Cao Minglei and Cao's general soldiers were loyal to their duties, honestly set up camp, and worked hard to make all preparations. But he didn't expect that all his efforts on earth would be easily broken by the enemy from the sky. The camp of more than 10,000 people was bombarded by more than a dozen explosives bags that fell from the sky, and the whole camp fled in a huff.

Although the dream of human beings to soar in the sky has existed since ancient times, this air strike is too advanced. Cao Zongbing himself was helpless, so he could only follow the rout and flee towards the way he came. However, when they ran out of the two miles, the generals were shocked, but they realized that they must not escape back like this. Running in such a mess, he was pursued all the way by the enemy cavalry, and he suffered heavy casualties.

"Gather the routs and gather all the men and horses." Cao Zongbing found that there was a benefit to this escape. When the aerial bombardment occurred, most of the generals happened to be around him, and everyone gathered together when they fled for their lives. This means that he can command at least some of his men.

A vote of generals, guerrillas, and the general and the like officers also ran out of breath. If they were asked to run on two legs, they couldn't run, so they could only stop and intercept the whole team of soldiers who were constantly fleeing for their lives. The soldiers who ran out of the camp actually didn't die much, and they were mainly panicked. The generals shouted at the intersection one by one, and immediately two or three thousand people gathered.

As soon as the number of people was large, the officers and soldiers became more emboldened. But the soldiers fled for their lives, almost all of them empty-handed. It was originally a day's march and a long time of encampment, and it would be impossible to say that there was no way to fight again.

General Cao did not force the soldiers to turn around and do something 'back to the carbine', but simply led people to retreat while continuing to gather troops. After a whole night, the Ming army retreated twenty miles, but gathered another six or seven thousand men, and temporarily stationed them in Xinzhuang Town, thirty miles east of Tianjin.

After a night of horror, Cao Zongbing wanted to cry again when he saw the tragic situation of his team. He knew that he would be guilty of this defeat, but he could only write a letter of help to Xue Sancai, the governor who was staying in Tianjin, - thousands of men and horses could be collected more, but all the weapons and military funds were lost, and the army's spirit was broken and unable to fight again. There are also 'strange birds' who throw explosives from the sky and thieves can't prevent it.

At the end of the letter, Mr. Cao could only look up to the sky and sigh, thinking that he would hang himself. But thinking of Ma Gonggong's statement that this defeat was not a crime of war, he hoped that Shangguan would have mercy and understand that he had no merit and hard work, and at most he would lose his official position and resign, so he could still live. Just thinking of Ma Gonggong, Ma Keshi walked in from outside the house with a gloomy face.

"Grandpa Ma, save me!" Cao Zongbing cried with tears in his eyes, and knelt down for the eunuch on the spot. Marcoshi helped Cao Minglei up, but he didn't talk about yesterday's defeat, but said strangely: "Yesterday was attacked, and the whole camp was in chaos. But the thief didn't take the opportunity to attack and kill. You must know that the sharpness of the anti-thief cavalry is hard to find in the world. They did not move, but our family was uneasy. ”

Now, if anyone says that the 'revolutionary army' does not know how to fight and is easy to deal with, Ma Gonggong will slap the other party first. But it was really strange that the thief let go of such a good opportunity yesterday indifferently.

Cao Zongbing actually had doubts, and said: "Last night, when he fled along the Haihe River, Cao heard the sound of water in the river, and vaguely saw the bright light of a fleet going upstream. There was even a sudden strange sound in the river, which sounded extremely penetrating. It's just that Cao was depressed and flustered at that time, and he didn't care about it. I want to come to ...... now. ”

Having said this, Cao Ma and the two glanced at each other, and at the same time shouted in shock: "Oops, the thieves didn't hit us, they must have gone to Tianjin City along the river." ”

It's even more over!

Tianjin City is really empty of defense, and there is not even a fig leaf.

Mr. Cao's eyes were dark, and he was about to fall down when he stumbled. Gonggong Ma hurriedly pulled him down, sat down and comforted: "Master Cao doesn't need to worry too much. Tianjin is a big city, and there are many people in the city.

