1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 333
The coastal area from the south of Guangzhou City to the Pearl River Estuary is densely covered with water systems, and water transportation is far more convenient than land transportation. The water bandits departing from Xinhui sailed upstream from the West River to the north, passing through the Donghai Waterway, Ronggui Waterway, and Tanzhou Waterway. It took several days and nights to sail for more than a hundred miles before entering the Shawan Waterway in Panyu County.In Beiyao Town two days ago, Zeng Aniu, the leader of the Xinhui water bandits, had met with Liao Dabi and agreed on an attack plan.Last night, this team of more than 20 large and small ships arrived less than ten miles away from Lijiazhuang Wharf, and was stationed in a river fork in the Shawan Waterway that night.

The bandit leader Zeng Aniu also knew a little bit about Lijiazhuang in Panyu, and he probably knew a little more than Liao Dabi.In the past six months, a refined private salt that is only two-thirds of the price of official salt has appeared on the market. It is said that this very popular private salt is sold from Lijiazhuang.There is no salt field in Lijiazhuang, Zeng Aniu doesn't know how the private salt came out, but he knows one thing very well - the word salt merchant can basically be equated with silver.Since Lijiazhuang is engaged in private salt trading, the wealth in this village will naturally be very considerable.

Compared with Liao Dabi's strength, Zeng Aniu's team of more than [-] people is far from enough, so the main force of the attack is still a few bandits headed by Liao Dabi, and Zeng Aniu's task is to Waiting for an opportunity to approach Lijiazhuang from the side of the Shawan Waterway, and respond to the main force attacking Lijiazhuang in the other two directions.In addition, after breaking the village, Zeng Aniu's fleet will also undertake part of the transportation task, so as to transport all kinds of seized materials away from the incident site as soon as possible.

Zeng A Niu thought more, maybe he was lucky and intercepted Lijiazhuang's salt ship on the Shawan waterway. After finding out the source of Lijiazhuang's private salt, he would directly take people to grab the salt field next time.Compared to attacking a fortress like Lijiazhuang, it was much easier to rob the salt field. Moreover, Lijiazhuang's private salt came from a bad way, and most of the opponents would not dare to report to the authorities after robbing.

Perhaps God heard Zeng Aniu's wish. When approaching Lijiazhuang Wharf, the group really saw a big strange-looking boat moving slowly on the river from a distance.

"God help me too! Brighten the flag! Come over, come over!" Zeng Aniu was pleasantly surprised, and didn't think about whether this ship was Lijiazhuang's salt ship. Such a large sea-going ship would not appear for no reason. In the Shawan River, it must be for Lijiazhuang.That being the case, let's grab it first and then talk about it!

Five or six miles away, Liao Dabi didn't know that his allies had already taken the lead on the water, and he was hesitating whether to order to attack.

The various "heroes" who were about to attack Lijiazhuang stopped two miles away from Zhuangzi, but Lijiazhuang was completely silent, and no one could be seen.From the departure this morning to the present, I have not seen a living person on the way. Not only a few smart people have noticed this strange situation, but basically everyone has noticed something is wrong.But if they were to turn back and give up this action, no one would be willing to do so.

There is a circle of earth walls ranging in height from seven feet to one foot in the periphery of Lijiazhuang, so the situation in the village is basically invisible from the outside.And at the intersections of several roads entering and exiting Zhuangzi, a breast-high earth wall was built to block most of the view—judging from the color of the earth, this parapet was obviously built not long ago.About twenty steps in front of the parapet, there is a circle of curved wooden stakes nailed to the ground. There seems to be something like wire and hemp rope connected between the wooden stakes, which seems to be some kind of defensive means to slow down the attack speed.Obviously, Lijiazhuang had received the news at least a few days in advance, and rushed to build some fortifications ahead.As for whether the village has deployed defensive forces, Liao Dabi did not intend to speculate on this meaningless question.

