Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 363: Changes in Kunming (Part )

Li Dingguo was from Yulin, Shaanxi, one of the nine important frontier towns in the Ming Dynasty. The people there were tough and brave, and they were known as the soldiers of the Nine Frontiers, with Yulin being the strongest.

During the more than ten years of following Zhang Xianzhong, Li Dingguo fought in thousands of miles as a bandit without a base, which also tempered Li Dingguo's strong will in the war.

With the death of Zhang Xianzhong, the Western Army was leaderless. However, Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi did not have the prestige and strength to command the entire Western Army, but the remaining Western Army could not be without a commander.

After some discussion, the four brothers maintained the coexistence of four mountains out of inertia. At the same time, Sun Kewang played the role of leader as the eldest son and coordinated the advance and retreat of the four brothers.

It can be said that this was a relatively appropriate solution at the critical moment after Zhang Xianzhong's death, but it inevitably left a sequelae, that is, the remnants of the Dashi Army were scattered across many factions, and neither Sun Kewang nor Li Dingguo could integrate the remnants of the Dashi Army into one.

It was not until Li Dingguo went on an expedition to Huguang and received several reports of victory that Sun Kewang became deeply dissatisfied with the flattery of Li Dingguo in the court, and thus cut off the logistics of Li Dingguo's army, which was still fighting the Qing army in Huguang at that time.

But even so, the two had not yet completely fallen out in public. Li Dingguo independently collected grain in the area south of Changsha to support the army. It was not until the imperial edict of the Yongli court that Sun Li and the other were completely pushed to the opposite side.

On August 16, the third year of the Yongli reign, Li Dingguo's troops headed straight for Guiyang. Sun Kewang was unwilling to be outdone, and ordered his generals Feng Shuangli, Bai Wenxuan, Ma Weixing and others to march out of Bijie and Guiyang and station troops in Longli to fight against Li Dingguo.

When Li Dingguo's troops arrived at Guiding, he sent envoys in all directions, saying that they were following the imperial edict to attack Kewang, and listed Kewang's crimes. The three generals Shuangli, Wenxuan and Weixing were hesitant.

Li Dingguo personally led more than 3,000 elite troops, crossed mountains and ridges, bypassed Longli, and attacked Guiyang. Guiyang was caught off guard and was conquered by Li's troops.

Once Guiyang was lost, the three generals' retreat was cut off. The three men did not want to fight in the first place as they were all from the Western Army, but they were arguing over whether to surrender or withdraw. However, Li Dingguo issued an imperial edict to the three generals, ordering them to surrender and rewarding them with the title of Prince.

Bai Wenxuan and Ma Weixing both surrendered with their armies, but Feng Shuangli refused to surrender. However, as all the friendly forces surrendered, Feng Shuangli's troops were frightened. Li Dingguo took the opportunity to use his military power to attack them, and Feng Shuangli led his army to flee back to Anshun.

At this point, Li Dingguo had lost less than a hundred soldiers, but he captured Guiyang and captured more than 23,000 troops from the Wenxuan and Weixing armies, making for a huge force.

Sun Kewang was shocked and angry when he heard the news. He wanted to order Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi to raise an army together, but Liu Wenxiu refused to send troops to attack Li Dingguo.

But Liu Wenxiu also didn't want to help Li Dingguo attack Sun Kewang. Afterwards, Liu Wenxiu and Sun Kewang discussed the matter, and Sun Kewang swore to the sky that he would never harm the emperor.

Liu Wenxiu immediately volunteered to lead more than 30,000 troops from his own army to fight in Sichuan, on the one hand trying to seize Sichuan, and on the other hand avoiding the dispute between the two kings of Qin and Jin.

After Liu Wenxiu led his troops away, Sun Kewang ordered Feng Shuangli to defend Anshun, while at the same time he mobilized his troops and decided to personally lead an expedition against Li Dingguo.

On August 28, Sun Kewang swore an oath to his troops in Kunming and gathered 110,000 cavalry and infantry. He also appointed Feng Shuangli as the general who was responsible for suppressing the rebellion. Sun Kewang himself led the central army, with General Yang Wu in the rear, Wang Shangli in the left, and Zhang Sheng in the right. He also ordered Wu Dading to lead 5,000 light cavalry to rush to Anshun to support Feng Shuangli.

