On the avenue near Tongling, a group of men and horses marched in the direction of the city, this army waved the green flag of the Qing army, and the generals led by them rode proudly on their horses. There were several bloody human heads hanging in front of the horses, and the cavalry following the generals led a long rope, and a string of prisoners was dragged on the rope, and the hands of these prisoners were tied to the long rope, and there were more than twenty people in the long string, and there were more than a dozen columns of such prisoners in front and after.

Occasionally, they would encounter pedestrians on the road, and when they saw this group of Qing troops, they would immediately hide on the side of the road, give them the avenue, and look at the dejected captives, and some pedestrians would secretly talk about something.

"Tongling officers and soldiers, take two hundred and forty people against the sea!" The Qing soldiers escorting the captives shouted triumphantly to passers-by, and sometimes when they saw the peasants in the fields, they would also shout like this to show off their martial prowess.

After learning that Zheng Chenggong was defeated under the city of Nanjing, Tongling, Chizhou and other prefectures and counties that had already surrendered to Zhang Huangyan turned against each other again, and the defenders of Tongling deliberately waited for an extra day just in case, and after confirming the victory of the Qing army in Nanjing, they pretended to invite the generals of the Zhejiang army sent by Zhang Huangyan to discuss countermeasures, and attacked and killed them.

After learning of the defeat of the Ming army in Nanjing, the Zhejiang army stationed outside the city was already panicked, and after the death of the general, the dragons were leaderless, and the Qing army that was killed out of the city was easily defeated. After the Ming army fled with their dependents, the defenders of Tongling went out to encircle and suppress, chasing and killing the Zhejiang soldiers who were unable to form an army.

This group of Qing generals not only caught up with and eliminated a large number of Ming troops, but also succeeded in capturing the target - a young aide of Zhang Huangyan, who was sent to Tongling to assist the generals of the Zhejiang army.

Now Ren Tang was tied to the first group of prisoners, just now when he found out that the Qing army was chasing, he also wanted to encourage the Ming army to resist, but everyone wanted to protect their families and escape, as a result, the unorganized Ming army collapsed at the touch of a button, and a large number of soldiers were captured along with their families. These Ming soldiers would be taken back to Tongling to parade through the streets, and then beheaded to deter the people and gentry, and also used by Tongling officials to wash their own hands.

Just now, Ren Tang put up a fierce resistance before being captured, and killed a Qing soldier, but the Qing soldiers did not execute him immediately, but took him back to Tongling to ask for merit. At this time, Ren Tang secretly made up his mind in his heart that he must make a greedy appearance of life and fear of death in Tongling, try his best to survive, try to be captured in Nanjing, and then ruthlessly sue these Tongling civil and military affairs in front of the Manchu Governor of Liangjiang, expose their ugly state when they surrendered to Zhang Huangyan, and try to use the hands of the Manchu Qing to avenge the Zhejiang officers and soldiers who were about to be killed.

When the more than 100 Qing soldiers escorted the captives and continued to advance, there was a sound of horses' hooves behind them, and soon this hooves caught up with the Qing army, and after hearing the greeting behind them, the Qing army also stopped. The three knights rode past Ren Tang one after another, and the leader seemed to have a Sichuan or Huguang accent, Ren Tang saw him roll the saddle and dismount, saluted the leader of the Qing army on the tall horse, and then asked:

"But the king guerrilla?"

"It's the general." The general waved his hand, signaling that the other party could get up.

"Hu, a lowly officer, is the outpost commander of the Jingmen Water Division." As he spoke, Mr. Hu took out his waist card and held it with both hands respectfully: "I met the general's subordinates just now, and they pointed out and came to find the general." ”

"Humble Miao Renfeng."

"Humble land to farming."

Ren Tang heard that the other two knights also reported their names one after another, and they were also full of eastern Sichuan and northern Hubei accents.

