"In the meantime, I have experienced it and seen it with my own eyes, so I talk about it, and those who hear it in the distance don't recite it."
According to his own witness and investigation, Wang Xiuchu recorded the number of people killed by the Qing army in Yangzhou Campaign. "The book records the number of people who burn bodies, about 80 people before and after. Those who fall into the river, close the door and set themselves on fire, and hang themselves deeply are absent-minded. "
Ten Days in Yangzhou, as a witness's note, has been quoted by many influential books such as Cihai, Ciyuan, Chronology of Chinese and Foreign History, Chronology of Qing History and so on. These books all accused the Qing army of "slaughter" in Yangzhou to varying degrees in the citation process. It was not known until 200 years later. At least the book "Ten Days in Yangzhou" has been preserved and passed down to this day.
But Yangzhou is really dead. Is there 800 thousand people?
Yangzhou garrison scale
The number of deaths in the war is mainly determined by the size of the battlefield, the forces invested by both sides, the length of time, the intensity of the battle, the lethality of the weapons used and the quality of military discipline.
When the Qing army crossed the south and Shi Kefa was guarding Yangzhou, the main force of Nanming was not concentrated in Yangzhou. Before the four towns, a fierce battle has begun. After Xu Dingguo killed Alex Gao, he came to the Qing Dynasty. Before the battle of Yangzhou began, Gao Jie, the most powerful department in the four towns, had collapsed in internecine strife.
Zuo Liangyu stationed in Wuchang attacked Nanking in the name of Jun Qing. At the time of Yangzhou crisis, Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo from four towns led troops south to Nanjing, while Huang Degong and others were stationed in Wuhu. Soldiers from three towns did not participate in the Yangzhou campaign.
On April 19, Duoduo arrived in Yangzhou, and Shi Kefa "withdrew from the town to help, and none arrived." Visible Yangzhou defenders in the city is not much, only four hundred soldiers from Liu Zhao came to help, that night was directly cleared.
At the same time, in the whole battle of Yangzhou, although the soldiers guarding the city resisted tenaciously, the strength of the two sides was too different, and in fact there was no cruel fighting. So not many soldiers and civilians died directly in the war.
Yangzhou population analysis
Wang Xiuchu said in "Yangzhou Ten Days" that there were more than 800,000 soldiers and civilians slaughtered, but were there really so many people in Yangzhou at that time? Not to mention that during the war, a large part of the people who got the news of the Qing army going south must have fled the city. Was there really 800,000 residents in Yangzhou at that time?
According to the Records of Yangzhou Prefecture, after the expansion of Yangzhou City in the 14th year of Kang (AD 1555), it was mainly located in Jinzhen, as shown in the following figure:
According to the Records of Yangzhou Mansion, the area of Yangzhou Mansion is calculated as a square, and the result is that the downtown area is about 2 133760.25 square meters, the new urban area is about 165 1255 square meters, and the overall area of Yangzhou Mansion is about 3795985.25 square meters.
If there were really 800,000 bodies in Yangzhou at that time ... the average land occupied by 800,000 people before their birth was only 4.7 square meters, but if the area of buildings is roughly subtracted, the average land occupied by people is less than 1.9 square meters (all kinds of houses, temples, schools, pavilions, gardens, bridges and canals account for 60% of the urban area).
This per capita area is still quite scary. When they are alive, they have to wipe their backs. When they die, they must pack like firewood. The whole city of Yangzhou is full of people, and the traffic exploded. People can't live and move normally in this environment. If the Qing army began to slaughter after entering the city, it would be even more unimaginable. How can you kill people with a knife next to each other? Under all kinds of panic and pushing, it is estimated that the formation of the Qing army can be dispersed.
It is difficult to find the exact population of Yangzhou at that time, but it can be estimated by the situation of Humachikou in Ming and Qing Dynasties.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Yangzhou Prefecture belonged to three states and seven counties, including Gaoyou Prefecture, Taizhou, Tongzhou, Jiangdu County, Yizhen County, Taixing County, Baoying County, Xinghua County, Rugao County and Haimen County.
Since Hongwu, the largest population in the whole government has been Wanli for six years, but only 8 10000 people. But this population of 8 10000 refers to the total population of three states and seven counties in Yangzhou. At that time, only Jiangdu County and Yangzhou Prefecture were together. During the 10-day massacre from April 25th to May 5th described by Wang Xiuchu, there was a saying that "those who hear it from afar will not recite it", that is to say, he only described the situation in Yangzhou, not the whole state of Yangzhou, so the figure of "800,000" is too rich to be believed.
Therefore, the tenth day in Yangzhou may be really tragic, a huge massacre, but it is impossible to kill as many as 800,000. With reference to the number of 300,000 people killed by Japanese troops in Tsinghua, it is hard to imagine what it was like to kill 800,000 people with iron knives in the cold weapon era 10. These people can't run or hide, even if they hang themselves, set themselves on fire or throw themselves into the river, but there are so many.