The World Online

24th day of the Battle Map.

Prince Regent Ouyang Shuo and the three thousand Divine Martial Guards suddenly disappeared from Jianye.

At the same time, Player Feng Qiuhuang, who had been hiding, suddenly walked onto the front stage and replaced Ouyang Shuo. She started to take charge of the Jianye Imperial Court situation whilst being in charge of frontline resources and army matters.

Beside her were two thousand Fallen Phoenix City Personal Guards.

…

25th day of the Battle Map.

On the vast ocean surface, the Great Xia Emperor Squadron rode the waves forward.

On the deck of The Emperor, Ouyang Shuo stood firm as he looked out at the vast ocean and asked, “How many more days before the squadron reaches the Bohai Sea?”

Bohai Sea, the North Sea, was a portion of the Pacific. It was the inner river of China, located between Liao Ning, Hebei, Shan Dong, and Tianjing.

They went to Bohai River because of one pass.

This pass was located north of Yiyan Mountain, and its south connected to the Bohai Sea, which was why it was called Shanhai Pass.

Zhou Yu replied, “My king, the squadron is riding along with the wind, and if things proceed smoothly, we will arrive the day after at the latest.”

“Great!”

Ouyang Shuo was really pumped up and could not help but feel a little excited.

Shanhai Pass had the name of being the top pass in the world. It was built during Zhu Yuanzhang’s reign and was a key area to when the Qing army entered the land, which was why it was really meaningful.

After the Great Shun and Great Xi armies changed their plans, Ouyang Shuo immediately activated the backup plan. He went down Changjiang to meet up with the Emperor Squadron and entered the ocean.

Ouyang Shuo’s goal was to take down Shanhai Pass and break the only way back for the Qing army.

Since Dorgon was determined to not engage the Southern Alliance Army too early, Ouyang Shuo decided to force his hand.

After taking down Shanhai Pass, Ouyang Shuo did not mind taking a stroll outside of it.

Although the Qing Dynasty had shifted to Yanjing a year ago, outside of it, many Manchurians and even royal blood ones lived in their old capital, Shenyang. This was the foundations of the Qing Dynasty.

If their foundations were under siege, Ouyang Shuo did not believe that Dorgon would not be anxious.

Even if Dorgon could keep calm, the Manchu nobles would not agree to it.

…

Zhongyuan.

While Ouyang Shuo led troops up north, Li Jing and Guo Ziyi were not slacking around. After Li Jing led troops down to attack Kaifeng, he stopped going up north and rested on the spot.

Guo Ziyi’s forces chose to rest up at Jinan.

Using this time, both of them strengthened their control over the South Ming army. They kicked out the unstable or unskilled generals and promoted some that could fight well.

Gao Jie, Huo Degong, and Liu Liangzuo; these were all skilled people, and their forces did not lack skilled soldiers like Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang.

To promote these generals had many evident pros.

First, they were not outsiders and the South Ming soldiers would not oppose them. Secondly, they were good at war and were once main generals of various armies, so they were able to adapt quickly.

Even to say that the promotion of these generals helped raise the morale of the South Ming soldiers.

As for the reason behind the promotion, it was easy to find. The Alliance Army soldiers had won successive battles, so naturally they should be rewarded. The methods that Li Jing and Guo Ziyi used showed their intellect.

They did not directly demote the other generals. Instead, they promoted them into chief generals of governors. It looked like a promotion, but it was instead used as a chance to kick them out of the army.

Those generals who were kicked out were also really happy about it.

In their eyes, the occupied land was already South Ming territory, and it naturally needed people to defend it. Coincidentally, they also got the secret message from the Hongguang emperor to let them occupy territory, so everything linked up. As a result, they agreed.

Since they were chief generals, they needed men to lead.

This was also easy to settle. As the Qing army had left, and the local civilians had armed themselves, they became the best choice. To organize all of them together helped to stabilize the backlines.

Apart from the civilians arming up, every city the army passed, there would be huge amounts of hot blood young men who signed up.

These two points ensured that there were enough troops.

Even to say that Li Jing and Guo Ziyi could choose a batch of really hot blood soldiers to throw into the Ming army whilst kicking out some who lacked skill.

With that, both of them not only took total control of the South Ming army and wiped out the hidden problems, but they also improved the combat strength and unity of the army.

As for the Hongguang emperor, to him, since there was territory to claim, he did not mind these details. And no matter how the South Ming army changed, they were still under South Ming rule.

Hence, all sides were naturally happy.

Although Great Shun leaving and Great Xi not cooperating had in fact impacted the Southern Alliance Army, after this round of adjustment, their overall strength did not drop by too much.

This was the magic of reorganization.

If Dorgon misjudged the strength of the Southern Alliance Army and struck out now, be it the middle army or the east army, they would give the Qing army a huge surprise.

…

As they were busy reorganizing the army, in the next few days, the north appeared a little too calm. The first to explode was Shaanxi on the west instead.

26th day of the Battle Map.

60 thousand Great Shun troops traveled quickly and finally entered the Shaanxi land, bumping into the Great Xi army that was extending their territory.

No unneeded words were said as both armies directly fought one another.

At the start, as the Great Shun army gathered together whilst the Great Xi army was scattered around, in terms of numbers, the Great Shun army had the advantage and won a few battles.

After the victory, the Great Shun army was really pumped up and headed right for Xi An.

Receiving the news, Zhang Xianzhong, who was in Xi An, reacted and started to gather up troops and unhappily said, “Scoff, a bunch of cowards actually dare to act bold in front of me.”

If Li Zicheng was still alive, Zhang Xianzhong would have naturally let out Xi An. But what was the current Great Shun army? A bunch of remnant troops.

Toward these people, why would Zhang Xianzhong bother about them?

If the Great Shun army chose a stable method and ate slowly away at Shaanxi to increase their influence and strength, they would be able to gather up a huge army to go up against the Great Xi army.

When that happened, the victor of the battle would be really uncertain.

However, the Great Shun army was too arrogant.

After a few victories, the Great Shun army was so arrogant that they lost sight of themselves and did not even rest up before heading right for Xi An. Their tracks were totally exposed in front of Zhang Xianzhong.

Seeing that, he started to quietly spread his net and wait for the Great Shun army to take the bait.