The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 290 Killing two birds with one stone

Two days later, the Jinling Navy finally arrived at the Haimen County Pier. It had more than 2,000 troops and more than 60 large and small ships. Flags were fluttering in a mighty and mighty formation on the river. It was quite spectacular. The man responsible for leading this navy The general of the navy is a general named Zhang Guizhang, who is from Ningbo Prefecture, Jinhua, Zhejiang. He is in his thirties and is in the prime of life. However, this man has fair skin, a tall figure, and looks a bit frail. He is more like a scholar, so Yi Hong doesn't like him very much.

Three days later, everything was ready. Yi Hong arranged for Yangzhou Guard Commander Dai Li to stay in Haimen County, and then personally led the fleet to Chongming Sand downstream, and Jia Huan was naturally asked to accompany him.

Firstly, it was because Governor Yingtian's seal was on Jia Huan and he might use it at any time. Secondly, Yi Hong felt that Jia Huan had a flexible mind and many ideas. The key was that this boy seemed to be born with extremely good luck and could always get into trouble. To turn it into good luck, you might as well take him with you to ask for good luck.

Jia Huan also didn't know that he was regarded as a "mascot" by Yi Hong. He only wanted to fulfill Lin Ruhai's wish and set off on the same boat with Yi Hong.

The weather was clear that day, the sun was shining brightly, and the visibility on the river was very high. However, the water on the vast river was huge and surging. Hundreds of warships were flowing down the river, with their flags covering the sky and the sun. The momentum made Yi Hong full of enthusiasm.

Yi Hongnai was born in the army and served as a soldier at the border for more than ten years. He commanded thousands of troops across the battlefield, made great achievements and established an unparalleled reputation. This was the dream he had cherished since he was a child. Although he is now in a high position and has become the confidant of the Nine-Five Lord, fearing everyone and worrying about ghosts, he is still passionate about it, and his heart for pursuing fame and wealth is still as hot as before.

Just when Yi Hong was standing on the attic at the stern of the ship with great ambition and leaning on the railing, he suddenly saw Jia Huan passing by on the deck below, followed by a conspicuous little tail - Mandarin, a foreign girl disguised as a man, so he smiled and greeted her. He waved: "Jia Xiucai, come up."

When no one is around in private, Yi Hong likes to pretend to call Jia Huan "Brother Huan" to show his closeness, but in public, he usually only calls him Jia Xiucai. After all, lowering his stature too low will undermine his majesty.

Let's say that when Jia Huan heard Yi Hong calling him, he turned around and walked towards the loft at the stern of the ship. Mandarin, dressed in shorts and with a sword hanging on her waist, followed him step by step. Her eyes were alert and her actions were quick. His waist was straight, like a qualified guard, but his delicate face and superb figure were too provocative after all.

After the two had a personal fight that night, whether because of his "conscience" discovery or for other purposes, Jia agreed to take Mandarin with him when he went out to fight, and only asked Jinbao to send little Xingyuan to Yangzhou. Take care of Ping'er.

When Jia Huan climbed up to the attic, Yi Hong glanced at Mandarin, who was disguised as a man but could not hide her graceful curves, and joked: "Although people are not romantic and waste their youth, it's better for Brother Huan to take it easy. Young people don't know how to control themselves. It’s easy to damage the roots.”

Jia Huan said calmly: "Master Yi has misunderstood. Mandarin is not weak in skills, and is familiar with water and navigation. It may be useful to take her with you."

Yi Hong was a little disapproving and said with a smile: "So that's it. Brother Nahuan really found a treasure this time. This girl can be a guard during the day and warm the bed at night. Kill two birds with one stone, hahaha!"

The nearby Jin Yiwei all showed ambiguous smiles and envious eyes. Jia Huan was a little speechless and changed the topic: "I wonder what's the matter with Master Yi calling me up?"

Yi Hong smiled and said, "It's okay. The view here is good and the wind is cool. I'll just ask Brother Huan to come up and chat for a few words. By the way, what's the range of this artillery?"

Yi Hong asked, patting the heavy cannon behind him.

The bow ship that Jia Huan and others are now riding is the Western armed merchant ship that was captured earlier. There are 26 red barbarian cannons on board.

