After the Qing army conquered Jizhou, they immediately swept through Zhili Province and attacked Zhuozhou with a thunderous and fierce offensive, followed closely by Baoding and Hejian.
Among the Ming army, no heroes like Lu Xiangsheng emerged in the eleventh year of Chongzhen. The armies could only huddle in the first base and the first city, and sit back and watch the Eastern invaders wreak havoc in Hebei, attacking famous cities and counties one after another.
After the complacent Abatai conquered Dezhou, he arrogantly divided his troops and marched eastward to plunder Leling with one force. Then, under the guidance of King Sanshun's surrendered officers, he headed all the way to Denglai Binhai.
The remaining main force first plundered Linqing, one of the largest commercial towns on the Grand Canal, and then divided its forces again to surround Jinan with one force. Abatai supervised the remaining force southward to attack Yanzhou.
The Qing army's offensive was so unscrupulous. The total number of Qing troops led by Abatai who entered the Pass was only thirty to forty thousand. Not only did they penetrate thousands of miles into the enemy's territory, they actually dared to divide their troops to plunder the Ming Dynasty people again and again. It was simply
Arrogant to the point of jaw-dropping.
But the reality is so cruel. Even if Abatai divided his troops once in Dezhou and again in Linqing, the Eight Banners troops of more than 20,000 people under his direct command are still a terrifying force that makes the land of Huaihai tremble.
The people of Yanzhou showed amazing courage under the coercion of bandits. When the powerful Qing army of more than 20,000 men gathered in Yanjing and came to the city, the soldiers and people of Yanzhou rose up to save themselves in a desperate and murderous atmosphere.
Oath to defend the city to the death.
At that time, there were only about 200 regular soldiers in Yanzhou. However, under the pressure of the Donglu, the soldiers and civilians in the city burst into high spirits, and the atmosphere to fight against the Qing army was unprecedentedly high. Overnight, they recruited between 4,000 and 5,000 new soldiers.
There are many, it can be said that they are well prepared and ready.
However, the more fearless the Yanzhou people were in resisting the Qing Dynasty, the more it highlighted the terrifying strength of the Qing army. Even Yanzhou, which resisted the enemy so resolutely, was captured by the Qing army in just one day and night.
Although Yanzhou's army and people gathered a large number of soldiers and civilians, the battle was extremely fierce. However, due to incomplete organization and insufficient training, the temporarily organized militia troops were not familiar with the law of war and defense. They were easy to gather and disperse, and were unable to fight a tough battle.
Generally speaking, it has great momentum but limited results.
The Qing army first used artillery to clear the female wall, which made the Yanzhou defenders unable to stand and raise their heads in the city. Then they attacked the city with the powerful Eight Banners of Manchuria. Yanzhou had never seen the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in Liaodong, and the brutal war.
Although the militiamen can fight with all their might, the enemy is outnumbered and we are outnumbered, the enemy is strong and we are weak, the enemy is well-organized but we are disorganized, and the result is completely unpredictable!
This day and night battle also cost the Qing army nearly a hundred casualties, and the soldiers and civilians inside and outside the city suffered heavy casualties, reaching the point where bones stretched to the sky and rivers of blood formed.
The Qing army resented the fierce resistance of Yanzhou soldiers and civilians, especially the second-ranking official in the Qing army, Niu Colu Turge, who personally commanded the siege. His younger brother, Ye Bilong, was thrown into the air by a militiaman when he first climbed to Yanzhou City.
The stone hurt the face.
Turge deliberately used killing to break the resistance of the Shandong people. His younger brother Er Bilong became even more hatred for the soldiers and people of Yanzhou because of his wounded face. The Eight Banners soldiers let go and turned Yanzhou into a sea of blood.
Yi Bilong relied on his martial arts to flourish, and was unparalleled in riding and shooting. When he was trying to ascend first, he was injured and disfigured by a mere militiaman. He was both ashamed and angry. He transferred this unknown anger to the people of Yanzhou and galloped into the city.
In the city, Shiling's men brought hundreds of captured civilians and released them together in front of the government office. Then they ran after them, opened their bows left and right, and started a "hunting" game with his brothers.
The common people who laid down their weapons all became cattle and sheep to be slaughtered. There were only a few people whose fighting spirit was not broken. They gathered at the Confucian Temple in the city to fight to the death.
Among these people are local wealthy people, poor teachers, notorious officials, and ordinary butchers, blacksmiths, farmers, hunters, and vendors.
This group of characters who should have no connection or intersection, this group of characters who were originally separated by different classes, have become grasshoppers on a rope in the Yanzhou Confucian Temple at this moment.
They had very few weapons, only four or five spears and three sets of bows, and no armor at all. Only the subordinate, who was notoriously mean, held a blunderbuss tightly in his hand, which was considered a sharp weapon.
