Chapter 335 The second batch of reinforcements arrives
Pure infantry who use cold weapons and lack protective measures, and have no cover from long-range firepower, want to attack the fortifications guarded by troops with live ammunition by charging into the formation, which is basically the end of the chopping block. Personal bravery is of no use in the face of the organized army. The gap in combat effectiveness between the two sides was fully exposed in the battle between the two rendezvous on this day.
In this wave of offensive in the afternoon, although more bandits broke through the barbed wire and reached the parapet defense line, they were unable to achieve any substantial gains. In addition to the iron spear array in the morning, what awaited them behind the parapet was also The density of firepower far exceeded that of the morning's musket array. Even the lucky ones who avoided all the bullets during the charge had no luck after reaching this position. They were all beaten into sieves by the dense lead.
This wave of bandits obviously did not have the courage of the wave of death squads in the morning. Although the number of the bandits was more than double that of the morning, after the vanguard troops who rushed to the parapet were killed, the crowd at the rear immediately exploded and began to flee back. The bandit leaders who were supervising the battle in the rear were so angry that they jumped and cursed. But it is impossible for them to take the lead in charging up. The musket formation in Lijiazhuang is no joke. Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in a day. The high casualty rate has made most people... Feeling a little timid.
Li Jifeng, who was hiding on the roof of his house and watched the entire battle, was no longer as nervous as he was two days ago. He twirled his beard and shook his head in praise: "This Haihan militia is really a tiger and wolf army. With such fighting power, even rogue bandits can fight." Even if it’s doubled, it won’t be able to take over my Lijiazhuang!”
Li Nai added softly from the side: "The Haihan militia has not yet used artillery. If it had used the artillery, I'm afraid these bandits would have been scared away. I heard that the Haihan warships did not fire a single shot on the Shawan waterway today. , they drove away the water bandits from Xinhui County and captured more than a dozen people.”
Li Jifeng couldn't help but sigh: "If our Ming army had such fighting power, these bandits would not be so rampant. What a pity!"
Seeing that the sky was slowly starting to darken, the bandits also withdrew their troops and returned to camp without planning to attack again. The civilians in Lijiazhuang took the time to clean up the battlefield outside the village. There were hundreds of corpses to deal with. It was also a big test for the civilians who had never experienced such a scene. After Xiao Liang and Chen Yixin deployed sentries on their respective positions, they led their men back to the station to rest.
"The reinforcements are coming." After contacting the second batch of reinforcements that were rushing in, Xiao Liang announced to the Li family and his son the good news that completely reassured them: "The fleet has passed the Humen waters and will reach it tonight. Lijiazhuang. The Executive Committee has sent two more companies here. Even if these bandits have three heads and six arms, they will definitely be here!"
"I will bear in mind the kindness of the Executive Committee for helping Lijiazhuang this time! I wonder which officer is leading the team this time?" Li Jifeng asked cautiously.
Although the news of the arrival of Haihan's second wave of reinforcements was exciting, Li Jifeng began to feel a little worried. As the saying goes, bandits are like combs and soldiers are like grates. In terms of their ability to loot places, these soldiers are much more ruthless than bandits. Well, the Haihan people sent so many troops at once, which was more than enough to drive away the bandits outside Lijiazhuang. Li Jifeng was a little worried that if these people got over their ideas and pointed their guns directly at Lijiazhuang, it would be really troublesome. Yes - with the combat capabilities of the Haihan Militia, there is no suspense about taking over Lijiazhuang.
Although the soldiers trained by the Haihan people still carried the banner of the militia, after Li Jifeng saw it, he knew that these people did not regard themselves as ordinary militia. From the uniforms, weapons and command system, the standards were far higher than those of the militia. Apart from not displaying a banner, the general militia is actually a well-established regular army. Although the Li family has a very close cooperative relationship with the Haihan people, some people in Bao Buqi's army were jealous of money. Knowing that there was a lot of money in the Li family's village, they made other crooked ideas. Of course, if there were famous and high-ranking officials from Haihan, perhaps this kind of chaos wouldn't happen.