Xue Gong is an upright official, not afraid of the powerful, and has an excellent reputation among the people. Such a city defense must be impregnable, although the city is not strong enough troops, but the anti-thief Xiaoxiao will never be able to break through, and it will definitely meet and break the bloodstream. As long as I get back quickly, I'll be able to make it too late. ”

After Cao Zongbing sat down, his heart was already shaken, and he cried and scolded a few times for being a thief and cunning. Waiting for Marcose to say that Tianjin was solid, he immediately retorted: "Have you forgotten how we lost yesterday? The gang of thieves used gunpowder without permission, and the sky collapsed at every turn. No matter how strong Tianjin's city defense is, how many times can it withstand it? ”

Oh ......, yes!

Ma Keshi suddenly sat on the wax, this week's anti-thief monster tricks are repeated, always making people forget that what they are best at is blowing people up with explosives - the anti-thieves used the bombing technique yesterday to defeat the general Cao soldiers who entered the attack, more than 10,000 horses and wolves ran around, and even the weapons were gone, so naturally they could not threaten the 'revolutionary army' in Dagukou. However, Tianjin was not garrisoned, and the city defense could not withstand the wanton and indiscriminate bombing.

This anti-thief is one ring after another, and his calculations are extremely deep.

Ma Keshi and Cao Zongbing were stunned when they suddenly heard an urgent report from outside the house. A sergeant from Tianjin City stumbled in front of the two, knelt on the ground and cried, "Two adults, quickly send troops back to help!" The thieves entered the outside of Tianjin by boat last night, and at this moment they are bombing the defense of Tianjin with thunder. Governor Xue has no soldiers under him, so he can only gather the people of the whole city to fight with all their strength, and now he is in danger! ”

Guessed!

It was only 60 kilometers from Dagukou along the Haihe River to Tianjin, and Zhou Qingfeng used the steam engine on the 500-ton tugboat as a power to drag several transport ships up the river at night. Driven by the 100-horsepower steam engine, the whole fleet slowly climbed at a turtle speed of two knots.

The fleet carried 'ballistas' and 500 light infantry and marched directly into Tianjin overnight. In addition, 500 cavalry marched by land, bypassing Cao Minglei's rout, and rushed to join Zhou Qingfeng outside Tianjin. So he had a thousand men with him in his hands.

Although there are not many people in this thousand, Zhou Qingfeng is bullying that there are no troops in Tianjin City, and he can't go out of the city to confront him. He set up 'ballistas' outside the city to throw explosive packs, ready to bombard.

As for Cao Minglei's department, which had been beaten like a frightened bird, the 'Beijing-Tianjin Front' simply sent three spear infantry companies to monitor and persuade him to surrender. It is enough that Cao Zongbing is willing to surrender, and if he is not willing to surrender, it will not be long.

The night raid fleet sailed overnight and arrived near the Lion Forest Bridge in the east of Tianjin. After the troops came ashore, they quickly set up a posture outside the east gate of Tianjin Town. Twelve light ballistae were laid out in a line, and the first targets they wanted to kill were the two forts around the city outside the east of Tianjin.

The artillery raiding team of the 'Beijing-Tianjin Front' appeared so swaggeringly, and the officials and gentry in the city were immediately alarmed. Xue Sancai had been sleepless all night in the official office, waiting for news from Cao Minglei. He was not only worried that Cao Bu would be attacked halfway and lose his army, but also hoped that Cao Bu would succeed in the first battle and he would be famous all over the world - who knew that what was waiting for Zhou Qingfeng would be killed directly under the city with a thousand people.

Xue Sancai scolded Cao Minglei for being a straw bag, but he reacted very quickly, grasping the official seal in his hand to mobilize the will of the people in the city to defend. In his opinion, the number of enemies is not large, and more than a thousand people want to storm the city in a dream. Therefore, he did not immediately transfer back to Cao Bu at first, but asked the officials and gentry in the city to organize young men to go to the city wall to defend, and if necessary, they could go out of the city to fight and expel them.

The earthy yellow light of the city defense lit up, but Zhou Qingfeng slowly dealt with the fort around the city outside. The Ming army on the fort did not follow Cao Minglei to suppress, and when they saw that the anti-thieves were under their noses, several bronze cast Buddha cannon guns on the fort immediately opened fire.

