The Silver Wolf Empire signed an armistice agreement with the Ganyang Zhou family, which can be said to have the greatest impact on the various families in Zhenwei Town.

What's more, Zhenwei Town nominally had 22 cities at this time, of which 5 cities, Linxing City, Tonghui City, Jingsheng City, Huitong City and Yiguang City, had all fallen into the hands of the Zhou family.

The various families in Zhenwei Town knew that Zhou Rui's entry into Zhenwei Town was unstoppable, so many families took the initiative to contact the Zhou family and expressed their willingness to take refuge under the wing of the Zhou family.

According to the previous practice, a certain amount of taxes will be paid every year to the Zhenwei Jiedu Mansion controlled by the Zhou family.

However, there are also a few families who have not yet made a clear statement on the Zhou family's entry into Zhenwei Town.

In the Lu Mansion in Tongze City, Zhenwei Town, Lu Junke, the current head of the Tongze Lu family, scolded his eldest son Lu Mao angrily: "If it weren't for the little benefits you coveted from the Silver Wolf Empire, why would our Lu family be in the dilemma we are in today!" ”

Lu Mao secretly said in his heart: That's not a little benefit, but 2 ironclad battleships, 2,000 repeating rifles, 20 heavy machine guns and 400,000 rounds of ammunition!

Besides, when you cooperated with the Silver Wolf Empire, your old man agreed.

Without your old man's consent, how dare I cooperate with the Silver Wolf Empire privately!

It turned out that the Tongzelu family, like the Wang family and the Li family in Huitong City, and the Sun family and Zhang family in Yiguang City, secretly accepted the benefits of the Silver Wolf Empire, and expressed their willingness to cooperate with the Silver Wolf Empire to eliminate the Zhou family's power in Zhenwei Town.

Among the benefits is also the 2 ironclad battleships mothballed by the Third Fleet of the Silver Wolf Empire Navy.

These 2 ironclad battleships belong to the same class as the 6 ironclad battleships of the fourth formation of the coastal defense fleet, which are retired Banshee-class ironclad battleships of the Royal Navy of the Silver Wolf Empire, with a full load displacement of 10,700 tons and equipped with 2 twin 300 mm guns of thirty times the caliber.

However, the Tongze Lu family never expected that the powerful Silver Wolf Empire would soften in the face of Zhou Rui, didn't this roast the Tongze Lu family on the fire?

Since the Zhou family can know that the Wang family and the Li family in Huitong City, as well as the Sun family and the Zhang family in Yiguang City, were bought by the Silver Wolf Empire, then the matter of the Tongze Lu family being bought by the Silver Wolf Empire, presumably the Zhou family must have already known.

If this is for the Zhou family to enter Zhenwei Town, after the Tongze Lu family, where can there be good fruits to eat!

Facing his angry father, Lu Mao didn't dare to speak up, and said cautiously: "Father, with the strength of the Zhou family, it is simply a matter of easy things to clean up our Tongze Lu family.

So I suggest that I try everything I can to fight with the Zhou family. ”

Lu Junke's expression suddenly became very depressed, "In fact, after the Battle of Shark Island ended, my father contacted Zhou Xiaorong of the Zhou family through some relationships.

But that Zhou Xiaorong put forward quite harsh conditions for our Tongze Lu family. ”

"Harsh conditions?"

"Let us hand over the Fifth Division, the Eighth Mixed Brigade, the Tenth Mixed Brigade and the Tongze Fleet in our hands with the Zelu family, as well as the entire Tongze City."

Tongze City is the largest port city in Zhenwei Town and the third largest city in Zhenwei Town, with an urban population of about 700,000, and the population of the surrounding villages and towns of Tongze City is about 800,000.

At present, the entire Tongze City is in the hands of the Lu family, and the Lu family also controls three units of the Zhenwei Army, namely the Fifth Division, the Eighth Mixed Brigade and the Tenth Mixed Brigade.

Combined, the total strength of these three forces is about 20,000.

In addition, the Tongze fleet established by the Lu family now has 2 ironclad battleships, 3 armored cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 8 iron-ribbed wood-hulled ships and 4 offshore gunboats, of which 2 ironclad battleships are 2 Banshee-class ships that have just been obtained from the Silver Wolf Empire.

Originally, the Tongze fleet already had 5 ironclad battleships, but in the operation to intercept the four Berserk class all-steel battleships purchased by the Xiyun Liu family.

By mistake, the Tongze fleet fought with the Zhou family's coastal defense fleet, and as a result, one of the five ironclad battleships was sunk, and the remaining four became trophies of the coastal defense fleet.

When Lu Mao heard the conditions proposed by Zhou Xiaorong, he was immediately shocked and said: "Father, such conditions are simply going to cut the roots of our Tongze Lu family, and we must not agree!" ”

Lu Junke sighed and said: "Such a condition, of course it is impossible for our Tongzelu family to agree, but Zhou Xiaorong grasped the matter of our Tongzelu family receiving the benefits of the Silver Wolf Empire, I am worried that the Zhou family will not let go of our Tongzelu family easily."

What I am even more worried about is the 5th Division, the 8th Mixed Brigade, the 10th Mixed Brigade, and even the Tongze Fleet! ”

"What does Father mean?"

"The wealth of the Zhou family has long spread throughout the entire Han and Tang Empires.

The Xu family, who controls the Zhenwei Jiedu Mansion, as well as the Wang family and the Li family in Huitongcheng, and the Sun family and the Zhang family in Yiguang City, why did they collapse so quickly?

