Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Under the strict orders of the King of Yanping, Zheng's army built an earthen city on Bingzhou Island in a single day. Although it was not as sturdy as a normal city, it greatly enhanced the control and defense capabilities of Tongan's access to the sea.

"This is all thanks to your efforts!" Zheng Jing praised Xie Xian, the Minister of Works who accompanied the army on the expedition, and ordered Xie Xian and the valiant general Jiang Sheng to lead 4,000 elite troops to garrison Bingzhou City. Then, he led more than 37,000 main forces to land at Shuangxikou and head towards Tong'an.

Seeing the overwhelming strength of Zheng's army, Fujian Governor Li Yingming, General Bai Xianzong, and Chen Zhong abandoned the siege of Tong'an and retreated to their main camp east of the city. What a cunning Prince Yanping! He was relentless in his pursuit of power! After joining forces with Zhang Shiyao in the city, they rested briefly before launching a fierce attack on the garrison camp.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Zheng Jun's red-coated cannons were incredibly powerful, collapsing more than ten sections of the earthen wall in front of the Wei army's camp. Zheng Jun's fierce generals, Right Tiger Guard Xu Yao and his deputy He You, were extremely brave and quickly broke through the outer camp, advancing to within an arrow's flight of the central army.

"By order of the commander, anyone who retreats even one step shall be executed!" Li Yingming shouted, his eyes red as he brandished his sword. The generals, upon hearing the order, rallied their troops and fought desperately. Although they managed to maintain their defenses, the situation was already extremely precarious.

"General, Governor Liu has ordered our troops to immediately retreat to Anping City," came the order from the flag officer just as the situation was critical.

"What is Liu Maoxia up to? Zheng's army is powerful, and not only does he not send reinforcements, but he also orders me to retreat to Anping? Retreat at the first sign of trouble, what about the dignity of the court!" Li Yingming stamped his foot in anger, but ultimately he could not disobey military orders, so he reluctantly led his troops to retreat. He thought Liu Maoxia would lead his troops to wait in Anping, but after entering the city, he did not see a single garrison, only another military order from Governor Liu: "If Zheng's army attacks the city, you must hold out for a whole day before retreating towards Lingyuan Mountain."

"He's using our army as bait to achieve his great feat!" Only then did Li Yingming vaguely guess Liu Maoxia's intentions. Looking at his heavily wounded subordinates, he was both amused and exasperated.

"The Wei army has retreated to Anping City?" Upon hearing this news, Zheng Jing's eyes turned red. Anping City was the Zheng family's stronghold, where he had grown up. After retreating to Taiwan, he thought he would never be able to return, but unexpectedly, he had the opportunity to reclaim his old territory so soon. How could he not be excited!
"Issue my order: the entire army shall march toward Anping City. Whoever enters the city first shall be promoted one rank and rewarded with a thousand gold pieces!" He gritted his teeth and issued the order without the slightest hesitation.

Upon hearing that the vassal king was about to lead everyone to recapture Anping City, the Zheng army was as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood. As soon as they arrived at the city, they launched an attack, day and night, without fear of death.

Poor Li Yingming intended to faithfully carry out Liu Maoxia's order to hold out for the entire day, but after a series of defeats, morale was low. On the afternoon of April 17th, 1673, Zheng's army launched an attack and breached the city walls by the following morning. The Wei army was routed, and General Bai Xianzong was killed in battle. Left with no other choice, Li Yingming had to lead his remaining troops to Lingyuan Mountain, northeast of Anping City.

Lingyuan Mountain is not very high (305 meters). During the Song Dynasty, it was named after the "spiritual spring on the mountain that never dries up even in severe droughts." At this moment, Liu Maoxia, the governor of Fujian, was gazing intently at the gilded couplet inscribed on the blue stone dragon pillars of the worship pavilion on the mountaintop, written by Zeng Gongliang, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty: "Lingyuan Mountain is a good place to be the western heaven, and the spring water can connect to the tide of the South China Sea."

"Governor, the Mongol commander-in-chief and the general commander of Xiergen have each led their cavalry to lie in ambush on both sides of the foot of the mountain, and our infantry have also been deployed. However—" Deputy Admiral and Jianning General Zhong Jida interrupted his thoughts, hesitating to speak.

“But Admiral Li’s forces are too small to hold out for long?” Liu Maoxia picked up where he left off, and sighed. “I know Admiral Li has few men under his command, and it is very dangerous for him to take on the important task of luring the enemy. But I only have seven thousand cavalry and eight thousand infantry. Even if we join forces with Admiral Li, our strength is still inferior to Zheng’s army. We have no choice but to take this risky move! Zheng Jing is a fierce general who has survived a hundred battles. If we don’t really lose, how can we deceive him? This is the only way!”

