1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 335 The Second Batch of Reinforcement Arrives

Pure infantry who use cold weapons and lack protective measures, and do not have the cover of long-range firepower.Individual bravery is of no use in the face of an established army, and the gap in combat effectiveness between the two sides was fully exposed in the two rendezvous battles on this day.

In this wave of offensive in the afternoon, although more bandits rushed through the barbed wire and arrived at the parapet defense line, they failed to obtain any substantial gains. What awaited them behind the parapet was the iron spear array in the morning, but also There is a musket array with a firepower density far exceeding that of the morning.Even the lucky ones who avoided all the bullets during the charge had no luck to speak of after rushing to this position, and all of them were sieved by the dense lead.

And this wave of bandits was obviously not as courageous as the wave of death squads in the morning. Although the number of bandits in the morning was more than doubled, after the vanguard troops who rushed to the front of the parapet were killed, the crowd in the rear immediately exploded and began to flee back. The bandit leaders who were supervising the battle in the rear were so angry that they jumped up and down and cursed.But it is impossible to ask them to take the lead and charge upwards. The firearms formation in Lijiazhuang is not a joke. Hundreds of people have been killed and injured after a day of tossing. The high casualty rate has made most people Feeling a little timid.

Li Jifeng, who hid on the roof of his own building and watched the whole battle process, has completely lost the nervousness of the previous two days. He twitched his beard and shook his head in praise: "This Haihan militia is really a tiger-wolf division. With such fighting power, even a rogue Even if it is doubled, it will not be able to take down my Lijiazhuang!"

Li Nai added softly at the side: "The Haihan militia has not yet used the artillery. If they did, I'm afraid these rogues would have been scared away. I heard that the warships of the Haihan people did not fire a single shot on the Shawan waterway today." , drove away all the water bandits coming from Xinhui County, and captured more than a dozen people."

Li Jifeng couldn't help sighing: "If my army of the Ming Dynasty had this fighting power, these bandits wouldn't be so rampant, what a pity!"

Seeing that the sky was slowly getting dark, the rogues also withdrew their troops and returned to the camp, not planning to attack again.The folks in Lijiazhuang seized the time to start cleaning up the battlefield outside the village. There were hundreds of corpses to be dealt with.After Xiao Liang and Chen Yixin set up sentries on their respective positions, they led their subordinates back to the station to rest.

"The reinforcements are coming." After contacting the second batch of reinforcements that were rushing over, Xiao Liang announced the good news to the Li family and his sons that they were completely relieved: "The fleet has passed the waters of Humen, and it will arrive tonight. Lijiazhuang. The executive committee has sent two more companies over this time, even if these bandits grow superhuman, they will definitely be here!"

"The kindness of the executive committee to help Li Jiazhuang this time, I will remember it in my heart! I don't know which officer is leading the team this time?" Li Jifeng asked cautiously.

Although the news of the arrival of Haihan's second wave of reinforcements was exciting, Li Jifeng began to feel a little worried. As the saying goes, bandits pass like a comb, and soldiers pass like a grate. When it comes to searching places, soldiers are much more ruthless than bandits Well, the Haihan people sent so many troops in one go, it was more than enough to drive away the bandits outside Lijiazhuang. Li Jifeng was a little worried that if these people couldn't figure it out, they directly pointed their guns at Lijiazhuang, which would be really troublesome That's it - with the combat capabilities of the Haihan militia, there is no suspense about taking down Lijiazhuang.

Although the soldiers trained by the Haihan people were still under the banner of the militia, after Li Jifeng met them, he knew that this group of people did not have the awareness to regard themselves as ordinary militias. From military uniforms, weapons and command systems, the standards far exceeded Apart from the general militia, except for not playing the banner, it is actually a regular army with a complete organization.Although the Li family had a very close cooperative relationship with the Haihan people, some people in the Baobuqi army saw money and knew that there was a lot of silver in the Li family village, so they came up with other crooked ideas.Of course, if famous and high-ranking officials came from Haihan's side, maybe this kind of chaos would not happen.

