Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 46 Entering Yangzhou and gathering the defeated army
Wang Yan watched thick smoke rising from Yangzhou City in the distance, and suddenly felt as if struck by lightning, his chest felt tight, and a mouthful of blood spewed out. He fell off the galloping horse and fell unconscious.

Seeing this, the cavalrymen behind were almost frightened out of their wits. They either reined in their horses or turned their heads around so that they didn't let their horses step on Wang Yan.

At this time, Li Taizhen and the others quickly got off their horses, stepped on the mud and rain, and rushed to Wang Yan's side to check his body.

"General! General! Wake up!"

"General! Are you okay!" Everyone called out anxiously.

Wang Yan was suffocating in his heart, spat out a mouthful of blood, and his heart was already much smoother. Now everyone was shaking for a while, and he woke up slowly, but he fell off the horse, causing him pain all over his body.

Fortunately for Wang Yan, the ground became muddy due to the rain, and when he fell, he did not cause serious injuries.

At this time, with the support of everyone, he stood up slowly, and then said: "I'm fine, you don't have to worry."

When everyone heard the words and saw that he could move, they were relieved.

Seeing the thick smoke rising in the distance, everyone's hearts tightened again. Li Taizhen couldn't help but said: "It seems that Yangzhou has been captured by the Qing soldiers. Whether we still want to go to Yangzhou or not is up to the general to decide!"

Last night Wang Yan heard about the Qing army's bombardment, and today he saw thick smoke rising from the city of Yangzhou. Even if the Qing soldiers broke through the city, there would not be much time yet, because there should still be Ming troops resisting in the city.The Qing army's siege has always been an old trick of besieging three and missing one. The Ming army and the common people in Yangzhou City, seeing the Qing army entering the city, must now flock to the south gate, trying to escape Yangzhou, but the Qing army must have ambushed soldiers and horses, preparing to attack the city. Cover and kill along the way.

"Let's go to Yangzhou!" After Wang Yan figured it out, he resolutely decided to go to Yangzhou to save people. "Get on your horses and follow me straight to the south gate!"

"Here!" The cavalry responded in unison when they heard the words.

Seeing this, Wang Yan was very satisfied. Everyone knew that Yangzhou had been destroyed, and it must be very dangerous to go there, but no one questioned it. It was obvious that the military regulations of the Zhongyi Camp had been deeply rooted in everyone's hearts.

"Let's go!" Wang Yan got on his horse, and many cavalrymen behind him stepped on their horses one by one. Wang Yan waved his whip forward, and the army ran towards the south gate of Yangzhou in the rain.

In the south of Yangzhou City, at the city gate, a group of soldiers and horses drove away the civilians, and rushed out of the city protecting an old man, causing a commotion at the city gate.

At this time, the Qing soldiers ambushing outside the city also took advantage of the situation and rushed straight to the city gate.

Seeing this, the people who originally wanted to escape from the south gate suddenly despaired. The Qing army rushed into the crowd and hacked at random. The people at the city gate were cut to pieces immediately.

The old man was guarded by many Ming soldiers. Seeing that the outside of the city gate was blocked by the Qing soldiers, and seeing people continue to die under the swords of the Qing soldiers, the expression on his face was extremely painful, and he shouted loudly towards the Qing soldiers outside the city: "My governor is also! Don't kill the people without authorization!"

The Qing soldiers ambushing at the south gate were members of Zhang Tianlu's troops who had just joined the Qing court. They heard Shi Kefa's voice, and they were overjoyed when they saw that it was him.

Zhang Tianlu couldn't help laughing when he saw Shi Ge's department. This was a credit from God, so he left the people and came to Shi Kefa.

Seeing this, many Ming soldiers quickly drew their swords to fight, but there were many Qing soldiers, and the Ming army was over after all. Shi Kefa's aide, Gui Zhao, was killed on the spot, and the rest of the Ming army was also killed by the Qing army.

Zhang Tianlu captured Shi Kefa, he was ecstatic, but the ground shook behind him, he thought it was Qing cavalry, but he didn't think it was Wang Yan who killed him.

Unable to defend, Zhang Tianlu's soldiers were overwhelmed by Wang Yan's cavalry.

Zhang Tianlu turned around and saw a Ming army coming suddenly from the south, he was shocked, he didn't know how many troops Wang Yan brought.

Seeing that Wang Yan was about to kill him, Zhang Tianlu put Shi Kefa on the horse, took his guards with him, hit the horse and fled.

Zhang Tianlu's infantry saw that the main general had fled, and there were still thoughts to fight again, so they scattered like birds and beasts.

Wang Yan occupied the south gate and hurriedly asked about the situation in the city. The defeated army and the people all said, "The Qing army massacred the city, it's terrible!"

