Dominate the Country

General's Mansion in Lushan County. The night covers the earth.

The sky just cleared up this evening, and there is already a crescent moon hanging in the sky. It must be because of the heavy rain just now. The whole sky seems to be washed by the rain, and the stars are dotted. The night sky tonight has a different kind of transparency.

The air is also very fresh, with a smell of soil, just like the soil after renovation.

Old Liu [Liu Wen and Liu Wu's father] likes the smell after the rain very much. He moved a rocking chair under the eaves, and next to it was a wooden table with a pot of wine and a plate of salted peanuts on it. There was only half a pot of wine, two taels, and Old Liu was not fond of wine. Otherwise, he would not have sat firmly in the Chen family's gatehouse in the past ten years, and he would not have stayed by Chen Hui's side after the Chen family started the rebellion. After the pigeon messaging system was established, he was arranged by Chen Hui to be in charge of this.

Just as Lao Liu was enjoying this feeling of comfort in his heart, a fluttering sound suddenly sounded above his head, followed by "coo coo", "coo coo"..., the sound of the pigeon reached his ears clearly.

Lao Liu, who was also in his forties, sat up from the rocking chair with a cleverness, looked up at a half-high platform, on which there were grains, clean water, and a gray and white pigeon. Lao Liu hurriedly climbed onto the platform and untied a one-inch long small cylinder from the pigeon's feet. Secret letter, Lao Liu, who saw the specifications of the small cylinder at a glance, did not dare to neglect it at all, and ran to Chen Hui with the small cylinder.

"There is only a secret letter but no open letter?" Chen Hui's face flashed with a helpless expression. If there is a secret letter, there must be no open letter. Lao Liu did not receive the open letter, which can only be said to be another pigeon that was killed. Or it was caught by some bird, or it was shot down by someone, of course, it may have lost its way. It sounds very impressive to send letters by carrier pigeon, which is much more convenient than sending messages by fast horses, but the fact is that it has never been so uncertain!

Old Liu retreated, and Chen Hui picked out a copy of "The Doctrine of the Mean" printed in the third year of Yongzheng's reign from Youweixuan, Ruzhou, from the cabinet full of books behind him. Half a quarter of an hour later, the entire secret letter was completely translated by Chen Hui. At this time, Chen Hui's face was completely filled with sweetness and pride as if he had eaten a magic pill.

"Great victory, great victory, great victory! The Hubei Green Camp Bannermen are all finished, finished..." Chen Ming said in the secret letter that he had captured Xiping County, the Qing army was defeated, and he was chasing them fiercely. Even if Chen Hui had confidence in Chen Ming, he was completely overwhelmed by this great news at this moment, "Come here, come here..." This news must be spread to every place controlled by the General's Mansion as soon as possible.

...

Then turn your attention back to Chen Ming. Since the sniper team made a contribution last night and killed and injured the leaders of the Qing army in one fell swoop, the morale of the Qing army, which had just risen, immediately fell back, and it fell to the bottom.

Chen Ming tried to launch an attack. It was just an attempt, and he did not dream of taking Xiping in one fell swoop. As a result, the Qing soldiers defending the city were in a panic and completely unorganized. The siege troops really killed their way to the top of the city with only a dozen long ladders. After seeing the soldiers of the Chen family army really killing their way to the top of the city, the Qing soldiers, who had an absolute advantage in numbers, panicked and did not counterattack, but turned and fled.

Chen Ming took down the north wall of Xiping like a child's play. When teams of soldiers of the Chen family army killed from the north wall to the east and west walls, and when teams of soldiers of the Chen family army started from the north city and killed towards the south gate of Xiping County, the entire Qing army was in chaos.

Chen Ming prepared for a hard battle in the battle of Xiping. The rain fell at a very inappropriate time, and the morale of the Qing soldiers was so high that he had to prepare for a "hard battle". Who knew that the process and the ending would be such a child's play?

