Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 138 Navy

After inspecting Zhoushan, Meng Jun stayed on the island for three days, most of which he spent in the musket workshop. Finally, he ordered Liu Guaizi to transport the homemade muskets to Suzhou as soon as possible. Then Meng Jun rushed to Songjiang by boat to see how Zhao Yongping's navy was being formed. He was really busy. Zhao Yongping had sent a letter saying that the navy personnel had been recruited, with 5,000 soldiers, but the number of warships was not enough.

There were continuous wars in the north, and after Meng Jun occupied Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the grain transport was almost cut off. Many grain transport workers and boatmen who relied on the canal for their livelihood lost their livelihoods, and these people were the best source of soldiers for the navy.

After Zhao Yongping arrived in Songjiang, he collected boats, recruited boatmen, built warships, and recruited navy in various villages and towns in Songjiang. Zhao Yongping also sent people to secretly cross the Yangtze River and spread the news along the canal, using generous recruitment conditions to lure these boatmen and boatmen to go south.

In just a few months, Zhao Yongping had recruited the entire navy. For this navy, Zhao Yongping almost emptied the treasuries of Shanghai, Qingpu, Fengxian, Jinshan, Nanhui, Kunshan, and Taicang counties under the jurisdiction of Songjiang Prefecture.

When Meng Jun saw Zhao Yongping again, he almost couldn't recognize him. The original Zhao Yongping had a dignified appearance and bright eyes, but now his eyes were sunken, his body was thin, and he had some white hair on his temples. He was almost a different person from when he left.

Meng Jun asked in disbelief: "How could this be?"

Zhao Yongping smiled and said, "Governor, Songjiang Prefecture is in ruins and needs to be rebuilt. Kunshan and Huating are almost deserted. The other counties are better, but far from what they used to be. I came to Songjiang to gather the refugees and resume production. Don't look at me like this, I'm tired. I'll be fine after a few days of rest."

Meng Jun sighed, patted Zhao Yongping on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Why talk about hard work? The governor fought hard on the battlefield and turned the tide to bring us to the current situation. This is hard work," Zhao Yongping said seriously.

The two chatted for a while before Meng Jun turned to the main topic and asked, "How is the warship being built now?"

Zhao Yongping smiled bitterly when he heard this and said, "Commander-in-chief, it is easy to recruit soldiers for the navy now, but it is difficult to build ships. I have been in Songjiang for more than half a year, and I have only built more than 60 warships, including 15 large Fuzhou ships, and the rest are small boats. If we want the navy to form combat effectiveness, I am afraid it will take another half a year."

Meng Jun nodded when he heard this. He thought that nothing could be rushed. He then asked, "Has the navy camp started training now?"

"The navy has training every day. Would the governor like to go and take a look?" asked Zhao Yongping.

"Okay, but it's getting late. Let's go check on the navy tomorrow morning."

……

In the early morning, just after the sun rose, a navy was conducting exercises on the sparkling sea. There were more than ten large ships and dozens of small boats. The soldiers stood on the shaking warships and looked a little unfamiliar.

On the side of the ship, the sailors nervously held the oars, trying to control the direction of the warship. Their movements were stiff, and from time to time the oars went too deep or too shallow into the water, causing the warship to stumble.

The officer stood at the bow, shouting orders loudly, but the soldiers' reactions were still a little flustered. The gunners operated the cannons on the warships. They tried hard to aim at the targets, but due to their unfamiliarity with the weapons and the waves on the sea, their shooting hit rate was extremely low.

Zhao Yongping's face flushed slightly, and he looked at Meng Jun with an awkward expression. He lowered his voice and said, "Commander-in-chief, this is better now! When we first started training, I was so angry that I almost vomited blood!"

Meng Jun smiled helplessly after hearing this, and responded with a wry smile: "It is easy to know but difficult to do. Let's take it step by step and slowly." Meng Jun looked at these naval forces, which were far away from Shen Tingyang's naval subordinates, both in terms of ships and soldiers.

At this moment, the whole navy's training scene looked really chaotic, but the soldiers did not give up and continued to train with all their strength. They waved flags or operated warships, and everyone was focused. Although the movements were not necessarily standard, their persistence and tenacity were beyond words.

