The Southern Route Army that entered Mizhou was composed of Li Ting and Qiu Huiluo, who were stationed in Dengzhou and Ninghai Prefecture. After the two troops gathered in Laiyang, they advanced by land and water relying on the Zhanshui River.
This time Ding Haijun suddenly invaded Shandong. What they wanted to seize was the opportunity created by the death of Yang An'er and the chaos in the red coat army. Therefore, the military government specially requested that the march should be concealed, and the attack should be sudden and violent. Once the water is over, the cities must be captured within three days, and the troops must be at Moqi Mountain in Juzhou within five days.
Therefore, the two generals urged the army along the way.
After they arrived at Yifeng Town, the river that followed became wider and wider, and there were newly repaired and consolidated roads on both sides of the river. In some areas, trees were transplanted for shade. And because Ding Haijun has a maritime caravan supported by its own family, Yifeng Town has always been used as a base, so after receiving the military order, the town prepared more than ten large and small ships in advance.
These were ships that could sail on the sea, and were larger than the sampans that had been conscripted before. Therefore, the soldiers marched faster. It only took half a day to approach the watery estuary.
This section of the river downstream of Zhanshui is deep and fast, and often has seawater intrusion. It is not only the boundary river between Laizhou and Jiaoxi County, Miss., but also the joint management area of Jiaoxi Forge Farm.
A few months ago, a caravan affiliated with Ding Haijun built a warehouse and dock here. Later, because the Red Coat Army's Mizhou capital Tongguo Jie'er did business with Ding Haijun here, other merchants gradually moved in here, gradually forming a There are many docks on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and business is booming.
As the scale of business gradually expands, it is inevitable that there will be unscrupulous merchants who create trouble for the people, and most of those maritime merchants are fierce people who can transform into pirates at any time and plunder with knives.
Therefore, the Red Coat Army and Ding Haijun agreed to build military forts on the north and south sides of the river, stationing 300 troops respectively to jointly maintain public security in the field.
The military fortress on the Dinghai Navy side has already been built.
Li Ting then ordered the army to stay in the forest ten miles north of Guechang, and all the troops stopped. I took Qiu Huiluo and others to enter the military fort at dusk, took over the defense with tiger charms, and observed the situation of the red coat army defenders in the south.
This military fort was built mainly for public security, so it did not insist on being very strong. Most of the building materials were wood, with only a small amount of masonry.
But as soon as Li Ting entered the fortress, he knew that the fortress was very easy to defend and difficult to attack. Because of its construction specifications, it is not the usual number of roads in the military. The roads and walls inside and outside are irregular, and they are divided into two circles, inside and outside, all of which are shaped like twists and turns based on the terrain.
Under this structure, even if the enemy attacks the fortress, it will be blocked and intercepted by the defenders in sections. It will be difficult to quickly control the entire fortress, let alone block the defenders from sending beacon signals. Li Ting thought to himself that if he led 300 men to garrison in person, he would be able to withstand an attack of 1,000 or 2,000 men in a short period of time.
Obviously, the person responsible for building this military fort is a good man.
With this in mind, Li Ting went straight to the masonry watchtower on the south side of the fortress without delay. Although it was almost dusk, the view from here was excellent. You could see from a distance that the military fort where the Red Coat Army was stationed on the other side was dotted with flames and was very heavily guarded.
The specifications and size of the military fort are similar to the military forts stationed in Dinghai Navy. The officers on duty on the city wall patrolled back and forth, and the team was quite dense. Various defensive equipment along the city wall were also complete, and there were watchtowers every ten feet or so. And the horse's face is raised.
Looking outside the city wall, there is a wide water trench that draws water in. Beyond the water trench, there are also faint deer villages and horse traps.
Li Ting can be frivolous at times, but when it comes time to shoulder important responsibilities, he is also reliable. I was not in a hurry to speak at the moment, I just leaned by the window and watched for a long time.
After a while, Qiu Huiluo came over from the other side of the military fort.
"The military fort opposite is very tightly guarded. I estimate there are always two hundred people there."
Qiu Huiluo said: "The ferry below the military fort is guarded by about fifty people, some of whom are soldiers. In addition, there are also fifty people stationed at the ferry upstream of the river."
"A military fortress, two ferries, a total of three hundred people, it is quite tight." Li Ting smacked his lips and sneered: "The Red Coat Army has always been loose, but it left such a decent force on the border. It seems that for Aren’t we completely defenseless?”
The wooden ladder sounded behind him, and someone came up in a hurry.
The guard of the military fort leading the way quickly said: "General Li, this is our General Gaodu."
Li Ting was one of the few important generals in the Ding Navy. He had just entered the military fort with a tiger talisman and summoned the guards to meet him on the spot. This was all because Wang Shixian had specially introduced him, saying that the general stationed in the military fort was a local hero in Mizhou. , very useful.
Unexpectedly, the guard said that my family was going to have a banquet with friends. We went to look for him immediately, but we were not allowed to come for a while.
Li Ting was a little unhappy at the time.
It will all arrive by now. Li Ting glanced back and saw that this man was handsome, wearing a finely carved brocade half-armor over his military uniform, and a jade belt around his waist. Let’s not talk about the jade belt. This backpack alone can’t be bought without three or five guan of money.
As for this kind of gorgeous and luxurious dress, Li Ting saw it a lot when he was a young knight-errant in Zhongdu, but he never brought this style to the army. What's more, not only were they dressed in luxurious clothes, they also smelled vaguely of alcohol, so Li Ting became even more unhappy.
