Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1688 Progressive Gentry and Evacuation

"My lord, the bandits in yellow have retreated!" A panting young man stumbled in from a Wubao compound in Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, and said cheerfully while wiping the sweat from his forehead: "The thief The soldiers retreated! They only entered the outskirts of the Gaoyuanwai village, and retreated with a feint. My mother, I hid in the reeds on the river beach, and saw with my own eyes those vicious yellow-clothed thieves kidnapped a large group of people, Someone didn’t want to run away, but was caught up and stabbed to death with a bayonet on the spot, the blood flowed all over the ground, and my legs were trembling as a child.”

Fan He quietly heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this.Although the Dongguo spy who often communicated with him has repeatedly assured that the military commander on the east bank knows about Master Fan's daily righteous deeds, and will carefully plan the marching route and will not "disturb" this side.But people say so, but who knows what will happen when the army is in chaos, so Fan He has been not very steady these days, for fear that the Eastern Army will suddenly kill him and destroy his family's accumulated wealth over the years— ——Fan He has heard this kind of "bad news" spread among the landlords and gentry several times recently, and he is also a little worried, for fear that his family property will encounter such a disaster.

Fortunately, all unnecessary worries can be dissipated now, and the Dongguo army turned back ten miles to the east, escorting a group of sheep and—well, two-legged sheep—to the south, heading towards the Huangpu River.This kind of action not only preserved Master Fan's ten thousand family wealth, but also avoided the exposure of Master Fan's identity.After all, once the army on the east coast has advanced to this point, facing this obvious Wubao compound, should they fight or not?If you fight, you will inevitably be injured by accident. If you don't fight, it will be too obvious. Anyone will doubt the relationship between Master Fan and the thief in yellow.

Now this situation is actually the best. The army on the east bank circles back after being far away, which means that this area has been completely let go, which makes all the landlords and gentry including Fan He very happy.In fact, to be honest, these people are still in the honor of Mr. Fan, although they will never know.

"It's good for the thief in yellow to retreat, it's fine to retreat." After calming down a little, Fan He ordered again: "Everyone can't relax this meeting, the thief in yellow is gone, but he can't keep his back There will be rebellious soldiers and broken soldiers coming. Their disaster is no less serious than that of the yellow-clothed thieves, so cheer me up. Zhuang Ding still can't retreat, and he must continue to patrol. In addition, Mr. Zhou and Mr. Li Bian also quickly send people over to inform them, they are all sensible people, they know this truth, go quickly."

After arranging all this, Fan He went to the martial arts arena in Zhuangzi, where more than [-] strong and strong Ding Yong were practicing the technique of spear stabbing, and they seemed to be in good shape.The teacher who taught them was a middle-aged man who spoke a Shaanxi accent. He was very good at guns and sticks, and what was even more rare was that he could fire a musket.

This person's identity to the outside world is a veteran of a Green Battalion who was stationed in Jiaxing Mansion. After the troops were dispersed by the yellow-clothed thieves, they ran to Songjiang Mansion to ask for a living. Later, they were taken in by the well-known Master Fan and hired as Zhuang Zhongding. Learn bravely, teach them the art of assassination in battle formations, so that they can protect themselves in this troubled world.

Of course, others thought that this professor surnamed Huang was a veteran of the disbanded green battalion, but only Fan He and his two confidants knew that this person's identity turned out to be Dongguo spy, what kind of "Second Lieutenant of the Gendarmerie", specially hidden in the Master Fan's family inquired about all sources of information, including military intelligence as well as some local people's sentiments.Fan He also helped him a lot, even when Tong Guogang was in Susong Changhang Jiahu Six Mansions to capture the secrets of the East Bank, he was the most trusted by the East Bank people.

Seeing Fan He walking in with a solemn expression, Huang Jiaoxi immediately understood.I saw that he called two assistants, and after whispering to them, he wiped his hands and walked straight to Fan He. The yard of weapons and equipment.The yard was very empty, and the two of them moved a bench and sat in the middle. They could observe it within 30 to [-] meters. If someone accidentally broke in, they could respond immediately. It was a place to discuss confidential matters. great place.

"Mr. Huang, your country's soldiers and horses have already withdrawn. I have confirmed this. But, can you give me a letter now, what is the purpose of your country's soldiers and horses landing in Songjiang this time, and will they come to us?" This way." At this time, there was no one around in the courtyard, so Fan He immediately asked each other.

