Chapter 18: The Water Bandits Are Destroyed, The Huai Navy Is Established
The courtyard of Qiaojiajian on the south bank of Gaoyou Lake was brightly lit. Lai Shancheng was sitting on the imperial chair, and vases were broken on the floor in the hall.
"If you dare to kill my brothers Tietou and Shuigou, this time I will capture Gaoyou City and capture Dong Shuheng alive!" Lai Shancheng shouted hysterically, and the bosses below also echoed: "Capture Gaoyou City and capture Dong Shuheng alive!"
"Big boss, please calm down. Since Dong Shuheng's regiment is camped in the east of the city, why don't we pretend to attack Gaoyou City and lure them to rescue us, and then fight with them decisively between Gaoyou City and Xiejia Town to reduce our number?
This is a plan to lure the snake out of its hole." At this time, an old man in his forties or fifties with a thin face and a pointed chin said. The old man's name was Xu Dexian, a poor scholar from Yangzhou City. Because he had memorized several books on the art of war, he later got the opportunity.
By coincidence, he became Lai Shancheng's military advisor.
"Hey, this is a clever plan by the military advisor! Then we take a boat from the Salt River to the east of Gaoyou City and land at night. The new refugees will pretend to attack Gaoyou City along the way. The main force on the other side will be waiting for Dong Shuheng's regiment training on the only way to fight more.
Young Master, fight decisively with him."
After deciding on a strategy, Lai Shancheng began to arrange for his subordinates to gather manpower and prepare ships. Lai Shancheng currently had more than 80 ships, most of which were inland river cargo ships that he had stolen, and could transfer nearly 5,000 people at a time.
He now has more than 4,000 people under his command, including more than 2,000 elites during the period, and the rest are mostly newly recruited refugees.
There has been no news from the investigation company so far. Dong Shuheng is very worried. Even at night, he still did not let the investigation company withdraw.
While waiting for the news, the wretched uncle Ji Mingshan came over again. He brought two pieces of news. One was that the special team had harvested more than 1 million taels of gold and silver from the Huang family. This news immediately made Dong Shuheng very happy. He is now
What I want to say most is: "Mom no longer has to worry about my lack of money."
Another news is that Liu Dahai's fleet has returned and has entered Shaobo Lake. Shaobo Lake is on the south side of Gaoyou Lake and connected to Gaoyou Lake. This time, not only each ship of the fleet has been modified and reinforced, but also four doors have been installed.
6-pounder broadside gun, and a 12-pounder bow gun.
What makes Dong Shuheng most happy is that he brought back two 400-ton small steamers, one called "Elizabeth" and one called "Margaret". Both of these ships have been acquired by Dong Shuheng.
Owned by the American Qichang Shipyard. The two ships are of mixed iron and wood structure. They use the latest 500-horsepower steam engine and the latest hidden wheel design. The speed can reach 30 kilometers per hour. There are also boiler operators on board.
They are all hired foreigners, and each ship also has a foreign gunner instructor.
"What a perfect time to come!" Dong Shuheng secretly rejoiced.
"Order: Starting today, the shipping company will be changed to the Huaihai Division. Liu Dahai will be the commander of the Huaihai Division and will be in charge of the work of the navy. The salary of the first personnel of the navy shall be based on the formal regiment training. The two ships will be renamed Yangzhou and Huai'an.
The navy has temporarily taken cover on the south bank of Gaoyou Lake and is on standby."
Due to time constraints, Dong Shuheng asked Ji Mingshan to be temporarily responsible for contacting the navy.
After sending Ji Mingshan away, Dong Shuheng finally waited for the report from the reconnaissance company. Almost all the water bandits from Qiaojiajian were dispatched. There were more than 80 ships of various types, and it was estimated that there were more than 4,000 bandits, heading towards the Salt River. Listen.
At this point, Dong Shuheng immediately asked people to chase Ji Mingshan back and asked Ji Mingshan to notify the navy. After all the water bandits entered the Salt River, they would block the mouth of the Salt River and not even a single water bandit ship could be released.
He quickly summoned Liu Qingnan and the company commanders of each battalion to hold a pre-war meeting. Cai Shusen briefly introduced the current intelligence on behalf of Dong Shuheng.
"Chairman, if there is a decisive battle, we should have no problem, but I don't know what the strategic purpose of our army is in this battle?" Liu Qingnan seemed very confident. He asked using the new words Dong Shuheng said in class.
"The first, of course, is to annihilate all the enemies; the second, to let the brothers see blood to achieve the purpose of military training; the third, to completely frighten the gentry in Gaoyou City (so that they can ask for money in the future)." Dong Shuheng said,
This is the first battle since the establishment of Huaihai League Training, and it must be fought well.
"Then, Chairman, if according to your idea, we should place the decisive battle location under Gaoyou City, so I suggest that our army should be deployed to the east of Gaoyou City before the water bandits arrive." Liu Qingnan said.
"Just do as you say. The first company of the teaching battalion will be responsible for guarding Xiejia Town and building trench fortifications at the west intersection of the town. All others will be moved to the east of Gaoyou City. In addition, Shusen, please send someone to inform Mayor Hu."
Dong Shuheng ordered.
"Beep..." A long whistle sounded. The entire military camp immediately started to move. It is now 10 o'clock in the evening, and the troops will arrive in the east of the city before early morning. Fortunately, there is a pontoon bridge connecting the Salt River, otherwise there will be a huge army
Crossing the river will inevitably take a lot of time.
Five minutes later, Dong Shuheng walked outside the tent. At this time, countless torches had been erected in the camp. Under the flickering firelight, the dark faces looked extremely determined. Most of them were saltmen from the salt field, working day after day.
Working day and night has created their hard-working character and steel-hard bodies. They have no fields and no hope. They have been working as salt dices and stove households for generations, braving the scorching sun and cooking salt in a smoky environment.
