Shells poured wildly towards the west, explosions one after another, and balls of light exploded in the air and on the ground, knocking the Mongols a mile away on their backs.

In particular, those cannons showed strong lethality.

Every shell fired, at such a close distance, the shell was rampant, and under the huge potential energy, no flesh and blood could resist it.

And even a cannon of 75 mm caliber will not turn into a ricochet because of the distance. Often, after killing several people, it explodes.

The artillery of the heavy artillery regiment was even more tyrannical, and every cannon shell could rush out of the crowd at least tens of meters, and some even hit hundreds of meters.

But after these shells were fired, they immediately formed a blood-drenched channel, and after the explosion, they could kill one piece.

On this not very well-lit night, the artillery could only fire blindly.

That is, the Mongols stole the camp from the west, and the artillery fired to the west.

Even if it was a blind shot, it still caused heavy casualties to the Mongols.

When it comes to firing cannons, you only need to grasp the general direction, but in this plain area, it is the most suitable for playing in front of the battle.

Cannons, on the other hand, shoot at places where the number of enemies may be concentrated.

The thunderous shelling continued to echo across the Hetao Plain, and the violent artillery sound could still be heard clearly from a hundred miles away.

Hundreds of miles away, the sound of explosion and thunder can be faintly heard.

And when you look into the sky, you will find the rising points of light, these small points of light rise into the sky one after another, like bright stars, which makes people's hearts shake.

It's just that the Mongols didn't feel so good, and the shells of the Ming army kept coming, causing them great chaos.

In the darkness of the night, they could clearly see shells rushing into their formations or falling from the sky.

The Mongol horses were not trained as the Manchus were and were extremely difficult to control under artillery fire.

Horses are very timid domestic animals, and when frightened, they will run wildly.

The Mongols who attacked the camp at night were in disarray, and the horses were no longer under their control, some were overturned and dismounted, and some were trying to control the horses and were running around.

The owners of the horses who were not yet frightened, frightened by the fierceness of the artillery fire, turned their horses and ran!

The night raid has failed so much that it can't fail anymore, so when will you not run now?

Under heavy shelling, the Mongols began to retreat. And the Shandong army did not chase it, but kept firing artillery in the back, the cannon kept firing, and the howitzer was constantly extending the trajectory.

And the infantry also quickly sorted, and more than a dozen carts were pushed out of the barracks.

'Boom ......', sparks flashed on the car, and suddenly a burst of strong light came out of the car, and the surroundings instantly became transparent, and the dazzling light instantly illuminated the distance of thousands of meters ahead.

Arc light!

It turned out that the car was equipped with arc lights, and the price of arc lights was not too expensive, and the cost was about the same as the shells of several 200-caliber heavy guns.

The arc lamp was installed on the cart and used in combat. 2,000 batteries make this lighting tool indeed a little cumbersome, but the light is very strong, and it still has military application value.

As soon as the arc lights were turned on, the infantry behind quickly stepped forward to clear the battlefield and deal with the dead and horseless Mongols under the illumination of the arc lights.

And the shelling continues at this time!

The Mongols certainly didn't run more than three thousand meters away, so the cannon continued to fire, but the howitzer had stopped firing.

Howitzers are used to support infantry advances, and do not have the lethality advantage of cannons.

The infantry who poured out of the barracks first cleared the mines on the ground, and they knew where the drum ignition was buried, as long as the drum ignition was unloaded.

Sure that there was no danger of accidental detonation, the infantry rushed into the mine belt and began to clear the battlefield. Those wounded Mongols were all stabbed with a single shot, and the bayonets were stained with blood!

The Mongols, who had fled to a distance, looked back from afar and found that the Ming army camp was lit up with a strong light, and they couldn't help but be horrified.

The next day, the results came out.

Yesterday, the Mongols attacked by surprise, and under the double blow of mines and artillery, they lost more than 32,000 people, and the operational command estimated that the number of Mongols may be only 70,000 or 80,000.

But in fact there were 90,000 Mongols!

However, many of them were scattered in the night attack last night, and the Mongols gathered their men at dawn, leaving only 70,000 men, but some others returned.

