The landing raiding team was under the unified command of Wang Zongyun, and the Ming army did not waste time on the road, and selected half of the elite to go straight to Longgang County. Ｘ

Liaodong Town is very expert in robbery. More than 1,000 people dealt with a county seat, and Wang Zongyun felt that it was too easy. When he saw the low Korean city walls, his jaw almost laughed.

The Xian army hurriedly closed the city gate, and was half frightened to death after seeing the flag of the invading army.

On the same day, Wang Zongyun sent troops to surround the four gates of the county seat, and the rear team commanded by Liang Hexiang drove out hundreds of people in the villages along the way. The Ming army built improvised siege equipment overnight. The next day, four long ladders were erected, and musketeers and a few small cannons were concentrated to suppress the fire at the head of the city. Jin Shiying was dressed in Jianzhou chain mail and iron-inlaid cotton armor, and the shield protected the upper body, leading the way.

Compared to the previous battles, the resistance of the Li Dynasty county was relatively weak. Jin Shiying jumped to the head of the city, his shield covered his body, and his heavy sword swept half a circle, driving away three or four Li Chaobing. Then the soldiers who followed the city jumped into the open space cleared by Jin Shiying, and after 5 Ming troops successfully landed in the city, the soldiers of the Li Dynasty dropped their weapons and fled.

A similar scene played out near all the ladders to the city, and Wang Dengyun waited for a long time until Jin Shiying opened the city gate after capturing the tower, and the Ming army poured into the county seat of the Li Dynasty.

The Ming army let the people of the Li Dynasty see what it means to "be like a comb for thieves and like a grate for soldiers", and the organization and equipment of the army were much better than those of the Liukou.

The county seat of the Li Dynasty was not large, and there were less than 10,000 residents in Longgang City, so the Ming army drove the residents out of the city first. The old, the weak, the sick and the disabled are concentrated on one side, and the young and strong men and women are on the other side. Then the various departments divided the area and looted house by house. Wang Zongyun selected half of the young women, and the other half was distributed among the soldiers.

Because he was in a hurry, Wang Zongyun did not disperse his men to go to the countryside to pull the net, he set his goal on the county seat. After staying in Longgang for a day, some soldiers were assigned to escort their children back to Nanpu, and the rest continued to Da'an Town. The city wall of Da'an is even lower than that of Longgang, and Wang Zongyun repeated the incident in Longgang.

Then there is Jiangxi County, where the fresh army is obviously prepared and mobilizes the young and strong people in the city to defend the city. The first round of the Ming attack was unsuccessful, and a number of people were lost. Wang Zongyun's carefully planned night attack was actually thwarted, which made him very angry. So he stopped besieging the city, concentrated his forces, spent two days building equipment, and on the third day, he chose the west gate to launch a strong attack.

The resistance in Jiangxi County was fierce, causing losses to the army, and the soldiers were resentful. After Wang Zongyun stepped into the shattered city gate, he only spit out two words, "Slaughter the city." ”

Because it was impossible for the ships of the fleet to transport away all the people in two counties and one town, in Longgang and Da'an, the Ming army was generally relatively restrained, content with plundering goods and goods, and did not kill too many people. The captive population was also limited to the selected young and strong, and most of the people who were of little use were merely guarded.

This time in Jiangxi County, Wang Zongyun relaxed military discipline and allowed soldiers to plunder and kill at will in the city. Some of the fast-legged residents escaped through the city gates that were not surrounded by the Ming army, where the Ming army only had a few vigilant and watchful squads, which were powerless to stop them.

But most of the inhabitants did not succeed in escaping, and they were devastated. Except for a few selected young people, the others were slaughtered by the Ming army.

A few days later, the Ming army escorted Li Chaoqing and the captured materials back to Nanpu, carrying people on their backs, horse-drawn carts, ox carts, wheelbarrows, and various means of transportation.

Korea was indeed poor, and the three counties were defeated, and only less than 10,000 taels of silver, jewelry, and some silk cloth were seized, and the most valuable property was the more than 6,000 prisoners of war. It was almost inevitable that the Ming army had hidden some of the results of the war, and the several parties divided the open spoils of war.

After that, the wind was westward for several days, and it was not suitable to return to Shandong, so the troops were divided again.

The Nanhai was also to join up with the Melville in Weihaiwei, and the rest of the warships were commanded by Medina, the captain of the Raphael, to form a temporary Medina detachment. The Raphael was the flagship, joining the Tempest, with all 16 Southern Junk ships and 5 Liao ships for a total of 23 ships, which was the largest number of ships that the Jincheng Navy and the Chinese pirates had been able to pilot after the capture of prisoners. Only precious metals and cotton cloth were left behind in the order, and all other supplies were loaded onto the Medina detachment. On average, each ship carried more than 200 prisoners of war, all of whom were locked in small cabins.