Xiao Liang didn't expect that Li Jifeng had so many twists and turns in his heart. When he asked, he replied: "The person leading the team this time is Captain Wang Tom, the commander-in-chief of the navy of our militia, and he will also take over the local combat force." supreme command authority.”
Wang Tom had performed escort missions to Guangzhou many times. Li Jifeng had also met him before. Knowing that this officer named Wang had a very high status in the Haihan Army, he immediately responded: "I met him last time. When Commander Wang met, he felt that he was extremely capable and would become a great talent. Unexpectedly, he had been promoted to the position of commander-in-chief of the navy so quickly. After he arrived, I would like to congratulate him in person. "
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Xiao Liang then added: "In order not to disturb the enemy, our fleet will enter the Shawan Waterway after dark. Boss Li, please arrange your manpower and go to the east river bank in advance to respond."
"I'll arrange this right now." Li Po immediately took over the task without waiting for Li Jifeng to say anything.
Li Jifeng said: "I'll prepare a few tables of water and wine tonight to express my condolences to all the officers. Since Captain Wang is coming soon, let's take care of him by the way!"
The fleet led by Wang Tom had arrived at the confluence of the Pearl River and Shawan waterways before dark. Then, under the leadership of the Li family, the two companies of the army quietly entered Lijiazhuang.
"Hurry up, hurry up, you still missed this good show!" After listening to Xiao Liang and Chen Yixin's battle report, Wang Tom couldn't help but sigh: "This time I specially brought all the trainee officers here. I just want them to gain more practical experience, but I didn’t expect you to start so quickly.”
In addition to the two companies of the Haihan Army and the trainee sailors on the two "Exploration-class" warships, the team brought by Wang Tom this time also included dozens of officers from the officer training class who had recently enrolled, including even North Vietnamese student Zheng Ting and others. The military believed that the combat targets this time were relatively weak and it was a good opportunity for these officers to test the Haihan combat method on the spot. Therefore, they were sent with the team to come to Guangzhou to observe the operations of the Haihan Militia. However, the battle progressed obviously much faster than the base camp expected. After listening to their battle report, Wang Tom could basically conclude that the bandits who attacked Lijiazhuang had been injured in today's battle, but he was not yet sure whether they would give up their target. , chose to retreat overnight.
"It's not that we acted quickly, it was just that the other party rushed to die. During the whole process, we were in a passive defensive state and never took the initiative. Everyone in the Li family can testify to this." Xiao Liang immediately defended himself. road.
"They may not retreat. After all, we don't have any hope left." Chen Yixin also smiled and answered: "Brother Xiao specifically told not to use cannons, just for fear of scaring them away. After all, every attack can After reaching the position of our defensive wall, it seems that we are just a little short of being able to attack Zhuangzi. If we give up now, they will lose so many casualties. "
"I hope so. I don't want to take a boat for several days to come here in vain." Wang Tom didn't have much hope for this. Maybe when he gets up tomorrow morning, he will find that all these bandits have been evacuated. net.
While everyone was talking about the military situation, a Haihan militiaman came in and gave a military salute and said: "Report, one of the survivors we captured was recognized by the militiamen on the village. He used to be from here. This person said that he had important military information to report. ! ”
Wang Tom looked at the banquet in front of him. He really couldn't say "Don't eat, let's go and interrogate the prisoners first." He coughed dryly and said, "Then bring the people over! Anyway, there are no outsiders here, so everyone can Let’s listen together.”
The prisoner who was tied up by Wu Hua was soon pushed and escorted to the banquet hall by the militiamen. However, before the militiamen could kick him, the prisoner knelt down very knowingly: "My dear military lords, the young man is a good man. He is a good man." Ah!”
"Li Maozi, is that you?" Li Nai's sharp eyes immediately recognized the identity of the man kneeling on the ground, and couldn't help but angrily yelled: "You are a thief who was expelled from my Lijiazhuang and actually joined the gang! You said, Were you the one who brought this gang that attacked Lijiazhuang?”
