Chapter 121, Yuhang Town Mopping Up Battle (Part 2)
After gathering more than 200 troops and receiving the support of "heavy firepower equipment" from the rear, the Kun thieves once again approached Yuhang Town.
With a cigarette in his mouth, Li Meng stood at the entrance of Yuhang Town. The solid watchtower made of huge blue bricks seemed to be coldly mocking the overestimation of these visitors from afar - the three quilts were The smashed heads were hung high on the flagpole at the top of the watchtower, seeming to show off the defenders' strength, while the owners of the three heads fell silently on the cold dirt road at the entrance of the town. Not only were their heads cut off and their belongings taken away, but their clothes were also stripped naked by the "thrifty" townspeople of Yuhang... Such a bleak scene fully illustrates the cruelty of war. Li Meng's rookie recruits, who had been fully trained but had not seen much blood, suddenly couldn't help but feel the sadness of a rabbit dying and a fox dying.
As an old soldier who was used to seeing life and death, Li Meng just took off his hat gently, observed a few seconds of silence, and then ordered the attacking troops to quickly form an array. Under the military order, these originally somewhat loose and motley crew immediately began to show the discipline they had cultivated through long-term education with sticks. For a time, the commands of the captains and the tapping of long leather boots echoed repeatedly on the official road outside Yuhang Town. The engineers brought by Zhao Yingong also opened the oilcloth covers on the wheelbarrows and began to serve the five hand-operated six-barreled Gatling revolver guns hidden underneath.
Li Meng stepped forward and gently touched the handle of one of the Gatling revolvers. He was satisfied to see that it made a slight rubbing sound, indicating that it was in good condition. Compared with machine guns, this early rapid-fire weapon is very clumsy, but it is more than enough to deal with the current situation - at least it can let this group of wealthy gentry people who have no sense of shame fully feel the "iron fist of the people" .
On the other side, when the thieves pushed out the wheelbarrow, a commotion broke out on the blockhouse at the intersection: "Cannon, these thieves have cannons!" However, the moment the gun jacket was lifted, the commotion stopped. The local warriors who thought it was a false alarm laughed at these stupid thieves for actually tying up bird cannons and pretending to be cannons to scare people - the watchtower was built with three floors of blue bricks, and a mere bird cannon could hit them. Wear it?
The ridicule of the village warriors did not last long. The five Gatling rifles that had been prepared soon roared impatiently, and 13mm lead bullets poured into every window of the bunker. The skulls of a few unlucky guys were blown away, and red and white splattered all around. Everyone looked at each other, triggering bursts of piercing screams... Only the "firearms expert" Chen Jialuo fell to the floor at the first moment, and did not forget to reach out and push down his two nephews, and his mouth was full of screams. He kept comforting, trying to calm down the two frightened little guys.
After a while, the gunfire temporarily stopped - in a sense, the villagers of Yuhang Town were not wrong. The seemingly fierce rain of bullets just left only some insignificant marks on the appearance of the watchtower, but it was Successfully broke down the psychological defenses of these newbies.
Next, although Chen Jialuo kept roaring and wanted to order the village heroes to get closer and fight again, unfortunately no one could hear what he was saying. The village warriors who were frightened by the blood on the battlefield, as if to embolden themselves, fired all the firearms they could find hysterically... The white smoke from the gunfire enveloped the entire watchtower for a while, and no one could See what you hit. After a while, the tiger crouching cannons that had already been loaded began to fire. Unfortunately, the distance between the thieves was too far, and the shotgun shells missed nothing.
In short, when a gust of breeze blew away the gunpowder smoke, the village heroes who watched the results of the battle with wide eyes were all very disappointed - the damn gang of thieves were still standing five hundred steps away. Not only were all of them safe and sound, but they also pointed out that He laughed loudly at the watchtower.
Immediately afterwards, a tall thief, who was probably an official, waved his knife and shouted something. Immediately, another dense rain of bullets came, beating all the country heroes who had no time to lie down by the window into a sieve of bloody flesh. ——The Gatling revolver that had finished dissipating heat started firing again.
