Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 346 Choice

Vanguard of the Loyal Battalion.

Hao Yongzhong moved cautiously towards Jingzhou City. Although the scouts had already arrived at the city, Bai Yintu was still in Jiangling area and there was no room for any carelessness.

It was not until the scouts approached cautiously that they discovered that the Qing army had already broken camp and set off. The suburbs of Jiangling were empty, leaving only the devastated place after the Qing army broke camp.

These scouts carefully surveyed the wheel tracks, horse hoof prints, horse manure, etc., and unanimously agreed that the Qing army was heading east, a direction far away from Jingzhou City.

The news was quickly passed back to the vanguard Hao Yongzhong. Upon receiving the news, Hao Yongzhong did not dare to neglect it and ordered scouts to investigate again and again. Until more and more news proved that Bai Yintu was really far away from Jingzhou, Hao Yongzhong urgently reported to the main force in the rear while leading his troops to rush to the city of Jingzhou.

Outside the western suburbs of Jingzhou.

Hao Yongzhong looked at Jingzhou City with high spirits and said to He Zhen beside him: "We failed to capture Jingzhou City last time. This time the Tartars have no reinforcements. It is easy for us to capture Jingzhou."

He Zhen also had a confident look on his face, but in his excitement, he still said, "We still have to be careful. What if the Tartars are trying to confuse us and attack us from behind? That would be disastrous."

Hearing the rumors of a sneak attack from behind, Hao Yongzhong could not help cursing: "It's all the fault of that old thief He, so hateful. Zheng Siwei, that dog thief, is also hateful. After I capture Jingzhou, I will definitely catch this dog thief and burn him to death!" After cursing, Hao Yongzhong immediately ordered his men to set up camp.

On March 2, the vanguard of the Loyalty Camp had been in the western suburbs of Jingzhou for three full days.

During these three days, the war seemed to be imminent, but Hao Yongzhong had not made any move to attack the city. He just kept building siege equipment and surrounding the four gates with soldiers. At the same time, he closely searched for the traces of the Qing army, especially the signs of Baiyintu's troops.

Zheng Siwei in the city was undecided. He wanted to defend the city, but was afraid that he could not do so. He wanted to lead his troops to break out, but was afraid of being punished by the Qing court. While he was struggling, on the afternoon of March 2, the main force of the Loyalty Camp officially arrived at the western suburbs of Jingzhou. Du Yinxi, Meng Hong, Liu Tichun, Li Laiheng, Wang Guangxing and other generals came in a mighty force.

Zheng Siwei missed the last chance to escape from Jingzhou City.

Meng Hong happily said to Du Yinxi: "Lord, Lin Tongzhen will lead the army ahead and will reach Jingzhou within three days. My king will also dispatch nearly a hundred large and small warships of the navy to rush to Jingzhou for assistance."

Du Yinxi stroked his beard and sighed in his heart. He never thought that he would be able to besiege Jingzhou City again in his lifetime.

Du Yinxi heard what Meng Hong said and replied, "I am very happy that the King of Zhou has sent troops to help. However, although Baiyintu has fled far away, our army has no artillery, so it is very inconvenient to attack the city. I wonder if the Zhou army's vanguard has brought red cannons?"

Meng Hong shook his head and said, "I haven't asked in detail, but Lin Tongzhen will arrive in three days."

Du Yinxi nodded and said nothing more.

After settling the army, Du Yinxi, Liu Tichun and a group of generals held a meeting that lasted two hours. In the end, they decided to besiege the city first, defend the camp, and wait for Lin Shiqi and Zhou Jun’s navy to arrive.

On the top of Jingzhou City, Zheng Siwei looked down from a high place. He looked at the crowd of people swarming like ants in the distance. Zheng Siwei looked tired. With only these few defenders, how could they hold the city without reinforcements?

After carefully thinking about what Li Qifeng had sent someone to say, Zheng Siwei finally understood. What Li Qifeng wanted to ask Prince Zheng to transfer him away was not about sending troops to rescue Jingzhou, which meant that Jingzhou City had been abandoned by the court.