"These people are crazy!"
Li Shutai was shocked. He was a Han... no, more accurately, he should be a bannerman of the Han army. Li Shutai was incredulously shocked and had complete contempt for the desperate fight of these common men.
"These people are seeking their own death, so don't blame me for going on a killing spree."
After Li Shutai said these words gloomily, he waved his hand and asked his Han soldiers to set fire to the Confucian Temple. He had no intention of sending troops in to kill these ant-like commoners one by one.
These people are just seeking their own death. Those who know the current affairs are heroes. If they are obedient, they may be able to save their lives and follow the army to settle down in Liaodong after being massacred like a game played by Manchu nobles like Qi Bilong.
The Qing Dynasty treated those who had grain as a father treats his son!
If they can understand the situation clearly and follow the army out of the border, as long as they work hard, they will not have to worry about changing from slaves to the servants of the Manchu nobles. It is not impossible to stand out in the future by raising the flag.
Our promotion channels in the Qing Dynasty are far better than those in the Ming Dynasty...Those slaves are simply lazy and stupid and don't work hard.
"Shou Chou...E Bilong went a little too far. He has been hunting from noon until now, and has shot as many as six to seven hundred of the Ming Dynasty slaves we captured...This is such a waste!"
Li Shutai's men had ignited the flames, and the orange-red flames slowly engulfed the entire Confucian Temple. The clay and wooden sculptures of Confucius, Mencius, and other saints did not exert miraculous effects, but were easily destroyed by the flames. Those who clung to the temple were easily destroyed.
Among the Yanzhou people in the Confucian Temple, under this desperate situation, some people committed suicide one after another, some suffered mental breakdowns and rushed out to surrender, while others died silently in the smoke and flames.
This scene did not shake Li Sutai's heart at all, but what Li Guohan said made him stunned for a moment.
Li Guohan was also a bannerman of the Han... Han army. His father Li Jixue was originally a businessman in Liaodong. When Yang Hao was conducting military campaigns in Liaodong, Li Jixue served as an envoy to Nurhaci on behalf of the Ming Dynasty. In the sixth year of Tianming's reign, Nurhachi conquered Liaoyang and had an early alliance with the Qing army.
Li Jixue, who had colluded, surrendered to the Donglu and was awarded the post of capital.
Li Guohan was granted the title of third-class man by his father, and was awarded the title of bodyguard by Huang Taiji, with the title "Mergen". He was also a leader among the younger generation of the Qing army.
His gaze was much more cautious than that of the cavalier and arrogant Yi Bilong, and as soon as he opened his mouth, Li Shutai paid attention to the problem.
As Li Guohan said, the Qing army's entry into the Pass this time was not just for the purpose of massacre, but to plunder enough goods and slaves to replenish the economy of Liaodong, which was about to collapse.
Although Huang Taiji won the final victory in the Songjin War, this strategic decisive battle that overturned the Ming Dynasty also caused unprecedented material pressure on Donglu, who had a smaller base.
In order to win, the Qing army withstood this pressure. Now that they had won, they naturally had to first plunder the Ming Dynasty to make up for their huge losses in the Songjin War.
The Qing army came to plunder slaves, but now, in order to vent his personal anger, Ye Bilong shot and killed the captured Ming people indiscriminately without caring about the consequences.
But even if Li Guohan raised this issue, Li Shutai would not dare to stop Ye Bilong rashly.
Although Ye Bilong was just a bodyguard, Li Shutai was Meile Erzhen of the Zhenglan Banner of the Han Army, that is, the deputy capital commander. However, Ye Bilong was a Manchu, and Li Shutai was a bannerman of the Han Army, not to mention that Ye Bilong was a Manchu.
Long's brother, Interior Minister Turg, was Abatai's deputy.
Li Shutai naturally did not dare to touch this bad luck, which angered the frivolous Yi Bilong.
Li Shutai looked coldly and replied to Li Guohan: "The people of the Ming Dynasty are like weeds after the rain. If you cut off one stubble, another one will grow immediately. We don't need to worry about the people of the Ming Dynasty. Break through
After Yanzhou, we can also attack Xuzhou, Jinan, Haizhou, and Huai'an, and have as many slaves as we want. Ye Bilong was also injured in a plot, so he is very angry, so let him fool around for a while.
"
Li Guohan shook his head secretly. He knew that Li Shutai did not dare to say anything because he was intimidated by Turg's authority. He had no other choice but to ignore the matter for the time being.
After all, it is certainly a good thing to plunder more slaves and return to Liaodong. But if too many Ming people are dragged away, and if the Ming army takes the opportunity to pursue them, it may be difficult for the Qing army to withdraw from the pass!
Therefore, Ye Bilong's brutal killing seems to have some truth.
But some people don't see it that way.
"Let me say this, I won't allow Ye Bilong to mess around anymore!"