Chapter 18 Jiangyin confrontation

Rumors that Hong Chengchou was leading troops south to help Hangzhou made the Ming army in eastern Zhejiang very nervous, so they decided to temporarily change their plan and stop marching.However, the real situation is: Hong Chengchou did not go south, he just deliberately spread such a rumor, the purpose is to deter the Ming army in eastern Zhejiang who tried to cross the river to the west, so as to buy time.In fact, during this period, he himself packed lightly and quietly rushed to Jiangyin County, which is located east of Nanjing and where the fighting situation was even more difficult.

Hong Chengchou was officially appointed governor of Jiangnan in mid-June.Before that, he actually knew the news.That day when Chen Mingxia came to visit, it was inconvenient for him to speak clearly, so he talked about him from left to right.However, in the end, the Qing court did not hand over all the powers to this ex-Ming downed official, but appointed two other important figures: one was Dorobel Lek, who had just been conferred the title of Great General of Pingnan. Dehun, and the other is Yechen, the capital inlaid with a red flag with great military exploits.According to the explanation: the former is a member of the royal family and has a high status among the Manchus, which is enough to hold down Hong Chengchou's position; the latter is mature and prudent, and can become Hong Chengchou's right-hand man.Of course, this is just a superficial statement. As for whether there are deeper considerations, only the regent Dorgon himself knows.But in this way, Hong Chengchou undoubtedly felt more pressure.Therefore, the group set off from Beijing in the middle of June, and arrived in Nanjing at the beginning of August after a long journey of more than a month. On the one hand, they are going all out to plan and deploy in order to extinguish the anti-Qing fire that is burning everywhere as soon as possible.

However, it is not easy to do this.Because not to mention the regime of the king of Lu who raised righteousness in eastern Zhejiang and the king of Tang who raised righteousness in Fujian, after nearly three months of formation, they have initially stabilized, and by virtue of their rapidly expanding political and military influence, they have expanded their influence to their own countries. The vast area south of Taihu Lake, including Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong, is increasingly becoming a huge obstacle to the Qing Dynasty's advance; even in the vicinity of Nanjing alone, there are Jiangyin and Jiading in the east, and Huizhou in the south. Vigorously fighting against the Qing Dynasty, Duoduo once made a fuss and was in a hurry.Especially in a small place like Jiangyin County, since the killing of officials and rebellion in early June, the Qing army has invested more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, besieged with all its strength for more than two months, and killed or injured seven or eight thousand soldiers. Failed to capture.This situation can be said to have never been encountered since the Qing Dynasty entered the customs.This unexpected repetition of the battle situation did not make Hong Chengchou panic, but it made him feel quite troublesome.Because this time the Qing court sent him to the south, the original intention was for him to use his identity as a Han official and a southerner to implement a strategy of changing "suppression" to "comfort" in the Jiangnan area, in order to achieve as much as possible without fighting. Purpose.If you start killing people as soon as you get off the bus, not only will it seriously damage the image you want to establish, but it will also be detrimental to the implementation of the strategy of recruiting in the future.However, this kind of lawless "rebellion" that happened under his nose prevented him from pretending to ignore it, especially the war in Jiangyin, which had alarmed the Beijing court and attracted the attention of the regent.Therefore, Hong Chengchou can let go of other places for a while, but the headache of Jiangyin County has become the focus of his efforts to solve.

