Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 299
The loss of Fancheng made Wang Yan have to speed up the progress of the Wuchang campaign in order to pull out this important stronghold of the Qing court in Huguang as soon as possible, and then gather all the troops to go north to face Azig and Wu Sangui.

After Yang Yanchang crossed the Yangtze River by boat and headed for Xiangyang, Wang Yan also immediately arranged an army to attack Wuchang.

The book of war has "the way to conquer a country is to attack the heart first, and attack the city as the bottom. The victory of the heart is the top, and the victory of the soldiers is the bottom. Therefore, when the sage conquers the country and attacks the enemy, the first thing is to conquer his heart. What is attacking his heart? Cutting off what one relies on is called attacking one's heart."

In the city of Wuchang, Tong Yanghe relied on more than 7000 Green Battalion soldiers in the city. He could not defend Wuchang by relying on the [-] Banner soldiers of Tulai alone, so Wang Yan wanted to Thoughts, shake the morale of the army in Wuchang City, and then you can take advantage of it and take down Wuchang City.

The next day in Qingcheng, the defenders in Wuchang City saw a large group of civilian men coming out of the Ming army camp by the lake, carrying shovels, hoes, and baskets to a place one mile away from Wuchang City, and then Under the command of the army, ten large pits were excavated.

Seeing this, the Qing army in the city didn't understand what the Ming army was going to do, and couldn't help talking, "Why did the Ming army dig a hole so far away?"

"I don't know, it may be soil, prepare to fill the river~"

"Are you going to dig a tunnel to attack the city~"

"Idiot~" the general patrolling the city listened to the soldiers' comments and couldn't help cursing: "Will you see them digging tunnels? You all stay here honestly. I will report to the general."

The general who was always called was Wang Guangen. He also had two brothers, Wang Guangtai and Wang Chang.

After the Battle of Tongguan, Li Zicheng was defeated, and the three brothers accepted Emperor Chongzhen's recruiting, and their men were reorganized into an army to guard Yunyang.After that, Li Zicheng attacked many times in Kuiwei year and Jiashen year, but failed to conquer.

In the year of Yiyou, Li Zicheng and his defeat entered Huguang, followed by the Qing soldiers. The three brothers surrendered to the Qing court together with Xu Qiyuan, who was appointed by the Ming Dynasty, and Wang Guangen was appointed by the Qing court as the commander-in-chief of Xiangyang.

After Wang Yan defeated Luck Dehun in Huguang, he sent Gao Yigong to sweep Northwest Hubei. Tong Yanghe asked them to withdraw to Wuchang in order to preserve their power and because there was no food and grass to send to Xiangyang.

When Wang Guangen came to the city wall, the peasants under the city had been busy for a while. The soil was not piled up randomly, but someone specially dealt with it. Boom the city! You wait to continue patrolling, don't make a fuss."

At noon, ten large pits had been excavated outside Wuchang City, and the excavated soil had piled up 21 platforms higher than the city walls.

The Qing army on the city saw that the Ming army was indeed transporting cannons to the top, and thought that the Ming army was digging a big pit, and it was really just to get soil. But at this moment, there was a burst of war drums in the Ming army's stronghold by the lake. beat up.

Not long after, Wang Yan's big banner slowly came out of the camp. Behind him, Zhongyong, Zhongzhen, and Supervising cavalry also marched out of the camp according to their battalion numbers, and then stopped at the big pit and the high platform.

This is the first time since the Ming army besieged Wuchang, it was the first time that the Ming army marched out of the city. More than 5 Ming troops were arranged in a neat square formation, with spears like forests and flags like clouds. It is completely different from the Qihuang Rebels who besieged the city a few days ago.

"Dangdangdang~" Feeling the murderous spirit of the Ming army below the city, the Qing army on the tower became nervous, and quickly rang the alarm bell, and the Qing soldiers from the brigade went up to the tower.

