The ones participating in the meeting included Li Jing, Jia Xu, Er’Lai, Emperor Squadron Fleet Admiral Zhou Yu, blazing legion corps marshal Guo Ziyi, and 4th legion Legion General Zhou Bo.
What a star-studded lineup.
There were some who had worked together before and some who were working together for the first time. Especially Li Jing, who had only worked together with Er’Lai in the Battle of Korea. He knew little about the other generals.
The Zhou Yu led Emperor Squadron was docked on the Changjiang, and they could set off at any moment.
The person who was speaking was Ouyang Shuo, “Based on the information from the army, the vanguard forces of the Qing Dodo forces, under the leadership of Nikan, has set up camp 20 miles outside of Yangzhou. This is a crucial battle and must not be lost. After the meeting ends, the army must immediately assist Yangzhou.”
“If nothing goes wrong, the 100 thousand troops of Great Zhou would move too. Along with the 100 thousand Dodo forces, the 50 thousand under Zhunta as well as the surrendered troops, this battle will not be easy.”
As he said that, Ouyang Shuo felt really angered by the Jiangbei four generals.
When Zhunta’s forces were getting close to the city, Liu Zeqing fled, Huang Degong did not move in Tongling, and Liu Liang fled to Jianye.
As for Gao Jie, apart from his deputy, Zhuang Zigu, who was stationed south of Yizhou, the others like Li Chengdong led troops to escape south.
Under the leadership of Nikan, Qing Dodo’s forces pushed forward at 50 miles per day, heading right for Yangzhou. When Shi Kefa ordered the generals to assist Yangzhou, only Liu Zhaoji led four thousand men and Zhuang Zigu led 700 over to help. There were less than 10 thousand men defending Yangzhou.
As a result, the player forces needed to face 250 thousand Qing army forces alone. If they sent all 200 thousand of them there, it might be worth a try, but the key was that they still had to keep a portion of them to defend Jianye.
Although Ouyang Shuo had become Prince Regent, without an army around him, he would not be able to stabilize his position. Once the player army left, Liu Liang, who escaped to Jianye, might start problems.
Furthermore, Ouyang Shuo also needed to take up the responsibility of gathering grain for Jianye. The South Ming that was set up not long ago was a dirty burden, and the treasury was empty and totally could not support such a huge battle.
The only way would be to hit on the local hegemons and rich people. This also needed the help of the military.
Rough estimation put the number of troops they could mobilize to assist Yangzhou, including the Emperor Squadron, could not exceed 150 thousand, and they needed to keep 50 thousand elites in Jianye.
After discussing the matter, Ouyang Shuo decided to let Guo Ziyi lead the blazing legion corps up north with the 30 thousand Guards Legion Corps soldiers that Er’Lai led.
The remaining 40 Thousand Guards Legion Corps soldiers along with the three thousand Divine Martial Guards would stay in Jianye.
Before leaving, Ouyang Shuo instructed, “Although the Battle of Yangzhou is a crucial battle, it is still a battle. After keeping Yangzhou, it will be time to counterattack Qing.”
“Yes!”
All of them bowed and left.
…
Beside the Changjiang, Ouyang Shuo was deep in thought.
“Who knows whether we can make it in time or not.”
In the Battle of Yangzhou in history, Dodo led the vanguard forces but did not hurry to attack. Even after his main force arrived, he still did not start the battle.
The reason was simple. The Qing army was mainly cavalry and was not good at sieging. They were waiting for the hongyi cannons to arrive on the battlefield before they began their siege.
The truth proved that Yangzhou, who could not be considered a city with great defense, would fall after a day and night of cannon bombing.
Shi Kefa’s courage deserved praise, but in terms of ability, he was still lacking.
Now with Di Chen in the mix, there were many possible points in the Battle of Yangzhou. No matter what, Ouyang Shuo could only believe in Guo Ziyi and the others to adapt.
“Let’s go back. We still have many things to do.”
Ouyang Shuo rode on Little Green and went back into the city.
As they say, ‘Before you conquer the outside, you must calm down internally.’ If Ouyang Shuo wanted South Ming to succeed, he must get rid of the people who wanted to surrender.
This time, apart from the army that arrived with Ouyang Shuo, there was also a special unit. These were elite spies that Ouyang Shuo personally got from the Shanhai Guards.
During the An Lushan rebellion, Ouyang Shuo found it difficult due to the lack of spies beside him.
Since last night, the spies had started working. With the help of Hongguang emperor, they followed historical records to focus on the nobles.
Qian Qianyi was naturally one of those.
In order to not raise an uproar and let people say that Ouyang Shuo was clearing away obstacles right after getting power, before acting, the Shanhai Guards needed enough evidence.
Either letters from Great Qing or evidence of their wrongdoings.
As long as their actions were unjust, Ouyang Shuo could use them as proof to wipe them out.
Speaking of which, some of the officials were innocent when checked. All investigations happened in secret, as Ouyang Shuo did not wish to alert them.
Apart from that, Ouyang Shuo also did two other things.
First, he sent letters to Sichuan Great Xi emperor in the name of the Prince Regent to say that, “South Ming can die but China cannot. We should work together.”
Speaking of Zhang Xianzhong, he was a legendary figure.
This person who made a name together with Li Zicheng came from a poor family. Since a young age, he was really determined and followed his father to do small businesses.
He had once been a constable, and then he became a soldier in a town.
His life was really intense. There were often things like standing up for justice and nearly lost his life because of it.
During Emperor Chongzhen’s reign, he stated a peasant uprising.1640, he led troops into Sichuan. 1644, he established the Great Xi regime and ascended to become its emperor.
In 1646, the Qing army went down south, and Zhang Xianzhong was slain by a stray arrow.
Speaking of which, the deaths of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were really unfortunate. Zhang Xianzhong went through many battles, but his death came from being shot by a stray arrow.
Li Zicheng was the same.
In 1656, when the Great Shun army arrived at Hubei Tong City, Li Zicheng led 20 people to scout and was killed by the local militia.
What an unfortunate death.
A prince actually died whilst scouting.
Maybe it was the act of the heavens.
Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, these pair of uprising leaders, were doing so well when they went against the Ming Dynasty.
However, the moment they went against the Qing army, they were swept with bad luck and died.
History was just so coincidental. If both of them did not die like that, maybe history would have changed.
Zhang Xianzhong went up against Ming, but he also did not support Qing. He was not someone like Qian Qianyi who would surrender.
After his death, his generals such as Sun Kewang led the Great Xi army south to go against the Qing army along with South Ming. They changed their battleground to the provinces in the southwest, lasting for 20 years until the first year of Kangxi’s reign.
Due to that, Ouyang Shuo was confident about convincing Zhang Xianzhong.
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