The sun's rays gradually dimmed from high in the sky, and the damp breath spread everywhere. The gray clouds slowly moved from north to south, giving people a feeling of desolation. ()
The commander-in-chief, Eshenbatulu, reined in his horse and looked around. Beside the road were woods that had seen frost and snow, and in the distance were the silent mountains. A crow crowed on a branch not far away and fluttered.
Then he flew away. Suddenly, a melancholy feeling came over Eshen's heart.
When news of the fall of Nanjing came, the Qing troops stationed in Quzhou, Lishui, and Wenzhou, Zhejiang, learned that their way back was cut off, and their morale was immediately in confusion. The Ming army in Fujian Province took advantage of the situation and dispatched from Xianxia Pass and Fenshui Pass, with the purpose of
Obviously, stick to the Qing army and wait for other Ming armies to pounce from the north.
In order to assemble the Qing troops from three places and defeat the Ming army in front of them, it was not only time-consuming, but also the morale of the troops was in confusion, and there was no guarantee of victory. The Hangzhou general sent people three times a day to urge the troops to return to Hangzhou to hold on to Hangzhou. In desperation, Prince Yue Anle issued an order
He gave the order to retreat to Hangzhou. The commander-in-chief, Eshenbatulu, set out from Lishui, went to Jinhua, and turned to Hangzhou.
It would be fine if they held the defensive line, but as soon as the army withdrew, even though they did not engage in battle, it felt like a defeat. A large number of Green Flag officers and soldiers began to flee, escaping into the mountains and entering the woods. Everyone knew that it was still possible to escape now.
Hangzhou was also surrounded and forced to fight, and the outcome was even worse.
A Ming army of more than 10,000 men quietly pursued behind them. The Eight Banners soldiers did not dare to stay too long and suppressed them here. A few hundred people ran away there. After chasing them, hundreds more disappeared here.
Even the usually submissive Green Flag soldiers became fierce. They would often take advantage of the few Eight Banner soldiers in front of them, suddenly engage in sword and gun combat, snatch horses and heads, and then go into the forest and into the mountains.
Withdrawing from Lishui to Jinhua, one-third of the Green Flag soldiers have been lost, but the pursuers behind have become more numerous. Many of the Green Flag soldiers who escaped had their braids cut off and in turn acted as the vanguard of the Ming army.
Chase more urgently.
There were more interceptions on the road, and all the people in the villages and towns they passed fled. Knowing that the Qing army was going to pass by, and it would be the last time, who stayed at home waiting to be robbed and killed. The long-term infiltration finally showed results, and the intelligence
As soon as the identity of the bureau personnel was revealed, the clan chiefs or gentry readily agreed, summoned some brave men to set up ambushes, and called on the people to break the road and obstruct the Qing army's advance.
So what if we get to Hangzhou? The commander-in-chief, Eshenbatulu, sighed secretly, knowing that now we are just living one day at a time. Unless we have wings, we will only be destroyed. The road is difficult, and the pursuers behind us are not letting go.
The Green Flag soldiers fled in large numbers, and their heavy artillery was abandoned in large numbers.
Suddenly, Eshenbatulu noticed a bright light flashing in the woods out of his peripheral vision. He immediately felt alarmed and shouted: "Be careful, there is an ambush in the forest!"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a "swish" sound. The bowstring tightened, and an arrow was shot out from the woods. There was a little fire at the end.
An Eight Banners soldier was caught off guard and was shot in the shoulder. He screamed in pain and wanted to reach out to pull it out. The gunpowder tied to the arrow shaft exploded. Although the amount of gunpowder was not large, it was close to his ear. It was also wrapped.
A few pieces of broken iron immediately blew up his face, causing him to scream and fall off his horse.
The marching troops were in chaos, and arrows were flying straight into the forest. Some Qing soldiers jumped off their horses, raised their shields and swords, and searched the forest while shouting.
Ah - a long scream came from the forest. I don't know if it was a trap or an attack, but the sound was in Manchu.
The sun was covered by clouds, making the forest even darker. The wind blew the branches and the fallen leaves rustled on the ground, as if there were thousands of troops hidden there.
Several Qing soldiers who entered the woods ran toward the place where the screams came from. With a "bang" sound, the machine spring on the ground sounded. The foot of a Qing soldier was stuck by the bouncing animal trap. They were specially hunted.
The saw-toothed clamps of the beast were so powerful that they broke his calf bone in one fell swoop. Screaming, the Qing soldier wanted to bend down and reach out to break it, but the pain was so painful that he lost the strength.
The companions rushed to the rescue, this one supported him, the other pried him off, but in the rush they failed to prevent it from falling. Several crossbow arrows were suddenly shot out, and two more Qing soldiers were injured and injured.
