He had already sent people to post notices in Guangzhou and Qiongzhou, recruiting people who knew the inside story of the Kun thief and the situation in Lingao. He also found some sailors and traders who had been to Lingao to interrogate the Kun thief's details.
But all these people could tell him was that the thief had big iron ships and fast boats. The thief was good at doing business and that was of little use in fighting a war.
As for the fighting power of the Kun thief, he knew from these people that the opponent "does not wear armor, uses only blunderbuss, has an organized team, and has strict discipline." In addition, there are reports from outside that "the firearms are sharp."
These few words alone are certainly not enough. However, merchants and sailors are not members of the military, and they do not care much about the guns and weapons of the Kun thieves. What I have said is not exhaustive. Some people are greedy for rewards or are intimidated by official power, and some are greedy for rewards or intimidated by official authority.
He was just talking nonsense and had many self-contradictions, which actually made him a little confused.
It seems that it is better to find local gentry scholars. How can ordinary foolish men and women solve such a military and national event? Thinking of this, he asked the staff around him:
"Are there any applicants in Qiongshan and Guangzhou?"
The staff member said: "There are a few, but after a little interrogation by rank, most of them are people who want to advance in vain and offer strategies to defeat the enemy. No one really knows the inside story of the Kun thief."
Back in the main camp, the latest Hainan Tongbao, which was rushed from Zhaoqing, has been placed on the desk. The number of Tongbao from Hainan has increased greatly recently. He Rubin opened it and saw that it was the Chengdu newspaper sent by the Hainan branch patrol.
Mai, the latest battle report on Lingao.
The first one was a report about Lingao. Sun Tianbiao, the only officer who escaped from Qianhusuo among the five thousand internal guards of Lingao, had arrived in Zhaoqing and presented the details of the fall of Qianhusuo City. According to reports
He said: Originally, under the supervision of Liu Qianhu, everyone fought hard for six days and nights, but the thieves were still unable to break the city. The city built by Qianhu was "as tall as Mount Tai". However, there were several "traitors" seduced by the thieves in the city.
The people were unprepared and suddenly launched an attack. They killed Liu Qianhu and secretly opened the city gate, which led to the fall of Suo City. The "traitors" also used the arrows and documents captured in Suo City to open up other villages and camps.
The entire army of Qianhu Station attached to the inner guard was destroyed.
Because this newspaper is first-hand information, it is much more valuable than hearsay information obtained through careful inquiry. He Rubin read it very carefully.
Then there was the question about the situation of the siege in Lingao. According to Sun Tianbiao who escaped back, he heard that the Kun thieves had coerced more than 10,000 local soldiers and civilians to besiege Lingao County, but he didn’t know much about the specific situation. “I only heard the sound of cannons shaking the sky.”
, the road was full of thieves and thieves." He himself broke out only after "leaving his wife and children behind and forgetting his own life and death."
This is nonsense. He Rubin thought about the content of the previous report. When Sun Tianbiao fled to Qiongshan, there was no news of the siege in Lingao - it took several days for the emergency messenger from the county to arrive.
.
As for the siege of Lingao, there is no specific news - except for an urgent document sent by the Lingao County Magistrate. After the siege of Chengmai, the post road was completely interrupted, and the news was almost completely interrupted. Once the post road was interrupted, even Danzhou
, the news from Changhua could not be transmitted. The Tang newspaper had to circle the island in the opposite direction or be delivered to Leizhou before it could be delivered to the capital of Qiongzhou.
"Where is the person who sent the urgent documents to Lingao?"
"The book was sent to Qiongshan, and then transferred to the province by the prefect of Qiongzhou. The appointment is in Qiongshan." An aide said, "Seven or eight days have passed, and I will probably return to Lingao early."
He Rubin wished he had asked Tang Yunwen to detain the person who submitted the letter. This person would definitely be able to provide a lot of information about the Kun thief.
The second letter was news from Chengmai. He Rubin originally thought that Chengmai must have fallen - he knew the size of the county towns on Hainan Island. Most of the cities had poor defense facilities and insufficient artillery. As for the garrison, they were almost non-existent.
——It is simply wishful thinking to expect the "tired old soldiers" in the guard station to rescue the county town. As long as a team of two to three thousand people is willing to attack with all their strength, there is no way they can't defeat it.
But when I opened the Tang newspaper, it was sent from Chengmai County. It seems that Chengmai is still in the hands of the government, and external traffic has not been blocked.
Hearing that the bandits called themselves Fubo Army, they deployed about a thousand infantry and artillery troops and dozens of cannons outside the south gate of the village. The bandits gathered outside the city with roars, and the city's civilian regiment bravely came out to fight, killing hundreds of bandits.
