Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1155
Beyond the Great Wall in the north of Beijing, there are mainly Baoanzhou, Yanqingwei, and Xuanfu, which connect Mongolia to the north, Datong to the west, and Zhili to the north through Juyongguan in the south.

This was originally an important military town against Mongolia, but since the Qing army defeated Zhungeer last year, all the Mongolian tribes surrendered, and the troops stationed here withdrew to the south of the Great Wall.

The defenses of Xuanfu, Baoanzhou, and Yanqingwei became increasingly loose, and the number of soldiers and horses in the three places was less than 7000.

If it weren't for the unstable factor of Datong Jiang Xiang, there would be fewer soldiers and horses in these three places.

In September, Jiang Xiang suddenly rebelled against the Qing Dynasty. Jiang Youguang, Jiang Xiang's younger brother, led [-] regular soldiers and more than [-] rebels. He defended Xuanhua City to the death.

The troops guarding Xuanhua were less than [-], led by surrendered general Hao Xiaozhong.

This Hao Xiaozhong, originally a deputy general of the Ming Dynasty, belonged to Zuo Liangyu. In the second year of Shunzhi (1645), he followed Zuo Menggeng to surrender to the Qing Dynasty in Jiujiang and was attached to the Zhengbai Banner of the Han Army. He was really loyal to the Qing Dynasty. .

In history, he made many military exploits for the Qing Dynasty. Later, he was killed by Sun Kewang when the Ming army counterattacked Hunan. Virtue, hereditary duty.

Xuanhua is a male city as famous as Datong. It has a large population and prosperous business. It is a material transfer point for trade between Shanxi merchants and Mongolia. There are nearly a hundred warehouses in the city. In addition to storing furs purchased from Mongolia, they also store A lot of grain and other materials were exchanged with Mongolia.

It is precisely because of these materials and warehouses, as well as the shops of Shanxi merchants in the city, that Jiang Youguang is bound to win Xuanhua.

He led [-] Datong elite soldiers, plus more than [-] rebel troops hastily pulled up, and had already reached the surrendered military fort around Xuanfu and the original Ming Dynasty guards, and stormed Xuanhua, but because of Geng Tang's report, Hao Xiaozhong was ready. In addition, Fan Yongdou and others felt that the end was coming, and they helped the Qing army defend the city with money, food and people. Jiang Youguang attacked several times, but was blocked by the Qing army.

Seeing that he couldn't take down Xuanhua, Jiang Youguang could only let people sweep Baoan Prefecture and Yanqing Guard, which had only a thousand garrisons respectively.The two cities surrendered in one battle, and the defense of Baoanzhou surrendered without a fight, while Yanqingwei was captured by the Datong Army, and all the defenders were slaughtered.

After winning Baoanzhou and Yanqingwei, the Datong Army had already approached Juyongguan, and after passing Juyongguan, it was the city of Beijing.The Manchus entered the pass for nearly ten years, but they did not show any kindness to the world. The news of the rebellion in Shanxi and the approaching of Juyongguan spread to Beizhili, and the whole of Hebei also had an undercurrent.

In Changping County to the north of Beijing, there were people from the original Ming Dynasty who instigated an anti-Qing campaign. They led hundreds of people to drive away the magistrate, occupied the county seat, and prepared to take over the Datong Army. Tu Jin, with bloody and cruel means, was capturing the anti-Qing wave on the front line of the Great Wall.

Although there has been no major turmoil in Hebei for the time being, Man Qing also realized that it is urgent to put out Jiang Xiang's rebellion!
It's just that just as Dorgun expected, Wang Yan didn't give up. He ordered the army on the southern expedition to change from offense to defense, and slowly break away from contact with the Ming army. kill it.

On the Huaihe River, the Ming army in Huai'an took advantage of Ma Guanghui's retreat to Xuzhou, pursued along the canal, and went down to Siyang, Suqian, Pizhou and other places, and approached the southeast of Xuzhou.

The Ming army in Hefei also took advantage of the trend to go northward, recovering the entire territory of Fengyang Mansion, captured the important town of Bozhou in the north, approached Guide Mansion in Henan Province, captured Suzhou in the northeast, approached the southwest of Xuzhou, and formed a pincer attack on Xuzhou with the Huai'an Ming Army. .

In addition, the East China Sea Division of the Ming army marched along the coast, captured Haizhou, and threatened Shandong.

Ma Guanghui once again hid in the important town of Xuzhou. Dorgon did not dare to mobilize the 5 troops of the Qing army on the front line of Xuzhou.

On the Henan side, the Ming Dynasty took advantage of the retreat of the Qing army that attacked Nanyang to the north. The Ming army not only recovered the whole territory of Nanyang, but also took advantage of the momentum to take down Runing Mansion and Ruzhou. Attack Luoyang, Kaifeng and other places.

It can be said that the Ming army has already entered the predetermined position of the Northern Expedition, and the only thing left is to prepare for the Central Plains War.

Although Dorgon rejected Shunzhi's opinion of seeking peace, he still sent people south to delay the time, but before reaching Nanjing, the envoy was humiliated by the Ming army and drove back.

