1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 331 Li Jiazhuang's Pre-War Preparations
Before it got dark, Li Po organized people to bring hot meals to the "Explorer" parked in the Shawan waterway, and even killed a pig to reward the Haihan militiamen who came from afar.After dark, it was confirmed that the surrounding onlookers had dispersed, and the militiamen of the fourth company disembarked as a whole, and drove into Lijiazhuang with some combat supplies.The sailors camped on the shore so that they could board the ship immediately when needed.

Lijiazhuang is considered to be the leading big village within a radius of dozens of miles. There are more than 200 households in the village, with a total of more than [-] people.Among them, [-]% of the residents are descendants of the Li family. Their ancestors have lived here for generations, and most of them make a living from farming. More than [-] years ago, the ancestors of Li Jifeng's house chose to find another way to engage in business, and then gradually developed the "Furuifeng" chain of large commercial firms.From the beginning of "Furuifeng", Li Jifeng's house has become the head of the Li family village. Whether it is the local affairs of the Li family village or the various clan affairs in the Li clan, it is basically the head of the house of Li Jifeng. The final decision.

The recent rumors that there will be bandits coming in the near future are no longer secrets, and the Li family village is also a little panicked.Although Li Jifeng was in Guangzhou, he still wisely transferred all the Li family members back to Zhuangshang, and sent his second son back to preside over the affairs. This reduced the doubts and worries among the people.

Under the leadership of the Fourth Company, the team entered the Zhuangzi quietly. Perhaps it was the order that Xiao Liang issued before that had an effect. All the residences in the village were closed, and there were people from the Li family militia every few meters on the street. Standing guard, it seems that a curfew has been imposed.In order to welcome the arrival of Haihan's reinforcements, Li Po hastily vacated the largest courtyard in the village for them to station. When the fourth company arrived, the Li family's servants were still coming in and out to clean up the place. To accommodate so many people's board and lodging, there are indeed a lot of things that need to be prepared.

Xiao Liang and Chen Yixin walked around in and out of the courtyard, and Li Po followed closely behind, waiting for the other party to put forward suggestions for rectification—as long as these Haihan people have seen a place, they will definitely find something wrong. It has become a pattern.

"The toilet needs to be expanded, and more than a hundred people live here. How can there be enough for just two latrines... Also, people have to be arranged to clean it every day to avoid epidemics."

Li Po responded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, I will arrange it."

"Sleeping on the floor is not good. Even if you can't find so many beds, you have to use bricks to cover the bed boards. You can't sleep on the floor directly! As for the bedding, we bring our own, so you don't need to prepare extra."

"Okay, okay, let's get people to prepare more bed boards."

"The kitchen is so dirty... Forget it, starting tomorrow, our meals cannot be provided by the same kitchen, and the cook must be healthy and healthy, understand?"

"Understood, understood, this time I specially invited a few restaurant cooks from Guangzhou, Lieutenant Xiao, don't worry." Li Po was scolded by Xiao Liang for calling him "Jun Ye" earlier, and now he has changed his name to military rank.

After the two inspected the courtyard, they picked seven or eight places that needed rectification, and Li Po agreed to them one by one.Fortunately, they are all small changes, and there is no need for big moves such as pushing the wall and punching holes, and it is not too troublesome to implement.

"Can you let us meet the person who gave you the news?" Back in the command center converted from the main room, Xiao Liang immediately put forward a new request.

"Then please wait a moment, I will call someone to summon you." Li Po did not refuse Xiao Liang's request, and agreed immediately.

After a while, Li Po brought an ordinary-looking young man. This man came to Lijiazhuang a few days ago to find the owner of the village, claiming that there was news of bandits attacking and selling it to Lijiazhuang.After the man got 200 taels of silver, he shared some information he had.However, in order to confirm that the news was true, this person was temporarily placed under house arrest in the village.

