Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 486 Pincer Attack

Li Chengdong knew that he could not defeat Lin Shiqi alone, and was being attacked from both sides by Wu Sangui and Han Xiong, but he knew that even if he surrendered to Meng Jun, the final outcome would probably be death.

He killed two emperors of the Ming Dynasty. This was not a big deal for Meng Jun's forces. It was just that he had massacred so many cities in Jiangnan, and Meng Jun started his career in Jiangnan. A large number of middle and high-level generals and civil officials had their family members and relatives die in his hands. If he surrendered, he would have no soldiers and no power, and he would not know how he died. Therefore, he would rather flee to Annan than entrust his life and death to Meng Jun's hands.

Therefore, as early as after Meng Jun controlled the north, Li Chengdong transferred a large amount of wealth, soldiers, and many young men from Guangdong to Nanning. As soon as Meng Jun's envoy left, Li Chengdong knew that the time for Meng Jun to take action was not far away. So just in case, Li Chengdong went to Zhongzhou first and was ready to withdraw to Annan at any time.

Annan was doing well in the Three Kingdoms War, but suddenly tens of thousands of troops led by Li Chengdong rushed in from the north and caught Zheng Zhen of the Le Dynasty in the north off guard.

At that time, Zheng Xun was already seventy-four years old, old and weak. Upon hearing the bad news, he was frightened and died in Shenglong Mansion. His son Zheng Zao took over as the head of the family.

At that time, Zheng's main force was confronting the Nguyen clan in the south, and the remaining part of the troops was in a stalemate with the Cao Bang Mo clan in the northwest. There was also chaos in the Central Plains. Zheng Xun believed that there was no threat from the north, so there were only a small number of troops stationed in the north, and they were all local second-line garrisons.

Suddenly, Li Chengdong's general Yan Keyi led 20,000 troops and rushed into Annan directly from Shangsizhou. The more than 1,000 Annan defenders on the border were scattered by Yan Keyi's charge.

The main forces of the Annan Zheng family were all in the south, making it difficult for them to return to defend. Yan Keyi reached Thang Long Prefecture in a very short time. Zheng Zao fled to Nghe An Prefecture in the south on the second day after he inherited the position of head of the family.

As a result, when Zheng was about to move his main force northward in the Guangping area, the Nguyen took the opportunity to send troops to attack Guangping. Originally, among the three families in Annan, the Mo family, the Zheng family, and the Nguyen family, the Zheng family was the strongest. However, after Li Chengdong's tossing, the Zheng family was seriously damaged.

Just as Li Chengdong was preparing to retreat to Annan, Han Xiong in Ganzhou City had already received news of the breakdown of negotiations. He immediately reorganized the three armies and was ready to send troops south as soon as Meng Jun's order arrived.

Han Xiong was a veteran when Meng Jun first started his army. However, in order to ensure the stability of the rear, Meng Jun asked Han Xiong to guard the rear repeatedly. Han Xiong did not have a chance to appear in several battles.

After receiving Meng Jun's order to dispatch troops, Han Xiong immediately summoned his generals and said, "I have received your Majesty's order to dispatch troops to attack Li Chengdong and unify the country. As a military officer, it is my duty and I will do it without hesitation."

He was dressed in military uniform, with a bright look in his eyes. He had been guarding the rear all year round. In this battle, he must sweep away Li Chengdong. Although Han Xiong had been guarding Ganzhou in the past few years, he had lurking spies in several cities on the Guangdong border to investigate military reports. Now was the time to use his strength.

Han Xiong said in a deep voice: "There is no trivial matter in the army. Military orders come first. When the army goes out to fight, military discipline must be strictly enforced. Anyone who violates it will be severely punished!"

