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

On August 23, Zhang Xianzhong finally decided to withdraw his troops due to food and fodder problems.

Before he withdrew his troops, he moved all the sundries that could not be taken away from the military camp into the mountains and forests, and then set the forest on fire.

It was the dry season, and the dead branches and leaves that had accumulated in the forests for who knows how many years ignited a raging fire.

Although the siege of Shiqu was lifted, Qin Liangyu frowned immediately when she saw the fire burning in the mountains.

All the citizens of Shiqian City, as well as her son and granddaughter were in the mountains and forests.

In order to prevent Zhang Xianzhong from attacking the city again, Qin Liangyu had to suppress her worries. She ordered the surviving soldiers to urgently repair the collapsed section of the city wall and clean up the battlefield.

By evening, two white-pole soldiers finally ran out of the forest.

The two white-pole soldiers had black faces, tattered clothes, and even their white spears were stained charcoal black.

"Governor!" The two men knelt on the ground.

Qin Liangyu's hands trembled, but she still asked calmly:

"How are the people?"

"Your Excellency the Governor, the folks in Shiqian City have already moved to Qianjiang, so the fire cannot spread there.

It’s just that we were trapped by the fire, and the fire was so big that many of our brothers…”

After hearing that the people in Shiqu City were safe, Qin Liangyu felt a lot more at ease.

War always results in death.

Late that night, Ma Xianglin finally arrived at Shiqu City with his troops.

And the number of White Spear Soldiers who followed him and escaped from the fire alive was less than half.

They fought guerrilla warfare with Zhang Xianzhong for several days, and suffered only a few hundred casualties, while a fire killed two thousand people.

Even among the less than 3,000 people who came back with them, most of them had their clothes and armor torn, and many of them had their eyebrows and hair burned off.

Qin Liangyu had been waiting at the city gate and had not gone back. As soon as Ma Xianglin saw Qin Liangyu, he bowed to the ground.

"Mother, my son...is back." Ma Xianglin knelt on the ground, enduring the burns on his body.

This battle lasted less than ten days. Ma Xianglin was initially worried that Shi Que might get into an accident and he would not be able to see his mother.

Afterwards, he was caught in a fire again and truly escaped death.

"Where is Lingqi?" Qin Liangyu staggered and stared deeply at her son, as if looking for an answer.

"Don't worry, mother. Lingqi is fine. It's just that..." Ma Xianglin quickly stood up and supported his mother, saying to the back:

"Lingqi, come out and see your grandma!

Isn't it just a disfigurement?

What's the big deal?

After Ma Xianglin said this, a little man emerged from among the many charcoal-like white-pole soldiers.

The girl's clothes and armor were all blackened by smoke, and even her face was as black as charcoal. She held her head with her hands, seeming to be very embarrassed.

If it’s not Ma Lingqi, who else could it be?

"Grandma, my hair..." Ma Lingqi cried and threw herself into Qin Liangyu's arms.

In the fire, her hair and eyebrows were burned off, making her look like a blackened little nun.

Qin Liangyu finally showed a kind smile on her face:

"As long as everything is fine, it will be fine."

The Battle of Shiqu lasted for eight days. After verification, it was found that a total of 8,600 Qin Liangyu soldiers were killed and 12,000 were injured.

Zhang Xianzhong's troops collected a total of more than 26,000 corpses, which was still a considerable amount of casualties compared to his 120,000-strong army.

The most important thing is that most of the troops participating in the siege were elite troops, and this loss alone was enough for Zhang Xianzhong to lick his wounds for a long time.

Of course, the losses in Shiqian City were also not small, and almost all of the remaining more than 10,000 people were injured.

Not only did all the people in the city flee to the mountains and forests, but most of the houses in the city were also demolished because their beams were removed to make logs.

But Shiqun.

It is still the stone well of the Ming Dynasty.

"This time, the tactics my son used were beyond my expectation. My son has made great progress again."

In the meeting hall, major generals including Qin Liangyu, Ma Xianglin, and Qin Yiming gathered together.

First, he summarized the offensive and defensive battle, and then Qin Liangyu also praised Ma Xianglin for the new tactics he developed this time.

"Mother, this is not my plan. I am stupid. This is the idea that Lingqi came up with." Ma Xianglin said truthfully.

Guerrilla tactics require that when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we advance; when the enemy chases, we run away; when the enemy is tired, we attack.

If Zhang Xianzhong had not been desperate and burned the mountains and forests, perhaps there would have been more gains.

This surprised Qin Liangyu a little. She only knew that her granddaughter liked weapons more than red dresses, but she didn't expect that she could have such insight.

"Lingqi is not young anymore, it's time to find her a husband." Qin Liangyu said with relief.

Ma Xianglin and Qin Yiming looked at each other.

“姑母，这可不好办，玲绮那丫头除了爱练武，就是爱揍人，谁家敢……”马祥麟咧嘴道。

The city's medical officer was still treating the burn wound on his leg. It was unclear whether he was grinning because of the pain or something else.

"Humph, isn't it all because of you two brothers who spoiled me?" Qin Liangyu was furious.

Qin Yiming boldly suggested:

"Aunt, there is actually someone who can subdue Lingqi."

Qin Liangyu glared at Qin Yiming and motioned for him to continue.

"General! Our general is both civil and military, he can maintain peace and quell rebellions. Lingqi, that girl, is definitely no match for him..."

"Nonsense!" Qin Liangyu frowned and slapped the table.

"What are our identities? How dare you, a rebellious son, set your sights on the Grand Marshal?"

"Don't be angry, mother. I think... Lingqi is a little weird. She is like the Marshal..."

"Have you two colluded with each other? Have you also started to learn how to form cliques and pursue personal interests?" Qin Liangyu scolded with a cold face.

The imperial court had gone through a long period of factional struggles before this. Qin Liangyu was old and knew how chaotic the court was at that time.

Now that the Grand Marshal is in charge of the military power, although he has done many good things for the court, Qin Liangyu, like other court officials, is also worried that it may not be a good thing in the long run.

After all, the three of them had never met Zhang Shikang, so they could only guess what he meant from the words he read.

Although she was grateful to Zhang Shikang, she was first and foremost a minister of the Ming Dynasty and did not want her descendants to make friends with him.

"My nephew knows he was wrong." Seeing that his aunt was angry, Qin Yiming dared not refute and immediately admitted his mistake with Ma Xianglin.

In fact, they both felt quite aggrieved. They never thought of relying on the Grand Marshal to do anything.

But from the letters of the Grand Marshal, it seems that their Grand Marshal... is not a well-educated scholar. Isn't this a match made in heaven?

"Everyone, please leave. There is no need to mention this matter anymore!" Qin Liangyu continued to scold.

Although Qin Yiming and Ma Xianglin were both over 40 years old, they were still like children in front of Qin Liangyu, running away dejectedly and limping.

Qin Liangyu walked out of the meeting hall, stood in the hallway, looked up at the sky, sighed, and murmured:

"The rebellion in the south of the Yangtze River has not yet been quelled, and the northern barbarians are planning to invade the border again. I don't know what the court is doing."