Chapter 2010

The opponent was obviously very powerful, so why did he carefully disguise himself as a salt merchant and enter Yangzhou? Now it seems that his purpose is obvious. It is obvious that he came here for the musketeers under Lu Kangtai.

After finishing the matter, he evacuated Yangzhou immediately, not caring about other things at all, and not preparing to deal with the local salt merchants at this time.

And this kind of behavior also makes Lu Kangtai hate and fear him. What he hates is that the other party is ruthless and destroys the Musketeers team that he has worked hard for a long time to achieve some results in one move. What he is afraid of is that if the other party takes the key

The evidence left Yangzhou safely. I'm afraid I won't pretend to be a salt merchant again when I come back next time.

But now that their faces have been broken, Lu Kangtai can no longer expect to resolve the issue peacefully with the other party. He can only hope to stop the two ships on the canal tonight and keep these people in Yangzhou, and then

Then slowly try to cover the lid, or use the hostages captured tonight to conduct subsequent negotiations with the other party - of course, the premise is to intercept the other party first.

But judging from the situation of the battle, it is not a simple task to intercept the opponent's ship. The firepower on the opponent's ship is too fierce. It is obviously unrealistic to defeat the opponent with the strength of the people. We can only find other ways.

Weaken the opponent's weapon advantage.

The problem that Lu Kangtai thought of was actually thought of by many people at the same time, so when the second group rushed to try to intercept the target's ship, some people used various items as shelters to cover their bodies, and then looked for opportunities to expose only their scalps on the target ship.

The enemy carried out an attack. Although the ship planks, wooden barrels, copper basins and other things in their hands could provide extremely limited cover, they at least provided some psychological comfort and encouragement, giving them the courage to fight with the enemy on the target ship.

The enemy begins a battle.

Although most of the weapons in their hands are relatively primitive cold weapons, as long as the distance is close enough, they can still pose a threat to the enemies on the ship. Especially the muskets and crossbows they use, although their performance is limited, they can only be used within two or three times.

At a combat distance of 10 feet or even closer, its shooting accuracy is also quite impressive.

Fortunately, the Military Intelligence Bureau has made corresponding preparations for extreme situations that may arise during the operation, and even installed a batch of light armor and helmets for infantry on the ship, which will come in handy at this time.

This kind of light armor is made of two pieces at the front and back. It can only protect the vital areas of the chest and vest. The helmet is stamped from one minute thick iron sheet. Its protective capabilities are actually very limited. It may not be able to reliably defend against muskets at close range.

Shooting. However, generally speaking, the Haihan Army will maintain a relatively safe fighting distance from the enemy when fighting, so protective measures do not require covering the whole body with armor. Infantrymen fighting on the front line generally only need to protect the head and torso vital points.

Can.

Such basic protective measures allowed the combatants on the ship to successfully avoid multiple fatal injuries. However, even so, casualties were inevitable in the chaotic fighting situation. The two military doctors on board the ship also began to get busy at this time and split up.

Treat the injuries of the wounded.

Ji Yuanqing did not send all combatants into the battle at once, but maintained a combat strength of about ten people on the left and right sides of the ship. The remaining people were on standby on the deck to maneuver and assist the crew in completing damage control.

Although the kerosene incendiary bombs thrown from the ship next to it could not burn the sails, the fire on the deck was quickly extinguished. However, this has made the people on the ship very nervous. If the sail ropes on the ship were burned, they would be extremely worried.

It is possible that we will never get out of this canal.

"Shoot the arsonist first!" Seeing that the situation was critical, Gong Shiqi quickly issued an order to the gunmen on the side of the ship.

A guy on the boat next to him was about to throw a lit kerosene bomb into the boat when he was hit by a shot. The kerosene bomb exploded directly in his hand and then spread on the deck, killing him and several people around him.

They were all enveloped in flames. The man reacted very quickly and jumped directly into the river after making a strange scream. Then several others jumped into the river to extinguish the fire on themselves.

The fire on the deck quickly ignited several other kerosene bombs stacked on the side of the ship, and soon the entire bow was engulfed in raging flames. Seeing that the situation was not good, the sailors on the ship could only

Change the ship's course to the shore and give way to the ship behind it.

