At this time, among all the nobles of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Sheng was undoubtedly the best-looking general.

He is in his thirties, tall, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, and a symmetrical and upright face; His skin is naturally lighter, and he looks cleaner and neater than most of the martial artists in the army. Because he was born with a dignified appearance, Liu Sheng also pays attention to his words and deeds, and has a somewhat elegant temperament.

Under Liu Sheng's humble surface, people will always feel a restrained arrogance. Occasionally, he would say a few words and summarize some truths in front of the soldiers; It makes everyone half-understand and understand, but they feel unfathomable.

Now he was standing on top of a sand boat, staring at the undulating sea. The crimson cloak wafted in the wind.

From the mouth of the Songtai River (near present-day Haiphong City) to the mouth of the Ma River in Thanh Hoa Province, the sea route is about 300 miles, and the voyage takes only a few days. Liu Sheng estimated that the fleet was almost at the place.

As the eunuch Hou Xian said, the prodigal son on this sea route is not big, and everyone has a smooth journey. Liu Sheng was the first time to go to sea by boat, and he really had a sense of novelty, so he often watched from the side of the ship. His expression was indifferent, but he was only pretending to be calm; As a scholar who reads and writes, of course, he can't experience something new and be ecstatic.

This is not the first time Liu Sheng has seen the sea. I saw that the sea and sky in the south seemed to be more vivid in color than in the north, and when the wind and waves were calm, it was very beautiful from a distance.

However, when he really got to the sea, Liu Sheng felt that it was by no means as beautiful as it looked; All it takes is a slight wave of wind and waves to make the ship jolt. The power of the sea, and the feeling of being helpless on all sides, can quickly inspire awe.

Luckily, the fleet sailed inshore, and during the day, I was able to see the western coast and land with my eyes, which was a lot more reassuring. Fleets that go to sea generally try to sail close to the land, rather than easily going to endless places; I am afraid that it is because there is no one who is not afraid of the sea.

At this moment, a naval commander came up, hugged his fists and said: "Dashuai, look at the movement in the sky, there may be a gust of wind and waves in a while, or it will rain." Ask the marshal to leave the side of the ship and sit in the cabin, or find a place to lean on. ”

Liu Sheng nodded, he had no experience in sailing, and of course he would follow the advice of the sailors. He glanced back, then turned and walked straight into the cabin. At this time, some sailors were pulling the rope (pulley) and lowering the hard sail on the mast.

In the cabin, Liu Sheng sat down on a chair that leaned against the wall of the ship, nailed to the place, very secure.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the undulating and shaking of the hull to become more and more violent. Liu Sheng grabbed the armrest of the chair, otherwise he would be rolling around in the cabin in embarrassment. The bumpy take-off and landing of the ship makes people worry about whether the hull will fall apart.

Outside, there was a loud noise ...... "boom", and the sound of waves and rain swept the whole sea roughly. At this time, almost no one could walk around the ship, or even fight, and only those experienced sailors and soldiers could continue to move on the ship. They were as dexterous as monkeys, and with their arms they found a place to borrow strength, and moved around along the walls of the ship.

However, the most violent gust of wind and waves lasted only a short time, and soon the bumps were small. It rained for a long time.

"There is no land in sight to the west!" A word came from outside the cabin.

Liu Sheng asked, "What's going on?" ”

The guards immediately went outside the cabin to inquire. After a while, a eunuch walked in, staggered his fists and saluted, and said, "Don't worry, big handsome. According to the nautical chart, there is a bay to the north of the mouth of the Thanh Hoa Ma River. So when we got here, we had to change direction and go west, and out of the bay was the mouth of the Majiang River. ”

Liu Sheng nodded and asked, "When can we arrive?" ”

The eunuch said: "Back to the marshal, I will go to Majiangkou within today." After a pause, he added, "There is a deep-water haven in Champa and Hoi An, and since the Song Dynasty, our coastal merchants have often anchored there, and it was later named 'Xinzhou Port' (Da Nang). In the waters north of Xinzhou Port, a large number of Han merchants have been coming and going for at least hundreds of years, and we are very familiar with them, and we will never make mistakes. ”

When Liu Sheng heard this, he suddenly became more relieved.

The eunuch spoke vigorously and talked about things that had nothing to do with the battle, "The port of Xinzhou is the best port in Annam and Champang, and the bay is blocked by mountains and forests on several sides, and the wind and waves are calm; The water in the harbor is very deep, and the largest spire boat can sail unimpeded.

The Persian people, the swarthy merchants of Western countries, and the Han merchants would choose this place to stop for supplies whenever they came to the south; The Champa set up a government to collect taxes not only on ships but also on shops in ports, which made a lot of profits. In the past, the Chen Dynasty of Annan used troops against the Champa State many times, and there was a reason for envy of this place; So much so that at the beginning of Yongle, the Ming Dynasty conquered the Hu clan of Annan, and the king of Zhancheng worked very hard to help the Ming army. The depth of the grudge between the two countries is not a matter of one or two years......"

Liu Sheng said: "When these things are returned to Beijing, the saint will be entertained, and the saint may be interested." But this time, we will not go to Xinzhou Port, only to Majiangkou, the purpose is to attack Thanh Hoa. ”

"Yes." The eunuch hurriedly bent down and bowed.

