There are many incredible military miracles in history, such as the Southern Song Dynasty military and civilians holding hezhou Diaoyu City for 36 years.
What is less known is that the Ming Dynasty also had a "Diaoyu City Defense War", tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians held the isolated city for 5 years, ran out of food, soldiers ate grass roots and bark, and a rat in the city sold for 500 yuan... But under the siege of 100,000 Qing troops, no one in the city surrendered.
This Ming Dynasty "Diaoyu City Defense War" took place in WenCun, Xinning (now Wencun Town, Taishan City) in Guangdong Province, and led this defense war was led by Wang Xing, a general of the Southern Ming Dynasty.
1. The Yongli Emperor Zhu Youruo was awarded a fierce general
In 1644, Li Zicheng conquered Beijing and Chongzhen was hanged. The Nanjing remnants of the Ming Dynasty successively supported the Hongguang Emperor Zhu Yousong, the Lu King Zhu Changshu Supervising the State, the Lu King Zhu Yihai Overseeing the State, the Longwu Emperor Zhu Yujian, the Shaowu Emperor Zhu Yulei, and the Yongli Emperor Zhu Youluo. The two emperors, Shaowu and Yongli, fought each other, and the army led by them was mainly active in the Liangguang area.
At this time, the Yongli Emperor Zhu Youluo obtained a fierce general.
Wang Xing, a native of Dapu County, Guangdong Province, was born with a vision, and the "square-faced tiger item" has courage. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Xing committed a murder case and went into the mountains as a thief, and the men and horses he led were strictly disciplined, brave in battle, and scheming, and were pushed by people and horses from all walks of life as leaders. The whites of his eyes are so large that he is known as "embroidery needles".
Later, a remnant of the Ming Dynasty, led by a certain Imperial Historian, passed by Wang Xing's territory, and Wang Xing's subordinates thought that the officers and soldiers had come to encircle and suppress them, and attacked and killed more than 50 people. Wang Xing was shocked to learn: "This is the emissary of the imperial court embroidery, you are ignorant to attack and kill, what should you do now?" After thinking about it again, Wang Xing single-handedly saw Yushi to apologize for his sins and asked for his merits to be atonened.
Just in time, another thief robbed tens of thousands of military salaries, and Wang Xing led the order to pursue, kill the thief's head, and return the military salaries. As a result, Wang Xing was incorporated by the government and became the Enping garrison. In the struggle between the Shaowu and Yongli emperors, Wang Xing stood in the camp of the Yongli Emperor and became a general who had won many military achievements, and was awarded the title of Governor of the Left Army and General hu ben.
2. Stick to Wencun City and arrest the Qing generals with warm wine
As the pace of the Qing army moving south accelerated, the Southern Ming base area was gradually lost. Wang Xing led his army to liangguang, and finally chose the village of Xinningwen. Wencun is located in a valley, surrounded by paddy fields and swamps for five or six miles, and only one embankment can lead to the city.
Wang Xing found that Wencun was a natural military fortress: if the enemy attacked from the mountains, it could be bombarded by artillery, condescending, easy to defend and difficult to attack; if attacked from Tianyuan, the only embankment that could pass through was muddy and difficult to travel, because it was too narrow and could only allow two horses to ride side by side, and it could be counted clearly in the city, and entering the attack range, only a small cannon could make the enemy have nowhere to escape.
Therefore, after Li Dingguo's defeat in the war and his retreat to the west, Wang Xing immediately stationed himself in Wencun, stabilized the people, actively cultivated, carried out a series of military deployments, set up military posts or camps inside and outside the city, and turned Wencun into a copper wall and iron wall. Over time, Wencun became a stronghold for the remnants of the Southern Ming Dynasty and remnants of military forces, and many people used it as a transit point to Yunnan.
The Qing court also noticed this and gave the task of pulling the nails to King Shang Kexi of Pingnan. In 1654, Shang Kexi led 30,000 Qing troops to besiege Wencun, and after several months of stalemate, most of the Qing troops were killed and wounded, and they failed to advance.
In this battle, Wencun staged a scene of "Guan Yun Chang Wen wine beheading Huaxiong": The two armies fought, Wang Xing was setting up a banquet in the camp, probing the Malay newspaper, the Qing army attacked along the embankment, and Wang Xing, who was half drunk, let the guests pour a cup of hot wine, put on a horse with a knife, rode out of the customs alone, unexpectedly entered the Qing army, and captured a Qing general alive. In the cheers of the soldiers, the horses were killed again, and the hot wine in the guests' glasses was not cold or warm.
After this battle, Wang Xing was called "Living Guan Gong" by the Southern Ming generals.