As a result, the pitiful counterattack firepower in the watchtower was easily and completely suppressed. Several engineers carrying explosive bags took the opportunity to run to the front of the team, and in the pre-dug pit, they set up the famous offensive weapon of the Liberation War, the "Guilty Cannon" - its official scientific name. It should be an "explosive ejector", but it's actually It is a mortar with an iron barrel as the barrel. After filling it with gunpowder, put the explosive package bundled into a disc shape into it, and then ignite the gun, and you can kill ten people. Kilograms of explosive packets are thrown to a distance of 150-200 meters. The caliber of this weapon is astonishing - as big as the barrel is, the caliber is as big as it is. The strong explosive impact produced by the huge explosive package will blow up bunkers, people and horses wherever it passes. There are often no wounds found on the enemies who are knocked down by the explosion, but they bleed from all the holes. They were shocked to death. Therefore, it is called a "heartless cannon".
Of course, although this thing is powerful, it also has many flaws. The first is that the shooting range is too close - but in the era of queuing up with matchlock guns to shoot, this distance was enough. Secondly, the ballistic trajectory is unstable and the accuracy is not very good. Not to mention moving targets, even fixed targets may not be hit - so Zhao Yingong generously laid out ten "heartless cannons" in one go. Why should these be shot? The watchtowers were blown down.
So, with ten huge roars that sounded one after another, ten explosive packets drew ten graceful curves and fell around the watchtower like a goddess scattering flowers... and then continued to lie there quietly, with only the long guide The fire rope is still flashing with sparks...
——Like the vast majority of the mob gathered in the Hangzhou war zone, the engineers assigned to the owner Zhao Yingong from the rear seemed to be mainly rookies and fools. Most of these dangerous elements who carry explosive bags on their backs all day long have poor IQs. They even often miscalculate the burning time of the fuse. In order to prevent this group of unreliable engineers from being careless, they put themselves together with their comrades. Exploding into the sky, Zhao Yingong had to strictly order them to keep the fuse as long as possible, and also explicitly prohibited any dangerous behavior of cutting the fuse short.
Fortunately, while the fuse was slowly burning, Xiang Yong on the tower could not make any counterattack. The crazy rain of bullets from the five Gatling rifles knocked back any warrior who dared to show his head. Even when the Gatling guns cease firing to dissipate heat, the neatly arranged infantry phalanx will follow the officer's command and fire in three bursts to ensure that the people in the tower have no way to get out
Then, the ten explosive packets finally roared enthusiastically, sending up billowing smoke and dust, sending gravel and loess flying everywhere...
In an instant, Chen Jinnan, a fifteen-year-old boy who was lying on the ground with a gun in his hand, suddenly felt his eyes go dark, and then he was horrified to find that he seemed to be deaf, even though his uncle Chen Jialuo beside him shook his shoulders vigorously, opening and closing his mouth as if They were yelling something, but he couldn't hear a word clearly. The younger brother Chen Jinxing was lying on the ground vomiting loudly, and all kinds of disgusting filth flowed into a large area.
However, it seems that the impact of the explosive package deviated from the target and did not explode directly on the wall of the bunker. Even after suffering such heavy damage, the tower has not collapsed yet - "...this landlord's fortress is really strong." "!" Li Meng, the former salt lord, whistled and was surprised to find that the torn green bricks were still solid inside and filled with compacted loess, so the watchtower that had one wall destroyed was still strong! Standing there, firmly guarding the road leading to the town... However, this is of no use!
"...Let the engineers fire another round of heartless artillery! It will be too troublesome to bring back the explosive packs."
A moment later, huge roars sounded again and again. This time, the solid watchtower that had stood at the entrance of Yuhang Town for a hundred years finally failed to survive. Instead, it made a tooth-breaking creaking sound and slowly collapsed. A huge cloud of smoke was raised, and all the Xiangyong who had no time to escape were killed... The next moment, Li Meng personally blew the charge horn, waved his sharp saber, and directed everyone to rush towards the unprotected town.
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"...Dang Dang Dang! The thief Kun! The thief Kun has entered the town!"
Accompanied by the howls of the defeated soldiers and the sound of loud gongs, every house in Yuhang town was closed for a while - the bravest men were all buried in the watchtowers. When the thieves rushed into the town with bayonets drawn, they needed to be cleaned up. There are only a few good guys left who took advantage of the situation.
