Judging from the composition of the anti-Qing camp, although there were not many cases of the Great Western Army, the Great Shun Army, the Orthodox Ming Army, and the Zheng Army, there were few cases of self-attack and killing, but there were few times of sincere unity and close cooperation. The root cause of this phenomenon is the lack of a strong leadership core.

The corruption and internal strife of the Yongli court led to the disintegration of the anti-Qing camp. For example, the generals of the loyal battalion adapted from the original Dashun Army have always taken it as their mission to resist the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, but the Yongli Imperial Court regarded it as a dissident force, blindly prevented and squeezed out, and forced the loyal battalion to carry out a difficult military transfer from the northwest of Guangxi to Kuidong; And even after Yongli had to rely on the Great Western Army, many officials in the court still regarded him as a "thief", and it was not uncommon for him to stumble.

As for the Zheng family, it is a typical example of Xunzhen's separation, selfish and selfish, without scruples. It can not only negotiate peace with the Qing court, but also delay with quibbles and not send troops to respond to the actions of the Southern Ming army.

However, the current situation has changed dramatically under Zhu Yongxing's leadership. The Great Western Army is becoming history, although the core of the Southwest Ming Army is still the original Great Western Army, but in name or substance, the former Great Western Army officers and soldiers almost consider themselves to be the orthodox descendants of the Southern Ming Dynasty. With the infusion of a large amount of fresh blood and the continuous enrichment of the officers of the martial arts, this tendency has become irreversible.

The Thirteen Kuidong families also nominally accepted Zhu Yongxing's title and leadership, and their continuous actions in eastern Sichuan effectively responded to the strategy of the Southern Ming army to attack Sichuan. There is also the coastal armed forces in eastern Zhejiang, and Zhu Yongxing has fully integrated it into the Nanming system by accepting Zhu Yihai, the king of Lu.

In fact, to a certain extent, Zhu Yongxing had achieved a goal that was impossible for the Yongli court, that is, to make the armed forces of all parties to achieve a relatively effective alliance in the struggle against the Qing Dynasty. Even if it is the Zheng army, isn't it now fighting in coordination with the Ming army and is attacking and plundering Fujian Province!

Of course, in this process of building and maintaining alliances. Zhu Yongxing used means such as balancing, entrapment, and sealing officials and making wishes, but they did not arouse the disgust of the former generals of the Great Western Army. Because Zhu Yongxing did not favor one over the other, and the soldiers of the former Great Western Army were the first to benefit, and they benefited the most.

And the existence of the alliance did not make Ma Bao and Wu Sanxing relax their vigilance against the history of the Zheng family's selfishness. The troops stationed in the Longyan area were also worried about the sudden change of Zheng Jun. It was not possible to effectively protect the flanks of the Ming army. Therefore, maintaining a parallel with Zheng Jun's advance is also a prudent and precautionary way. At the same time, because the Zheng army mostly occupied the coastal areas of Fujian Province, it also made it impossible to implement the tactics of the Southern Ming army to cooperate with the sea and land since the Eastern Crusade, which invisibly increased the burden of logistics.

An alliance is an alliance, but there are variables, and it is certainly not as tacit and reassuring as the cooperation of its own troops. This is how Ma Bao and Wu Sansheng are dissatisfied. The reason for hoping that the Nanming Navy can surpass the Zheng family as soon as possible.

It can be said that the corruption of the Southern Ming Dynasty itself, the internal strife and disintegration, and the various anti-Qing forces nominally subordinate to the imperial court, so that the internal contradictions of a certain anti-Qing group, were always full of contradictions, and a considerable part of the anti-Qing forces that could be used to resist the Qing were consumed in the internal conflicts.

To change this situation, two conditions are needed: First, to take advantage of the long-standing orthodoxy of the Han gentry. Emperor Zhu Ming was used as a banner to call on and unite all kinds of anti-Qing forces; First, it is necessary to have a force with considerable strength and loyalty to the cause of resisting the Qing Dynasty as the core. Specifically, the Yongli Emperor was the only suitable banner at that time. However, the former Great Western Army, which gradually grew up and strengthened in the face of adversity, after improving its weapons and equipment, receiving generous incentives, and having a high morale due to continuous victories, was the core that supported and united all kinds of anti-Qing forces.

