Forty-eight years of Qianlong

At the first quarter of the day, under Cheng Ce's order, two hundred armored soldiers from the Eight Banners garrisoned at Jingkou divided into left and right wings and pressed towards Suiyuan from the edge of the dry river. When they took fifty steps, another two hundred armored soldiers followed them.

Different from the previous fighting methods of the Eight Banners soldiers, at the front were fifty tall armored soldiers. Each of them pushed a wheelbarrow common in the Jiangnan area, with a heavy sheet tied to the front of the cart. The Eight Immortals table was covered with several layers of quilts.

Obviously, these "carts" are specially designed to withstand bullets. When Mian'en knew that ten unidentified people had come to Suiyuan, and he was quite wary of the weapons of the Northern Navy, he thought of this trick.

The appearance of this "earth tank" similar to that of another time and space can be traced back to the night attack launched by the Qing army against the Northern Navy at Ninggu Pagoda seven years ago. Although the sneak attack with the quilt failed, it still attracted Fukang'an's attention afterwards.

He asked his soldiers to find quilts and door panels, wet them with water and conduct repeated tests. In order to imitate the power of the Northern Navy's weapons, he also used the Zambarak heavy musket commonly known as the "two-person lift". Shooting at close range. After many experiments, it was found that the door panel must be covered with at least five layers of water-soaked quilts, and soil should be covered between the quilts, so that it cannot be penetrated.

In order to solve the problem of easy movement, the craftsmen found a wheelbarrow and fixed the two door panels on the left and right sides of the frame, and connected them with a horizontal plate in the middle to block the people pushing the cart behind. In this way, this thing becomes a small car.

After watching the shooting effect, Fukang'an believed that this method was feasible, so he mass-produced it in the army. At the same time, he wrote the matter in a memorial and reported it to Qianlong.

In fact, the Qing army used a large number of carriages during the Nurhaci era, and they were also called "branded carriages" at that time. According to the records of "The Complete Book of War and Shou" compiled by Fan Jingwen of the Ming Dynasty, the carts used by the Later Jin Dynasty were made of thick wooden boards covered with cowhide and iron sheets. Small bricks and stones would not move when hit, and large bricks and stones would roll down when hit. Throw it away and it will not burn. It had strong defensive power against the firearms of the Ming army at that time. When Hou Jin led his army to capture Shenyang, the jian chariot played an important role.

After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, as the Qing army was equipped with more and more firearms, their tactics evolved into lining up to kill and then outflanking with cavalry. When Kangxi personally conquered Galdan, Zhenche completely withdrew from the Qing army's armament establishment.

Although Fukangan developed a wheelbarrow, it was useless in subsequent battles against the North Korean Navy. The use of it in small-scale battles depends on the terrain, and it cannot be used in mountains and dense forests; in large-scale battles, although it can block the North Korean navy's rifle bullets and grenade shrapnel, it is useless against machine guns and artillery.

In Mian'en's view, the ten people in Beihai Town would definitely not have cannons, and at most they would have quick rifles, so a cart would be suitable, so he asked craftsmen all over the city to build carts overnight. However, the craftsmen used the Eight Immortals table that is available in every household in the Jiangnan area. After all, it is unreasonable to remove the door panel in the cold weather.

The Eight Banners soldiers from Jingkou advanced smoothly at first. They carefully passed through several acres of vegetable fields in Suiyuan. After checking several nearby thatched huts, they found that they were all empty. Maybe because I was in a hurry, there were still embers in the brazier. A few chickens that were too late to be taken away walked back and forth in the fence, clucking uneasily.

To the west of the vegetable field is the "Qunyu Mountain Top", which is known as one of the twenty-four scenic spots in Suiyuan. It is said to be a mountain, but in fact it is a large garden planted with plum blossoms, magnolias and peonies. On the west side stands a "mountain" made of stacked Taihu stones.

