On the night of August 17, there were dark clouds but stars in the sky, and the surrounding area was clearly visible from a few meters away.

Under the coercion of Yue Le and other Manchu nobles, Cai Shiying, the governor of Hubei Province, who was raised by his mother, had to set up his barracks in the north of Wuchang City to block the attack of the loyal and righteous army.

Since the defeat of the Qianting army, the Tartar soldiers retreated in two ways, and Shi Tingzhu, Tong Tulai, and Cai Shiying also suffered heavy losses along the way.

The loyal and righteous army under the city of Yiting not only defeated the Eight Banners of the Han Army, the soldiers and horses of the Green Battalion and other soldiers and horses, but also the Eight Banners of Manchuria who came and went like the wind on their horses suffered heavy casualties, and the huge casualties forced Duoduo, Yue Le and others to order the withdrawal of troops.

After retreating from Yaoting, Yin Chengqi and Liu Wenxiu led 3 town infantry army and 1 town water army to pursue along the road, and the Tartar troops were even more demoralized, and the army had no heart to fight.

He had just not settled in Wuchang City for a few days, and suddenly heard that Yang Xuan was leading a land and water army after occupying Xiangyang City

Considering that the Loyal Army has a precedent of night attacks, everyone is quite vigilant, especially on the night of August 15, 16, and 17, which can be said to be the fullest time of the year.

Since the occupation of Hanyang Province by the Chungyi Army, various rumors have been spreading, but the most widely circulated is the killing of the Tartars on August 15, which can make everyone nervous.

It is no wonder that everyone is nervous, since the Loyal and Righteous Army occupied Hanyang, every night they must send elite soldiers to sneak across the Yangtze River in boats to secretly observe the layout of the Qing army's battalions.

In this way, the people are looking forward to the Loyal and Righteous Army crossing the Yangtze River as soon as possible to deal with this hateful Manchu Tartar and his accomplices.

Although some Han officials desperately explained the origin of the killing of the Tartars on August 15, but in the face of the rumors in the dust, in the face of the constant police signals every night, Yue Le did not dare to be careless, and the traitor Cai Shiying did not dare to be careless

It is a story that has been circulated for a long time, telling the story of the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, when the Tartars were very evil, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bowen planned to kill the Tartars.

When the Mongols ruled China, in order to firmly control the people, there were several Tartars living in each village. These family Tartars who live in the village are all extremely vicious gangsters.

Not only did they confiscate their weapons, but they also had to keep the kitchen knives by him, and they received them when they used them, and returned them when they used them. Whoever has a big girl or a little daughter-in-law has to pay a high price to buy a threshold from him.

Whoever doesn't buy the threshold, whether it's the girl's room or the cave room, he can come and go at will, and he can sleep with whoever he wants. If he buys a threshold with money, he will be a little more disciplined. There is no fixed price for the threshold, he says as much as he wants, and you are not allowed to return the price. In this way, the rich can afford it, but the poor will have a hard time, and a threshold can make you bankrupt. If you can't afford it, your wife and daughter have to let it go to waste.

This Tartar is more noble than his own ancestors, and he has to eat and use all the good things, and if it doesn't go well, he will either beat or scold, and even execute you will have nowhere to redress your grievances. Usually three friends and four friends gather together, or two people whisper in one place, you want to provoke him, he falsely accused you of rebellion, and even lost his life, so at that time, the lamp was blown out when it was dark, and no one dared to wander around, lest disaster fall from the sky.

Just imagine, this tyrannical rule, not a day or two, or ten days and a half months, people will survive hard, and adults will be like this for many months, who can withstand it

Some of the men with strong blood and strength risked their lives to rebel with Zhu Yuanzhang.

But after all, the management is too strict, the card is too dead, and there are not many rebels, and they can't beat the Yuan soldiers. What to do? Zhu Yuanzhang asked the military advisor Liu Bowen for advice.

Liu Bowen can pinch and calculate, full of strategy, pondered for a while and said: "Everyone in the world has a bitter hatred for the family Tartars, if everyone does it together, not to mention that there is only one family of Tartars, even if there are two family Tartars, they can be killed." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said: "What you said is very reasonable, it's just that there are so many people in the country, what secret method do you use to tell them, and everyone will do it together?" If the news leaks, the people will be robbed? ”

Liu Bowen twisted his beard and smiled: "You don't have to worry, I have my own good plan." ”

On the 14th and 15th days of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, wheat balls were everywhere in the shops and on the small beach. Some people can't afford it, so some people give it away. The tartar didn't understand, so he asked, "What is this?" ”

They were told, "This is a moon cake, an offering for the moon on the fifteenth day of the eighth month." ”

So they lifted their guard and stopped questioning.

On the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, each family took out moon cakes, melons and fruits to sacrifice the moon. After the moon worship ceremony, families gather around a table to admire the moon and drink alcohol.

The family Tartar also took advantage of the excitement and drank a drunk.

Finally, the mooncakes are broken so that they can be separated. There is a slip of paper in the middle of each mooncake, which reads: "Please kill your Tartar soldiers tonight."

The Tartar soldiers didn't know Chinese, so they asked with a blushing face, "What's that?" ”

Some say it's cake cores, some say it's wishing you a family reunion, and some say that Yue Niangniang keeps you safe.

They believed it, grinned happily, and said, "You Han people are famous, it's really interesting!"

When the time came, some of the Tartar soldiers were drunk, some of the Tartars were asleep, and some were still laughing.

Everyone hated the Tartar to the core, and the family was easy to discuss, and when they squeezed their eyes and touched their elbows and arms, they all understood.

It is not easy for a few people to deal with a person, rubbing their necks with their hands, smashing their heads with bricks, everyone has one heart, and they do it together, only listening to the sound of oh here and there and there and the work of not using a meal, and the Tartar soldiers who show their teeth and claws on weekdays, are all reimbursed.

