1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1091
The Haihan horse team didn't wait too long, and the fleet with the red and blue flags appeared on the downstream river in time before they ran out of food.After Liu Xian confirmed this information from the telescope, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.What he is worried about is not just the food problem. Right now, the cavalry team is only five or sixty people. On the one hand, they have to take care of the hundreds of refugees on the bank of the river. Manpower is really stretched.

Although there is another cavalry company active in the area west of Jiahe, its target area is different from that of the team led by Liu Xian, and there is no way to contact it right now. Otherwise, if we can cooperate here, the pressure can also be reduced. Much smaller.

The fleet that came to the upper reaches of the Jiahe River today is composed of an expedition-grade warship and three passenger and cargo ships. In addition to bringing a lot of food and living supplies, there is also a company of Army to cooperate with the cavalry company's operations outside Fushan County.

"Fellow folks, don't be nervous. This boat is full of brothers from the Haihan militia, to protect everyone boarding the boat safely. After boarding the boat, someone will distribute dry food to everyone."

Sun Zhen foresaw that the arrival of these ships might cause the people to feel a little panic, so he specially arranged for propagandists to vaccinate the people before the ships docked, so as not to cause chaos after they saw the Haihan Army with live ammunition.

Because of the different organization methods, the number of infantry companies is several times larger than that of cavalry companies. Therefore, after this batch of infantry arrives, a temporary base with a better defense mechanism can be established on the Jiahe River, so that Haihan's sailboat can sail along the river. The Jiahe River went upstream to pack and transport the immigrants gathered near Fushan County back to Zhifu Island.

The appearance of these ships actually reassured the restless people. Before that, most of the information they knew came from the oral propaganda of this cavalry team, and their understanding of Haihan's strength was limited to this.Most people have doubts about the existence of the Zhifu Island immigration base described by the Haihan Horse Team, and the way to obtain survival opportunities through immigration is just a dead horse as a living horse doctor, just wanting to try their luck.But the appearance of this fleet at least proves that the Haihan Cavalry has a certain strength. It is basically difficult to see such a large sea-going ship in Dengzhou at present, and the other party dispatched four ships at a time, which proves that Its stated strategy of sea migration is no bragging.

The troops who came here to reinforce were the [-]th Company of the Special Operations Battalion. The company commander, Amakusa Shiro, jumped off the side of the ship before the ship stopped, and landed lightly on the river bank, which Liu Xian, Sun Zhen and others could see They all applaud secretly.

"Company Commander Amakusa, you have worked hard all the way!" Liu Xian hurriedly greeted him with a military salute.Calculated from the voyage, this fleet could arrive here in the middle of the morning, which obviously set off from Zhifu Island before dawn.

Amakusa Shiro returned the gift, and then cut to the chase, asking Liu Xian to talk about the local situation and the work that needs to be completed with the cooperation of the Special Warfare Fourth Company.The order he received was to try his best to ensure the safety of the immigration recruitment site in Fushan County, and cooperate with the cavalry company to complete the immigration recruitment task locally.

The arrival of these sailboats was soon discovered by the Ming army in Fushan County and the Wanjia army outside the city.Huang Qu on the tower was also quite surprised by the appearance of these ships: "This group of people actually have big ships! It seems that the notice mentioned cross-sea immigration is not all bragging."

Zhang Pucheng said: "If they really transported the people to the south for resettlement, that's all right. I'm afraid that these people will coerce the people and do the same thing as the Wanjia Army!"

Huang Qu was worried that the county magistrate would raise the matter of soldiers again when he was agitated, so he hurriedly advised: "Master Zhang, no matter what the real intentions of these Haihan people are, let's wait for the news from Qishan Qianhu Office."

Both Zhifu Bay and Zhifu Island are under the jurisdiction of Qishan Qianhusuo. If the Haihan people really settled there, then the responsibility of guarding the land should naturally be borne by Qishan Qianhusuo, no matter whether they need to send troops or adopt other countermeasures According to reason, it must be Qi Shan who acted first, Huang Qu didn't want to take this little team out of the city to take the lead.No matter what the Haihan people are doing outside the city now, in short, they have to defend the county seat first, which is the business. Besides, even if they have a headache, it should be the Wanjia army outside the city who have a headache first.