The people in Lijiazhuang didn't intend to capture them without a fight, which made Liao Dabi a little more angry after being disappointed—you stupid villagers, do you think that building an extra earthen wall can stop this attack?The only function of these defensive methods is to make the people in this village suffer even more tragic revenge after being breached!

Liao Dabi looked to the northeast and saw that the allies had already set up yellow flags. This was a communication method they had discussed in advance. Yellow meant they were ready, while red meant they were launching an attack.The arrow is on the string, and it has to be fired.

"Flag the flag and attack!" Liao Dabi pointed at Li's village with his horsewhip: "If you break this village, everyone will be rewarded with five taels of silver! Whoever captures Li Jifeng's old thief will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver!"

The drummer next to him immediately waved his mallet and beat the war drum, and the flag bearer also put down the yellow flag and replaced it with a conspicuous red flag.The [-] bandits who were the vanguard began to walk slowly towards Lijiazhuang, clutching all kinds of weapons.

As the leader of this attack on Lijiazhuang, Liao Dabi sent the most troops and the most "powerful" equipment. In addition to the cold weapons such as knives and guns that each subordinate will be issued, there are also various types of weapons in the team. A variety of earthen guns, and even a small amount of bird guns and three-eyed guns that flowed out of the army.It can be said that for this operation, Liao Dabi basically moved all his belongings out.

The purpose of doing this is not only to be able to successfully win Lijiazhuang, but more importantly, to show his strength to his peers, so that he can suppress some people who are not convinced in the post-war spoils.Although it was agreed before the action that Liao Dabi would monopolize half of the profits, it is hard to say how restrictive this verbal agreement will be. On the allies who are open, it is better to show their strength in order to better ensure their own interests.

Seeing that Liao Dabi's side had already launched an offensive, the rogue forces in the northeast also beat the drums and launched the first wave of attacks on Lijiazhuang from north to south.At this time, Xiao Liang was sticking out half of his head behind the parapet, using binoculars to observe the enemy's movement, and at the same time measure the enemy's marching speed.

"There are still about 10 minutes before we will enter the range of our rifles. It's over." Xiao Liang communicated with Chen Yixin, who was commanding the battle on the other side, about the situation on the battlefield through the walkie-talkie.

"Understood. The speed of the enemy on my side is basically the same as that on your side. It's over."

"Don't rush to fire, put it closer and fight again, pay attention to hiding your strength reasonably, and don't scare people away directly. It's over."

"Understood. Over."

Xiao Liang put down the walkie-talkie, and then called the platoon leaders of the Li Family Militia to him and said, "Don't fire a single shot until you get an order. Our combat goal is not to repel them, but to kill them." They beat and frightened, and wiped out these rogue bandits as much as possible, understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Several platoon leaders stood at attention and responded with their chests raised.Although the time of receiving Haihan-style military training is not too long, these militia officers have faintly begun to imitate the style of the Haihan militia.The mighty temperament of Haihan soldiers is one of the most enviable characteristics of these peasants who have just put down their hoes and picked up guns. Although clothing, armaments, and treatment cannot reach the same level as Haihan soldiers, at least the upper and lower ranks in the army Etiquette can still be imitated.

For the militiamen of the Li family militia, they had no real experience of fighting on the frontal battlefield. Even with Haihan's reinforcements arriving, they were still somewhat nervous.Xiao Liang's composure gave them more confidence, and the enemy who was marching towards Li's Village seemed to have become a target to fall in response, and it didn't look so scary anymore.

"Lieutenant Chen, you should be able to handle this, right?" Li Jifeng, who had just rushed to the front line to supervise the battle, asked Chen Yixin a little nervously after poking his head out to see the situation on the other side.

Chen Yixin smiled and said: "Boss Li, you don't have to worry at all, these bandits are not as effective as the monkey soldiers we fought in Annan, wait and watch the show! By the way, you go to the back to watch the battle, don't block it Location."