The fleet will no longer use the route close to the Chinese coast, and will sail directly from Nanpu to Keelung Port. The Chinese pirates had cooperated with the Jincheng Navy for a long time, and Wang Huizhi's people gradually became familiar with the navigation of the open sea, and he did not reject this too much.

When saying goodbye, Shou ordered to Medina: "Pay attention to those junk boats, the waves are strong in winter, and if there is an accident, try your best to rescue them." ”

"I will, Your Excellency. It's only 900 nautical miles, so don't worry too much. ”

Shou Xuan nodded and held out his hand, "Then, Mr. Medina, we'll see you in Keelung." ”

"See you in Keelung, Your Excellency."

After Medina returned to the Raphael, the detachment put away its sails, sent small boats to tow the big boats, sailed out of the bay along the current of the Datong River to the Yellow Sea, and then sailed south.

Looking at the distant shadow of the fleet, Shou Xiang could only pray silently in his heart, hoping that there would be no large-scale shipwreck.

Now the expeditionary fleet is left with only one battleship, the Nanhai, which carries part of the marines, army companies, and sailors less than 300 people.

Among the rescued slaves, there were more than 300 former Ming soldiers, and in order to reward them for their contributions in the capture of the Li Dynasty's cities, the order allowed them to take away the better brothers and friends in their slave careers, and there were 500 people in the end. There were still more than 500 Ming troops left. Shou ordered to hand over the remaining 8 Liao ships to them to pilot. These Ming troops also allocated hundreds of Korean women, and eight ships were only enough for them.

Over the next few days, the Nanhai and eight ships piloted by the Ming army waited in Nanpu for the right wind direction. However, no Li Dynasty's army dared to attack this fleet entrenched at the mouth of the Datong River, but the weather was as cold as a day, and the Ming army was a little frightened when they got to the rear. Shou Xian is also worried that the next cold wave in this weather may freeze all the ships in Nampo overnight, and it will be difficult to do it then.

Many of the people on the Nanhai are southerners, and they are very uncomfortable in this icy Liaohai. There was plenty of fuel on board, and the orderly operation allowed the galleys to extend the hot water supply time, and many sailors simply stayed near the galleys and flues, where it was warmer.

After consulting with the Ming army, like the Medina detachment, the dinghy towed the sails and sailed out of the bay. After going out to sea, you can clearly feel a strong northwest wind.

Dengzhou is located at one Duoluo point south-west of the Datong River Estuary, and a direct flight to Dengzhou means that there will be frequent winds in the Yellow Sea, and the voyage is not too long, which is not too much of a problem for the Nanhai. But Shou Xiang promised to bring these Ming troops home, even if the materials for the ships in Jianzhou were solid, Shou Xiang was very worried about whether the Ming army would lose the rudder.

The order was decided not to be swept in the Yellow Sea, and the route was to sail at the angle of the maximum crosswind that the Liao ship could bear, and the starboard side was close to the windward, sticking to the wind direction of 7 compass points. Shou Xiang has calculated that if there is no accident, the voyage will probably reach the vicinity of Weihaiwei, but the Junk ship generally has the problem of large displacement of the sailing side, and the northwest wind means that the fleet will be pushed to the East China Sea. At the same time, he made a plan to arrive in Jiangsu, but that was also to return to China, which was better than staying in North Korea and being frozen.

Thanks to careful care, Ronald, the first mate of the South Seas, is recovering well, but is not yet able to get back to work immediately. Shou Zhi could only sail with the captain of the Nanhai and the two small staff officers of the fleet as he did when he was the captain, and he took the initiative to choose the dog class with the early morning.

There were heavy waves along the way, and the night was even more bitterly cold. Orderly put on the thickest leather coat and a cloak with a fox fur collar. Standing on the deck, Shou Xiang was pleased to see that these Ming army sailors who fought in the waves of the Liaohai Sea all the year round had high navigation skills, and in the late Ming Dynasty, the sailors of the southern provinces were actually out of a state of abandonment, and only Zheng Zhilong's human ships had the ability to fight. The Dengzhou Naval Division in the north and the Tianjin Naval Division were obviously much stronger than the Southern Naval Division, they were on the front line, and the Ming Army was indispensable in all major wars with the support of the Naval Division.

Cautiously bypassing the islands at the mouth of the Datong River, there was no need to worry about reefs for the rest of the voyage, and the fleet was free to sail. The mouth of the Datong River is only about 160 nautical miles from the Shandong Peninsula, and the speed of the fleet is 4 knots. There was a burst of cheers on the warships of the Ming army, and seeing the Shandong Peninsula meant that it was not far from home.

There were navigation sailors provided by the Ming army on the Nanhai, and they carefully compared the channel markings in order, and finally confirmed that the front was near the mountain head of the Shandong Peninsula, and if they deviated a little further to the east, they could really only go to Jiangsu.

