The Executive Committee's short-term plan for the mainland has also been changed with the occurrence of the Lijiazhuang incident, and for a period of time to come, the Guangzhou Office will be the leader, with full responsibility for arranging and managing the military, political, and commercial affairs of the crossing group on the mainland, especially in Guangdong. With the addition of the two strongholds of Lijiazhuang and Dawanshan Island, the influence of the crossing group on the mainland will be greatly enhanced, and it will even be able to deal with some small-scale regional armed conflicts independently, and will no longer have to rely on the rescue of the base camp for everything - after all, Yuanshui cannot always catch up with the firefighting.

As for the expenditure and 'spending' required to establish this immigration transit point, the Executive Committee did not dispute on this issue, and the large-scale introduction of immigrants from the mainland is a development route that has been formulated before the crossing, and investment in this area is a necessary means for the development and growth of the crossing group, which is the consensus of all the executive committee members. Moreover, compared with the military-dominated stronghold on Dawanshan Island, the economic benefits that can be generated by the introduction of immigrants are obviously more intuitive, as soon as the immigrants who arrive at Shengli Port pass the quarantine observation period, they will immediately arrange work and begin to create wealth for the crossing group, while the ability of the stronghold on Dawanshan Island to make money is very limited, even according to Schneider's optimistic estimate, after the local facilities are put into use, it is a miracle that the daily income can offset the military expenses of the garrison. The executive committee even approved the cost of developing Dawanshan Island, and no one will obstruct this Lijiazhuang project.

Li Jifeng was already a leader in flexible minds among the Ming people, but his vision and insight were limited to this era after all, and he did not realize the long-term strategic arrangement of the Crossing Group in Guangdong - or he had not considered it at all so far, and this group of maritime chambers from Qiongzhou Island had such a great ambition as "seizing the world". Whether it is economic, cultural or military measures, in Li Jifeng's view, what the group has done is actually a manifestation of the word "profit", which is nothing more than to get more wealth, and this purpose is completely understandable in his opinion, after all, from a business point of view, everyone is a like-minded person, and they are all in pursuit of more wealth.

Li Jifeng sees the cooperative relationship between the two sides as relatively simple, and on the premise of not hurting his own interests, the stronger the crossing group, the more opportunities the Li family can rely on the cooperative relationship between the two sides to make a fortune. As for whether the growing growth of the Crossing Group will affect the interests of others, Li Jifeng can't manage and has no ability to manage this matter, but at least from the current point of view, it seems that no one can block the way forward of the Crossing Group. Li Jifeng even had a little expectation in his heart, wanting to see how big a situation these rich and powerful Haihan people could finally operate on Qiongzhou Island.

After understanding the true purpose of the Haihan people, Li Jifeng's previous nervousness finally calmed down. After the dinner, a table of officers got up to say goodbye, and Wang Tom called Chen Yixin and Xiao Liang to go to several observation posts outside Zhuangzi to make rounds.

After the Haihan militia entered the village, they took over the local defense and announced that strict curfew measures would be implemented in Lijiazhuang during the war, so although the sky had just darkened, there was no trace of people in the village, and the whole village was dark and gloomy, and occasionally a few dogs barking and chickens could be heard. However, all three of them are armed with strong tactical flashlights, and they don't have to worry about 'touching' the black and hitting the wall or falling into the ditch.

"Tom, you just said that you want to build a stronghold in Lijiazhuang and garrison troops, is this what the Executive Committee meant?" Xiao Liang asked softly.

"Of course, I don't have the courage to falsely proclaim the Divine Decree. Tom Wang quipped.

"Then the two companies you brought over this time should be left here?" Xiao Liang asked.

Wang Tom responded: "Not for the time being, at least until the barracks and facilities here in Lijiazhuang are built." After dealing with the matter here, the troops will withdraw to Dawanshan Island to rest for two days, and then look at the next order of the Military Commission. ”

"No other moves?" Xiao Liang still didn't give up.

