Shen Xi said: "This woman didn't go back, the people in the walled city naturally knew that we were cheating, and they would not be able to hold out in the walled city in the next step." Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Jing Yue asked nervously, "My lord, how can you be born?" ”

"Nowadays, there are too few weapons that can be used to siege the city, or it can be said that there are almost none, and the artillery can be covered with bows and arrows because of the condescending position of the opponent, and it will not be of great use for a while, so it is simply ...... Attack with fire! ”

Shen Xi's brows tightened, and he took out a pen, ink, paper, and inkstone on the wooden table made by the guards using the trees on the island, and wrote a few words on the chart.

Shen Xi's voice fell, including Jing Yue, Zhang Lin, Ma Jiu and others all looked at each other, but anyone who has seen the earthen fort knows that this kind of fortress is mostly a brick and earth structure, the outer layer is covered with bricks or stones, and the inner layer is rammed earth.

Zhang Lin hesitated for a moment and asked, "Lord Shen, the chances of a successful fire attack are very slim, do you think you can find another strategy?" ”

Shen Xi raised his head and saw that everyone in the big tent of the Chinese army was looking at him, so he immediately waved his hand: "Maybe my statement is not very accurate, and I used not a fire attack, but a smoke attack." In the past few days, the northwest wind has risen at sea, so we have arranged a large number of firewood and grass piles in the northwest area outside the city wall, and the rest of the places are also prepared, keeping an eye on the direction of the wind, and lighting firewood and grass when the wind is downwind...... Remember to get wet, it's easy to smoke. ”

When everyone heard it, this trick seemed to be good, didn't the bandits inside be shrunken turtles? Your shell can't be broken or burned, but you can be smoked to death.

In the afternoon of the same day, Shen Xi ordered people to search for firewood all over the island, and at the same time took the opportunity to search for any hidden ships and secret passages leading to the earthen fort.

Just after the end of the evening, the fire began, and hundreds of piles of firewood and grass were lit at the northwest corner of the island, and the solemn smoke was blown by the northwest wind and spread in the direction of the earthen fort.

At the same time, bonfires were lit in various places three or four hundred meters outside the city wall, illuminating the city clearly, and the people inside thought that the officials and troops were going to attack, and they were afraid to come out to find out, and it was not long before the choking smoke buried the entire city.

While the bandits on the city wall were coughing and panicking, the officers and soldiers hiding in the surrounding woods quickly rushed out, threw dry trees, dead branches and weeds around the earthen fort, and then threw torches soaked in tung oil on it, and soon the city wall was surrounded by fire.

There are no people on the island for one or two hundred years, there are not many other people, there are many trees and firewood, and it is autumn and winter, the weather is dry and the forest trees are very easy to ignite, and as soon as the fire burns, even the officers and soldiers themselves cannot control it, and the smoke is smoky, and finally the officers and soldiers who set the fire have to withdraw farther away.

As soon as they escaped, they used Professor Shen Xi's method to cover their mouths and noses with cloth soaked in fresh water, so that the choking smell was slightly reduced.

At this time, the visibility on the city wall shrouded in smoke was reduced to the lowest point, and the bow and crossbow were no longer able to function at this time. Ma Jiu led the "special attack team" to transport six Franc machine guns to a place less than 50 meters outside the earthen fort and began to fire artillery in the direction of the earthen fort.

Even if the wall of the earth fort is only ten meters high, and there is no roof, Shen Xi taught Ma Jiu some problems about the elevation angle and firing angle, adjusting the muzzle of the cannon, and firing several rounds of cannonballs in all directions inside, the bandits inside have to bear the smoke and fire, and there are constantly cannonballs falling on their heads, feeling the fear from the heart.

Less than half an hour after the start of the war, the earthen fort was already in chaos, and Shen Xi had been researching the explosive pack projectile for a long time, which would also come in handy at this time.

Taking advantage of the chaos, a group of officers and soldiers came to a place more than 10 meters away from the earthen fort, and began to dig a pit in the ground under the cover of shields and bushes.