"Get out!" The Qing soldiers were extremely angry. They looked around on guard and shouted angrily, "You cowards, come out and fight."
There was the sound of wind, the sound of swaying branches, and the sound of footsteps, but no one could be seen.
Several Qing soldiers felt chilled in their hearts, looked at each other, and slowly backed away while supporting their injured companions.
There was a "boom", a bright light flashed, and a lead bullet was fired, hitting a Qing soldier in the lower abdomen. The huge impact immediately shattered his internal organs, causing him to vomit blood and roll on the ground screaming in pain.
"Kill!" Shouts rang out all around, the grass and trees shook, and no one knew how many people were running over in the forest.
The Qing soldiers were so frightened that they flailed their weapons wildly and fled out of the forest in panic.
A person suddenly jumped up from the grass in front. The spear in his hand was extremely fast and pierced into the chest of a Qing soldier. Amidst the earth-shattering screams of the Qing soldier, the man let out a hey, and actually killed the Qing soldier.
He flew away. Then he tilted the gun pole horizontally, knocked open a cut tiger-tooth knife, and swiped the gun pole fiercely, hitting the opponent's neck, knocking the opponent staggering.
Three uninjured Qing soldiers surrounded and surrounded him. Wang Zhan turned around and hid behind a tree, and suddenly and quickly flashed out from one side. His spear pierced the throat of a Qing soldier like a poisonous snake. He drew the gun and blood spurted out.
When the Qing soldier was about to die, his eyes were still wide open, as if he couldn't believe what he saw.
Several sharp arrows were fired, and one of the two Qing soldiers fell down. The last one saw that the situation was not good, turned around and ran away. After running a few steps, the Qing soldier screamed, and the tip of a spear penetrated his chest from his back.
When he came out, he stared blankly at his chest, drew his spear, and immediately fell straight down.
Several figures flashed out from the surroundings, slashed and killed the injured Qing soldiers, then dragged the corpses back to the depths of the woods.
"Keep going!" Capital Commander Eshenbatulu knew that he could not delay here any longer. The pursuers behind him were getting closer and closer. The situation in the forest was unclear. Even if there were only a few daring rebels, now was not the time to deal with them.
The Qing soldiers were angry, but somewhat helpless, so they had no choice but to move on vigilantly, wary of attacks in the forest.
"Whoosh", a sharp arrow pierced the air, pierced the darkness in the forest, and shot into the throat of a Qing soldier, taking him off his horse.
Damn it! When did the cowardly southerners have the courage to attack the Eight Banners soldiers? Eshenbatulu has a feeling of being bullied by dogs when the tiger falls flat. The attackers in the forest are so annoying that they stick to them like dog-skin plaster.
.Enter the forest. You will fall into a trap, and the forest is dense and deep, making it difficult to search. Just ignore him, but it will cause trouble for the team from time to time.
Harassments like this have been encountered many times. Sometimes they are very simple and no Qing soldiers are injured. But it still delays time; many roads are also dug into holes, making the Qing troops retreat at a faster and slower pace.
Even with this speed of march, Eshen Batulu and other Qing generals still thought they could reach Hangzhou before the Ming army in the north attacked Hangzhou. But what they didn't know was that the three armies of Yinshuo, Dangshuo and Zhengshuo had already divided their forces and accelerated southward.
Rush to the south of Hangzhou to intercept.
Fighting from Guizhou to Hunan, then to Hubei, and then down the river, the Ming army captured many mules and horses after successive battles. When they began to encircle the Qing army in Zhejiang, Zhu Yongxing and his staff expected that the Qing army would attack the final force.
The stronghold was concentrated in Hangzhou. In order to divide and attack it, the three armies used infantry to press against Hangzhou, and used captured mules and horses to carry thousands of musketeers around Hangzhou and march south, in order to intercept the Qing army before it decided to withdraw and before it reached Hangzhou.
Now that the war has reached this level, it is certain that the morale of the Qing army will be in chaos, and it is also foreseeable that the Green Flag soldiers will flee in large numbers. In other words, the Qing army, which originally seemed to have a large number of troops, will be greatly reduced, with only thousands of full-fledged soldiers among them.
The Mongolian Eight Banners are the most determined.
Therefore, although there are only a few thousand musketeers accelerating southward, as long as they intercept the Qing army on the road before it enters Hangzhou, even if they cannot completely annihilate them, they are still very sure of severely inflicting heavy damage on the Qing army, which is eager to move on and has lost its morale. Moreover, this
At that time, people's sentiments changed drastically. The Qing army walked as if they were in enemy-occupied areas, while the Ming army acted as if they were in their own territory.
Not to mention the Qing army who had gone elsewhere, Eshenbatulu now saw the power of the people, the power that had been suppressed for a long time and finally burst out.
