Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 297 After the surprise, comes revenge!
A Gui felt dizzy for a while, then calmed down and stretched out her right hand to open the letter asking for help from the prefect of Raozhou.

The handwriting was scrawled, and there were even two ink changes.

Such omissions are not only disrespectful to the boss. For a fourth-grade civil servant who was born as a second-class Jinshi, this is almost a shame!

This can only explain one problem. The prefect of Raozhou has become so chaotic that he cannot concentrate when writing.

"How big is the bandit army? Do they have artillery? Where do they come from?"

"The flags of the bandit army are all over the sky, boundless, with over ten thousand soldiers. They come from the east."

……

Agui was suspicious, stared at the messenger coldly, and asked:
"seen it myself?"

"Back to the general, the soldiers and people of Raozhou have seen it with their own eyes. The Lord of the Palace asked the general to send reinforcements quickly. If it is too late, we will not be able to defend it."

"Understood, you go down."

Various water birds soared and fish jumped in the lake.

Once there are more than 10,000 people, the sky is boundless!
So, the main force of the thieves is just a false shot? The purpose is to go south and capture the entire eastern Jiangxi?
"Pass the order."

Liu Wu looked at the fishermen who were kneeling down:
"Lead the way and lead the way, and you will be rewarded with 30 taels of silver when you arrive at Raozhou Fucheng."

Liu Wu asked with great interest:
"Are you familiar with the waterway to Raozhou Prefecture?"

The old man patted the moon on his chest:
"I know this thousand-mile Poyang Lake by heart."

The transport ship unloaded 15 shi of rice and returned a basket of anthracite coal.

An old man raised his head:

Liu Wu nodded and immediately fulfilled his promise.

This combination is unusual at first glance.

"Sir, you are so kind, can you sell some daily necessities to the village? We will give you money."

"Where's Laoye Temple?"

The old man chuckled and said:

"There are 6000 newly arrived Mongolian cavalry, and they will go south immediately. If the rebels have fallen into Raozhou and the troops move south, they will meet up with Ma Zhongyi, the commander-in-chief of the Southern Jiangxi Army, in Dongxiang County, Fuzhou Prefecture, to intercept the rebels. If Raozhou Prefecture is still there, hurry up. Quickly rescue, attack from inside and outside, and repel the thieves."

Everyone was staring at Agui, waiting for him to make up his mind.

"We are the vanguard of King Wu in the south of the Yangtze River. The Qing court is unethical. It's time for the world to change its masters."

"Didn't the Inspection Department suppress you?"

A group of messengers rushed to the camp at high speed.

The men may be old or young, and they are all powerful and strong. The female family members are young and beautiful, with their heads bowed and silent, and their temperament is not like that of ordinary peasant women.

The navy of Wu Jun discovered a small village with only 8 fishermen households on the island in the middle of the lake.

The governor of Raozhou deliberately falsely reported the enemy's situation, which caused him a lot of trouble.

……

The old man was a little surprised and asked again before boarding the ship:

"Your Excellency, I dare not hide it. Our village fishes when we are free and robs when we are busy. But we never rob the poor, haha. When we go ashore, we rob the gentry. If you rob one household, you can live happily on the island for half a year."

There was silence in the room.

"I don't dare to take it. The world is not good. Everyone just makes a living based on their ability."

Poyang Hubei Lake District.

Liu Wu smiled and said:

"Are you really a fisherman?"

"My lord, who are you?"

"I pay 200 taels of silver every year, but the inspection master turns a blind eye."

The sun is dazzling and the waves are sparkling.

"Inform Peng Wenbing, the admiral of the Yangtze River Navy, that if he cannot kill the Wu Army Navy within four days, I will kill his entire family."

"Send someone to Nanchang to inform the governor Wu Zhicheng to strengthen the city's defense."

With the little yellow flag behind you, no one dares to stop you!
……

There were only a thousand soldiers and a thousand civilians, but they were described as "boundless".

The answer is obvious!

Seeing everyone's silence, he said in a stronger tone:
"If you disobey, the Yi clan will be destroyed. Can you choose for yourself?"

"That being said, thieves also have their ways."

"Whoo."

"Old man, I'm willing to go. But we don't want a reward of silver. Can we leave 10 shi of food behind?"

"Recruit civilian ships to send the green camp recruits recruited from Jiujiang to Hukou to strengthen the force."

The old man's face changed instantly:

"Have you encountered the evil spirit from Laoye Temple?"

Liu Wu nodded and pointed to the sail being mended, which was the best evidence.

The old man was in awe and looked at Liu Wu repeatedly:

"My lord's appearance is indescribable. In the future, he will definitely become a general or a prime minister, and be a prince for three generations. There are not many people in this world who can escape unscathed from the evil wind in Laoye Temple."

……

During the voyage,

The old man talked about the characteristics of the Poyang Lake water system:
"There are two big rivers that merge into Poyang Lake in the west, called Xiushui and Ganjiang. There is also a big river in the east, called Raohe. If the general wants to attack Raozhou Prefecture, he only needs to sail into this Raohe River to bombard the city walls. "

"On Poyang Lake, you can sail anywhere in the summer. But now it's winter, many areas are inaccessible and big ships will be stranded."

