Soon Ergou was hoisted onto the warship. The warship was lined with thick cannons on both sides, and they were about to catch up with the huge cannons on his own fort.
A young officer received himself.
"Hello, sir!" Ergou greeted him politely, "The younger one is from the garrison at Dagukou. I don't know which section you belong to."
"We are the Nanyang Navy of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion. We are here to escort food. Don't you know that there is a food shortage in the capital right now?"
Zhili is now short of food, and Ergou certainly knows this. The daily food supply for their fort defenders has been reduced by half, and everyone can barely survive.
Although the Qing government investigated the Huaihai Trading Company, it did not say that Huai Haijun rebelled against the court, so the soldiers below did not know about the feud between Huai Hai Haijun and the court.
Therefore, when the other party said this, Ergou did not doubt that the rebels could not have such a large fleet. Standing on the warship, Ergou could see that there were many merchant ships behind the warship.
"How much food will be transported by so many merchant ships?" Ergou thought in his mind.
"Sir, I have to report this matter to our commander, and please forgive me." Ergou said apologetically. Ergou felt that this navy ship had strong guns and powerful guns, and he was also extremely rich, so he couldn't afford to offend him.
of.
"Let's do this. I'll take someone back with you, visit your general, and send you some supplies."
When Ergou heard that the other party wanted to send supplies to him, his eyes lit up and he quickly agreed.
Soon, the landing craft on some warships were dropped. The soldiers descended to the boats along the ropes, and the people on the warships also used ropes to hoist bags of food to the landing craft.
There were ten landing craft in total, carrying more than 200 people and almost two hundred bags of rice, and headed towards the Daku Fort.
Ergou first ran to the fort to report the situation. The guard was very happy after hearing this. Finally, someone sent food. Huaihai Trading Company's food-carrying ships have not come here for a long time. In the past, every time a merchant ship came, he could collect one.
A toll.
The guard general quickly asked people to greet the soldiers who were delivering rice and noodles. It wasn't because the guard general was too ambitious, but mainly because the more than two hundred people were not carrying muskets or swords or spears, so the guard general didn't think much about it.
More than two hundred people, each carrying a large bag of rice, boarded the fort.
Li Mingce looked around and saw that it was really an old fort. The artillery on the fort was at least seven or eight years old, and they were all front-loading smoothbore cannons forged by the Qing army themselves.
The rear part of this kind of gun is thick and thick, which is a remedial measure taken because the steel craftsmanship is not up to standard.
The steel-making process of the Qing court was not up to standard, and the strength of the steel was not enough, so craftsmen could only rely on increasing the thickness of the barrel to prevent the barrel from exploding.
These artillery pieces are fixed on the turret and cannot move, which means that there is no way to adjust the left and right angles. The elevation angle can only be adjusted by adding padded wood.
They look huge and heavy, each probably weighing five or six thousand kilograms, but the inner diameter is not large, probably about the same as the naval guns of the Huai Navy. It is far worse than the fortress guns customized by the Huai Navy in Krupp.
Moreover, the total number of artillery on the fort is not as large as that of the Nanyang Navy. In addition, these artillery cannot shoot at the fleet at the same time. Their shooting angles are fixed, so even if the fleet breaks through forcefully, it should be able to break through.
Come in.
Li Mingce was the captain of this Marine Corps. He temporarily took over a task from the fleet - leading more than 200 of his men to sneak into the fort, control the fort's defenders, and disarm the fort defenders.
If the Huai Navy wants to drive warships to Tianjin, it must control the Dagu Fort. No matter how backward the construction of this fort is, its strategic position is impeccable and it is definitely the best defensive position.
If the Nanyang Navy breaks through forcefully, its ships will inevitably be threatened by the forts.
Fortunately, intelligence said that most of the people in the Dagukou Fort have been transferred away by Shengbao, leaving only a few soldiers on duty. This gave the Huai Navy a chance to capture the fort.
Now the Nanyang Navy's goal is still Tianjin, and Dagukou is Tianjin's maritime barrier.
Li Mingce and others went up to the fort, and the fort guard came up with a smile on his face. Of course, this was for the sake of so much food.
"Oops! Brother, you are really a help in times of need. We are almost unable to untie the pot." The guard said with a smile.
"You're welcome, General!" Li Mingce said with a smile, "Our Nanyang Navy was ordered to go north to deliver food this time. Time is urgent, so we have to go directly from Dagukou to Tianjin, and I have to make it convenient for you."
"Oh, don't worry, this is easy to say." The general opened his mouth wide, showing his yellow teeth, and said with a smile, "But you also saw that I have so many men to feed!"
As he spoke, Li Mingce gestured behind him, and a soldier came over holding a wooden box.
When he walked in front of the guard, the soldier opened the box with one hand and saw that it was full of white silver coins, neatly stacked, which made the guard's eyes widen.
The soldiers next to him also looked over.
"General, I have a big gift for you."
As he spoke, Li Mingce took out the pistol hidden in his waist and pointed it at the general's forehead.
The scene suddenly froze, as if a cold wave was coming, freezing everything...
