The team quietly climbed up the hill, which was less than thirty meters away from the camp and could overlook part of the camp. Zhen Huan hid behind a pile of thatch and raised his binoculars to carefully observe the situation in the camp.
There are piles of bonfires burning in the camp, and the Yao people are lying on the ground around the fire pit. Some are holding weapons and taking a nap by the fire pit - they are probably the night watchmen. On the outside of the camp, there are armed Yao people guarding them, and they look more alert.
, and patrols with torches patrolled along the edge of the bonfire.
How big the campfire is can roughly tell how big the camp is. Zhen Huan quietly lit the campfires. Within the visual range of his telescope, there were about thirty campfires. Yao rested beside each campfire.
There are about fifteen or sixteen people, and there are four hundred and fifty people in Sandui.
"There are quite a lot of people." A scout whispered.
"There are fewer people." Zhen Huan shook his head, "According to the Intelligence Bureau, if the Eight Pai Yao draws one from San Ding, at least a thousand people can be mobilized to fight. We need to find out whether this is their main camp or not.
There are other camps.”
Zhen Huan led the reconnaissance team around the camp marked by bonfires and counted about fifty bonfires, which meant that there were about 700 Yao people on Yanxi Mountain.
In addition to the troops stationed around Lianzhou to monitor the city gates and roads, the estimate that there are more than a thousand Yao armed forces under Lianzhou City is roughly accurate.
"Let's go, let's go check out other places."
After coming down from Yanxi Mountain, they went along the Lianzhou City Wall to several locations where Yao people armed forces might be stationed, and found three or four places in succession. Just when they were about to end their reconnaissance, they were discovered by Yao people on patrol.
They yelled for a while, and dozens of crossbow arrows flew towards their direction.
"Don't be anxious, lower your body and run slowly." Zhen Huan knew that the opponent's eyesight was poor at night, and he did not dare to chase too far out of the campfire circle. As long as his side did not show obvious signs of movement, they would not be able to find the target. They could only
Air shot.
They moved lightly with the help of grass and trees. As expected, the enemy did not dare to pursue them too far. They only shouted beside the campfire and shot a few arrows from time to time.
Suddenly there was a horn sound in the camp, and Zhen Huan knew that this was them summoning a large number of troops to start a search. He saw that his team was already nearly 200 meters away from the campfire, and ordered "Run!"
Several people straightened up and ran away. The Yao people behind made a noise and followed them out in a noisy manner. However, the physical fitness of the Yao people was not as strong as that of the battle-hardened Zhen Huan and the others, and their physical strength and endurance were far inferior. It was difficult to do so in the night.
Determine the direction. After a commotion, the reconnaissance team easily shook off the pursuing Yao people, ran back to the north of the city, retrieved the hidden boat, and rowed back to the other side.
There was a commotion in the Badai Yao camp on Beishan Mountain, and the leaders of all walks of life were panicked. Because no one expected that the Australian troops would arrive so soon! The Yao people's fighting power is limited, and every time they rioted, they took advantage of the lack of military strength in the states and counties.
Opportunity. Once the army of officers and soldiers comes to encircle and suppress, they can only retreat to the mountains and rely on the terrain to maneuver.
The Australians attacked Guangdong and the anti-Yao generals and other troops were withdrawn, which gave the Yao people a great opportunity to riot and go down the mountains to loot. According to the speculation of most leaders, the main force of the Australians in Zhaoqing and other places would have to wait for at least a month.
Only then could they get to Lianzhou - not to mention the dangerous roads along the way, the bandits rising everywhere were enough for them. No one expected them to come so fast!
Although Ma Jianyao's boss Li Sanjiu was a little surprised by the speed of the Australians, he was not surprised. At noon yesterday, Ma Jianyao was stationed at Longjin Gate, and the Yao people from Jichuan Gate discovered this group of people on the other side.
Strange troops: gray cloth military uniforms, no armor, and all holding blunderbuss. Li Sanjiu knew as soon as he heard that they were Australian soldiers.
Unlike most Yao people who have stayed in the mountains all their lives, Li Sanjiu is a person who has seen the world. Although he is a Yao people, he grew up in a village of the Han people. Most of the Han people in Guangdong came from the Ming Dynasty government.
The villagers who were transferred from Guangxi to suppress the Yao area were often distributed along the periphery of the Yao area and on the main traffic roads. The villagers sometimes worked alone and sometimes cooperated with the officers and soldiers to launch raids on the Yao area. It is said that Li Sanjiu's father and mother were killed when the officers and soldiers broke into the area.
He died in the village. Young Li Sanjiu was spared his life and brought back to the village.
Li Sanjiu did well among the Mao people. When he was seventeen years old, because of his outstanding martial arts skills, he became a personal soldier under a young chieftain of the Mao people. He fought many battles with the chieftain: he went to Guangxi, Guizhou, and
After crossing the two lakes, he was even sent to Guangzhou on business.
After the Ming Dynasty's rule in Guangdong collapsed, the troops guarding the middle road withdrew to Guangxi, and many Han people's villages also abandoned their villages and moved back to Guangxi. Li Sanjiu did not follow the chieftain and ran away - he knew that he was not a Han people, and in Guangxi
Since he had no "roots", he took several brothers and defected to Ma Jian Yao.
Based on his background and experience, he was naturally a rare "talent" in Ma Jian Yao, and it didn't take long for him to become the leader of Ma Jian Pai.
In fact, this head is not an official position. Most Yao people basically still have a primitive social commune system. There is no distinction between aristocrats and commoners, and there is no fixed hereditary leader or chieftain. The Yao Lao system is implemented internally in Bapai Yao.
