Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 195
In addition, after the defeat of Jingzhou, Du Yinxi led the troops back to Changde, and the Qing general Huaishun Wang Geng Zhongming led the Eight Banners of the Han Army to arrive later.

Du Yinxi originally wanted to rely on the mountains and forests in western Hunan to block the Qing soldiers, but Geng Zhongming pursued him closely and went directly to Yongding City, where he surrounded Du Yinxi in groups.

The Ming army was newly defeated and had no morale. Du Yinxi had no choice but to quickly send people out of the siege to seek help from He Tengjiao. , no one dares to go north to aid Yongding."

When Du Yinxi heard the words, he was furious, "Tengjiao misled me, and I will die now!", and then vomited blood again and fainted.

At the intersection of Sichuan and Hubei, Li Guo and others led the defeated Shun army and retreated to the Three Gorges area. Luck Dehun led the Eight Banners of Manchuria to follow closely. The Qing soldiers pursued, but more than [-] Shun troops lost all their food and grass, and were blocked by the Qing soldiers in the barren Three Gorges. Within a few days, due to the lack of food and grass, they would completely collapse.

Wang Yan did not know the situation of the Ming army on the West Road. He relied on his instincts on the battlefield to conclude that if the Qing soldiers were not quickly forced to retreat, the hundreds of thousands of troops that Ming had managed to recruit would surely be wiped out again.

Time was urgent, but Wang Yan only had 4000 troops in his hands, so he went directly to the rescue. Facing the main forces of the Manchu and Han Eight Banners, he could only do nothing, so he chose to encircle Wei and save Zhao, and went to fight Yuezhou.

In addition, Wang Yan led 4000 troops across the Xinqiang River without waiting for Dai Zhifan's rear army. He had already thought about the upcoming situation in many ways.

The situation he faced was nothing more than two. First, Zu Kefa was guarding Yuezhou tightly. He had no siege equipment, insufficient food and logistics, and he had few soldiers and horses. Naturally, he could not capture Yuezhou. The strategic goal of mobilizing the Qing army could not be accomplished.

This is the situation Wang Yan is least willing to see, but if this is the case, he is not completely helpless, but he needs to take risks, bypass Yuezhou, and directly attack Wuchang.

Second, Zu Kefa saw that he had few soldiers, so he went out of the city to fight, either with a dignified division, or with tricks to attack.

This was what Wang Yan wanted to see the most. He continued to fight quickly, so no matter what tactics Zu Kefa used, as long as he didn't hide in the city, Wang Yan was confident that he would defeat his army in one battle.

On the 21st of the first lunar month, Wang Yan's entire army crossed the Xinqiang River with the help of Man Dazhuang, and soon after, Tanma told Zu Kefa to lead an army of [-] troops, leave Yuezhou, and look south, hoping to find him for a decisive battle.

Wang Yan was immediately overjoyed when he heard the news. He was thinking about how to lure the enemy out of the city, but Zu Kefa left Yuezhou by himself, so he ordered the army to rest by the river, waiting for the arrival of the Qing soldiers.

At this time, Wang Yan found Man Dazhuang again and asked him to bring all the boats back to the south bank of the Xinqiang River.

Man Dazhuang also knew that Zu Kefa led 4000 soldiers to kill him, but Wang Yan only had [-] troops, and now he wanted to drag all the boats away from the north bank, because he wanted to fight the Qing soldiers without leaving a way out.

Man Dazhuang's heart was shaken by Wang Yan's boldness, he couldn't help but solemnly clasped his fists, saluted Wang Yan, and then retreated respectfully.

On the north bank of the river, the soldiers of the pro-supervisor army sat on the ground to rest, with dry food in their mouths, watching the Manda Zhuang who took them across the river and brought all the ferries back to the south bank. The whole army was silent.

Xie Kuang and the two hundred scholars knew that Wang Yan was going to cut off the way back, so they fought with their backs, and panicked in their hearts.

They are all scholars who have never been on the battlefield. They have never even killed a chicken, but now they have to face the murderous Qing soldiers. There is no reason not to panic.

Wang Yan looked at them, but now he stepped forward, "On the battlefield, swords have no eyes. Once you are on the battlefield, life and death are no longer in your hands, and it depends entirely on the destiny. You are all scholars, yes The great talent of the country is not the way to serve the country. If anyone is timid, there is still a small boat that can take you back to the south bank. But if you decide to stay, put away your timidity and use the sword in your hand , Let the Tartars see your yellow blood, hold up your heads, and die like a righteous man, go to fight."

After Wang Yan finished speaking, he turned and left, leaving them to think for themselves.

Xie Kuang and other scholars stood up after hearing Wang Yan's words. They looked at each other, and many of them showed timidity in their eyes.

"Let's all go back~ This is not the work of scholars. To kill Tartars, we still have to watch our Yangzhou soldiers~"

"That's it, that's it... everyone has no strength to restrain them, and I will have to take care of them when the time comes. Go back to study quickly, get a good reputation, and benefit the local people. That's the right way."

"Liu Heizi, Ma Zhanji, you two don't want to live anymore~ Grandpa Guo and Lord Qianhu are both scholars~"

"Oh, how did I forget about this~"

"Who dares to tell Qianhu, whoever I will kill~"

The old soldiers in the supervising and pro-military army, when they saw this group of hesitant scholars, they made fun of them, which attracted two hundred scholars, and their faces turned red.

Xie Kuang looked at those old soldiers who were smiling and looking at them, and then looked at those old soldiers who silently ate the food in their hands, or lowered their heads to wipe their swords, looked at their calmness, their determination, They faced life and death calmly, and he knew that he could not escape by boat.

At this time, he suddenly remembered the lyrics and music that Wang Yan sang at the beginning, so he couldn't help singing softly: "If you don't see it, the army at the end of the Han Dynasty, the weak crowned captive invites Changying, if you don't see it, Ban Dingyuan, Jueyu Qingqi urges Zhanyun !"

Among the crowd looking around, many scholars heard him singing softly, and couldn't help singing along. Their voices ranged from small to loud, to high-pitched. The trace of hesitation and timidity in their eyes gradually turned into determination. Cheng Wuwei: "A man should be in danger, how can he let the Confucian crown miss his life? The situation is that the country is in danger, and the feathers are fighting endlessly! Abandon my old pen, write my wartime jin, and call for more than [-] people with lofty ideals. Sing the battle song and join the army together. Join the army together, clean up the dust, and swear to sweep the slaves regardless of themselves~~"

"The northern captives are not peaceful, I don't cross the river!"

"No more Chu land, I don't cross the river!"

"The south bank is my hometown, I don't cross the river!"

"Like Liang Hongyu beating drums on the golden mountain, I don't cross the river!"

"Learn from the ancestors and hit Zhao Haoerlang, I will not cross the river!"

~~~

The two hundred scholars shouted urgently amidst the singing, which moved Wang Yan and the old soldiers around him.

On the south bank of the Xinqiang River, Manda Zhuang stood by the river, listening to the singing from the other bank, hearing the urgent calls of the scholars, a mist could not help sprouting in his eyes, and the guards guarding him, Then he looked at the tears streaming down the general's face in disbelief.

Seeing this, Man Dazhuang quickly turned around and scolded: "Damn it, scholars are troublesome, just a few words will make my blood boil~"

(End of this chapter)