In the camp on the outskirts of Quanzhou City, the people Xu Hai and Chen Dong had been waiting for for a long time finally arrived.
The visitor was seen wrapping himself in a black robe, with only a pair of eyes barely exposed, and two personal guards followed closely behind him.
Xu Hai and Chen Dong quickly bowed and saluted, with smiles on their faces, and said, "Sir, you are tired from the journey. You might as well sit down and rest for a while."
The man in black robe just waved his hand and said in a hoarse voice: "No need, I'm just here to deliver something. Since the things have been delivered, I'll leave first."
After that, the man in black robe didn't even look at the two of them, and left with two personal guards.
"Bah, what the hell! I asked him to eat just to give him face. I really think of myself as a person."
After the man in black robe walked away, Chen Dong adjusted his blindfold and spat on the ground angrily.
"Second brother, no. Think about it, who in the Ming Dynasty would dare to do business with us? I guess this person has a very deep background and must not be offended." Xu Hai stood up, stopped what Chen Dong was going to say next, and said explained to an aggrieved Chen Dong.
"These dog officials!" Chen Dong secretly hated him.
"Let's go and see what they sent." Xu Hai smiled, and the scar on his face looked even more ferocious under the moonlight.
After walking out of the tent, he saw many artillery pieces neatly arranged in the open space outside, about seven or eight of them. The artillery pieces were all covered with black cloth. Chen Dong quickly stepped forward and lifted the black cloth, and was shocked: " This is a Fran cannon!"
The Fran cannon is one of the artillery pieces installed by the Ming army. The Fran cannon is a breech-loaded cannon and is divided into two parts, the large cannon and the small cannon. The diameter of the small cannon is smaller than the barrel of the large cannon, so it is also called a double-part cannon. This kind of cannon will prepare four to six loaded cannons in advance before firing. When firing, the cannons will be placed in the cannon, ignited and fired. After firing, the cannons will be taken out and cleaned, and then fired again. The firepower is acceptable, but the accuracy is slightly inferior.
Judging from the condition of these neatly arranged French cannons, they were at least 90% new, but they were "scrapped" in advance.
"With all this, are you afraid that you won't be able to capture the small city of Quanzhou?" Chen Dong said, kissing the cannon excitedly.
"Let the brothers be ready to attack at the right time!"
"Yes." Chen Dong accepted the order and immediately went down to organize his troops and prepare for the attack.
…
At that time, in Quanzhou City, Yang Zongtai, the magistrate of Quanzhou Prefecture, accompanied by Director Li, patrolled the city wall.
Normally, Yang Zongtai would never set foot here. It was said that he was on duty, but who would dare to let the dignified county magistrate actually take turns? But today, an inexplicable feeling of palpitations arose in his heart, causing him to look around involuntarily.
The soldiers in charge of the night watch were originally standing loosely, their eyelids were twitching up and down, and they looked half asleep. When they heard the news of the county magistrate's visit, they cheered up and stood as straight as cypresses.
"Okay, not bad, not bad!"
Yang Zongtai inspected the city defense and saw that the soldiers were all powerful and standing like pine trees. He stroked his beard with satisfaction and praised them.
"Sir, to tell you the truth, I, Lao Li, have been the chief clerk for so many years, and I have never seen an adult personally patrol the city defenses in the cold weather. You are the first one! I don't know how many people there are in Quanzhou Prefecture. I have been blessed for many years to meet a good county magistrate like you who is diligent and caring for the people." The chief clerk behind him bowed his body and praised softly.
It was fine in the front, but when Yang Zongtai heard the last sentence, his face turned dark. He snorted coldly and quickened his pace, leaving him far behind.
Chief Li froze on the spot, scratched his head, and thought for a long time. He didn't know what words made the county magistrate unhappy. Seeing that the magistrate was about to walk away, he hurriedly followed.
Seeing the arrival of the county magistrate, Zhang Zongwei from a thousand households in Quanzhou Prefecture quickly stepped forward to greet him: "My subordinate, Zhang Zongwei from a thousand households in Quanzhou Prefecture, has met the county magistrate!"
"No ceremony, no ceremony, get up."
Yang Zongtai helped him up and then spoke.
