Being surrounded in the city and contracting the plague has a completely different psychological state than squatting outside the city facing the plague.
People in the city will think that as long as I rush out of the city, I can escape from the center of the plague. If I can't rush out, I will die sooner or later if I stay in the city!
On the sixth day of the siege of Jinan, Qing army commander Azig took the initiative to leave the city.
Not to mention that the soldiers could not bear the psychological pressure, even Azig himself was going crazy. When he led the troops to exterminate the rebels, a plague broke out in the army. Faced with Fei Ruhe and Zhang Tieniu's outflanking, he could only temporarily withdraw.
Jinan city defense.
As a result, more and more people were infected with the epidemic, and the non-combat reduction of the Eight Banners Army was close to one-third.
Azig didn't know the purpose of masks until three days ago, so he searched the entire city for cloth and ordered the entire army to wear masks.
But he didn’t know that masks must be boiled every day, otherwise they would become a breeding ground for germs if worn for a long time.
Moreover, Azig has a noble status and wears a pair of silk masks.
Azig was very frightened because five of the generals he had been in contact with recently had died of the plague, including Gao Jie and Li Chengdong.
Thousands of Eight Banners troops and tens of thousands surrendered their troops and generals. Before the Datong Army could pull out its artillery, the entire army left the city early in the morning for a decisive battle.
"Run quickly!"
I saw that those who surrendered their troops and generals did not form formations after leaving the city, but chose to scatter and flee.
Not to mention picking up weapons and fighting bloody battles, they didn't even stay close to friendly soldiers. Everyone who went out looked like they were infected by the plague.
Azig stood on the city tower. He did not dare to be next to the soldiers. He planned to wait until the entire army left the city, and then lead the central army out of the city to command the battle. But before the fighting started, the soldiers under his command rushed to escape. What the hell?
What the hell kind of fight are you going to fight?
"Let's go!"
Azig knew that he would be defeated, so he even abandoned the Eight Banners infantry and fled with only the Eight Banners' brave cavalry.
Fei Ruhe, Zhang Tieniu and others were stunned when they saw the situation on the opposite side. Thousands of dragon cavalry immediately came out of the battle, and there were even missionaries. While riding horses, they took out their tin trumpets and shouted: "Surrender without killing, don't do it."
Run around! Surrender and don’t kill, don’t run around!”
If these tens of thousands of deserters disperse to various counties, the plague will ravage wherever they go!
There were too many defeated troops, leaving the city from all directions, and the dragoons could not take care of them. The north was blocked, and there were mountains to the south. Azige led the Manchu cavalry to escape westward.
By the time the Datong Army discovered the situation, Azig had already escaped a mile away, and Ma Wannian quickly led his dragoons to pursue him.
You chased me for more than ten miles, and Azige suddenly fell off his horse and felt feverish all over his body.
"The Eight Kings are infected with the epidemic!"
Seeing the symptoms of Azig's illness, the Manchu Qing cavalry shouted in horror. They did not dare to come over to help him on his horse, or even dared to get too close, and then they all abandoned Azig and left.
When Ma Wannian caught up, he was also frightened when he saw this situation, and quickly ordered: "Don't get close to this person, wait for the civilians to come and set fire to him. Continue to pursue!"
These Manchu and Qing cavalry had nowhere to escape.
To the north of Jinan City, hundreds of years later, was the Yellow River, which is now called Daqing River. To the east is the Juihe River (also called Xiujiang), a tributary of the Daqing River, to the west is the Shahe River, a tributary of the Daqing River, and to the south are large areas of mountainous areas.
The Manchu and Qing cavalry fled to the banks of the Shah River and had no choice but to follow the river south and plunge into the mountainous valleys.
This river valley is eighty miles long and leads directly to Mount Tai. Beyond the valley is Tai'an.
Ye Chen rode up to Yild and shouted: "Escape like this is not an option. There are not many enemy riders chasing you. You can turn around and annihilate them first!"
Ild had fought with Dodo before, and finally escaped with more than a thousand cavalry. He was very experienced: "These fire cavalry are very difficult to deal with. Let's fight back and they will run away!"
"Kill him back and try!" Ye Chen was still unwilling to give in.
Ye Chen's full name is Wanyan Ye Chen. He is over fifty years old and is a hereditary first-class viscount.
There were three thousand Manchu and Qing cavalrymen, and Ma Wannian came after him with only two thousand. When he saw the Manchu Qing cavalry turning around and coming to fight, Ma Wannian ordered the dragoons to fire their guns, and then immediately rode away. Anyway, the enemy was fully armored.
The rider will definitely not be able to catch up.
Due to the distance, only a dozen enemies were hit in one salvo.
But Ye Chen roared angrily: "You bastard!"
Ild sighed and said: "I told you, those fire cavalry will definitely run away."
Seeing that the Manchu and Qing cavalry stopped, Ma Wannian also asked the dragoons to stop and took the opportunity to dismount the entire army and reload their ammunition.
Ild said: "It is better to order the soldiers to take off their armor. Our horses are better and we will definitely be able to escape out of the valley."
Ye Chen shook his head and said: "How can the elite of the Eight Banners take off their armor in the middle of battle?"
Ild pointed to the opposite side: "They loaded their ammunition and came back."
Ye Chen gritted his teeth and said: "Charge again, wait for the enemy to fire their guns, and take off their armor while they are reloading ammunition!"
The Manchu and Qing cavalry charged again, and the dragoons again fired their guns from a long distance away. This time, they hit more than twenty enemies, and they quickly distanced themselves on horseback.
Taking this opportunity, all the Manchu and Qing cavalry took off their armor, and then rode their fast horses straight to Mount Tai.
Once the armor that weighs dozens of kilograms is taken off, the dragoons really can't catch up!
