Chapter 075 Relief for the People
Chen Cao stood on the bow of the boat and couldn't help but take a breath as he looked at the dark, headless crowd of people on the beach at the mouth of the river.
Later generations only heard about how the Manchus massacred us Han people. It has just begun and it has been so cruel. What about the Ten Days in Yangzhou and the Three Massacres in Jiading...
"When I attack their Hetuala someday, I also ordered that the sword should not be sealed for ten days." Chen Cao said silently.
Zhao Xin was standing by the bow of the ship. He heard Chen Cao's words clearly and said, "Uncle, if we don't seal the sword for ten days, judging from the number of Jurchens, they will probably be killed in less than seven days."
"Send the order to prepare the tiger crouching cannon and advance with a small flag. Order Ning Guoxing to watch carefully and drive the cannon into the Tatar cavalry."
"It's uncle..."
At the mouth of the river, a wounded soldier's upper shoulder was bleeding. A middle-aged woman next to him tore off a corner of his hemp skirt while being pushed, and then bandaged him.
The wounded soldier said: "No need, the Tatars want to kill them all, there is no use anymore."
The woman said: "Sir, are all these people going to die?"
The wounded soldier stared blankly, and from the panic and screams of the crowd, he could hear that the Tatars were using the knife.
"Sir, look at the sea."
Following the woman's cry, the wounded soldier looked at the sea, his eyes moistened from time to time, and he said tremblingly: "The imperial court... is the navy of the imperial court..."
Chen Cao's ship was a large ship made of three thousand materials. Based on the Ming Dynasty's one material of three hundred kilograms, three thousand materials weighed nine hundred tons. In terms of ancient wooden warships, except for Zheng He's treasure ship, this It is already the largest wooden warship.
Driving on the sea, after approaching the coast, you can see clearly five miles away, not to mention that Chen Cao's boat is now less than three miles away from the coast.
"The imperial navy has come to rescue us..."
The wounded soldier shouted, and the people on the beach immediately became excited and started shouting.
Suo Hai was ordering people to kill the people. Suddenly, when tens of thousands of people started shouting, he suddenly felt bad. Cherge's servants arrived and shouted to him: "Sir, Ming Gou's fleet is here. On the sea.”
Adahai's cavalry rushed forward, then led a large group of infantry to disperse the people on the edge of the river beach, and formed a formation on the edge of the beach.
"Brother," Adahai looked at Cherge: "Minggu is about to land."
'Dong dong dong...'
The fire from the artillery could be clearly seen on the sea. Cherge's eyes widened. Suo Hai, who was supervising the formation in the distance on the beach, only saw several black dots flying from the sky in the distance, and then smashed into the military formation in front of him. middle.
"Ming Gou has artillery, all cavalry should disperse...disperse..."
Although the order was issued, the speed of the order was not as fast as the flying speed of the cannonball.
'Boom boom boom...'
There was a violent explosion. It was obvious that the bombs fired this time were extremely powerful.
The explosion sounded, and the people panicked and ran away.
"Send the order, artillery cover, Nanjing right guard, take the lead in landing."
Seeing many small boats appearing on the sea, Cherge knew that the Ming army was about to land, so he shouted and ordered his troops to drive away the people and prepare to stop the attack.
Chen Cao was opposed to the Crouching Tiger Cannon. All the Crouching Tiger Cannons he had made before departure were melted down, but the Tiger Crouching Cannons transferred this time were all finished products from the past. There were still thirty pieces that were too late to be melted down. Coupled with new gunpowder and additional steel ball shotguns, it is extremely powerful in close defense within fifty steps.
Yan Chun is the survivor of the 1,000th household, but the only survivors of his 100th household team are the two general banners of Xin Laosan and Zhang Ting and 24 people. At this moment, they are riding on a small boat, carrying The Tiger Crouching Cannon rushed towards the beach.
"Hundred households, the Tatars have fired arrows."
"Put up your shield to cover..."
The small boat can carry more than forty people. In addition to Yan Chun's own team members, there are other people on the boat. Fortunately, the boat is not big, and the large shield brought can completely block the arrows and meteor hammers released by the Tatars in front. Throwing objects such as axes.
Dozens of boats set out together, and occasionally some unlucky ones were injured by arrows or other projectiles.
"Baihu, there are still thirty steps to the beach." Xin Laosan shouted.
Zhang Ting held the Crouching Tiger Cannon in his arms, and several soldiers behind him supported him with their bodies to prevent the recoil from the Crouching Tiger Cannon from knocking him down.
Yan Chun had clearly seen the Tatar infantry on the beach, and then shouted: "Light the fire and start the artillery."
'Boom...'
There was a muffled sound, and the recoil of the Crouching Tiger Cannon caused the moving boat to lag, and then rushed towards the beach again under the rowing of the sailors.
