You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 161 Nikan Beats Up Bolo
Guilin changed hands.

Li Dingguo ordered a city-wide search to capture Qing soldiers and officials hiding among the people, and to kill anyone found.

Of the 5000 Tianyou soldiers, no more than 500 managed to escape the city.

Soon, the soldiers captured Hong Shiming, the Guangxi Provincial Governor, who was hiding in the latrine!
……

Li Dingguo's voice was filled with anger:
"Hong Chengchou betrayed the late Emperor Chongzhen first, then betrayed the orthodox tradition and righteousness, willingly serving as a henchman for foreign tribes. His crimes are countless and utterly shameless. I could not personally kill Hong Chengchou, but instead encountered his son. Heaven has eyes!"

"Tie this scoundrel up and execute him by slow slicing."

"All soldiers may draw their swords."

"As ordered."

Even ordinary soldiers were familiar with the name Hong Chengchou.

On that day, Hong Shiming was reduced to a skeleton.

……

Xiaoxiaosheng's personal opinion:

Among the millions of Ming Dynasty traitors, Hong Chengchou ranked first, Wu Sangui ranked second, and Qian Qianyi ranked third.

The above ranking is based on the harm caused to the world by an individual's act of surrender.

San Shun Wang doesn't even rank in the top five.

Hong Chengchou—the Imperial Commissioner, Governor-General of the Ji-Liao region and concurrently Minister of War, responsible for military affairs, provisions, defense against Japanese pirates, and Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince—directly commanded nine garrison commanders and held the imperial sword. The impact of his surrender is difficult to describe in words. In short, the political and military harm was immense.

Wu Sangui, who commanded tens of thousands of Guan-Ning cavalrymen amassed with substantial funds, personally opened the Shanhaiguan Pass. After entering the pass, he fought for the Qing court in numerous battles, causing immense military damage.

Qian Qianyi—leader of the Donglin Party and a literary giant in Southeast China—broke his knees, breaking the backbone of countless scholars and eroding the morale of the anti-Qing forces and civilians in the southeast. Whether his later covert support for the anti-Qing movement was genuine or not, it could not undo the damage he caused.

The land is ravaged, the world is filled with bloodshed, and hundreds of millions of soldiers and civilians are ready to fight to the death. Why then did the Deputy Commander surrender to the enemy first? Was it to endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens? Was it a roundabout way to save the country? Was it to preserve the flame of revolution? Why is death so difficult?
An undeniable historical fact:

The crucial decisions made by key figures at critical moments have an impact on the course of history that is too great to be described in words.

They changed so much!

But they won't admit it!

……

The Great Western Army rested in Guilin for two days. During this time, Li Dingguo personally paid tribute to Qu Shisi and Zhang Tongchang, two important officials of the Southern Ming Dynasty who died in Guilin.

Qu and Zhang died at the hands of Kong Youde.

Now, Li Dingguo is using the corpses of Kong Youde and his son to pay tribute to them, which can be considered a good cycle of life and a reward for one's life.

The Daxi Army has changed its previous decadence and its morale is high.

Li Dingguo ordered his fierce general Ma Jinzhong to lead his troops eastward, with Wuzhou Prefecture as their target.

Upon learning of the deaths of the two princes, Shang Kexi, the Prince of Pingnan who was stationed in Wuzhou, was terrified. He ordered his men to set fire to the grain, supplies, and weapons that could not be taken from the city, and then led his army to break camp and flee eastward into Guangdong.

Ma Jinzhong occupied Wuzhou without bloodshed.

Li Dingguo personally led the main force from Guilin to attack Quanzhou. After three days of bloody fighting, he annihilated the Quanzhou garrison and then marched on to Baoqing Prefecture in Hunan without stopping.

In Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hunan, a storm is brewing.

Countless prefectures and counties surrendered one after another.

Li Yuanyin, a Ming general who persisted in guerrilla warfare in Zhaoqing, Guangdong, and Zhu Yu'e, the last Tang prince who was fighting guerrilla warfare in Xinning, Guangdong, both sent messengers to express their willingness to accept Li Dingguo's command and restore the Ming Dynasty.

Early November.

The Great Western Army captured Hengzhou in Hunan.

Hunan was shocked, Southwest China was shocked, and the whole world was shocked.

……

Yuezhou.

