Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 323: Eight Flags of the Zheng Army

Changsha city.

The news of Baiyintu's retreat made Li Dingguo overjoyed. He was excited and thought of chasing Baiyintu from time to time.

After learning that the Qing troops had withdrawn, Li Dingguo said to his aide Jin Weixin: "King Zhou is indeed a hero, and Duoduo is rampant and unruly. This defeat has greatly boosted people's morale. The defeat of General Changsheng of the Qing court is just like the defeat of Jin Wushu at Huangtiandang in the past."

Jin Weixin, however, looked unhappy. After a moment's hesitation, he bowed to Li Dingguo and said, "Your Highness, the King of Zhou defeated Duoduo and his reputation has grown. No one in the land south of the Yangtze River can rival him."

"What does Chu Lin mean by this?"

"I am not afraid to speculate on people's hearts with malicious intent. After the King of Zhou defeated the Qing army, once the Qing court is unable to threaten the King of Zhou, he will certainly be like the former Taizu of the Great Ming Dynasty, first sweeping south and then north, finally gathering strength, and finally marching north to achieve the empire!"

"Chu Lin!" Li Dingguo's tone could not help but become heavier, and then he slowed down his tone and said, "Why do you try to figure out people's minds so well?"

Jin Weixin muttered: "When Wang Mang was humble and had not yet usurped the throne..."

"Chu Lin, King Zhou has been upright and honest since he started his army. He has never had any conspiracy or intrigue. Why do you have such a strong prejudice against him?" Li Ding said with a sigh.

"Yes, Your Highness. Please forgive me for speaking frankly. If Duoduo is defeated, Wuchang will be difficult to defend. Baiyintu will then retreat to Jingzhou. Then who will the land south of the Yangtze River and Huguang belong to?" Jin Weixin said with a complicated expression.

Li Dingguo was silent for a long time, and then he said, "Let's use the actual control of each party as the boundary." Then, without waiting for Jin Weixin to ask, he changed the subject and asked, "Brother, have any messengers come in the past few days?"

Jin Weixin shook his head and said, "The King of Qin has no faith."

Seeing that Li Dingguo looked somewhat depressed, Jin Weixin gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, it is difficult for our army to fight against King Zhou if we stay in Huguang. It is better to return and rescue the emperor."

Li Dingguo frowned upon hearing this and said, "Chu Lin, why do you keep urging me to fight my elder brother?"

Jin Weixin asked earnestly, "What is your highness's intention?"

"Why bother talking so much? Drive out the Tartars and restore the Ming Dynasty!"

Jin Weixin sighed and said, "Your Highness intends to restore the Ming Dynasty, so you must return to the army. The King of Qin is more determined to dethrone the emperor. If something unexpected happens to the emperor again, how can the Ming Dynasty be restored?"

"Brother, don't dare to do such a treasonous thing." Li Dingguo frowned, but his tone was not so firm.

"When he surrendered to the government army in the past, the King of Qin was already resentful. He could have been the crown prince of the Great Western Dynasty and inherited the throne. Moreover, the Great Ming Dynasty now has several powerful generals and several loyal to the emperor. It is natural for the King of Qin to have such a thought."

Jin Weixin's intention was that regardless of whether Li Dingguo had the ambition to rule the world, he would persuade Li Dingguo to return to Kunming.

In Jin Weixin's opinion, Huguang is now sandwiched between various forces. He can clearly see that Meng Jun is eyeing it covetously and is determined to gain it. Even though this land is a rich grain-producing area, it is not as good as Guangdong where Li Chengdong is.

When Li Dingguo insisted on staying in Huguang, Jin Weixin strongly opposed it, because he had already seen that whether Meng Jun won or lost, it would not be of any benefit to the King of Jin.

Meng Jun won, and the Prince of Jin could not hold on to Huguang. Could it be that Meng Jun was really so selfless? More than a hundred thousand troops, hundreds of thousands of civilians, and money, food, and supplies were spent like water in Huguang. After winning, would he return to Jinling with nothing?

