The Running War The soldiers from Jiangnan had never seen such a vast plain. The smooth road had no end in sight, which made them panic as they ran. Meng Kang was astride his horse, waving his hand above his eyes from time to time. The heavy rain last night was just a flash in the pan, and the scorching sun was a permanent sight in summer. The rebel guide who joined from Dengzhou City introduced the terrain along the way. "The fastest walk from Dengzhou to Jinan is three days." "Three days?" Meng Kang whipped his horse whip in the air: "It can't be three days. Maybe the reinforcements have arrived long ago." Although he is not afraid, but I was still worried about using 10,000 Ming troops to sneak attack Jinan. There were many market towns along the official road. The guide looked back and forth at the Ming army, which was marching on only two legs, and suggested: "There are many mules, horses and livestock in those villages and market towns. Why not grab some large carts to go faster on the road?" " Meng Kang seriously considered his suggestion and made a difficult choice: "If that doesn't work, wouldn't it make the people go against us?" He didn't take military discipline seriously, but he always listened to the regent's words. The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty walked all the way without stopping, but they could not keep up with the speed of news spread. One day and one night, when ten thousand troops arrived at Laizhou Mansion, the defenders and local officials had already left the city empty. A group of braided rebels stood guard at the gate of the east city, waiting for the arrival of the Ming army. Meng Kang finally found his own people in Shandong. Looking at the strong young men in front of the city gate, they were generally half a head taller than the soldiers he led. The leader, a Han man, led a group of people to kneel on the side of the road and shouted with tears in their eyes: "Shandong people have been waiting for Master Wang for a long time." Meng Kang was about to urge his horse to pass, but Shi Fu had already flashed in front of him in a few strides. "What's your name?" "The villain Zhao Jin" Shi Lang shouted: "One hundred thousand troops of the Ming Dynasty have landed in Dengzhou. We are the vanguard and are about to recover Jinan. You have done a good job. Laizhou City will be temporarily handed over to you. , Ming soldiers and horses will come to accept it later, please find us some mules, horses and livestock." Zhao Jin's face was full of surprise: "I understand, I will do it now." What dares to show up at this time is gambling, and if you win the gamble, you will gamble. Half a lifetime of wealth, if you gamble badly, you will end up on the run, and your family will suffer. Meng Kang urged his horse to get closer. He heard the blessing words clearly and smiled secretly in his heart. This kid is quite flexible and knows how to falsely report the number of troops to make a big statement, which saves him a lot of words. "But Shi Lang was just a guerrilla general. He made his own decisions without consulting him, which was a bit overstepped. Young people only have a shallow understanding of the meaning of rules. Some people care about them, while others don't. After Shi Fu finished speaking, Meng Kang called Zhao Jin over again and asked, "Besides you, are there any rebel activities in Shandong?" Zhao Jin saw that this general looked more like a commander-in-chief. He poured beans out of a bamboo tube and said, "Zhang Tiao Fu led a group of brothers to operate in the Shanghe and Linqing areas. They killed the Tatars last year and took over the mountain as kings, but they were also surrounded and suppressed by the Tatars. At the beginning of this year, the Tatars mobilized all the soldiers and horses in Shandong. After leaving, I took a breath." He said a few words, recalled the past a few years ago, and sighed: "Zhang Tiaofu also came to see me in these years. When the army went south, Shandong was the place with the largest number of rebels in the north of the Yangtze River. More people died, and the living learned to be afraid. " There was a hint of sadness in his words, and Meng Kang thought about it for a moment, and quickly turned to the current situation. Regarding the matter, he asked: "Can you contact him?" Zhao Jin nodded: "Yes" "Then you send someone out overnight to contact Zhang Tiaofu and tell him that our Ming army is going to attack Jinan and ask him to contact brothers from all over the country. Go help." "Okay, okay." Zhao Jin cheered up and geared up. What he is most afraid of now is that if the Ming army doesn't make enough noise and has no strength, will they dare to send troops to attack Jinan? The 10,000 Ming troops did not enter Laizhou City and only rested outside the city for one night. Zhao Jin and others spent the whole night recruiting mules and horses. With the help of local people, things were much easier to handle. Seeing the Ming army's posture, the rebels headed straight for Jinan, and they all speculated that the young general was not telling lies. When the sky was dim and bright, the Ming army embarked on the journey again. The cavalry acted as scouts in front, and Meng Kang's personal soldiers dragged down the iron armor and put it on nearly a hundred mules and horses that Zhao Jin had obtained overnight. The Qing captives were poorly guarded in Shandong. Meng Kang used a telescope on his horse to see clearly the scene dozens of miles away on the plains here, without having to worry about being ambushed by the Qing captives. The news that the Ming army had landed in Dengzhou spread across the land of Qilu like a blazing fire. "A hundred thousand troops, a hundred thousand troops" In the streets and alleys, in the mountains and villages, the people were whispering, and the quick-thinking people found various channels to find out the authenticity of the news. Some big families sent their servants to Dengzhou to inquire about the news. Meng Kang and Shi Lang didn't know the changes in their surroundings. They only had one goal in their eyes - Jinan. Meng Kang didn't even think about it in detail.?,How could 10,000 Ming troops capture a fortified city like Jinan? "One hundred thousand Ming troops landed in Dengzhou" the messenger flew into Jinan City. The people who escaped from Dengzhou and Laizhou said so, and several local officials who escaped from the state capitals along the way also said so. The scouts did not have the courage to find out what happened, but so many people were