At the same time as dozens of fast horses galloped away in the capital, the calm Dagu mouth, under the shroud of the summer heat in the afternoon, some seabirds flew by from time to time, which made people a little restless. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

On the south bank of Dagukou, there are three forts. In addition to the main turret in the middle, there is a secondary turret on the left and right.

At this moment, at the right fort on the south bank, Lin Ruguang, the assistant general of Dagu, and Chen Yi, a guerrilla, were lazily lying in the earthen room of Fort Moon City, talking about this damn ghost weather.

"This hell weather, it's September, and it's still so hot! Hey, Lord Lin, if you want to say that you have been a staff general for a few years, you should be promoted, right? After being promoted to deputy general and becoming the chief general of our Dagu Association, you don't have to suffer from this! The right battalion of the Dagu Association guerrilla Chen Yi took off his military uniform and said shirtless.

"Think beautifully! If it was possible before, now, it's not possible! Speaking of this, Lin Ruguang, who was already hot and upset, said a little angrily: "Tell you secretly, don't spread it out and let the family know that it was Lin who said it!" In the past two days, news came from the Beijing Division, saying that the current emperor was purging the Han people, and it was carried out from those local officials first. The governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, the governor of Shaanxi, the minister of Qinghai and other Han officials were all relieved of their posts and escorted to the capital to wait for their fate. Lord Qi Liaozaoqi, a scholar of Tirenge University, you should have heard of it, it is a high authority, the second generation of emperors, but what about it, when I heard about it, I pleaded with the emperor for this matter, but I was refuted and resigned. ”

Chen Yi exclaimed: "This!? How can this court be like this, what do you really think of us Han people, this suspicion is too heavy! If that's the case, it's really hard to say, and there will be no good days in the future. ”

"Yes! Now we Han people are really angry at both ends! The court above doesn't trust us, and we always suspect that we are not of the same mind as them, and we are always on guard, but the brothers below privately scold us as traitors and lackeys of the Manchurians. Lin Ruguang complained a little angrily, "Look at that Nale He, who is just a small capital division of the fourth grade, it is said that he is still a subordinate of Lin, so he dares to point fingers at Lin, just because he is a flag man, Lin can only swallow his anger." ”

"Hey, it can't be helped. Who made this their flag-rich world! ”

Lin Ruguang sneered: "The world full of flags, if it goes on like this, I'm afraid it won't be able to sit for long!" You see, don't all the Manchu rivers and mountains have to rely on us Han people to support them? If the imperial court continues to be vigilant like this, we Hanchen will have no hope, and if we don't do it, we will all take refuge in the Cantonese thieves. Look how they cry! ”

Chen Yi gasped: "Lord Lin, be cautious!" If the outsider hears it and tells Nanal and the chief soldier above, it will be troublesome! ”

"What are you afraid of! Lao Tzu is conscientious and conscientious, guarding the Qing Dynasty for them, there is no merit and hard work! Lin Ruguang shouted.

Chen Yi had no choice but to change the topic and said: "Lord Lin, you said, this Dagukou, there is a big fort in the north of the Yangtze River, and three big batteries in the south of the Yangtze River, adding up to more than 100 cannons, as well as more than 200 small and medium-sized artillery, who can rush in from the sea!" I'm afraid that even the seabirds have advanced to the estuary. ”

Speaking of the coastal defense of this fort, Lin Ruguang forgot his dissatisfaction with the imperial court and answered: "Yes! Since the last time I was attacked by the long-haired thieves, I broke through the fort at once, and my good brother, the guerrilla general Long Ruyuan, was killed by the Cantonese thieves at that time. After the long-haired thieves occupied the forts, they also used explosives to blow up these forts, and all the artillery was destroyed, but the newly appointed governor of Zhili, Gui Liang Gui, ordered the platform to be repaired again. The cannons were brought from all over Zhili, and the 10,000-pound cannons were recast in bronze to have today's defensive scale. Otherwise, I'm really worried about the thieves attacking from the sea! ”

Seeing that the topic had been successfully shifted, Chen Yi hurriedly continued: "There are so many cannons, and our right fort on the south bank alone has 2 5,000-jin cast bronze cannons, 8 2,000-jin iron cannons, and more than 20 small cannons below 1,000 catties. Not to mention the main battery over there, I heard that there are 2 10,000-pound cannons. This big mouth can't be impregnable. ”

