Chapter 1094 Different attitudes
The three of them tallied up the results of the battle. They captured a total of more than 140 prisoners, injured and killed more than 40 people, and seized various weapons. Of course, in the eyes of the Haihan Army, most of these weapons are scrap copper and iron, which can only be recycled to make farm tools and do not have much economic value. However, among the people captured and killed, there was no leader of the Wanjia Army. Presumably they jumped away during the chaos. The intelligence information provided by these remaining people is of little value and is not useful for judging the enemy's next move. Not much help.
"There are still an unknown number of local people in the slums outside Fushan County, so the vigilance cannot be relaxed. God knows whether these guys will do anything else." Shiro Amakusa concluded: "In addition, the immigrants who have been recruited must be recruited as soon as possible. Send them away to avoid causing trouble. We must let the local people know that we are capable of protecting them.”
Liu Xian responded: "The Wanjia Army is entrenched near here, which will definitely affect the progress of our recruitment of immigrants. I think we still have to try to expel them from this area."
"Listening to the confessions of these prisoners, the Wanjia Army is a local snake in Fushan County. They should not give up their territory easily." Sun Zhen raised his finger and pointed in the direction of Fushan County and said: "According to the prisoners of war, the headmaster and military advisor of the Wanjia Army are both Here, I think we should take action as soon as possible, hit the snake seven inches away, and get to the point of their death!”
"The risk is too high and the noise is too great. It is not suitable to carry out this kind of encirclement and suppression action at the moment." Amakusa Shiro did not agree with Sun Zhen's proposal: "There are estimated to be two to three thousand people living in the slums outside the county. Who among them It is difficult for us to distinguish between ordinary people and bandits by their appearance. Besides, our troops are limited. If we disperse into slums to wipe out bandits, the risk of encountering assassination will be very high. The most important thing is that our current situation is very high. The mission is to ensure the safety of this immigration transfer point, not to take the initiative to deal with banditry.”
"But if we don't get rid of this group of people, they will definitely hinder our next move to recruit immigrants." Liu Xian also had objections to Amakusa Shiro's focus.
Amakusa Shiro was silent for a moment and then said: "Report to the headquarters first, and the chief will decide what to do."
Since there will always be disputes no matter what the choice is, the only way for everyone to execute the order unconditionally is for the command to make the decision. Naturally, Liu Xian and Sun Zhen would not have any other objections to this suggestion.
Fortunately, after this battle, the refugees recruited from the local area saw with their own eyes the power of the Haihan Army, and their emotions became more stable, and they also gained more confidence in the choice of immigration. After all, in these troubled times, people's lives are as cheap as grass. Being able to hug a real thick leg is an effective guarantee for living a stable life in the future. And the Haihan people’s previous propaganda has been verified. They have people, money, food, and boats. They seem to have the ability to send immigrants to the south for resettlement. This is much better than lingering in the slums outside Fushan County. .
At noon, several sailboats filled with immigrants began to turn around and sail to the lower reaches of the Jiahe River. In order to ensure the water safety of this transfer point, Amakusa Shiro allowed the exploration-class warship to stay and did not leave with the other three ships. The waterway from the lower reaches of Jiahe River to the mouth of the sea has been cleaned up, and there should be no more threats to navigation safety in the short term.
Almost at the same time that the Haihan immigration boat left the river bank and headed for the seaside, the messenger Huang Qu sent to deliver the news to thousands of households in Qishan finally returned to Fushan County. Zhang Pucheng and Huang Qu were also a little surprised by the news brought back from Qishan Institute. Feng Fei from Qishan Institute said that Haihan was just an ordinary caravan from the south and had no ill intentions. If the Haihan people wanted to rescue people in Fushan County , the county can cooperate as appropriate. As for Huang Qu's request for more troops to strengthen the city's defense, it was no surprise that Feng Fei rejected it on the grounds of insufficient troops.
"Master Huang, do you think Master Feng doesn't want to send troops, or do you think Haihan will not attack Fushan County?" Zhang Pucheng muttered a little after receiving such a reply, and could only ask Huang Qu for advice.
Huang Qu said with a gloomy face: "I thought it was not that simple! Fushan County is also the defense area of Qishan Qianhu. Master Feng is so perfunctory, I am afraid that he has taken advantage of the Haihan people!"
Zhang Pucheng said in shock: "You mean Master Feng is colluding with the Haihan people? This...how can this be..."
