Southern Ming Rebel Army

In the Qing army's ranks, there were a large number of baggage vehicles loaded with armor, weapons, tents, and food, marching along the way in a mighty manner. Liu Ping rushed to where the commander Bai Yongfu was and reported to Bai Yongfu about the results of the investigation.

"Reporting to the commander, I arrived at Yangcheng Lake ten miles north of Suzhou and encountered enemy scouts. I was blocked by them and could not investigate further."

Bai Yongfu was stunned when he heard this and said, "These bandits also have cavalry! Did they fight?"

Liu Ping hesitated for a moment, and reported truthfully, "General, we were a group of five, and we encountered more than ten enemy scouts. We fought with them, and lost four of them. Then I withdrew from the battlefield alone. There were only two or three of the more than ten enemies left. However, this group of people are quite brave, but their riding and archery skills are a bit poor."

Bai Yongfu sneered and said, "Even if these bandits have cavalry, how many can they have? We have a large number of cavalry, so what do we have to fear? Send an order, the vanguard cavalry Xiao Mingzuo will go to Yangcheng Lake first, and the scouts will suppress the enemy scouts."

The camp built by Meng Jun's army was being reinforced intensively at this time. A large number of chevaux deer horns were placed at the camp gate. Looking down from the sky, densely packed tents stood in the middle of it. Groups of soldiers were busy working, carrying supplies like ants. The entire Meng army camp was like a large construction site.

Meng Jun was wearing armor, holding his sword, and inspecting the camp. At this time, Zhang Chengsheng and several others rushed into the camp and walked quickly towards the military tent.

A moment later, a guard ran over in a hurry and said to Meng Jun, "General, the scouts ahead encountered the Qing army's sentinels and fought with them. Now the scouts are waiting outside the tent."

After hearing this, Meng Jun's heart tightened. He nodded and said "OK", then strode towards the main tent.

Meng Jun opened the tent and entered the big tent. Zhang Chengsheng followed closely behind him. Meng Jun looked at the map and asked, "Where did you encounter the Qing army scouts?"

Zhang Chengsheng walked closer and looked at the map. He scratched his head and thought for a moment before saying, "This is the main camp, so it should be here," and then pointed his finger at a point on the map.

Meng Jun looked at the map and asked after a moment, "How is the combat effectiveness of the Qing army's scouts?"

Zhang Chengsheng looked a little unhappy. After a while, he whispered, "We have twice as many cavalry as the enemy. We lost seven men and killed four Qing scouts. Only one escaped from the battlefield. These scouts are very good at archery. We rely on our numerical advantage..."

Before Zhang Chengsheng finished speaking, Meng Jun interrupted him and said, "Skills can be improved through practice, but the spirit of drawing the sword when encountering the enemy is worthy of praise." After a pause, Meng Jun asked again, "What are the equipment of the Qing army's scouts? Are they Eight Banner soldiers or Han soldiers?"

Zhang Chengsheng showed a grateful look, and then said, "The equipment is ordinary, no iron armor, the Qing army sentinels are all wearing a set of cotton armor, similar to us, not the Eight Banners soldiers, but Han soldiers. I see that the hair of those corpses has been newly shaved, and some of them have poor shaving skills and there are blood on their scalp."

Meng Jun nodded and asked Zhang Chengsheng to leave, and Zhang Chengsheng immediately bowed and left.

In the afternoon, the Meng army camp had been built, and Huang Cheng's scout team once again engaged in several cavalry battles with the Qing army's sentinels. Although Huang Cheng's scout cavalry performed bravely, they were still not as good as the Qing army in cavalry combat. After several cavalry battles, Huang Cheng's scout team had suffered heavy losses, with more than 50 casualties, while the Qing army lost no more than 20 people.

As time went by, the number of Qing army scouts increased, and Huang Cheng's scout team had been completely suppressed by the Qing army. Meng Jun could only order the scout team to return to the camp. At this time, the Qing army scouts had appeared outside the Meng army's camp, and the Qing army's scouts were even more blatantly observing the Meng army outside the camp.

A night passed and nothing happened during the night. The Qing army did not harass the camp or anything.

The next morning, before daybreak, the logistics soldiers of Meng's army began to make fire and cook. Meng Jun and the generals also got up early and observed the situation outside the camp. There were still some sparse Qing soldiers and cavalry left in the distance.

In the early morning when the sun was high in the sky, the soldiers of the Meng army began to sit on the ground and eat breakfast. There were huge crowds of people.

At this time, there was a commotion among the Qing army scouts in the distance. Meng Jun stood on a high place and looked outside the camp. Soon, a Qing army cavalry general in red armor appeared in front of Meng Jun, and more and more cavalry began to appear behind him.

Xiao Mingzuo held the reins and moved forward slowly. Behind him, more than 3,000 cavalrymen were coming across the field. Such a large number of cavalrymen shocked Meng Jun and the generals in the southern region. It was the first time for most of them to see so many horses gathered together.

Meng Jun looked at these cavalrymen with some envy, and he was salivating in his heart. When would he be able to have a cavalry of such a scale?

Xiao Mingzuo frowned as he looked at the Meng army camp and cursed in a low voice, "These bandits are quite good at finding a place. Cavalry can't go around in this kind of terrain, so they are forcing us to fight on foot."

Then he said to the messenger beside him, "Go and report to the commander-in-chief that the cavalry vanguard has arrived at Yangcheng Lake. The terrain is not conducive to cavalry combat. I hope the infantry will arrive as soon as possible."

The messenger responded and then turned his horse to report. Xiao Mingzuo looked at the Meng army's camp, which was lined up close to Yangcheng Lake. The front was wide and the sides were narrow, which made it impossible for the Qing cavalry to outflank the two wings or attack from behind.

However, Xiao Mingzuo looked at it for a while and said with a smile, "No matter how good the terrain is, I don't believe that a group of peasants can fight with swords and guns, haha."

Han Xiong looked at the Qing cavalry in the camp, and suddenly said to Meng Jun with some excitement, "Commander-in-chief, the Qing cavalry can't move left and right in this terrain. Why don't we lead the army to fight against the cavalry? There is no advantage for the cavalry to charge into the strict infantry formation."

Before Meng Jun could speak, Lin Shiqi said with some disdain, "Why should the cavalry charge? If they can't run left or right, can't they run backwards? Can two legs catch up with four legs?"

Han Xiong snorted after hearing this, but did not continue speaking. Meng Jun said with some regret, "What a pity, we don't have so many horses. Even if we had horses, we can't find anyone in Jiangnan who is proficient in riding and shooting."

In the evening, there were bursts of noise in the distance. Lin Shiqi listened carefully for a while and said with certainty, "This is the Qing army setting up camp. This sound is the sound of soldiers chopping wood. It must be the Qing army group that has arrived, and it is not far from here."

At this time, the Qing army infantry had arrived and were setting up camp. Funi sat on a stool and ate watermelon. Looking at the busy figures of the soldiers, he said with some disdain, "Han people are good at being coolies, but they can't learn how to fight." (Direct translation)

Meng Jun looked outside the camp with his eyes sparkling. After a long while, he said softly, "Tonight, we should prevent the Qing army from attacking at night. Soldiers should rest and gather their strength. Tomorrow, the army will go out for a decisive battle!"

All the generals bowed in response and then retreated. Meng Jun stood there, looking outside the camp, and roared in a low voice with determination, "Tomorrow the sky will be clear, the corpses will pile up like mountains, and the blood will flow like rivers. The success or failure of the world will depend on this battle."