Chapter 28 of Part One

  I looked at the detailed information about Li Dingguo sent by Ming Feng's team. Li Dingguo is a rare and intelligent person among the Southern Ming generals, who is clean-handed and rich in wisdom. Due to his long experience on the battlefield, outstanding military achievements, and meritorious service in supporting Yongli, Yongli highly valued him. Since he ascended to the throne in Zhaoqing, he handed over all military power to Li Dingguo and appointed him as King of Jin. Li Dingguo was naturally loyal to Yongli, taking it upon himself to restore the Great Ming Dynasty.

  As Zhou Lun walked in with a cup of tea, I waved the documents in my hand at him and said, "Ah Lun, this Li Dingguo is indeed very loyal to Emperor Yongli."

  Zhou Lun took the materials from my hand and looked at them, saying "I think Li Dingguo is still a very patriotic person. As long as we enlighten him about the overall situation, I think he can still be won over. At least I hope he won't become our enemy."

  I nodded and said, "Well, I think that's about it. Let's settle on this for now. When should we send someone to bring him over to take a look at our troops?"

  Zhou Lun shook his head and said, "I don't think so. Li Dingguo may not dare to come here because he is a high-ranking official of Yongli. I think it's better for us to contact him and negotiate with him at the border between Yunnan and Hunan."

  I pondered for a moment and said, "Let's leave this matter to the staff officers to handle. The sooner they deal with it, the better."

  It was already very late at night, and Li Dingguo was still sitting alone in his large tent. Anxiety and worry made it impossible for him to fall asleep. The sudden rise of the new regime in front of him made this Jin Wang extremely uneasy. The remaining candle on the table was like a bean, and the wax tears slowly accumulated into heavy droplets, flowing down like someone's tears onto the silver candle holder, forming a pool of oil. The wick occasionally burst into flames, spewing out a few sparks that had not yet fallen, but had already turned into small black particles, falling onto the pages, making a faint sound in the quiet night. To get rid of his bad mood, Li Dingguo picked up "The Art of War" by Sunzi and carefully read it under the lamp. However, after reading only two pages, his mind wandered off, staring blankly at the flame on the wick. On the table was a stack of letters, which were military reports and request for instructions from various generals. They wrote that Hunan, Sichuan, Jiangxi, and other provinces had been occupied by the new force, and Nanming was completely surrounded by this force, requesting to open up a gap and advance northward into the Central Plains. The comfortable mindset made these generals look down on everything, Li Dingguo sighed after reading them. At this time, someone walked in from outside the large tent, wearing night-traveling clothes, with their face covered, only revealing their eyes. Li Dingguo suppressed his emotions and said, "Who are you? How dare you sneak into the camp at night?" The black-clothed person looked at the letters on the table and said, "I am your friend, absolutely not an enemy. I am from Yan Wang's tent." Li Dingguo smiled and said, "I have long admired Yan Wang's reputation, today I see that his subordinates are indeed all strong generals. Speak, what do you want?" The black-clothed person looked around and said, "We have been wanting to discuss something with the general, let's set a location at the border of Guangxi and Hunan, or Guizhou is also fine." Li Dingguo looked at the person and said, "Good, five days later I will be waiting for you in Tongren, Guizhou. You can come and see me then." The black-clothed person bowed his fist and said, "Good, I hope the general will keep his promise. We will wait for your arrival on time." After speaking, he walked out and disappeared into the darkness. Li Dingguo looked outside, still deep in thought, muttering to himself, "Good, then let me, Li Dingguo, see if you are a ruthless person or not."

  Sitting on the airship, looking down at the shrinking black dots below, I said to the newly established Air Force Airship Corps Colonel "Blue Sky, your tomorrow is indeed apt for this unit. You see, your unit is flying in the blue sky and your name is also Blue Sky."

  Lan Tian looked at me and said, "Boss, I didn't want to disappoint my parents who gave me this good name, so I joined the airship troops." Lan Tian continued, "Boss, below us is Tongren, what do you think we should do?" I told them, "Land outside the city. After landing, be on high alert. The sniper team members and the soldiers from my guard battalion will follow me in. Without my orders, no one is allowed to make any rash moves."

  Li Dingguo was already stunned by the thing that could fly in the sky like a big bird. Those Southern Ming warriors were so scared that they had all run far away. I walked up and first grasped Li Dingguo's hand, saying "Prince Jin, you are indeed a kind-hearted person. I have long admired you."

  Li Dingguo looked at me and said, "I didn't expect Yan Wang's subordinate to be so powerful. And Yan Wang is still so young."

  "Hurry up and say 'Prince Jin, Prince Yan is my grandfather, I'm just a soldier who fights battles. Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning.'"

  Li Dingguo was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "General, please come in. Let's get straight to the point and talk it out clearly."

  I looked at Li Dingguo's slightly haggard face and said, "Alright, since the King of Jin is so straightforward, let's just discuss this matter directly." We were sitting in a large tent set up temporarily outside the city, just the two of us. I picked up the wine cup on the table and said, "Please forgive me for being presumptuous, but I'll call you Brother Li from now on. Let me offer you a toast first."

  Li Dingguo pushed the cup and said, "It's me who should be humble. Let's put the wine aside for now. Tell me what you mean. Li, can't tolerate things."

  I looked at him and said, "Good, Brother Li is indeed a straightforward person. My intention was to have Brother Li join us together. The Yongli Emperor can still be a prince, enjoying his wealth and glory. We are all remnants of the Ming dynasty's army, let's not become rebels within our own ranks."