…………

While Meng Jun was inspecting the navy, Shaowu in Guangdong and the Yongli Dynasty finally started fighting. The Yongli Emperor ordered the Governor-General Wang Huacheng to send troops to fight. At that time, Wang Huacheng was replacing Ding Huaichu as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, and he should have supervised the troops, but he was "cowardly and wait-and-see" and did not dare to move.

Therefore, Lin Jiading, the right vice-minister of the Ministry of War, volunteered to lead the army in place of Wang Huacheng, and ordered him to lead the troops together with his former colleague Xia Sifu to attack Guangzhou.

When Emperor Shaowu learned of the situation, he urgently ordered Su Guansheng to make arrangements. Su Guansheng then ordered Chen Jita, a native of Panyu, to lead his troops towards Zhaoqing.

The two armies met in Sanshui and immediately engaged in a fierce battle. Li Mingzhong, the Marquis of Jingwu who had surrendered to the Yongli Dynasty, also led his troops to the battle. In the melee, the Yongli army won a great victory, and the Shaowu army was captured and beheaded, with a loss of more than 3,000 people. Chen Jitai led the remaining troops and fled in defeat.

The victorious Lin Jiading was very proud of himself and pursued the victory with great momentum, heading straight for Guangzhou. When the news of the defeat in the Battle of Sanshui reached Guangzhou, Emperor Shaowu was horrified.

Su Guansheng then sent Lin Cha, the general of Guangzhou, to lead the army to resist. Lin Cha and Lin Jiading had the same surname and were close friends. The tens of thousands of soldiers led by Lin Cha were all pirates. Relying on his friendship with Lin Jiading, he instigated the pirates to pretend to surrender. Lin Jiading did not suspect that there was a trick, so he took it lightly and led dozens of warships to march day and night to pursue the Shaowu soldiers. Soon, the two armies clashed again at Sanshankou near Haikou.

At this time, the wind direction suddenly changed, and the southeast wind suddenly blew up. The pirates took the opportunity to attack Yongli's warships with firearms. Lin Jiading's warships instantly caught fire, and the soldiers abandoned their ships and went ashore to escape. However, the mudflats were three feet deep, and the soldiers and horses were deeply trapped in it, and the whole army was wiped out.

During the fierce battle, Lin Jiading was hit by a cannon and killed, Xia Sifu committed suicide by jumping into the water, and Li Mingzhong only managed to escape with thirty cavalrymen.

Not to mention how Zhaoqing, who had just cheered for the great victory, was stunned by the tragic news of the annihilation of the entire army. Emperor Shaowu in Guangzhou was overjoyed, because after he ascended the throne, the ministers repeatedly reported to him that the court had elite soldiers and strong generals, and there was no need to worry about the enemy's invasion, and he could just sit in his position and enjoy the throne of the emperor. Emperor Shaowu was skeptical about this, after all, he had fled from Fuzhou in a hurry, but this great victory undoubtedly dispelled his doubts, and he began to immerse himself in the joy of victory.

Emperor Shaowu had even begun to convene a court meeting, asking his ministers whether the time was ripe for a northern expedition. At the same time, Emperor Shaowu issued an imperial decree to the generals who were still resisting the Qing army in various places, requiring bureaucrats at all levels to obey the orders of the Shaowu court. Meng Jun was naturally among them. Emperor Shaowu appointed Meng Jun as the Governor-General of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, in charge of military affairs in Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Nanzhili, and bestowed on him various symbols of power such as the imperial sword, flags, ceremonial guards, and musical instruments.

As if he regarded himself as the orthodox ruler of the world, the Yongli Dynasty was furious. In terms of the military strength of Shaowu and Yongli, Shaowu was inferior to Yongli, and the victory at Sanshankou was purely accidental. This victory really made Shaowu's monarch and his ministers get carried away and think they were extremely powerful.

The small Shaowu court, which was already confined to Guangzhou, had weak soldiers and lacked funds, and its national strength was extremely weak. At this time, the Qing army had no time to take care of Guangdong. The Yongli court decided to gather the army again and attack Shaowu again.