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Just as the Red Flag Army swept through southern Jiangsu with overwhelming force and its advance pointed directly at Hangzhou Bay, the situation in the entire South China became more complicated and extremely unfavorable to the remnants of the Qing Dynasty due to the intervention of two other forces.

Yunnan, Kunming, the Prince Pingxi's Mansion.

Wu Sangui listened with a gloomy expression to the merciless reply from Su Ning that his son, Wu Yingxiong, had brought back.

"Drawing a line across the river...? What a pipe dream!" These eight words were like a cold dagger, piercing his last shred of illusion.

He had originally hoped that with the remaining troops at his disposal and the wealth of Jiangnan, he could negotiate with the newly established northern regime and retain his status and power as a vassal king.

However, Suning's tough stance completely blocked this path.

"Father, that Su Ning is a wolf in sheep's clothing, wanting to devour the world. He will never allow the Three Feudatories to exist!" Wu Yingxiong said hatefully.

Wu Sangui slammed his hand on the table, a ruthless and resolute glint in his eyes: "Since Su Ning won't give us a way out, then don't blame me! Issue the order: raise an army! Raise the banner of 'Revive the Ming and Punish the Rebels'! Target—Guangxi and Hunan! While Su Ning's main force is bogged down in Jiangnan, take over Guangdong and Guangxi for me!"

He was playing a two-birds-with-one-stone game: he could expand his own territory, stab Suning in the back, and perhaps increase his bargaining power in future negotiations.

However, he underestimated the Red Flag Army's advance speed and overestimated the fighting power and morale of his own troops.

Meanwhile, across the sea in Taiwan, Chengtian Prefecture (present-day Tainan) was located.

Prince Zheng Jing of Yanping was also closely monitoring the situation on the mainland.

News of the fall of Beijing and the collapse of the Qing central government had already spread.

Now, the Red Flag Army has crossed the Yangtze River in a large-scale operation, and Wu Sangui has finally raised an army. In his view, this is undoubtedly a golden opportunity to "overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming".

"My father's dying wish was to restore our Great Ming Dynasty! Now that the Tartars are in chaos, it is time for us to exert our strength!" Zheng Jing summoned his civil and military officials and spoke passionately. "Order all garrisons to assemble their naval forces and prepare for the western expedition! First, take Xiamen and Kinmen as bases, then we will take Fujian!"

In an instant, the Red Flag Army swept south in the north, Wu Sangui raised an army and marched east in the west, and Zheng Jing sharpened his sword in the east.

The remaining Eight Banners soldiers and Green Standard Army troops, who were still stubbornly resisting in Jiangnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian, were suddenly caught in a desperate situation of being attacked from three sides and fighting their own battles.

They were like flies with their heads cut off; the command system completely failed, and morale plummeted.

Faced with the main force of the Red Flag Army, their resistance was pitifully weak.

Beneath the walls of Changzhou, a group of Manchu soldiers attempted to resist.

"Fire!" the Red Flag Army commander coldly ordered.

In just half an hour of artillery preparation, several breaches were blasted into the city wall, and the defending troops suffered heavy casualties.

When the Red Banner infantry launched their charge, the remaining Eight Banner soldiers offered almost no resistance and knelt down to surrender.

"General, spare our lives! We were forced into this!" The commander looked expressionlessly at the prisoners who were kowtowing like pounding garlic, and waved his hand: "According to the Commander-in-Chief's order, sort them out and deal with them. Officers and those with blood on their hands will be held in solitary confinement to await trial. Ordinary soldiers will be kept in custody for the time being."

In the water fortresses along the shore of Taihu Lake, several Qing warships that attempted to intercept were quickly reduced to burning fragments and sank to the bottom of the lake under the bombardment of the superior artillery fire of the Red Flag Army's navy.

The defeat spread like a plague.

Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou... one after another, these important towns that were once garrisoned by the Eight Banners were either captured in one fell swoop or pacified by a mere proclamation under the powerful military pressure and political offensive of the Red Banner Army.

Su Ning's attitude towards the captured high-ranking Eight Banner generals, corrupt officials who committed numerous evils, and local tyrants who aroused great public resentment was completely different.

After Suzhou was captured, a group of captured Eight Banner commanders and officers, as well as former Qing officials who had participated in suppressing anti-Qing uprisings in Jiangnan and massacring civilians, were escorted to Jiangning.

