Chapter 37
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Two days may seem like a short time, but for Mao Wenlong, it is enough for him to do a lot of things.
Most of the refugees and defeated soldiers came with their families, so Mao Wenlong was not polite and digested nearly 300 young men among them into his stomach to serve as soldiers and sailors.
As for their family members, the old and the weak, they were transported by four boats day and night back to the west bank of the Sancha River, where the Ming army actually controlled. At this time, Mao Wenlong had the governor's "Gold Medal Order Arrow", and in addition to regaining the people, for local officials,
It is also a great achievement. For their own benefit, they will definitely find ways to arrange the families of these people.
The strength of the surprise attack team has grown rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Li Yuanqing also received a huge bonus. Unlike the last time he selected people in Guangning City, at this time, Li Yuanqing was already the deputy of a hundred households and the "first gun" of this small-scale military operation. He confidently selected two people.
With ten young men, Li Yuanqing's direct subordinates now total close to thirty.
After finishing all these things, it was already the morning of the third day. According to the report from the spies, there was already a cavalry of more than a thousand people in the direction of Haizhou, rushing towards this direction at a fast speed.
Of course, Mao Wenlong would not stop any longer. With a wave of his hand, the fleet continued sailing towards the sea, without leaving even the back of his head to the cavalry of the Hou Jin Army.
The number of people suddenly increased a lot, and the four sand ships became lively.
These newly joined young men are all from central and southern Liaoning. Their homes were plundered by the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty, and their relatives were killed. Their hatred for the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty is simply overwhelming, and they are full of desire for revenge. With this,
Compared with Liaoxi, which had not been captured by Hou Jin at that time, they were more suitable to serve as excellent soldiers. Even if they were to be coolie-like sailors, they did not even complain.
A few days later, the fleet had entered Gaizhou and reached the hinterland of the Liaodong Peninsula.
Although Lao Nu's Eight Banners cavalry were powerful, they were powerless at sea and unable to find out the whereabouts of Mao Wenlong's tribe, so they could only act in a hurry.
Looking at the hinterland of the land not far away, Mao Chenglu suggested to Mao Wenlong that he could follow the previous method at Sanchahe and make another vote to expand the size of the team.
Mao Wenlong thought for a moment and still rejected the proposal.
The main reason is very simple. It is not a problem to gather the defeated troops and refugees, but this place is too far away from the actual control area of the Ming army. How to appease their families?
Although Mao Chenglu wanted to repeat his old tricks, he also understood that what Mao Wenlong said was correct. If his family was small and restless, he could not guarantee that these people would work for him.
The fleet headed south, maintaining an appropriate safe distance from the land, and spying on the situation of the Jin Army in the Liaodong Peninsula.
Li Yuanqing had no intention of caring about these things at this time. The twenty recruits under his command were all young and strong, the oldest was no more than thirty years old, and the youngest was no less than twenty years old. They were in the prime of their lives.
In addition, their hatred for Jiannu was overwhelming. Li Yuanqing had already raised their spirits and established his authority without much effort.
In the evening, the army docked and fetched water at the mouth of a river.
The increase in the number of people has also caused an extremely sharp increase in the consumption of food and fresh water. Fortunately, the governor has provided sufficient food reserves, otherwise, this would be a real trouble.
Mao Wenlong decided to temporarily stay at the mouth of the river for a while to inquire about the recruitment of surrender troops on the lower three routes.
At this time, Liao was a bitterly cold land with a sparse population density. There were only a few million people in the land of thousands of square kilometers, especially in southern Liaoning, where the number of people was even rarer.
The army is stationed in this kind of terrain. Unless the Eight Banners cavalry has wings, otherwise, even if they are face to face, the army will have enough time to retreat to the ship.
The soldiers were able to return to land to rest, and their spirits were much higher. In addition, Mao Wenlong turned a blind eye to the "wild food", and the food of the soldiers was also improved a lot. The whole team,
Morale is like a rainbow and people's hearts are high.
