Episode 15 Order to Save Civilians

In the long tunnel of the Purple Mountain Fortress, the footsteps came from far and near, and the Praetorian Guards stood up and raised their guns in salute in turn, and walked towards Xiaoqiang menacingly. He was followed by Marshal Tang Yunsheng, Chief of the Army General Staff, General Feng Lingcai, Commander of the Right Army Group, and Lieutenant General Fang Dongcheng, Commander of the Ninth Army.

This is to ask to see Zhu Yourong, and several generals consciously or unconsciously take Xiang Xiaoqiang as the center.

In Zhu Yourong's living room, Xiang Xiaoqiang almost "roared" at what the Qing army in Yangzhou had done, and looked at the few senior generals on the side with palpitations. If it weren't for the fact that Zhu Yourong and Xiang Xiaoqiang were already close to lovers, Xiang Xiaoqiang's attitude would only be regarded as a forced palace in any monarchy.

But Zhu Yourong just lowered his eyes and listened quietly, glancing at several other veterans from time to time, and did not interrupt Xiang Xiaoqiang without saying a word.

After Xiang Xiaoqiang finished speaking, he breathed a sigh of relief, turned to Tang Yunsheng and said:

"Tang Gong, what happened, the student has finished talking to His Majesty, Tang Gong, tell me, what should I do? How can this battle be fought? ”

Tang Yunsheng exclaimed in his heart: I can't see this to Xiaoqiang, I only knew that he had a good relationship with His Majesty before, but I didn't expect it to be like this...... Speaking to Xiaoqiang like this, His Majesty was not angry, and he still looked like he was pleasing to the eyebrows...... This attitude is like a monarch and a minister, it is clearly two people. It seems that two out of ten ** have already cooked raw rice and cooked rice, and it is only a matter of time before Xiang Xiaoqiang becomes the prince of the Ming Dynasty.

Tang Yunsheng nodded, then turned his face to Zhu Yourong and said bitterly:

"Your Majesty, what Xiang Xiaoqiang said is that during the last battle of Pukou, the Qing army held civilians hostage, and this time they held civilians hostage. Now it is very clear that the Qing army has decided that my Ming Wang Shi is a benevolent and righteous army, and he came to liberate the people instead of slaughtering the people, and he will not see a large number of casualties among the people, so he has repeatedly resorted to this rogue trick to make our army throw a mouse trap and tie its hands and feet...... Your Majesty, although this will greatly benefit us politically, the success or failure of the Northern Expedition is composed of military battles after all. If the Qing army did this in every battle, then the old minister could guarantee that my Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition would suffer a crushing defeat. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang said again:

"Your Majesty, the Qing army is forcing us to make a multiple-choice question: option A, we will kill the Qing army and the people together. Option B, we threw down the planes, artillery and tanks, and went up with bayonets to fight with the Qing army. If we choose A, we will lose people's hearts, and if we choose B, we will lose our weapon advantage. Your Majesty, our troops and population are far less than those of the Northern Qing Dynasty, and the reason why we dare to make up our minds to go on a northern expedition is because of our superiority in popularity and weapons. If we lose one, we have no chance of winning. Now we have to choose one. Anyway, no matter which one we choose, we will lose. ”

Tang Yunsheng continued:

"Your Majesty, now that we have just started the war, we have been led by the nose by the Qing army, how will we fight the war in the future? Your Majesty, if we still want to win the war, we have to make a decision now! ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang took it again:

"Then again, why did Nahai, the Qing chief of Yangzhou, dare to kill the envoy of our army? Why ignore our favorable conditions, but are so willing to guard Yangzhou? Is it really loyal to his master of the Qing Dynasty? The devil believes! He just expected that every Qing army would hold the people hostage like this, and he expected that my Ming army would definitely fall into a dilemma, and soon after the war began, it would lose the war, and then he, the person who held on, would succeed!

Then, several people looked at Zhu Yourong.

Zhu Yourong seemed to have a premonition of what kind of request they would make.

She looked up at a few people, a little tempted to speak, but didn't know how to say it. After a while, he finally asked hard:

"That'...... What are the opinions of several Aiqing? ”

Then, several veterans looked at Xiaoqiang. Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the crowd, and said to Zhu Yourong:

"Your Majesty, the ministers and all the other military generals, I would like to ask Your Majesty for a decree that your Majesty approve the military to issue an order on the battlefield, and at the same time a statement to the Qing army: From the time of the order, if any Qing army takes civilians hostage as meat shields, our army will execute all the officers of this Qing army. From lieutenants to generals, all were put to death. ”

Zhu Yourong's heart sank, and he had a cold war, and sure enough, his premonition came true. And they really made such a request.

