What is the famous "Yangzhou Massacre" in history? !

Shi Kefa's Deeper Tears didn't save Yangzhou. Manchu's record of what happened later was obviously very frank:

On the 18th (1645 May 13), Yangzhou was at the gates and the army was sparse. Tell him, Shi Kefa, Hanlin bachelor, Wei, four company commanders, two officers, etc. , did not obey. On 25th (1May 20th, 645), Bayintu, Tulai and Ashan were ordered to conquer Yangzhou City.

As far as time is concerned, this siege war, which started on May 13 and ended 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 made the early battles of the Qing army a great success, so the Qing army understood the importance of this Portuguese heavy artillery. Indeed, when many vanguard troops were stationed in Banzhu Garden in the north of Yangzhou, they were actually waiting for the artillery team behind them.

Shi Kefa himself knows the importance of this modern cannon. It was he who suggested in 1643 that the old and clumsy "artifact" in Nanjing armory should be replaced by a lighter "three-eye gun" (that is, a three-tube gun). Therefore, in the first few months after the establishment of the Nanjing regime, Shi Kefa made great efforts to refit his artillery team. 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, in the siege war that began on May 20th, 1645, Shi Kefa took the initial initiative because he installed foreign heavy artillery on the wooden platform along the stone wall.

Once many soldiers entered the range of these heavy guns, there were hundreds of casualties. 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 and rushed to the bottom of the city wall through the barrage of gunfire. There, Shi Kefa once again grasped the instantaneous initiative, because his archers were shooting at the attackers at the gate. Obviously, Dodo ordered his soldiers to seize the northwest corner at any cost. Every time a A Qing soldier falls under the arrow, another soldier will make up for it. Soon, the bodies piled higher and higher, and some Qing soldiers could climb the city wall without a ladder. With more and more Qing soldiers, the city guards began to panic. Soldiers along the fortifications of the city wall scrambled to jump on the wooden fort and climb to the nearest roof, and then fled. In many places, the overweight forts collapsed, and the soldiers guarding the city were killed in the subsequent hand-to-hand combat, if not crushed to death.

Then, this panic also spread in this city. Whether it was instigated by traitors or some rumors (some people said that the defenders thought that the Manchu army was some reinforcements sent by General Huang Degong), the main entrance was soon abandoned by the people in the city. With the influx of the Qing army, the soldiers of Nanming lost their helmets and spears and fled to the south gate in panic, trying to escape in that direction. Others, knowing that the city is completely surrounded, have no hope at all. Wang Xiuchu, who once recorded the subsequent disaster in his diary, still remembers it vividly: "Suddenly, a rider rode from south to north, slowly pulled back the reins and wailed on his back. The first two horses don't give up their heads, they are still in front of them, and they hate that their surnames have not been passed on. "

As the soldiers guarding the city disarmed and searched for hiding places in the houses in the city, Shi Kefa left his fortress at the north gate and rode through the inner city to the south gate. He hoped to go out from there and attack the Manchus from the side. But it was too late, and the Qing army had reached the south gate. Shi Kefa then realized that he had lost Yangzhou, and resistance might be meaningless.

A day or two ago, Shi Kefa once asked Zhuangzi Gu if he was prepared to give priority to loyalty if Yangzhou fell. Zhuangzi answered without hesitation that he would. At the moment, Shi Kefa really asked Zhuang to kill himself, but Zhuangzi didn't have the heart to do so. So Shi Kefa suddenly drew his sword and killed himself. However, he was not fatally wounded, but fell in Zhuangzi's arms, bleeding profusely. Shi Kefa shouted to his adopted son to die quickly, but Stevie hesitated and failed. As a result, the defeated soldiers who fled from the north gate were swept away, followed by Manchu. In the melee, Zhuangzi 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. Describing Yu Wang a few days later, the diary writer Wang Xiuchu said: Suddenly I saw a man in red, wearing a sword and a hat full of soap boots, under thirty years old, riding a horse. He wore exquisite breastplates and gorgeous ornaments, accompanied by many people. Although Manchu, he is very handsome, with a prominent chin and a broad forehead, and many Yangzhou people accompanying him. That's for the governor of Manchu and the emperor's uncle to prepare for the king.