"Huguang's soldiers," General Qing took the waist card from the hands of the guards, looked at it over and over in his hand, and never returned the knife to Hu, but asked suspiciously: "Why did you come here?" ”

"Jingmen sailors 3,000, on the order of Governor Zhang, rushed to the aid of Nanjing," Hu Yidao immediately replied: "At this time, we have reached twenty miles upstream, and I heard that Tongling has fallen into the hands of thieves, so I am ready to attack, and I ordered my humble post to march by land to reconnoiter the enemy's situation for the army." As a result, all the officers and soldiers I saw along the way were very puzzled, and I just asked the general's subordinates to learn that Tongling had been recovered. ”

"Well, exactly." After hearing the other party's explanation, the Qing general was also slightly embarrassed, and threw the waist card back: "This general has killed the thief chief last night and recovered Tongling." Stretching out his hand to Ren Tang and the other captives, he pointed out: "The sea rebellions around Tongling have been swept away by the general. ”

"I see." Hu Yidao took the waist card, carefully put it away, and said to the Qing general: "If you are lowly, you will send two people back to report the military situation, so as not to fight with your own family." However, there is an order in the lowly position, can you go to Tongling first, or ask the county to prepare the camp and food and grass for tonight for my Jingmen Water Camp. ”

"Of course." The Qing general knew that this inquiry was just polite, and he had no reason to stop Hu Yidao from going to Tongling, and waved his hand and said, "You guys go first, Ben will not go fast with the captives." ”

"General Xie." Hu Yidao turned around and shouted to the knight further behind, at this time, Ren Tang saw that there were about twenty new Qing cavalry members, all of whom were draped all over their bodies, and at a glance they knew that they were the scout in the army.

After receiving the order, some of the cavalry began to turn their horses' heads and turn back, and Hu Yidao immediately turned over his horse after giving the order, ran forward, and when he passed by the Qing general, he strangled his horse again, and hugged his fist to the Qing general again and said: "General, take your humble resign." ”

"It's easy to say......"

The Qing general raised his hand as if he was about to say a polite word, when Ren Tang saw Hu Yidao suddenly pull out a cold and shining thing from his cuff, and quickly plunged it into the throat of the Qing general.

Before Ren Tang could exclaim, he heard the wind rise loudly, and Miao Renfeng and Tian Guinong also picked up their knives and guns, and stabbed at the surrounding Qing soldiers without saying a word.

The Qing general, who was suddenly attacked, covered his throat with his hands, his eyes bulged out, and stared at Hu Yidao, who was close at hand, the latter let go of the hand holding the long dagger, and without looking at the Qing general, he quickly pulled out the long horse sword on his horse's back and slashed at the other guards around the general.

It was only at this time that the generals and guards in front of Ren Tang reacted, and they all shouted angrily and drew their swords, but the three Huguang Qing soldiers were extremely skillful, and in the blink of an eye, they stabbed the guards around several generals under the horse, and the personal guard knife that dragged Ren Tang was only half pulled out, and was pierced in the eye by the dagger that flew over, and an upside-down onion fell to the ground.

The frightened horse neighed, and rushed forward, dragging Ren Tang forward, he staggered a few steps, was dragged to the ground, and his companions behind him also fell to the ground, this string of people were dragged out by the horses on the ground for more than ten meters, and almost half fell before pulling it up.

Ren Tang at the front was dragged the farthest on the ground, and after the horse stopped, the clothes on his body were torn by the stones on the ground, revealing several blood marks.

At this time, not only screams came from behind him, but also began to sound the sound of "spare your life" begging for mercy. Ren Tang lay in the dust for a moment, the screams had stopped, and only a "spare life" remained.

A man strode up to Ren Tang's side, and a blood-stained dagger reached between his hands, cutting off the ropes above.

After freeing his hands from the long rope, Ren Tang was finally able to stand up from the ground, and he shook his wrists vigorously, feeling that his palms were unconscious due to the lack of blood circulation.

Turning around, Ren Tang saw that more than half of the more than 100 Qing soldiers had been put down, and the rest had thrown away their weapons and knelt on the ground, and more than a dozen Huguang "Qing soldiers" were riding on horses, looking at these surrendered enemies, and four or five were standing on the ground, constantly untying the Ming army prisoners.

After the Ming army was unraveled, the Huguang Qing soldiers also relaxed a little, and a Ming soldier who had just obtained zìyóu rubbed his arms while looking for the Qing soldiers who were kneeling and begging for mercy, and soon he found his target. The Ming soldier screamed, threw himself at the Qing soldier, first punched and kicked him, then picked up a knife on the ground and plunged it into the Qing soldier's chest.

After the Ming army surrendered with his family just now, after being tied up, he saw his young son being picked up by this Qing soldier. After killing the enemy, the Ming soldier sat down on the ground weakly and suddenly began to cry loudly, while constantly slapping his head.

Under the influence of this soldier, the other Ming soldiers suddenly jumped up and rushed towards the Qing soldiers who were kneeling on the ground...... Seeing this, Hu Guangbing took two steps back and watched silently from the side.

