Ming Empire

Chapter 85 You Will Be Surprised
"Your Excellency, Chief Soldier, can you speak English?" Constin asked curiously in English.

"I know a little bit, I learned from a clansman who traveled to the West," Cao Yue said modestly: "I didn't expect that you can also communicate in English."

"Maori is from England, and the commander-in-chief can speak English, so you will have no problem communicating in the future!" Constin gave Cao Yue a thumbs up to show his praise. He didn't expect that the young commander-in-chief would actually He can speak Western languages, which subverted his understanding a bit, and then introduced for Maori, "This is a very smart guy, you will be pleasantly surprised, and I believe that Mr. Zongbing will get what you need."

Konstantin was actually very curious about Cao Yue. He became the commander-in-chief at such a young age, and he had so many legendary experiences. Looking at the entire Ming Empire, there was no second person.During the brief contact with Cao Yue, Konstantin knew that Cao Yue was very different from other Ming officials he met. This young man was not hypocritical at all. Ability, and the ability to accept new things is also very strong.He is full of interest in this young commander-in-chief, and hopes that through cooperation with Cao Yue, he and his subordinates will have a good future, and at least let them earn enough money to live a good life.

Including Constin, these mercenaries are all from poor families, or because of various reasons, they have no choice but to join the mercenary army and work hard.If there is a good life in my hometown, who would want to live this kind of life licking blood on the tip of a knife?

After communicating with Konstantin, Cao Yue also summoned Mao Li alone.

It is true that Maori do not understand Chinese. Although the English of this era is somewhat different from that of later generations, it is basically no problem to communicate.

The officials of the Ming Dynasty knew English and could communicate with him in English. Mao Li was quite surprised.He also answered Cao Yue's questions in detail.Cao Yue hoped that Mao Li could help him make flintlock guns, and Mao Li fully agreed.In order to win more favors from Cao Yue, he also showed off, telling Cao Yue many things he knew, including some insights and opinions on gun manufacturing, as well as his new ideas.

Cao Yue also roughly told Mao Li some of the gun manufacturing techniques of later generations in the words he could express, hoping that Mao Li could learn from them.The technological innovations mentioned by Cao Yue surprised Mao Li very much. He didn't expect that this young oriental officer who knew English knew so many concepts of gun manufacturing, and there were many things he didn't know. He was even more impressed by Cao Yue. stand up.

Cao Yue hoped that Mao Li would follow him all the time and help him make firearms. He was willing to give Mao Li a high salary.Mao Li was very pleasantly surprised, and hurriedly agreed, expressing his willingness to follow Cao Yue and help Cao Yue make firearms in the future.

With a high salary and appreciation, Cao Yueting was satisfied with the initial collection of gross profits.After discussing with Konstantin, Cao Yue also took this young man who knew how to make firearms to the firearms workshop and asked him to guide the craftsmen in making new-style firearms.

Manufacturing more advanced firearms requires equipment, but the equipment of the Datong Firearms Bureau is not enough to manufacture higher-end firearms. Cao Yue can only retreat to the next best thing, trying to improve the firearms and other firearms that can be manufactured today.Cao Yue entrusted Mao Li to be responsible for this task, and asked one of his cronies to help Mao Li. He could communicate with him at any time if there was any situation, and he could solve any accident at any time.

And just when Cao Yue was excited about the arrival of Portuguese mercenaries with new firearms, and was busy imitating the new flintlock guns, Cao Sheng, who led the special training team to the west for actual combat training and spy intelligence, passed on the news with flying pigeons. The book sent back an emergency military situation.They found an army of rogues about [-] miles away from Datong. It was estimated that there were more than [-] people. It was Li Yan's rebel army.Li Yan's men and horses are moving towards Datong at a speed of about [-] to [-] miles per day, and it is estimated that they will reach the vicinity of Datong in at most ten days.

After receiving Cao Sheng's report, Cao Yue once again strengthened his judgment, that is, Hong Niangzi went to Datong first and sneaked into the barracks to assassinate him because Li Yan wanted to attack Datong.

It's just that Hong Niangzi didn't make a move in the end, hesitated, and said those words, which made it difficult for Cao Yue to understand.Another point that Cao Yue didn't quite understand was that Li Yan already knew that he had recruited [-] new troops, conducted rigorous training, and defeated the invading slave army a year ago.It stands to reason that the "peasant uprising army" whose combat effectiveness is not as good as that of Jiannu, should not come to gnaw at his hard bone, but retreat in spite of difficulties and preserve their strength.

Cao Yue also felt that the way he dealt with the red lady was a little inappropriate, he couldn't take pity on her just because she was a beautiful woman, he had to be decisive when it was time to be decisive, otherwise he might ruin everything because of his own indecision.

A beautiful woman is poison, this is a wise saying.

But now Cao Yue has no time to care about this, the next thing he has to do is to find a way to repel the attack of Li Yan's troops.

When Cao Yue was preparing for the battle, news came from the southwest that the [-] bandits led by Liu Zongmin were also heading north quickly, with the goal of Taiyuan or Datong.This surprised Cao Yue, he didn't expect the bandits to become so powerful.

Liu Zongmin's troops are likely to come to Datong. The two bandits want to attack from two directions and capture Datong. Li Zicheng's intention is definitely not that simple. Cao Yue no longer dares to be careless and immediately reports the situation to the imperial court.

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After Li Yan decided to lead his army to attack Datong, he has been restless.

Reason tells him that it is very unwise to attack Datong now, and it is likely to lose troops and generals.Cao Yue has recruited 5 horses and conducted strict training. The slave army suffered a disastrous defeat under the city of Datong.Compared with Jiannu, the combat effectiveness of the rebel army cannot be stronger. It is very unrealistic for them to break through Datong and obtain the money and food needed by the rebel army in the spring when Cao Yue recruited 5 horses.

However, Li Zicheng's military order, Liu Zongmin's biography, and the enthusiasm of the soldiers under his command made him unable to make an order to change the original plan, because the fact that the red lady was insulted by Cao Yue made him full of anger and wanted to kill her. Cao Yue then quickly.

Under the influence of many factors, he had no way to change his mind, so he could only lead the army to fight in the direction of Datong as quickly as possible.

Li Yan knows that soldiers are expensive and fast. With the Datong defenders much larger than originally expected, the best way for him to win is to kill the Datong city in a way that Cao Yue could not have imagined. When he was not on guard, he broke through Datong City in one fell swoop, annihilated the defenders of Datong, and seized money and food in the city.

However, Li Yan soon discovered that his plan could not be realized. When the army advanced, it found many spies sent by the government army. The rebel army also captured some spies. After the interrogation, it was known that Cao Yue was already preparing for war. , Waiting for the rebels to come to your door.

This made Li Yan even more hesitant, as if Cao Yue had dug a hole for him and was waiting for him to jump into it.What to do next?Do you want to report to Chuang Wang Li Zicheng again to persuade him to change his mind?Li Yan felt that he should do this, but worried that this move would be misunderstood as his ulterior motives.

Just when Li Yan was hesitating whether to change his mind or not, but still continued to march in the direction of Datong, his sergeant came to report that Hong Niangzi had returned to the army.

(End of this chapter)