Obstacles were placed all over the road. There were three trenches across the road. Behind the trenches, the Ming army was dazzling in red. Behind the Ming army were strong civilians wielding swords and guns, and behind them were the common people carrying burdens and baskets.
The Ming army was small in number, only more than 2,000 people. They marched lightly and quickly through Zhouyue County. They did not encounter any decent resistance. There were actually some who followed behind and asked for surrender. When they arrived in Yiwu and Pujiang areas, the Ming Dynasty
The army immediately blocked the road and built fortifications, and sent people from all directions to call on the people.
Yiwu and Pujiang were already key areas for anti-Qing uprisings, and personnel from the Intelligence Bureau were mobilizing and guiding. When they heard that the Ming army had arrived, the people who were fleeing the disaster immediately rejoiced and enthusiastically supported them. Even more anti-Qing rebels came.
They gathered to help in the battle, and in less than two days, more than 20,000 people gathered.
Under the cold weather, three trenches were built in one day; although the horse-proofing and deer villages were simple, they were the result of the people's hard work and hard work. There were also parapets, built with frozen soil, and then poured water to freeze them.
It is very strong. Moreover, this is only the first line of defense. Countless people are taking turns to dig and build the second line of defense behind them. Their hands are purple and cracked from the cold, but no one is complaining or tired.
Hot rice, hot vegetables, and hot soup, even if the common people did not eat or ate less, the Ming army who came lightly did not starve and quickly recovered most of their physical strength.
People's support is unpopular. Sometimes there are exceptions, but most of the time it dominates the progress of history and adds a lot of chips to the balance of war. Nanjing was recovered, and the Ming army's victory in Jiangnan was determined, which further inspired the people's pent-up sentiments.
emotion.
"The people's support can be used!" Li Chengjue, the commander of the First Division of the Xishuo Army and the commander-in-chief, was quite satisfied. The fortifications were completed. Although the number of the Ming army was a little smaller, he was familiar with defense as he had fought against the Qing army from Dian Province.
The generals with the characteristics of the Ming army's combat are still very confident.
"Your Majesty, it's true. People's minds are bright, but their hearts are tired of being pure!" Ma Chenliang, an intelligence bureau lurker who encouraged the Yiwu people to revolt against the Qing Dynasty, nodded with a smile. These are also his contributions. After the liberation of Jiangnan, he no longer has to hide his identity. He will
It's of great use.
"That's right." Li Chengjue suddenly remembered something and asked, "You said that there are a few people who dared to attack the Qing army and achieved quite a lot of gains. Call them and let me see them?"
"My lord, don't tell me, even though they have low-level positions, they must be sent to the military camp. They are good soldiers!" Ma Chenliang greeted one of his subordinates with a smile, explained a few words, and the subordinates took the order and left.
"There are still more than ten thousand Qing troops -" Li Chengjue looked into the distance and said: "Although they have surpassed our army, the morale of the army is already in chaos, and there are pursuers behind them. If the attack fails, they will flee in large numbers. There are still thousands of Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners left, even if they are
The cavalry battle is powerful, but our army's position can't be reached suddenly."
"Your Excellency, you can recruit strong people to join the war." Ma Chenliang suggested: "I don't know how humble people are in other places, but there are indeed many capable people in Yiwu who dare to fight."
"Yiwu, where Qi Shaobao recruits troops." Li Chengjue nodded thoughtfully.
Li Chengjue also had this idea of using righteous people to help the war. But he was afraid that it would be counterproductive. Once the situation collapsed, even the Ming army would be affected. Hearing Ma Chenliang talk about Yiwu, his heart couldn't help but move.
In a short time, a dozen strong young men rushed over under the leadership of Ma Chenliang, carrying many captured armors and weapons on their backs.
Li Chengjue looked left and right. They were indeed strong and strong, and their momentum was very different from ordinary civilians. He nodded repeatedly and praised: "Sure enough, they are all heroes. Yiwu produces good soldiers, and its reputation is well-deserved."
Ma Chenliang smiled and pointed his hand and said: "My lord, his name is Wang Zhan, and he is a descendant of the Qi family army. He has sharp marksmanship and good archery skills. When he attacked the Qing army, he killed four of them alone."
Li Chengjue watched with attention. When he saw Wang Zhan's eyes were alert, his back was straight, and his body was strong, he couldn't help but give a thumbs up, "Well done. He killed the enemy for the country. He is loyal and courageous."
Taking a step back slightly, Li Chengjue said loudly to everyone: "You are all good men. You can achieve such great achievements. When the war is over, the government will have its own rewards and commendations, so that the Ming army and the people know that those who have made contributions to the country will be rewarded and commended."
You can honor your ancestors and leave your name in history!"
"Sir." Wang Zhan stepped forward and bowed deeply. He said expectantly: "Can you allow us to join the army and fight? We are not afraid of death and are proficient in martial arts. We are willing to work hard and be loyal to our Ming Dynasty."
