Before the middle of the century, the spirit and physique of the Ming army were relatively healthy, so the generals at that time were all real people who led the troops, and it was also common for a general to reach 10,000 soldiers and horses.

After arriving in Jiajing, there were more than three or four thousand generals leading troops. Now in the Chongzhen period, the national strength is weakened, the vacancies are overflowing, the military system is chaotic, and there are only one or two thousand ordinary generals under them.

This situation was unavoidable in feudal dynasties. In the late Song Dynasty, there were officials and soldiers who ate the finances, and the same was true in the late Ming Dynasty.

As far as the army is concerned, there is a large number of hereditary nobles with false titles such as a brocade guard, a commander and a commander. Except for a few Tang Shangguan who are in charge, the rest are all rice worms accumulated by previous dynasties to eat finances.

Not to mention the end of the Qing Dynasty, the hardcore crops of the Eight Banners were world-famous.

So specifically for General Hang Jiahu, who sent troops to suppress the thieves, the number of soldiers dispatched this time was 1,500. This number is already very good, because the total number of soldiers under the command of the general is only 3,000, which is still stained with the light of being stationed in high-GDP areas.

When a series of dazzling operations were completed, the seemingly inconspicuous, but actually quite important official document was sent from Nanjing City to Jinshanwei all the way.

At this time, just three days had passed since December 5, when Ma Baihu was brutally killed. The seemingly faltering bureaucratic system, driven by a special force, was actually super efficient, and the paperwork was completed in just a few days.

And when General Feng of Jin Shanwei received the official letter, he immediately summoned two of his guerrillas, "Know the strategy." ”

What is the strategy? There is one thing to say.

The army is different from the locality, everyone in the army is robe, as long as it is not deliberately framed, then it is good to have something to say, so the general will explain the ins and outs of this mobilization.

General Feng clearly told the two subordinates that this trip seemed to be "official business", but in fact it was "private work", so he himself was "not easy to move". Because firstly, if he himself moved, the movement would be too big, and secondly, after the incident, there was no room for the court to turn around.

The military commander of a place must not leave the administrative office without permission. Although the official document of "helping to suppress" has been sent, the language in this official document is vague and the procedures are not compliant, so General Feng intends to stay in the town himself.

In this way, if the court investigates it in the future, the matter will also be controlled by him within a reasonable range. In short, the general decided to stay in the rear to resist the pressure, and the solution came from the political side. Of course, if it happens, the adults will definitely want a piece of the pie.

Lord Feng then analyzed the pros and cons of this dispatch to the two subordinates: the success of the matter, the reward of silver, the shares, and the guarantee and promotion quota for the future operation of the land deed alliance in the DPRK and China. Defeat, loss of troops, "assistance and suppression" turned into "arson plunder", and loss of official position and dismissal are highly probable events. Fortunately, with this confused official document, I probably won't lose my life.

After analyzing the pros and cons, Lord Feng handed over the option of leading the troops to the two guerrillas: If you two are willing to go to troubled waters, you can now discuss in detail with the lobbyists sent by the Xu family.

In the end, Wang Deqiao, the two middle-aged and vigorous training guerrillas, couldn't hold back their dedication and expressed their intention to fight for this shop. Another old guerrilla, who was older and had little motivation left, gave up the opportunity.

So when Wang's guerrilla and the lobbyists negotiated various conditions, Jinshanwei's battalion soon set off on December 10.

Theoretically, the march of the army was also slow. But because of the same reason as before, with the intervention of the mysterious power, everything becomes lubricated and fast.

First of all, the most troublesome problem of funding for the troops' promotion was easily solved this time: since the old man had already bet heavily this time, he didn't care about the ten thousand taels of silver.

Therefore, Wang Guerrilla did not eat the empty amount this time, and brought out 1,500 soldiers and 200 auxiliaries from the camp. and brought out of the arsenal a batch of fine blades and armor...... Anyway, someone pays, and after this village, there will be no such shop.

Secondly, the problem of marching troops along the way was also improved.

Generally speaking, regular troops marched to eat supplies in various states and counties, which caused delays in the march: the state and county reception capacity was limited, and the troops were forced to disperse, not to mention, and the itinerary was delayed, and they had to be regrouped afterwards.

Not so much this time around.

From Jinshanwei in the south to Zhangsu Port in the north, it is nothing more than passing through the Yangtze River Delta, with a total distance of 60 kilometers and a very short journey.

In addition, since there are many violations in this operation itself, the old men are reluctant to speak out, let alone eat the public food of the local state and county - this is all a sin in the situation.

Therefore, it is still the old way, and the anti-bandit troops directly rest in the gentry Zhuangzi along the way, which will not disturb the people and can also get sufficient food and straw supply.

On the 60-kilometer road, the 1,500 battalion soldiers walked steadily for two days with the silver and sufficient supplies along the way. In the end, on the day of Double 12, Wang Deqiao, a training guerrilla, took his morale-filled subordinates and stationed on the periphery of Shanghai Port built by Xiong Dao.

...................

The entire port of Shanghai has long been under martial law at this moment.