Seeing that Zhu Yourong's face was embarrassed, Tang Yunsheng and Xiang Xiaoqiang glanced at each other, and then said:

"Your Majesty, otherwise there is no way to deter the Qing army, they have tasted the sweetness, and they will hold civilians hostage again and again, and turn defeat into victory again and again. Your Majesty, this wind of the Qing army must be stopped, otherwise, this battle will really not be fought. Whether our Northern Expedition succeeds or fails now depends on whether we can stop this wind in time. ”

Zhu Yourong lowered his head and muttered:

"No...... No...... We can't do that...... Or otherwise? After the battle, we can send the captured Qing army officers to a military court, through which we can identify those responsible? …… In this way, all the executions are indiscriminate, and too many people will die unjustly. After all, it was only the commander who decided to hold the people hostage, and the officers below were just carrying out orders. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang and several generals looked at each other and were speechless for a while.

How does this Zhu Yourong look like Tang Seng!

…… All I think about is what to do if I hit a child, even if I can't hit a child, it's not right to hit a flower or grass...... It's almost time to sing "Only You".

"Your Majesty," he said patiently, "you said that you would send the captured Qing officers to a court-martial, well, I have no opinion. But you have to think about it first: how do you capture those officers in the first place? How to use planes and heavy artillery to get those Qing army officers out of the civilian pile? …… Your Majesty, although our position is a civil war, in the eyes of the international community, it is two countries at war, one side actually holding its own civilians as meat shields, and the other side is really blocked...... Yes, this image is righteous and politically scoreful, but at the same time stupid. Tang Gong was right, political scores, in the end, must be reflected by military battles.

"Now the situation is that a pack of wolves is pounceing on our flock, and we don't shoot and kill the wolves, but here we hesitate: Will the wolves hurt? Wolves are hungry to attack their flocks, right? Those wolves are just driven by instinct, and the quality is not bad...... Shall we try it with a tranquilizer gun first? If you don't have a tranquilizer gun, try to aim at the wolf's claws and don't kill them...... Your Majesty, when all these conditions are met, the sheep will be dead, and the wolves will continue to pounce on us!

"Your Majesty, extraordinary measures should be used in extraordinary times, and what you said is not bad, there will be many unjust deaths. But this kind of thing spread very quickly, and after one or two times, all the Qing troops would understand that even if their commander went crazy and ordered the army to hold civilians hostage, they would never do anything with him. So what will happen to them? They will decide to either refuse to carry out the order en masse, mutiny and kill the commander, or flee without permission. Either way, it's in our great favor. It didn't take long for all the Qing generals to regard the coercion of civilians as crazy, and no one would touch them again. In the end, we won't really kill many people. ”

Zhu Yourong lowered his head and said nothing, gently turning the tea cup, staring at the reflection inside.

Tang Yunsheng saw that Zhu Yourong was hesitating, and hit the railway while it was hot:

"Your Majesty, the Qing captives have taken civilians as meat shields first, and they have already committed war crimes. And the execution of orders by military personnel is not indefinite, and once the orders of the commander may lead to war crimes, the subordinates have no obligation to carry them out. If such an order is obeyed, the subordinate also commits a war crime and will be tried as well. The nature of the Qing army's coercion of civilians as meat shields is no different from that of a massacre, and there is nothing wrong with the countermeasures we have formulated in response to this situation, and no one can say anything at home and abroad. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang continued:

"Your Majesty, now we only need this order, we can immediately cut off the despicable means of the Qing army, regain the combat advantage, and the victory of the Northern Expedition is just around the corner. At that time, we will save 400 million people. And if we twist now, like Song Xianggong did back then, stick to the word 'benevolence and righteousness', and make humanity infinite, we will end up ...... There is no need for any 'final', and the war is now lost. The next thing we worry about is how to hold the Yangtze River defense line. By the way, if the Qing captives are driven in front of the warships full of civilians, then are we going to let the Qing prisoners go? ”

Zhu Yourong bit his lip, raised his eyes, and cast a reproachful glance at Xiao Qiang.

Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that he was a little too much, so he said "cough" twice and closed his mouth. He also glanced at Zhu Yourong, with a hint of apology in his eyes.

Zhu Yourong pondered for a while, sighed, and asked:

"What is Ming Gong's attitude?"