Naturally, the Shen and Chen families, the most powerful family in Yuhang Town, have also closed their doors for a long time. In the battle to defend Yuhang Town, these two families had the largest number of people and suffered the heaviest losses. It was a gloomy time at this time: the eldest son of the Shen family cried so hard that his eyes were red, and several of his sons were killed on the watchtower. The thief has been cooked in one pot, and now he is about to die. The second master of the Shen family was lucky. When the Kun thieves attacked, several of his sons happened to take turns to return to the town for dinner. By the time they arrived at the watchtower, they had already been defeated. When they returned home, they saw that there were many of them... At that time, these desperate juniors were using trembling voices to describe to the elders in the family how terrifying those thieves were.
The Chen family on the other side was similar. Many people died in this short offensive and defensive battle. The old patriarchs of both families knew that this battle could never go on, but if they just surrendered and were allowed to be flattened and rounded, they seemed too unwilling to do so... They had to find a way to save more. Be decent and mitigate some losses. I remember that when Japanese pirates were rampant in the past, there would always be several large local households who would help spread the news, purchase goods and sell stolen goods, so as to share the wealth among themselves. I wonder if these bandits need land households? The old patriarch of the Shen family stroked his beard and thought.
But as the leader of this group of "Kun thieves", Captain Li Meng doesn't know how crazy these shameless gentry are. Even if he knows, he won't take it seriously - the landlord gentry is a disgusting existence like pests. It is the unanimous consensus of all time-travelers on governing the country. In the eyes of Li Meng and Yang Yang, a former salt lord with a strong hatred for the rich, this group of people who only pay taxes, do no work, and have no loyalty at all are simply typical examples of people who want to be both prostitutes and erect memorial arches—— I remember that the performance of these cowards during the fall of the Ming Dynasty was worse than that of Wang Chengen, the eggless eunuch!
Therefore, before these two pampered old patriarchs could decide whether to lower their faces and flatter these thieves, the murderous Kun thieves surrounded the Shen Family Courtyard and Chen Family Courtyard, and then blasted open the gates with explosives. and the courtyard wall, and used flash cap guns and grenades to solve them The last resistance of the two families... But then, facing the bloody bayonets, the old patriarchs of the two families walked out cleanly, and even put on airs and asked to meet the leader of the Kun thieves. , mysteriously said "we have something important to discuss"? ! !
Naturally, this inexplicable request will not be satisfied - you poor "fake Kun" soldiers who are deeply influenced by the leaders and believe that "big families deserve to die" all have no good impressions of these wealthy families, so they immediately pounced on them. Go up and kick and punch these two damn old men: You old dog has a face full of wrinkles, and you married a concubine who is younger than me! Uncle, I can’t even get a wife!
Therefore, amid the counterattack and calculation of a group of "envious, jealous and hateful" poor soldiers, amid the cries of women and the begging of men for mercy, the two major families of Shen and Chen, which had dominated Yuhang Town for many years, quickly perished - —According to the top instructions of the Phoenix Villa headquarters, Li Meng organized a public trial in the town's grain drying field. He first burned the land deeds of the two major families of Shen and Chen and their loan sharking contracts to win the hearts and minds of the people. Then, the direct members of the Shen and Chen families and the captured Xiangyong leaders were screened and dealt with in different categories: Those with unpardonable crimes were hanged on the spot, those with less serious crimes were transported to Africa to work as coolies, and those with maids and servants were exploited. After ideological education, they were transferred to America or Hainan Island as immigrants.
In addition, they were also ordered to recruit impoverished poor people and homeless people in the town. A small number directly joined the army, and most of them went to colonize and reclaim wasteland in foreign lands thousands of miles away. Some coercive methods were used... Women from the south of the Yangtze River often had to pay homage to women. Thanks to the custom of going to the field, I found a lot of things in Yuhang town this time. The talented women made the owner of Zhao Yingong overjoyed: Although the appearance of these women is not very good, the needs of the female population in the republics with a huge disparity between men and women under each rule have always been endless. This is more important than killing all the wealthy gentry households. Ability to earn experience and achieve meritorious deeds...
