Southern Ming Rebel Army

Liu Guquan's face was a little interesting, full of grievance. "Master, you know that Jiangning is a prosperous place, and every inch of land is worth a lot of money! We have dozens of people who have traveled all the way here, and the daily food, drink, and defecation alone cost a lot. And I only brought a mere two thousand taels of silver. Not only do we have to buy land, but we also have to hire workers and deal with various expenses. It is not easy to get to this point now!" Liu Guquan complained to Meng Bian.

Meng Bian said irritably, "Alright, alright, I came here to deal with it. Let's deal with this yard as soon as possible. This is such a damn place. Who would want to be a nobleman? Let's find a place to settle down first."

Meng Bian was lying on the bed in the inn, taking out the visiting card sent by Zhang Bo. Inside it was the visiting card from Wu Weiye, a Jinshi in the fourth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty. He had served as an editor in the Hanlin Academy and as a left scholar. He was in Jiangning at the moment. Zhang Bo's father Zhang Zhuo had an old acquaintance with Wu and knew that Wu had old Ming loyalties. So Zhang Bo told Meng Bian that he could ask for his help if he had any problems. Meng Bian decided to visit him after some time.

At night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. In the Governor's Mansion in Jiangning, Hong Chengchou put down the imperial report in his hand. On the table was a detailed military report on the Battle of Suzhou. Seeing that Hong Chengchou looked tired, the old servant beside him comforted him, "Master, don't worry too much. Suzhou is just a minor setback."

Hong Chengchou stood up and sighed, "Alas, it is more than a minor setback. Kong Youde and Ma Degong's subordinates suffered heavy casualties. After the defeat, even Nanjing is facing the threat of Meng Jun."

Hong Chengchou sighed and was very worried. A spy reported that Zhang Xianzhong was already preparing to leave Sichuan with a large army. He Tengjiao in Huguang gathered the remnants of the Chuang army and gathered more than hundreds of thousands of people, watching covetously. Hao Yaoqi recruited his followers Yuan Zongde, Lin Yangcheng, Wang Jincai, Niu Youyong and others to surrender to He Tengjiao.

Li Zicheng's generals Li Jin and Gao Bizheng approached Changde with hundreds of thousands of troops. He Tengjiao ordered Du Yinxi to recruit all of them and settle them in Changsha. Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of soldiers eventually all submitted to He Tengjiao. He Tengjiao changed the Shun Army into the Zhongzheng Camp. The two armies joined forces, and the momentum was so great that the Qing court was nervous. He Tengjiao now had the most troops in the Southern Ming.

Song Yizhen, the Qing Dynasty's Huguang Provincial Governor, had apparently already sensed the danger posed by the collaboration between the Dashun Army and He Tengjiao and Du Yinxi, and had long since made an urgent request to the Qing court for additional troops.

In early December, the Loyalty Camp once again launched a massive siege on Jingzhou City, and this news was exactly what Hong Chengchou had just received from the imperial court. Hunan Governor He Mingluan asked for help from Lekedehun, the General of Pingnan stationed in Nanjing by the Qing court. In December, Dorgon urgently ordered Lekedehun to move his troops west to rescue the battlefield in Huguang. So Lekedehun personally led the elite Manchu and Mongolian troops, together with the general Aixinjueluo Gong Adai, to go up the river from Jiangning to rescue Wuchang.

In Shandong, the Yuyuan Army revolted. In the second year of Shunzhi, the rebels successively conquered Caozhou, Puzhou, Dingtao, Chengwu, and four cities. They supported the Ming Zhongyi Wang to establish the capital in Caozhou and proclaimed himself emperor. In the first year of Tianzheng, they conquered Juye and Dongming. The Qing court mobilized troops from Hebei and Shandong provinces to besiege Caozhou, but failed for two months. It is still a major problem today.