Tang Yunsheng immediately said:

"Back to Your Majesty, this is the attitude of Chief of General Staff Zhang Zhaoxian. The chief of the general staff commanded the overall situation and could not leave for a while, and entrusted his ministers and others to make a statement to His Majesty. ”

Zhu Yourong stood up gently, paced a few steps, gritted his teeth, and finally said:

"A few Aiqing are reasonable, so let's do it. Intended purpose. ”

……

At 10 o'clock in the evening of October 4, an order was issued that the Ming officials called the "Order to Save Civilians". At the front of the left and right war zones, in the rows of field tents, among the snoring soldiers, and among the steel helmets and bayonets of the patrolmen glowing with cold light, the radio stations "ticked and ticked" out this bloody "order to save civilians."

All night, the boat bridge troops on the Yangtze River worked all night, and the entire river was brightly lit. As the long night passed, pontoon bridges appeared on the 400-kilometer-long river.

By the early morning of October 5, there were already 22 pontoon bridges on the Yangtze River in the right theater of operations. This, of course, is far from the total goal of 80 pontoons, but already exceeds the projected speed. At this rate, in another week, hundreds of pontoon bridges will appear on the river, which will basically meet the capacity of the right offensive.

At six o'clock in the morning, three armored divisions and three mechanized divisions of the People's Guard roared and scattered across the Yangtze River from 10 of the pontoon bridges. At the same time, a large number of vehicles, heavy artillery, and logistical heavy equipment of the army's motorized infantry division also drove from the other 12 pontoon bridges to the north bank.

After assembling on the north bank, the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Mechanized Divisions interspersed to the north non-stop, and the 3rd Armored Division stayed behind and approached the periphery of Yangzhou to assist the 7th Army in besieging Yangzhou.

The torrent of steel roared, slowly surrounding Yangzhou City.

Zhang Haitao, commander of the 3rd Armored Division, personally stood in the turret of the tank, his upper body exposed, and looked at the city with a telescope from afar.

Then, gritting his teeth, he slowly said three words full of strong Nanjing flavor:

"Day-you-mom......"

At the head of the city, all the people standing densely packed are ordinary people. Behind the common people, the heads and bayonets of the Qing soldiers wearing steel helmets faintly flashed.

In the middle of the battlements, a heavy machine gun was erected at intervals, and in the middle of each heavy machine gun, several anti-tank guns were arranged.

Under the city, outside the moat, the sparse common people bent over, as if digging something. If you look closely with a telescope, it turns out that they are planting mines. Those were old men, women, and children, all of whom couldn't run fast, so the Qing army released them out of the city and let them plant mines instead of themselves. In fact, even if it is an adult man, there are machine guns on the head of the city, and they basically can't escape. In the middle of them were a handful of Qing army sappers, monitoring them to lay mines in the correct way.

The old men were crouching on the ground, digging with shovels, while the women and children next to them were criing as they clung to the mines. After the old man dug a pit, they carefully handed over the mine, and the old man carefully lowered the pit, set it according to the requirements of the sappers, and then covered it with earth.

Suddenly, a column of black smoke rose into the air, and the two civilians next to them were blown away. After a while, the muffled sound reached the Ming army's position.

Zhang Haitang still clenched the telescope tightly, gritted his teeth in his mouth, and let out a sentence:

"Day-you-mom......"

The Qing army in the city began to drive the people to plant mines outside the city at night, and now a mine belt more than ten meters wide has been planted around the moat. The Ming army has already counted, a total of 22 mines exploded in the process of burying mines, and according to the calculation that one blew up two civilians, more than 40 civilians have been killed in this way.

Now, it can be said that the high-ranking officials of the Qing army in the city have done whatever it takes to keep their future and wealth.

But because of this, they also personally pronounced their own death sentences.

The portable lead printing machine of the People's Guard's Political Work Corps began to print new leaflets non-stop at night when it received the order, and up to now, the Third Panzer Division alone has printed more than 20,000 leaflets. There is only one article - the order to save civilians.

On the towed printing cart, the political work team continued to print, printing bundles and sending them to the artillerymen, so that they could load them into propaganda shells and use mortars to enter the city. Now in the streets and alleys of Yangzhou City, the streets and pavements are full of "save civilians orders".

Those Qing soldiers ran around, dragging sandbags and ammunition on their backs, desperately strengthening the city's defenses, sweating profusely, and stepping on these propaganda papers...... But the heart was already terrified. Especially the officers, who are now desperate and have no way out. Even if you kill the officials and rebel now, you can't go out of the city and surrender. He participated in and connived at his subordinates to sack Yangzhou, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of people's families, and the Ming army did not know about it. Even if they surrender now, the Ming army will not pursue the matter of coercing the people, but can the Ming army let itself go for such a hurtful thing as the ransacking of Yangzhou? What the Ming army wants is an intact and prosperous Yangzhou, not such a ravaged remnant of flowers and willows!