Of course, this is not the only channel for the Li family to obtain information. It is precisely because the information obtained from other secret channels is consistent with what this person said. The Li family believes that the credibility is extremely high, so they asked Haihan for help.

As a military member who directly participated in the operation, Xiao Liang did not fully trust the Li family's interrogation skills, so he insisted on personally interrogating the information provider.Of course, in view of the attitude of the other party to actively seek cooperation for money, there is no need for methods such as punishment.Xiao Liang's main purpose is to grasp as many details as possible that the Li family may have overlooked, and to verify whether the credibility of this information is worthy of targeted deployment by the defense forces in advance.

This hearing of the news lasted until midnight. According to Xiao Liang's judgment, it is basically certain that the news is true. However, as for how the rogues will attack Lijiazhuang at that time, since the person involved has already left the team of rogues, it is impossible to make a prediction and it is difficult to make a prediction in advance. Targeted arrangements can only be made by the defensive troops themselves.

After letting Li Po take him away, Xiao Liang and Chen Yixin began to discuss strategic arrangements: "To sum up what we can confirm now, first, the bandits will launch an attack on Lijiazhuang before the 27th of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, that is, before the 22th of this month. Today is the 2000nd, and we still have at most five days to prepare. Second, the number of rogue troops participating in this attack will probably not be less than 400. As for the upper limit, it is difficult to judge, because the various rogue forces We are still in the series, maybe four or five thousand will come in the end, we have to be prepared for a hard fight. Third, the main force we can use is the fourth company plus the Li family regiment, and the "Explorer" by the river. There are about 28 people in total, and our reinforcements will have to arrive in Panyu on the [-]th of the [-]th at the earliest, and before that we can only rely on ourselves."

"If it's a head-to-head fight, it shouldn't be a big problem for our current troops to defeat thousands of bandits. My only worry is that the opponent will split up and launch a siege from all sides, and our strength is too small, so it's obviously not suitable for splitting up." Chen Yixin said with some worry.

"No, no, you only saw the disadvantage in terms of strength, but you didn't consider another issue. On the battlefield, the efficiency of command is closely related to the effectiveness of combat. If the opponent divides his troops to attack, how do you think they can achieve unity of pace? ?” Xiao Liang once again took out the sketch of the Li Family Village that he had drawn earlier: “The layout of the Li Family Village is basically a rectangle. Let’s assume that the opponent divides his troops to attack two adjacent directions at the same time. The distance between the opponent’s two troops is at least Between 500 meters and 2000 meters, how do you think real-time information communication can be achieved at this distance with the combat level of bandits? At most, their means are to use gongs, drums and flags to indicate attack or retreat, but they must Expressing more complex command information and coordinating actions, can these primitive means do it?"

"I'm afraid it will be difficult." Chen Yixin vaguely understood Xiao Liang's meaning: "Even if our troops have not received special training, it is difficult to maintain the consistency of combat operations at such a distance. Attacking from multiple directions, the poor communication of information on the battlefield will actually become a major disadvantage for them.”

"That's right. And this disadvantage doesn't exist for us." Xiao Liang shook the walkie-talkie lightly in his hand: "Our efficiency in command is enough to make up for the disadvantage in strength. Of course, just This alone is not enough, in addition to weapons and equipment, our military theory level is also 400 years ahead of our opponents, taking this opportunity, we can demonstrate to the Li family militia what combat is!"

Most of the combatants on duty in the Military and Police Department directly participated in the previous Annan Campaign, but Xiao Liang and Yu Yao, who were far away in Guangzhou, missed this opportunity to make military exploits due to their limited positions.And this time the Li family took the initiative to come to Haihan to send troops to rescue them, which is an excellent opportunity for them to perform.However, since the Guangzhou Office also needs to station military personnel, one of the two had to stay to watch the house. In the end, the Executive Committee decided to solve this problem. Luckily, Xiao Liang was able to appear in Lijiazhuang as a combat commander, and He is also determined to prove his ability with a good record in this battle.

