Everyone agreed that we should go to the city immediately to quell the riot without delay. However, there was still controversy. The focus of the controversy was to what extent the methods should be used.
The army of the Northern Expedition is no better than the domestic police of the Southern Ming Dynasty. They don’t have high-pressure faucets or anything like that, nor do they have riot shields, no batons, no handcuffs, and they don’t have a large number of prisons for arresting people. They only have real guns and live ammunition. If they shoot into the air
If firing a gun doesn't work, is the next step to open fire directly on people?
In that case, many people are bound to be killed. Today is only the first day of the attack. The confidentiality work was done so well before that the press was completely kept in the dark. Where did the reporters accompanying the army come from? Even if the media responds quickly, they will send
It also took two or three days for the reporters to arrive. The international press corps was even invisible. Without reporters’ cameras, the city was already littered with corpses, raped, burned and killed, and the Ming army moved in again.
Shooting a group of people with crackling sounds...
A day or two later, reporters accompanying the army came, and a few days later, foreign reporters also came. They looked at the tragic scene of burning, killing and looting all over the city, and many people were directly killed by bullets...
Who can tell this thing clearly?
Those who participated in burning, killing and looting would never admit that they were the ones doing it. Especially when they calmed down after a day or two and looked at the house full of good things they had looted.
…
"Your Majesty," Shen Rongxuan said slowly on the phone, "I know that you will never tolerate the atrocities to continue. No matter what the consequences of the army entering the city, you will persist... Then, I will also
I can only agree. However, I have a few principles. Your Majesty, please make sure the military cooperates."
After Zhu Yourong heard the news, she was deeply shocked. She could not accept it. The kind-hearted Chinese people could be as cruel as the natives of Nanyang. She nodded silently and did not speak.
Shen Rongxuan seemed to see her nodding through the phone and continued:
"The first and most important rule is that you must not shoot to death. The most you can do is shoot in the air. Apart from that, you can do anything, including arresting and beating people, but you can't leave corpses killed by bullets.
Your Majesty, although the situation in Nanyang City is urgent now, the first priority of our army is not to be suspected of "massacre".
"Second, immediately organize a field reporter group, composed of reporters from several well-known newspapers. The military will allocate a transport plane to fly to Xiangfan today, land at Xiangfan Airport at night, and then rush to Nanyang City overnight.
"Article 3: Actively invite foreign journalists to come to the battlefield to cover, and ask the military to provide them with all conveniences.
"Article 4: Tomorrow morning, the military will hold a press conference to inform the media about the causes and consequences of the Nanyang riot and what measures we have taken.
"Article 5, this is also my duty. I will immediately send an invitation to the League of Nations and the International Red Cross, asking them to send an observation team.
"Your Majesty, if we implement these few things, we still won't be able to stop the Beiqing and some rogue countries from slandering us, but at least we can be fair and at ease with the people."
Zhu Yourong thought for a moment and said softly:
"Mr. Shen Ge is right, we have to pay attention... But without further ado, I will order the army to enter the city to quell the riot now... I believe it can be quelled quickly without firing... I believe that we descendants of Yan and Huang
They are humans, not beasts. Our compatriots can distinguish between good and bad, and they will not be like the natives of Southeast Asia..."
…
At 9 o'clock in the evening, with an order, the Ming army from outside Nanyang City entered the city to quell the riot.
The armored vehicle pulled out from the motorized infantry division rumbled onto the street, its bright lights sweeping around, the large speaker on the roof playing warning messages, and the machine gun on the roof firing a half-shuttle into the air from time to time, like a woodpecker.
The dazzling flash and harsh noise of the machine gun both pierced the night sky, creating a murderous atmosphere.
Behind the armored vehicle was a military truck, with two rows of helmets and bayonets in neat rows, glowing with a cold metallic light.
Within half an hour, at least one armored vehicle was on duty on every street. In every alley, there were groups of at least four soldiers patrolling. In addition, there were entire rows of soldiers, fighting in unison.
Holding a flashlight and walking in goose, the neat footsteps echoed on the empty street: "Cross! Cross! Cross..."
Occasionally, there are mobs that have not dispersed yet, and they can see a row of flashlight beams lined up straight from a distance. The bright light shines on them, and they can't see anything behind the beams. They can only hear the sound of neat big leather boots slowly approaching.
…
As a result, by ten o'clock, the riots in the city had basically subsided.
Zhu Yourong is right, after all, the Chinese people cannot compare with the natives of Nanyang. This is not only reflected in the speed at which the riots subsided, but also in the incredible safety of the streets once they subsided. It is difficult to understand that these gentle people in front of them actually
They are those bloodthirsty beasts just now.
