On October 26, 1643, just the third day after arriving at the Yantai Fortress, Mo Ming took advantage of the clearing weather and left the camp and marched south. The troops who followed him included 240 officers and soldiers of the 2nd Company of the Army, 260 Sakhalin Island native soldiers from the 3rd Squadron of the Standing Team, and artillery soldiers from a small company (with 2 light artillery pieces), with a total combat force of more than 500 people.

The personnel who provided them with logistics services even exceeded the number of combat soldiers. Due to poor road conditions, no large carriage carts were carried by the entire army during the dispatch. All the supplies of the entire army were carried by many horses seized from Jeju Island to speed up the marching speed. Ammunition, armor, water, medicine, fuel, tents, barbed wire and other materials were all packed and fixed on the horse's back and taken care of by civilians who accompanied the army. In order to ensure the supply of various materials necessary for the troops' field marching and combat in winter, the scale of this pack horse team was as high as 600 people and nearly 400 horses, which made people sigh at the huge "profile" of the East Coast people's marching and combat today. Of course, quite a few of them were empty horses, which were for the purpose of transporting the looted materials.

After the troops left, they turned southwest and headed towards Fushan County, which was closest to the closest to Fushan County. At the beginning of the year, when the Tartars ravaged Dengzhou Prefecture, Fushan County suffered less trauma due to strict garrisoning. After the Tartars retreated, the people who fled into the city returned to the place to cultivate. Therefore, Fushan County was also one of the areas where the economic and order of the three prefectures of Denglai were restored the most after the war. However, although Fushan County was less disasters, the lives of ordinary people were as difficult as they were. Their property was either exhausted during the escape, or they were left at home and were stolen by the Tartars or others. Therefore, it was not easy for them to reclaim the fields when they were penniless!

It is said that we have to borrow money from the gentry and wealthy families in the countryside. How can those big families be easy? These so-called methods of lending and collecting loans by scholarly families are chilling. Ordinary people must be peeled off if they are exposed to them. If they are not lucky, their families may not be impossible to lose their families. But what are the solutions now? There is no other way except borrowing farm tools, seeds, and plowing oxen from them. Many people can only borrow money from them in order to survive.

In any case, the economic production activities in Fushan County were running stumbled under such circumstances and gained a harvest before winter came. However, many people found that after paying off their debts, they found that the remaining grain of their family was only enough to last until the beginning of next spring. At that time, everyone might have to take their families out to escape the famine. However, some people were cruel and simply took their land to a gentry's disciple and became other people's tenants, which would save them from becoming heavier and heavier tax shackles.

In this way, the number of self-cultivated farmers in the countryside was reduced again, the land and wealth were concentrated again, the country's tax sources were reduced again, and the foundation of the entire country was destroyed again. Therefore, Mo Ming's target this time was those relatively wealthy gentry families - in fact, there were no people to rob them, and for this reason, his team also brought several Ming people from Fushan natives. These people were either occupied by land and land, or they sold their children to gentry because they could not pay their debts. They had natural conflicts with those gentry families. Mo Ming didn't care who was right and who was wrong. He didn't have the interest to judge who was more reasonable between them. He just needed these people to lead the way.

I don't know if it was because of the problem with the ability of these leaders to distinguish directions, or they were not familiar with this land at all. In short, they wandered around the muddy land for a whole day before they found the first target - a gentry family in the Zhang family. This Mr. Zhang is said to be a scholar and is not very great. However, his ancestors have been studying and becoming officials for several generations, and they are also well-known scholarly families within a radius of hundreds of miles. Since the Zhang family has served for several generations, they have naturally accumulated considerable wealth in their hometown. Not only does their family have land in the countryside, but there are also several shops that operate grain, sesame oil and silk in Fushan County and Dengzhou City, and their annual income is quite large. Although they are not rich, they are also famous wealthy families in the distance.

In the late Ming Dynasty, social order collapsed and bandits in the countryside were rampant. As the fat sheep in the eyes of bandits, these gentry families naturally built forts in the countryside and trained a considerable number of rural brave men to protect their property. You must not underestimate their armed forces. After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he sent many officials to Shandong to take over local governments. Later, they were killed or expelled by rural brave men commanded by these gentry men. They were extremely powerful.

