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In summer and autumn, when the air alternates between hot and cold, it is the season when floods are common. Just as Jin Xiucai had expected, heavy rain fell for three days in Jiangyin City. The rain did not subside in time, and the outside of the city was covered with white.
The water level by the river where the Qing army camped had already reached their ankles. Tens of thousands of soldiers were soaked in the water, and many fell ill.
Liu Liangzuo had no choice but to break camp in the rain and move to Huajiaao, a higher terrain.
Jin Xiucai was overjoyed to see that everything was going as he expected. This was an army of tens of thousands. If he could destroy it, his name would be recorded in history.
Seeing him being so happy that he lost himself, Su Jin realized that this guy was pretending to be calm earlier, and was actually a show-off.
While Jin Xiucai was eagerly waiting, the scouts reported back the next day that a large number of Qing soldiers in the camp had diarrhea after drinking the pool water near Huajiaao.
"It's done! Hahaha... It's a success..." Jin Xiucai was so excited that he unrolled his book of poetry and immediately shouted to Su Jin: "General Su, hurry up, don't let the Tartars escape, send troops to attack the enemy camp, we will surely win in one fell swoop..."
This time it was Su Jin's turn to be calm and composed, as if he was strolling leisurely in the court: "Scholar, don't worry, let the Tartar pull harder!"
"More violently? How violently?"
"Mr. Jin probably has never had diarrhea before, why don't you experience it yourself?"
"General Su, the time has come. Why don't you send troops to attack the Tartar camp? Instead, you come to tease me. How ridiculous!"
"This shows that Mr. Jin has never had diarrhea. You don't know that diarrhea is also a gradual process. On the first day, he can usually stand, but on the second day, he has to squat. On the third day, he has to lie prone. Mr. Xiucai, do you think it is better to let him stand or lie prone? Hahaha..."
"No, no, it's better to act early to avoid more trouble. Didn't General Su say that Bolo is sending reinforcements? Besides, diarrhea is not difficult to treat, but it will be hard to say if it lasts for a long time."
Su Jin's laughter stopped abruptly, and without saying anything, he immediately called up all the troops, 20,000 Qin troops, plus more than 10,000 local soldiers, and charged out together;
After hearing about it, Yan Yingyuan in Jiangyin City also rushed out with 20,000 young and strong men. After many days of rest, the 20,000 young and strong men were full of energy and walked barefoot on the water at a very fast speed.
Yan Yingyuan, courtesy name Liheng, was from Tongzhou, Northern Zhili. He had the sturdy build of a northern man, with prominent eyebrows and long, narrow eyes. He had a red face and a beard, and looked imposing even without anger.
He still had a wound on his right arm, but holding a knife in his left hand, he still looked very imposing as he rode his horse.
Su Jin respected him very much, and he did not dare to be arrogant in front of Su Jin, putting aside other things. After all, Su Jin led the army to rescue and saved Jiangyin City, and these days he led the Qin army to fight against the Tartars, which was always a friendship.
"Yan Dianshi, you are injured and pregnant, why do you need to leave the city?"
"Thank you General Su for asking. It's just a minor injury, nothing serious. The Tartars killed countless Jiangyin people. If I can't follow General Su and kill a few of them, I will be very angry."
"What Yan Dianshi said really makes me ashamed. Yan Dianshi, with only the people of one county, defended Jiangyin for two months and killed nearly 100,000 enemies. His heroic deeds will be remembered for thousands of years. I, Su, am far behind!"
The two chatted for a few words when a scout came galloping back from the front and shouted from afar: "General Su, General Su, the Tartars have escaped, the Tartars have escaped, General Su, chase them quickly..."
"He ran away. What happened? Tell me!"
Is there any need to ask what's going on? The Qing army's soldiers are all having diarrhea, and you, Su Jin, are coming with 50,000 or 60,000 troops. If it were you, would you run away
Su Jin immediately figured out the problem, and without waiting for the scouts to answer, he led 10,000 cavalrymen in urgent pursuit. As for those who had severe diarrhea and could not escape, he left Yuan Zongde and Yan Yingyuan behind.
On the highway from Jiangyin to Changzhou, countless Qing soldiers who did not have diarrhea or did not have diarrhea very seriously were fleeing desperately. Many of them fell and were covered in water and mud. Some could not help but stop to defecate while running. Some even ran and defecated to save their lives. They were in such a miserable state that they could not be more embarrassed.
