Chapter 132: Bloodless Kaicheng of Hangzhou (Part 2)
This large-scale escape wave that occurred in the north of Hangzhou City was not hidden from the eyes of the "thief leaders" outside the city from the beginning.
In fact, as early as when several city gates in the north and east of Hangzhou City were rushed open one after another, the headquarters of Phoenix Villa mastered this information through satellite reconnaissance. But after a brief discussion, the final attitude of the two top leaders Wang Qiu and Zhao Yingong was...it doesn't matter!
Well? Why doesn't it matter?
Because the purpose of the Global Chinese Travelers Alliance's war is completely different from that of the various soldiers and horses on the territory of the Ming Empire in this era: they sit on the tens of millions of square kilometers of the New World and Australia, and they have little regard for the small country of China. In fact, the land is not very attractive; their country There are countless gold and silver mines, gemstone veins and precious wood in the city, but they are left to sleep because of the lack of labor, and they do not care about the materials in the city; behind them are the huge productivity of the modern world, which is simply a pitiful wealth created by traditional agricultural society. Scoff...
Therefore, in addition to forcing the Ming Dynasty to maintain open markets and free trade, the only strategic resource that the Global Chinese Travelers Alliance really needs to obtain from the Ming Dynasty is population. However, because too many people have been collected from North China, Shandong, Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang during this period, which exceeds the capacity of each union republic to absorb the new population, so even the task of collecting people has been temporarily suspended.
In this way, Hangzhou in front of us becomes very useless. Even if the city is captured with bloodshed and sacrifice, what will be gained?
Grain, rice and fodder? This expeditionary force always has plenty of food. Even if they want to collect fresh fruits and vegetables, they have nowhere to find them in such a snowy day!
Gold and silver treasures? The famous gold and diamond mines in South Africa are currently in the name of travelers. If you want gold and diamonds, wouldn’t you dig them yourself?
Silk tea? There are a lot of these things in the modern world. Just get some embroidered handicrafts as souvenirs, but you really don’t need too much.
Jiangnan beauties? Well, there is some market demand for this, but can modern people really tolerate that horseshoe-shaped "three-inch golden lotus"? Or do you have the ability to talk about moral articles, painting music, poetry and songs with those ancient singing girls? It’s very possible that you can’t even understand Hangzhou dialect!
Instead of making it so troublesome, it would be better to wait until the dust settles, wholesale some pretty-looking young girls at a high price, and then find a way to slowly cultivate and educate them by yourself! Anyway, in these troubled times, you can find places selling children everywhere!
What's more, due to the long-standing tradition of worshiping foreigners, most gay male travelers prefer to get "Yangma" with blond hair and white skin - due to the large number of modern Chinese travelers pouring into the world (generally more men than women) , and the huge physiological needs it brings. The three major groups, Huamei, Dong'an and Lingao, are all showing off their magical powers and trying their best to contact various slave traders through their respective connections. As a result, for more than a year, the slave markets in Algiers, Tripoli, Basra, Istanbul and Kaffa became extremely popular. The price of young white female slaves has more than doubled, and even the previously unsalable white girls have been sold out (considering that there are many lolita fans and those who like to play nurturing games among the time-travelers).
Faced with such a popular market, the Tatar cavalry of the Crimean Khanate are increasingly interested in going to northern Russia to "hunt" slaves.
Ahem, back to the topic, of course, even if the time travelers ask for little from the city of Hangzhou, they still have to pay salaries to the 7,000 miscellaneous troops under their command, as well as rewards for winning the battle. As a rule, these expenses have to be paid from Hangzhou. Searching out the area - Of course it is possible to ask for funding from superiors, but it will definitely leave a bad impression on the superiors of laziness and incompetence: If you can't even do such things as looting occupied areas, what is it if it is not a waste?