Huang Qu's judgment was indeed correct, a fleet of Haihan people came up the Jiahe River, and the news spread to Wan Meng and Pu Xueguang outside the city, which really gave them a big headache.Their original plan was to attack the Haihan cavalry on the way to escort the immigrants to the seaside. The number of opponents is limited, and it will be difficult to fight. It seems that the plan is to transport these immigrants directly by boat from the waterway.

Although the Wanjia Army has some influence in Fushan County, but limited by the general environment, there are no ships under its command, because the coast of the Jiaodong Peninsula is full of Ming military guards, and even if there are ships, it is difficult to get any benefits along the coast.During the two years of war in the past two years, the people along the coast fled violently, and now there are only a few ferries on the Jiahe River.

"Military teacher, the Haihan people sent a ship, how should we deal with it now?" Wan Meng himself was too lazy to use his brain, so he naturally left this question to Pu Xueguang.

Pu Xueguang gritted his teeth and said, "Since that's the case, then it's time to show them some color! Let's call the team!"

Wan Meng was obviously more interested in fighting than using his brain, so he got up immediately and said, "Okay! Come on, gather the team and prepare to fight!"

Pu Xueguang thought of something and quickly stopped him: "Wait a minute!"

Wan Meng said: "Why did the military division repent so quickly?"

"It's not repentance, but I suddenly remembered something." Pu Xueguang said: "I have sent some people to join Haihan before, in my opinion, I should send another group of people to connect with the previous group at this time. When we start from the outside, let them start together, and when the inside and outside cooperate, there should be better results."

"It's still a brilliant military strategist!" Wan Meng praised him without hesitation when he heard that it was reasonable.

So the two picked more than a dozen men, pretending to be poor, put the swords and daggers and other sharp weapons among the bedding, clothes and other household items, and went to the Haihan station by the river sporadically.In addition to the manpower sent earlier, there are more than 20 people. Both Wan Meng and Pu Xueguang think that as long as the timing is right, these people are enough to create chaos.

"Ten people in a row, no jumping in line, board the boat one by one!"

The soldiers responsible for maintaining order stood on the side of the ship with tin horns and shouted loudly at the people on the shore.Because the queue was organized in advance, after these ships landed, they quickly got on the springboard, and while unloading the supplies, they began to arrange for the people to board the ship.

The infantry company brought by Amakusa Shiro is responsible for dividing these people into groups of about a hundred people, so as to control the situation in case of emergencies.Liu Xian's cavalry team was divided into three teams to further expand the existing cordon.

After the fifty or sixty riders are deployed on the field, the control range is quite large, which made Wan Meng and Pu Xueguang hesitate a bit when they saw this scene from a distance-they only have a total of twenty riders under their command now, and their mobility is obviously not as good as Opponents, and the troops I transferred from the mountains are estimated to arrive in the afternoon.But you can't just watch the other party take the person away so smoothly, and you have to shoot when the arrow is on the string.

However, Wan Meng was extra careful and did not go out in person, but handed over this task to his subordinate Gan Qiang.Gan Qiang was originally a horse thief who was active in the two states of Denglai. He took refuge in Wanmeng during the Denglai Rebellion. Strong command.Today, when I rushed to Fushan County in a hurry, Wan Meng only brought Gan Qiang, a leader, by his side, but there happened to be a group of riders on the opposite side, so it could be regarded as a well-matched confrontation—at least Wan Meng currently thinks so .

Gan Qiang didn't feel weaker than his opponent because the opponent had more horses than himself. He was not the kind of ordinary people who were coerced into the grass, and he was definitely a professional in the robber industry.He even fought against Kong Youde's rebel army in the field, and led a group of "cavalry" under him to wipe out a group of Ming troops. This special record is also the main reason why he can be reused by Wanmeng.

Gan Qiang did not try his best to take the lead, but let the assembled infantry go ahead, and he led the cavalry to follow closely behind.If the opponent takes the initiative to attack, then the infantry in front will form a long spear formation to resist, and he will lead the cavalry to attack the opponent's flank from the rear.Using such tactics, it may be possible to make up for the disadvantage of one's own side in the number of riders.

