Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Inside the Ming army camp outside Nanjing, Huang Degong, the general of Luzhou, was drinking and chatting with Sun Dasheng and other generals of the Beijing camp.

Huang Degong is just forty years old this year, which is the prime of his life. He comes from the military and is a rare high-ranking general who rose from a low-level soldier to a general through military merit step by step.

He was also a senior general in charge of the imperial guards. His imperial guards were formerly the Tengxiang Four Guards Battalion directly under the emperor.

Later, in order to resist bandits, the chief steward of the Imperial Horse Administration reorganized the four Tengxiang guards into the Yongwei Camp, and Huang Degong also became the general of this army at that time.

Huang Degong led this imperial army to defeat bandits repeatedly. He fought bravely and always led the troops on the battlefield. He was nicknamed Huang Chuangzi and almost took away the reputation from Li Zicheng.

Huang Degong had been working together with the generals of the Beijing camp for quite some time and had become familiar with each other.

In particular, he got along very well with Sun Dasheng, the Lieutenant General of the Beijing Camp Cavalry. If it weren't for the huge age difference between them, they almost became sworn brothers on the spot after drinking one time.

Huang Degong had a rough look, and Sun Dasheng was about the same. Huang Degong liked to drink, and he would drink a lot before going to the battlefield, and Sun Dasheng also liked it.

The two talked about the situation in the Ming Dynasty, one dared to speak and the other dared to listen.

When talking about their great Marshal Zhang Shikang, each one was more daring in praising him.

There is no doubt that as the most typical general who climbed up from the bottom, Huang Degong was very dissatisfied with the previous court.

He also believed that the Ming Dynasty was in a period of chaos and needed a strong figure to integrate the court and work together to resolve internal and external troubles in the most efficient way.

Huang Degong was illiterate, but he often asked his literate subordinates to read the court bulletins to him. In addition to understanding the changes in the court situation, he also learned military tactics in this way.

Huang Degong was illiterate, but Sun Dasheng was, so the two got along even better.

"Dasheng, I don't know what's going on with our Marshal." Huang Degong said to Sun Dasheng after taking a sip of wine.

"My elder brother is very brave. Don't worry, Brother Huang. With my elder brother personally leading the team, the small city of Suzhou will be no problem for him!" Sun Dasheng replied with a flushed face from drinking.

"I'm telling you in private, just call me Brother Chuangzi." Huang Degong scolded with a smile.

"Hehe, I was wrong, my brother. My elder brother is now fighting in Suzhou, and I can only look at Nanjing and feel worried.

Brother Chuangzi, how come Xu Hongji in this city is so tolerant?

We yell at them every day. If it were me, I would have been fed up long ago!" Sun Dasheng's face was full of contempt when he talked about the Southern Army.

In the past few days, in order to force the defenders in the city to go out and fight, Sun Wukong, in addition to drinking with Huang Degong, also asked his men to shout into the city.

Things like 'Come out and surrender quickly, you have been surrounded by us', 'You are as timid as a mouse, hiding your head like a turtle', etc.

Such words are nothing short of humiliation. Twenty-two thousand people surrounding a defender of one hundred thousand. The more absurd it is, the more ironic it is.

But even so, Xu Hongji in the city still did not respond, which made Sun Dasheng very annoyed.

"Who says he isn't? I think Xu Hongji is definitely a coward.

But if they don't leave the city, we really can't do anything to them." Huang Degong also took a sip of wine with some worry.

As the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing City had city walls that were 15 to 16 zhang thick. Moreover, it was built under the personal supervision of a military genius like Zhu Yuanzhang, so you can tell how solid it was.

Therefore, Huang Degong had no intention of attacking the city at all.

When the troops were about to be divided after the battle of Ningguo Prefecture, Zhang Shikang's military order was that Huang Degong only needed to prevent the Nanjing defenders from leaving the city to provide support.

To put it bluntly, don't let the Nanjing defenders delay his attack on Suzhou.

At that time, the Grand Marshal asked him how many troops he needed to intimidate the Nanjing defenders. Huang Degong thought about it and only asked for 10,000 Beijing troops.

Zhang Shikang was somewhat surprised at first, but Huang Degong said that a small number of troops might have a miraculous effect.

He has more soldiers, but the Grand Marshal has fewer soldiers, and Suzhou City has 50,000 defenders.

His thoughts were probably the same as those of Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Weifan. No matter what, he had to ensure the safety of the Grand Marshal.

This is much more important than winning or losing a battle.

He said that a small number of troops might have a miraculous effect because if there were too many troops, the defenders in Nanjing would not even dare to leave the city.

If he doesn't even dare to leave the city, how can he gain merit in front of the Grand Marshal?

It’s not that Huang Degong is too arrogant. He is stationed in Jiangbei with Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing and others, and he is quite familiar with the strength of their armies.

As the saying goes, knowing both yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle. Huang Degong has made outstanding military achievements and is confident of defeating these two men, not to mention that he has his good brother Sun Dasheng's 5,000 cavalry and 5,000 musketeers.

When Huang Degong saw the military appearance of the Beijing Camp for the first time, he was shocked. He had seen how poor the soldiers of the Beijing Camp were.

In comparison, I admire Zhang Shikang even more.

With the addition of soldiers from the Beijing camp, he even thought of taking the opportunity to capture the city of Nanjing.

But even though the two brothers only had 22,000 soldiers, the rebels in the city still refused to come out to fight.

This made the two of them sigh every day.

"How about going out for some practice?" Huang Degong had almost finished drinking and his hands were itching.

The reason why the two of them have made rapid progress these days is related to drinking, but it is more related to venting. They often fight each other after drinking, which not only improves martial arts, but also allows them to vent their energy that has nowhere to go.

"Hehe, Brother Chuangzi, you may not be able to beat me." Sun Dasheng said provocatively.

Although Sun Dasheng is young, he is exceptionally tall. After more than a year of rigorous training, his body is full of muscles. Even his father, Sun Weifan, may not be able to beat him.

Of course, Sun Dasheng will always lose in front of his father. His father is very strong, and Sun Dasheng knows that if he doesn't give in to his father, he will fight him to the death.

"I think you are bragging, I will definitely knock you down this time!" Huang Degong stood up and said.

Sun Dasheng did not give in either. The two men came to the outside of the military tent, each got into position and were ready to start fighting.

Deputy General Zhou Yuji came running quickly from outside the military camp with a hint of anxiety on his face.

"You two... stop fighting!"

Zhou Yuji was running so anxiously that he was almost out of breath when he spoke.

"What's wrong, Old Zhou?" Huang Degong frowned when he saw Zhou Yuji so anxious.

In the Yongwei Camp, although Huang Degong was the highest commander, he often listened to Zhou Yuji's opinions.

Compared to Huang Degong, who is a bit reckless and likes to speak with his fists, Zhou Yuji is like the political commissar beside Li Yunlong, who can always avoid Huang Degong's mistakes at critical moments.

The two complemented each other, and Huang Degong was also willing to follow Zhou Yuji's advice.

"There are unusual movements in Nanjing City. Maybe they are going to leave the city!" Zhou Yuji frowned.

"What?" Huang Degong seemed a little unbelievable.

"This is really great!" Sun Dasheng and Huang Degong looked at each other and were overjoyed.

At this time, Sun Yingyuan, deputy general of the Yongwei Camp, also ran over and urged excitedly:

"Old Huang! Hurry up, Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing have left the city!

We are about to have a big fight!"

……

PS: I'm going to take a break and eat something. I'll update later. I plan to update seven chapters today. It's not too much to ask for a reward. A five-star rating will be fine too. Thank you.