Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 168 Luzhou Qi Family
The small landlords compromised obediently, but the big landlords' estates were unwilling to open their doors and surrender.

For such stubborn elements, Chen Gu would personally lead a large army to attack them.

"The first landlord resistance estate we encountered was called Qijiazhuang. The Qi family was a big family in Luzhou. Not only did they have people serving as officials in the capital and other places, but they also had people serving as prefects and postmasters in Luzhou city, occupying two of the six rooms of clerks.

They have occupied a large area of ​​fertile farmland outside the city. There are nearly 20,000 mu of land outside Qijiazhuang alone, plus the land in other places, the total is about 50,000 mu. Qijiazhuang covers more than 10 mu, and it is rumored that the building area is nearly 10 mu, divided into five courtyards and two cross-courtyards in the east and west. "

After listening to Lao Nian's introduction, Chen Gu couldn't help but laugh, "Haha, that's great, I never thought that such a small Luzhou would have such a big fat sheep. Okay, very good, very good, mobilize the troops and target Qijiazhuang."

Fortunately, Qijiazhuang is located in the south of the Yangtze River, only four or five miles away from Luzhou City, so it is very convenient to send troops. In less than half an hour, Chen Gu brought his troops to the outside of Qijiazhuang.

Luzhou also has hilly terrain, but the area occupied by Qijiazhuang is very flat. The terrain fluctuation in the area of ​​tens of thousands of acres does not exceed ten meters. There is a large and complete terrace near Qijiazhuang.

Chen Gu looked at the terrain and said to Lao Nian with a smile, "This place is suitable for garrisoning. After we conquer it, we will give most of the farmland to the nearby people, and use the area around it as a training ground. We will also build a water fort at the Luzhou wharf to station the navy. Together with Luzhou City, the three places can form a pincer attack to control the Yangtze River and Tuojiang River."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult to fight. The wall of Qijiazhuang is more than ten feet high and is made entirely of bluestone. I just don't know how thick it is." Lao Nian said, touching his chin!

"Have you sent anyone to explore whether there are any cannons or muskets inside?" asked Chen Gu.

"We didn't send anyone to test, we only sent people to negotiate, and we didn't launch any attack. There shouldn't be things like cannons, which are expressly prohibited by the imperial court!" Lao Nian said in surprise.

Chen Jue shook his head and said, "The laws of all dynasties are mostly for restraining the common people. It is not uncommon for a big family like this to have anything. Think about the Han family. The Qi family is probably not much worse than the Han family!
But it doesn’t matter. Today I will show you how to fight a siege!

Feng Yuanqiao! "

"I'm here!" Feng Yuanqiao stepped forward and responded.

"Lead your troops to cut down a large amount of bamboo. Only the two types, hard-headed yellow bamboo and rutabaga, are needed. Ask the bamboo craftsmen in the army to carve out more bamboo strips!" said Chen Gu.

When one's side has the advantage of attack distance, the role of city walls becomes minimal, especially in the era of hot weapons, when all cities no longer build city walls.

Although Chen Gu did not have a cannon, he had a rifle, which gave him an absolute advantage in attack distance. It was not difficult for him to attack the Qi family. However, in order to further expand his advantage and reduce casualties, Chen Gu planned to attack the Qi family from a high position.

Bamboo is a good thing. In the future, bamboo can be used to build protective frames for buildings dozens of stories high and hundreds of meters high.

Chen Gu usually liked to build platforms with bamboo. He would erect a bamboo at a distance of one meter. He only needed to erect a hundred bamboos, and then tie some bamboo poles together with bamboo strips, and pull them together. He could quickly build a platform covering an area of ​​one hundred square meters.

The platform was more than two meters high and one hundred square meters wide. Chen Gu planned to build two such platforms, one ten meters to the left and right of the Qi family's gate and about seventy or eighty meters away from the gate.

The Qi family did have guns and cannons. As soon as the platform was built, gunfire rang out from the Qi family's courtyard wall, forcing the Green Camp soldiers who were building the platform to flee, leaving behind five or six corpses and more than a dozen people lying on the ground wailing. It didn't matter if it was a musket. At a distance of 70 or 80 meters, it not only had little killing power, but also had a pitifully low accuracy. However, it was different with cannons. If it was a dense formation, a cannonball could knock out a bloody path.

Fortunately, the Qi family only had four small cannons weighing 100 pounds each, but they had about a hundred musketeers. Although these people caused more than 20 casualties to the Green Camp soldiers who were building the bamboo platform as soon as they showed up, they were also attacked by the logistics battalion, and at least half of the more than 100 people were killed or injured.

Chen Gu frowned and thought for a moment, then asked, "How many men does the Qi family have?"

"Not sure. There are probably nearly a thousand members of the Qi family and more than ten thousand tenants. After our army entered Luzhou, the Qi family members basically hid in the county town and the Qi family compound. As for how many tenants and guards entered the Qi family compound, there is really no way to count them!" Lao Nian explained.

Chen Gu nodded and ordered Feng Yuanqiao, "Let the soldiers spread out to all directions and build sixteen high platforms. I will let the Fobao Logistics Battalion cover you. Don't worry, take your time. Tell the soldiers to run if they are attacked."

Qijiazhuang covers an area of ​​more than ten acres, with a wall about a hundred meters wide, and a total guarded area of ​​four hundred meters. Chen Gu didn't believe that the other side could defend it all. If the troops were dispersed in all directions, Chen Gu wouldn't have to build any platforms, he could just attack with ladders.

What's more, there is the protection of the logistics battalion. When the Green Camp soldiers were attacked, the guards of the Qi family were also attacked by the logistics battalion. The marksmanship of the logistics battalion soldiers was much more accurate than that of the enemy.

This was an open conspiracy. As soon as Chen Gu divided his troops, the other side couldn't stand it anymore. Someone on the gate tower shouted loudly.

"Qi Huayun of the Qi family, please welcome the leader of the Huaxia Department!"

Chen Gu thought for a moment, and said to the louder Roadblock next to him: "Tell him to surrender unconditionally, and I can let the Qi family take their gold and silver and withdraw from Luzhou. Otherwise, after we capture Qijiazhuang, the family will be exterminated!

Don’t stop building the bamboo platform.”

The roadblock stepped forward and shouted, but the other party was silent for a while. However, the progress of the construction of the sixteen bamboo platforms around forced the other party to make a choice as soon as possible. They would definitely not be able to win by fighting.

"Does the leader of the Huaxia tribe keep his word?" the other party shouted.

This time, Chen the Executor did not ask anyone to do it for him. He pointed in the direction of the Yangtze River and said, "I, Chen the Executor, am willing to swear to the surging river that as long as the Qi family surrenders unconditionally, they can take away everything they can. No one under Chen the Executor will stop them. If anyone violates this oath, they will be punished by heaven and earth!"

The other party was silent for a while, and then asked, "Does it include the Qi family members in Luzhou City?"

This time Chen Gu couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, and finally said: "Including the Qi family members in the city, and I can let one of you go first, on the condition that you can't destroy the things you can't take away, otherwise I, Hua Xia, will definitely pursue you."

"Okay, the Qi family has agreed. Please ask the leader of the Huaxia tribe to give the Qi family a way out!"

"Withdraw troops, retreat five miles to the south!" Chen Gu ordered.

(End of this chapter)