As Yang Zhen's clan brother, Yang Shen has a somewhat special status in Yang Zhen's army, but no matter how special his status is, he cannot go beyond his duties.

And Yang Shen is a person who attaches great importance to abiding by his duties.

Therefore, after mentioning it once and seeing that Yang Zhen was noncommittal, he did not continue the suggestion.

So this matter has no further content.

At the same time, Qiu Zhenhai, who already knew that he would stay in Zhenjiang Fort, had already spotted Song Guofu's defectors who used heavy artillery to kill Huaishun King Geng Zhongming during the melee on the seventh night of the first lunar month. He knew that he would need to guard Zhenjiang Fort in the future.

Such a heavy artillery team.

Therefore, when Song Guofu expressed to Qiu Zhenhai through Jin Yukui his desire to join the Artillery Regiment of the Eastern Conquest Army, Qiu Zhenhai immediately persuaded Song Guofu to temporarily stay among the various troops under his command through Jin Yukui.

From then on, Song Guofu actually had some confidence in his heart, knowing that his future would still be with Zhenjiang Fort.

Sure enough, after Yang Zhen called Song Guofu's name, he quickly informed him and made clear arrangements for his troops in public.

"Song Guofu and his troops will be reorganized into two sentries and one team from now on, with a separate heavy artillery battalion. Song Guofu will serve as the battalion's staff general and will be under the command of the Anton regimental battalion!"

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Faced with Yang Zhen's last order, Song Guofu immediately stepped out of the queue, knelt on one knee and clasped his fists to receive the order.

For him, after today, he has a formal status under Yang Zhen, or among the various people in Jinhai Town, and the worries and worries of the past few days have been swept away.

However, Yang Zhen's arrangements for him were obviously not over yet. Seeing him like this, he immediately smiled and said: "Haha, don't worry, let me finish what I have to say."

When Yang Zhen said this, he found Yang Shen among the generals present, looked at him, and said to him: "Yang Shen!"

"The humble position is here!"

"How many heavy artillery pieces are there inside and outside Zhenjiang Fort?"

Yang Shen was stunned when he heard this, not knowing what Yang Zhen was planning to do, but he still knew very well how many heavy artillery pieces there were inside and outside Zhenjiang Fort, so he quickly answered:

"Not counting those allocated to Commander Lin and Vice General Yu in the early stage, and taking into account the gains from recent battles, there are currently 44 heavy artillery in the city that are usable, and there are five heavy artillery that can be used after some repairs.

.

"As for the seven usable heavy artillery currently remaining on Waihua Island outside the city, they are the seven under General Song Shen's command! Therefore, totaling the internal and external forces, our army now has fifty-six heavy artillery!"

"Fifty-six doors? Very good, very good!"

Although Yang Zhen is very concerned about the situation of his army's heavy artillery team, there have been so many things happening recently that it is really confusing.

Although he knows that the number of heavy artillery in his army has not only not decreased, but has been captured and increased, but he can't remember the specific number of heavy artillery.

When they first broke into the Zhenjiang Fort, they seized ten heavy cannons and countless cannons and ammunition belonging to Jin Yukui from the Zhenjiangmen Wengcheng.

Later, during the first siege battle launched by the Qing rebels from the river east of the city, Yang Zhen's troops captured many useful heavy artillery pieces left there after their frames were broken.

Then there was the one-sided artillery battle on the morning of the sixth day of the first lunar month.

When Song Guofu, Shi Mingxiong and others retreated hastily, they left behind many heavy artillery with their frames destroyed and many heavy artillery that were solidly frozen in the ice and snow on the river and could not move.

To this day, those heavy artillery pieces left in place have naturally become captured by the defenders of Zhenjiang Fort.

In this way, even after deducting the heavy artillery lost by our army at Tangshanmen Wengcheng, after the entire offensive and defensive battle of Zhenjiang Fort, the number of our army's heavy artillery has almost doubled.

This situation made Yang Zhen sigh in his heart, it is better to feed war with war.

If these additional heavy artillery were made by the artillery factory at Lushunkou, it would have taken several months to produce the same number.

But sigh, sigh, if you want to support war with war, you must first have the ability to win the war.

"Let's do this. The original heavy artillery in Song Guofu's camp will still be used by his subordinates. Thirteen heavy artillery and thirty sky cannons will be selected for him, so that his reinforced heavy artillery battalion will have enough strength to defend Zhenjiang Fort and Anton Fort.

!”

"Humble duty—obey!"

Faced with Yang Zhen's new order, Yang Shen hesitated slightly, but he looked at Yang Zhen and saw that Yang Zhen was not joking, so he quickly agreed.

At this time, Song Guofu, who had just joined Yang Zhen's command less than ten days ago, was stunned with his eyes wide open.

Heavy artillery like the Tianyou Cheer General was an absolute military weapon for the Qing Dynasty, and it was also something that the heads of the Eight Banners and Han Army valued extremely, and regarded it as more important than their lives.

What everyone wants in their mind is to draw more points for themselves, rather than actively giving more to others, even if that person is one of their own subordinates.

Therefore, when Song Guofu discovered that Yang Zhen had no such intention at all, he generously allocated the heavy artillery of his so-called direct line to the Eastern Expedition Army to himself, and all at once there were thirteen heavy artillery pieces and thirty extremely sharp ones.

When the cannon shot into the sky, he finally realized that Yang Zhen really did not regard him as an outsider, and had completely regarded Song Guofu as one of his own.