Yi Hong originally planned to transport these twenty-six Hongyi cannons to the capital to thank Emperor Qian Sheng. However, although Emperor Qian Sheng commended this in his last imperial edict, he did not instruct these new Western cannons to be transported to the capital. When the artillery was transported to the capital, there was no mention of having the Ordnance Bureau imitate it. It seemed that they didn't take it seriously at all, so Yi Hong gave up the idea.

However, after all, Yi Hong was born in the military and knew the role of these new Western artillery, so he specially chose this Western-style armed merchant ship as his ship for this expedition.

Back to the subject, when Jia Huan heard Yi Hong asked about the range of this heavy cannon, he replied: "The heavy cannon at the stern is roughly the same as the heavy cannon at the bow. The range is about five miles. The twenty-four guns on the side have a range of about five miles." It’s shorter, but it can be up to two or three miles.”

Yi Hong sighed and said: "This is several times higher than our Folan cannon. It's a pity that the emperor doesn't pay attention to it."

Jia Huan couldn't help but secretly frowned. Although it was rumored that Emperor Qian Sheng valued civility over martial arts, it could be seen from the fight between him and Emperor Kangping that this man was not a mediocre person. Why did he attack such a powerful army as Hongyi Cannon? Don't you pay any attention to the big killer weapon?

As everyone knows, this is not because Emperor Qian Sheng is short-sighted, but because of financial constraints. Today's Liaodong is a bottomless pit. Just to cover the expenses of Liaodong, he has to tighten his belt. There is no money left for research and development, and Emperor Qian Sheng feels that dealing with the Jurchens For the cavalry, the breech-loading Folan cannon with a faster rate of fire is obviously more effective. Although the Hongyi cannon has a range several times farther, its rate of fire is too slow and it has little effect.

In addition, the civil service group headed by Dong Lin's family also had their own selfish motives and intended to further weaken and suppress the military attache camp. Naturally, they did not want to spend money to develop more powerful firearms, so they strongly opposed the imitation of Hongyi cannons on the grounds of wasting manpower and material resources. , so the matter was shelved.

Therefore, it is not unreasonable to say that sometimes civil servants mislead the country. With such obstruction from the Donglin group, the update and improvement of firearms in the Jin Dynasty was delayed for at least a few years.

Chongming Sand is not far from Haimen County, just a few dozen miles downstream. The fleet sailed down the river and arrived in about an hour.

The river surface here has become more open, but due to the slower flow rate and sedimentation, the river here has also become shallower. Looking around, there are a number of large and small sandbars in the center of the river, and Chongming Sand is in the middle of the river. The largest sandbar covers several square kilometers and has lush vegetation.

Because the closer you get to Chongming Sand, the river becomes shallower, and large ships can easily run aground when approaching. Only the east and west sides of the island are passable. There are shoals on the north and south sides. The floating mud swamp above will sink when you step on it. After the swamp, there are large areas of dense vegetation. It is difficult for people to walk in the reed swamps, so to attack the island, we can only attack from the east and west directions.

However, the river on the west side of the island is relatively narrow and flows fast, so the best direction of attack is the east side. Chongming Shaqianhusuo, which was originally stationed on the island, built its water village on the east side of the island. On the west side, there are a large number of sharp wooden piles buried under the river surface, which are both bright and dark, making it difficult for ships to approach.

The fleet of officers and soldiers came with great fanfare. Naturally, the pirates on the island had received the news long ago, so they closed the gate of the village in advance for alert.

Jia Huan stood on the bow of the ship and raised a monocular to observe the island. He saw a lot of people on the island, and he didn't know how many thieves there were. Moreover, newly built fortifications could be seen everywhere. The defenses were tight. It seemed that the thieves had been there for a long time. get ready.

boom……

With the sound of cannons, the Jinling Navy launched the first wave of attacks on Chongmingsha, and the general responsible for directly commanding the attack was the naval staff general named Zhang Guizhang.

It can be seen that this General Zhang has quite a lot of experience in water warfare. His command is organized and unhurried. He uses large ships to attack from the east, while he uses light boats to test the waters from the west, trying to bypass the traps buried under the river. Light and dark wooden stakes, landing on the beach.

