Yesterday's ambush was fought beautifully. Zhizhentang lost three people, killed twenty-three members of the militia, three more members of the group were seriously injured, and five were captured.

Although this was only a small-scale battle, it fully demonstrated Yang Xuan's talents and greatly increased his prestige.

The news spread quickly.

The next morning, two hundred transport workers rushed to Chenjiabao and came to Zhi Zhen Tang. They had no choice but to defect to whoever was stronger.

The militia group had defeated them before, and they had no choice but to flee. Now that Zhizhentang had defeated the militia group and had the upper hand, they eagerly came back.

When Zhi Zhen Tang breaks through the Chen Family Fort, they will definitely open warehouses to help the people, and they will also be able to take advantage of the opportunity to have a good meal. Maybe, in the chaos of war, they can also take the opportunity to rob and steal a few taels of silver!

It's not easy for Yang Xuan to drive them away. These people fail more than they accomplish. But there are too few people on his side, so it's okay to let them build up their momentum and attack.

Chenjiabao suffered a defeat and closed the fort gate tightly. Chen Zhonghao could not figure out the authenticity of Zhizhentang, so he wrote to Sanshui County Government and the Youlin Militia for help.

At the same time, he offered a large reward to the envoy and sued Yang Xuan for peace as a delaying strategy.

Yang Xuan was worried that his strength would be revealed, so he detained the envoy, guarded him, and questioned him about the strength and configuration of the militia in the envoy's fort.

The envoy couldn't bear the torture and revealed Chen Zhonghao's plan to seek help from outside.

Yang Xuan was shocked. He knew that he was not strong enough. He was running out of food and money. He had to capture Chenjiabao as soon as possible. Firstly, he could get Chenjiabao's money; secondly, he could take the opportunity to recruit brave men and expand his army.

strength.

If Chen Zhonghao were to wait for reinforcements, it would be difficult for Yang Xuan to resist with Yang Xuan's current strength.

Although his troops were weak, Yang Xuan still bravely organized an attack on Chenjiabao.

Chen Zhonghao was very cautious and refused to fight. He only used bows and arrows at the top of the city and fired back with guns and did not open the door to fight.

This time, the battle did not go so smoothly. Zhizhentang's soldiers were originally small and had never been trained to attack the city. The enemy was condescending and had a large number of troops. Zhizhentang did not take advantage, but lost two infantrymen.

Seeing this, Yang Xuan had no choice but to retreat with his money.

The militia did not dare to pursue, for fear of being ambushed again. Zhizhentang retreated calmly.

Yang Xuan was extremely anxious. Zhizhentang could not capture the earthen fort, and the food was almost gone, and the money was almost spent. By tomorrow, the food would be exhausted, and before the militia could attack, Zhizhentang itself would be defeated.

After this defeat, Zhizhentang's morale was dampened, and the soldiers looked at Yang Xuan with different eyes, revealing suspicion and hesitation. They all wanted to know what they should do now that they were running out of food and could not capture the fortress.

Yang Xuan forced a smile and ordered the horses to be killed to reward the soldiers. Everyone had meat to eat and temporarily forgot about the hidden worries caused by the defeat in the war.

The situation was not optimistic. Yang Xuan found Su Sanniang, Yang Tian and Liu Minhu to discuss the next countermeasures.

Su Sanniang was eager for revenge and advocated a desperate attempt to attack again. She said:

"We are running out of food, so we might as well throw everything into gear and attack Chenjiapu in a swarm. There may still be a chance of success. If we just sit back and wait for death, we will definitely lose."

Yang Xuan and Liu Minhu both opposed it.

Liu Minhu said: "The walls of Chenjiabao are high and thick, and there are many militiamen. If we want to attack by force, it will be difficult to get in. Even if we can get in, we have too few soldiers and are not familiar with the structure inside, so we will not be able to get in."

Not upwind."

Su Sanniang suggested again: "Why don't I send someone to Deqing Prefecture to persuade the boat army to come and help. The boat army likes to rob, and the assets in Chenjiabao are over ten thousand, so they will probably come to help."

Yang Xuan shook his head and said: "That's not right either. Deqing Prefecture is a long way away, and it takes at least four days to go back and forth. It's too long. In addition, the discipline of the boat army is broken, and its strength is stronger than that of Zhizhentang. It's easy to send gods to you."

