Finally, the boat rowed through the last bend, walked through the Luermen, entered the wide open sea, a bifurcated ripple followed behind the boat, then the moon slipped out of the dark clouds, the silver-white moonlight sprinkled on the sea, Wang Dake looked back, only to see a dhows rushing out of the waterway, turning to the southeast, the sound of gunfire gradually stopped, it turned out that he was not the only stowaway tonight. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

"Young Master, whose ship is that, making such a big move?"

"Hell knows!" Wang Dake shook his head: "Regardless of our business, old man, you come to take the helm for me and go to Anping City, don't take a fork in the road!" ”

"Oh, young master, don't worry, I'm very familiar with this needle path, and I won't make a mistake with my eyes closed!"

Chiji Street, Koi Hall.

"What, the Dutchman's boat ran away?" Du Gu covered his forehead, only to feel that there were two little ghosts inside who were hitting hard with a chisel, and it hurt his heart.

"Yes! Just now! Silva's face was also very ugly, but his emotions could not be heard from the words: "It is a spinnaker fast sailboat, which can only carry about a dozen people, but it can run thirteen or fourteen knots at the fastest." The Dutch were clung to the waterway and sailed on their side, and were halfway through by the time our men found them. The defenders opened cannons on it, while the Dutch on the shore opened cannons for cover, there was no moonlight, and the boats were small, so—"

"So you let the Dutch messenger run away unscathed?" Dugu interrupted Silva's explanation in an irritated mood, and he stood up and paced back and forth in the room irritably: "You have promised me that the Dutch ships will never be able to enter or exit through the waterway, and the artillery barracks will be enough to sink the enemy ships that enter the waterway. ”

"General Du!" Silva also raised his voice: "That's right, but the battery ramparts are not finished yet, and the two twelve-pounder guns have not been installed, and the test firing has not been completed. And it's just a fast sailing boat not much bigger than a small sampan, and the cage of the tiger can't stop the rats! ”

Dugu and Silva were like two fierce beasts facing each other, staring into each other's eyes, neither of them refusing to show weakness, as if they would scuffle in the next second. Finally, Du Gu finally shook his head and sighed, "Well, how long will it take you to complete the artillery barracks?" ”

"Six days at most!" Silva replied, "I propose to build a fort on this side of the Luermen as well, to ensure that the enemy cannot follow us and sneak in at high tide." ”

"Four days, I'll give you four days at most, and I can add it to you!"

"Okay, then four days!" Silva thought for a moment and said, "Actually, you don't have to be so nervous, it will take more than a month to go from here to Batavia, and then where the reinforcements will come back, our reinforcements have already arrived!" ”

"Mr. Major, you don't understand!" Du Gu sighed, he walked to the window, pushed it open suddenly, pointed to the Dutchman's city of Geranza on the sandbar in the distance, and said: "This is war, anything can happen in a war, I am thousands of people thousands of miles away, surrounded by the scheming Hokkien and natives, and opposite is the enemy's strong castle, do you think I may not be nervous?" ”

When the rising sun of the next day appeared on the horizon, Governor Thomson could see in the reflection of the washbasin that his eyes were bloodshot. He had not slept all night the previous night, and did not return to his lodgings until he watched the messenger-laden clipper sail out of the waterway, but as soon as his eyes were closed, the noose of the gallows and the executioner's axe flashed in his mind. Yes, the messenger for help had already departed, but it was just a small boat sailing on an inshore route, Batavia was thousands of nautical miles from the port of Dayuan, there were rough seas, there were native pirates, and the damned Spaniards along the way, any accident could happen, if it was under normal circumstances, he would have sent at least three boats, each taking different routes to ensure the arrival of the information, but now he didn't have that many ships at all.

"Lord Governor!" Teller's voice came from outside the door, and Governor Thomson hurriedly wiped his face casually: "Come in, what's the matter?" ”

"Your Excellency!" Teller pushed the door in, his face solemn: "I have a very important matter to report to you!" ”

"Is it a matter of fortifications or cannons?"

"No, it's neither! It's food, and we have to control it, and we have to ration it according to the capitation! ”

"Isn't the grain depot safe and sound?" Governor Thomson's face changed dramatically.