Soon, the messengers heading towards Yang Yuwei and Shan Jinzhong also found this place through the intelligence network. It was as expected by Mao Wenlong and Chen Jisheng. The two men had treacherous intentions but no courage, and were unwilling to return to the Ming Dynasty, and rejected Mao Wenlong's offer to surrender.
, after all, Mao Wenlong is just a guerrilla, on the same level as them.
Mao Wenlong was not too angry about this. The attitudes of Yang Yuwei and Shan Jinzhong were within his expectations. The key still depends on Chen Jisheng's situation in Jinzhou.
The next day, news finally came back from Chen Jisheng that Jinzhou guerrilla Liu Aita was loyal and willing to surrender to the imperial court, and was willing to appease the people in Jinzhou area, waiting to cooperate with Mao Wenlong inside and outside.
Mao Wenlong was so happy that he immediately wrote a letter in his own hand and gave it to the courier to bring back, agreeing on a date to discuss the plan.
When the news came out, the entire team was overjoyed.
Liu Aita has thousands of people and soldiers under his command, nearly a thousand young and strong. If he can get his support, the strength of the surprise attack team will be expanded several times in a straight line.
But after all, Jinzhou is a long way away, and Mao Wenlong would never act rashly without adequate preparations.
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Time flies by quickly, and it has already entered June in the blink of an eye. After these days of training, these more than 300 newly recruited young men have gradually adapted to the rhythm of life in the army, and have the appearance of a soldier, but when it comes to food and grass,
But there are some shortcomings.
Seeing that it was about to enter mid-June, Mao Wenlong no longer stopped to reorganize his army, and the fleet continued southward.
On June 18, the first year of the Great Ming Dynasty, the fleet arrived at Hongyazi. At this time, the fleet encountered headwinds, was moving slowly, and there was not much water left. The soldiers were extremely thirsty.
Hongyazi was guarded by a total force. Mao Wenlong immediately sent people there and informed the guard that he hoped to have the fleet send people to fetch water.
However, Zhou Yongzuo, the official of the Hundred Households of Hongyazi, sternly rejected the fleet's request.
In desperation, Mao Wenlong had no choice but to order the fleet to continue moving forward.
There was no water, and there was a headwind. The soldiers and sailors were exhausted. The surprise attack team encountered the biggest test since the expedition.
Li Yuanqing also felt uncomfortable at this time.
Water is the source of life.
Without water, a person's physical strength dropped extremely sharply. In just a few days, Li Yuanqing's mouth had already swollen with several huge blisters.
And Li Yuanqing is still an actual officer and has some special treatment. As for the soldiers, it is even worse. They can't drink water for several days and can't even pee. What kind of pain must this be?
What is even more sad is that God is not open to the problem. In the midsummer of June, not even a drop of rain falls.
But although the environment was extremely miserable, few soldiers or officers complained. Their hatred for the Houjin Jurchen made them let go of everything.
Fortunately, pain is always temporary. On June 23, the fleet arrived at a small island called Pig Island. It was very small, had no defenders, only a small village, and had sufficient fresh water resources.
After the fleet landed, dozens of residents in the village fled away in an instant as if they were facing a powerful enemy, but they left behind many livestock, including twenty cows.
Mao Wenlong immediately ordered the slaughter of all cattle and livestock to reward the three armies.
The team's military morale instantly soared, and the bitterness and fatigue of the past few days dissipated in an instant. Both soldiers and officers drank gulps of water and ate meat. It was even more enjoyable than the Chinese New Year.
Li Yuanqing was also frantically replenishing the energy consumed during these days. Moreover, one of Li Yuanqing's recruits was a fisherman. During the past few days of rest on Pig Island, Li Yuanqing carefully consulted with him and learned how to fish.
In fact, fishing is very simple. It is midsummer, the area is vast and sparsely populated, and there is no overfishing as happened in later generations. It is easy for a novice like Li Yuanqing to get started.