On the north side of the garden, there is a fence made of crossed bamboos that is as high as one person, extending to the northwest. On the north side of the wall is the door leading to the inner room of Yuan's house; while walking south along the downhill road on the northwest side of the bamboo wall, you can enter the peach blossom embankment in the south.

Once the wheelbarrow entered the garden, it was difficult to move around. The armored soldiers, who were originally in an orderly formation, also dispersed into a group here and a group there. Just as a dozen armored soldiers came to the north bamboo wall and tried to knock it down, they heard a noisy buzz in the air from far to near, which sounded like a large swarm of bees.

But it’s early winter now, where are the bees?

The soldiers looked up through the bare branches and saw a strange-looking gray object flying over from the west, like an octopus. When it flew over the heads of the armored soldiers, it hovered still. At this time, a few sharp-eyed guys noticed that there were several egg-shaped things hanging under the gray objects.

"Oh my God! What is that?" These Eight Banners soldiers who had lived in Jiangnan for decades had never seen this thing before, and they were all stunned.

"Is it a bamboo dragonfly?"

"Nonsense! Have you ever seen such a big bamboo dragonfly? It can also make strange noises!"

"Why not? Just make a whistle down there. I even made one for my son."

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"Are there eggs under its belly? Why is it so dark? One, two, three, four, there are four!"

"Be careful, this thing is weirdly tight!"

"Whatever it is, shoot it down first!" A leader estimated the height, then took off the birch bow from his shoulder, and pulled out a meter-long plum needle arrow from the quiver on his back.

Just at this moment, the two "eggs" underneath the gray object in the air suddenly fell down, and they fell into the place where the armored soldiers were most densely standing.

"Boom! Boom!"

With two violent explosions, black smoke mixed with fire engulfed the bright yellow wintersweet branches, and also blew up the already bare magnolia trees to pieces.

A dozen armored soldiers fell into a pool of blood in an instant, which made the Eight Banners soldiers from Jingkou immediately exploded. Although they were well-trained and skilled in bow and horse, they had never seen this before! Except for those who were frightened and stiffened, everyone else fled in confusion. The guys pushing the carts also threw the carts away and ran away like headless chickens.

Soon, those armored soldiers who found that there was no way ahead all changed directions and ran towards the vegetable field they had passed before. During this period, the large "bamboo dragonfly" in the air had been hovering more than thirty meters high in the air. When more than two hundred armored soldiers appeared in the vegetable field, it flew above their heads without warning. , and dropped the only two "eggs" left under his belly.

"It's laying eggs again! Get out of the way!"

Before he finished speaking, the dry vegetable field was instantly filled with black smoke from the explosion, soil flew up, and there were screams. Several frightened chickens flapped their wings and flew out of the fence, scattering chicken feathers all over the floor.

At this time, on the top of the mountain behind Yongqing Temple, Cheng Ce, deputy commander of the Eight Banners at Jingkou, and two Ouchi guards sent by Mian En were all stunned. After a while, the strange thing hovering in the air suddenly flew westward quickly, then fell steadily and disappeared into the bamboo forest below Tianfeng Pavilion.

Cheng Ce hurriedly raised the monocular telescope in his hand and took a closer look. He only saw bamboo forests swaying in the wind, fine snow falling, and not even a single person's shadow. At the same time, in the Tianfeng Pavilion in the southwest corner of Suiyuan, Yuan Mei, who was leaning on crutches, saw through the telescope that the "Jade Mountain Top" he had carefully built was blown into westerly withered trees, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh. Every tree, every flower and plant there was cultivated by him with his own hands back then, but now it has been turned into a Shura field, which is really a pity.

On the side, the pale brothers Yuan Tong and Yuan Chi breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the Qing army suffered heavy casualties and fled with a single attack from Beihai Town.

When the leader surnamed Gao came down with his men, the two brothers jumped anxiously when they saw that there were only ten people, thinking that this time they would be doomed. Now it seems that I am really a frog in the well!