"Yes, the grain depot is safe and sound!" Teller nodded: "But the food in it is for the people who live in the castle and the lower city, after the Ming people attacked the street of Prominsha, they drove all the people there here, they are about six hundred, and we have almost twice as many people here." ”

"You mean this is a trap for the Ming people?"

"Now it seems so!" Teller nodded, "At first, I thought it was because of the night attack so I wasn't well prepared, but—"

"Damn it!" Thomson lowered his head, and after a moment he raised his head and asked in a low voice, "Then can we drive these people back again?" ”

"I'm afraid not!" Teller shook his head: "To drive so many people out of the castle is tantamount to letting them die, I'm afraid it will provoke their revolt, and many of them are merchants, and some of them will file a complaint against the company headquarters in Batavia!" ”

Governor Thomson's face became gloomy, as his subordinates said, the leadership of the East India Company was shrewd and decisive merchants, and they would acquiesce in the Governor's misdeeds against the natives, as long as it brought profit to the company, but they must not allow the Governor to watch the merchants die, because it violated the fundamental interests of the company, and it was with countless merchants from all over the world that the East India Company was able to make a fortune and a bulging purse. Even if Governor Thomson did this to save the port, under pressure from the merchants, the company's top brass would still throw him as a scapegoat.

"So what should we do?"

"My Lord, I have just cleared the warehouse, which originally had enough food for eight hundred people for six months, but now it can only be eaten for more than four months, and if all goes well, reinforcements from Batavia will arrive in three months, but we must be prepared for the worst." At this point, Teller paused slightly. Governor Thomson waved his hand impatiently: "Second Lieutenant, there are only two of us here, just say anything you have to say!" ”

"I propose that all the food be levied and managed centrally, and then rationed according to the capitation, and that men between the ages of 15 and 50 must undergo military training and receive a sufficient supply of food, and that the elderly and women be halved, and that the children be halved!" At this point, Teller paused, his eyes full of anticipation.

"I understand what you mean, just do it, I'll have someone draft this order right away!" Thomson nodded, he knew very well that this order would be hated, that giving only a quarter of the food to the children would make the parents want to eat his meat, but it was the leader's responsibility to make the right and hateful decisions.

"Yes, Lord Governor!" Apparently Teller breathed a sigh of relief.

and Lingle, Liu Cheng camp.

Snow-capped and endless.

Although Yang Sichang did not read much of the poems about the border fortress in the past dynasties, when he rode on horseback, crossed the side wall, and came to the city of Helinger, he still deeply realized that what was said in the book was one thing, but in fact it was the same thing.

When he finished discussing with Liu Cheng, he made the decision to besiege and Lingel at the military meeting. The army left Datong City and marched north. After that, the weather became colder and the surrounding area became more silent. The official road gradually turned into a potholed dirt road, the road is flanked by rugged hills and mountains, the top of the hill rises a series of beacons and watchtowers, and the farmland gradually disappears, replaced by patches of wilderness, even if you occasionally see a few villages, it is also deserted for a long time, and it looks ghostly. When you cross the side wall, you can see a vast meadow, and the snow falls, hiding everything underneath. I could only see a white expanse.

Of course, the most uncomfortable thing for Yang Sichang was the cold weather, and he had brought all the warmest clothes before leaving, but then found that it was not enough. It's really cold and scary, and the temperature is dropping. Whenever the wind blows, it cuts into his warmest sheepskin jacket like a sharp knife, as if he is ****. Thanks to Liu Cheng sending a sable fur, it is barely enough, this is still Mo Nan, if Mo Bei doesn't know what it looks like? Thinking that Liu Cheng actually went to Mobei to defeat the Great Khan of the Tuxie Tubu, Yang Sichang shuddered.

