Go back to the end of the Ming Dynasty to be a soldier

Chapter 447 Bloody Battle in Jiangyin

On the one hand, Shi Lang was busy building fortifications on the river and on the shore, preparing to fight Lin Yi again here.On the other hand, he felt that there were not enough soldiers and horses. The first battle in Zhenjiang suffered heavy losses, and there were less than 4 troops to fight against the Ming army.

Before that, both he and his uncle made the mistake of underestimating the enemy and advancing aggressively, which led to the disastrous defeat in the First Battle of Zhenjiang. Now he realizes the strength of the Ming army, especially the formation of the giant ship Yangwei, which is difficult to deal with, and according to his According to the report, because Lin Yi, the supervisor of the Ming Dynasty, led the victory from the southwest, and then went to the south of the Yangtze River without stopping, soldiers and horses from all over the country of the Ming Dynasty were gathering in this direction.

He felt that he could not achieve the bravery of a man, especially now that his uncle Shi Fu was defeated and captured, and his life and death were unknown.The navy of the Ming army and the soldiers and horses on the shore pressed the border, and he felt that some people were alone, stretched and difficult to deal with, so he had to turn to strategic defense.

So he immediately asked Zheng Wang for help, but he didn't know that his emergency document had just been sent out, and the imperial decree arrived, asking him to go out of the camp to meet the angel officer.

Shi Lang was taken aback, where did the imperial edict come from?
Shi Lang, who has been in the military camp for a long time, still doesn't know about Zheng Zhilong's proclaiming emperor in Fujian.

Zheng Zhilong proclaimed himself king in Fujian, but he had already revealed his ambition to become emperor.Emperor Chongzhen named him Ning Nan Bo, he thought he was too small, and now he is bloated.With such a large territory and strength, and so much international support, the shallow pond cannot accommodate a big toad, and the temple is naturally too small to accommodate a great god.Shi Lang could completely understand and accept it.

And this is a great thing for Shi Lang.Their prince proclaimed himself emperor, and the rising tide raised all boats. He, the general who led the army before the enemy, must also be the founding hero of the Great Southern Empire.And his brother Shi Xian can also be promoted.

It's not easy, God has eyes...

Shi Lang thought of his brothers and their family situation, he felt a little sour.

His father, Shi Daxuan, was an honest farmer who had been kind and charitable all his life.In the generation of their brothers, they are all ambitious people.But the family is poor, and the children of the poor family are more frustrated in troubled times.

As the elder brother, Shi Lang studied literature at first.But after a few years, he failed to accomplish anything, so he had no choice but to abandon literature and practice martial arts, but practicing martial arts requires more money to support than studying literature. Shi Lang's family was already stretched when he was studying literature. Where can his family get the money for learning martial arts?
But nothing is difficult in the world, as long as you are willing to climb.The two brothers practiced by themselves, but they want to be self-taught, especially in martial arts, which requires more effort and sweat.The two brothers practiced very hard, but they were really talented in this area, and they became well-known in the village in just a few years.

Later, he was discovered by an old Taoist priest who traveled all over the world. The old Taoist priest came to beg for alms. Shi Lang, whose family was already very poor, gave the Taoist priest a large amount of charity. If there is no future, they will be accepted as apprentices, and they will not take any money.

The two brothers were very grateful, so they learned a lot of martial arts from the Taoist priest, especially Shi Lang was good at swordsmanship.

Later, when his uncle Shi Fu was on his way home to visit relatives, he happened to meet these two brothers. Shi Fu was born as a pirate and had been with Zheng Zhilong for half his life. , dare to go home.Shi Fu found that the two brothers had extraordinary skills, so he recommended them to Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong had just been recruited by the imperial court, and his official title in Daming was Ning Nanbo, the general town of Fujian. He was in need of talents like Brother Shi Lang.Because Zheng Zhilong has multiple identities, he is both a maritime merchant and a pirate, and he is still the Earl of an important minister in the Ming Dynasty.

Zheng Zhilong found out that the two brothers were highly skilled in martial arts, so he gave them favors and took them by his side. The two brothers were also very competitive, and since then they have gradually emerged in the Zheng Group and made many military exploits.Especially this time when Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, and the prince Taishi Lin Yi replaced the prince to supervise the country, Zheng Zhilong felt that his chance to take off as a dragon had come.Therefore, it was announced that Ning Nanbo would be abolished and he would become king himself.

This is tantamount to a blatant break with the Ming court. The Ming court group with Lin Yi as the supervisor of the country will definitely not agree from the central government to the local government, and will encircle and suppress the Zheng family as rebels.During this period, the two Shi Lang brothers opened up territory for Zheng Zhilong, one went west, the other first went east and then north, one hit Guangxi, and the other hit the Yangtze River Basin.

Now Zheng Zhilong has finally achieved great success.Of course, Shi Lang knew that the new king's proclaiming himself emperor usually amnesty the world in order to win the hearts of the people and more support.Now the angel official must be a great meritorious official to reward the three armies.In order to make the soldiers of these former enemies more loyal to Zheng Zhilong and his Great Southern Empire.

The two brothers can finally be appointed officials and nobles, their wives and sons, and their family members will be honored. When the class teacher returns to the court in the future, the two brothers will return to their hometown in full glory, and their family members and fellow villagers will also look at them differently. How happy it should be Son!
In the previous Ming Dynasty, brothers Shi Lang who came from a poor family would never have dared to dream about it.