Since the Qing Dynasty entered the Shanhai Pass, it swallowed up the entire north and most of Jiangnan in just two years. The Eight Banners' military strength was seriously insufficient. After entering the Shanhai Pass, the Eight Banners attacked in three routes. The northern route was led by Prince Ying Ajige, Wu Sangui, and Shang Kexi through Datong, Yulin, and Yan'an to the south. The central route was led by Haoge and a part of the Qing troops to attack Henan. The southern route was led by Prince Yu Duoduo and Kong Youde to attack Tongguan through Henan. After Duoduo captured Xi'an, he turned south to capture Nanjing and destroy the Hongguang regime of the Southern Ming Dynasty. Ajige returned to Beijing after Li Zicheng was defeated.

Today, the Eight Banners Army is divided into three: Bolo's troops in Jiangnan, Lekedehun's troops in Huguang, and most of the Eight Banners in Beijing. The rest, who are suppressing various places in all directions, are the former surrendered troops of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Hong Chengchou sat down at the table again and picked up his pen to write. Now Nanjing was empty, with only 2,000 Eight Banners soldiers, 16,000 defeated soldiers of Ma Degong and Tian Xiong, and 5,000 Green Camp garrisoned in Nanjing. They could only protect themselves. How could they withdraw more troops to besiege Suzhou? Hong Chengchou urgently sent a letter to Bolo, hoping that he would destroy Meng Jun as soon as possible, or at least not let him threaten Jiangning.

On the other hand, just as Meng Jun and many generals were concentrating on preparing for the upcoming war, a more severe and unexpected event quietly occurred. This sudden change made the already tense people feel even more depressed, as if a dark cloud was hanging over their heads and could not be dispelled.

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Cunren sent an envoy to Fang Guoan, who surrendered without a fight. The Qiantang River defense line collapsed without a fight, and the navy led by Shen Tingyang had no choice but to retreat to Ningbo. Shen Tingyang burst into tears on the boat, and everyone who heard it burst into tears. Then Bolo took the opportunity to cross the Qiantang River, and wherever he passed, the people surrendered. Zhejiang had already fallen.

When the news reached Ningbo, Prince Lu was horrified. Once Fang Guoan surrendered, the Qiantang River defense line would collapse, and Bolo would surely come straight for him. Ningbo would be undefensible. In such a critical situation, Shen Tingyang led the navy to Ningbo. Shen Tingyang urged Prince Lu to retreat to Zhoushan first and wait for the opportunity.

On the sea, Prince Lu's eyes were filled with tears. He had now become the regent at sea, wondering when he would be able to restore the legacy laid by his ancestors.

Meng Jun and the others looked at each other in silence. None of them expected the situation to deteriorate so quickly. Not long ago, Fang Guoan surrendered, which allowed Bolo to advance straight in and be unstoppable. The King of Lu was forced to flee to the sea, and Zhejiang was now in Bolo's pocket.

They had just made the decision to attack Hangzhou and prepared a large amount of supplies for this purpose. However, faced with the sudden change, they could not help but feel at a loss.

"Governor, are we still going to attack Hangzhou?" Han Xiong asked in a low voice. Bai Yongfu beside him suddenly felt a little panicked. He had just jumped onto a boat, but why did it feel like the boat was going to sink? How could the Prince of Lu be defeated so quickly? He didn't react at all.

Meng Jun frowned slightly, staring into the distance with deep eyes. After a while, he slowly said, "Fight, why not? We have already made a detailed battle plan. How can we change the order overnight? On the eighth day of the first lunar month, we will send troops to attack Hangzhou!"

His voice was firm and powerful. The generals knew that Meng Jun always thought carefully and there must be a reason for making such a decision.

Meng Jun went on to say: "This expedition to Hangzhou is related to our life and death. Everyone must go all out and not slack off in the slightest. I believe as long as we work together, we will be able to achieve victory!" After saying that, he waved his hand to signal everyone to disperse and prepare for their own battles.

After the generals left, Meng Jun stood alone in front of the tent, looking at the sky and lost in thought...