This Li Maozi was also considered lucky. During the afternoon offensive, he was forced by Liao Dabi to serve as a vanguard and responsible for rushing into the formation. After rushing through the barbed wire fence on a wooden plank, he finally saw the darkness behind the parapet, holding muskets and waiting. He followed his own militia and even saw a few artillery pieces. At that moment, Li Maozi knew that Liao Dabi and his boys were doomed this time. Lijiazhuang was clearly a big trap, waiting for these people to run and jump into the pit. However, although Liao Dabi was dead, Li Maozi thought he could still be saved, so he wisely chose to fall to the ground and pretend to be dead before the gunfire sounded. Anyway, no one would go there in the chaotic situation. Check to see if he was actually shot. However, once Li Maozi fell down, he had no chance to stand up again. The few people following him were not so lucky. They were all hit by the bullets that flew over and fell directly on top of him. Keep him motionless. In the end, when the civilians were cleaning the battlefield, they moved the six or seven corpses on top and dragged out the half-dead Li Maozai. Although his face was covered in blood at the time, he was still recognized by the villagers, and he was quickly reported to the military officer.
Li Maozai denied it continuously: "Third Young Master, please do not accuse a good person unjustly. The villain can guarantee with his life that he has never done anything to attract thieves! Although the villain made mistakes in a moment of confusion and was expelled from Lijiazhuang, he never held a grudge. Recently, I heard that out-of-town bandits were preparing to attack Lijiazhuang. I risked my life and moved into the bandit camp. I wanted to find out the news and then rushed back to warn. Unexpectedly, these thieves were extremely guarded and I couldn't escape for a while. Today, I was forced to go into battle. Participate in the attack, but the villain has no intention of doing so!”
"You are so eloquent, who will believe you!" Li Nai obviously did not easily accept Li Maozai's words: "Sirs, this person has been used to stealing and stealing from the family a few months ago. , he was expelled from his hometown and expelled from Lijiazhuang. This person has always told lies. You must not believe what he says!"
When Li Maozi was about to complain, Li Jifeng picked up the wine glass and threw it on his head: "You thief, you still dare to quibble! Someone, drag him out and sink him into the river!"
"Wait a minute!" Wang Tom stopped Li Jifeng's treatment: "Even if this person is really the culprit, it doesn't matter. I would like to hear what information he has that can save his own life."
Li Maozi's ability to maneuver according to the wind has undoubtedly reached an advanced level. After hearing this, he immediately said: "This military master, I have been lurking in the bandit camp for many days. I have found out the leaders of each bandit. I am waiting for you to come one by one." This time the bandits gathered to attack Lijiazhuang, led by Liao Dabi, the bandit leader from Conghua and Qingyuan areas. In addition to him, there were also bandit leaders Lai Dingji, Zhang Weichong, Zeng Aniu and others who participated. There are more than 2,000 troops in total, responsible for the main attack on the west road..."
At this time, in order to save his life, Li Maozi poured beans directly into the bamboo tube and sold all the gangs headed by Liao Dabi. He even knew where these gangs came from, how to divide work and cooperate, how to communicate, and even how to distribute the post-war war. All were seized and recruited. Tom Wang did not interrupt him and allowed him to continue talking.
On the other hand, the Li family father and son were secretly frightened when they heard this. Judging from what Li Maozai said, there may be nearly 5,000 bandits besieging Lijiazhuang this time. If the Haihan militia had not arrived for reinforcements, they would have been defeated by the enemy alone. It's hard to say whether the Lijia Vigilante Group can defend Lijiazhuang based on its own capabilities. Although today's combat results look good, there are still three to four thousand gangsters outside the village, and they are still not careless. Of course, now that a new batch of reinforcements have entered the village, there is a possibility of accidents in the next battle. Sex has basically been eliminated.
"Let me ask you, based on your understanding of these gangs, do you think they will withdraw overnight?" What Wang Tom is concerned about is not the strength of the gangs, but that he has come all the way across the sea with his team. Is there any chance to put it to use?
"This..." Li Maozi couldn't figure out what the other party meant by asking him this, and he was a little hesitant for a moment.
