Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 685

Nantong is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River estuary. It reaches the Yellow Sea in the east, faces the Yangtze River in the south, invites Shanghai and Suzhou with lights, and borders Taizhou and Yancheng in the west and north.

Wang Yan was here at the beginning and crossed the Yangtze River south with 30 soldiers and civilians.

Nantong was called Tongzhou in ancient times, belonged to Hailing County in Jin Dynasty, Huainan East Road in Song Dynasty, and Yangzhou in Ming Dynasty.

Tongzhou was originally just a small county with a circumference of fifteen miles, a city wall of two feet and five feet high, and a moat. The defense was not very good, and it could not be called a strong city. However, after King Lu occupied Chongming, the status of Tongzhou became more important. .

The city defense of Tongzhou was strengthened and the moat was widened. The Qing government also built a fort on Langshan outside Tongzhou City, overlooking the river, and set up a general army of Langshan to be in charge of the fort and Tongzhou defense.

In order to cope with the possible siege of the city by King Lu's army, a large warehouse was built in the city to store at least three months of military rations, as well as a large amount of ordnance, tens of thousands of taels of silver and [-] copper coins for emergencies.

Since Tongzhou is close to the estuary of the Yangtze River, it has also been spied on by Lu Jianguo and has been eyeing it. However, there are 2 Qing soldiers stationed in Tongzhou, and Lu Jianguo only has more than [-] people. Incapable of attacking alone.

Even though Lu Jianguo captured the Langshan Fort the last time he entered the Yangtze River, he did not take the opportunity to attack Tongzhou.

The defender of Tongzhou is Liu Qingtai, who is in the red flag of the Han army. He is in his early forties. He is a Han from Liaodong.

Liu Qingtai was born as a literati, such a person who leads the army is either weak on paper, or very difficult to deal with, and Liu Qingtai barely stands in the middle.

This time Xie Qian stationed troops in Rugao County, and obviously wanted to attack Tongzhou. Liu Qingtai had realized this a long time ago, so he sent someone to Yangzhou to send a letter, asking Doduo, who was in command of the bandit suppression, to send troops to help when the bandits did not encircle Tongzhou. , but no news came back.

While waiting for the news, Liu Qingtai had to prepare as many rolling logs and rocks as possible, rebuilt the Langshan Fort, and actively prepared for the battle, ready for battle.

That night, the moon was sparse and the river was sparkling. Hundreds of soldiers in the city were patrolling back and forth, watching vigilantly what was going on below the city. There were sentry boats cruising back and forth in the moat, and the defense was very tight. It could be seen that Liu Qingtai was indeed Some level.

At the middle of the night, a moving black shadow suddenly appeared on the river, but it was the warship of Lu Jianguo. If they sailed under the city, they would definitely be spotted by the defenders of Tongzhou. The Wolf Mountain Fort in the east of the city.

Several ships left the fleet and leaned against the river. Zhang Mingzhen ordered Ruan Jin to lead hundreds of people to land in the dark, and quietly climbed up to Langshan.

Compared with Tongzhou's strict inspections, Langshan is basically undefended. This is not surprising, because Langshan was captured by Lu Jianguo once before, the artillery on the fort was removed by the Ming army, and the fort was also destroyed. Liu Qingtai Although efforts were made to rebuild it, although the cannon was repaired, there was no red cannon, and only two second-level general cannons were placed in the entire fort.

Hong Chengchou was afraid that the Ming army would cut off his water transportation, so the artillery bought and sold from the Dutch, as well as the red-clothed cannons newly made by Jiangnan Cannon Workshop, were given priority to be placed in Gushan, Guazhou and other forts near Zhenjiang and Yangzhou. To ensure water transportation, the Langshan Fort would have to wait at least some time to equip it with artillery, so there were almost no defenses on the fort, only 50 people.

Lu Jianguo's warship was hidden under the Wolf Mountain, and Zhang Mingzhen waited patiently on the deck. About half an hour later, on the Wolf Mountain Fort, Ruan Jin held a bloody saber, and the corpses of several Qing soldiers fell in disorder. At the edge of the fort, a large group of Ming soldiers stood around these corpses.

Ruan Jin wiped the blade on a corpse, then inserted it back into the scabbard, looked around, then waved his hand and said, "You guys, turn the cannon around for me!"

Hearing the words, several soldiers immediately rolled up their sleeves and stepped forward.

On Tongzhou City, a group of Qing soldiers were patrolling with torches. They had just reached the east city, when suddenly there was a "boom" outside the city, and an iron bullet roared over the city, smashed into the city, and killed a family. A piece of the roof of the house disappeared, and the tiles fell with a clatter.

