Zhu Si was quite hesitant. The current channel basically passes through the middle of the sandbar. The sandbars on both sides are flat. Except for a few reed marshes, the view and shooting range on the sandbar are very wide. Not to mention the ambush of a large group of people, even a dozen people cannot hide. .
But it's not possible on the waterway to the north. On one side is an open sandbank on the river, and on the other side are hills on the shore with lush vegetation. It's no problem to hide dozens or hundreds of people.
He was not worried about the bows and arrows of the officers and soldiers or the Yao people, but he had to guard against the opponent's firearms. When the training team was studying, the instructor pointed out many times that although the enemy's projectile firearms are primitive, if they are used under good concealment or protective conditions, the killing power is still considerable, especially when the enemy ambushes, often one attack A successful sneak attack can cause a large number of casualties to the troops.
But continuing to wander here is not an option. Zhu Si nodded: "Okay! Let's change the course!"
At this time, in Fengchuan County, more than ten miles downstream, Lieutenant Fubo Army, who was responsible for the security of Fengchuan, was arranging routine patrols for the next day and the more important task of covering the transport fleet on the Xijiang River.
Originally, such a county town could not be garrisoned by regular troops such as the Fubo Army. A squadron of the National Army was standard. However, the sudden outbreak of the Yao Rebellion made this place suddenly become important.
Fengchuan, an important town established when the Central Plains entered Lingnan during the pre-Qin period, is a well-deserved key to the two rivers. Although it is not as prominent as the governor's town of Zhaoqing or as developed and prosperous as Wuzhou in Huijin, Guangdong and Guangxi, it is no more than an ordinary county town. The old city walls and dilapidated buildings are similar to many county towns that the South China Army passed through, making it difficult for people to pass by. The elders take a second look. However, the geographical location of the intersection of Jiangxi and Jiangxi still made it necessary to plant a bright red flag on the map of the General Staff Headquarters.
Let’s not talk about the significance of Fengchuan County to Xijiang. The Hejiang River flowing into Xijiang from in front of the county seat is the lifeline directly leading to Hezhou and Lianzhou. If anything goes wrong in Fengchuan, Fubo's army, which is going deep into this area to quell the chaos, will be deprived of food and pay. As the scale of the Yao Rebellion further expanded, Fengchuan's status as a transportation hub became increasingly important. The joint logistics not only set up a military station here, but also set up a field hospital to serve as a treatment and transfer place for the wounded.
A large number of materials and personnel have to be transferred here. The temporary storage yard is piled up like a mountain. Once the enemy sneak attacks, even just setting a fire will make Minister Hong jump, let alone the troops fighting deep in Lianzhou and other places and the troops trapped in Lianzhou. , Hezhou and other county towns.
For this reason, Zhu Mingxia had to deploy a company to garrison Fengchuan despite the shortage of troops. The National Army headquarters in Guangdong also sent an additional National Army squadron here. Their mission was the same as that of the National Army brigade in Wuzhou: to defend the city. In addition, motorized vessels are used to carry out powerful patrols along the river to promptly eliminate various potential threats to shipping.
Fubo Army Lieutenant Mi Longtao came to Fengchuan County in this way. As soon as he led his company to Fengchuan, in addition to strengthening the defense of the county seat, he also set up a position on the top of Tashan Mountain, ten miles away from the city on the north bank of the Xijiang River. Although this mountain is inconspicuous, it has an excellent view. When the weather is good, you can see Wuzhou City from the top of the tower without a telescope. It can also monitor a large area of Xijianghejiang at the same time. In terms of terrain, it is located on the north and south banks of the Xijiang River with the county seat. They are angles to each other and can effectively guard the mouth of the river where the two rivers meet. Mi Longtao deployed a squadron and several artillery pieces here. Observation posts carrying high-powered telescopes and communication troops equipped with semaphores and light signaling equipment were also specially dispatched.
Mi Longtao was arranging tasks when suddenly the correspondent knocked on the door and came in, reporting an emergency at the Tashan observation post.
"What happened?" Mi Longtao was not too surprised - because there have been many "emergency situations" like this recently, small groups of bandits and Congyao people's armed forces often appear on both sides of the Xijiang River to attack villages and passing ships. Although in most cases they were unable to break through the fortified villages or seize the ships of the transport fleet, every attack would cause high tension in Fengchuan County - after all, there were too many supplies piled up here.
"The observation post reported: They saw that a convoy of six ships was blocked at the first beach of the upper reaches of the county. The smoke from the fleet did not move significantly for a long time, and there was vague gunfire."
"Command Tashan, keep observing, and report any situation in time!"
After the correspondent left, Mi Longtao glanced at the map. There was enemy activity in Jieshou Beach. The situation in this area was really not optimistic. He raised his head, glanced at the subordinates gathered around the table, and said:
"Needless to say, they must be the patrol fleet of the Wuzhou National Army that was originally scheduled to arrive in Fengkai at noon today. In all likelihood, they are in some kind of trouble." He turned to ask a man at the table who was wearing Ming native clothes and had long hair. The middle-aged man with a bun and a full beard asked, "What's going on outside the city these days?"