The Shandong Peninsula was in sight, and the fleet began to sail westward, making a zigzag movement. The Nanhai and the Ming army were still relatively well-manned, but when they arrived at Weihaiwei in five days, all the sailors were almost paralyzed from exhaustion, and had no choice but to sail into Weihai and hide in the anchorage behind Liugong Island to avoid the wind and waves.

It's always a joy to be a teacher. Only 50 crew members were left on the Melville before the orderly, and they have only caught four whales near Weihaiwei these days. After the wind and waves became stronger, the Melville simply stopped whaling and set up camp on Liugong Island.

There are some merchant ships anchored in the bay of Weihaiwei to hide from the wind, and there may be some of them who are on the edge of maritime merchants and pirates, but the Melville is a Hongyi plywood ship after all, and still has 4 self-defense 4-pounder guns and 4 swing guns, so no one came up to trouble during the anchorage.

The Nanhai departed from Taipei, except for a short stay on Miaodao Island for a few days, and was in a state of sailing, and the wind sailing before arriving in Weihai was more expensive. Shou Xuan decided to rest on Liugong Island for a while.

Wang Zongyun and the others resigned to Shou Xu: "Your Excellency, the soldiers want to return to Dengzhou as soon as possible, and we also need to return to the Ministry and the Academy." After we had discussed it, we decided to go back by land. ”

Shou Order: "Weihai is more than 300 miles away from Dengzhou, are you sure it's okay?" ”

Chen Zhijun said: "Lord Xie cares, we are Dengzhou soldiers, not guest soldiers, no problem." ”

Liang Hexiang said: "We have a warrant from the head of the ministry, and you can rest in the guard on the way back to the division, and you will go back in seven or eight days." ”

Shou Xuan nodded, "Okay, then I won't send you away." ”

Jin Shiying also bid farewell to Shou Xuan and rushed to Dengzhou with Wang Zongyun, he needed to restore his status in the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible and get a military position. Before leaving, he handed over the people he had brought back from Liaodong to Shou Xuan to take care of.

More than 500 people followed him back to China, and during the plundering of the Li Dynasty, these people were given silver, so more than 200 of them offered to return home after arriving in Weihai. This is as it should be, in order to ensure that they can have sufficient travel expenses, Jin Shiying not only gave them his share of silver, but also borrowed 500 taels of silver from three Ming army thousand households. Wang Zongyun and others agreed to borrow money without thinking about it. After Jin Shiying was loyal to the martyrs, he made great contributions in this battle, and he saw that he was a figure that the imperial court wanted to reuse.

The remaining 300 people are homeless and can only live on Liugong Island for the time being. Fortunately, Zeng Ying was very trustworthy in business, and 9,000 stone of grain was transported on time on the island, so she didn't have to worry about food, and she naturally agreed to come down.

Compared with the negotiated price, 1,000 stone less, the order to find the first mate of the Melville, Jacques. Rossilie, "Why is there less food?" ”

"Your Excellency, the Chinese who transport grain say this is called 'drifting'", Jacques. "They also said that because Dengzhou is relatively close to Weihai, the proportion of 'drifting' is very small. ”

Well, the unspoken rules.

In the next few days, there was nothing to do, and Shou Xian built some temporary wooden houses on the island so that the soldiers could go ashore to rest. The people left behind by Jin Shiying just provided the labor force. Weihai is an ice-free port, the temperature in the sea area of Liugong Island is relatively high, there is fresh water, and the north of the island is a mountain peak with an altitude of more than 150 meters, which shelters the cold wind. The southern part of the island is relatively gentle, and the camp is set up here. The island was densely wooded, so there was no need to land to collect wood, and the order only sent some people to buy some carpenter's tools and nails.

Stationed on Liugong Island, Shou Xian had free time, and he began to sort out the debriefing report on the expedition submitted to the Senate. The Taiwan part of the report is in charge of Maiden, and the part of going north to the Liaohai can only be handled by himself.

Dealing with Ming officials and capturing the Li Dynasty would not be a big problem.

The focus of the contradiction was on the Battle of Dadonggou, where the battle with Jianzhou was costly and the gains were small.

In the Age of Discovery, the first contact of adventurers from Europe was often war. The Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British, all began their dealings with the Ming Dynasty with war. War will give both sides a clear understanding of each other's strength and limits, and lay the foundation for future exchanges.

War is embodied in the projection of power, which is directly proportional to the strength and material and inversely proportional to the distance. This is the same regardless of the principle of land and naval warfare. Emerging regimes often have a kind of outward expansion and inertia. The expanded frontier is the balance between the military power that can be projected and the strength of the enemy's army. This border is difficult to accurately judge before the war, and only the cost of one mistake will make the expanding side understand where the limits are.

Shou Xuan wrote this in the report, and he did not mean to excuse himself, and he admitted in the report that he had misjudged. The Battle of Dadonggou proved that Jincheng now did not have the strength to show a military presence in North China.

But where is the limit of this boundary, the order is still not found. Maybe in the Yangtze River,