The explosion not only wiped out all the crew on No. 41, but also caused heavy casualties on several gunboats that were rescued around it. One gunboat probably had its captain injured, and the ship lost control and drifted sideways.
Several gunboats nearby immediately hooked the small boat with pennies, and several sailors jumped on board desperately to control the gunboat.
Schneider felt that he was a little reckless today. If he had known that there were so many fire attack ships, he should have retreated first and dealt with them in the open area of the river instead of rushing into the narrowest part of the canyon and forcing his way into the fire ship array.
Annoyance is annoyance, things have come to this, and there is no room for him to retreat any further.
"Every ship should keep its distance!" he ordered, "ships on fire should throw away their ammunition boxes!"
The fireworks began to dissipate, and the Pearl River took the lead and rushed out of the fireworks array. Schneider pulled off his mask and took a deep breath. Then he saw that Ruan Xiaowu's face was already completely black, and he thought he would not be much better.
Looking at the fleet behind them, except for the loss of two gunboats, they were generally safe and sound. However, each of them was stained pitch black by fireworks, and the signal flags and military flags were burned to pieces by sparks.
"Okay, the officers and soldiers' drama is over, it's our turn to sing." Schneider's face darkened, "Every ship is moving forward at full speed! The front main guns are ready to fire!"
Upstairs in Yuejiang, Xiong Wencan put down the telescope, his hands trembling slightly. Chang Qingyun whispered: "Sir, it's not too late..."
Before he finished speaking, a loud roar was heard from the river. The main gun of the Pearl River sprayed a plume of smoke into the sky. A shell rose into the sky and crashed towards Zhaoqing City with a sharp whistling sound.
"Imperial Spring and Autumn" April 1735 issue "Special Issue to Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Restoration of Guangdong"
The sound of artillery booming at Antelope Gorge - the recovery of Zhaoqing that I experienced
Editor's note: This article is excerpted from the memoir "The Baton Under the Star Fist" written by former Army Major General Liu Xing. It records the spiritual outlook of the old Ming army, the impact of the Fubo Army on the minds of the Guangdong people after entering Guangdong and the description of the recovery of Zhaoqing.
It has precious historical value. With the consent of the descendants of Comrade Liu Xing, the editorial department of our journal has excerpted and published part of the paragraphs in the "Special Issue to Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Restoration of Guangdong" for the benefit of readers. This journal has slightly abridged it.
I was born in Gaoyao County, formerly Zhaoqing Prefecture, Guangdong. I am the second oldest child, so I am nicknamed Liu Erzai. My family comes from a military household, and my ancestors have been soldiers for generations. Young comrades nowadays probably don’t know this anymore, and think that military households are
It is said in the family that being a soldier is a glorious and majestic thing. It is not true, comrades. It was our pioneering Fubo Army. In the old society, what was important was that good iron should not be nailed, and good men should not be soldiers.
Soldiers, like farmers and craftsmen, are looked down upon by others, and are even more oppressed than ordinary people.
In the Pseudo-Ming dynasty, military households were also divided into three, six or nine levels, such as the commanders of hundreds of households. Of course, they were prestigious, popular and popular, and their official positions were passed down from generation to generation. But what about ordinary military households? To put it nicely, they are lords.
Our long-term workers are actually the slaves of the masters, who are also exploited and oppressed. They are also the liberators of our Fubo Army.
Compared with other families, my family is better off because my grandfather worked as a servant for a hundred families and took care of the descendants of hundreds of families. Because of this relationship, the Sun family remembers the fireworks relationship with my family very much and is very fond of my family.
They look at each other in a different light. Therefore, my family is less oppressed, but others are not so lucky. Most of my childhood playmates are military households, but their families are very poor. They have to work hard for 100,000 yuan all year round, but they only get a few dollars.
With a hundred pounds of grain, it is difficult to even make ends meet. Therefore, ordinary people are not willing to marry ordinary military households - who wants their daughter to suffer and suffer poverty? As a common person, as long as he does not go to the city and cannot see officials, he will be oppressed.
It's lighter. Military households work hard every day under the eyes of their superiors. It's not uncommon to work to death. Any slightest disobedience will be "punished by military law" by the officers. It's not uncommon to be beaten to death with dozens of military sticks. Not only will the skin be bruised, but the flesh will be bruised.
They were beaten to death, dragged and buried in the fields - worse than slaves of wealthy families.
Therefore, many military households fled at that time. It is said that there were more than 100 military households in our camp, and each household had more than 100 soldiers. But when I was born, the military households in the camp were
There were only twenty or thirty households. It was a depressed and dilapidated scene. In addition to the hundreds of families with grandchildren, the "officials" like Zongqi and Xiaoqi also lived in poverty.
Military households lived in embarrassment, with broken jars and broken jars, and military discipline was extremely bad. Those who were recruited to serve as camp soldiers fled as fast as the wind when they saw foreign enemies, but when they bullied their own people, they invaded like fire. They had no idea of holding a steel gun in their hands to defend the people.
It's okay in my hometown. After all, the folks in the hometown don't look up and down, and don't dare to go too far. But what about the troops from other places? They are unfamiliar with the place and they rob and harass the people. I was "lucky" to see them.
one time.
