Duoduo went to Sizhou on April 13, and on the 17th his troops arrived outside Yangzhou City, and in just four days, the Qing soldiers penetrated the Jiangbei defense that the imperial court had invested heavily in.

The Qing soldiers passed all the way through Sizhou, Xuyi, and Tianchang, and the Ming army never fought a battle.

As soon as the Qing soldiers arrived, the Ming army in Jiangbei either fled in a hurry, or turned against each other, so that Wang Yan was so shocked that he had nothing to say.

Yangzhou is an important town in Jiangbei, is the barrier of Nanjing, and the highest governor of Jiangbei Shi Kefa is trapped in the city, Huang Degong has to be rescued, but the Anqing Left Army is not destroyed, but it cannot send all the soldiers and horses to rescue Yangzhou.

In the state government of Chizhou City, Huang Degong discussed with everyone, and finally decided to let Liu Liangzuo's 40,000 troops and Wang Yan's 5,000 troops return to the east to aid Yangzhou, while he led the army to continue to monitor the left army guarding Anqing.

Wang Yan returned to the camp and hurriedly convened the generals to discuss the matter, the loyal battalion wanted to rush to Yangzhou to fight against the Qing soldiers, and the old and weak in the camp naturally could not follow, so they needed to think about placement.

After a while, everyone discussed, and finally decided to give Qian Yifeng half of the grain and grass, plus 15,000 taels of silver, and take a hundred old soldiers to send them to Zhaoqing Mansion guarded by Wang Yan for resettlement, while Wang Yan took the remaining grain and grass, plus 10,000 taels of silver, and went straight to Yangzhou with the army.

Compared with the battle with the left army, the battle with the Qing army from the north was undoubtedly more dangerous, and Liu Liangzuo's department was grinding in the city of Chizhou, unwilling to return east.

Wang Yan was worried that the picture in his dream would become a reality, and he was anxious, so he led his troops out of Chizhou that day.

Liu Liangzuo, under the repeated supervision of Huang Degong and the imperial court, led the ship down the river to the east, but it was thirty miles a day and the movement was slow.

The Zhongyi battalion marched along the Yangtze River, Wang Yan led the cavalry in front, and Wang Wei led the infantry to press the baggage and artillery team behind, and marched all the way.

On April 21, Wang Yan led the cavalry to the outside of Nanjing, and was shocked to learn that Li Benshen, the commander of Gao Yuanzhao's department, led the general Yang Chengzu and others to surrender to Duoduo.

Xuzhou Town was all surrendered before a single arrow was fired, and the Qing army added 40,000 horses, which made Wang Yan feel a burst of despair in his heart, and suddenly felt the crisis of the situation, so that it was the moment of life and death.

The once prosperous city of Nanjing has also become depressed and shaken like wind and rain because of the unfavorable news coming from the front line one after another.

Wang Yan asked the cavalry to rest outside Chengwai, and he immediately entered Nanjing to find Xu Yanyan to meet.

In Meixiang Building, Xu Yanyan looked at Wang Yan, stroked the long scar on her sweetheart's face, and suddenly burst into tears.

The two have a thousand kinds of love, but they are helpless.

Wang Yan didn't have time to tell Xu Yanyan about the pain of longing and parting, so he hurriedly put down three thousand taels of silver for him to redeem himself, and then said goodbye in tears.

Xu Yanyan sent him to the gate of the courtyard with tears in her eyes, Wang Yan felt a pain in her heart, but the country was in danger, and the man should be in serious danger, so he could only put his children's love aside for the time being.

This goes to Yangzhou, I don't know if I live or die, this farewell may be the separation of yin and yang, Wang Yan may no longer be able to fulfill his original promise, he turned around and looked at Xu Yanyan, full of tenderness to stroke the tears on her cheeks, and his face was full of distress.

At this moment, Wang Yan really hopes that he is just an ordinary person who doesn't understand anything, doesn't care about the danger of his family and country, doesn't care about the survival of his clothes, and only spends his life with his beloved.