Huang Qu explained: "Master Zhang, anyone with a discerning eye can see at a glance that there are many prohibited things in Haihan's armed forces, but Master Feng whitewashed them, saying that they are just ordinary businessmen. In my opinion, there are only two kinds Maybe, firstly, Mr. Feng has never had any contact with the Haihan people and does not know the true identity of this group; secondly, Mr. Feng took advantage of the other party and deliberately pretended to be deaf and dumb to cover his actions. "
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Zhang Pucheng said: "If the Haihan people attack the county, Mr. Feng will not be able to escape the responsibility for losing his land!"
"Perhaps the Haihan people made some kind of promise to convince him that nothing would happen to Fushan County." The information Huang Qu had was limited, and he could only guess at Feng Fei's thoughts, but he was already sixty-seven percent close to the truth. But apart from scolding his mother secretly in his heart, he still had nothing to do with Feng Fei, who had a higher rank.
"Why don't I write a letter and ask Dengzhou City for help!" Zhang Pucheng was unwilling to remain in this passive state and tried to find other ways to solve the problem.
"Sir Zhang, the soldiers in Dengzhou City...it's easy to ask for help but difficult to send away! It's better to be cautious." Upon hearing this, Huang Qu quickly dissuaded Zhang Pucheng and said: "How much benefit can this Fushan County City bring? Moving reinforcements from Dengzhou , maybe it will harm the people of this city!”
It was not unreasonable for Huang Qu to be so nervous. The troops originally stationed in Dengzhou City had been completely lost during the Denglai Rebellion, and the additional local garrison was later drawn from the foreign troops transferred to Dengzhou Prefecture to suppress bandits. After coming out, these troops have no foundation in Dengzhou, and naturally they don't have much local sentiment at all. To put it bluntly, they want to take advantage of the time they are stationed here to scrape some oil and water out of the place.
However, all the valuables in Dengzhou City had been robbed by the rebels long ago, and there was nothing to do locally, so the soldiers would naturally focus on the surrounding areas. It is impossible to go into the mountains to suppress bandits. The risks are high and the returns are low. It is not cost-effective to station troops from outside. However, in the name of suppressing bandits, collecting food, taxes and even conscripting soldiers from the local area is a very cost-effective method.
Fushan County is more than a hundred miles away from Dengzhou City. Generally speaking, the troops stationed in Dengzhou City are unlikely to take the initiative to come here to fight against the autumn wind. First, the distance is relatively long, and it takes several hours to travel back and forth. Oh my God, secondly, this place is under the jurisdiction of Qishan Qianhu Station. If you want to get food here, you will definitely conflict with the local garrison, and the food will indeed be ugly. But if the Fushan County government takes the initiative to ask for help from Dengzhou, the nature will be different. The Dengzhou garrison can openly enter Fushan County under the banner of rescue, regardless of the feelings of Qishan Qianshuo. Of course, the amount of materials and money Fushan County will need to bear and contribute must be commensurate with this kind of rescue operation.
Can Fushan County now find the funds to hire Dengzhou reinforcements? The answer is obviously no. This is not only clear to President Huang Qu, but also to Zhang Pucheng, who is in charge of the county's money and food as the county magistrate. However, he did not realize the risks involved in doing so before, and only after Huang Qu reminded him did he realize this. come over.
"Master Huang is right, but I did not think carefully and acted abruptly!" Zhang Pucheng thought about it carefully and broke into a cold sweat. If the Dengzhou garrison were to be moved here, even a thousand people would be enough to completely reduce Fushan County to extreme poverty. Although Wan Jiajun is hateful, they will not take action against Fushan County for the time being. As for the Haihan people, they have not yet found any such evil intentions. But if the Dengzhou garrison comes, don't expect those foreign soldiers to have any scruples. What the Northeastern soldiers led by Kong Youde did in Denglai and Denglai fully proved that there is no lower limit for the actions of these foreign soldiers. When the time comes, there will be an open robbery in Fushan County, and the county government can only Knocked out his teeth and swallowed it.
However, Zhang Pucheng did not give up his efforts. The two armed forces outside the city were both stronger than the Ming army defending the city. Under such circumstances, it was impossible to sleep peacefully. They had to find a way to resolve the crisis.
Zhang Pucheng paced back and forth for a long time, and finally said: "Why not, try to contact that group of Haihan people, find out their true intentions, and see if there is any possibility of reconciliation."
Huang Qu said: "The Haihan people have not had a direct conflict with us, and there is no reconciliation. Mr. Zhang, do you want to follow the agreement reached with Wanjiajun and negotiate with the Haihan people?"