The Nai thieves were strong and had sharp weapons, so our troops were slightly defeated. The Kun thieves took advantage of the momentum to attack the south gate. The soldiers and civilians in the city fought to the death. The city tower changed hands dozens of times, but the Kun thieves finally collapsed without support. Dozens of the thieves' leaders, big and small, were killed.
There were three Zhenkuns. According to the prisoner's confession: among the Zhenkuns killed there was a person with the fake title of "Director" and a fake guard. The Kun thieves and others risked their lives and actually snatched the corpse of the thief. Because they saw the county town
After a while, the thieves headed to Lao Hu, and the remaining soldiers were divided into four villages to plunder. Many gentry houses were in trouble, and they took thousands of civilians to build a long siege and stronghold. They also bombarded with huge artillery, and arrows flew everywhere, and the soldiers and civilians in the city were destroyed.
Countless people were killed and injured, houses were burned down, rubble was everywhere, women and children were sleeping outside in the wild, and the sound of howling continued all day long. The situation was too horrific to behold. Those who need to go to the pond to report!
He Rubin breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the land battle of the Kun thieves was indeed sparse. The small Chengmai County town was not captured even though it took thousands of people and so-called "sharp" artillery. No wonder Lingao County town could persist for three years.
More than years.
In this way, he became more determined to use the land division instead of the boat division. He originally wanted to give Tang Yunwen an order immediately, asking him to immediately send aid to Chengmai. Tang Yunwen's troops plus the local warriors could dispatch almost 2,000 people.
, it was only half a day's journey from Chengmai to Qiongshan, so there was no need for extra expenditure on departure and food and wages. As long as we could force the Kun bandits to withdraw from the siege, it would be a small victory.
He asked his staff to immediately invite his staff to discuss the war effort to aid Cheng.
Of course, his main staff member was not Lu Yizhong. Although Lu Yizhong was quite "knowledge of military affairs", after all, he was sent by the governor and was separated from him by this layer. He wanted to listen to the opinions of his staff who were closely related to his own interests.
The staff read the Tang newspaper and thought that the bandits must have known that the imperial court was going to encircle and suppress them, so they attacked the county town everywhere. The purpose was just to create a great momentum and make the officers and soldiers feel timid and dare not come to suppress them.
He Rubin smiled and asked: "I intend to mobilize General Tang's troops to rescue Chengmai. What do you gentlemen think?"
The staff believed that the Kun thief had sharp weapons but was unable to attack Chengmai, which showed that he was indeed incompetent in land warfare. Tang Yunwen's troops were relatively "good at fighting" among the Ming armies in Guangdong, so sending him to rescue Chengmai would definitely pay off.
As long as the Kun thieves besieging Chengmai are driven away, the constant "promotion" from the governor can be buffered. Generally speaking, the opinions of most staff are still "cautious" and they do not want the entire army to attack early.
Landing on the island to attack.
One of the staff members shook his head: "Master Zhentai, most of General Tang's troops are naval forces. Breaking sieges in the field is not his specialty. If you rush to the rescue, if you suffer a setback, your morale may be shaken."
This staff member's name was Chang Qingyun, who was a civil servant. He was quite good at economics. Although he had never been an official, he was very familiar with officialdom. He was one of He Rubin's most trusted staff members.
He Rubin nodded silently, thinking that although Tang Yunwen's army was said to have 5,000 men, it only had more than 2,000 soldiers. Most of them were navy soldiers who were not used to infantry warfare and did not have many firearms for land warfare. These
The troops are still scattered in many prefectures and counties in Hainan. If he wants to rescue Chengmai, he can only rely on the Xiangyong from Qiongshan as the main force.
Although Xiangyong is strong in combat, his morale is greatly reduced after leaving his hometown. He will fight desperately only if he needs a generous reward. According to the Tang newspaper, the bandits have built a long siege under Chengmai City and stationed in a stronghold. The fortification must be very tight.
At that time, the opponent defended the stronghold and fought with fierce weapons, so Tang Yunwen might not be able to take advantage. The officers and soldiers were in a dilemma at Chengmai's feet.
Thinking of this, he temporarily gave up his plan to ask Tang Yunwen to send troops to rescue Chengmai. However, if Chengmai fell, Tang Yunwen, as the coastal defense officer in charge of Qiongya Land Road and other places, had the greatest responsibility. But he was about to
He is the military chief of Guangdong and the chief general in the expedition against the Kun bandits. He cannot escape responsibility for the fall of the county.
"In the student's opinion, it is better for Zhentai to immediately issue an order to General Tang Shen, asking him to act appropriately and rescue Chengmai as soon as possible."
