Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 185 Liu Guquan

On the way back, the Meng army soldiers who attacked the city gate walked listlessly, their morale was low. The surprise attack ended in failure, and the price was painful, with more than a thousand casualties, and only two survivors were left among the more than 70 people in the spy department who bravely captured the city gate - Sun Qi and Hu Tai.

Sun Qi walked silently in the middle of the team, his eyes full of fatigue and sadness. He thought of his brothers who had fought side by side with him but were now gone. Hu Tai followed beside Sun Qi, and he was also in a heavy mood.

Qian Biao also visited Huang Cheng on the way, but Huang Cheng just snorted and ignored him. Huang Cheng was full of disappointment in Qian Biao. This guy came too late! If he could arrive earlier, maybe he could capture Jiangning City in one fell swoop! What a pity, he missed such a great opportunity!

Seeing this, Qian Biao could not help but snort angrily, feeling that he was being looked down upon and ignored. So he ignored Huang Cheng and led his soldiers back to the camp.

And in Jiangning City.

Liu Guquan was born as a clerk, so he would never take up a sword in battle. He hid in a house not far from Dinghuai Gate. He lay on the wall and nervously watched the city gate. When the city gate opened, his hands trembled with excitement. But when the Qing army surrounded it, the warriors of the spy department fell one by one, and he panicked again. It was not until Huang Cheng led his troops to the city gate that he felt relieved and thought to himself: "It's stable. The great achievement is in hand."

Liu Guquan was already imagining what he would be like as the Prime Minister, and a smile appeared on his lips unconsciously. Unfortunately, the transition from heaven to hell came too quickly. As the Qing army pulled out the artillery and the Meng army retreated from the city gate, Liu Guquan was stunned. They couldn't even break into the city!

The next morning, the Qing army cleaned up the battlefield. Hong Chengchou was determined to thoroughly investigate the Meng army spies still hiding in Jiangning City. Afterwards, all the bodies of the spies were picked out.

What worried Hong Chengchou was not only the spies planted by Meng's army in Jiangning City. After the Battle of Dinghuai Gate, the rift between the Green Camp soldiers and the Eight Banners became increasingly larger. Especially after Tian Xiong's death, his subordinates all believed that Tian Xiong was killed by the Eight Banners, and his troops were controlled by Tian Xiong's general Wu Tiao. For a time, Hong Chengchou was almost unable to breathe due to the large amount of affairs.

Liu Guquan saw that the situation was not good. It was definitely not safe near Dinghuai Gate, not to mention Yuhuchun Teahouse. Liu Guquan hid himself in a hurry. Now there was no need to think about restoring the intelligence network. The intelligence point set up by Meng Bian in Jiangning City had been completely paralyzed.

However, as Hong Chengchou was searching the entire city, the common people were reporting on each other, and those who did not report unfamiliar faces would be guilty of the same crime. Liu Guquan was forced into a corner. How could he deal with his neighbors every day in the small house he bought? It would definitely be unsafe for a long time.

Liu Guquan thought hard and realized that he could no longer hide in the small houses. His only option now was to hide in the homes of officials and gentry. But who would be willing to take him in and risk being beheaded?

Liu Guquan suddenly had an idea. He made up his mind, disguised himself simply, and went to Qian Qianyi's house. When Liu Guquan arrived at the door, he was a little hesitant. Just as he was hesitating, the Qian family opened a side door, and several maids came out, along with a woman who looked like a noble lady.

Liu Guquan's eyes lit up and he hurried forward. The woman was Liu Rushi. She frowned and looked at the man who stopped her.

The maid beside him hurried forward and said, "What do you want to do? This is the Qian Mansion."

Liu Guquan glanced at Liu Rushi, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Madam Qian, can I have a word with you? Don't worry, just a few words."

Seeing the man's haggard face, Liu Rushi hesitated for a moment, nodded slowly, and then asked the maid to walk away a little. Under the nervous gaze of several maids, Liu Guquan whispered: "Madam, can you save my life?"

Liu Guquan's visit to Liu Rushi was not a casual one, of course. He had heard from Gu Qingmei that Liu Rushi had great righteousness in her heart, so Liu Guquan came to find Liu Rushi. Moreover, Qian Qianyi's reputation was so high that even the Qing court despised him and ignored him when recruiting scholars from Jiangnan. But after all, he was a famous scholar in Jiangnan. If he could hide in Qian's house, he would be safe.

Liu Rushi frowned upon hearing this and said, "You and I are strangers, why should I save you? If you are in trouble, you can seek help from the government, why do you need to ask a woman like me?"

"I am in Jiangning City, and only my madam can save me. Miss Gu once said that Madam Qian is a man of great righteousness and will never fail to help a righteous man in trouble," Liu Guquan said in a low voice.

Then Liu Guquan hinted: "Dinghuai Gate last night..."

Liu Rushi was startled. She asked in a low voice, "Which Miss Gu?"

"Gu Qingmei, Miss Gu"

"Come with me into the mansion. From now on, you will be the gardener of my Qian Mansion. You just need to stay in the mansion to take care of the flowers and plants," Liu Rushi said quickly.

Liu Guquan breathed a sigh of relief. When he entered the Qian Mansion, he glanced at the street outside and thought to himself, "Sir Meng, the next time we meet, I will have to ask the Grand Commander to break through Jiangning City."

Meng army camp.

Inside the Chinese army's tent.

Meng Jun watched the medical officer bandaging Huang Cheng's wound in circles. After listening to what Huang Cheng and Qian Biao said, Meng Jun sighed: "Man proposes, God disposes. In the world, how can everything go as planned?"

Meng Jun then called a meeting of the generals. Lin Shiqi urged the army to retreat to Zhenjiang first. He said urgently: "Commander-in-chief, since the surprise attack on the city gate has failed, the morale has been damaged. We can withdraw to Zhenjiang, replenish medicine and wait for Leke Dehun to attack."

"I think we should surround Jiangning City first, and then send the army forward to defeat Lekedehun. If we can defeat him, we can use the momentum of the great victory to defeat Jiangning City. Wouldn't it be easy?" Zhao Yongping said in a deep voice.

Bai Yongfu shook his head and retorted, "Jiangning City is so huge, with 13 city gates alone. How can we besiege it? There are tens of thousands of troops in Jiangning City. If we leave too few soldiers, the siege will be a fake one. But if we leave too many soldiers, how can we defeat Lekedehun?"

"But if we retreat to Zhenjiang, what if Lekedehun doesn't come? Will we defend Jiangning City to the death?" Gu Yanwu, who was sitting nearby, asked.

"If Lekedehun doesn't move, we will attack other places, such as Jiangxi, or go south to Guangde Prefecture, Ningguo Prefecture, and Xuancheng Prefecture," Lin Shiqi replied.

Wang Fugui also said: "Governor, if Leke Dehun's troops were to join the Qing troops in Jiangning City, it would be difficult for our army to defeat them in a field battle with its current strength."

"We can fight," Huang Cheng's hoarse voice came at this time, and he continued: "The Eight Banners are no longer the Eight Banners in Liaodong. Last night, the Eight Banners attacked the city gate at night, and their combat effectiveness has declined greatly. If the Tartars hadn't pulled out their artillery and bombed indiscriminately, if it hadn't dragged on, we would have been able to break the city."

After the discussion, most of the generals agreed to retreat to Zhenjiang, but Qian Biao remained silent. When asked by Meng Jun, he paused for a moment before saying, "Commander-in-chief, we still want to attack Jiangning!"