On September 5, Li Dingguo, who had integrated his army, left Guiyang and headed towards Anshun. The army arrived at the city of Anshun, and Feng Shuangli held on and waited for reinforcements.

Li Dingguo knew that Sun Kewang would definitely send troops to rescue Anshun, so he ordered the main force to besiege Anshun, while he personally led more than 10,000 elite troops to lurk in the mountains near Xinpu, intending to ambush Sun Kewang's reinforcements.

On September 7, Wu Dading's cavalry galloped all the way. Just as the front army passed Xinpu Town, Li Dingguo's ambush troops suddenly rushed out and attacked Wu Dading in the middle. Wu Dading's cavalry panicked, and Li Dingguo took the opportunity to order his men to shout, "The King of Jin is here, and he is ordered to fight against the enemy. You all should return quickly!"

Wu Dading saw that the situation was irreversible and was afraid of being punished if he fled back to Kunming, so he decided to go all out and dismounted and surrendered to Li Dingguo. As Li Dingguo accepted the surrender of Wu Dading and his 5,000 light cavalry, Feng Shuangli, who was trapped in Anshun, opened the city gate of Anshun and surrendered with his men under the persuasion of his subordinates.

Up to this point, Li Dingguo had won battle after battle since entering Yunnan, and Sun Kewang's army was almost invincible.

Wu Dading's defeat and surrender made Sun Kewang, who was already lacking in confidence, even more uneasy. Ai Nengqi, who had agreed to join Sun Kewang in attacking Li Dingguo, also refused to send troops and defended himself.

In desperation, Sun Kewang set out from Kunming and delayed for several days before arriving in Qujing. At this time, Li Dingguo's troops had passed Liupanshui and were heading towards Qujing with great momentum.

On September 10, the two armies met at Qujing Jiaoshui and set up camps ten miles apart. Sun Kewang's army of 110,000 men was deployed in 36 camps; Li Dingguo's army of about 70,000 men was deployed in six camps. Seeing that Sun Kewang had a large and powerful army, Li's soldiers were quite afraid.

On the 16th, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo agreed to fight on the 21st to decide the outcome.

Although Sun Kewang was powerful, he had no reason to attack, and Li Dingguo held the imperial edict. Sun Kewang's subordinates were all uneasy, and many people in the army did not approve of the internal fighting in the Western Army. Generals Ma Jinzhong and Ma Bao secretly agreed to join Li Dingguo and support Yongli. Before the battle, Ma Bao rode into Li Dingguo's camp alone and told him that as long as they attacked immediately, Ma Jinzhong and others would revolt on the battlefield. Li Dingguo decided to take action the next morning.

On the 19th, the two armies met at the intersection of Jiaoshui. Sun Kewang relied on his large numbers to gain an advantage, and Li Dingguo's general Li Bohan's horse became convulsed and was killed by Sun Kewang's soldiers.

Bai Wenxuan knew the situation was critical, so he personally led 2,000 cavalrymen into Ma Jinzhong's camp. Ma Jinzhong rebelled on the battlefield. The two armies joined forces to break out of Sun Kewang's formation and broke through several camps in succession. Li Dingguo took advantage of the situation and attacked. Sun Kewang's army was in chaos. The soldiers shouted, "Welcome the King of Jin! Welcome the King of Jin! Welcome the King of Jin!" The shouts shook the sky, and Sun Kewang's army of 110,000 collapsed in an instant.

The defeat was like a landslide. Seeing the situation collapsed, Sun Kewang retreated in panic, fleeing westward with only a few thousand cavalry and retreating to Kunming. Ai Nengqi closed the door and refused to let him in.

On the 21st, Sun Kewang fled eastward to western Guizhou. The garrison commander stationed in Luoping closed the gates and refused to let him in. Instead, he lied that the pursuing troops were approaching. Sun Kewang hurriedly fled eastward, passing through Xinxilin, Tianlin, Baise and entering Guangxi. The gates of the cities along the way were closed during the day. He called out to them repeatedly. Some of the garrisons only used ropes to hang a large basket with a pot of food in the basket for Sun Kewang, and some did not respond.

