Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 369 Going North

Although the Yongli court officials did not have many troops under their direct control (basically none, just some palace guards, Jinyiwei, and the like), in name, Li Chengdong, Zheng Chenggong, and Li Dingguo all regarded them as the legitimate government. Once Meng Jun launched a large-scale northern expedition, if the Yongli court labeled Meng Jun a traitor, then the three Li and Zheng in the rear would see an opportunity and would inevitably send troops together to attack Meng Jun.

Therefore, after receiving news from both the north and the south, Meng Jun held several rounds of meetings in succession. The generals had different opinions on where to use troops. Some said to march north, some said to march south, and some even said to go to war simultaneously in the north and the south.

Although the Zhou army was still in intense discussion on the direction of military deployment, the shogunate had already begun preparing war supplies.

Li Weitai, director of the Civil Affairs Department, was so worried that his hair fell out in clumps. He complained to Meng Jun more than once, "Your Majesty, the Huguang War ended only half a year ago, and the army is about to be dispatched again. The autumn grain has just been collected, and many places have not yet collected all the grain. The treasury is not well-stocked. If there is another war like the one in Huguang, even if I have to cut off all my flesh and sell it, I won't be able to last for two months!"

Meng Jun could only comfort Li Weita, saying that the scale of the war would not be as large as that in Huguang, so he could concentrate on raising food and money.

Yang En, Li Weitai and other civil servants of the shogunate all hoped that Meng Jun could delay the expedition for a while, preferably two years later, by which time the treasury would be full and not as tight as it is now. However, the situation was such that the army had a rare half-year rest, and it was impossible not to go to war.

Meng Jun was more inclined to the Northern Expedition. The actions of Emperor Yongli and his ministers had not yet been implemented, while Shanxi was already in a critical situation. Meng Jun could not really sit idly by and watch Jiang Xiang being destroyed. After several days of hard thinking, Meng Jun made up his mind to lead his troops north to rescue Jiang Xiang.

In this battle, Meng Jun did not plan to lead the army himself. He wanted to stay in Nanjing to intimidate the southern forces.

When Meng Jun announced the deployment of troops in the north, the generals were both happy and worried. At nightfall, Sun Kewang asked for a meeting.

After a series of security checks, Meng Jun met Sun Kewang in the study.

Sun Kewang was once the leader of a faction. His perspective was different from that of the civil officials in the shogunate and the generals in the army. Meng Jun was still looking forward to Sun Kewang's suggestions.

"Your Majesty, if you want to rescue Jiang Xiang, do you want to march directly to Shanxi, or surround Wei and rescue Zhao?" When Sun Kewang saw Meng Jun, he did not give his suggestion, but instead asked Meng Jun about the strategy of using troops in the north.

"North is only the general direction, but what I am worried about now is the south!"

Sun Kewang immediately understood Meng Jun's concerns. After thinking for a moment, he said to Meng Jun, "Your Majesty, the only people who are independent in the south right now are Li Dingguo, Li Chengdong, and Zheng Sen. The Zheng family is currently fighting the Red Barbarians at sea. If it is not necessary, the Zheng family will not become your enemy. You should be worried about the two Lis!"

Meng Jun nodded in agreement. If Zheng Chenggong felt that fighting with Zhou's army was unprofitable, then no matter how Yongli's officials persuaded him, he would most likely not get involved. However, if there was an opportunity, the Zheng family might not necessarily pounce on him and take a bite.

Seeing Meng Jun nod, Sun Kewang continued, "Li Chengdong is a man who changes sides frequently, like a fence-sitter. He was defeated by Your Majesty in the past and is very afraid of Your Majesty. Now that Han Tongzhen is stationed in Ganzhou, Your Majesty can pretend to mobilize troops and make a gesture to attack Guangdong, and send envoys to force Li Chengdong to surrender."

