I

  Chapter 522 519 [Manchu Zhizhi]

  The guard of Xiuyan City is called Dopoluo, the grandson of Fei Yingdong, the five founding ministers of the Later Jin Dynasty.

   Logically speaking, with his capacity, he should have been in a high position long ago. However, although grandpa is awesome, but his grandfather has ten sons, and a nephew like Oboi, how can he climb up quickly?

   What's more, Dopoluo's father, Suohai, is still an out-and-out scammer.

  When Hai Lanzhu died of illness, Huang Taiji was in great grief, but Suo Hai even invited Zu Dale to drink and watch plays at home quietly.

  Huang Taiji was furious because of this, and asked the Ministry of Criminal Justice to declare Suo Hai's death penalty, and then he was exempted from death and dismissed from his post, and Niu Lu was also sent away in half.

  Suo Hai not only offended Huang Taiji, but also offended Dorgon. He set off with Dorgon, ran to encircle Jinzhou, withdrew his troops privately before the fight started, and set up camp far away from Jinzhou City, almost killing Dorgon there.

   What's more, Suo Hai's cousin Aobai is a staunch opponent of Dorgon.

  Meeting such a cheating father, although Duopolo was the deputy capital commander, he was transferred to the mountains to guard the city. It is normal that he only has 800 soldiers under his command.

   "What? In the mountains south of Xiuyan City, there is a large army of southern barbarians?" Duopolo was shocked.

  The Eight Banners officer who fled back said: "The Jurchen hunters in the mountains colluded with those southern barbarians. They deliberately led the way indiscriminately!"

  Duo Poluo said angrily: "Eating food from inside out, as a member of the Jurchen tribe, he actually hooked up with the Nanman. How many Nanman soldiers are there?"

  The Eight Banners officer said: "I don't know. The southern barbarians set up an ambush in the mountains. They fired guns and cannons all at once. It is impossible to see how many ambushed. But judging from the formation, there may be as many as two or three thousand!"

   Two or three thousand Datong troops?

  Dopolo was a little frightened. At this time, the Manchu nobles had already been psychologically shadowed by the Datong Army.

   What's more, like his father, Dopolo is not a person who can fight well. This guy likes to enjoy himself. He has learned Chinese since he was a child, and he also has a Han opera troupe at home.

Dopoluo thought for a long time, and ordered: "The whole army is not allowed to go out of the city, and quickly collect supplies for the defense of the city. All the bannermen outside the city are recruited into the city, and their families are also brought into the city. Also, go to When Shengjing asked for help, he said that there was a Nanman army attacking Xiuyan City!"

  Manchus also lived around Xiuyan City, all of whom were family members of the original 202 Eight Banners defenders. As for the military households of the Ming Dynasty, some were taken to Shenyang, and the rest were used as coats and serfs for the local bannermen. They farmed the land outside the city, and the food they grew was used to supply the defenders.

  Receiving the mobilization order from Dopolo, the Manchus outside the city set off quickly, dragging their families with them all to the city. They took away most of the slaves, but left a small amount of coats to manage their own serfs.

  Yang Zhenqing waited left and right, but he didn't wait until the Eight Banners soldiers came to kill him.

  He sent some Jurchen mountain people to inquire around Xiuyan City. Only then did I realize that all the Manchus had entered the city, leaving only Baoyi and serfs outside the city. Only in the important mountain roads, there are some Eight Banners soldiers sentry, while other Eight Banners soldiers are defending the city.

   "Follow me to Xiuyan City!" Yang Zhenqing ordered immediately.

  500 Datong Independence Battalion fighters used captured horses to carry food and grass, and swaggered towards the enemy's city.

  The Eight Banners soldiers in Xiuyan City, plus the temporarily recruited bannermen, have at least 1,200 troops.

Duopolo soon received the news, and he said to the generals under his command: "The Nanman Datong army has thousands of people, and these 500 enemy troops are not covering up, and they are rushing towards our army. There must be some kind of conspiracy!" Du Tong studied "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" at the age of 15, and he knows the strategies of the Han people like the palm of his hand. The 500 enemy troops in front of him must have come to lure our army to attack. Once our Eight Banners warriors pursue and kill them, there will be ambushes in the mountains. The enemy army I have seen through the plot, none of you are allowed to leave the city, defending Xiuyan City is considered meritorious service. I have already sent people to ask for reinforcements in Shengjing!"

   "Dutong is really smart, the tricks of the Han people are useless."

  “Han people are used to playing tricks, but they definitely can’t fool Dutong.”

   "Don't worry, we promise not to leave the city!"

   "..."

  Topolo looked complacent, as if he really had a plan in mind.

  In fact, he is just afraid of death, and feels that it is safer to defend the city, and there is no need to go out to take risks.

   This guy has been fighting with the army since he was a child, but he always fights with the wind. He was able to make meritorious deeds and was promoted to deputy capital commander. He was a remnant soldier who entered the pass to hunt down and kill Li Zicheng. He led more than a thousand Eight Banners troops and surrendered tens of thousands of enemies inexplicably.

  Dopolo was preparing to evacuate at that time, but the opponent surrendered too quickly, and it was difficult not to make great contributions.

  Under Duopolo's defensive order, Yang Zhenqing's independent battalion went unimpeded all the way, and soon came to a village twenty miles southwest of Xiuyan City.

  The village is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and three mountain passages meet here to form a relatively flat mountain valley. And there is a small river flowing through it, which is very suitable for farming.

  Unfortunately, the arable land area is very small, and there are less than a thousand people living here, including bannermen, bandits, and serfs.

  Now, all the bannermen are gone.

  A few coats, who resembled manor housekeepers, urged the serfs to work, while subconsciously looking towards the entrance of the village.