Tian Changgong serves as the leader of the entire Yao Pai for a term of one year; the leaders of each surname in the Yao Pai are called Tou Du Gong and serve as the deputy of Tian Chang Gong; the old man Mingli is equivalent to the elder of the meeting; the temple master and the incense burner are responsible for religious sacrifices.
; the Water Releaser who is responsible for agriculture; and the Chief Supervisor who is temporarily set up during the war to lead the tribesmen in war. The Yao elders each perform their own duties, and generally the more prestigious elders in the tribe take over, but this is not always the case.
Li Sanjiu, who is just in his early thirties, is such an exception. As a representative of the Young Masters sect in Bapaiyao. Although Li Sanjiu grew up in the village of Mao people, and he also acted as an officer and soldier after he became an adult, he has seen a lot.
He had broad knowledge and experienced hundreds of battles, which made him brave and resourceful. Soon a group of restless young people gathered within Ma Jian Yao, forming a strong force that gradually overshadowed Ma Jian Yao.
Tian Changgong became the de facto leader of the Horse Arrow Platoon.
The Australians sending troops to attack Guangdong was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Ba Pai Yao. The Ming Dynasty officials were too busy fighting with the Australians to deal with them. And for Li Sanjiu, this was a great opportunity to realize his personal ambitions.
——He has no interest in being a temporary leader. Even if he controls the Ma Jian Pai behind the scenes, it doesn't make much sense: How many people and wealth can a Yao Pai have? His real ambition is to be the leader of the Yao Pai when he went to Guizhou to quell the chaos.
I have seen "local emperors" such as chieftains and local magistrates, who enjoy all kinds of things and are majestic. They have the power of life and death over their subordinates. They can also pass it on to their descendants and make them rich and noble for generations.
Therefore, when the riots were discussed internally in Badai Yao, Li Sanjiu expressed his support very firmly, and he was also the most active after the riots began. Because of his military talents, he quickly usurped the actual situation of the riot team in Badai Yao.
The commander advised. He first sent people to pretend to enter Lianshan City to sell mountain products, and they cooperated with the inside and outside to break Lianshan City; he colluded with the young and strong Yao people in Baimangzhai, coerced the Yao people in Yonghua Township to break Yangshan City; and without stopping, he looted Sanjiangwei and laid siege to it.
to Lianzhou City.
Hunan has been eating Cantonese salt since ancient times, and Lianzhou happens to be on the Hunan-Guangdong salt trade route. The salt produced along the coast goes up the river, disembarks in Lianzhou, and is then transferred overland to Huguang. And from both sides
Many goods going to Hunan are also transited in Lianzhou. Therefore, there are many salt merchants and warehouses in Lianzhou City. Li Sanjiu deliberately placed Lianzhou City last and did not even block the roads, so that Lianzhou City would trap more people.
Merchants and goods.
According to Li Sanjiu's calculations, the best outcome would naturally be for Lianzhou City to surrender to him. He occupied the three cities of Lianyang without any bloodshed, connecting the two cities together, and then submitted a surrender form to the Australians, expressing his willingness to surrender to the "Great Song Dynasty".
". If the newly arrived Australian recognizes this situation, he can take advantage of the situation and become a local governor of the state, and be the local emperor of the three cities in Lianyang for generations.
This seemed quite possible to him. He knew a thing or two about the Song Dynasty, where this Australian came from. He had few people and few soldiers, and relied on nothing more than strong ships and powerful artillery. He went on an expedition to Guangdong, the best place in Guangdong.
The place is Guangzhou Prefecture. If you can occupy it, you will enjoy endless glory and wealth. Why go into the ravines to compete with these "foreign people"? Besides, beyond Guangzhou, Guangxi, Hunan... and other places
There are still people from the Ming Dynasty, and bandits are behind the scenes to cause chaos. No matter how powerful the Song Dynasty's ships and artillery are, they still have to have many soldiers to fill them up. So nine times out of ten, they will push the boat with the flow and admit it. As long as they manage this Lianyang San
Land, use this as a source of wealth, integrate the Yao people in Lianyang into a large stock, and provide more children, treasures, and silk to bribe the thieves, and it will not be a problem to be the magistrate of Taiping for more than ten years. After that, no one can say
It’s cleared up. Anyway, even if the Ming Dynasty fights back, they still have to admit it. Those Guizhou chieftains have been passed down for more than ten generations!
If Lianzhou refused to surrender, he would use all his strength to break through the city and plunder the city - those salt merchants were very rich. By occupying Lianzhou, he could also negotiate terms with the Australians. If the negotiation failed, he would not lose.
, at most they would take Lianzhou’s loot and return to the mountains.
Although the Yao people lack siege equipment and weapons, there are not many defenders in Lianzhou City, and there are even fewer grain stores. A large number of people have fled into the city. Now the food in the city is about to run out, and the people have already run out of food, and their hearts are floating. As long as the food shortage lasts for a long time
If there is no war, the city will inevitably be in chaos.
As for himself, Li Sanjiu is not worried. He has already robbed and extorted a large amount of food from the surrounding areas, enough to support the entire army for more than two months.
Now that the Australians arrived so quickly, they somewhat disrupted his plan. This forced Li Sanjiu to completely reconsider his plan. He had dealt with the government and people, but not with the Australians. But they
Since they call themselves the Song Dynasty, they are probably also descendants of the Han people. You will probably not go wrong if you treat them with the same attitude as you dealt with the Ming Dynasty.
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 399