The middle-aged man is the captain of the Fengkai County Detective Team. He is responsible for collecting intelligence in and outside Fengkai County. Most of his subordinates are locals. Although the personnel are not reliable, the intelligence collected is very useful and he is an important eyes and ears for the local garrison. .
"Recently, the spies have not reported any news of the arrival or gathering of large groups of enemies - so I think even if they were attacked, it would be a small-scale disturbance." The middle-aged man seemed confident. Although he looks like a native of the Ming Dynasty, he is actually an old naturalized citizen who has received special training from the Foreign Intelligence Service.
According to the standards of the Foreign Intelligence Service, only a hundred or more armed personnel are called a large group of enemies. Once a team exceeds a hundred people, whether it is to ensure food supply or marching accommodation, it will be very conspicuous. It is difficult to ensure concealment and it is impossible not to be discovered by the detective teams operating on both sides of the Xijiang River.
However, if it is harassed by a small group of armed forces, there is no need for the escort fleet to stop. According to the escort patrol regulations, if the fleet encounters a small-scale harassment attack, it can just use the firepower on the ship to fight back. It is not necessary to land and fight, so as not to fall into the enemy trap. Although Lieutenant Mi didn't know Zhu Si and Li Dong, he believed that the commander of the fleet knew this rule.
Now the fleet is stationary, indicating that they have encountered insurmountable troubles. As a result, he had to dispatch troops to respond.
"The enemy situation is currently unknown, and we must remain alert. I will lead a platoon to board the ship immediately and rush upstream to check the situation. The deputy company commander will lead the second platoon to stand by at the dock. The agreed signal: a green flare is safe, and a red flare is If there is any enemy situation, reinforcements will be sent immediately. The second platoon will board the ship and come to meet me. The rest of the personnel will all enter combat positions!"
"yes!"
"Order the Tashan post to strengthen vigilance and observe the enemy's situation in the direction of Hejiang." Mi Longtao added.
After giving the order, Mi Longtao took off the command knife on the wall and tied it on: "Play the assembly drum!"
Just when the Fengchuan garrison began to beat the rally drum and prepare to take the initiative to send out rescue, Li Dong, Zhu Si and the others had already encountered swarms of bees several times on the Northern Channel.
I don’t know where the enemy looted this thing from. The entire convoy cautiously entered the North Channel, and everything went smoothly. They completed almost half of the distance in a calm manner. At this time, the sound of sharp arrows piercing the air suddenly came from the shore, followed by dozens of black smoke. A messy spray shot out from the woods in the direction of the fleet.
"A swarm of bees!" Zhu Si at the head of the team shouted - in Denglai, he had seen Sun Junmen's subordinates practice this thing. A long hexagonal wooden barrel can be carried by one person. After ignition, dozens of rockets shot out, and the scene was very spectacular.
Before he finished speaking, these rockets flew towards the fleet. In fact, these rockets were exactly the same as the swarm of swarms that Zhu Si saw in the martial arts field: flying up and down - Zhu Si didn't know that there was a swarm of swarms in the world. The formula called Brownian motion can perfectly describe what he saw. But the scene of dozens of rockets dragging black smoke through the air was quite shocking, and the National Army soldiers on board suddenly became commotion.
"Don't be chaotic!" Zhu Si drew out his command sword and waved it, "Calm down! Calm down!"
Although the trajectory of the swarm of rockets is very strange and almost without accuracy, the general direction of shooting is still correct, and it is no problem to use it to carry out area strikes. Seven or eight of these dozens of rockets hit the No. 1 boat and the No. 3 boat that followed, but they were all bounced away by the bamboo shield and iron plate. The most threatening shot hit the observation deck of the No. 1 boat, startling the observation post above, and quickly retracted his head behind the iron guardrail.
"Signal, move forward at full speed, get out of here!" Zhu Si ordered loudly.
At this time, the second group of "swarms" shot out again, followed by the third group, the fourth group..., and one after another "swarms" shot out towards the fleet. The enemy took advantage of the mountains and dense forests on the shore to come over and leave. Although no casualties were caused, the continuous rocket attacks, the black smoke in the air, the whistling sound of rockets and the rain-like ripping and bouncing sounds of sharp arrows hitting the barrier made the citizens who had not trained for a long time... The soldiers panicked. Although most of them claim to be former officers and soldiers, in fact they have no combat experience. The training after being incorporated into the National Army only focused on formation and discipline. They could only line up, march, lunge and fire volleys according to the orders of their superiors mechanically - many of them had not even fired live ammunition from Nanyang rifles.
Feeling nervous and fearful, the heavy matchlock gunners opened fire indiscriminately without waiting for orders - this kind of firing had no target or aim, and was no different from the practice of many Ming soldiers using firearms to embolden their courage during battle. The turtle doves not only shot randomly at the north shore, but also received many shots on the sandbank in the south where there was no trace of human beings at all.
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 357
