On the mottled and outdated West City Gate Tower, the dignified appearance and five-wisp long beard of Anzhou Defense made Li Kan let out a long low sigh.

He turned his head and glanced at the lieutenant general and colonel who was standing behind him and behind him nervously staring at the battle in the distance, and after thinking about it for a long time, he finally grabbed the arm of Zheng Jinyi, the defense envoy of Yizhou, who was standing side by side, lowered his voice, and asked very politely: "General Zheng, before this, did General Wu Jicheng, the commander of the Dongjiang New Army, pass through with you?" ”

Zheng Jinyi, who was stocky and square-faced, withdrew his gaze from the direction of the west bank, which was filled with gunsmoke and fire, shook his head, and slowly turned to Li Kan, who was full of concern, his narrow eyes were full of indescribable bitterness:

"After the arrival of the Dongjiang New Army at noon yesterday, they all stationed in the abandoned barracks and two trading grounds above the old ferry port in the south, and without saying hello, they sent more than a dozen squads along the river to requisition civilian boats, and used a large amount of copper money and silver to buy timber, ropes, and other things, and in the blink of an eye, they recruited 8,000 civilians to build barracks for them and process ship boards.

Li Kan sighed in his heart.

Zheng Jinyi, who is stationed in Uiju, is only 30 years old this year, comes from a famous family, is well-versed in the art of war, young and promising, and is the son-in-law of Zheng Nanhe, an important minister of the surrender faction in the DPRK and China, and is also a typical representative of the military who advocates breaking away from the Ming Dynasty and uniting the Later Jin regime.

Perhaps it is for this reason that the strong and confident generals of the Dongjiang New Army simply ignore the existence of the Yizhou army and Zheng Jinyi, otherwise they would not have been in it for half a year. Without any contact with Zheng Jinyi, he didn't greet or call him, so he drove to the south of Yizhou City, and Zheng Jin, the dignified defense envoy of Yizhou, was under his nose. Unscrupulously conscripted people to wage war.

Zheng Jinyi's face was very bad, and when he saw Li Kan's solemn expression, he was silent in thought, so he had to put down his shelf and ask humbly: "My brother hurried from Anzhou to watch the battle, he must have learned the battle plan of the Dongjiang New Army in advance, right?" ”

Li Kan glanced at the west bank of the river where the sound of shelling was constantly heard, turned to Zheng Jinyi, and replied truthfully: "On the morning of the seventh day of the first lunar month." Brother Yu and Lord Yin Shen of Anzhou Prefecture went to Phi Dao on the orders of the monarch to meet with General Zhu Daolin, the general of Fengguo of the Ming Dynasty and the new commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town, in addition to the need to find out the upcoming Liaodong war of the Dongjiang New Army. According to the will of the monarch and the imperial court, he also asked General Zhu Daolin, who owned the gun factory and shipyard of the Nanjing Firearms Bureau of the Ming Dynasty, to purchase five 300-ton fast warships equipped with 12 long-barreled bronze guns, 100 new bronze guns of 12-18-pound specifications, and 5,000 long-barreled muskets. ”

"At the meeting on the seventh day of the first month, General Zhu Daolin informed Brother Yu and Lord Shen about the Liaodong War launched today. It was proposed that the Daming Dongjiang New Army rebuild Tieshan City, fully undertake the security of China's northern Xinjiang, and recover the fields reclaimed by General Mao Wenlong and the hundreds of thousands of Liaodong refugees stranded in China. ”

"Brother Fool and Lord Shen can't make decisions about such a big thing. can only report to the monarch and the court urgently. ”

Zheng Jin's eyebrows furrowed, weighed for a moment, and asked in a low voice, "What does my brother think about the Ming army's request to occupy Tieshan City?" ”

"Brother Fool is just a mere Anzhou defense envoy, what can you think?"

Li Kan, who was deeply thoughtful, shook his head and smiled bitterly, he was very willing to see the Dongjiang New Army, which had strict military discipline and was well-equipped, retake the defense of Tieshan City and northern Korea.

