Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 238 River Defense

As the report of Gu Yanwu's eight wins and eight losses quickly spread in the newspapers, the papers with the scent of ink drifted to every corner of Jinling City like catkins in the spring breeze. This newspaper, with its vivid, simple and clear description, became a hot topic among people after dinner, and the people read it with great interest.

"The Jin thief has committed many evil things. Now that he has met the king, he must kill him!" An old gentleman slammed the table in excitement in the teahouse, and the newspaper in his hand wrinkled with his movement. Several of his close friends and relatives had died at the hands of Jin Shengheng. He wished that the Jin thief would be defeated tomorrow and die in battle.

"Yes, Your Majesty is wise and brave. He personally supervised the war. How could the Jin bandits resist? Eight wins and eight losses. This is God's will. Your Majesty has never been defeated since he started the army. Just like Emperor Taizong of Tang in the past!" A young scholar recited, shaking his head, as if he had already seen the scene of the enemy's defeat.

"Hush, don't talk nonsense. The Ming Dynasty still rules the world today. How can you compare Your Majesty with Emperor Taizong of Tang? Isn't this an act of usurpation?" An old man shook his head.

"The Ming Dynasty is a thing of the past, the Great Zhou is the destiny..."

"Rebel..."

The crowd, who were just discussing Jin Shengheng's defeat, started arguing again when the topic changed. The situation did not calm down until the teahouse owner came out to persuade them. Then both sides glared at each other and left.

The shopkeeper looked at the place which was packed with people just now but now sparsely populated, and shook his head helplessly. Then he personally wrote more than ten pieces of "Don't talk about state affairs" and posted them in various corners.

Scout Li He caught Sun Tianyi. Sun Tianyi was so big for nothing, but he couldn't hold it in after just a few slaps. He spilled everything he knew.

"How many people are there in the Gold Thief Headquarters?"

"I do not know?"

"Pa" the sound of a big slap.

"I really don't know. When we just rebelled, there were about 40,000 to 50,000 people. Now the Marshal has expanded the army so much, I really don't know how many people there are now!" Zhang Tianyi covered his face and said aggrievedly.

"Pa" another slap, Li He said fiercely: "How dare you call the Jin thief the commander-in-chief!"

Sun Tianyi covered his face with his hands and cried, "I won't dare to do it again, I won't dare to do it again, Jin thief, Jin thief!"

"Is the golden thief going to take this road to Jing County?"

"Big... the Jin thieves took this route, and I was sent by the Jin thieves to capture the men."

"Pa" This slap was so powerful that Sun Tianyi was stunned. He only heard Li He's voice: "Did you lie?"

"Brother, I really didn't lie to you. I swear to God, if I tell even a single lie, I will die from a thousand arrows." Sun Tianyi was afraid that Li He would hit him again, so he added solemnly.

"Pa" another slap, Li He cursed disdainfully: "Who is your brother." Then he said to the scout teammate beside him: "Let's go, take him back."

These scouts all showed their special abilities. Most of them were catching people to gather intelligence. Only another scout, the flag-master general Qi Ang, took a different approach. He was bold and careful. He disguised himself and sneaked into the Jin camp. He spied on Jin Shengheng's central army tent from close range. Seeing soldiers coming in and out of the tent from time to time, he knew that it must be Jin Shengheng himself who was in charge. He then escaped from the Jin camp at night.

After the scouts from each team returned to the camp, Zhang Chengsheng compared them with each other and basically confirmed Jin Shengheng's location, and then immediately reported to Meng Jun. Meng Jun saw that Jin Shengheng's location had been confirmed, so he gathered all the troops outside Xuancheng, leaving 6,000 people to guard Xuancheng, and the rest of the troops all marched towards Nanling City.

The 2nd year of the Yongli reign, July, 18th.

The army officially arrived at the outskirts of Nanling City. This place is located on a plain, which is indeed a good place for the army to fight. Meng Jun and the generals galloped on horseback under the protection of their guards and observed the battlefield.

At this time, Jin Shengheng's troops had occupied Jing County. Meng Jun and the other generals did not dare to investigate further. According to the intelligence from the scouts, Jing County was surrounded by mountains, but only after leaving the nearby Baishankou was there a flat plain. The location of Jing County, Nanling and Xuancheng was like the mouth of a trumpet.

After observing for a while, Meng Jun was about to return when Qian Biao's voice came: "If we set up a strong camp in front of Jing County, wouldn't Jin Shengheng be trapped inside?"

"Not to mention that time is running out, there is more than one way to enter Nanjing. If Jin Shengheng is blocked, he can still turn back and go around Tongling along the river." Lin Shiqi shook his head and responded.

"That's right. We need to make Jin Shengheng feel that he can win before we can start a decisive battle. We can't afford to delay! Let's go back to the camp!"

Afterwards, Meng Jun set up a large camp more than 20 miles south of Nanling City, forming a pincer attack with Nanling City. Jin Shengheng's army left Jing County, like one corner of a triangle. According to intelligence from scouts, the number of Jin Shengheng's troops in Jing County was at least 200,000.

At this time, Meng Jun deployed his army to transfer Lin Shiqi's Ningwu Town, Liang Sanhu's Wusheng Town, and two battalions of the Xiaoming Army into Nanling City. In this way, there were more than 6,000 people from Ningwu Town, 10,000 people from Wusheng Town, and three battalions of the Xiaoming Army (originally one battalion was stationed) in Nanling City, totaling 26,000 people. Everything was under the control of Lin Shiqi, who was ordered to act according to the situation.

In the main camp, there were 6,000 Ke Lu troops, 10,000 Wuning Town troops under Qian Biao, more than 15,000 people from the five battalions of the Service Army, 3,000 heavy armored troops, more than 3,000 cavalry under Huang Cheng, and Meng Jun's personal guards, etc., a total of more than 38,000 people in the main camp.

Just when Meng Jun ordered his auxiliary soldiers to reinforce the camp, an urgent military report from Bai Yongfu in Zhenjiang was delivered to Meng Jun. When Meng Jun opened it, he found that the Qing army was indeed making some moves. Dorgon kept saying that he wanted to negotiate peace, and before Feng Quan arrived in Nanjing, the Qing army could no longer hold back and began to test the attack.

As early as July 13, Geng Zhongming's navy had already fought a naval battle with Shen Tingyang. Although Geng Zhongming's navy was not very powerful, it was too close to the Guazhou Fort. When there was a slight disadvantage, Geng Zhongming fled to the port, rested for a day or two, and then attacked again. This made Shen Tingyang very annoyed, but he did not dare to take it lightly, because Bai Yintu's Eight Banners soldiers appeared on the river bank from time to time, ready to make a move.

Faced with this situation, Bai Yongfu was worried that the king's strategy of using water to control water was lacking, giving the Qing army an opportunity to take advantage. He then asked for an order from Nanjing to recruit a large number of civilians. He wanted to build a land defense of the Yangtze River on the south bank of Zhenjiang, which is dozens of miles long, using huge trees, bricks and stones. The defense would be one zhang (about three meters) high and two zhang wide, covered with soil, with artillery positions set up at regular intervals. The soldiers in the three towns along the river kept in touch with each other every day to prevent surprise attacks by the Qing army.

Yang En was also worried that the Qing army would break through the river defenses. At that time, the king was at the front line, and a battle with Jin Shengheng was imminent. If the news of the Qing army appearing outside Jinling City spread, the morale of the army would be shaken and the consequences would be disastrous. In response, Yang En imposed large-scale corvée labor and conscripted young men. He also sent letters to cities near Jinling to mobilize civilians to build river defenses.