At this point, Sun Kewang completely lost his power. The King of Qin, who once held a high position of power and even attempted to re-establish the Dashi Dynasty, has now fallen into a situation like a stray dog.

It was not until Sun Kewang hurriedly arrived in Nanning that the garrison commander Wang Yulong welcomed Sun Kewang and gave him hot rice, warm soup and a rest.

However, Sun Kewang was not at peace when he arrived in Nanning. Wang Yulong reported to Sun Kewang, saying, "The Zheng family of Annan has repeatedly crossed the border. Chongshan, Zuozhou, Tuoling and other places in Taiping Prefecture have all been occupied by Annan. Nanning does not have enough troops and can only defend itself, and is unable to drive them out!"

Sun Kewang was furious and cursed: "A tiger in troubled times is bullied by a dog. How dare a small country like Annan do this? One day, I will lead my army to destroy their city!"

Wang Yulong felt somewhat helpless. He had reported the matter to the King of Qin a long time ago, but the King of Qin had no interest in Guangxi affairs at that time.

………………

As Li Dingguo easily entered Kunming and provided relief to all, all the generals under Sun Kewang surrendered, except for the two generals Yang Wu and Wang Shangli, who led their personal guards to follow Sun Kewang along the way.

The Battle of Kunming broke out quickly and ended quickly. When Meng Jun heard the news, he was still a little bit unbelievable.

Sun Kewang's strength was stronger than Li Dingguo in terms of the number of troops, equipment and supplies, food and military pay, and even territory and manpower. However, despite such a huge advantage, he was defeated. Sun Kewang, who fled to Nanning, had actually lost his foundation. His long-cherished wish to recover Dashi became an impossible wish.

Meng Jun immediately summoned Yang En, Gu Yanwu, and several generals who were still in Nanjing to discuss the Kunming incident and the changes that would result.

After a long while, people finally arrived. They sat in the hall, and maids brought them some tea and snacks from time to time. The atmosphere was not serious. After all, although the Yunnan incident was a big deal, it was far away, and the affairs of the Yongli court would not affect Jinling for a while, so the conversations among people in the hall were more like casual chatting.

Meng Jun drank a sip of tea and asked, "I never thought that Sun Kewang would be defeated so easily. More than 100,000 soldiers were wiped out in one day. This is really beyond my expectation."

Yang En said: "Although the King of Qin is ambitious, he has good governance. When he was in Kunming, the court rarely issued orders. Now that the King of Qin has been defeated and the King of Jin has entered the court, I wonder what he will do?"

Sun Kewang controlled the court and did not allow the Yongli court to have its own opinions. Based on the brief encounter between Meng Jun and Li Dingguo, Meng Jun knew that Li Dingguo could not do what Cao Cao and Dong Zhuo did and take full control of the court. In the future, it would probably not be Li Dingguo who decided the orders of the court, but rather the Yongli emperor and his ministers would use the righteousness of the emperor and his ministers to restrain Li Dingguo.

At this time, Gu Yanwu suddenly had an idea and said to Meng Jun: "The King of Qin fled to Nanning. Although he has no troops, he still has prestige in Yunnan and Guizhou. Why don't you send an envoy to persuade him to surrender!"

Qian Biao, who was eating cakes at the back, heard what Gu Yanwu said and immediately retorted: "Mr. Gu, what you said is wrong. Sun Kewang's army is almost twice that of Li Dingguo, but he fought worse than a blind man. What's the use of this trick? Your Majesty has won every battle. What does Sun Kewang have? Why should he be called king and be on equal footing with your Majesty? In my opinion, you can persuade him to surrender, but your Majesty has to step up, otherwise how can you command Sun Kewang to be king? It's better to do it today than to wait for a better day. I think..."

"Shut up! If you keep talking nonsense, you'll just stand at the door with your plate in your hand and eat!" Seeing that Qian Biao was getting more and more excited, Meng Jun knew what trouble he was going to make next and interrupted Qian Biao immediately.

Qian Biao curled his lips, then retracted them and continued eating snacks.