Xiao Liang didn't expect Li Jifeng to have so many twists and turns in his heart, and he replied after hearing his question: "This time the leader of our militia navy is Captain Wang Tom, who will also take over the local combat troops at that time. supreme command."

Wang Tom had performed escort missions to Guangzhou many times, and Li Jifeng had met him before, knowing that this officer surnamed Wang had a very high status in the Haihan Army, so he immediately responded: "The old man met with him last time. When Chief Wang met, he felt that he was very capable and would become a great talent, but he was promoted to the position of commander-in-chief of the navy so quickly, and when he arrives, I will congratulate him face to face."

Xiao Liang continued: "In order not to disturb the enemy, our fleet will enter the Shawan waterway after dark. Boss Li, please arrange your manpower and go to the east bank to meet them in advance."

"I will arrange this matter here." Li Po immediately took over the task without waiting for Li Jifeng to speak.

Li Jifeng said: "I've prepared a few tables of water and wine tonight to comfort the officers. Since Captain Wang is coming soon, let's clean up the dust for him by the way!"

The fleet led by Wang Tom reached the confluence of the Pearl River and the Shawan waterway before dark, and then under the leadership of the Li family, the two companies of the army quietly entered Lijiazhuang.

"Hurry up, I still missed this good show!" Tom Wang couldn't help sighing after listening to Xiao Liang and Chen Yixin's combat report: "This time I specially brought all the trainee officers here, I just want them to accumulate a little more experience in actual combat, I didn't expect you to start so quickly!"

In addition to the two companies of the Haihan Army and the trainee sailors on the two "Exploration Class" warships, the team Tom Wang brought over also included dozens of officers who had recently enrolled in the officer training class, including Zheng Ting, a student from North Vietnam, and others.The military believed that the combat target was relatively weak this time, and it was a good opportunity for these officers to test Haihan's combat methods on the spot, so they were sent with the team to come to Guangzhou to observe the Haihan militia's operations.However, the progress of the battle was obviously much faster than expected by the base camp. After listening to their report on the battle situation, Wang Tom can basically conclude that the bandits who attacked Lijiazhuang have been injured in today's battle, but it is not sure whether they will give up their goal. , choose to retreat overnight.

"It's not that we acted quickly, it's just that the other party rushed to die. We were in a passive defensive state throughout the whole process, and we never took the initiative to attack. Everyone in the Li family can testify to this." Xiao Liang immediately defended himself. road.

"They may not retreat, after all, we are not without hope." Chen Yixin also smiled and said: "Brother Xiao specifically told us not to use cannons, just because he was afraid of scaring them away. After all, every attack can Attacking where our defensive wall is, it seems that we are only a little bit short of attacking Zhuangzi. If we give up now, they will lose so many lives and injuries in vain."

"I hope so. I don't want to take a boat trip for a few days to come here in vain." Tom Wang didn't have too much hope for this. Maybe when he wakes up tomorrow morning, he will find that these rogues have all been evacuated. net.

Everyone was talking about the military situation, and a Haihan militiaman came in and saluted the military: "Report, a living person we captured was recognized by the militiamen in the village. He used to be from here. This person said that he has important military affairs to report. !"

Wang Tom looked at the banquet in front of him, and really couldn't say the words "Everyone don't eat, go to interrogate the prisoner first", coughed dryly and said: "Then bring people here! Anyway, there are no outsiders here, everyone also Let's listen together."

The prisoner who was soon tied up was pushed and shoved by the militiamen to the banquet hall, but before the militiamen kicked him, the prisoner knelt down very sensibly: "Military masters, the young one is a good man, a good man what!"

"Li Maozai, is that you?" Li Nai's eyes were sharp, and he immediately recognized the identity of the man kneeling on the ground, and couldn't help but angrily scolded: "You thief, you were expelled from my Li family village, and you actually joined the gang! You say, The gang that attacked Li Family Village was attracted by you?"