, it will be difficult for us to handle it when the boat army comes."

The boat army is a branch of the Tiandihui. They ride on wave boats equipped with artillery. They can move freely in the Xijiang River Basin and cannot be prohibited by the government and army.

There are eight more branches under the boat army, and the interior is a mixed bag. Most of the boat army has poor discipline, such as the big-headed sheep Zhang Zhao's department, and only Luo Gang's department has slightly better discipline.

Yang Xuan's words were reasonable, but everyone was helpless.

Liu Minhu had no choice but to suggest: "At this point, we can only ask the hall master for help. If the hall master can allocate us another two hundred 'straw sandals', and we can select dozens of strong ones from the porters, we will be sure

Attack Chenjiabao by force."

The question is, the hall leader Yin Zheng is already suspicious of Yang Xuan, will he increase his troops to support him?

Yang Xuan had no hope for this, but he had no other choice. He nodded and said:

"I have troubled you with this matter. Please choose a capable cavalry, rush to Guangzhou as quickly as possible, and ask the hall leader to mobilize troops. Do your best to personnel and obey fate. If the hall master is willing to send troops, we will be sure to attack the Chen family.

Fort.

"However, we are running out of food and cannot sit here and wait for death. As time goes by, Chen Zhonghao will see our true and false intentions. When reinforcements from the militia arrive, the situation will be even more unfavorable to us.

"Su Sanniang, Chen Zhonghao's family wealth is over ten thousand, and it is impossible for all of it to be in Chenjiabao. For example, are there any shops or facades of Chen Zhonghao in and around Sanshui County? How many wooden boats do you think he has, and where are they parked?"

Su Sanniang's eyes lit up and she said: "Chen Zhonghao has a herbal medicine shop, a restaurant, a cigarette shop, a rice shop in Sanshui County, and a warehouse and an inn outside the city. The Chen family's four wooden boats are

Parked on the edge of the Xijiang River, close to his warehouse."

Yang Xuan was very happy and said:

"That's it. Let's evade reality and avoid reality. We will put Chenjiapu aside first and go to Sanshui County to seize Chen Zhonghao's warehouse, inn, and wooden boats. Once we capture the warehouse and inn, our food problem will not be difficult to solve. There is

If we have a wooden boat, we can recruit boatmen and put all the luggage on the boat."

Su Sanniang was happy first and then worried, and asked:

"The warehouse is just outside Sanshui County, not far from the city gate. The government has dozens of green soldiers in the city, and there is an inspection department by the waterway outside the city, which is responsible for fighting against water bandits. Let's go and rob the warehouse, we will

Won’t it attract the attention of the officers and soldiers?”

Yang Xuan smiled and said: "There is no need to worry about this. The officers and soldiers in Guangxi are busy encircling and suppressing the Tiandihui uprising in the north of Guangxi, and the officers and soldiers in Guangdong are busy dealing with foreigners in Guangzhou. We are making trouble in Sanshui County, and the officers and soldiers

Too busy to take care of himself, he will not divide his troops to reinforce Sanshui.

"Although there are many militia groups, most of them are just for self-protection and do not dare to take the initiative. We fought in Chenjiabao for two days, and Chen Zhonghao's militia group kept retreating inside the fort. It is not difficult to see from this that the militia groups have been frightened by us.

Don't dare to leave the fort to fight easily.

"Let's just make a big show of it and bring all the troops with us to pretend to attack Sanshui County. The official army has been inactive for a long time. When they heard that we were going to attack Sanshui County, they must be very nervous and dare not send more troops to reinforce Chenjiapu. When the militia groups elsewhere get the news, they will also

I still have lingering fears and dare not go to Chenjiabao on the ancient road."

But if this happens, things will get serious. Attacking Chenjiabao can be said to be a civil war. Attacking Sanshui County is a naked rebellion.

Yang Tian felt a little worried and said: "Master, if we attack Sanshui County, is it going too far?"

Liu Minhu was also worried and felt that things were in danger of getting out of control. He understood that with the person of the hall master, he would not dare to have a grudge with the government. The business of Zhizhen Hall would inevitably need the protection of the government.

Yang Xuan insisted on his opinion. There was no turning back. When things got to this point, there was no room for regret.
Chapter completed!