As when the lake bandits came last time, the outer commercial and warehouse areas had been vacated, and the Ming Dynasty had generously left them for the invaders to live in.

This time, the plan of defense was not to lure the enemy deeper: the barbed wire fence had been encircled around the outer part of the port compound, and the low wall had become the main line of defense. Nearly 200 members of the action team are now erecting the 28 big cover on the wall, waiting for the enemy.

When the morning sun shone obliquely on the faces of the officers and men in their big red and fat jackets, causing them to squint, Wang, who had already lined up in a military formation at a distance of one mile on the outskirts of the port compound, slashed his hands from his horse...... The messenger appeared.

In the past few days, Wang Guerrilla has learned in detail the ins and outs of the matter from Song Xiucai, the envoy of the army. Not only did he know the reason, but Wang Guerrilla now also knew that the "quick guns" in the hands of those guards behind the opposite wall could fight four or five hundred steps away.

Regarding this information, Song Xiucai did not dare to deceive. The old man spent a lot of money to invite this army this time, but it was not used to be cannon fodder like the lake bandits, so the relevant intelligence king guerrilla had already known. What's more, Wang's guerrilla also has its own news channel - the local health center.

Therefore, Wang's guerrilla, who has figured out the situation, already has a plan in mind about how to fight this "banditry" war.

First of all, from the moment he learned about the performance of the fast gun, Lord Wang did not plan to send troops to attack hard. He knew in his heart that no matter what the outcome of the battle was, once his battalion soldiers suffered mass casualties, then after all parties checked it out, he would definitely eat the melon.

Second, since the essence of this "crackdown on bandits" is that two groups of rich people are fighting for money, it shows that the two sides will withdraw their troops and cease fire at any time and reach an agreement. In such a situation, if Wang Guerrilla is still stunned and sends troops to recklessly, it can only show that he is politically immature.

Besides, behind the businessman surnamed Xiong on the opposite side was the deputy chief soldier with real power, and the soldiers and horses in his hands were a hundred times more than his guerrilla. This time, Wang Deqiao's soldiers surrounded the port of Shanghai, which was nothing more than to bully the general soldier's hand that could not reach so far.

However, everyone is in the same military vein, and although Wang Guerrilla got on the gentry's ship this time, he didn't plan to do it ...... What if one day in the future, he goes to Fujian and Guangdong to take up a post?

Therefore, after synthesizing intelligence from all quarters, Wang Guerrilla set an eight-character strategic policy for this task: to promote talks through pressure and to promote peace through talks.

Now the first step has been completed: just a mile away from the courtyard wall, the 1,500 soldiers of the economic battalion who are majestic, full of spirit, sharp armor, and waving flags have already set up a formation, and the sword is out of the sheath and the bow is wound, and the murderous spirit is soaring.

At this time, a yellow-faced soldier who was able to speak well was sent by the guerrilla lords, and he lined up, waving a small white flag, and walked straight to the gate.

This soldier is also surnamed Wang, and he is a member of Wang's guerrilla clan. When he came to the barbed wire, he had already come out of the small gate of the compound, untied a piece of barbed wire with tongs, and put the messenger into the courtyard.

After the royal soldiers walked into the compound, they didn't see anything that made his eyes light up. A large number of guards were behind the wall at the moment, and behind them were a circle of tables and chairs, with some fire guns and sub-medicines on them, and that's it.

Soon, he saw Master Bear on the steps.

"The villain will visit Master Xiong on behalf of my family."

Xiong Dao saw that the other party was submissive, so he nodded: "No courtesy." Your king guerrilla came this time to raise troops, what do you have to say? ”

"It's good to teach Master Xiong to know: When I came, my general said that this time I brought troops here, and I was entrusted by the old man to do it as a last resort."

"If Master Xiong is willing to give face, my general is willing to be a Chinese man and help you make peace. In this way, all parties can make a fortune together without having to fight, isn't it a good thing? ”

"Hmm." When Xiong Dao heard this, he nodded: "I heard the kindness of your general." ”

"But ......" Xiong Dao dragged out the end here: "Well, there are too many causes and effects involved in this matter, and with the weight of your general, you can't hold the scales." So you don't need to say more, you go back and tell Wang Guerrilla, first show some skills for me to see, good friends, don't fight and don't know each other. ”

...................

When the prince's soldiers returned to the military formation, Wang Guji, who listened to the narration, couldn't help but sigh, and then he raised his hand again: "It seems that after all, you have to see blood to know how powerful it is!" ”

Along with Wang's guerrilla voice, two bronze tiger squat cannons were slowly pushed out from behind the formation.

The tiger squat cannon has been widely used by the Ming army in the era of Qi Jiguang. This kind of cannon is not very powerful, similar to the mortars of later generations, mainly curved fire. The firing range of the Tiger Squat Cannon is not very far, usually in the case of a strong charge, it can reach a distance of 500 meters, of course, at this time, the accuracy is insufficient.

However, in today's situation, the tiger squat cannon can just exert its might: the purpose of Wang's guerrilla attack is to promote peace, so as long as the cannonball can enter the opposite compound, let Master Xiong understand the truth that war will kill people.

