1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 840

February 1669, 2, Yongping Prefecture, Changli County.

Zhou Fugao trudged through the snow with his unsteady body and a wooden stick.

After walking less than a few hundred meters, he stopped, grabbed a handful of snow, and stuffed it into his mouth.The ice-cold snow water melted in his mouth, and then quickly entered his stomach along his throat.

The stomach growled a few times, as if telling the owner of the body that satisfying the hunger with ice and snow cannot satisfy the needs of the stomach.

"Alas..." Zhou Fugao sighed softly, swallowed a few times of acid water, suppressed the hunger, and continued to walk forward, subconsciously touched a few pieces of dry and hard bark and hay.

In the cold winter season, birds and beasts are extinct, making it impossible to find any food to satisfy the hunger in the barren land.The wife and five-year-old child have been starving for five or six days. Everything that can be eaten has been boiled into food and stuffed into their stomachs.Sometimes they were so hungry that they even dug through the snow to find some edible dirt.

Last autumn harvest, the grain harvest was not good. After paying the rent to the owner, there was not much grain left.The four members of Zhou Fugao's family were also mentally prepared for starvation. Before winter, they picked wild vegetables, dug grass roots and bark, caught birds, animals, gophers, and insects, and searched for any possible food. Work hard to stockpile supplies for the winter.

I thought that with a small amount of grain mixed with grass roots and bark, I could barely survive this cold winter.In spring, when everything recovers and the grass grows and warblers fly, there will be more food in the wild, and if you borrow some food from the owner, you may be able to survive until summer.

Who would have thought that in December last year, hundreds of officers and soldiers from the Eight Banners suddenly came to the county to confiscate all the food stored by everyone and use it as military supplies.They took the official messengers and yamen servants to pay the big households and rich peasants first, and finally even ordinary people like them who had no food left.After some searches, Zhou Fugao's over one hundred catties of grain, which he had managed to accumulate in the broken house, was looted.

Those officers and soldiers of the Eight Banners were extremely vicious, and if anyone refused to pay, they would be chopped off with a single knife, and their heads would be decapitated immediately.Not long after, he set fire to the house and burned it down, declaring that this is a gangster and traitor, and he should be slaughtered as an example.

The fully armed armored soldiers and bloody butcher knives made all the people shudder, and they could only watch helplessly as our Daqing official army collected food and salaries in response to the puppet Ming Dynasty's northern invasion.Everyone knew that if the little food stored at home was confiscated, it would mean that they would face a cruel winter.

Some people put their minds to one side, simply packed up a few belongings, took their homes with them, and headed in the direction of the capital, and began to flee famine with difficulty.

Zhou Fugao's father has always been in poor health and it is difficult for him to travel far. The family of four can only stay here, dealing with endless hunger and cold.As a result, within a month, the father died on a cold winter night, and the health of his wife and children became weaker and weaker.On weekdays, I can only look around for food while enduring the cold weather.

What he expects now is to survive these increasingly difficult days, bring up his five-year-old son, and at least leave a queen for the Zhou family. No matter how sad it is, he can only suffer like this.

Ok?Four or five wild dogs appeared at the entrance of the village!
This made Zhou Fugao's eyes brighten. He slowly took out the sickle from behind, leaned down, and moved forward carefully.

These wild dogs thought they had found food somewhere, their stomachs were bulging, their tongues kept licking the corners of their mouths, and there seemed to be faint bloodstains on the tip of their noses and mouths.

These fur animals must have dug out the dead bodies, and then gorged themselves so much that their bellies were round.

Needless to say, today the men will regard you as food in their mouths begging for survival!

When they were about to approach the wild dogs, they were obviously alarmed. They raised their heads and stared vigilantly at Zhou Fugao who was slowly approaching, as if sensing a hint of danger, the wild dogs turned around and ran into the distant wilderness.

Zhou Fugao slammed the wooden stick in his hand at the nearest wild dog, then grabbed the sickle tightly, and rushed towards it.