Seeing the remarkable results, Li Yuanqing simply stopped the training and ordered all the soldiers under his command to participate in fishing and gained a lot.
Mao Wenlong didn't expect that Li Yuanqing actually had this ability, so he couldn't help but admire him greatly.
Chen Zhong smiled and said: "Yuan Qing, this boy, has a lot of abilities. I think if he is the general manager of the baggage, everyone will have nothing to worry about."
Mao Wenlong smiled. Along the way, he clearly understood Li Yuanqing's value better.
This guy doesn't seem to be doing his job properly, but in fact, he always takes care of himself and solves the team's major problems. For such a person to be the general manager of baggage? Wouldn't that be a waste of natural resources?
The team rested on Pig Island for seven or eight days. On the first day of July, Mao Wenlong decided to continue sailing to Guanglu Island.
On the blue sea, the blue waves are rippling. After replenishing and cultivating on Pig Island, the soldiers' energy and spirit have improved a lot.
Li Yuanqing stood on the bow deck of the ship, feeling refreshed.
Although there were twists and turns in the process of the surprise attack team, by now, the momentum has been built up and it is quite unstoppable. When Liu Aita joins the team, it will be even more powerful.
The big ship that I have worked so hard to embark on has finally come to harvest time.
These days, Li Yuanqing and his soldiers have indeed caught a lot of fish, which is more than enough to feed the entire team of 500 people for a month.
At noon, there was another whole fish feast. The delicious smell of fish soup permeated the four boats, making people feel appetizing just by smelling it.
"Haha, Yuan Qing, the weather is nice today. Let's have a drink together." Chen Zhong came to Li Yuanqing's side with a smile and carrying a small wine pot.
These days, since there is no city in the docking area, the team's wine is basically running out. Chen Zhong got a jug from nowhere, obviously wanting to show off to Li Yuanqing.
Li Yuanqing was also very happy. In this era, there are no cigarettes. For men, alcohol is the best companion and the easiest lubricant to close the distance between men.
"Haha. Brother Chen is very kind, but my younger brother is disrespectful."
Chen Zhong laughed and said, "Okay Yuan Qing, who among us brothers is following the other? If it weren't for you, my brother wouldn't be able to eat such delicious fish. Come on, one of us will go."
Chen Zhong laughed and handed the wine bottle to Li Yuanqing.
Li Yuanqing was not polite, laughed and took a swig, "It's great."
At this time, the fisherman soldier under Li Yuanqing ran to Li Yuanqing's side and said with some horror: "Li Tou, it's not good, a storm is coming."
"Nonsense. The sun is shining beautifully in the sky, where did the storm come from?" Chen Zhong didn't know anything about the ocean, so he couldn't help shouting.
"Wang Hai, don't be impatient, tell me slowly, what's going on?" Li Yuanqing carefully comforted the fisherman and soldier named Wang Hai.
Chen Zhong had no idea about it, but Li Yuanqing learned fishing from Wang Hai these days, and he had a deep understanding of it. Although Wang Hai was only twenty years old, he had lived by the sea since childhood and knew the habits of the ocean very well.
At this time, you will never be aimless.
Wang Hai hurriedly said: "Li Tou, as the saying goes, the sky in June has a baby face. Although it is July, it is also the rainy season in the sea here. Look at the sun, the light is not as bright as before.
I have been fishing in this area with my father before, and I have experienced that a storm is coming soon, so I can’t go wrong.”
Li Yuanqing's face became serious and he said to Chen Zhong: "Wang Hai is an honest man and he will not lie. We must report this matter to the general immediately."
Seeing Li Yuanqing's solemnity, Chen Zhong knew that something was not right. He was about to get up and go back to Mao Wenlong to board the boat. At this time, a shrill lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, followed by raindrops like peas without any warning.
'Crackling' fell from the sky crazily.
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Chapter completed!