   "The Han army is coming!" A coat exclaimed, and then ran away.

  The other coats in the village also ran away after hearing the news. From the day their master left, they were tense, guessing that the Datong army would come to kill them.

   But Xiuyan City is too small, there are civilians in the city, there are hundreds of garrisons, and many bannermen withdrew into the city with their livestock. Where is the room for coats and serfs? Even if you want to bring slaves, you can only bring one or two close confidants.

"Chase!"

  Yang Zhenqing gave an order, and several soldiers who could ride horses rode the captured war horses and chased towards those coats.

  The river valley to the north is the only road.

  Two legs could not run with four legs, and the packers were soon caught up, and they knelt down and kowtowed to beg for mercy: "Master, please forgive me, I am a Han, not a Tartar!"

   Soldiers from the Independent Battalion searched the whole village and came back to report: "Yingzheng, there are no Tartars here, not even livestock. All valuables have been removed, and there is only a small amount of food left in each family."

"Take everyone back to the Jurchen brothers' stockade and wait there first," Yang Zhenqing said, "Tell the Jurchen brothers to borrow some food from them, and I will give you military tickets when I go back. These military tickets can be used in Jinzhou, Fuzhou State and Gaizhou give priority to purchasing grain and salt."

   A total of four coats were captured and more than 400 Han serfs were rescued.

   There are also some serfs who were forced to carry money and food for Qi Ding, and they are now outside Xiuyan City. They were unable to enter the city, and all huddled at the gate of the city as beggars.

  Sent some soldiers to lead these serfs back, Yang Zhenqing ordered again: "All the houses in the village are burned!"

  The flat land of the river valley becomes wider and wider as it goes north, and there are more and more places that can be cultivated, so a city appears in the mountains. Xiuyan City not only has a wide terrain, but also has two rivers converging, so the soil is relatively fertile.

  I can meet Han Chinese serfs along the way. Some bannermen are so cruel that they don’t keep food at all and take away all they can eat. Some serfs have been hungry for two or three days.

   Until approaching Xiuyan City for five miles, Yang Zhenqing finally stopped advancing.

   It's not that I'm afraid, but that there are too many serfs rescued. If we continue to move forward, I'm afraid they will starve to death on the way back.

  Go back to the village of the Jurchen mountain people to count the number of people. They seized a total of 9 coats and rescued more than 1,500 Han Chinese serfs. In addition, there was nothing to gain, not a single donkey was snatched, and half of the tartars were not killed.

  Yang Zhenqing sent people to send the serfs down the mountain, and by the way took the Jurchen mountain people to Jinzhou to carry grain. The Jurchen people in the mountains had a hard time. There was not so much food for the independent camps, and they had to supply it every three months. The Jurchen people could also take the opportunity to go down the mountain to buy grain and salt.

   Knowing that the Datong army had withdrawn, Dopolo was very complacent, and said to the generals on the left and right: "The enemy retreated without success and wasted rations. Our army can be said to have won without fighting."

  The Eight Banners generals were full of slander, but they didn't dare to refute, because this was Fei Yingdong's grandson.

  Only those bannermen who retreated into the city hated Duopolo so much. More than a thousand serfs were snatched away, and they were all talking animals. Could it be that the bannermen were allowed to go to the fields by themselves in the future?

   More than a month later, it is almost winter.

   Yang Zhenqing, who had finished supplying food and grass, marched towards Xiuyan City again.

  Toporo still couldn’t hold out, the bannermen were smarter this time, and took all the serfs outside the city, so that the Datong army could not easily **** them away. It was impossible to enter the city, it was too crowded, and they were afraid of serf riots, so they would just throw them outside the city gate to fend for themselves.

   There are bannermen who love the serfs, and they will go out of the city regularly to feed, fearing that their talking animals will starve to death.

  When Yang Zhenqing came outside the moat, more than 3,000 serfs had gathered under the city wall. The cold wind was blowing violently. They wore ragged cotton clothes and squatted under the wall like beggars. They were cold and hungry, and many people fell ill.

   "Don't go out of the city to fight, the enemy army will retreat by itself, they don't have siege equipment." Duopolo said with confidence.

At this moment, the military mission officer stood by the moat and shouted at the Han serfs: "Brothers and sisters of the Han family, we are sent by the emperor of the Han people to rescue you. Come across the river quickly and take you down the mountain. There is food to eat." , have clothes to wear, and a doctor when sick!"

  The serfs looked blankly, shouted several times in a row, and finally someone stood up.

  The suspension bridge over the moat was not destroyed, and the serfs worked together to lower the suspension bridge. Immediately, more than 3,000 serfs stood up one after another, hesitated for a few seconds, and ran towards the suspension bridge in a swarm.

  When crossing the bridge, it was very chaotic, and some serfs were even squeezed into the river. It's freezing cold, even if you don't drown, you will definitely catch a cold and have a fever.

   "The capital and the Han slaves have all run away, and Xiuyan City will be finished!" An Eight Banners officer said anxiously.

  The main arable land in Xiuyan City is in the south, although there is also in the north, but it is not so fertile, and the arable land area is not so large. All the serfs in the south ran away, so they couldn't grow food, so they couldn't supply the city. In time, the garrison in the city would starve.

  The surrounding area is full of big mountains, and it was impossible for the Manchu and Qing Dynasties to transport grain to this place.

Another Eight Banners officer said: "Dutong, take the opportunity to go out of the city to hide and kill. Those Han slaves are in a mess. Let's kill them, and the Han slaves will be even more confused. There are only a few hundred enemy troops outside the city. If we lead our troops to hide and kill, we will definitely be defeated!"

  Topolo took a closer look and found that this was indeed the case. He immediately ordered: "Follow me and kill the city!"

  (end of this chapter)