However, it is really easy to achieve this goal, after all, there are only so many people in the whole army. Even if all the wealthy Jin gentry in the city ran away, after occupying Hangzhou, just cleaning the floors of various mansions and collecting the leftover belongings would be enough to satisfy the appetite of these motley crews - not to mention the looting before. During the raids in the villages and towns outside Hangzhou, these guys who have always been "thief-minded" have already made a lot of good stuff. Unless the battle to attack Hangzhou is very difficult, just giving them some random souvenirs will be enough.
Since even if they conquered Hangzhou in the late Ming Dynasty, they wouldn't be able to get much of what they wanted, so the time travelers naturally fought the battle procrastinatingly and carelessly. Their biggest goal is to capture Hangzhou while minimizing casualties.
Moreover, if we say that Major General Sun Yang, as the highest military commander in the Hangzhou Theater, still has the desire to make contributions and show his prestige on the Hangzhou battlefield. So Wang Qiu, who did not rely on military exploits to earn a living, and Zhao Yingong, a civil servant, did not even care about their military exploits in breaking the city.
When Major General Sun Yang led four thousand main troops to Fuyang. Wang Qiu and Zhao Yingong, who stayed in Hangzhou, had no intention of occupying Hangzhou alone and competing with Sun Yang for the credit. Instead, they only intend to maintain the current situation, not to let their troops be wiped out or defeated by the enemy, and just wait for Major General Sun Yang to come back to harvest the fruits of victory. However, on the current earth, there is no indigenous force in this time and space. It can pose any threat to Wang Qiu, a guy with many magic weapons to protect himself.
Well, Li Meng, who is on the front line of the Wulin Sect battlefield, has some thoughts of making contributions. It's a pity that he only has a few hundred men at his disposal, and he is unable to capture a large city with hundreds of thousands of people - it is estimated that many gangs in the city have more people than his troops. Moreover, Li Meng also knew some official taboos and did not dare to rob the glory that belonged to his superior, Major General Sun Yang, so he had no choice but to set off rockets outside the city for fun...
In short, in the eyes of the travelers, although Hangzhou City must be captured, the citizens and materials in Hangzhou City are not of high value. Since the population collection operation has been stopped, the people in the city have become a burden to them. Instead of having to bear their food supply in the future and suppress the various riots they cause, it is better to let them escape now - therefore, the more wealthy families in Hangzhou City escape, the more time the travelers will have. On the contrary, the happier they are, the more they naturally will not interfere with their doomsday escape, and they have no plans to seize the opportunity to attack the city on a large scale.
On the other hand, in the city of Hangzhou, which had fallen into anarchy, some people were so anxious that they couldn't stand it when they saw that the thieves were still refusing to come into the city to take over!
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——With the hasty escape of the Hangzhou prefect, the whole city of Hangzhou has officially entered a state of anarchy, and all social order has completely collapsed.
Obviously, the collapse of order is not a good thing for human society in any era. As a result, in the city of Hangzhou, tens of thousands of citizens rushed out of the city to flee, crowding the streets near the city gate. On the other side, many good people suddenly appeared in the city, trying to make a fortune in the chaos, robbing homes and houses everywhere, and launched ferocious raids on shops on the street and wealthy households who had fled.
Among these eager heroes, many of them were former government officials. Because they were familiar with the wealth of each gentry family, they were particularly professional in robbery. Several families of wealthy businessmen from Hangzhou who were preparing to flee were intercepted and killed on the streets of the city before they could leave the city with their children and their daughters. Of course, all the gold and silver they carried with them were robbed, and the men were either dead or alive. They escaped, and the female family members were also brutalized in the street...
Under normal circumstances, even if a city changes hands during a war, the local wealthy gentry will quickly step forward to organize maintenance meetings and follow-up affairs to prevent the entire city from being destroyed in chaos and violence. If the victor does not plan to massacre the city or plunder the city, it will also immediately issue a street cleaning order and a curfew order to prevent the city from being conquered with hard work, but the benefits will fall into the hands of those rogue idlers who take advantage of the situation.
But at this time, all the Jin gentry in Hangzhou were busy running away, or hesitating whether to leave their hometown and flee with their families, and no one could care about it for a while. The enemies outside the city are also not interested in taking advantage of the situation to invade Hangzhou, so that the city has become a paradise for heroes from all walks of life to indulge in lawlessness...
