national surname chiming

Chapter 170 Tashan Blood
In the 15th year of Chongzhen, on the second day of March, in the early morning.

Tashan City, East Gate Tower.

In March in the northeast, the wind is still cold and bleak, and the surface of the Bohai Sea, ten miles southeast of Tashan City, only completely thaws during the day when the sun is shining.In the coldest night, a thin layer of ice will still form again.

A Ming general in cold iron armor walked around the city with heavy steps, and every step he took would make the clanging and rubbing sound of armor leaves.

This person is none other than Li Fuming, the deputy commander-in-chief of Daming Shanxi. Six months ago, he followed Hong Chengchou to participate in the Songjin War with the other seven town commanders. After the disastrous defeat, he fled here.

Among the eight generals, Wang Pu and Ma Ke were the first to flee, and they were also held accountable by the court.Bai Guangen, Tang Tong, and Wu Sangui were defeated successively, and their crimes were also lightened successively.

He, Li Fuming, escaped, otherwise he would not have been surrounded by Tashan, which is relatively behind.

But in comparison, he can still laugh at Tang Tong, Wu Sangui and the others——

We also escaped, but we didn't escape completely. We only escaped for sixty miles, and after we gained a firm foothold, we turned to hold on, and then we were trapped again.Wu Sangui and the others fled for three hundred miles as soon as they fled.

Among the eight generals, Yang Guozhu and Cao Bianjiao are the only ones who have more backbone than Li Fuming.Yang Guozhu had died in battle a few months ago, while Cao Bianjiao insisted on not fleeing when he was defeated, and he is still besieged in Xingshan.

Compared with Cao Bianjiao, he, Li Fuming, was a little coward after all, after all, he fled for sixty miles.

Today, Tashan has been raided and besieged by the enemy for five months. Of course, it is impossible for Li Fuming to watch the night without sleeping every day.He just couldn't sleep, got up a little early, and woke up at the beginning of the morning every day, and went to the wall to check the situation.

Over time, people will always become numb.Even in the face of life and death, it will be numb.

Every morning when he went to the wall, Li Fuming would stare at the northeast for a while absently.

Although it is impossible for him to see Tashan City, which is sixty miles to the northeast, he cannot see Songshan, which is ninety miles to the north-northeast.But he knew that Governor Hong, Qiu Futai and Cao Junmen were still standing there.

If those places have already fallen, the main force of the Tartars will be free, and the siege on the Tashan side will definitely become tighter.

"Look, general, there's fire on the south side of the east! I'm afraid it's ten miles away?"

Li Fuming patrolled around and was contemplating when suddenly one of his subordinates, Li Tongtai, the garrison in charge of the defense of the East City, shouted, which interrupted Li Fuming's thoughts and caused waves in his heart.

Now there are only three battalions in Tashan City.They were all remnants after the defeat, not full of ranks, and one of the battalion's guards died in battle.

At the beginning, Chongzhen dispatched elites from the Nine Frontiers for Hong Chengchou's expedition, and the generals, deputy generals, and generals of the Shanxi Army were all fully equipped.Now that the chief soldier is dead, he, the deputy general, took over as the chief soldier, and the officers below him also died in sevens and eighties. In the huge Shanxi Ming army, except for him, there are only one senior officer and two guards left.

Li Fuming climbed to the battlement of the female wall and looked in the direction Li Tongtai pointed. In the dark, the light of the torch could not measure the distance accurately, but it was just as vague as a bean.He squinted his eyes for a moment, and the flames quickly disappeared.

He touched his prickly beard, his mood gradually sank, and he laughed at himself and said, "Although I don't know the exact distance, I guess there must be a land ten miles away. Ten miles away in that direction is already the sea.

Could it be that the Tartars are now careful enough to send sampans to cooperate with the surveillance and siege of our army?Then Azig really thinks highly of Wu Sangui.If Wu Sangui had come to the rescue from Kenhai Road, he would have arrived long ago, so why would he have waited until now. "

Li Tongtai, who was next to him, was a little puzzled when he heard the words, so he asked, "Why did the general conclude that it was the sampan of the Tartars? Couldn't it be that Wu Junmen of Shanhaiguan was watching the battle ahead?"

Li Fuming shook his head, and called Li Tongtai bitterly: "You Shanxi army should also know some common sense of the navy and learn water skills. It is 260 miles from Shanhaiguan, and the sea is unpredictable. How can a small sampan get there?" here?
And the surface of the sea where the fire was shining just now is obviously the Huluwan Shoal in the southeast, which is the closest to the city. The water depth in this area is extremely shallow, and large ships cannot get close to it, so the fire that appeared there must be from the sampan, only from the Tartars. The sampan came so close.

