I have a cornucopia

Chapter 192 The Attack of the Knights
early morning.

On the bank of Fuhe River east of Cangzhou.

"You fight yours, and I fight mine."

Yang Zhuguo, who was riding a camel, said with some pride.

Behind him, seven thousand elite cavalrymen were lined up and marching across the ice of this artificial river.

This time, Dorgon planned to launch multiple attacks, making it difficult to distinguish the real from the fake, and then wait for Yang Feng to fall into a trap while running around.

but……

Why should Yang Feng follow his rhythm.

Yang Zhuguo admitted that he was far behind Rolling Roll in strategic command ability. Rolling Roll had fought in hundreds of battles throughout his life, while he was just a rookie with cheats. As long as he got into Rolling Roll's rhythm, he would be led by the nose and gradually led into the designed trap. So for a rookie like him, and a rookie with cheats at that, the easiest way to deal with this level of opponent is for you to fight yours and I fight mine.

If GunGun launched a massive attack on Shandong, then he would launch a massive Northern Expedition, and then GunGun would have to be brought into his favorite blood bar battle.

In other words, it depends on the ability to hold the line in the back.

Yang Feng had sufficient confidence in his rear. In fact, the Shandong gentry were not only well prepared for the invasion of the Qing army, but also determined to resist. After all, no one believed that the Qing army would not retaliate this winter because of the hatred caused by Yang Feng's actions over the past year. Not only the gentry, but also the ordinary people knew that once the Qing army captured the city, they would definitely massacre the city in revenge. It can be said that no one had any illusions and they all knew what they were going to face this winter.

So there was no need for Yang Feng to urge them. As soon as the autumn harvest was completed, people living in rural areas all flocked to the city.

Some people even felt uneasy about the counties where they lived, so they simply took their elderly and children and hid in cities that they believed had strong enough defenses.

Don't worry about accommodation.

In recent years, the population in Shandong has dropped sharply, and there are many empty houses.

In addition, gentry from all over the country also need the population pouring into the city to serve as strong men to defend the city. Local elders and sages will make proper arrangements. Besides, the result of this influx of population is the prosperity of urban business, and their opportunity to make money has come.

You can make a fortune just by renting out the house.

Proper resettlement does not mean giving them houses for free.

But the common people could accept it. After all, compared to dying in the war outside, at least there was defense in the city. In addition, Yang Feng also promised that there would be subsidies for those who temporarily relocated because of the war. Yang Zhuguo had made enough money this year. In fact, the people in the mountainous areas simply hid in the mountain city that had been built before, including the people in Yang Feng’s own old nest, Lunan, who also hid in the mountain city.

Some places backed by mountains even simply abandoned the original county town and directly found a mountain area that was easy to defend and difficult to attack to build a new county town.

This is safer.

The Qing army must be holding back a big attack.

Because of Duoduo's death, Dorgon would definitely launch a massive attack to let his men see his toughness and grab some food at the same time. Anyway, he was mainly using cannon fodder now. Losing cannon fodder was equivalent to killing people without food. If he could grab food, he would make a profit, and if he couldn't grab it, it wouldn't be too much of a loss.

But the problem now is that it is impossible to determine their main attack direction.

The Qing army, which was entirely mounted on horseback, had a fast maneuverability, and the water networks that had previously hindered them were all frozen. Whether it was the canal or the Yellow River, including the water networks and lakes in western Shandong, they all became smooth roads. They then attacked at multiple points to make Yang Feng misjudge. As long as Yang Feng's mobile combat forces were mobilized, they could launch a large-scale attack on the other side at any time, and if Yang Feng was unable to return in time, they could use all their strength to capture an important city.

Even Yang Feng had always suspected that they would attack Andongwei. Although theoretically it was the rear area, if the Qing army secretly assembled cavalry in Henan, it would be entirely possible to cross the Yellow River flood area and attack Xuzhou directly.

And there is no need to attack Xuzhou.

Just walk on the ice, cross Weishan Lake, which is still a swamp, and go straight to southern Shandong.

In this way, whether or not they could defeat Andong Wei could be used for publicity to restore Dorgon's prestige which had been sharply reduced due to the lingchi execution of Dodo.

After all, he had been bullied by Yang Feng for a year.

If he could launch an attack on Yang Feng's lair, kill some people and steal some things, he could then brag that he had defeated Yang Feng.

Of course, Yang Feng likes it this way.

"Fengsheng, urgent news from Yanzhou: about 2,000 Jianlu cavalry crossed the canal and headed for Wenshang."

Du Li caught up from behind and said.

The Knights of Confucius and Mencius are not addressed by official titles. Except for the Grand Master who is called Yansheng Gong, all others are addressed by their courtesy names.

