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Chapter 308 Banditry in the South China Sea 7
Late at night in the tropics is not peaceful. Various songbirds, small animals, and birds will make all kinds of strange noises. Especially when passing by ponds and rivers, the sound of frogs can cover up the noise of large troops marching.

Under the cover of darkness, more than 3000 people were divided into three groups, with only a few oil lamps lit. The people behind held on to the armor of those in front with their hands, and like centipede insects, they neatly and slowly approached the hazy city wall. .

After all, they were in the suburbs of the capital, and the necessary defense system was more complete. Less than ten miles away, the three teams encountered the Annan army or the government for questioning.

For a small number of enemies, the sudden scouts can deal with them, but for larger numbers, only muskets can do the talking.At this time, forward speed is the key, and shooting is not prohibited.From time to time, sporadic crisp sounds can be heard. Fortunately, there are various frogs and insects in response, so it does not seem too harsh and abrupt.

After three loud noises, the sleeping Shenglong Mansion was completely awakened. Dots of lights soon lit up in the dark city. From time to time, people came out of the house to check, but what greeted them was nothing but the light of the muzzle. It's the shining bayonet.

After blowing open the city gate, the Marines immediately broke into pieces. Using the general flag as a unit, they lined up holding oil lamps and quickly attacked the target according to the directions noted during training.If you find any living creature along the way and you judge it to be a threat, you can take the initiative to attack it. If it is far away, you can shoot it with a gun, and if it is close, you can stab it with a bayonet.

The sudden blow left the Annan army guarding Thang Long Palace at a loss. They did not know who the enemy was, where they came from, and how to deal with it.

Before they could figure out the situation, the barracks and garrison were already under heavy attack. They were already well-trained to fight on their own, and most of them were running around like headless flies.Run wherever there are few people and no clear sounds.

The architectural style of Thang Long Palace is a bit like that of the Tang Dynasty, and the layout is similar. The whole city is divided into three circles.The innermost circle is called the Purple City, where the king and the harem are located; the outer circle is called the Inner City, where the court agencies and official residences are located; and the outermost circle is called the Outer City, where common people live.

Although the Marines had never been to Shenglongfu, they had trained in the temporary wooden city built with wood in Danzhou, and they had memorized the general street directions and the locations of important buildings. A few hundred households and the rest all attacked the inner city from three directions.

This time Li Ruzhang did not take the lead again. After the Central Route Army rushed into the inner city, he set up a temporary camp on the south tower of the inner city, and obtained comprehensive information on the battlefield through the signal corps and staff running around.

A quarter of an hour after the city gate was blown open, the Marines attacking from the west gate of the outer city broke through the west gate of the inner city. Calculating the time, there was basically no fighting, only marching, and they had to walk quickly.

"Commander Hu, I have something unclear."

A little more than two-quarters of an hour later, a loud noise came from the inner city. Judging from the distance and direction, it should be that the imperial city was exploded.Li Ruzhang stood on the tower and looked into the distance, seeing nothing but dots of firelight.

"I only led 4000 people to land, and they marched for three hundred miles to attack Annan Royal City as if they were searching for something. The previous dynasty sent large armies several times to conquer, but they still can't make them surrender. What's the explanation?" The staff officer responsible for leading the horses and tracking did not say anything. Li Ruzhang Put down the telescope and start to sigh.

During the past four days, I had not eaten well, slept poorly, and was worried about losing the battle all the time. At this time, the sudden victory felt so unreal.Is it a coincidence that the Annamites were short of troops and allowed themselves to take advantage of the situation, or are the Marines truly invincible?
"What's so surprising about this? If it weren't for the fetters of the imperial court, Your Majesty should have led us out of the border and swept away Liaodong in one fell swoop, then turned around and swept across Mobei, and then sailed all the way west to the hometown of Semu people.

Build ports and shipyards locally, and use warships to block the Western countries from prying eastwards at will.You can do business if you want, but you have to pay heavy taxes, and then use the money to build more warships! "

Hearing Li Ruzhang's sigh, the staff officer who had always followed suit couldn't help but take over the conversation. He was dancing and spitting, as if everything had come true, and his tone was very determined.

