1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2217
The reason why Lu Kangtai's armed forces were able to suppress the Hui salt merchants in the past period was mainly because they were equipped with standard muskets obtained from the Japanese Hirado clan.Most of the combat operations that Lu Kangtai commanded were just to lead the Musketeers to set up an ambush to intercept the competitor's salt caravan in the middle of the road. A wrong self-perception has arisen, thinking that with this set of things, you can walk sideways in the rivers and lakes.

Haihan’s shot in Yangzhou City last year dealt a heavy blow to Lu Kangtai, and the Musketeers under his command were almost lost. However, this lesson still did not make Lu Kangtai truly realize his own strength, and he still hoped to re-establish the Musketeers. He reorganized his reputation, but he never considered that he had not resolved the conflict of interest with Haihan.

When the news of the cooperation between Huizhou salt merchants and Haihan came, Lu Kangtai and the Shanshan salt merchant group behind him were already in a difficult situation.Continuing to attack the Huizhou salt merchants may attract Haihan’s attack. However, if they take the initiative to stop the confrontation, the competitors may not be willing to let themselves go. The Huizhou salt merchants who may be slowed down after a year or a half He was pressed to the ground and beaten.

The disadvantages will only get bigger and bigger, so even though the situation is not good, Lu Kangtai can only choose to bite the bullet and take action, and such a hasty action is obviously insufficient for Haihan's direct intervention.Lu Kangtai thought that the setback in attacking Daijiazhuang was only because he was in the open and the enemy was in the dark. If he confronted head-on, he should be able to fight. But now he is fighting against the opponent, and he realizes that things are not that simple.

Lu Kangtai didn't even have time to get the musketeers under his command to form a combat formation, and the battle started suddenly. From the commander to the combatants, all of them exposed their inexperienced flaws in an instant, and were completely unable to make a reasonable response. It has been beaten to pieces.

Although the Golden Shield is only a paramilitary organization, there is still a certain gap between the weapons and equipment and the combat methods of Haihan's regular army, but this time it took the lead to seize the initiative on the battlefield and immediately gained an overwhelming advantage on the scene. .However, Lu Kangtai's on-the-spot command fell into chaos. Apart from emphasizing the high bounty, he couldn't come up with effective means to organize a counterattack.

It wasn't until he saw that the opponent's convoy had bypassed the congested area and was continuing to march towards the canal, that Lu Kangtai recalled the purpose of this blocking battle, and quickly ordered: "Shoot the horses! Let everyone shoot the horses first , Stop the car!"

If Dai Yingda is allowed to board the boat to cross the river, all the previous efforts will be wasted, and the opponent already has Haihan's support, and it will become more and more difficult to use force to subdue the opponent. Lu Kangtai can't just sit back and watch this may be the last The opportunity slipped away before his eyes, he had to use all means to stop Dai Yingda.

Shooting and killing the pack horses pulling the cart forward is undoubtedly the most effective means of interception at the moment.The packhorse has a large target without any protective measures, so it is easier to hit it as long as it is focused on shooting.

Sure enough, after adjusting the combat strategy, Lu Kangtai's musketeers quickly hit the pack horse of the leading carriage, causing the convoy to stop again.But the carriage was abandoned immediately, and the car behind only stopped for a moment before going around and moving on.

The muskets equipped by Lu Kangtai were produced in Hirado. Although the performance seems to be slightly better than the muskets equipped by the Ming army, they also have the disadvantage of slow loading of ammunition.As a last resort, other armed personnel with cold weapons could only rush out to fight again.

But the effect of this kind of charge is extremely limited, and what greeted them was another round of shooting that had already been loaded.However, with the previous lessons learned, some of them have learned a lot. Seeing the people on the side of the convoy aiming their guns, they either got down on the spot or found a nearby bunker to cover their bodies. The guy who rushed inevitably became a living target, and was brought down to the ground in an instant.

The people who watched the opening and rushed out finally managed to get close, but what greeted them were several bright and sharp bayonets.With the blessing of this thing, the musket that just finished shooting has changed from a burning stick to a deadly short spear.Even a person with kung fu can hardly cope with several bayonets coming from different angles at the same time. Even if he can successfully block one or two of them, he still cannot avoid the follow-up knife.