"What the hell are you trying to say?" asked Tom rhetorically.

"We now have three companies of troops, and the Li Jiamin Regiment can still deal with it, I think we should consider taking advantage of this time to concentrate our forces and wipe out the pirates in the Wanshan Islands, otherwise staying there will always be a hidden danger to the Dawanshan Island!" Xiao Liang immediately began to sell his plan: "After defeating this group of pirates, there will be no other storage in the waters of the Pearl River Estuary that will threaten the safety of Dawanshan Island." The 'Eighteen Zhi' forces, which are closest to Dawanshan Island, are already seventy or eighty nautical miles away. ”

Chen Yixin was taken aback: "Brother Xiao, our battle is not over yet, and you are already thinking about the next battle?"

"It's easy to end the battle here, we're just waiting for the bandits' final blow. If you're lucky, you'll be able to end the battle within tomorrow. Xiao Liang was full of confidence in the current battle situation, and he couldn't wait to set his sights on the sea to the south: "The pirates on the east side of Dawanshan Island will be cleared sooner or later, rather than waiting for the next special 'gate' to transfer troops, it is better to take this opportunity to take advantage of this opportunity to take their nest in one go!"

"Neither the Executive Committee nor the Military Commission will allow military operations that are arbitrary. Wang Tom ruthlessly poured a basin of cold water on Xiao Liang: "You are also a soldier, you should understand what I mean." ”

"Of course I do. Xiao Liang nodded disappreciatively and said, "I don't plan to act on my own, we can report this plan back to the base camp immediately, and let them hurry up and approve it as soon as possible." ”

Wang Tom smiled bitterly: "Xiao Liang, you have been on an errand in Guangzhou for more than half a year, and you may not be very clear about the current situation of the Military Commission, this matter is not so simple. In order to implement an operational plan, it is necessary to first conduct internal arguments, calculate the required troops, materials, and various kinds of consumption, and then 'submit' the operational plan to the Executive Committee for discussion. It will take at least seven or eight days to go through this process. ”

"Then how can you send troops so quickly this time?" Xiao Liang asked unconvinced: "From the time you get the news from Shengli Port to the time you give the order, it's only a day or two in between, right?"

Tom Wang explained: "This is a special situation! The executive committee cannot let the Li family lose, and the opponent is obviously weak, so it quickly decided to send troops. Speaking of the real purpose of the Executive Committee, as you heard at the table just now, repelling these bandits and bandits is secondary, and taking this opportunity to occupy a place along the Pearl River to establish a migrant transfer point is the most important thing. The pirates at the mouth of the Pearl River have a certain degree of danger, but compared to the matter of Lijiazhuang, the priority is definitely a little worse. ”

Xiao Liang was silent for a long time this time before he spoke again: "I still insist on reporting this battle plan to the top. ”

"Yes, when we're done patrolling the sentry post, we'll send a telegram. Wang Tom had no objection to Xiao Liang's suggestion. Although this battle plan has little chance of being approved by the Executive Committee in a short period of time, in fact, Tom Wang also wants to try his best. After all, it is rare to have hundreds of troops available at hand, so it is a pity to come to Lijiazhuang to take a walk around the 'flowers'. This time, a group of military academy trainees were brought in by the special 'door', if it was just to deal with those rogues outside Zhuangzi, there would be no substantial 'sexual' gain at all.

Although the opponent's strength was vulnerable, the officers still set up a number of posts on the outer defense line of Zhuangzi in strict accordance with the combat regulations, and left a platoon of armed personnel in each of the west and north directions on standby to guard against the opponent's night attack. However, this is obviously an overestimation of the bandits' combat ability, after having seen the defense methods of Lijiazhuang during the day, none of the bandit leaders are willing to let their people 'touch' the dark to send them to death.

