Zhu Zhongqu and the leaders of the anti-Ming allied forces were somewhat bewildered.
Even though these leaders had overestimated the troops under Zhu Jinsong's command as much as possible, they only discovered on the battlefield that the army under Zhu Jinsong was indeed too difficult to deal with.
No one could figure out where they would launch their attacks from.
Year 4484 of the Yellow Emperor's Calendar, the third year of Zhu Jinsong's ascension to the throne, the fifty-third year of Qianlong.
In the second month of spring, just as the leaders of the anti-Ming alliance had finished preparations for their alliance, Zhu Jinsong declared war on the anti-Ming alliance in the newspapers.
On the first day of the third month, the armies of the anti-Ming alliance had just finished assembling and were not yet ready with logistics and provisions when the troops under Zhu Jinsong began their operations.
Zhu Erdan led the Front Army Command to advance towards Zhejiang, marking the first shot against the anti-Ming alliance.
Concurrently, Liu Heming led the Central Army Command towards Anhui, Liu Erniu led the Left Army Command to garrison Deng and Lai, Geng Rui led the Right Army Command to advance towards Shaanxi, and only the Rear Army Command led by Zhu Sanshun remained inactive, serving to guard against the Qing Tartars in the north.
On March 12th, in just over a month, Zhu Erdan led the Second Army of the Front Army Command to Changzhou Wuxi.
In order to create psychological and military pressure on the anti-Ming alliance under Zhu Zhongqu, Zhu Erdan publicly claimed to command an army of two hundred thousand to suppress the disloyal. The Front Army Command, with only one army, was directly transformed into the Second Corps, possessing five armies.
This immediately reversed the offensive and defensive situation, leaving Zhu Zhongqu and his civil and military officials in a panic.
Zhu Zhongqu paced back and forth in the Lin'an temporary palace, while his civil and military officials stood in the hall exchanging glances. After a long while, Zhu Zhongqu suddenly waved his sleeve and said, "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Seeing the behavior of Zhu Zhongqu, the "Great Ming Emperor," the civil and military officials of the Zhu Zhongqu version of the Great Ming court immediately turned their gaze to Zhu Zhongqu.
Could it be that the Emperor, who had always been quiet, was about to make a big move this time?
This was not entirely impossible, as the ancients had said, three years without flying, a flight that soars to the heavens; three years without chirping, a chirping that startles the world.
What if His Majesty was about to show his mettle today?
In the hall, the spokespersons of the Ruan, Huang, Mei, Dai, and Xu families exchanged glances, intending to see what this puppet emperor, Zhu Zhongqu, was going to do.
However, after repeatedly saying "impossible," the "Great Ming Emperor" Zhu Zhongqu suddenly turned his gaze to Huang Liangji, the Duke of Zhenguo and Grand Commander of the Five Army Commands of "Great Ming," and asked, "Does Duke Zhenguo have any brilliant suggestions?"
Huang Liangji was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, Zhu Jinsong's army is certainly not numerous. If he truly had two hundred thousand troops, why would he wait for us to form an alliance to fight him? He would have attacked us long ago."
Upon hearing Duke Zhenguo Huang Liangji's words, the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Zhongqu nodded repeatedly and said, "朕 also thinks so," then turned his gaze to the Grand Tutor of the court, who was also the spokesperson for the Ruan family, Ruan Junyu, and asked, "What is your opinion, Grand Tutor?"
Grand Tutor Ruan narrowed his eyes and grunted, "Your Majesty, this old minister thinks the same way."
Seeing that Grand Tutor Ruan also expressed the same view, Zhu Zhongqu's heart was immediately settled. He looked at Grand Tutor Ruan and said, "Then, for matters of state and military affairs, I shall trouble Grand Tutor greatly."
After Grand Tutor Ruan bowed in assent, Zhu Zhongqu impatiently signaled to the eunuch beside him. The eunuch then called out in a high-pitched voice, "Court dismissed!"
Zhu Zhongqu knew very well that he was merely a puppet emperor put forward by the Ruan, Huang, Mei, Dai, and Xu families. Real power was not in his hands at all. Even if he had any ideas, it was best to keep them to himself, as no one might listen if he spoke them.
Therefore, rather than continuing to be a tool in the imperial court, it was better to dismiss the court early and return to the harem to enjoy himself.
Live one day at a time, enjoy one day at a time.
Watching Zhu Zhongqu's hasty departure, the spokespersons of the Ruan, Huang, Mei, Dai, and Xu families, led by Grand Tutor Ruan, couldn't help but feel their heads ache.
As the saying goes, every family has its own difficult issues. These spokespersons knew the true state of their anti-Ming alliance.
Among these more than twenty anti-Ming allied forces, many were puppet emperors like Zhu Zhongqu. These emperors, who were treated as refined puppets, basically had the same mindset as Zhu Zhongqu, living one day at a time and enjoying one day at a time.
To attack Zhu Jinsong? That's fine, as long as the real decision-makers, the ministers and generals, make the decisions.
It was likely that the same scene would be playing out in the "courts" of the other more than twenty large and small anti-Ming allied rebel forces.
Of course, it was not impossible that a few had real power, such as Mei Shiyao, who occupied Guang, and Bai Ziqi, who occupied Guangxi.
The problem was that both of these rebel leaders claimed to be the Governor-General of Liangguang of the Great Ming.
Well, one Governor-General of Liangguang in Guangdong and another in Guangxi, so which one was the true Governor-General of Liangguang?
Therefore, even though more than twenty large and small rebels had jointly formed the anti-Ming alliance and raised a million troops, it would be considered good if these million troops didn't start fighting amongst themselves first, let alone working together to deal with Zhu Jinsong.
After another round of exchanging glances, Grand Tutor Ruan invited Duke Zhenguo Huang Liangji and the spokespersons of the other families to his study, and then directly asked, "Duke Zhenguo, do you have confidence in repelling the attack of the rebel Zhu?"
Huang Liangji shook his head and said, "If we were to attack head-on, I fear our Great Ming army would not be able to defeat the rebel army under Zhu Jinsong, as our Great Ming has enjoyed peace for a long time, while Zhu Jinsong's army has achieved continuous victories. However, to defeat Zhu Jinsong, it is not necessarily required to engage them in a head-on cavalry battle."
Hearing Huang Liangji's words, Grand Tutor Ruan could not help but feel curious and asked, "What does Duke Zhenguo mean?"
Huang Liangji stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "A few days ago, I sent people to Fujian to engage with the navy under Lin Shuangwen."
"Lin Shuangwen's navy has quite large whaling ships, but they do not have many warships capable of naval combat. Although they have a few small sampans, those small sampans do not have many cannons, so they are not a threat."
Hearing Huang Liangji's words, Grand Tutor Ruan understood what was going on.
Everyone knew that Lin Shuangwen, the Governor of Fujian of the Great Ming, was the first to raise his troops in response to Zhu Jinsong. His true identity was actually a rebel of the Tiandihui, in other words, a remnant of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who was highly trusted by the traitor Zhu Jinsong.
By understanding the level of Lin Shuangwen's navy, one could basically understand the level of Zhu Jinsong's navy.