Southern Ming Rebel Army

At this time in Beijing, after the Qing army entered the pass, they did not expect that they would easily occupy the entire north. However, the excitement had not yet passed, and the reality was placed before them. After the Qing army occupied the north, there were more than 100,000 Eight Banners, hundreds of thousands of families, and a large number of northern border troops. Food supply was a major problem. The north had been hit by natural disasters and wars for years, and the economy was not enough to cover its expenditures. In order to solve the food supply problem, the Eight Banners nobles immediately began to grab land. Each banner forcibly occupied land, turned civilian fields into banner fields, and forced the people to become slaves and cultivate the land for the Eight Banners.

The Qing army adopted a serfdom system in the north and madly exploited the people. Faced with the suppression of the Qing army, although they were temporarily unable to resist, undercurrents surged, and bandits emerged in various places, greatly distracting the Qing court's attention.

Meng Jun was unable to take care of the affairs in the north for the time being. The Qing army outside Suzhou City had already captured all of Meng Jun's attention.

Not far from the city wall, the Qing army's cavalry scouts had appeared in twos and threes. Huang Cheng's sentinels also rushed out of the city gate. The battle began, with the scouts taking the lead, and the first drop of blood would start with them.

The scouts and cavalry outside the city were fighting each other frantically. The scouts of both armies were the elite of the army and were evenly matched for a while. As time went on, more and more Qing cavalry appeared, which put a sudden increase in the pressure on Huang Cheng. Gradually, the Meng army's scouts were suppressed and could only rely on the support of the defenders on the city wall. Seeing this, Meng Jun immediately ordered Huang Cheng's scouts to withdraw back to the city and block the city gates.

A faint gray line appeared in the wilderness to the north of Suzhou City, slowly moving towards Suzhou City.

Lin Shiqi, who was patrolling on the city wall, was stunned for a moment, then quickly walked to the parapet, held the wall and looked into the distance. He saw that the gray line gradually became thicker and longer, and finally turned into a carpet large enough to cover the earth.

"The Tartars are coming," Lin Shiqi said solemnly, then turned to the messenger and shouted, "Go and report to the governor immediately!"

After a while, just as the soldiers on the north wall were looking out of the city with solemn faces, they heard a loud shout from behind, "The commander-in-chief is here!"

The soldiers on the top of the city turned around and looked at Meng Jun. They saw Meng Jun, who was wearing iron armor, climbing up the city wall with the support of officers. Meng Jun glanced at the Qing army outside the city and said loudly, "Everyone should do their job and prepare for defense."

Then Meng Jun carefully leaned against the parapet and looked into the distance, only to see the Qing army overwhelming him. He couldn't help but be shocked in his heart, because the numbers were not as shocking as seeing it with his own eyes.

"This is the vanguard, most of them are Bai Yongfu's subordinates, and there are also Liu Liangzuo's Green Camp soldiers. The scouts reported that there are about 50,000 to 60,000 people," Lin Shiqi next to him whispered to Meng Jun.

The scene before them was indeed frightening to the Meng army generals who had only experienced a few battles. Looking around, they saw huge crowds of people, and all they could see were heads moving around.

Meng Jun said in a deep voice, "It seems that the Tartars are serious about this."

Even as they were speaking, the vanguard of the Qing army had slowly advanced to three miles outside the city wall and stopped. A large number of auxiliary soldiers and civilian laborers began to set up camp. At this distance, the artillery on the wall of Suzhou posed no threat to the Qing army at all.

While Meng Jun and his generals were observing the enemy situation on the top of the city wall, Liu Liangzuo and Bai Yongfu were also looking at Suzhou City from afar at the foot of the city wall.

Looking at the city wall, Liu Liangzuo frowned. Suzhou is also a big city in the south of the Yangtze River. Although it cannot be compared with Jiangning, it is not comparable to other small counties. Moreover, the city wall has been obviously raised a little. The trenches and barricades outside the city are not so easy to clear. Looking at this posture, it is obvious that Meng Jun is ready to fight to the end.

Bai Yongfu, who was standing next to him, had a very dark face. He absolutely did not want to come to Suzhou to fight with Meng Jun again.

"General Liu, it seems that Meng Jun has been prepared for this," Bai Yongfu said to Liu Liangzuo with a somewhat unpleasant expression.

"Hmph, with 120,000 troops besieging Suzhou City, it would be useless even if Meng Jun had three heads. What's the use of being prepared? He will just die." After saying this, Liu Liangzuo controlled his somewhat agitated warhorse and continued, "It's possible that the generals at all levels in the city will see the might of the Qing Dynasty and come out of the city to surrender in the middle of the night."

After the Qing army arrived outside Suzhou city, they set up camp for two consecutive days and began preparing for the siege. All the trees outside Suzhou city were cut down, and the Qing army had to transport cannonballs and timber from farther away.

Meng Jun discussed strategies for defending the city with his generals in the city. There were 30,000 soldiers from the three towns in the city, 60,000 auxiliary soldiers, more than 50,000 urgently recruited civilians, more than 900 Huang Cheng's scouts, and more than 3,000 servants and guards from various families. In addition, there were 1,000 Meng Jun's personal guards and 3,000 armored soldiers. The number of armored soldiers increased instead of decreased after the Battle of Yangcheng Lake, thanks to the armor seized from the Qing army on the battlefield.

At first glance, Meng Jun's troops have more people than the Qing army, but not to mention the Green Camp, the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners of the Qing army is definitely stronger than their own. Even the Han Army Banner field battle is not something that the current Meng army can control. But no matter what, the numerical advantage is there, which gives the generals some comfort.

Now the enemy is at the gates of the city. On the battlefield, it is either you or I live. It has come to this point. The Qing army has even shouted slogans of massacring the city. I am afraid there is nothing to be afraid of anymore.

The next day, Bolo's main force arrived at Suzhou City. Seeing the fierce Manchurian Eight Banners, Bai Yongfu trembled as he stepped forward to greet them. The general beside him whispered a few words to Bolo. Bolo looked at Bai Yongfu kneeling in front of his horse, without making a sound. After a while, he slowly spoke:

"Get up and make amends for your sins. If you fail in this battle, you will be punished for both sins." Then he snorted coldly and rode his horse into the camp without even looking at Bai Yongfu.

A large number of troops entered the camp, and for a moment there was a lot of noise and the neighing of war horses.

A group of Eight Banners officers escorted Bolo into the big tent. Soon, guards brought various dishes. Bolo sat on the commander's seat and waved to everyone, "Take a seat."

All the officers sat down one after another. Bolo glanced at them and said loudly, "During this southern expedition, the Qing Dynasty was invincible and gained a lot."

Many Qing generals echoed and claimed that Marshal Bolo had commanded well. Bolo smiled with satisfaction and said, "The Eight Banners warriors swept across the country. A mere Suzhou city cannot stop us for long. In ten days, I want to hear the news that Suzhou city has been captured."

All the generals nodded, not thinking that this was something that could not be done. After all, they had won too many victories. Some of the Eight Banners generals would occasionally use Manchu to mock the incompetence of the Jiangnan Ming army, and the laughter would resound throughout the camp...