Chapter 1084 – Self-intoxicated
16th day of the Battle Map.
Based on the agreement, the 400 thousand Southern Alliance Army would split into three and enter Qing Dynasty land together.
On the west, Great Xi Emperor Zhang Xianzhong personally led 120 thousand Great Xi troops to obtained Xi An before going up north to attack Shaanxi.
Zhang Xianzhong was more determined than Ouyang Shuo had expected, directly sending out 120 thousand troops, practically going all out.
On the east, Guo Ziyi led the 90 thousand blazing legion corps along with the 30 thousand Great Shun and 60 thousand South Ming troops, a total of 180 thousand to attack Shandong.
In the middle, Li Jing led the 60 thousand Great Xia Guards Legion Corps along with 30 thousand Great Shun and 60 thousand South Ming troops to attack Henan.
The three armies would gather at the capital.
Due to there being lesser rivers in the north, it was not suitable for navy battle, which was why Zhou Yu and the Emperor Squadron did not go up north. The three thousand Divine Martial Guards would remain in Jianye to protect Ouyang Shuo.
Before leaving, Li Jing’s forces and Guo Ziyi’s forces had met at Yangzhou.
After their two armies met up, Li Jing reorganized the forces to mainly take back all the Guards Legion Corps troops to reform a legion.
Apart from that, it would be to reorganize the Great Shun and South Ming armies.
Since Dorgon could see the weakness of the Alliance Army, Li Jing obviously could too.
Let’s not mention the Great Xi army in the west, as after all, they were quite far away. The 120 thousand South Ming troops under the Jiangbei four generals, along with the coordination of Li Jing and Guo Ziyi used the chance where the rested in Yangzhou to reorganize the troops and arrange batches of Great Xia and Fallen Phoenix City Generals into the South Ming army.
With that, it raised the control Li Jing had over the South Ming army.
The 60 thousand Great Shun troops were also divided by Li Jing and sent to the middle and east armies. Although the Great Shun general was unhappy about it, he had expressed his loyalty to Ouyang Shuo, so naturally, he could not take back his words.
Just like that, Li Jing had grabbed the opportunity after the big victory at Jianye to use the player army as the core to rebuild the east and middle armies. This would greatly reduce the chances of an internal struggle.
At the same time, it reduced the chances of the South Ming and Great Shun armies acting on their own and not following orders.
…
After the reorganization, the three armies immediately set off for their targets.
During this period, the 400 thousand Qing army placed around the north all backed off and headed for Yanjing.
All of a sudden, the northern paths were filled with Qing army troops, with dust and smoke bellowing.
The abnormal actions of the Qing army was quickly caught by the sharp civilians and rumors spread. Some people said, “The Qing army is afraid, backing off without fighting. They are prepared to back off.”
The descriptions of the Southern Alliance Army were also becoming more and more exaggerated.
In the morning, they said it was 500 thousand, and then it became 700 thousand. In the evening, before night had set in, rumors spread that it was a million strong army.
It was getting more and more exaggerated.
However, the civilians believed it. Those bold ones had already taken out their hammers and knives and gathered at secret locations. Those timid ones only dared to talk, and then watch on from the sides.
No matter who it was, the way they looked at the Manchu people was greatly different from before. Everyone just stared at them, not saying any words, but it was enough to scare the Manchu people such that they peed their pants.
Especially the Manchu nobles, who had bullied the civilians daily. They were so afraid that they did not dare to come out of their homes, and some even fled behind the Qing army.
That night, there were civilians who armed themselves and charged at the government offices to kill the Qing Dynasty officials.
Ironically, these officials were mostly Han Chinese. After the Qing army showed their strength and grew larger, their greed for status or their desire to protect their family made them become the slaves of the Manchurians.
Amongst which, a very large portion were former Great Ming officials.
Toward these officials, the locals were not soft on them, killing them all. Even their families were not let off as the people’s eyes turned red from all the killing.
When the true Manchurian officials got the news, they left under the protection of the Qing army.
Riots and chaos were often so blind and gory. Starting from the south, the north that had just calmed down had blood red circles dyed from blood appear.
These circles linked together and formed a thick red line.
This line slowly spread from south to north.
“Everything is changing!”
Along with the Qing army swiftly fleeing, the resistance grew more and more intense. When the Southern Alliance Army entered the north, what they faced was not an intense resistance but the civilians opening up the city gates and welcoming them.
Huge groups of people.
The bustling scenes stunned everyone.
“Did we go to the wrong place?” Some soldiers muttered. All of a sudden, they did not know what to do.
Just like that, the three armies followed the route that the Qing army retreated in to take down city after city without spending much effort.
Hanzhong, Xi An, Tong Pass…
Guide, Kaifeng, Qinzhou…
Wherever the army went, the people surrendered. As things were too smooth, it appeared really unrealistic.
For the first two to three days, the army was still wary and afraid that the enemy would catch them by surprise. But as time went on, they slowly relaxed.
Once the spies told them the confirmed news, the army finally calmed down.
“There’s no need to doubt anymore. The Qing army really retreated!”
After confirming the intel, be it middle army commander Li Jing or east army commander Guo Ziyi, their expressions were complicated. They did not show any happiness at all. Instead, they were really solemn.
“There’s definitely something up.”
On the contrary, the Great Shun and South Ming soldiers were all delighted. It was like they had fought an exceptional battle, their backs straighter than the next.
The civilians cheered for them on the streets, and girls looked at them warmly. Victory after victory got to their heads and ground at their mental strength, clouding their judgment.
At the back, they really treated themselves as invincible soldiers.
At the start, facing the cheers, they were confused, “We are heroes?”
“That’s right, we are heroes!”
Now their replies were without hesitation and were filled with firm belief.
As things went too smoothly, and the atmosphere was too bustling, the discipline started to relax and the soldiers became scattered. They had lost their motivation and did not travel as fast.
They had started to become full of themselves.
…
At the same time, Zhang Xianzhong was feeling really complicated in his heart.
