Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 57 The Poison Plan, Duoduo Throwing the Corpse
Jiangbei fell into the hands of the Qing court, leaving only the isolated city of Yangzhou, struggling to support the north bank.

The 30 Qing army joined forces for eighty miles, and there was a great potential to break Yangzhou, drink horses to the Yangtze River, and throw whips to cut off the flow.When the Qing army came here, the peak of the army was as prosperous as that of Fu Jian in the former Qin Dynasty, but the Hongguang Dynasty was not the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

After Wang Yan recaptured Yangzhou, the Hongguang court wanted to send soldiers from Fujian to help, but Jiangbei and Zuozhen had already exhausted all the money and food in the court, and could not meet Zheng Zhilong's request, so they had to give up.

The threat of the Qing army in Jiangbei has surpassed the rebels in Zuozhen, so Ma Shiying had to compromise and dispatched 1 soldiers from Chizhou to rescue Yangzhou. So many people dare not cross the river rashly.

Zheng Hongkui, a Jiang Waterproof Master, quickly wrote to the imperial court, saying: "I see that there are more than [-] soldiers stationed on the river bank, while Zhenjiang's soldiers are less than [-]. If they forcefully cross to aid Yang, they may be outnumbered, and Jiang Fang will also lose. I implore Your Majesty, if you send tens of thousands more soldiers, you will be able to join forces with the generals to help the generals, destroy the coastal defenses, and save the people of Yangzhou."

After the Hongguang Dynasty got the report, Donglin's party wanted to transfer Huang to help Yang again. Ma Shiying's party and the emperor were worried that the left would take advantage of the situation and refused, saying: "We can recruit soldiers to aid Yang!"

People from Donglin retorted, saying: "The imperial court has no money, so how can they recruit soldiers?"

Ma Ruan's party said: "You can add land taxes and levy business taxes."

People from Donglin are gentry from the south of the Yangtze River, representatives of aristocratic families. Naturally, they couldn't tolerate it, and strongly objected: "Tax increases will hurt the people, and they may stir up civil uprisings!"

The two parties are arguing endlessly. Whatever one party proposes, the other party will inevitably oppose.

The minister who wanted to do practical things was suddenly disheartened. Zuo Maodi saw that he could not influence the court situation in the court hall, and only heard that there were endless quarrels every day.

The party struggle in the Hongguang Dynasty made Wang Yan recapture Yangzhou, and the precious time he bought for Daming was wasted, and he missed the opportunity to adjust his strategy.

Not long after, the Zhunta troops arrived in Yangzhou, all Jiangbei soldiers and horses surrendered to the Qing court, and the news that 30 soldiers besieged Yangzhou reached the court. But at this time, when he was thinking about deploying troops, he had already wasted a precious month.

At this time, neither Fujian nor Hunan and Guangdong soldiers could quench their thirst. The emperor and his courtiers could only hope that Wang Yan, who was guarding Yangzhou, would be able to hold on to the city and keep the Qing army in Jiangbei.

In order to seize the life-saving straw in Yangzhou, the emperor and his courtiers hurriedly appointed officials and nobles to all the people in Yangzhou. Wang Yan was then promoted to two ranks, and he was named the general of Guangzhou, General Dragon and Tiger, and Zhongyong Bo, in charge of Yangzhou's defense.

The sealed letter of the imperial edict was sent to Yangzhou overnight, but at this time the Qing army had already controlled part of the waterway, and the envoys, like the reinforcements on the south bank, could only travel as far as Zhenjiang, and sighed at the heart of the river.

Doduo's 30 troops besieged Yangzhou, occupying a huge advantage, and even climbed the city wall many times, but they were all driven down by the Ming army in the end.The Qing court wanted to make a quick decision, but Yangzhou was unable to attack for a long time, which made Duoduo very annoyed.

At this time, it was the beginning of June, the weather in the south of the Yangtze River was getting hotter, and the epidemic began to spread in the Qing army camp. Duoduo suddenly had a poisonous plan in his mind, and then he asked craftsmen to build hundreds of catapults.

