The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 236 I am powerless
By the time the musketeers of the Wucheng Bingmasi stopped firing, the 1,000 garrison soldiers led by Lu Demin had suffered more than 300 casualties.

Under the joint attack of both sides, the garrison soldiers basically lost their combat effectiveness.

Lu Tongzhi thought he had found a big bargain and that he could gain military merit without much effort today, but he didn't expect that he had dug a big hole for himself.

The garrison soldiers who had managed to survive stumbled back. Lü Tongzhi's retainers made way for them, allowing the frightened soldiers to escape quickly.

No matter how incompetent the guards were, they were still Lu Zhitong's subordinates. These military households usually helped Master Lu to farm the fields, and during the slack season, they were taken to Liaodong to build turtle shells (fortresses), helping Master Lu earn extra money.

It can be said that they are the most important private property of Lu Tongzhi. The factory owner can ask the guards for free help, and can ride on the heads of beggar soldiers to shit and piss, but he cannot treat Master Lu’s private property as grass, cutting it up at will and slaughtering it at will.

Human heads are not leeks; once cut, they won't grow back. To put it more bluntly, if all these military households died, Master Lu's position as the Tongzhi would also be over.

So, seeing Tian Ergeng ordering indiscriminate shooting, Lü Demin was very angry. The East Factory could disrespect him, but it could not disrespect his business and his private property.

In the words of the Red Haired Idiot: "God protects the lawful property of all free men, even if that property is a black slave."

Tian Ergeng had never dealt with the red-haired barbarians, so he was so indifferent to Lu Tongzhi's private property.

"Lü Tongzhi, are all your servants just sitting around doing nothing? Quick! Block the gap and don't let the guards escape!"

Tian Ergeng saw with his own eyes that Shen Lian began to flee. The previous few rounds of musket fire had killed five or six of the enemy.

"Lü Tongzhi, why are you still standing there? Tell the retainers to attack and drive the rebels into the sea!"

Tian Ergeng acted like a superior, giving orders while riding on his horse. From beginning to end, he didn't even lower his head to look at Fatty Lu.

Lu Demin said "oh" and turned his head to the side, pretending not to hear.

When most of the guards had fled, he managed a smile on his fat face:
"Captain Tian, you've seen it too. My family is too small to stop this rabble. Don't worry, when I return, I'll teach these damned bastards a lesson! Let them know what the Ming Dynasty military law is!"

Tian Ergeng smiled coldly, without even looking at Lu Tongzhi, and turned to order Captain Fan, who was still shooting arrows, to take the lead. Captain Fan hesitated for a moment, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Captain Fan, the factory owner will arrive in Tianjin tomorrow. You know his temper. If he does well, he'll be promoted. If he doesn't, he'll be fine."

Tian Ergeng's face was gloomy. "His nephew died at the hands of Shen Lian. You can decide for yourself what to do."

General Fan glanced at Tongzhi Lu, who sighed.

He was worried that if he hesitated any longer, he might be sent to the Zhenfu Prison and suffer the treatment of a single death cell.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and command the water camp soldiers to advance forward.

Tian Ergeng looked at the back of the Tianjin soldier and snorted.

As one of the Five Tigers of the East Factory, he had immense power in the capital. Not to mention a small garrison commander, even the garrison commander had to give him some face.

His eldest brother, Xu Xianchun, was now in power, and with a single word he could destroy the families of these country bumpkins. Even a few small fish and shrimps dared to give him the cold shoulder.

Tian Ergeng knew Lü Demin's background very well. He had made his fortune through smuggling, human trafficking, and other shady activities. If the East Factory wanted to deal with him, they could send this fat man to the Imperial Prison at any time.

If the factory manager had not specifically instructed him, Tian Ergeng would not have bothered to pay attention to this person.

"Then please ask General Lu to rest here and let the people from the water camp take over!"

Tian Ergeng was furious. He now had high hopes for the Tianjin Water Camp. Compared to the messy military households just now, this group of people looked more like soldiers.

Tian Ergeng watched with hope as the squadrons of water camp soldiers marched off into the distant darkness. Then, a series of shrill screams erupted, and soon, the water camp soldiers, as if they had seen a ghost, scrambled back.

The general flag leading the team in front even lost his sword. Captain Tian knew that the Tianjin soldiers were deliberately letting him go, and he was too lazy to bother with these useless people.

"waste!"

He turned to look at the musketeers from the military command. These soldiers had just finished their rest. The previous attack had gone quite smoothly. They had fought back and forth, killing hundreds of garrison soldiers and a few rebels along the way. It was a big harvest, and morale was high.

"People from the Military Affairs Department, keep going!"