Only after capturing some prisoners and interrogating them did they find out that the three people, Huguang Admiral Fuyong, Jingzhou Deputy Governor Changxuan, and Xing'an Town General Qi Jianan, were killed in the attack. Also injured were Jingzhou General Yongrui and Yunyang Town General Ma Wenjie, as well as Yongfu's deputy general Zhou Lian. Among all the military leaders in the Qing army, only Xiangyang City Guard Battalion Deputy General Zhao Yongji and Jingzhou City Guard Battalion Yingshou were relatively intact. The former did not follow Yongrui to look out from the railing of the North Tower, and the latter was only shot to lose a piece of flesh on his arm, not even a bone was broken.

Chen Ming immediately knew that it was the credit of the sniper. The sniper team did report that they killed and injured several officials, but no one expected that it would be Yongrui, Fuyong and others. "Special honor, special honor!" This is really another great achievement.

The deaths and injuries of Yongrui, Fuyong and others could not be concealed from the Qing soldiers in the city. Their personal soldiers, Goshha and others had no idea that they would control everyone present and block the news the moment the incident happened. As a result, the news that Yongrui, Fuyong and others were dead or injured spread throughout Xiping like the wind, and the heavy rain did not hinder the spread of this explosive news.

Zhao Yongji and Yingshou had no ability or prestige to lead the entire army. When they realized that they had to block the news, the Qing soldiers in Xiping City had already known about it, and their morale and military spirit had hit rock bottom. It was at this time that Chen Ming launched an attack. When the Chen family army easily took down the north city wall, the Qing soldiers in Xiping City did not unite to counterattack with all their strength, but the Jingzhou garrison flag soldiers first hugged the unconscious Yongrui and began to run away, so that the Qing army would never have a chance to turn the tide.

During the fighting and chasing, the Chen family army captured Qing soldiers and bannermen in large numbers. They also found the bodies of Fuyong, Changxuan and Qi Jianan abandoned in the carriage, as well as the half-dead Ma Wenjie and Zhou Lian who had breathed his last.

Ying Shou was also dead, and his body was found under the moat at the south gate of Xiping. There were no wounds on the body, indicating that he had drowned. It was not known whether he was squeezed down while escaping or jumped into the river himself. Only Zhao Yongji and Yongrui, deputy generals of the Xiangyang City Defense Camp, were not caught.

The Jingzhou Bannermen who had escaped first were also completely defeated. At dawn, they were attacked by the cavalry battalion at once and the entire army fled, kneeling cleanly. But only a batch of gold and silver treasures were found on the carriage in the middle of the team, but Yongrui was missing.

From Xiping to the south is Suiping, then Queshan, and finally Xinyang. The four cities are almost in a straight line. In the 21st century, Chen Ming remembered that there were railways and highways running from north to south, but at this time, the official road went southeast from Xiping to Shangcai, then along the Nanru River to Ruyang, the first county of Runing Prefecture, and then went to Guangzhou, making a detour in Guangzhou before returning to Xinyang.

Chen Ming did not think that the current strength of the Chen family army could swallow the entire Runing Prefecture and hold Wusheng Pass in his hands, so his goal was limited to Ruyang City. He led his army to chase the Qing army along the direction of their escape. This feeling of chasing the enemy to the north was really great.

After taking Shangcai, Chen Ming did not continue to lead his troops south. He gave the task of chasing to Chen Erbao. Chen Erbao was located north of the Gun River. His battalion leader Chen Ming was ready to return to Yancheng, because Xiping was too easy to take, so he was transferred to the front of the army during the chase.

Chen Ming still doesn't know whether the Anhui Green Camp outside Yancheng has retreated. Yongrui's Qing army collapsed too suddenly, which was beyond his expectations. Yesterday, he was busy chasing and capturing Qing soldiers. It would be a waste if the whole army went to chase and suppress the Qing soldiers. Nearly 10,000 Qing soldiers have killed and captured 5,000 to 6,000 people. The rest fled south, and some scattered in the countryside. It would be a bit of a sledgehammer to use all the strength to chase and suppress them.

Chen Ming pursues maximum benefits. Can the remaining troops be used in Yancheng, in the Anhui Qing army, and on Chen Huizu?