It's not that the Zhou family took the money and bribed many of the officers who led the troops in these families.

In particular, the seven descendants of the Xu family were completely absorbed by the Zhou family almost without bloodshed. ”

In the process of the Zhou army's attack on Huitong City and Yiguang City, although with the efforts of the "ghost shadow", many of the troops under the command of the four families who controlled the two cities directly defected, but the four families also had some troops and chose to start a fierce battle with the Zhou army.

Of course, due to the cooperation of many defective troops, the Zhou army did not take much effort to capture Huitong City and Yiguang City.

"Father, what next?"

"Alas, I can only find a way to get the forgiveness of the Zhou family while stepping up preparations for war.

In addition, we must firmly control the three forces and the Tongze fleet, and our Tongze Lu family must not follow in the footsteps of those five. ”

In an office in the Zhenwei Jiedu Mansion in Linxing City, Zhou Xiaorong asked Hu Er: "How is the purchase plan of the three army units of the Tongze Lu family and the Tongze fleet?" ”

Hu Er said respectfully: "Second General, due to the intelligence department of the original Zhenwei Jiedu Mansion, the fifth division, the eighth mixed brigade, the tenth mixed brigade and the Tongze fleet of the Tongze Lu family have been infiltrated for a long time.

After our 'ghost' took over the intelligence department of the former Zhenwei Jiedu Mansion, the purchase plan went more smoothly.

If our Zhou family sends troops to Tongze City now, at least 65% or more of the troops of the Tongze Lu family will defect, and most of the warships of the Tongze fleet will also surrender without a fight. ”

Before the fall of the Xu family, the Tongze Lu family could be said to be the second most powerful family in Zhenwei Town.

For the Tongzelu family, which could threaten his family's status at any time, Xu Wanpeng, the envoy of Yuan Zhenweijiedu, had long wanted to annex the Tongzelu family, so he authorized He Zhonghou, director of the Intelligence Department, to secretly buy and infiltrate the three army units of the Tongzelu family and the Tongze fleet.

As a result, before Xu Wanpeng had time to clean up the Tongze Lu family, the Xu family was cleaned up by Zhou Rui.

However, Xu Wanpeng's previous arrangement for the Tongze Lu family was cheaper than the Zhou family.

Zhou Xiaorong nodded, "The geographical location of Tongze City is very important to the coastal defense fleet.

Now that your 'ghost' is ready, I will immediately contact the coastal defense fleet and strive to take down Tongze City as quickly as possible, so as to avoid any accidents." ”

"Second General, for the army controlled by other families in Zhenwei Town, do you also have to carry out the purchase plan?"

"I need to discuss this matter with the major general.

But my suggestion, the entire Zhenwei Town is best to have only one voice from our Zhou family! ”

Lu Junke, Lu Mao, and his son, who were in the Tongze Lu family, were still thinking worriedly, how could they obtain the understanding of the Zhou family.

In the early morning of March 20, 1537, about 20,000 army troops of the Zhou family and more than a dozen warships of the coastal defense fleet suddenly arrived at Tongze City.

Lu Mao, who was in a mess, stumbled back to Lu's mansion, and after seeing his father Lu Junke, he couldn't help crying: "Father, it's over!" It's all over! Whining!

The 8th and 10th Mixed Brigades defected almost without firing a shot.

The Fifth Division also had several regiments that directly defected, and now the Zhou family's army had invaded Tongze City, and with the cooperation of those defective rebels, the remaining troops of the Fifth Division could not withstand it at all.

Maybe in a while, the Zhou family's troops will come over. ”

When Lu Junke heard this, his body couldn't help shaking, if he hadn't held on to the table, maybe Lu Junke wouldn't have been able to stand at all.

It has only been more than two hours since I learned that the Zhou family's naval and land armies were approaching Tongze City, but the situation has been so bad that it has been.

"What about the Tongze fleet? And the three batteries in the port, what is the situation now? ”

Lu Mao continued to cry bitterly and said, "Father, there is no hope! Whining!

All the warships of the Tongze fleet raised their white flags one after another after seeing the appearance of more than a dozen warships of the Zhoujia coastal defense fleet, including six battleships with full main guns.

And the three batteries in the port, after seeing that all the warships of the Tongze fleet had surrendered, also raised the white flag, and now the three batteries in the port have been controlled by the Zhou family's coastal defense fleet. ”

Lu Junke seemed to have suddenly become a few years older, he stretched out his hand and patted Lu Mao's shoulder, "Hurry up and order the remaining troops of the Third Division to give up resistance immediately."

Since you have already lost, you can only accept your fate and stop causing unnecessary sacrifices. ”

Lu Mao wiped his tears, "Father, there is a guard battalion here in the mansion, I can take the guard battalion to escort my father out!" ”

Lu Junke shook his head, "We don't have to run, and we can't run."

If you follow what you said, maybe our father and son may not have a chance to live.

You go and order the remaining troops of the Third Division, hurry up and lay down your weapons, the fewer people who die, the safer our father and son, and the hundreds of people of the Lu family.

If the Zhou family wants to enter Zhenwei Town, there are some things that must be taken care of. ”

What the various families in Zhenwei Town didn't expect was that the Tongzelu family, which had an infantry division, two mixed brigades and a naval fleet, was actually eaten by the Zhou family in just one morning.

Subsequently, the remaining few families who did not clearly express their stance to welcome the Zhou family into Zhenwei Town hurriedly sent people to Linxing City, saying that from now on, they were willing to follow the Zhou family.