Linxia

Chapter 250, Beheading the King

Xuzhou.

The Qing army was at the gate of the city and was attacking it. Arrows were raining down and cannons could be heard from time to time. Ladders on the city walls were seen being pushed down and pots of boiling soup were poured down. The Qing army attacking the city fell like raindrops and a thick layer of corpses piled up under the city walls.

"Your Highness, the resistance in Xuzhou City is fierce. 50% of the surrendered troops have been killed. If it weren't for our people forcing them, they would have probably fled."

Ajige, the King of Ying of the Qing Dynasty, was the commander of this group of Qing troops. He was watching the battle ahead with a cold expression: "Switch to another unit of surrendered troops and continue the siege. Don't give the enemy time to catch their breath... Tell the people below that if this city is captured, I will allow them to plunder for three days!"

This was another massacre, no wonder he was so angry. In the city of Xuzhou, the prefect, the governor and others had all fled, but a registrar named Yan appeared and organized the soldiers and civilians, and asked an old man to pretend to surrender. The Qing army was lured into the city wall without noticing and suffered hundreds of casualties, most of whom were Jurchen men.

"Report, the Xia army is coming to support us from the rear, with about 2,000 people!"

"At this time, Daxia still has reinforcements? But with only two thousand people, what can they do? Suo Hun, take three hundred cavalrymen to kill them."

"Yes!"

Not long after, accompanied by the dense sound of gunfire from the rear, only a few dozen of the three hundred riders escaped: "Your Majesty, this Xia soldier is different. His musket is extremely sharp. Before he even gets close, he..."

"Oh?"

Ajige was about to say something when suddenly there was a loud bang of cannon fire. A guard next to him shouted "Prince" and threw him to the ground. It turned out that a large bomb fell and scattered everywhere. Iron pieces and nails were splashed, causing the surrounding soldiers to scream.

"Pooh!"

He endured the severe pain in his buttocks, spat out a mouthful of dust, and was shocked: "Not only the musket, but also the cannon, how can the range be so far? The power is also far beyond the ordinary!"

'These Daxia troops always come up with some new tricks for me, but no matter how good the weapons are, they still depend on the people who use them. According to convention, as long as my Qing men rush forward regardless of their own lives, these Daxia troops will be scattered... Then, all these good things will belong to my Qing! '

Ajige was indeed a famous general of the Qing Dynasty. He remained calm at this time, endured the pain, quickly integrated the army, and turned around to fight back: "Pass my order, charge head-on, close the distance, and make it impossible for the enemy's artillery to succeed... Also, order the cavalry to encircle from both wings..."

In the back, Fang Chuanhui put down the telescope and said, "A great reputation is a great honor. The Qing army is indeed very capable. No wonder Brother Linzi attaches so much importance to us. However, we are not like those imperial armies that can turn the tide for them... Those new weapons are just right to open the eyes of these Qing troops."

Fang Xi came closer and said, "Second Uncle, everything is ready. This time we will give the Qing army a good beating!"

The armed regiment here was well-trained. They had already deployed themselves based on the terrain and lined up to wait. They launched a three-stage shooting attack on the approaching Qing army and shot them in a line. At the same time, several things that looked like gun racks were pulled out, as well as many things that looked like rockets.

These things are the achievements of the Nanyang base in recent years. In addition to the flintlock rifles, there are also several black technologies.

First, breech-loading artillery and shrapnel shells have just been used and have considerable lethality.

Second, the hand-cranked machine gun powered by black powder. Because it uses black powder, this machine gun is not very accurate and has a short lifespan, but its automatic shooting alone can make up for all its shortcomings.

Third, steam engine processing, large black powder rockets, the first sample was successfully produced ten years ago, and now ten years of production has been accumulated, and most of it has been taken out this time.

Da da da!
The machine guns were rolling, and facing such hot weapons, the Qing troops charging head-on fell down like wheat being harvested, and the braver the enemy was, the faster the harvesting speed was.

Boom boom boom!
The rockets were also very powerful, launching a saturation bombing, accumulating and exploding among the Qing troops.

