Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 149 Great Merit
At dusk on the top of Guangzhou City, watching the Qing soldiers slowly retreating from the city, a cheer suddenly rang out from the top of the city
On the top of the city wall, Zhu Lang breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the Qing army retreat across the river.
Today is the 17th. Yesterday, the Qing army attacked the city, but Jiao Lian used hidden artillery to seriously injure hundreds of soldiers.
Although Li Chengdong clamored for revenge, except for the angry counterattack of the Qing army yesterday morning, the offensive of the Qing army dropped sharply from yesterday afternoon.
The situation in the Qing army was just as Jiao Lian had expected. With artillery fire in the city, Li Chengdong's soldiers were unwilling to attack the city under the fire.
Li Chengdong was concerned about Tong Yangjia, who was about to arrive from behind, and was unwilling to risk huge casualties and take the risk of attacking the city without the assurance of taking Guangzhou quickly.

After two days of siege, the imperial guards in the city only lost thirty or forty people, but the casualties of civilians were quite heavy, with more than a thousand casualties. Most of these casualties were caused by the Qing army's first attack on the city wall yesterday.

When the civilians in the city saw the Qing army rushing up to the top of the city wall, most of them almost subconsciously ran away.
The civilians fled in a rush, some were trampled to death, some were killed by the supervising team in the rear, and after being driven back to the city wall by the supervising team, most of the civilians trembled at the sight of blood and could hardly hold their knives steadily. The Qing soldiers who rushed to the top of the city wall killed most of them like cutting melons and vegetables.

In short, on the first day of defending the city, these young men were in a mess, but fortunately there were still the imperial guards on the top of the city to stabilize the situation. Otherwise, if it was just these conscripted civilians, the city would have been lost yesterday morning.

The soldiers on the top of the city cheered, but at this moment, a rumbling sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the end of the road, and then hundreds of cavalrymen suddenly rushed out from the official road east of the city.

Hundreds of cavalrymen riding on tall Liao horses, all wearing black leather armor, rushed towards the East City like a high black wall, and the rumbling sound of horse hooves suddenly resounded throughout the fields.

Hundreds of horses galloped, and dust rose up all over the official road. In the dust, countless green flags suddenly appeared.
Countless soldiers emerged from the end of the sight like a black tide, and then marched silently towards Guangzhou City.

On the top of Guangzhou City, seeing the increasing number of black-clad soldiers outside the city, which seemed to be endless, the cheers on the top of the city wall froze for a moment, and then disappeared completely.
In the Qing army tent, Tong Yangjia sat in the first seat at the top. On his left was a short and stocky man with a thin braid behind his head. He had a long face, a flat forehead, and narrow eyes. He was not a Han Chinese. This man was Bai Yindai, the guard commander of Tong Yangjia's army. He led 600 Jurchen armored soldiers to serve as Tong Yangjia's central army.
Although Bai Yindai was only a lieutenant commander, his position in the army was higher than that of Li Chengdong, the general of Guangdong Province. Behind Bai Yindai were Li Yangchen, Ye Chengen, Xu Guodong and other generals of Tong Yangjia's army.
Li Chengdong sat at the first seat on the right side of the camp, and below him were Luo Chengyao, Du Yonghe, Ma Bao and other generals.
At this time, all the main generals sent by the Qing court to Guangdong Province were in the camp, but no one said a word, and the atmosphere in the tent seemed extremely solemn.

Tong Yangjia looked at Li Chengdong who was calm below him, his face gloomy, and spoke in a cold voice

"General Li, didn't you say you had already captured Guangzhou?"

"Why is Guangzhou still in the hands of the Ming army? You are so bold as to lie about military intelligence!"

Li Chengdong looked at Tong Yangjia, who had a cold expression on his face, but a trace of surprise appeared on his face. He bowed to Tong Yangjia and said softly:

"Where did you hear this, Governor? I have never reported to the court that I have captured Guangzhou."

"Since Guangzhou has not been conquered, why did you order the army to abandon its baggage and rush into Guangzhou alone?"

Tong Yangjia saw Li Chengdong's surprised expression and became furious. He stood up and shouted

"I felt guilty for not being able to capture Guangzhou, so I urgently dispatched the army from the rear to attack the city."