"Commander Su, what should we do with these people?" the officer in charge of military law asked.

Su Ning looked at the names on the list and the brief descriptions of their crimes: Yangzhou, Jiading, Jiangyin...

Behind each place name lies the blood and tears of hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese.

His eyes held no warmth, only a chilling killing intent.

"Do I need to teach you how to do it?" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a suffocating sense of oppression. "A blood debt must be repaid in blood!"

He paused, then commanded, word by word: "Public trial, public execution! Make their crimes known to the world, and then—execute them immediately! Display their heads throughout the land as a warning to others, and to comfort the souls of our fallen compatriots in heaven!"

"Yes!" The military judge solemnly accepted the order.

There was no mercy, no forgiveness.

Su Ning showed a ruthless and merciless side to these executioners whose hands were stained with blood.

Only in this way can we thoroughly settle the grudges and hatred left by the Qing Dynasty, deter those petty people who still harbor侥幸心理 (a sense of侥幸, or a belief that they can get away with it), and truly win the hearts of the people of Jiangnan.

In an instant, across the Jiangnan region, on execution grounds, gleaming blades flashed, and heads that had once been high and mighty rolled to the ground.

The people watched, initially filled with fear, then with the release of long-suppressed grief and indignation through weeping, and finally with a complex and inexplicable sense of identification with this force called the "Red Flag Army".

Under the iron fist of the Red Flag Army, Wu Sangui's opportunistic looting, Zheng Jing's cross-sea attack, and Su Ning's ruthless purge of evil, the Manchu Qing dynasty's rule in Jiangnan was completely shattered, and the remaining forces melted away like ice and snow under the sun.

……

Just as the battle in Jiangnan was progressing at an astonishing speed, battle reports from the western front were also pouring into the Nanjing headquarters like snowflakes.

Wu Sangui's "Restoring the Ming and Punishing the Rebels" campaign was not limited to attacking Guangdong and Guangxi to the east. He also dispatched his generals Ma Bao and Wang Pingfan to lead elite troops to expand into Shaanxi in the northwest and Sichuan in the southwest, attempting to use the natural defenses of the mountains and rivers to build a vast separatist kingdom.

However, he severely underestimated the Red Flag Army on the western front, which had been fully integrated, well-equipped, and in high spirits.

Shaanxi, west of Tongguan.

Wu Jun relied on the strategic terrain to build fortifications, and his arrogance was once extremely high.

However, when they faced the Red Flag Army, they found that their previous combat experience was completely ineffective.

The Red Flag Army did not rush to launch a dense human wave charge, but instead first carried out a sweeping attack with heavy artillery fire.

"Boom!" The sound of cannons echoed through the valley, and the wooden camps and simple fortifications that Wu Jun had painstakingly built were reduced to dust in the explosion.

After the artillery fire extended, the Red Flag Army infantry, equipped with rifles and submachine guns, launched an attack in skirmish lines. Their precise and deadly firepower kept the Wu army, who were used to fighting in formation, from raising their heads.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Wu Jun's general shouted hoarsely, but his soldiers fell in droves under the baptism of modern firepower, and their morale collapsed rapidly.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" The retreat was like a landslide; the Wu army abandoned their armor and weapons and fled in disarray back towards Hanzhong.

The Red Flag Army's western corps fought steadily and surely, not only holding the defensive line but also firmly suppressing Wu Sangui's forces outside the Sichuan-Shaanxi border, completely thwarting his attempt to "go north and contend for supremacy."

Sichuan, outside Jianmen Pass.

Similar scenes are playing out.

The Jianmen Pass, known as a strategic stronghold where "one man can hold off ten thousand," was greatly weakened by the Red Flag Army's new tactics of flanking maneuvers and coordinated infantry and artillery attacks.

The Wu army guarding the pass was horrified to discover that the Red Flag Army could always find the weak points in their defenses and open up breaches with powerful firepower.

After several battles, Wu's army suffered heavy losses and retreated step by step, forced to retreat to the Sichuan Basin, where they barely managed to hold on due to the complex terrain.

When news of the setbacks on both the eastern and western fronts reached Kunming, Wu Sangui was both shocked and furious.

What chilled him even more was that the situation in Jiangnan had taken a sharp turn for the worse! Jiangning, formerly the Governor-General's Office of Liangjiang, is now the forward command post of the Red Flag Army.

