Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 460: Changes in Yunnan (1)

After Zhao Yongping captured Shanhaiguan, he immediately repaired the city and sent a fast horse to report to Meng Jun, saying: "We lived up to expectations. After more than ten days of bloody battles, we finally captured Shanhaiguan City!"

In this battle, Zhao Yongping injured more than 12,000 people, including more than 4,000 seriously injured and 10,000 killed. After this battle, many towns were damaged. Before receiving the next order from Meng Jun, Zhao Yongping stopped at Shanhaiguan. For a time, the war between Zhou and Qing, which had lasted for several years, finally came to a temporary end.

Meng Jun did not intend to attack the large number of fortresses built by the Ming court in the Liaoxi Corridor one by one. That would be time-consuming and laborious, and would be a replica of Shanhaiguan.

Shanhaiguan finally belonged to Zhou's army. Meng Jun couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. This victory was of great significance to Zhou's army. It meant that the Qing court could no longer easily enter northern Zhili. If they wanted to come in, they had to fight to the death at the pass before they could enter the pass with confidence. Although the losses in the battle of Shanhaiguan were heavy, from a strategic perspective, the price was worth it.

After capturing Shanhaiguan, Meng Jun did not immediately send troops south. Instead, he stationed troops along the Great Wall to form a defense system.

Shortly after the Battle of Shanhaiguan ended, Zhou Zhuo and Chen Ao of the Qingluan Guard had already arrived in Kunming City.

At this time, the city of Kunming was not peaceful at all as it was the rear base. The people in the city were in panic, and an extremely strong atmosphere of unease was spreading in the city. Rumors were spreading in the city, but the government only posted a notice to reassure the people that the Wu bandits would never approach Kunming.

However, no one in the city believed such a notice. Zhou Zhuo, Chen Ao and others secretly contacted many censors and asked them to write a letter to impeach Liu Wenxiu, saying that Liu Wenxiu had suffered a defeat and lost his army. They also asked Li Dingguo to send troops as soon as possible to eliminate the threat from Wu Sangui.

Just when the entire Kunming court was in chaos, Meng Bian arrived in Kunming City.

At this time, Wu Sangui was confronting Li Dingguo in the Dongchuan Prefecture. After Wu Sangui defeated Liu Wenxiu, he recruited surrendered soldiers and drew troops from the rear. Wu's army now had more than 73,000 cavalry and infantry.

Li Dingguo had only 47,000 soldiers. At the same time, because of Sun Kewang's defeat and departure, the Kunming court discriminated against those generals who had been Sun Kewang's subordinates. Wu Sangui in Dongchuan had received no less than 20 secret letters, all of which revealed the intelligence of Li Dingguo's army and the secrets of the garrisons in various places.

The mountainous area of Yunnan has a complex terrain that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Wu Sangui, a northerner who had never been to Yunnan, had a thorough understanding of the terrain where the army was located thanks to the secret reports of Sun Kewang's former subordinates and the guidance of many local people.

During these days, although the armies of Wu and Li did not engage in a decisive battle, the two sides never stopped their probing attacks. They crossed mountains and ridges, attacked the enemy's food routes, raided the camps, harassed the enemy, and even poisoned the water sources. After a long period of probing, Li Dingguo was at a disadvantage most of the time.

Li Dingguo was extremely angry about this and said, "How can the Wu thieves walk in the mountains as if they were on flat ground? This is all the fault of the traitors!" What made Li Dingguo even more worried was that the army was still in Yunnan, but the supply of food, fodder, gunpowder and manpower in the rear was not as good as that of Wu Sangui's expedition.

Sun Kewang's departure led to the collapse of the camp system, and the disastrous consequences had begun to appear. Li Dingguo finally tasted the true meaning of poor logistical supply.

After learning that Meng Jun had captured Shanhaiguan, Wu Sangui felt extremely uneasy, especially after his trusted general Gao Qilong, who stayed in Xiangyang, secretly reported that Lin Shiqi had made some unusual movements in the Huguang area, and that Zhou's army had transferred troops from the five newly established garrisons to Lin Shiqi's command, and that all of these five garrison troops were equipped with firearms.

Faced with internal and external difficulties, Wu Sangui was undecided as to whether to return to defend or to make a desperate move and march south with all his strength to seize Yunnan.

His number one adviser, Fang Guangchen, urged Wu Sangui, saying: "Your Majesty, please do not change your mind every day. Now that the army has entered Yunnan, if we return to Xiangyang, all our efforts will be wasted!"

But Wu Sangui was worried that Meng Jun would take advantage of his main force in Yunnan to capture Xiangyang and Nanyang. Although Wu Sangui had already taken over Shaanxi, Hanzhong, Sichuan, these places had been in constant war from Chongzhen to the present. Xiangyang and Nanyang were relatively prosperous.

In this regard, Fang Guangchen suggested that an envoy be sent to pay tribute to Meng Jun. He said: "In ancient times, good planners often responded to situations with expediency and waited for opportunities to act. Now, although the Zhou army has occupied Shanhaiguan, it may not immediately plot against Xiangyang and Nanyang. Therefore, I have a plan that I would like to present to Your Majesty."

Wu Sangui asked excitedly: "Tingxian, please speak!"

Fang Guangchen bowed and replied, "Your Highness can send an envoy with a letter to King Zhou to show his obedience and submission. This is a delaying tactic. On the one hand, it can calm his heart and make him relax his vigilance. On the other hand, our army will have a good opportunity to reorganize the troops and take the southwest. Besides, Meng Jun has just captured Shanhaiguan and will be eager to stabilize the Great Wall defense line and consolidate his foundation. He may not have the intention to invade the south immediately. Wait until Your Highness occupies Yunnan and controls the throat, and then look at the situation and slowly plan to conquer the Plains. This is a long-term strategy."

Upon hearing this, Wu Sangui pondered for a long time. He thought Fang Guangchen's words did make sense, so he nodded and said, "Sir, your idea is brilliant. We'll do as you say and send an envoy to Meng Jun to show our obedience and buy time." After that, he summoned his confidants and secretly gave them the mission, ordering them to set off for Beijing as soon as possible to present a letter of surrender in order to delay the war.

Fang Guangchen felt relieved when he saw Wu Sangui adopt his strategy, and then advised: "This strategy may temporarily slow down the pace of Zhou's army's southward advance, but Your Majesty also needs to defeat Li Dingguo as soon as possible and control the Yongli court. In this way, the world still has a chance to turn around."

The armies of Li and Wu had been slowly testing each other in the beginning, but now both commanders were seeking a decisive battle. Li Dingguo was forced to make the decision due to logistical pressure, while Wu Sangui made the decision due to the changes in the world situation after Meng Jun captured Shanhaiguan.

The storm of mutual impeachment in the Kunming court also spread to Li Dingguo's army, and Emperor Yongli issued an edict to question Li Dingguo.

The imperial edict reads: "I live in the deep palace, but I am still worried. Thinking of the war, the safety of the country depends on the might of the King of Jin. I miss him day and night and hope that the King of Jin will get rid of the traitors as soon as possible to stabilize the country. However, there is a constant clamor in the court, saying that the King of Jin is slow to act, which has led to the Wu bandits approaching Kunjing. Although this may not be true, I am still worried."

Not only Wu Sangui was in trouble both internally and externally, but Li Dingguo was the same. He had the emperor's edict above and a shortage of military rations below. Especially now that Meng Jun had already controlled 60% of the world and the people in the Kunming court were in a state of disarray, Li Dingguo didn't know what would happen to the world in the future, but he still believed that only a big victory could boost the morale of the people across the world.