Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 101 King Lu sends troops

On February 6, the third year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, Prince of Lu Zhu Yihai swore an oath in Zhoushan. At the oath-taking meeting, he expressed to the soldiers his determination to rule the country and not to be content with a half-hearted war. At the same time, he widely issued proclamations, calling on the gentry and people of Zhejiang to rise up, create a great cause together, and restore the country. The next day, Prince of Lu sent out 20,000 navy troops and 30,000 infantry troops from Zhoushan, a total of 50,000 troops, and more than 20,000 civilian men and women. The navy was led by Shen Tingyang, and Song Zhipu was also the navy supervisor. The infantry was led by Wang Zhiren, and the supervisor was Zhu Dadian. At the same time, Prince of Lu decided to lead the army himself, and the royal flag was erected on Shen Tingyang's main ship. Zhang Guowei, Zhang Huangyan, Qian Sule, Zheng Zunqian and other cabinet members and a large number of civil servants all accompanied him. Prince of Lu said, "If I fail, I will die. I will serve the country with my body and have no thought of living in vain."

At the same time, many officials from Zhejiang were sent back to various parts of Zhejiang by Zhu Yihai to call on the people to revolt. Prior to this, Zhu Yihai had sent Xiong Rulin to Hangzhou to confer Meng Jun the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, and promoted him to the rank of Guanglu Dafu, and appointed him as General Fengguo. At the same time, he appointed Xiong Rulin as the military supervisor of Meng Jun. Although Meng Jun was unhappy about this, he did not refute it much at this difficult time.

Xiong Ruolin, courtesy name Yuyin, was a native of Yuyao County, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. He became a Jinshi in the fourth year of Chongzhen and was appointed magistrate of Tongan. During his tenure, he led troops across the sea and defeated the Dutch in Xiamen. In the tenth year of Chongzhen, he was promoted to the position of Jieshi Zhong of the Household Department. Xiong Ruolin repeatedly wrote letters to the emperor to make remonstrations, which made Emperor Chongzhen extremely annoyed. He demoted him to the position of Zhaomo of the Fujian Censorate on the pretext of something - a minor official who checked the papers during the imperial examinations.

In the 17th year of Chongzhen, the Qing army entered the pass and the Southern Ming Hongguang Dynasty re-employed Xiong Ruolin. After the demise of the Hongguang regime, in June, Xiong Ruolin joined forces with Sun Jiaji to raise an army in Yuyao County, and then welcomed Lu Wang Zhu Yihai to Shaoxing, promoted him to the Minister of War, and granted him the title of Dongge Grand Secretary.

Then Xiong Ruolin said that the regent wanted to contact Meng Jun to attack Bolo together. This made Meng Jun overjoyed. Meng Jun originally wanted to have Prince Lu's troops land in Jiading, join the navy, and march straight to Shaoxing. However, Prince Lu had no intention of this. He just hoped that Meng Jun would lead his troops to contain Bolo, and after the Lu army recovered Zhejiang, they would attack Bolo together.

Meng Jun urged him, "Master Xiong, how can Bolo watch the Regent attack the cities in Zhejiang one by one? If Bolo attacks from behind during the siege, the consequences will be disastrous. The defeat of the Loyalty Camp in Jingzhou was caused by Lekedehun's surprise attack from behind. Your Highness, how can you not notice this?"

Xiong Ruolin sighed and said, "General Meng is a good general. He has defeated the Tartar army several times. Ruolin admires him very much. Today, the national affairs are getting more and more difficult. Your Highness the Regent is determined to make progress. It is not difficult to recover Zhejiang. The only thing to worry about is Bolo. According to the opinions of the cabinet ministers, I hope General Meng can contain Bolo's troops. When Zhejiang is secured, the two armies will join forces to attack Bolo. General, don't worry, just contain them."

Meng Jun tried his best to persuade him for a long time, but finally gave up helplessly. Then Xiong Ruolin urged Meng Jun to send troops immediately to threaten Shaoxing City. However, Meng Jun made an excuse that his army was not fully prepared and could not act easily.