If Wu Sangui sent someone, he would not go to Huluwan just to get closer. He would only go to Bijia Mountain in the east.Although Bijia Mountain is more than ten miles away from the city, it goes deep into the Bohai Sea, and there is a deep-water anchorage on the shore, which can be directly moored by sea-going ships.We still left the pier at the beginning, but I don’t know if it has been burned down by the Tartars now. "

Although Li Fuming served as the commander-in-chief of Shanxi, his native place is a native of Liaodong, he also grew up by the sea, and his water skills are not bad.

Li Tongtai is from Shanxi. He grew up in the Taihang Mountains all his life, even after joining the army.This time Hong Chengchou transferred the Shanxi Army for an expedition, he just left his hometown, so he is a landlubber who knows nothing about water and navigation.

After listening to the general soldier's introduction, he gained a lot of wisdom, and at the same time became vigilant, and quickly ordered the head of the city to get ready, string the bow and crossbow, and charge the gunpowder. Some old-fashioned small French machines weighing less than three hundred catties.

Shililu said whether it was far or close, the city was guarded for a quarter of an hour, during which time there was a noise of fighting, and even the sound and light of firecrackers, followed by horseshoes coming from far to near.

There didn't seem to be many people there, only a dozen or so riders.The head of the city thought that the Tartars had cheated the city, and they were all ready to go to war.

"The city is supposed to be the troops of Li Junmen in Shanxi? I ​​am attacking Zhang Guozhu under the command of Wu Junmen in Shanhaiguan. This time, my army gate has been assisted by Zheng Chenggong, the head of the Shipping Department of the Nanjing Household Department and promoted by Haidao. We will rescue you with sea ships! Open the door and let me enter the city to discuss!"

"Zheng Chenggong? I haven't heard of it, but Wu Sangui is willing to spend so much money all of a sudden?" Li Fuming was at the top of the city, completely unbelievable, and immediately asked Li Tongtai to question the details severely.

Zhang Guozhu also answered some questions, but he was quite impatient, and emphasized: "You have been here for a long time, and you also know that the Tazi scouts will have to pass by at most half an hour. There is no time to delay. On the way we came just now, Let’s set up an ambush and kill a team of 30 Tartar scouts! Open the door quickly, or you will change if you are late!”

The head of the city was suspicious for a moment, and asked them to hang up the printed letters and the heads of the Tazi scouts with a hanging basket first, and after confirming that they were correct, they would hang the people up with a hanging basket.

But at this moment, the sky has not yet fully brightened, and it is not clear whether there are ambushes in the distance, so he must not dare to open the door.

Zhang Guozhu was a little anxious, and scolded: "I waited for the knife to lick the blood, and came all the way to rescue me, so I still have to be so suspicious? How long will the hanging baskets be hung one by one! The Tartars will find out sooner or later! And how did our horses hang into the city?" go!"

Just as the two sides were in dispute, there was a young man beside Zhang Guozhu who was quite bold and offered to propose:

"How about this? Although there is no urn city at the gate of Tashan City, there must be a gate, right? Let's go to the gate hole first, you put down the gate, and then open the inner gate. If we act rashly, you will block us directly inside the gate. OK?

Also, it doesn't matter if you don't believe that Wu Sangui is willing to make such a big investment, and you haven't heard of me, Mr. Zheng.But you should always trust the Shen family of Nanjing Household Department, right?Since the year before last, the Shen family has been in charge of transporting Liaodong military rations by sea. Did the imperial court skip a grain of grain for you?Has the Ministry of Households ever paid you for military rations? !This time, Mr. Zheng came here under the order of Shen Shilang from the Nanjing Household Department! "

Of course, a small city like Tashan would not have an urn city, but military fortresses in the Ming Dynasty generally had two gates, because the city walls were thick, often several feet thick, and the depth of the gate opening was equivalent to the thickness of the city wall, so it was completely possible to install the main gate in the innermost part of the gate opening. The city gate is equipped with a gate on the outermost side of the gate opening.

If it is a Tartar from the city of fraud, of course he would not dare to beat himself to death and wait for death under the door opening between the gate and the inner gate.

When Li Fuming heard it, he believed it only seven or eight percent.

Not to mention, after Zheng Chenggong mentioned Shen Tingyang, Shen Shuren and his son, it was actually easier to use than mentioning Wu Sangui.

Anyone here who has fought in Liaodong for more than a year's veterans and officers can personally understand that since the year before last, the military rations allocated to them by the imperial court have not been deducted by the household department.

