Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 502 Ping Liao (6)

Zheng Chenggong's father, Zheng Zhilong, opened the Xianxia Pass and let Bolo enter Fujian in the second year of Longwu. After the Longwu court was overthrown, Bolo broke his promise, captured Zheng Zhilong in the camp, and then moved to Beijing.

The Qing court was overjoyed to have Zheng Zhilong, thinking that with Zheng Chenggong's father in hand, they would be able to force Zheng Chenggong to surrender sooner or later. However, they never expected that Zheng Chenggong would completely disregard his father's life and death, and form an alliance with Meng Jun in Huguang to fight against Duoduo.

Afterwards, the Qing court was unwilling to let this rare treasure remain untold, so it repeatedly asked Zheng Zhilong to write letters to Zheng Chenggong.

Zheng Chenggong rarely replied. In his last letter, he said bluntly: "If my father is unfortunate, it is fate and destiny. I can only wear mourning clothes to avenge him, so as to achieve the goal of being both loyal and filial."

At this point, the Qing court had given up on trying to persuade Zheng Chenggong to surrender. However, after retreating back to the outside of the Great Wall, Jirgalang also killed Zheng Zhilong. Except for the loss of his personal freedom, his food and treatment remained the same.

After Zheng Chenggong paid a visit to Meng Jun, he sent speedboats to urgently dispatch more than 200 large Zheng ships to transport infantry to land in Liaodong. At the same time, Meng Jun also ordered the mobilization of ships in Shandong, Nanzhili, Zhejiang and other places to maintain logistical supplies, and transferred the two newly established firearms troops to Tianjin to prepare for boarding.

Just as Meng Jun was preparing to raid Liaodong along the coastal route, the two detachments of the Qian army had already posed a great threat to the security of Liaodong.

In Korea, Gao Jinku and the Korean rebel army had already captured Seoul. Bolo joined the reinforcements and retreated to the Pyongyang area. Gao Jinku and the three towns of Yangliang were all infantry, and the Korean rebel army had low combat effectiveness. Therefore, Gao Jinku did not dare to advance rashly, and could only form a large formation, supported by artillery, and slowly approached.

Gao Jinku's attack this time was different from the last raid on Liaodong. Last time, the area outside the Great Wall was empty, and Gao Jinku drove straight in and easily captured the city of Liaoyang, making a great contribution.

However, at the last moment, Gao Jinku was defeated by the cavalry of Bolo and Man Dahai, which greatly reduced his merit. In Gao Jinku's view, this battle was the last one, and the court would decide the merits and titles of the generals based on the result of this battle.

Therefore, Gao Jinku would rather go slower than make any mistakes. No matter how careful he is in the last step, it can never be too much.

Bolo raided Gao Jinku several times with light cavalry. It can be said that he gained something, but he did not cause much damage to Gao Jinku's main force. The biggest gains were from the rebels.

Huang Cheng and the 16-army coalition forces that crossed the Liaohe River had already entered Liaodong and wreaked havoc on the flag villages. Man Dahai did not dare to engage in a decisive battle with Huang Cheng and could only use his cavalry to delay Huang Cheng's advance.

With enemies on three sides, the Qing court was in a state of panic and unrest. Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang had privately asked Jirgalang what to do if Shengjing could not be defended?

Jirgalang said to Xiaozhuang without hesitation: "Queen Dowager, if Shengjing cannot be defended, then we should retreat to Hetunala City!"

Xiaozhuang pondered for a long time before she sighed and said, "The Central Plains is indeed a land of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. How favored by God is it!"

Jirgalang didn't want to retreat to the deep mountains and forests, but now that the situation had come to this, he had to plan for the worst possible step in advance.

A regime, no matter how vast its territory is, cannot be destroyed in one battle. As long as the upper echelons are still there, they can continue to survive by escaping. However, that would be of no avail. The central court does not need to mobilize the entire country's army. Using only the power of the border areas, it would not be able to contend with the Qing court hiding in the mountains and forests.