Before returning to the capital, Lianhua Khan, in order to consolidate his control over the newly acquired southern provinces, not only stationed a large number of surrendered soldiers and generals in various places, but also dispatched a small number of elite cavalry to garrison them. In Guangdong, there were 4,000 Mongol cavalry under the command of Chang'an Bahai, and in Fujian, there were 3,000 Mongol cavalry under the command of Chang'an Bahai and 4,000 Manchu cavalry under the command of General Xiergen. In this critical moment, Liu Maoxia mobilized all available troops, including these two elite forces.

"Fu-Fu Yuan, Zheng's army is pursuing Li's defeated troops and has reached Lingyuan Mountain," the two were discussing when the central army flags and drums came to report.

"Come on, let's take a look," Liu Maoxia said to Zhong Jida with a smile, showing no hurry after hearing the report. The two arrived at the flat ground on the mountaintop and looked into the distance. They saw the Wei army's flags lying down in front of them, looking disheveled, while the Zheng army behind them was like wolves and tigers, relentlessly pursuing them and soon entering their ambush zone.

"General Zhong, your chance to make a name for yourself has come!" Liu Maoxia chuckled and gritted his teeth, uttering two words: "Strike!"

"Haorui~ Haorui~ Haorui~" Dugan Huzhang Mongol Di led three thousand Mongol cavalrymen out from the left side of the foot of the mountain. Born into the Oirat Mongol Durbet tribe, he was the cousin of Queen David and the son of the second-class Saouber Erinqin Batur. He was eager to make a name for himself in this battle.

"Da~da~da~" General Hilgen and his deputy Gente led four thousand Manchu surrendered soldiers out from the right side of the mountain. As surrendered generals, their desire to make merit even exceeded that of real Mongol generals.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" General Zhong Jida led eight thousand guards down the mountain to kill the enemy.

"Bring the drumsticks!" Upon seeing this, Liu Maoxia was filled with excitement and ordered his men to bring the drumsticks. He then personally beat the drum to cheer on the troops.

"Liu Maoxia~ You've finally arrived~" Hearing the drumbeats and shouts of battle coming from all around, Li Yingming, who had been chased to the point of losing his mind, spat on the ground viciously, stopped running, and turned back to fight.

The sudden ambush caught Zheng's army off guard. Zheng Jing's fifth brother, Zheng Zhi, who was serving as the vanguard, was startled and fell off his horse. In his haste to change horses, he encountered Meng Gudi, the head of the guards, who cleaved him in two with a single blow. Zhang Shiyao, the general of the right wing, was killed by a cannonball. Zheng Ming and He You's troops were all scattered. Under the protection of Feng Xifan, Zheng Jing fought and retreated. Fortunately, Xu Yao of the Right Tiger Guard led eight hundred iron cavalry in a brave counterattack, which barely stabilized the formation.

Frustrated by this defeat, Zheng Jing dared not remain in Anping City and led his army back to Tong'an City. "The Wei army is shameless! I swear to avenge this!" Upon entering the city, he stamped his feet and beat his chest, cursing. Although he had lost ten thousand men, this ruthless hero still refused to retreat, intending to regroup his army in Tong'an for another battle.

Although the Prince of Yanping remained confident, the series of news reports made him uneasy.

Lin Sheng, the garrison commander of Penghu, reported that Su He, the governor-general of Zhejiang and Fujian, led his army to seize Penghu. He has already captured Longmen Port and Niangma Temple and is currently attacking Penghu City and Xiyu Island.

When Su He, the Governor-General of Zhejiang and Fujian, suddenly appeared in the Penghu Islands with over four hundred warships and more than twenty thousand naval troops, it was indeed unexpected by the defending forces. The generals, including the Penghu Navy's Vice Admiral Zhan Liuqi, were filled with fear. Seeing this, Lin Sheng encouraged the troops, saying, "We are all Han Chinese; how can we become subjects of barbarians? Moreover, Penghu is the gateway to Dongning, where our families are all. If the garrison takes Penghu, they will surely take Dongning. Given the nature of barbarians, how could they not wantonly kill and plunder? For the sake of our families, how could we not fight to the death?" These words immediately ignited the fighting spirit of the generals.

Lin Sheng then ordered Zhan Liuqi to lead 3,000 troops to garrison Penghu, while he himself led 200 warships and 10,000 naval troops to fight the Wei army. Although outnumbered, the Zheng army's navy had more experience in naval warfare, and everyone was willing to die for them. After several days of fierce fighting, at the cost of more than 40 ships, they sank more than 80 Wei warships, and more than 60 Wei generals, including General Wu Sheng, perished at sea. Seeing this, Cai Lu, the Henan Admiral, personally braved arrows and stones, leading 50 warships to land at Longmen Port, forcing the Zheng army to retreat to Penghu City.

If the attack on Penghu threw Zheng Jing into disarray, the subsequent news was even more devastating: the seemingly impregnable Kinmen had fallen. (End of Chapter)