This batch of grain is related to the military and political affairs of the Manchu invasion, and if it can be snatched, it can at least delay the Manchu invasion for at least a few months, and it is imperative to grab the grain.

Fang Yuan pulled Qin Zhan and explained in a low voice, ordered Qin Zhan to stay here in Gong City, and secretly inquired about how many Jin merchants were involved in the sale of grain outside the customs this time, all of which were recorded, and prepared to settle accounts after the autumn. There is also the number of guards, time, and route of the Fan family's grain transportation.

He went to Xiangyang Village alone, joined up with Jing Jie and his party, first tested the results of the training, and if he was capable of attacking and killing on the battlefield, he would use this new army to raid the Fan family's grain transportation convoy.

Fang Yuan and Qin Zhan made an appointment to meet in Xiangyang Village five days later, so they single-handedly galloped towards Xiangyang Village with two Thunderbolt God Guns on their backs.

He only stayed at the post station all the way, and arrived at Xiangyang Village two days later.

This quiet mountain village is home to flocks of chickens and ducks, and birds singing and singing.

Fang Yuan walked on the path between the villages, with yellow rice fields on both sides, and the golden countryside scenery as far as his eyes could see.

At present, it is already May, and there are still three months left, which is the busy agricultural season, and there are less than five months before the Manchu Qing Dynasty re-enters the customs.

"Boom, boom!"

Three consecutive cannon shots came from a distance, needless to say, this was Li Zongze's old army practicing artillery bombardment these days.

Fang Yuan found a few village women, and asked Jing Jie, Li Zongze and their party to train in the wasteland on the hillside, so he rushed over directly.

Jing Jie and Li Zongze saw that Fang Yuan had arrived, and they hurriedly greeted him.

Fang Yuan saw that there were 10 medium-sized guns on the wasteland on the hillside, and there were also gunpowder and lead bullets on the side, and there were thirty or forty people practicing the loading and firing of artillery, all of them looked focused, full of energy, and their morale was high.

Fang Yuan nodded with satisfaction, called Jing Jie and Li Zongze, strolled along the mountain trails, and asked about the effect of this month's military training.

Li Zongze said, "Lord Fang, this batch of medium-sized guns of the Franco machine man is indeed of excellent quality, and it is much less than the explosion of the Ming Dynasty's self-made artillery. ”

Fang Yuan sighed secretly when he heard this, before Wanli, the level of firearms and artillery in the Ming Dynasty was indeed not inferior to that of the West. However, in the past 20 years or so, due to financial problems and the intervention of the Donglin Party, Tianqi and Chongzhen have put forward a bizarre theory that the national defense and security of the Ming Dynasty cannot be defended by razing guns and artillery, which has greatly curbed the research of advanced firearms.

Not only did it lag behind the West, but it was even inferior to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which started with cavalry and archery.

Back then, Yuan Chonghuan's Hongyi cannon could still gallop on the battlefield for a while, guarding the Ningjin defense line. However, in recent years, the Manchu Qing Dynasty imitated at least 40 general cannons based on the captured Ming Hongyi cannons, and their power was not weaker than the Hongyi cannons, and there were countless small general cannons, bird guns, and firearms equipped with various colors.

The power of the Manchu general's cannon had already begun to show its power in the Battle of Songjin.

Due to the lack of financial funds in the Ming Dynasty, only more than ten Hongyi cannons are still in the hands of Wu Sangui, the general soldier of Ningyuan, and the quality is not superior, and the quantity is far behind.

Therefore, Wu Sangui's surrender to the Manchu Qing Dynasty was not a rush to the crown and a red face, nor did he want to be a traitor, but a helpless choice forced by the situation.

Even if Wu Sangui did not surrender, with the dozens of general cannons currently equipped by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it would be enough to blast through the Shanhaiguan Pass and enter the Central Plains.

After the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, under the opening of the road by the generals' cannons, the cities in various parts of the Ming Dynasty had almost no resistance, and they were swept all the way, and all of them fell in just a few years.

The reason for the abandonment of firearms research and development after the Manchu Qing Dynasty was not only the need to rule the Han people, but also because there was no imminent threat of war. At least at the beginning of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's entry into the Central Plains, the imitation and research and development of firearms were absolutely racking their brains.

The trio came to the top of the hill and had a panoramic view of the artillery fire.

Jing Jie also asked the drone team to show Fang Yuan the results of the training.

He waved the flag, and the five drones flew in the air in a goose-shaped formation, hovering over the heads of the three people, and then straight into the sky, gradually flying away.

Jing Jie reported to Fang Yuanyu, "After many actual battles, the combat distance of this drone can reach 100 zhang, not 30 zhang." ”

100 zhang is 300 meters, so if you want to put it into actual combat, you need to be equipped with a telescope to accurately identify the target of attack.

Fang Yuan purchased a fishing mirror in the Taobao system, which not only expected the function of the telescope, but also adjusted the focal length to achieve the effect of magnifying and zooming in.

After spending 50 taels of silver, he bought five pairs of these fishing goggles, handed them to Jing Jie, and told him how to use them.

Jing Jie has seen a telescope, but he is still amazed when he sees this kind of lightweight and dexterous telescope that can still be worn in front of the pair.

Fang Yuan looked at the artillery battalion that was being trained by the air and land, as well as the drone team, but the shadow of the musketeer battalion was missing, and he asked in amazement, "What about the Mongols in Chigutai?" ”

Jing Jie hurriedly explained, "Chigutai said that the best way to practice cavalry warfare is to fight, take two hundred Mongolian cavalry, and one hundred knights of the Celestial Army, to the market outside the Guan, by the way, to see if you can sell the boss's perfume bottle to the Guanwai." ”

Fang Yuan asked again, "Have you purchased all the horses?" ”

Jing Jie said truthfully, "Chigutai reached a purchase and sale agreement with a Mongolian tribe, and bought 500 war horses for 20,000 taels of silver, and if needed, another 1,000 horses could also be provided." ”

It seems that the subjugation of Chigutai is really half the effort for the construction of this new-style army, and it is impossible for him to form a strong combat force in such a short period of time.

