Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2153
Zhu Si was quite hesitant.The current channel basically passes through the middle of the sandbar. The sandbars on both sides are flat. Except for a few reed marshes, the field of vision and shooting range on the sandbar are very wide. Let alone a large group of people ambushing, even a dozen people can’t hide. .

But when it comes to the waterway in the north, it is not enough. On one side is an open river sandbar, and on the other side is a bank with lush vegetation and hills. It is no problem to hide dozens or hundreds of people.

He wasn't worried about the bows and arrows of the officers and soldiers or the Yao people, but he had to guard against the opponent's firearms.When the teaching team was studying, the instructor pointed out many times that although the enemy's projectile firearms are primitive, if they are used under good concealment or protection conditions, the lethal power is still considerable, especially when the enemy is ambushing. A successful sneak attack can bring a lot of casualties to the troops.

But continuing to linger here is not an option, Zhu Si nodded: "Okay! Let's change the course!"

At this time, in Fengchuan County, more than ten miles downstream, Lieutenant Fubo Army, who was in charge of Fengchuan's security, was deploying and arranging routine patrols for the next day and the more important task of covering the transport fleet on the Xijiang River.

Originally, such a county could not be garrisoned by regular troops like the Fubo Army, and a squadron of the National Army was standard equipment. However, the sudden outbreak of Yao chaos made this place suddenly become important.

Fengchuan, an important town established when the Central Plains entered Lingnan in the pre-Qin period, is a well-deserved key to the two rivers.Although it is not as prominent as Zhaoqing's governor's town, nor is it as developed and prosperous as Wuzhou in Guangdong, Guangxi and Aijin, it is just an ordinary county town, with old city walls and dilapidated buildings, which are similar to many counties that the South China Army passed through. The elders take a second look.However, the geographic location at the confluence of the Hejiang River and the Xijiang River still makes it necessary to plant a bright red flag on the map of the General Staff.

Leaving aside the significance of Fengchuan County to the Xijiang River, the He River flowing into the Xijiang River from the front of the county seat is the lifeline directly leading to Hezhou and Lianzhou.Once something goes wrong in Fengchuan, the Fubo Army, which is going deep into this area to put down the chaos, will have to pay for it.With the further expansion of the scale of the Yao Rebellion, Fengchuan's status as a transportation hub has become more and more important.The joint logistics not only set up a military depot here, but also specially set up a field hospital as a treatment and transfer place for the wounded.

A large number of materials and personnel have to be transferred here, and the temporary storage yard is piled up like a mountain. Once attacked by the enemy, even if it is just set on fire, Minister Hong will have to jump, let alone the troops who went deep into Lianzhou and other places and were trapped in Lianzhou. , Hezhou and other counties of the National Army.

For this reason, Zhu Mingxia had to deploy a company to garrison Fengchuan in the face of a shortage of troops. The National Army Command in Guangdong also sent an additional National Army squadron here. Their mission was the same as that of the National Army Brigade in Wuzhou: stick to the city. In addition, use motorized ships to carry out powerful patrols along the river to promptly sweep away all potential threats to shipping.

Lieutenant Mi Longtao of the Fubo Army came to Fengchuan County in this way.When he arrived in Fengchuan with his company, in addition to strengthening the defense of the county, he also set up a position on the top of Tashan Mountain, ten miles away from the city, on the north bank of the Xijiang River.Although this mountain is inconspicuous, it has an excellent view. When the weather is good, you can see Wuzhou City from the top of the mountain without binoculars.It can also monitor a large area of ​​Xijiang and Hejiang at the same time.In terms of terrain, it is located on the north and north banks of the Xijiang River with the county seat, and they can effectively guard the estuary at the confluence of the two rivers as horns.Mi Longtao deployed a squadron and several artillery pieces here.Observation posts equipped with high-power telescopes and communication soldiers equipped with semaphore and lighting signal equipment were also specially dispatched.

Mi Longtao was setting up tasks when suddenly a correspondent knocked on the door and came in, reporting that there was an emergency report from the Tashan Observation Post.

"What's the situation?" Mi Longtao wasn't too surprised—because there have been many such "emergencies" recently, small groups of bandits and armed Cong Yao people often appear on both sides of the Xijiang River, attacking villages and passing ships.Although in most cases they cannot break through the fortified villages, nor can they seize the ships of the transport fleet, but every attack will cause high tension in Fengchuan County - after all, there are too many supplies piled up here.

"Report from the observation post: They saw that a convoy of six ships was blocked at Jieshou Beach in the upper reaches of the county seat. The smoke from the fleet did not move significantly for a long time, and there were faint gunshots."

"Order Tashan, keep observing, and report in time if there is any situation!"

After the correspondent left, Mi Longtao glanced at the map, he found that the Jieshou beach was full of enemy forces, and the situation in this area was really not optimistic.He raised his head and glanced at the subordinates gathered around the table, and said:
"Needless to say, they must be the patrol fleet of the Wuzhou National Army that was originally scheduled to arrive at Fengkai at noon today. In all likelihood, they have encountered some trouble." He turned to ask a person at the table who was dressed in native Ming clothes and had long hair. Ji, a middle-aged man with a full beard, "Is there anything going on outside the city these days?"