For the bandits who participated in the attack on Lijiazhuang this time, this was their most difficult night in recent times. In the past, although there were also casualties when attacking villages, it was not uncommon to be repelled by the village's regimental training, but there has never been such a one-sided situation. The two attacks launched today seemed to have hit the opponent's defensive line, but in retrospect, there were so many casualties and injuries, but they did not pose a substantial 'sexual' threat to the opponent at all. According to the situation of the escapees, the other side has adopted a passive defensive method, and even if there is enough combat power, there is no intention of attacking at all.

Some believe that this is because the Lijiazhuang militia has limited melee ability and can only rely on muskets for defensive warfare, and as long as they increase their forces next time, they will definitely be able to break through the opponent's musket position. Another opinion is that the Lijiazhuang militia is deliberately preserving its strength and attracting the attacking side to continue to invest troops, in other words, the entire Lijiazhuang is just a pit dug by someone, and the armed forces guarding it have always been retained, and they have not fought with all their might.

But no matter which view they held, the bandit leaders were unwilling to give up the goal of Lijiazhuang. Although hundreds of people were broken on the first day, and Zeng Aniu, a guy who had no righteousness, ran away in advance, the bandit leaders felt that since they still had thousands of people on hand, they could still fight again. And now, in addition to the legendary Lijiazhuang silver treasury, the bandit leaders have a new target, that is, the muskets used by these guards in Lijiazhuang. If you can take down Lijiazhuang and snatch these muskets for your own use, where else can you beat the villages in Liangguang and Guangzhou?

In addition to the loss of nearly 200 people in the two offensives, the fifty percent of the income set at the beginning also attracted complaints from the bandit leaders because of the unfavorable war, and finally had to change from five to three or seven. The silver that had not yet arrived had suffered such a huge loss, so that Liao's big nose 'meat' hurt so much that he couldn't sleep all night, and the only thing that could comfort him was that the culprit Li 'Mao' was said to have been killed directly in front of the battle by Li Jiazhuang's musket team when he rushed into battle in the afternoon.

Early the next morning, the bandit leaders from all walks of life who decided to make a desperate bet ordered to release grain for their subordinates to eat, and prepared to attack Lijiazhuang directly. If you can't beat it this time, then everyone really has to choose to give up.

"What a beautiful day!" Xiao Liang stretched, but the air he exhaled into his nose had a bloody smell, which made him still frown. Although the battlefield had been cleaned yesterday, the ground near the 'chest' wall had long been soaked with the blood of the bandits, and even the dirt had turned a dazzling dark brown 'color'.

The people of Lijiazhuang began to dig a pit in the east of Zhuangzi yesterday afternoon, transporting the bandits who died outside the village into the pit by plate trucks. At first, Xiao Liang also built a cremation method, but soon found that this method was a bit impractical - the corpses accumulated too quickly and too much, and there was not so much firewood to burn in the village. So in the end, I could only take the most primitive method and dig a pit to bury the body.

Wang Tom was busy arranging the military academy trainees to various positions so that they could participate in the battle that was about to begin. The only thing that made Wang Tom feel a little regretful was that he couldn't pull Ha Lugong's cavalry company to Guangzhou this time, and once the opponent's offensive collapsed, it would not be easy for his side to take advantage of the victory and pursue.

At ten o'clock in the morning, the procrastinating bandit team finally began to line up, and the armed men in Lijiazhuang also entered the combat position one after another. The artillery, which had not been 'exposed' in battle at all yesterday, was finally put up in a gun position today, ready to play a role at a critical moment.

It is worth mentioning that this time, Wang Tom went north and brought a new shotgun made by the Ministry of Military Industry to the "Gate", which is a big killer weapon to deal with a large area of infantry at close range. The process of making this shell is very simple, the body is a cylindrical container made of tin, the diameter of which corresponds to the barrel, and if necessary, the body can even be made of paper barrel or wood. The 6-pound shotgun contained 48 cast-iron projectiles stuffed with wood chips, and when fired out of the chamber, the fragile shells burst immediately, creating a huge fire kill surface and considerable power. According to the results of previous military tests, the effective killing distance of this shotgun is at least about 400 meters, and at a distance of 200 meters, the energy of the projectile is enough for it to penetrate the human body, and it is theoretical that it can injure the second target.

