Chapter 337: The Siege of Jiangning (XI)
In a secluded place in Jiangning City, screams of men and women could be heard one after another. Zhu Xiucai lowered his head, trembling all over, and from time to time secretly glanced at the spy and his family who were being tortured.
Just when he was so scared that he dared not breathe, something hit his shoulder. Zhu Xiucai looked over and saw a whip on his shoulder. Before Zhu Xiucai could see clearly, the whip had already hit Zhu Xiucai's back hard, making him scream.
"Hey, we are going to let you go." The Jinyiwei staff said calmly.
Zhu Xiucai didn't care about the pain and hurriedly thanked him. Although he was indeed ecstatic, Zhu Xiucai couldn't believe it was true. After all, he fell into the hands of Jinyiwei, that is, the former dynasty's guards. It is said that the former dynasty's Jinyiwei had cruel methods and had countless torture instruments.
"Since you are loyal to the Qing Dynasty, take your whole family and go find your master." After the Jinyiwei said this, he took a cloth cover and put it on Zhu Xiucai's head.
Zhu Xiucai was frightened. A hundred years had passed since the events of the former Ming Dynasty, and everyone had only heard about them from others. However, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng, had died only a few years ago, and it was said that he had established the Sticking Rod Division, also known as the Blood Dropper. According to people who came from the capital a few years ago, the Blood Dropper was a weapon with a rope attached, shaped like a bell. It was thrown by the masters of the Sticking Rod Division and put on a person's head. When the rope was pulled, the mechanism in the Blood Dropper would immediately start, cutting off the person's head and neck, leaving only a headless corpse.
Could it be that I am going to suffer the same fate?
However, there was no pain in the neck. After being taken away for a long distance, he heard someone's voice. After a while, the cloth cover on Zhu Xiucai's head was removed. Zhu Xiucai felt the sun was blinding and had to close his eyes. Then he heard a burst of exclamations from below.
When his vision gradually recovered, Zhu Xiucai opened his eyes, only to see that the people below were actually familiar to him. There were not many people in Jiangning City who participated in the Chinese imperial court recruitment examination. Everyone was a local and naturally familiar with each other. He saw that these people all had complicated expressions, and most of them were angry. Zhu Xiucai felt uneasy, but he couldn't help but feel a little resentful. Did these people actually think that Zhu Xiucai was wrong?
At this time, footsteps were heard, and a Jinyiwei stepped onto the wooden platform and told the people below what Zhu Xiucai and the spies who were ambushing in Jiangning City had done.
After telling Zhu Xiucai what he had done, the Jinyiwei shouted, "Bring those people up here!"
With the sound of chains, the spies and their families who were beaten and bruised were led over. Seeing the miserable state of these people, the crowd couldn't help but sigh.
The Jinyiwei said loudly: "To be honest with you, we originally wanted to torture these thieves who tried to waste food to death. However, the court sent an order, which specifically explained the new rules. They can live. We will drive them all out of the city in a while. But I invited you here not to let everyone watch the fun. I want to tell you that if any of you think that the court can't win against the Qing Dynasty, or if any of you are a spy for the Qing Dynasty, you might as well leave the city with them now. The court will never hunt you down. After all, a forced melon is not sweet."
Having said that, the Jinyiwei swept a sharp gaze around the crowd, causing many people to lower their heads.
The Royal Guards then said, "Everyone, a new order will be issued in the city. That is the wartime control regulations. In the wartime management regulations, if the Qing traitors are caught again, they will not be treated so politely. They may really be executed. This is the last chance, I hope everyone will not be embarrassed."
Hearing this, someone got angry and shouted, "Sir, what do you mean by what you just said?"
The Jinyiwei looked at him with interest, but did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked him up and down before asking, "What do you think this means?"
The man was not afraid. He shouted, "Do you think we are spies?"
The Royal Guards chuckled, "Haha, what I just said was to the spy, not to our own people. If you think you are on the same side as the court, why are you angry?"
When the man heard such a question, he was stunned and didn't know how to answer.
Jinyiwei continued, "You think you have backbone and cannot be slandered. This is a good character. However, the court is united. If you are loyal to the court, how can you think that the court is biased against you? If you think the court is biased against you, it is because you are biased against the court in your heart first, so it takes two hands to clap, and you are taking advantage of the issue to make a fuss."