All in all, when all the dust settled, the population of the entire Yuhang Town was reduced by one-third, which greatly alleviated the contradiction between man and land in the town... Small steamships loaded with soldiers and munitions came one after another. And in the triumphant farewell of the soldiers, it was loaded with people and came out Like locusts crossing the border, they plundered both sides of the Qiantang River completely - in addition to Yuhang Town, Jianqiao Town and Banshan Town in the north of the Yangtze River, Linpu Town and Yiqiao Town in the south of the Yangtze River, and countless other towns with long history and humanities The ancient towns in the south of the Yangtze River that gathered together suffered devastating catastrophes.
In fact, if it were Huangshi's Funing army fighting in Ningbo, their attitude towards the Jin gentry might be slightly gentler. However, the few officials who are now in charge of the raids in Hangzhou, including the owner of the village, Zhao Yingong, suffered a lot of unreasonable disasters before, and now they are filled with the urge to retaliate against society. Major General Sun Yang came from the New World thousands of miles away. In his personal opinion, the Indian chiefs near Manhattan Island were probably closer to them than the gentry of the Ming Dynasty. Wang Qiu had played a nuclear explosion in the zombie apocalypse before, and accidentally launched a germ warfare in the medieval European plane. He had no interest in killing people... Under the leadership of a few of them, the Allied forces treated The occupation policy in Hangzhou has become unprecedentedly harsh: anyone who dares to resist The gentry under the iron heel of the Allied Forces would be regarded as reactionaries and brutally suppressed. It would be even better if these gentry had a Ming Dynasty reputation on their heads - the propaganda and education of the "relevant departments" had already blackened the Ming Dynasty. They are worthless, and this group of reactionaries are regarded as hardcore scum. When it comes to dealing with these guys, each squad has been instructed by their superiors: "Kill more and talk less nonsense!"
According to Zhao Yingong's view, there are only two fates that these landlords and gentry will encounter: they have been hanged on the gallows or they are about to be hanged on the gallows.
As a result, under the deliberate indulgence of the headquarters, every family of the squires in the counties on both sides of the Qiantang River suffered a bloody disaster - although most of these people were from the so-called "farming and studying families", and the masters in charge were either Jinshi or Jinshi. There are also many retired officials among the people who have been promoted. Just one stamp of their feet can make the ground in Zhejiang tremble three times... However, after the Ming Dynasty officialdom, which allowed them to gain fame and wealth, began to collapse in the flames of war, these scholar-bureaucrats who believed that "everything is of inferior quality, only reading is high", But I found myself so weak and helpless.
——Facing the hail of gunfire and bullets from the thieves, they, a group of Jiangnan scholar-officials who were well-read in poetry and books, were powerless to save the day even though they wanted to kill the thieves: every family naturally had servants to protect the courtyard, but most of them were just equipment. With sticks, at best, they can suppress the poor people who are resisting rent. If they fight against the regular army, they are simply seeking death. As for the Xiangyong regiment training, during the Jiajing period when Japanese pirates were rampant, there were naturally a lot of them. But after Qi Jiguang quelled the Japanese invasion, the regiment training that year had already been disbanded. Now, no matter how urgent it is to make temporary arrangements, where will it be too late?
In fact, in all the towns and villages in the entire war zone, there are very few that can carry out fierce resistance like Yuhang Town. Most of the landowners who are full of moral articles basically just sit back and wait for death, or they flee with their families to the county or prefectural cities for refuge, but that is just a few days late. According to historical experience, time-travelers are completely We are not prepared to leave any way for the landlord class to survive.
However, although we are optimistic about the success of the catastrophe that is happening on both sides of the Qiantang River, in some cases, the destructive power of each mopping up team far exceeds expectations. For example, on this day on Phoenix Mountain, Wang Qiu couldn't help but feel dazed when he looked at the billowing black smoke rising from the other side of the mountain.
"...that direction...seems to be Lingyin Temple?" After judging the direction of the rising black smoke, Wang Qiu scratched his hair in confusion, "...it seems that I have reminded them before that those Japanese Christians The disciples are very fanatical about their faith, especially like to demolish Buddhist temples and build churches, and often smash precious Buddha statues, so is it best not to let them attack temples? No, I have to call and ask what's going on..." A moment later, Wang Qiu finally got a reply on the phone - according to his previous instructions, the Phoenix Villa headquarters did not let any Japanese Christians The wanderers went to attack Lingyin Temple, but handed over this glorious task to a notorious African slave-catching team...