readsfreenovel Chapter 24 Aftermath 1
Chapter 24 Aftermath 1
The sun rose, and the sunlight spread to the ground, illuminating the earth with a golden color. There was a fierce fighting outside the city all night, and the shouting and killing were deafening. The noise was so loud that the people in Suzhou city almost couldn't sleep all night.
There were crowds of people outside the wilderness. Thousands of Green Camp soldiers of the Qing army were detained in several places. They were squatting on the ground with their heads down. Some soldiers looked at the surrounding rebels in panic. The rebel soldiers held long spears and vigilantly guarded the prisoners. Although the armor and weapons of the Qing army had been confiscated, the sight of so many people gathered together still made the soldiers a little nervous.
The city's yamen runners and civilians were cleaning up the corpses outside the city. The bloody scene made almost all the civilians vomit. The corpses had only been left outside the city for two or three days and had already given off a faint smell of decay. If they were not cleaned up quickly, there was a fear that an epidemic would break out.
In the meeting hall in the Suzhou lobby, Meng Jun was discussing the aftermath with everyone, the most important of which was how to deal with the Green Camp prisoners.
"Commander-in-chief, there are so many people. We can't kill them, and we can't let them go. We can't keep them alive forever," Meng Bizhi said worriedly.
Lin Shiqi said with murderous intent on his face, "These people have basically participated in the Jiading Massacre, and their hands are stained with blood. If it were me, I would kill one out of ten, and put the rest into the Death Squadron, and they will be the vanguard in every battle, and we'll put an end to it all."
This sentence shocked everyone and they were speechless for a while. After a while, Zhang Shun murmured, "This is seven or eight thousand people. How much sin must have been committed?"
Hearing this, Lin Shiqi glared at Zhang Shun and said, "Can't we just recruit them? These people are unreliable. Can you be sure they will turn against us?"
Meng Jun was also shocked after hearing this. This was cruel enough. However, if these prisoners were not handled properly and chaos broke out, the consequences would be disastrous. However, Meng Jun did not intend to do so. In troubled times, people were also resources. It would be a pity to kill them. If the entire battalion was to be replenished, on the one hand, it might bring a bad influence to the morale of the entire rebel army, and on the other hand, it would not be safe enough. Therefore, he had no choice but to disband them and incorporate them into the rebel army.
Meng Jun thought for a moment and said, "Behead all the officers above the rank of captain in the Green Camp. Those auxiliary soldiers who are willing to join our army can be accepted, and those who are not willing can be sent home. All the regular soldiers of the Green Camp will be forced to do labor, such as working in mines everywhere, repairing city walls, and wherever they are needed."
Lin Shiqi felt a little indignant after hearing this, but he did not object in the end. After this battle, Meng Jun's prestige in the army had become very high, and everyone agreed with Meng Jun's decision.
After talking about the captives, Meng Jun said to everyone, "Li Chengdong massacred the city of Jiading and committed many evil things. After we defeat him this time, it will surely boost the morale of the rebels in various places. Now that the siege of Suzhou City has been lifted, do you think that everything is fine and the war is over?"
"No, the war has just begun. In a few days, the news of the Suzhou battle will spread to Nanjing. The Qing Dynasty will definitely mobilize troops to attack. There is a large army left by the Qing army in Hangzhou to guard against the Ming army in Zhejiang. Li Chengdong was defeated this time, and the Qing army stationed in Hangzhou may attack. It will take less than ten days for the army to reach Suzhou from Hangzhou. In the north, there are cities occupied by the Qing army everywhere. We are surrounded by the enemy, and the situation is not optimistic."
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. The joy of the great victory was poured down like a bucket of cold water. In the hot weather, cold sweat still broke out on everyone's forehead.
