Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 264 Preparations for War (2)

On September 9th, the second year of the Yongli reign, in the city of Nanjing.

The Double Ninth Festival on September 9th is the best time to climb high and see far into the distance. Many poets left their famous poems on this day. Meng Jun stood in the attic on the second floor of the palace, silently looking at the rising sun in the east.

The morning breeze blew across his brows. Although he could not sleep last night, Meng Jun was not sleepy at all at this moment. The intelligence about Mao Xiang recorded by Meng Bian yesterday was delivered to Meng Jun overnight. As for the Qing court envoys, Meng Jun ordered that they should be expelled completely and that there would be no peace talks ever again.

In history, the main force of the Southern Ming's anti-Qing forces, in addition to Zheng Chenggong and the remnants of the Dashun Army, also included Li Dingguo's Dashi Army. Thinking of Li Dingguo, Meng Jun couldn't help but turn his head and look to the west, thinking to himself: "I don't know whether Li Dingguo will withdraw from Changsha. If he is defeated, I am afraid I will have to send troops. I must not let the Qing Dynasty seize Huguang and let it recuperate."

In Sichuan, the Ming general Yang Zhan was still fighting against the Qing Dynasty. In the first year of the Yongli reign, he defeated the Qing army in Ziyang and Jianzhou. In the second year of the Yongli reign, he was granted the title of Earl of Guangyuan, promoted to the position of governor-general, commander-in-chief of the Qin and Shu armies, and appointed as the Prince's tutor.

Yang Zhan was a military commander with great political talent. He sent people to Guizhou and other places to purchase food, arranged for soldiers to cultivate land, distributed relief to disaster victims, and distributed oxen and seeds to the people who returned to their hometowns to cultivate land. Many disaster victims took the initiative to go to western Sichuan, and Yang Zhan's territory soon achieved self-sufficiency in food, which was used to support the army.

The troops of Li Guoying and Wang Zuntan, who were left behind by Hauge in Sichuan, could only barely maintain northern Sichuan and were unable to attack southern Sichuan.

Wang Zuntan stationed a total of 5,000 troops in Guangyuan and Zhaohua, forming a pincer attack with the Qing army in Baoning. Baoning was the temporary capital of the Qing court in Sichuan, and it was also the residence of Sichuan Governor Li Guoying, Chengdu General Hui Yingzhao and others. Among them, Li Guoying had more than 2,000 green camp troops, and Hui Yingzhao had more than 1,600 troops. The main force of the Qing army in northern Sichuan was less than 10,000 people.

Yang Zhan's troops were also insufficient. He once tried to attack northern Sichuan, but was defeated. By the second year of the Yongli period, Yang Zhan's troops still had 5,000 soldiers. However, the Ming court still had several Ming generals in southern Sichuan, such as Yuan Tao, Wu Dading, Li Zhanchun, etc., each of whom had thousands of soldiers. The Ming and Qing sides were roughly the same in terms of military strength, and the Ming army even had more people.

It's not that the Qing government didn't want to send troops into Sichuan and wipe out the land in one fell swoop, but in Sichuan today, the people were even engaging in cannibalism. Outside the city, there was often no human habitation for dozens of miles. When the army entered Sichuan, there was no place to replenish food and fodder. When there were too many people, the food supply would be cut off.

Although there were not many main forces of the Qing army in Sichuan, the Qing army was powerful in Hanzhong because Dorgon had just transferred Wu Sangui to Hanzhong. The difference between Wu Sangui and other surrendered generals of the Ming Dynasty was that Wu Sangui still had an independent army. Therefore, at the beginning of entering the Pass, the Qing court showed favor to him on the outside but was suspicious of him inwardly and did not grant him power.

Politically, he was strictly guarded against, and militarily, he was only used to force him to lead troops to attack Li Zicheng. Until the first year of Longwu (1645), in August, when Meng Jun had just rebelled against the Qing Dynasty and Li Zicheng's main force was basically eliminated, Dorgon transferred him back from the front line and sent him to Jinzhou.