"Master Fan, I really want to give you a letter of approval, but I don't want to lie to you, and I don't know about it." Huang Jiaoxi cupped his hands and said helplessly: "I went to the riverside place the night before yesterday. At the ferry controlled by our army, I met my colleagues and superiors, but I didn’t get much news from them. I can only tell you that our army should not have any plans to occupy Songjiang Mansion for a long time this time. The main thing is to get people. Well, of course, if they can get some extra gold and silver, I believe they don't mind." Speaking of this, Huang Jiaoxi smiled, and his attitude was very frank.

In fact, although he didn't know the scale of the east bank army's dispatch this time-the Qing army also wanted to know this question, but they still thought that the east bank army was "no less than ten thousand" because of their incompetence-but as a senior intelligence officer, Huang Professor Xie, after a little integration of the few news at hand, he came to the conclusion that the army on the east bank would not stay for long, and judged that the scale of this dispatch should be around 6000 (actually less than 4000), and the combat power varied. Qi, with the main purpose of plundering people and gold and silver.

Master Fan still believed in Huang Jiaoxi's words, so after hearing his judgment, he nodded emphatically, feeling completely relieved.If this is the case, then it should not be a big problem. There are not many soldiers in Songjiang Mansion, and they are scattered. There are not many soldiers in the neighboring Jiaxing and Suzhou Second Mansions, and it will take time to gather them. When the people (and a large number of township braves must be captured to make up the number) traveled eastward, Huating, Qingpu and even Shanghai counties were probably all fallen.When these people came here, they had nothing else to do except collect the corpses of the Qing army. Their own family was unscathed in this wave of attacks. After the Eastern army retreated and the imperial army regained the lost land, they couldn't keep themselves safe. It is not a small fortune to snatch the properties of some gentry and landlords whose families have disappeared.

After talking with Professor Huang about the training of the brave men in Zhuang Ding Township, Master Fan He bid farewell, and then returned to his study to continue to study the knowledge about mathematics that he bought from the east bank for a lot of money.He really likes this knowledge, and he has spent a lot of time studying it. He feels that studying mathematics knowledge is much more interesting than going to brothels in the county and listening to ditties. It is a pity that such knowledge is imparted publicly.

I heard that there are some specialized schools in Denglai that teach all kinds of knowledge including mathematics. Fan He still yearns for it very much. Sometimes he always thinks, let the army from the east bank take over the Central Plains and rule the world. Anyway, they also claim to be Miao descendants of the former Song Dynasty and Chinese orthodox. Everyone can learn these things in the future.

Of course, this kind of thinking can only be indulged at home. Fan He knows that even in a place with open customs in the south of the Yangtze River, the study of "Dongxue" is a very sensitive thing, because there are always some pedantic people who use A hostile look looked at these new things.If you meet a more enlightened magistrate, then maybe Dongxue can have a certain living space in the local area, and may even spread well; but if you meet a pedantic person who is full of four books and five classics , then you are finished, and Dongxue will definitely be suppressed.

But even though the situation is so complicated, in today's Susongchang area, some schools that teach the so-called "Dongxue" knowledge have also quietly set up, and there is one in Huating County.Fan He once visited that school, where while teaching the biography of sages and sages, the three cardinal principles and four dimensions, he also taught things such as arithmetic, geography, surveying and mapping, art of war, gymnastics, business, foreign languages, geography, agriculture, painting, music, etc. Knowledge is also imparted publicly.

Although in terms of the content of this knowledge, it may not be as good as those first-hand East Coast books in the study room of Fan He's home - it is conceivable that the sources of knowledge in this new school should be from several hands, and even some of them Probably not from the east coast at all, but missionaries or businessmen from Portugal, England, and Holland—but after all, the lectures are held in public in the dignified city, which is of great significance, although the number of students in the school does not seem to be very large.

There are some schools like this in other prefectures and counties. Most of the people who come to the class are children from rich families who are full of curiosity. Of course, there are also some children from ordinary families who want to change their living conditions, but they are not in the majority.These people are generally not very interested in learning traditional classics, but are very fond of knowledge from abroad, and these schools are actually supported by these hobbyists.

While Fan He was studying Dongxue in his study, the reinforced artillery company of the [-]th Mixed Battalion had just smashed the gate of Huating County not far to the east.At this moment, they were taking their time to cool down the barrel of the artillery. Many soldiers holding Minie rifles were neatly lined up on both sides, looking solemnly at the soldiers of the Qing army behind the city gate who wanted to approach but did not dare to approach, step by step. moving forward.

