Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 65

On the surface of the river, the fire was flying with the wind, and the whole sky was full of red.

Standing on the high platform, Ruan Dacheng saw fireworks everywhere on the river. The Ming army burned countless people who drowned.

A big defeat caused the Ming army on the south bank to be in chaos, while the Qing army in the north of the river was busy expanding the results of the battle, chasing and killing the defeated Ming army by boat.

In Jiangbei, Duoduo laughed wantonly when he saw the victory of the Qing army on the high platform.With this battle, he will definitely be rewarded by the Qing court, and the depression of not being able to attack Yangzhou for a long time will be wiped out immediately.

On the south bank, Ruan Dacheng hurriedly got down from the high platform and headed straight for the Ming army's water village.

After the defeat of the elite navy of the Ming army, the thousands of small boats left on the south bank became the last support of Jiang Fang.Ruan Dacheng was afraid that the Qing army would take advantage of the victory and directly attack the Ming army's water fortress, so he rushed there in person, mobilized the bows and arrows of Huotong, and prepared to guard against the Qing army's warships shuttling across the river.

In Yangzhou city, Wang Yan ran all the way to the east gate, where there were 3000 troops arranged by him.

These Yangzhou elite soldiers who were going out of the city to meet the reinforcements after the navy of the Ming army rushed into the Grand Canal, are now useless.

When Wang Yan came to Dongcheng, three thousand households led a group of Ming army military academies, and immediately surrounded them. They were recharging their energy in the city and did not know the situation on the river.

At this moment, when they saw Wang Yan approaching, they immediately asked happily: "General, but the navy has won a big victory, why did they rush into the canal?"

Seeing that many officers were looking at him with excitement and expectation, Wang Yan couldn't help but his heart sank, and he said the result that no one was willing to accept. "The navy is defeated, and Yangzhou has no support anymore!"

When the officers of the Ming army heard the words, the smiles on their faces froze immediately, their expressions became gloomy, and their morale immediately dropped.

Yangzhou was besieged for more than two months, and was attacked by the Qing army in turn. They used corpses higher than the city wall to block the gap in the west city, and supported them hard in the epidemic. Countless comrades, countless people, died for Yangzhou.

Wang Yan was able to lead Yangzhou soldiers and civilians against 30 Qing troops, not because of how elite the Yangzhou defenders were. Many of the defenders were ordinary people before the Qing army besieged the city. The army is so rich.

The soldiers and civilians of Yangzhou were able to defend Yangzhou not because Wang Yan was so good at fighting and defending. At the beginning of Jiashen, Wang Yan was just a scholar with no strength to restrain a chicken, far inferior to the outside of the city in the early years of Chongzhen. The Qing army general who stirred up the situation.

The reason why the soldiers and civilians of Yangzhou were able to defend Yangzhou was actually because of the breath in the hearts of the people of Yangzhou and the hope of surviving.

The defeat of the Jiangshang Navy now undoubtedly dissipated most of the anger in the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in Yangzhou, becoming desperate and dead silent.

Nearly [-] soldiers and civilians in Nancheng saw the defeat of the navy, and there was no way to block the news, so Wang Yan had no choice but to tell the truth.

At this time, he saw many military academies bowed their heads and their morale was low, so he said, "In the past two months, I have risked my life with you to guard Yangzhou and earn a living for the people in the city. Now that the imperial court failed to aid Yang, I It's hard to hold on for a long time, but how many of my comrades have been killed by the northern captives in the past two months? How many people have they killed?"

Without the support from the South Bank, Yangzhou, which was besieged by heavy troops, would fall sooner or later. The officers have brains, so there is no need for Wang Yan to hide it.

The officers listened to Wang Yan's approach. At first, they felt hopeless and frustrated because Yangzhou could not defend for long. Then, when they thought of their dead relatives and comrades who died in battle, a slight change slowly appeared on their faces, a heartbreaking hatred. Gradually filled the hearts of the people.

"On the moonlit night of the 24th bridge, the city of Yangzhou, which is full of flowers and brocades, has lost its former appearance since the siege of Beilu. Every family in the city wears mourning and every household mourns!" , the pain and hatred in it are probably more profound than this general. The northern captives killed your relatives, robbed your property, and destroyed your home. Such a deep hatred, how can we not avenge it!"

The breath that supported Yangzhou's soldiers and civilians to defend the city, because the navy was defeated and the soldiers and civilians lost hope, dissipated most of it, but at this time Wang Yan aroused an emotion that was more powerful than hope-hatred!
"The general is right!" Wang Yan's words ignited the anger in everyone's hearts, so he said angrily, "Even if the city of Yangzhou is destroyed, we will make the northern captives and traitors pay the price in blood!"

"That's right!" Seeing everyone's reaction, Wang Yan knew that his goal had been achieved, he nodded and said: "Now I will fight with you and others, there is no way out, if the northern captives want to capture Yangzhou, they have to pay with their lives! Do you have the confidence to let the corpses of the northern captives be piled higher than the mountains, and the blood of the northern captives to flow deeper than the sea, to avenge the dead comrades and the people of Yangzhou!"

"We are willing to follow the general, not to shed blood, and to fight to the death!" All the military academies saluted in unison, their armor rattling, exuding bursts of murderous aura.

"Excellent!" Wang Yan praised: "Now there is an opportunity in front of you! The main force of the Qing army was transferred to the coast of Jiangbei by Duoduo, leaving only a small number of troops to monitor Yangzhou. Now that the attention of the Qing army is attracted by the battle on the river, the defense must be relaxed. , although this general cannot attack the Qing army's camp with his strength, he can raid the high slope in the west of the city and take down the Qing army's artillery formation. Stronger! You wait to gather your troops, and then you will rush to the gap in the west city."

"No!" All the military academies saluted in unison.

After a while, the 3000 troops in the east gate were assembled, and Wang Yan repeated what he had just said to the army, causing the whole army to be full of hatred towards the Qing army.

At this time, Wang Yan ordered the army to bring more gunpowder, bows and arrows, and even hundreds of thunderbolts, and then went straight to the west of the city.

The Qing army did not have many troops to monitor Yangzhou, and they were mainly distributed outside the east gate to prevent the Ming army in the city from cooperating with the navy that rushed into the Grand Canal. city ​​gate.

At this time, it was already dark, which provided a good cover for the actions of the Ming army.

Wang Yan led the troops to the gap in the west city, climbed over the sub-wall, stepped out of the ruins of Yangzhou city, and touched the high slope outside the city.

Guarding the artillery formations of the Qing army were the Han army Xianghuang Banner, the Yijiala Artillery Team and the Yijiala Infantry led by the third-class Meilezhangjing Hu Yousheng, with a total of 3000 people.

Hu Yousheng's troops have been stationed on Gaopo for more than two months. Although they fought with the Ming army every day, Gaopo has never been attacked by the Ming army's infantry. The defense has already slackened.

It was just dark at this time, and a large number of Qing troops in the camp had already fallen asleep, and they were unaware of the Ming troops who had already touched the edge of the camp.

(End of this chapter)