Southern Ming Rebel Army

After much deliberation, Meng Jun decided not to miss this great opportunity, so he sent Meng Bian and Yu An to accompany Bai Tianchu to the Qing camp again to discuss the details with Bai Yongfu, and at the same time ordered Han Xiong to quickly assemble the troops.

At this time, Gao Yi walked in and said, "Commander, the maid Huan'er just came over and said that the old lady hasn't seen you for a long time and she missed you so she wanted to see you, Commander."

Meng Jun then remembered that he hadn't seen Old Lady Zhou for half a month. The main reason was that Meng Jun had been too busy these days. The Qing army was besieging the city and there were so many things to do that he hardly went into the backyard. On the one hand, Old Lady Zhou was angry that Meng Jun did such a dangerous thing, and on the other hand, she was sad that the Meng family's foundation was almost gone and even the old house was occupied by others. She felt ashamed to face her late husband and had been depressed these days, worshiping Buddha day and night.

Meng Jun then entered the back house. The old lady seemed to be in a good mood today. She was strolling in the garden, with several maids following her.

"Mother," Meng Jun greeted.

Mrs. Zhou was a little dazed when she saw Meng Jun. After not seeing him for such a short time, Meng Jun looked haggard. The old lady said with a distressed and reproachful tone, "Jun'er, why are you so haggard?"

"It's okay, I just have a lot of things to do recently," Meng Jun said with a smile.

"You have done such a big thing, and you have so many people under you. Let them do some of the work. If your health collapses, how can I go to see your father?" The old lady said, "Also, how old are you, and you still don't have an heir. Last year, your father was going to ask for the second daughter of Lord Shen Tingyang for you, but unfortunately, they couldn't come to an agreement, so... Alas, it was delayed. As the saying goes, parents' orders and matchmaker's words are final, but I'm not in Changshu now, and I'm unfamiliar with the place. You have to be more careful now."

Meng Jun nodded and said hurriedly, "Don't worry, mother. I know. When I have some free time, I will definitely pay attention to it." Then Meng Jun chatted with the old lady for a while until Gao Yi whispered in Meng Jun's ear, "Han Tongzhen wants to see you."

Meng Jun stood up and said, "Mother, I will come back to accompany you later." After that, Meng Jun was about to leave.

At this moment, the old lady called out to Meng Jun and said, "Jun'er, I see that there is no one to take care of you. Gao Yi is big and strong, and he is not the type to take care of people. I wanted to let Huan'er serve you, but Huan'er has been with me for many years, and I really can't do without her. How about this, Yun'er, come here," the old lady called out.

Gao Yi was feeling depressed when he heard the old lady scolding him. Zhao Yuner, who was standing next to him, hurried over and said, "Madam,

It was then that Meng Jun noticed Zhao Yuner. He was stunned for a moment. Isn't this the girl he rescued? How come she came to the mansion and followed the old lady?

The old lady continued, "Yun'er is a good child and is very careful in doing things. Let's put it this way, Yun'er, you will take good care of Jun'er from now on."

……

Meng Jun had a lot of things on his mind. After leaving the house, he discussed the issue of sending troops with Han Xiong again. He made all the preparations in advance and would make a decision after Meng Bian came back. Then Han Xiong hurriedly left the hall.

At night, Meng Bian, exhausted from the journey, returned to Suzhou City. As soon as he entered the city, he met Meng Jun directly. After taking a big gulp of water, he excitedly said, "Governor, I have already reached an agreement with Bai Yongfu. Tomorrow night at 3:00 pm, when our army is hiding at the south gate of the Qing army, Bai Yongfu will open the camp gate, and the army will rush in, and the Qing army will be defeated."

Hearing this, Meng Jun said worriedly, "Why did Bai Yongfu suddenly want to rebel? I still have some doubts in my heart." Although Bai Yongfu had secretly sent a letter to Meng Jun when he retreated to Wuxi, and this time Bai Yongfu's son Bai Tianchu also followed Meng Bian back to the city, if there was a change, the army that attacked the camp would probably be wiped out.