Even though Yang Fenggui was a pillar of the country, second only to Duke Yansheng, he was still addressed by his courtesy name among the knights of Confucius and Mencius.

In fact, there were quite a few Confucius and Mencius knights following Yang Feng this time. Except for his own followers, the rest of his cavalry was made up of knights and their followers.

At this time, the Confucian Knights were no longer the same as before.

However, the number of knights has dropped sharply, and there are only more than 1,500 left. First, many died in the last battle, and second, many withdrew after the war, but most of them still held on. After all, the benefits brought by the identity of Confucius and Mencius Knights are still worth the risk. Now the Knights are the core of Shandong gentry. Political interests, industrial and commercial interests are enough to make them reluctant to withdraw. As for the risk of death, this is not a solution. Upgrade equipment, put on proper forged steel armor, and conduct real strict military training to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the entourage. In the final analysis, as long as the entourage is strong enough, the safety of the knights can be guaranteed.

Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the Confucius and Mencius knights, both individually and as their followers, has undergone a complete transformation.

If you don’t change, you will become cannon fodder on the battlefield.

However, change can be achieved by relying on the force in one's hands to become the one who has the final say in the local area.

They are not stupid.

Today's Confucian and Mencian knights can be said to be true knights, and even tournaments and fights between knights have become popular.

Of course, as their strength increased, they gradually drifted away from those corrupt scholars.

The saying that a thousand words are ultimately not as effective as a single shot from a bird gun is becoming more and more popular.

Besides, there is no need to continue to take the imperial examination to become an official, because Li Zicheng has already appointed a bunch of bandits as ministers and governors, and the rule that civil officials must be from the imperial examination is no longer in name only, and the Confucian Knights of Mencius must at least be a scholar, so if you want to be an official, you can go to the Ministry of Personnel to apply at any time. In this case, there is no need to continue to study hard, but these Confucian Knights of Mencius are not very interested in being officials now, after all, it is not interesting to be a county magistrate...

Being a county magistrate now means being a dog for the local association of wise men.

Thirty-seven?

The 20% and 80% split depends on the opinion of the Hometown Association.

It is hard to say whether this change is good or bad. The combat effectiveness has been significantly improved, but the Confucius and Mencius Knights are less and less controlled by the old guys in the local area, or they interfere more and more in local affairs. The old guys are actually controlled by them. This military organization, which was purely forced out by Yang Feng as a spoof, is transforming into a real local tyrant, just like the clans that controlled the land and tribes in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. This is inevitable.

Fortunately, Yang Feng doesn't care...

He is the biggest powerful man, and he has a crushing advantage. Even if these guys really become powerful families in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, they will still have to kneel if they cannot defeat him.

"Don't worry about it anymore. Let them fight theirs and we fight ours. Pass the order down. We must reach Tianjin tonight!"

Yang Feng said.

Two thousand Qing troops were unable to capture Wenshang.

Wenshang and the Qing army also had a deep hatred. The last time the Qing army massacred, a lot of people from the Guo family, the core of the Wenshang gentry, died. Guo Shiqi, the grandson of the Wanli Shangshu Guo Chaobin, and Guo Shizhen all died in this disaster. The former was in the Tianqi Dynasty when he organized a militia to suppress the Wenxiang Sect. In the past two years, the gentry in Wenshang, with the Guo family as the core, have put all their efforts into building their small castle. They have placed more than 20 red cannons on the city wall and bought more than 500 banjiu guns. The 2,000 Qing cavalry are really not enough.

Five thousand is enough.

After saying this, Yang Feng urged the camel to step onto the ice of the floating river.

Behind him, more than 300 knights of Confucius and Mencius marched forward in formation. Since it was already winter, there was no need to worry about fainting from the heat. All the knights of Confucius and Mencius were fully equipped, wearing green robes over armor, square scarves on their heads, and combat helmets on their backs. In order to show that they were different from ordinary scholars, the front of the square scarves had a pattern of an open Analects of Confucius, and even the words on the pages were embroidered...

This is also the distinction between different halls. The content of the pages of each hall is different. People who understand the rules of the Knights of Confucius and Mencius can tell which hall it belongs to by looking at the content of the page on the forehead.

In short, it is becoming more and more formal.

Including Yang Feng's smiling face which was finally taken off...

This is indeed a bit inappropriate.

Of course, there is also a special explanation: human nature is inherently good!

The use of smiling faces shows that the Knights of Confucius and Mencius still follow the sagely way that human nature is inherently good, which is one of the core ideas of the sage.

So Yang Zhuguo was well-read, and that smile was not just a joke.

After all, the Knights of Confucius and Mencius all hold the final say, and they had solved this small problem long ago. However, it was solved, but it was still a bit unique to wear a smiling face every day, so they changed the logo to the shape of the Dacheng Hall.

