Chen Xidao: "This woman has not returned, so the people in the village naturally know that we are cheating. The next step will be that they will not stick to the wall."

Jing Yue asked nervously: "Sir, how can you live a life?"

"Now there are too few equipment on hand that can be used to attack cities, or it can be said that it is almost none. Since the opponent is condescending, the artillery can be covered with bows and arrows, and it will not be of great use for a while. So just... attack with fire!"

Chen Xi frowned, and took out a pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the chart with his personal guards using the wooden table made of trees on the island, and wrote a few words on the chart.

As Chen Xi finished speaking, Jing Yue, Zhang Lin, Ma Jiu and others were all looking at each other. Anyone who had seen the earthen fort knew that this kind of fortress was mostly brick-and-earth structure, with the outer layer covered with bricks or stones and the inner layer covered with rammed earth. Like ordinary city walls, fire attacks can only be carried out, and combustible materials can be shot in through arrow holes or across the city walls. Both of these are not difficult. Even if combustible materials are thrown in, it does not mean that they can burn inside.

Zhang Lin hesitated and asked, "Mr. Shen, the chances of fire attack are very slim. Do you think you can find another solution?"

Chen Xi raised his head and saw everyone in the central army tent looking at him. He waved his hand immediately: "Maybe my statement is not accurate, and it is not fire attack, but smoke attack. In the past few days, the northwest wind on the sea was strong, so we arranged a large number of firewood piles in the northwest area outside the city wall, and prepared the rest of the place, keep a close eye on the wind direction and ignite the firewood when the wind is down... Remember to be wet, it is easy to smoke."

When everyone heard this, this trick seemed to be good. Aren’t the bandits inside acting as turtles? Your shell cannot be broken or burned, but you can be smoked to death with smoke.

In the afternoon of that day, Chen Xi ordered people to search for firewood everywhere on the island, and at the same time, they took the opportunity to find out if there were hidden ships and secret passages leading to the fort.

Just after the Xu hour in the evening, the setting fire began, hundreds of piles of firewood were lit at the same time, and the grand smoke spread towards the fort under the northwest wind.

At the same time, bonfires everywhere three or four hundred meters outside the city wall ignited, illuminating the city. The people inside thought that the government army was going to launch an attack, so they were worried and did not dare to come out to find out. Not long after, the choking smoke buried the entire city.

Taking advantage of the fact that the bandits on the city wall were coughing and panic, the officers and soldiers hiding in the surrounding forests rushed out quickly, threw dry dead branches and weeds around the earthen castle, and then threw the torch soaked in tung oil on it. Soon the wall was surrounded by a fire.

There was no people on the island for a year or two for a hundred years, and there were not many other trees and firewood. It was autumn and winter, and the dry things in the sky were very easy to ignite. When the fire started, even the officials and soldiers themselves could not control it. The smoke was so foggy that the officers and soldiers who set fire had to retreat farther.

As soon as they escaped, they used Professor Chen Xi's method to soak fresh water in cloth to cover their mouths and noses, so that the choking smell was slightly relieved.

At this time, the visibility was reduced to the lowest point on the city walls shrouded in smoke, and the crossbow could no longer play a role at this time. Ma Jiu led the "special attack team" to transport six Folang machine cannons less than fifty meters outside the earthen castle, and began to fire cannons in the direction of the earthen castle.

Even if the castle wall is high, it is only ten meters, and there is no ceiling. Chen Xi taught Ma Jiu some questions about elevation angle and firing angle, adjusting the muzzle, and firing several rounds of shells in all directions inside. The bandits inside had to withstand the smoke and fire, and the shells were constantly falling from the top of their heads, feeling fear from the bottom of their hearts.

Less than half an hour after the war started, the earthen castle was already in chaos. Chen Xi had studied the explosive pack ejector for a long time before, which came in handy now.

A group of officers and soldiers took advantage of the chaos to come to a place more than ten meters away from the castle, using shields and bushes as cover, and began to dig holes on the ground.