Looking at the reports of victory from the western front and the battle report that the Jiangnan region had been basically cleared, Su Ning showed no sign of relief.

His gaze was cold as he pointed towards Jiangxi and Hunan on the map.

"That old traitor Wu Sangui dared to seize Hunan and Jiangxi while I was crossing the river! Our brothers on the western front fought very well, firmly pinning the traitor Wu down in Sichuan and Shaanxi! Now, it's our turn!" He turned sharply to his generals, his voice resolute: "Jiangnan is pacified, and the remnants of the Manchu Qing have been wiped out! My 200,000-strong army will immediately turn west! Our target—Jiangxi and Hunan! Chop off Wu Sangui's outstretched hand completely!"

"We will obey the Commander-in-Chief's orders!" the generals roared in response, their fighting spirit soaring.

With almost no pause, the main force of the Red Flag Army, which had just experienced the baptism of war in Jiangnan, surged westward like a torrent that had changed direction!
Their goal was clear—to sweep away Wu Sangui's troops entrenched in Jiangxi and Hunan!
Meanwhile, alarms were frequently sounding along the southeastern coast.

"Report! Commander-in-Chief! Zheng Jing of Taiwan has dispatched his generals Liu Guoxuan and Feng Xifan, leading naval and land forces, to land in Xiamen, Quanzhou, Fuzhou and other places. Under the banner of 'overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming,' they are attacking cities and seizing territories, and their momentum is quite strong!"

Upon hearing this, a fierce glint flashed in Su Ning's eyes: "Zheng Jing? He also wants to take advantage of the situation? Very well!"

He looked at the naval commanders and garrison commanders in charge of the southeast: "Order! All coastal garrisons, closely monitor the movements of Zheng's army! Avoid their sharp edge, hold key points, and wear down their forces! Once my main force has dealt with Wu Sangui, we will turn back to deal with these isolated officials overseas! Let them know that this homeland of China is not something they can covet at will!"

The Red Flag Army's defenses on the western front (Sichuan and Shaanxi) are solid, and a counter-offensive is imminent.

Riding high on their great victory, the main force of the Red Flag Army in the south of the Yangtze River, along the central line (Hunan and Jiangxi), made a thunderous westward advance, heading straight for Wu Sangui's heartland in Hunan and Jiangxi.

Zheng Jing's troops landed on the eastern front (the coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang) and formed a standoff with the Red Flag Army's remaining troops.

The entire south was shrouded in the thunderous fury unleashed by the Red Flag Army.

Whether it was Wu Sangui, who attempted to establish a separatist regime, or Zheng Jing, who dreamed of restoring the monarchy, they would all face final judgment in the face of this unstoppable iron torrent!

Suning's will to unify China is like a drawn sword, its cold light gleaming, pointing at every enemy who dares to stand in the way of history!

……

Wu Sangui's ambitions were quickly exposed as he was outwardly strong but inwardly weak under the ironclad encirclement of the Red Flag Army's three armies.

He originally hoped to establish a separatist regime in the southwestern region by relying on its strategic location, but he never expected that the Red Flag Army's counterattack would be so swift and deadly!
After stabilizing the Shaanxi defense line, the First Field Army on the western front was not satisfied with simply blocking Wu's army outside the Qinling Mountains.

After receiving Su Ning's order to "seek an opportunity to counterattack, contain and deplete Wu's forces," Commander 011 immediately took action.

At the military conference, 011 pointed to the Shu Road on the sand table and said in a booming voice: "Wu's troops have all been drawn to the east, leaving northern Sichuan vulnerable! We can't just hold our ground; we have to give them a good beating from behind!"

He ordered his most elite "mountain assault brigade" to be reinforced with artillery and to adopt a multi-pronged infiltration and combined surprise and conventional tactics. Instead of launching a direct assault on traditional passes such as Jianmen Pass, he sent small elite units to cross the sparsely populated and treacherous mountainous areas such as Micang Mountain and Motianling to outflank Wu's army, attack their supply lines, and eliminate their strongholds.

Meanwhile, the main force launched a feint attack from the front to draw the attention of the Wu army.

Wu Jun's commander-in-chief, Ma Bao, was so overwhelmed by the attack that he was unable to defend himself effectively.

News of rear outposts being captured and supplies being burned continued to arrive, causing morale in the army to waver.