Weapons and armor were thrown along the way. They were too heavy and Laxia had no strength to carry them. Besides, Jiangnan was a wealthy country and every soldier had robbed a lot of gold and silver treasures. The gold and silver treasures alone were heavy enough to carry.
Zuo Liangyu sent two thousand men to block the Qin army at a place called Linhua Creek. However, as soon as he left, the two thousand blocking troops fled in all directions.
Su Jin was anxious. These tens of thousands of Qing troops were just suffering from diarrhea. If they were allowed to escape and take some medicine, they would be able to fight again. It was the best time to kill them while they were sick.
Moreover, each of these Qing soldiers was carrying a large amount of looted treasures. If they caught one, they could seize 20 to 30 taels of silver. Added together, that was a huge amount. Su Jin whipped his warhorse and chased after them, and ordered Yuan Zongdi to come and drive the sheep. He managed to get ahead of Liu Liangzuo.
After the rout began, both the Manchu and Mongolian bannermen and the Green Camp soldiers were like scattered sand. Su Jin divided the 10,000 cavalry into ten groups and charged at them in a cross-direction. After several rounds, he killed the Qing army and forced them to their knees.
If you count carefully, out of the tens of thousands of troops, no more than 7,000 cavalry could escape.
Su Jin has tried his best. The others are also cavalrymen. The plains are wide and flat, unlike the mountainous areas where one can block all enemies by blocking the valleys at both ends. It is normal for some enemies to escape.
The Qing soldiers were kneeling on the ground for about 10 to 20 miles, and many of them were still defecating, which stank terribly.
These guys have shaved their heads, changed their clothes, and have rat tails. It's really hard to tell who is Han and who is Manchu. Forget it, just arrest them all first.
The rebels in Jiangyin were ruthless, and it was no wonder that they had suffered more than 100,000 deaths in the past two months. Every family had lost a life at the hands of the Qing army. Now, 20,000 rebels had rushed in and tortured the captured Qing soldiers to death. Their endless hatred even made them disdain the treasures on the Qing soldiers and they only cared about beating them to death.
Su Jin did not stop it. It was not okay not to let the people of Jiangyin vent their anger. According to him, the war was not over yet, so this was not considered as killing prisoners.
Even cowards have the right to start a war, but only the victor has the right to decide when the war ends.
Now, we are the victors. We say that the enemy kneeling down and begging for mercy does not mean the war is over. In that case, it is not over.
Moreover, the King of Qin did not seem to have issued an order not to kill prisoners. He himself killed the Tartars just as cruelly. For various reasons, Su Jin did not stop the revenge of the people of Jiangyin. He only ordered 20,000 Qin troops to collect the spoils as soon as possible.
When the captives were brought back to the city of Jiangyin, another scout reported that several thousand Tartars were attacking from the direction of Changzhou. Su Jin was a little careless after his great victory, and led 10,000 cavalrymen back to fight a fierce battle with 3,000 Tartars at Liujiafen, 30 miles southwest of the city. However, this time he ran into an iron wall.
Although the Qing army had only 3,000 men, they were all Manchu and Mongolian bannermen. With 10,000 men against 3,000, Su Jin was badly defeated. It was only when Yuan Zongdi rushed to support him that he was able to retreat back to Jiangyin City.
After returning to the city, there were little losses and more than two thousand casualties. It was the first time that Su Jin suffered such a major defeat. It could even be said that it was the first time that the Qin army suffered such a major defeat, which made him feel frustrated and humiliated.
The reason for this great defeat was undoubtedly that he was misled by a series of victories and underestimated the enemy.
Su Jin reflected deeply. The Qing army was able to sweep across the Central Plains. It was not all luck. The Qin army's previous series of victories were actually achieved by dividing the Green Camp soldiers and leading the Qing army to fight siege battles, which they were not good at. In terms of field combat capabilities, the Qing army still had an absolute advantage, and this must be clearly recognized.
Su Jin took the initiative to submit a petition to Qin Mu to plead guilty. He was Qin Mu's trusted general. He led the cavalry that Qin Mu valued the most. After such a tragic defeat, just pleading guilty was not enough to wipe out the guilt in his heart.