And as long as this kind of bayonet pierces through the soft parts of the body, it will lose its ability to move in an instant. There are screams in the field for a while, and this wave of offensive is quickly disintegrated by the people of Jindun.

However, the desperate charge of these people still slightly slowed down the forward speed of the convoy, buying precious time for the musketeers to finish loading their ammunition, so when they finished the third round of firing, they finally caused casualties to the convoy.

With the help of the carriage, Yuan Tao was not injured at all, but what gave him a headache was that the horses in the carriage that Dai Yingda was riding in had also been shot.After the horse suffered from pain, it wanted to gallop forward, but the road in front of it was blocked by its own carriage, and the horse struggled desperately in a frenzy, almost kicking the groom over.

Seeing this, Yuan Tao thought that it was impossible for Dai Yingda to complete the last part of the journey in a carriage, so he immediately let Dai Yingda and Lin Zhong get off the carriage, and retreated to the canal pier on foot under the protection of the guards.

At this time, almost all the irrelevant people ran away, and the defenders of Yijiang Gate not far away seemed to have no intention of participating in the chaotic battle outside the city, so they closed the city gate with their backhands, and ran to the tower to watch the excitement .

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the chaos outside the city was not an ordinary battle. Both sides had unleashed a lot of muskets, which were even more advanced than the equipment of the city defense army.Moreover, as soon as the two sides came up, they opened fire and knocked down several people. Taking the initiative to intervene in such a situation might become a target for no reason. It is safer to stand on the sidelines.

Of course, the officer in charge of guarding Yijiangmen did not forget to send someone to report to Gao Yongshou. After all, such a big incident outside the city must be reported immediately according to the procedure.

In the situation outside the city at this time, Lu Kangtai's side has a clear numerical advantage, and after adapting to the rhythm of the battle, it is slowly forming an encirclement in the three directions of east, west, east, and west. The people outside the carriage were almost armed with muskets, so that the opponents on the outside couldn't get close at all.

"It seems that the incident last year also happened in this place!"

Someone on the tower suddenly thought of the battle that took place outside the city of Yangzhou at the end of last year. At that time, both sides also used a lot of firearms, and the intensity of the exchange of fire seemed to be even more intense than today.But how many casualties occurred in the battle that night, because the city gate was closed at night, it was impossible to confirm in time.

The next day, the government went to investigate the wharf where the battle took place, and it had already been cleaned up. Only the continuous blood stains on the ground that had not been rinsed off in time proved that there was indeed a tragic battle that night.As for the people along the canal, many people heard gunshots from the canal that night.

The rumors about that battle have been circulating in Yangzhou City for more than half a year. There are various theories, but the most widely spread is that the Shanshan salt merchants offended the Haihan people, and the other party sent an army to come secretly. Yangzhou, solve the trouble of Shanxi salt merchants.Afterwards, Lu Kangtai did disappear from the market for a while, and it seems that such rumors were confirmed.

However, Yangzhou is originally a peaceful place, and the law and order are quite good at ordinary times. Moreover, the battle took place at night, and almost no civilians witnessed it on the scene. In addition, the market only regards it as an interesting topic of conversation.

After more than half a year now, many people have gradually forgotten what happened last year, but the battle that suddenly broke out outside the city today reminds people of the previous rumors.And this time it was in broad daylight, and at least hundreds of people inside and outside the city witnessed the outbreak of the battle. Now, those involved can no longer hide the truth through the aftermath measures like last year, pretending that nothing happened pass.

Several pack horses in the convoy were shot one after another, and the carriage was completely out of control. Yuan Tao could only order to abandon the carriage, and everyone walked towards the pier to break out.At the same time, he ordered people to take out the signal flare, ignite the fuse and shoot a shot into the sky.

This kind of military flare can reach a height of more than ten feet, and can be seen within a radius of several miles, and the signal released is urgent, and it needs to be responded and reinforced as soon as possible.

Just in case, Yuan Tao arranged for dozens of musketeers to lurk on the two boats by the canal in advance, which came in handy at this time.

Soon a burst of gunfire came from the south, and a big hole was torn open in the encirclement circle formed by the convoy. Lu Kangtai's side, which was originally not in the upper hand, immediately fell into chaos again.

