"Boom!"
Bursts of fierce artillery fire exploded on the city wall of Hepu County.
Led by Lan Yu and Li Jin, the Ming army approached Hepu County as quickly as possible. At this moment, the natives were still in the excitement after the robbery and did not believe that the Ming army could fight so quickly. Come.
Fortunately, Ruan Xiufeng woke up in time, coordinated various ministries, gathered hundreds of thousands of natives, and barely formed a line of defense against the Ming army.
Relying on the solid city walls of Hepu County, Ruan Xiufeng believed that he would be able to defeat the Ming army and bargain with the Ming Dynasty.
However, when the Ming army's artillery began to roar, he no longer had such ridiculous thoughts in his mind.
The Ming army's artillery has been upgraded again at this moment. Although there is not much change in caliber, the inside of the artillery has been engraved with rifling.
But the inside of the artillery began to be carved with rifling, which meant that the Ming army had set eyes on the artillery shells, which could be said to hit wherever they were pointed.
In addition, the Ming army also changed the loading method of artillery from front loading to rear loading.
This improvement is simply an epoch-making progress.
Not only can the reloading speed of the artillery be greatly increased, but it can also increase the air tightness of the artillery, doubling the range and power.
It is precisely because of this that the gunpowder content of the artillery shells used by the Marine Corps has reached a higher level, and the damage of the artillery shells has increased geometrically.
One shot went down, and it eroded for dozens of meters. It was simply a murder weapon.
Today, natives like Ruan Xiufeng are the first enemies to taste the power of these cannons.
Although Ruan Xiufeng was a chieftain with a large tribe of hundreds of thousands of people, he had never seen such a sharp firearm.
Never mind that I have seen it, I have never even heard of it.
If Ruan Xiufeng knew that the Ming army had such powerful weapons, even if he was given ten more courages, he would not dare to provoke the Ming army.
But it was too late to say anything now. Now he could only hide at the crenellations of the city wall, shivering, hoping that the cannonballs in the sky would never hit him.
Even Ruan Xiufeng is like this, let alone other chieftains.
These chieftains are just Ruan Xiufeng who came out from Shiwandashan to serve as a shield for himself.
When they saw this earth-shattering movement, some people were so frightened that they knelt on the ground, clasped their hands, and begged the gods not to punish them.
These people directly regarded the artillery as a warning from the gods, crawled on the ground and shivered, and were eventually blown to pieces by the artillery fire.
The Marine Corps' artillery fire continued for half an hour, until the city was plowed, and then it gradually stopped.
At this moment, the city wall was like a Shura field. There were stumps and broken arms everywhere, and a thick layer of fleshy foam. Except for a few lucky ones who were hiding at the crenellations, they were standing on the city wall with high spirits. The natives actually disappeared out of thin air.
"Come to the city!"
Lan Yu was very satisfied with the results of the bombing. After confirming that the enemies at the top of the city had been bombed, the Ming army finally began to climb the city.
"The Ming Army...The Ming Army is coming!! Hurry, stop them!"
Several chieftains who felt the movement below the city shouted anxiously after seeing the Ming army begin to climb the city.
However, he shouted several times but received no response. When he turned around, he saw that the reserve team under the city had already dispersed.
Encountering such fierce Ming army artillery fire, these people really did not have the courage to stay and fight against them. The Ming army at this time, in their eyes, might be more terrifying than the god of death.
Everyone rushed to escape. These natives were carrying large and small bags with the things they had finally robbed.
Now that the thing has been snatched, who is willing to really fight for it? I was willing to fight against the Ming army before, but I just thought that with fewer Ming soldiers, I could win easily.
But when they found out that the Ming army was just like the King of Hell, everyone had only one thought: to run away.
They may not be as fast as the Ming army, but it doesn't matter, they just need to run faster than their colleagues behind them.
Dead Taoist friends are not dead poor Taoists. As long as they run fast enough and hide in Shiwan Mountain, the Ming army will have nothing to do with them.
When the time comes, the wealth he has snatched will be enough for him to live happily for a lifetime.
Most people think this way. When an army aims at plunder and is plundered, it is destined that this army will completely lose its combat effectiveness.