This Li Maozai is also considered to be lucky. During the offensive in the afternoon, he was forced by Liao Dabi to act as the vanguard to charge the formation. After stepping on the wooden plank and rushing through the barbed wire, he finally saw a black mass behind the parapet holding muskets, etc. Looking at his own militia, he even saw a few artillery pieces.At that moment, Li Maozai knew that Liao Dabi and his boys were doomed this time, and Lijiazhuang was obviously a big trap, waiting for these people to run and jump into the pit by themselves.However, although Liao Dabi was doomed, Li Maozai thought he could still be rescued, so he wisely chose to fall to the ground and pretend to be dead before the gunshots rang out. Anyway, no one would go there in the chaotic situation Check to see if he was actually shot.

However, once Li Maozai fell down, he had no chance to stand up again. The few people who followed him were not so lucky. They were all hit by the bullets that flew over, and they fell directly on his body. Immobilize him.In the end, when the civilian husband was cleaning the battlefield, he moved the six or seven corpses above, and then dragged out Li Maozai, who was half dead.Although his face was covered with blood at that time, he was still recognized by the farmer's husband, and he was soon reported to the officer.

Li Maozai denied repeatedly: "Third Young Master, don't wrong a good person. The villain can guarantee with his life that he has never done anything to attract thieves! Although the villain was expelled from the Li Family Manor because he made a mistake in a moment of confusion, he never held any grudges. Recently, I heard that there are rogues from other places preparing to attack Lijiazhuang. The villain risked his life and moved into the camp of the rogues. He wanted to inquire about the news and came back to warn the police. Who knew that these thieves were extremely strict, and the villain was unable to escape for a while, and he was forced to go into battle today. Participate in the attack, but the villain has no such intentions!"

"You are so eloquent, who would believe you!" Li Nai obviously didn't take Li Maozai's words lightly: "Masters, this person used to steal chickens and dogs before. , was expelled from his hometown and expelled from Lijiazhuang. This person has always lied a lot, and you must not believe what he said!"

Li Maozai was still waiting to be wronged, Li Jifeng picked up the wine glass and threw it on his head: "You bastard, how dare you argue! Someone, drag him out of Shenjiang!"

"Wait!" Tom Wang stopped Li Jifeng's disposal: "Even if this person is really the culprit, that's okay. I want to hear what information he has that can save his life."

Li Maozai's ability to steer the rudder when he sees the wind has undoubtedly reached the peak. Hearing this, he immediately replied: "This military master, the villain has been lurking in the bandit camp for many days. He has found out the leaders of the various bandits. Wait for the villain to come one by one." This time the rogues gathered together to attack Lijiazhuang. The leader was Liao Dabi, the bandit leader from Conghua and Qingyuan. Besides him, the bandit leader Lai Dingji, Zhang Weichong, Zeng Aniu and others participated. This Liao Dabi led There are more than [-] people in total, and they are responsible for attacking the West Road..."

At this time, in order to save his life, Li Maozai dumped beans from a bamboo tube and sold off the gangsters headed by Liao Dabi. Captured, all recruited out.Tom Wang didn't interrupt him either, allowing him to keep talking.

On the contrary, the Li family father and son were secretly startled when they heard it. Judging from what Li Maozai said, there might be as many as 5000 bandits besieging the Li family village this time. It's really hard to say whether the family militia can defend Lijiazhuang with their own abilities.Although today's combat results look good, there are still as many as three to 4000 bandit gangs outside the village, and it is still not careless—of course, now that a new batch of reinforcements have entered the village, the possibility of accidents in the next battle is basically the same. has been wiped out.

"Let me ask you, based on what you know about these gangs, do you think they will withdraw overnight?" Tom Wang's concern is not the strength of the gangs, but the fact that he brought his team across the sea from a long distance. Is there any chance of it coming in handy?

"This..." Li Maozai couldn't figure out what the other party's intention was when he asked him this question, so he hesitated for a moment.

