Xie Ming

Xiao led his three armies to block Anqing, and a million soldiers in Hubei were defeated and forced to retreat.

Following the previous text, after the battle at Xitan in Anqing, in which Wang Chuanwu beheaded Wang Deren, most of the rear ships of Zuo Liangyu's rebel army had already suffered a crushing defeat and lost all morale to fight again.

On their way back to Jiujiang City, Yuan Ping and Qi Gang's forces, who had been secretly deployed, also received the news and cleverly seized the city.

Jiujiang was returned to China, and cannons were set up and ships were used to block the way.

For a time, the middle and rear of the rebel army, tens of thousands of enemy soldiers, were trapped on the waterway between Jiujiang and Anqing, unable to advance or retreat, and hesitant and in a dilemma.

Meanwhile, at that very moment, news of another victory reached Xiao Qian from where Hu Chen and He Zhou had been.

The former army leader Hao Xiaozhong died in a hail of arrows, and Jin Shenghuan and Zuo Menggeng were captured by our army.

I also learned that Zuo Liangyu had died on his flagship more than a month ago, and his death had been kept secret all along.

Upon receiving such important news, it was urgently delivered to General Xiao.

Xiao Jingchuan was overjoyed upon hearing the news.

You search high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly.

Suddenly, Xiao led his army to pursue the rebel forces along the riverbank, and the soldiers along the way shouted in unison.

"Zuo Liangyu has been killed in action, Zuo Menggeng has been captured, the situation is hopeless, surrender immediately!"

"Zuo Liangyu has been killed in action, Zuo Menggeng has been captured, the situation is hopeless, surrender immediately!"

This method also yielded immediate results.

The sound then spread to both banks of the river, and upon hearing it, the tens of thousands of enemy soldiers in the rear lost all will to fight.

Originally, the troops of Zuo Liangyu's five battalions in the rear guard had many disagreements with Hao Xiaozhong, Wang Deren and others because of the recent mutiny in Jiujiang. Only the presence of these five generals intimidated them and they were able to gather their troops and follow him eastward.

Now that the central army has been defeated in the previous battle and Zuo Liangyu has been unable to leave for many days, with news of his death already circulating, they have even less will to fight and risk their lives to fill the gaps for a dead body.

Therefore, as soon as this happened, the ships and boats of the camp immediately raised white flags on their sails and surrendered to Xiao's army.

And this situation quickly spread to the riverbank.

One after another, the rear guard ships raised white flags.

At this point, the situation was settled, and the Hubei rebels seized the opportunity to win the battle.

Two days later, on the sixth day of the new year, it will arrive.

A piece of good news arrived, and a fast boat was dispatched to sail downstream straight to Nanjing!

but!

As the saying goes, all things change without rest.

It flows and moves, or it is pushed back.

Form and energy continue to transform, changing and evolving.

The vastness and mystery are boundless; how can words describe them!

Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and a blessing may be a harbinger of misfortune.
On the other hand, Xiao Jun's clever capture of the rebel forces in Hubei on the western front can be described as a great victory.

However, once the focus shifted north to Shandong, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, with bad news frequently arriving from the south.

So, what exactly is the cause and effect?!

To explain this matter, regarding the situation in Shandong to the north, we must go back in time to a month ago, when Xiao Zudao from Luoyang led Dorgon northwards.

At that time, it was early March. Xiao Jingchuan rode swiftly to Luoyang, where he subdued a group of his generals and mediated the eastward flow of the waterway.

Dodo, unable to endure the prolonged siege, turned back north by land. This matter, compared to the situation in Henan, was considered settled.

However, after Dorgon led his troops north, he did not return directly to the capital region.

Instead, he received Dorgon's order midway and led his troops to Yucheng in Shandong.

At this point, Prince Dodo, who had just been appointed General of the State, led a victorious army from the Northwest, consisting of 10,000 Manchu bannermen and 10,000 troops under the command of surrendered generals Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming. They secretly set off and arrived in Yucheng, Shandong, after eight or nine days of travel.

Upon arrival, they marched north towards the eastern part of the capital region, sending another 10,000 Manchu soldiers to supplement the troop strength.

