Southern Ming Rebel Army

When the army set out, Meng Jun left Yang En to take charge of the government affairs under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office, and left Yang En's uncle Yang Gang to guard Suzhou City. From the moment Meng Jun left, the Yang family had become the most prominent family in Suzhou and even in the entire Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Suzhou and Songjiang. In terms of power, Yang En was comparable to the prime minister of the Han Dynasty and the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Meng Jun was full of trust in Yang En. Without trust, how could one achieve success in starting a business?

On February 10th of the third year of Ming Dynasty Longwu (the Meng army still used Longwu as its reign title), the fourth year of Qing Dynasty Shunzhi, the sky was high and the clouds were light in the north of Suzhou City, and the army gathered, waiting for the commander-in-chief's inspection.

On the reviewing stand.

"What a brave man!" Meng Jun looked at the densely packed heads below. All of them were dressed in black clothes and black armor, flashing a cold light in the sun.

Meng Jun glanced at the army below. He waved his hand and the horn sounded "woo woo woo". The low horn sound made everyone shudder. The soldiers all knew that the war was about to begin.

The troops that went on the expedition included Meng Jun's headquarters, Changlin Town, Lin Shiqi's Ningwu Town, Bai Yongfu's Guwu Town, Wang Fugui's Wuxing Town, Qian Biao's Wuning Town, 50,000 infantry and Gao Yi's 3,000 heavily armored troops.

There were also Meng Jun's personal soldiers of a thousand men, a cavalry battalion of five thousand men led by Huang Cheng, a scout battalion of two thousand men replaced by his subordinate Zhang Chengsheng, a musket battalion of two thousand men, and five thousand service soldiers.

There were 53 large general cannons, 120 small cannons such as tiger-shaped cannons and cup-shaped cannons. The total army had more than 73,000 people, 30,000 auxiliary troops, as well as Zhao Yongping's Wu'an Town and Shen Tingyang's navy.

Once this army starts to march towards Jiangning, everyone will pay attention to it. It will be a key force that can change the situation in the world.

"General, with such a powerful army, the whole world is shaken and great achievements can be expected," Gu Yanwu came over and congratulated.

Meng Jun smiled when he heard this, but did not say anything. In such an atmosphere, who would not feel heroic?

Under the escort of his personal guards, Meng Jun walked down the platform, mounted his warhorse, galloped out, and inspected the troops. In front of the army, Meng Jun stopped his warhorse, pointed with his whip and said, "Soldiers, do you still remember our oath?"

The personal guards came out one by one, shouting loudly, passing on Meng Jun's words.

"If a soldier flees, kill the soldier; if a captain flees, kill the captain; if a lieutenant commander flees, kill the lieutenant commander; if the commander-in-chief flees, kill the commander-in-chief," everyone shouted loudly.

Meng Jun shouted proudly: "I will use my head as a guarantee. We will live and die together and will never retreat. Can the troops do this?"

The soldiers were excited and shouted: "We will live and die together and never retreat."

Meng Jun waved his whip and shouted in front of the battle line: "Kill him and make his head roll!"

"Kill him and make his head roll..." the soldiers shouted.

Meng Jun laughed loudly, then shouted at the top of his lungs: "Victory!"

The shouts of “Victory, victory, victory” were like a tide, one wave higher than the other, and the sound of victory soared into the sky.

The staff and clerks of the Governor's Office in the rear were all pale with fear. The governor's prestige in the army was so high. If they won this battle, I'm afraid the people would all be with the Meng family.

The old scholar stood out among the staff, with his gray hair on his temples attracting people's attention. It was after Xia Wanchun requested Meng Jun that he let this scholar follow the army and serve as a clerk. The scholar's surname was also Meng, his name was Hong, and his courtesy name was Yunfeng. At this time, Meng Hong was so excited that he could not control himself and his face was flushed.

"I am the governor in charge of the army. Those who have made contributions will be rewarded and those who have made mistakes will be punished. Send out the troops," Meng Jun shouted loudly.

