There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 150 Capture of Shenmu County

Shenmu County is located about 130 to 40 kilometers east of Guidebao, and is relatively close to Fugu County, about 70 to 80 kilometers.

After three days of rapid march, Wang Qin led a cavalry battalion to the vicinity of Shenmu County.

The main defense force of Shenmu County is the Shenmu Fort about ten miles north of the county seat. There are about 400 to 500 Yulin Guard troops from a thousand households, led by Liu Jin, a member of the Shenmu Thousand Households.

After Wang Qin found a hiding place outside Shenmu County and stopped, he first sent a scout to change into ordinary civilian clothes and went into the city to find the informant arranged by Tingfeng Guard to understand the situation.

At noon, the scouts came out of the city with Tingfeng Guard's internal staff.

Wang Qin immediately asked: "How is the situation in Shenmu County? Have you received any news that Yulin Guard has been captured?"

"My lord, back to the camp, there should be no news reaching Shenmu County at present. The county is still singing and dancing, and the defense is very lax." The insider arranged by Ting Fengwei replied.

"How many people do you have in the county? Can you control the city gate?" Wang Qin then asked.

"Now the city gates in the county are mainly guarded by strong squads, only about ten people. We have five or six people in the county. It should be no problem to control the city gates for a short time when they are not prepared." Neiying answered.

"Okay, then we will send a group of people pretending to be a caravan and slowly approach the city gate. You will suddenly control the city gate from the inside and cover our troops entering the city." Wang Qin arranged.

"Understood, I will go back and arrange it right away. The gate of Shenmu County will be closed around 4:30 in the afternoon. Sir, you must attack before this time."

"The attack time will be around three o'clock in the afternoon. We arrived near the city gate first. When we saw our caravan in disguise coming, we immediately launched an attack to seize the gate." Wang Qin finalized it with him.

"Okay!" Nei Ying took the order and left.

It was still easy to attack Shenmu County. Wang Qin decided to use the opportunity to attack the county to besiege the city for reinforcements, lure the officers and soldiers of Shenmu Fort to come out for rescue, and then eat them in the field. Otherwise, if you attack the fortress head-on, the losses will definitely be relatively large.

Considering that the defensive force of Shenmu County was only a strong squad of less than a hundred men, Wang Qin decided to lead a hundred men to attack the city. The other cavalry, led by Hong Tu, were hidden nearby and prepared to eat the reinforcements of Shenmu Fort.

Around three o'clock in the afternoon, Wang Qin divided a hundred people into two teams. The front team of about 30 people dressed up as a caravan and slowly approached the county seat, with another group of people following one kilometer behind.

There were three or four yawning guards standing at the gate of Shenmu County. They probably did some bad things last night and didn't wake up.

People coming in and out of the city didn't look like people from Shenmu County. They just stretched out their hands to ask for money. After giving money, they simply checked their luggage and let them go.

Soon it will be the turn of the caravan dressed as a cavalry team. Perhaps this group has a larger number of people and they are all young and strong. They are also a little suspicious and are ready to come over for questioning.

At this time, five or six Tingfeng guards in the city rushed towards the city gate from the city, seized the guards' weapons and began to kill people.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Someone is taking the city!" The remaining guards quickly shouted loudly.

The caravan dressed as a cavalry team immediately rushed over, drew weapons from the carriage, cut down several guards, and quickly took control of the city gate.

A few minutes later, Wang Qin also led the rear team to the city gate, but he did not immediately attack inside. He had to give some time for the county government to send people to Shenmu Castle to ask for help.

Shenmu County Government.

The county magistrate Chen Zeqiang was leisurely humming a tune in his public room, thinking about asking a brothel girl to talk about the piano, listen to music, and talk about life in the evening.

"Your Majesty, something bad is going on. There is a group of thieves attacking the city and they are about to come in." A government servant ran in and shouted.

"What, how many thieves are there?" Magistrate Chen asked.

"About a hundred people are attacking the west gate. The strong squad is still resisting. Let's go and call for reinforcements quickly." The Yamen servant suggested.

"Yes, yes, yes, hurry up and send people to Shenmu Fort to ask Liu Qianhu to lead troops to quell the chaos. Hurry up and close the gate of the county government office and call all the government officials. You must resist me." County Magistrate Chen They thought it was a general civil unrest, and prepared to resist the arrival of reinforcements from Shenmu Castle.

After hearing this, the Yamen servant immediately sent someone out from the north gate to ask for help. Because the distance was only about ten miles, the government servant who reported the news arrived quickly.

Guarding the security of the county has always been the main responsibility of Fort Kobe. Hearing that there were rioters attacking the city, Liu Jin from a thousand households didn't think much about it. Since the levy of taxes was increased last year, the people couldn't afford it. Civil riots often occur, and he has long been accustomed to it.

To be on the safe side, he personally led 300 guardsmen to the rescue, leaving about 100 people to guard the Shenmu Castle.

When Liu Jin led his troops to the north gate, he heard that the rebels were still attacking the west gate.

He suddenly smiled contemptuously, this group of rogues was so useless, it took them half a day and they didn't even knock down a city gate.

Seeing that it was getting late, he didn't even enter the city through the north gate. He planned to go directly to the west gate to wipe out the rebels and then enter the city for dinner.

Before his 300 men could reach the west gate, Hong Tu led more than 400 cavalry to rush over like a tide. The Han cavalry fired a volley of firecrackers, coupled with a charge from the Mongolian cavalry, Liu Jin even defeated the enemy. Without even seeing his appearance clearly, he was beaten into a sieve, and the remaining guardsmen immediately fled in all directions.