Lin Ruguang also said a little proudly: "No! The main fort on the south bank is not a 10,000-jin cannon, it is 2 12,000-jin copper cannons, and 2 8,000-jin copper cannons. Moreover, the fort is still made of unusually strong triple soil. Not to mention the Cantonese thieves, even if the foreigners came, they were only sunk by the 10,000-pound cannon. ”

Chen Yi sighed: "However, I heard that the Cantonese thief is different from the long-haired thief. The Cantonese thieves also bought foreign guns and cannons from foreigners, which should not be taken lightly. ”

Hearing this, Lin Ruguang remembered that the Cantonese thieves had occupied the entire south, and couldn't help but feel a little frustrated: "Yes." But now our gang of people are demons and traitors in the eyes of the Cantonese thieves, and it is impossible for us to abandon our family and go to the south to join the Cantonese thieves. It's better to do your best and let the fate of heaven be. ”

The two grumbled, chatted a few more words, and then fell asleep.

Suddenly, the low door of the earthen chamber was kicked open from the outside, Lin Ruguang opened his eyes, and was just about to get angry, but he heard a sentry who came in shouting: "Enemy attack!" General, enemy attack! ”

Lin Ruguang and Chen Yi turned over with a grunt, and Lin Ruguang shouted unhappily: "What enemy attack? Is it the bastard who doesn't open his eyes again, and he drove the boat to the warning area of the estuary? ”

A while ago, several groups of ships broke into the Dagukou warning area, if it weren't for the clever and filial piety of those boatmen, Lin Ruguang would have let them sink into the belly of the fish. He took it for granted that another fishing boat had broken into the mouth of the sea.

"No, it's a thief from the south, under the banner of a thief from the south! Each ship is a dragon flag with five stars on a red background, and I am afraid that there are one or two hundred of them. ”

"What?! One or two hundred ships? Is it the Cantonese thief in the south? Lin Ruguang kicked the sentry away, put on his armor, took his saber, and hurried out.

Cantonese thieves in the south! Nowadays, the officials of the Qing Dynasty, especially these military attachés, who do not know that the biggest enemy of the Qing Dynasty today is the Cantonese thieves in the south. I heard that the Cantonese thieves are invincible and invincible, so no one wants to meet the Cantonese thieves.

Chen Yi followed, and in addition to the earthen room, the two climbed up to the observation platform and looked at the northeast estuary, and their faces couldn't help but change greatly!

I saw that the sea at the end of the estuary was full of black and oppressive warships, faintly, and I saw several huge ships the size of the fortress moon city, slowly heading towards the estuary. On the warship, the dragon flag with five stars on a red background fluttered in the slight sea breeze, like a huge wave of red and black sea, heading towards the fort.

An oncoming depressing and murderous aura made Lin Ruguang and Chen Yi shiver in the heat.

Both of them were a little stunned! This is not only one or two hundred, but I am afraid that there are no less than five or six hundred! At a glance, the entire sea is covered with the whole sea, and I am afraid that the entire estuary will be filled!

Chen Yi's face changed greatly, and it took a long time before he gasped: "Damn, is this Guangdong thief still a thief?" With such a huge fleet, even the Dagukou Fort is difficult to hold! Just now, he was full of confidence that the Dagukou Fort was solid, but after seeing this overwhelming and huge fleet, he felt small for the first time, and even with it, this fort that made him proud of this three-fold soil pouring did not feel so strong and reliable.

And Lin Ruguang's face is even more earthy, just boasting about the Haikou and boasting that the fort is well defended, even the foreigners can only be beaten in ashes, and now, before the fight, just saw the fleet of thieves, he felt cold in his heart and couldn't speak.

This slap in the face is loud!

However, Lin Ru couldn't patronize this, he suddenly came back to his senses, gritted his teeth, and shouted: "Prepare for battle, prepare to meet the thief!" ”

At this time, the sentry on the lookout of the main battery half a mile away also spotted the warship on the sea, blew the horn and erected a flag to give the alarm.

Suddenly, the three batteries on the south bank began to be noisy, and the Qing soldiers ran out of the earthen room one after another, and under the leadership of their respective commanders, they ran towards the cannon of the battery and the earthen dam in front of the battery, ready to take position in front of the artillery, and wait for the bombardment of the fleet.