After a hard chase and fight, he succeeded in killing a wild dog, but exhausted all his strength.

Lying in the snow and panting for a long time, Zhou Fugao stuffed a handful of snow into his mouth again. Mustering up the last bit of energy, Zhou Fugao dragged the killed wild dog and walked slowly towards the house.

There is meat to eat!Such a wild dog, if saved, would be enough for the family of three to survive for another half a month.As soon as he thought of this, he felt a bit of excitement and anticipation in his heart.

"Damn it!... Shuanzi!... There's something to eat."

In the dilapidated house, the door was ajar, but there was no answering voice.Presumably they were exhausted from hunger, so they were all lying in the back room.

Zhou Fugao dragged the wild dog to the kitchen, took the kitchen knife, and impatiently began to slaughter the dead dog.

I threw seven or eight pieces of dog meat into the pot, but after thinking about it, I fished out a few more pieces from the pot, then filled the stove with some firewood, got up and walked to the back room, ready to wake up my wife and children to eat This hot pot of dog meat is braised with grass roots.

But when he entered the room, he was immediately shocked by the sight in front of him.I saw my wife lying on the bed in a bloody mess. On her face, body, and legs... there were bloody mouths eaten by wild animals everywhere, and the bone was deep enough to see the bones. Most of the palm of one hand had been gnawed off.There is still a pool of flesh and blood in the corner, which is vaguely the remains of a child, whose entire face has been bitten beyond recognition.

"Ah..." Zhou Fugao cried out in pity. His wife and children must have been so weak from starvation that those extremely hungry wild dogs ran into the house without the slightest ability to resist, and were bitten and devoured by them.

"Fuck your ancestors!..." Zhou Fugao roared, turned around and rushed out of the house, came to the kitchen, picked up a kitchen knife, and slashed hard at the remnant of the wild dog on the ground.

After a while, Zhou Fugao powerlessly dropped the kitchen knife in his hand and collapsed beside the stove. The dog meat soup in the pot had begun to boil and tumbling, exuding a strong meaty aroma.

But when he thought that there might be the flesh and blood of his wife and children in the belly of these wild dogs, he immediately lost his appetite after smelling the smell of the meat, his stomach couldn't help wriggling, curled up by the stove, and kept vomiting.But the stomach was empty, but the vomit was full of yellow water.

"Bang Dang!" The door was suddenly pushed open, and several soldiers in gray uniforms entered the room cautiously.They searched for the sound and came to the stove, and saw Zhou Fugao collapsed on the ground, with several muskets pointed at Zhou Fugao.

"Hey, are you still alive?" A self-rescue army captain kicked Zhou Fugao.

Zhou Fugao turned to the self-rescue soldier who was asking the question with empty eyes, his face was ashamed, and he didn't respond.

"Captain, two people died in the back room, one big and one small, they seemed to be bitten to death by some wild beast." A self-rescue army soldier came to the kitchen with a musket in his hand.

The captain of the self-rescue army glanced at Zhou Fugao, who had collapsed on the ground, then looked at the wild dog corpse that had been chopped into countless pieces, and sighed softly.

What the hell is another human tragedy!
"If you can still move, follow us."

"You..., are you here to fight the imperial army?"

"Fart imperial court army?" The captain of the self-rescue army said disdainfully, "That's Jiannu, a Tartar! Follow us, at least we can find a way out."

"I want to go with you to fight the imperial army... No, go to fight the slaves, go to the Tartars!" Zhou Fugao thought of those vicious Eight Banners grain requisition officers and soldiers, blood welled up immediately, and he got up from the ground all at once , but because of his weakness and hunger, one couldn't stand upright and fell to the ground again.

"Your body, let's take care of it first." The leader of the self-rescue army dropped a piece of dry biscuit, "Eat something, and follow us to carry supplies."