Including the northern part of Shandong, the original two tribes of Shi Tingzhu and Bahana were under their control. There were 15,000 Manchu bannermen and 30,000 surrendered Han bannermen and miscellaneous troops, for a total of 75,000 elite soldiers. The army was now fully assembled.

Soon, after five days of reorganization, the time will come on the sixteenth of March.

With Dodo in command, the assembled army began to stir. He received orders from his superiors to secretly set off and march south.

On the 17th, the Qing army split into three routes, crossed the Yellow River, and officially began its southward invasion.

During this period, Geng Zhongming led 5,000 elite troops, mixed with Shi Tingzhu's 10,000 Manchu troops, and added another 10,000 Han mixed troops, totaling 25,000 men, to form the right wing army. They turned southwest, took the Chiping-Dong'e line, crossed the Yellow River to the east, and invaded Feicheng and Changqing.

Heading east, they divided their forces to encircle Jinan Prefecture, and also intended to leave a garrison after Feicheng and Changqing were captured to intercept any possible reinforcements from the direction of Yanzhou.

Kong Youde also led 5,000 elite troops, plus 5,000 Manchu troops from Bahana, and another 10,000 Han and mixed troops, totaling 20,000. He formed the left wing army, changed course and headed east to Jiyang, then crossed the river to Zhangqiu.

They planned to coordinate with the right wing army, and after capturing Zhangqiu, they would split into two routes, one advancing westward to besiege Jinan.

Another route should be established to guard against possible reinforcements along the Changshan-Qingzhou line.

As for the final main army, it was personally led by Dorgon.

With 10,000 brave and fierce generals under his command, plus another 10,000 Han mixed troops under the command of Yuan Shi and Ba, he had a total of 20,000 soldiers. He crossed the Ji River, launched a major offensive, crossed the Yellow River and thrust southward, advancing towards the north gate of Jinan!

And so it is, in this way and that.
On the 17th, the invading enemy from the south divided into three routes, moved swiftly, and with overwhelming force, rushed straight towards Jinan.

However, Huang Degong's troops, who had been stationed there for a long time, were completely unaware of this situation and had not anticipated it.

After all, the North and South are currently in a state of peace, and there were no signs of anything amiss on the eve of this, so it was possible to speculate that the Qing army would do this.

When the moment finally arrived, everything went completely wrong. A poor decision led to failure, and regret came too late.
On the 18th, the main force of the Jurchens from the north, the Dodo tribe, disembarked at the Jihe ferry and plunged straight into the river.

By evening, the troops had lined up ten miles outside the North Gate of Jinan, ready to fight.

That night, the walls of the pass were bombarded, and the mixed Qi and Han armies began their assault on the city.

On the same morning of the 18th, Geng Zhongming and Shi Tingzhu's right wing army marched swiftly and crossed the river to attack Feicheng.

In contrast, the left wing army led by Kong Youde and the Bahana troops was slightly inferior, only able to cross the river at night and launch a surprise attack on Zhangqiu when they had some free time that evening.

The combined forces of the three armies were unstoppable; Huang Lao, lacking strategic acumen, hastily engaged in battle.
The Qing court broke the peace agreement and turned its military might south. The Southern Ming Dynasty is now proving the old saying, "Raising a tiger will only bring trouble upon oneself!"

Here, Dodo hastily mobilized his troops, and the composition of his forces was already quite clear.

Meanwhile, what was the situation of Huang Degong's troops in Chuzhou?

In reality, although his army was said to number 100,000, in truth, only about 40,000 were actually capable of fighting.

The first 20,000 personal guards, led by Commander Huang Degong, were assigned to guard the crucial city of Jinan.

The remaining 20,000 were dispersed to occupy the area between Qingzhou and Laizhou, intending to usurp the territory that Xiao Jun had managed in the east last year. In total, this took 10,000 lives.

Another 10,000 were scattered throughout Changqing, Feicheng, Pingyin, Ningyang, and other places to guard the western gate of the river mouth in place of Jinan.

Now, the enemy's momentum is unstoppable, and they are engaged in battle on three fronts on the same day. Huang Degong was also in a state of panic. He hurriedly rode his horse south, intending to use the excuse of being extremely urgent to summon Liu Liangzuo and Liu Zeqing's troops from Yanzhou and Yishui to come north and provide reinforcements as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)