Now, after repeated discussions with Luck Dehun and Ye Chen, Hong Chengchou finally worked out a military plan of "promoting appeasement with suppression, first easy and then difficult", and immediately began to act.First of all, as usual, he issued a proclamation of appeasement to the Quartet, especially those areas where troops were in trouble, and vigorously publicized the irresistibility of the "mandate of heaven" and the mighty kindness of the Qing Dynasty; Zhang Jinyan, former Shangshu of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty who defended himself in the Shangmashan area of ​​Lu'an Prefecture, and Gao Jinzhong, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty who supported the troops on Chongming Island, wrote a sincere letter, urging them to give up resistance , Return to surrender as soon as possible, in order to benefit the hometown and maintain wealth forever;He weighed Jiangyin and Jiading, the two most intense battles, and felt that the latter was easier to resolve than the former, so he asked Luck Dehun to personally lead the army to help the battle, planning to win Jiading first.After arranging these two urgent matters, Hong Chengchou turned around and started to rectify the order in Nanjing, so that the residents could gradually return to normal life; Screening, preparing to report to the imperial court, and recruiting based on merit.Half a month later, there was a response from Lu'an Prefecture. Zhang Jinyan expressed his willingness to lead the more than forty villages under his command to submit to the Qing Dynasty;So Hong Chengchou followed the original plan and asked Ye Chen to sit in Nanjing, take a soldier with him, take a warship, and go down the Yangtze River, preparing to meet up with Luck Dehun, who had returned to the north, in Jiangyin County. Launch a general attack on the Ming army that is still stubbornly resisting there.

Now, after a day and night of sailing, Hong Chengchou has arrived at the riverside wharf outside Jiangyin City.According to the report of the generals who came to meet him, Luck Dehun and his soldiers and horses have not yet arrived; today, because a dojo is being set up outside the east gate of Jiangyin City, it is prepared to prepare for the death in the siege a few days ago. General Liu Liangzuo of the Qing army went there early in the morning to preside over the summoning ceremony, so he was not informed in time to come to greet him.When Hong Chengchou heard this, he waved his hand and told Liu Liangzuo not to be alarmed; at the same time, he decided not to go to the camp of the Chinese army to rest, but to immediately step on his horse under the protection of his own soldiers, and the general would lead the way through the Pass through the suburbs of the North Gate and head towards the direction outside the East Gate.

Jiangyin County, located on the banks of the Yangtze River, has the most open terrain in the east, south, and west. However, at the place where Hong Chengchou landed just now, there is a river connecting Wuxi and Taihu Lake, which flows close to the edge of the west city wall.According to the accompanying generals, the main battles were fought in the east and south; as for the north side of the city, because it is close to the Yangtze River and the area is relatively narrow, it is not conducive to the advance and retreat of soldiers and horses. Therefore, most of the time, the Qing army did not Attack from here.But despite this, when Hong Chengchou rode his horse along the river bank, he still found that except for the Qing army and their tents, the local residents had almost escaped.The houses beside the road were either destroyed by fire or completely destroyed; among the ruined walls, stoves for forging cannonballs and weapons were temporarily erected one after another. The man was busy tinkling there.On the far side of the open land, not long ago, it was probably a farmland full of crops, but now it has been trampled beyond recognition by military boots and war horses.Those broken ladders, exploded wooden cannons, shattered ashes bottles, and all kinds of tattered flags and decayed knives and guns were strewn and scattered everywhere; among them were the bones of many people and animals, so It also attracted groups of crows, circling up and down around, breaking the silence of the wilderness with their ear-piercing noise... However, out of concern for the future decisive battle, Hong Chengchou paid more attention to the gray city wall lying across the clear sky .He found that the city wall of Jiangyin County, with a big flag with the word "Ming" fluttering in the wind, was actually not very tall.Because it is located at the estuary of the Yangtze River, in order to guard against frequent pirates, it is undoubtedly stronger than other inland counties, but let alone Nanjing, it cannot be compared with higher-level state capitals.Now, the surface of the city wall is covered with potholes hit by shells, and there are scorched traces of tragic battles in many places. One or two places have collapsed to varying degrees, and they are only temporarily filled with soil bags, bricks and wood.As for the places lined up on the top of the city, it was quiet and deserted. There was neither the tense atmosphere common in besieged cities nor the busy scenes of moving wood and stones and distributing weapons; Passing under the city, only a few people poked their heads out from behind the battlements, looking towards this side...