It is undeniable that Zhu Yongxing still belongs to an anti-Qing group, but most of the internal contradictions of this group have been eliminated under the clear distinction between rewards and punishments and equal treatment. We are working together for one goal – victory. The navy, the army, and the various units of the army are rapidly eliminating the drawbacks of their former military behavior.

It will obviously take some time for the navy to surpass the Zheng family. Reinforcements - Wei Junzhong's two regiments were about to arrive, adding heavy chips to the victory.

"With a division of elite. It should be enough to resist and defeat thousands of Manchurian Eight Banners. Regarding the arrival of strong reinforcements, Ma Bao showed an optimistic view, but he was still cautious, "However, the Manchurian Eight Banners will definitely not come alone, and the Han army should not be underestimated." Of course, the main reason is that we don't want to give the Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners a chance to find out how our army is fighting. ”

Wu Sanxing understood what Ma Bao meant, and the Han army, as cannon fodder or temptation, would inevitably act first. If the firepower is fully opened and there are no reservations, it is estimated that the Manmeng Eight Banners will change some tactical tactics and add some trouble to the Ming army. And the elite specializes in the Eight Banners, which is not very easy to do in the battle array. If there is an elite, there will be weakness, and you want to let the Manmeng Eight Banners hit the iron plate, but the enemy will choose to be weak to break through.

To be honest, whether in terms of quantity or equipment, Ma Bao and Wu Sanxing are still confident in defeating the enemy. It was only the stakes of this battle that made them maintain twelve points of caution and caution, so as to be thoughtful and comprehensive, and not leave any omissions.

"We seem to be overthinking." Wu Sanxing realized the danger that this idea might be on the battlefield, so he said: "Passive facing the enemy in order to achieve a safe victory seems to have lost the initiative. Do we compare the strength and types of troops of the enemy and ourselves according to the terrain and the sky, and then predict the enemy's formation, possible offensive routes, attack locations, and the number of troops that can be put into the ground each time, and then carry out-for-tat flexible deployment? ”

Ma Bao is not stupid, he pondered for a while, and felt that he was too cautious and cautious, and he was probably also influenced by His Royal Highness Min. It is precisely because Zhu Yongxing is only good at the general direction of strategy, he does not have the command level comparable to that of the famous generals in ancient times for specific battle formations, and he has an instinctive fear of the Manchurian Eight Banners that can sweep the world, and his self-confidence is very insufficient.

"That's right, Brother Wu woke up the dreamer with a word." Ma Bao came to his senses a little, slapped his thigh and said: "The two armies are fighting, and in the final analysis, it is the military strength of both sides that fights. It is true that our army has elites, but other troops are not paper-based, how can they all count on the elite to meet the elite when they encounter a strong enemy? And there are many kinds of tactics, when the situation changes, how can you sit back and wait for the enemy to come and die? ”

"In the words of the prince." Wu Sansheng complimented: "The so-called wisdom and strategy of the soldiers are just relying on wisdom to weaken the opponent's strength. The wise will be good at plotting the enemy, the great wise, the enemy has ten forces and go to the ninth first, and then hit the enemy with a force of ten perfect me, so the wisdom will not be defeated in a hundred battles; The brave will be good at planning himself, and the brave will be invincible if he has ten forces against the enemy, and ten forces can be the enemy with a hundred forces. In terms of wisdom and bravery, there is no shortage of people in our army, the prince has experienced a hundred battles, and the army is equipped with fine food, why bother to be vain and shrink back? ”

"When it comes to using soldiers to strategize, I am really a Chinese person, and I dare not compare with famous generals." Ma Bao laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "His Royal Highness once said that winning with strength is not wasted, but it can be subordinate. Hehe, I am very lucky to have the trust of His Royal Highness because of this. My lord has reached the extreme, and if he can overcome the Eight Banners this time, it can be regarded as living up to His Royal Highness's favor. ”

…………… (To be continued......)