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

Chapter 161 Hequ Miao Family’s Counterattack

On the outskirts of Hequ County, the Miao family compound.

Miao Mingyang, the head of the Miao family, was drinking tea and chatting with his younger brother Hequ Dianshi Miao Chaoyang, discussing how to increase the exploitation of miners and accumulate more wealth. By the way, they also talked about the outstanding girl in Hequ brothel.

Miao Minrong, the chief steward of the Miao family, hurried in and reported: "First Master, Second Master, something bad has happened. The servant we sent to the mine has not come back. I arranged for someone to go and inquire about it quietly. He said it was a A group of strongmen came out of nowhere and took over our Maoergou Mine."

"What! Someone dared to occupy our Miao family's mine. Have you found out clearly?" Miao Mingyang asked in disbelief.

"After asking around clearly, they have built a dock next to the mine. It seems they want to occupy it for a long time." Miao Minrong continued.

"You are so bold. Second brother, what do you think we should do?" Miao Mingyang asked.

"Do you know how many strong men there are in that group?" Miao Chaoyang is a classic historian after all and has experience. He knows to ask the opponent's strength first.

"According to the information obtained from the villagers in Duishi Village, there should be about a hundred people, and the rest are the original miners of the Miao family." Miao Minrong said.

"Where are Miao Li and the others? Is there any news?" Miao Chaoyang then asked.

"There is no news. I haven't seen him recently. He must have been killed." Miao Minrong said sadly.

"It seems that this group of thieves is ruthless enough. Then we have to be more prepared before going to settle the score with them." Miao Chaoyang thought for a while and said.

"Second brother, we have more than forty nursing homes at home. Isn't it enough for you to bring all the county government's strong squads with you?" Miao Mingyang asked.

"That's not enough. There are more than a hundred thieves themselves. They have also built a fort. Including the miners, at least three hundred people are needed to have a chance of winning.

I'll go find Ma Qianhu at Hequ Qianhu Station and ask them to send more troops to suppress the bandits, so that I can be more confident. But to get these ruffians to send troops, I'm afraid it will cost some money. "Miao Chaoyang said after calculating the manpower.

"Ah, do you still need to spend money? How much do you need?" Miao Mingyang asked in pain.

"It's almost enough to recruit people from a hundred households. We have to pay at least 300 taels of silver. But if we don't pay the small amount, the mine won't get it back, and we will suffer even greater losses." Miao Chaoyang really wanted to say it.

"Well, what my second brother said makes sense. Then go and transfer people quickly. We have to get the mine back quickly. If we stop for one day, we will lose a lot of money." Miao Mingyang said helplessly.

Tieshibao, Liujiata Town, Hequ.

Zhou Zhiwei and others were having dinner when a sentry horse came in and reported: "Zhou Guards, we found out that there is a team coming towards us from the direction of Hequ County. It should be to attack our Iron Stone Fort."

"Have you found out what team it is?" Zhou Zhiwei asked.

"It was getting dark, so I couldn't see clearly, but the team was relatively mixed. Judging by their costumes, there were county government squads, guardsmen, and private bodyguards. There were about three to four hundred people.

They are now about ten miles away from Iron Stone City and are already preparing to set up camp. They may be planning to attack us tomorrow. "The sentry horse reported.

"Those must be the people gathered by the Miao family. There are all kinds of people. You continue to strengthen the investigation and monitor their movements at any time." Zhou Zhiwei ordered.

"Understood!" The sentry horse took the order and left.

Several people in charge of the fort happened to be eating at the same table. Zhou Zhiwei simply took a few mouthfuls of food. After dinner, he asked people to remove the bowls and chopsticks, and they discussed a countermeasure.

"Manager Li, Master Zhang, and Zhang Yuan, it is estimated that the Miao family sent people to take back the mine. Do you have any ideas?" Zhou Zhiwei asked.

"Zhou Wei, now our Iron Stone Fort garrison has strong troops and well-equipped weapons. It depends on how you command it. I am responsible for ensuring the logistics." Li Boxen, the former steward of the Li Mansion, said.

"Sir, we miners are all young and strong. During this period, we have eaten well and become much stronger. As long as there are weapons, everyone can use them. We hate the Miao family the most. Please give us a revenge Opportunity." Zhang Yuan said.

"Zhang Yuan, revenge is of course important, but everyone must remember that we are now members of the Zhenming Army. The task given to us by Governor Lin is to guard the iron mines, so we must first ensure the safety of the iron mines. We must not act blindly. "Zhou Zhiwei answered, his thinking was still very clear.

"Understood, we will all obey Mr. Zhou's arrangements." Zhang Yuan replied.

Zhou Zhiwei was also considering two plans in his mind at this time. One was to sneak attack the Miao people's camp at night, but now he didn't know whether their defense was tight at night, and stealing the camp could only defeat the invading enemy, which was difficult to annihilate.

If the enemy sets up camp at night and the defense is tight, failure to steal the camp may cause great losses and endanger the safety of the Iron Stone Fort.