As a result, as time went by, the chaos in Hangzhou actually intensified. When they started killing people and buying goods, the heroes were still a little uneasy and uneasy. But after burning, killing and looting a lot, it gradually became natural to get used to it. At first they only dared to rob shops that lacked protection, as well as sedans and carriages trapped in congested streets. But every so often, these scoundrels have formed a robbery group with division of labor. While setting up roadblocks on the streets to block the fleeing convoys, they are also brazenly attacking the mansions of rich families with high walls!
As a result, with bursts of noisy shouts, the doors of each of the richly decorated mansions were violently broken into; each of the carved and gold-painted cabinets was violently kicked over and searched... Hale rockets were still coming in sporadically from outside the city. , no one bothered to put it out, but many neighbors were set on fire by various thugs themselves. Groups of thugs joined forces to besiege various mansions and engage in fierce battles with the owners of the houses. But after breaking into the house, in order to fight for a valuable-looking thing, or a beautiful woman, or even just a delicious pastry, these thugs do not mind enthusiastically using sticks, stones and fists to each other. Greetings...
In the catastrophe, the frail and helpless women of wealthy families were obviously the most miserable victims. Even if they seize the last moment, take off their bright and gorgeous silk dresses, blacken their faces with soot from the stove, mess up their hair, and put on dirty rags, they still can't stop those people. The venomous eyes of the coveted man - soon, most women whose hiding places were not secretive enough, They were dragged out of the corner one by one by some energetic thugs and pushed down on the cold floor with their skirts raised above their heads. There was a long queue behind them, and from time to time some people would fight with fists and kicks in order to jump in line... According to the fashion in the late Ming Dynasty... In the masculine social atmosphere, many delicate and handsome young men have also been brutally murdered by monsters!
——The orange fire, the shrill screams, the black smoke rising into the sky, the scorching heat wave...
For a time, there were countless unlucky wealthy gentry in the city of Hangzhou. Their mansions were broken into by crazy mobs, and they were knocked down in the mud and tortured in every possible way. They even watched helplessly as their wives, daughters, and concubines were brutally tortured. There were also countless antique calligraphy and paintings with a long history. , being exposed by ignorant people The gangsters tore and smashed them at will, and even threw them into the fire and burned them into wisps of smoke... All kinds of groans, cries, and curses could be heard in the sky above Hangzhou City, complementing the sound of the burning flames and making up the complete sound. A symphony of hell with death and destruction as its main theme.
In short, at dusk, the sky above the entire city of Hangzhou was filled with thick smoke. The maze-like winding and deep streets were slowly being swallowed up by the fire, and under the light of the fire, there were people fighting with each other everywhere. Or people crying frantically... In some of the neighborhoods where the fighting was the fiercest, there were densely packed dead bodies, with blood flowing all over the street. Under the light of the fire, it was particularly frightening...
Fortunately, after nightfall, another sudden heavy snowfall once again saved this city on the verge of self-destruction.
——The snowflakes flying all over the sky quickly extinguished the fires in the neighborhoods, and the biting cold wind and snow drove most of the poor and ragged thugs back to their houses... Although after this night's heavy snow, the city There must have been a lot more green and stiff "road corpses" in the city, and a large number of refugees who were dragging their children and families to flee north would probably freeze to death, but at least the city was barely saved.
But if this continues, it will obviously not be a problem... So, the remaining prominent figures in Hangzhou conducted some secret communication that night, and finally decided to open the door to welcome the thieves into the city - anyway, Hangzhou is already in such a miserable state. So, how bad can it be? Of course, as for how to contact and negotiate with the Kun thieves, we have to leave it to a certain scholar who claims to be proficient in "Kun affairs". Once again, the more capable person has to do more work...