"In this case, I will retire first! I hope Lieutenant Chen can kill more enemies, and I will thank you after the battle!" Li Jifeng bowed to Chen Yixin before retreating.

"Four companies, first row, second row, enter the battle position. Third row, fourth row, get ready for battle!" After sending Li Jifeng away, Chen Yixin issued a combat order.

The vanguard of the bandits could already see figures moving behind the adobe parapet entering and leaving the Lijiazhuang intersection, but due to the angle of sight, they could not observe more detailed conditions, and could only continue to move forward with their heads depressed.

However, the first battle that started did not take place on the defense line of Lijiazhuang, but on the river of Shawan Waterway.After Zeng Aniu's fleet spotted the big ship three miles away, they began to speed up the ship, trying to get close to it and capture the unknown ship—this ship would not be included in the capture of Li's Village, Zeng Aniu There is no need to share the income on this ship with other forces.

"This big ship alone is worth at least a thousand taels of silver... Well, the sails are a bit strange..." Zeng Aniu looked at the distant target very excitedly, and he had already regarded it as a target in advance. made his own spoils.

And the crew on this strange ship has obviously discovered Zeng Aniu's fleet, a sharp copper whistle sounded on the ship, and then the ship quickly adjusted the direction of its sails, and some people could be seen on the deck. The crew was running back and forth.

"Want to run? Let's see if you can run!" Zeng A Niu was very contemptuous of the other party's slowness. The big boat wanted to turn around on the river less than a mile wide, and it was not something that could be done in three or two strokes. When the ship turned too far, its own fleet had already surrounded it.Although the size of the sea boat was much larger than the small boats under his command, as long as he was surrounded by small boats and all kinds of hooks and nails were attached, he would not be able to break free easily.

"Boss, it doesn't seem right!" The deputy standing behind Zeng A Niu suddenly said, "This ship doesn't seem to be planning to turn around..."

Zeng Aniu looked again intently, and sure enough, the ship speeded up after adjusting the sails, but it didn't intend to change direction at all, and rushed towards his own fleet in a daze.Among the boats under Zeng Aniu's command, the largest one is less than [-] yuan, and most of them are small civilian boats or even fishing boats. How can these small boats that are usually used in the inland water system be able to compete with the large sea boats of more than [-] yuan? The ship is just head-on?
The first thief boat that could not dodge enough to be hit by the "Explorer" was directly cut in half by the blade-like steel ram on the bow, and then quickly sank into the river.Due to the huge disparity in size between the two sides, the "Explorer" didn't even shake the hull, and rushed over like a sharp knife cutting through butter, and then cut off the other ship's stern in half.

"Stop it! Stop it quickly!" Zeng Aniu jumped up and down in a hurry. He didn't do anything yet, and two of his own boats were destroyed, which is too bullying!
Some thieves threw a hook with ropes when the "Explorer" rushed past, trying to hang on the side of the big ship, but after seeing that three or four ropes were hung, there was no time to cheer. On the side of the big ship, a crew member stretched out half of his body, swung a two-foot-long saber and cut off the rope carried by the hook.

As for those guys who tried to slow down the speed of the big boat with bamboo hooks and nails, they couldn't hold back the momentum of the big boat at all. Either a group of people were dragged into the water, or they had to let go and watch the big boat Take your dick with you and leave.But the boat behind saw that the situation was not good, so they could only turn away quickly, trying to avoid the collision of this big evil star as much as possible.

So there were more than 300 people and more than 20 boats in Zeng Aniu's group, and they could only watch helplessly as this strange-looking big boat smashed through, sank and injured five boats, and rushed westward without looking back. past.But in just such a round, Zeng Aniu's fleet lost nearly a quarter of its combat effectiveness, how could this prevent him from being furious.

"What the hell is this ship!" Zeng A Niu looked at the back of "Explorer", and gritted his teeth: "Turn around, don't go to Lijiazhuang, let's grab this ship first!"