"These days I have been worried about the lack of manpower, which has delayed the progress of the court's recovery of Guangdong Province. Fortunately, the governor is also leading his troops here today. With the gathering of our Qing army, we will definitely be able to capture Guangzhou City!" Li Chengdong looked at Tong Yangjia above with an excited look on his face.

"伱!"

Tong Yangjia looked at Li Chengdong, who was full of excitement, and became more and more angry. His face turned red.

He was about to open his mouth to reprimand, but suddenly realized that he had indeed never received Li Chengdong's military report.

In other words, he can't do anything to Li Chengdong.
On the 15th, he received intelligence from an insider in Li Chengdong's army, discovering that Li Chengdong had already captured Guangzhou and was searching for the Ming court regent and a number of central government ministers in the relocated capital.

If Li Chengdong could really achieve these two great feats in a row, then the position of Governor of Guangdong Province would belong to him. That is why he mobilized all his troops and wanted to rush to Guangzhou as soon as possible to grab the credit of arresting the Ming court regent.
He led his army all the way and when he arrived at Zengcheng, he found that Zengcheng was also occupied by Li Chengdong's army, so he no longer had any doubts in his heart.

Zengcheng is more than 80 miles away from Guangzhou. If Li Chengdong had not already taken Guangzhou, why would he send people to seize Zengcheng?

After confirming that Li Chengdong had really captured Guangzhou, he sent people to take over Zengcheng, put most of the rice and supplies in the city, and then led his army to Guangzhou.
It was not until they were thirty miles away from Guangzhou that Tong Yangjia discovered that the scouts ahead had reported that Guangzhou City had not been breached.
Now there are cannons everywhere in Guangzhou. Li Chengdong is not searching for the Ming Dynasty regent, but is attacking the city.
But at this point, Tong Yangjia had no choice.

He had already led his army to thirty miles outside Guangzhou. What else could he do if he didn't go to Guangzhou? Would he lead his troops back to Zengcheng? Zengcheng was already under the control of the Qing army. What was the point of him retreating to Zengcheng?

He had already found out that he had fallen into Li Chengdong's trap. The news of seizing Guangzhou and killing the Ming court regent was actually a fake news spread by Li Chengdong, with the purpose of luring him to lead his troops to Guangzhou.
He soon realized that Li Chengdong had come for a purpose. It was clear that Li Chengdong had failed to capture the city and wanted to continue the siege, but he was worried about the 20,000 Guangdong troops in Zhaoqing, so he lured him here to accompany him in the siege.

Tong Yangjia quickly understood the situation, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

He had never taken Li Chengdong, a reckless soldier in the army, seriously, but he did not expect that he would be tricked by Li Chengdong this time. How could he bear it?

When Tong Yangjia thought of this, he could no longer suppress his anger. He stood up and stared at Li Chengdong below, saying in a cold voice:

"Well done, General Li, you are indeed a good tactician. I have learned a lot today."

"This surprise attack on Guangzhou was planned by General Li, but I dare not compete for the credit. The credit for capturing Guangzhou will be left to General Li, and I will not accompany him."

"Let's go. Tomorrow morning, the whole army will move north to recapture Nanxiong Prefecture. We are not allowed to stay."

"Leave Guangzhou and Zhaoqing to General Li to fight slowly!"

Tong Yangjia looked grim, and was about to leave after he finished speaking. When Li Chengdong saw Tong Yangjia was about to leave, his expression also changed slightly.
If Tong Yangjia really led his troops north at this time, once the Zhaoqing army came to help, Li Chengdong would be surrounded again. Tong Yangjia would never come to rescue him, and Li Chengdong would have no choice but to retreat.

