Southern Ming Rebel Army

Guangzhou City.

After Emperor Shaowu established Guangzhou, Su Guansheng pacified the sea pirates and the land pirates in various places for his own use. However, after being pacified, these people were unruly and would not obey the order. Sometimes they killed people in the downtown area, and the officials dared not to question them, which caused great panic among the people of Guangzhou, and the officials and scholars were all in a state of panic.

It was not until Sun Qi drove Yongli out of Zhaoqing and the Shaowu court reluctantly issued orders to Guangdong that these bandits who had been appeased began to behave themselves. However, after Emperor Shaowu ascended the throne, he bestowed titles on his ministers, who were greedy and insatiable. Ordinary ministers and the meritorious officials who had supported him were deeply at odds with each other. Emperor Shaowu's court was always filled with arguments, but he was powerless to resolve them, so he simply let them go and often lingered in the harem.

Gu Chaojian, an official and gentry from Chaozhou in Guangdong and Guangxi, retired and returned home. He also participated in supporting Shaowu to ascend the throne, but he often disagreed with Su Guansheng and had disputes with him. Since Su Guansheng was very powerful, Gu Chaojian, who was defeated, held a grudge against him.

With Hunan lost and Fujian changed hands, the Shaowu court, which only held Guangdong, had no chance of success in Gu Chaojian's eyes. He wanted to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and gain the first merit in the Qing court, so he planned to lead Qing troops into Guangdong and Guangxi.

Taking advantage of the New Year holiday, he sneaked into Fuzhou and proposed a plan to take Guangzhou to Zhang Cunren. He strongly encouraged that Guangzhou would be taken in just one month if the troops were sent out.

Just as the Shaowu court was gathering a large army to attack Guangxi and pursue Yongli, Zhang Cunren decided to take a gamble and ordered Qing generals Li Chengdong and Tong Yangjia to march south to Guangzhou, attack Chaozhou via Zhangzhou, recruit the surrender of the bandit Chen Yao, and then occupy Huizhou. The Qing troops advanced along the way and encountered almost no resistance. The officials and clerks of Chaozhou and Huizhou prefectures all surrendered. Li Chengdong took the opportunity to use the seals of the two prefectures to transfer to Guangzhou, reporting that there was no alarm and everything was peaceful. Su Guansheng was completely unguarded.

On February 24, Li Chengdong selected 1,000 elite cavalrymen and set out from Huizhou. They traveled westward at night and passed Zengcheng County. On the 26th, they sneaked into Huashan, north of Guangzhou. He also ordered dozens of people to wrap their heads with blue cloth and disguise themselves as helmsmen. They entered Guangzhou smoothly and unhindered until they arrived at the Ziwei Archway in front of the Governor's Office.

In the middle of a bustling downtown, dozens of Qing soldiers suddenly took off the cloth wrapped around their heads, revealing their bald heads and pigtails. They brandished their swords and shouted, "The Qing soldiers are coming!" With the sound and the swords swooped down, they killed only five people. The people were so frightened that they fled the city in panic.

At this time, Emperor Shaowu was attending court, wearing a royal robe, and his ministers were paying homage to him in a solemn and dignified atmosphere. Suddenly, a guard entered the court with an urgent report that the Qing army was approaching. Emperor Shaowu and his ministers were shocked.

Su Guansheng immediately frowned and said, "There was a report yesterday that Chaozhou was safe and sound. You are making false statements to confuse the public."

So the guard who reported the incident was beheaded. But people who continued to report the incident continued to come. At this time, Su Guansheng still thought that it was the surrendered bandits who were causing trouble in the city again. Such riots and evil deeds had been happening almost every day recently, so he still didn't care.

It was not until a large group of Qing soldiers poured in from the east gate of Guangzhou, wearing red hats and blocking the way, that Su Guansheng was shocked and hurriedly mobilized his troops to try to fight. However, most of his troops had already been sent to Guangxi to fight against the Yongli Dynasty and had not yet returned.

Although there were tens of thousands of soldiers guarding Guangzhou City, they were caught off guard in time. The incident broke out suddenly and a disaster was imminent. The ministers did not care about their dignity and fled for their lives. Until the Qing army occupied the palace and captured Emperor Shaowu, Li Chengdong sent people to deliver food.

