Episode 14 Brother Qiang is very angry, and the consequences are serious

In Yangzhou City, in the headquarters of the Fourth Artillery Army of the Qing Army, two Ming Army officers were removed from their blindfolds and found themselves facing a room of high-ranking Qing Army officers.

And these two Ming army officers, one is a major and the other is a captain, according to international practice, even if they see the commander of the enemy ** team, they have to salute. It is a warring style with an aristocratic atmosphere that originated in European countries. It means that we are all civilized and noble people, and although we are in a state of war, our opponents respect each other.

But when the two officers of the Ming army saw Nahai, the commander of the Qing army, they straightened their chests and raised their chins higher. - Such an opponent is not worthy of respect at all.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not recognize the legitimacy of the Northern Qing Dynasty, and the official always defined the Qing army as a rebel army, if Nahai fought in a dignified manner and did not coerce the common people as a meat shield, he would have desperately adhered to the spirit of Yangzhou, and the two Ming army officers might have really saluted him.

Although the atmosphere in the office was very formal, and the senior officials of the whole army were gathered, Nahai still deliberately made a very casual appearance, bowed his head and sorted out the inventory information of various materials in Yangzhou City, and wrote and made instructions and handed them to the adjutant next to him.

After a long time, he glanced up at the two Ming army officers and threw out a sentence:

"What do you have to say? Go ahead. ”

The two Ming army officers glanced at each other, somewhat nervous. Then Major Ming Jun coughed lightly, stepped forward, handed over a document under his armpit to Nahai's desk with both hands, and retreated to the same place.

Nahai glanced at it with slanted eyes, and as if he was a little in the way, he flicked the document aside with his fingers, looked up and frowned:

"What is this?"

明军Major says:

"This is a letter from the commander of our army to you."

"What letter?"

Major Ming Jun hesitated for a moment and said directly:

"A letter urging you to surrender."

Nahai immediately looked up to the sky and burst into laughter, startling the room. Several people thought it was too contrived and a little unnatural.

Nahai finished laughing, grabbed the letter of persuasion on the table, threw it on the ground, stood up, and said with a sneer:

"Surrender? Joke! If you go back and tell your master, just say that my Nalan family is favored by the emperor, and I, Nalan Hai, are resolutely loyal to the emperor and the Qing Dynasty! I will stick to my position and swear to defend Yangzhou for the emperor! When our Fourth Army is stationed in Yangzhou, it is necessary to ensure the safety of one side and protect the safety of the lives and property of the people of Yangzhou! Never let the people of Yangzhou suffer the ravages of the Nanming bandits! Never give up an inch of land in the Qing Dynasty! Haha, let me surrender? Go back and tell your master, stop daydreaming! ”

The two Ming army officers were still a little nervous, but now after listening to such a very entertaining passage, they are no longer nervous. Although the two of them were still standing straight on the ground, the corners of their mouths couldn't hold back a smile.

The slightly younger captain couldn't help but laugh:

"Your Excellency General, since you want to protect the safety of the people of Yangzhou, why do you force the people to stand in line at the head of the city as meat shields?"

Nahai raised his eyebrows and asked curiously:

"Really? Am I forced? Where? When? ”

The captain sneered:

"Still standing at the top of the city, oh, you might be able to see it from your window. Or...... Your Excellency, take a look now? ”

A staff officer next to him blushed and shouted:

"That's all the claims made by the officers below, and it's a private act! …… What does it have to do with our military seat? Now that we are in the middle of a war, our military seat is busy defending Yangzhou, if we take care of any small things below, do we still have to deal with military affairs? …… Our military seat is a lieutenant general, and that is from the elite troops! What level are you? Have you ever been a military commander? ”

Major Ming Jun sneered and said:

"I've never been a military commander, but I know that your military commander has committed a war crime by using civilians as meat shields. If we don't surrender and let us come in and capture us alive, we may be hanged by a court-martial. ”

Several officers next to him shouted loudly, and two others made a gesture to draw their guns.

Nahai raised a hand, and the circle of officers in the room fell silent.

Nahai leaned back, lay on the back of the chair, and said to the two Ming army officers in an official tone:

"Those people were all of their own free will. Voluntarily ascended to the top of the city to assist the imperial army in defending his hometown...... The general began to disagree, but these people were loyal and brave, saying that if they were not allowed to go to the city to participate in the defense, they would commit suicide...... Alas, under such circumstances, General Ben shed tears......"