If Meng Jun lost, needless to say, the Zheng family had ships, and if they lost, they could just run away on the ships, and the Qing army would be unable to do anything to them. But it was different for Prince Jin, who would definitely be the first opponent of the Qing army. With the Qing army's great victory, Prince Jin would not be able to defend Huguang.

However, Jin Weixin's repeated persuasions were no match for Meng Jun's handwritten letter.

Li Dingguo felt a little depressed after hearing this, and after a long while he said, "Then let's wait until the Huguang war is completely settled before we talk about it!"

"Your Highness......" Jin Weixin wanted to persuade him again, but he saw that Li Dingguo had already stood up and walked out alone.

…………

Meng Jun fought and won several field battles. If the various forces did not have an 80% chance of winning, they would probably not do as Meng Jun wished and decide the outcome in one battle.

Because if two armies want to engage in a field battle, it is not very easy. It requires both sides to have the willingness to fight. Otherwise, if one side wants to fight and the other side does not, or avoids fighting or defends the city, a field battle cannot be fought.

At this time in the Zhou army camp, trumpets were blown and drums were beaten. Huang Cheng led two thousand cavalrymen and marched towards Ezhou City first, galloping away.

The various towns of the Zhou army packed up their camps and slowly moved northward. After the battle, many soldiers in each town suffered casualties, with a total of more than 9,000 soldiers killed in each town, nearly half of whom were casualties caused by the defeat of Wang Deren's troops in the town.

There were more than 6,000 wounded soldiers in the entire army. A large number of lightly wounded soldiers were moved to the rear city for recuperation, and many seriously wounded soldiers could not be moved easily. Therefore, Meng Jun left Wu Tiao's troops to guard the camp and protect the wounded.

In Ezhou City, since Zheng Chenggong conquered Ezhou, he had plundered all the treasury in the city and transferred the money to the ship. After conquering Ezhou, Zheng Chenggong was very proud and rejected his subordinates' suggestion to plunder Ezhou. Meng Jun was coming to Ezhou soon, and it would be very embarrassing if he plundered Ezhou City at this time and it was reported in the newspaper by Gu Yanwu.

At this time, he already wanted to return to Fujian. The battle of Huguang was basically over. At most, he would accompany Meng Jun to attack Wuchang. Zheng Chenggong, who had nothing to do, suddenly had an idea and examined the Qing prisoners one by one. If their replies were not satisfactory, he would push them out and behead them.

The gate of Ezhou government office was covered in blood, and passers-by did not dare to pass by.

Zheng Chenggong sat in the lobby of the Ezhou government office, raised his chin and looked down at the people in the hall.

The person kneeling in the hall was Cao Liangyong, the deputy general of the Han army. At this moment, he was kneeling on the ground, begging Zheng Chenggong to spare his life.

Cao Liangyong cursed in his heart, thinking that Boluoduo was not a human being. He actually forcibly requisitioned his horse, causing him to be captured and his life and death to be in the hands of others.

"Who is in the hall?"

"I, the guilty general Cao Liangyong, am willing to surrender to Lord Guoxing. I surrendered to the Tatars in the past because I had no choice but to do so due to the circumstances. Now I have come to my senses and am willing to follow Lord Guoxing wholeheartedly and even die for him." As he spoke later, Cao Liangyong's tone became more and more firm, and his face looked serious, which made Zheng Chenggong laugh.

Zheng Chenggong stroked his chin and asked Chen Yonghua in a low voice: "How many soldiers surrendered this time?"

Chen Yonghua whispered in his ear: "The surrendered troops are all from the Green Camp, with Han army flags, and their number is close to 3,000."

Zheng Chenggong touched his chin for a long time, then his expression brightened. He stood up with a bang and said loudly: "Since you are willing to surrender, I will give you this opportunity."

Then he said to Chen Yonghua: "Reorganize all the surrendered troops according to the Tartar Eight Banners system. I also want to establish an Eight Banners Army!"

As soon as these words came out, not to mention Chen Yonghua, even Cao Liangyong was stunned and didn't know what to say.