Zhou Zhiwei gave up on this plan after thinking about it for a while, and decided to adopt the second, safer plan. That is to let the enemy attack the Iron Stone Fort, rely on the strong defense of the fort to stop the enemy, and then lead the garrison out of the city to outflank the enemy's retreat, trying to keep them all here.

After thinking about it, Zhou Zhiwei said: "There are about three to four hundred enemies, and it is expected that they may launch an attack on our Iron Stone Fort tomorrow morning.

I will leave a hundred escorts to participate in the defense of the fort. Zhang Yuan, you can mobilize about two hundred miners to participate in defensive operations. Is it okay? "

"Absolutely no problem, everyone is living a good life now, and no one will back down to defend this kind of life." Zhang Yuan said.

"Okay, Chief Li, you and Master Zhang are responsible for distributing weapons to the miners. The two of you and Zhang Yuan are responsible for guarding the fort. If there is an emergency, Chief Li will make the final decision.

I led another hundred guards to lurk outside the fortress overnight, and when they were exhausted from attacking the fortress, I would outflank them from behind and try to eat this group of people. "Zhou Zhigang arranged.

"Understood, don't worry Zhou Shou. As long as we are here, the fort will be there." Li Boxen replied. He felt that if the fort could not be defended by 300 people, it would be shameful to live.

"Okay, that's settled, let's prepare to go separately." Zhou Zhiwei ordered.

More than ten miles outside Iron Stone Fort, the Miao family and horses are stationed.

"Second brother, I think you are too cautious. This group of thieves who took over our mine may be bandits. They don't know any tricks to rob a camp in the middle of the night." Miao Mingyang complained after waiting for half a night but no sign of the enemy.

"The thieves built a fortress. It is better to annihilate the enemy in the field than to attack the fortress, so I specially left a loophole to camp here.

This group of thieves didn't know how to seize the opportunity to attack at night. It seems that they are either too timid or lack of strength. It seems that there will be no problem in attacking the fort tomorrow. "Miao Chaoyang said.

"Miao Dianshi is very considerate. Since the thieves don't have the guts to come and attack at night, let's have a good sleep and attack the fortress in one go tomorrow." The hundred households sent by Qianhu in Hequ flattered.

"Okay, then let's rest first and work together to defeat the enemy tomorrow." Miao Chaoyang ordered.

Early the next morning, Miao Chaoyang rushed to Iron Stone Castle with his assembled 400-strong army.

In his opinion, 400 troops attacked a newly built small fortress city with only 100 defenders inside. The right time, place and people were on their side, so there was no reason why they couldn't defeat it.

What's more, the officers and soldiers of Baihu Station also brought two small cannons. Although their lethality was not very good, they were enough to bluff people. Maybe with two shots, the thieves would be frightened and surrender.

After Miao Chaoyang arrived at the Iron Stone Fort, he climbed onto a temporary high platform and saw that there were indeed less than a hundred guards on the fort wall. There were also some others who looked like they were absent from work, and he had automatically ignored them.

In the past, those miners who were under the control of his Miao family were all obedient. As soon as they started to attack the city, he concluded that the absentees would not dare to resist.

But he didn't see it, mainly because he was far away. The miners on the fort wall looked at their Miao brothers with anger in their eyes. As long as they had a breath, the miners would fight to the end with the Miao brothers. .

In the past, they didn't dare to resist because they lacked leaders and necessary conditions. Now the situation is completely different. The miners have already lived a human life. Should they be willing to live like dogs again? After Miao Chaoyang observed it for a while, he led the troops from the guard post to set up two small cannons to build up the momentum for the siege.

"Bang bang bang!"

The two small cannons stopped after firing three or four rounds. The small-caliber iron projectiles only left a few small holes in the solid fortress wall, not even a single person was hit.

"Why didn't you fire the artillery?" Miao Chaoyang asked when he saw the artillery stopped.

"Hey, Master Dianshi, this cannon has been fired for three or four rounds, and the barrel has become hot. The artillerymen don't dare to fire anymore." Baihu from the guard station came over and explained.

"Trash!" Miao Mingyang cursed secretly in his mind, and could only order helplessly: "Then let's start attacking the fort. Your guardsmen will go first, and the county government's strong squad will follow behind."

The hundred households could only start the attack with more than a hundred guardsmen. Nearly two hundred government officials and minzhuang from Hequ County followed behind them. These people usually have a good way of bullying the people, but there is no such thing as a war and siege. Yes.

At least the guard soldiers still had some experience, so they carried a few ladders and began to climb the fort wall. The iron stone fort is not big as a whole, and the fort wall is only more than three meters long. It is not difficult to see, but the defense on the small fort is also intensive.

As soon as the men and horses from Hequ County started to attack the fort, the logs and stones from the fort wall were thrown down like raindrops, smashing the motley army that was attacking the city.

With great difficulty, a few stronger guardsmen climbed up the fort wall, but were pushed off the fort wall by being stabbed with swords and guns by the stronger Iron Stone Fort garrison.

In terms of physical fitness, the Iron Stone Fort garrison is well fed and arranges intensive physical training every day. How can it be compared to their guardsmen.

In terms of weapons, the garrison's weapons are all made of fine iron. The weapons of the guards are rusty, but it's good if they don't have big gaps.