Liu Wu was very interested:

"The seasons are different, and the water levels vary so much?"

"Hey, Poyang Lake is like a big pot. There are five major rivers around it: Ganjiang, Fuhe, Xinjiang, Raohe, and Xiushui. They pour water into this pot. When the summer rain season comes, the lake will be three times larger than it is now. The water is 3 feet deeper than it is now!”

Liu Wu was solemn. The navy only had a crude map of Poyang Lake from an ancient book and knew very little about it.

The abstract map of the 18th century is so romantic that it leaves people speechless.

Describe it in scientific terms:
The Poyang Lake Basin is a large-area divergent water system. Water from dozens of surrounding rivers, large and small, all flows into Poyang Lake. After being regulated and stored, it flows from the mouth of the lake into the Yangtze River, becoming an important part of the Yangtze River water system.

During the dry season in winter, water from the Yangtze River will flow back to Poyang Lake.

……

In the evening, the lookout post shouted:

"The mouth of the river is found ahead."

The old man quickly leaned out and said with a smile:

"That's where the Rao River enters the lake. It's less than 10 miles further in. It's the capital city of Raozhou."

Liu Wu stood up awkwardly:

"Send the order and prepare to bombard Raozhou."

[Raohe is the name of this river downstream. Upstream, it is called Changjiang. It is actually the same river, originating in Fushan District, Huizhou. Li Xiaowu marched along this river from Fuliang County to Raozhou Prefecture. 】

……

Liu Wu was very aware of Li Yu's overall plan, so he was eager to assist Li Xiaowu in taking Raozhou.

In this way, the blockade of the southern front was completed.

Raohe River is like an iron chain, and Raozhou Prefecture is the copper lock on the iron chain! As long as the gunboat cruises, the Qing army can be trapped north of the Rao River.

At this time, Raozhou Fucheng,
It was already riddled with holes and the city walls were stained with blood.

The last ray of the setting sun casts its light on the city gate of Raozhou Prefecture.

The prefect who patrolled the city breathed a sigh of relief:

"One more day."

"You guys are all very good. Defend the city well, and you will never be short of money, wine and meat."

A group of people also handed over their hands noisily:
"Thank you, Mr. Fu."

While he was talking, the guys from the city's restaurants came up the stairs carrying baskets of wine and meat. Chicken, duck, fish, fruit snacks, and rice noodles are the staple food.

Each person can have a bowl of wine, which not only ensures courage, but also prevents him from getting drunk and confused. have to say,

The prefect of Raozhou is a talented person who played his best with a bad hand.

He sent a messenger to ask for help, deliberately asking the messenger to exaggerate the thieves' power. Only in this way will General Fuyuan take it seriously!

……

The soldiers came to the city and added his persuasion.

The gentry in the city donated generously, donating a total of 18 taels of silver.

All soldiers guarding the city were given 5 silver coins per day, while Minzhuang was given 300 copper coins.

Every time a bandit is defeated, everyone on the wall will be rewarded with an additional 3 taels of silver. Anyone who kills a bandit will be rewarded with another five taels each. Officers doubled!
In short, make the most of money.

If it's a field battle, the charm of money cannot stop the power of guns. But defending the city from a high position is okay.

He knew that the green camp soldiers and minzhuang were very cowardly and had no chance of winning against Wu Jun's firearms, so he spent money to buy all the grease, lamp oil, tung oil, and firewood in the city and piled them on the city wall.

Lime and millstones from the city were also collected.

There is no need to poke your head when defending the city, just sprinkle the lime down and throw the millstone down. The firewood mixed with grease was ignited and thrown downward, focusing on a turtle defense.

It's clumsy, but it works.

There was an asymmetric suppression of Li Xiaowu's small number of people.

……

This city is really not easy to attack until all the fuel in the city is exhausted. What the defenders consume is fuel, but what we consume is human lives!

After several consecutive days, Li Xiaowu's troops suffered more than 310 casualties.

This casualty ratio made him so anxious that he had big blisters at the corners of his mouth.

Just as he was preparing a ruthless night attack at all costs to capture Raozhou Prefecture, the rumble of cannons came from the Rao River.

He rushed out of the camp,
He bumped into a young soldier from the Young Guards Battalion who came to report the news.

"Fifth brother, I'm so happy. Our navy has arrived."

Li Xiaowu got on his horse and ran to a nearby hill to look at it from a distance.

Several warships with hazy outlines on the river were spitting out brilliant flames one after another from their sides. The city wall of Raozhou was a sea of ​​fire.

He whipped out his sword and shouted:
"Everyone goes out to camp and capture Raozhou City."

……

An hour later, Raozhou City was defeated.

Carrying more than a thousand soldiers with bayonets in their hands, they rushed into the city on the suspension bridge. Encountering almost no decent resistance, he easily controlled the Yamen, various official warehouses and city gates of Raozhou Prefecture.

Later, Li Xiaowu got in touch with Liu Wu.

Hundreds of wounded navy soldiers were sent to the city to recuperate.

The next day, more than 20 artillery pieces were unloaded from the battleship and deployed on the Raozhou city wall to strengthen defense.