All the staff nodded: since it is "speed" and "camera", this is really clever! Mr. He has given the order to rescue anyway, and the ball of whether to rescue or not is kicked directly at the feet of General Tang Shen.
Even if Chengmai falls, He Rubin cannot be traced - his troops have already crossed the sea, so it cannot be said that he refused to save him. This is one; second, even if Chengmai falls temporarily, waiting for the army to gather
Qi, the recapture of Chengmai was just a matter of effort during the march.
"Furthermore, from the student's point of view, the Kun thief has no power to destroy the city." Chang Qingyun said, "If he had the power to destroy the city, why would he need to force the people to build a long and fortified stronghold? This must be the leader of the Kun thief.
The siege is planned. The Chengmai County Magistrate only needs to guard the city carefully, and he will be able to keep the city safe. The current plan is to order people to sneak into the city and send a letter that the army will come to rescue. The soldiers and civilians of the city will meet.
Defend with all your strength and wait for the army."
He Rubin felt that his idea was not bad, so he immediately asked a master in charge of the book to process the warrant for Tang Yunwen, and wrote a note in his hand asking the officials, gentlemen and people in Chengmai City to stick to it:
It is reported that Chengmai Ling Qiu and the Chengmai city garrison officials and gentry all learned that this town has been defeated and the pro-reunion troops are rushing to the rescue, and they hope to hold on untiringly until the siege is lifted.
There is no date written below, only his payment.
After thinking about it, he wrote the same second note, but the first paragraph changed to: "Zhilin Gao ordered Wu and Chengmai to guard the city officials and gentry."
After writing, he sent an order to select two elite soldiers who knew the Qiongshan dialect from the army. Each of them was rewarded with twenty taels of silver, and they were immediately sent across the sea with the two letters.
After doing these two things, He Rubin felt a little more relaxed. He thought that Lu Yizhong kept urging the troops to cross the Biao camp across the sea, which gave him a chance to make a mistake.
He smiled and asked everyone: "In this sea-crossing expedition, we don't know much about the details of the Kun bandits. I have brought 20,000 troops. Excluding empty positions, old and weak, the number of capable soldiers is only more than 10,000. I wonder if I can fight with them."
A battle between the thief and the thief?"
Everyone couldn't help but flatter him again, saying "when the army arrives, cleanse away the ugly ones", "big attack", "show military power" and so on. Half of these words are flattering to him, and half are the true thoughts of his staff -
In their view, the Kun thieves were just relying on their uncanny skills and powerful firearms. If they really put up a majestic formation for a field battle, they would definitely not be a match for the imperial army. Therefore, no one had any doubts about the outcome of the war.
One of the staff members said that although the Kun thief was nothing to worry about, after all, the ship was strong and the guns were powerful, and tens of thousands of "Fujian and Guangdong traitors" had gathered together. However, the officers and soldiers still knew very little about the details of the Kun thief. Even the Kun thief
I don’t even know the name of the leader.
The only sources of information for the government were newspapers and various market rumors.
"Iron ships can float on the sea, and clippers can do it without oars. Isn't this a monster!" He Rubin has always been disbelieving in this. Only after receiving Tang Yunwen's report did he reluctantly believe it. However, the general wanted to
It is common for people to shirk responsibility or advocate military exploits and exaggerate the enemy's situation.
"It is said that if you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger. Although our army knows itself, it does not know the enemy." Chang Qingyun sighed.
"That Sun Tianbiao escaped from Lingao, so he must know a lot about the Kun thieves. Why not bring him to the front of the army to listen to him?" an aide suggested.
"What you said is absolutely true." He Rubin nodded. Sun Tianbiao had escaped from Lingao and was an officer. He must know a lot about the situation. With him listening in front of the account, he would be able to get a lot of useful information. "I
Then I will ask the Commander-in-Chief of the Army to transfer this person. First, assign him a foreign commission with the title of general."
Chang Qingyun said: "Master Zhentai is here to suppress the bandits, and he will definitely gain full success. This is needless to say, but the bandits must be suppressed beautifully. If he mobilizes the army like Marshal Yu did back then, only one person will be left behind to force the entire enemy army to retreat.
The result was far less powerful than the victory at Shuangyu."
He Rubin was originally very wary of people from overseas. At first, he only used military force to drive away the red-haired people because the civil and military officials believed that there was a huge disparity in combat power. Even if he won the war, the losses would be too great and he could not explain it to the court. Now
When Qingyun often said this, he thought that Wang Zunde was just doing the same thing as before.