Therefore, under the excited gaze of all the officers and men of the army, the two tiger squat guns that were pushed to the front of the formation began a series of pre-launch preparations: pressing the gun carriage with stones, wiping the barrel, and loading gunpowder......

And just as the gunner picked up an iron bullet from behind and was about to stuff it into the barrel, his head suddenly burst, and the iron bullet rolled to the ground.

Then the sound of a gunshot was heard, and the discerning one saw the flickering flame of the muzzle: it was on the top of the second floor opposite.

But that's the end of it. No matter how good the officers and soldiers were, they couldn't see Comrade Lu Cheng, who was wearing a big red robe, sitting on the official hat chair, and aiming at the opponent with an MK17 blocking rifle on the roof of the opposite building.

"Hula", after seeing the corpse of the gunner's brain, all the people around the tiger squatting cannon scattered.

And the guerrilla of Wang behind the gun emplacement was also shocked. Sitting on his horse, he saw the gunfire on the opposite side and heard the gunshot, but he couldn't figure out whether the shot was blind or if it was really such a miracle shot.

"Didn't you say that it would take four or five hundred steps to stop? It's a mile away! The furious Wang Guerrilla is now eager to whip Song Xiucai next to him to death.

However, in addition to scolding a few words, he couldn't care about Song Xiucai anymore: the people in the artillery crew were scattering and fleeing, and some soldiers who were close were also slowly retreating with white faces, and he needed to quickly maintain the formation to avoid chaos among the soldiers.

After sending the family guards to press and slowly suppress the position, the angry Wang Guerrilla jumped off the horse, and first whipped the small flag of the artillery group a few times: "It's just that the blind cat meets a dead mouse, what are you afraid of, give Lao Tzu a cannon!" ”

So the trembling artillery crew began the reloading procedure again.

The next moment, Xiaoqi, who was holding the iron bullet, burst out of his brain and died in front of Wang Guerrilla. Immediately after that, the urging gunshots rang out one after another, shooting and killing the people around the tiger squat cannon one after another.

The army then retreated two hundred paces. By the time everything had stabilized again, the morale of the whole army was gone. You must know that they have retreated a mile and a half, and they can't even see the enemy on the other side, but they are facing the shooting of that strange musket at any time.

Wang Guerrilla knew that he was still holding on to his own, and it seemed that the old man's money was really not easy to earn.

However, Wang Deqiao had already guessed that the accurate strange gun on the opposite side would not be owned by everyone, otherwise if he had put a few more rounds of guns just now, he would have to go home.

The situation in front of Wang Deqiao now is: either send troops to recklessly counteract the impact of that strange weapon, or just consume it like this, and finally leave in disgrace......

So Wang Daguerrilla gritted his teeth and chose the third way: cannon fodder flow.

He grabbed Song Xiucai's collar and said fiercely: "Hurry up and tell those masters in the Zhuangzi behind that Lao Tzu wants five hundred auxiliary soldiers to rush into battle." Also, bring more planks, for the iron line will be broken with planks. ”

"Yes, yes!" Song Xiucai, who was also frightened, nodded again and again at this time: "I don't know when the general will want these auxiliaries?" ”

"Today's morale is declining, and I can't rush into battle. Go back and tell your lord, don't be reluctant to give up the silver. Lao Tzu will rush back tomorrow, whether it is success or failure, then it depends on whether those auxiliary soldiers sell their lives or not! ”

Song Xiucai nodded again and again, and galloped away on his horse.

Here, after Wang Deqiao finished arranging tomorrow's strategy, he led his troops to confront the enemy weakly for a long time. By the afternoon, the army had ended hastily and moved into an empty commercial area.

At this time, a sumptuous meal was also delivered from the nearby Zhuangzi. In view of today's confrontation, which caused the officers and men to be inexplicably disgraced, disgraced, and demoralized, Wang Guerrilla made timely adjustments: He gave all the officers and men a silver reward and half of them some wine to drink.

The sumptuous rewards and the stimulus of money restored the morale of the officers and men a lot. After arranging the soldiers and horses to guard against the enemy's night attack, he urged his subordinates to rest early - tomorrow will be reckless, and they must recuperate.

A night passed in a hurry, and the time came to December 13th, 7 days had passed since December 5th, when Ma Baihu was brutally killed.

Early in the morning, Wang Da, who was eating chicken in the main hall of the inn, was suddenly pulled out of the door by his own soldiers with pale faces.

"What's the disturbance? Are those nurses killed? ”

"Black, black smoke!" The pro-soldier was already incoherent, and he couldn't speak clearly, but he just pointed his finger in the direction of the sea.

The next moment, Wang Guerrilla opened his mouth wide, and the chicken leg in his hand fell.

What caught his eye was a large ship emitting black smoke on the sea. One of the largest ships, with white sails on its masts, shone blue and gold in the morning light, while billowing black smoke filled with a coercive aura.

"Oh no, the one surnamed Xiong summoned his godfather." Wang Deqiao muttered at this time.