Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 238

Outside Yuezhou City, after days of cloudy and rainy days, the warm spring sun shone down. In the stretches of the Qing army camp, large pieces of quilts and underwear were moved out of the moldy tent by the Qing soldiers, and the wooden poles were propped up to measure them. .

Today's coach, Luck Dehun, did not give orders to attack the city as never before. This made the nearly [-] Qing soldiers feel a little lucky in their hearts, and finally they were able to take a little respite from the endless siege.

In the camp, after the Qing soldiers finished drying the quilts and underwear, some sat on wooden boards, leaning against each other to bask in the sun, while others lay on the carts, spreading their legs to dry their crotches.

In the center of the camp, a large flag was fluttering in the wind, and in the large cowhide tent under the flag, Le Kede's face was covered with frost.

At this time, he was holding a letter in his hand, and on the envelope was written the words "war letter" in small characters. When he took out the letter paper and opened it, his face, which was already covered with frost, suddenly became pale. Distorted a little bit.

General Zhennan of the Ming Dynasty, the general town of Guangdong, Duke Yan of Chu State, wrote to Bei Le in the Qing Dynasty: Since Yan entered Chu, he first destroyed [-] people in Yuezhou, and then made a small plan to transfer them back to aid, and then defeated the false king Geng Zhongming, trapped in Jingzhou, cut down the two banners of red armor and hundred armor, it can be said that he will win every battle.

Jinyan captured Shen Zhixiang, the puppet noble, by destroying Huarong, but Baylor was trapped under the city of Yuezhou.

Yanguan Baylor has been defeated in every battle since he met Yan. Today Jingzhou and Exi prefectures and counties are all owned by Yan, but Baylor has lost his teacher and lost his land. It is really not as good as Yan!
In the past, under the city of Yangzhou, your uncle Duoduo was not as good as Yan Duoduo, let alone your little boy?
With the momentum of great victory, Jin Yan led [-] victorious people to help Yuezhou. Er was not Yan's opponent, and returned to Wuchang to study the military books of our Han family for several years, and then came to fight Yan.

If Er hears Yan's name and flees in anticipation, Yan will definitely not chase after him!
If you are dissatisfied with Guanxin, then retreat your troops for [-] miles, wait for Yan to cross the lake, and then fight to the death, then Yan will definitely let you know the magic of the Han family's art of war.

After reading the letter, Lu Kede's face turned into a pig's liver. He couldn't help roaring angrily, and then crumpled up the letter and threw it into the brazier angrily. The table was kicked over.

Inside the cowhide tent, Tong Yanghe, Jue Luolangqiu and others saw him furious, and felt panic in their hearts.

These days, Luck Dehun has suffered heavy losses, especially the two flags folded, and General Babutai of Fengguo, which made his mood fall to the bottom, and he was very angry. He often became angry suddenly because of trivial things, and beat his subordinates , making the people in the Qing camp panic.

At this time, everyone in the tent knew that he was angry because of that letter, but they all dared not to inquire, fearing that he would turn his anger on themselves.

For a while, inside the cowhide tent, fell into a strange silence, Leketer's hostility became more and more serious, and the generals became more and more frightened, but when everyone was worried about when he would attack, Lechde But Ke Dehun suddenly said: "Send the order to retreat for thirty miles."

Hearing the words, all the generals were puzzled for a while, and finally the more courageous Tong Yanghe asked cautiously: "Master Baylor, this Yuezhou is about to be captured, why~"

Luck Dehun interrupted him somewhat annoyedly: "Huarong has fallen, and Wang Yan's army will soon come to aid Yuezhou, and Yuezhou can't be defeated~"

All the Qing generals heard the words and immediately understood that they had failed.

On Yuezhou City, nearly a hundred Ming soldiers, with the help of a group of Yuezhou people, repaired the holes in the city wall that were smashed by the artillery of the Qing army.