Zhou Fugao followed a few soldiers to the outside of the house while nibbling dry biscuits, but he saw troops passing by the door, some in gray uniforms, some in red uniforms, and some in black uniforms, which were completely different from the costumes of my honest and upright army.There were also more than 100 draft horses, mules, and donkeys in the team, pulling a sledge and gun carts, and rushed towards the county seat.

Where is this army from?How could they invade Zhili territory behind the Qing Dynasty?
Lieutenant Colonel Linghui (Lieutenant Colonel) Zhao Funian, the deputy commander of the Qi State Army stationed in Daming, was riding on a captured war horse, holding a telescope and observing the wilderness ahead.

"Have those Saurons returned?" Putting down the binoculars, Zhao Funian turned to ask the intelligence staff beside him. ;
"Return to the officer, they haven't come back yet."

"These savages, they must have met the Qing captives."

"Sir, even if those hundreds of Saurons meet the real Eight Banners of Manchuria, with their equipment and skills, they can still win the battle." The intelligence officer said.

"I'm just worried that these savages will lose their temper when they meet the Qing captives, and they can't hold back for a while, and ignore the information." Zhao Funian shook his head and said: "However, these Saurons are really natural fighters, we should also Recruit a group of Saurons in Zhenzhou (now Vladivostok, Russia), and with a little training, you will be a good cavalry.”

On February 2, the Qi State and Yunzhou Town assembled a total of more than 1 troops. After landing at Jieshi Port, without any rest, more than [-] troops were separated and went straight to Shanhaiguan.

During the reign of Chongzhen, Tianxiaxiongguan, where tens of thousands of troops were stationed, was immediately reduced to an insignificant position after the Qing captives entered the Central Plains, with only [-] troops stationed there.

However, after the Northern Expedition of the Ming army, due to the collapse of the Xuzhou camp and the rebellion of Murima, the defense lines of the entire Shandong and Hebei regions of the Qing Dynasty were opened, and the troops were very empty.In order to raise troops and launch a counterattack against the Ming army, the Qing government mobilized all the soldiers and horses from all over the country, and Shanhaiguan was no exception. After the elite troops were withdrawn, there were less than 600 soldiers left on the garrison, and they were all old, weak and remnant soldiers.

Therefore, when the Ming and Qi allied forces reached Shanhaiguan, they directly moved their artillery close to the pass and blasted open the city gate. Immediately, the loyal army launched a sudden attack and conquered this special pass.

In the next ten days or so, the coalition forces used Jieshi Port as a base to attack in all directions.

On February 2, the Acropolis of Funing was captured.

On February 2, Kefuning County.

On February 2, Yongping Fucheng - Lulong County was captured.

The [-]-plus coalition army led by Zhao Funian set off from Lulong County and went south to attack Changli.

The intention of the coalition forces is very clear, that is, to increase their momentum, to isolate Liaodong and threaten the capital, and force the Qing to draw part of their troops from Shandong to defend the capital and create opportunities for the Ming army to counterattack.

This time, the coalition forces raided and landed, and within half a month, they swept across half of Yongping Prefecture, and almost all the towns and counties that attacked the prefectures came down in one go, which was extremely easy.It can be seen from this how empty the troops in the rear of the Qing captives are.

What surprised the coalition forces even more was that the poverty of the people in the area and the decline of the people's livelihood and economy were astonishing.Be it in cities, towns or villages, or in prefectures and counties, there are beggars and refugees everywhere, and bodies that died of cold and starvation can be found everywhere.

You must know that Yongping Mansion is located in the Zhili jurisdiction of the Qing Dynasty. It is near the capital, and it is completely in the rear. Compared with the southern Zhili of the Ming Dynasty, it is a hell on earth.

On the evening of February 2, the coalition forces captured Changli and encountered only slight resistance, with less than ten casualties.

On February 2, the coalition forces rushed to Laoting and conquered it immediately.

On February 2, the coalition forces attacked Luanzhou and immediately went down.