.
It was Dong Shuheng who gave them hope. In order to recruit team trainers among the salt workers, Dong Shuheng gave the salt transport history a lot of money. It would not be an exaggeration to say that these salt workers are Dong Shuheng's personal servants. This group will be his in the future.
The staunchest supporter, the strongest backing.
"Brothers, today there is a group of water bandits who are brazen and want to provoke us. Now I will take you to destroy them."
"Destroy them, destroy them!" the group members below shouted in unison.
"Although it is easy to kill them, I hope you will experience the process seriously. We will not be a killing machine. We use the guns in our hands to kill people. It is just to make the world more orderly and make ourselves
And our loved ones can live a better life."
"Brothers, hold on to your guns and follow me forward, forward, forward!"
Suddenly, the entire phalanx turned into a long dragon and headed west. Against the background of the torches, it looked like a fire dragon.
After the large troops left, the brothers of the first company, led by company commander Wang Xiao, built a trench on the west side of the town. However, there are currently less than 100 people in their company, because some of them were previously transferred to the reconnaissance company.
.All they use are Dresser breech-loading guns, and it is more advantageous to rely on the trench to crawl and shoot. It is difficult for such a small number of people to build fortifications in time.
At this moment, a soldier reported: "Company Commander, Mayor Hu and a group of young men are coming to help us repair our fortifications."
Wang Xiao smiled and said: "That's great. I'll go see Mayor Hu."
At the west entrance of the town, Mayor Hu was followed by more than a hundred young men from the town. "Captain Wang, if you need anything, just call me. I know that you have to stop the enemy in the wild to protect the people in the town. Our town
You guys can’t do it, can you?”
After all, Mayor Hu has read books, which made Company Commander Wang's eyes wet. "Don't worry, Mayor Hu, unless we are all dead, we will not let an enemy into the town." He said with a
Help Qingzhuang dig trenches. Because the enemies this time use cold weapons, the trenches do not need to be too deep, and there is no need for anti-cannon holes. You only need to dig a trench, and use the dug earth to create a parapet.
This is mainly to protect against enemy bows and arrows.
At eleven o'clock in the evening, the Huaihai regiment arrived at the Salt River Crossing Bridge. The soldiers had been running for an hour continuously. This was probably the fastest marching infantry in the entire Qing Dynasty.
Along the way, Dong Shuheng has been observing his soldiers. The discipline of these soldiers is very good. No one made a noise during such a long march. Thanks to careful selection and good food conditions, the physical fitness of the soldiers is also very good.
, can keep up with the large army.
When all the soldiers crossed the bridge, Dong Shuheng felt completely relieved. At this time, Wei Yuan also sent people to contact him. Dong Shuheng asked the people to tell the people to just guard the city gate tightly. The Huaihai regiment training general will camp outside the east gate tonight.
, waiting for the water bandits to arrive.
At midnight, the army arrived at the campsite outside the east gate. Dong Shuheng ordered the entire army to rest on the spot. Except for the security personnel, all the regiment members took off their quilts and gathered together to rest.
At 0:30, the reconnaissance company reported that a large force of water bandits had entered the Salt River.
At 1 o'clock, the water bandits bypassed the south gate and came to the east of the city.
At 2 o'clock, the water bandits landed by the Salt River in the east of the city.
At 3 o'clock, the water bandits began to cook rice.
At 4 o'clock, the water bandits divided into two thousand people and came to the east gate.
"Beep..." the assembly whistle sounded. The regiment members packed up and folded their quilts in an orderly manner, checked their guns and ammunition, and then gathered together under the leadership of their respective squad and platoon leaders.
"Qingnan, you lead the second company and the third company of the teaching battalion to ambush on the left and right sides. When the large force of water bandits comes, they will sneak in behind it. Although we don't know why the water bandits divided their forces, let's kill these two thousand people first.
Let’s talk about it later.”
On the banks of the Salt River, more than 2,000 people were randomly divided into the ranks of water bandits. Most of these people were young and strong new refugees, and some were forcibly pulled in. They had been on the boat all night and were already in dire straits. The only thing they were thankful for was
What's more, we just had a full meal. Everyone had a bowl of porridge and got a steamed bun.
A thin boy in the crowd asked a middle-aged man next to him: "Uncle Da Niu, do you think we will be killed by the army if we go to attack the city?"
"Ergou, the big leader said we were just going to feign an attack, but no one knows what the officers and soldiers in Gaoyou are like. We are all cheap and no one cares about us. If there is a real fight later, we will run away and surrender when others ask us to."
You can’t kill us all.”
Lai Shancheng divided the two thousand people into one team for every one hundred people. Each team was led by a few small leaders, and finally he was able to control the team to move forward. The person who led the two thousand people was Guo Bu, the second master, who followed Lai Shancheng.
Brothers for many years, they fought fiercely and bravely, and were ruthless. After killing a few disobedient thorns, they immediately frightened the gang of mud-legged people.
At 5:30, the sky has already turned white. Looking from the east gate of Gaoyou City, on the eastern skyline, a large group of dark people are walking towards the morning glow, but there is no sense of beauty at all.
More than two thousand people were crowded together, and shouts of curses, begging for mercy, and cries could be heard from time to time. These people were dressed in ragged clothes and held old swords, guns, and clubs in their hands. They looked nothing like an army.
At 7:30, the team gradually approached the east gate. Under the cover of the morning fog, the water bandits seemed to see a colorful wall. No, it should be said to be a human wall. The colorful things they wore were
The clothes and hats were all new and uniform, but this uniformity gave people an inexplicable pressure.
Ergou looked at the wall of people opposite, feeling envious for some reason. They were dressed so well, so they must have eaten well, right?