While all the people were busy, suddenly one of them looked straight down to the city, was startled, and quickly called the people around him to watch together, shouting excitedly: "The Qing soldiers have withdrawn, the Qing soldiers have withdrawn~"

When the soldiers and common people in the city heard his words, they immediately put aside their affairs and rushed up to the city to look down the city. Sure enough, in the Qing barracks outside the city, a brigade of Qing soldiers were dismantling the barracks and loading supplies into carts. Some of them have even left the camp to the west.

The soldiers and civilians of Yuezhou on the city wall immediately burst into cheers, and the whole city was erupted in an instant, but after the cheers, more people hugged the walls and wept loudly.

Yuezhou was besieged by the Qing soldiers for more than a month, and they attacked every day. The number of casualties was no less than [-]. The young people in the city almost died.

In the southern city of Yuezhou, the original city tower was destroyed by the Qing soldiers in the artillery fire, and half of the statue of Guan Gong was also wiped out by the artillery.

Zhang Kuang, the servant who was seriously injured, was leaning on the coffin next to the broken statue, looking haggard, as if he had almost lost his life.

This old civil servant, who carried the coffin to guard the city, did not step down the city wall for more than a month when the Qing soldiers attacked the city. Even if the city tower was destroyed and his body was injured by arrows, he still remained motionless.

The Qing soldiers attacked the south gate several times, and he fought with the soldiers. With his old and decayed body, he killed two thieves with a single knife. Now he has been wounded in more than ten places on his body, and his vitality is gradually lost.

The generals defending the city, Wang Ji and Xie Kuang, did not dare to move an inch, for fear that if they touched it, the servant's wound would rupture and he would die.

Not long after the Qing soldiers retreated, Dai Zhifan led 3000 troops ashore, and the soldiers and civilians of Yuezhou knew that the reinforcements had arrived. The Qing soldiers really retreated, so they worked together to clear the city gates and let the reinforcements enter the city.

There was thunderous cheers in the city for a while, the servant was awakened by the sound and asked, "Why?"

Xie Kuang said, "The Qing soldiers retreated, and the reinforcements arrived~"

The eunuch was overjoyed when he heard the words, coughed several times, vomited blood twice, and asked again in a weak voice: "Is the Duke here?"

Xie Kuang lied to him and said, "I'll be there later!"

The servant waited for a while, then fainted again.

Xie Kuang followed his orders to cross the lake overnight and urged Wang Yan to come to Yuezhou.

In Huarong County, Wang Yan was shocked when he heard the news. In the early morning of the next day, he left the army behind, crossed Dongting Lake first, and rushed to Yuezhou when it was dark.

When Wang Yan climbed to the south city, he saw that the servant's breath was weak and there was no possibility of resuscitating him. He felt grief in his heart. Xie Kuang called the servant softly. After half a sound, the servant woke up leisurely, but he couldn't see.

Xie Kuang said softly: "Private servant, the Duke is here~" After he finished speaking, tears were streaming down his face.

Wang Yansui quickly squatted down, took his hand, and said softly: "Private servant, Yan is here~"

Zhang Kuang seemed to recover a bit of energy when he heard the words, and his pale face suddenly flushed, "Grandfather~ I have guarded Yuezhou~Jingzhou~Changde~"

Knowing what he meant, Wang Yan quickly said: "Don't worry, servant, the lands in northern Hunan and western Hubei have been shot down by Yan."

Zhang Kuang nodded in satisfaction when he heard the words, and his face became even more flushed, "I am always worried about the difficulty of the survival of my family and country, and I want to use my old and decayed body to repay the king's kindness. Now that the Duke is here, my heart is at ease~"

After speaking, the wound was ruptured and he died.

Seeing this, Wang Yan was overwhelmed with grief. He carried the coffin down to the city in person, and then ordered the whole army to bring filial piety, intending to fight against Luck Dehun.

The news of Zhang Kuang's death spread to Fujing, and Emperor Longwu was very sad, and added the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of War, Yongxing Bo, posthumous title Wenzhong.

(End of this chapter)