After arranging everything, Jirgalang once again went to the gate of Fan Mansion.

Historically, Fan Wencheng lived until the fifth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign. Logically, Fan Wencheng should have been a healthy old man at this time, but in this time and space, Fan Wencheng's health was deteriorating.

The last time Jirgalang visited him, Fan Wencheng was still in good spirits, but this time, Fan Wencheng was bedridden and had difficulty even saying a few words.

At this time, Fan Wencheng's face was pale, his eyes were sunken, and he had lost his former spirit like a dry well.

Jirgalang asked the doctor beside him, who shook his head and said solemnly: "Overwork and excessive worry have caused loss of Qi and blood, and imbalance of internal organs. Mr. Fan is old and weak. The only solution now is to rest."

Jirgalang sat beside his bed, and suddenly he felt that the Qing Dynasty was just like Fan Wencheng, and it seemed that there was no cure for it.

Fan Wencheng panted and asked, "Mo...Moxi Mongolia, how is it in...in Guanzhong?"

Jirgalang replied: "Sengge, a shameless villain, took the seal of the Northern Yuan Dynasty and stayed under the city of Xi'an for one day before withdrawing his troops."

Upon hearing this, Fan Wencheng closed his eyes for a long while before saying, "I am... ill, and my family has not... discussed the state affairs for a long time. Please speak frankly, Prince Zheng!"

Jirgalang replied: "Khorchin was destroyed, and all the tribes in the south of the desert rebelled. Huang Cheng held a meeting in Duolun and assembled a coalition of 16 tribes. He has already crossed the Liaohe River. Mandahai is in Duerbizi and is trying to hold on. Bolo is in Pyongyang and is facing more than 30,000 Gao bandits and a large number of Ant bandits. It is already a critical juncture."

Jirgalang paused for a moment, and seeing that Fan Wencheng was still listening carefully, he sighed and said, "But these two routes are just Meng Jun's detachments. His subordinates, Zhao Yongping's main force, are approaching Ningyuan City. Although they cannot break through the Ningjin defense line, they have tied up most of our dynasty's forces."

Fan Wencheng shook his head at the rotten situation and heard Jirgalang's question: "In your opinion, how should we resolve the current situation?"

Jirgalang knew that this would make things difficult for Fan Wencheng, but the last time he came to ask, Fan Wencheng at least came up with an idea. The idea of diverting the trouble to the west was not bad, but Sengge was a little shameless, so the method of diverting Qian Chao's attention failed.

After a long while, Fan Wencheng slowly said, "Back then, when Taizu started his army, during the Battle of Sarhu, the Ming...Ming army attacked from four directions. Taizu said, 'You can come from several directions, and I will only go one direction. We will gather all our strength and...defeat them one by one.'"

Upon hearing this, Jirgalang remained silent. The current situation was completely different from that during the time of Taizu. Among the three armies of the Qian Dynasty, except for Gao Jinku's army which was a little weaker, the other two armies could not be easily defeated.

Gao Jinku is still in the Seoul area, while Huang Cheng is very close. We can't withdraw a large army to Korea to fight Gao Jinku. Huang Cheng and the 16-division coalition force are all cavalry and can come and go like the wind. This is simply unrealistic.

Therefore, Jirgalang sighed: "Master Fan's strategy is difficult. None of the three armies of the Meng bandit army can be easily defeated. No matter which side's troops are withdrawn, the enemy will march straight into Liaodong!"

Fan Wencheng's eyes were filled with tears as he said to Jirgalang, "I am... useless!"

Jirgalang was about to speak to comfort her when he heard Fan Wencheng shout, "It hurts... it hurts!"

Jirgalang called for a doctor urgently. The doctor outside rushed into the room and saw Fan Wencheng's mouth wide open, making a series of "ho...ho...ho" sounds.

The doctor shook his head. At this moment, Fan Wencheng suddenly grabbed Jirgalang's hand tightly with great force. Fan Wencheng used all his strength and said, "Withdraw... withdraw... go back..."