Driven by the new gunpowder, the shotguns fired at close range of thirty steps flew towards the infantry on the beach like a densely woven mesh.
A large number of people were hit at once. The shortcoming of the Tiger Crouching Cannon was the loading. After each shot, the remaining powder residue in the barrel had to be cleaned and then loaded with gunpowder and lead bullets. This was why Chen Cao was unwilling to use it. The reason for the Crouching Tiger Cannon is that although it can be used by a single soldier or by three people, the reloading speed takes at least two minutes if carefully calculated.
If Bi Maokang hadn't teamed up with several missionaries to develop the finished medicine package, Chen Cao would really have been unwilling to use it.
Regardless of the danger, Zhang Ting turned the muzzle and stuffed the medicine package in without caring about the high temperature of the muzzle. Then with the help of his deputy, he put a medicine line through the opening of the medicine room, turned the muzzle again: "Ignition..."
'Boom...'
After two rounds of shotgun fire, a large area of the beach was immediately vacated. The sailors stopped the boat less than ten steps away from the beach. If it went over, it would be stranded. It would take time to retreat into the sea, and the follow-up troops would have to land one after another.
After landing, Xin Laosan immediately ordered his soldiers to place the large shield as a cover, and then Yan Chun continued to let Zhang Ting fire.
The new Tiger Crouching Cannon must be cooled after firing three charges. This is already the limit that the muzzle temperature can withstand. If it were the old Tiger Crouching Cannon, it would have to be cooled with water after firing one shot, otherwise the second shot would be 100% exploded. .
Zhang Ting held the Tiger Crouching Cannon's feet and immersed the already red Tiger Crouching Cannon directly into the sea water, and a puff of white smoke came out of the sea.
Each landing fleet operated exactly the same way, creating a large safety area on the beach from time to time.
The right guard soldiers who landed on the beach were not idle. After landing, they formed small flag groups and fired at the Tatar infantry in an orderly manner. Due to the limitations of the beach and the large number of people on the beach and shore, One hundred percent of the Tatars were shot at once.
When the wounded soldier saw a Tatar next to him trying to run away, he took advantage of his own injury and rushed towards him, throwing the coated Han soldier to the ground. The two began to struggle, several feet away. A group of skinny young men everywhere followed the wounded soldier and rushed to help the wounded soldier kill the Tatar infantry under him to the ground.
The wounded soldier picked up the infantry's wild goose feather sword from the ground, raised the sword and shouted in a hissing voice: "I am the commander of the Ming Yi Prefecture Guards, An Jiadong. Dear Liaodong people, the imperial reinforcements are blocked on the beach. Those who want to survive can take it." Pick up whatever you have, drive the Tatars away, clear a way for the officers and soldiers to get ashore safely, and kill..."
Human beings have a kind of inertia. When death comes, as long as someone raises his arms and shouts, not many people will respond. An Jiadong raised his sword and shouted, so that the old, weak, women and children, as well as the wounded and captured soldiers in Liaodong were defeated and captured. One by one, they picked up the stones and sticks on the beach and beat them at the standing Tatar infantry.
For a time, the chaos on the entire beach became more serious.
With the sudden change in An Jiadong, Tang Kainian, who had already set foot on the beach, immediately arranged for his men to move forward to prevent those people from being shot to death with muskets.
"Uncle, the right guard is attacking," Xin Zhao frowned and said from the top of the deck.
Because of the sunlight, Chen Cao had to squint his eyes when he looked over. Now he was getting more and more anxious to get a pair of binoculars to avoid having to watch the battle so hard: "Send the order, let Songjiang Guards come up."
Because Tian Xiaonian could not be found, Chen Cao simply ordered Wang Xiaojie to temporarily take over the role of commander of the Songjiang Guard. The Songjiang Guard was reorganized, and most of them were former Liaodong soldiers. Many of them were frightened by the Tatars, but after seeing As the Nanjing Right Guards took the lead in attacking the beach, they felt like beating up a drowned dog. Under the leadership of Wang Xiaojie, they all boarded the boat, ready to rush in and kill them all.
"Uncle, the Tatars have withdrawn..." Zhao Xin shouted.
Chen Cao looked at the tens of thousands of people who were originally on the beach and rushed ashore. He felt that the trip was worthwhile. Then he turned around and said: "Instruct us to go down, carry the baggage, and the whole army will land ashore..."
...
"The Daliao River is fifty miles away from Guangning City. The cavalry can arrive quickly in more than two hours. If the infantry is on the way, it will take two days at the fastest." Xing Shenyan handed over to Chen Cao: "Uncle, take advantage of the Tatars to retreat , our army can quickly occupy Guangning City."