The Ming court regent was surrounded, and the Guangdong army would certainly come to help. Nanxiong and other places would also be empty and unprepared. In other words, Tong Yangjia would hardly encounter any resistance from the Ming army when he went north, and he would almost certainly be able to capture Nanxiong Prefecture.
The situation at that time was that Tong Yangjia had taken Chaozhou, Huizhou, Nanxiong and other three prefectures with great momentum, while Li Chengdong had suffered heavy casualties and retreated in disgrace under the city of Guangzhou. Once Tong Yangjia reported the matter to the Qing court, Li Chengdong would certainly be punished by the Qing court.
He had already offended Tong Yangjia. If Tong Yangjia continued to exaggerate, not only would he lose his position as the Governor of Guangdong Province, but he might even lose his position as the General. Even his soldiers might be disbanded.
Most of Li Chengdong's troops were assigned to him by the Qing court. Except for Du Yong and Li Yuanyin, who were his direct subordinates, people like Luo Chengyao, Ma Bao, Yan Keyi, Hao Shangjiu, etc. were assigned to him by the Qing court after he made military achievements.
Since he was defeated and could no longer fight, the Qing court could naturally transfer personnel away.
When Li Chengdong thought of this, his expression changed slightly. He stood up from his chair, bowed to Tong Yangjia, and said

"The surprise attack on Guangzhou failed. I did not report the situation to the governor in time. This is my fault. Please calm down, Governor. But you know why I am so anxious to dispatch a large army to attack Guangzhou."

Li Chengdong saw that Tong Yangjia still had a cold expression, but he did not wait for him to speak, and continued to speak.

"Although my surprise attack failed this time, I did find the new regent of the Ming court, who was moving the capital, and the current central ministers of the Ming court outside the city."

"I have already figured out the origins of this group of people. The new regent of the Ming court is the former Prince of Gui. The Prince of Gui is the direct descendant of Emperor Shenzong, and his lineage is very legitimate. Even the previous two emperors, Hongguang and Longwu, were not as pure as the Prince of Gui's lineage."

"It is said that after Emperor Hongguang was captured by the Qing Dynasty, some people wanted to establish the King of Gui, but Emperor Longwu got there first in Fujian Province, so the plan was abandoned." "After Emperor Longwu was captured and killed by the court, the ministers in Guangdong and Guangxi immediately supported the King of Gui. At this time, even the southwestern provinces also regarded the Gui Regent as the legitimate ruler."

"I have interrogated five or six Guangzhou gentry about these things, and there is absolutely no mistake. Now that the Regent Gui and a group of ministers at the core of the Ming court are in Guangzhou City, I am afraid there are countless cabinet ministers alone."

"Once we capture Guangzhou and seize all the ministers, Guangdong and Guangxi will be leaderless. By then, not only Guangdong Province, but also Guangxi Province will be able to be conquered in one fell swoop."

"The Ming court regent thought that Guangzhou was in the rear and that there were not many soldiers with him. Now there are several hundred soldiers in Guangzhou who can fight, and the rest are all young and strong men with gongs and gongs."

"Once the governor is able to enter the city, he will be able to seize the two provinces and establish the great merit of capturing the emperor and destroying the country. With the status of the governor, it is not impossible for him to be crowned king and appointed prime minister. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Will the governor really give up this great achievement?"

Li Chengdong kept talking, and Tong Yangjia's expression became uncertain after hearing what he said.

Tong Yangjia sat back in his chair, his face sullen and silent. When Li Chengdong saw Tong Yangjia sitting back in his seat, he immediately made up his mind. Sure enough, not long after, Tong Yangjia above him spoke in a cold voice:

"Can you confirm that the person in the city is indeed the new regent of the Ming court, and that all the ministers of the Ming court are also in the city?"

"This is absolutely correct. Regent Gui officially became regent in Zhaoqing more than a month ago. Many gentry outside Guangzhou know about this. There is absolutely no mistake about Regent Gui's identity."

"Then bring these gentlemen up."

Tong Yangjia looked at Li Chengdong who looked sincere, but said in a cold voice

Li Chengdong's expression froze, but he didn't say much. Soon several gentry were brought to the hall.
Tong Yangjia asked some questions, combined with the information provided by Ye Chengen, Li Yangchen and other Ming court surrendered generals, and finally confirmed the identity of Gui Jianguo in the city.
Several gentry were soon taken down again, and the tent became silent again. Tong Yangjia sat in the first seat with a sullen face, saying nothing.
He glanced at Li Chengdong below, and suddenly a trace of fear rose in his heart. At this moment, he also realized that Li Chengdong was not only a brutal and vicious warrior, but also extremely cunning. He was really a difficult person.

In fact, when Li Chengdong said that the man in the city was the new regent of the Ming court, it was difficult for Tong Yangjia to leave.
At this time, the army had already arrived at the city. If he led the army away at this time, once the Ming Regent escaped, Li Chengdong would probably directly put the responsibility of letting the Ming Regent escape on him.