Every soldier of the Qing army who dared to show his face would inevitably be attacked by at least five or six muskets. Therefore, after trying a few times and killing many people, the remaining Qing army finally dispersed and gave up fighting from the east. The plan to take back the city gate in the hands of the people from the shore.Since the city gate is lost, Huating County is basically undefendable, and it is only a matter of time before it falls.

The magistrates, county magistrates, and other yamen officials in the city were as anxious as ants on a hot pot. They wanted to escape for their lives, but they were afraid of the extremely serious consequences, so they could only shout hoarsely and organize all the battalions they could command Soldiers, township braves, yamen servants, tax officials, etc., wanted to make the last bit of futile resistance.

Of course their resistance is doomed to fail!The third battalion of the Qing army (about 500 people) who had been on the battlefield was not an opponent of the seventh mixed battalion, let alone those who could only bully the weak and fear the hard, and the fish and meat township?Therefore, when the infantry of the Seventh Mixed Battalion entered the city with their muskets, their resistance quickly collapsed, and the government offices, county offices, Liangtai, and Yandao, which symbolized the rule of the Qing government, fell one after another. The city was taken by the East Coasters with little effective resistance.

Lieutenant Colonel Junio ​​entered the county seat at dinner time and directly lived in the magistrate's office. Hundreds of officers and soldiers from the Fifth Division of the Zhejiang New Army also drove into the city together. They arrested thousands of Huating County in the countryside. The peasants were then collectively locked up in the former Qing army barracks in the city for centralized guarding, so as to prevent large-scale escapes after nightfall.

In Huating County, according to the interrogation of some subordinate officials in the county, there are about 3 to [-] people.In fact, there were not so many people at first, but the situation has been "not peaceful" recently, and many people dragged their families and hid in the county town.

With these 3 people plus the large number of people captured before, in this attack, the people from the east coast have already captured more than 6 people and a large amount of property in the southwestern area of ​​Songjiang Prefecture. The results of the battle are very amazing.And after such a plunder, Lieutenant Colonel Junio ​​didn't even think much about continuing to go deep into the northern part of Songjiang Prefecture to capture Qingpu, Shanghai and even the neighboring Suzhou Prefectures of Jiading, Kunshan and Taicang Prefectures. First, it was more dangerous and uncertain. Sex is relatively large, and the second is also because of insufficient motivation.

Therefore, based on this consideration, on February 2, Lieutenant Colonel Junio ​​finally made a decision: the main force of the Seventh Mixed Battalion will suspend the northward advance, and fully cooperate with the Fifth Division of the New Army to transfer materials and personnel to Jinshanwei. So many "boots" that have arrived will be in the bag.Of course, he didn't forget to send out the cavalry company directly under the Seventh Mixed Battalion to monitor all the traffic arteries to see if there was any Qing army approaching, so that Huating County could make preparations in advance.

On March 3, the transfer of personnel basically came to an end. Satisfied, Lieutenant Colonel Junio ​​personally led the Seventh Mixed Battalion northward to the outskirts of Qingpu County. The reinforcements from the direction of Nanjing) did not plan to confront them head-on, but the whole army retreated to Huating County, which had become an empty city. At this time, there was also news from the west that the Qing army came along the line of Jiaxing and Jiashan. A threat was posed to the 6th Mixed Battalion and the flank of the [-]th Division of the New Army.

This new news directly prompted Lieutenant Colonel Junio ​​to give up Huating County and turn towards Jinshanwei. Thousands of people have been captured in the east, and the total population reserve has reached [-]), so it is meaningless to stay here and fight to the death. It is better to board the ship and evacuate, and then find other weak points to attack.

On March 3, more than 15 people from the vanguard of the Qing army who came from the direction of Jiaxing Mansion arrived at the outskirts of Jinshanwei first, but were ambushed by the main force of the Seventh Mixed Battalion.Since the retreat is imminent, the people on the east bank did not save ammunition this time. Explosive bombs, solid bullets, hollow bullets, grape bullets, and chain bombs were all thrown at the Qing army, and the 2000 people were directly stunned, because they I have never encountered a battle with such fierce firepower.

Subsequently, nearly a thousand officers and soldiers from the four infantry companies of the Seventh Mixed Battalion came to a bayonet charge, directly eliminated the 2000-man Qing army, and captured more than [-] people, directly knocking down the courage of the Qing army behind and forcing them The footsteps suddenly slowed down, leaving enough time for the people on the east bank to evacuate Jinshanwei.

(End of this chapter)