Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 293 The Qing Army is Coming

Under the sudden attack by Li He and others, the Qing army scouts were obviously not prepared. They hurriedly mounted their horses, trying to find a possibility of breaking out, but Chen Lin and Zhao Mingzuo did not give them any chance. They rushed to them like two gusts of wind.

He ran as fast as the wind, and the spear in his hand stabbed out like lightning, directly hitting a Qing soldier in the chest!

In a flash, the remaining three Qing soldiers were reduced to only the Eight Banners soldier wearing chain mail.

Even though the Eight Banners soldier showed a strong fighting spirit, he had been hit by three arrows and his body could not move as freely as usual.

He dodged the attack of the spear by turning sideways, and tried to swing the long sword in his hand to chop at Li He. Unfortunately, his move was a little weak, and the Eight Banners soldier grimaced in pain.

At the same time, the two brothers of the Chen family and Zhao Mingzuo also joined the battle. With their large numbers and the constant fighting with swords and guns, the injuries of the Eight Banners soldiers became more and more serious.

Finally, Li He seized an opportunity and thrust his spear into the throat of the Eight Banners soldier. The soldier widened his eyes, groaned in pain, and fell to the ground.

At this point, no one in the Qing army was left standing. This surprise attack was truly the biggest victory for the scouts in the nearly four years since their establishment. They defeated the enemy with a smaller force and wiped out all the enemy troops without losing a single person.

Li He panted and said, "See if there are any alive."

"There's one here who's not dead yet!"

Upon hearing this, Li He immediately squatted beside the Qing soldier. He saw that the man was stabbed in the waist with blood gushing out. Li He hurriedly said, "Tell me quickly, how many Qing soldiers are there in Daye City? Who is the commander? Tell me quickly, and I will find a doctor for you right away."

The Qing soldier stared at Li He with his eyes wide open, and kept making sounds like “Ouch, it hurts… Ouch, it hurts… Ouch…”

Chen Shan took a closer look, shook his head and said to Li He: "It's hopeless. The spearhead pierced too deep and the bleeding can't be stopped."

As soon as Chen Shan finished speaking, the light in the eyes of the Qing army suddenly dimmed. Li He cursed inwardly when he saw this and had to go to Daye City to investigate.

Several people stripped the clothes and armor of the five dead Qing soldiers, chopped off their heads, and buried the headless bodies on the spot. Then, in the envious eyes of several people, Li He happily put on the chain mail on himself.

Li He looked at the five extra horses, some cotton armor, bows and arrows, spears and swords, and hesitated for a moment before saying, "With so many things, we should go back first, report our military exploits, and bring all the horses back!"

Several people agreed.

……

Huguang, outside Jiujiang city.

At this time, outside the city of Jiujiang, there were camps all over the field, and countless Zhou soldiers were coming in and out.

This year was the year when Meng Jun gained the most. He killed Lekedehun, forced Hong Chengchou to death, captured Nanjing, defeated Jin Shenghuan, and took over Jiangxi.

The battle to take over Jiangxi was quite easy for Zhou's army, and they took it with almost no casualties.

After the battle of Jiangxi, except for a small number of soldiers who participated in some small-scale wars, most of the soldiers had rested for a long time.

Meng Jun now has a large number of soldiers and horses, strong and healthy soldiers, and high morale, which is enough for a battle.

In order to support the army's westward expedition to Huguang, the gentry and merchants in the Jiangnan region gave unprecedented support. After Yang Enlai wrote a letter saying that the treasury could not support the army for a long time, Meng Jun used newspapers to publicize the atrocities of the Qing army's massacre, saying that if the enemy army could not be expelled, the land of Jiangnan would eventually become a wasteland.

This is no longer considered a smear. In those days, no one would doubt the Qing army if anything bad was blamed on them, not to mention the countless incidents of the Qing army massacring cities and killing civilians in Jiangnan.

Therefore, under the appeal of newspapers, the theory of the Qing army threat was widely promoted. When it was said that the army was short of rations, the gentry, wealthy merchants and businessmen generously donated money and provided unprecedented support for Zhou's army's westward expedition.

On the banks of the Yangtze River, countless laborers pulled the oars, heading to Jiujiang in an endless stream from morning to night. Cargo ships carrying food, fodder and military equipment lined the river all day long.

The Zhou army can be said to have sent out all its elite troops this time, including infantry, musketeers, and cavalry. If we add Zheng's navy and Li Dingguo's troops, the total number is close to 300,000. If we include the civilian laborers and able-bodied men who provide logistics support, there are at least more than 500,000 people participating in the Western Expedition to Huguang.

In the Zhou army camp.

In five days, it will be New Year's Eve. Meng Jun has arrived in Jiujiang for more than ten days. As usual, Meng Jun decided to spend the upcoming New Year in the army.

In the Chinese military tent.

Meng Jun stroked his short beard and asked in a deep voice, "Is the King of Jin coming soon?"

Meng Bian nodded and said, "It's almost time, my king. A pigeon came this morning to report that the King of Jin has arrived in Nanchang and will be able to reach Jiujiang before New Year's Eve."

Meng Jun nodded. In recent days, the vanguard has entered Yangxin County. Intelligence from various sources has shown that the armies of Duoduo and Baiyintu are already very close to Huguang.

At this time, Meng Bian said: "Duoduo came quickly, but my king, there is a secret letter from Baiyintu's army, saying that Duoduo ordered Baiyintu's troops to move to Jingzhou, and his intention is unclear."

"If the Baiyin map is moved to Jingzhou, it means that Duoduo wants to defeat the King of Jin's troops first. I'm afraid Duoduo does not want to fight a decisive battle in Wuchang." Meng Jun looked at the map and said in a deep voice.

Meng Bian also came forward to examine it carefully, and after a while he asked, "My lord, how should we deal with it?"

"Let him fight his battles and we fight our own. No matter whether Duoduo comes to Wuchang or not, after the New Year, we will surround Wuchang first." Meng Jun knocked on the map with his fist and said in a deep voice.

At this time, Gu Yanwu smiled and said, "If Your Majesty can defeat Duoduo in this battle, it will be like the powerful Qin defeating Zhao at Changping. From then on, the world will be determined!"

In the late Warring States period, the only major countries that had the opportunity to unify the world were Qin, Zhao, Chu and Qi. Qin used the strategy of making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby ones to stabilize Qi. After defeating Zhao and Chu by force, the trend of unifying the world and sweeping across the six countries was completely determined.

Today, the Qing, Zhou and Western forces have the opportunity to unify the world, while the Ming Dynasty court has long been a thing of the past and no one cares about it. Whether it is Sun Kewang, Zheng Chenggong, Meng Jun and others, they all turn a deaf ear to the court's will. If it is beneficial, it is fine, but if it is not, they will ignore it. If it is harmful to their side, they will regard it as a disorderly order.

As for Zheng Chenggong, Li Dingguo and others, they either had huge shortcomings or were simply not strong enough to participate in the fight for the world.