"It's so hard for you to stay here in such a cold weather! The safety of the hundreds of thousands of people in Quanzhou City depends on you. If you want to salute, it is only right for me, the county magistrate, to salute you."
"No, Lord County Magistrate! Since we are deprived of your salary, we have to share your worries! It doesn't matter if the weather is cold. Besides, these are all our duties."
After noticing the determination implicit in Zhang Zongwei's words, Yang Zongtai couldn't help but shudder, and then he encouraged him: "Okay! Since Zhang Qianhu has such determination, he will definitely become a pillar of my Ming Dynasty in the future!"
"My subordinate Zhang Zongwei, thank you so much, the county magistrate, for your advice!"
While the two were chatting, the soldiers guarding the city wall suddenly shouted: "Enemy attack!"
Just hearing a "bang" of artillery in the distance, the bomb exploded on the city wall, setting off a shower of debris.
Seeing this, everyone fell down one after another, and there was another chaos.
"Give me the telescope!" Yang Zongtai suppressed his inner panic and took the monocular telescope from the soldier on the side.
I saw a dense crowd of Japanese pirates gathering outside Quanzhou City at some point. The Japanese pirates had no formation and seemed chaotic. Not far away, a position composed of seven or eight French cannons was constantly bombarding the city gate.
Yang Zongtai handed the binoculars back to the soldier, looked at Zhang Zongwei in front of him, and said solemnly: "According to my estimation, the number of this group of Japanese pirates is about 5,000, and they don't know where they got the French cannon. "
"What? Five thousand people! Even including the county police officers, the defenders in Quanzhou City are only a thousand, and the opponent also has artillery!" Zhang Zongwei's tone revealed panic.
"Don't panic, let your soldiers enter the archery tower and the urn city, and also transfer all the soldiers in the city. There is a moat outside. They can't get through for the time being, so go quickly!"
"Yes." Zhang Zongwei accepted the order, and then left with his soldiers.
"Old Li, go and call out all the police officers in the county government! Inform the residents in the city that Japanese pirates are coming, tell them not to move around, and pay attention to those sneaky people. Once discovered, kill them on the spot!"
"Yes." Master Li accepted the order, and then his figure disappeared on the city wall.
The Ming army guarding the city wall raised their muskets, aimed at the charging Japanese pirates, and pulled the trigger. The thick smoke caused by the gunpowder spread and quickly dissipated. Every time a shot was fired, a small group of enemies fell down. They were not killed by the firecrackers, but trampled to death by the teammates behind them.
"Sir, it's too dangerous here! You'd better go back first." A soldier on the side consoled him.
"I won't leave, unless I die here today, otherwise no one can let me leave!"
"Pass on my orders. From the time I am named the county magistrate, Zhang Qianhu will take over my command if I die. If a thousand households die, a hundred households will die. By analogy, we must keep the Japanese pirates out of Quanzhou City!"
"yes."
Outside Quanzhou City, Japanese pirates fell down from arrows from time to time. Whenever someone fell in front, the people behind would follow up one after another, trampling over the bodies of their companions.
And these people at the front are all cannon fodder, not to mention wearing armor, even their clothes are in tatters, holding kitchen knives or wooden sticks. Their only function is to consume the ammunition of the defenders in the city, and there are still more behind them. There were more than a thousand elite troops who did not launch an attack. They were both combat supervisory troops and reserve troops.
Gradually, the corpses piled higher and higher, almost filling the moat outside Quanzhou City, and blood flowed out, dyeing the water of the moat red.
"Damn it, rush forward! Give me the order, as long as the brothers break through Quanzhou City, the treasures and beauties inside can be plundered." Chen Dong, who had been observing the battlefield situation, looked gloomy and ordered to the soldiers around him, and Xu Hai just held the telescope and said nothing.
After the order was passed, the Japanese pirates responsible for attacking the city became even more ferocious. Some people thought of the wonderful scene after breaking into the city gate, and couldn't help but lick their chapped lips, and launched attacks at all parts of the city gate even more desperately.
On the city wall, Yang Zongtai looked at the increasingly fierce offensive and said calmly: "Let go of the horse stakes and iron caltrops."
"yes!"
A cannonball exploded not far away from Yang Zongtai, blowing a soldier who was firing a gun into pieces. His limbs and internal organs were scattered on the ground, and blood spattered Yang Zongtai's face.