But like all journeys in this world, the expedition has reached its end. The Ming army reached the city of Holinger and easily surrounded the fortress, but the siege did not go well. The firearms of the defending side, especially the redcoat cannons, caused a lot of trouble for the attacking side. Three days earlier, a staff general had told Yang Sichang that one of his men had come to defend the city with a fellow countryman, and if he promised a heavy reward, he might be able to break through the city by bribing Neiying. Yang Sichang, who was helpless, was suddenly overjoyed, and he immediately promised to be exempted from the previous sin, rewarded with 5,000 taels of silver, and promoted to a large reward of generals. But in the end, this was just a trap, the night attack failed, and hundreds of elite soldiers were lost, and in desperation, Yang Sichang had to go to Liu Cheng's camp to ask for advice from this subordinate who made him a little jealous but helpless.

In front of Liu Cheng's camp was Liu Cheng, Yang Sichang wanted to get off the horse, but the soles of his feet were frozen on the stirrups, and the biting cold wind made his hands and feet stiff, and he almost fell off the horse. Cao Wenzhao, who was on the side, hurriedly jumped off the horse, carefully pulled it open for him, and held Yang Sichang's armpit with one hand and helped him off the horse.

"Master Overseer!" Gesang, who was on duty in front of the camp gate, hurriedly asked his subordinates to open the camp gate and go out of the camp to greet him. Yang Sichang paused for his completely numb feet and asked, "What about Liu Zhentai?" ”

"Tell the overseer, the lord is in the tent!"

"Lead the way, I'm going to see him right away!"

"Yes, sir!"

"You adults are here?" When Yang Sichang came to Liu Cheng's "handsome tent", he almost couldn't believe his eyes. This Ningxia commander-in-chief, who controlled about half of the strength of the besieging Ming army and held a high position, lived like a marmot in a low house only about half a meter above the ground.

"Not bad!" Gesang replied with a smile: "A few days ago, there was a strong wind, and the adults said that it must be cooled, so they asked the soldiers to dig a nest every six or seven people to avoid the cold. Not to mention, this thing is really good, it uses less material, it is easy to dig, it is also sheltered from the wind, and it is warm inside! Speaking of this, he walked to the door, knocked on the door twice, and shouted inside: "Open the door, Inspector Yang is here!" ”

Yang Sichang glanced at Gesang suspiciously, this thing is only so high from the ground, how can people live in it if they can't even straighten their waists. Just as he was puzzled, the door was pushed in, Liu Cheng poked his head out from the inside, and said with a smile: "It's really Master Inspector, it's frozen outside, come in and warm up!" ”

Yang Sichang just entered the house, a wave of heat rushed to his face, so that he subconsciously let out a pleasant sigh, he found that this not amazing appearance of the nest inside the ground, although the ground is only more than half a meter high, but inside is a seven or eight meters square, more than two meters deep pit, people in the inside do not feel cramped at all, in addition to a little stuffy in the room, warm as spring.

"My lord, give me your cloak quickly, or the snow on it will melt and get wet, and it will be troublesome!" Liu Cheng took Yang Sichang's cloak, shook off the residual snow on it, opened it and hung it next to the brazier to dry, stretched out his right hand and pointed to the earthen kang against the wall on the left, and said with a smile: "Come, let's talk on the kang, it's warm there!" You two, heat two bowls and drink, put more ginger slices and brown sugar in it, and then beat an egg! ”

"Not bad, not bad!" As soon as Yang Sichang sat on the kang, he felt a wave of heat seeping through his body, and his hands and feet, which had been blown unconscious by the cold wind, regained their strength, and they were numb and itchy: "Where did you learn this trick?" It's very convenient! ”

"Huh!" Liu Cheng handed Yang Sichang a sea bowl, and gave Cao Wenzhao a bowl, and said with a smile: "This thing is called Diwozi, and the people who go to Hetao to reclaim this thing live in it, and many people have nothing but clothes, a hoe, and an axe when they first go, let alone build a house." He dug a pit about ten feet deep in the ground, four or five steps square, and then built a two-foot-high wall around it with sun-dried mud bricks, made rafters from a few thick branches on the top, and then cut some reeds and spread a layer of mud. This time, I saw that the siege was not a matter of one or two days, so I used it! ”

Yang Sichang took a sip, only to feel that his mouth was hot and spicy, and his whole body suddenly became hot, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he couldn't help but ask curiously: "What are you, it tastes good!" (To be continued.) )