Unlike the militia groups in the Central Plains region that have been war-torn and almost armed to the teeth, although the villages along the Xijiang River also have rural militia training, because Guangdong is generally "peaceful", they are far less "armed" than those in the Central Plains region.
Not only did the militia rarely have cannons, but they also didn't have many light firearms. The bandits had just attacked fiercely, and they heard the sound of firearms outside. They were already a little scared. I heard that the bandits were going to bring "cannons".
Even more expressionless.
On the contrary, Mr. Xu is somewhat calm. He has always known Xu Yong: he is brave and fierce, and he will not show timidity easily. His current attitude must mean that he is already confused.
If he could not be stabilized at this moment, he might escape quietly, and the whole village would be in danger. He immediately stood up and said: "Lead the way, I will go to the front to see..."
"Master, please don't go - the soldiers are in danger!" someone advised.
"Don't be afraid, the bandits can't get in. I'll go ahead and take a look. If there are really cannons, I have to think of a countermeasure as soon as possible." After that, he ordered Xu Yong, "Lead the way from the front."
"Yes! Master, this way."
Master Xu took a few young and strong servants and followed Xu Yong to the entrance of the village.
Xugang does not have a wall surrounding the whole village like many villages in the Central Plains. Instead, it uses the intricate rivers, ponds and paddy fields under the hills to build a defense system. Therefore, there are only three roads that can enter Xugang, namely
There are three directions in the east, west and south of the village, of which the south is the waterway. The Xu family built a brick and stone watchtower at the intersection of these three roads. Together with the fence and the horse, it can effectively block the bandits from all walks of life.
attack.
Because of the large water area in the east, with numerous waterways and ponds across the village, the bandits could only attack along a small road, making it difficult to form a formation; in the south was a waterway, and the bandits lacked enough boats, so the focus of the attack was on the west.
noodle.
As Mr. Xu walked through the streets and alleys, he saw that every door was closed and every house was locked. There was no sound at all. Even if there were a few people wandering on the street, stretching their necks to visit, they were all old people in their dying years. In Mr. Xu's heart
I was secretly anxious, but I still had to put on a calm look on my face.
As we gradually approached the entrance of the village, we saw that under the eaves on both sides of the road, people sitting or lying were covered with colorful injury marks. Some were wrapped randomly with strips of cloth, and some had nothing on them, just moaning and dripping with blood.
It was very scary. There was no dedicated person to take care of the place, and many of the wounds were not bandaged. Although moans of pain and begging for water kept coming, no one paid any attention to them.
Mr. Xu is not a doughty rich man, but when Mu Ran saw so many lottery numbers, he was frightened and secretly palpitated. He secretly quickened his pace, not wanting to be grabbed by the corner of his robe again by a seriously injured lottery number on the roadside, wailing.
I begged him to find someone to heal him, but he had to pull hard to get free.
"The bandits had too many firearms, and the brothers were unprepared - they were all hit," Xu Yong said.
The intersection has been blocked with bricks, tiles and beams from demolished houses. A few brave village warriors holding big swords are climbing on it to look around. The village warriors and the strong men sent for temporary conscription are huddled together under the watchtower.
, some were holding broadswords and bamboo spears, some were holding crossbows, and some simply had just a whistle stick, all of them looked uneasy. On the threshing floor not far away, a row was covered with reed mats.
There were seventeen or eight corpses.
"The master is here, the master is here!" The brave men gathered under the watchtower saw him coming and quickly moved out of the way. Master Xu entered the watchtower with a sullen face. Inside there was a pungent smell of gunpowder and sweat, mixed with blood.
The smell was disgusting. With the help of Xu Yong, he climbed up the folding ladder until he reached the top floor. The parapets and crenelations on the top floor were much damaged, and there were still bloodstains on the ground.
"Sir, the bandits are right there." Xu Yong took him to the back of a intact crenel and pointed quietly.
Mr. Xu looked over. All the way from the village entrance, there were many corpses scattered on the road, in the paddy fields, and on the river bank. They were probably killed bandits. There was a small village with more than ten households less than half a mile away. Now it was
The bandits occupied it, and I don't know whether they started a fire to cook or burned down the house. Black smoke was rising.
I saw a dark gathering of people at the entrance of the village, all armed with swords, guns and firecrackers. They stood under trees at the intersection and played cards. Although it was not clear, the battle did not look like bandits - playing cards was bulky and inconvenient to carry.
, whether they are bandits or Yao people who come here occasionally to grab a handful and leave, they will not use it.
"I think they look like officers and soldiers!" Xu Yong cursed in a low voice, "Their formations and firearms are not what bandits can do."
Mr. Xu nodded silently. Because of the attacks from the Australians, officers and soldiers from various places broke up into bandits from time to time. They also encountered harassment here. However, the number of those "bandits" were not large, and their equipment was not so sophisticated.
Stop talking about so many firearms.
It’s really strange! He asked: “Have you captured the prisoner?”