However, the pirates on the island were not vegetarians. They used the shore defense artillery originally installed on the island to fight back. In addition, Kang Dayong and his group probably also guessed that the officers and soldiers might counterattack Chongming Sand, so after occupying this place, they immediately stepped in A large number of manpower was sent to build fortifications, more than a dozen artillery pieces were added, and many archers and musketeers were arranged to guard the area.

Therefore, the first wave of attacks by the Jinling Navy was quickly repulsed, and a centipede boat was sunk, resulting in more than ten casualties. Yi Hong was naturally extremely dissatisfied with this result, and immediately urged General Zhang Shen to intensify the attack, and Chongming Sand must be captured before sunset, otherwise military law would be dealt with.

Zhang Shenjiang had no choice but to immediately launch a second wave of more violent offensive. However, seeing the roar of cannons and the smoke filling the sky, the ships of the Jinling Navy rushed forward wave after wave, trying to break through the enemy's water stronghold. The sharp arrows in the water village were shot out, and the artillery on the island kept roaring. From time to time, someone was hit by an arrow and fell into the water. There were shouts and screams, and the blood dyed the surrounding river red. The battle situation Very tragic.

Near noon, the Jinling navy finally burned down the thieves' water stronghold with several ships carrying firewood and kerosene. Then, amid the cheers that shook the earth, two ships carrying dozens of soldiers were launched. The Jin army rushed into the dock first, and the Jin army on the boat jumped ashore to kill with swords.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The Jin army's morale was greatly boosted, they shouted and rowed their oars, and continued to swarm towards the island shore.

"Haha, congratulations to Master Yi, the situation is settled!" All the military attaches congratulated Yi Hong one after another. Yi Hong also showed a proud smile and said calmly: "They are just a bunch of rabble, how can they be the opponent of my mighty master of the Jin Dynasty? Zhang Guizhang is here Zi's ​​command of the battle was quite satisfactory, but he was a little timid. If he had let go from the beginning, Chongmingsha would have been captured. "

"No, if you are afraid of the tiger in front and the wolf in the back, how can you achieve great things!" All the military attachés echoed, but Jia Huan remained silent and only used binoculars to pay close attention to the battle situation.

When Yi Hong saw this, he smiled and asked, "What kind of skills can Jia Xiucai see?"

Jia Huan put down the telescope and said bluntly: "The island has dense defenses, especially around the docks. Although our people have attacked, it is not easy to stand firm."

As soon as these words came out, all the military attaches laughed and said that Jia Xiucai was too cautious. Yi Hong was a little unhappy and raised his telescope to observe, his face gradually becoming cold. It turned out that just as Jia Huan expected, the first wave of Jin troops who landed encountered fierce sniping by the thieves. They could not hold on for a cup of tea before they were forced to retreat to the ship. In the end, they left a dozen corpses and fled the dock in embarrassment.

Next, the officers and soldiers launched several waves of charges, but they were suppressed before they reached a trench. They could not break through half a step forward. Time kept passing by in the repeated tug-of-war, and the Jin army suffered casualties. It was getting bigger and bigger, and the trench near the port was littered with corpses.

Seeing that the sun had set in the west and the officers and soldiers were still unable to seize the trench, Yi Hong's face became more and more livid, and all the military attachés who had looked relaxed just now also fell silent, not even daring to fart again.

"Master Yi, the bandits on the island are too tightly defended and the brothers have suffered too many casualties. We can't force ourselves anymore. We have to retreat and find other ways to defeat the enemy." General Zhang climbed onto Yi Hong's seat sweating profusely. the boat requested.

Yi Hong scolded with a cold look: "Fart, now is the critical moment of the fierce battle. If we withdraw at this time, all our previous efforts will be wasted. We must continue to attack and must not stop."

"But……"

"Shut up, if the Jinling navy can't even defeat a group of pirates, what use do you need? Zhang Guizhang, listen to me, if we can't take it before sunset, I will chop off your head first to sacrifice the flag!" Yi Hong Holding Shang Fang's sword, he stared at Zhang Guizhang fiercely.

Zhang Shenjiang shivered intelligently, could only clasp his fists and turn around to leave the ship. He returned to the ship under his command and said fiercely: "Attack, continue the attack, we must take it before sunset."

"General Zhang, the enemy's defense is too tight. If we let the brothers rush forward, they will die in vain." One of his generals argued loudly.

