Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 331: Encirclement of Wuchang

The order to retreat to Wuchang City was known to both the Mongolian and Green Camp soldiers as a temporary solution to a problem. However, with only a few small boats on the river, and with the Zhou army about to arrive, if they did not retreat to Wuchang, everyone would probably end up feeding the fish in the river.

When Lin Shiqi arrived at the city of Wuchang breathlessly, the Qing troops stranded on the south bank had already withdrawn back to the city. Lin Shiqi raised his telescope and looked across the river. From afar, he saw that most of the Qing troops were stationed on the shore.

While Lin Shiqi ordered the soldiers to form up their battle array and rest on the ground, he also sent someone to report to Meng Jun urgently that some Qing troops had not crossed the river and retreated to Wuchang.

After resting for a while, Lin Shiqi divided another battalion of soldiers to set up camp behind the army formation, while the front army continued to closely monitor the Qing army in Wuchang City.

It was not until the sky darkened that the main force arrived at the foot of Wuchang City. Meng Jun came to the front and raised his telescope to look at Wuchang City. He saw many figures on the top of the city. Meng Jun put down the telescope and asked Lin Shiqi beside him: "How many Qing troops are there in the city?"

"My king, when I arrived, the city was empty. I don't know how many people are inside the city."

"Are there any prisoners?"

"General Huang did capture a few Mongolian cavalrymen, but the Qing army was crossing the river at the time, and so much time had passed. What's more, they were just small soldiers, and we had no idea how many people were left in Wuchang City." Lin Shiqi shook his head and said.

Meng Jun looked at Wuchang City again, and then said calmly: "No matter how many people there are, if they don't surrender, they will all die in the city. Tomorrow, the army will besiege the city. There is no need to watch the trick of besieging three sides and missing one."

Wuchang City.

In the former temporary residence of Duoduo, Gulbuha was discussing something with the Green Camp Lieutenant General Xu Fan.

There were more than 3,200 Mongolian soldiers who retreated into the city, and more than 6,500 Green Camp soldiers. The more than 1,000 Eight Banners soldiers who were stranded on the south bank when they were originally isolated by Zheng's army had already boarded the ships and left as soon as the Zheng army withdrew.

Gulbuha felt a little regretful. He did not think about it when he was on the boat. He only wanted to stop the internal strife. At that time, the Zhou army had just arrived, and he might have been able to escape by running westward with the cavalry. Now he was trapped in the city, and Hauge was on the north bank. How could he save him?

Xu Fan swallowed his saliva and said in an uneasy tone: "The Zhou army has arrived, and my subordinates are all uneasy. General Gul, is there any solution?"

"What can I do? Let's hold on for a few days and see. If it doesn't work, we'll break out and run away. Whoever can escape will be the best." Gulbuha understood Chinese, but he just didn't speak it well. Xu Fan could only listen carefully with all his attention.

After hearing this, Xu Fan cursed in his heart. You have horses, so your chances of escaping are much higher than mine. The Green Camp soldiers are all infantry. In this situation, it can be said that they have no reinforcements from outside and are trapped in an isolated city. The more Xu Fan thought about it, the more he felt that he was in trouble.

Xu Fan's eyes rolled, and he asked in a tentative tone: "General Gul, what do you think? If we negotiate peace with the King of Zhou, withdraw from Wuchang, and give all our weapons, horses, and armor to the King of Zhou, do you think the King of Zhou will let us go?"

"How did you survive until now? You have thrown away your weapons and armor. The enemy can do whatever they want to you. As for the warhorse, it is the most precious thing for me, the Mongolian warriors. I will never give it up."

Seeing that Gulbuha would only refuse, Xu Fan said unhappily, "Then tell me, how can we defend Wuchang? Even if Prince Su wants to save us, he can't. There are more than 100,000 Zhou troops under the city, and there are also Zheng's navy on the river. Wuchang is surrounded. We want to defend the city, but we have no civilians and no equipment. Even Governor Luo has already fled. How can we defend it tomorrow? I don't think we can hold it for even a day."

"So what do you want to do, you want to surrender?"

Hearing this, Xu Fan sighed and said, "It's not that I want to surrender, but there's something wrong with all the generals in my camp."

Listening to Xu Fan sighing, Gulbuha became really annoyed. He stood up, walked back and forth twice, then raised his foot and quickly left the room.

Xu Fan was stunned. How could the person leave in the middle of the conversation? Xu Fan then sat alone for a while, sighed again, and said, "What a miserable life!"

Gulbuha walked to the Mongolian soldiers' camp. From outside the camp he could hear some soldiers sobbing with their hands covering their mouths. Gulbuha lifted the tent curtain and walked up to one of the young men who was covering his mouth with tears in his eyes.

Gulbuha grabbed the boy's collar with his big hands and said in a deep voice, "Why are you crying?"

The young man was frightened by Gulbuha and didn't know what to do. Gulbuha let go of his hand and snorted coldly, saying, "What is there to cry about? Changshengtian will always protect us. How can a crying child be qualified to be a warrior?"

After finishing speaking, Gulbuha's tone became gentler, he patted the boy on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I will bring you back to the grassland alive."

The next morning, the sky was gloomy.

When Meng Jun's army arrived in Wuchang, the river defense cannons on the south bank were destroyed by the Qing army, the bases were dismantled, and the gun barrels were pushed into the river. Although Zhou's army failed to seize the cannons, with the disappearance of the river defense cannons on the south bank, Zheng's navy appeared again in the Wuchang waterway.

When the navy appeared, the Zhou army began to leave the camp one after another, preparing to encircle Wuchang.

The weather in Huguang has been like this these days, gloomy and gloomy. Qian Biao looked up and said irritably, "Oh my God, please don't rain today!"

Suddenly, Qian Biao's mind suddenly jumped, as if he had thought of something. He pulled the guard beside him over and whispered, "Go and ask Immortal Li if it will rain today."

"Immortal Li?"

"Fool, it's Master Li Da Dao."

"Yes, General." When the guards were about to leave, Qian Biao reminded them again: "Remember, you must be respectful to Immortal Li."

After a while, the guard came over breathlessly and said to Qian Biao, "General, Taoist Li said that there will be no rain today."

"Okay, okay," Qian Biao said okay three times happily.

At this time, Qian Biao saw Bai Yongfu starting to lead his troops to leave the camp. Qian Biao hurried over, grabbed Bai Yongfu and said, "General Bai, look at the weather, is it going to rain?"

Hearing this, Bai Yongfu looked up at the sky and frowned, saying, "It may rain, but the king is determined to take Wuchang. Let alone rain, we have to fight even if it rains knives."

"You said it would rain, so I said it wouldn't rain. Do you want to take a gamble?"

Bai Yongfu became more interested and asked, "Bet? What?"

"As the ancients said, a little gambling can soothe one's nerves. So, let's do a little gambling. Let's just bet three... half a year's worth of military pay!" Qian Biao was about to say three months, but immediately changed his words to half a year.

Bai Yongfu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Half a year is too long, I won't gamble!"

"Then March, that should be fine!"

Bai Yongfu looked at the sky again, hesitated for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "Okay."

Qian Biao looked at Bai Yongfu's departing back, and couldn't suppress the smile on his face. He said with a smile: "If I tell you that I'm not well-educated, I'll kill you!"