Hong Chengchou watched silently while riding his horse forward.Although a new round of combat has not yet started, with years of experience in the battlefield, he is still keenly aware that under the imaginable fierce attack of the Qing army, after seventy or eighty days of hard support , It seems that Jiangyin City is still standing still. In fact, the soldiers and civilians defending the city are exhausted; coupled with exhaustion and no reinforcements from outside, it is not too difficult to capture it now.This discovery made Hong Chengchou feel a little relieved, but at the same time he couldn't help shaking his head secretly.Because the scene in front of him reminded him of the past when he was heavily besieged by the Qing army in Songshan City outside Shanhaiguan three years ago.At that time, like these people in the city, with the determination to die rather than surrender, he led the army and the people to stand firm, suffered so much unbearable suffering, made such a cruel and huge sacrifice, and the result was that the city was still broken and captured.If it weren't for Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty who was broad-minded and thirsty for talents, I'm afraid I would have died in Jiuquan meaninglessly because of a momentary mistake. "Yes, the fate of the former Ming Dynasty is exhausted, and today's destiny is in the Qing Dynasty. All resistance is foolish and futile, and will only injure the lives of more people in vain! The solution is to end this senseless resistance as soon as possible!" Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou's belief became more and more firm.Although at the same time, he vaguely heard a few muffled explosion-like noises coming from the east of the city, he still clamped his legs together, urged the horse, and galloped forward faster.

In Dongcheng, which has a vast countryside, the atmosphere of military confrontation is indeed much more severe.Although the distance is relatively far, the situation on the other side of the city is still unclear, but the Qing army's position under the city alone, the momentum is extraordinary.I saw the dark tents, like clouds and waves, stretching around the city.Above the tent, facing the autumn wind, countless banners fluttered wildly.The aerial ladders, sky ladders, opposite buildings, and watch cars used for siege, like monsters ready to pounce, exude a murderous aura under the bloody sunset.However, when Hong Chengchou, surrounded by the accompanying generals, entered the Qing army's position from the northwest corner, he found that: for some reason, the position seemed a bit chaotic, with horses neighing, people shouting, men in livery and armed with knives and guns. Soldiers rushed out from various camps, commanded by the officers, and were gathering in their respective formations; the entire camp was filled with dust, huge iron cannons with their gun covers removed, and soldiers holding bows, arrows and shields Under the cover, they are pushing from various hidden points to the front of the position.On the side of the main road in the middle, a group of soldiers with white cloths on their heads walked back in a panic.Behind him were seven or eight people dressed as Taoists, one of whom had conspicuously disheveled hair, and held a sword upside down in his hand, which was used to burn amulets and cast spells. "Well, didn't we talk about setting up an altar to summon souls today? Why are you planning to attack the city again?" Hong Chengchou wondered while watching the surrounding situation; at the same time, he heard the sound of horseshoes coming from ahead.He looked up and saw a general dressed in military uniform leading several officers galloping towards him.He guessed that it was coming to meet him, so he took the rein and put on a waiting posture.

"I didn't know that Master Zhongtang was coming, and I was far away to welcome you. I was very panic! Because I was wearing armor, I couldn't make a gift, so I pray for forgiveness!" Those people really got off their horses from a long distance, and rushed forward. He bowed and said loudly. "Ah you are--" "Liu Liangzuo, the commander-in-chief of the last general, please see Mr. Zhongtang!" Hong Chengchou nodded.He sat on the horse and condescendingly looked down at the tall Liu Liangzuo—the former Ming general who was named Guangchang Bo by the Hongguang regime. Hong Chengchou didn't know Hong Chengchou because he had been stationed in the Jianghuai area in the past; When the army went south, he surrendered without a fight. Later, he served as the leader of the Qing army and captured Emperor Hongguang in Wuhu. Therefore, he was appreciated by Prince Rui Duoduo, and he specially entrusted him with the important task of crusade against Jiangyin.It's just that to this day, the 100,000 troops under his command are still blocked outside the city, unable to do anything, which makes Hong Chengchou somewhat suspicious of this man's ability.