Early the next morning, some young men dressed as ordinary people left Lijiazhuang in batches.These people are the militiamen of the Li Family Militia. According to Xiao Liang's order, they disguised themselves and went out in groups to inquire about the military situation, so as to grasp the direction of the rogues in the first place.The task Xiao Liang gave them was very simple, they didn't need to inquire about the details of the bandits' actions, they just needed to know where a large group of armed men started to gather within twenty or thirty miles, and then report back the news.The purpose of this reconnaissance operation is not to attack the invading bandits, but to allow the defensive troops on the village to have the reaction time to enter the state of combat readiness in advance.

Xiao Liang and Chen Yixin separately started to arrange and build fortifications on several main roads in and out of Lijiazhuang in the southeast and northwest. For this reason, Li Po mobilized the people in the village urgently, and anyone with labor at home must go to work to participate.All the old and weak women were also mobilized to participate in this defensive operation as logistics personnel.

Near the four main passages outside Lijiazhuang, Xiao Liang planned to build simple earthen forts to deploy heavy firepower equipment.As an early Haihan weapons dealer, with the acquiescence of the Haihan people, the Li family also kept a few small 6-pound guns in the village, and this time they finally had a chance to use them.In addition, the Haihan militia did not come empty-handed, they also brought a batch of powerful weapons.

When the "Explorer" went north this time, all the ten artillery guns and ammunition that the General Committee had originally allocated to the coastal fortifications of Dawanshan Island were also installed.Because of their different uses, the barrel length of these 12-pound guns is two feet longer than the version used by the army, and the range is nearly half that of the army guns of the same caliber, almost double that of the 6-pound guns in Lijiazhuang.But the disadvantage is that these coastal defense guns are originally designed to be installed on permanent forts, and are not equipped with corresponding movable gun mounts, so it will be more troublesome to set up and move.

Xiao Liang planned to deploy these dozens of artillery pieces to the west and north where the enemy is most likely to appear, so as to form an advantage of intensive firepower.Because it is only a few miles away from the Pearl River to the east of Zhuangzi, the water conservancy conditions are good, and almost all rice crops are planted. As far as the eye can see, there are endless mud ponds. The possibility of the enemy launching a large-scale attack from here is very slim.And the south of Zhuangzi is less than two miles away from the Shawan Waterway. If the enemy dares to gather a large team on the river bank, they will wait to eat the shells fired by the "Explorer".

In addition to the fort, migrant workers will also build a slightly shorter adobe parapet outside the several entrances and exits of Zhuangzi. At that time, the musketeers deployed outside the adobe wall will use this parapet as a cover to use weapons. Range Advantage Shoot at incoming enemies.

Just in case, the extra labor began to build various barricades on the streets inside Zhuangzi, moved various wooden frames, bricks and stones, and blocked some small alleys, leaving only one or two for the rapid deployment of troops in the village. The available main channel.If the battle is unfavorable, the musketeers retreat into Zhuangzi for street fighting, and they can also persist for a longer period of resistance.The day after the reinforcements arrived at Lijiazhuang, the entire Lijiazhuang became a large construction site.

At noon that day, Li Jifeng took his youngest son Li Nai and steward He Qiang, escorting a batch of supplies back to Lijiazhuang.In this way, most of the important figures in the Li family returned to Lijiazhuang, except for Li Jifeng's eldest son Li Fa who was resident in Fujian, and they also fully demonstrated their determination to live and die with Lijiazhuang.

"Li Jifeng still has a bit of courage!" Xiao Liang affirmed Li Jifeng's performance in returning to Lijiazhuang before the war started.If you are a timid person, you will definitely hide in the safe city of Guangzhou at this juncture, and wait for the matter to pass before making plans.Even if the Li family village was breached by bandits, as long as the "Fu Ruifeng" Li family was still there, there would be a chance to make a comeback after all. If they were taken over by someone in the Li family village, there would be no room for turning things around.