Zhang Pucheng nodded and said: "Yes, I have this intention. I think the Wanjia army is just a rough bandit, and there is still room for communication. After all, this Haihan people also know how to post notices to calm the people, and their financial resources are so amazing. There should be high-ranking officials behind the scenes." People command. And Mr. Feng from Qishan Qianhu Institute also endorsed it. It must be for this reason, so I have to give it a try."
Huang Qu made sense when he heard it. In the current situation, other than treating the dead horse as a living horse doctor, he couldn't think of a better way for the time being, so Zhang Pucheng began to discuss the choice of messenger and negotiation conditions.
The Wanjia Army outside the city finally waited for a relatively reliable source of information - Gan Qiang, who had narrowly escaped death on the battlefield. After making a big circle outside, he finally sneaked back to the Wanjia Army outside the county town. secret base. However, before he could say anything after seeing Wan Meng and Pu Xueguang, he collapsed due to lack of physical strength.
Gan Qiang's injuries were serious or light. Although the lead bullet in his chest was blocked by the armor, the impact still shocked his heart. He coughed out a mouthful of blood and could not even speak fluently. It's not complete. After seeing this, Wan Meng couldn't bear to scold him for his incompetence in fighting, so he could only call a doctor to diagnose and treat his injuries. And Pu Xueguang couldn't get angry with Gan Qiang. After all, Gan Qiang was Wan Meng's confidant. It depends on the owner to beat the dog. Wan Meng wouldn't be able to bear it if he said it harshly.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Gan Qiang took a dose of medicine and his injuries eased a little. Only then was he able to tell Wan Meng and Pu Xueguang what he saw and heard during the battle with Haihan, and his description undoubtedly gave the two of them another piece of information. Remember the blow.
"Short fire gun? Could it be a three-eyed gun?" Wan Meng was still confused about Gan Qiang's description.
Gan Qiang shook his head and said: "It's not a three-eyed gun. I was only ten feet away from the man, and I could see it very clearly. The short gun was only a foot long, but a single barrel could fire continuously. I was hit once in the chest. He was almost knocked off his horse, the power was really amazing.”
"This means that each of these Haihan riders is equipped with at least two fire guns, one long and one short, and they can fire continuously..." Pu Xueguang frowned as he spoke. Gan Qiang is a veteran on the battlefield, so it is impossible The information he provided should have a high degree of credibility even if he was very close to the enemy. But the equipment of the Han people in this sea is a bit too weird. Everyone has a horse and a repeating fire blunderbuss. They come and go like the wind and have strong firepower. So how can we fight this battle?
"Military advisor, do you think this is because the weapons are powerful or because they used magic?" Wan Meng still remembered Pu Xueguang's previous answer and tried to get a more accurate answer from him.
Pu Xueguang pondered for a long time before saying: "This kind of fire cannon is so powerful, but I have never heard of it before, and it is not equipped in the Ming army. I'm afraid it's not a good idea. I still think it has something to do with magic. It's just that the Haihan people have such powerful means. , if you want to fight with it again, you must try to force its edge.”
"In addition to the mountain-suppressing artillery, does the military advisor have any other good strategies for defeating the enemy?" Wan Meng asked hopefully. Although the mountain-suppressing artillery is powerful, its maneuverability is too poor, and the gunners of Wanjiajun are all halfway monks and are not professional artillery. Wanmeng still has a good idea of his own strength. If you want artillery to defeat cavalry in open areas, it is actually better to pull the team back into the mountains early and use the terrain to deal with the opponent. It's just that he suffered such a big loss and lost nearly two hundred people. This breath is really hard for Wanmeng to swallow. He still hopes to find suitable means to get this place back.
But Pu Xueguang only had so much information in his belly, and apart from having a slight advantage in military strength, his side lagged behind his opponents in all other aspects. It was really difficult for him to figure out a way to defeat his opponents on the frontal battlefield.
Pu Xueguang thought for a long time but had no idea, so he could only resort to the "dragging technique": "Now we are short of manpower. To be on the safe side, we should observe the situation first and wait until the reinforcements and mountain-calming artillery arrive before making plans!"
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Wanmeng shouted angrily: "What if the people nearby continue to defect to the Haihan people?"
Pu Xueguang said: "The Haihan people promoted immigration, so we did the opposite and arranged for people to spread rumors, saying that the Haihan people were recruiting living people to practice evil arts. Anyone who went to Zhifu Island would not be able to come back alive. ”
"Will this work?" Wanmeng didn't quite believe in the effectiveness of this method.
"Whether it works or not, you have to give it a try to find out." Pu Xueguang persuaded with an apologetic smile, while secretly cursing in his heart, what can I do? I am also very desperate when encountering such an opponent!
(End of chapter)