Although the Red Flag Army on the western front did not enter Sichuan on a large scale, it was like a nail firmly driven in, making Wu Sangui's Sichuan territory feel uneasy and unable to eat or sleep, forcing him to leave a large number of troops there and unable to provide eastward reinforcements.

At the same time, the main force in the central route, personally supervised by Suning, launched an overwhelming offensive against Wu's army entrenched in Hunan from both Jiangxi and Zhejiang directions, like a tiger released from its cage.

In Jiangxi, the Red Flag Army advanced up the Gan River with unstoppable momentum.

Key towns such as Ji'an and Ganzhou were successively recaptured.

Wu Jun's general, Han Daren, attempted to organize a defensive line in the Pingxiang area, relying on the hilly terrain to resist step by step.

After personally inspecting the enemy situation at the front line, Su Ning ordered the commander of the central route: "The morale of Wu's army has collapsed. They are only clinging to life by virtue of their terrain. Do not give them time to build a defensive line! Concentrate all artillery and blast a path through! Cavalry and mechanized infantry (using mules and horses) will follow up, divide and encircle them, and annihilate them completely, leaving no one to escape!"

"Yes, Commander!"

In an instant, hundreds of cannons of the Red Flag Army roared with deafening fury, plundering the Wu army's position.

Before the artillery fire had completely ceased, the resounding bugle call to charge rang out, and a red tide engulfed the shattered enemy lines.

Han Daren's troops were almost completely wiped out, and he himself fled to Changsha with only a few dozen cavalrymen.

In the Zhejiang direction, the Red Flag Army crossed the Xianxia Ridge and entered eastern Hunan.

Wu's army's defenses in this area were even weaker, and they often fled at the mere sight of the enemy.

The Red Flag Army captured several cities without bloodshed, and its advance was aimed directly at Hengyang.

With attacks from both the east and west, Wu Sangui's core of power in Hunan, Changsha, has been exposed to the Red Flag Army's might!

On the southeast coast, facing the landing of Zheng Jing's army, the Red Flag Army adopted the strategy of "avoiding their sharp edge, holding key points, and waiting for an opportunity to counterattack."

The troops and navy that remained behind did not engage in large-scale field or naval battles with the high-spirited Zheng army. Instead, they relied on the city defenses of cities such as Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Xiamen to wage a tenacious defense.

Zheng Jun launched a fierce attack for several days, suffering heavy casualties, but failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough.

Its logistical support requires transoceanic transportation, and it is gradually showing signs of fatigue.

Small units of the Red Flag Army continuously harassed Zheng Jing's rear, burning supplies and provisions, severely thwarting Zheng Jing's plan to "quickly conquer Fujian" and leaving him in a dilemma.

……

Kunming, the Prince of Pingxi's Mansion.

One bad news after another arrived, and Wu Sangui was furious, yet helpless.

"Your Highness! General Ma Bao from the western front has sent an urgent report: several key passes in northern Sichuan have fallen, and small detachments of the Red Flag Army have infiltrated Sichuan!"

"Your Highness! General Han Daren's entire army has been wiped out in Pingxiang!"

"Your Highness! Hengyang is in grave danger! Changsha is on the verge of collapse!"

"Your Highness! Zheng Jing is also complaining, saying that he can't capture Fuzhou and is requesting reinforcements!"

Wu Sangui slumped down on the tiger-skin chair, his face ashen.

His original hope of being restrained by three parties has now turned into him being besieged by three parties!
With the western front effectively shut down, Zheng Jing proving ineffective on the eastern front, and the core territory in the central front being gradually devoured by the main force personally led by Suning.

"Heaven has forsaken me... Heaven has forsaken me!" He roared in despair, then a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. "No! I still have my base in Yunnan and Guizhou! I still have hundreds of thousands of troops! Issue the order: abandon Hunan, withdraw the entire army, and retreat to Guizhou! Relying on the natural defenses of the Miao region, we will fight Su Ning to the death!"

"Yes! Your Majesty."

However, a single pillar cannot support a collapsing building.

The three armies of the Red Flag Army have formed a close coordination and exerted great pressure, and Wu Sangui's defeat and death seem to be on the verge of collapse.

The entire southwest was shrouded in the shadow of this final battle that would determine its fate.

The Red Flag Army's crimson dragon flag is sweeping towards the last stronghold on the southwestern border with unstoppable force!

...(End of chapter)