The Qing soldiers patrolling the city were taken aback by the sudden cannonball. The leader shrank his neck and looked around in a panic. Some Qing soldiers behind him lay down on the city in fright, confused. Where did the shot come from.

Inside the city, the government offices were brightly lit, and soldiers wearing red hats and war jackets lit up the yamen with torches, looking as if they were facing an enemy.

Liu Qingtai was wearing a set of white underwear. He came out of the room wearing an official cannon, followed by a person holding a bowl cap for him. As he walked, he asked a green battalion officer beside him, "What's going on, where did you put the cannon? "

"My lord, it seems to be calling from the fort!"

Liu Qingtai was taken aback, how could it be a fort?He immediately asked anxiously: "Are you sure? You can send someone to check!"

"People have been sent out long ago, but no signal has come back yet!"

Liu Qingtai couldn't help trembling in his heart, he had miscalculated, he only paid attention to the Gaoyuan thief, and actually forgot about the pirates.

This wolf mountain is just to the east of Tongzhou city, and the pirates occupying this place can transport the artillery on the ship to the top of the mountain and bombard the city, which is extremely bad for defense.Liu Qingtai immediately said in a hurry: "Pass down the officer's military order, quickly mobilize 3000 troops, and take back the fort immediately after dawn."

The general saluted and accepted the order, but the other President Qian beside him said in a low voice: "My lord, if the pirates also come to attack the city, it may be difficult to defend Tongzhou. My lord, I must ask for help!"

Although there are many thieves in Gaoyuan, most of them are mobs. Even if [-] people come, the green camp still has some confidence, but the pirates are different. King Lu has been at sea for three or four years. He is an old bandit who has fought for three or four years, and he is very difficult to deal with.

"The envoy was sent long ago, but Prince Yu didn't reply, what can I do?" Li Qingtai said angrily.

Mr. Qian was silent for a while, and said after a while: "My lord, why don't you go to Yangzhou in a lowly position and report the danger. If King Yu knows that pirates are also attacking, he should send troops to support him!"

Liu Qingtai didn't speak, his eyes were deep. The Gaoyuan bandits had been stationed in Rugao for more than half a month, and they hadn't seen any movement. They were probably connected with the pirates for a long time. The thief in the garden cut it off.

"Okay! After dawn, you set off, and you must explain to King Yu the difficulty of this official!" Liu Qingtai has no other way now, except to close the city and defend himself, he can only do so.

"Don't worry, my lord, the humble official will definitely move in to rescue the soldiers!" Mr. Qian immediately saluted.

Liu Qingtai had already put on his official robe at this time, and took the bowl cap and put it on his bald scalp. He waved his hand, and then walked quickly to the city.

At the east gate, there are also torches. Nearly a thousand people have been ordered to gather, and there are still a large group of green battalion soldiers who have come to gather.

It was dark at this time, and Li Qingtai couldn't figure out the situation outside the city. He looked at the hazy Wolf Mountain in the distance, and he still had to wait for dawn before taking any action.

Time passed, and soon the east was covered with white fish. Liu Qingtai and the green battalion soldiers in Tongzhou City could gradually see clearly that the bright flags were flying on the Wolf Mountain, the sails on the Yangtze River covered the river, and the masts were like forests. On the boat, the sun and moon flag fluttered with the wind of the river, and the word "Ming" was big, which could be seen from the top of the city.

Seeing this, Li Qingtai's expression darkened. Judging by the scale, at least half of the pirates came.

Mr. Qian, who was ordered to go out of the city to retake Langshan, saw thousands of Ming troops lined up at the foot of the mountain and hundreds of warships on the river, he couldn't help swallowing, and said in a timid voice: "My lord, this..."

Li Qingtai gave him a hard look, but he didn't insist on letting him go out of the city to take back Wolf Mountain.

At this moment, a Qing general wearing a bowl cap and a black official robe, with his sword in his hand, rushed up the tower. When he saw Li Qingtai, he immediately walked over, cupped his fists and bowed, "My lord, Ximian Huangqiao Town and Shizhuang were captured by the Gaoyuan bandits, and the leader of the bandits, Xie Qian, is leading tens of thousands of rebels to press down on Tongzhou, and it is likely that they will be able to enter the city in the morning."

Sure enough, as Li Qingtai expected, the Gaoyuan bandits cooperated with the pirates, and Huangqiao Town and Shizhuang in the west were captured by the bandits. It would be difficult for Yangzhou to join Tongzhou again.

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(End of this chapter)