It has long been an unwritten rule that the Qing army would massacre and plunder cities every time they went on a campaign.
Why were the soldiers and horses led by Jin Shenghuan, Li Liangdong and others so brave when they were on the side of the Qing court, destroying cities and villages one after another?
After returning to the Ming Dynasty anyway, the combat effectiveness will begin to show off?
In addition to the strict military laws of the Qing army, the reason was that during every battle, there were Eight Banners soldiers behind the scenes to supervise the battle and suppress the formation.
It was because they followed the Qing army and were able to massacre and plunder cities at will.
But this is not possible on the Ming side!
Shang Kexi doesn't want to take care of these bad things, and he doesn't have the ability to take care of them!
He also hoped that these soldiers would work for him in the coming year and destroy the Ming thieves in Macau, Leizhou and other places.
If we don’t let the rebel soldiers have a good year now, that will definitely not work!
Fortunately, although these rebels raped and looted, not many dared to kill.
After all, Guangdong is the provincial capital and the headquarters of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, so the Qing army did not dare to go too far.
However, the only place they dare not go too far is near Guangzhou City!
Villages and towns further away from Guangzhou are not so lucky.
Many villages were turned into a dead zone under the looting and massacre of the Qing army.
These rebels, perhaps out of the desire to cover up their criminal facts, often choose to burn the village to the ground after killing and looting.
These robbers seemed to think that a blazing flame could eliminate all evil.
A large number of people near Guangzhou Prefecture could not stand the massacre by the Qing army, so they chose to drag their families and families south to Hong Kong, Macau and other places, hoping to seek asylum from the Ming Dynasty.
…
On the way from Guangdong to Macau, a team in ragged clothes and panic-stricken expressions was heading south little by little.
"Let's go quickly, everyone, let's go quickly."
"The Qing Tatars are coming to catch up!"
"..."
The common people brought their families with them, carrying large and small packages on their backs, while the landlords and gentry drove oxen and donkey carts filled with food and property.
Xia Haikang had a look of deep fear on his face. He was a wealthy man from Huizhou Prefecture, and his family owned a wide range of properties and shops.
Every year before and after Chinese New Year, the Xia family would set up a porridge shed outside their village to provide porridge to the people who could not afford to eat.
The Xia family is well-off and does not spend much on porridge.
It's nothing to the Xia family, but it can get a lot of good luck words!
Those who celebrate the Chinese New Year can be considered lucky.
After the porridge is served, the excitement and joy of the New Year will begin!
However, everything changed this year. A large number of rebel soldiers suddenly entered Huizhou.
The festive and joyful atmosphere of the New Year has been swept away!
The rebel soldiers of the Qing army killed everyone they saw and robbed anything they saw. I don’t know how many people died tragically under the butcher’s knife of the Qing army!
Several places in the Xia family's Zhuangzi were attacked by Qing soldiers. Not only were their belongings robbed, but even Zhuangzi was burned to ruins.
In order to survive, the people had no choice but to flee south, dragging their families with them.
As the rebels got closer and closer to Huizhou City, bad news that the village was massacred kept coming. Gradually, even a big family like the Xia family couldn't sit still.
Taking his family with him, he headed south under the protection of his bodyguards, preparing to seek asylum from the Ming Dynasty.
"Husband, how far are we from Macau?"
The curtain of the carriage was opened, revealing a beautiful and delicate face. She was nearly thirty years old, but her charm was still there. She was Xia Haikang's wife.
Xia Haikang looked back and saw the endless fleeing team. His eyes were full of sorrow, but he spoke to comfort them.
"Hurry, hurry!"
His wife couldn't help but speak.
"Ming'er is crying so hard now, can we stop and rest for a while?"
The Ming'er that Mrs. Xia was talking about was called Xia Chongming, and he was Xia Haikang's eldest son.
This name was chosen by Xia Haikang himself!
The heavy one will be repeated, and the loud one will be clear!
Chongming means regaining sight!
Naming his son such a name shows how dissatisfied Xia Haikang was with the rule of the Qing court.
Xia Chongming is only a little over a year old now, which is when he is most vulnerable.
The long hours of driving, running around all night, and the bumps on the road made the child's condition very bad.
Xia Haikang frowned and said.
"Can't rest!"
"When we fled, we took our families with us, but when the prisoners were pursued, it was the cavalry who pursued us."
"Our speed is not as fast as Qinglu. If we rest again, we may be overtaken!"
"I would like to urge everyone to hurry up and hurry up. When we get to Macau, everyone will have a reward!"
"Throw away all the things that are in the way. If you are caught up, if you insist on holding these things now, wouldn't you be helping the Qing prisoners?"
As Xia Haikang spoke, he pointed to the chairs, tables and other furniture on his carriage.
Even though the wood of these furniture was made of precious huanghuali, Xia Haikang did not show any reluctance when he ordered it to be discarded.
"promise!"
The servants around me took orders and threw down a lot of heavy furniture.
These pieces of furniture even caused crowds to grab them!
Without these burdens, the Xia family's team speed has been visibly accelerated a lot.
Xia Haikang rode a horse with a sword on his waist and marched at the front of the team.
At this moment, a puff of smoke suddenly appeared from the land in the north.
A green battalion soldier of the Qing army wearing cotton armor came on horseback!
They formed a loose array in groups of several, and the array formed a line and rushed towards the fleeing team.
If the opponent is an army, a loose formation like the Qing army, then it is purely looking for death!
But because what they have to deal with now is just a group of people who want to escape.
It doesn’t matter what the array is!
Spreading the array apart can surround the people to the greatest extent and prevent anyone from escaping.
The Qing army swept over the formation, and waves of roars sounded on the ground, like a sweeping evil wind, killing the people.
The swords and spears on the hands of these green soldiers of the Qing army were stained with blood, and their cotton armor was also stained with black and smelly blood.
"Woooooooo..."
"Ouch..."
"..."
These Qing troops made strange noises.
As the Qing army got closer and closer to the team, visible commotion broke out in the team.
The people looked frightened and rushed to escape. There was chaos everywhere.
People were constantly pushed to the ground and then trampled to pulp by thousands of feet!
Collapse! Collapse! Collapse! Collapse!
There were sounds of trembling bowstrings.
The Qing cavalry passed by the group of fleeing people, and their arrows were like locusts, falling towards the fleeing people.
Some people even shot several arrows in succession!
Every time an arrow falls, someone will fall to the ground screaming!
If it is a hard bow with heavy arrows, it will definitely not be able to fire continuously. Every time an arrow is shot, the archer needs to rest and recover.
But to deal with a group of civilians without armor, they did not need hard bows and heavy arrows. The Qing army mostly used lightweight small tip bows.
The bow power is not strong and cannot be used against armored soldiers!
But it can be fired continuously, and the effect will be very good when used against unarmored enemies.
The guard posts and border troops of the former Ming Dynasty were mostly equipped with this kind of bow, because before the rise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the main enemies of the Ming army were the rebellious people and the Mongols outside the pass.
But neither the rebellious people nor the Mongols had large-scale heavy armor formations.
It's good to use a small tip bow to deal with them!