However, he is a scholar, and he has read loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness since he was a child, but he is deeply aware of righteousness, knows the great defense of Yixia since ancient times, and understands that Han and thieves are not separated, but he sees the survival of China in his dreams, and shoulders the earth-shattering responsibility of the survival of the nation.

Between the country and the family, how to choose, Wang Yan's inner pain could only turn into a choked voice, "However, with Xu Guo, it is difficult for Xu Qing." ”

"Brother Wang is going to do big things, Yan Yan won't stop you!" With tears in her eyes, Xu Yanyan forced herself to laugh and said, "Yanyan will wait for Brother Wang to come back with peace of mind." ”

is as smart as Xu Yanyan, how can she not know that Wang Yan is depressed in her heart, she has been knowledgeable since she was a child, she can only hide the reluctance and worry in her heart to make Wang Yan feel at ease.

Seeing Xu Yanyan smiling strongly, Wang Yan felt a pain in his heart, "If I don't return, I can find a good person to marry." ”

Hearing this, Xu Yanyan tried her best to stop the tears from flowing, raised her pretty face, and looked at Wang Yan, as if she wanted to imprint his appearance deeply in her heart, afraid that she would never see it again, this handsome face that she had been thinking about for a long time.

In just one year, Xu Yanyan and Wang Yan experienced life and death again, tears rolled in her beautiful eyes, "I can't tolerate him anymore with Xu Jun!" ”

Wang Yan hugged her emotionally, inhaled the fragrance on her body, and wanted to melt her into her body, but in the end, in her gaze, he stepped on the war horse and followed the escort out of Nanjing.

The mountains and rivers are broken, the children of the troubled times, there is love but they want to part, how much helplessness there is, and how much righteousness is awe-inspiring.

This scene fell into the eyes of Li Xiangjun in the attic, looking at Xu Yanyan, who was sympathetic to the same disease, her heart was full of melancholy, and she couldn't help but feel it, and said softly in her mouth: "If you want to stay together, it is difficult to look at each other, and people are sad at the end of the world; Love is fleeting, hatred is long, and people are hesitant in the light; Thousands of mountains, wading thousands of waters, two lines of tears on the line of thought~~~"

Wang Yan went out of the city, joined the cavalry, and then marched east again, and arrived outside Zhenjiang the next day.

At this time, the infantry of the Zhongyi battalion was still on the way to Zhenjiang, so Wang Yan asked the cavalry to enter the city and wait for the infantry to arrive.

On the night of 24 April, the artillery outside Yangzhou in Jiangbei was loud, and Wang Yan, who was on the riverside, could hear the faint sound of artillery, knowing that this was the Qing army starting to shell Yangzhou, and he couldn't help but start worrying in his heart.

In the early morning of 25 April, when the infantry of the Zhongyi Battalion still did not reach Zhenjiang, Wang Yan decided not to wait any longer and crossed the river first to support Yangzhou.

At this time, there was a sudden burst of cold rain in the sky, Wang Yan and others put on their hats, boarded the fleet of Jiang waterproof master Zheng Hongkui, and crossed the hazy Yangtze River.

Wang Yan's 1,000 cavalry landed ten miles outside Yangzhou, but there were almost no Qing sentinels, and it was the weather that provided them with the best cover.

Wang Yan ordered the cavalry to wrap the horses' hooves in cloth, and then went straight to the city of Yangzhou.

The cold rain made the road muddy, but it could not stop Wang Yan's determination to rescue Yangzhou.

For many nights, the picture of the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood in the dream made him wake up from it every time and couldn't sleep peacefully.

Yangzhou, one of the few hints in the dream, was like a boulder pressing on his heart, making him breathless, he must not let the picture in the dream become a reality, never!

"General! Look! Wang Yan galloped wildly, and a guard beside him suddenly pointed to the distance in horror and said.

Wang Yan's thoughts were pulled back by the guard, he looked up in the direction that the guard was pointing, and suddenly his face turned pale, a mouthful of blood spurted out, and he fell directly from the horse.

In that direction was Yangzhou, where thick smoke rose from the city, and the rain could not extinguish the flames rising in the city.