Meng Jun went on to say, "Although we have won, the Qing army must not be underestimated. Think about it carefully. We have never fought the Qing army on the front battlefield. To be honest, none of us has commanded soldiers on a large-scale battlefield with tens of thousands of people. Therefore, we must conduct military exercises as soon as possible to train the command capabilities of officers. Although our army now has more than 10,000 people and 30,000 auxiliary troops, the auxiliary troops are incomplete in armor and their combat effectiveness is worrying. The majority of the regular army are recruits, and the training time is seriously insufficient. Just think about it. If we encounter the Qing cavalry in the plains, what a painful price we will pay."
Qian Biao wiped his sweat and said proudly, "Everyone is tying their heads to their belts, not afraid of death. So what if they are the elite of the Eight Banners? We have chopped them off before, and they still have a head on their shoulders. I don't believe they can still be alive after their heads are chopped off, hahahaha."
Qian Biao's heroic spirit infected everyone present. Seeing this, Meng Jun smiled and said, "That's right. Although the Eight Banners are very strong, we must have the courage to fight. No matter how powerful the enemy is, we have the courage to draw our swords."
After Meng Jun finished speaking, the depressing atmosphere in the whole place disappeared. Lin Shiqi also shook his head and sighed, "Ever since I rebelled against the Qing Dynasty with the governor, I have long been prepared to die. My parents died at the hands of the Eastern Tartars. I fought desperately for my comrades in the Guanning Army, but who would have thought that I would be the one to risk my life to save my brothers. Since then, I have left the border army and wandered all the way from the north to the south of the Yangtze River. I have fought against bandits, vagrants, Ming troops and Qing troops. I thought I would never be able to avenge my parents in this lifetime, until I met the governor."
It was the first time that Meng Jun heard Lin Shiqi talking about him. Usually, Lin Shiqi was serious and cold to everyone. He looked businesslike. Unexpectedly, he showed some emotion today. When everyone was talking, Meng Bian came in and whispered in Meng Jun's ear, "Commander-in-chief, Yang En is back."
After hearing this, Meng Jun asked the generals to leave first, and he asked Meng Bian to bring Yang En to the study.
"Governor..." Yang En shook his head with a haggard face and looked at Meng Jun.
Meng Jun was shocked. That wasn't right. Yang En's trip to Zhejiang to contact the Ming army should be a sure thing. He didn't ask too much of Yang En at the time. The main thing was to establish contact. As long as the Ming army in Zhejiang were not stupid, they would know that I could greatly contain the Qing army in Jiangnan in Suzhou. Helping Meng Jun would be helping themselves. Besides, he didn't want the Ming army to send troops to attack Hangzhou. He just wanted them to support him with weapons, armor, gunpowder, etc. If that didn't work, they could buy them. If they could send troops to contain the Qing army, that would be even better. Why was Yang En like this about such a simple thing?
Thinking of this, Meng Jun hurriedly asked, "Did Mu De meet the Prince of Lu who is the regent when he went to Shaoxing this time?"
"Forget about meeting the Regent, I didn't even get to see Fang Guoan and Sun Jiaji. I looked for ways everywhere and finally met Zhang Guowei. But he was very disdainful of us. He thought that we had shaved our heads and lacked integrity. Zhang Guowei even thought that Suzhou would never be able to be defended under the siege of Li Chengdong. Moreover, the Zhejiang faction was in trouble with the Emperor Longwu of Fujian. I heard that several battles had taken place at the junction of Zhejiang and Fujian. Most of the officials in Zhejiang had no time to pay attention to me. Only a guerrilla general, Zhang Mingzhen, was friendly to me. He said he would think of a way, but there was no news from him before I left." Yang En said depressedly while sitting in a chair.
Meng Jun was completely stunned after hearing this. Although he felt that the Southern Ming Dynasty had some flaws in history, he never expected it to be so flawed. The Qing army had a large number of troops in Hangzhou, and the Zhejiang officials had no idea how to resist. At this time, they were fighting with Fujian. They didn't even want such a good scapegoat like him who was standing at their doorstep. It really felt like he wanted to be treated like a dog with a bone, but people still despised him.
Meng Jun stood up and walked away with his hands behind his back. The more he walked, the angrier he became. He kicked the chair and angrily cursed, "What the hell are these? Are they all pigs?"