Gong Shiqi glanced at the river behind him and saw at least a dozen boats following him, with a determined attitude, and he secretly complained in his heart. Although there was an obvious gap in the combat effectiveness of the two sides, if the other side kept adopting wheel tactics

Dragging himself, and the manpower and ammunition on the ship are limited, the time to suppress it has actually entered a countdown. He estimated that according to the current intensity of the battle, he would be able to hold on to Guazhou.

But in this case, it is absolutely impossible to order a reduction in combat intensity. Once the opponent sees through the truth, they will definitely entangle themselves at all costs. It is better to fight with all their strength and strive to repel the enemy's pursuit before reaching Guazhou.

In Gong Shiqi's past work experience, it was actually very rare for him to let go and fight with others like he is now. Even if he has rich experience in action, his emotions can't help but become quite excited at this time. But he is a soldier.

Ji Yuanqing is more calm. After all, although the current battle situation is quite fierce, it is still too childish compared to the battlefield where thousands of troops are actually involved.

"Go on!" Lu Kangtai gritted his teeth and urged his men to continue attacking the ship in front, and doubled the previously announced reward standard to stimulate his men to continue fighting with their lives.

Such financial incentives did have an immediate effect. The offensive momentum that was originally hit quickly ignited the pursuers' emotions after Lu Kangtai's statement was conveyed to each ship. More than a dozen ships continued to surge towards the target with great momentum.

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After several miles of fighting with the salt merchants who caught up with them, the ship that was left behind had already suffered two deaths and more than ten injuries. Even Gong Shiqi's own arm was scratched by an arrow.

It was a big gash, but luckily it didn't hurt any muscles or bones. After being bandaged, it didn't cause any serious problems for the time being. However, another ship carrying a radio, prisoners and evidence took this opportunity to successfully escape from the battlefield and could no longer be seen in the dark night.

Its figure is gone.

Although there are no specific statistics on the number of casualties on the chasing side, they are definitely far more than Gong Shiqi's team. There are already as many as five ships that have lost their combat capabilities and been forced to leave the battlefield. Regardless.

Whether Lu Kangtai could intercept successfully in the end, he would definitely have to pay a large amount of pension for the aftermath.

The bloody battle continued in the night, with gunshots and firelights, and pitiful howls constantly heard on the river. Fortunately, both sides of this section of the canal were mostly farmland, and there were not many people, so the battle between the two sides was still going on for the time being.

Didn't cause much panic in the canal basin.

Lu Kangtai was already furious at this time, and kept giving orders to urge his men to continue attacking the ship. As a kerosene bomb finally hit the cargo ship's sail, sparks flew up, and a burst of cheers suddenly sounded on the river. But Zheng didn't

As long as they were happy, several pumps on the deck of the big ship poured water onto the sails, so that the fire that had not yet ignited was immediately extinguished.

This was really not an ideal situation for the pursuers who had finally made some progress, but the real blow came later.

Several fist-sized iron bullets were thrown from the big ship to the small boat that came up. After bouncing on the deck a few times, they suddenly exploded. The fragmented shrapnel immediately caused a terrible killing effect on the surrounding crowd.

After the bomb went off, it knocked down almost everyone within a one-foot radius.

After taking several such iron bombs one after another, most of the two boats closest to the big ship had suffered casualties and had to withdraw from the battle.

"This thing is really easy to use! It would be nice if there were more of them!" Gong Shiqi was also very satisfied with the impact of this military weapon. The only problem was that the inventory was too small. They only brought a total of them this time.

Only twenty pieces.

"This grenade is mainly used by front-line army troops. It has not been installed in the troops in Zhoushan at all. It only has a small amount of inventory in the weapons depot. If it were not for the special nature of this mission, we might not be able to apply for this weapon.

"Ji Yuanqing explained with a smile.

They came to Yangzhou to perform a mission this time. The ship was not equipped with heavy weapons such as artillery, so Ji Yuanqing thought of another alternative. The Security Department basically had no chance to equip such military weapons. The grenades used in this operation were all made by Ji Yuanqing.

I filed a report and applied for it before departure. It was originally just a secret weapon just in case, but I didn't expect that it would actually come in handy when things happened.