An ambush battle turned into a battle of eagles catching scattered chickens. The guard soldiers only hated their parents for missing two legs. They had no intention of fighting and just tried to escape. However, there was no way two-legged soldiers could outrun four-legged horses. It took less than half an hour for the three hundred guardsmen to be surrounded.

Wang Qin ordered Hong Tu to lead 300 men to pursue the victory and attack Shenmu Castle. He took the remaining two hundred people and began to formally attack the city.

As the acting was over and the attack really began, Shenmu Minzhuang, who had thought he was quite brave just now and actually resisted the mob's attack for more than an hour, immediately felt the combat effectiveness of the elite cavalry.

Within a few minutes, those who were beaten cried for their fathers and mothers and fled in all directions. Those who had no time to escape surrendered.

Soon, Wang Qin arrived in front of the Shenmu County Yamen without encountering any resistance.

Seeing that the gate of the county government office was closed, many government officials stood behind the wall with their heads exposed, seemingly ready to resist.

Wang Qin gave the order, and the cavalry fired a round of fire cannons. Most of the government officials who showed up were killed. The county government office immediately resounded with loud wails and screams. How could these government officials have ever seen such lethality?

"People inside, listen, the Shenmu Fort reinforcements you were expecting have been annihilated. Those who want to survive should open the door and surrender immediately, otherwise they will be killed." Wang Qin shouted loudly, and threw the head of Shenmu Qianhu Liu Jin in.

County Magistrate Chen was in the county office as anxious as an ant on a hot pot when he suddenly saw a head thrown in. Upon closer inspection, wasn't it the head of Liu Jin, a member of the Thousand Household of Shenmubao whom he had high hopes for?

Suddenly he screamed and fainted.

When the officer on the side saw it, it didn't matter that the magistrate had fainted. He had to surrender quickly and survive.

So they immediately opened the gate of the county government office, and one by one came out dejected and surrendered.

Magistrate Chen Da woke up after a while, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a mighty general looking at him with sharp eyes.

He immediately panicked and said: "You, who are you? How dare you attack the county government? This is a serious crime of rebelling against the Nine Clan!"

"Haha, County Magistrate Chen, you should think about your own life. You don't have to worry about any crime we commit." Wang Qin said with a smile.

"Okay, who is a hero? If you have any needs, just ask." Magistrate Chen saw that he couldn't be intimidated, so he immediately surrendered and asked.

"We are members of the Zhenming Army. You have to wait until Governor Lin comes to decide how to deal with it. You should honestly hand over all the keys to the county government treasury so as not to suffer any physical pain." Wang Qin said.

"Zhenming Army, why does it sound like the imperial army? Could it be that the flood washed away the Dragon King Temple?" County Magistrate Chen Zeqiang asked expectantly.

"Take him down first, let's search it ourselves." Wang Qin was no longer interested in talking to this confused guy, so he asked County Magistrate Chen to suppress him, and went to search and seal the treasury himself, waiting for Lin Feng to come and deal with it.

Wang Qin checked the treasury in Shenmu County and found that it was so poor that even a mouse would cry when it got in. It could be said that there was nothing.

However, County Magistrate Chen is a typical poor and rich monk. He has more than 10,000 taels of silver in his private warehouse, as well as a large number of jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings. It seems that being a county magistrate is not a little corrupt.

Since the discipline of the Zhenming Army is very clear and strict, all captures must be attributed, and rewards will be distributed based on military merit.

Having just participated in the Yulin Guards Battle, the officers and soldiers had already received a reward of five taels of silver per capita. Everyone knew that there would be rewards for military exploits in the future, so they consciously sealed up the captured trophies.

Wang Qin is now a very mature officer under Lin Feng, and he is very proactive in doing things.

After occupying the county government office, he was not idle. In addition to confiscating the sealed money and materials, he also interrogated the officials in the county government office, and quickly grasped the relevant situation in Shenmu County.

Shenmu County Magistrate Chen Zeqiang is very similar to the former Fugu County Magistrate Zhang Yingjie. He is an official who does not want to do things or take responsibility, and only wants to make money. It should be noted that the vast majority of officials are such people.

The most vicious person in the county government is a Dianshi named Jiang Mingjie. He colludes with big families and oppresses the people. It can be said that he does all kinds of evil. He is very comparable to Ding Dianshi from Fugu County.

Of course, this person is also in the county government and has been arrested. The next step is to win the hearts and minds of Shenmu. It seems that he should not use his head.

There are two other large households in Shenmu County that have great influence. One is a branch of the Guo family of Yihe. By colluding with Jiang Dianshi, they control most of Shenmu's grain and oil business. It can be said that they are extremely rich.

There is also the Zheng family, who are engaged in the coal and iron business. They have always used unscrupulous means to exploit the miners, and have also accumulated a huge family fortune.

Upon hearing this, Wang Qin immediately sent troops to control the Zheng family first, and waited for the order of Governor Lin to kill or cut him into pieces.

While Wang Qin took full control of Shenmu County, Hongtu also successfully captured Shenmu Fort.

After Liu Jin took away most of the soldiers in the fort, there were more than a hundred people left in the fort, many of whom were old and weak. Under Hong Tu's strong attack, it was breached in less than half an hour. .

　Occupy the sacred tree, expand the territory, and watch Lin Feng sweep across the northwest.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)