The major of the Ming army was impatient to listen to him anymore, so he bent down and picked up the letter of persuasion, and said:

"Your Excellency, in front of so many colleagues, probably did not dare to accept the letter of persuasion from our army. Well, you need not be embarrassed, as a messenger, I am obliged to read it for you. Listen up:

"To His Excellency Nahai, Commander of the Fourth Artillery Corps of the Qing Army:

"Your army is now surrounded by the superior forces of our army, and there is no hope of breaking through or holding on. Your army is unable to compete with our army in terms of strength, equipment, provisions, morale and other aspects, and our army is rapidly advancing to the area controlled by the puppet Qing Dynasty at a speed of more than 50 kilometers per day, and the Qing army, which may form reinforcements to your army, is being encircled, divided, and eliminated by our army. The fall of the puppet Qing regime was only a matter of time.

"In view of the above situation, for the sake of the lives of your officers and soldiers, the people of Yangzhou, and your own life, I suggest that your army order your army to lay down their arms and go out of the city to surrender. Our army guarantees the safety of your officers and men and your Excellency, and guarantees that you enjoy all the benefits provided for in the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

"For Your Excellency, and for all the high-ranking officers in your army, if you accept the surrender before three o'clock in the afternoon, and the civilians who are being held hostage are not harmed, some of your previous vested interests will be recognized by our Ming Empire. These vested interests include your existing property – all movable and immovable property, all legal and illicit gains, and your title. According to the information we know, you have not committed heinous acts before, so you will not be held accountable for all your previous minor misdeeds under the rule of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty.

"If you agree to these conditions, you may hoist the white flag over the city before three o'clock in the afternoon, and let the troops go out of the city and lay down their arms.

"——Commander of the Seventh Army of the Ming Imperial Army - Huang Shuliang."

……

After the Ming army major finished reading, he put this letter of persuasion on Nahai's desk again.

But this time, there was silence in the room.

These Qing generals did not expect that the surrender conditions proposed by the Ming army would be so generous. They resisted desperately, for fear of losing everything they have now: power, status, money, and also for fear of falling into the hands of the Ming army, and the Evil Council they had done before would be liquidated.

But now it seems that it has become simpler, and even if it surrenders, these benefits will not be lost much. At least the losses are not as great as imagined. The power is definitely gone, there will be no way to make black money in the future, and it is impossible to achieve the Tao by himself, and the seven aunts and eight aunts all followed the chicken and dog to heaven and went sideways on the street.

However, the property that has been made can be kept, and it is no problem to be a rich man honestly. In addition, the Qing army has always had the tradition of leading troops to fight in the imperial family, and in the later period, many high-level generals even if they were not imperial relatives were also knighted. Now Nanming even recognizes these titles, which is equivalent to saying that he has surrendered in the past, and he is still a nobleman......

It's unbelievable.

Hou Hekun's eyes were cold, he glanced at the persuasion book on the table for a while, glanced at the two Ming army officers opposite, and glanced at the subordinates around him for a while, thinking violently in his mind.

and his wife and children, all in the north. If you surrender to the Ming army and the Ming army can quickly fight to the north, then it will be okay. If you can't do it, your wife and children will be finished.

Moreover, how credible is it for the Ming army to put forward such generous conditions? Was this proposed by a commander of the Ming army himself, or was it a "unified policy" at the top of the Ming army? If it's the former, it's basically a lie. Flip up a bunch of empty checks, trick yourself into surrendering, and then even if you don't cash it out to yourself, what can you do if you're a prisoner? Besides, even if this is the policy of the top brass of the Ming army. That can only illustrate one problem: the Ming army lacked troops and could not withstand losses, so it adopted the strategy of "not fighting if it can, not fighting", first trying to use favorable conditions to pull people to surrender, and only then fighting when it was really impossible......

This also confirms the long-standing propaganda of the imperial court - the military strength of the Ming army is far from being the opponent of the Qing Dynasty, which is completely correct.

If that's the case, you'll have to take a long-term view. Such an army, now attacking quite fiercely, will not last at all. Soon it had to be crushed by the superior army of the Qing Dynasty, and even driven across the Yangtze River, and the whole was swallowed up. In that case, if he surrendered to Nanming early, is it not a dead end? What Nanming promised to keep his vested interests, Nanming himself couldn't keep it by that time.