Shipborne guns are generally large in caliber.

Although Liu Wu picked out some light artillery, for the infantry, they were already large-caliber artillery. Reinforcements were a dozen 12-pounder guns.

After summarizing the experience of many water battles, Wu Jun Navy basically completed the change of clothes with Li Yu's approval.

Most of the 6-pound guns were eliminated, leaving only a handful of long-barreled 6-pound guns for long-distance precision strikes against vulnerable targets.

The Jiangnan-class battleships are equipped with a small number of long-barreled 12-pound guns, and are generally equipped with short-barreled 24-pound guns.

The reason is,
The vast majority of naval battles in the 18th century were fought at close range rather than from a distance.

Therefore, the power of naval guns must be ranked ahead of range. The decisive destruction effect may be the key to winning the water war.

……

The weapon that best fits this kind of thinking is naturally the Caron Cannon.

This time Liu Wu's secret weapon was his five Jiangnan-class battleships, each equipped with two 5-pound carronade cannons.

The carronade gun is made by cutting and drilling a bore from a single piece of square iron.

Large caliber, short barrel, and surprisingly thick barrel tail. The weight is one-quarter of the artillery of the same caliber, and the range is only one mile, no more than one and a half miles at most.

It can fire solid bullets or shotgun shells, and its power at close range is astonishing.

The key recoil is not very large, and the control difficulty is much lower than that of a long gun. No problem placing it on the deck!
To some extent:

Caron gun is the mortar of the Navy!

When Li Xiaowu boarded the ship, he saw this strange-looking cannon and was a little curious.

But Liu Wu didn't want to explain, so he stopped questioning. I just remembered that my adoptive father and Factory Director Lao Zhang had discussed similar artillery, and it seemed that it was successfully developed.

……

"Uncle Liu, thanks to you this time."

"They are all serving under the prince, regardless of each other."

Li Xiaowu has a special status. Not only is he an adopted son, he is also a former member of Cunju Hall. He is the oldest member in terms of seniority.

In terms of qualifications, only Liu Akun can rival him. It's a pity that Akun was addicted to beauty and lived a very comfortable life in Hangzhou City, and has gradually faded out of the center of power.

The navy also replenished a batch of fresh food and made some repairs.

The gentry of Raozhou City were trembling with fear, and one after another they ushered in the soldiers who broke down the door.

Wu Jun had long heard of the Jiangxi gentry's enthusiastic donation of money. The 50 taels donated by the Hukou gentry attracted not only the Qing court's attention, but also Li Yu's surprise.

After surprise, comes revenge!
On that day, more than 50 Raozhou gentry were dispossessed.

The house raid lasted for three days. The entire gentry group in Raozhou City was almost wiped out. Only three families were spared and were not affected.

One of them had a tough background and was stingy, so he refused the prefect's request for donations.

There were two other companies that escaped the disaster because they had problems with their business turnover and couldn't get any cash for a while.

……

Liu Wu left, leaving behind one Susong-class ship and four Jikang-class ships to assist in defense.

He led the remaining warships to re-enter Poyang Lake~
In the Yamen of Raozhou Prefecture,
Li Xiaowu pressed the hilt of his sword and looked at the three lucky gentry masters kneeling on the ground with pale faces.

Said coldly:

"I need people to organize the people, repair the city walls, dig trenches, and prepare military rations. Are you willing to cooperate?"

"Yes, yes."

The three of them kowtowed as if they were pounding garlic, and they were very well-behaved.

The arrests and house searches in the past few days have frightened them and made the people in the city fearful.

Those serious gentry were taken to the downtown area to shoot targets one by one. The men were exiled from the army, and the women were sent to the Jiaofang Division. The wealth of several generations has benefited the King of Wu.

After restoring order,
Li Xiaowu only allowed one city gate to be opened, and all the others were closed, allowing people to melt copper juice and pour the keyhole. They also moved the rockery from the gentry's house to the city gate and blocked it.

Because he does not have many soldiers, he needs to be careful of the people in the city taking advantage of the chaos to open the city gates and cooperate with the Qing army inside and outside.

This situation must be guarded against!

……

Raozhou Prefecture Prison.

Several hundred prisoners were released, looking at the musketeers around them with faces that were either happy, frightened or curious. Weird military uniforms, expensive muskets, sharp bayonets, and these childish faces.

The sound of gunfire has been going on for a few days, and even a fool understands that things have changed!

Li Xiaowu stood on the stage and shouted loudly:

"You are all sinners who deserve to die. Now King Wu's army is marching westward, giving you a chance to serve. As long as you fight bravely, you will not only be exempted from crime, but those who have done meritorious service can even be promoted."

Hundreds of prisoners secretly rejoiced and started discussing in a buzzing manner.

A strong man with his hands fixed by wooden shackles walked out boldly, stretched out his hand and shouted:

"Open it for me."

"If a hero like me has a musket, he can stand up to the three idiots in your team."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Li Xiaowu looked over and saw that this man was nearly 6 feet tall, tall and burly, with a face full of flesh, and his fists were like copper bowls.

……

(End of this chapter)