Soon the Qing army prisoners were killed, and only then did Ren Tang react and walked towards Hu Yidao: "Dare to ask the name of the strong man?" ”

"Didn't you hear that?" Hu Yidao said with a smile.

"Hu Zhuangshi." Ren Tang hugged his fists and said: "There are also family members of our army in the back." ”

"I saw it when I came, but I couldn't do it." Hu Yidao nodded, the teams of Qing soldiers he met in front of him escorted a large number of women, and at a glance he knew that they were the families of the Zhejiang army, but in order to raid the leader, he did not attack those groups of Qing soldiers.

"Put on their armor," Hu said, pointing to the corpses of the Qing captives, "go and take your families back." ”

The Qing army that followed behind heard the sound of shouting and killing in front, but the distance was far away and could not be heard, and the time was very short, and they thought that there were prisoners who made trouble and were killed, when they approached, they saw a group of red-eyed Ming troops blocking the front, and before they could figure out what was going on in the front army, these Ming soldiers shouted and pounced.

After the front army was wiped out, the number of Qing soldiers escorting women and children behind was already at a disadvantage, and they were also paralyzed and careless, and in a blink of an eye, they were killed by the Ming army.

After the Huguang soldiers returned, they saw the Ming soldiers hugging and crying with their families, and they thought that even if they could get away with their lives, they would never have a chance to meet again.

"Hu Zhuangshi's great kindness and great virtue ...... "Now the Ming army can see that this group of Huguang soldiers is definitely not a scout of the Jingmen water division, and they don't know the identity of the other party, so they all call them strong men."

"Where is Zhang Shangshu?" Hu Yidao walked up to Ren Tang and asked, "I'm looking for Zhang Shangshu." ”

"Zhang Shangshu is still in Wuhu." Ren Tang replied that he told Hu Yidao that the main force of the Zhejiang army was also by Zhang Huangyan's side at this time, and Zhang Huangyan only sent 2,000 men here in Tongling, all of whom had been defeated by the defenders.

"How many Tartar soldiers are there in Tongling?" Hu Yidao asked again.

"There are eight hundred capricious thieves!" Ren Tang said angrily.

Hu Yidao asked again: "Why don't you go east, but run west." ”

"I was chased by thieves in a panic, and some people went east, I don't know if they escaped." Ren Tang sighed: "If it weren't for Hu Zhuangshi's help, we people would not have survived." ”

"Are you going to go to Wuhu?"

"yes." Ren Tang replied: "Let's straighten it out, and then we will go back to Wuhu to find Master Zhang." ”

Hu Yidao looked around, looked at the Ming soldiers who scattered and reunited with their families, shook his head and said: "You don't want to go back to Wuhu like this, and if you meet the Tartars again, you will protect your own family, and then you will all be captured by the Tartars, I can save you once, and it is impossible to save you from danger every time." ”

"What is Hu Zhuangshi's opinion?"

The conversation between Ren Tang and Hu Yidao attracted the attention of many people, and after hearing Hu Yidao's words, many people shouted and asked.

"Divided into two battalions, one battalion for women and children, and one battalion for Ding Zhuang." Hu Yidao, who was confident, immediately replied, loudly promoting his plan to the people around him.

Hearing that they were going to separate on their own and that they were not allowed to see each other until they escaped, the hopeful Ming soldiers fell silent, and their wives and children also clung to the man's arm, as if they would say goodbye forever as soon as they let go.

"Who thinks that with the strength of one person, he can get out of danger with his wife and children and go to Wuhu safely, I will not stop him, and he can set off with his family. But I don't think you know each other well, and it is impossible for you to get out of danger alone, even if you meet a few officials, you can be caught with an iron ruler. Hu Yidao said loudly to everyone: "Those who are willing to divide the camp will stay and act in unison." As long as there is one person alive in the men's camp, everyone's family members can get out of danger safely; Unless the men's battalion is wiped out and no one survives, your family will be captured by the Tartars, but if everyone can't fight their way together, then what hope do you have to separate? ”

Hu Yidao's subordinates also helped to carry out propaganda, so that everyone could understand: as long as the women's and children's camp is not dismantled, then even if he dies in battle, the remaining companions must protect his family and his orphans together.

Listening to these people's obvious Sichuan and Hubei accents, someone finally asked, "Are you Kui Dongjun?" ”

Tian Guinong smiled and nodded: "Not bad." ”

"Are you Admiral Deng's men?" Ren Tang asked about their identities again: "Did you come from Huguang to reinforce us on the orders of Admiral Deng?" ”

"I'm Deng Ming," Hu Yidao also laughed and asked rhetorically, "Has Mr. Ren heard of me?" ”

Ren Tang and the surrounding Zhejiang soldiers were stunned all of a sudden.