"Boom, boom!"

Fang Yuan looked at the artillery battalion that was firing continuously at the foot of the hillside, and asked again, "Third brother, according to your judgment, can this new-style army be put into actual combat now?" ”

Jing Jie was stunned and asked, "Boss, where do you want to attack?" ”

Fang Yuan said the idea of planning to rob the Fan family and transport 100,000 stone of military rations outside the Guanwai, but before Jing Jie could speak, Li Zongze had already spoken, "Lord Fang, if you want to beat the Fan family, you must take me with you, and don't blow up a few Fan family's dog legs, this tone can't be smooth!" ”

He also hated the town side fort bazaar, was injured and tied up by the Fan family, and demanded a ransom.

Jing Jie groaned and said, "To sneak attack this grain transportation team, you only need to dispatch a cavalry battalion and a drone team, and you don't need an artillery battalion." ”

Li Zongze said disappointedly, "I don't have my share in this expedition?" ”

"The artillery battalion should practice diligently to improve the accuracy of artillery bombardment.

Fang Yuan comforted Li Zongze, and then asked Jing Jie, "How long will it take for the cavalry of Chigutai to come back?" ”

Jing Jie folded his fingers and calculated, "He goes out every day for ten days, and now he has been out for eight days, and there are still two or three days!" ”

Fang Yuan secretly thought, anyway, it would take five days for Qin Zhan to hear the news, so let's wait in Xiangyang Village! It is just the opportunity to review the combat strength of this new army and to purchase the explosion-proof equipment needed for this field operation.

Explosion-proof equipment set, the price of Taobao system is 3,000 yuan / set, Fang Yuan's cavalry battalion this time is about 300 people, and the explosion-proof suit that needs to be purchased is 300 sets.

Fang Yuan put 300 sets of explosion-proof suits into the shopping cart and clicked to checkout, totaling 900,000 yuan;

purchase three more drones, plus several bottles of burning alcohol and several automatic lighters, totaling 60,000 yuan;

The total amount is 960,000 yuan

Freight: 9.6 million yuan

The total amount to be paid: 10.56 million yuan, converted into 105,600 taels of silver and 10,560 taels of gold.

"Host, please select [Gold Payment] [Silver Payment]"

Fang originally stored 10,000 taels of gold and 20,000 taels of silver in Yue Bao, before buying 400 bottles of perfume, he spent 1,200 taels of silver, and now the balance is 10,000 taels of gold and 18,000 taels of silver, and the interest paid by Yue Bao this month is about 400 taels of silver.

Fang Yuan chose [Gold Payment], and the system deducted 10,000 taels of gold from Yue Bao, and reminded that the purchased goods would arrive within three days.

On the third day, 300 sets of explosion-proof equipment arrived, and Qin Zhan, who was listening to the news in Gong City, also arrived in Xiangyang Village.

Qin Zhantan heard the news that the other seven Jin merchants did also participate in the sale of grain this time, because this grain transaction was very important, the eight Jin merchants were all in Gong City, plus 500 Mongolian mercenaries, gathered a 2,000-person grain protection team, and escorted the grain to the outside of the customs.

The route of the march was from Gong City, through Xuanfu Town, out of the Great Wall Pass, and finally to the Manchu sphere of influence. The whole journey is estimated to take two months, and the mighty convoy has already set off a day ago.

Fang Yuan estimated that such a huge food transportation team would travel no more than thirty or forty miles a day, and the target was huge, so he could track and attack at any time, but he didn't have to worry about flying into the sky.

The only thing that made Fang Yuan jealous was that it was not the Fan family's 2,000 escort team, these were mainly composed of family members and the combat power of the food guard team was not worth looking at.

However, when such a huge grain transportation team came out of the customs, Xuanfu Military Town would turn a blind eye, which shows that Wang Chengyin, the chief soldier, had already been bought by the Jin merchants.

When robbing these grain teams, what will the 20,000 border troops in Xuanfu Military Town do?

This is the biggest variable in this grain robbery operation!

The next day, the rumbling sound of horses' hooves sounded outside Xiangyang Village, and Fang Yuan, Jing Jie, and Li Zongze went out of the village to take a look, and it turned out to be the three hundred cavalry of Chigutai who had returned.

Fang Yuan distributed 300 sets of explosion-proof suits to each of the soldiers of the cavalry battalion and drone team who went out this time, as for how these explosion-proof equipment came from, Qin Zhan and Jing Jie didn't ask a word.

Fang Yuan knew that they must have doubts in their hearts, but Fang Yuan didn't want to say it, so they also knew about it and put away their curiosity.

This is the first time that the cavalry battalion and drone team of this new army have gone out, and Fang Yuan attaches great importance to it.

Each cavalry battalion soldier is uniformly equipped with two war horses, a set of explosion-proof equipment, a thunderbolt fire gun, a bird gun, two three-eyed eye guns, and a fine iron saber as standard.

The fighters of each drone team are a set of explosion-proof equipment, a military horse, a thunderbolt, a bird gun, and a fine iron saber as standard.

There is one drone for every five people, burning alcohol and a number of electronic lighters.

Under the leadership of Fang Yuan, Jing Jie, Qin Zhan, and Chigutai, three hundred heavily armed musketeers and drone teams slaughtered the huge grain transportation team of the Jin merchants.