Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 381 Chaos (V)

The "borrowing food" operation of the East Coast Army in Fushan County went more smoothly than expected.In fact, the gentry who had already suffered once got the news not long after the people from the east bank entered Fushan County. Except for a few gentry with elm heads who still stayed in the village, most of them were Immediately rolled up soft and fled.In fact, they didn't have much to take away. The valuables had already been transferred to the county town or even the state capital. In the rural village, they only sent a nephew and nephew to manage the tenants there.Now when people from the east coast came, these children and nephews would immediately get on horses, mules, or even donkeys, and run away.

Therefore, when the army led by Mo Ming arrived at these villages, they often encountered such a scene: a few trembling servants hid in the woodshed, looking in horror at the soldiers from the east bank who broke through the door; Yong threw knives and guns all over the ground, and ran home to be with his family to resign himself to fate; some rogue Qingpi in the village came over with wooden sticks and short knives and shouted that they would join King Mo and prepare to fish in troubled waters, which made people dumbfounded.

At the beginning, everyone didn't realize it. After "breaking" five or six Zhuangzi in a row, even the dullest people felt that something was wrong.Not much food and livestock were caught at all, and even many people fled away!It took them four days to destroy six villages, and they only seized a total of less than 500 tons of grain and more than [-] heads of livestock. Compared with before, it was completely heaven and earth.Only more than [-] people were caught, and gold and silver were only a few hundred taels, but some books were caught a lot, it is estimated that there were thousands of copies, which made people laugh and cry.

Just when Mo Ming and others were hesitating about what to do next, the cavalry who went out to inquire about the news came back and reported: Guo Sheng led his troops into Jinan five days ago, and the Ming army abandoned the city and fled.After entering Jinan, Guo Sheng recruited the Ming army, reorganized the treasury, set up a payment collection department, and recovered stolen goods from the landlords and bureaucrats to help them pay.Shandong landlords, gentry, and literati mourned, but the power of the 3000 cavalry led by Guo Sheng of the Shun Army, the [-] men of the Baibang Political Department who went south to supervise the payment, and the [-] cavalry of the Dong Xueli Department who were under his control to go south to the Jianghuai River, Most of these people chose to endure and wait for the opportunity.

After discussing with Xiao Xi and Mao Desheng, Mo Ming decided to camp on the spot in a captured gentleman's mansion, and then continued to send cavalry and local Ming people to inquire about news. Shipping to Yantai.

Within a few days, news came one after another. On May 5, Dashun Qingzhou Defense Envoy Wang Daocheng took office alone, and then Governor Feng Dajing and Tongzhi Xue Zhu also took office successively.At the same time, it is said that Guo Sheng also sent Yao Yingfeng and Zhao Yingyuan to lead more than 22 soldiers to escort Laizhou Prefecture Yin Wang Yuqi to the east to take office, as if he wanted to capture Dengzhou and Laizhou.

time is limited!Mo Ming, who got the news, immediately decided that after the last batch of supplies on hand was transported back, he would lead an army to go straight to Fushan County, and seize the county seat that was close at hand before the officials from Dashun who took over the local power arrived.According to some arrested Fushan County gentry, the old parents (county magistrate) were recruited by Zeng Futai to discuss matters in Dengzhou City a few days ago, and have not yet returned. Currently, other officials in the county are temporarily in charge.Such a good opportunity, how can we miss it!

On May 5th (April 24th in the lunar calendar), on the day when Li Zicheng's 4 troops defeated Wu Sangui's 17 Guanning Army's barracks and forced them to retreat into the Guancheng, more than 1000 troops led by Mo Ming also arrived outside Fushan County. .Fushan County is a small county. According to historical records, the population of the county at the end of the Ming Dynasty was only over 4, so it would be nice to have a few thousand residents in the city.However, due to the repeated military turmoil in Shandong in recent years, Fushan County, as an area that has suffered little violence, has a considerable number of refugees and gentry who have come to take refuge.

As a small county, Fushan County has a relatively high proportion of civil and military Jinshi in history, so it can also be regarded as a place where individuals gather.Last year, when the Qing soldiers entered the bandits, they besieged Fushan County without stopping, which shows that the organizational skills and fighting will of the officials here are above the average level.But what about their organizational skills and morale?Can it be stronger and taller than the 12-pounder Army Cannon?At that time, the Tartars had few troops, had already plundered a lot, and lacked siege equipment, so they only besieged the county for a while, and withdrew after finding that the resistance was relatively firm.But now the people on the east coast are carrying four 12-pound field guns dragged by horses, and they gather and bombard him for a day or two. There is absolutely no reason why Fushan County cannot stop them.

Fushan County was not much bigger than Qishansuo City. The people from the east bank sent cavalry to patrol around, and at the same time began to deploy artillery positions more than 400 meters outside the north gate. Four 12-pound field cannons were lined up and aimed at the city gate.A battalion of the Eight Banners New Army was arrayed nearby as an artillery guard. They took off their armor from their pack horses and helped each other put it on in pairs.The tall Xhosa soldiers wore helmets and armor, holding bright weapons in their hands, and they were very powerful for a while.