Tong Yanghe also came all the way to Nancheng. He stood by the wall and looked down. He saw that although the Ming army was in formation, there were neither ladders nor chariots in the formation, and they did not launch any siege equipment. Asked Tulai on the side: "Wang Yan has such a big battle, it doesn't seem like he is going to attack the city, but what is he going to do?"

Tulai was also at a loss, "Let's take a look at the governor and you'll know, I guess he will play some tricks~"

At this time, in the formation of the Ming army, Wang Yan leisurely put down the binoculars. He had already seen Tong Yanghe on the top of the wall, so he waved his hand and said to the guards behind: "It's time to start!"

Seeing this, the guard immediately stepped back, and after a while, he pressed a person out and stood behind Wang Yan. Wang Yan immediately got off his horse and walked to a high platform in the middle. The guard pressed the person and walked behind Wang Yan together with Dai Zhifan and others.

The incense table had already been set up on the high platform, and the big banner was inserted up. Seeing this, Tong Yanghe on the top of the wall couldn't help squinting his eyes. He already understood in his heart that Wang Yan was going to kill people to sacrifice the flag, but the person who was going to be killed was who?
Tong Yanghe and other Qing generals looked at the situation and knew what Wang Yan wanted to do. They couldn't help turning their eyes to the high platform to see the identity of the murdered, but after all, the distance was too far, and the murdered was tortured. , they can't see the identity at all.

On the high platform, Wang Yan didn't let people wait for a long time. Seeing the guards kneeling the man on the ground, he immediately took out a memorial, unfolded it and read aloud: "He Mingluan was originally a Jinshi of the Ming Dynasty, a high-ranking official of the court, and the king of food. For more than thirty years, Zhilu enjoyed the favor of the imperial court, but he didn't think about reporting to the king and protecting the people. When the country was in danger, he flattered the Hu and barbarian kings, led Huma to trample on the rivers and mountains of his home country, and slaughtered the people of the Han. The crime is so heinous, it is a heinous crime, and the law of heaven does not tolerate it. Today, an altar is built to offer sacrifices, and I will kill him to comfort Emperor Gao of Ming Dynasty and the previous emperors of all dynasties."

Wang Yan recited very loudly, and because he was standing on a high platform, the sound could be heard far away. Tong Yanghe on the city wall heard the sound, and his heart trembled, only then did he realize that it was Hunan governor He Mingluan who had been killed.

As soon as Wang Yan's words fell, the guards on the other side immediately raised their knives and cut off He Mingluan's head. Blood gushed out like a spring, and the tens of thousands of Ming soldiers in the audience cheered immediately.

Wang Yan immediately asked people to put the human head on the incense table, and together with the generals, they worshiped the heaven and the previous emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

After the worship ceremony was completed, Wang Yan stood up and said loudly to Wuchang City: "The governor is ordered by the emperor to wipe out the barbarians, use the righteous to defeat the innocent, use the Huaxia to punish the barbarians, and liberate the people from the upside down. I follow the hearts of the people. Today, Wuchang is good at blocking the heavenly soldiers. They should have killed them all. However, the heavens have the virtue of being good at life, and the governor will give you a chance. If Kaicheng surrenders within three days, the Han army will still treat them as former officials. , Manmeng can avoid death, after three days, if he still does not surrender, the whole army will be killed, and those who occupy high positions in the Qing court will harm their families and kill their fathers, brothers, and sons."

Wang Yan paused slightly, and then with a wave of his hand, the Ming army under the stage separated ten passages, and each passage contained a team of soldiers and horses, escorting [-] captured Eight Banners soldiers connected in series by long ropes, to the edge of the pit, and then Drive them all into the pit.

Seeing this, Wang Yan went on to say: "This governor speaks volumes. I am afraid that you will not believe what this governor said. Now I will kill 5000 prisoners from the Eight Banners to show my determination."

"Wang Yan actually wants to kill the captives!" On the city wall, Tong Yanghe heard Wang Yan's words word for word, with shock written all over his face.

(End of this chapter)