After the pit was dug, the large iron barrel that had been used as a secret weapon was finally handy now. It faced the barrel mouth to the direction of the earthen castle, then buried it with sand and soil, or even tamped it tightly with large stones. This is to prevent the explosion from blowing up, and the surrounding sand and soil can effectively reduce the impact of the explosion.

Subsequently, the "flat shell" designed by Shen Xi was also wrapped in a large amount of gunpowder and metal debris, stuffed it into an iron barrel, and then ignited the ejector launch lead. The soldiers responsible for ignition quickly evacuated and found a place to hide.

With a "bang", the "big firecrackers" sprayed out from the mouth of the barrel with a huge airflow and flew over the earthen castle. As soon as they crossed the city wall, they heard a "boom" explosion, and the explosive pack exploded directly above the earthen castle.

The sound was earth-shaking, and the huge shock wave pushed the plants inside and outside the city wall into a whirlpool. Although the government troops outside the wall plugged their ears with cotton, they couldn't help but tighten their bodies before the sound... If this thing fell on their heads, it would be a pot of drink.

As the commander, Chen Xi sat in the camp west of the island.

Zhu Hong rushed back to the shore from the front line and told Chen Xi the latest news. He had a smug smile on his face. He looked at Chen Xi with a more respectful and admirable look. He said, "Sir, everything goes well in the war ahead. After a series of attacks, the bandits in the city were already confused. The city was broken in front of him... I just don't understand at all, why not wait for the day to attack again?"

Chen Xi shook his head: "If you attack during the day, the enemy will see clearly the reality of our side, and casualties will be indispensable!"

Although Zhu Hong is ruthless, he doesn't have much knowledge after all. He is as stupid as his sister, so he can't understand what Chen Xi said.

The war in the center of the island is showing a one-sided trend!

The smoke and fire, coupled with the Folang machine cannon and the "unconscience cannon", under the attacks from many parties, the bandits in the city were worse than death. They were choked by the smoke and could not find the north. They saw the people beside them being killed and blown away by falling shells from time to time. Many of their companions were broken and covered their broken arms and screaming there.

The bandits who were originally responsible for defending the city on the top of the city were shattered under the direct attack of the "unconscience cannon", and most of the internal organs were shattered and died of blood from their mouths and noses. The rest were dizzy and jumped off the city walls. Those who were lucky enough to die were running around like headless flies.

Escape is like an infectious disease. Once someone takes the lead, the remaining people are unwilling to stay and be a tragic devil.

More than an hour after the war started, the only city gate on the east side of the fort opened from the inside. As the ladder was laid down, the remaining bandits came out one after another. Because the siege was used to surround three quads, the bandits gathered at the city gate. After going out, they thought they could escape to the beach, and then left the island of Juzhou with a small boat hidden in the seaside cave or grass.

But they didn't know that Chen Xi had long sent a large number of people to set up ambushes, and there were various trips and traps on the road, just like catching wild animals. These bandits had only two results in escaping, either being killed on the spot or being captured alive.

The night was dark. As the bandits in the fort fled on a large scale, the main battlefield changed from around the fort to the east side of the Juzhou Island. Fires could be seen everywhere, and the sound of fighting was heard at all times. It continued until the second half of the night before the island gradually became quiet.

At this moment, the pile of firewood around the castle had been extinguished. The official army successfully attacked the earthen castle and captured the remaining wounded and sick people, old, weak, women and children. Then Ma Jiu organized people to transport the stored gold, silver, treasures, grain and food materials back to the beach.

Chen Xi never slept. At dawn, he stood on a rock on the northwest shore of Qizhou Island and looked at the center of the island.

Jing Yue and others came back one after another and brought back the latest information. Judging from the situation in all aspects, the results of this battle were extremely brilliant.

Jing Yue smiled and said, "Sir, you are really a clever idea. After being attacked by smoke, fire and artillery, the bandits inside really fled from the city gate. Along the way, the brothers seemed to be picking up their achievements, and they were chopping up one by one. It was so easy and freehand... Hehe, let them guard the hamlet as the turtle turtle that shrank. This time I was stunned!"