"You!" The man was speechless for a moment, but still angry.
The Jinyiwei ignored the man and ordered the spies to be escorted out of the city. Then he turned around and said, "These people can only survive because of the imperial order. I will tell you the imperial order. Don't think too much. This order is not just for you. All the civil and military officials in Jiangning City, from the commander to the private soldiers and the gatekeepers, must learn it..."
Zhu Xiucai did not hear this story. He was taken to the city gate with others and saw some people at the city gate. Looking closely, Zhu Xiucai's family was also among them. Looking at the frightened eyes of his family, Zhu Xiucai felt a little apologetic.
If I hadn't been arrested, my family wouldn't have suffered like this.
As the group was escorted out of the city gate, they saw the Qing army in the distance. There are many mountains and hills in the Jiangning City area. As they walked, the wind blew over, and Zhu Xiucai felt a chill on his back. Suddenly, he had an uneasy thought.
Could it be that these people said they would release the people, but actually wanted to kill them along the way?
Just as he was about to turn his head, someone pushed him hard, "Don't move!" This stern rebuke made Zhu Xiucai even more frightened.
An hour later, Jiangning General Fu Cha Fu Qing looked at Zhu Xiucai and others kneeling in front of him, but did not ask them immediately. Instead, he opened the letter they brought.
The letter was written very simply, telling Fu Cha Fu Qing that the Chinese court had set the tone for future war punishments.
Of course, the land of officials serving in the Qing Dynasty at this time was confiscated, and even if they surrendered later, the land would not be returned.
If you died in the war, it was bad luck. If you died, you died. If you didn't die in the war, the Qing Dynasty personnel who resisted to the end would be beheaded and their entire families would be exterminated.
If you only regard fighting as a job and are captured on the battlefield, if you are willing to surrender, you will be spared. If you refuse to surrender, you will be executed.
If the officials of the Qing Dynasty were unwilling to fight and surrendered, they could be given certain official positions according to their abilities.
This policy is not only aimed at the Han people on the Qing side, but also at the Bannermen who will be given the same treatment if they are willing to surrender sincerely.
If he hadn't seen the end, Fucha Fuqing would have just sneered. But after seeing the end, Fuqing also got angry.
However, this letter was not sent by a messenger, and Fu Qing could not find trouble with the messenger. He could only tear the letter into pieces, cursed a few words, and ordered, "Attack the city!"
In the geographical description of New China, Nanjing has long been known as a "natural geological museum", with a variety of geomorphological units coexisting, including the Yangtze River floodplain, water-rich soft soil, hills, karst, etc.
Nanjing belongs to the Ningzhenyang hilly area, which is mainly composed of low mountains and gentle hills. Low mountains account for 3.5% of the total land area, hills account for 4.3%, hills account for 53%, and plains, depressions, rivers and lakes account for 39.2%. The Ningzhen Mountains and Laoshan in Jiangbei stretch across the middle of the city, and in the south there are Hengshan and Donglushan, which are the southern boundaries of the hilly land in the Qinhuai River Basin. Nanjing is long from north to south and narrow from east to west, in a north-south direction; the straight-line distance from north to south is 150 kilometers, the width from east to west in the middle is 50 to 70 kilometers, and the width from east to west at the north and south ends is about 30 kilometers.
At this time, Jiangning City was not that big. On the whole, the north was the Yangtze River, the lakeside plains and the riverside land.
To the south are low mountains and valley plains. To the east and west are mixed terrains of hills and plains. People say that the situation is like a dragon coiling and a tiger crouching, which probably fits the situation in Jiangning.
Overall, it is relatively favorable to the defense.
The current Jiangning General Fu Cha Fu Qing certainly knew this. Although he did not know that history had been changed, he did not know that his eleven-year-old ninth brother Fu Heng was very famous in history, fought many battles, and made great contributions.