"Don't move, don't move..." The soldiers behind Li Mingce also took out their pistols and pointed them at the Qing soldiers beside him.
Some of the Qing troops held muskets, and some held long spears and knives. However, these long weapons could not be picked up as fast as pistols. In addition, the eyes of these Qing troops were attracted to the silver coins, so they were all captured at once.
Living.
"Hey, brother, if you have anything to say, we are all on our own, so there is no need to be like this. I have already agreed to your conditions!" the general said with a grimace.
He doesn't seem to be embarrassing these people. He just wants to ask for more property. If he doesn't give it, he won't give it to him. Why is he pointing a gun at them!
"General, I'm really sorry. We don't have any ill intentions. It's just that our Nanyang Navy's retreat route must be guarded by ourselves. So, we will invite the brothers to eat for a few days. Don't worry, there will be enough white rice for each person every day.
There are still two taels of liquor. When our affairs in Tianjin are over, we will return the fort to you later. What do you think?"
"You put the gun to my head, what else can you say!" the guard complained in his heart.
"It's easy to say, easy to say, but brother, please see if you can provide us with a written evidence. If the court pursues the case in the future, I can also explain it." The guard begged willingly.
The Qing army guard general thought very quickly. He didn't want to be killed by these navy men, let alone be punished by the court. If he gave up the fort directly now, then the court could definitely accuse him of dereliction of duty.
But if the Navy relied on orders to take over the forts, then at best it could be considered that the review was lax and was deceived by friendly forces.
Then the guilt would be much lighter.
"Okay, General, can I give you a copy of the documents from the Liangjiang Governor's Office later? However, I also ask the General to order the brothers on the other forts not to misunderstand, and to come and gather together."
"It won't take us long, we will return it to you soon. You can keep the money first, and you will receive generous gifts when the time comes." Li Mingce said with a smile.
What else can the fort guard say? It's already like this. I can lend it to you. They are all soldiers of the Qing Dynasty anyway, so I don't think I'm surrendering to the enemy.
"Oh, where is the little brother who led the way just now?" Li Mingce asked.
Ergou stood there and looked around. Is this calling him?
"By the way, it's you. Your name is Zhao Ergou. Come and help lead the way down and find a place for the fort brothers to stay. Our people will bring food and drink here, and then take our people there.
Take over the arsenal, don't worry, your things won't be touched."
After all the few defenders on the fort were imprisoned, Li Mingce sent someone to flag the fleet. The fleet pulled up the sails and sailed slowly into the Haihe River in columns. Another group of marines got off the ship to assist Li Mingce.
Let's control the fort together.
Liu Mingce and others imprisoned all the fort Qing troops in a warehouse area under the fort, confiscated their weapons, and placed them in the arsenal for unified custody.
The Qing army's cannons, spears and swords were not favored by the Huai navy. A lot of daily necessities were sent down on the ship. Naturally, the generals of the Qing army received preferential treatment.
Ergou has now become Huai Haijun's errand boy.
"Uncle, look, this is a can. This is a good thing. Huaihai Daqu with a temperature of 53 degrees can be bought for 5 taels of silver in the market in Beijing. It is an ordinary model." Ergouzi gushed in front of his eldest cousin.
He continued to introduce.
"Get out of here, you boy, if you hadn't brought this person here, how could this have happened? What if the court punishes him then?" said the eldest cousin, glaring at Er Gouzi.
"Cousin, that Nanyang Navy officer is right. We are handing it over to them for a few days. They are not rebels. Besides, look at so many big ships, we only have these few people left behind.
, I can’t beat him! It’s better to have a couple of bites. Come on, cousin, let’s get drunk and relieve a thousand worries.” Ergouzi is really good at teasing people. After hearing what he said, cousin simply stopped thinking about it.
Already.
After calculating the arrival time of the Nanyang Navy, Dong Shuheng also took a fast steamer and set off northward with a guard company and a regiment of infantry, accompanied by four gunboats of the Canal Navy.
The infantry of this regiment were drawn from the garrison and were forced upon Dong Shuheng by Yan Shikun before he left.
Dong Shuheng's departure just left Shao Can in vain. Shao Can could only inform Zeng Xianfeng of the court's decree and ask him to convey it to Dong Shuheng. He himself returned to the river construction site.
However, he went to see Feng Daoli who was hospitalized in Yangzhou. Feng Daoli and he were Jinshi in the same year, so they were considered acquaintances.
But he didn't expect that this project was hosted by Feng Daoli. He knew that Feng Daoli had been caring about the water conservancy project in his hometown for many years after he resigned. He didn't expect that he would actually realize his ideal.
Suddenly, Shao Can became a little envious of Feng Daoli. He had been immersed in officialdom for many years, and now when he looked back, he seemed to have accomplished nothing.
On the other hand, although Feng Daoli has done nothing in the officialdom, he has always adhered to his original intention, been able to continuously strive for his ideals, and finally achieved his goals. Wouldn't this be more meaningful?
Looking at Feng Daoli lying on the hospital bed and asking him about the situation at the construction site, Shao Can fell into deep thought. He took this opportunity to ask Feng Daoli about things on the construction site, and promised that Feng Daoli would help take care of the construction site.