This is what the current chieftain alliance is like. Everyone is rushing to escape, and they have no intention of fighting the Ming army.
When Lan Yu saw this scene, she was confused on the spot, "This...are these people really the army?"
"Why are they so weak? They fell down before I even exerted any force!"
Li Jin snorted coldly:
"They are nothing more than a group of bandits. They are not an army. If they can be called an army, it is an insult to the army."
"Immediately give an order to drive everyone to Shiwanda Mountain."
"Command Fu Youde, be on guard and guard to the death. No natives will be allowed to escape. I will make them pay with blood!"
Fleeing, fleeing thousands of miles.
Even though Ruan Xiufeng desperately tried to prevent the natives from escaping, no one paid any attention to him. Everyone kept running away to the north.
Just when Ruan Xiufeng was about to be chased by the Ming army, his brother Ruan Xiulin came to him at the most critical moment.
"Brother, leave quickly. If you don't leave, it will be too late!"
Ruan Xiulin shouted anxiously, his face extremely anxious.
Ruan Xiufeng was a little less interested at this moment. Looking at the army that dissipated in an instant, the ambition in his heart gradually began to extinguish.
In fact, his original intention of attacking Hepu County was to occupy this place and then achieve his own power.
As for the Ming army's counterattack, Ruan Xiufeng was a little worried, but he had dealt with the Ming army before, so he knew a little about the Ming army's combat effectiveness.
He believes that as long as he can unite his hundreds of thousands of troops, he can definitely stop the Ming army's attack. After all, the Ming army does not have many troops in the southwest. As long as he can defeat the small forces of the Ming army in a short time , you can have the capital to negotiate with the court.
At that time, he only needs to request that Hepu County be divided into his chieftain's territory, and then his plan will succeed.
It's a pity that God is not as good as man. Although he successfully occupied Hepu County and looted it, and even united most of the chieftains to his side, he never expected that the Ming army's combat effectiveness would be so powerful. .
It was so powerful that the Ming army instantly wiped out everything they had worked so hard to plan with just one encounter.
At this moment, his heart was filled with despair, he didn't want to struggle, and he had lost all hope of living.
Seeing Ruan Xiufeng's appearance, Ruan Xiulin roared again:
"Brother, there are tens of thousands of clan members behind you, waiting for you to take them home!!"
"go home??"
When Ruan Xiufeng heard these words, he felt as if he had been pricked by a needle, and his thoughts instantly returned to reality.
"go home!!"
The focus in his eyes gradually gathered, Ruan Xiufeng turned over and mounted the horse next to him, and then shouted:
"Let's go home!"
Ruan Xiufeng fled, leaving behind all the 300,000 natives behind him, and ran northward with only the few members of his tribe.
...
The battle lasted all day, and Lan Yu led his army to continue the pursuit, while Li Jin and Zhu Biao entered Hepu County to deal with the aftermath.
"Lord Li, our army killed more than 80,000 enemy soldiers in this battle. No prisoners were taken. All the natives were shot in the back and no one survived."
"In addition, there are also battle losses on the city wall. All the enemies have lost limbs and arms. It is impossible to count the number of kills. It is estimated that there are about 10,000 people."
"Except for a few soldiers who fell into the cliff and died during the pursuit, there were no casualties in our army."
"Now Liang Guogong is leading his army to catch up. It is expected to arrive at Shiwandashan tomorrow morning. By then, with the cooperation of Ying Guogong, I believe that the enemy will be completely wiped out."
A marching staff officer, after counting the battle losses, immediately returned to the county government office to report the casualties to Li Jin.
Nearly 100,000 were harvested without any casualties. This is enough to show the power of the Marine Corps and the waste of the Chieftain Alliance.
There are still nearly 200,000 people fleeing, but Li Jin believes that these people will not be able to escape for long.
There are only a few roads into Shiwanda Mountain from Hepu County. If you don't take the road and try to climb over the mountains and enter Shiwanda Mountain, you are simply asking for death.
In the inaccessible mountains, there is no food and no water source. The most important thing is that you may lose your way at any time. This is a disaster for humans.
Therefore, Li Jin believed that these 200,000 people would die in Lan Yu's hands sooner or later, and no one would be spared.