There was a suffocating depression and frustration throughout the Mongol army.

The tragic and tragic defeat in the night, coupled with the bright light they saw in the Ming army camp, all kinds of rumors spread among the tribes.

One of the most widely rumored versions says that Changshengtian is no longer attached to the Mongol warriors, and yesterday it was Changshengtian who was helping the Ming army.

This caused deep panic among the Mongols.

The Mongols, with their chaotic command and scattered system, were unable to control the rumors, and as soon as the rumors were announced, they collectively fell into a panic, and the leaders of the various tribes immediately began to discuss countermeasures.

It was impossible for them to attack the Ming army head-on, and the fierce artillery fire was definitely not something they could resist.

However, if they attacked at night, the lesson of last night was even more bloody, so that the leaders of several tribes could no longer come to this discussion.

Because they're dead!

Some were killed directly by mines, some were killed by shells, stoned, blown up.

The atmosphere was very depressing, so oppressive that it made people suffocate several times, and these leaders didn't know what to say at this time, and they had lost all their options in the face of the Ming army that wanted to kill them.

Of course, there is another way.

That is unconditional surrender, I believe that under such a decision, the Ming army will not fight again, but no one spoke first, and other ideas seemed stupid, and no one was willing to say it.

After nearly half an hour of stalemate, someone finally spoke.

The crowd was silent for a while.

Surrender!

It has become their only option.

…… The infantry brigade that marched again had already dispersed this time, and it was impossible to catch up with the Mongols in such a large place as the Hetao.

Spread out and it will be much simpler to catch up with them.

Yesterday, I learned from the captives that the Mongols had slaughtered many horses, and their mobility was not as good as before, but the combat command was not in a hurry.

Anyway, the more it drags on, the more disadvantageous it is for the Mongols, and the most important thing is not to be robbed of logistics and supplies by the Mongols in the pursuit.

But again, the Mongols sent emissaries.

The Mongols knew each other very well, and this time they unconditionally honored Zhao Yan as the Khan of Heaven, and laid down their arms and let them be disposed of.

When it comes to this, the Mongols don't want to do this and have to do it, at least there is a glimmer of life.

Liu Heng did not make any promises to the Mongols, but only asked the Mongols to surrender a day later, otherwise they would continue to attack.

After the envoy returned to pray, the next day the Mongols arrived as promised.

With the sound of a muffled trumpet, the Mongols rallied five miles away from the Shandong army, which sent a brigade to accept the surrender of the Mongols.

Under the orders of the leaders of the tribes, the Mongols laid down their arms one by one and were brought under control.

On that day, more than 80,000 Mongols were imprisoned in concentration camps.

As for how to deal with these Mongols, Liu Heng can't make the decision, and the instructions given by Zhao Yan before are not applicable under the current situation.

So Liu Heng sent people to report the situation of the Hetao battle to Shandong at an expedited speed of 800 miles.

…… At this time, it was already the end of April, and some areas of Dongsanfu and Liaodong had already harvested this year's winter wheat.

In terms of fertilizer, this year's fertilizer factory has begun to step up the production of fertilizer, and the fertilizer factory currently produces phosphate fertilizer and uses animal bones.

With the development of Shandong's livestock industry, more livestock were slaughtered, and all those bones were collected and used to produce phosphate fertilizer.

The grain in the three eastern provinces alone is enough for the whole of Shandong to eat.

But with the increase of population, it is impossible to transport abroad, only sweet potatoes can be transported, but the agriculture in the north and northwest has begun to recover after being less disturbed by thieves and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, except for disaster relief, there is basically no need for sweet potatoes.

And what kind of relief, now basically no more, can't survive, you can come to Shandong, and you can also get land. Due to the preferential treatment of immigrants, a large number of people come to Shandong every day after increasing publicity.

Wang Shishi is one of the immigrants.

He is a native of Songjiang, and his family has been weaving for a living, and has been working for five generations, all of which are engaged in the textile industry, but since the cotton cloth in Shandong has been woven by better machines, the price of cotton cloth has dived year after year, and now it has dived to the point of extremely cheap, which has made him lose his income and make it difficult to support his family.