More than 300 Confucian knights with unique painting styles, like Knights Templar going to war, walked across the floating river ice in the drifting snow, and marched towards Tianjin, 150 miles away, with their 7,000 followers. Because this area is all saline-alkali land, which is actually swamps and grasslands, it has completely turned into an uninhabited area covered with endless reeds in this season, and there is no human habitation at all.

The 7,000 cavalrymen marched forward at a forced march in the wind and snow, without the Qing army noticing, and arrived at Balitai in the evening.

This place belongs to the Fuguo Field under the Qingzhou Branch of the Changlu Salt Transport Bureau.

While the ambassadors of Fuguochang and the cooks who had been bribed long ago were welcoming the royal army, Yang Feng's 7,000-strong army was hiding in this salt field not far from Tianjin.

Not far from here is the Gegu New City controlled by Huang Fei, but it is garrisoned by his general Xue Quji, Beitang garrisoned by Tang Shirong, and Dagukou Fort which has been temporarily abandoned in this season, together they form the Tanggu Three Forts. The three small cities blocked the main shipping port of the Qing Dynasty. No matter how much money they gave, the Shanxi merchants could not transport grain from the sea to Tianjin. Huang Fei's men and the Qing Dynasty have a deep blood feud. After all, they also went to burn the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty.

In fact, most of the military officers had visited Sister Dayuer, and as for the ladies in Lushun, they were frequent visitors.

Bribery is useless.

They are not stupid.

Just because of their friendship with the Empress Dowager Zhaosheng of the Qing Dynasty, if the Qing Dynasty is not destroyed, sooner or later the nine clans will be eliminated.

Because they had abundant material supplies from Shandong, and were supported by profits from fisheries, aquatic product processing, and salt industries, and relying on the special terrain, they had always been able to resist the Qing army's attacks.

Of course, the navy was the main force before. In the late Ming Dynasty, the Tanggu area was a pure swamp. Only the road from Gegu to Tianjin could be used as a main road. The rest was full of numerous lakes and tributaries, and there were tides. As long as the navy had an absolute advantage, there was no need to worry about being captured. But this season was not the case. The navy all fled to Dengzhou to spend the winter. Fortunately, the city defense was improved before. The only thing left was whether they could survive the attack of the Qing army and thaw next year.

This was also the reason why Yang Feng counterattacked Tianjin.

He had to make sure these guys could hold up.

night.

Tianjin.

Yang Feng looked at the city wall in the wind and snow.

They attacked from the south of the city. In front of them was the Dingnan Gate. Patrols could be seen moving around on the city wall, and burning braziers formed a long line of light.

"on!"

Yang Zhuguo, wearing a white cloak and riding on a camel, waved his white-gloved hand forward and said.

The soldiers behind him, also wearing white cloaks, immediately moved forward. These soldiers, in groups of four, carried short and thick gun barrels that were also wrapped in white and were about a meter long. There was not even a gun carriage, just a pure gun barrel, and it was already loaded with ammunition, so there was no need for an accompanying ammunition supply. In the white snow, they moved forward quietly. The heavy snow completely covered their tracks. The Qing soldiers on the city wall did not notice them, and soon they reached the moat.

They lay in the snow and waited quietly. After making sure that the Qing army had no reaction, a group of soldiers facing the gate of the city wall quietly groped in the snow and soon found what they wanted.

A thick tree stump.

There is also a hole on the side of the tree stump facing the city gate.

Of course, there is nothing strange about this. It is nothing more than the stumps left behind by people cutting down trees in the city. There are plenty of trees on this side of the moat.

Isn't it normal to cut down trees?

As for the holes, maybe when you cut down the tree you’ll find a rabbit nest underneath!
The four soldiers laughed and stuffed their gun barrels into the stump.

This is actually a 300-caliber seamless steel pipe, with a wall thickness of 8mm and a length of 1 meter. Of course, it does not include the sealed tail. However, because the diameter is too large, the tail is not blocked by a lump of iron, but simply crushed after being burned red. And there is a granite ball stuffed inside it, which is why four people have to carry it. The steel pipe alone is only more than 100 pounds, but at this moment, this crudely made, unscientific thing has become a heavy artillery aimed at the city gate inside the tree stump.

Three hundred millimeters caliber.

"So what if it's just one time? Can't we blow open the city gate in one time?"

Yang Zhuguo behind said proudly.

The next moment, in the white, flames suddenly shot out towards the city gate, accompanied by the sound of cannons that shook Tianjin, and a granite ball weighing nearly 100 kilograms flew out, instantly passing a distance of only a few dozen meters and crashing into the city gate hole...

(End of this chapter)