Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 197 Reinforcement
When the envoy heard this, he looked happy, nodded in agreement, and thanked Zhu Jing'an for his great kindness.

"The little Daijunmen would like to thank His Highness the Crown Prince for his great kindness!"

"Your Highness's great kindness will be unforgettable by the army!"

Zhu Jing'an smiled, then ordered someone to get paper and pen, personally wrote down the promise he had just made, and stamped it with his prince's seal.

Have someone hand the document to the messenger, and then speak.

"There is no basis for what you say. This document is Gu's guarantee to Ma Junmen."

"Go ahead and give the documents to Ma Junmen. I hope Ma Junmen won't disappoint you!"

Zhu Jing'an always understood one thing.

That's when it's time to reward the people below. Don't be vague.

This is also the reason why Zhu Jing'an has always been supported in the military.

After all, who can say no to a boss who is quite generous in paying wages and bonuses?
……

Soon, the envoy left the Ming army camp, then quietly returned to the Qing army camp, and went to meet Madebang.

The document written and printed by Zhu Jing'an himself was handed over to Madebang.

Madbon held the document and looked at the two short lines of words on it and the big bright red seal, his chest heaving violently.

The expression on his face was also full of excitement.

His hands holding the document were trembling slightly, as if they were holding not a thin document, but a heavy burden.

"I have long heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is always generous to demoted generals and officials. If he is really talented, he will not hesitate to reuse him."

"Now it seems that what he said was true!"

Madbon's face was full of joy, he laughed and said happily.

"Go and send the order to summon the generals for discussion!"

"Since His Highness the Crown Prince treats me as a surrendered general with such courtesy and respect, how can I let His Highness the Crown Prince down?"

Ma Debang silently apologized to Sanbao.

……

That night, a burst of fighting came from the Qing army camp on the hillside.

Ma Debang, the commander-in-chief of Wuchang, led his troops to attack and kill Sanbao, the governor of Huguang.

The fighting lasted for most of the night and then gradually stopped.

Early the next morning, the Qing troops on the hillside fell and were replaced by a large flag with clear characters.

Immediately afterwards, Ma Debang led a group of Qing generals, naked to the waist and carrying wooden boxes, to the Ming army camp to surrender.

Behind them, a Qing soldier lowered his head and walked out of the military camp. He threw the weapon in his hand on the open space in front of the camp gate, and then stood in a row, waiting for Ming's disposal.

Seeing this scene, the Ming army sentries reported the news to Zhu Jing'an.

Without any hesitation, Zhu Jing'an led his own soldiers out of the camp to meet him.

After being searched, Ma Debang walked to Zhu Jing'an's horse, knelt down, touched his forehead to the ground, and said with some fear in his voice.

"The general is incompetent and failed to capture Sanbao, the Qing Tatar governor of Huguang alive. He only came here with his head. I hope His Highness the Crown Prince will forgive me!"

Hearing this, Zhu Jing'an got off his horse, helped Ma Debang up, and laughed.

"Hahaha, Ma Junmen, please get up quickly. You can take the heads of the Three Treasures and lead tens of thousands of soldiers back to prevent us Han people from fighting each other. This is already a great achievement. How can you be guilty?"

"I will definitely have a drink with Junmen today!"

"It is truly a blessing for the world to be able to lead the troops back from the military sect!"

Seeing Zhu Jing'an's statement like this, Ma Debang's anxiety disappeared.

But he still spoke.

"The general is scared, but I still ask His Highness the Crown Prince to accept the surrendered troops first!"

Hearing this, Zhu Jing'an nodded and said yes.

"Send someone to receive a group of descending troops and make a detailed inventory of the results of our army's battle."

"Also, the entire army will cut off their braids!"

Zhu Jing'an said the first sentence to Zhang Jin, the secretary, and the latter sentence to Ma Debang.

Since they have returned to the Ming Dynasty anyway, they must not be able to keep their braids!
It is one thing that the Ming Dynasty did not enforce forced braid cutting among civilians, but in the military, not even a single braid was allowed to be left.

Hearing this, Madebang nodded and said.

"Everything is at the command of His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Jing'an laughed and said with a smile.

"In that case, how about cutting Ma Junmen's braids with your own hands?"

Madbon's braids haven't been cut off yet. There were too many things going on last night, and he was a little too busy to get dizzy.

Ignored this matter!
However, now that Zhu Jing'an actually wanted to cut his braids with his own hands, Ma Debang was still happy.

The reason is also very simple. Cutting braids means acceptance!

