Chapter 333 Advance by land and water

The coastal area from the south of Guangzhou City to the Pearl River Estuary is densely covered with water systems, and water transportation is far more convenient than land transportation. Starting from Xinhui, this group of water bandits sailed upstream from the Xijiang River to the north, passing through the Donghai Channel, Ronggui Waterway, and Tanzhou Waterway.

It took several days and nights to sail more than a hundred miles before entering the Shawan Waterway in Panyu County. Two days ago in Beiyao Town, Zeng Aniu, the leader of the Xinhui water bandits, had already met with Liao Dabi and agreed on an agreement.

Attack plan. Last night, this team of more than 20 large and small ships arrived less than ten miles away from Lijiazhuang Pier and stationed themselves in a fork of the Shawan Waterway that night.

The bandit leader Zeng Aniu also knew a little bit about Lijiazhuang in Panyu, and he probably knew a little more than Liao Dabi. In the past six months, a refined product with a price only two-thirds of the official salt has appeared on the market.

Private salt, it is said that this very popular private salt was sold from Lijiazhuang. There is no salt farm in Lijiazhuang. How this private salt came out, Zeng Aniu didn’t know the mystery, but there was one thing he knew very well.

Understand - the two words "salt merchant" can basically be equated with silver. Since Lijiazhuang is doing private salt business, the wealth in this village will naturally be very considerable.

Compared with Liao Dabi's strength, Zeng Aniu's team of three hundred people was far from enough. Therefore, the main force of the attack was still a few groups of bandits headed by Liao Dabi, and Zeng Aniu's mission was

Approach Lijiazhuang from one side of Shawan Waterway and wait for the opportunity to coordinate the main force attacking Lijiazhuang from the other two directions. In addition, after breaking the village, Zeng Aniu's fleet will also have to take on part of the transportation task in order to transport all kinds of captured goods as soon as possible.

Materials were transported away from the incident site.

Zeng Aniu thought more. Maybe he would be lucky and intercept Lijiazhuang's salt ship on the Shawan Waterway. After figuring out the source of Lijiazhuang's private salt, he would directly lead his people to rob the salt farm next time. Compared with attacking

In a stronghold like Lijiazhuang, it is much easier to rob the salt field. Moreover, the private salt dealers in Lijiazhuang have shady origins, and most of them will not dare to report it to the official after they have robbed it.

Perhaps God heard Zeng Aniu's wish. When approaching the Lijiazhuang Pier, the group saw a strange-looking large ship moving slowly on the river from a distance.

"God help me! Show the flag! Come over, come over quickly!" Zeng Aniu was so surprised that he did not think about whether this ship was a salt transport ship from Lijiazhuang. Such a large ship would not appear for no reason.

In the Shawan River, they must be pulling goods for Lijiazhuang. In that case, let’s grab it first!

Five or six miles away, Liao Dabi did not know that his allies had already started taking action on the water. At this time, he was hesitating whether to give the order to launch an attack.

The "heroes" who were preparing to attack Lijiazhuang stopped two miles away from Zhuangzi, but Lijiazhuang was completely silent, not even a single person could be seen. From the time we set out this morning to now, we haven't seen a single person along the way.

Living people, not a few smart people have noticed this strange situation. Basically everyone has discovered that something is wrong. But if they are asked to turn back and give up this action, no one will be willing to do so.

There is a circle of earthen walls outside Lijiazhuang, ranging from seven feet to ten feet high. Therefore, the situation in Zhuangzi is basically invisible from the outside. Several road intersections in and out of Zhuangzi have also built chest-high earthen walls.

Blocking most of the view - judging from the earth color, this parapet was obviously built not long ago. About twenty steps in front of the parapet, there is a circle of arc-shaped wooden stakes nailed to the ground, and there seems to be a gap between the wooden stakes.

With things like wire and hemp rope attached, it seems to be some kind of defense method to slow down the attack. It is obvious that Lijiazhuang has received the news at least a few days in advance, and has rushed to build some defenses in front. As for the village,

Liao Dabi did not intend to speculate on this meaningless question of whether defense forces had been deployed.

The people in Lijiazhuang did not intend to surrender, which made Liao Dabi a little bit more angry in addition to disappointment - you stupid villagers, think that building an extra earth wall can stop this attack? What are these defensive methods?

The only effect is to make the people in this Zhuangzi suffer even more brutal revenge after being breached!

Liao Dabi looked to the northeast and saw that the allies had already hoisted a yellow flag. This was the communication method they had discussed in advance. Yellow meant readiness, while red meant launching an attack. The arrow was on the string and it had to be fired.

"Hunt the flag, attack!" Liao Dabi pointed his riding whip at Lijiazhuang: "If you conquer this village, each person will be rewarded with five taels of silver! Whoever captures the old thief Li Jifeng will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver!"