All the generals agreed in unison, and then the army was reorganized, with drums and horns sounding and the army in a neat and tidy shape. Han Xiong's 20,000 troops marched towards Shaoguan in a mighty manner, ready to threaten Guangzhou. Han Xiong knew that he was only a detachment, and Lin Shiqi and Wu Sangui were the main force. However, even though he was a detachment, he had to fight with the momentum of the main force.

Han Xiong was in high spirits and was discussing the details of the battle with his generals during the march. However, just two days after the army set out, news came that a mutiny had occurred in Shaoguan and the entire city surrendered. Subsequently, mutinies broke out in Heyuan, Meizhou and other places one after another.

Upon hearing the news, Han Xiong sighed at first, with a premonition in his heart that this journey might not be as he expected. He then informed the entire army of the news that the cities had surrendered one after another. Han Xiong even said to his subordinates: "I am afraid that before General Lin arrives, I will have already defeated the bandit Li!"

He then ordered the army to march south at full speed in an attempt to capture Guangzhou first.

In the southwest, Wu Sangui said to Fang Guangchen with some melancholy: "Tingxian, my life is like an autumn leaf falling into the water, I can only go with the flow. I wanted to be a minister of the Ming Dynasty all my life, be granted a title of nobility and a general, and have my wife and children be given titles. But after the Jiashen Incident, I had no choice but to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. To be fair, the Qing court treated me well. Although I was driven by them, I also experienced the nobility of a king."

Wu Sangui said this, staring at Fang Guangchen, with some resentment towards Fang Guangchen, "Didn't you say Meng Jun was a test? How come he is still a marquis? Now the troops in Hanzhong and Sichuan have been incorporated."

Nearly half of his subordinates were transferred to the north under the supervision of Lin Shiqi. Of the 80,000-strong army that Wu Sangui had worked so hard to build, now he could only control 30,000 troops.

Meng Jun cut his body again and again like a blunt knife cutting flesh. Wu Sangui wanted to get angry and question him many times, but thinking about the current situation, he could only suppress his anger.

Fang Guangchen sighed and whispered, "My Lord, the title of king is good, but if you don't surrender, it will only make the emperor spend more time and effort. By then, I'm afraid you won't be able to find a way out. Why do you have to go against the trend?"

Wu Sangui said somewhat aggrievedly: "Dorgon ordered me to do this, and at least I was rewarded with the title of a king. But the emperor demoted me, divided my military power, and forced me to move east to fight against Li Chengdong. This is really frustrating!"

Fang Guangchen comforted him, "Since the emperor started the war, he has said to kill, and he will not kill. His promise is still trustworthy. Even if the Qing court gives you the title of prince, or even the title of the Grand Marshal of the Army, are you willing?"

Wu Sangui was filled with melancholy. If he had not fled during the decisive battle in Huguang, would Meng Jun have been defeated? Or if he had not established Nanyang and seized Guanzhong, would the Qing court have been driven out so quickly by Meng Jun?

Unfortunately, there are no ifs in the world. At this point, even though Wu Sangui was frustrated, he had no choice but to obey Meng Jun's order to mobilize troops and advance eastward to attack Li.

Wu Sangui left Yunnan, passed through Guiyang, and arrived at Guilin. When Wu Sangui led his army to Guilin, he received an urgent report from Han Xiong that Han Xiong had led his army to capture Guangzhou.

Han Xiong had never fought a tough battle along the way. No, he had never fought even a war. He had no food or drink, and no guides everywhere. Wherever he went, there were either gentry visiting the troops or their sons wanted to join the army.

General Xu Fan felt somewhat sorry for Han Xiong and himself. They had suffered a great loss by being stationed in Ganzhou in the past few years. Li Chengdong's level was simply laughable.

After hearing Xu Fan's words belittling Li Chengdong, Han Xiong laughed and said, "It's not that Li Chengdong is too bad now, but that Li Chengdong himself, his generals, and soldiers all know that they can't win. There is no hope if they hold on. Even the gentry, the common people, and even every soldier in our army know that Your Majesty will win if he attacks Li."