"Anyway, he is also a private entrepreneur with a big business. He can be regarded as a successful person in any era. If he has no courage, he will definitely not be able to reach the height he is today." Chen Yixin also joked.

The first thing Li Jifeng did when he returned to the village was to publicly announce that he would hand out 5000 taels of silver as a reward to the soldiers of the Li family militia who participated in the defensive battle. Moreover, this was only a reward for boosting morale before the battle, and there were other rewards after the war .As soon as the reward was given out, the mood of the people was really high - almost all of these militiamen were born in Lijiazhuang, and basically every household could get some oil from this reward.

The second thing Li Jifeng did was to pull out some unidentified outsiders who were found after the closure of the village in the past two days.After the entrance and exit of Lijiazhuang began to be completely blocked yesterday, a total of 17 outsiders were seized in the village. Several of them came to visit relatives and friends in Lijiazhuang, or were peddlers and traders who had been active in the vicinity of Lijiazhuang for a long time. They were quickly ruled out as suspects.But there are still seven people whose origins and intentions are very suspicious, and there is no one in the village who can testify for them, so they were arrested as spies of rogue bandits.

No matter how amateurish the rogues were, when they attacked a village as big as Lijiazhuang, they would definitely send people into the village in advance to scout.No one is sure if any of these guys have been wronged, but if they are all released, there will definitely be fish that slip through the net.

According to Li Jifeng, there is no need to try or not to try now, and the suspects should be beaten to death by lynching, but Chen Yixin dissuaded him from doing so: "Why hurt the innocent, give me a When the incense burns, I will pick out all the spies."

Although Li Jifeng was skeptical about the ability of this thin-skinned and tender Haihan officer, he still gave him face.Chen Yixin and Xiao Liang murmured a few words, and then called several capable personnel under them together to give instructions, and then took the seven suspects away separately.

But after a while, Chen Yixin and others returned to the scene, checked the information with each other, and quickly confirmed that four of them were spies sent by the rogues.Seeing this, Li Jifeng wondered: "How did Lieutenant Chen know that these people are spies?"

"It's very simple. My colleagues and I interrogated these people separately and told them that whoever recruits his accomplices first will not have to die." Chen Yixin pointed to the recruited people and said: "It's just a group of mobs. None of the four were stubborn, and all of them were recruited. The spies are only the four of them, Boss Li, you can deal with it."

Chen Yixin's move was extremely simple, but it pointed at the weakness of human nature.If these people are directly tortured, there may be situations where they will be tortured into tricks or they will not be recruited, but such a separate trial, no one can guarantee whether the other accomplices other than themselves will be greedy for life and fear death, and whether they can stick to it secret.Under such circumstances, the surest way to save one's life is not to keep one's mouth shut and not recruit, but to recruit faster and more thoroughly than the gang!

These spies were not professionals who had received specific training, and they were just rural farmers in the past. They could not stand up to Chen Yixin's trial method in terms of courage and intelligence. After weighing the pros and cons, they all chose to confess immediately.And comparing the results of everyone's interrogation with each other, it is naturally easy to determine which people are spies.

"Then if these four spies all identify the three innocent people, wouldn't they be wronging the good people?" Li Nai, who was listening to Chen Yixin's explanation, couldn't help asking.

Chen Yixin smiled and said: "The possibility you mentioned does exist, but the key is that they didn't have time to slowly figure out the truth. For them, there were only two choices at that time. They recruited themselves and lived; others recruited and died. .At a critical moment of life and death, do you believe in yourself or in others?"

Li Nai suddenly said: "So that's the case, I have been taught!"

Several spies were immediately detained, and what awaited them would be a long period of imprisonment. If they were lucky enough not to be tortured to death by the people of Li Family Village during this period, then they might still have a chance to leave here alive and be transported to Hainan Island or North Vietnam to serve hard labor.And other outsiders can only stay here temporarily out of confidentiality, and can only leave Lijiazhuang after the war is over.

(End of this chapter)