Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 237 No Harvest in Huarong City

Under the gloomy sky, Huarong County and the Ming army camps outside the city, in the continuous drizzle, the mountains in the distance, and the surface of Dongting Lake were all hazy.

At this time, the rainwater under the city wall gathered into small streams, rushing to the lower places, and gathered into pools of water. The color of the water was bright scarlet.

This is Wang Yan, surrounded by a large group of generals of the Ming army, walking in the rain, stepping on the mud, passing the corpses with knives and guns, as well as the scattered weapons and banners, walking towards Huarong County.

The Qing soldiers fled from Changde to the north and hid in Huarong County in a hurry. The supplies were extremely scarce, and the arrows would have been shot long ago. If it weren't for the weather change and continuous rain, most of the Ming army's firearms could not be used, and the Ming army would not have fought so hard.

Wang Yan was amazed by the fighting will of the Eight Banners soldiers who were not afraid of death, but fortunately, as long as the Ming army gave up life and death and fought decisively, they were not much worse than the Eight Banners soldiers.

Huarong County, the city that was besieged by the Ming army for ten days, was finally broken by the Ming army. The Zhengbai Banner of the Han army was almost wiped out, and the Ming army also suffered more than 6000 casualties. It can be described as a tragic victory. .

At the city gate, Liu Fangliang, who was still topless, saw Wang Yan coming to the city gate, then knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists and said in a solemn voice: "Fortunately, the last general did not disgrace his fate and took down Huarong."

Behind him, hundreds of Ming soldiers who were also naked also knelt on one knee and shouted: "Please enter the city."

Seeing this, Wang Yan's heart was shaken, and he quickly supported Liu Fangliang and said: "In today's battle, if the Manchu flag is destroyed, the name of General Liu will surely move the world. No one dares to spy on the general anymore."

"The last general dare not take credit for it. It was the Duke's plan to encircle Shen Zhixiang in Huarong this time." Liu Fangliang was very happy in his heart. , Bring it up, let the Duke of the country take a look."

When Wang Yan heard this, he couldn't help raising his eyebrows. A moment later, two Ming soldiers dragged out a middle-aged man whose armor was torn, bald and dirty, tied up with ropes and gagged with rags.

When the man saw Wang Yan and the others, his face was unflappable, but the two Ming soldiers behind him were not polite, kicked his knees directly, and pressed him to his knees in the mud.

Liu Fangliang hurriedly explained: "Duke, this guy is Shen Zhixiang. He saw the city was broken and was about to commit suicide, but was captured by the last general."

Wang Yan couldn't help smiling, and exclaimed: "So General Liu has made another contribution."

In fact, Wang Yan didn't care about Shen Zhixiang's life or death. He was still dead in Wang Yan's hands. What Wang Yan was interested in was the Baijia Han Eight Banners, and the more than 7000 war horses, that was his real harvest.

At this time, Wang Yan couldn't help asking: "How many war horses are left in the city?"

When Liu Fangliang heard the words, his face, which was still very excited just now, immediately sank, "I will report to the Duke of the country. In the end, the whole city will be searched, and there is not a single live horse."

"What? How did this happen?" Wang Yan still thought about letting each of the superintendent's troops have a horse. There are more than 7000 war horses in the city. Even if the Qing soldiers lack food, they can't finish it!
Liu Fangliang was also full of anger when he thought about it, he suddenly kicked Shen Zhixiang who was kneeling on the ground, causing him to fall into the mud, and then said: "Master Guo, they are all this beast, the last general sent People checked, and thousands of war horses had their esophagus cut off, and they were bled to death.”

Hearing this, Wang Yan couldn't help but feel a gloomy expression on his face. More than 6000 Ming soldiers died in battle, but they didn't get any spoils.

Now he has only 60 taels of silver in his hands, and this batch of money has to be paid to the Ministry of First Gong, as well as pensions to the soldiers who died in battle, and rewards to the soldiers who have made meritorious service.

After this battle, although he annihilated Manqing Yiqi, he also wiped out his money. He thought that if he got a few thousand horses, it would be a good loss, but he didn't expect Shen Zhixiang to be so ruthless, so determined. Those who want to be traitors.

At this time, Wang Yan was full of anger, and asked the soldiers to pull him up from the mud, and asked the soldiers to remove the rags from his mouth, and angrily said: "Shen Zhixiang, my uncle Shen Gong was loyal to Ming Dynasty, and he died in a fierce battle. Why did you slaughter the horses in today's defeat? Your ancestors were disrespectful, but they were devoted to the Tartars!"

Shen Zhixiang was removed from the gag, and heard Wang Yan's words, but he couldn't help laughing, "The Ming Dynasty was corrupt, and it was good at killing Mao Shuai. What is there to be loyal to? Haha~ Wang Yan, although you defeated a certain person today, but a certain one You won't get any benefits. It's a pity that time is running out, and a certain one has time to kill the horse, otherwise the whole city will be buried with the general, haha~"

Shen Zhixiang laughed wantonly, causing Wang Yan to squint his eyes immediately, revealing a strong murderous aura, but many generals behind him rushed up in a rage, and Li Guo kicked Shen Zhixiang to the ground again, A group of people rushed forward, punching and kicking, making Shen Zhixiang scream again and again.

War horses were the most important strategic material in ancient China. There were horses in the Han and Tang Dynasties, so even if they were far away, they must be punished. Huo Qubing was able to seal the wolf and live in Xuxu, and Tang Taizong was able to defeat the Turks. However, there were few horses in the Song Dynasty, so the strategy has always been passive.

Wang Yan wanted to get horses, and built the Dubiao army into an elite cavalry force. All the generals under him also eagerly hoped that after breaking the city, they would be able to get some good horses, but they didn't expect to be slaughtered by Shen Zhixiang.

At this time, not to mention Shen Zhixiang's disrespect to Wang Yan, just mentioning the matter of the war horse was enough to make the generals hate him to the bone. They used the dialects of Shaanxi, Huainan and other places while beating and swearing.

"Melon rind, hit the head on the head, I'll beat you to death~"

"Ma Can, scumbag~"

Seeing this, Wang Yan waited for the generals to beat him violently for a while, then frowned and said: "Stop, don't break your face~" After the generals retreated to the side, Wang Yan looked at Shen Zhixiang who was beaten immobile and said, "Hmph~ Since you are determined to be a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty, then the governor will fulfill you."

At this time, Wang Yan once again made people look favorably on Shen Zhixiang, so he led the generals into the city.

After entering the city, Wang Yan sent people to clean up the horse corpses in the city, clean up the battlefield, and put up the notice of Anmin.

The next day, the weather that had been gloomy for many days suddenly became sunny, and the water of Dongting Lake looked sparkling under the sunshine of spring.

With such a fine weather, it should be a good day to invite three or five friends, drink and compose poems, and go boating in the rivers and lakes, but the jackals are by his side, and if they are not driven out of their homeland, Wang Yan will not be able to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the past for a moment.

At noon, a warship full of Dazhuang tribes appeared on the lake outside Huarong County. Wang Yan ordered Dai Zhifan to lead three thousand soldiers and horses to board the boat first, and wrote a letter, asking him to give his ideas to Luke Dehun, and let him They rushed to Yuezhou to support.

(End of this chapter)