The cavalrymen who came from both wings were hit hard by machine guns and rockets, and blood and flesh of people and horses were splattered everywhere.

It can be said that this time the overseas armed corps’ battle against the Qing army was an unequal technological crushing.

On the periphery, Xiong Ziyuan, the Great Xia general who was recruited by Fang Lin after Wei Zhongxian's downfall, saw this scene with a hundred cavalrymen and was shocked. Although he had already witnessed the power of flintlock rifles in line shooting overseas, this was the first time he saw these new weapons used on a large scale on the battlefield. His intuition as a military general made him vaguely aware that the way of war in the future would change, as if he saw the passing of an era.

However, he also knew that this was not the time to be sentimental. Watching the Qing army collapse in an organized manner, he led his elite cavalry to intercept, drive away, compress, and block the scattered Qing army.

"It's so satisfying! It's so satisfying! Compared to the overseas barbarians, it's more satisfying to kill these Tartars!" Xiong Ziyuan laughed loudly, sweeping away the resentment that had accumulated in his heart for many years.

On the top of the city wall, Yan Dianshi had already made up his mind to die, but he saw the Great Xia army suddenly appear. They faced the Qing army like cutting melons and vegetables and won a crushing victory. Especially those new weapons, which he could not understand. He was shocked inexplicably, but he would not miss such a good opportunity. He immediately opened the city gate, led the elite troops in the city to rush out, stabbed the Qing army in the back, expanded the results of the battle, and prevented the Qing army from escaping.

In the end, the battle was a great victory, killing the Qing King Ajige, capturing 3,000 Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing army, and more than 10,000 Xia army surrendered to the Qing.

After the battle, Yan Dianshi came to visit and asked: "I wonder which army the general is from?"

"The Southern Xia court is still fighting among itself, how could we provide support? We are considered a civilian army..." Fang Chuanhui revealed his identity.

How could a civilian army be like this? However, when Yan Dianshi heard Fang Lin's name, he immediately said that he had heard of him for a long time. After a pause, he asked the most concerned question: "I wonder what kind of thing the general's men just used. If the Daxia army is equipped with such a magical weapon, what trouble will the Tartars have?"

"My brother Linzi said that Daxia's problem is not weapons, but people... Besides, these weapons are not as simple as they seem. They cost a lot of money. If converted into silver, hundreds of thousands of taels were spent in such a short period of time. Also, the technology of new weapons is not mature yet. Most of them were damaged after this battle..."

Fang Chuanhui heard from Fang Lin that this problem requires further industrialization and the production of more advanced gunpowder to be truly solved: "In short, under the current circumstances, it is impossible to equip on a large scale. We have accumulated a lot of gunpowder overseas for many years, and we can't fight such a war many times."

He did not say much on this issue, and asked: "Master Yan, what are you going to do with these Qing prisoners?"

This battle was entirely due to the general's merit, so the outcome will naturally be decided by the general.

"Then we will deal with it on the spot. My cousin has told us not to take any prisoners from the Qing army... Those Han soldiers who once surrendered to the Qing Dynasty can be kept for the time being as coolies, and the Tartars should not be spared and should be killed... The blood debt of the Jining massacre must be paid with blood."

Fang Xi looked at the Qing soldiers digging pits and begging for mercy, and laughed: "I thought these beasts, who were born by their fathers but not raised by their mothers and have no humanity at all, would not be afraid?"

Afterwards, after dealing with the group of prisoners, Fang Chuanhui persuaded the military and civilians of Xuzhou to retreat by boat.

……

A waterway twenty miles away from Yangzhou.

"The Qing army went south in three routes. One route attacked Dashun and bypassed Shu. The other two routes came to destroy Southern Xia. These two armies went south from Shangqiu and headed straight for Xuzhou, aiming at Suqian and Huai'an. Chuanhui, Xier and others stopped the enemy in Xuzhou... Another route of the Qing army went straight to Yangzhou from Bozhou and Hongxian. We fought a battle with the Qing army here!" Fang Lin pointed to Yangzhou on the map.