They had one idea - as long as the Ming army refused to hurt the people, Yangzhou City could be defended, and they could hold their heads and keep their rich future.

The people whose homes were ruined were leaning on the side of the street, sitting or lying, and they all looked coldly at the Qing army running around the street. They all had a flyer or two by their side, and everyone looked at it. Yesterday, these people looked at their ruined homes, their wives and daughters, and they were still crying and grabbing the earth, and they were going to die in grief, but now they are all calm. They held the "Order to Save the Civilians" in their hands, with dry tears on their faces, just staring at the terrified Qing troops, saying nothing, waiting for that moment.

……

"That's it!" Zhang Haitao looked at his watch in the tank and shouted into the headset, "It's an hour!" There is no white flag in the city! Plan and act! ”

At this time, it was eight o'clock in the morning. A tank battalion of the People's Guard, 45 Lightning-3 heavy tanks, rumbled to a distance of 400 meters from the city wall, lined up in an arc.

With a command, the barrels of the 47mm/42x caliber long-barreled cannons on the 45 tanks slowly lowered, pointing straight at the same point on the city wall.

At this very moment, the heavy machine guns on the head of the city opened fire, and the bullets clanged against the front and top armor of the tank. Between the dense machine-gun fires, there were also louder anti-tank guns. Armor-piercing shells of 12 and 14 mm caliber also hit the armor of the tank non-stop.

However, neither 12 mm nor 14 mm could penetrate the frontal armor of the Lightning-3. Not only that, but even if there were larger caliber anti-tank guns in the city, it would be difficult to penetrate these 45 tanks.

Throughout the morning, the repair company of the People's Guard Division, as well as two other repair companies of the Army's motorized infantry division, a total of three repair companies, had made simple modifications to these 45 tanks. They hung the remaining spare armor plates, as well as spare tracks, spare artillery baffles, and so on, on the front and top surfaces of the 45 tanks. Of course, it was very rough and not welded, and some were simply tied to it with iron chains. On top of the armor, a lot of small sandbags were hung, and the tank was bloated, like a small pillbox.

The ballistic effect has increased by 2-3 times, at the cost of a full double reduction in maneuverability. But now, these tanks are either required for field battles, or used as siege equipment. It doesn't matter how slow it is.

In the 45 dark tanks, the commander's command sounded one after another:

"Armor-piercing bullets - good !!"

"Armor-piercing bullets - good !!"

"Armor-piercing bullets - good !!"

……

Then, the commanders put their periscopes, listened to the "clanging" sound of bullets and bullets in their ears, and calmly ordered:

"The wall ahead - 400 meters - armor-piercing bullets - ready -"

Zhang Haitao held the binoculars, engrossed, and slowly commanded into the headset:

"Good...... Pay attention to the muzzle ...... Lower the muzzle...... Preparation...... Put!!! ”

The commanders of the 45 tanks also immediately shouted "put", and in an instant, 45 tank guns spewed out fireworks from right to left, and a large cloud of white smoke burst out on the Yangzhou city wall 400 meters away, and 45 solid armor-piercing shells hit the same place on the city wall one after another.

Because it was a solid armor-piercing projectile, it did not explode, but the smoke and dust dissipated, and the first salvo had already carved a large deep pit with a diameter of more than three meters in the city wall, and there were no city wall bricks on the surface, and about a third of the rammed earth inside had also been chiseled.

What is rare is that the people standing at the head of the city did not have any casualties, but they were all stunned.

Before the Qing soldiers at the head of the city could react, the second volley broke out again. There was another cloud of white smoke, and the hole in the wall was bigger and deeper. The bricks of the city wall on both sides collapsed downward, and the rammed earth in the big hole also collapsed in large chunks. Dusty.

The dust cleared, and there was no one left in this section of the city. The Qing army in the city couldn't believe that the Ming army would really open fire, and they didn't care about the common people, so they fled first. Subsequently, the common people also fled cleanly.

The third salvo, this time with a high-explosive shell.

After a series of superimposed loud noises, the walls were filled with gunsmoke. When the fireworks cleared, this section of the city wall had completely collapsed, showing a gap of about five meters.

……

Zhang Haitao held the binoculars, squinted his eyes, and slowly ordered:

"Okay, offense. Tank Forward! ”