Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 277 Threat

In this era that makes later generations cover their faces and sigh, those who hold high positions, those who have integrity but are incompetent, such as Shi Kefa, Huang Daozhou, and He Tengjiao, are in a critical situation and have poor plans. When things come to an end, they can only die to repay their king. Apart from shocking people's hearts, they have made no contributions to the country or the people. Those who have no integrity, such as Hong Chengchou and Fan Wencheng, however, are capable of governing the country.

The fall of the Ming Dynasty and the rise of the Qing Dynasty were largely due to the completely different internal cohesion of the two dynasties.

Although there was competition within the Qing court, the pace of external policy was basically consistent under the leadership of Dorgon. In contrast, the emperors of the Southern Ming Dynasty were truly thundering and jaw-dropping.

Before the Qing army arrived, the rulers and ministers of the Southern Ming Dynasty either tried to protect themselves or fought among themselves. For example, in the struggle for the throne, there was first the dispute between Emperor Hongguang and Prince Lu over whether to establish a virtuous and close successor, then the open and secret struggles between Longwu and Prince Lu in Fujian and Zhejiang, and then the armed struggles between Emperor Yongli and Emperor Shaowu. However, all the disputes disappeared as soon as the Qing army arrived.

After the fall of Shaowu, Yongli had no one qualified to compete with him for the throne. The only pity is that now there is no one to compete, and the Ming Dynasty is almost destroyed by disasters. Looking across the south, perhaps there are still some Ming generals in Sichuan who are loyal to Yongli, but as for other places, the prestige of the Ming Dynasty has disappeared.

No matter how corrupt, laughable and despised the Qing Dynasty was in later generations, after entering the Pass, many kings were capable rulers, such as Huang Taiji, Dorgon, Kangxi and Yongzheng. If Hongguang had half of Huang Taiji's civil and military skills, and had controlled the Jiangnan area with abundant taxes, the Southern Ming Dynasty would not have been so rotten.

When the Qing army marched south of the Yangtze River, most of the resistance were grassroots, such as the ordinary people in Jiangyin and Jiading who were ordered to shave their heads, and the peasant armies such as the Western Army and the Shun Army who became the main force in the later anti-Qing war. Although they had hundreds of thousands of official troops on paper, most of them surrendered.

The total population of the Eight Banners that entered the Pass by the Qing Dynasty was no more than 100,000. Nearly 20,000 men of the Eight Banners were lost on the battlefields of Suzhou, Hangzhou, Qiantang River, Jinling City, and Dengwang Mountain. Almost one-fifth of the total force was lost at the hands of Meng Jun. The cost had far exceeded the psychological endurance of the Qing court's top leaders, which was why Dorgon finally canceled the shaving order again.

In spite of the heavy losses, Dorgon still ignored the opposition and ordered Duoduo to personally lead the southern expedition. Dorgon was extremely ambitious. He knew very well that if the Qing Dynasty dragged on, it would be unable to compare with the vast Central Plains with a small number of people facing a large family. If Meng Jun was allowed to gradually unify the south, regardless of the loss of taxes in Jiangnan and grain in Huguang, the Qing court would not be able to gain a foothold in the devastated north. By then, Meng Jun would have sufficient soldiers and food, and abundant firearms to march northward. I am afraid that the world that he had conquered with great difficulty would be handed over to others again.

In this battle, after Duoduo gathered the army, the number of people in the Eight Banners of Manchuria alone reached 40,000, plus the Eight Banners of Mongolia with more than 17,000 people, the Eight Banners of Han with more than 32,000 people, and the remaining Green Camp soldiers with 60,000 people. There was also Wu Sangui's Guanning soldiers, including infantry and cavalry, with a number of more than 30,000 people. This was Dorgon's national army, all entrusted to Duoduo. There were no more Eight Banners troops stationed in various parts of the north. For example, Taiyuan, which originally had 2,000 Eight Banners soldiers stationed there, returned to the capital after Duoduo went south to guard the imperial city.

This was Duoduo's second trip south. The first time, Duoduo had made great military achievements. He swept south of the Yangtze River quickly like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. This time, Duoduo was full of energy and vowed to wipe out villains like Meng Jun, Li Dingguo and others. During the march, Duoduo's messengers rushed out from time to time, strictly ordering Bai Yintu and Wu Sangui to make all preparations for crossing the river when he arrived in Jingzhou.

However, Bolo was uneasy. He wanted to give advice but was afraid of being laughed at. While Bolo was marching in confusion, the Qing army arrived in Xuchang. Just as the army was setting up camp to rest, a secret report came from Fujian.

This secret report made Duoduo, who was feeling somewhat comfortable, straighten up unconsciously and squint his eyes. Han Xiong, a general under Meng Jun stationed in Fujian, gathered the soldiers and generals. Officials and gentry at all levels in Fujian packed their bags. Some of them had already set off for Nanjing. At the end of the secret letter, this sentence was clearly written.

"The King of Zhou offered the land of Fujian as a reward and invited Zheng to send troops."

This made Duoduo somewhat uneasy. Meng Jun's navy was not strong, only twice as strong as the Qing navy in Guazhou. This navy was enough to protect Nanjing and shield the upstream and downstream of the Yangtze River, but it was obviously not enough to shield the Yangtze River waterway from Nanjing to Huguang and Chongqing.

But Zheng's navy was different. Taking the Guazhou navy as the measurement unit, considering the size and number of ships, the number of naval forces and their combat effectiveness, etc., it was at least ten times that of the Guazhou navy. With so many ships pouring into the Yangtze River and nearly 200,000 Qing troops, their food supply would definitely be unstable.

Just when Duoduo was feeling a little annoyed, Bolo asked to see him, and Duoduo signaled Gesha to let him in.

As soon as Bolo entered the tent, he bowed to Duoduo and said, "Your Majesty!"

"What's the matter?" Duoduo asked unhappily.

Bolo hesitated, but still said with determination: "Your Highness, when the army crosses the river, the Meng bandit will definitely join forces with the Li bandit to fight. Both Li and Meng are knowledgeable about military affairs and can use troops like their arms. Your Highness must not be careless."

Duoduo first uttered a low "hmm", then a series of rapid "coughs, coughs, coughs". Duoduo spat to the side and then said, "This king has been on the battlefield for more than ten years, how could I not know."

Then there were a few more coughing sounds, and Boro quickly advised: "Your Highness, please take care of yourself."

Duoduo waved his hand to indicate that it was okay, then waved to Bolo, picked up the secret letter and asked him to look at it.

Bolo was also shocked after seeing this, and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, if this is the case, the number of Meng's bandits has surpassed our army, and the biggest threat is the Zheng family's navy!"

"Yes, this is the only thing I am responsible for."

Bolo thought for a moment, then said to Duoduo: "Your Majesty, Zheng Zhilong is still in Beijing, maybe he can persuade Zheng Sen to surrender."

Duoduo shook his head and said bluntly: "Zheng Zhilong has already written no less than ten letters, but they have sunk into the sea and there is no news."

At this time, Bolo said in a cruel tone: "Then threaten, if Zheng Sen withdraws his troops, after the decisive battle in Huguang, he will return the Zheng family members. If he does not withdraw his troops, he will kill Zheng Zhilong and his relatives. I don't believe that Zheng Sen is so cruel that he would sit back and watch his father being killed!"