Therefore, when people from the east coast arrived in Zhangjiazhuang early in the morning on October 27, the first thing that caught their eye was the tall blue wall and the brave men walking back and forth on the wall. These brave men naturally discovered this huge army, and they all became very nervous, because not to mention the excellent military skills of these people, just talking about their number and the horse team that could not see at a glance, we can know that this group of people is definitely not ordinary bandits.

Could it be that the Tartars are coming again? Just as they were wandering around their heads, they heard two cannons being dragged out amid the neighing of the horses. Seeing this scene, Captain Jung Hung's legs almost fell off the wall. There were cannons! No, I have to report to the master as soon as possible! Captain Jung Hung stumbled into the city wall and ran towards the backyard.

Mo Ming, who was riding on a short horse, took out a monocular telescope from his arms, and observed the wall leisurely. He found that these rural heroes were generally equipped with wooden spears, not even leather armor, and not many bows and arrows, and they seemed to be no match for the same level. However, the lion also used all his strength to fight against the rabbit, so of course he would not underestimate them. Therefore, with his order, more than 200 officers and soldiers of the 102nd Company raised the American Vulture flag, played the march of "Victory belongs to the Army", and then lined up in three neat rows and drove forward.

The village man on the wall looked at them stupidly. Is this big show or a war? They thought the bandits were really stupid. Are they really not a bandit but a troupe invited by the master from the capital? But they quickly woke up because the bandits wearing yellow robes and carrying bird guns under the wall quickly marched more than 60 meters away from the wall, and then became busy under the command of several leaders holding sabers.

They... were loading the bird gun?! Soon the knowledgeable village spirit recognized their actions, but most people around him were slightly disturbed when they heard his scream. These people who might have never entered the city in their lifetime did not know what the bird gun was, so they still stood there stupidly.

"The first line squatting posture, the second and third lines staggered in turn, and the whole company fired volleys! Prepare... let it go!" As Xiao Xi slashed the sword in his right hand suddenly, a burst of gunfire sounded, and then a large amount of smoke occupied the entire position, but it was soon blown away by the bitter northwest wind, leaving only a faint smell of gunpowder.

The effect of the volley was quite ideal, and the village warriors on the wall were killed and injured. According to visual observations by the combat staff, at least fifteen people were hit and killed, about seven or eight of them fell under the wall, and the remaining bodies were believed to have been left inside the wall. The town warriors who were lucky enough to be unstoppable shouted and all jumped down from the wall.

The soldiers who had finished the volley immediately skillfully loaded ammunition for the rifle, but no one dared to show their heads on the wall, so they could only stand still and wait quietly for the commander's order.

A four-pound cannon and an eight-pound cannon were pushed up by the artillery. Since the enemy on the wall was swept away by the musketeers, they pushed the cannon to a very close place to the gate. At this time, there was no need to aim, just charge the medicine and shoot directly!

"Boom! Boom!" Two cannons stuffed in strong loading bags were fired one after another, and the solid iron balls that roared away broke a large piece of the wood-made gate.

"Damn it, the door of the rich man in the countryside is so thick! Come again!" Li Wenchang, the artillery company commander, took off the military cap on his head and said with some depression.

The artillery immediately started the work of resuscitation of artillery, cleaning the barrel and loading the bullets. Due to the need to train gunners, a few newcomers were stuffed into the gun team, so their movements were slow, but it didn't matter, everyone can wait! Soon, just as a few peeping figures appeared on the wall again, two cannons roared and fired the second round of today's shooting. Two solid iron balls almost hit the same place, knocking out half of the already broken wooden door, and the remaining half was also shaking!

"Kurhan!" Mo Ming, who was riding on the horse, shouted loudly.

With a "calling" sound, a man wearing heavy armor as burly as a black bear walked up to his horse and looked up at him.

"Seize this farm for me, be careful, do not kill people if necessary!" Mo Ming ordered.

Kurhan, who had just learned a little Chinese, nodded hesitantly, and then without saying a word, he brought more than 200 local soldiers from Sakhalin Island who were also wearing heavy armor to the gate. They used cold weapons, namely bows, arrows, spears, and sabers, but their combat effectiveness, who have been fishing and hunting in bitter and cold places for many years, must not be underestimated.

There was indeed no suspense in the subsequent battle. These local soldiers from Sakhalin Island cooperated with each other, shooting with accurate archery in the distance, and stabbing with spears in the near, and quickly captured the village. Only four of them were injured and none of them died in battle, which greatly satisfied Mo Ming.
Chapter completed!