At this time, Yang En said, "Your Majesty, General Qian's words are a little rough, but they still make sense. The title of King of Qin is the most honorable among all the titles of kings. If Your Majesty wants to surrender, this... seems a little unreasonable."

Meng Jun laughed when he heard this and said, "Sun Kewang is in a state of panic. In this critical situation, what good is a title? Send someone to give it a try. He can surrender or not!"

Everyone chatted for a while, and then Bai Yongfu said to Meng Jun: "Your Majesty, in the battle of Huguang, our army tried its best, but the important city of Changsha is in the hands of the Western Army. Now Li Dingguo has sent his troops south to fight Sun Kewang. The land south of Changsha is extremely empty. Why don't you secretly order General Lin to take Changsha, Baoqing, Hengzhou, and Yongzhou!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals agreed with this proposal, and even Yang En, Gu Yanwu and other civil officials were somewhat tempted. Li Dingguo's move seemed to be tempting Meng Jun. If the four prefectures south of Changsha were seized, the Zhou army would surely become more powerful, but the disadvantages were also extremely obvious.

Meng Jun hesitated and said, "Attacking friendly forces may cause harm!"

Bai Yongfu advised: "Your Majesty, Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang are fighting, isn't that attacking friendly forces? There is an imperial edict, who knows whether it is true or false."

Everyone was talking about it, and Meng Jun was troubled. He originally wanted to send troops to attack Shandong after the autumn grain was stored in the warehouse, in order to contain the Qing court and relieve the pressure on Jiang Xiang. However, if he used troops in Huguang, Li Dingguo would certainly not give up easily, and the war would inevitably prolong.

Meng Jun incorporated the Loyal Camp, reorganized the Six Garrisons, and expanded the army to 230,000. In terms of military strength now, the Zhou army is more than capable of defending itself. If it chooses to attack from one direction, it can also mobilize more than 100,000 troops. However, if it attacks from two fronts, it will be difficult for the Zhou army to maintain its position.

The best case scenario would be to wait another two years, allowing the army to build up a stronger fighting force and the treasury to be filled. By then, Meng Jun would be able to sweep across the world like the powerful Qin. Unfortunately, the circumstances did not allow Meng Jun to use two years to store food and build high walls.

…………

As for Li Chengdong in Guangdong, the whole country was in turmoil and wars continued. Li Chengdong ruled Guangdong and lived a very good life. In the past two years, Li Chengdong took 18 concubines, had six sons and eight daughters. It can be said that his thigh meat has grown back.

It’s not that Li Chengdong has no ambition. If he had no ambition, he would not have joined forces with Jin Shenghuan to try to divide Meng Jun.

But now Guangdong, where Li Chengdong is, is in an extremely awkward situation. To the east is Fujian, the territory of the Zheng family. Not to mention that Fujian is easy to defend and difficult to attack, just look at the Zheng family's navy. Even if Li Chengdong had two more guts, he would not dare to attack Fujian again.

Jiangxi is the territory of the now powerful Meng Jun. The one stationed in the fortified city of Ganzhou is his former rival Han Xiong. To the west is Guangxi, which is controlled by Sun Kewang. Nominally, it is still under the rule of the Yongli court, the Ming Dynasty. Li Chengdong knows that he has killed two Ming emperors and now has to rely on the Ming Dynasty. Li Chengdong can only secretly occupy Wuzhou, which is adjacent to Guangdong and Guangxi.

But now it is different. Sun Kewang was defeated and was a traitor appointed by the emperor. Li Chengdong felt that his chance had come.

Ten days after Sun Kewang fled to Nanning, Li Chengdong swore an oath in Guangzhou to go to war. In addition to the troops stationed in various places, Li Chengdong personally led 60,000 cavalry and infantry troops and marched into Guangxi on the pretext of serving the emperor and punishing traitors.

Yang Dafu, a general under Li Chengdong who was stationed in Wuzhou, led the vanguard to capture Tengxian and Pingnan and besieged Guigang. When Sun Kewang heard the news that Guigang was besieged, he was so angry that he vomited blood. For him, it was really like a wall falling down and everyone pushing it down, and it rained on a leaking roof!

(Looking at the word count, it’s really two in one, a big chapter π_π)