Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 657 Dawn
"Hurry up, lift them all up while it's hot!"

Amidst the cheerful and busy shouts, groups of women climbed up the city wall one after another with big baskets on their shoulders. It was rare for the city guards who were tired and panting to rest their feet, cheerfully getting to know each other, Or an unknown woman took the basket, took out the freshly baked mooncakes, and ate them.

If it weren't for the bloody battlefield in front of you, it would be no different from the general Jiangnan towns celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Standing on the top of the city and watching, Song Yongzhong also felt shocked. To be honest, when Song Qingshu first received this order, Song Yongzhong thought that either his boss was crazy, or he made some mistakes and was sent to the front line to die. It has been a full 75 days. Such a group of ordinary people has achieved a feat that even the beggar army could not do. They have defended their homeland under the attack of the wolf-like slaves.

Although a terrible price was paid, at this time, the number of those who assisted and defended the city, as well as those who were killed by the Qing army's wrath and massacre of the villages inside and outside the city, had reached more than 7. No one died, but such a small town, at such a point, still maintains such an optimistic mood, what a miracle it is.

In particular, this is still without any hope. Up to now, Song Yongzhong does not know Song Qingshu's final plan, nor has he casually revealed the slightest hope to the people here, but he is resisting the shaved hair with a sense of national pride. The alien tyranny that they obeyed, and even died for it.

While admiring, Song Yongzhong was also particularly surprised. How did Song Qingshu see the stubborn and strong character of Jiangyin people in the cities and towns dotted all over the south of the Yangtze River?
Just when Song Yongzhong was in a trance, suddenly a scent came to his nostrils.

"General, eat cake!"

A little girl under the age of six or seven struggled to hold a big moon cake high in front of her. Jiangyin is only a small city. In the midst of widespread famine, how much food can be found in the city. It is conceivable that the little girl is obviously hungry and emaciated. Yes, the smell of the mooncakes also made her spit along, but she was still full of hope, and handed the mooncakes to herself, looking at the little girl's clear eyes, Song Yongzhong's heart, which was getting darker with the bloody killing of the frontier army, the first The second time was touched.

A rare smile suddenly appeared on the rigid face. Under the surprised gazes of those soldiers under the command of the selection front, the murderous Song Junshou bent down and picked up the little girl, smiling and eating the mooncake she fed, eating After a few sips, he suddenly strode to the front of the city again and sang loudly.

"The smoke rises, the mountains and rivers look north, the dragon flag rolls up the horse and hisses, and the sword energy is like frost!"

This song is familiar to all the soldiers of the begging army. When he conquered the Japanese kingdom, Tokugawa Iemitsu once sang Oda Nobunaga's favorite "Fifty Years in the World" in front of the army to boost morale. Correspondingly, the commander-in-chief also went to the front of the battle and sang loudly. It was this song. No one knew the name, but the lyrics, after listening to them passionately, many people knew them by heart unconsciously.

It was also unknowing, and following Song Yongzhong, dozens of sharp-edged fighters also hummed softly.

"Why do you want to die a hundred times to serve your family and country! You can't help but be speechless and tearful!"

A line of lyrics expresses the pain and indignation in the chests of the teachers who fought hard for their hometown. Unknowingly, those Jiangyin righteous men standing on the north city gate and guarding the city also stopped eating cakes and turned their attention to it.

"I would like to defend the land and open up the frontiers, and the dignified China will let the Quartet, come and congratulate!"

The whole song sang to its climax. Although there was no string and bamboo accompaniment, the strong battlefield atmosphere accompanied by the heroic singing made everyone's blood rush up and down. After one sound, Song Yongzhong immediately began to sing the second time, and following him, those strong men guarding the city and the women who delivered food also couldn't help humming.

"I would like to defend the land and open up the frontiers, and the dignified China will let the Quartet, come and congratulate!"

Under the city, Liu Liangzuo also made a song persuading him to surrender. He took the opportunity to order the soldiers to sing it in the city on the occasion of the [-]th Mid-Autumn Festival, intending to imitate the besieged song and attack the morale of the Jiangyin rebels. The song of persuading them to surrender, even many of the Jiangbei three towns’ surrendering troops burst into tears. Half a year ago, they were still the officers and soldiers of the Ming Empire. They can still stand tall and fight to the death with dignity, because they are soldiers of the Ming Empire!

But now, following the officer's muddle-headed surrender, he shaved his hair, changed his clothes, and became an accomplice helping Jiannu massacre the common people. I don't even dare to think about what I will look like when I return to my hometown in the future, will I still have the face to meet my ancestors?

Are you worthy of the word Huaxia?

On this day, the city of Jiangyin, which had seen so many bloody battles, was no longer fighting.

In the middle of the night, Chengcheng was still nervously patrolling around with a lantern on his head. During the 75-day bloody battle, Jiangyin organized death squads out of the city to sneak out more than once, and the Jiannu army took advantage of the night to attack the city more than once, not because of the bright circle tonight. month, which lowered the vigilance of the Jiangyin rebels.

These days, as the instructor of the Jiangyin Army, Song Yongzhong was also patrolling the city in a startled state, but just after patrolling from the north gate to the south gate, a sergeant came to report, envoy Yan Dian came to invite him.