No wonder King Zhao's soldiers and horses were able to march across Mobei outside the pass, and the imperial army was unable to fight back. I never imagined that there would be such a murderous weapon in the world that could take human lives from the sky!

Yuan Mei handed the telescope back to a member of the action team, and with the support of his son, he went to the first floor of Tianfeng Pavilion. He smiled and said to the anxious family members and tenant servants in the thatched cottage, "Don't worry! The officers and soldiers have been beaten away. . Let’s eat, are you all hungry?”

Everyone, including Yuan Mei's wife Wang, looked at Yuan Mei in confusion and said to her heart, Master, you are really big-hearted, how long has this happened?

After a while, the cook Yang Er came out from the kitchen next to him. This man was also a big-hearted man. He held up his hands and said: "Master, I left in a hurry and didn't bring many ingredients with me. There is chestnut cake made yesterday in the food box. How about making some porridge and two beggar chickens?"

Yuan Mei twirled his beard and said: "Wonderful! Let's boil the wine again."

Hearing these words, Gao Liugeng, who was about to go downstairs, couldn't help but rolled his eyes and said to himself that this Cangshan layman is really a foodie!

It is said that five years ago, three of Chang Nai Zhou's disciples - Chai Rugui, Gao Liugeng and Li Qingwen - were invited by the governor of Henan to sneak into Beihai Town in disguise and try to assassinate Zhao Xin on behalf of the Qing government. Unexpectedly, they were involuntarily assigned to Xing as soon as they got off the ship. Kaihu No.2 Village was settled.

Just when the three of them were at their wits' end and planned to run away when winter came without any results, they happened to catch up with Zhao Xin and went to the countryside in disguise to inspect the autumn harvest. The first place he went to was the second village. As a result, the three of them exposed their flaws in front of Chen Jishan, Zhao Xin's bodyguard at the time. .

Later, the three brothers were inspired by Chen Jishan, Chai Rugui and Li Qingwen went to Beihai Town, and Gao Liugeng, because his family had a large population and was worried about being implicated, took a boat from northern Jiangsu alone and returned to his hometown in Sishui, Henan.

After returning home and settling down for a while, he went to his senior brother's and younger brother's homes and took out twenty taels of silver and a handwritten letter respectively, saying that they were now working as martial arts masters in a wealthy family in northern Jiangsu and everything was fine. With Gao Liugeng's words, the Chai family and the Li family would naturally not be suspicious and happily accepted the money.

Another year passed, and suddenly one day Li Qingwen and Xu Dayong came uninvited, which shocked Gao Liugeng. After asking carefully, I found out that Beihai Town still wanted to recruit him, but not to join the army, but to join the Intelligence Bureau. The good thing is that I go to Beihai Town for training for half a year and then come back. I can do whatever I need to do on a daily basis. I will only go out for a run if something happens. From now on, I have to go to the farm in Sheyang Lake for one month of retraining every year.

As the saying goes, if you master the art of literature and martial arts, your goods will be with the emperor's family. Although Gao Liugeng came back, his heart never came back. He donated his fame and studied martial arts, the purpose of which was to find an official position, to dominate the battlefield and to shine on his family.

By that time, the news that the Northern Navy had arrived at Dagukou and that Zhao Xin had robbed and rescued people in Yangzhou had spread to Henan. Gao Liugeng was very excited when he learned about it, and he readily accepted Xu Dayong's invitation.

However, he alone was not counted. Later, Li Qingwen took Xu Dayong to visit the Chang family boxing disciples and included Zhao Jinchuan, Qin Chengzong, Tang Qinglian, Tao Laojiu, Zhang Yulin, Chen Tianjuan, Wang Guoxiang, Li Gentu, etc. Everyone was drawn into the intelligence bureau.

