Chapter 75 Xiao Qiyuan’s response

Author: Scholar Wu

Chapter 75 Xiao Qiyuan’s response

In the Zhejiang Governor's Yamen in Hangzhou, Xiao Qiyuan was very worried about the failure reports one after another.

As the saying goes, blessings never come in pairs, and misfortunes never come alone.

Xiao Qiyuan, who had not yet organized troops to recapture Huzhou, received news that Taizhou had been lost.

Nowadays, all the prefectures in Zhejiang can be said to be empty of military strength.

Ningbo and Shaoxing now have less than 10,000 troops.

Fortunately, the Hangzhou Prefecture finally managed to gather 8,000 people after urgently deploying troops from other prefectures, so there was no big danger for the time being.

In fact, Xiao Qiyuan is also very worried about Huzhou Qian Mo leading the main force to attack Hangzhou.

Jiaxing Prefecture also has only 3,000 people.

The prefectures in northern Zhejiang actually have no troops to mobilize.

At present, he only has 5,000 people transferred back from outside by Zhejiang Admiral Tian Xiong and 4,000 Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners led by Pingnan General Jin Li.

Otherwise, if two Ming armies from Huzhou and Taizhou attack Hangzhou, he, the governor of Zhejiang, will be in trouble.

Qian Mo's Ming army in Huzhou was said to have 50,000 troops, and Zhang Mingzhen's army in Taizhou was said to have no less than 100,000 troops.

Although there are certainly not that many, Xiao Qiyuan has no way of knowing exactly how many Ming troops there are!

Over in Fujian, the main force of Chen Jin, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, is fighting a decisive battle with Zheng Cai of the King of Lu in northern Fujian. It is said that it has reached a critical moment and it is impossible to send troops and horses to Zhejiang.

The troops and horses in southwestern Zhejiang have already supported Guangxin Prefecture in Jiangxi.

How can Xiao Qiyuan care about the lives of Songjiang and Huizhou now? The two main forces outside must be transferred back.

Just when Xiao Qiyuan was hesitating whether to attack Huzhou or Taizhou first, he received another request for help from Ningbo Prefecture.

After Huang Binqing saw Zhang Mingzhen easily capture Taizhou and Xiangshan, he felt regretful and decided to take advantage of the situation.

At dawn on March 12, the sea outside Ningbo Dingguan was densely covered with warships. Huang Binqing, the owner of Zhoushan Island, finally took action.

Because Zhang Jie, the commander-in-chief of Dingguan, had surrendered to the Ming army when he led his troops south to pursue Zhang Huangyan, Dingguan was seriously short of troops at this time.

Huang Binqing decided to take advantage of the opportunity to conquer Dingguan and capture Dinghai County.

Seeing that the sea was covered with warships, Sun Shimeng, the deputy general of Dingguan, immediately ordered the fort to fire, and the Ming warships on the sea also fired back.

For a moment, artillery roared, and both sides were fighting happily.

Although the hit rate of artillery in this era was pitifully low, the artillery at Dingguan Fort was corrected and could completely cover the target ahead. After a while, several Ming warships were hit and set on fire.

The fort was also hit several times by cannonballs from the warship. Fortunately, it did not hit the cannon directly, causing misfire.

Dingguan was the front line of the Qing army's defense against the Ming army in Zhoushan. It was originally stationed with 5,000 troops. Previously, Zhang Huangyan and others successively attacked the county, which frightened the prefect of Ningbo, so he urgently ordered Zhang Jie, the general of Dingguan, to lead 2,500 men to pursue Zhang Huangyan. Therefore, at this time

Dingguan was guarded by only 2,500 Qing troops.

By this time, tens of thousands of Zhoushan Ming troops had already taken advantage of the rising tide to land.

They are rushing towards Dingguan from all directions.

Sun Shimeng shouted: "Don't panic, everyone, wait until the Ming army gets close before fighting."

Relying on the favorable terrain of Dingguan, the Qing army successfully suppressed the Ming army.

Ming troops were constantly being hit by bows, arrows and muskets and fell to the ground. However, the Ming troops were large in number and had already approached Guancheng.

At this time, on the fort on the west side, the Ming army had already attacked, and Hu Rirang, the commander-in-chief of the Qing army, had no choice but to lead his troops to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Ming army.

The cannons of the west fort went out instantly, and the Ming warships immediately suppressed the cannons at Dingguan.

At this time, the Ming army that attacked the fort on the west side became more and more courageous as they fought, and surrounded Hu Rirang and others on the fort.

After cutting down a Ming army, Hu Rrang found that there were only more than 20 people left around him, and the rest of the soldiers had been killed.

When they were desperate, they found shouts of killing coming from behind the Ming army.

Seeing that the western fort was about to be lost, Sun Shimeng decided to personally lead troops to support Hu Rrang, so he led 200 Qing troops to fight over.

The Ming army was about to capture the fort. Unexpectedly, the Qing army would rush out from Guancheng, and was suddenly beaten.

When General Hu Ri saw the arrival of the reinforcements, he immediately seized the opportunity to attack from both sides. The Ming army could not resist and retreated instantly.

Hu Hitili wiped the knife in his hand and said gratefully: "Brother Sun, why did you come to support me in person?"

At this time, a cannonball hit the gunpowder barrel of the fort, causing an explosion immediately.

Hu Hitili, who was blown away by the air wave, just recovered and found that Sun Shimeng beside him had been blown into two pieces.

At this time, the retreating Ming army came up again and Hu Hitili had to abandon the west fort and lead the remaining Qing troops to fight and retreat.