The eunuch was right, in the afternoon of the same day, nearly 200 warships of various sizes and sizes of the Daming Navy Division entered the Majiang Estuary one after another. On the surface of the Majiang River, the sails cover the water, as if the entire river is blocked, and the scene is very grand.

More than 20,000 people from Liusheng's army decided to land on the south bank of the Ma River. Because Thanh Hoa is also located on the south bank of the Ma River, and there is a wharf at the mouth of the river, which is also located on the south bank.

That pier could not meet the needs of so many people to land at all, and the Ming army needed to use flat-bottomed sand boats to rush directly to the shallows and force the landing.

When the imperial court planned the strategy of "surprise attack on Qinghua", it also took this into account, so the sea ships and the two Guangxi Fujian sailors mobilized were mainly sand boats. The warships commonly used by the maritime divisions of the Ming army, in addition to the sand boats, also the wide ships and the Fu boats, are wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, and they are very afraid of running aground; Only sand boats are not afraid.

Several sand boats were carrying foot riders and rushed to the shallow water first. After people used bamboo poles to probe the depth of the water, some people and horses jumped straight into the river, wading ashore, some changed to small boats, rowed to the shore, and even war horses also went up.

As soon as they came ashore, they searched deep into the land to find out what was going on with the enemy.

Liu Sheng was still on his ship, leaning on the railing and looking out over the land. This place is very close to the sea, and the water may be salty, because Liu Sheng found that there is a section of beach near the river where there is almost no vegetation. Farther afield, it is lush with woods and grass, and some village houses loom among the grass and trees.

Only there is a village on the other side of the wharf, and a few people can be vaguely seen. In addition, looking from the river, only the Ming army was left on land.

Two ships docked at the wooden wharf next to the village and town

Many Ming soldiers disembarked from the boat, and many of them were still leading their horses. The land gradually became lively, but it gave a sense of calm, because there were no enemy troops and no conflict.

After a long time, someone came to the beach and shouted at the flagship in the river: "The scouts have not seen the enemy, and they have not seen the enemy......

A flag on the flagship waved for a moment at a specific rhythm in response. Liu Sheng also heard the shouts of the scouts with his own ears, so he ordered: "All ships, one after another, go ashore." As soon as the soldiers went ashore, they built ditches and fortifications and established barracks. ”

The soldiers clasped their fists and said: "Order!" ”

Moments later, the ship's flag band sounded the trumpet, and several flags waved repeatedly. Some warships in the distance also blew the same horn, and the simple military orders of the Chinese army were thus conveyed throughout the river.

Liu Sheng couldn't wait to order the ship to the dock, and when the two ships left, he immediately landed on the shore.

The officers and men who had just landed were a little confused, and some of them seemed to be unaccustomed to navigation, lying on the side of the road and vomiting constantly, and the evil voice sounded very uncomfortable. On the contrary, it was Liu Sheng, who took a sea boat for the first time, and there was nothing to do after getting off the boat.

The Ming army sent people to the villages and towns and drove the remaining villagers away. However, in accordance with Liu Sheng's order, the soldiers sent some well-made fishing nets, cloth, copper coins and other things to the villagers as a reward for requisitioning houses.

Before the Beijing camp set out, Emperor Zhu Gaoxu repeatedly told the soldiers not to plunder as much as possible, and not to unproductively arouse the hatred of the local natives. (Even if it is necessary to plunder the necessary military supplies, it should be carried out in an orderly manner and the destruction should be reduced, so that the people cannot survive if they are robbed of all their things.) ）

Liu Sheng is very receptive to the emperor's holy decree. He felt that he was leading the "king teacher" of justice, and of course he couldn't do those dirty things, so as not to make his face disgraced.

And some officials of the army, minions sent by the civil official Hou Hai, took the opportunity to take the translator to the villages and towns and began to preach the rhetoric of who was right and who was wrong. Regardless of whether the natives were literate or not, the officials also distributed some paper documents; Others even pretended to be enthusiastic and helped the villagers push wooden carts. That scene reminded Liu Sheng of those deceitful cults in the local area, and he also persuaded people when he saw them.

The riverside was full of sand boats, and more and more soldiers were trying to find a way to go ashore, or wade through the water or rely on small boats that rowed back and forth. Some lighter Hongwu cannons were also the first to be lifted to the shore, and the muzzle of the Hongwu cannon (mortar cannon) was very large, but the gun body was relatively thin, and the weight was light; On the contrary, the Hanwang cannon with a small muzzle, the smallest "Xuan" font weighs thousands of pounds at every turn, and it must be transported to the dock by car.

The two pro-soldiers carried a roll of maps and pulled them open in front of Liu Sheng. Liu Sheng once again confirmed the location and topography of Thanh Hoa City, and from the mouth of the Majiang River to the west, he could march west for dozens of miles to reach Thanh Hoa City.

The rebels apparently did not expect that the Ming army would drive long from the sea into their lair. The absence of any enemy troops on the Ma River makes it surmised that the rebel army had not deployed river defenses at all.

Suddenly attacked, Liu Sheng also wanted to start marching into Thanh Hoa immediately. But the army had to come ashore from countless ships, and put their numbers in order; It will take at least a few days to transport military rations, ammunition, and ammunition and to establish a stronghold and warehouse on the shore.

Liu Sheng had no choice but to order scouts to be sent to investigate the military situation in Qinghua City, while waiting for the army to be properly organized.

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