Two hundred musketeers from the Bingmasi who had rushed over from the capital stepped on the corpses left behind by the garrison soldiers, climbed over the horse bars and caltrops, and quickly walked towards the darkness where the rebels were hiding.

Although the matchlock gun has a low firing rate, the power of two hundred people firing at the same time cannot be underestimated.

Lin Yu carried a huge shield, shielding everyone as they disappeared into the darkness. The musketeers raised their muskets and fired randomly into the night. For a moment, the crackling sound was very lively, as if they were worried that they had too much lead bullets. Tian Ergeng said proudly: "No matter how good your kung fu is, you can't stop the lead bullets. Don't worry, move forward boldly, burn the Fu ships, and capture them all!"

Before Captain Tian could finish his words, three muffled booms were heard. Cannons exploded from the opposite side. Amidst the terrified gazes of the crowd, several iron balls burst through the darkness, whistling into the dense crowd, splashing a shower of blood in the hands of the musketeers.

The musketeers, who had been so high-spirited just now, suddenly fell into panic. In ancient times, it was most likely that the camp would be destroyed if it was attacked in the dark. Fortunately, they had just won a small victory and still maintained a psychological advantage over the enemy.

Lu Jianxing quickly loaded the gunpowder and shells and lit the fuse again. He had already marked the target in advance, so there was no need to aim now. He could just wait until the enemy entered the target range and fire directly.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three iron balls drew an exaggerated parabola in the night sky and smashed into the crowd a hundred steps away like meteors. Amid the screams of ghosts and wolves, several more unlucky people were hit by the iron balls.

The range of the Tiger Crouching Cannon is actually not much different from that of the arquebus, and it does not have any advantage in a head-on confrontation with the arquebus. However, it is dark now, and those who strike first will always have the advantage.

Lu Jianxing and his men were hiding in the shadows, while the enemy was in the open. More importantly, the visual impact of a solid artillery shell was far greater than that of a firearm. On the battlefield, it was not uncommon for a few shells to hit the enemy formation, directly causing the opposing army to collapse.

"They still have cannons?!"

Tian Ergeng looked at Lu Demin beside him with suspicion. Lu Tongzhi imitated the red-haired barbarians and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, maybe Shen Lian brought it from the capital. The Shenjiying in the capital has a lot of artillery."

Tian Ergeng suddenly felt that this fat man was really hateful.

"From the capital? They were running for their lives, and they managed to drag a Tiger Crouching Cannon from the capital to here? Let's ask Lu Tongzhi to drag a French machine gun for us later!"

Seeing that the attack of the military headquarters was about to come to nothing, Tian Ergeng finally couldn't stand it anymore and shouted to Lu Demin:
"Where are the artillery pieces from Tianjin? Pull them over here and fire at the Fuzhou ships!"

Shen Liangang had just blown up the arsenal, and half of the Portuguese cannons were destroyed in the arsenal. The remaining cannons were scattered across four gates in Tianjin.

Lu Demin shrugged, looking innocent.

"Captain Tian, they've blown up all the cannons, so we can only bring them in from the four-door city wall."

"how long?"

The fat man squinted his eyes and thought for a while: "I can't say for sure, maybe half an hour! Maybe two hours..."

"Then hurry up!"

The dull explosions of several tiger squat cannons in the distance once again made everyone tense.

These soldiers from the Bingmasi were originally sent to assist the East Factory in arresting Shen Lian, and they were also fighting with foreign troops in Tianjin. Their fighting spirit was weak, and after suffering casualties from the artillery bombardment, they showed signs of disintegration.

Tian Ergeng was hesitating whether to send the Jinyiwei to reinforce. At this time, more than a dozen orange-red flames rose in the sky and roared towards the defeated musketeers.

"Sacred Fire Flying Crow!"

Tian Ergeng had been in the capital for many years and was familiar with the various firearms equipped by the Shenjiying. Flying overhead was none other than the terrifying Divine Fire Crow.

In reality, this type of firearm isn't very powerful. Without kerosene, it's unlikely to kill someone even if it lands nearby. The scary thing is that its flight trajectory is incredibly bizarre.

Simply put, with the launch point as the center, everyone in front, behind, left, and right could become the target of the Divine Fire Crow's attack. Therefore, the Ming army generally did not use this thing unless it was absolutely necessary.

After all, the Divine Fire Flying Crow after being ignited is a severe test for both the user and the one being used.

Sure enough, a divine fire swallow took off, turned around, and flew towards the Fu ship anchored on the shore...
"God has mercy on me, good shot!"

Tian Ergeng laughed heartily.

Then the laughter stopped abruptly.

A rocket hit the general flag officer who was supervising the battle in the back row, and the flames caused by the explosion instantly engulfed the officer.

The surrounding soldiers scattered.

(End of this chapter)