At critical moments, it's important to make the right choices. Follow the right people.

Nahai's mind changed violently, the blood in his body ran faster, his face was red and white for a while, and large drops of sweat slowly flowed down his forehead.

…… At this time, you must stand on the right side, once you stand wrong, your life will be over.

I don't know how long it took, Nahai finally made a decision to stick to Yangzhou City and bet the treasure on the safest side. There is no need for Nanming to guarantee his property at all, as long as the Qing Dynasty wins, let alone keep his existing property, and he is still a meritorious hero, he can continue to be promoted and make a fortune, and he can also be the emperor of the soil on his own one-acre and three-point land, his children and grandchildren can be rich and noble without hard work, and his relatives and friends can still live a prosperous life in the local area with their own light.

And Nan Ming won, he has nothing but a little money, so he can only be an honest law-abiding citizen. Not to mention his own relatives and friends.

Well, it's decided.

……

But there's one more problem...... Nahai raised his eyes and quickly swept around the room. They were all staring at themselves with their own evil intentions.

Even if he didn't surrender to Nanming, after receiving the letter of persuasion, he still hesitated for so long, which was seen by them. …… In the future, this period of hesitation will definitely become a crime and ruin yourself.

Therefore, it is necessary to find a way to make up for it.

……

Nahai raised his head, slowly picked up the book of persuasion, sneered, and tore it off one by one. With a final wave of his hand, he scattered it all over the ground.

The faces of the two Ming Army officers standing opposite changed and subconsciously took a step back.

Nahai smiled coldly and shouted:

"What kind of so-called persuasion is the Nanming bandit army, which is extremely insidious and vicious, it is really tolerable and unbearable. Someone! ”

"Yes!"

Two guards pushed the door open.

Nahai's eyes shot a vicious light, and he gritted his teeth and said:

"Escort these two Nanming spies out and kill me in front of my brothers!"

As soon as the words came out, the room was stunned.

The faces of the two Ming army officers turned pale, but for a while they didn't believe that this Qing army general had such courage. Was he sure he could run away?

The other officers in the room were also stunned.

With such generous conditions, even if you don't want it, there's no need to do things so absolutely! Although the two countries do not fight each other, although this is not "two countries", it is also obviously a big taboo. At this time, we have no room for the Ming army!

The two guards were also a little stunned, and they didn't dare to do it for a while, for fear that they had misheard. …… Didn't this cut off the way back for the brothers?

Nahai slapped the table and shouted:

"What are you doing! Want to disobey military orders? ”

Then he drew his gun and tried to kill two guards. The two guards were frightened and hurriedly shouted "hey", and then couldn't help but say that they dragged out the two Ming army envoys with earthy faces.

The two envoys of the Ming army were dragged outside the headquarters, and many Qing officers and soldiers were already surrounded on the street, and they all gathered here to listen when they heard that the envoys of the Ming army had come to negotiate. Their future is at stake.

But they saw such a scene: two Ming army officers were dragged out, and their hats were dropped. They were pressed down in the middle of the street by several soldiers, and before they could utter a word, they were shot twice from behind.

Before a large group of Qing officers and soldiers could understand what was going on, they looked at the situation in front of them in amazement: a large pool of blood, two corpses in Ming army uniforms fell inside, and the back of their heads were torn off.

……

In the headquarters, Nahai impassionedly expressed his determination to a group of stunned officers, claiming that this was done to show that the Southern Ming bandit army was completely dead and swore to fight them to the end. At the same time, it is also to show his loyalty to the emperor.

Then, he told his subordinates that the Qing Dynasty would win and the Southern Ming Dynasty would lose, and gave them stimulants, telling them that as long as they stuck to it this time, everyone would be heroes in the future and could continue to be powerful in the Qing Dynasty. And surrendering Nanming, except for a little money, there will be no other benefits.

After some analysis, a circle of subordinates also thought that what he said was very reasonable, and praised the military seat one after another, praising the military seat for keeping the bottom line in the face of major rights and wrongs, and the righteousness was awe-inspiring, which can be called a model for the generals of the Qing Dynasty.