Of course, the power of grenades is still far from being comparable to that of artillery, but in the current special combat environment, the actual killing and deterrence effects of grenades are not necessarily inferior to that of artillery. But can they completely destroy this thing?

In fact, I don't have much confidence in the opponent's fighting will. After all, the number is limited, and it cannot be renewed after it is used up. After all, the opponent has a lot of people on board. If they are ruthless enough, it won't be a big problem to survive this wave.

In fact, this more or less had a psychological impact on the salt merchants' armed forces. Even Lu Kangtai was a little guilty, thinking that this group of people had slowed down their speed and fought with their own troops all the way. In fact, they were deliberately luring themselves into the bait.

Finally, all the armed forces on hand of the local salt merchants were eliminated.

But he immediately rejected his idea. If the other party had this idea in mind, why would he ask Da to let the other ship leave first? Wouldn't it be faster for the two ships to do it together? Moreover, it took so long to fight.

After using this big killer weapon, it is very likely that there is no other way but to use the bottom-of-the-box trick to find an escape. If you give up the pursuit at this time, you may miss the best opportunity to attack.

The more Lu Kangtai thought about it, the more he felt that this was a possibility. When he ordered to continue the attack and further increase the reward, he had no other better way to stimulate the fighting will of his men and could only continue to increase the reward chips.

To ensure our courage to continue fighting.

"We're catching up again! It seems they still refuse to let go!" Gong Shiqi's excitement did not last long, and he saw two more boats behind him, approaching the left and right sides respectively. A new round of offensive was coming in an instant.

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To repel this wave of offensive again, it took Gong Shiqi and others much longer than when they first entered the battle. Currently, more than half of the combatants on the ship were injured, and nearly half of them could not insist on continuing to participate in the battle.

, the combat attrition is very obvious. Although there is still some ammunition for the rifle, if the combat intensity is maintained at this level, it probably won't last too long.

Ji Yuanqing was also hit on the shoulder by a crossbow arrow fired from the boat. Fortunately, like Gong Shiqi, it was only a flesh wound. After being bandaged, he continued to direct the battle from the side of the boat.

The twenty grenades were quickly used up in the battle. Although they caused a lot of damage to the opponent, they still failed to break their will to fight. The red-eyed salt merchants only had about half of their weapons left.

Although the ship and manpower were still there, it still fell to the side and rear reluctantly, constantly trying various means to prevent the escape of this big ship.

"We're heading to Guazhou!" Finally, they had some good news that made them slightly relieved. As long as they passed Guazhou, they would be the intersection of the canal and the Yangtze River. After sailing into the Yangtze River, it would be difficult for the other side's small boats to sail in the wide area.

Several miles of river surface prevented the ship from sailing to the downstream estuary.

The same information made Lu Kangtai even more anxious. His goal was to block his opponent in the canal, but if his opponent escaped into the Yangtze River, all his efforts tonight would be in vain. Guazhou was already vaguely visible in front of him.

At this time, even if all the remaining ships swarmed up, it might be difficult to intercept the opponent.

When it entered the fork of the river in Guazhou, the cargo ship fired a salvo of three-round rifles at the nearest small boat that was trying to get on board, sending sawdust flying everywhere, and then leisurely sailed toward the mouth of the river.

Just when Lu Kangtai was hesitating whether to give the order to continue the pursuit, the sound coming from the ship in front made him so angry that he almost vomited blood.

"I have already felt your enthusiasm, and it will be rewarded in the future. I say goodbye today. You have sent me dozens of miles this night, so there is no need to send you away again. Please come back!"

After Gong Qi Qi finished shouting, he put down the tin trumpet, shook his head proudly and said: "If you are not convinced, just keep following me. I'll see if you can follow me all the way to Ningbo!"

"If they have the courage to follow Wusongkou, then take them to Ningbo together!" Ji Yuanqing felt much more relaxed at this time and no longer worried about whether the other party would continue to pursue. There will be Haihan warships near Wusongkou.

To respond to them, if the Yangzhou salt merchants don't know what to do, they will definitely be gone and never come back.

In the end, Lu Kangtai's remaining troops were defeated and stopped at Guazhou. They watched helplessly as the cargo ship they fought for all night sailed into the Yangtze River and then turned around and headed east.
Chapter completed!