This material doesn't tell us what clothes Dodo wore when interrogating Shi Kefa on the 20th, but it's easy to imagine that there is a world of difference between the burly and well-dressed Manchu princes and the stout and gloomy generals in the Central Plains who still wear bloody clothes. According to WenRuiLin records about their meeting, Yu Wang cordially summoned Shi Kefa and said:

"Please book before, Mr. Not from. Now that loyalty has been achieved, it is a great responsibility to clean up Jiangnan for me. "

Shi Kefa replied, "I just came to beg for death."

Dodo asked, "Have you seen Hong Chengchou? If you fall down, you will be rich. "

Shi Kefa replied, "If he died because of the great kindness of his late emperor, he would be disloyal to his country. Am I willing to do what it does? "

So he ordered General Elton to "persuade" Shi Kefa to surrender, but Shi Kefa refused to surrender after three days, so he ordered him to be killed. In a brief record, he said: "Shi Kefa was captured by his cabinet and killed in front of the army. Those who violate the city will be punished. "

The record gives the impression that these people were executed in a planned way, but it is actually a lie. Most of Shi Kefa's subordinates, such as company commander Liu, chief of staff Ma Yingkui, Catholics and artillery experts, either died in street fighting or committed suicide. Shi Kefa's 19 personal aides were all killed. However, due to the atrocities that occurred in the following days (one of the most notorious massacres in China's history), their deaths did not attract enough attention.

After the collapse of the Yugoslav capital on May 20, Yangzhou residents had to resign themselves to fate. Although it was raining cats and dogs, some residents were busy burning incense to prepare for the arrival of the invaders, and at the same time they were hiding a lot of gold and silver treasures. They just made these cautious preparations, but they were completely unable to resist the Manchu and Mongolian who had taken over the city and surrendered to the Han people. Wang Xiuchu wrote: "Everyone is on standby for the second time, and they will be bound when they see it for the first time."

The traitors led the Qing soldiers from one rich family to another in this commercial city. The Qing soldiers want money first, and then everything. Until the 20th, there was no personal injury. But after nightfall, people heard the sound of knocking at the door, the sound of whipping people and the howl of the injured. The fire spread that night, but the fire in some places was put out by rain. On May 2 1, a notice promised that if the hidden people could come out and turn themselves in, they would be pardoned, so many people hiding at home came out. But when they came out, they were divided into fifty or sixty people and tied up with ropes under the supervision of three or four soldiers. Then he began to stab them with a spear and killed them on the spot, even if they fell to the ground.

Women tied their necks with long ropes. They were as heavy as pearls and fell down step by step, covered in mud. The ground is full of babies, or lined with horseshoes, or smeared with feet, liver and brain of people, crying.

Yangzhou has become a slaughterhouse, full of blood and stench, full of mutilated bodies, and all social norms no longer exist. Yangzhou women, who are famous for their beauty, are willing to die for the Qing soldiers. The most important thing is to save their lives with their bodies. Gradually, a craze swept through the invaders. Any woman, whether willing or not, may be caught and gang-raped by groups of soldiers. Some citizens serve the Qing soldiers like slaves, cooking and cleaning for these invaders. Because this kind of person's life can be forgiven, others tried to join in, but they were all rejected. At the same time, the massacre continues.

One soldier and one pawn arrived, no matter how many people in the south, they hung their heads and crawled, holding their necks to the side, and no one dared to escape.

Those who jumped off the wall and tried to escape either broke their thighs or fell into the hands of hooligans and stragglers. They arrested and tortured these people and demanded that they hand over their treasures. In the city, some people hid in the garbage dump and covered themselves with dirt and dirt, hoping to avoid people's attention, but the Qing soldiers stabbed the garbage dump with spears from time to time until the people inside crawled like animals and blood flowed from the wound. The fire spread, and those who were still alive because they were hiding in the house or basement were either swallowed up by the ruthless fire, or ran trembling into the street and were killed by the Qing soldiers who were still in the massacre. Even those helpless citizens who were released by the regular Qing army and wandered naked in the upper reaches of the street were stopped by groups of stragglers ("I don't know if it was for the Qing army, for the town soldiers, for the rioters") and killed with sticks.

By May 25th, the sixth day of indiscriminate killing and robbery, the massacre was over. The Qing army received an order from Yu Wang to seal the knife. Monks were ordered to start collecting and burning corpses. By May 27th, relief rations began to be distributed. A few days later, the rain finally stopped and the sun came out. The rain stopped the fire from burning down the whole city. People at that time estimated that 800,000 people died in this massacre.