Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 393 Transfer

Jinan City.

When Lu Fengchun learned that King Meng Jun of Zhou was coming to the front line in person, he was terrified. He also heard that the Yuyuan Army had surrendered to Meng Jun and that their strength was even greater. Now they claimed to have an army of 600,000.

Just hearing the number of people, Lu Fengchun was so scared that his hands and feet turned cold. Lu Fengchun knew that the claim was definitely false, but the spies reported that the army stretched for dozens of miles with no end in sight. There were fourteen military towns with flags. Each military town of the Zhou army had 10,000 people, which meant there were 140,000 regular soldiers and at least 100,000 auxiliary soldiers. According to Lu Fengchun's estimate, the Zhou army had at least 250,000 soldiers.

Now in the city of Jinan, the generals and lieutenant generals from all over Shandong have been almost all withdrawn. For example, Qingzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture in the east are almost the same as Dongchang Prefecture. Only some guards are left in each city to maintain order. Once Jinan is lost, Shandong will be completely occupied.

Even with such a withdrawal, the number of troops in Jinan City was less than 40,000. Moreover, when Lu Fengchun sent people to count the reinforcements from various places, there were 3,000 people on the list, but in fact there were only more than 2,000 people. The list was full, but some of them were beggars, the old and the weak.

During these days, Lu Fengchun reported to the capital every day, and each report was asking for help. However, Dorgon only sent a team of 200 Eight Banner soldiers. These 200 people were nominally reinforcements, but in fact they were there to monitor the generals in Jinan city.

How could Dorgon dare to send troops south now? The troops drawn from outside the Great Wall have not arrived yet, especially the Solon soldiers. Dorgon has high hopes for these Solon soldiers. Before they arrive, Dorgon will never go south, unless Meng Jun's army rushes into the Hebei Plain. In that case, the Eight Banners will be dispatched.

Seeing that the reinforcements were nowhere to be found, Lu Fengchun could only worship Buddha day and night, praying to the Buddha for protection and asking Meng Jun not to come to Jinan.

Wang Dian, the governor of Shandong, advised Lu Fengchun privately: "Governor, Jinan is close to the Grand Canal. If Jinan is not in Meng Jun's hands, he will not dare to go north. However, Meng's army is now strong, and Jinan City is incomplete and difficult to defend. It is better to retreat to Qingzhou Prefecture!"

Lu Fengchun hesitated for a long time before shaking his head and replied, "It's not right. Now that the Meng army hasn't arrived yet, I'm fleeing in a hurry. The government and the people will definitely hold me accountable!"

Wang Dian advised earnestly: "Governor, as the saying goes, if you keep the green mountains, you will not be afraid of running out of firewood. Retreating to Qingzhou Prefecture can not only preserve the troops, but also delay the Meng army's march north. The regent will know and will definitely not blame us. As for those censors in the court, this is not the Ming Dynasty anymore. The regent will treat those upright officials as bullshit."

Lu Fengchun pondered for a while, but still rejected Wang Diandian's suggestion, saying: "Meng Jun may not turn to besiege Jinan. Maybe he can't resist the temptation and wants to seize the capital!"

In fact, Lu Fengchun had no intention of harassing Meng Jun after he went north. He just wanted to wait until the situation in the world became clear and then choose a strong person to serve. Lu Fengchun also sent his confidants to swear to heaven that Lu Fengchun was telling the truth. It was a pity that neither Meng Jun nor generals such as Zhao Yongping and Bai Yongfu believed him.

It’s not that I don’t believe it at all, but how can I put the lives and property of hundreds of thousands of soldiers into the hands of the enemy?

It was not until the Zhou army entered Anping and turned eastward to Dong'a City that Lu Fengchun was stunned as if struck by lightning. It turned out that Meng Jun was indeed targeting Jinan City.

The more Lü Fengchun thought about it, the more he felt that he could not defend Jinan. After thinking for a while, he sat down at the table and submitted a petition to the Regent Dorgon, saying: "I bow my head a hundred times and respectfully submit this petition. Because the situation is critical, I risk my life to plead my case. Please forgive my inappropriate behavior.

The enemy's army is surging. They have now captured Anping and are approaching Dong'e. They are heading straight for Jinan. The enemy Meng is leading the army personally. The soldiers in Jinan are weak and the generals are few. It is really difficult to match them. I have thought about it again and again, weighed the pros and cons, and deeply feel that Jinan cannot be defended for long. If we try to hold on, we may waste our troops and delay the overall situation, which is not good for the country.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, it is better to adopt a roundabout strategy, avoid the enemy's sharp edge, and preserve strength. I plan to lead my troops to temporarily withdraw from Jinan, lead the army eastward, delay the enemy army, and wait for the imperial court's reinforcements. Once the reinforcements arrive, I will immediately counterattack. "

After finishing writing, Lu Fengchun sighed deeply, and then immediately sent a messenger to rush to the capital with the book.

After writing the memorial, Lu Fengchun summoned all the generals and stated that he wanted to withdraw the troops to Qingzhou Prefecture. The generals were delighted to hear this, and except for Tule, the commander of the Eight Banners, who expressed opposition, all the generals agreed.

At the military meeting, Lu Fengchun said righteously: "The enemy army is powerful. Jinan must not be defended now. I have submitted a memorial to the regent and explained the pros and cons. If the regent blames me, I will take full responsibility. All the generals are acting under my orders. If there is any guilt, I will take the blame myself!"

Upon hearing what Lu Fengchun said, the generals in the tent showed their gratitude to him, and expressed their loyalty to the Qing Dynasty one after another. They were determined to fight the rebel army to the death and never compromise.

As the news of evacuating Jinan was issued, the army camps were in chaos and the generals rushed to leave the city for fear that the Zhou army would arrive. However, Lu Fengchun and a group of senior officials had already left the city and retreated to Qingzhou under the protection of their guards after the military meeting.

The Qingluan Guard spy lurking in Jinan City was amazed by the scene of people rushing to leave the city at the city gate. He quickly wrote the news of the Jinan garrison's withdrawal in secret code on paper and sent it to Changqing using several carrier pigeons.

By the time the news reached Meng Jun's army, two days had passed. Meng Jun thought he would be at the gate of Jinan and perform another feat of blowing up the city with gunpowder, but he didn't expect that Lu Fengchun had actually run away. He had even mobilized troops everywhere, thinking that he would really have to defend Jinan to the death.

In this regard, all the generals believed that if Jinan City was not defended, other cities could not be defended either, and they could only delay the time of Zhou army. However, Lu Fengchun even abandoned Jinan City, not to mention Dong'a, Pingyin, Changqing and other cities.

All the towns that Gulbuha passed by surrendered upon seeing the enemy. After the gates of Pingyin City were opened, Gulbuha said with some emotion: "'Surrender upon seeing the enemy', the Han Chinese word is really good."

Laxi beside him nodded like a chick pecking at rice and said, "General, what you said is very good. You are really cultured."

Gulbuha glanced at Laxi and ignored her. Gulbuha felt more and more that it was the right decision to turn back after crossing the river. It seemed that the Qing Dynasty was really going to be finished.

Qibi Heli is now Gulbha's idol. He secretly made up his mind that he would reach Qibi Heli's status in the future. At this time, Gulbha suddenly missed Xu Fan. Compared with Xu Fan, Laxi was simply a pig.

Gulbuha heaved a long sigh, then sent someone to deliver a message to the king. He left a group of troops in Pingyin, and led the cavalry to gallop towards Jinan City.

On February 20th of the fourth year of the Yongli reign, Meng Jun captured the city of Jinan without bloodshed.