Meng Bian said, "Governor, I have the same doubts. When I was talking to Bai Yongfu in secret, Bai Yongfu said publicly that he had issued a military order to Hong Chengchou, saying that if he failed to conquer Suzhou, he would bring his head to me. But since the Battle of Yangcheng Lake, Hong Chengchou has not mentioned this matter, and Bai Yongfu is uneasy. This time, Bolo attacked Suzhou several times, and Bai Yongfu's subordinates suffered heavy losses. His confidants were very dissatisfied with the Qing court, and the exclusion of Ma Degong and Tian Xiong made Bai Yongfu determined to rebel."

After listening to Meng Bian's words, Meng Jun felt relieved. The Southern Ming Dynasty was really a strange period. People like Li Chengdong, Jin Shengheng, Jiang Xiang, Wang Deren, He Zhen, Wu Shengzhao, Wang Guangtai, Chen Youlong, Wang Yongqiang, etc., many of these people had made great contributions to the Qing court in pacifying the Ming Dynasty and local rebel forces, but in the end they all defected to the Ming Dynasty.

Now that the decision has been made, Meng Jun decides to personally lead his troops to attack the Qing camp at night. Last time, he personally led his troops to defeat Li Chengdong's camp. This time, Meng Jun hopes that his good luck can continue.

Han Xiong and Lin Shiqi both objected, saying that war is dangerous and a son of a wealthy family should not sit still. However, Meng Jun angrily retorted, "How could I not know that war is dangerous? I have fought more than ten battles since I rebelled against the Qing Dynasty, and I have always been the first and never been the last. What's more, I am not a son of a wealthy family. With the national situation like this, how can I sit still in the city? Don't persuade me anymore, I have made up my mind."

In the Qing army camp at this time, there were only the troops of King Gongshun Kong Youde, the troops of surrendered general Tian Xiong, the troops of Ma Degong, and the troops of Bai Yongfu. Among them, Bai Yongfu's troops originally had 30,000 cavalry and infantry. After several sieges, Bai Yongfu lost nearly 10,000 infantrymen, and nearly 1,000 soldiers escaped.

Tian Xiong's troops had 10,000 Han army flags, Ma Degong's troops had more than 7,000 people, and Gongshun King Kong Youde mainly had artillery teams and more than 5,000 guards.

Meng Jun's army for the night attack consisted of only 5,000 men from Han Xiong's army, 2,000 elite soldiers selected from the guards of the north city, and 1,000 men from Gao Yi's personal guards, totaling 8,000 men.

When night fell, Meng Jun personally led 8,000 soldiers, each holding a gag and their horses' hooves wrapped, and quietly left the city from the south gate. When they circled to the outskirts of the north city, it was already Chou time, and they were only six miles away from the Qing army camp. In order to prevent a night attack by the city defenders, the Qing army had arranged trenches, chevaux de frise, and horse traps outside the fence. Only the camp gate was a flat area.

While Meng Jun and his generals were waiting anxiously, Bai Yongfu in the Qing army camp was also feeling uneasy, and the same was true for Xiao Mingzuo and Wu Shunchang.

"What time is it?" Bai Yongfu asked again.

Wu Shunchang said helplessly, "Sir, it's still the ugly hour now."

"Okay, are the people ready? They must all be trusted confidants," Bai Yongfu said to the two of them again. It was a pity that Bai Songlin died in Yangcheng Lake.

The two nodded repeatedly and said, "Sir, all the trusted subordinates have been deployed at the camp gate."

“good good”

Time passed by minute by minute, Meng Jun estimated that the time was almost up, and waved his hand and said "Let's go".

At the distance of six miles, no one dared to light torches. Soldiers fell to the ground from time to time along the way, and were then pulled up by their comrades. By this time, Bai Yongfu and his subordinates were already at the camp gate, opening it wide.

"Enter the camp, capture Kong Youde alive, capture Ma Degong alive..."

As soon as he entered the camp, Meng Jun felt relieved and told his soldiers to shout loudly. Bai Yongfu's trusted subordinates also shouted, "Whatever, whatever!"

In the silent night, the Qing army camp was like a basin of water poured into an frying pan, and thunder-like sounds continued to ring out.

Ma Degong jumped up from his bed and yelled in fear, "Someone, go and see what's going on!"