As the personal guards passed the message on, shouts of “send troops” were heard continuously.

As the saying goes, when you gallop on horseback, wherever you pass, thousands of people cheer.

Reviewing the army, with all the soldiers following suit, this is what a real man should be like.

This time, the troops should first besiege Wuxi and then approach Changzhou. Zhao Yongping's Wu'an Town is stationed in Changshu at this time. Wu'an Town will serve as a detachment to capture Jiangyin. Shen Tingyang's navy can then be based in Jiangyin to transport food, fodder and military equipment.

Supplies could be transported from all over the place to Jiangyin, which on the one hand reduced travel consumption and eased manpower; on the other hand, after taking Changzhou, the transportation of food and fodder would be in the rear, and there would be no worry about the Qing army breaking the food route.

On February 10, Zhang Chengsheng's scout battalion rushed out first, providing the army with the route ahead and intelligence on the enemy. Soon after, Lin Shiqi's Ningwu Town went ahead, with 10,000 auxiliary troops and escorting food, fodder and military equipment.

On the 11th, Meng Jun personally led the main force, including Changlin, Wuning, Wuxing, Guwu, cavalry, heavy armored troops, musket battalion, artillery, as well as the service army, auxiliary troops, and civilians, carrying a large number of pack horses and vehicles, and escorting a large amount of supplies. The two armies marched towards Wuxi one day apart.

On the 12th, the rear camp began to march. The rear camp was composed of corvée laborers and a small number of soldiers. Their main task was to escort food, horse fodder and other supplies. Due to the large amount of supplies they carried, the journey was very slow.

Seventy-three thousand regular troops, claiming to be an army of 300,000, were divided into three parts and marched towards Wuxi in a mighty manner.

Although the army's movement speed was not fast, Wuxi was almost very close to Suzhou. On the 13th, Lin Shiqi's Ningwu Town had arrived at the city of Wuxi.

Wuxi County Magistrate Feng Xidong looked at the black-armored soldiers under the city without any hesitation, as if he had known this would happen. The Wuxi City garrison soldiers looked at the magistrate and secretly praised him in their hearts: "The magistrate is indeed worthy of being a scholar. With a large army approaching the city, he is still calm and composed."

Feng Xidong had no idea how many times he had sent emergency letters to Jiangning, but they all fell on deaf ears with no response. Sending letters for help seemed like a daily task.

Feng Xidong was also an experienced official. How could he not know that he and Wuxi City had been abandoned by Hong Chengchou? But in today's world, military men can run away, but civil officials cannot. They have to be nailed to the city until they die, and this was the same whether in Ming or Qing dynasties.

Looking at the army under the city, Feng Xidong breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Open the city and surrender." He did not even wait for Lin Shiqi to go through the process of persuading them to surrender, but opened the city first.

The guards were stunned and looked at County Magistrate Feng with strange eyes, as if they thought he was too cowardly. However, everyone was relieved. The strength of the two sides was really too different, so it was better to surrender.

Ningwu Town was setting up camp under Wuxi City. Lin Shiqi was watching a clerk in the army writing a letter of persuasion to surrender. Lin Shiqi took it and read it, and praised: "Hmm, hmm, not bad, Lao Chu, you have good literary talent. How come you are still a scholar? I think you are more than qualified to be the top scholar."

All I saw was a letter of persuasion written by Chu Zhangyin: "Now you are trapped in an isolated city, with few soldiers and generals, and the situation is hopeless. Our army is kind and generous, and will definitely treat you with courtesy and ensure your safety. If you insist on resisting, it will only increase casualties and harm innocent people. Not killing those who surrender is a universal principle since ancient times. I hope you will think twice.

Now our army of 300,000 men has set out, with strong soldiers and horses, sufficient food and grass, and a sure victory. If you surrender, you can save your life and your family from the suffering of war. Moreover, our lord is magnanimous and will not treat you unfairly.

Don't say I didn't warn you! Surrender quickly and you can enjoy peace and happiness. If you still insist on not changing your ways, it will be too late to regret when the city is broken."