"I caught one, but unfortunately he was seriously injured and died before he could ask questions."
Mr. Xu was secretly worried. It seemed that there were at least three to four hundred people in this group of bandits, and if not all of them, a considerable number of them were officers and soldiers. This was not something that the few hundred men in his village could withstand. Even without cannons, they would still be strong.
After several attacks, the village may be almost unable to withstand it.
The only hope is that the Australians in the county come to the rescue in time.
More than half a month ago, shortly after the county seat changed hands, the county asked each village to assign "liaison officers" to the county for a "meeting." The matter of "joint guarantee" was raised at the meeting, and Xu Gang also allocated dozens of
Strong men and a certain amount of money and food - it is said that it was used by the county to form the "National Army". Anyway, the Australians have strong ships and powerful guns, and they will do whatever they are told. This is what everyone knows. Later, they also asked each village to prepare beacons and weapons.
Special flower rockets were distributed, and a pamphlet was also issued, with the general idea of how to "call the police" when encountering a siege or other situations. They also solemnly promised at the meeting that as long as they "call the police," the National Army in the county will
Will come to the rescue.
To be honest, Mr. Xu is skeptical of these words. In his opinion, the Australians in the county really need money, food, and strong men. The government's rescue has been unreliable since ancient times. Whether they will rescue them or not often depends on the county.
The "conscience" of the order and subordinates or the "affection" accumulated in daily life.
Compared with conscience, Mr. Xu still believes in "feelings", so whether it is apportioning young men or money and food, it can be regarded as "enthusiastic". He also tried to follow the path of a fellow countryman who worked as an errand for the Australians and paid tribute to the newly appointed Australians.
The "county magistrate" - they called the "director" - went to give him a generous gift. Unexpectedly, the director was not generous, so he not only refused to accept it, but also reprimanded him with a straight face, which made him very upset.
.
In this way, Mr. Xu could only rely on the conscience of the "director". He felt that since he had obeyed the Australians' policy words these days, the Australians could not let Xu Gang die like this, so besides letting go
In the midst of the war, a capable housekeeper was sent to the county seat to "call the police". For the sake of safety, in addition to the servants who were on guard, he also asked the housekeeper to bring five hundred taels of silver - even if the county director was "conscience", he could not protect the people below.
The military has no conscience.
He looked up and down the Xijiang River, looking eagerly, hoping that Australian ships would appear on the river immediately - these days, Australian steamships were cruising on the river every now and then, and sometimes they were towed
There are a lot of boats, but why can’t you see any of them now?
Just as he was anxious, his arm was suddenly pushed hard, and Xu Yong shouted in surprise and joy: "Australians! Australians are coming!"
Mr. Xu was startled and quickly looked in the direction of his finger. From the upper reaches of the Xijiang River, there were more than a dozen small Australian steamers heading here, emitting black smoke. He suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself:
"Bless the Emperor Bodhisattva!" He ordered: "Quick! Set off flower rockets to contact us!"
"Report! There are residential areas on the north bank of the river launching contact rockets!" the observation post reported loudly.
Zhu Si quickly stood up and raised his telescope. Sure enough, about 1.5 kilometers down the river from the fleet, a red signal rocket flew up. He silently counted "one, two..." after shooting two rockets.
Then, after a while, two more rounds were fired - this was a signal to call for help.
He quickly took out the map from his map bag and compared it - yes, this large village on the hills on the north bank of the lower reaches is Xu Gang!
"Captain, should we fire rockets in response?" the sergeant asked.
"No, let Lieutenant Mi and others respond." Zhu Si said, "Everyone is ready for battle!"
At this time, Milongtao's command boat in front fired a signal rocket in response. Then, the flag message came from the front: "Every boat is ready for battle and act according to the plan."
According to the battle plan agreed upon in advance, the main force commanded by Mi Longtao landed in the first wave to directly attack the enemy's heavily-armed group. The squadron commanded by Zhu Si then landed to cover the rear of the main force and at the same time search and suppress the defeated bandits.
According to past general experience, most bandits do not have a strong will to fight. Once they are attacked by regular troops, they will often collapse immediately. They rarely make complex tactical moves in combat, so the combat plan is not complicated.
The fleet slowly approached the north bank of the river. Mi Longtao stood on the command platform. There was no trace of the enemy on the river bank - not even a boat. The enemy did not come from the river.
The distance from the riverside to Xugang is about one kilometer. The terrain is flat but very broken. There are rivers, ditches, ponds and paddy fields everywhere. It is difficult for troops to maneuver in this kind of terrain, so they can only advance by relying on country roads and field ridges.
According to the prior plan, a platoon of Fubo soldiers served as the vanguard and opened the way at the front. The terrain here is flat and the view is good. Mini rifles can fire at long distances and shoot accurately. Mi Longtao estimated that it would only take a few rounds of shooting to defeat the bandits.
will be defeated by firepower.
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 360