Wu Sangui was fully aware of Dorgon's arrangements. From then on, he never mentioned avenging his emperor and father again. Instead, he changed his stance, called Emperor Chongzhen his former master, and repeatedly submitted memorials to pledge his loyalty to the new dynasty.

It was not until the second year of the Yongli reign that the Qing government lost Jiangning and a large area of Jiangnan, and the situation changed drastically. Dorgon then transferred Wu Sangui into the pass and stationed him in Hanzhong together with the Eight Banners general Li Guohan. On the one hand, they wiped out the remaining anti-Qing forces in Hanzhong, and on the other hand, they advanced into Huguang or central Sichuan depending on the situation.

On the stage of the anti-Qing war, Meng Jun was not the only one playing the solo. Regardless of the north or south, the banner of resistance had not yet stopped. Meng Jun looked at the vigorous early sun and murmured to himself, "But I must be the leading actor."

After a while, Meng Jun put away his increasingly divergent thoughts, pinched his forehead, exhaled and said: "It's useless to think too much, I still have to take care of the present!"

Then Meng Jun turned around, went downstairs, mounted his horse, and galloped to Zhenjiang accompanied by his guards. He wanted to personally inspect the Yangtze River defense line and have a meeting with Shen Tingyang to see if he could gain control of the Yangtze River and completely annihilate Geng Zhongming's navy.

…………

Zhenjiang City.

Meng Jun personally inspected the Yangtze River defense, accompanied by Bai Yongfu and Gao Jinku. Meng Jun galloped on his horse and stopped at a fort. He then dismounted and walked to the wall in front of everyone's puzzled expressions. He drew out his sword and tried to chop it, leaving a white mark on the wall. Meng Jun smiled and asked, "How is the river defense? Has the Qing navy come to attack?"

Bai Yongfu replied, "Your Majesty, the Qing navy once tried to fire, and our army fired back, hitting the enemy ship. Then General Shen's navy came to help, and the two sides fought fiercely on the water for half a day, and the Qing army retreated."

Gao Jinku bowed his head and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, our morale is high and we must be on high alert. We dare not be negligent in the slightest and will not let the enemy army have any chance to take advantage of us!"

Hearing this, Meng Jun nodded, smiled slightly, and encouraged: "With unity, we can definitely resist the enemy. Having said that, we still cannot be careless. General Gao should be careful!"

Afterwards, Meng Jun climbed onto the artillery platform and looked at the vast river. He heard the biting wind and saw the river flowing eastward. Meng Jun thought to himself that if Geng Zhongming's troops could be completely defeated, it would be impossible for the Qing army to cross the river easily. He just didn't know if he could succeed if he ordered Shen Tingyang to attack Guazhou.

There is no such thing as a thief who can steal for a thousand days. If the Qing navy cannot be completely destroyed, not only will a large amount of military force be tied down on the Yangtze River line, but Meng Jun will also not be able to send troops to Huguang with peace of mind. Meng Jun is not very confident. Otherwise, if the army crosses the Yangtze River and defeats the Jiangbei camp, everything will be solved.

Thinking of this, Meng Jun instructed Bai Yongfu and Gao Jinku to strengthen their defenses and not take it lightly, and then urgently ordered Shen Tingyang to go to Zhenjiang for a meeting.

After returning to Zhenjiang City, Shen Tingyang did not come hurriedly until it was getting dark. Meng Jun had a meeting with Shen Tingyang in the city.

At the meeting, Meng Jun asked, "General Shen, I want to capture the Guazhou Fort and annihilate Geng Zhongming's navy. Do I have a chance of winning?"

Shen Tingyang pondered for a moment, frowned and replied: "My lord, the Guazhou Fort is strong and the Qing army is well defended. If we attack under the fort, I am afraid we will suffer heavy losses."

Meng Jun stood up and sighed, "I also know that a strong attack will cause great damage, but time is running out. If the army enters Huguang, the Qing army will choose a place to land upstream. With the enemy in front and back, the army will be in danger of being overturned overnight!"

Shen Tingyang hesitated for a long time before nodding and said in a deep voice, "My lord, please give me some time. I will definitely defeat Geng Zhongming!"