Gu Zhengchen has fallen asleep. Only the torches are burning quietly in the silent guard camp. The sergeants on the high sentry posts are yawning. There are no lights in the Yangtze River and the ships are docked at the port.
The galloping horse's hooves disturbed the gentle breathing of the night, like thunder striking the earth, waking up the moon, half-opening its eyes to peek at the incoming person.
"Expedited paperwork!"
the sergeant screamed, swinging his whip down on the horse.
The Jiangyin Guard camp opened, the sergeant got off his horse and ran quickly towards the office.
Gu Zhengchen was awakened by the movement outside the door. He sat up, took off the sword hanging by the bed, squinted at the shadow outside the window and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Master, there is urgent news."
Zhang Pei's voice.
Gu Zhengchen breathed a sigh of relief, put on his clothes, cleaned his face and walked out. He sat down in the second hall of the office. Feng Fu, Zhuang Xing, Zhao Hailou and others were already there.
A sergeant covered in mud and with wounds on his face stepped forward and saluted: "Gu Zhenfu, urgent military order."
Gu Zhengchen took the document, opened it and read it. He narrowed his eyes slightly and wrote the receipt with a solemn expression. He ordered Zhang Pei to hand it over to the sergeant: "The military order has been received. Go back and tell Zhou Zhenfu that Jiangyin Guards will move according to the order." .”
The sergeant left in a hurry.
"Zhou Zhenfu, but Zhou Huan Zhenfu?"
Feng Fu stepped forward and asked.
Gu Zhengchen looked at the military order document with a serious expression on his face: "It seems that we are about to go on an expedition."
"Going to war?"
Feng Fu was shocked.
Zhuang Xing was shocked.
Zhao Hailou, Dou Qiao and others were also a little surprised. Could it be that General Wu Zhen, who had taken away so many ships and so many elites, was not a match for the pirates? He actually wanted to force the remaining sergeants of Jiangyin Guard to go out?
Feng Fu took the document handed over by Gu Zhengchen and looked at it, his eyes widened immediately: "Jiangyin Navy Guards moved to Nansha Island to prevent pirates from entering the Yangtze Estuary at all costs? This, this..."
Zhuang Xing looked at Feng Fu who was stuttering and felt that this order was incredible.
The Jiangyin Guards Navy has troops, but there are only dozens of ships, all of which are small grasshopper ships. Even if all the ships are full of people, they can only accommodate 700 sergeants at most. If some baggage materials are added, the maximum It can only accommodate five hundred people.
Five hundred sergeants, if they are to encounter the main force of pirates, they are not enough to squeeze people between their teeth!
You must know that pirates are rampant and powerful, especially the remnants of Fang Guozhen, rogue bandits, Japanese pirates, and pirates gathered together with great momentum. If it was easy to deal with, the imperial court would not need to call Jinghaihou Wu Zhen and control the soldiers and horses of several provincial guards to go out to attack the pirates.
Qin Song, a householder in Jurong, said: "I know that Nansha is not an island, but a sandbank. Although there are often pirates and grain ships near the location, it is impossible to set up camp there."
Zhuang Xing looked at the document and asked with an ugly face: "This is really a document from Zhou Zhenfu. He knows very well that it is not suitable for defense. It is difficult to even find a place to stand. Why did he give such an order?"
Feng Fu looked at Gu Zhengchen.
Gu Zhengchen moved his wrist slightly, and a copper coin appeared in his palm, and then turned it on his fingertips: "There is no point in discussing and questioning military orders. The most important thing right now is to execute the military orders."
No need to guess, it is clear that Zhou Huan must have learned about Zhou Lin's beating and wanted to kill himself.
Although Zhou Huan is the governor of Jiangyin Guard and is on the same level as himself, he is following Wu Zhen now and is a general under Wu Zhen, and has the right to ask the local guard to assist in defense.
If you disobey military orders, the only consequence is death.
It can only be executed!
Military orders are like a mountain, leaving no room for negotiation.