"I just asked this question and you can't answer it, so what's the use of keeping you?" Wang Tom sneered and threatened Li Maozi.
Li Maozi immediately woke up from his hesitation and gritted his teeth and replied: "From what I can see, these thieves will never look back until they hit the south wall. Although the battle situation is unfavorable today, they will definitely go out in full force tomorrow to attack." Attack Lijiazhuang with all our strength!”
"Why? Is there any reason why they are willing to continue coming to die?" Wang Tom asked.
Li Maozi swallowed his saliva and said: "It is said... these bandit leaders heard... that there are countless treasures in Lijiazhuang. After taking Lijiazhuang, everyone can get one thousand eight hundred taels of silver. With so much money in front of them, , if they don’t take Lijiazhuang, how can these thieves retreat willingly?”
"It sounds reasonable!" Wang Tom nodded, but what he agreed with was not Li Maozi's reason, but the fact that the other party would choose to continue attacking.
"Captain Wang, this man is cunning and lies a lot, so don't believe it all!" Li Jifeng was startled by Li Maozi's statement and hurriedly persuaded Tom Wang. He was originally worried that the Haihan soldiers would have other ideas after they arrived. Li Maozi actually claimed that Lijiazhuang's money was a target for attracting thieves. Wasn't this a deliberate attempt to cause trouble for Lijiazhuang? If the Haihan people ask the Li family to hand over the money to them for safekeeping in the name of protection, will they cooperate or not?
Wang Tom nodded and said: "Don't worry, Boss Li, I have my own sense of discretion. Take them first and lock them up, but don't take them to Shenjiang. Don't let this labor go to waste. We happen to have a building under construction here at the Pearl River Estuary. The construction site requires a lot of labor. All the captives captured this time will be handed over to us. What does Boss Li think?"
Li Jifeng thought that he didn't know how to deal with these captured thieves. He committed suicide without authorization and was afraid of causing unnecessary trouble in the future. He also felt that it was a waste of food to lock him up. Since the Haihan people were willing to take over this trouble, it was just what they wanted. .
Li Jifeng immediately responded: "Your militiamen played a major role in the defense of Lijiazhuang this time. Captain Wang's decision to deal with the prisoners is up to me. I would rather obey your orders than to be respectful."
Li Maozi, who was kneeling on the ground, let out a sigh of relief. After going back and forth like this for several times, he finally saved his life for the time being. Although from what the officer said, it seemed like he was going to be dragged to hard labor on a construction site somewhere, but that was still better than losing his life in vain.
After the militiamen took Li Maozi away, Wang Tom put away his smile and said to Li Jifeng: "Boss Li, I just heard what the prisoner said about the situation. I don't know whether to say it or not."
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Li Jifeng's heart tightened and he quickly responded: "It's okay, Captain Wang."
"Then I'll tell you the truth." Wang Tom responded: "Your Li family has a big business and is quite famous in Guangdong. Many of the bandits who came to attack Lijiazhuang this time came from hundreds of miles away. Why did they travel a long way to Panyu County to attack you? What the prisoner said just now is actually very representative. It is for the wealth of your Lijiazhuang and to steal your money..."
Li Jifeng's heart thumped, and he secretly screamed that something was wrong. From Wang Tom's tone, it seemed that he had already set his sights on Lijiazhuang. He originally thought that he had dealt with Wang Tom before, and that the other party would not wipe his face and forcefully take over Lijiazhuang, but he did not expect that in the end it was just wishful thinking on his part. Now that the other party has opened his mouth, Lijiazhuang may not be able to pass this level without some blood.
Li Jifeng forced himself to calm down and said: "This Li Maozi is a traitor to Lijiazhuang. What he said is inevitably untrue. Captain Wang does not need to take it all seriously. As for the money, how could he be so exaggerated..."
"No? Your Li family has a big business and has made so much money. You have to find a place to store it. Guangzhou City must have put some of it, but Lijiazhuang is the root of your Li family. There must be a bank and other facilities here. Am I right?" Wang Tom responded with a smile.
(End of chapter)