The Japanese pirates in Beicheng were hidden in the darkness. Except for the Japanese pirates who had been hung upside down on the city wall and their screams gradually became fainter, the only sound left was the crackling sound of burning torches.
No one dared to be careless, Qin Lie ordered to go down and use the few bows in the group training to shoot rockets to check the movement outside the city.
There is no living thing except corpses!
After two sticks of incense, even the crackling sounds in Dongcheng gradually disappeared and could not be heard.
Not long after, Zhang Jingxian came to Beicheng panting with the help of his soldiers.
As soon as he saw Xu He, he said nervously: "Why did the Japanese pirates retreat?"
Xu He frowned and shook his head: "I was repulsed! I don't know where to go."
"How's the kill?"
Xu He winked at Qin Lie.
A moment later, the rocket pierced the night sky again. When the arrow fell, corpses were strewn on the pickled feces and urine at the city gate.
After just a brief glance, Zhang Jingxian said in surprise: "There are at least forty or fifty corpses of Japanese pirates here..."
Everyone was worried about the Japanese pirates just now, but no one cared about how many people had been killed and injured.
When they saw this scene under the city, Qin Lie, Zhou Bi, and all the soldiers suddenly cheered.
The city walls were filled with the joy of victory.
Zhang Jingxian also said happily: "Liangsheng, this is amazing. We have more people, more firearms, more wood and stones than you, but there is not even a corpse of a Japanese pirate under the city gate."
Xu He smiled and said: "According to the confession of the Japanese pirate Wanbo, the thieves were only feigning an attack in the East City, and the real struggle was here with us. I guess the Japanese pirates didn't get close to the city wall, right?"
Zhang Jingxian sighed and said: "Having said that, looking at the states and counties in Southern Zhili, although you only killed dozens of enemies, it is still the most impressive record among the states and counties!"
Xu He calculated in his mind that this was really what Zhang Jingxian said.
There were not many Japanese pirates harassing Nanzhili in the first place, and most of them were concentrated in Suzhou, Songjiang, Tongzhou and other places. In these places, the Japanese pirates either retreated on their own because of the strong walls and clear fields, or they were defeated in a sudden attack and the Japanese soldiers killed, burned and looted without bloodshed.
Even if there was resistance, the Japanese pirates would only suffer a few casualties.
But this time Xu He and his newly formed team training accidentally set a small record of annihilating enemies without paying attention.
"Lingsheng, I didn't expect that the regiment training team, which has just been formed, can have such a record. When the Japanese pirates retreat, I will report it to the Ming court and reward you!"
Xu He, Qin Lie, Zhou Bi and others quickly handed over their hands in thanks.
When he got up, Xu He handed the letter sent by the Japanese pirates from Ding Ze to Zhang Jingxian.
After Zhang Jingxian looked at it, he frowned and said, "What exactly are they planning?"
Xu He said: "Master Zhang, the top priority is to strengthen the defense of the four gates. Although there are more Japanese pirates than us, we are protected by the city wall, and they can't do anything to us. As long as we don't mess up, the Japanese pirates will eventually come back defeated!"
Zhang Jingxian nodded thoughtfully and said: "I will immediately send someone to notify the other three gates. They must be alert and don't let the Japanese pirates take advantage of them!"
Just as they were talking, Zhou Bi suddenly bowed and said: "Master Zhang, Young Master, I have a guess about the movements of the Japanese pirates. I don't know whether to tell it or not?"
Zhang Jingxian looked sideways at Zhou Bi, then turned to ask Xu He, "Who is this!"
Xu He said: "This is my friend, Zhou Bi and Zhou Liangfu. Brother Qi works under Mr. Jingchuan and is highly trusted by Mr. Jingchuan."
When Zhou Bi heard Xu He introduce himself in this way, a warm current surged in his heart.
With his status without fame, if he were placed elsewhere, he might not be able to speak to a big shot like Zhang Jingxian for the rest of his life.
In order to take care of his face, Xu He did not say that he was his follower, but treated him as a friend. Even Zhang Jingxian, a friend of Duke Xie Yuan, would give him some face.
Moreover, he described his brother, a top official, as Mr. Jingchuan's trustworthy subordinate.
Mr. Jingchuan, what kind of person he is, a cultural celebrity in the country, invisibly, Zhou Bi has become more than one level higher in Zhang Jingxian's eyes.
Sure enough, Zhang Jingxian said: "It turns out that I am a friend of Liangsheng. If you have anything to say, please just say it. The person who speaks is not responsible!"
Zhou Bi calmed down and said, "I guess the Japanese pirates won't come again tonight!"
As soon as he said it, Zhang Jingxian was surprised and said: "What is the meaning of this statement?"
Zhou Bi said: "Just now I thought the Japanese pirates would come back, but suddenly I thought that if I were the leader of the Japanese pirates and the opportunity was lost, and the imperial army was surrounding them, they would not waste time with us in Hailing City!"
"You mean?"
A map appeared in Zhou Bi's mind, and he closed his eyes slightly and said: "Going from Hailing to the north is Xinghua, going south to Kukou Riverside, going west to Yangzhou Prefecture, and going out to the east is Rugao."
"These places are all rich places."
"It's too far north from the river. They don't dare to go to Xinghua! To the west is Fucheng. The city is high and the river is deep. Unless the Japanese pirates abandon the ship and come out in full force, they won't dare to go!"
"To the east of Rugao, there should be Japanese pirates at this time. They may turn back and get on the boat in Tongzhou to evacuate!"
"But in my opinion, they will never return empty-handed, so Port Town is the best choice!"
When Xu He heard this, he couldn't help but frown. The port was easy to defend but difficult to attack. "History of the Song Dynasty" said that Yue Fei once said: Taizhou has no danger to defend, so retreat to Chaixu.
Taizhou is today's Hailing County, and Chaixu is the current port.
Xu He had made a plan for Zhang Jingxian before, and the Japanese pirates were very likely to go north from Xingang near the port.
So this is an important port for the Grand Canal to cross the river.
The Caoyun Yamen has many warehouses across the river located in Xingang!
"Hiss!" Xu He took a breath of cold air.
In this case, the Japanese pirates are very likely to go straight to the warehouse in Xingang.
Zhang Jingxian also thought of this.
"I have ordered Chen Yingzhao to station himself in Xingang and guard the entrance of the canal!"
Xu He shook his head and said, "Sir, what Zhou Bi means is that the thieves will not go to Xingang, but will go directly to the port."
Because Xingang's water transportation was developed, merchants gathered at the nearby ports. There were many large and wealthy merchant houses and banks. Even the money transferred by the imperial court across the river was waited for by the Caoding workers to be transported to Xingang, and then the leader of Caoding came to the port to collect the money.
Thinking of this picture of Jingxian with cold hands and feet: "What should I do?"
Xu He sighed and said: "We can't catch up! The Japanese pirates must take the waterway to the port! It's dark and we can't ride horses on the land! We can only hope that Commander Chen will adapt to changes!"
That's right, Zhang Jingxian now has no soldiers, and the only team training available has to defend Hailing, so he doesn't dare to move lightly.
For now, we can only wait!
At this time, Chen Hua, who was patrolling Nancheng, sent someone to tell him that someone with smart eyes and ears heard the sound of boats moving in the river outside Nancheng.
They thought it was thieves who wanted to attack the water gate, so they were nervous for a while.
Unexpectedly, there was no movement for a long time, and the rockets were fired, and there was no one around.
When Xu He heard this, he could basically confirm that the Japanese pirates were heading south!
