It is a faithful recorder of this history and a witness to the crime of slaughtering foreign people. It nailed barbarism and evil to the shame of history forever. Look at the bloody scene on this land after the massacre: in the first family, it says, "Yao Gong holds the back door. The house is deep and there are bodies everywhere. " The full text takes the form of miscellaneous notes, which are recorded by the author himself with a pen and integrated into historical events, and the style is somewhat similar to that of note novels. At that time, it seemed to be news. These things seem to be different from serious historical works, and it is difficult to be included in history books. In fact, this form of flexibility has not affected the objectivity of recording facts. On the contrary, this inhuman killing witnessed by the author increases its authenticity and reliability, that is, historicity. The whole text is like a witness. Because of this, Ten Days in Yangzhou has become a wonderful work in historical geography.
Shi Kefa Xiahou _, tears failed to save Yangzhou. The record of what happened in history of manchu later is obviously very frank:
On the 18th, the army arrived at the gates of Yangzhou. Shi Kefa, Academician Wei, four company commanders, two officers, etc. The guardians of the Yangko Pavilion disobeyed. On the 25th, Baiyintu, Tulai and Ashan were ordered to conquer Yangzhou City.
As far as time is concerned, this siege war, which started in May of 13 and ended when Yangzhou was captured on May 20th, was undoubtedly short-lived. Generally speaking, artillery is very important in combat, although it is not absolutely decisive. This weapon and the gunner of the Central Plains once won the early battles of the Qing army, so the Qing army knew the importance of this Portuguese heavy artillery. Indeed, when China's vanguard troops were stationed in Banzhu Garden in the north of Yangzhou, they were actually waiting for the cannon behind them.
I also know the importance of this modern cannon in Shi Kefa. It was in 1643 that he suggested replacing the old and clumsy objects in Nanjing armory with lighter three-eye guns. Therefore, in the first few months after the establishment of the Nanjing regime, Shi Kefa made great efforts to refit his own artillery. Xu Guangqi's student Chen Yujie made this new Portuguese heavy artillery for him. Chen once learned this technique in a casting workshop of a Catholic church, which changed his religious belief. In this way, Shi Kefa took the initiative by installing foreign heavy artillery on the wooden platform along the stone wall in the siege war that began on May 20th, 1645.
At one time, hundreds of people were killed or injured when American soldiers entered the range of these heavy guns. However, Duo Duo unhurriedly directed his artillery team to shoot at the northwest corner of the city wall, and then the Qing infantry rushed up, crossed the artillery barrage and rushed to the bottom of the city wall. There, Shi Kefa once again took the initiative in an instant, because his archers shot at the attackers at the gate. Obviously, at this time, Duo Duo has ordered his soldiers to seize the northwest corner at all costs. Every time a soldier in the Qing Dynasty dropped an arrow, another soldier made it up. Soon, the bodies piled higher and higher, and some Qing soldiers could climb the city wall without a ladder. With the increase of the number of Qing soldiers, the city guards began to panic. The defenders at the edge of the city wall struggled to jump into the wooden fort, climbed to the nearest roof, and then fled. Many heavy castles collapsed, and the soldiers guarding the city were either crushed to death or killed in subsequent hand-to-hand combat.
Then, this panic also spread in this city. Whether instigated by traitors or some rumors, the gate of the main city was soon abandoned by the people in the city. With the influx of the Qing army, the soldiers of Nanming abandoned their helmets and spears and fled to the south gate in panic, trying to escape from that direction. Others, knowing that the city is completely surrounded, don't I have any hope? Wang Xiuchu, who once recorded various disasters in his diary, still remembers it vividly: suddenly, a horse rode from north to south, slowly pulling the reins and crying on his back, and the first two pawns of the horse were reluctant to part. I'm still here, and I hate that my surname has not been handed down.
Just as the soldiers guarding the city abandoned their helmets and quickly searched for hiding places in the houses in the city, Shi Kefa left the fortress at the north gate of Zhongbaohui. He rode through the inner city and walked towards the south gate. He hopes to go out from there and attack Manchu from the side. But it was too late, and the Qing army had reached the south gate. At this moment, Shi Kefa realized that he had lost Yangzhou, and resistance might be meaningless.
Two days ago, Shi Kefa asked Zhuangzi Gu whether he was prepared to give priority to loyalty if Yangzhou fell. Zhuangzi answered without hesitation. At the moment, Shi Kefa really asked Zhuang to kill himself, but Zhuang couldn't. I can't bear to do it. So Shi Kefa suddenly drew his sword and killed himself. But he was not fatally injured, but fell into Zhuangzi, bleeding profusely in his arm. Shi Kefa called out his adopted son to help him die quickly, but Stevie hesitated and failed to do so. As a result, the defeated troops who escaped from the north gate were swept away, followed by Manchu. In the melee, Zhuang Zigu was killed, and Shi Kefa was caught by a general of the Qing army who recognized him. Shi Kefa asked to be taken to their commander.
Shi Kefa was soon taken to Tudor, the king of Yu. A few days later, diary writer Wang Xiuchu described Yu Wang as follows: Suddenly I saw a man in red clothes and soap boots. He is less than thirty years old and very handsome. He wore exquisite armor and chest protector, gorgeous ornaments and many people around him. Although he is Manchu, he is handsome, with a prominent chin and a broad forehead, and his entourage includes many Yangzhou people. He was the ruler of Manchu and the uncle of Emperor Yu Wang.
This kind of material won't tell us what clothes Shi Kefa was wearing when interrogating him on the 20th, but it's easy to imagine that this burly and well-dressed Manchu prince is a far cry from the Central Plains general who is still dressed in bloody clothes, stout and surly. According to WenRuiLin record their meeting, Yu Wang affectionately summoned Shi Kefa and said:
Ask with old books, the teacher won't I don't understand. Today, loyalty and righteousness are completed, and it is my important task to clean up Jiangnan.
Shi Kefa replied, I-I just came to die.
Ask a lot. Have you seen Hong Chengchou? Then you will become rich.
Shi Kefa replied: It is true that he was unfaithful to your country and the Ming Dynasty, because he was not killed by the kindness of the late emperor. Do I want to do what I am doing now?
So he ordered General Elton to persuade Shi Kefa to surrender, but three days later, Shi Kefa refused to surrender and was killed. in short
It gives people the impression that these people were executed in a planned way, but it is actually a lie. Shi Kefa and his men, such as company commander Liu, subordinate commander Ma Yingkui, chief of staff, Catholics and artillery experts, either died in street fighting or committed suicide. Shi Kefa 19 All American personal assistants were killed. However, due to the atrocities that occurred in the following days, their deaths did not attract enough attention.