  Li Dingguo looked at me and said, "General, your words are wrong. The Yongli Emperor is the orthodox ruler of the Great Ming, how can he be reduced to a mere prince? I think this Prince of Yan is not the orthodox one."

  I smiled and said, "Whether it's the orthodox or the collateral, now that the Ming dynasty is finished, what matters is the issue of power. Can't you see, General? Who can withstand the attack of the Qing army's 200,000-strong force? Besides us, who else can do it? Your Majesty, think about your own army's motley crew and don't make me say more. What's the point of having a big Shun army, a big Xi army, and former Ming officials all mixed together? I think you're not comfortable with it either, Your Majesty. Why must you stubbornly cling to that incompetent Emperor Yongli?"

  Li Dingguo raised his hands and bowed in the direction of Yunnan, saying "The Emperor has indeed placed great trust in me. I have never dared to be presumptuous. General, since our ways are different, we cannot work together. Please leave. Forgive me for not seeing you off." Li Dingguo stood up and was about to take his leave.

  I smiled at Li Dingguo and said, "Your Highness, please sit down and let's talk. There are things we can discuss. You know the saying 'a good bird chooses a suitable tree to perch on.' Look at Yongli, he has some ambition, but now he is indulging in wine, women, wealth, and power, only concerned with his own interests, and has lost the ambition of our dynasty's founder to unify the country. On the other hand, my army is united, with a strong and unified command, 200,000 elite soldiers are ready to march towards the Central Plains at any time, and it won't be long before we recover our Ming dynasty's rivers and mountains. The people will have their own land to farm, their own markets to trade, and all industries will flourish. The people will live in peace and prosperity, and the national treasury will be full. What is there to fear that our Ming dynasty will not be restored? I hope Your Highness will think carefully about this."

  Li Dingguo thought for a moment and said, "What the general said is true, I am from Yunnan and Guizhou. It's true that many people in Guangdong and Guangxi have joined your side. I'm also aware of your strength. However, since I've surrendered to the Southern Ming, I must be loyal to them."

  I smiled and said, "Your Highness's difficulty is clear to me. However, can you consider my suggestion? Are you being loyal to Mingzhao or Yongli? This needs to be clarified. If you are being loyal to Mingzhao, we should join forces and strengthen our power together. If you are being loyal to Yongli for your own small gains, don't blame us when our great army arrives."

  Li Dingguo fell silent for a while before saying "I will persuade the Emperor in Yunnan to cooperate as much as possible."

  I smiled and said, "Alright, then it's up to you, Your Highness, to make the arrangements. If you can come over smoothly, we've decided to give you command of our best First Army. Come with me, Your Highness, and take a look at our troops."

  Li Dingguo took a look at me and said, "Let's go. I've heard that your army is called the Liberation Army. I'd like to take a look."

  Looking at Li Dingguo's trembling body sitting on the airship, looking at the houses on the ground as small as broad beans, he said to me: "General, this big bird of yours is scary enough, won't it fall down?"

  I smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, we'll be entering Hunan territory soon."

  The third army of Yitian Xing has been waiting for the arrival of Li Dingguo, King of Nanming, in Miao Village, Xiangxi. The Miao people are gathered everywhere, and under the thorough indoctrination of our soldiers, they have completely surrendered to us under the leadership of their tribal leader. Our soldiers also brought some good food from all directions to improve the lives of the Miao people, and now we have a very good relationship with them. As I looked up at the airship slowly descending, the Miao people cheered. This is an impossible thing for them. It seems that they took us as gods. I opened the hatch and walked out. Yitian Xing and Wu Shuang had already come up to salute and said, "Third Army Commander, Political Commissar, Yitian Xing and Wu Shuang report to you for instructions." I returned a military salute and said, "Welcome King Li Dingguo of Nanming to visit our troops. The inspection will now begin." Yitian Xing saluted Li Dingguo and said, "Welcome, Your Majesty." Then he shouted to the signal personnel, "The parade ceremony begins!" After that, he stood beside me and Li Dingguo to explain the procedure and introduce the troops.

  It seems that Yi Tianxing has put in some effort. The first team to march over is the original Third Battalion, now transformed into the Third Army's square formation. They have participated in all major and minor battles since their establishment. The next team is our machine gun battalion's square formation. Li Dingguo watched as the machine gunners suddenly dropped down and fired at the targets in front of them, hitting every single one of them, his face turning slightly pale. Yi Tianxing continued, "Next up is the rocket artillery square formation. This is a demonstration of the rotating rocket artillery's extremely wide range of fire."

  I looked at Yi Tianxing and gave him a look of appreciation. Yi Tianxing continued, "The second-to-last team is the newly established Third Army Special Forces. This team was personally formed by the Political Commissar and has been approved by the General Command." I saw that all these soldiers who had a martial arts background before were performing various skills with flying colors one after another. I led the applause.

  Yi Tianxing continued, "The last team is a militia team composed of Miao ethnic brothers. They have made great contributions to local construction and security in peacetime. I hope that in the days to come, they will continue to work hard and reach new heights."

  I took a look at Li Dingguo's red and white complexion and said, "Prince Wang, what do you think of my army?" Li Dingguo smiled awkwardly and said, "General, your army is indeed capable of defeating a hundred enemies. I'll just head back to Yunnan first. General, wait for my good news." I looked at him and said, "Lan Tian, hurry up and send Prince Wang back to Tongren. Be careful on the way." Lan Tian stood at attention and said, "Yes, I guarantee that Prince Wang will arrive safely." As I watched Li Dingguo board the airship, I finally felt a sense of relief and said, "Fortunately, he didn't keep me in Tongren." Wu Shuang also walked over and said, "Commander, I think Li Dingguo should agree this time."