The middle-aged man is the captain of the detective team in Fengkai County. He is responsible for the intelligence collection work inside and outside Fengkai County. Most of his subordinates are locals. Although the personnel are not very reliable, the information collected is very useful. He is an important eyes and ears of the local garrison .

"Recently, the spies have not reported the arrival or gathering of a large group of enemies—so I think that even if they encountered an attack, it should be a small-scale harassment." The middle-aged man seemed confident.Don't look at his appearance as a native of the Ming Dynasty, but he is actually an old naturalized citizen who has received special training in the Foreign Intelligence Bureau.

According to the standards of the Foreign Intelligence Agency, more than 100 armed personnel are called large groups of enemies.And once a team has more than [-] people, whether it is to ensure food supply or march accommodation, it will be very conspicuous. It is difficult to guarantee concealment, and it is impossible not to be discovered by the detective team operating on both sides of the Xijiang River.

However, if it is harassed by a small group of armed forces, there is no need for the escort fleet to stop. According to the escort patrol regulations, if the fleet encounters a small-scale harassment attack, it is sufficient to use the firepower on board to fight back. It is not necessary not to land and fight, so as not to fall into the enemy trap.Although Lieutenant Mi didn't know Zhu Si and Li Dong, he believed that the commander of the fleet knew this rule.

Now the fleet is standing still, indicating that they have encountered insurmountable troubles.As a result, he had no choice but to dispatch troops to respond.

"At present, the enemy's situation is unknown, and we must remain vigilant. I will lead the first platoon to board the ship and rush upstream to check the situation. The deputy company commander will lead the second platoon to stand by at the pier. The agreed signal: one green flare is safe, and one red flare is If there is an enemy situation, immediately reinforce, and the second row boarded the boat and came to join me. The rest of the personnel are all in combat positions!"

"Yes!"

"Order the Tashan outpost to strengthen its vigilance and observe the enemy's situation in the direction of He Jiang." Mi Longtao added.

After giving the order, Mi Longtao took off the command knife on the wall and put it on: "Play the assembly drum!"

Just as the Fengchuan garrison began to beat the drums and prepare to take the initiative to rescue, Li Dong and Zhu Si had already been swarmed several times on the northern channel.

I don't know where the enemy found this thing from.The entire convoy entered the Northern Passage cautiously, and everything went smoothly. They walked more than half of the distance in a calm and calm manner. At this moment, there was suddenly the sound of sharp arrows piercing the air from the shore, followed by dozens of black smoke. Messy sprayed out from the woods towards the direction of the fleet.

"Swarm!" Zhu Si, who was at the head of the team, called out—in Denglai, he had seen Sun Junmen's subordinates practice this thing.A long hexagonal wooden barrel that can be carried by one person.After ignition, dozens of rockets sprayed out, and the scene was very spectacular.

Before the words fell, these rockets flew towards the fleet. In fact, these rockets were no different from the swarm of bees that Zhu Si saw in the martial arts field: flying up and down——Zhu Si didn't know that there was a swarm of bees in this world. The formula called Brownian motion can perfectly describe what he saw.However, the scene of dozens of rockets scurrying through the air dragging black smoke was quite shocking, and the soldiers of the national army on board suddenly became agitated.

"Don't mess up!" Zhu Si drew out his command knife and waved it, "Calm down! Calm down!"

Although the trajectory of the swarming rockets is very strange and there is almost no accuracy at all, the general direction of the shooting is still correct, and it is no problem to use it for area strikes.Seven or eight of these dozens of rockets hit the No. [-] boat and the No. [-] boat that followed, all of which were bounced off by bamboo shields and iron plates.The most threatening shot hit the observation deck of No. [-] boat, startled the observation post above, and quickly shrank his head behind the iron guardrail.

"Signal, move forward at full speed, and get out of here!" Zhu Si ordered loudly.

At this moment, the second group of "swarms of bees" shot out again, followed by the third group, the fourth group..., one after another "swarm of bees" shot out towards the fleet.The enemy approached through the mountains and forests on the bank, and then let them go.Although no casualties were caused, the continuous rocket attacks, the black smoke in the air, the whistling sound of rockets, and the rain-like tearing and bouncing sound of sharp arrows hitting the barrier made the nationals who had not been training for a long time The soldiers panicked.Although most of them claimed to be officers and soldiers in the past, they actually had no combat experience.The training after being incorporated into the national army only focused on the formation and discipline, and they could only line up, march, stab and salvo mechanically according to the commander's order-many of them hadn't even fired live ammunition with Nanyang rifles.

Nervous and fearful, the arquebus gunners fired indiscriminately without waiting for an order-this kind of fire had no target or aim, which was no different from the way many Ming soldiers used firearms to bolster their courage during battle.The turtledove blunderbuss not only fired indiscriminately towards the north bank, but also received many shots on the deserted sandbar in the south.

Next update: Volume 357 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter [-]

　Note: Fengchuan County in the Ming Dynasty is in the south of the river, and it is not in the same place as today's urban area

　　
　
(End of this chapter)