saying it, so it was correct to think about it. Lu Fengchun, the governor of Shandong, was a native of Liaodong. He was originally a member of the Ming Dynasty. He defected to the Tatars long before the Qing troops entered the customs, so he got the position of governor. At present, most of the Han people serving as officials in various places in the Qing government had already defected to the Eight Banners before the Manchus entered the customs. After experiencing the situation of mushrooming in various places in the past few years, Dorgon understood the Han people who defected to the Qing government after entering the customs. Unreliable. Those people can be disrespectful to the Ming court, and they can also be disrespectful to the Qing court. For the first time in a long time, the city of Jinan seemed so crowded. The wealthy households in Dengzhou and Jinan, especially those whose families had officials in the imperial court, fled to Fucheng in large cars. The Ming army was victorious in Henan and Huaiyang, and they also heard about how to deal with people who had served as officials in the Qing court. Even if one can save one's life, it is inevitable that all one's wealth will be confiscated. Many people value money more than their lives. The messenger sent the news to the governor's yamen, and a group of old squires came to the yamen gate to ask for an audience. "What should be done, what should be done?" Lu Fengchun ordered the government officials to block the door and not let anyone in. They were like headless flies scurrying back and forth in the house. After turning back and forth several times, he finally found a glimmer of inspiration: "Summon Jinan garrison Li Laibao and Jia La'e Zhen Gu Pu." Li Laibao was from the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty. The Jurchen Jia La E Zhen Gu servant who stayed in Jinan was just a bare E Zhen. All his soldiers and horses had been transferred away, and he only had a few dozen people under his command. They were responsible for monitoring the Han officials. Li Laibao got the news one step earlier than Lu Fengchun and was counting the soldiers in the city. Horse, prepare to defend the city. In the space of a cup of tea, he followed the soldiers from the governor's camp to the Yamen. Gu Pu was not in a hurry, he was late. The Jurchens were local emperors everywhere and had no time to spare. Lu Fengchun¡¯s forehead was wiped with layers of sweat. "The Ming army landed in Dengzhou with one hundred thousand troops." After all, Li Laibao had been on the battlefield before. With his mind a little clearer, he handed over his hand and reported: "The Ming army landed in Dengzhou is true. The one hundred thousand troops must be a lie." "There are no one hundred thousand, fifty thousand It's incredible. Are there three thousand defenders in Jinan?" Li Laibao hesitated for a moment: "There are only one thousand people. Three months ago, two thousand people were dispatched to Linqing to kill Zhang Tiaofu." Gu Pu, who had been sitting for a long time, finally figured it out. Asked what was going on, he suddenly interrupted and yelled: "Then why don't we call them back?" Li Laibao turned to leave: "I'll do it now, my slave!" "Come back" Lu Fengchun pressed his white fists on the table: "Immediately report to the regent. "Wang Sends a Letter" Panic is spreading, and the entire city of Jinan has become as chaotic as a livestock trading market, and it is getting more and more chaotic. The overwhelmed people packed their packages and were ready to escape at any time, although most of them would not escape. Li Laibao summoned soldiers to set up defenses at the city gates on all sides, and on the order of the governor, he went to several nearby counties to summon government officials and police officers. Anyone who can be used will be spared. Their greatest hope lies in the two thousand soldiers stationed in Linqing. If those two thousand soldiers can come back in time, there is still hope for Jinan City to be defended until the regent returns to save the city. It is getting dark and bright. At noon, the city of Jinan seemed to be trapped in an iron can, and the squires and officials all over the city were almost suffocating. A group of cavalry appeared in the east and shouted while running: "The Ming thieves are coming." There was a commotion at the top of the city and the west gate of Jinan was in chaos. It turned out that a group of well-informed people felt that Jinan was unreliable and fled out of the city towards the capital. The Ming army came too fast, and Li Laibao hurriedly ordered: "Close the city gate." Half an hour later, everyone standing at the top of the city saw that behind the cavalry, on the bright plain, there was a formation of soldiers and horses. Holding a golden flag. "Ming" Lu Fengchun turned to look at Li Laibao, and his legs suddenly went weak. Gu Pu's face turned pale and he said: "Jinan City can't be defended anymore. Run away." Li Laibao was shocked and advised: "Sir, you can't leave." Lu Fengchun said sadly: "No matter whether the Ming army is 100,000 or 50,000, even if there is only one Ten thousand people, do you want to rely on a thousand people to defend Jinan?" "Sir" Gu Pu was scared, and Lu Fengchun no longer suppressed his fear. "The Ming army landed in Dengzhou and headed for Jinan. You and I have fallen into the trap of the Ming thieves." He burst into tears, and he almost said that the regent had been deceived by the Ming thieves. The fault is not with us but with us. Lu Fengchun had one thing he didn't dare to say, "In the past two months, the Qing government has almost lost the entire territory of Henan. Aobai Batulu died in the battle in Huai'an. The Qing Dynasty is afraid ¡±  "Let's go, we only need a thousand Han people to defend Jinan." Gu Pu snorted coldly, "What if we let the Ming thieves take over Jinan? When the regent returns, we will take Jinan back." It's no wonder he looks down on him. The Han people, from Dengzhou to Jinan, covered a distance of seven to eight hundred miles, separated by several prefectures and county towns, but there was not a single soldier to defend the city. Either the Ming army was too fierce, or the Han defenders were too useless, no matter which one it was. , Jinan City can no longer be defended. The vanguard of the Ming army was still more than ten miles away from Jinan City. Meng Kang could see clearly through the thin glass of his telescope that the fleeing mules, horses and carts were pouring out of Jinan City like floods from a dike.