The army soldiers of the two companies took the lead in forming three horizontal lines, and then moved slowly towards the bottom of the city wall.In the process of advancing, they also fired several rounds of volleys, knocking down some Ming soldiers standing on the top of the city.These township soldiers of the Ming army were quite brave. Perhaps their success in repelling the siege of the Tartars gave them confidence. These people fought back with old-fashioned blunderbuss, bows and arrows.It's a pity that the shooting range is too short. After the bow and arrow flew from the top of the city for a distance of 80 meters to the front of the soldiers on the east bank, they were already weak and unable to cause any harm to people, not to mention that the people on the east bank were all wearing bright bulletproof plate armor. up.

As a result, these brave country soldiers were quickly killed and injured in the brutal confrontation.The rate of fire of the soldiers on the east coast of two shots per minute is not covered. The salvo of four or five hundred flintlock rifles easily destroyed any resistance at the top of the city.At the same time, the artillery brothers also began the intense process of charging, loading, test firing, and calibration.

Mo Ming stood in front of the formation with a saber, surrounded by a circle of intelligence staff, marching staff, combat staff, logistics staff, liaison staff and other miscellaneous staff, who gathered the latest situation to him from time to time.

"The west city gate was quietly opened, and about 200 people walked out of it. According to the observation of the patrolling cavalry, they had no weapons and did not look like military personnel. Moreover, these people were dressed gorgeously, and they seemed to be scholars, businessmen, and gentlemen living in the city. And their families. They seem to have planned to remain neutral in this battle, withdraw from the fighting zone, and ask the staff to stop them." The liaison staff reported loudly.

"I won't stop them for the time being. Of course, if someone takes away the peaceful residents of the city, they will all be intercepted immediately."

"Corporal Jin Wugui of the Army Corps reported that there was a team of silk merchants fleeing outside the Dongcheng Gate, causing traffic chaos. Corporal Arima Osawa of the 4th Squadron of the Guard Army Corps went to expel those merchants. Those silk brocades left by the merchants." The logistics staff also rushed to report.

"I authorize you to requisition those spoils, and each item must be registered."

"Report! Sergeant Bernini's artillery is ready, may I ask whether to shell the enemy's city gate." The combat staff officer came over and stood at attention for instructions.

"I order to bombard the north gate of Fushan County!" Mo Ming said as he walked forward, "The standing team is ready to fight. Once the gate is broken, we will start a pig assault."

"Boom! Boom!" The 12-pound army field gun roared and fired hot shells.The mere distance of 400 meters cannot cause the long-barreled cannonballs with extremely high speed to lose much kinetic energy. These terrifying solid iron balls roared and hit the iron-clad wooden door in front, creating a huge depression on its surface.

The cannons continued to bombard, and no one could be seen above the city walls on both sides of the north city gate of Fukuyama County at this time, and there was a strange silence on the battlefield—except for the sound of artillery.

After more than ten rounds of shelling intermittently, the already decayed North City Gate crashed down. Dozens of grenadiers who were holding powder kegs and preparing to go forward to blast were shocked to find that these Ming people were not there. Stones, sandbags and other obstacles were piled behind the city gate and a second line of defense was set up.This is so ridiculous!Maybe they lacked organization, maybe they didn't have experience in dealing with the bombardment of the city. In short, the few soldiers guarding the gate immediately dispersed and fled to the city after seeing the city gate being destroyed.

Of course, people from the east coast will not let go of such a good opportunity!So, under the command of the officers, more than 4 Japanese samurai wearing leather armor from the 200th Squadron of the Stand Up Squadron roared in unison, and then rushed over in one go.After some people were assigned to occupy the city gates, most of them went to government offices, treasuries, prisons and other facilities in the city in small teams to carry out the occupation separately.

Fifteen minutes later, Mao Desheng led more than 15 officers and soldiers of the 104th company and a battalion of the Eight Banners New Army.

Half an hour later, Mo Ming led the remaining 102nd company, artillery unit and military team into Fushan County.At this time, the fighting in the city was over, and the soldiers suffered very little casualties. No one was killed or injured in the siege battle, but nine volunteer soldiers, three soldiers from the Eight Banners, and a soldier from the 104th Company of the Army were killed in the street fighting after entering the city. More than [-] people were injured, but luckily the injuries were not serious.

The soldiers kept in mind Mo Ming's teaching that "slaughtering peaceful residents does not earn us any honor", and did not carry out mass killings in the city.After controlling the four gates, they did nothing other than restrict the residents from going out and suppress a group of hooligans who took advantage of the chaos to rob.

In the evening, the results of the battle were almost counted out.In addition to the nearly 7000 residents in the city, the people on the east coast also seized about 500 shi (about 600 tons) of grain—this was due to the fact that the local gentry transferred all the grain to the city for fear of being robbed by the people on the east coast; In addition, there are some gold and silver jewelry worth more than [-] yuan, more than [-] volumes of calligraphy and painting books, more than [-] bolts of silk and satin, some herbs, more than [-] heads (only) of livestock, and more than [-] pieces of shotguns, bows, arrows and spears. It can be said to be quite rewarding.

(End of this chapter)