Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 536 The end of the road (Part )

After Zhao Yongping sent away Mao Xiang, Chang Yuanding, and some officials who proved that they were appointed by the Qingluan Guard, he moved all the remaining Han officials to Shenyang to await the court's arrangements.

Zhao Yongping focused his attention on Bolo, Bumbutai and Fulin. Zhao Yongping originally wanted to use a steady blockade strategy to trap and kill all the remaining forces of the Qing court in the vast mountains.

However, Zhao Yongping thought that they were just a group of barbaric Rakshasas, but they actually went south from the upper reaches of the Longjiang River and swept through more than a dozen Jurchen tribes that were unwilling to surrender, including the tribes that clearly surrendered to the Qian Dynasty.

For Zhao Yongping, the actions of the Russians were a blatant slap in the face of the Qian army. Now the army was still outside the Great Wall, and the Russians were so arrogant. According to some Jurchen tribes who escaped, they had already made it clear that they belonged to the Qian Dynasty, but the Russians turned a deaf ear to them and showed no mercy.

When Meng Jun was still outside the Great Wall, he once told Zhao Yongping that Russia was a huge country whose king was extremely greedy for land and had destroyed the Golden Horde. Its military strength should not be underestimated. It was just that the area outside the Great Wall was too far away from its core area, and it was unable to deploy its troops.

Zhao Yongping nodded repeatedly when he heard it, but in his heart, he still disagreed. However, he did not expect that the emperor's words would actually come true. With the force of a thousand or so people, Rakshasa actually dared to go south.

Zhao Yongping frowned. The originally formulated strategic deployment might become inappropriate because of this unexpected episode. The Qian army had more than 80,000 troops outside the Great Wall, which was more than enough to deal with the Qing army and the Russians.

Just for Zhao Yongping's blockade strategy, 80,000 troops have been scattered at various exits. Zhao Yongping is worried that the southward advance of the Russians will cause loopholes in the blockade strategy.

Zhao Yongping immediately summoned the generals to analyze the Russians' motives and discuss countermeasures. All the generals agreed that the Russians were just a minor threat and the army's attention should still be focused on the Qing court. To deal with the Russians, either Mongolian soldiers or a small force of two to three thousand people should be sent to meet them.

All the generals said that General Zhao was worrying too much. How could such a small number of Russians affect the overall trend of destroying the Qing Dynasty? From what the generals said, Zhao Yongping also felt that he might have been influenced by the emperor and was overly worried about the Russians.

But the Russians could not be ignored, so Zhao Yongping ordered the Cavalry General Liu Kun to lead a thousand cavalrymen, and the Qianzong Huang Sheng to lead a thousand musketeers and a total of 2,000 cavalry and infantry to fight the Russians.

At the same time, in order to be on the safe side, Zhao Yongping sent messengers to contact the Jurchen tribes and ordered them to send out able-bodied men to assist the Qian army in the battle.

With so many tribes, they can at least gather a few thousand people. In this way, the Qian army has cavalry, infantry, firearms, and cold weapon infantry from various Jurchen tribes. With such a big advantage, Zhao Yongping feels that the advantage is on my side!

Just when the blockade of the Qian army became increasingly tight, the confidant sent by Bumbutai finally met the Qian army scout. This person was Bumbutai's confidant - Sumalagu.

Su Malagu and her three guards traveled all the way, hiding during the day and moving at night, for fear of being discovered by Bolo's subordinates, because they were carrying out a secret mission.

The Qian army scouts brought the four people into the camp, and after some careful inspection, they were allowed to meet Zhao Yongping. When Zhao Yongping heard that the Empress Dowager of the Qing court had sent someone to ask for a meeting, he felt very surprised.

Su Malagu looked solemn. As soon as they met, she spoke earnestly, "The Queen Mother knows that it is difficult to defy fate and the general trend. She is willing to set an example and lead the people to submit to the Qian Dynasty. I only ask that you protect the Queen Mother and the young Lord Fulin and prevent them from suffering from the disaster of war."

Zhao Yongping was delighted after hearing this, and he immediately said, "If you are willing to surrender, I will definitely protect you and your child."

Su Malagu hesitated after hearing this. After a while, she kowtowed and asked, "We naturally believe in the Marshal's promise, but what if the Emperor of the Qian Dynasty breaks his promise?"

Zhao Yongping smiled coldly and said, "At this point, if you don't surrender, I will just have to waste some time. If you surrender with your entire family, Your Majesty will surely be lenient. But if you surrender only when you are at your wit's end, you will all be chopped into pieces and it will be too late to regret!"

Su Malagu felt sad when she heard this. Yes, now the Queen Mother was begging them to surrender. If they didn't surrender now and really followed Bolo to the end, the final outcome would definitely be a tragedy. Fulin had not yet taken power, but he had to bear the consequences for the destruction of the Qing Dynasty.

Upon hearing this, Su Malagu bowed deeply and said, "I hope the Marshal will keep his promise and protect the young master and the Queen Mother. I also ask the Marshal to suspend the use of troops. When I return, I will definitely have good news for you!"

Zhao Yongping thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. Anyway, the main strategy for now was blockade. The Qian army would not rashly enter the mountain unless they were absolutely sure. Then the two of them discussed for a long time, including a series of issues such as the treatment and resettlement of the tribesmen after their surrender.

When Su Malagu left, she looked back at the Qian army camp with mixed feelings. She didn't know whether the Queen Mother's choice was right or wrong!

After Sumalagu went back, Bumbutai stayed awake for two whole days and nights. She didn't know whether her decision was right, but she knew that if she didn't make up her mind, the lives of her and her son would be in danger.

After reaching an agreement with Zhao Yongping on surrender, Bumbutai summoned Bolo again, trying to retain the last pillar of the Qing Dynasty.

Inside the big tent, the candlelight flickered and the atmosphere was heavy. Bumbutai tried to persuade them gently, while Bolo stood below with complex emotions in his eyes. As he listened to Bumbutai's words, endless sorrow welled up in his heart.

The former glory of the Qing Dynasty seemed to be just a dream. Now even the Queen Mother wanted to surrender. This time, Bolo could clearly feel that the Queen Mother really wanted to surrender, instead of hesitating.

Facing the Queen Mother's personal persuasion to surrender, Bolo shook his head firmly, his voice hoarse: "The Qing Dynasty still exists, how can we surrender so easily!"

Upon hearing this, Bumbutai's eyes turned slightly red, knowing that he had made up his mind. Helplessly, he sighed softly and turned to signal his confidant. In an instant, the guards around them slowly approached, and the situation was tense.

Bolo looked around and suddenly burst into laughter, his laughter was full of sadness. He didn't expect that the person he tried his best to protect wanted him dead in the end.

Bumbutai had a complicated look in her eyes, but she didn't want to kill Bolo. She just wanted to control Bolo and capture all the generals in the army who were determined to resist. As long as she controlled the army, the overall situation would be settled.

Bumbutai said slowly: "Prince Duan, his behavior is not in accordance with the law, arrest him and imprison him in the tent!"

Bolo was filled with grief and indignation. He looked at the guards surrounding him, howled to the sky, and shouted in despair: "Qing Dynasty, Qing Dynasty!!!"

(I wanted to write about some battle scenes, but then I thought about it and felt that the Qing Dynasty was at the end of its rope, so I won’t write about the details of the battle.)