After the Chinese New Year this year, Gao Liugeng was sent to Zhenjiang as the leader of the Zhenjiang Action Team. His external identity is the proprietor of a shop specializing in Jiang Guangye (North-South goods and sugar industry), and his nine subordinates also have their own cover identities. They don't meet at all on weekdays. They only call in people when the superiors come for tasks. But even if There was no need for him to personally carry out the tasks before.

This time it was different. After receiving the telegram from the headquarters a few days ago, Gao Liugeng, who felt troubled, summoned all nine of his subordinates for the first time, brought all the equipment, and rushed to Suiyuan that day.

After putting up the sign "Closed Doors and Thanking Guests" the next day, he led his people to investigate around Suiyuan. After going around, he came to the same conclusion as the previous shopkeeper Chang. He couldn't defend the inner house even if he wanted to. . The only thing that can be relied upon in this garden is the small hill in the southwest.

Jiangning City is located in the hilly area of ​​Jiangnan. Although there are many hills in the city, they are not high. Xiaocang Mountain, located in the west of the city, is the remnant of Mount Wutai in the south. When Yuan Mei was running this place, he planted tens of thousands of bamboos at the foot and halfway of the hill to the southwest of Suiyuan. Now, decades later, three sides of the hill are completely covered by dense bamboo forests. It is airtight, with only one path leading to Tianfeng Pavilion on the top of the mountain.

If the officers and soldiers entered Suiyuan from the dry river bank and wanted to enter this hill, they would have to walk through the narrow peach blossom embankment and pass through the suspension bridge over the lotus pond. In addition, another advantage here is that standing on the second floor of Tianfeng Pavilion, you can observe the situation hundreds of meters around Suiyuan and respond in time.

For Yuan Mei, the old man only realized how big a thunder he had struck when he saw Gao Liugeng and the weapons and ammunition he brought. But he also understood his importance to Beihai Town, and couldn't help but be secretly proud. However, when he learned that the entire inner house would be abandoned and the whole family would retreat to Tianfeng Pavilion, Yuan Mei was very reluctant to give up.

Gao Liugeng couldn't care about so much. He told Yuan Mei directly, we are here to save the lives of your family, not to protect your wealth! If you don't leave, we won't be able to keep the garden, and if something happens to your family again, you'll have to bear the consequences!

As a result, the Yuan family went out together and spent two whole days picking up all the valuable calligraphy, painting, books and antiques in the family, packing them in boxes and burying them in the garden on the west side of the "Shenqing Cave", where they have been until today. I hurried up the mountain with my big and small bags in the morning. The tenants living in Suiyuan were also afraid of being implicated, so they followed with their little belongings carrying rice bags and chickens.

At this time, the armored soldiers who had retreated to the edge of the dry river were in shock. After counting their men, they found that a total of thirty-seven were injured and eleven were dead. The most pitiful thing was that a soldier was hit by a falling bomb on his helmet, and his whole head was blown off.

When Cheng Ce learned about the situation, he was so frightened that his legs trembled. He thought to himself: How the hell could ten people do this? No, we have to talk to the prince. No matter what, we have to get two cannons and dozens of muskets.

Half an hour later, Mian En, who was sitting in command of General Jiangning's Mansion, looked at Cheng Ce and the two guards who were kneeling on the ground, and said calmly: "This is none of your business, it's the insidious and cunning pirates from the North Sea. You've been waiting for a long time. In Jiangnan, I have never fought against the North Sea pirates. Get up."

"Whoo!"

Mian En asked: "That thing flying in the sky went back and never came out again?"

A guard said: "Didn't come out."

Mian En felt very helpless. This kind of thing flying in the sky had been mentioned many times in the military newspapers outside the customs and Shandong. Before, it was just flying around in the sky to scare people. There was no news that it could hurt anyone. Now Fortunately, a bomb was actually dropped and it exploded into a large area!

"No! If that thing flies to my head and drops a bomb, where should I hide?" Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on the back of Mian En's neck.