Yan Yingyuan lived on the tower of the North Gate, where the battle was most intense. Song Yongzhong admired this guy. The envoy is just a low-ranking official, and his social status is not even as good as that of Juren. Hei Zhuang, a low-level guy, commanded a group of citizens with mud legs, and defeated the three super-rank Jiannu princes successively, and killed seventeen or eight members of the first-rank, second-rank and third-rank generals. More than 5 people died under the city of Jiangyin, attracting almost 30 Qing troops. Compared with him, many generals such as myself had to bang their heads against the wall in shame.

Moreover, while Yan Yingyuan guarded the city, he also maintained the final moral bottom line, unlike Zhang Xun of the Tang Dynasty, who guarded Suiyang for half a year, and indeed stopped Yin Ziqi's army of more than 6, but also filled the city with bones eaten by Suiyang, snakes and foxes. There are more than 400 people everywhere, after the city is destroyed, there are only more than [-] left. Although I don't know how Jiangyin will go next, at least for now, Yan Yingyuan is doing very well.

After these days of fierce wars, Yan Yingyuan has obviously lost a lot of weight. Even in the middle of the night, he still holds the floor plan of Jiangyin City and the movements of the Qing army in recent days to study how Jiannu might attack the city next. Listen At the sound of footsteps, Fang Cai suddenly recovered his senses, raised his head, and clasped his fists at Song Yongzhong.

"General Song, it's very troublesome to invite you late at night!"

"Don't dare to do it! It's not just Yan Dian envoy who summoned someone here, what's the important thing?"

Yan Yingyuan was silent for a while.

"The food and grass in the city is less than what is needed for ten days. There are quite a few people in the city who have not eaten for a day. The gunpowder, arrows, cloth, oil, etc. have already run out, and large parts of the city walls in the north and west of the city have collapsed. Jiangyin City is already empty. .”

"Oh? My department also has a batch of canned food and some grains and rice in stock. If Lord Yan needs it, I will take out all of it!"

"Master Song! Jiangyin can't hold on for a few more days! Jiannu has increased its troops again, and the artillery has increased to [-]! I'm afraid the city will be broken, and it will be within a few days. Master Song, what Jiangyin wants is not what Master Song wants. Life-saving rations, can you tell me, Marshal, what is he doing? Where is he?"

There was hope in Yan Yingyuan's eyes, but it was a pity that Song Yongzhong shook his head with great difficulty.

"Sorry, Song really doesn't know!"

This sentence made Yan Yingyuan's eyes dim instantly, but Song Yongzhong's next sentence seemed to ignite the flame in his eyes.

"However, Song can be sure that my commander-in-chief never abandoned Daming and fled! These days, he must be planning to continue fighting."

"Thank you!"

Clenching fists to Song Yongzhong and bowing abruptly, Yan Yingyuan suddenly handed the map to Song Yongzhong again.

"My lord Song, Liu Liangzuo and Kong Youde have been moving towards the Huajiao Dam frequently these few days. I'm afraid they will use this to launch an attack on the city in the past few days. Jiannu's guards are weak in the area between Huajiao Dam and Deng's Tomb. At this point, the general, please leave the city immediately with the warriors under his command."

"How can it be? Jiangyin is at stake, how can Song..."

"Jiangyin is already a city that must die. General Song is a capable man. He is not worthy of dying here. In the future, the general will need generals! The overall situation is the first! We must not let Jiannu break our ancestors' clothes!"

"Master Yan?"

"This is our hometown. The fallen leaves return to their roots. It is our blessing to die here. Even if we die, we Jiangyin people can still see our ancestors in peace!"

Seeing the pride on Yan Yingyuan's face, Song Yongzhong fell silent again.

…………

Although the army is besieging the city, it is not too rare to find a weak point in the encirclement of Jiannu and attack out of the city with the fighting skills of the frontier army. After hearing the order to assemble, within half an hour, 43 frontiers The sharp soldiers of the army rushed to the riverside without falling.

However, this time, these well-trained predators did not feel the joy of victory at all. On the contrary, everyone felt a sense of boredom in their hearts. The battlefield is also pleasant.

Song Yongzhong's mood also became extremely depressed, but he is the commander of the frontline army, and he must take the responsibility of leadership at this time, leading the crowd to find the ship that had been hidden for a long time, Song Yongzhong ordered solemnly.

"Everyone, don't forget who you are! We are the frontrunners, and we are destined to fight for the Commander. The Commander's order, nothing can be done, break through and return to Chongming base, waiting for orders!"

"Here!"

After all, the well-trained soldiers who looked back frequently clasped their fists in a helpless order. The crowd divided into several sampans, untied the ropes, and planned to go down the river, but at this moment, a guard suddenly panicked shouted.

"Military leader! There are lights in the river!"

These words made Song Yongzhong turn his head in astonishment. At some point, in the spacious Yangtze River, solitary lamps were connected two by two like will-o’-the-wisps. To ordinary people, it's just a weird will-o'-the-wisp, but for Song Yongzhong, he has served in the beggar army for too long, and he has seen this kind of scene countless times.

It's a boat light!Yingtian battleships march at night, used to mark the bow and stern of the ship, and prevent collisions!

It was already a few o'clock in the morning, and a little pale light had gradually emerged in the east. Looking at the lights, a wave of dawn seemed to be revealed in Song Yongzhong's heart. Suddenly, this special general who was always iron and blood was like a child. Sitting down abruptly, he slammed his fist on the deck.

"came back!"

(End of this chapter)