If the opponent does not attack, then he will use the infantry in front as a shield, and push it steadily in this formation. After the two sides start fighting, the ambush accomplices in the opponent's camp will launch together, attacking back and forth, and should be able to control the situation.Although the opponent has more riders, Gan Qiang believes that his own winning rate is higher. As long as he can hold his ground and deal with the opponent carefully, it is not an impossible task to win the opponent.

"It's finally here!"

The main direction of defense of the cavalry is the side of Fushan County, and Liu Xian naturally quickly noticed the sudden appearance of this armed force.From the binoculars, it can be seen that the weapons and equipment of this team are not uniform. There are long weapons such as spears, hunting forks, simple knives, halberds, etc., and some people are holding weapons such as swords and crossbows.And behind it, there are more than 20 cavalry. It seems that the cavalry in this team should be in charge.Judging from the equipment and military formation alone, Liu Xian judged that this team was not the Ming army, but the Wanjia army that was said to overwhelm the local government.

Liu Xian counted roughly, and the opponent should have more than 100 to less than 200 people. If you want to fight against this group of people in the wild, your cavalry company alone should be enough to solve the opponent, not to mention there are special warfare behind them A company of the battalion served as their backing.However, out of careful consideration, he immediately reported the situation to the infantry units behind.

"Boarding is suspended, all are under martial law, the first and second rows are fortified in the southwest direction, the third and fourth rows stay behind, and watch these immigrants! If there is any abnormal situation, you can deal with it as appropriate. Let the propaganda officer appease them first, and you will hear later. Don't make random gunshots." Amakusa Shiro also reacted quickly after receiving the news, and immediately adjusted the deployment.He personally led two platoons to the outskirts of the camp and set up a platoon of guns on the spot. Although this tactic was not good at the special warfare battalion, it was undoubtedly the safest means of engagement in the current environment.

"Everyone listens to the order, suspend boarding, sit down where you are, and don't move around at will!" Soon the propaganda officer began to direct the people on the shore with a tin horn: "There are bandits attacking outside, and our army has sent troops to meet them. Anyone who does not obey the order will be treated as a bandit accomplice!"

When these people heard that there were bandits coming, they naturally knew that the one who came must be the most rampant Wanjia army in the vicinity, and there was an uproar at the moment, and some people started yelling, as if it was the end of the day.They were forced to linger in the slums outside Fushan County. The main reason was that the Wanjia Army made them unable to return home. The reason why they left here with Haihan was also to get rid of this threat completely.Now that he was about to leave here, but was entangled by the lingering Wanjia Army, he inevitably experienced some emotional fluctuations.

Fortunately, there were two platoons of soldiers here to help maintain order. With the non-stop preaching of the propaganda officers and the glaring bayonets, most of the people sat down on the floor obediently according to the arrangement.There were a few undercover bandits who were stabbed or wanted to test the scale, and they were pointed at the muzzle of several guns almost instantly, and they didn't dare to do it again.

"Check the weapons and get ready to fight!" Liu Xian pulled out the double-barreled flintlock rifles that come standard with the cavalry from his saddlebag, and checked the loading of the ammunition.

In fact, cavalry hardly have time to reload and reload in battle, so the firing chance of this rifle is actually only twice, but Harukon also won a five-shot cap wheel for his subordinates Pistol, this kind of gun also has quite strong accuracy and lethality at a distance of 20 meters, which can effectively make up for the lack of rifles in terms of shooting frequency.Harukon is also trying to get the Ministry of National Defense to equip the cavalry with the latest seven-shot rifle that is still in the development and improvement stage, but because of its production capacity and cost, this application cannot be realized in a short time.

If the rifle and pistol are out of bullets, the cavalry knife is the only weapon of last resort.But Liu Xian believes that the opponent's formation should be able to collapse before that, and even if cold weapons are needed in the end, it is probably time to harvest heads.

Liu Xian also hoped to take this opportunity to fight well in the first battle of the cavalry battalion in Jiaodong Peninsula, so that the opponent who took the initiative to play the role of a stumbling block knew that they had kicked firmly on the iron plate this time.

(End of this chapter)