After the pit is dug, the large iron bucket that has been used as a secret weapon finally comes in handy, the mouth of the barrel is facing the direction of the earthen fort, and then buried it with sand, and even rammed with a large stone, which is to prevent the explosion of the chamber, and the surrounding sand can effectively reduce the impact of the explosion.

Subsequently, the "flat cannonball" designed by Shen Xi was also heavily wrapped in shells, filled with a large amount of gunpowder and metal fragments, stuffed into iron barrels, and then ignited the projectile firing lead, and the soldiers responsible for igniting the fire quickly evacuated and found a place to hide.

I only heard a "bang", the "big firecracker" wrapped in a huge air current, sprayed out from the mouth of the barrel, and flew towards the sky above the earthen fort, just over the city wall, I heard a "boom" explosion, and the explosive package exploded directly over the earthen fort.

The sound was earth-shattering, and the huge shock wave pushed the plants inside and outside the city wall to the point of brushing, and although the officers and soldiers outside the wall plugged their ears with cotton, they couldn't help but tense their bodies before this sound...... If this thing fell on his head, it would be enough to drink a pot.

Shen Xi, as the commander, sat in the camp on the west side of the island.

Zhu Hong rushed back to the shore from the front line and told Shen Xi the latest news, with a smug smile on his face, he looked at Shen Xi with a little more respect and admiration, and said in his mouth: "My lord, everything is going well in the battle ahead, under a series of blows, the bandits in the walled city are already stunned, and the destruction of the city is just around the corner...... I just don't understand, why don't you wait until daytime to attack? ”

Shen Xi shook his head: "If it is attacked during the day, the enemy can clearly see the reality of our side, and casualties are inevitable!" ”

Although Zhu Hong is ruthless, he doesn't have much knowledge after all, and his brain is not enough like his sister, so Shen Xi can't understand what he says at all.

The battle in the middle of the island is one-sided!

The smoke and fire, coupled with the Franc cannon and the "unconscionable cannon", under the blows of many parties, the bandits in the walled city at this time were worse than dead, and they were choking on the smoke so that they could not find the north, and they saw that the people around them were killed and blown away by falling shells from time to time, and many of their companions were shattered, holding the residual value and breaking their arms there and howling miserably.

The bandits who were originally responsible for defending the city at the head of the city, under the direct blow of the "unconscionable cannon", most of the internal organs were shattered, blood sprayed from their mouths and noses and died, and the rest were dizzy and jumped off the city wall one after another.

Escaping is like a contagion, and once someone takes the lead, the rest of the people are unwilling to stay and die in vain.

After the battle began for more than an hour, the only gate on the east side of the fort was opened from the inside, and as the ladder was lowered, the remaining bandits came out of it, because the siege was surrounded by three bandits, so that the bandits all converged at the city gate, and when they went out, they thought they could escape to the sea, and then left the island in a small boat hidden in the cave or grass by the sea.

But they didn't know that Shen Xi had already sent a large number of people to set up an ambush, and there were all kinds of tripping ropes and traps on the road, just like catching wild beasts, and these bandits escaped with only two results, either they were killed on the spot or captured alive.

The night was deep, and with the large-scale escape of the bandits in the earthen fort, the main battlefield changed from the area around the earthen fort to the east side of the island, and the firelight could be seen everywhere, and the sound of fighting came from all the time, which lasted until the second half of the night, and the island gradually quieted down.

At this time, the firewood piles around the castle had been extinguished, and the officers and soldiers successfully attacked the earthen fort and arrested the wounded and sick or the old and weak women and children left inside.

Shen Xi had not slept until dawn, and at dawn, he stood on a rock on the northwest shore of Jinzhou Island, looking out over the center of the island.

Jing Yue and others came back one after another, bringing back the latest information, and judging from all aspects, the results of this battle were extremely brilliant.

