~~~~~~

Regarding night marches, both the Changsheng Battalion and the soldiers of Chen Zhong's Department already have in-depth experience.

In addition to the advantages of geographical conditions, the soldiers of the two armies did not eat less fish, shrimp, and animal livers on weekdays. They did not suffer from night blindness like most people in this era.

Li Yuanqing gave the order, and within half an hour, the soldiers of both departments were ready.

At the beginning of Haishi, which is probably equivalent to ten o'clock in the evening in later generations, Li Yuanqing waved his hand, and the 6,000 elites of the Changsheng Battalion and the 4,000 elites of Chen Zhong's Department quickly headed north and disappeared into the vast night.

Originally, Li Yuanqing wanted to delay for a few days before attacking Haizhou City.

The main reason is that Li Yuanqing wants to have more Houjin reinforcements behind Haizhou and gather more supplies, so that they can be wiped out in one fell swoop, which will save a lot of effort later.

But at this time, the situation had changed. Although Huang Taiji rushed to assist Lao Zhai, the main force of Lao Nu was running towards Haizhou at a high speed.

Although Li Yuanqing and Chen Zhong had a large number of troops, Li Yuanqing did not dare to rely on them. He directly fought in a small fort like Tashanpu with the main force of Houjin to capture Haizhou. On the one hand, it was to benefit everyone's interests. On the other hand,

, is also the safest choice.

Tashanpu is about thirty miles away from Haizhou, but it is located on the official road and the road is easy to walk.

After more than three hours of rapid march, before dawn, the two armies successfully arrived outside the south gate of Haizhou City.

Haizhou has been a prosperous place since ancient times.

Its terrain is flat, the land is fertile, and the water system is abundant. In later generations, Haicheng City was ranked among the top 100 counties in China.

The biggest advantage of marching at night is that you can avoid many Houjin sentry detectives.

Taking into account the reputation of Li Yuanqing and Chen Zhong, the Tatars in Haizhou did not dare to stimulate their nerves too much, and the sentry's defense line was also very far back.

Along the way, the Ming army's sentry cavalry only took away two of Houjin's sentry detectives' dens.

Although he was a little tired along the way, Chen Zhong was extremely excited when he saw the towering Haizhou City Wall in front of him. He whispered to Li Yuanqing: "Yuanqing, let's start. Try to end the battle before dawn."

Li Yuanqing smiled and said, "As you should. After taking Haizhou City, let's go to Haizhou City to have breakfast."

The soldiers of both armies were elite and marched overnight. They were well prepared. As Li Yuanqing's order was conveyed, soon, under the leadership of their respective officers, they quickly pressed towards the entrance of Haizhou City.

At this time, it was almost a little after four in the morning. This is the time when people are most tired and most asleep.

Although it has entered May, the weather in the morning is still a bit cold. Apart from the torches swaying in the wind, there are basically no people visible on the top of Haizhou City.

But the night at this time was no longer as dark and transparent as before, and the visibility was only a few dozen steps. As the Ming army's forward quickly approached Haizhou City, the clever Tatars on the city still noticed something unusual.

, screamed in horror like a pig being slaughtered, the pitiful cry of "enemy attack, enemy attack" instantly pierced the entire night sky.

In a moment, Nancheng's head was in chaos.

But the Ming army ignored these chaotic Tatars at all.

In terms of siege, the Changsheng Battalion already had a fairly complete system.

As the fuses of the explosive packs piled outside the city gate were ignited, the fire dragon rushed straight towards the city gate. In an instant, there was a loud roar like a thunder, and the huge city gate was blown to pieces in an instant.

How could the soldiers of the Ming army be so lazy?

Under the cover of the chirping of more than three thousand cannons, soldiers with swords, shields, and spears rushed into the city like wolves and tigers.

Seeing the red torrent of the Ming army rushing into the city like a tide, Chen Zhong couldn't help laughing, "Yuan Qing, the overall situation has been decided!"

Li Yuanqing also had a relaxed smile on his face.

Without the coercion of Hou Jin's main force, taking down any city in Liao was as easy as picking out a treasure.

However, at this time, Li Yuanqing thought of Mao Wenlong who was circling around Laozhai.

Before, he had given Mao Wenlong a lot of explosive packs and more than 500 gunshots, but Mao Wenlong and the main force of Dongjiang were still unable to break through the old village in one go.

Looking at it now, the most critical reason for this is probably that the suppression intensity of the firepower is not enough.

At this time, the Ming army fired volleys of more than 3,000 cannons in succession, and the Hou Jin army on top of the city could not even raise their heads, let alone mount an effective resistance.

And a five-hundred-rod blunderbuss is obviously unable to achieve this scale.

In addition, the location of Laozhai is too critical, so there must be a lot of guards.

In this way, facing the vicious counterattack of the Hou Jin Army, Mao Wenlong and Dongjiang's main force will inevitably be in a tight situation.

To a large extent, Li Yuanqing also wanted to give greater support to Mao Wenlong and Dongjiang Headquarters for some firearms. Unfortunately, there were no standardized manufacturing machines at this time. Although the Changsheng Island Arms Factory had begun streamlined operations, everything

We still have to rely on manpower, and the monthly output of qualified gunshots is only between four and five hundred shots.

These outputs were first supplied to the Changsheng Camp, and then to Chen Zhong and Mao Wenlong. In a short period of time, it was obvious that they would not be able to spare so much energy.