The drummer next to him immediately waved his mallet and beat the war drum, and the flag bearer also put down the yellow flag and replaced it with a conspicuous red flag. The three hundred bandits who were the vanguard, clutching various weapons, began to move toward Lijiazhuang.

Walk slowly.

As the leader of the attack on Lijiazhuang, Liao Dabi sent out the largest number of troops and the most "powerful" equipment. In addition to the cold weapons such as swords and guns that were distributed to each of his subordinates, there were also various types of weapons in the team.

He cultivated earthen fire blunderbuss, and even had a small amount of bird blunderbuss and three-eyed blunderbuss that flowed out from the army. It can be said that for this operation, Liao Dabi basically moved out all his belongings.

The purpose of doing this is not only to successfully capture Lijiazhuang, but more importantly, to show his strength to his peers so that he can suppress some unconvinced people during the post-war division of the spoils. Although he had already said that before taking action,

Okay, Liao Dabi wants to monopolize half of the profits, but it is hard to say how much restraint this verbal agreement will have. Liao Dabi will never place his hopes on this group of allies who are as greedy for money as himself.

It is better to show your strength to ensure your own interests.

The rogue forces in the northeast saw that Liao Dabi had begun to launch an offensive, and they also beat drums and launched their troops, launching the first wave of attacks on Lijiazhuang from north to south. At this time, Xiao Liang was sticking half of his head out from behind the parapet.

, use a telescope to observe the enemy's movements, and at the same time measure the enemy's marching speed.

"We will enter our rifle range in about ten minutes. Over." Xiao Liang communicated with Chen Yixin, who was commanding the battle on the other side, about the battlefield situation through a walkie-talkie.

"Understood. The enemy on my side is traveling at basically the same speed as your side. Over."

"Don't be in a hurry to fire. Move closer before firing. Be careful to hide your strength properly and don't scare people away directly. Over."

"Understood. Done."

Xiao Liang put down the walkie-talkie, then called several platoon leaders of the Li Jia Militia to him and warned: "Don't fire a single shot until you get the order. Our combat goal is not to repel them, but to kill them."

They beat them hard and scare them, and try to eliminate these bandits as much as possible, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Several platoon leaders responded, standing at attention and raising their chests. Although they have not received Haihan-style military training for too long, these militia officers have begun to imitate the style of the Haihan militia.

The majestic temperament of Haihan soldiers is one of the most enviable characteristics of these peasants who have just put down their hoes and picked up guns. Although they cannot reach the same level as Haihan soldiers in terms of clothing, armaments, and treatment, at least the superiors and subordinates in the army

Etiquette can still be imitated.

For these militiamen of the Li Family Militia, they have not really experienced fighting on a frontal battlefield. Even with the arrival of reinforcements from Haihan, they are still somewhat nervous. Xiao Liang's calmness gave them more

With confidence, the enemies heading towards Lijiazhuang seemed to have become targets that fell down, and they no longer looked so scary.

"Lieutenant Chen, can you handle this?" After sticking his head out to see the situation on the other side, Li Jifeng, who had just arrived on the front line to supervise the battle, asked Chen Yixin with some anxiety.

Chen Yixin smiled and said: "Boss Li, you don't have to worry at all. These bandits are not as effective as the monkey soldiers we fought in Annan. Just wait and watch the show! By the way, go to the back and watch the battle. Don't block it.

Location."

"In this case, I will retire first! I hope Lieutenant Chen can kill more enemies. I will thank you deeply after the war!" Li Jifeng bowed to Chen Yixin before retreating.

"First platoon, second platoon of the fourth company, enter the combat position. Third platoon, fourth platoon, get ready for battle!" Chen Yixin issued the combat order after seeing off Li Jifeng.

The vanguard of the bandits could already see figures moving behind the adobe parapet at the intersection of Lijiazhuang, but due to the angle of sight, they were unable to observe the situation in more detail and could only continue to move forward in silence.

However, the first battle did not take place at Lijiazhuang's defense line, but on the river surface of Shawan Waterway. After Zeng Aniu's fleet discovered the large ship three miles away, they began to speed up the ship and tried to get by.

The capture of this ship of unknown origin - this ship will not be counted in the capture of Lijiazhuang, and Zeng Aniu does not need to divide the proceeds from this ship with other forces.

"This big ship alone is worth at least a thousand taels of silver... Well, the sail is a bit strange..." Zeng Aniu looked at the target in the distance excitedly, already thinking about it in advance.

Made it his own spoils of war.

The crew of this strange ship had obviously discovered Zeng Aniu's fleet. A sharp copper whistle sounded on the ship, and then they saw that the ship quickly adjusted the direction of its sails, and something could be seen on the deck.

The crew was running back and forth.

