Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 202

Shi Kefa was very meticulous in his work, personally supervised, and the [-] boats were ready soon, with ten boatmen on each boat.

He also urged that ten of the ships be filled with grain. Shi Kefa had no shortage of ships or grain, and the Governor of Water Transport had only these two things.

The gunpowder, lead bullets and artillery prepared for Yang Chao are all ready, just waiting for Yang Chao to set off.

Yang Chao didn't delay, Shi Kefa prepared everything in two days, and Yang Chao set off on the third day.

630 people boarded the ship, and ten empty ships were loaded with people. This time Yang Chao did not intend to let the soldiers walk.

Of the remaining 22 ships, fourteen were filled with grain, ten of which were given by Shi Kefa, with a total of [-] dan, and the other four were bought by Yang Chao himself, with a total of [-] tan. Come on, he didn't actually consume much food, but Yang Chao didn't regret it, he was prepared, he could take the food with him and not eat it, and there was no food when he couldn't eat.

There were also eight ships, with cloth and wood for camping, and provisions for weapons and armor, as well as powder and cannon.

Shi Kefa gave Yang Chao a look at the cannon. There were twenty tigers squatting on the cannon, each weighing more than 30 catties, and the lead bullets weighed five cents.

Five general cannons each respect five hundred catties, and the lead bullets weigh three catties.

There are also four thousand-jin Flang machine bronze cannons, each respecting three hundred catties, and the lead bullets weighing one catty.

Finally, there is a red-clothed cannon that respects 1000 jin. This is Shi Kefa's treasure. It is said to be an artifact that can be corrupted for dozens of miles, but this cannon is indeed far away. The attack distance is [-] to [-] feet, which is equivalent to meters. More than [-] meters.

The batch of cannons, gunpowder and lead bullets alone accounted for five ships, and the remaining three ships were equipped with Yang Chao's camping equipment.

Thirty-two five-hundred-tan sloops sailed down the river from outside the city of Huai'an.

In just one day, I arrived in Anton, and then entered Lianshui.

At this time, it is considered to be going upstream and the wind is not strong enough to pull the fiber, which is what the boatmen do at this time.

Yang Chao's soldiers were resting on the boat. Some of them stared blankly at the outside of the boat with a confused look on their faces.

Yang Chao's boat was in the third place, and the first two were troop carriers. Putting the troop in front made it easier to go into battle immediately after encountering the enemy.

The gunpowder ship is at the end, so that even if there is an accident, it will not affect the entire fleet.

The boatmen carried the thick hemp ropes on their backs, lowered their heads and bowed forward, but they couldn't see how hard they were struggling, and they could still talk while pulling the fibers, appearing calm and flat.

Yang Chao didn't know what Shi Kefa told these people, but he definitely didn't tell them the truth, he didn't tell them that they might encounter enemy troops, Shi Kefa was a little clever.

If Yang Chao didn't tell his soldiers that he was going to rescue Haizhou and fight against the Eastern Captives, he believed that his soldiers would probably be in the same state and would be very relaxed.

But Yang Chao didn't regret it. On the contrary, let him come again, and he would still inform his subordinates so that everyone could be mentally prepared.

And these boat trackers obviously didn't plan for them to have any preparations, and didn't even take their lives seriously, and coaxed them to go to the battlefield without telling them what they would encounter. Shi Kefa was not a bad person, but in his eyes, They also didn't take the lives of these ordinary people seriously.

This is the scholar-bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty. In the concept of hierarchy, they are a group of high-ranking people, and they are the backbone of the country!

Yang Chao lamented the fate of the boatmen, but he didn't tell them, otherwise it would be messed up.

Turning around and ignoring them, he said nothing to Jiang Yang: "Jiang Baihu, how many captive soldiers attacked Haizhou?"

Jiang Baihu sighed: "This lower official really doesn't know."

Yang Chao said: "About how much, there is always a number."

Jiang Baihu still shook his head: "Your official really doesn't know!"

Yang Chao couldn't help being puzzled. This Jiang Baihu has been refusing to say exactly how many captive soldiers attacked Haizhou. Yang Chao feels that it is understandable for a civil official like Haizhou Zhizhou to be unclear. As a military officer, he must have some basic concepts.

There must be something hidden in it, Yang Chao couldn't help frowning, and even suspected that Jiang Yang was a secret agent of the captive soldiers.

But Jiang Yang speaks with a Haizhou accent, so it doesn't look like a meticulous work. Of course, it doesn't rule out that his relatives were captured by the Manchus and forced him to do meticulous work.