I have a childhood friend named Hou Haisheng, and I call him Brother Hai. His mother’s surname is Hou, and his father’s surname is Hai. They are married to one another. My grandfather’s family lived in the ancestral pork shop in Zhaoqing. They used to live a decent life, but unfortunately his mother was fond of gambling, so she
All the family property was lost and he hanged himself. His father was so angry that he was bedridden. He could barely make ends meet, let alone go to school. However, Brother Hai, who was in such a difficult situation, was also entangled by the guest troops from Guangxi.
That year, the Fubo Army had just won a great victory at Chengmai. When the news came back to Zhaoqing, people were very panicked. The then governor of Guangdong and Guangxi under the Ming Dynasty was Wang Zunde. It was clear that he had started the war, but he was afraid of the liquidation of the Senate and the people.
The garrison from Wuzhou was transferred to assist in the defense of Zhaoqing. The Guangxi soldiers showed no signs of sharing the same hatred with the enemy and did not train at ordinary times. When they arrived in Zhaoqing, they went to the streets to rob shops and harass women. Especially the wolf soldiers inside not only robbed things, but also killed people at will.
For a while, everyone was in danger.
What I often heard at that time was that someone's shop was smashed, someone's daughter-in-law was bullied, and someone was killed by the guest army. For a time, the city was filled with smoke and chaos. Several of my family members
My sister also smeared black ash on her face all day long and hid at home without moving. That day I went to deliver some firewood to Brother Hai’s house. I had just chatted with Uncle Hai for a few words when a neighbor rushed in and said something about Brother Hai and Guangxi.
The soldiers started fighting. I later found out that when three Guangxi soldiers took to the streets to harm the people, they cut off Brother Hai's pork and refused to pay him. Brother Hai was also a strong player. He grabbed the Guangxi soldier's collar and demanded that he give it to him. The Guangxi soldiers said
: "I go to the brothel and the prostitutes won't pay me, so how many kilograms of pork you have is nothing!" The two sides started fighting like this.
I was anxious at that time, for fear that Brother Hai would be killed by Guangxi soldiers. These foreign soldiers would kill without blinking an eye. I quickly went home and called my friends, and arrived at the scene with a gun and a stick. Brother Hai was fat and strong.
We still had the upper hand when we attacked three times. We hurried over to "break up the fight". We held the three Guangxi soldiers apart arm in arm, and used the chaos to beat them up. When the Guangxi soldiers did not come back to retaliate, we beat the three Guangxi soldiers.
Brother Hai and his father hid in my house. The Guangxi soldiers couldn't find their real master, and they didn't dare to go to the local guard station to make trouble, so they had to smash Brother Hai's pork shop to vent their anger. Later, Wang Zunde was frightened to death by the Senate, and the Guangxi soldiers
Withdrawing to Wuzhou, the matter was settled.
Later, Brother Hai joined the army with me and made a lot of contributions to the Senate and the people. Unfortunately, he later died in the battle to liberate Manila and was unable to see the final victory with his own eyes. Unexpectedly, the farewell to Guangzhou became forever!
Although military households are looked down upon by the common people, they are dangerous, poor, and have no honor at all, but it is not so easy to escape. The Ming government is extremely strict on the household registration management of military households, although it is said that you can do whatever you want.
Being separated from the military household, but that is an illusory thing after all, just like cultivation. Although I have heard that Mr. Zhang Ge from the Wanli Dynasty was born in a military household, and he took the imperial examination and became a high official and got rid of the military status, but I have never seen it with my own eyes.
Yes, I have only seen with my own eyes that a civilian from a certain family committed a crime and became a "benefactor" and returned to the military household.
My family was also dreaming about this illusory Qingqiu dream. At that time, my family was still relatively easy, so I wanted to let the boys in the family go to school and become enlightened, and then pass the imperial examination and the whole family would be deregistered. I was originally ranked second, and there was an older brother in front of me.
Unfortunately, he died at the age of five. Now my family placed all their hopes on me. Grandpa came forward to plead with Sun Shiwan. I don’t know how many times he kowtowed before Sun Shiwan allowed me to accompany the "young masters" in the family.
I was studying. I agreed to serve "Mr." for his family without paying for it, and he would also provide two meals and one night's stay.
My grandfather and father were so grateful to the Sun family that they took me to kowtow to Sun Shiwan. From then on, I studied at Sun Shiwan’s family.
The children of Sun Shiwan's family hired a "sir" to teach at home, which was called a "home school" at that time. When I went to accompany him to "study", I was actually a free servant for his family. In addition to cleaning the home school every day, I also
I still have to serve this so-called "sir".
Speaking of this gentleman, he was already in his fifties at that time. He had read a lot of so-called "poetry" and passed the examination to become a scholar. He had always been proud of this. However, apart from reciting a few words, he could not write a few nonsense.
Apart from his eight-part essays, he had no real talent or knowledge at all. I thought he was a learned person at first, but when I asked for advice on something I didn’t understand, he always scolded me and scolded me. I know he didn’t treat me
He treated me like a student and treated me like a slave. He ordered me to drink and work all day long, and I had no time to study in class. After half a year, children from hundreds of families began to read the Book of Songs. I even had surnames from hundreds of families.
I haven't learned the Thousand-Character Classic yet, but this scholar always calls me "unbelievably stupid" and "dumbfounded". Sun Shiwan's children and grandchildren often make fun of me and treat me as their object of amusement. But in order to study, I
, for the so-called "glorious ancestors", I have endured all these insults, dreaming that one day I can be a high school candidate, a Jinshi, and be proud of myself.