Facing pressure from the Ming army, Dorgon's plan to mobilize 8 soldiers and horses in Henan to counter the rebellion also fell through. In the end, only Kong Youde and Wakda were sent to lead 3 soldiers and horses to cross the Yellow River.Kong Youde led [-] troops from Huaiqing Mansion to attack Wankou Pass and Tianjing Pass in the east of Wangwu Mountain to take Jincheng. Mansion, entered Shanxi from the southeast of Shanxi.

Shang Kexi and Wang Yuele of Anjun, who had traveled southward from Starry Night in Beijing, led 10 troops to garrison Luoyang and Kaifeng to prevent the Ming army from advancing northward.

The whole of Shanxi was rebellious, but because of the containment of the Ming army, the number of troops Dorgon could put in to suppress the rebellion was very limited, far less than the number that could put down Jiang Xiang.

It has been more than a month since Jiang Xiang's rebellion in Xuanhua City until Xuanhua was besieged.

Although Xuanhua's insistence prevented Jiang Youguang from crossing the Great Wall rashly and bought time for Dorgon to line up his troops, but after such a long time, the reinforcements had not yet arrived, and the pressure of the massacre after the city was broken was like a huge boulder, weighing heavily In the hearts of Hao Xiaozhong and Fan Yongdou.

Hao Xiaozhong was from Liaodong. Because of this relationship, after he followed Zuo Menggeng to the Qing Dynasty, he was quickly reused by the Qing Dynasty.

On the top of the city, Hao Xiaozhong stared melancholy at the camp of the rebels in the distance. Jiang Youguang failed to attack Xuanhua several times, but he did not give up. He directly set up the camp outside Xuanhua City, apparently unwilling to give up Xuanhua.

Naturally, Hao Xiaozhong knew that Jiang Youguang's purpose was to smash Xuanhua. If he didn't take Xuanhua down, he wouldn't dare to cross the Great Wall and threaten Beijing. In addition, if Xuanhua was taken down, there would be a barrier to the east of Datong. They can also use Xuanhua to resist the imperial army and defend Jiang Xiang's hometown, Datong Mansion.

In addition to these, the wealth in Xuanhua city was also the reason why Jiang Youguang must win Xuanhua.

Jiang Xiang rebelled against the Qing Dynasty with the Datong Mansion, with few soldiers and poor land. Although the responders gathered, the rebels quickly controlled the entire Shanxi, but if Jiang Xiang wanted to be the leader of the alliance, he must have money and food. Without money and food, Shanxi swarmed Why should the rebels listen to Jiang Xiang?

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, in order to express gratitude to the Shanxi merchants who had supported them, Zhangjiakou was given to the eight imperial merchants headed by Fan Yongdou, specializing in trade with the Mongols.

After all, Zhangjiakou is just a pass. The main goods and funds of the eight imperial merchants are still placed in Xuanhua. In addition, the merchants are well-informed. Many shops of the eight imperial merchants themselves bear the responsibility of collecting information for the Qing. , Fan Yongdou also received the news, so he transferred the goods and silver from Zhangjiakou to Xuanhua City overnight.

Over the years, Fan Yongdou and others have hedged their bets between Jin and Qing. Although some industries have been transferred to Jin and some are in their hometown of Fenzhou, the assets of the eight imperial merchants in Xuanhua City are still enough to make people salivate.

There are countless furs here, as well as more than [-] stones of grain, and at least a million silver. Once these materials are obtained by Jiang Youguang, Jiang Xiang can quickly recruit troops, and then pull up a team of tens of thousands. It will be difficult to pacify Shanxi.

Now, although Jiang Youguang failed to attack the city several times, Xuanhua has become an isolated city, and the power in the city has not increased, but the rebels who have joined Jiang Xiang in the forts outside the city are constantly gathering, which makes Hao Xiaozhong very worried.

The guards of the Ming Dynasty were corrupt, but the degree of corruption was different. The guards in the south had not experienced wars for a long time, so the guards could not be reused. Fighting against the Mongols and Qing soldiers, but still has a certain strength.

The Jiang family guarded the Xuanda area for decades, and they had a high prestige among these fortresses on the border. In addition, the Manchu Qing still collected taxes on the border fortresses, which made the guards and fortresses of the Ming Dynasty very dissatisfied with the Manchu Qing. Now Jiang Xiang Once they rebelled, many fortresses followed suit. Although they were not comparable to the regular army, they were also much more elite than the general rebel army.

These people knew that there was money and food in Xuanhua City, and they wanted a piece of the pie, so they flocked to Xuanhua one after another. Not only did Jiang Youguang's troops not decrease because of the siege, but slowly increased to 3.

Facing the growing rebel forces, Hao Xiaozhong's face was full of melancholy, and his expression fell into the eyes of Fan Yongdou, whose face was even more melancholy than his.

"Junmen, the money and rations of our eight companies in the city, the military gate only manages to allocate, and the employees of the companies and the young and strong in the city can also be armed. We will be able to hold on until the reinforcements from the court come!"

Fan Yongdou was afraid that Hao Xiaozhong would not stick to Xuanhua's determination, so he hurriedly cheered him up and strengthened his confidence.

(End of this chapter)