open sea

Chapter 240
With the envoy from Beilu to persuade them, the two supervisors really believed in the combat power of Chen Zongbing's headquarters. This contrast gave Chen Ju and Wu Dui an extremely strong shock.These two, regardless of whether they were scholars or eunuchs, could be said to have been in charge of military affairs for a long time, but the more they knew about soldiers, the more they felt that Chen Mu's five hundred banner army was a treasure.

There are more than [-] Ming soldiers guarding the side of the Shuanma Bridge, but more than [-] of them can tell at a glance that they are new recruits. Maybe they haven't even seen the blood. Just by looking at their flustered expressions, they can tell that they are not fighting the battle ahead. .

However, there were only three hundred households in the trenches and one hundred households on the artillery position who could be called sergeants, and there were less than 500 people in total who wandered around and ran errands to pass orders.

Chen Mu's banner army, especially for Chen Ju, is so interesting.

Whether it is its ordnance or trench forts, it has a strong contrast with Chen Ju, who is in charge of the Shenji Battalion.

But Ji Neng didn't dare to fight Chen Mu for a while. The army stayed on the other side of the river for two days.It seems that this roundabout state can last for several days before another fight.

Ji Neng was in a hurry, even if it was only for two days, but this situation never happened after they crossed the Great Wall. If they were at any pass in any city before, they would take a detour, but it was Juma River, where there was no way. can be wound around.

Chen Mu was more anxious than Ji Neng. He knew better than anyone else that Tumot’s invasion of the south was not just a local war against Jumahe, but related to the overall situation. No longer Ji Neng.

He was afraid that the matter of the peace talks in the north would be decided, and the money would fly away!

"Commander Jiang is also a ruthless person!"

Jineng did not dare to attack the Shuanma Bridge where Chen Mu was stationed, but he never relented when dealing with the Yanqing guards in the small river valley. The second time, it was mainly to harass the tired soldiers - Chen Mu seemed to be like this.

And in the battle report submitted by Jiang Yuelin, where there is any harassment, it is the general attack!

Every time, the Yanqing Guard Banner Army had to take their lives to stop the enemy cavalry, and flowed to the river bank to stop the enemy cavalry under the rain of arrows, causing heavy casualties and poor results.

79 captive cavalry heads were captured, and there were [-] dead and wounded.

The casualties of Jiang Yuelin's troops were close to the retreat standard set by Chen Mu, but Jiang Yuelin didn't plan to retreat. He took advantage of the interval between the cavalry's attack and sent someone to gallop to Chen Mu's place. He opened the letter and said nothing.

"General Chen, send another thousand reinforcements under him, and Jiang can defend for another three days!" '

Chen Mu frowned and said nothing, "What are you Commander Jiang doing?"

He was the one who was depressed before the war, and he was the one who never retreated after the war. There must have been some accidents in the middle, otherwise the quadruple casualties would not make the generals insist on fighting to the death.

"We are also digging trenches and setting up deer villages. Commander Jiang said that he could not stop the northern captives before because he robbed the heads and was stingy with the horses. Now the general ordered that all the heads be equalized after the war. He led the troops several times to lead the way, and he has already thought of killing the North in field battles." captive's method."

"Oh?" Chen Mu laughed, and asked, "What method?"

"Resist the horse with a spear first. The spearman has a hob hand in his hand, cuts off the horse's leg, and turns the horse over. Beilu's hand skills are not stronger than mine." The messenger was a little timid when facing Chen Mu, and said after thinking about it To: "This is an order Qi Shuai had issued a long time ago, but he didn't understand it at that time. How could he be willing to kill a horse if he didn't meet the captives?"

Chen Mu let out a sigh of relief and nodded slowly, that's right, fighting with infantry and cavalry and thinking about how to snatch the horse back is a fool's brain, a good horse costs seven or eight taels of silver, and a captive's head is worth a hundred taels of silver. He bought as many good horses as he wanted to keep the horses and kill them, but instead they were killed by the enemy, the gain outweighs the loss.

"Okay, Mr. Chen seconded a thousand soldiers to Commander Jiang. I didn't ask them to fight. These mine soldiers went to help Commander Jiang dig trenches, and the battle depended on the banner army. If things can't be done, don't do the same. Commander Hu grabs the credit." Chen Mu made a decision and said, "Anyway, we will defend for another day and switch defenses with Commander Hu, the flag army needs to rest."

Chen Mu reckoned that Jiang Yuelin's intention to stand firm on defense was not just to kill horses and then kill people. Long Junxiong's eight cannons should also have played a big role. Otherwise, if the flag army was used against the northern captives, the casualties would be four hundred in the small river valley. Less.

Leaving aside the Xiaohegu side, let’s just talk about the two sides of the Shuanma Bridge. Chen Mu has been looking for recruits since Ji Neng’s emissary returned. Trying their guts, a ten-man team was finally assembled, escorted by a Nanyang Wei Xiaoqi with a shield hand, and came to the shore in front of the battle.

"What does the general want them to do?"

Wu Dui and Chen Ju had been eye-opening these few days. They sent their entourages to draw a complete map of Chen Mu's position.

"Go to challenge the scolding battle. These northern captives are on the other side of the bridge. My banner army hasn't slept well for several days." Chen Mu's eyes were red. Although he won the first battle, thousands of captives were riding on the other side of the river No one can sleep peacefully, he pointed to the vast river and said: "Jineng will find a way to break through the river, and there may not be no places for walking and riding to break through dozens of miles along the route - he cannot be peaceful."

Chen Ju was not interested in scolding and other things. He had been fascinated by Nanyang-made firearms for the past few days, so he made a special trip to ask Chen Mu for two Nanyangwei guns. Touch this and look there—the Shenji Battalion doesn't have such heavy artillery.

"General, what is the cost of this cannon?"

Chen Ju pointed to a two-pound cannon. Chen Mu thought about it in his heart and said, "This is a two-pound cannon. It is pulled by two mules and horses. It can travel hundreds of miles a day in the north. Adding up the car, and loss together, it’s about 20 taels.”

"So expensive?" Chen Ju stared, calculated in his heart, and said slowly: "Wang Gong's factory makes Weiyuan cannons for ninety-two-three, and the general's cannons are much better than Weiyuan cannons, so they are worth the price. Is it durable?"

Expensive, can it not be expensive?

Chen Mu had to worry about the cost of Nanyangwei before he said it. The price of iron in Foshan is so close that even the freight is saved. The biggest consumption of casting cannons is labor. What is labor in Nanyangwei?
The cost of a two-jin gun is only less than seven taels, and the consumption is only more than a dozen taels, which is of course not as expensive as 20 taels.

"Durable. Before the Nanyangwei artillery is out of the game, you have to take out a few of them and try to fire them a hundred times. The body of the artillery will not deform after firing a hundred times. Only the same batch of artillery can leave the military bureau." The eunuch, who seemed very upright, made a connection, suddenly frowned and looked up at the sky, and murmured: "There is no need to challenge."

The sound of rolling thunder came from the sky, and the rain that had been waiting for many days was finally about to fall.

The Tumet's last chance, a large-scale offensive, will come as scheduled.

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)