This is the first time this has happened. It is said that it is because it is directly shipped from the Jiangnan taxation land to Liaodong in one stop, and there is no middleman to deduct the difference.

As soon as he said that the Shen family was anxious for justice and extended a helping hand by sea, Li Fuming immediately believed it more than a few percent.

It is impossible for the Tartars to know such details!
Li Fuming gritted his teeth and told Li Tongtai to open the door.

After a long time, the cumbersome security procedures were finally completed, and Li Fuming also went down to the tower in person, with a large group of personal guards, on guard to meet the visitors at the entrance of the gate.

Zhang Guozhu was the first to bow his hands to him. Li Fuming had seen Wu Sangui's main generals, and took him to the firelight to identify him. He vaguely remembered that it was Zhang Guozhu, and he was completely relieved.

"Wu Junmen still thinks of taking care of us brothers who are waiting to die, but I underestimate him. If I can go back alive, I must thank him for his great kindness. This is Zheng Tiju?

It's a pleasure to meet you, although it's the first time we met, but you are Shen Shilang and Shen Daotai's subordinate, you must be a loyal person, we are rough people, don't blame if you don't know the etiquette! "

Li Fuming repeatedly pleaded guilty to Zhang Guozhu and Zheng Chenggong.

From Zhang Guozhu's standpoint, of course he should go along and say good things for Wu Sangui, but he is also a shameless person. With his conscience, he feels that all of today's events are mainly due to Shen Shuren and Zheng Chenggong's righteousness, and Wu Sangui is just leading the way.

On the other hand, Zheng Chenggong treated him very kindly all the way, and the Tashan defenders in front of him also heard the banner of Shen Daotai, and their trust immediately skyrocketed.

So Zhang Guozhu just followed their words and said: "Li Junmen is laughing at me. My family's military family is also meeting at the right time to participate in the grand event. If the Shen family hadn't sent a navy to respond, we would just be powerless."

Li Fuming nodded, turned to Zheng Chenggong, and asked in surprise and suspicion: "Just now at the top of the city, I did hear the sound of gunfire half a quarter of an hour ago. You really wiped out a group of Tartars that you encountered secretly. Scout?
I didn't expect that your combat power is so brave, you are not outnumbered, and you can kill the Tartar cavalry.Also, this Hulu Bay is full of shoals, did you sneak up on the shore in a sampan?From Shanhaiguan to this point, how can the sampan get there? "

These questions were asked by Zheng Chenggong's professional counterparts, and he immediately boasted quite proudly:

"Some of our big boats have their own sampans for ferrying. Our family has traveled the sea for generations, and learned the habit of the Hongyi people's big boats with lifeboats, and combined our lucky boats and sand boats, combining Chinese and Western styles.

As for the encounter in the dark, the sneak attack and the annihilation of the Tazi scouts, that is because we have to fire the blunderbuss immediately, so Li Junmen should treat it as a three-eyed blunderbuss. "

It turned out that it had been three months since Shen Shuren told Song Yingxing to tinker with revolver pistols and carbines used on horseback in Daye last December.

Song Yingxing has not achieved mass production yet, but has produced more than a dozen samples of various trial production stages, which are regularly sent to Nanjing for Shen Shuren to review and accept.

These gadgets are still far from perfect, and there is no guarantee that they will achieve fatal injuries within the expected [-] or [-] steps, so Shen Shuren has not formally equipped troops.

But this time Zheng Chenggong was going to perform a special mission, so Shen Shuren gave him a few to keep secret and test them by the way.

If it is a long-distance cavalry battle in daytime, the ten samples brought by Zheng Chenggong probably have no chance to fire, and they may be covered by the Manchu cavalry with cavalry shooting seventy or eighty steps away. Heavy armor closes the distance and fights again.

But at this moment, it is indeed a battle in the dark before dawn. The distance between the two sides has been greatly reduced. Basically, people can only be seen clearly ten steps away.

So just now Zheng Chenggong and others saw the dark shadow of the enemy in front of them, raised their hands and sprayed them.The short-barreled gun can be fired with one hand on horseback, and the next round can be fired even if the wheel is not working well.The special combat environment, under the blessing of the right time and place, allowed Zheng Chenggong to easily destroy a group of Tartar scouts.

Li Fuming heard that it was just a three-eyed blunderbuss, probably an improved three-eyed blunderbuss at most, so he didn't probe too much, knowing that there were some things the other party didn't want to say, and it was useless to ask him.

The people in Shen Daotai came to save people with Yi Bo Yuntian, so they can't lose their share and be ungrateful to the savior.

(End of this chapter)