As a result, except for a few counties in the north, almost the entire Yongping Prefecture fell in less than a month, shaking the capital.
-
March 3, Shandong, Jining.

After reading the edict in his hand, Shu Mulu Yide, the great general of Dingyuan in the Qing Dynasty, turned livid and his expression looked extremely ferocious.

"Marshal, but there has been a change in the capital?" Peng Chun, the first-class official and deputy governor of the Eight Banners of Manchuria, Zhengbai Banner, asked cautiously.

"The Qi people have launched a sneak attack and landed behind us again!...Moreover, they chose Yongping Mansion this time." Yide breathed out a foul breath, and handed the edict to Peng Chun, "The emperor's edict, let Let's mobilize the cavalry to return to the north and defend the capital."

"Marshal, what the people of Qi did is a strategy of attacking the west. They deliberately mobilized our Qing soldiers to help the north." Tu Hai dissuaded him: "If the cavalry is sent back to the capital, then we can use it in Shandong and Jianghuai areas." You can't rely on the powerful mobility of the cavalry to intercept and kill all the soldiers and horses of the Ming army!"

"But the emperor has an edict, is it possible that we still have to resist the edict?" Yide glared at Tuhai, "The Qi people landed in Jieshi Port more than a month ago, with tens of thousands of troops, not only captured Shanhaiguan, It also swept across the entire Yongping Mansion, and the soldiers headed straight to Kaiping, only one step away from the capital. Can you guarantee that the people of Qi will not go straight to the capital in the next step and hand over our wives and children to the same pot?"

"Marshal, although all the northern soldiers and horses have gathered here, leaving the capital empty. But the capital has hundreds of thousands of troops. If it is urgently mobilized, thousands of soldiers who dare to fight can be gathered. Moreover, the capital city has high walls and thick defense facilities. Perfect, the people of Qi came to attack from afar, so they must not be able to carry heavy siege artillery. In this way, the situation in the capital seems to be dangerous, but in fact it is not a serious problem. But if we transfer the cavalry back to the north, then the battlefield pressure we are currently forming on the Ming army The situation will no longer exist. This will inevitably give the Ming army a chance to mobilize troops and horses calmly, and then compete with me for Shandong."

"Tu Hai is right, but Qi State captured Shanhaiguan Pass and cut off Liaodong. This is digging out our nest!" Peng Chun said with a wry smile: "If Qi people don't go to attack the capital, but instead turn around and enter Liaodong, Then our ancestral land will be ruined by them! If North Korea and Bohai State got the letter and took the opportunity to invade Liaodong, with Wu Mahu (the current general of Shengjing) and the thousands of people, they would not be able to protect them. stay!"

"At this time of year, the ice along the northern coast has melted. If Qi directly transports soldiers, horses and heavy artillery to Tianjin by sea ships, then the knife will be placed on the soft belly of the capital." Eight Banners of Manchuria embroidered with red flags Du Tong Lai Shuo said worriedly.

"...The people of Qi will not attack the capital, nor will they attack Liaodong." Tu Hai still insisted on his opinion, "For more than 20 years, although Qi has repeatedly landed and attacked the rear of the Qing Dynasty, it has never penetrated more than [-] miles inland. Gein, because they don’t have many soldiers and are extremely dependent on logistics, they can only harass the coastal areas.”

"Who said that the Qi people did not penetrate more than two hundred miles inland?" Lai Shuo retorted: "More than 20 years ago, the Qi people broke through our Shengjing."

"..." Tuhai was suddenly at a loss for words.

"Okay, don't argue." Yide shouted loudly: "No matter what, the emperor's order, we must obey it."

"Lai Shuo is the chief general, and Peng Chun is the deputy. The two of you will lead [-] Manchurian Eight Banners cavalry and return to the capital in the starry night."

"Whoo!"

Seeing this, Tu Hai sighed insignificantly, fearing that the battle with the Ming army would be repeated again.

(End of this chapter)