He did not greet the general, and continued to say to Qiu Huiluo: "In this case, it is best not to let the enemy spread the news, so as not to affect our subsequent attack on Mizhou. The three hundred people in front of us are not difficult to deal with, but the difficult thing is to quietly."
He thought for a while and suggested: "Assemble two hundred troops, find a remote ferry upstream to cross the river, then sneak into the military fort, capture the beacons first, and then cross the river with the main force."
Qiu Huiluo was more cautious and stared at the opposite side for a long time: "Where is the beacon, I can't find it. How will the two Centuries move after crossing the river? Besides, how do you know what method the Red Coat Army used to send the message? What if they don’t use beacons and wolf smoke, but use specific bonfires?”
He turned around and smiled kindly at the garrison general: "This..."
"My surname is Gao, from Jiuxian Mountain Gao Xin."
"Oh, General Gaodu, do you know..."
Gao Xin had already guessed what Qiu Huiluo wanted to ask, and said bluntly: "The red coat army on the opposite side was not so defensive originally, but a few days ago, the news of Yang An'er's death spread among the red coat army, and the merchants coming and going from Denglai... There is also news that our army is making urgent arrangements and will take action. Therefore, the defenders are particularly energetic."
"This is a bit troublesome." Qiu Huiluo shook his head.
Gao Xin strode forward, stood by the window and pointed: "There is indeed a beacon inside their military fort. It is located in the northwest corner. If you break in from the inside of the military fort, you have to go through three gates. If you break in from the outside of the military fort, you have to go through three gates. Climb a steep slope three feet high."
Li Ting murmured something and looked up at the gloomy night: "Then let the fleet go directly down the river. The two of us will attack together and take it in half an hour. Then we will go to Zhucheng at night... delay Nothing happens!"
Qiu Huiluo hesitated for a moment before asking Gao Xin what he thought. But they found that while the two were calculating, Gao Xin ran to the other side of the watchtower and took the military documents and silver medals from the soldiers that Li Ting had provided when he entered the city.
At this moment, he was holding a pine torch and inspecting it carefully: "It turns out that Jieshuai is really going to take action."
"Nonsense, if it weren't for Commander-in-Chief's orders, what would we be doing with our troops here?" Li Ting replied impatiently.
Gao Xin laughed, turned around and left the watchtower.
This behavior is extremely rude. Li Ting and Qiu Huiluo looked at each other and waited for a long time, but they didn't see the general coming back.
What's the meaning? Is he unhappy? Still want to do?
"Look, this is the person Lao Wang recommended to me! He also said that this person is known to Commander Jie and is the most useful! Is this what he looks like?"
Li Ting opened his mouth to complain, but before he could finish his words, he suddenly heard someone shouting in surprise in a room below the building, and then there was the muffled sound of a sharp knife piercing flesh.
The voice was very weak, but Li Ting and Qiu Huiluo were both veterans, so how vigilant were they? Immediately the two of them pressed the hilt of the knife, and Qiu Huiluo scolded: "Go two of us and ask what's going on!"
As soon as the two soldiers ran out, Gao Xin stepped up another wooden ladder and threw a corpse in his hand in front of Li Ting.
It was obvious that he had just done it, and blood surged out like a fountain, immediately seeping down along the gaps in the floor of the watchtower.
The subordinates of Li Ting and Qiu Huiluo below all exclaimed. Someone rushed up to see them and were relieved to see that the two generals were fine.
Qiu Huiluo stepped forward and took a look: "General Gao Du, what is this?"
"This man is the commander-in-chief of the Red Coat Army garrison opposite. In the name of dispelling the misunderstanding, I have treated him to food, drink, prostitution and gambling every day... Well, since the commander-in-chief is going to make a big move, there is no need to be polite anymore Okay. I’ll take the credit first.”
"Hey!" Li Ting came up and looked at the shocked and twisted face of the corpse: "They are all about to die. What about the military fort opposite? Do you have any ideas?"
Gao Xin stretched out his hand to his side: "Wine."
His subordinates hurriedly offered the jug of wine, which they had just drank at the banquet with the red-coated army guard.
Gao Xin turned the wine bottle over and poured it on his body. At the same time, he said to Li Ting: "I am used to visiting the military fort opposite. Thirty percent of the 300 defenders opposite have been bribed by me a long time ago, and one of them is my subordinate. You two, please stay here for a moment, and I will go and capture the military fort and the ferry. When the time comes, use the torch circle as a sign, and ask the two armies to directly arrange their troops to cross the river."
Li Ting and Qiu Huiluo watched dumbfounded from the watchtower.
They watched him put on a drunken look, holding two guns in his arms, and taking several followers with him as he staggered across the river in a boat.
As he watched his boat dock, he killed a few defenders who got close to him and asked the other defenders to follow him in the dark, while he continued to stagger to higher ground.
The sky was getting darker and darker, and the two could no longer see clearly. They could only vaguely hear the occasional screams or the crisp sounds of weapons clashing from the other side of the river between the tides.
After a while, people fighting each other appeared on the wall of the military castle opposite, and the winner was quickly determined.
General Gao, who was specially recommended to Li Ting by Wang Shixian, sat high on the city wall with a pine torch and began to draw circles. Under the firelight, the back of his half-carved arm almost shone with light.
(End of chapter)