The only fly in the ointment is that his uncle was defeated and captured by Fu Bing, and they are newly defeated in Zhenjiang. His Majesty King Zheng, can he be punished for his crime?

Shi Lang analyzed again that it should not be possible, because victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists, although the Zhenjiang army was defeated, the troops were lost and the generals were lost.But in the past few years, he has gone through life and death to expand the territory for the Zheng family, how many territories have he laid down, and how many victories have he won?The scars on his body are all witnesses, even he himself can't count them.

Not to mention the hard work he made before, but now he can still make up for it. If he can stop Daming's navy this time, and His Majesty King Zheng can send him reinforcements, there is still hope for turning defeat into victory.

Thinking of this, Shi Lang felt much more relaxed. Shi Lang was very excited, and first saluted the decree officer. This is an angel official, representing His Majesty King Zheng, so of course he had to be respectful.

Then bring in the decree officer and burn incense to receive the decree.

The decree officer read out the decree aloud, conferred the titles of Shi Lang as Dingbei General, his uncle Shi Fu as Director of Military and Horse Army, and Zheng Cai as Deputy General.

Sure enough, as Shi Lang expected, His Majesty the King of Zheng, indeed, it was Long Enhaodang who granted him an official position. It's a pity that his uncle was defeated and captured. If it wasn't for that, he would be so happy!
Shi Lang fell on his knees to thank him, kowtowed, and expressed his gratitude that he must live up to Long En and serve the country faithfully.He defeated Ji Dong, rescued his uncle, and made another contribution to the Great Southern Empire.

After receiving the order, Shi Lang ordered people to arrange a feast for the angel officials.Shi Lang and Zheng Cai personally accompanied them.

Before the banquet, the three of them had a heart-to-heart talk, exchanged cups, and drank happily.

People are refreshed on happy occasions. Although they lost the battle, they were appointed officials and nobles. This is undoubtedly a great joy.With the banquet added to the fun, the three chattered loudly. When it came to the battle in front of him, Shi Lang was a little depressed and dejected. He said that he had lost the battle, lost troops and lost generals, and that his uncle was Shi Fu who was captured, and his life and death were unknown.They had to turn to defense and asked the court for help.

The angel officer laughed, reassuring them that the Great Southern Empire is not what it used to be, with millions of soldiers and thousands of generals, and the support of the Netherlands, Portugal, Japan and other great powers.What's the point of losing a battle?His surname is Lin, how big a storm can be caused by this giant ship on the sea?The Great Southern Empire is not the Great Qing Empire, His Majesty the Holy King will soon send reinforcements, and so on.

After the Angel Officer boasted for a while, Shi Lang and Zheng Cai got even more carried away, and their glasses were full of wine.

After talking, Shi Lang talked about his brother Shi Xian, thousands of miles away, he really doesn't know how his brother is doing in Guangxi, has he also been promoted by His Majesty King Zheng?

But when the angel officer heard the word Shi Xian, his face suddenly became gloomy, and then he smiled and told Shi Lang to reassure him, although the battle in the southwest is also going on fiercely. The 20 Ming army attacked their Great Southern Empire from Guangxi and Yunnan in two directions. However, with Li Dingguo, His Royal Highness Zheng Damu and Shi Xian as strong generals, and the support of the Netherlands and Portugal, the war in the southwest was safe.His Majesty King Zheng will definitely send envoys to go to the battlefield to enshrine meritorious soldiers. Shi Xian's military achievements are outstanding, and he will not be inferior to his brother.

Of course Shi Lang was very happy when he heard that, but he found that the angel was a little evasive when talking about his younger brother Shi Xian, and his expression was obviously not as natural as before.He vaguely felt that there was something going on here, but it was inconvenient to ask further.

Maybe it's because of the drinking, the angel officer doesn't want to talk about some details.

Thinking of this, Shi Lang didn't ask any more questions, and drank until the third watch. After the three of them enjoyed themselves, they withdrew the banquet.

The next day Shi Lang sent off the angel officer, and continued to command the army, build fortifications, drill the navy, and prepare for a tough battle.

At this time, someone came to report that the Ming army had entered Jiangyin territory by land and water.

Shi Lang gritted his teeth, good time, this general has already prepared it for you, Lin, this time I will let you have a taste of the power of the underwater river blocking protection net!

He immediately summoned the deputy general Zheng Cai and other generals to the tent, divided the troops and dispatched generals, and he also inspected the fortifications on the shore. With Jiangyin County as the center, the fortifications were as solid as gold, and Zheng Cai was ready to fight from now on.

Zheng Cai is also a member of Zheng Zhilong's family. In history, this general has also been powerful. It was the turmoil between him and Zheng Chenggong. Now he, like Zheng Chenggong (Zheng Damu), is also a rising star in the army. This will be named by Zheng Zhilong. Lieutenant General Shi Lang was also on the rise, so Zheng Cai generously agreed, and after taking the order, he took his personal guards to the shore to defend the Ming army.

Shi Lang was still not at ease this time, and personally inspected the fortifications on the river and the shore and the defense of the generals one by one, and then he felt confident, and returned to the naval camp, waiting for the Ming army to attack.

Two days later, the reporter came in, "General, the fleet of the Ming army has arrived..."

(End of this chapter)