Southern Ming Rebel Army

Jiangning City, the ancient capital of Six Dynasties, is a world-famous city. Since Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established Nanjing as the capital, even Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di never attacked the city during the Jingnan Campaign. It was Zhu Tan and Li Jinglong who opened the Jinchuan Gate to welcome the surrender. When Duoduo went south, Nanjing surrendered without firing a single shot.

In just one month, Jiangning City had been besieged by a large army twice. However, Meng Jun was worried last time because of the reinforcements from Lekedehun. Now, Lekedehun was captured and most of his troops surrendered. The rest were also worried. This time, Meng Jun had no worries and surrounded the city on a large scale.

On March 13, Meng Jun's vanguard cavalry arrived at Jiangning City, and Jiangning City blocked the inner city.

On the 14th, the army officially arrived at the outer city of Jiangning. Hong Chengchou abandoned the outer city, and Meng Jun reached the inner city's Shen Ce Gate and Jinchuan Gate. In this battle, the Zhou army had a great advantage. There were 70,000 able-bodied civilians alone, more than 40,000 surrendered soldiers, and nearly 50,000 people from the six garrisons. With the power of a great victory, they stared at Jiangning covetously. Meng Jun divided such a large army into three sides.

Meng Jun transferred Qian Biao of Wuning Town to set up camp at Yifeng Gate, and more than 3,000 people from Yang Wulie were under his command. The Shen Tingyang Navy took the lead in firing cannons outside Yifeng Gate and bombarded the city wall.

Wu'an and Ningwu towns were stationed outside Jubao Gate and Tongji Gate, while Wuxing town was stationed outside Sanshan Gate to respond to Wu'an and Ningwu towns, and Changlin and Guwu towns were stationed between Shence Gate and Jinchuan Gate. As soon as Meng Jun arrived in Jiangning, he sent a letter of persuasion for surrender, saying that those who opened the city and surrendered would be rewarded with 100,000 taels, and those who refused to surrender would have their officers executed after the city was captured.

In Jiangning City, every household closed their doors and windows, praying that the war would end as soon as possible. Outside the city, it was heard that there were an army of 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers and that all the princes of the Eight Banners had been captured alive. In this day and age, let alone the Ming and Qing armies, if they really broke into the city and were to slaughter everyone, it would be truly miserable.

And at this time in Jiangning City.

In a dimly lit secret room, Wu Tiao sat with several of his trusted subordinates, and a tense atmosphere filled the entire room. They were plotting something, and everyone's face was filled with worry.

Wu Tiao frowned, silently watching his subordinates around him, and then said softly: "Lekedehun was defeated miserably, and the morale of the Zhou army is greatly boosted. Judging from the current situation, Jiangning may be difficult to defend. It is better to surrender."

His subordinate, Qianzong Liu Kui, said bitterly: "The Tartars treat us like grass. If they open the city and surrender, I will be the first to agree."

The others were silent, as if they were thinking about something. Finally, someone broke the silence: "General, there are military supervisors keeping a close watch on the army. We are also accompanied by Ke Yongsheng's troops. The city gates are also guarded by Ke Yongsheng's men..."

Liu Kui said angrily: "This old thief Hong really doesn't trust us!"

Wu Tiao sighed and said, "Yes, old thief Hong doesn't trust us. The only option now is to surrender..."

Another general, Zhang Erxian, said at this time: "General, the most urgent task is to contact the army outside the city and coordinate the internal and external forces."

"I wonder if we can contact Ke Yongsheng to surrender together?" Liu Kui touched his chin and said.

"Hmph, don't think about it. Ke Yongsheng is from Liaodong. Both father and son generations have been loyal to the Qing Dynasty. How could they surrender easily? If the news leaks out, we will all die!" Zhang Erxian shook his head and retorted.

"That's it. Send the spy to make contact first, and we'll talk about everything after the secret envoy comes back..." Wu Tiao narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice.