If Zhu Jing'an personally helped him cut his braid, this was Zhu Jing'an personally doing the same haircut for him as before.

From now on, no one can make irresponsible remarks about his previous identity in front of him.

How could Madhabang not be grateful!

In Madbon today, there is an urge to die for one's bosom friend.

……

Yuezhou City!
After the defeat in Changsha, Agui's Qing army retreated to Yuezhou City.

Then, the inside and outside of Yuezhou City turned into a large military camp.

There are numerous camps inside and outside Yuezhou City. Not to mention the supply of food and grass, the daily water consumption alone is an astronomical figure.

Special laborers are needed to pull the water tanker and go to the Yangtze River to collect water every day!
Of course, this is only domestic water, and drinking water still has to be taken from wells.

Don’t think that the ancients were stupid. You can see the uncleanness of the river with the naked eye. It is definitely not suitable to be eaten directly!
If given the choice, the priority would be well water.

"Zhuzi, please be more agile. We have to collect about ten loads of water today, so we can't delay."

"If something goes wrong, be careful that the military men will arrest you and take you to the barracks to beat you!"

Wu Aniu pushed the waterwheel and greeted his companions.

"Here he comes, he's here, no matter what, he won't stop even if he takes a shit!"

Not long after, a man in civilian clothes walked out from behind the grass while fastening his belt, cursing.

There was visible displeasure on his face.

As he walked, he smelled his hands and showed a disgusted expression.

This man's name is Zhao Tiezhu, a native of Yuezhou Prefecture, and his fellow villager Wu Aniu. The two were recruited by the Qing court to become civil husbands.

Responsible for fetching water from the Yangtze River for the army every day!
The two of them pushed the water cart towards the Yangtze River. Along the way, many people were pushing the water cart back and forth, doing the same work as them.

"I don't know when this battle will be over. This year we have been recruited by the imperial court to be civilian husbands. No one has taken care of the fields at home, and we don't know what they are like."

"It makes me sad just thinking about it!"

Wu Aniu pushed the water cart and said with a sad look on his face.

Zhao Tiezhu on the side clicked his tongue and said with a look of gloating.

"The imperial court? The damn imperial court!"

"I have heard that the crown prince of the Zhu family led his men to conquer Jingzhou and killed tens of thousands of Eight Banners. I am afraid that the Tatar court will not last long."

When Wu A Niu heard this, he had a look of panic on his face and spoke hurriedly.

"Zhuzi, don't dare to talk nonsense!"

"If someone hears what you said, you will lose your skin even if you don't say it!"

When Zhao Tiezhu heard this, he waved his hands nonchalantly and said. "You are so scared, Aniu, you are so cowardly!"

"Besides, this is not what I said, but what I heard from Qiu Ba from Henan."

"He is the one who said this Qing Dynasty is afraid of pills!"

"When the Zhu family's soldiers come, Yuezhou may not be able to defend it."

Wu A Niu said worriedly after hearing this.

"Then when the Zhu family's soldiers come, everything will be fine in Yuezhou, right?"

He was a little afraid of military disaster.

Zhao Tiezhu curled his lips and said.

"What's the matter? The military discipline of the Zhu family's soldiers is much better than that of the Qing soldiers. At least, they won't go around harming the people like the Qing soldiers."

When he said this, Zhao Tiezhu's words were full of resentment.

The reason was that the military discipline of the Qing army was so poor. During the time they were stationed in Yuezhou, disasters occurred both inside and outside Yuezhou City.

Many eldest girls and young wives were murdered. Rape and robbery occurred from time to time, and murder and robbery became commonplace.

The imperial government didn't want to take care of it, and they couldn't.

General Agui, on the other hand, was focused on military matters and had no time to care about such trivial matters.

As a result, the large number of troops stationed not only failed to promote the prosperity of Yuezhou's urban economy, but instead caused the depression of all industries in Yuezhou.

Even in broad daylight, there were no people on the streets, it felt like a ghost town!

The wealthy gentry in the city all chose to leave the city and take refuge in Zhuangzi outside the city, as far away from the rebels as possible.

And ordinary people also ran away when they could, and went to the countryside to join their relatives!

There is no one inside or outside Yuezhou City who is not dissatisfied with the Qing army.

If so, then he must not be from Yuezhou!

While the two were talking, they had already arrived at the edge of the Yangtze River.

Parking the water truck on the embankment, the two of them picked up the buckets and prepared to fetch water.

Wu Aniu threw the bucket into the river, then lifted it up. When both buckets were full, he was ready to bravely go to the direction of the waterwheel.