There are a large number of people like him in Matsue.

I heard that the general vigorously encouraged the people to go to Shandong in Shandong, and not only did the children go to school without money, but the school was responsible for the food, and some pocket money would be distributed every month.

This is undoubtedly a huge temptation for Wang Shi, who has five children.

At the same time, in Shandong, it is not necessary to pay for medical treatment. In terms of taxation, it is similar to the current tax exemption system for industry and commerce in the Ming Dynasty, although Shandong collects business taxes, but does not collect workers' money.

Moreover, I heard the propagandists of the Shandong Recruitment Bureau say that as long as you go to Shandong, if you choose to work, the monthly salary will not be less than 1 tael of silver, and as long as you work for nine hours, that is, four and a half hours, if you work overtime, there will be processing money.

If you choose to go to Liaodong and North Korea, you can get a share of land, and it is still 300 acres.

It was obviously impossible for a craftsman like Wang Shishi to let him go farming, so he chose to come to Shandong to work, and he heard that there were also advantages in workmanship. Because living in the city, there are more opportunities than in the countryside.

This made Wang Shi yearn for it very much, and under the guidance of the recruitment bureau personnel from Shandong, he got on the cargo ship to Shandong, and took his whole family with him.

After registering their household registration in Shandong, Wang Shishi and his wife were arranged to work in a textile factory, where they lived in a dormitory, and their five children were also placed in the nearest school.

Wang Shishi's life quickly settled down, and the couple planned to work hard, working three hours a day, so that one of them could get nearly 1.5 taels of silver.

In this way, their lives are comfortable.

Basically, there is no big expenditure, five children don't spend half a penny in school, and there is no worry about illness, and the income of 3 taels of silver per month can live a good life in Shandong.

However, Wang Shishi has been here for more than a month, but he has come into contact with many people who think differently from him.

He found that many people in the textile factory were reluctant to work overtime, not because the wages were too low, but because they were either studying for supper or studying on their own.

There is a night school in the textile factory, and the teachers of the school come to teach them in the evenings and give them the ability to read and count.

Wang Shishi didn't think so at first, what kind of books did he read when he was such a big person?

However, after staying for a long time, he gradually understood the doorway. As long as you are educated in Shandong, you don't have to worry about finding something with a higher salary to do.

And you can even be an official.

I heard from my colleagues in the textile factory that there were already three officials in their textile factory, and although the position was still very low, the possibility of climbing was infinite.

As long as you are willing to learn, as long as you have the ability, being an official is just a trivial matter.

This shocked Wang Shishi!

Being an official, this is something that grass people can't think of. After an in-depth understanding, Wang Shishi knew that to be an official in Shandong, the threshold is not high, and it is not low.

It is not low, because the selection of officials in Shandong is different from the imperial court, as long as the basic writing skills and simple arithmetic can pass, they have the qualifications to be officials, and then they have to take training courses, which mainly teach them what they should do after becoming officials, and how the rules and regulations of the Shandong Yamen are followed, and then there is the exam.

The question of the exam is also the content of the teaching, and at the same time, you must also write a policy essay. It doesn't matter if you don't write a policy argument well, as long as you can pass the basic topics, you can become an official, but the level is very small. If the strategy is well written, you can skip one or two levels directly.

As long as you are willing to learn, it is sooner or later to become an official, and the people around you think that it is a matter of time before a general conquers the world, and then there will be a large number of officials, and as long as you do things well after becoming an official, it is only a matter of time before you are promoted.

But it's not easy to say, Shandong's officials are really not good.

Being an official in Shandong is not an official like the imperial court, the official of the imperial court can show off his might in front of the people, and when he goes out, he has to open the way with gongs and drums, and passers-by avoid it.

And the officials of Shandong, embezzlement of a copper plate will be caught and skinned, a few days ago there were more than 300 officials were skinned, and now those skins are stuffed with straw and placed in the City God Temple! When facing the people, Shandong officials do not have that kind of prestige, if anyone gives the people a look on the face, a bad service attitude, the bonus of the year may be deducted, some of the bad circumstances, and even will be beaten more than a dozen boards, and then dismissed.