The war horses of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty belong to the Mongolian horse breed and were produced in the Maolian Pasture of the Muling River (Maolian River). The Wandashan Pasture of later generations was located there, which is the Wandashan of "Wandashan Milk Powder". As early as
In the Tang Dynasty, it was used by the Bohai State to raise war horses. Later Liao and Jin Dynasties also obtained their horses from this place.
The shoulder height of Mongolian horses varies greatly. The short ones are only 1.20 meters, while the tall ones can reach 1.35 meters.
In any case, the Maolian horses selected by the Manchus are definitely stronger than the Jeju horses of the dragoons. Generally speaking, when marching quickly, armor is carried by inferior horses, and no one will ride on horseback wearing armor.
When the real Manchu cavalry fought, if they faced a large number of infantry, they would also choose to dismount and fight on foot.
Except for the Ye He tribe, the cavalry of other tribes in the Qing Dynasty were all scum, and dismounted and infantry combat was their real specialty.
But Ye Chen and Yild took the Manchu and Qing cavalry who had taken off their armor and rushed to Mount Tai and left the river valley passage, throwing the Datong dragoons far away. Although they escaped, everyone was frightened because there was another person on the way.
fever.
It belongs to the early stage of outbreak, mostly mild and glandular types.
The epidemic in Shandong has already reached its peak and has developed into pneumonic plague. Within a few hours of the onset of the disease, people will have high fever, chest pain, cough, and then cough up bloody sputum. If not treated in time, they will die of heart failure in two or three days.
Europe calls this the Black Death, which reduced the population of Europe by one-fifth in the Middle Ages. In some areas, such as Genoa, the population dropped by 60%.
Historically, in the last years of Chongzhen's reign in Beijing, a quarter of the people died due to plague. The situation in Jiangnan was equally tragic. Wu Youke's "Treatise on Warming Epidemic" was the result of his experience in treating plague in Jiangnan. The most tragic among them was
In Tongxiang County, the plague infection rate exceeds 90%. In the neighboring Huzhou Prefecture, the population has dropped by 30%.
Fortunately, due to Zhao Han's timely occupation of Jiangnan, there was no more famine in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and there were no more corpses left unattended.
Jiangnan in this time and space escaped a disaster!
More than 2,000 Manchu and Qing cavalry robbed food all the way from Tai'an to Dongping. When crossing the river, they were intercepted by local rebels. Because they had taken off their armor, they did not dare to fight with the large number of rebels, leaving hundreds of corpses behind and fled in panic.
Until they escaped from Shandong from Qiu County, there were only more than 2,300 of these cavalrymen left, and the cloud of plague continued to hang over them.
At this point, the entire territory of Shandong and Henan was recovered.
Daming Prefecture and Guangping Prefecture in Northern Zhili also changed their banners and became territories under Zhao Han's jurisdiction.
There is no way to fight anymore. Firstly, there is not enough food. Secondly, there is an epidemic of plague. Thirdly... there is a flood.
Kaifeng.
Zhao Han stood on the tower and looked at the flood in the north without saying a word.
Henan, which has been suffering from drought for several years, finally stopped experiencing severe drought this year, but suffered continuous heavy rains in early summer. Huanglinggang in Guide Prefecture (later affiliated with Caoxian County, Shandong Province) burst open again, and Cao County and Shanxian County were submerged into a swamp.
The epidemic there was already serious, but this flood almost drove the newly appointed magistrate crazy.
In the past few years, there were floods in the south and drought in the north. Now it has become floods in the north and drought in the south. Many areas in the south are suffering from drought this year and there is no rain.
"Your Majesty, it's time to eat." Li Xiangjun walked to the side and reminded.
Zhao Han didn't know that Li Xiangjun was a female official in the palace until he went to the palace. Zhao Han didn't think much about it and directly transferred Li Xiangjun to be a valet.
At this moment, the epidemic in Henan has also become serious, mainly due to the large-scale population movement caused by the war.
Zhao Han has ordered that all people in Shandong and Henan must wear masks.
Those who are unable to make masks can just cover their mouth and nose with a piece of cloth. They must be disinfected by boiling water every day.
Zhao Han and Li Xiangjun also wore cotton masks and tried not to come into close contact with each other.
Zhao Han had to return to Nanjing quickly. If he contracted the plague and died, he would really become a laughing stock in the world.
"A country can be built out of trouble, but what kind of country can be built like this?" Zhao Han couldn't help but sigh.
Li Xiangjun said: "What will be prospered is a state of great unity in the world."
Zhao Han smiled helplessly and said to himself: "The Yellow River must be controlled, but there is not enough food, so it is impossible to mobilize manpower. The puppet Qing who fled back to Beizhili can no longer pursue it, everything is blocked by this flood
Living."
Li Xiangjun flattered him and said: "Your Majesty's administration will definitely lead to a clear sea, Yan and rivers in less than ten years. The pseudo-Qing Dynasty and the remnant bandits will be like grasshoppers after the autumn, and their days are numbered."
"Haha," Zhao Han said with a smile, "you are really good at flattering others."
Zhao Han was devastated by the plague and floods, and Dorgon was dumbfounded when he returned to Beijing.
In the inner and outer cities of Beijing, both Manchus and Han people began to be infected with the plague on a large scale. Many Manchu nobles were clamoring to leave Beijing, not only because of the crisis in Liaodong, but also because the plague in Beijing was too terrible.
This Beijing plague should have been faced by Chongzhen. The Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs too early!
Hauge, who was fighting with Li Zicheng in Shaanxi, also received news from his confidants. Hauge left Li Zicheng alone and took the initiative to lead his troops back to Beijing. Li Zicheng took advantage of the situation and took over the entire Shaanxi and fought his way into Shanxi.