Gu Zhengchen suddenly grasped the copper coin, looked at everyone with sharp eyes, and issued an order:
"Zhang Pei, go to the warehouse to withdraw three hundred coins, and lead people to purchase a large amount of spirits for distillation. By noon tomorrow, three distillations will be completed."
"Feng Fu, gather five hundred ceramic jars in the army and prepare eight hundred cloths soaked in kerosene, of which three hundred cloths are wrapped around the arrows."
"Zhuang Xing, prepare a batch of wooden boards, thumb thick, as long as a boat, and a foot wide, and tie them to the side of the boat. Draw two hundred sergeants from the Jiangyin Guard, one hundred sergeants from the Jurong Guard, enough bows and arrows, and five spears per man. , put on the shield..."
"Zhao Hailou, distribute the backpacks of Sergeant Jurong who are not going on expedition to Sergeant Jiangyin, and prepare rations for ten days..."
Feng Fu, Zhuang Xing and others looked at Gu Zhengchen in surprise.
The Gu Zhengchen in front of him didn't have any shadow of a civil servant. He looked more like a young general who was eager to try. There was no fear on his face, but instead a look of desire.
The military orders are clear, the distribution is in place, and everything is considered, showing a sense of maturity, as if the battlefield is no longer a rare thing for him.
Gu Zhengchen thought of Mu Ying, Mu Chun, Wu Rong and others. They taught him a lot through the war game. Later, when he had a long talk with Xu Da, Xu Da taught Gu Zhengchen even more:
Calm.
Calmness on the battlefield is the stability of mentality, the confidence to win, and the courage of a sergeant!
Jiangyin Wei woke up.
The sergeant began to prepare various matters nervously and orderly.
Wei Shangwen and Liu Ji from the Jiangyin Guards Hundreds found Feng Fu and watched as Feng Fu tore up strips of cloth and threw them into a pine oil barrel. Wei Shangwen stepped forward and asked: "Feng Fuqianhu, what does Gu Zhenfu mean? He just Are you planning to bring three hundred people with you?"
Feng Fu glanced at Wei Shangwen helplessly: "Gu Zhenfu has a lot of things to carry. If he takes seven hundred people with him, there will be no place to put these things."
Wei Shangwen gritted his teeth: "He is a civil servant, has no experience in commanding troops, and does not know the ferocity of pirates. If he takes 300 people with him, it will be okay if he encounters a small group of pirates, but if he encounters a large number of pirates, Wouldn’t it kill everyone?”
Liu Ji then persuaded: "Add more people and bring less supplies."
Feng Fu pointed at Zhuang Xing, who was jumping in the distance: "He has already tried to persuade me, but it's useless."
Zhuang Xing was scolding Gu Zhengchen, not because he was short of manpower, but because he was left in Jiangyin Guard to be in charge of the guard camp.
Although the pirates were not barbarians, their heads were still counted for military merit. Zhuang Xing, who was a deputy Qianhu and eager to become a Qianhu, was not happy if he refused to take advantage of this good opportunity.
In the afternoon, preparations for the expedition were completed.
Gu Zhengchen took Zhang Pei, Zhao Hailou, Qin Song, Dou Qiao and other Jurong sergeants, together with Jiangyin guard Feng Fu, Wei Shangwen, Liu Ji, Wang Dali and other 200 sergeants, to board the ship.
There were three hundred people, and sixty-five ships were used. Some ships were only equipped with three or four sergeants, and a large number of earthen jars and spears were moved onto the ships.
Gu Zhengchen was a little nervous. Although he was somewhat aquatic, this was the Yangtze River and the sea was in the distance. A few dog paddles could not save his life.
The river wind was blowing, and Gu Zhengchen, who was standing on the boat, wanted to pretend to enjoy it, but this kind of small boat didn't even have a shed. It faced the river directly. The bow of the boat was even wet by the river water. It always felt like the boat was There is only the danger of capsizing at any time. Fortunately, Sergeant Jiangyin was very skilled in operating the boat, and he had traveled this river many times, so going down the river was quite smooth.