In a few days, the catapult was built, and Duoduo then ordered the Qing army to slaughter the people, expose the corpses to the sun, and then throw them into the city.

Doduo wanted to create a plague to defeat the Yangzhou defenders, but the plague was not easy to control. He ordered the army to garrison in separate camps, and ordered the Qing soldiers to arrest the doctors, and brought a large number of medicinal herbs to prevent the epidemic from appearing in the Qing army camps. Plague broke out.

Wang Yan did not expect that the Qing army would be so vicious, so he quickly ordered people to burn the corpses and summoned the doctors in Yangzhou City. However, the epidemic spread quickly in Yangzhou City, causing a large number of people in the city to be infected every day.

More than 70 soldiers and civilians were sheltered in the city of Yangzhou. It was already very messy and was surrounded on all sides. The filthy things could not be transported out of the city for burial. It was easy to cause diseases. , collapsed in an instant, and the epidemic broke out, reaping human lives.

Yangzhou, already in crisis, has become even more precarious.

In the city of Yangzhou, more than a month of defense resulted in the death of more than 3 young men in Yangzhou and the wounding of 4 generations. Wang Yan only had more than [-] soldiers left.

Now that the epidemic is rampant in the city, although Wang Yan has people boil hot water, isolate the sick, burn corpses, and dispose of excrement, but there is a lack of medicinal materials in the city, he still fails to control the epidemic, and the defenders have infected thousands of people.

With the consumption of more than 70 soldiers and civilians in the city, the food and grass in the city became scarce, and various supplies began to be scarce. Yangzhou had reached a moment of crisis.

Wang Yan originally thought that after Yangzhou was recaptured, Ming's reinforcements would soon cross the river to support him, but he did not expect that Liu Liangzuo's [-] reinforcements would go to the Qing court first, and then there was no news of the Zhongyi Battalion infantry and other Ming's reinforcements who were supposed to arrive. It is said that guarding Yangzhou can only rely on young men and thousands of officers and soldiers in the city.

An isolated city cannot be defended for a long time. Yangzhou was besieged by 30 Qing troops. In addition, the city was plagued by epidemics. Without support, Yangzhou's blood would be drained sooner or later. Wang Yan had to fight for a way out for the more than 70 soldiers and civilians in the city.

It is impossible for him to give up the people and watch them being slaughtered by the Qing soldiers, so he cannot break out with soldiers and horses, and the Qing army will not retreat, so he can only hope that the imperial court will send reinforcements quickly.

It was night, in a military camp in Yangzhou City, torches were brightly lit, three thousand soldiers stood on the school field, and in front of them were a hundred unarmored strong men, including Hu Weizong, Zhang Youde, and Dai Zhifan.

They did not participate in the defense of the city during the day, but recharged their batteries and waited for the arrival of night to complete their usual special mission.

The flickering torches shone on the faces of the crowd, exuding a sense of murderousness. The hundred warriors were selected by Wang Yan to be able to swim and be good at fighting. Most of them were men who lived on the canal. The Qing army went south, Let them become the defenders of Yangzhou and the warriors who brandish their swords to defend their families.

Today, each of these hundred people has a letter of appeal for help stamped with Wang Yan's official seal, and each of them is a hope for Yangzhou.

"The wind is rustling, the water is cold, and the strong men will never return once they are gone!" Wang Yan shouted with a trace of grief and indignation as he looked at the armored soldiers and hundreds of strong men in front of the school field with a saber in his hand.

"Yangzhou is besieged on all sides. I will be trapped in the city like you. The disease is rampant in the city. If the siege cannot be relieved, I will die in the city with your relatives." Wang Yan looked at the hundred people and suddenly said: "Yangzhou people, I I will entrust my life to your hands today. Tonight, I will personally lead the soldiers to fight a bloody road for you. You must not forget the entrustment of the fathers and elders in Yangzhou, and move here to rescue the soldiers and relieve the people from their lives!"

(End of this chapter)