Emperor Shaowu refused to accept it, saying: "If I drink even a spoonful of your water, how can I face my ancestors in the underworld?"

Then he hanged himself to death, and 24 princes including Yi and Liao who were in Guangzhou at that time were killed at the same time. After Emperor Shaowu proclaimed himself emperor, although he did not fight the Qing army, he was single-minded in attacking Yongli, but he was calm and composed when the country was in danger.

As the saying goes, a country may be destroyed but its integrity remains unchanged. Su Shisheng, who took the lead in supporting Emperor Shaowu to ascend the throne, failed to summon soldiers and generals after the incident. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, he sought advice from Liang Yu, the official he trusted most, from the Ministry of Personnel.

Liang Yu said righteously: "I died for my country, so there is nothing more to say!"

So they decided to die for their country and preserve their reputation. After the discussion, Su Guansheng went into the east room and Liang Yu went into the west room, and they each closed the door and hanged themselves.

After Liang Yu entered the room, he deliberately made a sound of holding his breath, and then made a sound of overturning the coffee table and falling to the ground. Su Guansheng believed that Liang Yu had hanged himself, and then wrote on the wall "Loyal ministers and righteous men of the Ming Dynasty should die", and then hanged himself.

The next day, Liang Yu surrendered to the Qing Dynasty by presenting Su Guansheng's body. At that time, those who committed suicide calmly when they saw the country falling included the Minister of the Imperial Household Department Huo Ziheng, the Director of the Imperial College Liang Chaozong, and the messenger Liang Wanjue. The famous and important ministers who were appointed as Grand Secretaries by Emperor Shaowu, He Wuzuo, Gu Yuanjing, and Wang Yinghua all led the officials and gentry to surrender.

The news of the fall of the Shaowu court had not yet spread to other places, and Meng Jun, who was still fighting a decisive battle with Lekedehun on Dengwang Mountain, was naturally unaware of it.

At this time on the battlefield, the Eight Banners cavalry rushed into the battalion of soldiers sent by Lin Shiqi at an astonishing speed like a surging torrent. In an instant, shouts of killing and the sound of horse hooves resounded through the sky, and the tragic delay battle officially began.

The two sides engaged in close combat, and the bloody and fierce battle scene was astonishing. The Eight Banners cavalry wielded sharp weapons with extraordinary ferocity, while Lin Shiqi's soldiers used their flesh and blood to resist the enemy's charge. Every time the swords intersected, there was a harsh metal collision sound and splattered blood.

Wang Fugui, who was in the rear of Ningwu Town, saw that the fighting situation in the front was tense, but he had not received any clear military orders. However, time was pressing and there was no time for hesitation. He made a prompt decision and resolutely sent a battalion of soldiers to support in order to stop the aggressive Eight Banners cavalry.

At this time, Meng Jun was staring at the front on the battlefield. He noticed a fierce general in the Eight Banners Army. This man was extremely brave and slashed left and right, as if no one could stop him. This fierce general was like an arrow, leading the Eight Banners cavalry to charge forward.

Meng Jun immediately ordered the musket team that had been guarding the central army to move forward and try to snipe the enemy general with muskets. The musket team acted upon the order, rushed forward quickly, adjusted their positions, and aimed at the target. Jueluo Langqiu was wearing bright armor, and the big flag behind him followed closely, like a huge target.

The fifty guns of the gun-carrying team were arranged in two rows, aiming at Jueluo Langjue. Two people held a heavy rifle. At the captain's command, fifty people pulled the trigger at the same time. The rifles made a deafening roar, and in an instant, dense rain of bullets attacked the enemy general like meteors.

At this time, Jueluo Langqiu was shouting and fighting fiercely, and his cavalry was charging forward. When they were about to break through the interception of Zhou army and attack the flank of Ningwu town immediately, a burst of intensive gunfire was heard not far away, and Jueluo Langqiu looked up in surprise.

At this moment, Jueluo Langqiu seemed to be hit by a heavy hammer and flew backwards from his horse. His body twitched in the dust and his blood dyed the ground red. Goshaha beside him was horrified and quickly jumped off the horse, hugging Jueluo Langqiu and crying bitterly.