3. Holding the isolated city for 5 years, no one surrendered
In 1646, the former Ming Dynasty general Li Chengdong led the Qing army to conquer Guangzhou, captured Emperor Shaowu and killed him, and Guangzhou fell. Subsequently, the Yongli Emperor, who had been defeated repeatedly, and the remnants of the Southern Ming Dynasty moved into Yunnan.
This means that Wencun, where Wang Xing insisted, became an isolated city in the Liangguang area.
In 1647, a rare natural disaster struck, and there was no harvest of pellets in Wencun. In May 1648, the Qing army took the opportunity to besiege Wencun again, investing up to 100,000 troops. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, ShangKexi adopted the method of encircling but not fighting, and strengthening the wall and clearing the wilderness, and did not allow a single grain of grain from outside to enter.
After 15 months of siege, by August 1649, Wencun ran out of food, a bucket of rice was as high as 2,000 yuan, a rat was sold for 500 yuan, and the defenders dug grass roots, peeled the bark of trees and wrapped their stomachs... Even so, no one in Wencun surrendered.
How long can Wencun hold out? Wang Xing had an account in his heart, and Shang Kexi also had an account in his heart, so he sent someone to send a letter. The content of the book is unknown, but Wang Xing's reaction after reading it surprised most people, and he sighed: "This king's words are like elders, and he will be able to know the heart of a martyr." ”
Subsequently, Wang Xing asked his son and 7 other people to follow the visitors to Guangzhou, meet with Shang Kexi, and agreed to meet again during the Mid-Autumn Festival that year. Does this mean that Wang Xing's surrender has entered the countdown? People at the time thought so. Shang Kexi also thought so, so he waited until the arrival of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On August 15, the military and civilians of Wencun spent an unforgettable Mid-Autumn Festival. At dusk on August 16th, the last moment is coming! Wang Xing ordered his generals to guard the battlements and return to the palace alone. He wants to do goodbye to his own life, but also to be the Jiangshan of Nanming and the Wencun City that has been held out for 5 years.
Wang Xing and his wife Zhang Shi finished washing, wore the python costume rewarded by the Yongli Emperor, let 15 concubines dress up in makeup, and prayed for blessings for the moon in the back garden to worship heaven and earth together. Then let the wife bow down to the old mother, then the couple prayed, and then they accepted the bowing of the concubines together, and finally they sat on the stone bed under the laurel tree.
Wang Xing smiled and said to the concubines, "Do you have any regrets about what is about to happen?" The concubines replied, "No regrets." Wang Xing asked everyone to raise a glass of wine, and after drinking a circle, his wife Zhang Shi stood up: "You can go on the road." "Then he led the concubines back to the room."
Wang Xing slowly walked towards the middle hall, and the old mother quietly inspected it. Seeing Wang Xing reciting aloud the holy decree issued to him by the Yongli Emperor, he knelt north and prayed, shouting "Thank you Lord Long'en", and then knelt down to worship his ancestors and bow to the four directions, and when he saw his favorite "Gu Biaotu of the Fierce Tiger" hanging on the wall, he also knelt down and prayed.
Subsequently, Wang Xing set aside the Scroll of the Yongli Emperor's Holy Will, took off his official clothes, put on his short clothes and returned to the bedroom, where he saw that his wife and concubines had committed suicide by hanging from the beams and spread gunpowder everywhere in the house. He also brought a coffee table, placed the body of his wife underneath, removed the white exercise on his wife's neck and placed it on gunpowder, and placed the corpses of the concubines one by one. Wang Xing returned to the middle hall, put on his official clothes, held a candle in his right hand, and held the edict of the Yongli Emperor and other objects in his left hand, and strode into the bedroom.
Wang Xing's mother fled in fear, and when she looked back, the room was already in flames. The soldiers rushed to rescue each other, and after the fire was extinguished, only 17 white bones were collected...
As soon as Wang Xing died, Wencun was quickly breached by the Qing army, and Shang Kexi admired Wang Xingzhongyong and personally welcomed the coffin to Guangzhou and buried him in the south of the city (present-day Yuexiu District, Guangzhou).
The Wencun Defense War was a military miracle in history, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians held the isolated city for 5 years without rescue troops, and none of them surrendered. Prove it again: it is people, not weapons, that determine the victory of war. The power of the spirit is unstoppable!
In desperation, 100,000 Qing troops adopted a siege strategy, and the soldiers and civilians in Wencun City were cut off from food and could not replenish military equipment... At the critical moment, Wang Xing saved the vast number of lives in Wencun and also preserved his own integrity by self-immolation. Man is inherently dead, or heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than Hong Mao, and Wang Xing's death has given people a lot of enlightenment.
References: "Qing History Manuscript", "Overseas Weeping", "Southeast Chronicle", interested parties can read in detail