For a moment, Song Guofu was so excited that his eyes were a little red. He kowtowed to the ground and said loudly: "I will never let down the trust of the governor. From now on, the governor will only have a life. I will die in my humble position if I go up to the mountain of swords or to the sea of ​​fire!"

"Okay, okay, okay, I feel relieved if you say this. I don't need you to go to the mountains of swords and seas of fire for me. I just hope that you will work together and sincerely to protect the city and land we have worked so hard to conquer."

!”

In fact, it doesn't matter whether Yang Zhen trusts Song Guofu or not.

If Song Guofu's camp was arranged in another direction, Yang Zhen might worry about whether he would be truly loyal to him.

——After all, this kind of person thought that he had betrayed Zhang Keda, the commander-in-chief of Denglai, and then followed Geng Zhongming in the Dengzhou mutiny. Finally, he crossed the sea and ran to the Qing Dynasty and became a traitor to the Tatars.

But now, they betrayed Huaishun King Geng Zhongming, became their own internal agents, and shot Huaishun King Geng Zhongming to death.

In the past, such a person would have been a proper domestic slave with three surnames.

No matter how big-hearted Yang Zhen is, he will never take this kind of people lightly.

Because even Yang Zhen himself cannot predict whether any of his actions in the future do not suit their liking, whether they will continue to use their same tactics to launch a mutiny and cheat themselves!

Therefore, for such people, Yang Zhen will definitely bring them back to the real heart of Jinhai Town to serve, at least not under the current circumstances.

Of course, they will not be given the opportunity to contact other mountain factions.

For example, the factions in Liaodong Town, and the factions in Denglai Town, once they have the opportunity to come into contact with other people outside Jinhai Town, no one can predict what choices they will make.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Yang Zhen had no choice but to separate Shi Mingxiong and Song Guofu, and at the same time tie them firmly to the anti-capitalist front line of Zhenjiang Fort.

Only by putting them here can Yang Zhen trust them more fully.

Because in front of the Zhenjiang Fort, there were only the soldiers and horses of the Qing captives, and the only people Shi and Song could never betray themselves in the future were the soldiers and horses of the Qing captives.

And this is the fundamental reason why Yang Zhen is so generous to them.

Of course, Yang Zhen couldn't tell others about this consideration, he could only know it in his own mind.

But it was said that after Yang Zhen carefully arranged the whereabouts of Qiu Zhenhai and Shi Song, the eyes of the generals present quickly followed Yang Zhen and turned to the several court generals present.

It was also at this time that Shen Qicheng, who had been thinking about what to do with the soldiers and horses he brought to Jinhai Town, suddenly stood up and said to Yang Zhen:

"Captain, Mr. Shen was fortunate to have the governor's help this time and brought out more than 7,000 soldiers and horses from Pingyi City. At the same time, thanks to Lin Tongyu, Vice General Yu and Vice General Qiu's son, oh no, it's Commander Qiu's son.

, from the Ganghwa Bay area, we evacuated thousands of North Koreans who were determined to fight against the invaders and return to the Ming Dynasty. These people, horses and common people are all from our court. There are more than ten thousand people in total, floating on the sea, helpless. Please ask the governor to choose a place to resettle them!"

"Helpless?"

Yang Zhen was originally going to talk about the resettlement of the imperial people who had returned from crossing the sea, but seeing Shen Qicheng speak first, he listened quietly to him.

Just hearing the words "helpless" mentioned in his words, I immediately shook my head and laughed. As soon as he finished speaking, I immediately smiled and said to him:

"Mr. Shen was able to gather his troops and cross the sea to return to me, Yang Zhen, when he was in danger. This is a great kindness. Mr. Yang is very grateful.

"Mr. Shen, you were originally appointed by the Governor as the Commander-in-Chief of the Loyalty and Gui Ming Army. I hope that you can take up this position in the future, and at the same time, I will bring the troops and people you brought to me to be included in the Loyal and Gui Ming Army! I don't know.

What do you think?"

Ever since Yang Zhen heard from Xu Tingxuan that Shen Qicheng had brought a large number of people to follow Lin Qingye, Yu Liangtai and others' fleet across the sea to the boundary of Jinhai Town, he had already begun to think about how to settle and digest this group of people.

At the same time, he had also consulted An Yingchang, the commander of the Zhongyi Gui Ming Army, for his opinion in advance.

The Loyalty Gui Ming Army originally had four commanders, but An Yixin took one away, and the remaining three followed An Yingchang to Zhenjiang Fort.

There were many losses in the previous battles, but the melee on the seventh night of the first lunar month caused particularly heavy losses. Almost the entire commander was killed.

Although it is now called the Zhongyi Gui Ming Army, there are actually only two dissatisfied commanders left, and the number is less than 1,000.

Although those who have survived many battles are the best, but the number is too small and there is no way to deserve the title of loyal Ming army.

If Shen Qicheng had not returned with his troops, Yang Zhen had originally intended to take this opportunity to transform it into a loyalty camp.

The news about Shen Qicheng and others brought by Xu Tingxuan temporarily dispelled Yang Zhen's thoughts, and at the same time gave the existence of the Zhongyi Gui Ming Army a new meaning.

An Yingchang actually knew this very well.

Therefore, when Yang Zhen asked him, did he want to cancel the designation of the Zhongyi Gui Ming Army and lead a Zhongyi Battalion of more than a thousand people from now on, or did he want to maintain the designation of the Zhongyi Gui Ming Army and then recruit Shen Qicheng and his subordinates on a large scale When the soldiers and horses came to the road, An Yingchang quickly gave his answer.
Chapter completed!