However, Fu Qing's ninth brother Fuheng was more famous for marrying a wife who was known the most beautiful woman among the bannermen. As a result, when he went out to fight for Qianlong, it happened that Qianlong's first wife Fucha was pregnant. Fucha Fuheng's wife Guaerjia entered the palace to accompany him. Qianlong, who was "amicable everywhere", couldn't help but look at the beautiful Guaerjia a few more times. When she entered the palace to accompany the queen again, she was called to a secluded place by Qianlong, and then she was favored by Qianlong. Although Guaerjia was unwilling, she dared not resist because the other party was the emperor. In this way, an unspeakable and indescribable thing happened to Qianlong. After the incident, Guaerjia did not dare to tell anyone she knew, including her husband Fucha Fuheng. But not long after, Guaerjia was pregnant. At this time, Fucha Fuheng had been ordered to fight outside for a long time, so it was self-evident who the child was.
Emperor Qianlong loved Fu Kang'an very much. Fu Cha Fu Kang'an, courtesy name Yaolin, helped Emperor Qianlong to quell rebellions many times. He was the first "king of a different surname" in the history of the Qing Dynasty. Qianlong granted Fu Kang'an the title of "Gushan Beizi", which only the royal family could enjoy. Even the Beizi title of the royal family would be downgraded in the inheritance process, but Qianlong specifically instructed that Fu Kang'an's Beizi title could be "inherited for three generations", which means that Fu Kang'an's three generations of descendants could enjoy this title. It can be seen how much Qianlong loved Fu Kang'an. After Fu Kang'an's death, he was also named a prince.
Emperor Qianlong not only conferred titles and honors on Fu Kang'an, but also kept him by his side since he was a child. One should know that in the Qing Dynasty, only the princes were taken care of by the emperor himself, and even the emperor's grandsons had a hard time seeing the emperor.
Fu Kang'an was raised by Emperor Qianlong's side since he was young, and was treated the same as the princes. He even got the title of Prince, which was not easy for the princes to get. This seemed to prove that Fu Kang'an was the son of Emperor Qianlong.
But it's nothing for a Manchu master to sleep with the wife of a Manchu minister. Even if such a thing happened in history, I think Fu Cha Fu Qing would not really care.
At this time, Fu Qing's full attention was on this battle. Jiangning General Fu Qing knew very well that if he lost the war, the Qing Dynasty would face an unprecedented crisis. At that time, not to mention himself, even Fu Qing's family, including Fu Qing's ninth brother, would end up dead without a burial place.
At this time, the Qing army had already deployed its troops in the east, west and south. As soon as the order was given, the Qing army immediately took action.
First, the red cannon was pushed towards the city of Jiangning. The Qing army had learned the artillery carts of the Chinese army and also cast iron gun carriages with heavy artillery on them.
Many soldiers pushed and pulled the red cannon until it was within reach of Jiangning City.
Lei Hu, who was standing on the top of the city wall, put down his telescope and felt completely at ease. Hearing that the Qing Dynasty had already used flintlock rifles, Lei Hu was a little nervous.
The Chinese army also had flintlock rifles, but they were not made by the Chinese army themselves, but were obtained from the Spanish fleet.
The commander of the Spanish fleet, whose real name was Francis but who gave himself a Japanese name, Oda Hideyoshi, knew that the Chinese army's firearms were sharp, and was somewhat puzzled by the Chinese army's request for flintlock rifles.
But even though he was puzzled, he was very straightforward when giving things to the Chinese army. He even taught the Chinese army how to use the spear and musket formation.
Lei Hu certainly looked down upon such tactics. The Chinese army's rifles used copper shell bullets and were equipped with bayonets. They were very effective in both long-range and short-range combat. They were completely incomparable to the Spanish tactics at that time.
What Lei Hu cares most about is the Spanish artillery. Artillery shooting seems to be a matter of luck, but after combining mathematics and physics, after some painful learning, you will find that artillery is actually a very technical job.
In order to calculate artillery parameters, not only does the artillery commander need to have sufficient knowledge, but he also needs a lot of computing equipment to assist in shooting.
At this time, seeing the Qing army dragging the cannon over, they found a stable position for monitoring and placed it as before, and then took the ordinary way of looking at the direction to sort out the direction. Lei Hu was sure that the Qing army's progress was only this.
When Lei Hu saw that the Qing army had tied red cloth on the cannons, covered them with red decorations, and even set up an incense table.
Lei Hu turned around and left without saying a word.
Feudal superstition! Feudal superstition!
Luck makes up for the lack of strength. The Qing army has not made any real progress at all. As long as there is no real progress, no matter how sincere the Qing army is in expecting victory in the war, it will have nothing to do with the war.