The city gate has been blown down, and with the powerful fire suppression coverage, how can these Tatar defenders of Haizhou City stand up to them?

After the two waves of cavalry charged desperately and were ruthlessly killed by the cannon soldiers, these Tatar defenders also wanted to understand. How could they dare to resist?

I just regretted that my parents had given birth to two legs, so I hurriedly escaped from the north gate and fled towards Liaoyang.

As expected, the sky had just brightened and the Ming army had completely controlled the situation in Haizhou City. Li Yuanqing and Chen Zhong also entered Haizhou City accompanied by officers from various ministries who came to report the situation.

Haizhou City is not that big, with a circumference of less than twenty miles, but it is quite compact. Looking at the buildings in the city, they are basically very bright, and it is a bit better than Changsheng Island.

Li Yuanqing couldn't help but sigh, "If Changsheng Island wants to truly form a city, it still needs more time."

The flag is set for victory.

In terms of breakfast, Li Yuanqing did not hesitate and directly ordered the soldiers to drag out more than a hundred fat sheep from Hou Jin's treasury and slaughter them all. In a short time, the strong fragrance of mutton soup spread throughout Haizhou City.

key position.

Li Yuanqing and Chen Zhong naturally occupy the official offices with the most favorable conditions.

In the official hall, after eating two bowls of fat mutton soup in succession, Chen Zhong touched his mouth a little carelessly and said to Li Yuanqing: "Yuanqing, the city has been taken, but the people in the city, we

, how should we deal with it?"

Although the battle was fierce before, it ended too quickly. Neither the Ming Army nor the Later Jin Army caused much harassment to the people in the city.

Li Yuanqing swallowed a piece of plump mutton into his stomach, "Let's deal with it according to the original plan and make them all slaves."

Although he had expected this result, Chen Zhong was still shocked when he heard Li Yuanqing say it. He said hurriedly: "Yuanqing, but, there are probably many gentry in this city."

Li Yuanqing took the handkerchief, wiped the oil stains on his mouth, and said with a faint smile: "What about the gentry? Brother, you need to remember that they are the gentry of Houjin, but we are the kings of Ming Dynasty!!"

"..."

Chen Zhong couldn't help but be speechless for a moment, but he also understood that in order to better control the situation in the city, Li Yuanqing's plan, although cruel, was the best choice at this time.

"That's all. Yuan Qing, please don't do anything about this. Let me be the villain!"

Li Yuanqing was stunned for a moment, but then he laughed loudly, "Brother, if you have too many lice, don't worry about it. You and I can handle this together!"

Chen Zhong also understood what Li Yuanqing meant and laughed loudly, "That's fine. Brothers working together can be as powerful as gold! If anyone chews their tongue afterward, we will never let them be happy!"

…………

Li Yuanqing and Chen Zhong reached an agreement, and then all that was left was implementation.

Facing the heavily armed Ming army soldiers, how could the people in these cities resist too much?

By early evening, the two military camps in Nancheng District had turned into the largest concentration camp in Haizhou City.

Of course, only women and children can enjoy this treatment, and all the men in the city, except for a few old and weak ones who cannot move, are used as slaves.

However, although the method was a little cruel, Li Yuanqing was also very particular about it. Once he was found guilty of rape, rape or robbery, no matter who it was, he would definitely kill him without mercy.

Although these people are vassals of the Tatars, they are still Han people after all. Although Li Yuanqing hates their disloyalty and unrighteousness, there are innate reasons for many things. In this regard, Li Yuanqing naturally wants to give these people

An opportunity instead of killing them all.

Three days later, as the follow-up troops, people, and supplies arrived at Tashanpu, more and more Houjin sentry detectives appeared in the west and north of the city.

The main army of Hou Jin is not far away.

When it comes to defending the city, whether it is Li Yuanqing, Chen Zhong, or the men of the two departments, they already have extremely rich experience.

Think about it, along the way, Li Yuanqing and Chen Zhong basically started out on defense.

At this time, with a fortified city like Haizhou in hand, the two armies have considerable reserves in terms of manpower and firepower. Li Yuanqing has even prepared a lot of secret weapons such as "kerosene". As long as the Jin army dares to come,

, how could Li Yuanqing let them please?

However, except for the more than 10,000 women Dingkou who were captured on the southern line of Haizhou and were escorted back to Gaizhou City, at this time, all other manpower and Dingkou gathered in Haizhou City.

There seems to be a lot of supplies in the city, but if averaged to each person, they may only be able to last for two months.

Fortunately, Li Yuanqing and Chen Zhong also have a lot of experience in this regard.

The rations for the soldiers of the two armies remained the same. They ate whatever they wanted.

But the rations of these captured slaves and women must be tightly controlled and calculated carefully.

These male slaves were allowed to eat six to seven times full when they were working on building the city. At other times, they could only eat three times full to barely keep them alive.

As for the female dependents in the "concentration camp", their treatment was slightly better than that of the male slaves. They could eat half full, and occasionally they were given some broth.

In this current situation, although men are regarded as the labor force, it is obvious that women are more precious and easier to control.

In this regard, Li Yuanqing could not help but be cruel.

However, even with such careful planning, the food and grass in the city can probably last for three months.

If we include the consumption during the war, I'm afraid it would only be about two and a half months.

Just as Li Yuanqing had predicted, Haizhou was captured. Although all aspects were explained, it left the army in a passive position.

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Chapter completed!