Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 870
The forest was on fire, Liang Huafeng led five thousand Qing soldiers, fled to the north, and when he came out of the forest, he encountered the Guangwu Battalion outflanking them.

The hill Liu Shun chose was not big, with more than a dozen low hills connected to each other, and there were at most [-] Tibetan soldiers. He had an advantage in military strength, so he was not afraid.

This battle is not a confrontation between two families. One ran out of the woods, and the organization was already in disarray. The other came in a hurry and had no time to form an array.

Nearly [-] soldiers fought fiercely together, with swords and swords, the killing sound was slow, and soldiers were cut down constantly, but overall, the Ming army had the upper hand. , The will to fight is different.

At this time, there was a shout of killing from the south. Thousands of soldiers armed with swords, shields and spears were rushing towards the battlefield around the edge of the woods. Liang Huafeng was in a hurry, and forced one of the generals back with a knife, shouting loudly: "If you don't want to die, rush out!"

Because there is no strict formation confrontation, the two armies fought together, and the Qing army wanted to escape, but it was difficult for the Ming army to stop them all. As soon as Liang Huafeng spoke, the Qing soldiers around him immediately forced the opponent away, and rushed north in a hurry. Grabbing a Qing soldier who wanted to escape, pulling him back and chopping him up with a knife, he immediately shouted, "Catch up! Kill me!"

A part of the Qing army was still fighting, and some were running away staggeringly. Nearly a thousand Ming soldiers were chasing after them, and people were constantly shot down by arrows in the back. One Qing general was hit by an arrow and fell to the ground. The one on the right set him up and ran away desperately.

While the Ming army was chasing and killing, suddenly there was a sound of hooves ahead, a cloud of yellow dust rose up, and an Eight Banners soldier patrolling along the canal came galloping.

Although there were only less than a hundred riders, they were quite powerful, with rumbling hooves and billowing dust. Seeing this, the chasing general waved his hands immediately, "Stop, stop chasing, and move closer to me!"

Although the Ming army had more than a thousand troops, they did not dare to entrust them with large numbers.

The woods on the hill burned for two days and two nights before the fire was gradually extinguished.

Liu Shun chose this place because there were [-] cavalry in Yangzhou, and he had to be on guard, and because there was a forest where he could use local materials to build a pontoon bridge.

Now that the forest is burned, he can only get materials from other places, but when the forest burns out, the pontoon bridge will also be erected.

Chen Bangyan left 1 troops on the east bank of the Grand Canal, and all the remaining troops crossed the river and moved to the west bank.

With nearly [-] Ming troops, naturally there is no need to be afraid of [-] cavalry, so the army advanced to the city and set up camp directly.

The camp was very busy, Chen Bangyan led Liu Shun, Zhang Huangyan and others rode out of the camp, circled the city to observe Yangzhou's defense.

Everyone rode up a small slope, condescending, Chen Bangyan looked at the moat in the distance, pointed to the moat with his horsewhip and asked: "Yangzhou is a water transportation hub. After the reconstruction of the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi merchants also focused on operating Yangzhou. The moat can supply ships In and out, can naval warships sail directly into the moat?"

The Ming army attacked the city several times, all of which took advantage of the water army to sail directly into the moat with warships, and used the advantages of the boat building to be flush with the city wall, or even higher than the city wall, to directly ascend the city, so Chen Bangyan first thought of this method.

Liu Shun had been in Yangzhou for a long time and was familiar with the situation. He rode his horse and approached Chen Bangyan, "Supervisor, Duoduo had thought of this earlier. , blocked the entrance of the moat, and the section of the Grand Canal near the east city of Yangzhou has sunken ships at both ends."

Liu Shun pondered for a while, "The last general sent people to salvage it, but the Qing army had already prepared for it and deployed heavy artillery on the city, which caused the last general to lose nearly a hundred people, but the sunken ship was not salvaged."

Man Qing managed to get some navy, but Duoduo was willing to sink them all. It seems that he was determined to defend Yangzhou.

Chen Bangyan frowned slightly, "As soon as the heavy artillery arrives, bombard the city immediately. We can think of a way while bombarding the moat!"

"Let's go! Go back to the camp!" After speaking, Chen Bangyan pulled the reins and led the crowd down the mountain.

The Qing army had 10 troops in Jiangbei, mainly stationed in the two important towns of Yangzhou and Hefei, while the Ming army used about 14 troops this time. Although most of them were sent down from the green battalion, the main force in Yangzhou City was also the green battalion.

This made Duoduo feel the pressure. He could only rely on Yangzhou Jiancheng and defend Yangzhou to the death, waiting for the situation to change.

At the beginning when he was besieged by an army of 30, Wang Yan was able to defend Yangzhou for three months. Now he has more troops than Wang Yan, and his equipment is no less than Wang Yan. However, the Ming army that attacked the city was only 8. He has no reason to be inferior to Wang Yan. .

Now that I think about it, the change of the Qing Dynasty began in Yangzhou. Wang Yan defeated the Qing army and recovered the disadvantage step by step. What Northern Expedition.

Yangzhou is a knot in Duduo's heart. He attaches great importance to this battle. It can be said that he will go all out and look forward to this battle.

The only thing that made him dissatisfied was that Wang Yan didn't come in person, which made him very angry. He felt that Wang Yan despised him and his self-esteem was trampled.

Ever since the Ming army occupied Sizhou and he was unable to retreat calmly, Duoduo was thinking about the duel with Wang Yan. He had already figured out how to return the sentence "guard for another ten years" in full and humiliate Wang Yan once. But in the end, the other party didn't come.

Wang Yan cannot be blamed for this. The internal affairs of the Ming Dynasty were complicated. Neither Tang nor Lu was good at both, and both of them had certain prestige. Before the court, or before Tang and Lu are removed from power, they will never leave Nanjing easily.

The Qing army near Yangzhou had all withdrawn into Yangzhou. At this time, the suspension bridge was hanging high, the city gates were closed, and a green battalion soldier with a gun stood between each wall on the city wall, and there were cavalry running on the city.

At this time, Duoduo stood on the top of the city, looking at the Ming army who was building camp outside the city, with mixed emotions in his heart.

"My lord, although Yangzhou is strong, we don't have a popular base, and the morale of the army is not stable. I think it's safer to be a lowly official. I still have to urge the regent and Hefei to see if they can provide support. Even if we can't reach the city of Yangzhou, the outside line Containment can also share some of the pressure for us." Guan Zhongzhong stepped forward and said in a low voice.

Duoduo heard this, but didn't answer right away. He wanted to turn the tide of the battle with his own strength, but he knew that this kind of thinking was ridiculous, and he also understood that the reason why Wang Yan was able to defend Yangzhou was mainly because 80 Yangzhou people lived together. But now that the minions and tricksters in Yangzhou City don't stab him in the back, he will burn incense.

Duoduo nodded, "Then send someone to urge you, whether you can send reinforcements, how to save Yangzhou, let the regent judge. Don't pin your hopes on others, cheer up the king, and strictly investigate the collaborators. slave."

Guan Xiaozhong and others took orders again and again. Not long after, the suspension bridge in the west city of Yangzhou was lowered, the city gate opened, and several fast horses galloped out.

(End of this chapter)