Meng Jiang, the elder brother of Fang He's wife Meng He, had a lot of experience overseas. At this time, he was advising the military and said, "Master, the general defending Yangzhou is Shi Sixian of Nanxia. We may be able to cooperate with the Nanxia army to attack the Qing army from both inside and outside..."

Fang Lin did not comment and was about to speak.

"Report, sir, Yangzhou has been breached!" Fang Lin had already planted spies through caravans in places like Yangzhou, and the news came at the first moment. "How is it possible? Didn't we receive news that Duoduo, led by Prince Yu of the Qing Dynasty, arrived in Yangzhou yesterday? How come the city was breached today? Shi Sixian has 20,000 soldiers and is in a good position to defend the city, but he can't even hold it for a day? Even if there are 20,000 pigs, they can't catch them all in a day, right?" Meng Jiang said in shock.

Even though he had commanded armed groups to massacre indigenous peoples and destroy countries overseas many times, he had never seen such a "mythical battle example".

Fang Lin also looked at him intently: "Tell me the details."

"Yes, sir. General Shi...did not swear to patrol the city, did not arrange deployment, and did not take the initiative to patrol the city...He also let his generals surrender to the enemy..."

Fang Lin was silent after hearing this. This was simply the 'Buddhist way of defending the city'.

"What is Shi Sixian doing?" Meng Jiang asked.

"Well, this General Shi wrote six suicide notes, several of which he read in front of his soldiers..."

"Stupid!" Meng Jiang said angrily, "How can the soldiers in the city have morale if they act like this? No wonder Yangzhou City was captured in one day... This Shi Sixian, I'm afraid he didn't surrender on purpose... Did he surrender to the Qing Dynasty?"

"No, General Shi was captured when the city was broken and refused to surrender, so he was killed by the Tartars.

"This General Shi..." Meng Jiang didn't know what to say. What do you want? "This Shi Sixian has no ability, only his integrity is acceptable, but he may have done all these things just for fame... Now he is dead, all this is no longer known."

Fang Lin didn't say anything. After the Kong family, he had no expectations for Daxia. He just said, "Anyway, it's still better than the Kong family... How is Yangzhou City now?"

"Yangzhou was captured, and Prince Duoduo of the Qing Dynasty ordered that the swords should not be put down for ten days. Now those Tartars are killing like crazy in Yangzhou. I heard... I heard that the Qinhuai River has been dyed red with blood."

Snapped!
Fang Lin slammed his palm on the table and said coldly: "Pass my order, the whole army prepares for battle, rush to Yangzhou before noon today to fight the Qing army to the death!"

When his three thousand-man armed regiments arrived in Yangzhou, most of the Qing troops were still slaughtering and looting in Yangzhou City. They were scattered throughout the city, defeating the weak guards at the city gates and entering the city. Facing the mostly scattered Qing troops, Fang Lin's army was gathered into an organized organization, and with the gap in weapons, it was naturally a one-sided massacre.

In this battle, Duoduo, Prince Yu of the Qing Dynasty, was killed in battle and 70,000 Qing troops were captured.

Fang Lin issued an order that no prisoner should be spared, including the Han people who participated in the massacre and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. All of their heads should be beheaded and cast into a Jingguan.

……

On the ninth day of the sixth lunar month in the second year of the Hongfu reign, Fang Lin's armed forces defeated the Qing army in Xuzhou and Yangzhou, killing 100,000 enemies and killing two Qing kings, Prince Yu Duoduo and Prince Ying Ajige, in battle. The whole world was shocked.

Just a few days later, the ancestral land of the Kong family in Lu was struck by lightning (exploded) on a sunny day. Considering that the head of the Kong family, Kong Youren, and his entire family surrendered to the Qing Dynasty some time ago...

In this era that emphasizes the interaction between heaven and man, the emperor would issue an edict of repentance based on celestial phenomena. What should the Kong family do if they surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and then their ancestral grave was struck by lightning in broad daylight?