At night, in the military camp, inside the big tent.

Meng Jun, Yang En, Han Xiong and Meng Bizhi were a little drunk. Since the King of Lu had sent a military supervisor, they should still give him face no matter what they did behind the scenes. Meng Jun and others held a welcoming banquet to entertain Xiong Ruolin, who was just one person. Meng Jun and others took turns to toast him and soon fell drunk. After the banquet, Meng Jun returned to the camp and motioned for them to go into the tent.

As soon as he sat down, Meng Jun spoke first, "The Regent has sent a military supervisor here. What do you think?"

The scene was a little silent for a moment. After a moment, Yang En said, "Governor, no matter how nicely this Scholar Xiong speaks, the King of Lu wants us to face Bolo's troops in the front so that he can take the opportunity to retake Zhejiang." After saying this, Yang En sat down angrily.

"Yes, they asked us to besiege Shaoxing, which is just asking us to cross the river. It seems that they do the good things and we do the hard things." Meng Bizhi was also a little indignant.

However, Han Xiong was not afraid at all, and said in a firm tone, "We have been preparing to compete with Bolo. If we rely on others for everything, how can we accomplish something earth-shattering? If King Lu wants to come, it's fine. If not, we will fight on our own."

Meng Jun pondered for a long time, then nodded slowly and said, "Then let's fight. Didn't the regent send out troops on the tenth day? Let him fight first and see how Bolo moves."

On the tenth day, Zhu Yihai officially dispatched his troops, with 50,000 troops by sea and 20,000 able-bodied men, claiming to have an army of 150,000. The troops set out from Ningbo. When the army arrived in Ningbo, the Ningbo prefect Qi Yin hurriedly raised the Ming flag, put on Ming official uniforms, and went out of the city for dozens of miles to welcome Prince Lu as regent.

In Yin County, Cixi County, Fenghua County, Dinghai County, and Xiangshan County under the jurisdiction of Ningbo Prefecture, the situation changed drastically at once, and they all raised the flags of the Ming Dynasty again on the city walls.

The more distant Taizhou Prefecture was also ready to make a move, and there were countless attempts to collude with each other. The news soon reached the Bolo army stationed in Shaoxing.

At this time, there were still 17,000 elite soldiers of the Plain Blue Banner, 10,000 soldiers of the Mongolian Bordered Blue Banner, and 20,000 soldiers of the Green Camp under Fang Guoan in the Bolo army. When they swept Zhejiang, they recruited and surrendered Ming troops from all over the country, totaling 30,000 people.

Bolo looked at the military report and sneered angrily, "You are really two-faced. When you capture Ningbo again, hum hum hum..."

Bai Yingtu stepped forward and said, "General, Meng Jun in Hangzhou seems to have made some unusual moves. What should our army do now?"

"Both sides took action almost at the same time. They must have communicated with each other. They want to surround and kill my Qing soldiers. It's a joke. How should I choose? Zhu Yihai's troops are as vulnerable as pigs and dogs. Is it worth my worry? Tu Lai..." Bolo looked at the military newspaper, frowned, and gave a loud order.

"I am here," Tulai hurried forward.

"You lead 5,000 Manchu cavalry, 5,000 Mongolian Bordered Blue Banner soldiers, and 2,000 cavalrymen of Li Chengdong's army in Shaoxing city, a total of 12,000 people. Can you defeat Zhu Yihai?" Bolo asked in a questioning tone.

"If I lose, please chop off my head," Tulai said firmly.

"Oh, two-pronged attack." Bolo sneered, and then said, "Let's see who can hold me in the pincer attack."

……

"Governor, the city of Hangzhou is too close to the Qiantang River. It will be difficult to set up the battlefield here," Han Xiong said with a frown.

Meng Jun was also a little worried. Bolo was not a fool. He would not cross the river even if he got kicked in the head by a donkey. Looking at the river, Meng Jun said, "Let's go ahead and take a look."

After that, everyone rode their horses further south.