In this way, it is not only beneficial to the country, but also to the entire ******** and the pro-Ming faction in the DPRK and China, but this matter can only be silently mobilized by various forces, and the efforts from top to bottom are gradually promoted. But they can't say it.

Zheng Jinyi's two little eyes turned lonely, and he smiled. Asked again: "The bronze artillery of the Dongjiang New Army is well-made and amazingly powerful, and all the Suifa muskets are far above the Franc machine muskets in terms of workmanship and range, and that General Zhu Daolin probably won't agree to sell them to us, right?" ”

Li Kan replied solemnly: "I am afraid that the virtuous brother will not expect that General Zhu Daolin not only agreed to the request of the monarch and the imperial court to purchase new warships, artillery, and muskets, but also generously agreed to send 300 instructors to help our Korean naval and land armies master the use of new warships and various firearms as soon as possible. ”

"Ah...... Is there such a good thing? ”

Zheng Jinyi couldn't help but be taken aback and asked in disbelief.

If this is the case, not only the country and the army will benefit, but also the pro-Ming faction, which is dominated by the ********, the Shen family, and the Cui family, will benefit immensely, and will not only be able to rapidly expand their family business, but also establish greater merit and prestige in the court.

Li Kan smiled slightly: "Brother Yu will rush back to Anzhou early tomorrow morning, wait for the decree of the monarch and the special envoy of the DPRK and China, and then go to Phi Daodao to hold talks with General Zhu Daolin, and sign a contract for the purchase of advanced warships and various new firearms as soon as possible." ”

"If you have any ideas, please go to the monarch and the court as soon as possible."

Zheng Jin, who was in a disordered mood, nodded his head consciously and frequently, and was just about to ask Li Kan if he was willing to introduce Wu Jicheng, the commander of the Dongjiang New Army, and others for him, when he was interrupted by the sudden earth-shattering cheers from the surrounding officers and soldiers and the banks of the river.

Stunned for a moment, Zheng Jinyi immediately threw himself on the women's wall in front of him with Li Kan, and looked at the red and black battle flags of the fortress-like fortress of the Houjin army on the west bank.

Amid the loud sound of military trumpets, the two of them vaguely saw the officers and men of the Dongjiang New Army wearing green military uniforms rushing to the west bank through the billowing gunsmoke, and they felt extremely surprised and shocked for a while.

"An hour and a half, only an hour and a half! The Dongjiang New Army has actually broken through the two fortified cities of Laolongtou and Dianjiangtai in the south, and such a strong combat power has never been seen before! Zheng Jin couldn't help but exclaim.

Li Kan was also amazed: "It is the credit of firearms, just the continuous bombardment of more than 100 guns on the nine great war ships of the Dongjiang New Army, which filled the six cities lined up along the foot of the mountains on the west bank. ”

"There are less than 3,000 Houjin troops stationed in Jiulian City, and even if you add the Houjin civilians temporarily recruited in the two towns in the north and south, there will definitely not be more than 7,000 people."

"Under such a fierce shelling, no matter how fierce the Houjin army is, it has no strength to fight back, except to retreat to the north and wait for reinforcements, it is estimated that there is no other way to resist the well-equipped Dongjiang new army."

Zheng Jinyi also saw the situation on the west bank clearly, and very much agreed with Li Kan's opinion: "The three banners of the Houjin army were moved to the two fortified cities at the foot of the mountain in the north, and it seems that they have to give up the other four castles that have been damaged by artillery, and it is estimated that the Houjin army has suffered a lot ......of casualties, otherwise it will never give up easily."

"Alas! No one has ever seen such a powerful style of play before, and with powerful artillery and muskets, I am afraid that the future war will change significantly! ”

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PS: Xiaohuo is going on a business trip tomorrow, and the next updates can only be sent regularly, please continue to subscribe to support! (To be continued.) )