However, Chang Qingyun believed that the Kun thieves had large iron ships and iron clippers. If they were forced to demolish the city and leave, they would definitely choose another location to build a fort again. This kind of overseas barbarians would brave the waves thousands of miles away and risk their lives.
How can we just give up on China's trade? We will definitely find another nest. Although the Dutch were forced to retreat due to the overwhelming power of the official army, they still got a promise to allow merchants to trade in Taiwan. And they immediately turned to Taiwan to build castles.
So far, the Red-haired Panyi is still a danger along the coast of the Ming Dynasty.
"What do you mean, sir?"
"The thieves are good at boats and boats. Although our army cannot fight with them on the sea, we can defeat them with surprising tactics." Chang Qingyun said with confidence.
One of the staff laughed and said: "Are you trying to follow Zhuge Wuhou's old tricks?"
"Most of the pirate ships are made of iron, so it is difficult to pay for them." Another aide shook his head in disapproval.
Chang Qingyun's unique weapon turned out not to be the fire attack ship, a traditional Chinese water warfare weapon, the main means of the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty naval divisions to resist foreign aggression. His unique weapon was the underwater Hunjianglong - a traditional Chinese-made mine.
.According to some books, the underwater dragon is the original anchor mine, and its significance is the same as the "swarm of bees" is the originator of modern rocket launchers.
However, due to serious problems with the firing mechanism and difficulty in laying out, this anchor mine has never been of practical use, and gradually became an "artifact" in the books.
Of course He Rubin knew about such things. The late Ming Dynasty was an era when firearms exploded in China. Anyone who could read a few words was talking about the invention and creation of firearms, although most of them were just like Song Yingxing said, hoping to make a fortune by getting promoted.
The underwater Hunjianglong has no practical value at all, as He Rubin knows very well. But Chang Qingyun's strange weapon is an improved version of the Hunjianglong - similar to Drifting Thunder.
Chang Qingyun immediately used tea as ink on the table and drew a sketch. It was roughly like putting gunpowder in a clay pot and sealing it, and then crisscrossing bamboos on all sides, which not only provided buoyancy but also made it easier to catch the ship. The raft was then covered with straw or the like.
.The soldier who specializes in water-based skills pushed the water to the side of the thief's boat, and then lit the fuse.
"Maybe we don't need to use military force, we can just send small boats to ride the night tide into the harbor, release hundreds of river dragons outside the harbor, float them into the harbor with the tide, and use stuffy incense inside the river dragons to ignite the fire." Chang Qingyun said.
Of course, there is no accuracy in casting floating mines in this way, so you need to release more, one or two hundred at a time. Even if they don't hit the ship, as long as they explode at the right time, they can still disturb the thieves. If they can sink and injure them,
The thieves thought that the Great Wall was a big iron ship, so the thieves had no choice but to surrender.
Chang Qingyun's new tactic caused a discussion among the staff. Of course they understood the significance of Hunjiang Dragon. If Hunjiang Dragon was used in large numbers in Bopu, not only would the Kun thief's ships be damaged, but the remaining ships would also be destroyed.
If you dare to stay longer in the harbor, you will definitely seek peace in advance.
He Rubin wondered if this thing would work? But it didn't cost much. He Rubin didn't really believe that this thing could sink a large iron ship, but it would be a great achievement to sink several iron speedboats. He immediately agreed to let people
Make a trial batch first.
"It's best to send this thing into the harbor with soldiers who are good at water." Chang Qingyun suggested, "Master Zhentai, why don't you build a mine regiment camp and select a hundred or ten water warriors who are good at water to train, and you will be able to achieve amazing results!
"
A local staff member said: "There are poor people in this province. They usually live on the water and wander around, and there are many rapists and thieves. However, the water is very good, so it is better to recruit water warriors and use them to cast the river dragon.
"It has the effect of fighting poison with poison, even if there are occasional casualties, it is not a pity. It will not damage the power of heaven, and it can eliminate harm to the local area."
At the beginning, the staff talked about firearms. The late Ming Dynasty was originally an era when everyone talked about firearms. There were many books of all kinds and it was not difficult to obtain them, so most of the staff could tell something about Chou Yin Mao. He Rubin was also in this way.
People, as well as books, were very eloquent when talking about it. Because it was rumored that the Kun thief's firearms were powerful, everyone wanted to find several more powerful ways to restrain the enemy.
He Rubin pondered for a moment. He couldn't make the decision to recruit Shui Yong alone. He needed the approval of the governor and governor. However, this was a way to defeat the enemy. Recruiting two to three hundred Shui Yong didn't cost much. Even that bastard
The river dragon is useless, but it can also be used to fight.