"It's ridiculous. The Ming Dynasty is a kingdom in heaven, so how can we start a war lightly? What is there in those barbarian lands that is worthy of traveling thousands of miles on an expedition? Don't speak out arrogant words at a young age."

But to Li Ruzhang's ears, these words were half arrogant and half a slap in the face.After all, he is also a person who has led the military, and he knows how much it wastes people and money to eliminate this and that.Let's not talk about whether it can be defeated head-on. Simply supporting hundreds of thousands of soldiers and generals traveling throughout Liaodong and Mobei can bring down the imperial court.When the time comes, if others are not wiped out, your own wealth will be wiped out first.

"Commander, don't be too hasty to scold me. What if the general said these words from His Majesty's own mouth?" The young staff officer was really not afraid at all. His immediate superior had already stared at him but still responded with a playful smile.

"……really!"

Not only him, almost all the staff members behaved this way.Li Ruzhang probably knows why.They all listened to the emperor's lectures, which were said to be in a large room, no more than ten feet away from each other.If you let yourself listen to it a few times, I'm afraid you won't take the court officials seriously.

"That's natural. If the commander doesn't believe it, you can ask the navigator. He knows more than me! Does the commander know how many countries there are in the West? There are so many, and the names are very weird. They all come from Latin.

For example, there is a country called England, which is similar to Japan in that it was founded on islands.Their gentlemen, officials, and family members all wore long skirts the size of tabletops, but their breasts were exposed.

Your Majesty also said that when the time comes, he will marry us a Western woman. The child he will give birth to may have green eyes and black hair, or he may have black eyes and yellow hair.No matter what they look like, they will all be my subjects of the Ming Dynasty in the future, staying in Xifan from generation to generation, spreading the saint’s teachings..."

As soon as he talked about his longing for the future, the young staff officer started to talk, and it was a long story.Regardless of whether his immediate superior liked to hear it or not, he stood on the tower, blowing the night breeze, and showed off what he had in his stomach.

Li Ruzhang did not put on any pretense and listened patiently. From time to time, he would also throw in a question, turning a person's stand-up talk into a series of questions and answers.It wasn't until a loud noise came that the conversation, which was very pleasant to both parties, ended.

Thang Long Palace is over. This capital city that has gone through hundreds of years of vicissitudes and consumed countless Annan people's financial, material and human resources has become a place of fire and smoke in less than two hours, with bricks and tiles everywhere, and the streets full of mourning and crying. of hell on earth.

The magnificent palace was shrouded in dust. I don't know how much ammonium oil the Marines responsible for capturing the imperial city put in, but they actually completely blew up the stone palace.

But Li Ruzhang's attention was not on the chaos in the city. Since it was a giant sea pirate who came to plunder, he had to be worthy of the title of giant pirate. He not only wanted to rob and kidnap, but also killed people and destroyed the city.

All he could think about at the moment were the stories told by the young counselor. After all, he was a young man and it was common for him to like to show off his lack of city government.If what he just said was really what the emperor meant, it would be a God-given opportunity for himself and even the Li family.

The navy's water warfare guards alone will certainly not be able to meet the emperor's needs. Therefore, in addition to building warships, the navy's focus on expanding its scale is also the development of land warfare guards.

As the current sole commander of the Marine Guards, his room for development is almost unlimited. The premise is of course that he must keep up with the emperor's needs, such as familiarity with new tactics and weapons, and resolute execution of combat intentions.

In addition, besides himself, he also had to find a way to inform his younger brother Li Rumei. He was also a general who had led troops in battles and had actual combat experience. He had also been taught by the emperor in person and was reused.Instead of sitting in the high position of the commander of the Guangdong capital, it is better to work hard in the Marine Guards.

As the saying goes, it is better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. In the future, as long as the two brothers can conquer cities and territories on the battlefield, they will probably become the emperor's right-hand men.He can command everything, the governor signs things, and even the governors on the left and right are no problem. Maybe he can also be granted a hereditary title. His achievements will definitely surpass his father's, and he will really be proud of his ancestors.

(End of this chapter)