April 16, 1657, Yixing County, Changzhou Prefecture.
Qian Wenxian, the county magistrate, was woken up from his sleep by the yamen. He rubbed his red and swollen eyes and saw that there were still lights on in the house and it was still dark outside. He asked impatiently: "What's wrong?"
The Yamen servant reported in a low voice: "Sir, Wang Qianhu from Wujin County, General Qin from Liyang, and Lord Liao from Jintan County have all come to the Yamen to urge food supplies!"
Qian Wenxian sighed heavily and slowly stood up from the chair. He was doing business here last night and felt sleepy even as he sat. He didn't know when he fell asleep. But when these foreign military attachés came to visit, it was probably midnight, so I guess I didn't get much sleep.
In fact, this state of sleep deprivation began about ten days ago.
At that time, news came out from Hangzhou that the Ming Dynasty factory guard failed to assassinate a senior official of the Haihan Executive Committee in Hangzhou and was captured. Haihan was furious and wanted to raise another army to challenge the Ming Dynasty.
Once the two countries go to war, places like Yixing County, which is located at the junction of the areas controlled by the two countries, will inevitably bear the brunt of the war.
However, there are less than a thousand troops stationed in Yixing County on weekdays, and there are less than 2,000 militiamen in the county. It is absolutely impossible to block Haihan's offensive. Qian Wenxian can only quickly report to the superiors to seek reinforcements, and at the same time let everyone under his rule Villages and towns began to raise money and food and recruit civilian men.
However, the panic caused by the war was far more effective than a few notices posted by the county government. Soon a wave of people fleeing began to appear near the county seat, which also caused Yixing County's war preparations to not go smoothly.
However, the response from above was very fast. Within a few days, troops from other places came to Yixing County for reinforcements one after another.
At first, Qian Wenxian was happy about this, thinking that it could greatly alleviate the pressure faced by Yixing County. But he soon discovered that the actual situation was not as simple as he thought. Yixing County not only had to deal with the incoming Haihan army, but also had to deal with the food, drink, food, shelter, and other weird requirements of these foreign Ming troops. .
After these troops arrived in Yixing, most of them would ask for money and food from Qian Wenxian on the grounds that "they were ordered to dispatch urgently, but the court has not yet allocated combat materials."
Qian Wenxian gritted his teeth and could still cope with the two families with the money from the county grain depot. But every Ming army that came later had this charter, and he really couldn't bear it.
Moreover, when the generals, officers, and lieutenants of the various reinforcements arrived here, they had to arrange decent accommodation. Qian Wenxian could only mobilize the large households in the county to let them make room for these military attachés to stay temporarily.
In the past two or three days, more and more Ming troops have arrived in Yixing County. The county has been overcrowded, and groups of Ming troops are everywhere inside and outside the city. The supply of various daily necessities has also begun to become increasingly tight.
Some Ming troops who were unable to obtain supplies in time began to take measures on their own to "recruit" money, food and civilians from surrounding villages and towns.
Although Qian Wenxian did not want to see such troubled local conditions appear in his jurisdiction, the military attaches led by each Ming army were at least fifth-level starters, which made it difficult for him as a small seventh-level county magistrate. Have the confidence to criticize the military attaches' actions.
Besides, he really couldn't satisfy the requirements of these generals. If he didn't turn a blind eye to these behaviors, what could he do?
Qian Wenxian came to the hall and bowed to several military attaches waiting here: "My lords are visiting the county government late at night. What's the urgent matter?" A bearded military attache said: "Master Qian, I'm waiting for your money and food." It’s been two days, you can give me an accurate answer, when will it be delivered?”
Another military attache with a thin face and dark skin then said, "Sir Qian, the Haihan Army's forward battalion has entered Yixing County, and may arrive at the county seat in a few hours. If you want the brothers to risk their lives to defend the city, Then you have to come up with something good to motivate everyone. I don’t need to explain such a simple truth, right?”
The last person to speak was a sturdy military attache, and his tone was even more impolite: "Yixing County is inherently undefeable. If it wasn't for the fate of the higher-ups, who would want to come here to confront the Haihan Army head-on? I think since Mr. Qian has no intention of organizing resistance, so we should retreat early and maintain our strength to fight the next battle!”
Qian Wenxian said anxiously: "Everyone, it's not that Qian is reluctant to give up money and food, but the inventory has been exhausted. Qian is still organizing various parties to raise funds. Please wait one more day!"
The bearded military attache said: "Wait one more day? The Haihan Army is about to attack the county seat. You are still thinking about how to delay money and food. If I had known this, I would not have brought troops to Yixing!"
Qian Wenxian said: "I heard that Mr. Liao sent troops out to raise food early in the morning. I must have gained something, right?"
The bearded military attache's face darkened and he said: "What a gain! I arrived at Fudong Town after walking for more than two hours, and before I even started doing things, the Haihan Army arrived! It was a waste of time, and I lost a lot of money." Man No. 10 is there!”
The black-skinned officer next to him sneered: "Master Liao has always been brave. Since we bumped into him in Fudong Town, he must have taught the Haihan people a lot of lessons!"
The bearded man glared and said, "That's natural! I led my own soldiers to kill three in and three out in Fudong Town, and killed the Haihan Army in one breath until they retreated! If Fudong Town was not too small to defend, the local area I don’t have enough supplies, so I don’t plan to withdraw to the county.”
The burly officer lost no time in boasting: "Master Liao is so powerful, then the next battle with the Haihan Army will depend on Master Liao's performance!"
In fact, everyone knows very well whether Liao can really kill the Haihan army in Fudong Town. If he had such ability, how could he condescend to be a small captain in Jintan County? He should have been promoted to a commander by the Ministry of War long ago.
The Haihan army was about to approach the city, and no one was willing to jump out to take the lead. This man named Liao actually boasted for the sake of face, so Wang Qianhu and General Qin put him on the fire in a tacit understanding.
Seeing that he was about to lose his position, the bearded man quickly returned to the previous topic: "If we want to fight the Haihan Army, we still need to have enough money and food... Mr. Qian, you should quickly think of a way to give us the money and food we need." Give it first!”
Qian Wenxian complained secretly in his heart, and could only promise in a low voice that he would definitely be able to raise money and food by visiting every big household in the county after dawn.
At any rate, these debt collectors were finally sent away.
In Yixing County, Qian Wenxian has visited every place where money and food can be found in the past few days, but the results are not ideal. Now that Fudong Town in the south has fallen, Haihan's army is approaching in an instant, but the defenders still threaten the county government with a strike. Can this county town really be defended?
Expecting foreign military attachés like Liao Dabeard to work for Yixing County seems to be overthinking. If I had known this, it would have been better not to move reinforcements, but to surrender directly to the city when the Haihan Army arrived. Maybe the losses would have been smaller.
When Qian Wenxian thought about this, his head hurt even more.