Suddenly, he heard a scream from Zhao Tiezhu.

Wu Aniu's expression changed, thinking that Zhao Tiezhu had encountered some danger. He put down the bucket, picked up the pole and ran in the direction of the scream.

Then he saw Zhao Tiezhu sitting slumped on the bank of the Yangtze River with a pale face, and in the inlet in front of him, there were several mutilated corpses floating in the bay.

These corpses were pale and swollen by the river water, turning them into giants.

There were even a few that were rotten and infested with maggots, and were eaten into disgrace by fish and shrimps.

There is a faint smell of corpses floating in the air!

The scene is shocking!

And these corpses all have a unified feature, that is, they are wearing the uniforms of the Green Camp.

His identity should be that of a green camp soldier!

"Dead...dead!"

"It's dead!"

Wu Aniu immediately shouted loudly.

The screams and shouts of the two people attracted the attention of many people. Soon, the news that a large number of green camp soldiers' bodies were found on the bank of the Yangtze River reached Agui's ears.

Agui made a quick decision and took people to the Yangtze River to investigate...

……

Agui covered her nose with a handkerchief and stood on the bank of the Yangtze River.

In the open space in front of him, there were a dozen corpses in a semi-decomposed state.

The air is filled with the smell of corpses!
The river breeze blows, and the smell of corpses disperses with the wind.

Several gangsters were covering their mouths and noses with gauze and holding various tools to examine the causes of death of these corpses.

Not long after, a man with a gray beard came to Agui and gave a report.

"Your Majesty General, the cause of death has been found out."

"Judging from the decomposition of the body, the time of death should not exceed five days."

"Some of these corpses had no obvious external injuries, but there was silt left in their lungs. They were obviously drowned by the river water."

"The remaining corpses died from gunshot wounds and sword wounds. They were all injuries sustained on the battlefield. They must have experienced fierce battles before they were alive."

"Judging from the tooth tags they carry with them, these people should be Green Camp soldiers from Xiangyang and Wuchang."

Hearing this, Agui frowned and couldn't help but fall into deep thought, and then looked towards the upper reaches of the Yangtze River with his faint eyes.

These corpses should have washed down from the upper reaches, but they were not soldiers from Jingzhou, but soldiers from Wuchang and Xiangyang.

This shows that the dead ones are most likely soldiers under the command of Sanbao, the governor of Huguang!
If this is the case, then there is a high probability that Governor Sanbao of Huguang will be defeated.

Agui's heart is full of gloom now. He just wants to know what is going on at Sanbao's headquarters.

You must know that defeat can also be divided into big defeats and small defeats.

If Sanbao only suffered a small defeat, Agui could still accept it, because if this was the case, there would still be someone who could echo and support each other in the Huguang battle.

The situation can be maintained for the time being!

However, if Sanbao's troops were defeated in this battle, they might even be completely wiped out by the Ming army in the field.

That's a big problem!

In this case, Yuezhou is really just an isolated city!

An isolated city, no matter how strong and impregnable the city defense is, how long can it be defended?

Agui still understands the principle of not defending a lonely city!
Seeing the solemn expression on Agui's face, Hailancha on the side spoke.

"General, I estimate that Ming thieves will invade Yuezhou soon."

"Our army must be prepared to face the enemy!"

Looking at the corpses with different forms of death, Hailancha also realized the seriousness of the problem.

If the Governor of Huguang is defeated, Yuezhou may also be in danger!
Agui nodded slightly, but said nothing.

Just thinking about what to do next.

At this moment, a messenger ran from a distance. The soldier's face was full of joy and he spoke.

"General, general!"

"Good news!"

"Lord Shu Hede has mobilized troops from Jiangxi and Anhui to reinforce the war in Yuezhou."

"Now the reinforcements have arrived outside Yuezhou City, I, Yuezhou, can be saved!"

After receiving the news of Agui's defeat in Changsha, Shu Hede began to prepare to mobilize troops and increase troops to Hunan.

However, because the mobilization of the army requires a certain amount of time to prepare, and changes occurred in Fujian, it further delayed the departure of reinforcements.

Therefore, it was not until now that the reinforcements mobilized by Shu Hede from Jiangxi and Anhui arrived in Yuezhou City.

Hearing this, Agui couldn't help but look happy and laughed.

"Hahahaha!"

"Okay, okay, our army's reinforcements are finally coming!"

"If we can get reinforcements, there will be room for improvement in the situation in Yuezhou..."

(End of this chapter)