After getting off the city wall, Lei Hu did not stop and went straight to the headquarters. Before he got there, he heard the dull sound of cannons outside the city. It should be the red-clad cannons of the Qing Dynasty that were fired.
"Commander Lei, do you want to go and take a look?" The staff officer next to him seemed a little anxious.
Lei Hu said with a smile: "If you want to watch the fun, go and have a look. Invite everyone to watch together."
The staff officer didn't expect Lei Hu to be so relaxed, and asked in confusion: "Is Commander Lei not going?"
"I don't need it. When I was studying artillery, I did too much by myself." Lei Hu couldn't help but sigh.
However, the staff officer obviously didn't understand what Lei Hu meant and looked at him in confusion. Lei Hu didn't want to explain and told the staff officers to go and watch the fun and come back after watching.
When he returned to the headquarters, he saw that everyone was nervously waiting for a fierce battle to break out. Lei Hu felt that he was quite advanced at this time. These comrades were nervous about what was happening in front of them, but Lei Hu had already seen the ending.
That was the inevitable outcome of the Qing Dynasty's defeat.
Let alone Lei Hu's complacency. The Qing army outside the city was investing their lives in a brutal war. Every roar of the red cannon seemed to shake the earth. Although the shells were not close or far, after more than 20 red cannons fired dozens of shots, finally one shell hit the city wall.
The Qing army knew that the red cannon was powerful. They thought that if this cannonball, which was no smaller than a human head, hit the wall of Jiangning City, even if they couldn't break the wall, they would at least make a hole in it.
However, the shell only hit the wall once before being bounced aside. Looking at the wall again, it seemed that there was nothing wrong with it, not even a noticeable trace.
It was as if the cannonball was just a small ball of mud, completely useless.
Jiangning General Fu Cha Fu Qing was dumbfounded. He knew that Jiangning City was Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, and it was an extremely magnificent city. However, he did not expect that Jiangning City, which was easily conquered by the Qing Dynasty, was actually extremely strong. Even after two or three hundred years, the old city wall was still able to withstand the huge red cannon.
Several more shells then struck the wall, again to no avail. But the bombardment was over.
Before Fu Qing could ask, an officer came running to report, "General, the red cannon is too hot. We need to let it cool down before firing again."
Fu Qing was speechless for a moment as he looked at the towering city wall. This situation was not unheard of by others, but when Fu Qing saw it with his own eyes, he realized that the claim that Nanjing City was so strong was not a lie.
However, there was no time to say anything else. Since the city of Nanjing could not be destroyed by artillery, it had to be conquered by soldiers!
"Attack the city!" Fu Qing shouted.
At the order given, the Qing army's siege equipment began to move out.
Just as described in the newspapers in Jiangning City before, the Qing army did not have any ladders, towers, or battering rams, but instead began the attack with infantry carrying explosives.
The Qing army believed that if they found hidden soldier caves on the walls of Nanjing, the local defenders would definitely know a number of existing secret passages in the walls, or even secret passages pre-dug inside and outside the walls. Then they would take advantage of the surprise and use centipede ladders to launch a surprise attack to seize the city, bury explosive packs in the pre-existing internal holes in the walls, and then blow up the walls and retreat.
In this era when gunpowder had begun to be used on a large scale, even the Qing army hoped to use gunpowder to resolve battles.
After walking to the yard and listening for a while, before Lei Hu could say anything, someone said, "This sound... is not from our guns."
"Yeah. Our people seem to be letting the Qing army get closer." Lei Hu said with some confidence.
In the Jiangning City Headquarters, Lei Hu was reading Sun Tzu's Art of War. Suddenly, he heard intensive gunfire outside and couldn't help but put down the book.
After walking to the yard and listening for a while, before Lei Hu could say anything, someone said, "This sound... is not from our guns."
"Yeah. Our people seem to be letting the Qing army get closer." Lei Hu said with some confidence.
"Commander, is that the sound of the flintlock?"
Hearing this, Lei Hu was about to answer, but he swallowed his words back. Qian Qing had warned Lei Hu not to talk nonsense before coming here. If he said yes without seeing it, then he was talking nonsense.
Moreover, Lei Hu was proposing to her this time, and he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Qian Qing.