At this time, more and more people and defeated troops gathered at the gate of the city, and those who were vying to be the first to leave the city.However, Wang Yan knew that the Yangtze River was to the south of the city, and if he ran out without warships, he would only be driven down the Yangtze River by the Qing soldiers and drowned.

Wang Yan climbed up the tower and saw that except for the thick smoke billowing from the west city that fell first, there were still defeated troops resisting the Qing soldiers on the other three sides.

In addition to the remnants of the Ming army in the city now, there are Qing soldiers who are looting everywhere, but there are not many Qing soldiers entering the city.Because Yangzhou is rich and prosperous, the robbery is naturally not the turn of the newly attached traitor troops.

Since Wang Yan set foot on the north bank of the Yangtze River, he had no other choice but to stick to Yangzhou.

Now the Qing army broke through Yangzhou in one day, and after entering the city, they did not meet decent resistance, and each of them has become a proud soldier.

Now that Wang Yan can take advantage of the relaxation of the Qing soldiers, he is not in a hurry to kill him by mistake, not to mention sending the Qing soldiers out of Yangzhou, at least he can rescue more people from the Qing soldiers and gather more remnants.

At this time, as Wang Yan's cavalry entered the south gate, the Qing soldiers who had been killed and scattered outside the city slowly gathered again. They did not dare to attack the city, but blocked the way for the people to flee south.

"Which army is in the city?" As more and more civilians and remnants fled to the south gate, a civil servant from a well-organized Ming army shouted at the city tower.

Seeing this, Wang Yan was overjoyed, and quickly replied: "My commander of the Zhongyi Battalion, Wang Yan, was ordered to rush to the rescue of Yangzhou. This lord hastened to speak."

Hearing that the remnant soldiers immediately protected the civil servant and walked towards the tower, while the people and remnant soldiers below the tower immediately made way for them.

"My Yangzhou Tongzhi Qu Congzhi!" The civil servant clasped his fists and said with blood on his robe and tired face.

"Master Qu, Yangzhou is besieged on all sides, and there is no ship on the Yangtze River to respond. Now the only way is to fight to the death. The general wants to gather the defeated army in the city, but there is no one guarding the southern city. I want to hand it over to the Lord. I wonder if it is possible?" The situation is urgent, Wang Yan directly said what was in his heart.

Standing on the tower, Qu Cong had already seen the Qing army outside the city, and knew that it was impossible to escape. When he heard Wang Yan's words, his face suddenly became solemn, and he clasped his fists and replied, "Don't dare to obey orders."

At that moment, Wang Yan shouted again on the tower, recruiting strong men to guard the south gate, looking for officials and officers to rectify the defeated army.

The common people knew that the south gate had been blocked by the Qing army, and the Qing army was massacring inside the city, so they immediately lost their minds, but seeing that the cavalry of the Zhongyi Camp were not disturbed, they felt relieved and listened to Wang Yan's orders.

In a short while, Wang Yan was helped by many officials and righteous men such as Gao Xiaozuan, Wang Shixiu, Wang Ji, Wang Xu, the doctor Chen Tianba, the painter Lu Yu, the Jiangdu County successor Wang Zhiduan, and the meritorious general Jiang Sicheng.

At that moment, Wang Yan handed over the south gate to Qu Congzhi and others to defend, while he divided Zhongyi into ten teams, each with a hundred people, and went to kill in the city.

He Gang saw five women committing suicide, and angrily killed the Qing soldiers, but there were too many Qing soldiers, and there were only dozens of Ming soldiers left. Just when he was feeling desperate, another Ming army suddenly rushed in from the courtyard.

It is true that Wang Yan kept gathering the defeated troops in the city, and after rectifying them a little, he sent people to bring the rectified defeated troops to continue saving people in the city.

Wang Yan asked them to wipe out a small group of Qing soldiers when they encountered them, and avoid their edge when they encountered a large group of Qing soldiers, and contact other Ming army squads until they had an absolute advantage in strength, and then fought against them.

Yangzhou city is densely covered with streets and numerous houses and courtyards, which provided an excellent terrain for the Ming army to fight.

The infantry attacked everywhere, and the cavalry supported them at any time, and immediately killed the Qing army who were looting separately.

Li Taizhen brought one hundred cavalry and two hundred infantry just to wipe out a group of Qing soldiers. He passed by the courtyard where He Gang fought with the Qing army, and found the Ming army besieged by the Qing army. He immediately led the Ming army and rushed in.

He Gang, who had been forced into a desperate situation, suddenly felt relieved, and instead killed the Qing soldiers in front of him. He was overjoyed, and immediately reacted, rushed into the house, and took down the five women.

(There are several theories about Shi Kefa being captured, some say Ximen, some say North Gate, the author changed it to South Gate here, and Gui Zhao also changed it to South Gate and died in battle. Most of the names appearing in this chapter are from the battle when Yangzhou City was broken. dead or martyred.)
(End of this chapter)