The distance from Jiangyinwei Port to Nansha Island is more than 300 miles. Although the boat is traveling downstream, it carries people and things after all. It can only travel more than 60 miles in an hour. By the time of the second watch at night, 300 sergeants arrived. Nansha Island east of Chongming.
Nansha Island is not an island, at least not yet. Like Chongming Island, it is formed by sediment deposited by the Yangtze River. However, Chongming Island is now habitable, and the imperial court also set up Chongming Sand Station there, with more than a thousand soldiers stationed there.
At this time, Nansha Island had just emerged from the water less than five feet away. If you put one foot down, your feet would sink in. There was even water rising in some places on the sandbank.
This is no man's land and is not a suitable place to be stationed.
But the military order required him to be stationed here, and Gu Zhengchen had no room to refuse.
Because it is a small boat, there is no problem of stranding. In addition, the flow of the Yangtze River slows down here, and the boat rests on the sandbar. You only need to drive a wooden stake, and there is no need to worry about the boat drifting away.
Gu Zhengchen ordered the sergeant to take out the wooden planks from the side of the ship and lay them on the sandbank. In an instant, there was a way out of the sandbank where there was no way to stay.
After all the planks were laid, the sergeants went to Nansha Island one after another, carried all the luggage to the sandbar, and set up five tents.
"Why?"
Wei Shangwen stepped on the wooden board and found that he didn't sink in, so he asked doubtfully.
Gu Zhengchen looked at the river. The night was hazy and he couldn't see the situation in the distance. "There's nothing mysterious about it. The sandbank is soft and can't bear the force of a small area. You are now stepping on the board, your weight is dispersed, and the sandbank under the entire board is If it is lifted, it will naturally not sink easily. Feng Fu, how do you check passing ships at night?"
Feng Fu saw that there were no lights on the river and said, "As long as there are lights, go up and check."
"Do pirates also light lights on their ships?"
Zhao Hailou asked.
Feng Fu smiled and said: "According to the imperial ban, all ships carrying grain and merchant ships traveling at night must display lights. If there are no lights, once discovered, they will be regarded as pirates. Even if pirates sail at night, they still need to identify the course. Observe the water flow, there are no lights, stars and moon, and the pirates cannot be safe in their boats. Once they run aground or run aground on rocks, and their whereabouts are accidentally revealed, it will be a recipe for death."
Qin Song looked at Feng Fu and said with a bad face: "Some pirates will also disguise themselves as merchant ships or grain transport ships, hang lights in a swaggering manner, sail at night to avoid naval interrogation, and then choose the right time to sneak attack on the soldiers and civilians along the coast. Just rely on Judging whether there is light or not is too childish.”
Gu Zhengchen looked at Qin Song: "You know Nansha and the pirates, why?"
Qin Song clasped his fists: "Gu Zhenfu, I once joined the Chaohu Navy and fought with Yu Tonghai, the Duke of Guo State. Therefore, I have some knowledge of waterways and pirates."
"An old subordinate of Duke Guo!"
Gu Zhengchen nodded with satisfaction.
Wu Zhen, Marquis of Jinghai, was a naval general in the early Ming Dynasty, but before Wu Zhen, Yu Tonghai was in charge of the navy. This was a figure who relied on the navy to help Zhu Yuanzhang defeat Chen Youliang.
However, one year before the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yu Tonghai was killed while fighting in Pingjiang and later died.
"How do you think the investigation should be conducted?"
Gu Zhengchen asked Qin Song.
Qin Song said seriously: "Ring the gong at night, all ships must be inspected before entering the Yangtze River estuary. During the day, except for the navy and the court's grain transport ships, all ships should be checked and no ship should be let go. The pirates are ferocious. Once it enters the mouth of the Yangtze River due to negligence, the people will be harmed if it is not revealed, and the imperial court will lose face! We are waiting in the land of Nansha and the mouth of the Yangtze River to do our best to investigate and make sure that nothing is missed!"