General Zhang Shen's eyes were red and he said sternly: "You will die even if you are willing to do so. Pass on this general's order. Anyone who dares to take a step back will be killed without mercy!" After saying this, he personally jumped on a centipede boat and rushed towards the port.

Seeing that their boss was taking the lead, all the soldiers of the Jinling Navy had no choice but to grit their teeth and risk their lives. They braved arrows and stones and charged in frantically. The thieves on the island suddenly felt the pressure increase greatly.

"Damn it, are these officers and soldiers crazy?" Seeing the officers and soldiers rushing one after another, the golden-toothed dog couldn't help but sweat from nervousness, but he was cursing in his mouth.

It turns out that after Kang Dayong captured Chongming Sand, he specifically asked Golden Tooth Dog to stay behind, and today Zhu Jinaxu and Zhu Jinyue happened to be on the island. The two brothers destroyed several salt works some time ago, and they just returned to Chongming Sand to rest in the past two days.

At this time, brothers Zhu Jinfu and Zhu Yue also looked solemn. With the officers and soldiers fighting like this, the first line of defense would probably be unable to withstand them soon. Sure enough, in less than half a stick of incense, the first line of defense was finally broken through. The officers and soldiers crossed the trench and came like a tide. The golden-toothed dog could only order to retreat to the second line of defense.

Zhu Jin sighed and said: "It has been nearly ninety years since the founding of the Jin Dynasty. The world has been peaceful and the military equipment has been depleted. However, the bloody spirit of the Jin army that swept the Tatars is still there. It should not be underestimated."

Zhu Jinyue nodded with deep sympathy, and suddenly pointed to the sea and said: "Brother, look at the bow flagship."

Zhu Jin looked up and saw that the flagship was slowly approaching. There was a group of people on the bow deck watching. They should be senior officers. Maybe the chief general of the army was on top, so he used his eyes to take a closer look.

Zhu Jinfu had to guess wrong. The bow flagship was the Western armed merchant ship on which Yi Hong, Jia Huan and others were riding. It turned out that Yi Hong saw that the Jinling Navy had broken through the first line of defense on the island and had established a foothold in the port, so he ordered the ship to approach, firstly to observe the enemy's situation, and secondly to boost the morale of the three armies.

However, Yi Hong did not expect that there would be two sharpshooters with eyes like eagles on the island at this time!

When Zhu Jinaxe and Zhu Jinyue saw the enemy's flagship approaching, they couldn't help but look at each other in surprise.

"Can the elder brother reach it?" Zhu Jinyue asked in a low voice.

Zhu Jinaxe carefully inspected it visually for a while, shook his head and said: "It's a pity that I didn't bring my three-stone bow."

Zhu Jinyue's eyes flashed and he said: "Brother, lend me your bow."

Zhu Jinaxe handed the two-stone bow to Zhu Jinyue, who took it, put it together with his own two-stone bow, and tried to pull the strings.

Zhu Jinaxu's eyes lit up when he saw this, and he smiled and said: "If you can hit the target, I will give you the three-stone bow given by Amma."

"It's a deal!" Zhu Jinyue bent his bow and nocked an arrow, then drew the two bows fully with one click, his mouth pressed into a straight line, and his eyes stared at the ship in the distance like an eagle like an eagle.

At this time, Jia Huan on the boat was observing with a telescope. Suddenly, his scalp felt numb and his heart was beating with fear. He subconsciously pulled Mandarin next to him to squat down.

Yi Hong was stunned for a moment, and suddenly he felt the cold light flashing across the island under the setting sun. After all, he was from the army, so he was quite vigilant. He subconsciously pulled the Jinyi guard next to him to block him.

The next second, a powerful arrow shot through the air, and shot through the throat of the Jin Yiwei with a pop, ah——!
A shrill scream sounded at the same time. Yi Hong and the Jin Yiwei fell down at the same time. All the military attachés around him were so frightened that they fell down one after another, while the Jin Yiwei swooped up and surrounded Yi Hong.

This scream obviously did not come from the Jin Yiwei, because he was shot through the throat and died before he could even scream, so this scream came from Yi Hong.

It turned out that the powerful arrow shot through the back of Jin Yiwei's neck, and hit Yi Hong's left eye without any bias, causing blood to spatter on the spot...

(End of this chapter)