Yes, I think it will be easy to take Suzhou. They are just a group of local soldiers. After taking Suzhou and looting it for three days, the commander-in-chief can be promoted to commander-in-chief," Guo Hu responded. All the generals talked to each other and kept urging Li Chengdong to attack Suzhou.

Li Chengdong now has 5,000 elite soldiers and more than 10,000 able-bodied civilians under his command. He feels that it will be a piece of cake to capture Suzhou. Thinking of this, Li Chengdong raised his hand and said, "Pass the order. The troops in Jiading City will stop fighting and rest for three days. Then they will march to Suzhou." All the generals nodded in agreement with excitement.

......

In the lobby of Suzhou prefectural government office, Meng Jun was lying on the table looking at the Suzhou city defense map. In the past two days, Meng Jun had been dealing with affairs almost non-stop. After several discussions with Lin Shiqi, Han Xiong, Meng Bizhi and others, the military system of Henggang Volunteer Army was re-established.

Ten people form a squad with a squad leader; one hundred people form a flag with a general flag; three hundred people form a team with a captain in charge of three flags; one thousand people form a battalion with a thousand commander in charge of three battalions; three thousand people form a battalion with a battalion officer in charge of three battalions, each with one chief and two deputy chiefs. There are three battalions on the left, middle and right, with one commanding officer in each battalion; ten thousand people form a town with a commander in charge of three battalions. In addition, Meng Jun's personal guards were expanded to 800 people. The scout team had only 400 people due to lack of horses. The battalion officers were Han Xiong of the left battalion, Meng Bizhi of the right battalion, and Lin Shiqi of the middle battalion. The scout team was led by one of Lin Shiqi's former subordinates, named Huang Cheng. He was skilled in archery and horsemanship, and was also an old soldier who started the uprising in Li Zhuang with Meng Jun.

After Meng Jun took Suzhou, he expanded his army by 10,000 men like a balloon. If it weren't for the serious lack of skills of the grassroots officers of the Henggang Army, he could have expanded it even more. Although Suzhou City had sufficient food and silver, weapons and armor were scarce. Meng Jun dug out all the armories in Suzhou, even the old armor, but there were only more than 3,000 sets. Swords and guns were enough for the time being. The whole army urgently trained, all practicing formations and gun formations. It was not that Meng Jun didn't use the methods of military books to train his soldiers, but time was tight at this time, so he had to do it. Meng Jun was so busy that he didn't have time to read Sun Tzu's Art of War and Ji Xiao's new book, let alone apply what he learned.

Meng Jun has already established the Governor's Office, and the organizational structure is in its infancy. On the local side, Yang En is appointed as the Chief Secretary of the Governor's Office, and Zhong Kuan is also pulled out to assist as a staff member to stabilize the situation in Suzhou City. At the same time, scholars are selected to serve as officials at all levels. Of course, everything is kept simple now. Meng Jun's main focus is still on military affairs, armaments, and the training of soldiers. Meng Jun is mainly responsible for following orders, and the rest can be practiced slowly in the later stage.

All the blacksmiths in Suzhou City are now making weapons. Zhu Tu is so busy that he barely organizes the craftsmen and starts production. Meng Jun gives Zhu Tu an empty title, the general manager of the Military Equipment Bureau. The Military Equipment Bureau is now mainly responsible for making armor. Blacksmiths in the city are making spear heads and swords, while carpenters make wooden spear bodies. Meng Jun, the famous weaver in Suzhou, has not forgotten and has arranged to weave military uniforms.

Meng Jun also felt that the military force was insufficient to defend Suzhou, so he selected young and strong men to form a militia. He integrated 30,000 local soldiers and formed battalions with people from the same village, hometown or acquaintances. The militia battalions were small, with each battalion having about 500 people. There were 20 battalions on each of the four walls of Suzhou, with each battalion having 1,000 people led by Yang Can. Although there were many chaos in the newly built camp, it could barely be maintained.

"Gao Yi, go get Zhu Tu for me," Meng Jun shouted to Gao Yi outside the door.

"Yes, Governor." Gao Yi ran out with sweat all over his forehead. These days, Gao Yi was running everywhere and his legs never stopped.

............

"Governor, I'm here." Zhu Tu also came in hurriedly.

"Ah, Old Zhu, you're here, come and sit down." Zhu Tu, this old fox, has been working hard to run the Military Equipment Bureau well recently. It has already started to produce iron and leather armor. Meng Jun's attitude towards him has also changed a lot.

After Zhu Tu sat down and drank a sip of water, Meng Jun spoke up, "Old Zhu, can we start making firearms now? Firearms are powerful weapons for defending the city, and we can't live without them. So you can think of a way to make some of these muskets first."

Zhu Tu's face was full of bitterness when he heard this. "Commander-in-chief, where can I find anyone now? Officer Lin is urging me to get armor every day. Besides, it's not easy to make firearms. There are not many people in Suzhou who can do this."

Meng Jun thought that it was indeed difficult for Zhu Tu, so he comforted him, "Then, you pay attention and find some people who know how to make firearms to make a little bit first. I don't require quantity, but you must ensure the quality, and don't let the barrel explode after two shots. Tell the people below that whoever dares to fool around will have his head hung at the city gate."

"Okay, Governor. I'll find a way." Zhu Tu nodded helplessly.

"Okay, you go ahead and do your work. Gao Yi, come in. Go and get Officer Lin. I want to talk to him about the soldiers' training." Gao Yi...

"It is said that the Qing army entered Yangzhou city. Unfortunately, Shi Gebu was captured by the Tartar Duoduo. Shi Gebu was brave enough to sacrifice himself and would never surrender. He said passionately, 'I am a minister of the court. How can I live as a sinner for all eternity? My head can be cut off, but my body cannot be humiliated. I am willing to die quickly and follow the late emperor in the underworld. The city lives or dies with me. My head can be cut off, but my attitude will not be bent. I have made up my mind. I will be willing to be cut into pieces, but the millions of lives in Yangzhou must not be killed!'" In a teahouse in Suzhou city, a storyteller said this passionately, and a group of people sitting down were outraged. They wished they could go to the battlefield immediately and kill the Tartar with their own hands.

"Seeing that Shi Gebu refused to surrender, Duoduo brutally killed Shi Gebu. Poor Yangzhou's 800,000 people, after the Eastern Tartars entered the city, they frantically killed everyone they saw and looted everything. Countless innocent civilians were killed, and women were madly raped. Yangzhou became an absolute hell. On the tenth day after the Eastern Tartars entered the city, there was hardly a living person in Yangzhou. Yangzhou, which once had a population of one million, became a dead city. Yangzhou used to be so prosperous, but now it is deserted and everyone has been killed. Now, if the Eastern Tartars come to Suzhou again, we will have the same fate if we don't resist." The storyteller danced and even shed tears at the end. This scene moved everyone present. At least at this moment, everyone shared a common hatred of the enemy. Some young men, with tears in their eyes, rushed to the recruitment point, wanting to join the army and kill the enemy.