This news spread quickly in Daxia along with a couplet. The first line of the couplet reads: "Yesterday we surrendered to the Mongols, now we surrender to the Qing Dynasty. What's the point?" Then I realized: "Good advice will bring more happiness to the family." The second line reads: "Confucius said to die for benevolence, Mencius said to seek justice. I have forgotten all of them! I only remember that those who know the current situation are heroes." The horizontal banner reads: "Shixiu surrenders."

In particular, the names of Confucius' 64th generation grandson, Kong Youren, the head of the Kong family, and his younger brother Kong Youli, combined with this couplet, really took the irony to the extreme, simply throwing the Kong family's face into the mud and stepping on it twice.

After hearing this, Kong Youren, the head of the Kong family, was furious and smashed countless vases.

Just as the ambitious people in Daxia were rejoicing over these good news, the Manchu regent Dorgon personally led 200,000 armored troops and marched from Shu to Yingtian.

On June 23rd of the second year of Hongfu's reign, Duke Wei of Yingtian, Duke Baoguo, the Shangshu, and the Grand Secretary opened the city gates and surrendered. The Hongfu regime in Southern Xia was thus destroyed.

……

Yingtian.

Squeak!

Qian Qianyi pushed open the door, entered the room, and saw Liu Yin sitting in front of the window in a daze.

"You are the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites of the Qing Dynasty and a busy man in charge of the Secretariat. What do you want to talk to me about?" Liu Yin looked at him.

"This..." Qian Qianyi hesitated, gritted his teeth and said, "The Regent heard of your reputation, Dongjun, and wanted to invite you to perform in a play..."

"Haha!" Liu Yin smiled sadly, "When the Qing army marched south and approached Yingtian, I advised you to join me in drowning in the lake, but when the time came, you said 'the water is too cold, I can't jump in', and I jumped in anger, but you saved me; when the Tartars entered the city, you suddenly said 'my scalp itches' and shaved your head into a pigtail, why are you willing to sacrifice your wives and concubines just to survive?"

Qian Qianyi blushed with shame and could only say: "Why mention the past again? I am not doing this for myself, but for the people of Yingtian, so as not to let the disaster of Yangzhou happen again... Today, the Regent King also heard of your reputation and asked you to act in a play, nothing else..."

He paused here, then suddenly knelt down and begged, "Dong Jun, please help me just this once..."

Liu Yin looked deeply at the familiar yet strange man in front of her, and suddenly agreed softly: "Okay."

It's dusk.

On the stage, Liu Yin was wearing a peplum skirt and silk shoes decorated with tortoise shells. Her waist was as smooth as a stream, she had moon-shaped rings in her ears, her fingers were as white as scallions, her hair was covered with cinnabar, and she was performing "Farewell My Concubine" with slender steps and unparalleled exquisiteness.

The performance was excellent and the actors were beautiful, which made the audience nod their heads frequently. Even Dorgon, the regent of the Qing Dynasty, praised it with a "good" sound.

When the play reached the climax of Farewell My Concubine, when Xiang Yu’s army surrounded Gaixia and was surrounded by enemies on all sides, Liu Yin suddenly looked at the audience and said, “The country is in ruins, the Tartars are marching south, destroying our country, occupying our land, bullying our children… I, Liu Rushi, am a woman, but I also understand the righteousness of my country and my family. I wish I could suck their blood and eat their flesh…”

These words were undoubtedly directed at the high-ranking Qing officials and surrendered officials in the audience. When someone was about to step forward to stop them, Liu Yin said, "The country is ruined and the mountains and rivers are shattered, how can I, a humble concubine, live?" Her voice was like a cuckoo crying blood, and she drew her sword and committed suicide.

On the stage, Liu Yin fell down with her long black hair disheveled, wearing a bright red costume with blood splattered all over it, which was even redder than the blood-red setting sun in the sky.

Below the stage, Qian Qianyi subconsciously wanted to pounce, but paused, then stopped abruptly, secretly looking at Dorgon's expression, as if he was afraid that this incident would anger the other party.

"I never thought that there would be such a brave person among the Han people, and she is just a woman." Dorgon sighed calmly, ignoring Qian Qianyi who was blushing beside him, and turned away: "Give this woman a proper burial!"

……

(End of this chapter)