In terms of morale, there is no comparison. One side has high morale, and the other side is coping well.

Therefore, the battle could not be fought. After a round of storming the city, the guardsmen refused to move again.

Miao Chaoyang had no choice but to shout: "Brothers, take this Wubao and give each of us a reward of five taels of silver."

"Five taels per person, so we have to give out more than 2,000 taels. The second brother is really a prodigal." Miao Mingyang was still complaining.

However, as soon as the guardsmen and government officials heard that there was a silver reward, their spirits were immediately shaken. A group of people attacked in a chaotic manner, and they all huddled together under the fort wall.

The garrison on the fort wall saw the opportunity coming, so many people gathered below, and immediately threw a wave of ignited thunderbolts down.

"boom boom"

A violent explosion sounded, and the guardsmen and government officials under the fort wall were blown to pieces. These people no longer thought about the silver reward, they just hated their parents for giving birth to two legs, so they ran away The feet started running away.

"Stop, stop!" Miao Chaoyang shouted at the top of his lungs.

At this time, Zhou Zhiwei, who was ambushing outside the city, felt that the time was almost up and came from behind with more than a hundred defenders.

"kill!"

Zhou Zhiwei shouted and took the lead in rushing forward.

When the troops of Hequ County who were attacking the fort were in chaos, they were attacked by this new wave of troops led by Zhou Zhiwei, and they immediately collapsed without being able to hold on any longer.

Li Boxen and others on the fort wall saw clearly, and immediately ordered the fort door to be opened and rushed out.

What was originally a battle between attacking and defending the fort turned into a farce of a great chase and a great escape.

The garrison led by Zhou Zhiwei and a cavalry team of more than 30 people spread out to intercept and pursue the people in Hequ. After shooting to death a dozen escaping guardsmen and government officials, these people no longer dared to escape.

They all obediently followed the garrison's instructions and returned to the open space in front of the fort wall to kneel down and surrender.

In less than an hour, the fortress battle ended with the Miao family's disastrous defeat.

Miao Chaoyang and Miao Mingyang were still standing there dumbfounded. They could hardly believe their eyes. They brought more than 400 troops over to attack a small mine that they thought was occupied by rebels. They were completely wiped out.

The hundred households who came from the thousand households in Hequ had just been shot to death by an arrow from the garrison, and they didn't even have a chance to be stunned.

Zhou Zhiwei stepped forward, kicked the two of them down, stepped forward and stepped on Miao Chaoyang's chest and asked, "Tell me, who are you and why did you come to attack our Wubao."

Miao Chaoyang suddenly felt that ten thousand grass and mud horses were running through his heart. This is obviously my Miao family's mine, why did it become yours?

However, no one was in a better situation, so he could only say aggrievedly: "This, this was originally my Miao family's mine. Since you guys want it, I will give it to you."

"Oh, it seems that he is indeed from the Miao family. Call Zhang Yuan over." Zhou Zhiwei ordered.

Soon Zhang Yuan ran over and looked at the Miao family with angry eyes.

"Zhang Yuan, call the miners here. Now we should avenge injustice and revenge." Zhou Zhiwei said.

"Thank you, sir. In the past few years, our miners have died under the abuse and beatings of the Miao family. At least a dozen of them have died. We will send them on their way properly." Zhang Yuan gritted his teeth and said.

"Ah, no, I am Hequ Dianshi. If you kill officials, you are rebelling. You want to kill everyone in the family." Miao Chaoyang finally struggled.

"If you rebel, rebel. I will kill you first!" a group of miners said nonchalantly, picking up a weapon and pounced on them.

Soon, amid a burst of screams, the Miao brothers were beaten into a pulp, which shows how huge the hatred in the hearts of the miners is.

After killing two people, the miners first laughed a few times, then cried and reported to their dead relatives that their great revenge had been avenged. Finally, they all knelt down in the direction of Fugu, vowing to follow Governor Lin.

Zhou Zhiwei asked Li Boxen to organize people to clean the battlefield and screen the prisoners. He took a hundred garrison members and pressed Miao Minrong, the housekeeper of the Miao family, to search the Miao family compound.

Since most of the bodyguards guarding the Miao Family Courtyard were taken to attack Iron Stone Castle, and the housekeeper called the door, Zhou Zhiwei took over the Miao Family Courtyard without any effort.

After some inspections, a full 100,000 kilograms of pig iron was piled up in the Miao family's yard, and an additional thirteen thousand taels of silver and more than 500 shi of grain were confiscated from their warehouse.

Zhou Zhiwei quickly sent people to find some transportation vehicles such as carriages, escorted the servants of the Miao family, and transported the loot back to Iron Stone Castle overnight.

This battle eliminated Hequ's biggest enemy, won the loyal allegiance of hundreds of miners, and also harvested a large amount of money and food.

After discussing with Li Boxen and others, Zhou Zhiwei immediately drafted a letter of retribution to Lin Feng and escorted the seized 100,000 kilograms of pig iron and silver to Fugu.

　Big harvest in the meander of the river. Please vote politely.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)