The attack firepower from the direction of the pier was stronger and more concentrated, and all the hits were on the back. Originally, Lu Kangtai's command should not have made such a serious mistake, but he wanted to intercept Dai Yingda's convoy, but he didn't care about the tail. He made a defensive deployment in the direction of the dock, but was caught off guard again by the opponent.

After the already fragile encirclement was broken, the two teams of Golden Shield quickly merged, and then protected Dai Yingda and his own wounded and retreated to the direction of the dock.Although Lu Kangtai was still strictly ordering his subordinates to try their best to pursue him, his morale had been lost at this time, and he was unable to organize a decent attack. Seeing that this battle was about to be lost again.

Lu Kangtai watched from a distance as Golden Shield's team quickly retreated to the canal, his face ashen.Although this defeat would not immediately lead to the disintegration of the Shanshan salt merchants' power in Yangzhou, he knew that after this fight, he might never find a similar opportunity to attack his opponent.

And under the ebb and flow, perhaps a year or so later, the seven surnames supported by Haihan will ride on their heads. At that time, the prospects of Shanxi salt merchants in Yangzhou will become precarious, and the past can be achieved. The armed forces that have been relied on may no longer be invincible weapons in the future.

Yuan Tao withdrew to the pier, and saw that his subordinates had already set up a three-dimensional defense line using various goods on the shore and the side of the ship. If the opponent continued to attack and prevented the ship from leaving the shore safely, then he could rely on this line of defense to fight against the opponent again. Play around.

Of course, judging from the current reaction of the opponent, it seems that there is no need to love to fight. Evacuate this place of right and wrong as soon as possible, and return to the south bank of the canal will be safe.

"Quickly escort Boss Dai to board the ship!"

Yuan Tao was not in a hurry to board the ship. As the commander, he wanted to make sure that all his subordinates had withdrawn.If he wants to see a person, if he wants to see a dead body, he doesn't want to leave his brother to the other party.

Both Jin Dun and Dai Yingda's subordinates were killed or injured in this battle, but Jin Dun's rules were strict, and everyone had to come and walk together, so they all evacuated, and even those who couldn't leave tried to carry or lift them up. out.However, Dai Yingda's subordinates were all dead soldiers who worked hard, so they didn't pay much attention to it. If the wounded were taken away, the dead would be left behind.

Yuan Tao turned his head and saw Lin Zhong being supported by two people with blood on his trousers, he was startled and said, "Brother Lin was injured?"

Lin Zhong hummed and replied: "It seems that he was injured by a musket..."

Yuan Tao waved his hand and said, "There is a doctor on board, hurry up and bandage the wound!"

Lin Zhong was also unlucky, he and Dai Yingda were in the same carriage, Yuan Tao asked them to get out of the carriage and walk forward, Dai Yingda got off on the front foot, and he got off the carriage with his heels, and was hit by a stray bullet as soon as he landed, hitting him on the thigh Immediately, he couldn't walk.However, Dai Yingda did not abandon him as a meritorious minister. When he turned his head to see Lin Zhong injured and fell to the ground, he immediately asked his two personal guards to pick up Lin Zhong and take him away.

Although Lin Zhong suffered from pain in his legs, he also knew that this was a time of life and death, so he could only grit his teeth and keep up.Fortunately, the distance to the canal is not long, so just boarding the boat is equivalent to regaining safety.There was a golden shield doctor on board, who was good at dealing with all kinds of injuries from swords and guns. As long as Lin Zhong's injuries were not fatal, there would be no serious problems.

Yuan Tao first arranged for Dai Yingda and others to board the ship, and after waiting for a while, he was sure that the other party had basically given up the pursuit, and then ordered to withdraw the team. Nearly a hundred musketeers retreated back to the ship without haste, and then the sailors used the poles to push the ship back to the ship. Stay away from the river bank and slowly slide to the opposite bank along the current.

The open land outside the Yijiang Gate was in a mess at this time, the thrown chariots and horses stopped in a haphazard manner, and a few injured pack horses finally fell to the ground after pulling the chariot and ramming it.

In this battle, the casualties were almost all over the battlefield, and the smell of blood and gunpowder in the air was very depressing.

The city defense army who watched the entire battle from the top of the city was also stunned. They had never encountered such a situation before, and they didn't know whether they should open the city gate immediately and go out to arrest the murderer, or wait for the order from their superiors before responding.

(End of this chapter)