Chen Xi was a little sleepy: "Calculate the results of the battle, I will go back to the account to rest, and wait for the afternoon to discuss the merits and reward me!"

When Jing Yue heard this, he widened his eyes and asked, "Sir, please reward me for your merits?"

Chen Xi nodded: "It's just about merit, and I can't get promoted for a while. I'll write down the merits and go back to Guangzhou Prefecture before talking about them. However, the seized goods can be rewarded first at a certain ratio."

Jing Yue smiled: "What the adults said is, this war is just for wealth and women? If we don't allow us to touch women, we can only be greedy for money. By the way, there are a lot of wealth in this village on the island of Bozhou. The brothers were jealous of the silver turf inside. The silver turf alone was as huge as tens of thousands of taels, and there were more broken silver and copper coins..."

Since the bandits on Juzhou Island have such a strong city, they have been operating for more than three or five years, and it is likely to be more than ten years or even one or two generations. These bandits have contact with their colleagues in Leizhou Prefecture, and may also have secret channels to trade goods and population with people. It is not surprising that they have gained such a great harvest.

Before Chen Xi could return to the tent to rest, Zhu Hong had already brought his people back, but this time the escort were the women and children on the island.

Before attacking the mountain village, the adult males among the bandits either died or fled, and few were waiting to die. It was not easy for officers and soldiers to capture prisoners in the dark, so they basically saw one person chopping the other.

After a war, the males among the bandits were almost beaten up in one fell swoop, and a few living people might have been beheaded and given credit.

In the calculation of military merit, the calculation of the creditors of the captains must be higher than that of a bandit leader, but I am afraid that the final calculation of military merit will be calculated, and the captains will be counted on others, or the final calculation is to prove that the captains are actually just slaves.

Now that people have been cut off, no one has confirmed their identity, the credit is all their own, saving a lot of trouble.

Although Chen Xi was very disgusted with this kind of killing prisoners, he had to admit that this is the temperament of the military households in this era. It is impossible to change it every day. He, the governor of the three provinces, could not work in the local area for a few years, and the people were extinguished. There was no need to spend the time practicing military training. He could only let it go, as long as they did not act on women and children.

To cultivate an army with strict military discipline, you need to devote a lot of effort. Chen Xi asked himself that he could not eat, sleep, share the joys and sorrows, so he would talk about training military affairs when his body is fixed in the future.

Under the current circumstances, interests are more effective than majesty. They can only make full use of people's greed rather than fear of power. Greed is eternal, and fear is only temporary. Chen Xi can clearly distinguish which one is more important.

"grown ups."

Ma Jiu came to Chenxi at some time. Like Zhu Hong, his eyes turned red due to the smoke and staying up late.

I was busy all night and killed the bandits without leaving any armor. The seemingly unbreakable fortress was easily captured. It not only felt accomplished but also looked forward to the credit and rewards. It was the time to be full of passion.

Chen Xi smiled and nodded: "Well done, first check the spoils clearly, then interrogate the prisoners separately, see the origin of this group of people, and find out if they have hidden wealth. Those who travel a hundred miles a day should not slacken. Be sure to overcome the skin skills!"

Ma Jiu accepted the order: "Sir, go and rest first, we will definitely do the work properly. Brother Zhu, go!"

After this battle, Ma Jiu was very intimate with Zhu Hong. In addition to working together on the battlefield before, he also had to be consistent with the same faction.

Now the army is divided into two factions, one of which is the officers and soldiers of the garrison drawn from the three provinces, and the other is composed of the governor's yamen and brothers of the chariot and horse gang. Ma Jiu and Zhu Hong are the more influential figures in the latter.

For those with military positions, it is very easy to determine military merits after the war, and they can do things according to the rules. However, for Ma Jiu and Zhu Hong, the rewards require Chen Xi to approve. Even if Chen Xi is a third-rank court official, he cannot break the rules and transfer them to military positions.

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Chapter completed!