So, the next morning, when the snow stopped falling, Comrade Li Meng, who was still standing outside the Wulin Gate firing Hale rockets one after another, once again welcomed the haggard-faced, crying man with runny noses. The tearful scholar Gao Xuan : "...I hope that the military master will take pity on the people of this city and quickly enter the city to garrison! If your army does not enter Hangzhou and suppress the market, I am afraid that this city of heaven on earth that shocked Sanwu will turn into a hell!"
At the same time, Li Meng was in a daze holding the gift list sent by Gao Xuan: "...What are these you sent? One stone of tea? Twenty pounds of rhubarb? The first one can be regarded as a local specialty, and the second one is a local specialty. One, I remember that rhubarb is not produced in Hangzhou, right?”
"...Well, I heard that your army can never live without these two things in their diet, so..." Gao Xuan replied hesitantly.
"...Who did you hear this from?" Li Meng rolled his eyes, "...Forget it, tea is a good thing anyway. Rhubarb can be given to military doctors or used to make wine... Well, let me see. What else, what? You three pairs of cunning boys, who are you treating as a rabbit?”
"...Well, I heard that your army has strict discipline and the army is a sunny place. I am afraid that no women can enter, so I chose a cunning boy to sacrifice..."
"...What the hell kind of logic is this? If discipline is strict, you should be gay? Hey...What are you guys thinking in your heads?"
After a while, the Fengshan Gate of Hangzhou, which was facing Fenghuang Villa, was creakingly pushed open from the inside after being closed for nearly a month. Then countless people were kneeling on the main road into the city holding incense cases. On both sides, there were people holding banners: "Welcome the King of the Song Dynasty to the city to calm the people"...
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After another day, Major General Sun Yang returned to Hangzhou from Fuyang with great satisfaction, bringing four thousand soldiers and horses who had withstood the test of siege warfare.
In the just-concluded Battle of Fuyang, he fully exercised the offensive and street fighting abilities of his miscellaneous troops, and gained a more intuitive understanding of the pitiful combat effectiveness of the Jiangnan Ming Army. In addition, he has also accumulated certain experience and lessons about what problems will be encountered after breaking through the city, and what kind of appeasement or suppression measures should be taken, and he is confident that he can do better in the next battle of Hangzhou...< br>
However, when his fleet appeared outside the Houchao Gate in Hangzhou, Major General Sun Yang's smile turned into surprise.
——Not only was the city gate wide open, but the red star-ringed flag of the Chinese League was also flying on top of the city? ! !
After being stunned for a moment, he went straight to the military radio like crazy, grabbed the intercom, connected the signal, and started shouting.
"...Holy crap! What are you doing? Didn't you agree to wait until I come back before attacking the city? Why do you have to take this credit from me?!"
"...Oh, the plan can't keep up with the change! Brother Sun." Wang Qiu on the other end of the radio sighed, and explained in a somewhat irritable voice, "...Those guys in the city have already opened the city gates, crying and begging us. Let’s go and occupy it. It’s hard for us to refute others’ sincerity, isn’t it?”
……
In short, no matter how twists and turns the process was, this embarrassing battle in Hangzhou has finally come to an end.
Two days later, General Huangshi, who personally led 30,000 troops to land in Ningbo, also fought hard all the way from the direction of Shangyu and Shaoxing, and finally succeeded in reaching Xiaoshan County on the south bank of the Qiantang River, across the water from Hangzhou, and Sun Yang The seven thousand partial divisions successfully reunited.
At this point, this round of Jiangnan strategy, which was like a storm, came to an end for the time being. In Zhejiang Province, the Allied forces successfully occupied most of the elite coastal areas from Hangzhou to Wenzhou, forcing the governor of Zhejiang to carry his remaining troops over the mountains and ridges. Quzhou, huddled in the inland, lingered on, completely without the power to fight back. And Emperor Yonghe, who was entrenched in southern Zhili, was shocked to find that he was attacked from both sides and was at a critical moment of life and death!
And in the more distant Lingnan and Guangxi, with a more obvious all-round absolute advantage, the Allies there have already finished the work...
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※PS: Although I have left the group again, on this occasion of the torch festival, I still put up a Make a big fire!