Meng Jun was a little worried when he heard this, and said, "I'm afraid Jiang Xiang won't be able to hold out for long. If Li Chengdong doesn't surrender and the Kunming court supports him, then our army will be in a difficult situation. If we don't attack, they will find out our true strength. If we attack, it will take a long time, and going north will become empty talk."

Sun Kewang frowned and said, "Your Majesty, I still think it is better to march south first to eliminate the troubles. However, since Your Majesty has decided to rescue Jiang Xiang, you may send an envoy to Li Chengdong first to lure him into surrender with generous rewards."

Meng Jun did not comment, and then asked: "According to the expected situation, if the army goes north, will the Kunming court and Li Dingguo send troops to attack Huguang?"

Sun Kewang smiled upon hearing this, but his smile was somewhat disdainful, and he said, "The court officials saw that the king was going to the north, and he must be planning to seize Jiangnan by taking advantage of the situation. But it is unknown whether Li Dingguo will obey the order! However, the king has met Li Dingguo in the past, and perhaps he can persuade him based on their old friendship."

Early the next morning, Meng Jun summoned Meng Hong, the director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After a long and detailed conversation, Meng Jun sent Meng Hong as an envoy to Guangzhou.

After Meng Hong left, Meng Jun wrote another letter in his own hand and sent someone to deliver it to Kunming. In the letter, he only recalled the days when they fought against the Qing Dynasty together. At the end, he said that if there was a chance, he hoped to see the King of Jin again...

Although Meng Jun decided to send troops north to rescue Jiang Xiang, there were several fierce debates over the scale of the troops and war decisions.

But in the end, there were only two options. One was to send troops from Wuchang, cross the Yangtze River, capture Anlu Prefecture, seize Guangshui, then pass Wusheng Pass, go north all the way, fight their way into Runing Prefecture, and along Xinyang, Suiping, Xiping, Yancheng, and Xuzhou, the army would march straight in and immediately relieve Jiang Xiang's predicament.

The other route was to use Huai'an as a base, first capture the important town of Xuzhou, then go north along the canal to Jining and Liaocheng. The army would approach northern Zhili. When Dorgon was threatened in Beijing, it should be impossible for him to continue to waste time under the city of Datong.

The biggest flaw of the first plan is that Runing Prefecture is flat and very suitable for cavalry combat. The Zhou army lacks horses, and the outcome of a battle with the Qing cavalry on the plain is unpredictable. The second plan is to go north along the canal. Although the Zhou army's navy cannot compare with Zheng's, it is still much better than the Qing army. Even if there is a worry of defeat, under the cover of the navy, the whole army will not be defeated.

Without giving it too much thought, Meng Jun immediately adopted the second plan, marching his troops along the canal to threaten the Qing court's heartland of Northern Zhili.

Afterwards, Meng Jun appointed Zhao Yongping as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition camp and continuously dispatched troops to supplement his troops.

Zhao Yongping was in Huai'an City. In addition to his own Wu'an Town and Gao Jinku's Wuwei Town, Meng Jun also transferred Bai Yongfu's Guwu Town, Gao Yi's 5,000 heavy armored troops, Huang Cheng's 2,000 cavalry, 10,000 Po Lu troops, Liu Tichun's Zhongwu Town, Li Laiheng's Huwei Town, and Hao Yongzhong's Yingyang Town, and they all converged in Huai'an. Zhao Yongping's troops had more than 77,000 regular troops, Shen Tingyang's naval division had more than 300 warships and more than 20,000 naval troops, and 80,000 auxiliary soldiers. His troops were known as an army of 500,000, and they led a northern expedition.

However, Zhao Yongping suddenly commanded so many troops, and Meng Jun was deeply worried that he would not be able to do the job, so he ordered Bai Yongfu to be the deputy commander of the camp to assist Zhao Yongping.

After deciding to appoint Zhao Yongping as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, Meng Jun accepted Shen Tingyang's advice and dispatched a battalion of 3,000 men and 200 cavalrymen by sea to land in Tianjin as a surprise force to directly threaten Beijing.