The atmosphere in the Qing army camp was tense.

"Bolo, a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders. How about we join forces and wipe out the Ming army?"

"General, to be on the safe side, it is best not to combine our forces."

"Bolo, I ask you, are you the head coach or am I the head coach?"

"You are the commander-in-chief!"

"If that's the case, why don't you obey my military orders?"

Bolo waved his hand to dismiss those around him.

"General, I will not hide it from you now. This is the Emperor's decree. Before leaving, the Emperor said that the Manchu bannermen are the foundation of the nation and should be treated with utmost care. They should not be sent to the battlefield lightly, but should be mainly used to supervise the battle."

Nikan flew into a rage and kicked over the large table. "Two of the Three Princes are dead. Do we have any troops to supervise our battle now?"

Bologna was speechless.

"Bolo, since when did you become Shunzhi's good servant?"

"General, we cannot afford to lose."

"Bullshit! You're talking about defeat before the battle even starts. Bolo, have you been taking the wrong medicine every day while you've been confined to the mansion?"

……

The commanders-in-chief and deputy commanders-in-chief argued more and more fiercely, while the officers outside the tent looked at each other in bewilderment.

Everyone was embarrassed. Didn't the imperial court say that they had been winning the war in the southwest?

How come the war situation turned out like this as soon as we headed south? Guangxi was lost, half of Hunan was lost, and two of the Three Princes were killed.

suddenly~
Two people, entangled together, rolled out of the command tent.

Enraged, Nikan rode atop the horse and viciously punched Bolo, each blow powerful and forceful.

"stop fighting."

"Quickly, separate them."

Several princes and nobles rushed forward and forcibly separated the two of them.

General Nikan of Dingyuan was enraged like a lion, his beard and mane bristling.

Bolo was bleeding from his mouth and nose, looking quite disheveled, coughing incessantly, and appearing rather weak.

Clearly, Nikan wins this round.

Just as things were getting chaotic, a patrolling soldier from outside the camp came to report.

"Reporting to the General! We've captured two men outside the camp. They say they escaped from Guilin and know about the front lines."

Kong Sizhen and Sun Yanling appeared before the crowd, both filthy and smelly.

"Your Highness, this humble general is Sun Yanling, a guerrilla general of the Tianyou Army. She is my fiancée and the current Empress Dowager's goddaughter."

hiss!
All eyes were fixed on Kong Sizhen's face. This woman was as dirty as a dog; they couldn't recognize her.

"Someone, prepare hot water and clothes for the princess."

……

Nikan:

"How could they have suffered such a crushing defeat? What exactly happened?"

"Your Highness, it's like this..."

After a long and detailed account, Sun Yanling essentially reconstructed the course of the battle in Guangxi.

Finally, he concluded: "Your Highness, there is a traitor within our army, and this person is at a high level."

moment!

The scene was completely silent; none of the princes, dukes, commanders, or officers dared to utter a sound.

Sun Yanling was filled with grief and indignation:

"Your Highness, generals, think about it. If no one had tipped us off, how could the Ming army have dared to launch a full-scale attack? If no one had tipped us off, how could the Ming army have accurately defeated our brothers who were scattered in various places one by one?"

"Who do you suspect?"

"This humble official dares not doubt it lightly."

Sun Yanling is at least somewhat intelligent.

As they were talking, Kong Sizhen returned, having finished washing and dressing. She wore a rustic dress, cloth shoes, and a wooden hairpin, yet she exuded a unique charm. With her head bowed and eyes downcast, she appeared gentle, kind, and virtuous—clearly a good woman.

Everyone was itching to try it; in the military camp for three months, even a sow could rival Diao Chan.

However, Kong Sizhen was the Empress Dowager's adopted daughter in the palace, making her a first-class member of the imperial family. She was someone the Empress Dowager couldn't afford to offend, so she could only keep her distance.

"Your Highness, I am deeply saddened by the loss of my beloved father. Please send someone to escort us back to the capital."

"Alright, I'll send a squad of soldiers to escort you and your wife back to the capital right away."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

As she spoke, tears streamed down Kong Sizhen's face. From then on, her heart was like a floating duckweed, without roots to settle, and she could only drift along in this mortal world.

She married a husband who was a good-for-nothing.

Poor thing~ and so helpless~
(End of this chapter)