Yang Chao kept an eye out, pretending to ask Jiang Yang to enter the cabin with him casually, and then ordered Jiang Yang to be detained.

I immediately got out of the cabin. I wanted to tell all the soldiers to cheer up, but I gave up. The soldiers are already nervous enough. If I give this order, I am afraid that the soldiers' spirits will collapse before Haizhou.

Just remind all the officers to be careful, and at the same time send sentries to take turns to watch, not to miss any suspicious places.

After walking for two days, I entered the Shuoxiang Lake without incident. The lake is vast and surging under the wind, like a flipped quilt.

"This wind is not small!"

Yang Chao sighed secretly, the boatman had already started lowering the sails, and sailed quickly with only half sails.

You don't have to worry about Donglu when you enter the lake. No matter how powerful their cavalry is, they can't be at least on the water.

Yang Chao ordered the soldiers to take the time to rest, and went into the cabin to sleep.

Before nightfall, they crossed Shuoxiang Lake and stationed at the mouth of the Lianhe River. Yang Chao asked Wang Pu to arrange people to take turns to watch the night to prevent the enemy from sneaking in.

If you can send scout horses to explore a ten-mile radius, you don't have to work so hard, and you can avoid the danger of being attacked. It's a pity that Yang Chao didn't dare to take the risk of letting the infantry go deep into both sides of the river. .

Yang Chao also wanted to train a cavalry, but it was a pity that he could not buy war horses. Since the rise of the Qing Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty imported less and less war horses, and they had to give priority to supplying the northern frontier army. It was almost difficult to find war horses in the south. Even an occasional one or two is very expensive.

Yang Chao secretly decided that when he went back this time, he had to find a way to get a batch of war horses, at least thirty or fifty scout horses had to be trained.

Spend the night safely, set sail the next day, the boatman still has to pull the fiber.

At this time, Yang Chao finally ordered that all his soldiers cheer up. The closer they were to Haizhou, the more likely they would encounter the Eastern captives. At this moment, they could no longer care about the nervousness of the soldiers.

The two sides of Lianshui are very flat, and the territory of Haizhou is basically flat, with an average fear of seven or eight meters. This generation was still the sea during the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it was all silted up later. It can be said that the beach is accumulated little by little, so it is very flat. Normally, even if you see a mountain occasionally, it is no more than a hundred meters high.

Finally, we came to a dam. This dam is called Xinba. The name is unremarkable. There are many Yangtze River basins with the same name.

The function of Haizhou New Dam is to communicate Lianshui and Yunyan River, and through the new dam, Lianshui will be led into Yunyan River.

Yunyan River is a man-made canal. It was first excavated by Yuan Fuchu in Song Dynasty.

This salt-carrying river runs parallel to the coast for a long distance from Haizhou, communicates with most of the salt fields in Huaibei, sends the salt fields directly to Huai'an, and then transfers from Huai'an to Yangzhou. Therefore, the prosperity of Huai'an and Yangzhou is to a certain extent It was the canal that made it.

Because the canal is related to salt, it is extremely important. Throughout the dynasties, including the Yuan Dynasty, the river was built many times to keep the river flowing.

However, after arriving at the new dam, the waterway of the Lianhe River can no longer be used, because after passing the new dam, the Lianshui flows directly to the east into the sea, and to go north, it needs to enter the Yunyan River.

After submitting Shi Kefa's essay, Yang Chao was allowed to pass, and entered the Yunyan River, closer to Haizhou, and closer to Donglu. Yang Chao himself was a little excited, and finally had to face the biggest enemy in the world. Can the soldiers trained by oneself be used?

After entering the Yunyan River and walking north for more than ten miles, I saw a mountain in the distance. After bypassing the mountain, a big city suddenly appeared.

The city is backed by mountains and facing water, it is a land of dragons and tigers according to geomantic omen, but it is easy to defend and difficult to attack according to military theory.

Only then did Yang Chao say to Li Liang, the soldier beside him: "Please come out from Jiangyang Baihu, Haizhou is here!"

Li Liang went down in a hurry, and soon Jiang Yang ran up, with an angry face when he appeared, but when he saw Haizhou City, he immediately forgot all his displeasure, and lay down on the side of the boat, feeling a sense of unexpected joy.

"We've arrived in Haizhou! We've arrived at the Central Institute!"

Jiang Yang is happy in the way of color.

Yang Chao smiled and said, "You're home!"

(End of this chapter)