Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 296 Premonition

In the evening, on the official road from Jiujiang to Yangxin City, a large group of Zhou army cavalrymen were galloping on horseback, led by the commander of the cavalry battalion, Huang Cheng.

Since Chongzhen, there have been constant disputes in the world, and the area of Huguang was naturally not peaceful. Both Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had once made great changes in the area of Huguang.

It is like there is a village at the foot of the mountain outside Yangxin City, with smoke rising from every household and people who have been busy all day starting to cook.

Although war has not come to this small village, every household in this village is equipped with swords and guns. They may not be able to fight against the army, but they are more than enough to fight against bandits.

At the entrance of the village, a group of children were holding wooden swords and wooden spears, dividing into two sides and playing a war game. A few big yellow dogs were following the children, running around and having a lot of fun. This nameless little village was a scene of peace and harmony.

Just when the children were having fun, several big yellow dogs started barking at the same time. Soon, all the dogs in the village started barking.

The children who were playing war games couldn't help but stop the game and both sides called a truce. The children stood there blankly, only to hear the sound of horse hooves and the neighing of war horses coming from afar.

In a short while, a cloud of yellow dust came from afar. The child's parents heard the noise and came out of the house. They could feel the ground shaking slightly and the water in the water tank was also rippling.

At this time, the villagers saw that the vibration was not an earthquake, but a huge cavalry galloping past on the official road at the entrance of the village.

A large group of cavalry galloped past, and the sound of their horses' hooves was like thunder, shaking people's hearts. The people were stunned for a moment, and then they came to their senses, grabbed their children, and ran home.

This cavalry force, with less than 3,000 horses, was still extremely powerful. At this time, a team of scout cavalry came galloping in the opposite direction of Huang Cheng's cavalry.

"Urgent news!" the scout shouted in a long tone from a distance. Seeing this, Huang Cheng hurriedly pulled the reins.

"Whoa!" Huang Cheng stopped his warhorse and ordered the cavalry to slow down. Then he drove his horse to the side and waited for the arrival of the scout cavalry.

"General, Lin Tongzhen has an urgent report to the king," the scout said to Huang Cheng while bowing on his horse.

Huang Cheng frowned when he heard this and said in a deep voice: "The king is still behind, you can report it yourself."

The scout responded and was about to turn his horse and leave. Huang Cheng saw this and asked, "Is this the movement of the Qing army?"

The scout nodded and said, "General, we have found traces of the Qing army near Daye!"

After saying that, the scout galloped back. Liu Kun, a subordinate of Huang Cheng, licked his dry lips and asked, "General, are the Tartars going to have a decisive battle in Daye?"

"Daye City is located at the exit of the mountains on both sides. The area is not wide, which is not conducive to a major battle between the two armies. However, we don't know what the Tartars will think." Huang Cheng thought for a while and shook his head.

Huang Cheng looked at the cavalrymen behind him. They were all sweating and their horses were a little tired. He then ordered urgently, "Dismount and rest for a while."

The cavalry, who had been galloping for a long time, were a little tired. Upon hearing Huang Cheng's order, they jumped off their horses and gave the horses water and feed.

The villagers were frightened, thinking that these cavalrymen were going to enter the village to rest. However, they knew that bandits passing by were like combs, and soldiers passing by were like rakes. Although the villagers knew little about the various forces in the world today, after so many years of chaos, they had heard a lot about the character of the soldiers.

If soldiers entered the village these days, these villagers would probably be badly beaten even if they were lucky enough not to die. What's more, these were soldiers from other places, who might be even more ruthless.

Just as the people were panicking and holding the gate and smearing black soda on the faces of their wives and children, they realized that these cavalrymen had just dismounted to rest and had no intention of entering the village.

The villagers were terrified for half an hour before the cavalrymen got back on their horses and galloped away.

In the direction of Xianning, Wang Fugui and Zhang Yingwei easily captured Xianning City. There were only 3,000 Green Camp soldiers in the city, which were not enough to guard the four city walls. Wang Fugui's troops easily conquered it with just one round of charging the city.

However, there were only 20,000 garrison troops in Xianning City, and Zhang Yingwei's troops were selected from Jin Shenghuan's surrendered troops. Although they were all elite and strong, their combat effectiveness was still unknown. Meng Jun ordered Wang Fugui and Zhang Yingwei to march slowly towards Wuchang.

At the same time, Li Dingguo, who was far away in Changsha, also gathered 46,000 cavalry and infantry troops and advanced from Changsha towards Yueyang. The three routes advanced simultaneously. Meng Jun led the main force up the river. The generals were in high spirits and their morale was high, but no one knew what choice Duoduo would make, whether to send troops to fight a decisive battle or to defend Wuchang!

…………

In the Huaiyang direction, Zhao Yongping led his army and finally arrived at Huai'an City, which is one of the important cities along the canal and the gateway to the north.

In Ming Dynasty, Huai'an was known as the capital of a big country. Huai'an prefecture has always been a key point and a busy place. Huai'an prefecture governed nine counties: Haizhou, Pizhou, Shanyang County, Qinghe County, Andong County, Taoyuan County, Yancheng County, Shuyang County, Ganyu County, Suqian County and Suining County.

(The jurisdiction is basically equivalent to the current Huai'an, Yancheng, Suqian, Lianyungang City and the eastern part of Xuzhou)

After entering the pass, when the Qing general Zhunta led his troops to Huai'an, Liu Zeqing fled to the sea, and Bai Yongfu surrendered Huai'an. After the Qing court seized Huai'an, it set up the Governor-General of the River Transport Department in Huai'an and served as the governor. In the fourth year of Shunzhi, a Manchu minister was added, who was stationed in Huai'an with the general transport officer, and was called the prime minister.

Wang Wenkui, the governor of Huai'an, and Ma Sangge, the minister of Manchuria, although the Qing government had already sent all its troops to Huguang, they still left troops to guard the important town of Huai'an.

At this time in Huai'an City, the defenders had three battalions, left, middle and right. Each battalion had more than 3,000 soldiers. Together with Ke Yongsheng who escaped from the Jiangbei camp, the defenders had a total of 10,000 people. However, most of these people were surrendered soldiers of the Ming army. There were only more than 300 people from the Eight Banners in the city, led by Ma Sangge himself.

Zhao Yongping knew very well that if he wanted to truly threaten the Qing court, he must first capture Huai'an City. Only in this way could he put pressure on Duoduo in the Huguang battlefield and Dorgon in Beijing.

So he began to plan an attack on Huai'an City. Before the attack, Zhao Yongping and Gao Jinku carefully studied the terrain and fortifications of Huai'an City, and sent people to scout Huai'an City many times to see if there were any weak points.

However, Zhao Yongping's troops only had more than 16,000 people, and it would be difficult to break the city by force. Ma Sangge sternly rejected Ke Yongsheng's intention to fight, and tried to defend Huai'an to the death and wait for the outcome of the Huguang War.

Zhao Yongping stationed his troops in a strong city. He ordered the army to set up camp, dig trenches, and arrange fortifications. Zhao Yongping stood in front of the camp, looking at the city wall and the closed city gate in the distance, his heart filled with worries.

If he attacked the city by force, he would suffer heavy losses and the outcome would be uncertain. If he could lure the enemy out of the city, there would be no need to storm the city. If he could not, he would not give up his plan to attack the city.