Jing Yue said with a smile: "My lord, you are really clever, after encountering smoke attacks, fire attacks and artillery strikes, the bandits inside really fled from the city gate, and the brothers along the way are like picking up credit, chopping one by one, it is too easy and freehand...... Hehe, let them guard the cottage as the turtle king with a shrunken head, this time it's dumbfounded! ”

Shen Xi was a little sleepy: "Count the results, I'll go back to the tent to rest, and ask for a reward for my merits in the afternoon!" ”

Jing Yue's eyes widened when he heard this, and he asked, "My lord, is this a reward for merit?" ”

Shen Xi nodded: "It's just about merit, I can't add an official to a knighthood for a while, and I'll talk about it after I write down the credit and return to Guangzhou Mansion, but the seized goods can be rewarded according to a certain ratio." ”

Jing Yue smiled: "What the adults said is that this war is not just for money and women?" Adults don't allow us to touch women, so we can only be greedy for money, to speak...... There are a lot of treasures in the walled city of this island of Jinzhou, and the brothers are all red when they see it, and there are tens of thousands of taels of silver in it alone, and there are even more broken silver and copper plates......"

Since the bandits on Jinzhou Island have such a strong walled city, it is not surprising that they have been in business for more than three years and five years, and it is likely that they will be more than ten years or even one or two generations.

Shen Xi didn't wait to go back to the tent to rest, Zhu Hong had already returned with people, but this time it was the women and children on the island who were escorted.

In the previous attack on the cottage, the adult males among the bandits were either killed or fled, and few sat idly by, and it was not easy for the officers and soldiers to catch prisoners under the black light.

After a battle, the men among the bandits were almost wiped out, and a few who survived may have been beheaded to share the credit.

In the calculation of military merits, the merit of a prisoner must be higher than that of a bandit, but I am afraid that in the end, the military merit will be counted, and the captive will be counted on the head of others, or the captive will be verified in the end, but in fact, the captive is just a slave.

Now that the person is cut, no one has confirmed their identity, and the credit is all their own, saving a lot of trouble.

Although Shen Xi was very disgusted with this kind of killing of prisoners, he had to admit that this was the temperament of the military households in this era, and it was not possible to change it overnight, and he couldn't work in the local government for a few years, and people went out of politics, so there was no need to spend so much effort to train the troops, so they could only let it go, as long as they didn't do anything to women and children.

To cultivate an army with strict military discipline, it takes a huge amount of effort, and Shen Xi asked himself if he couldn't eat and sleep together, so this kind of thing about training soldiers will wait until the body is finalized.

In the present situation, profit is more effective than majesty, and it can only make full use of human greed, not fear of power. Greed is eternal, fear is only temporary, which is more important, Shen Xi can tell clearly.

"Your Excellency."

Ma Jiu didn't know when he came to Shen Xi's side, he was the same as Zhu Hong, his eyes were red due to the smoke and fire and staying up late.

After a busy night, killing the bandits to the ground, and the seemingly impregnable fortress was easily captured, there was a sense of accomplishment, and the expectation of merit and reward was the time to be full of pride.

Shen Xi smiled and nodded: "Good job, first go and count the loot, and then interrogate the prisoners separately, see the origin of this group, and find out if they have any hidden property." Those who travel a hundred miles are half ninety, do not slack off, and must refrain from skin skills! ”

Ma Jiu ordered: "My lord, you go and rest first, we will definitely handle things properly." Brother Zhu, go! ”

After this battle, Ma Jiu had a lot of affection for Zhu Hong, not only because of the cooperation on the battlefield before, but also because he belonged to the same faction and needed to be unanimous with the outside world.

The army was now divided into two factions, one of which was the officers and soldiers of the guard station who were drawn from the three provinces, and the other was composed of the Governor Yamen and the Carriage and Horse Gang brothers, and Ma Jiu and Zhu Hong were the more influential figures in the latter.

For those who have military positions, it is very easy to determine military merits after the war, and they can do things according to the rules, but for Ma Jiu and Zhu Hong, the reward requires Shen Xi's approval, even if Shen Xi is a member of the court of the third grade, he cannot break the rules and promote them to military positions.

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ps: Today seems to be a double monthly pass, the son of heaven who is suffering from illness, please ask for the comfort of the monthly pass! (To be continued.) )