However, in the chaos just now, a large number of people fell into the water, and there were rammed and capsized boats lying across the river. Some people were hurriedly picking up the people who fell into the water, and some were using poles to prop up the boats that had lost the ability to navigate. , the situation on the river was extremely chaotic for a while, and no one obeyed Zeng Aniu's orders at all.

After a full incense stick of time, the battlefield was finally cleared up. The surviving ships received Zeng A Niu's steering order one after another, so the crew adjusted the sails and began to turn the rudder.But at this moment, the nightmare fell on the gang of water bandits again.

"Here it comes! Boss, look quickly, that strange ship is coming again!"

When Zeng Aniu heard the call, he turned his head and saw that the "Explorer", which had already sailed out of sight, turned around and came back from the west.

"What's the origin of this ship! What enmity do I have with you!" Zeng Aniu was going crazy, and he could basically conclude that this ship was no ordinary cargo ship.

Not to mention the strange shape of this ship, and why it is equipped with a strong ramming device on the bow. If this ship is not at ease looking for trouble, then it should not turn around and charge after it crashed all the way just now. return.The water system near here is very developed. If you go west to the Jiaomen Waterway or Tanzhou Waterway, you can go back to the Pearl River Estuary. Even if there are a hundred small boats, it will be difficult to catch up with it in the wide waters.Then such a big ship did not choose to return to the familiar waters, but rushed back and forth on this narrow waterway. Isn't this reassuring to fight against yourself?

Seeing that the fleet under him was still adjusting their direction at different paces, Zeng Aniu suddenly felt a little desperate. How many times can the dozen or so small boats under his command withstand this monster plowing back and forth like a plow?

But at this time, before Zeng A Niu continued to issue combat orders, the fleet had already started to be in chaos.Some boats tried to speed up and turn their direction to meet the big boat, and some boats saw that it was too late, so they prepared to continue to move eastward, trying to find places like river forks in front to avoid the big evil star rushing behind, so the river surface Once again fell into chaos.

At this time, there was a faint cry of killing on the battlefield in the north. Zeng Aniu could only pray that Liao Dabi could take Lijiazhuang smoothly, so that after the battle, he could get some spoils to make up for the loss, otherwise this trip He really lost everything.

However, Liao Dabi's expression was not much better than Zeng Aniu's at this time. After the vanguard rushed into the distance of a hundred paces, people finally appeared behind the parapet, as well as a dozen muskets sticking out of the wall.In the beginning, Liao Dabi didn't pay much attention to such defensive strength. It's not like he hasn't played musket before. It's powerful. Ordinary people will lose their ability to move after one shot, but it's very troublesome to reload after one shot. At most, at this distance, you can put two guns at most, and your vanguard can rush over for close-range combat. At that time, the musket will be a fire stick, and it may not be as good as a kitchen knife.Even if ten or eight people can be defeated at this point, it is absolutely impossible to stop the impact of hundreds of people.

However, the opponent's performance after firing quickly gave Liao Dabi a heavy mouth, and the frequency of gunshots was obviously several times faster than he expected.The vanguard rushing towards the parapet is rapidly decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Every few breaths, you can hear the sound of gunfire behind the parapet, and then see the people rushing to the front fall down.In a short distance of more than a hundred steps, this group of people fell nearly half down!

Liao Dabi was not an idiot either, he quickly judged one thing - the defensive side might have far more muskets than the dozen or so he had seen.With such a firing rate, there is only one possibility, and that is that the musketeers hiding behind the parapet stepped forward and fired in batches.And this shooting frequency is enough to cause heavy casualties to the vanguard of the charge.

Xiao Liang stood behind the parapet with a copper whistle in his mouth.In such an environment where muskets are roaring, verbal command is often easily covered by gunfire, and the sharp whistle can just make up for this deficiency.The trained musketeers enter the shooting position in turn in a rotating shooting formation. According to the length of the commander's whistle, it is easy to master the rhythm of shooting.

(End of this chapter)