After finally returning to Dingguan City, we found that the fort on the east side had also been captured by the Ming army.

At this time, Dingguan City has been surrounded by Ming army groups, and the artillery on the Ming army's warships has completely suppressed Dingguan City. If they don't break through, they will have to fold here.

After hesitating for a moment, Hu Hitili shouted: "Everyone, follow me and fight out. This pass cannot be defended. Let's return to Ningbo Fucheng to report the news."

At this time, the Ming army in Zhoushan had just completed the comprehensive siege of Dingguan and was preparing to launch an attack.

The deployment was disrupted by a countercharge by Hu Hitili.

"Bang, bang, bang"

After the Ming army's fire cannon fired one round, many Qing soldiers fell to the ground.

However, Hu Hitili had already reached him at this time, and he was like a murderous god possessing him, constantly cutting down the Ming gunmen around him.

The surrounding Ming troops were also frightened by his momentum and did not dare to step forward to fight with him.

In this way, Hu Hitili led more than 800 remaining soldiers to fight his way out of the encirclement of tens of thousands of Ming troops.

At this time, his subordinates asked: "Mr. Hu Qian, shall we return to Dinghai County?"

Hu Hitili said: "Huang Binqing has a large number of troops. We are trapped in a cocoon when we return to Dinghai. Let's just go back to Yin County."

Sure enough, after conquering Dingguan, the Zhoushan Ming army was unstoppable and directly captured Dinghai City.

Later, they besieged Cixi County. Since all the troops in the surrounding counties of Ningbo Prefecture were basically withdrawn to Yin County, Ningbo Prefecture, there were only 300 people left in Cixi County.

Huang Binqing's rule in Zhoushan was relatively strict. All the acres on the Zhoushan Islands were taken over by the officials, and the crops they harvested were divided into two parts for the officials and one for the citizens. All males over the age of fifteen were brought in to serve as farmers.

Become a village soldier.

"Chronicles of the Southeast" also records: "Bin Qing did not attack and captured the map, but he was addicted to profit and promised to stay in Xia. After returning, he regretted his departure and became more urgent to save the country. All the men who were fifteen years old and above were local soldiers; the men died and their wives died.

If he cannot abide by the system, his land will be transferred to the official; if he is sixty and childless, his property will be collected without giving him food; if the big households in the interior dare not cross the sea, they will use all their land as official land.

In total, two of the fields in Zhoushan belong to the officials and one belongs to the people, and one of them is to be treated as a local judicial system, so as to make the islanders non-invading and non-rebellious. They are just like thieves and have no close followers." The purpose of squeezing the people's power in this way is certainly

Resisting the Qing army's attack on Zhoushan, but this also caused Huang Binqing to quickly lose the support of the people in Zhoushan.

After the fall of the Longwu court, Huang Binqing "appointed officials, set up seals and ribbons, and deposed life and death at will." In addition to the above, Huang Binqing also murdered two members of the Zhu Ming clan and seized their property.

The owner of Huangdao in Zhoushan dared to kill even the Ming Dynasty clan, how could he let Cixi gentry like them go?

Coupled with the demonizing propaganda of the Qing army, Huang Binqing's "notoriety" at this time was well known to almost everyone in Ningbo.

The gentry in the county firmly demanded that the county magistrate stick to Cixi County, and expressed their willingness to summon the servants of the mansion and the young men of the clan to help the Qing soldiers defend the city.

For the first time since the Ming army launched troops in eastern Zhejiang, people all over the city helped the Qing army to defend the city.

Huang Binqing originally thought that Cixi County would surrender directly, and waited patiently for the county magistrate's reply. However, he found that this was just a delaying tactic, so he ordered an attack on the city.

Although the Huang Division went through a fierce battle and suffered a lot of casualties, after all, they carried the remaining power of defeating Dingguan and Dinghai, and their morale was high.

Coupled with the superior strength of the troops, they began to directly attack the city.

Cixi County had already prepared a lot of stones, bows and arrows and other defensive equipment through the previous "delay strategy". Cixi County's arsenal also distributed all weapons to the young men in the city.

At this time, in addition to the 300 Qing soldiers in Cixi City, there were also 3,000 young men and servants.

Although these young men did not have much experience in defending the city, many people were shot and killed by the Ming army outside the city.

But their determination to defend their homeland still inspired them to fight the Ming army to the end.

The Ming army thought they could easily break the city, so they did not besiege it on all sides, but launched an attack on the east gate.

Under the cover of some large shields, the Ming army skillfully and quickly advanced to the city. Although some people were hit by bows and arrows and fell to the ground from time to time, it did not affect the speed of the Ming army's advance.

On the contrary, some inexperienced young men easily exposed their bodies to the sight of shooters under the city, which resulted in their own deaths.

However, fighting is the best training for people. A moment ago, he saw Wang Erniu, who was bloody and vomiting on the city wall. He bravely picked up a spear and stabbed a Ming soldier who had just climbed to the top of the city. After quickly pulling it out, Then he stabbed the next one.

Some brave young men even picked up Ming soldiers and fell off the city wall together.

Under the leadership of 300 soldiers, more and more young men have adapted to the role of defending the city. They no longer expose themselves easily, but only guard behind the battlements, stabbing the Ming troops who appear at any time with their spears.

In this way, the Ming army that had slowly climbed up to the top of the city was suddenly driven off.

Although the Qing troops and Qingzhuang who defended the city suffered heavy casualties, they miraculously defended the city.

Amid a burst of cheers, the Ming army reluctantly gave up the siege.
To be continued...