The people in the city turned from mobs back to kind-hearted people, and began to spontaneously help their neighbors put out fires. Armored vehicles and soldiers of the Ming Army patrolled the streets, but there was no martial law. They could be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys.
See this scene: Ming army soldiers rolled up their sleeves and formed a bucket team to fight the fire with the common people. Two people pressed the handle next to the pressure well on the street. After filling a bucket of water, they were quickly sent to the direction of the fire. Another team
People also passed around empty buckets...
On the streets, homeless people surrounded military vehicles and ate delicious individual soldier rations with the soldiers... Also, groups of children surrounded the soldiers asking for fruit candies...
The beautiful scene of the Ming Dynasty's people's soldiers and kind-hearted people living in harmony was perfectly displayed in Nanyang City after the disaster.
After hearing this report, several core senior people in Nanjing took a long breath, wiped the cold sweat off their heads, and smiled.
Fortunately, we did a good job in crisis public relations this time...
…
On the first day of the war, because the pontoon bridge over the river had not yet been erected and a large number of tanks, armored vehicles, automobiles, self-propelled artillery and other mechanized equipment had not been transported across the river, the advancing speed of the army group on the right could not be compared with that on the left.
However, with the air superiority in the sky clearing the way and a small number of motorized infantry divisions on the ground as spearheads, the leading troops of each army still advanced to an average of 50 kilometers. Within this range, Yangzhou, the largest city in the Northern Qing Dynasty, was currently surrounded by the Ming army.
Being besieged.
Yangzhou City is only about ten kilometers away from the Yangtze River, and opposite is Zhenjiang, the important military town of Nanming. Therefore, there are also a large number of Qing troops stationed in Yangzhou, the most important of which is the Fourth Strategic Artillery Corps. And without exception, on Saturday afternoon, almost all Yangzhou troops
All the high-level officials went to Yangzhou city to "relax" in the villas and brothels on the banks of Slender West Lake. When the war started on Sunday morning, high-level officials gathered in Yangzhou city.
The commander of the Fourth Strategic Artillery Corps was Na Hai. He was originally the commander of the Eight Banners Division, the elite force of the Qing army. Later, the imperial court began to implement "de-Hanization" among the top brass of the entire army, and gradually replaced the top commanders of the Han army with Manchus.
Many division commanders and brigade commanders of the Eight Banners Division went to the Han army and became commanders and commanders. Nahai was one of them.
After all, he came from the elite troops. Although he had been "corrupted" for a long time, he still reacted very quickly. He heard a loud roar of a large number of aircraft passing above him, and then the ground-shaking explosion of the strategic artillery group in the south. He
He immediately understood what had happened, and immediately got up and grabbed the phone. When he found that the phone was not working, he understood what was about to happen.
Under the almost hysterical and crazy command of Commander Nahai, the entire Yangzhou air defense siren sounded throughout the city, and all the garrison troops in the city were mobilized. Immediately afterwards, Nahai ordered all the city gates to be opened, and a large number of broken troops who had been bombed outside the city were admitted.
Inside the city, they mixed with the dense population in the city to avoid further bombing and artillery shelling by the Ming army.
In his mind, the Ming army was preparing for a large-scale cross-river attack. It was likely that they would annihilate more than 100,000 Qing troops like the last time they attacked Pukou, and then withdraw to the south of the Yangtze River. Therefore, he knew that here,
When communication is completely cut off and the army cannot be commanded at all, more troops can only be gathered into the city to preserve the strength of the army to the maximum extent.
Yangzhou is no better than Pukou. Pukou is just a town, but Yangzhou has city walls and its population density is much greater than that of Pukou. As long as they retreat into the city, close the city gates, and use the entire city's people as human shields, the Ming army will not throw a single bullet into the city.
A bomb. Yangzhou City is much larger than Pukou, and it cannot accommodate tens of thousands more people. If this time when other armies are wiped out by the Ming army, our own army can retain two-thirds of its strength, then
It's a great achievement.
Sure enough, although the Ming army bombers roared in the sky, not a single bomb fell on Yangzhou city. But what he didn't expect was that so many soldiers took the initiative to surrender to the Ming army. The defeated soldiers who ran south for a while actually
There were as many defeated troops as those running north. When the Ming army arrived at the city, only less than half of the army's strength, only more than 20,000 people, had gathered in the city.