"I'm the Zhou Kaihuang who made a big fuss in Kunming! Have you heard of me? Tian Guinong also reported his true identity.

"I'm Jinyi Wei Qianhu Zhao Tianba." Miao Renfeng sighed slightly as he spoke, he was really envious of Zhou Kaihuang for being able to leave his name in the Kunming fire.

"It turns out that Your Excellency is Admiral Deng, and Zhou Zhuangshi." Ren Tang shouted: "The name is like thunder!" ”

Although Deng Ming did not stop him, the soldiers of the Ming army knew very well that they would never be able to protect their families from danger by their own strength.

After announcing the division of the camp, Deng Ming asked them to arm themselves with the captured Qing army equipment, and asked the women's and children's battalion to also help carry some of the baggage: "Let's go to Tongling first, look for friendly troops around, and eliminate the green battalion in Tongling, they only have 800 people." ”

There were not many garrisons in Tongling, Deng Ming came to the front of the city with his guards, and easily defeated several city gate guards, followed by more than 200 Zhejiang soldiers who swarmed in and rushed into the county government to chop the county magistrate into meat sauce.

The Ming army that had been captured was naturally released immediately, and Deng Ming still adopted the principle of voluntary entry into the camp, and if the soldiers themselves did not want their families to be separated, then he would not be reluctant.

After gathering hundreds of Zhejiang soldiers, Deng Ming immediately went out of the city to attack the Tongling Green Battalion that pursued the Ming army separately, and now the Zhejiang soldiers know that they are in danger, and there is no way to retreat, and they don't want to leave this place alive without destroying the Qing army, so everyone is brave. The predators suddenly became prey, and the local troops in Tongling were small in number and did not have too strong combat effectiveness, and were successively defeated by the Zhejiang army.

"Set off immediately and go to Wuhu to meet Zhang Shangshu." Deng Ming didn't want to stay in Tongling for a day, so he opened the warehouse, used the money and grain in it to hire people to help carry supplies, buy boats, and set off for Wuhu early the next morning. For Tongling's Baixin, Deng Ming did not reveal his name, this can be concealed for as long as possible, he does not want to become the target of public criticism.

……

After Zheng Chenggong retreated to Zhenjiang, the army was still panicked, and he lost more than ten generals in the first battle of Nanjing, which greatly reduced his ability to control the army.

"If you withdraw from the army at this time, Zhang Shangshu may not be able to leave alive." Although Zheng Chenggong knew that Zhang Huangyan was in urgent need of assistance, but now the morale of the Fujian army was on the verge of collapse, and if he fought rashly, he was afraid that not only would he not be able to save people, but even the Fujian soldiers would have to take in.

"Family members must not bring it anymore." Zheng Chenggong has already understood that if he lets his family continue to walk with the army, he should not expect the army to obey orders, but Zhenjiang is also not safe, and now Zheng Chenggong can still rely on the number of troops to control the generals in Zhenjiang for the time being, but if he leaves his family here and takes the army away, the loyalty of Gao Qian and other Zhenjiang generals is very questionable.

If the news of Zhenjiang's defection and the loss of all family members suddenly came during the battle at the front, Zheng Chenggong estimated that the Fujian army would collapse.

"Chongming Island." Zheng Chenggong thought for a long time, and finally made up his mind: "Go and capture Chongming Island first, and put all your families on the island, so that the army can fight with confidence." After settling down the family, he stabilized the morale of the army, and then tried to reinforce Zhang Shangshu. ”

After thinking of the plan, Zheng Chenggong immediately acted and immediately ordered the Zhenjiang army to retreat with him, and the army quickly returned downstream to attack Chongming Island. When leaving Zhenjiang, Zheng Chenggong could only silently hope that the Zhejiang army would be able to hold out upstream for a while, and that it would be able to hold out until the Fujian army regained its morale and returned to relieve them of the siege.

"Can Zhang Shangshu last in Wuhu for a month?" Zheng Chenggong estimated that even if it was a single thing, it would take half a month to 20 days to capture Chongming Island, stabilize the morale of the army, and deploy defenses. As for what to do if Chongming Island could not be captured, Zheng Chenggong did not think about it seriously, because he did not dare to think about the consequences of failure at all.