Whenever he thought of this, Zheng Siwei couldn't help but curse: "What a bullshit battleground, you just give up without even trying to defend it!"

Zheng Siwei was already regretting it at this moment. If he had known this would happen, he should have ignored it and broken out of the city the day before. Even if the court blamed him, it would be a matter for the future. Now the Zhongzheng Camp was besieging the city.

Just when Zheng Siwei was in a state of panic, a large number of warships arrived on the river, carrying teams of soldiers with the Zhou army flags. At this point, Zheng Siwei's heart finally settled down. Everything he worried about became a reality. They joined forces with Zhou and besieged Jingzhou, and there was no more reinforcement for the city of Jingzhou.

After nightfall, Zheng Siwei sent a confidant and repeatedly instructed him to rush to the Zhou army's camp and not to go the wrong way.

Zheng Siwei knew that he could neither win the battle nor defend the city. He had no choice but to surrender if he wanted to survive. If the Zhou army had not come, he would have had no choice but to fight to the death with the Loyal Camp. Now that the Zhou army had come, he had a new choice. As if grasping the last straw, Zheng Siwei sent his confidants to the Zhou camp on the first day that Lin Shiqi arrived at the city of Jingzhou.

In Zheng Siwei's opinion, Jingzhou City is now a hot commodity. Both Shunze and Meng Jun want it. In this case, it is not excessive at all for him to exchange Jingzhou City for his life, as well as wealth and glory.

…………

In the Zhou army camp, Lin Shiqi was welcoming a guest, who was the current nominal leader of the Loyalty Camp, Liu Tichun.

There were only three people in the tent, Lin Shiqi, Liu Tichun, and Meng Hong.

Meng Hong introduced the two men. After the three chatted for a while, Liu Tichun pondered for a moment and said to Lin Shiqi: "The imperial court has fled to the western frontier. Now, in the world, only King Zhou is the backbone of the country. All the generals of my loyal camp have admired King Zhou for a long time!"

Lin Shiqi smiled and said, "General Liu said it well. I have heard from the king a long time ago that the King of Chong raised an army to comfort the people and punish the criminals. It was indeed a just act. When the Loyalty Camp was defeated in Jingzhou, the king was deeply saddened and angrily rebuked He Tengjiao, saying that the one who ruined the country was Tengjiao!"

Meng Hong also said, "As the saying goes, the world will eventually unite after a long period of division, and will eventually divide after a long period of unity. Now my king is unifying the country, and anyone with a discerning eye can see clearly that the imperial court has long lost its popularity and is corrupt. The Loyalty Camp suffered heavy losses in the past, all due to internal friction in the Ming court."

Liu Tichun nodded and was about to speak when a guard outside the tent whispered, "General, there is military intelligence!"

"Come in"

The guard lifted the curtain, walked closer, and bowed to Lin Shiqi and said, "General, someone is coming from the city!"

Lin Shiqi was stunned, but quickly reacted, nodded and said, "Bring him over."

After the guards left, Lin Shiqi said to Liu Tichun and Meng Hong, "You two can hide behind the screen first!"

…………

Liu Tichun and Meng Hong hid behind the screen, listening carefully to the conversation between Lin Shiqi and Zheng Siwei's confidants. The more they listened, the more frightened they felt.

"General, my general said that the lives of soldiers from both armies fighting on the battlefield are worthless. My general cannot bear to see this tragic scene, so he is willing to surrender Jingzhou City."

"Okay, that's great!" After a while, Lin Shiqi said, "I just don't know if General Zheng has any requests, but you can tell me!"

"General, my general does not ask for much. I just hope you can save my general's life. My general has been in the military for half his life and is tired of fighting. I would like to ask His Royal Highness King Zhou to grant me a house in Jinling City and ask you to use a ship to transport all my general's property in Jingzhou City to Jinling. Apart from that, I have no other requests!"

"Okay, I agree!"