"I just asked this question, and you can't answer it, so what's the use of keeping you?" Tom Wang threatened Li Maozai with a sneer.

Li Maozai immediately woke up from his hesitation, gritted his teeth and said: "From what the villain sees, this gang of thieves will never hit the south wall and never look back. Although the situation is unfavorable today, they will definitely come out tomorrow. Attack the Li Family Village!"

"Why? Is there a reason for them to continue to come to die?" Tom Wang asked.

Li Maozai swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said: "It is said...these bandits heard...the Li Family Village has innumerable treasures, and after taking down the Li Family Village, each person will get a share of 800 taels of silver. With so much silver in front of you, If we don't take Li Family Village, how can these thieves be willing to retreat?"

"It sounds reasonable!" Tom Wang nodded, but what he agreed with was not Li Maozai's reason, but the fact that the opponent would choose to continue attacking.

"Captain Wang, this man is cunning and has a lot of lies, so don't believe them all!" Li Jifeng was taken aback by Li Maozai's words, and quickly persuaded Tom Wang.He was originally worried that the Hai Han soldiers would have other ideas when they arrived, but this Li Maozi actually deliberately claimed that the money in the Li family village was the target of attracting thieves. Isn't this deliberately causing trouble for the Li family village?If the Haihan people ask the Li family to hand over the money to them in the name of protection, will they cooperate or not?
Wang Tom nodded and said: "Don't worry, Boss Li, I have my own sense of propriety. People should be detained and locked up first, so don't drag them to Shenjiang, and don't waste this labor. It just so happens that we have a building under construction at the mouth of the Pearl River." The construction site requires a lot of labor, and all the captives caught this time will be handed over to us, what does Boss Li think?"

Li Jifeng thought in his heart that he didn't know how to deal with the captured thieves. He committed suicide and was afraid of causing unnecessary trouble in the future, and he thought it was a waste of food to lock him up. Since the Haihan people are willing to take this trouble away, they just wished for it up.

Li Jifeng immediately responded: "Your militia has done a great job in protecting Lijiazhuang this time. The handling of the captives is what Captain Wang said. I'd rather be respectful than follow orders."

Li Maozai, who was kneeling on the ground, also heaved a sigh of relief. After tossing around a few times, he finally saved his life temporarily.Although from what the officer said, it seemed that he was going to be dragged to a certain construction site to do hard labor, but that was better than losing his life in vain.

After the militiamen escorted Li Maozai away, Tom Wang put away his smile and said to Li Jifeng: "Boss Li, after listening to what this prisoner said just now, there is a sentence that I don't know whether to say or not."

Li Jifeng's heart tightened, and he quickly responded: "Captain Wang, but it's okay to say."

"Then I'll just say it straight." Tom Wang replied, "Your Li family's business is very big, and you can be considered a little famous in Guangdong. They came from outside. Why did they travel long distances to Panyu County to attack you? What the prisoner said just now is actually very representative. It is for the wealth of your Li family village, and for your money..."

Li Jifeng thumped in his heart, secretly screaming that something was wrong, hearing Tom Wang's tone, it seemed that he had already decided on Li Jiazhuang's idea.He originally thought that he had dealt with Wang Tom before, and the other party would not shamelessly attack Li Jiazhuang, but he didn't expect that it was just wishful thinking in the end.Now that the other party has opened his mouth, I am afraid that Li Jiazhuang will not be able to pass this level without some blood.

Li Jifeng tried to calm down and said: "This Li Maozai is a traitor from the Li family village, so what he said is unavoidable. Captain Wang doesn't have to take it all seriously. As for the silver, how can he say such exaggerations..."

"No? Your Li family has a big business, and you have earned so much money, so you have to find a place to store it. There must be a part of Guangzhou City, but the Li family village is the root of your Li family. There must be a bank or other facilities here. Am I right?" Tom Wang responded with a smile.

(End of this chapter)