After the marching staff left, Zhu Biao began to talk about the losses in Hepu County with a livid face:
"At least 60% of the people were lost. There were originally very few Han people. As a result, after this battle, the Han people were massacred. Only a small number of them fled to Guangdong and escaped."
"The most prosperous port area before was also severely damaged. It will take at least two months to recover."
"The most serious thing is confidence. The business atmosphere we have managed to establish before, attracting businessmen from all over the world to do business, and the promise to protect these people, is like a piece of waste paper, easily torn into pieces."
"The losses suffered by businessmen this time are also extremely serious. If there are no compensation measures, I am afraid that the business in Hepu County will plummet and never return to its previous prosperity."
After Li Jin quietly listened to Zhu Biao's narration, he closed his eyes slightly, then opened them suddenly, already having a decision in his mind.
"We need to do a few things next. Since things are already bad and can't get any worse, let's tear them down and start over."
"First, the reform of native land and return to local government must be implemented throughout the entire southwest. This time, the most thorough reform of native land and return to local government must be carried out. Those who do not have any conditions will be transferred to official positions. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed."
"After these natives moved out of the mountains, they found land for these people, let them reclaim wasteland, and taught them to farm. They gradually settled down and were managed by officials. In less than ten years, the southwest will undergo earth-shaking changes."
"At least the population in the southwest will never be as sparse as registered. With the population, the southwest will be more dynamic and can do more things."
"This is the basis for the future development of the southwest and must not be discounted. Lan Yu and Fu Youde are responsible for enforcing it."
"Second, rebuild Hepu County. But this time, Hepu County needs to be expanded three times. The previous Hepu County was too small and could not accommodate such a large population."
"The geographical location of Hepu County is very important. After the land reform, the opening of the sea, and the large-scale development of Annan, it will become a distribution center for goods. Coupled with the natural advantage of the port, it is destined to become the most critical place in the southwest. transfer station.”
"Therefore, Hepu County must be large in scale, and a fleet must be stationed here to be responsible for the land and maritime security of Hepu County."
"After the reconstruction of the port is completed, investment will be attracted again. The world will be bustling for profit, and the world will be bustling for profit. As long as there is profit, these businessmen will still pounce on it without hesitation."
"Third, re-establish the credibility of Hepu County. This time Hepu County was captured, and both the people and businessmen suffered huge losses."
"In that case, we will compensate them three times."
"All the seizures by the army this time will be used for this compensation, and the army will not leave a penny."
"In addition, the 10 million taels of silver that the Annan people paid for compensation last time will also pay for this compensation."
"Only in this way can Hepu County's credit be quickly established."
"Fourth, immediately report to the emperor and request the emperor to quickly relocate the population to Hepu County and Annan."
"Whenever the Han people become the majority of the local population, society will gradually stabilize and these native people will be slowly assimilated by the Han people."
"What do you have to say about the above four points?"
Zhu Biao quickly took a piece of paper and wrote down Li Jin's suggestions, and then said:
"This time there were many casualties among the people in Hepu County. If all these people's families were silenced, who should I ask for compensation?"
"For these destitute people, all we can do is collect their bones, and if we can find immediate family members, we will compensate them. The deceased has passed away, but we still need to help the living people live a better life."
Li Jin's expression was a bit sad. In this case, compensation was no longer possible and the only option was to let the deceased rest in peace.
Zhu Biao nodded slightly and said:
"I will report to the emperor right now, but the manpower needed to build Hepu County needs to be transferred from Annan."
Today's Annan has nothing but a large population, especially labor. Under Li Jin's deception, these people all thought that they could eat well and drink spicy food in the Ming Dynasty, and they all yearned to go to the Ming Dynasty.
"No problem, I'll have the laborers sent to you in a few days."
Li Jin agreed. Then he thought of something and said again:
"This loss in Hepu County made me think of a problem. Maybe this method can solve the problem of future loss compensation."
"It can be implemented not only in Hepu County, but also throughout the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Biao's curiosity was suddenly piqued and he asked:
"any solution?"
Li Jin smiled mysteriously and came up with a solution that stunned Zhu Biao.