"It's good not to be afraid of death, but to be proficient in martial arts -" Li Chengjue pondered for a moment and said: "Since you are so loyal, I will send a few officers to organize the people, and if necessary, I will lead you to kill thieves and perform meritorious deeds.
However, you must obey orders carefully, as military law is ruthless." The tone of the last few words became stern, and his eyes scanned everyone sharply.
"Once you join the army, you should obey orders and never disobey." Wang Zhan relied on his proficient martial arts to attack county towns, fight with green flags, and attack Manchu soldiers. He has established a certain prestige. At least these are not the same as him.
Everyone who acted together respected him.
"Okay." Li Chengjue smiled slightly, stretched out his hand to call the soldiers, and after a few words, the soldiers led Wang Zhan and others to make arrangements.
Although the Ming army has ferocious muskets, purified nitrates, improved formulas, and granulated gunpowder, which already have advantages against bows and arrows, they still have fewer people. If the defense line is really unstable, these strong people will
One or two reinforcements can also be used as a counterattack force.
The trumpet sounded continuously, and the Qing army that was blocked in the way took a moment to reorganize, rest their horse power and physical strength, and then began to attack.
Time is tight! The commander-in-chief, Eshenbatulu, knew that he could not delay and must break through the obstacles in front as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the pursuers arrived and attacked from both sides, they would be defeated. A lot of time had been wasted on the road, and he did not know the damage caused by breaking the road.
Who came up with Zhao'er? It's so annoying. Many horses stepped into the pit and broke their legs and feet, and all the artillery was abandoned, just to speed up, speed up.
Bugles and war drums were beating loudly. Under the loud instigation of generals at all levels, the dark Qing soldiers roared at the top of their lungs and rushed toward the low wall of the trench in front.
The first trench was neither wide nor deep. As soon as more than a dozen crude ladders were built, the Qing soldiers climbed up the ladder and walked quickly, and soon they were on the flat ground. After walking more than twenty steps, every second trench
moat.
The sharp swan sound rang out on the Ming army's position, and the fire cannons made a huge roar. Thick white smoke rose from the parapet, and poured into the Qing soldiers in front of the second trench, shooting out streaks of blood mist.
Howling and rolling to the ground.
The parapet trench fortifications are curved, allowing more soldiers to be placed behind the fortifications and more powerful firepower to be concentrated. Counting the high hills on both sides, a full 400 musketeers were deployed in the front-line position.
Taking advantage of the recoil of the launch, Wu Ge turned around and faced his companion behind him. The companion vigorously pushed the musket directly into Wu Ge's arms, and turned back and took away the empty gun. Wu Ge quickly put the musket on the parapet and turned the angle to aim.
Having killed the enemy...another ball of white mist spurted out. The gunman had no time to check the results. Bearing this in mind, Wu Ge turned around again and waited for reloading.
It was loaded again, it was in hand again, and the gun was set up again... A Qing soldier opened his bow and arched his arrows, and was about to shoot in front of the trench. The firecracker shot out a heavy projectile, which hit the Qing soldier in the smoke.
The soldier's chest and armor did not help. The Qing soldier seemed to have been hit hard with a heavy hammer, and fell to the ground with blood spraying from his mouth.
The first trench passed easily, but in front of the second trench it was like a big wave hitting a stone cliff. The Qing soldiers were crowded in the narrow area between the two trenches, unable to move at all, and were beaten to death by fierce musketry.
everywhere.
Distance, this is the key point. Setting up bows and arrows in the first trench poses almost no threat to the Ming army. Crowding in front of the second trench is exactly within the range of muskets. Although bows and arrows pose a threat, they are hindered by the
The number of people and the terrain cannot create a suppressive effect.
The vanguards were still Han soldiers, and their archery skills were not as good as those of the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners. They were almost like living targets in front of the trenches.
Ah, ah, ah! Screaming, several Qing soldiers who climbed up the ladder were hit by muskets one after another and fell down the trench. Some who were lucky enough to get over were blocked by the third trench. At this time, the distance was closer and the firepower was stronger.
It was so fierce that it was quickly wiped out.
The black muzzle behind the breastwork kept emitting flames, and each of the Qing soldiers was knocked to the ground by the projectiles. They let out different howls, or fell heavily into the ditch in front of them, or fell backwards on the hard ground.
on the ground.
White smoke billowed out, forming a dense mass that was quickly blown away by the cold wind. The flat ground between the two trenches was already filled with dead and alive Qing soldiers who fell into the trenches.
Among the dense corpses of the Qing army, those who died had different expressions. Some had their eyes wide open, some had a look of reluctance, or some had deep fear and disbelief in their eyes. (To be continued...)