Compared with the more technical grenades and blasting shells, this kind of high-power artillery shells that do not need to set a time-delay fuse in the shell are more practical for the current army. Especially when you need to deal with an opponent who is several times your own strength on the battlefield, this thing is much more lethal than a straight iron bullet.

When drawing up the battle plan, the military did not think of completely annihilating the opponent, but took as much as possible to strike at the enemy's vital forces and make it lose the ability to 'disturb' Lijiazhuang again in a short period of time. Under this guideline, close-range shotguns became the weapon of choice for the last battle.

After waiting for almost an hour, several rabble finally assembled their teams and began to march towards Lijiazhuang. What made the bandit leaders a little annoyed was that last night many people from various forces fled while it was dark, and when they counted the number of people this morning, they found that there were two or three hundred people missing. But the bandit leaders were relieved not long after they were angry, and after the war, there were hundreds of fewer subordinates to share the accounts, and the money finally fell into their pockets.

However, the dream is beautiful, but the reality is extremely cruel. After entering the area two hundred meters away from the defensive line, thousands of rogues finally mustered up the courage to launch a final charge, and almost at the same time, the wall that had allowed them to attack for a day without 'touching' the 'chest' suddenly collapsed. After a puff of smoke and dust, the small group of people who rushed to the front finally saw a terrible sight behind the wall—a number of 'gates' of swarthy artillery were sandwiched between the dense ranks of musketeers, and the muzzles of the guns were already aimed at the charging crowd.

Although the people in front have already discovered that something is wrong, the unaware people behind are still swarming forward, and anyone who tries to stop will be swept away by the crowd, or squeezed down by the people behind and quickly 'turned' into a human skin carpet.

Amidst the shouts of thousands of people, a sharp whistle sounded, and before the bandits could understand what this signal meant, there was a roar like thunder. The hundreds of people who rushed to the front let out a miserable howl almost at the same time, while those behind only saw the blood flying everywhere, and did not understand what was happening in front of them.

Of course, there are also smart people who have seen the world and immediately think of artillery, but before these people can react, the second round of cannons is heard again, and the cast-iron projectiles mercilessly penetrate their bodies, taking the lives of hundreds of people in an instant.

The 6-pounder guns that Li Jiazhuang originally kept, the 10 'guns' and 12-pounder guns brought by Chen Yixin, and the number of 'guns' 6-pounder army guns added by Wang Tom after his arrival last night made the artillery of the two firelines in the west and north exceed 10 'guns'. In order to avoid the "shooting" gap caused by the slow loading speed of the artillery, the officers cleverly adopted the rotational "shooting" of two "guns" as a batch. And the effect of a shotgun attack at this distance is a fan of great width, and the area covered by the fire of one 'door' gun is enough to sweep away dozens of people. In the midst of the continuous artillery 'firing', the musket team also joined in at the right time to supplement the strike fire in the gap between the artillery 'firing'. In the face of the bandits' dense formation charge, this combination of light and heavy firepower caused an extremely terrifying killing rate in a short period of time. In just two minutes, at a distance of eighty to a hundred meters from the defensive line, the corpses of the bandits covered the ground. Under this kind of lethal effect, not to mention the bandits, even if the regular army of the Ming Dynasty came, they couldn't bear it, and there was no need for anyone to take the lead, and the bandits who finally found out that something was wrong turned around as quickly as possible and began to flee. However, it is not easy to escape within the 'firing' range of bullets and shells. People kept falling into the dust, and they didn't know what was going on on the battlefield until they died.