This is the origin of eating moon cakes, and it is also the allusion to killing Tartars on August 15

In order to prevent the Han people from doing this to the Qing army, Yue Le ordered that from August 13, all mooncakes in Wuchang City must be inspected and confirmed to be correct before they can be eaten.

What makes everyone nervous, in some moon cakes, there is a word to kill the tartar, which can make the city full of wind and rain, on this night, the Qing army's Eight Banners Camp is brightly lit, and the county king Yue Le personally sits in the town to deal with possible crises.

Although there was nothing to do that night, at this sensitive moment, everyone dared to be careless.

After tossing like this for a few days and nights, everyone just thought it was gone, but Cai Shiying, who was familiar with military books, didn't see it that way, he thought that this was Yang Xuan's strategy, although there was no night attack in those days, but it was difficult to guarantee that there would be no night attack in the following time.

According to Cai Shiying's speculation, if Yang Xuan launched a battle to cross the river, it would be a fatal blow, so in order to avoid being wiped out by the loyal army, everyone should be cautious.

Under such circumstances, everyone did not dare to be careless, and they all fought hard to deal with the battle of crossing the river by the loyal and righteous army.

According to everyone's estimates, there are no more than two ways for the loyal and righteous troops to cross the Yangtze River, one is to erect pontoon bridges, and the other is to cross the Yangtze River in large boats.

I heard that Yang Xuan had built his base camp on Turtle Mountain, and he was probably preparing to cross the Yangtze River at the northern port of the city.

Cai Shiying just sat down, suddenly, he heard a burst of gongs and drums in front of him, and then, a cannonball fell in the camp of the Qing army, Cai Shiying was shocked, rushed out of the camp, far away, saw hundreds of ships sailing across the Yangtze River.

Could it be that the other side is preparing to rely on warships to cross the Yangtze River? Thinking of this, Cai Shiying's heart tightened, it seemed that Yang Xuan Zhunbi launched a night attack and occupied the beachhead in the north of the city through a night attack.

When Cai Shiying led the men and horses to rush to the riverside, he saw thousands of loyal soldiers rushing up to the riverside from a distance.

A trace of thought flashed through Cai Shiying's mind, but he still shook his head, the other party's artillery was too fierce, there were at least 20 Fran cannons, and huge explosions sounded from time to time, Yang Xuan even dispatched such a big guy, how could he cheat.

Cai Shiying sent messengers again and again to ask Yue Le for help, and the main force of the Loyal and Righteous Army crossed the river at night, and the situation was extremely critical, and it was necessary to send a large group of men and horses to suppress it.

At the time of the 4th watch, Shi Tingzhu led 2,000 Han troops to arrive with a white flag, but the other side's reinforcements had not arrived for a long time, and after a fierce battle, the loyal and righteous army was forced to board a ship and swim upstream at dawn.

Seeing that the landing operation of the loyal and righteous army was finally repulsed, everyone was overjoyed, and just when Cai Shiying and Shi Tingzhu were clapping their hands to celebrate, a news came.

Just last night when the loyal army sent troops and horses to attack the position in the north of the city, Chen Huaixi used the fishing boats recruited to build a pontoon bridge from Hanyang Parrot Island to Wuchang Baishazhou in the upper reaches, and now the loyal and righteous army is constantly crossing the Yangtze River (now Baishazhou Yangtze River Bridge, there is a small island in the center of the river, suitable for the concentration of troops, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom built two pontoon bridges on the Yangtze River overnight in history), and now the infantry is crossing the Yangtze River through pontoon bridges and ferries to consolidate the riverside position.

Cai Shiying was dumbfounded, and after handing over his troops to the deputy general, he rushed to the Chu Palace, together with Shi Tingzhu, to plead guilty to Yue Le.

Yue Le regarded the former Chu Wangfu as his temporary address, and he was busy all night last night, but he didn't expect Yang Xuan to come to a way of attacking the west, putting on a posture of crossing the river in the north of the city, but actually crossing the Yangtze River in the south of the city.

After hearing the news that the loyal and righteous army crossed the river in the south of the city, Yue Le wanted to hold on to Wuchang, but Gushan Ezhen Yier and Han Dai thought that the south of the city was not as flat as Yaoting, and the terrain was relatively flat, which was conducive to cavalry combat, Yue Le led 6,000 Manchurian and Mongolian cavalry, and Tong Guolai's 2,000 Han troops with white flags and 20,000 green battalion soldiers and horses went south to control the river.

Yue Le was reorganizing his soldiers and horses, and after seeing Cai Shiying and Shi Tingzhu coming, he pondered for a while, and ordered Cai Shiying to lead more than 10,000 green battalion soldiers and horses to defend the city, and ordered Shi Tingzhu to lead the 2,000 Han Army and Eight Banners to hurry after him.

Led the Manmeng Eight Banners to the front, thinking that the fifteenth uncle, a smallpox terminally ill criminal, was actually passed on to the Quartet by Yang Xuan's vicious lord, and thinking of the tragic death of Haoge, Luo Luohun, Nikan and others, Yue Le felt quite sad and indignant in his heart, and quickly whipped up his horse along the way, and encouraged everyone again and again that everyone as long as they rushed to the beachhead and drove the loyal army across the Yangtze River, so that the Qing Dynasty could once again realize the unification of the world.

After an hour of rapid marching, I saw from a distance that there were already crowds of people around Baishazhou, and there were no less than 10,000 people who crossed the Yangtze River in a posture, and they were using two-wheeled vehicles, knife carts, and everything that could be used to build defensive positions to resist the attack of the heroic Eight Banners cavalry.