"Well, this is..." Hong Chengchou looked away from the other party's slender bearded face, pointed at the surroundings with his horsewhip, and asked indifferently. "Oh, sir Zhongtang, this is preparing to attack the city!" Liu Liangzuo replied. "Siege? Didn't you say that an altar is being set up here today to summon souls?" "My lord, my lord's knowledge is quite true. The Shicai ranks indeed set up an altar here, intending to help Qi Wang participate in the evocation of supernatural powers. Unexpectedly, the rebellious people in the city are extremely hateful, and even fired a cannon midway, killing three of our saluting soldiers. That's why my teacher is all angry, and vows to destroy this city immediately and avenge him!"

Hong Chengchou let out a "huh", and then remembered: When he was still in the north of the city, he heard a few muffled noises from the east gate. Zhenghuang Qi's ginseng leader Qi Wang had a funeral ceremony to summon his soul, which was not clear to the general who picked him up at the pier just now.Regarding Qi Wang's death in battle, Hong Chengchou had seen Tang Bao when he was in Nanjing. He remembered that it was on the sixth day of this month.As the lieutenant general, Qi Wang was very angry when he saw this, so he refused to listen to dissuasion and decided to go into battle in person.Relying on his bravery and superiority, he put on double armor, equipped with double axes, double knives, bows and arrows, held a spear, braved raindrops of arrow stones, and climbed to the top of the city along the ladder.While desperately resisting with coffins, the city raised guns and stabbed randomly.However, relying on the heavy armor to protect his body, Qi Wang rushed forward bravely, and he was about to succeed. Unexpectedly, he was shot in the face one after another, and fell on the coffin all at once.The people in the city rushed up, cut off his head, hung it on the tower for public display, and threw only half of the body back to the city.Later, all the Qing soldiers knelt in front of the battle, begged repeatedly to the city, and then returned their heads, so that Qi Wang was completely dead... "Lord Zhongtang, please check..." Liu Liangzuo's voice sounded again.Hong Chengchou suddenly raised his head, and found that at some point, several military academies had brought a huge leather bag over.When they untied the tied ropes, three corpses of Qing soldiers who had been blasted to pieces by the artillery suddenly appeared in their pockets! "Yes, on the battlefield where the two armies are facing each other, when it is time to pay homage to the souls of the dead, if it is not really necessary, no matter which side will restrain itself as usual, and will not make unnecessary harassment. This is also the meaning of benevolence and righteousness. Today This city of Jiangyin did such a rebellious act, it seems that because of the hopelessness of survival, it has lost its will, and its behavior is almost perverted!" Hong Chengchou thought silently, and he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.However, despite this, for some inexplicable reasons that may be attributed to personal thoughts, he still intends to give his opponent a chance. "Well, that's all!" He gestured with a wave of his hand.After the corpses were quickly removed, he pointed to the troops still moving forward, and said to Liu Liangzuo who was waiting for instructions: "You—give them an order to stop them and not attack the city!" After a pause, he saw the chief soldier's eyes wide open, looking astonished, he straightened his face again, and said admonishingly: "As a general, the most taboo is to act recklessly on the spur of the moment. This city of Jiangyin refuses to act recklessly." I have had more than two months and I still can't break it. It's not that the general dared not fight, and the three armies didn't use their lives. From the student's point of view, I'm afraid it's because I didn't get the right way! Now that the general has returned to the division and headed north, I'm waiting for him Arriving, reconsider, and should not blindly attack again, and let many soldiers lose their lives in vain!" After saying this, Hong Chengchou got off his horse when he saw Liu Liangzuo, who was terrified by the lesson, accept the order in horror.He nodded in satisfaction when the other party issued an order to withdraw troops urgently, then took a few steps forward, stroked the three beards under his chin, squinted his eyes, and looked at the Jiangyin East Gate tower standing under the setting sun. Said conceitedly: "Besides, there is a saying in the art of war: attacking the heart is the top priority, and attacking the city is the bottom. Before using troops, the students want to try it out to see if they can understand the benefits and move them with kindness, so that they can caress each other's heart and open the door." Surrender—well, then even this battle can be avoided!"

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