Xue Sancai saw it from the tower at the east gate of the town, and the two forts outside were constantly smoking, and the sound of shelling was continuous. He slapped the city wall and said, "Okay, I still have soldiers who dare to fight." After the war, the official was determined to be rewarded. ”

The Franc machine cannon hit very quickly, and it was very lively and vigorous. It's just that after a period of shelling, the barrel of the gun was hot and couldn't stand it, so it had to stop. After fighting for a long time, Zhou Qingfeng stood outside the firing range and did not move, but the ballista he brought had already been installed.

"Marshal, the artillery company is ready, please open fire."

In order to use artillery, Zhou Qingfeng organized an artillery unit early on. Although the ballista was not artillery, it was also given to the artillery company. After the officers who led the team completed the placement of the position, they reported to Zhou Qingfeng.

In pursuit of stability, light ballistae were also nailed to the ground with wooden stakes after being transported into place. Torsion springs made of beef tendons are wound by ratchet levers. The ammunition fired was not an ordinary explosive pack, but a wooden shell in the shape of a cone, and even a tail to stabilize the trajectory. Due to the lack of a good bump and time fuse, a fuse was drawn from the tail of the shell to detonate.

After Zhou Qingfeng nodded, the artillery officer immediately ordered the fuse to be lit. One ballista for one class, twelve light ballistas for a company. The gunner stepped on the firing pedal and fired the wooden-hull shell shell with a whoosh - the fired shells were black dots flying in the air, flying over a distance of about 400 meters and landing on the opposite battery.

Due to the large enough target of the battery, eight out of twelve shells hit.

Zhou Qingfeng waited for more than ten seconds, but the shell did not explode. He looked at the artillery officer beside him, who was also very nervous, and said profusely: "Maybe the fuse is too long." It could also be that the wooden-hulled shells shattered after they landed, resulting in duds. It is also possible that the impact caused the fuse to extinguish ....... ”

Boom, ......, an explosion sounded from the opposite battery, followed by a series of explosions. The entire fort was immediately shrouded in smoke, and the Ming troops on the fort ran in a hurry. Some people even jumped directly from the fort in order to escape for their lives.

Eight of the twelve wooden-hulled shells hit, and only half of the shells hit. This efficiency is really a bit low, Zhou Qingfeng scratched his head, and only said lightly: "Keep fighting." ”

The artillery fired three rounds in a row, bombarding the opposite battery. Since the beginning of the shelling, the opposite side has not returned fire. After three rounds of fighting, and when the smoke cleared, Zhou Qingfeng ordered his own pro-army to check and learned that only seven or eight people had been killed in the fort, and the rest of the Ming army had all fled.

"Destroying the artillery on the battery, the artillery battery turned to ......." Zhou Qingfeng's eyes looked at another fort in the east of Tianjin, but he saw a large number of Ming troops stationed on it fleeing without a fight, running faster than rabbits one by one. He also sent people up to check on the destruction, and targeted the east gate of the town in the east of the city.

Xue Sancai was stunned on the tower at the east gate of the town, he was still praising the bravery of the Ming army on the fort around the city just now, but he was defeated in a wave of fire. The men and horses of the other fort simply fled in fright, without looking back. He can only scold angrily for beheading the deserters when he slaps the city wall, and then look at the anti-thief artillery outside the city that is being readjusted, he really hates it.

"Horse team, are horse teams ready?" As soon as Xue Sancai turned around, he shouted to his entourage in the city and asked, "What about the young and strong people in the city?" Let them draw people out. The thieves are the most cruel to the gentry, since they are in the city, what luck is there to talk about? Those who should be out of the people, and those who should be out of the money. If the city is really broken, it will be a burning of jade. ”

Xue Sancai is the governor of Jiliao, and he has a horse team of more than 100 people. In addition, there are a lot of gentry in Tianjin, and dozens of people from each family can easily raise thousands of troops. In this way, this Tianjin city is not powerless.

Due to the suddenness of Zhou Qingfeng's arrival, the city gate was not blocked. Xue Sancai waited for his men and horses to finish preparing, and felt a little relieved, he looked at the thieves outside the city, gritted his teeth and said hatefully: "My Tianjin city defense is strong, and it is not comparable to a mere fort." If the thieves want to blow up, they will blow up, and I will see how much they are capable of? If there is really a moment when the city is broken, it is a big deal that the official will fight with them. ”

Governor Jiliao is being cornered.

(Please look at the pirated ones to look good, don't run to urge the update, okay?) ）