Chen Cao frowned and looked at the map without saying a word. He had said before that when he came to Liaodong, he didn't trust anyone but his own judgment. Although Xing Shenyan's words made sense, he had to judge the situation based on the actual situation.
"Uncle," Zhao Xin walked into the temporary tent on the beach: "An Jiadong brought us."
Chen Cao heard about An Jiadong's actions after he came ashore. He felt that this person could be used, so he asked Zhao Xin to find him. As soon as he entered the tent, An Jiadong knelt down to Chen Cao: "I am humble, General Guard of Yizhou." An Jiadong, I met Uncle Dingwu..."
"How did you end up here?" Chen Cao asked.
"The Tatars pursued troops and rushed to Yizhou. Guerrilla General Shu Guang first organized our resistance. The traitor Li Yongfang came to persuade him to surrender. General Shu denounced him as a traitor. There were only 3,000 people in Yizhou City. We resisted for five hours. , and finally the Tatars broke through the city wall, and several generals died in the battle." The wounds on An Jiadong's body had just been bandaged, and when he spoke excitedly, the blood soaked the gauze, and he grimaced in pain.
"You are injured, speak slowly, I won't blame you." Chen Cao comforted him.
An Jiadong continued: "After the city was broken, none of the brothers in Yizhou surrendered to the Tatars except those who died in the battle. Because he was blocking the enemy on the city tower, he was shot by a Tatar barbed arrow and retreated. He was eventually captured."
"Your behavior was very good today, and I appreciate it very much."
"Don't dare..."
Chen Cao then said: "The Yizhou Guards are gone, so you can temporarily join my camp."
"I humble my position and take orders..."
"Uncle..." Xu Kaixian walked into the big tent: "The spies sent out have returned, and the Tatars have retreated and fled far away."
Xing Shenyan immediately suggested: "Uncle, it is not safe east of the Daliao River. It is better to retreat to Guangning and hold on to Guangning City. You can also wait for reinforcements from the imperial court to come again."
Chen Cao stood up, wandered around in front of the map for a few times, and then said: "The army set off immediately, took all the people with them, and headed for Guangning to try to persuade him to change. He ordered all naval fleets to set off to the mouth of the Daling River to wait for orders. "
"yes..."
It was not realistic to reach Guangning in two days, because there were tens of thousands of people in the team and they could not walk fast at all. It took three days to reach the city of Guangning.
However...
What caught Chen Cao's eyes was the city of Guangning that had been burned to ruins by fire and the dead bodies everywhere in the city. The women were all naked and hung on the branches. Their death was so miserable that they were everywhere. The stumps and broken arms frightened the people so much that they did not dare to enter the city. Some people in Guangning City fainted when they saw that their hometown had suffered such a disaster.
"Tatars are really not a thing..." As a civil servant, Xing Shenyan never saw such a scene, and kept wiping his tears with his sleeves.
Chen Cao frowned and walked around the city before leaving the city. Then he said to Song Che at the side: "Guangning is ruined. It will take less than three months to rebuild."
"How about we go south to Jinzhou directly?" Song Che asked.
Chen Cao kept silent and asked Xin Zhao to take out the map, looked at it carefully, and said after a long time: "According to the reports of the defeated troops who returned to Jian along the way, the Tatars were stationed in front of Guangning to defend the center of Ningyuan. Many people also occupy various cities and fortresses along the way. If we suddenly occupy Jinzhou, it will make the Tatars fearful;
There is Lushan Mountain around Luyang, which cuts across the area to the north of Guangning. In addition, there are more than 20 forts around Guangning. If Wang Huazhen had not hired the wrong people, Nurhaci would still have some difficulty in occupying Guangning City. . "
"Yaozhong, what do you think?" Song Che asked, looking at the dark Guangning city wall.
"This time Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen lost Guangning. Both of them could not escape death. But Wang Huazhen was attached to the eunuch party. I can't say anything. Today we saved tens of thousands of people and reoccupied Guangning City. Not to mention the awards, the imperial court will definitely use us," Chen Cao said very seriously: "But I don't know what the imperial court thinks in the end. After all, I am an eunuch. If I want to be the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, I am afraid that it is not enough, and my qualifications are not good. , why not just stick a nail in Liaodong and let them know that I, Chen Cao, am not a good person."
"I understand. What you mean is that we occupy Guangning City and don't care about the rest?" Song Che somewhat understood what Chen Cao meant.
Chen Cao turned his head and shook his head, then smiled evilly and said: "No, just occupying Guangning is not enough." Chen Cao pointed at the map with his finger and said: "With Guangning City as the fulcrum, we will take a boat to Lushun in the future. I will ask the Central Government to remove Zhang Pan from his post, and then capture Jinzhou Guard. As long as we have the landing point at Lushunkou, even if the Tatars occupy the entire Guangning, I will have a way to safely enter Liaodong."