Li Chengdong saw that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was surrounded, so he took the risk and attacked day and night, hoping to eliminate this great threat for the Qing Dynasty.

But who knew that the governor of Guangdong Province, Tong Yangjia, led his troops to the city, but suddenly left with his troops, resulting in a lack of troops and failure of the campaign.

By then, even if Tong Yangjia had reasons, he would still face the court's accountability, and Li Chengdong would probably become a loyal minister serving the country.

After Tong Yangjia confirmed that the person in the city was indeed the Ming court regent, he decided to take part in the siege. On the one hand, the army had already arrived here and it would be unreasonable to leave. On the other hand, he was also greedy for the great achievement of the Ming court regent in the city!

He is the regent of the Ming court. As Li Chengdong said, if we can really catch him, it will be a great achievement.

This is the emperor of the Ming court. Duoduo captured Emperor Hongguang and his power in the court became more and more powerful. Bolo killed Emperor Longwu, and there was already a rumor in the capital that Bolo was to be promoted to a prince.
If Tong Yangjia could capture a Ming emperor and then conquer Guangdong, it would be a great achievement comparable to that of Bolo. With his Manchu identity, he could at least have the title of Duke.

Tong Yangjia was moved when he thought of this. He looked at Li Chengdong below and said

"Are there really only a few hundred Ming troops in the city?"

"There is no mistake. I was originally planning to launch a surprise attack to capture Guangzhou. I discovered the Regent's convoy outside the city, so I changed my plan temporarily. However, I was careless for a moment, and in the end, the fake Regent led hundreds of people to escape into the city."

"There are only a few hundred remnants of the pseudo-regent in the city now, and the rest are all young and strong men who have temporarily received military training."

"The reason why the Ming army was able to hold on for the past two days was entirely due to the hundreds of imperial guards and a dozen small cannons. I have attacked the city several times in the past two days and have already figured out the strength of the city. The imperial guards in the city have suffered heavy casualties in the past two days."

"Today, the governor has led a large army to arrive again. The morale of the people in the city will surely drop greatly. As long as the whole army attacks the city tomorrow, Guangzhou can be taken in one fell swoop." Li Chengdong heard Tong Yangjia finally speak and immediately replied.
"Then send a message to the army. Tomorrow morning, the entire army will attack the city!"

Tong Yangjia thought for a while, and finally spoke in a cold voice. Li Chengdong's face was relieved when he heard it.

Li Chengdong had no choice but to tell Tong Yangjia about the real situation in the city. If he could capture Guangzhou at this time, although the position of Governor of Guangdong Province would definitely have nothing to do with him, at least he could still get a share of the military merit.

The Governor of Guangdong Province is gone, so let's see if the Governor of Guangxi Province can do it. But if he fails to capture Guangzhou and returns empty-handed, he will probably be held accountable.
Tong Yangjia looked at Li Chengdong who looked relaxed below, but snorted coldly and said

"General Li, the reason why I agreed to attack the city is for the sake of the imperial court. If we can capture Guangzhou this time, everyone will be happy, and I will also ask for credit for you."

"But if we fail to capture the city, I will report General Li's false military information to the court. General Li, do you understand?"

Li Chengdong's face darkened when he heard this. He was silent for a moment before he bowed and replied.

"This time, my surprise attack failed, so I bothered the governor to come thousands of miles to help. This is my fault. I dare not take credit for it now. I only hope to conquer Guangdong Province for the court as soon as possible."

"Tomorrow I will order the soldiers in the army to climb the city walls and help His Excellency accomplish this great feat."

Li Chengdong lowered his head, his eyes flickered slightly. His words sounded like he was asking for forgiveness, but in fact he only admitted that the raid failed, but he would never admit to lying about military intelligence.

"Rights and wrongs cannot be covered up by a few lies, General Li, you should take care of yourself."

Tong Yangjia obviously understood what Li Chengdong meant, but he just snorted coldly and said no more. Then everyone started discussing tomorrow's siege.

As the two groups reached a consensus, tens of thousands of Qing troops began to prepare overnight, waiting for dawn to march out and seize Guangzhou in one fell swoop.

(End of this chapter)