But it is much better to save more than 20,000 people than to wipe out the entire army. Even if his career is unpredictable, at least his head is stable. While Nahai was reorganizing and gathering the Qing troops in the city, he prayed in his heart: He must let the other troops
Suffer heavy losses and suffer a disastrous defeat. It is best to annihilate the whole army one by one. Only in this way can the excellence of your army be shown, bad things can be turned into good things, and your career can be smooth.
The leading troops of the Ming army under the city ignored Yangzhou City and followed the tanks directly, carrying rifles. When many soldiers passed Yangzhou, they smiled and waved hello to the Qing soldiers on the city wall, each with their tongues curled up.
, imitating Beijing accent, shouted:
"Hey! Man!"
"That's great!"
"Have you eaten?"
"If you don't surrender, I will go to the city and destroy you!"
The Qing soldiers on top of the city were all horrified when they heard this. They were all holding their rifles and aiming down, not daring to fire. The machine gunners also hid nervously behind the baffle, looking through their small openings at the Ming army below. Beside them
The ammunition supply hand was holding the ammunition chain, and his head was huddled behind the battlements.
However, after the initial fear caused by the Ming army's blitzkrieg passed, the Qing soldiers in the city were somewhat envious of their brothers who had been captured by the Ming army from the beginning.
…
Nahai was in the headquarters, adjusting the radio himself and constantly searching for any Chinese broadcasts he could find. He needed news from the outside world too much now. When Zhu Yourong gave a speech in the morning, he was busy commanding the army and did not bother to listen.
Radio. But now he has heard Nan Ming’s determination from Nan Ming’s subsequent broadcast——
It seems...it seems that they are actually planning to attack and destroy the Qing Dynasty.
This is beyond the understanding of Nahai. It is also beyond the understanding of most military generals in this era. No one can understand that Nanming, whose military strength, population base, and war potential are so disparate with its opponent, actually made
Such crazy behavior.
Nahai immediately came to the conclusion: Nan Ming was either crazy as a whole, or he was bluffing. Of course, according to common sense, it could only be a bluff. In other words, even if Nan Ming was shouting for joy now, he would have to withdraw soon.
He was even more delighted by this. This meant that even if Nanming was bluffing, it was still a large-scale attack, and a long front must have been attacked. Other Qing army defenses would also be attacked like this, and most of them
It's much worse than our own. This way our army will be even more outstanding.
…
At noon, the subsequent Ming army began to gather troops around Yangzhou City, seemingly preparing to attack the city.
And it seems that the Ming army is as "just" as he imagined. Not only did they not bombard the city, but they did not even deploy heavy howitzers outside the city. They only dragged in a few medium-caliber cannons. It seemed that they were preparing to bombard the city wall directly, and then
They rushed in and started fighting in the streets.
Nahai was well prepared and immediately ordered the army to escort the people and stand all over the city.
Sure enough, looking through the telescope, the Ming army in the distance was dumbfounded. The artillerymen hesitated, pointed in this direction, argued and made noises with each other, and no one continued to prepare for firing. Then, a messenger cavalry
He left on his sidecar motorcycle, probably to report to the superiors.
When Nahai received the report, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and laughed proudly.
The terror, tension, and anxiety that started at dawn were all vented in this burst of laughter.
He laughed so hard that he slapped the table, and finally he laughed so hard that he sat on the ground leaning against the wall, trembling all over, as if he was crying. The adjutant and staff next to him were so frightened that they thought the commander was crazy.
Nahai waved his hands, just smiled, leaned his head tiredly against the wall, and sighed hoarsely:
"Well... there are still several hundred tons of grain in the Yangzhou grain depot, which is probably enough to hold on for a month... If our army doesn't fight back within a month, we will all die without a burial place... If we fight back, then we will
They all became heroes..."
…
At around one o'clock in the afternoon, an officer's car drove up from the city, flying a white flag, and drove to the city gate and stopped. Two officers jumped out of the car, raised their heads and shouted:
"We are the negotiators of the 12th Army of the Ming Dynasty and want to see the commander of your army!"
I shouted several times, but no Qing soldier dared to agree. After a while, a Qing army officer spoke to me from above:
"Hey, you two, take two steps back! Stay away from the city gate!"
The two Ming army officers stepped back a few meters, still looking up at the top of the city:
"Is this okay?"
After a while, the city gate opened a small crack, and two Qing soldiers cautiously stepped out and waved:
"Hey! Hey! Come here!"
Two Ming army officers walked over, and the two Qing soldiers took out black cloths and covered their eyes. Then they pushed them into the city and closed the city gate.