The position of the officials and the people in Shandong is reversed, and the officials are called the servants of the people, that is, the servants owned by the people.

If you have the ability, you can go to it, and the Shandong officialdom that values ability, if you are really capable, the appreciation will be very fast. If you are willing to work hard and are not afraid of getting tired, you can also become an official, and such people will rise faster.

But if you don't have these advantages, you might as well become a teacher.

The minimum salary of teachers is nearly twice as high as that of work, and there are some benefits, and there is no need to be as tiring as an official.

Again, as long as you are willing to learn, there is nothing that cannot be successful, you can't be a middle school teacher, you can be a primary school teacher, learn a little every day, teach primary school for a few years, maybe you will become a middle school teacher.

Being a teacher is more difficult, but not impossible.

If you are not an official or a teacher, even if you have culture, you can find a good job in the factory, and your salary will be increased.

There are also some people who don't work overtime to go out and touch silver, what is touching silver? That is to report, in Shandong to report gambling, usury, theft, as well as officials [***], wanted criminals, etc. There are bounties, and some people now go out every day to visit and investigate, commonly known as touching silver.

The Western Three Prefectures have just been fully incorporated into the original Denglai system, and if they are lucky, they can still encounter illegal phenomena, while the Eastern Three Prefectures basically have no probability of encountering any illegal phenomena.

Wang Shi also wanted to go out to try his luck at the beginning, but under the persuasion of his colleagues, he decided to go to night school to study, some colleagues who learned to get started said, this thing is very simple, as long as you learn pinyin and read the dictionary, you can learn words by yourself in the future, usually read more articles, and you can learn the text skills in a few years. It's easier to do arithmetic, it's good to practice more about abacus or something, multiplication and division is also very simple, and it's good to memorize formulas.

At most, in five or six years, you will be able to have a primary school level.

Wang Shishi saw that Shandong treated cultural people so preferentially, and couldn't help but look forward to it, his five dolls were still in school! When they get out of school, they will be able to live a good life in the future.

But before the doll comes out, she has to work her own!

Coming to Shandong is really the right choice! The five children don't come back very often, only two days a week, but every time they come back, they are happy to tell them about life at school. The eleven-year-old said he wanted to join the army and become a general. When he was nine years old, he said that he wanted to be a scientist when he grew up. The third and fourth are the daughters, and they also entered the school, and they said that they would become teachers in the future. The youngest son, who is seven years old this year, is not ideal, so he said that school is fun.

This made Wang Shishi happy, he did not object to his eldest son joining the army, joining the army in Shandong was a promising thing, and he did not need too high a culture. If you can be a cultural soldier, then the salary is higher, and there is a reward for fighting a war.

What kind of small rich family in Shandong has the most? The families of soldiers have the most small and rich families! There are also a number of middle-class families, and there is no super-rich.

If the boss can fight for a small rich family, he will be very satisfied with Wang Shishi. The second child wants to be a scientist, which is a promising future!

I heard that the scientists of those science and technology academies all have a net worth of several thousand taels. Moreover, there are more and more people who have become rich because of patented inventions, and it is often possible to break the news that someone has invented some technology and become rich overnight.

The two daughters want to be teachers, and this Wang Shishi does not object, teachers are a very promising industry, like those teachers who are willing to come to supper and work overtime, and their salaries are higher a month.

As for the youngest son, he is in the golden age of studying, and although his ambition has not yet been determined, Wang Shishi has the greatest expectations for his younger son.

When you come to Shandong, you will have a worry-free life directly, and the future is bright.

Two months after Wang Shishi came to Shandong, he registered his name in the recruitment bureau, returned to Songjiang again, and directly pulled hundreds of people to Shandong, earning ten taels of silver.

Under the encouragement of such immigrants, a large number of people from various provinces moved to Shandong, and the population of Shandong increased dramatically for a while.

(To be continued)