Immediately afterwards, Nahai discussed with the senior officers: Now it is not enough for us to be willing to defend to the death, because it is beneficial for us to defend to the death, and in the eyes of those who are soldiers below, it is not beneficial to hold on to it, but it is beneficial to surrender to Nanming. Therefore, the current situation is very dangerous, and those who are soldiers see that their commanders have cut off their back roads, and they may take risks at any time and provoke mutiny.

The key now is to pull the soldiers below into the water and make them stop the idea of surrendering.

After a while, all levels of the Qing army in Yangzhou began to convey the special orders of the military commander:

——From now on, in Yangzhou City, in addition to the imperial court officials and red-top officials and merchants, other businessmen and ordinary people, their property belongs to the brothers of the whole army, and their daughters and dependents also belong to the brothers of the whole army. As long as the brothers fight well, they can go to the melon and share it. There are many rich people in Yangzhou City, and there are countless treasures and beauties in Ayaluo, and after the victory, every brother will have a lot of money in his pocket, and his wife and concubine will hug him left and right, and he will also earn a large share of the family business after retirement. Isn't this much better than surrendering Nanming?

……

Sure enough, as soon as the order was delivered, the morale of the Qing army in the whole city was greatly boosted, and cheers, strange screams, and whistles resounded in the sky over the entire Yangzhou City.

The Qing army began to take people to the wealthy areas of the city to "enclose land" in accordance with the order of division, brigade, regiment, battalion, company, platoon, and squad. The rich districts were soon wiped out by the high-ranking officials, and then the junior officers and soldiers below began to circle the poor districts. The GIs didn't care, they knew that the most oily homes would definitely be snatched by the commanders first. Robbing ordinary people's homes by themselves, as long as you rob a few more households, you will also be rich.

The cry in Yangzhou City shook the sky for a while, and more than 20,000 Qing troops began to sack this prosperous city. With the sack, the morale of the Qing army in the city also reached its peak. The usual hatred of the rich of those poor soldiers of the lower class was best vented, and their pockets were full of money, and now everyone was shouting "Long live Nada!" From the bottom of my heart, I support Nahai as my own commander. More than 20,000 Qing soldiers are gearing up, ready to defend Yangzhou to the death, the Ming army to destroy one by one, two to destroy a pair, and would rather die than defend their "fruits of victory".

- After the Ming army, even if Lord Na rebelled with his brothers, the brothers also did it with him!

……

The Ming army outside the city was still waiting to hear the reply, and waited until three o'clock in the afternoon at the specified time, but there was no reply in the city, and the two messengers did not come out.

The Ming army then sent another messenger into the city to contact again.

After a while, the messenger came out to report that Nahai, the commander of the Qing army, said that he was willing to surrender now, but many of his generals did not believe that the Ming army would win and were unwilling to surrender, and were now convincing them. If it takes some time, please grace for another twelve hours.

The reply was reported to the High Command. The headquarters is now concerned about the siege of Nanyang on the left, but Yangzhou is different, Yangzhou is not a key charge that cannot be bypassed, and it can be completely besieged without attacking. Therefore, the General Staff of the Army agreed to a grace period, but not as long as twelve hours, but a maximum of six hours.

Six hours, which is enough for Nahai to strengthen the defense of Yangzhou. Nahai replied and agreed. As for the two messengers, Nahai directly replied that he had taken them hostage, and after six hours, if he still could not convince his generals, he would use them to ask the Ming army for leniency and conditions.

Tang Yun of the Command Department was so angry that he couldn't do anything for a while. The best option is to give the Qing garrison time to surrender.

……

Six hours later, it was nine o'clock in the evening.

There was a commotion at the head of the city, and then the people above flashed a crack, and then two Qing soldiers flashed out, slashed their arms twice, threw two things down, and rolled away.

Several Ming army officers looked through the searchlight and with binoculars, and they were all dumbfounded.

That's two heads.

Could it be the heads of the two messengers?

They immediately called the officers of the Courier's immediate forces to come and see. The officer looked through the binoculars, his face was pale, he clenched his teeth, nodded and said in a trembling voice:

"Not bad...... It's ...... them."

……

Nanjing, Purple Mountain Fortress.

Xiang Xiaoqiang slapped the table, gritted his teeth and scolded:

"He did it himself...... No wonder others ...... To hell with what Geneva, what the League of Nations! ”