Yan Yingyuan was holding a jar of strong liquor. He found Su Jin, and the two of them drank half of it. After getting a little drunk, Yan Yingyuan said, "General Su, you don't have to do this. Victory and defeat are common in the military. In fact, I, Yan Yingyuan, know very well that if the King of Qin had not sent troops to help, I would have led the people of Jiangyin to resist the Qing Dynasty, and sooner or later the people of Jiangyin would have been doomed, but I still did it."
Su Jin shook his head and said, "I am different from Yan Dianshi. My defeat this time was purely due to my underestimation of the enemy."
"I knowingly committed the crime, and General Su made an unintentional mistake. I believe the King of Qin will definitely forgive General Su."
"You are right. The King of Qin will definitely forgive me. At most, he will let me make amends for my crime. Because of this, I cannot forgive myself."
"Oh, why is that? General Su, can you tell me what kind of person the King of Qin is?"
After Su Jin drank too much, he was very depressed, so he chatted with Yan Yingyuan: "In April of the 16th year of Chongzhen, the King of Qin went to Huichang to fill the vacancy of the county magistrate. At that time, I fled from the south of Shanxi and met the King of Qin in Jiangxi;
The King of Qin paid a large sum of money to hire a guard. I thought that following a county magistrate would give me some peace of mind, so I followed the King of Qin. At that time, I was just greedy for the large sum of money offered by the King of Qin, and didn't think too much about it.
But later I found out that it was not easy to take the huge sum of money from the King of Qin. Not only did he train you to death, which made it almost unbearable for someone like me who had crawled out of the pile of dead bodies, but he also took you everywhere to suppress bandits. If you die, you die. The King of Qin will recruit someone else after you die, and he will not feel sad at all. "
"In that case, with General Su's ability, why did he follow the King of Qin at that time?"
"Drink!" Su Jin grabbed the wine jar and took a big gulp before continuing, "I can't explain it myself, but there is something very special about the King of Qin."
"Oh? What is that?"
“It’s hard to explain, but after being with the King of Qin for a long time, you will not want to leave without realizing it. He is not always strict. At that time, he was actually just a weak scholar, but he practiced with us every day, ate and lived with us, and the difficulty of his training was no less than that of us rough men.
Every time you feel like you can't bear it anymore, you can't say a word when you see the frail body of the King of Qin still gritting his teeth and holding on. Following him, you will slowly feel what brotherhood is, what a sense of honor is, and what unity is.
There are still many things about the King of Qin that are difficult to understand. If ancient magic weapons were dug up in Huichang, it would still be doubtful, but do you believe that he can summon lightning to strike the plague god
You will not believe it, but I can guarantee with my head that this is absolutely true. The King of Qin has an amazing ability to predict the general trend of the world. He can even predict the fall of the capital. Unfortunately, he was just a small county magistrate at the time and had no ability to save it. Alas, you will not believe this..."
"I may not believe it. General Su, please continue. I am very curious."
"In fact, these are only one aspect. The Qin King's military and literary strategies are beyond the reach of ordinary people. He defeated Zhang Xianzhong's army of hundreds of thousands with only two thousand men. That's not to mention..."
"Hey, why don't you tell me? I have heard about this matter a long time ago and have always admired it. However, I have only heard it from others and don't know the real situation. I am very curious. General Su, as an eyewitness, please tell me in detail."
"The King of Qin did not allow any further discussion of the battle of Huguang."
"That's even weirder, why?"
"Brothers fight within the walls, but we must fight together against foreign aggression. The King of Qin said that it was a civil war after all, and over-publicizing it would not be conducive to uniting all parties to fight against foreign invaders. Therefore, let us try not to mention the war in Huguang at that time, hahahaha..."
"Based on this alone, the King of Qin deserves Yan..."
"Death by imitation?"
"Why not?"
"Brother Yan, it is worth my sincerity to share this with you. Come, drink."
"drink!"
"Do you know why the King of Qin wants to protect the Ming Dynasty?"
"Tell me about it."
"The factional strife in the Ming Dynasty was too intense. Maintaining the Ming Dynasty would consume most of the energy just by internal friction. Brother Yan should be very clear about the situation during the Hongguang Dynasty. If it weren't for the internal strife, would the Tartars have been able to cross the river so quickly? The ultimate result of protecting the Ming Dynasty would only be the destruction of the country, so the King of Qin chose to protect the country."
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.(To be continued..)
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