boom! boom! boom!
The artillery team of the Tiger Flag fired several shots into the city.
As soon as the gunfire stopped, the city's chief bookkeeper and Dianshi chose to surrender, and the county magistrate chose to commit suicide in the Yamen.
The county seat was easily captured.
The team with the tiger character flag marched into the city.
Xu Guang, the commander of the camp, left a team from Henan to take over the defense of the city, while the large troops rushed directly from the county seat to the next county seat.
As the commander of the war camp, Xu Guang had nearly four thousand soldiers and horses under his command.
However, this time he brought more than 7,000 soldiers and horses with him, most of whom were farmers and soldiers sent from Henan, but now they have been adapted into heavy equipment in his army.
These farmers and soldiers have been trained for a long time. There is no problem at all as garrison troops stationed in the local area. The only difference is that they have experienced more battles than combat soldiers.
Most of the Ming troops in Jinan Prefecture were brought to Laizhou by Fu Zonglong. Now Jinan Prefecture is empty. Xu Guang's task is to lead troops to encroach on the prefectures and counties under Jinan Prefecture.
Large cities like Jinan Fucheng may not be able to be broken for the time being, but the prefectures and counties within Jinan Prefecture pose no threat to Xu Guang.
Moreover, as long as the Tiger Character Banner often does not need to directly capture the city, it only needs to occupy the area outside the city, establish a peasant association based on the village, implement the land distribution policy, and turn the villages belonging to the Ming Dynasty into the Tiger Character Banner's villages.
Xu Guang himself knew that he did not have many troops. If they were scattered, they would be easily defeated. After all, apart from the Ming army, the most threatening people in the local area were the local gentry.
In order to preserve their family wealth, these gentry were willing to spend money to build strongholds to protect themselves at critical moments.
Moreover, this kind of stockade is sometimes more difficult to deal with than the city guarded by the Ming army.
The garrison in the city belonged to Ming officials and spent Ming's money to defend Ming's city, but the stockade outside the city spent their own money to defend their own things. There was a big difference in the strength of the two.
Along the way in Jinan Prefecture, Xu Guang spent more time dealing with the powerful local villages like this in addition to breaking through the fortified city that could not be breached for a while.
There is no shortage of wealthy surnames in Shandong. Many of them are wealthy families that existed thousands of years ago. However, they have experienced changes from generation to generation and have long lost their former glory.
But even so, it is still far beyond ordinary people.
"The camp is at the center. In front of us is Tanjiazhai. The people we sent to accept the surrender have been blocked outside the village by them." A soldier came to Xu Guang to report.
After hearing this, Xu Guang picked up the monocular and looked forward.
This Tanjiazhai was the largest village he encountered after entering Jinan Prefecture. After all, there were soldiers, armor, arrows, and cannons in the village.
"Have you asked anyone nearby where this Tanjiazhai came from?" Xu Guang asked the people around him.
A local village like Tanjiazhai, which is fully equipped with soldiers and armor and even cannons, is obviously different from ordinary local tyrants. It is more difficult to obtain armor in places like Shandong than in the northwest, especially the Tanjiazhai actually has cannons. , this is no longer something that ordinary powerful people can obtain.
"We have already inquired about it." Qin Qi, chief of staff of the battalion, came over and said, "I heard that this Tan family is descended from the Zhou Dynasty or some other descendant of the Tan country."
Xu Guang curled his lips and said: "This is to put money on his face. The Zhou Dynasty has been thousands of years ago, and many aristocratic families have lost their inheritance."
"I don't know if it's true or not, but people nearby say so, and this Tan family has produced two Jinshi, five Juren, and most of the fertile land in the two nearby counties belongs to this Tan family." Qin Qi said.
Xu Guang said: "No need to ask, this Tan family is definitely not a good person."
"This Tan family is still building bridges and roads, but the life of their tenants is really difficult." Qin Qi said.
Xu Guang snorted coldly and said: "There is no such thing as a big family like this that occupies fertile land."
"Haha, it is precisely because they are not good things that we have to deal with them." Qin Qi laughed.
Xu Guang flicked the riding crop in his hand and said, "Let's get closer and see how Tan plans to defend his village."
Urge the war horse to move forward.
Soon, two people appeared outside the village.
Because there were cannons in the village, Xu Guang did not get too close. After all, his flesh and blood could not withstand a cannon blast on him.
"The camp is in full swing. Someone from the village has been sent to see you." A soldier came over to report.
Hearing this, Xu Guang said: "Are you ready to surrender?"
"You'll know it when you see it." Qin Qi next to him said with a smile.
Xu Guang said: "Then meet and bring him over."
"Yes." The soldier turned around to lead the men.
After a while, a man with a mustache was brought over.
"I've met the king." The bearded man raised his arms towards Xu Guang and cupped his hands.
Xu Guang on horseback looked at the other party condescendingly and said, "Aren't you afraid?"
When ordinary people saw him, their first reaction was to shrink back, with panic in their eyes, and they even knelt on the ground and did not dare to look up at him.
But the man in front of him didn't show any fear on his face, and he dared to look directly at him, and even raised his hand to say hello. He was obviously not an ordinary person, at least not an ordinary citizen.
"The king has brought so many soldiers and horses to surround our Tanjiazhai. I am naturally scared, but no matter how afraid the king is, I will not leave Tanjiazhai easily." The man with a mustache looked up at Xu Guang and said.
After hearing this, Xu Guang smiled and said: "You are right. Since we have surrounded your village, we will not retreat easily. Now that you are here, it saves me the trouble of sending more people. Go back and tell the people in the village." The person in charge should leave the stronghold immediately and surrender, and I can spare his life."
"Your Majesty may not know that the Tan family often builds bridges and builds roads nearby. During disaster years, they will also give porridge to the poor people so that the people will not starve to death. They are famous for their kindness in every village. I hope Your Majesty, in consideration of Tan's meager contribution, he can take the initiative to withdraw his troops and not disturb his neighbors." The man with the mustache bowed slightly and made a slight cupping of his hands.
After hearing this, Xu Guang turned his head and looked at the man with the mustache in front of him, and said: "It seems that he is also a member of the Tan family. However, you want me to withdraw my troops based on just these few words of yours. I don't think it's too whimsical. I would like to advise you." , it’s better to let the clan leader you mentioned leave the stronghold and surrender earlier, so as not to waste everyone’s time.”
"Your Majesty, there is no room for negotiation at all?" The man with the mustache frowned slightly.
Xu Guang said unceremoniously: "There is no room for negotiation. Either you come out of the stockade and surrender, or I break open your stockade and capture everyone from the stockade."
The riding crop in his hand was pointed at the mustached man in front of him.
"I know that the king just captured the county seat not long ago, but the walls of the county seat are in disrepair and the armaments in the city are lax. It is not difficult to capture the county seat. But Tanjiazhai believes that the king has also seen it. The soldiers, armor and arrows in the village are missing. There is no shortage of everything, and there are also several cannons. Bandits on the mountain once tried to build a stronghold, but none of them took advantage. If the king is willing to retreat, Tanjiazhai will offer five hundred taels of silver, two hundred stones of grain and food from afar. Two live sheep and ten jars of wine." The man with the mustache first threatened and then promised benefits.
They used hard and soft tactics to force Xu Guang to retreat.