"Want to run? Let's see if you can run!" Zeng Aniu despised the other party's slowness. If a big ship wants to turn around on this river less than a mile wide, it cannot be done in a few clicks. Wait.

When the ship turned around, his own fleet had already surrounded it. Although the sea-going ship was much larger than the small boats under his command, as long as it was surrounded by small boats, all kinds of hooks would

Once the nail rod is on, don't try to break free easily.

"Boss, something doesn't seem right!" The deputy standing behind Zeng Aniu suddenly said: "This ship doesn't seem to be planning to turn around..."

Zeng Aniu looked at it again, and sure enough, the ship speeded up after adjusting its sails, but showed no intention of changing direction. It rushed towards his fleet in a daze. Among the ships under Zeng Aniu, the largest ones were

There are less than 100 boats, and most of them are small civilian ships or even fishing boats. How can these small boats, which are usually used in inland water systems, stand up to the large sea-going ships with more than 400 boats?

The first pirate boat that was unable to dodge and was hit by the "Discovery" was directly cut in half by the blade-like steel ram on the bow of the ship, and then quickly sank into the river. Due to the huge difference in size between the two sides,

The "Discovery" didn't even shake its hull. It rushed over like a sharp knife cutting through butter, and then cut off half of the stern of another ship.

"Stop it! Stop it quickly!" Zeng Aniu was so anxious that he jumped to his feet. Before he could do anything, two of his own ships were destroyed. What a bully!

When the "Discovery" rushed past, a thief threw a hook with a rope and tried to hang on the side of the big ship. However, after seeing three or four ropes hung up, he didn't have time to cheer.

A crew member leaned out half his body from the side of the big ship, wielding a two-foot-long sword and cut off the rope attached to the hook.

As for those guys who tried to slow down the big ship with bamboo pole hooks and nail poles, they simply couldn't hold back the momentum of the big ship. Either a group of people were dragged into the water, or they had to let go and watch the big ship.

He took his own guys and left together. When the boat behind him saw that the situation was not good, he could only quickly turn away and avoid the collision of this big evil star as much as possible.

So Zeng Aniu and his party of more than 300 people and more than 20 boats could only watch helplessly as this strange-looking ship killed everyone. After sinking and damaging five boats, it headed westward without looking back.

He rushed over. In just one round, Zeng Aniu's fleet lost nearly a quarter of its combat effectiveness. How could this keep him from becoming furious?

"What the hell is this ship!" Zeng Aniu looked at the back of the "Exploration" and gritted his teeth: "Turn around, don't go to Lijiazhuang, grab this ship first!"

However, in the chaos just now, a large number of people fell into the water, and there were also damaged and capsized boats lying across the river. Some people were hurriedly fishing people out of the water onto the boats, and some were using poles to prop up the boats that had lost their ability to sail.

, the situation on the river was extremely chaotic for a while, and no one listened to Zeng Aniu's orders.

After a long time of burning incense, the battlefield was finally cleared. The surviving ships successively received Zeng Aniu's steering orders, so the crew adjusted the sails and began to move the rudders.

But at this moment, the nightmare befell the water bandits again.

"It's coming, it's coming! Look, boss, that strange ship is coming again!"

Zeng Aniu turned his head when he heard the call and saw that the Discovery, which had already sailed out of sight, changed direction and came back from the west.

"What is the origin of this ship! What grudge do I have against you?" Zeng Aniu was going crazy. He could basically conclude at this moment that this ship was no ordinary cargo ship.

Not to mention the strange appearance of this ship, nor why it is equipped with a strong ramming device on the bow part. If this ship is not looking for trouble, then it should not turn around after being rammed all the way.

Come back. The water system near here is very developed. If you go west through the Jiaomen Waterway or Tanzhou Waterway, you can go back to the Pearl River Estuary. Even if there are a hundred small boats, it will be difficult to catch up with it in the wide water. Then like this

A large ship did not choose to return to the familiar waters, but wanted to rush back and forth in this narrow waterway. Isn't this a peace of mind that is going against itself?

Seeing that his fleet was still adjusting its direction inconsistently, Zeng Aniu suddenly felt a little desperate. How many times can these dozen of small boats under his command withstand this monster plowing back and forth like a field?

At this time, before Zeng Aniu could continue to issue combat orders, the fleet had already begun to chaos. Some ships tried to speed up and turn around in order to meet the big ship. Seeing that it was too late, some ships prepared to continue heading east, trying to catch the big ship.

Find a place like a fork in the river ahead to avoid the big evil star coming from behind, so the river once again fell into chaos.

At this time, there were faint shouts of killing from the battlefield in the north. Zeng Aniu could only pray that Liao Dabi could successfully capture Lijiazhuang, so that after the war, he could get some spoils to make up for the losses. Otherwise, this business trip
To be continued...