Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 423: Battle (1)

Meng Jun had 130,000 soldiers stationed in Dezhou, while Jiang Xiang had an army of 100,000 volunteers stationed in Hunyuan and Lingqiu areas. The two armies formed a pincer attack and were ready to attack the capital at any time.

Jiang Xiang claimed to have an army of 100,000 volunteers, but in reality, his total force was only about 50,000. The only troops capable of fighting were those left over from the Datong Town of the Ming Dynasty, which had only about 10,000 soldiers. The rest were the young and strong volunteers recruited by Jiang Xiang after he rebelled.

After Dorgon and Baiyintu jointly attacked Shanxi, Jiang Xiang was considered very capable with these troops. The two armies cooperated with each other and posed a great threat to the capital.

In the Forbidden City, the magnificent palace was shrouded in a haze, as if Li Zicheng had attacked Beijing in the past. The approaching armies of Meng Jun and Jiang Xiang made the families of the Eight Banners in the capital panic.

Among the families of the Eight Banners, many have begun to exchange their houses, furniture and some items that are difficult to move for valuables and other items that are easier to carry. However, in this environment, the price of houses changes every day, and the price of land and houses keeps falling. But even so, there are still few buyers.

However, Lu Ping realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He used the 400 taels of silver he had saved to borrow money from Mao Xiang, Song Zhong and some people he knew in the capital. However, most of these people did not have much money, so after borrowing from everyone, he could only borrow 120 taels of silver in total.

More than five hundred taels could buy three houses in good locations in the capital city today. Lu Ping secretly calculated that when the situation was peaceful, he could sell them and the five hundred taels could turn into at least two thousand five hundred taels.

Thinking of this, Lu Ping couldn't stop smiling. Even though there was not much business in the store, it didn't affect his mood at all.

Some officials who have secretly defected to Zhou's army also realized that this is a business opportunity. However, when most people are selling their houses, if an official buys a house at this time, to put it nicely, it means that he has full confidence in the Qing Dynasty. To put it bluntly, this person may be ready to change allegiance. Otherwise, what is the point of purchasing a house now?

As for those officials who had secretly contacted Meng Jun or Qingluan Guard, they pretended to be worried about state affairs, but they were secretly happy in their hearts.

While Lu Ping was busy bargaining with the bannermen who wanted to sell their houses, Liu Guquan keenly discovered from the intelligence gathered by spies from all over northern Zhili that there was something wrong with the supply of grain and fodder in the Jizhou area.

Normally, the dispatch of such materials should follow fixed rules, but recent data has shown unusual fluctuations. The price of grain and fodder in the Jizhou area has risen, and even the surrounding cities have seen price increases to varying degrees. There is obviously some secret behind this.

Just as Liu Guquan was conducting an in-depth investigation, more accurate information came from a secret channel in Yutian County. Cheng He, the county magistrate who secretly defected to the Qingluan Guard, privately revealed that he had recently received a task from his superiors to requisition local fodder and grain.

This batch of grain and fodder needed to be transported to Zunhua. The official reason given was to provide logistical support to the army outside the Great Wall. However, Cheng He judged based on his years of experience and intuition that this matter was not that simple.

If supplies were to be replenished outside the Great Wall, it would be better to transport them to Shanhaiguan, which is closer to the outside of the Great Wall. Why would they be transported to Zunhua instead?

Cheng He's intelligence made Liu Guquan realize that the supply of grain and fodder in the Jizhou area was abnormal. Combined with the warning from the Yutian County Magistrate, the two probably meant that the 50,000 cavalrymen that Bolo had sent out of the pass were hiding in Zunhua City.

Liu Guquan then immediately sent some spies to infiltrate the area. At the same time, he also urgently informed Meng Jun that the Qing army still had 50,000 cavalry, who might be stationed in the Zunhua area.

………………

As night fell, the walls of the Forbidden City looked even more solemn in the moonlight. In the imperial study, Dorgon and Xiaozhuang sat opposite each other, talking about something.

There was a heated argument in the court today. Many people said that with these two attacks, the Qing Dynasty had little chance of winning. Moreover, Gao Jinku was still wreaking havoc outside the Great Wall. There were only 60,000 soldiers in the capital, so how could they stop him? It would be better to move all the people and wealth of Zhili to the outside of the Great Wall to avoid Meng Jun's troops.

Even Xiaozhuang was deeply worried about the future. Seeing Dorgon remained silent, Xiaozhuang's calm demeanor could no longer be maintained. She asked, "The Zhou army is coming aggressively. What exactly is the prince's plan?"

Dorgon looked up at Xiaozhuang and replied, "I want to send out all my troops to fight Meng Jun!"

Xiaozhuang frowned and said, "There are only 60,000 troops in the capital camp now, and the troops from Shanxi and Shandong combined have more than 300,000 troops. Isn't this a bit risky?"

Dorgon shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Where did the more than 300,000 people come from? Meng Jun in Shandong has at most 150,000 men under his command. As for Jiang Xiang's 100,000 men, they are all a bunch of rotten fish and shrimp with incomplete weapons and armor."

Seeing that Xiaozhuang was still worried, Dorgon smiled confidently and said, "Besides, who said that I only have 60,000 people!"

Xiaozhuang was quite smart and understood the situation immediately. She said, "Bolo didn't bring 50,000 cavalrymen, so will something happen outside the Great Wall?"

"No, Gao Jinku outside the pass is just a detachment. I have made all the necessary preparations."

Hearing this, Xiaozhuang nodded, and the uneasy mood in her heart eased a little. She sighed and said, "The Qing Dynasty is entrusted to the hands of the prince. I hope that the heaven will protect you and help the Qing Dynasty to wipe out the bandits!"

………………

Texas City.

Meng Jun sat in the study, frowning a little tiredly. It was dark and late at night, but there were still a pile of documents on his desk to read. For Zhou Jun, Meng Jun was like a moving center. Wherever he was, these documents would follow him.

Some of these official documents contained opinions from shogunate officials on how to handle government affairs, while others were important matters that were difficult to decide and required Meng Jun to make the final decision personally.

These official documents came from all directions, including military affairs, government affairs, reconnaissance reports from the Qingluan Guard, the dynamics of the leaders of various places in Jiangnan, handwritten letters from Lin Shiqi of the Huguang Camp, secret documents from Meng Bian of the Qingluan Guard, and some information about Wu Sangui, Li Chengdong, Zheng Chenggong and the Kunming court.

In order to truly have a broad mind and insight into the situation, these documents collected from all over the world must be read carefully.

In addition to these official documents, there are also personal letters from Xia Wanchun of the Wuhu Experimental Base. Meng Jun often discusses with him, and some technical improvements also require correspondence and consultation with Xia Wanchun.

In each letter, Xia Wanchun recorded in detail the recent research progress of the experimental base, from improving the performance of firearms and gunpowder formula to developing cement, agricultural machinery, and even exploring the application possibilities of early steam power.

However, the world has not yet been pacified, so Meng Jun, from the perspective of war, asked Xia Wanchun to pay more attention to the research and development of firearms.

It is particularly worth mentioning that over the past three years, Xia Wanchun’s experimental base has made breakthroughs in gunpowder formula and gun barrel casting technology, which have greatly improved the power of Zhou Army’s gunpowder and the durability of the gun barrels.

In short, in one sentence, those who want to achieve great things not only need to have a far-sighted vision, but also need to have tremendous energy to handle all aspects of affairs.

Just as Meng Jun was immersed in the information described in these official documents, at this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps was heard outside the courtyard.