And those who couldn't sleep and secretly colluded were not only Wu Tiao and others, but also Zhao Zhilong, the Earl of Xicheng, Wang Duo, Qian Qianyi, Li Zushu, the Marquis of Linhuai, and Tang Guozuo, the Marquis of Lingbi, who were also in the Hongguang Dynasty.

Some of them went up to the city today to spy on the Zhou army. Outside the city, there were more than a thousand battle flags alone, and the momentum was huge. The shouts of the Zhou army were one after another, and the overwhelming momentum scared Li Zushu so much that his face turned pale.

Inside the city, however, the scene was quite different. The Green Camp soldiers looked pale, with an unconcealable panic in their eyes. Under such pressure, the gentry and generals in the city began to conspire in private.

Zhao Zhilong said: "The army outside the city is approaching, and the people inside the city are demoralized. Although we want to defend the city, we are unable to do so. If we can get external help, there may still be a glimmer of hope."

Tang Guozuo responded, "How could there be reinforcements? Lekedehun's 100,000 men have been defeated. It shows that destiny has changed. Even if we don't worry about ourselves, we should also think about the women and children at home and the family business that will last for hundreds of years."

Qian Qianyi also said: "In my opinion, the day when the city will fall is not far away. We opened Nanjing City to surrender in the past. If we did not make great contributions, we would be killed and our clans would be exterminated after the city was captured. We do not want to be slaughtered by others."

Zhao Zhilong nodded and said, "I have a secret confidant stationed at Yifeng Gate. He has a thousand men. We can ask King Zhou to move his troops to Yifeng Gate to cooperate with the outside forces and capture the city in one fell swoop."

Li Zushu also said: "Although I am a descendant of the Ming Dynasty, and the other side once flew the Ming Dynasty flag, but today I can't see a single Ming flag on the city wall. I think if we can't make great achievements, the other side may confiscate our property."

"Then let's do it. I will send my confidant to report the city's strengths and weaknesses to King Zhou with my secret letter. At the same time, we will gather our servants and guards. There are more than a thousand of them. Be prepared." Zhao Zhilong said fiercely.

The next day, early morning.

Outside the city, people began to build siege equipment in all the places surrounded by the city. At this time, there were only Gu Yanwu and Meng Jun in the central army tent. Gu Yanwu looked at the letter in his hand and laughed, "Your Majesty, this time is as different as the last time we came. There are many people who secretly sent letters to the city."

"He who knows the current affairs is a hero, this is a famous saying since ancient times." Meng Jun also said with a smile after hearing this. In just one night, Meng Jun received more than twenty letters of surrender and describing the situation in the city. These people were able to send letters out when Hong Chengchou blocked the city. It means that the city of Jiangning is already like a sieve. After Lekedehun's defeat, Hong Chengchou can no longer control the various forces in Jiangning city as he did during the first siege.

The most important thing was the secret envoy of Wu Tiao, the defender of the city wall between Dinghuai Gate and Yifeng Gate. Wu Tiao asked Meng Jun to attack the city wall near Dinghuai Gate, and he would relax the defense and open the city wall. Zhao Zhilong asked Meng Jun to besiege Yifeng Gate, and his subordinates would open Yifeng Gate and let the army enter the city.

If Jiangning City falls, the world situation will change. At this time, Gu Yanwu was a little worried and said, "If we take Nando this time, I'm afraid the court will come to ask for it, which will be a headache again." At this time, the news of the fall of Shaowu court had not yet been heard.

"Don't think too much. Jiangning City hasn't been captured yet, yet you're thinking so far ahead. Besides, in the current situation, the imperial court is too busy to take care of itself and has no power to restrain us. It's lucky to barely keep Guangdong intact. In the south, only Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan have raised the Ming flag. There are actually two imperial courts in just four provinces. The decadence is too severe and there is no cure."

Meng Jun looked at the tall Jiangning city wall and said: "The court is like this. If it can't be maintained one day, it will be disbanded."