Chapter 284: Setting up a spear for the city, cutting flesh to replenish ulcers

On the battlefield, there are people who sacrifice their lives, but most people still fight for their own survival. Seeing the pirates on the opposite side suddenly line up in a row, spears like forests, pushing towards them without stopping.

With a simple visual analysis, you can tell that the weapons in your hand are much shorter than the other party's spear. Just when you face the other party, you have an array of spears, the result you face can only be poked to death.

The spear team among Yang Si Pirates is composed of personnel sent by Jiaozhou Camp and the elite recruited pirates. Their basic combat power is not much the same as the troops of Jiaozhou Camp. After gathering into the spear formation, there is no sound of gongs and drums as the rhythm of stepping points, but the soldiers shout in unison.

With such loud shouts, the pirates strided forward without stopping. They were still entangled in close combat just now, and the firearms and bows were not used at all. The pirates suddenly changed their formation and attacked in one direction with their spears, and the officers and soldiers did not react at all.

Seeing the other party rushing towards him with a mountain of momentum, the Xuzhou soldiers reacted and shouted to escape in all directions. They ran slowly and even had no chance to resist, and fell directly under the thorns of the steel jungle.

The pirates fighting outside relied on the spear formation and rushed outward. The encirclement that the officers and soldiers finally closed was immediately opened.

The horse team was cruising on the periphery, but they could never find the space or opportunity to attack. When the Xuzhou soldiers were anxious, they found that their encirclement had been broken by the other party.

Yang Si's pirates should have had many practices about this situation in front of him. When the spear formation was pushed out, the officers and soldiers were busy with the whole team in chaos, the spear formation stood at attention and then turned around. The back team became the front team, while the pirates who did not belong to the spear formation were all following behind.

The leader shouted again, and the pirates holding spears shouted rhythmically, and rushed back with big strides.

If the pirates break through, they will not fail completely. Although the officers at all levels of the Xuzhou soldiers were discouraged, they still gathered their troops. This situation of short-term failure has nothing to do with short-term failures. As long as there is no confusion and chaos, there is still a chance to turn the tables.

But no one expected that after the pirates rushed out, they could turn around so easily, and after they turned together, their formation was not messy at all.

It is not difficult for a person to move forward and backward at will, but a team of hundreds of people is like one person, not at all confusing. This is really incredible. In modern times, primary school students can easily do this after training in physical education classes, but for this era, it is necessary to do this by training for a hundred times. Qi Jiguang is famous for governing the army in the world, but his military book also says that when a large army is advancing, they should walk slowly, stop every ten steps and correct each other's queues to prevent chaos.

In the modern army training like Jiaozhou Camp, it is still possible to train continuously every day to enable soldiers to achieve this effect. This effect has played a major role in the battlefield.

When the officers and soldiers who had not yet been completely closed were turned around and rushed back by the spear formation, the lower-level officers could no longer maintain the formation, and the hole that had been broken just now was washed away again.

The spear phalanx kept pushing towards the inside. In the process of close combat, each officer and soldier facing the spear ranks had to face five rows of spears at the same time. Not to mention that the length of the weapons was not enough, even if they were skilled in martial arts, how could they be prepared for the chaos?

The only one who faced him was to retreat or die, but on both sides of the spear formation were full of pirates' straits. They leaned on the spear formation as a barrier to attack on both sides, desperately expanding the wound.

It is like a sharp weapon with burrs piercing into the flesh. The weapon keeps moving forward and pricks are extremely deep. The burrs bring out the flesh and blood around the wound, causing greater damage.

The spear formation rushed forward more than a hundred steps. When the long-haired queue was a little scattered, the stalemate finally changed. The Xuzhou soldiers could no longer support it and the entire camp collapsed.

The guerrilla who led the Xuzhou army had already gathered the horse team around him, but looking at the chaotic army like a mountain spear, they couldn't make up their minds to let the horses rush. These were the pirates that emerged there, and they were such a strong army. The chaotic soldiers ran towards the west, and the horse team gradually couldn't hold on and was about to be chased by deserters. The guerrilla was unwilling to continue to fight.

Fortunately, there were not many casualties this time, but these fleeing soldiers need to be collected. If the soldiers cannot be collected and their strength is damaged, it will be more than worth the loss.

The guerrilla sighed, turned around, and chased the defeated soldiers. However, in the heart of the guerrilla, he saw the infantrymen who used spears rushing left and right in the military formation, but the formation was not messy. If the cavalry team rushed, it would be impossible to determine whether they could gain the upper hand with their lack of training cavalry.

Many pirates were still fighting in blood, not knowing that the officers and soldiers who were besieging them were already disbanded. They saw the opponent in front of them running and wanted to chase them. However, they were called back by the people behind them. The spear formation, as the core of the pirate, always maintained a calm mind.

Many people were dizzy and didn't react for a while. After hesitating, they realized that their families had already won. The young and strong pirates who were gathered up under Yang Si had done some murder and robbery before, and they had all seen blood, but today's big scenes are the first time they have experienced them.

These pirates felt scared, but they had no intention of escaping. They just followed what they trained on weekdays to fight with the enemy, and found that the seemingly terrifying officers and soldiers were not invincible, and they could resist it. This is the effect of daily training.

The scattered and undisciplined pirate young men were instilled in some things by the officers and training system of the Jiaozhou camp. These things penetrated into their bones, making them stronger and stronger and become qualified soldiers.

After the Xuzhou soldiers gradually dispersed, the battlefield gradually became quiet. The people watching the battle at the top of the city were also stunned. The battle situation gradually developed towards the favorable situation of the officers and soldiers. Who would have thought that suddenly, the pirates entered and exited, and the officers and soldiers dispersed instantly.

Suddenly, the pirates on the battlefield shouted loudly. The salt merchants and representatives who were watching the battle in the city were in a daze. Several of them were so scared that they sat on the ground by the sudden shout.

This shout was the shout after victory, but this shout could be heard a little differently. The pirates in the spear formation rhythmically used their spears to shout at the rhythm, while the pirates outside were screaming excitedly. In any case, after this battle, these pirates were washed away many of their youth and were already considered warriors.

However, the joy of the pirates under the city did not last long. Yang Si shouted with his throat:

"Stop howling, just give me Yang Si a quiet peace. Burn the boat that I heard on the Yanhe River. Dig up the low dam. Let's leave when it gets dark. That bastard hasn't finished. I'll leave him on the shore!"

The pirates who were already happy suddenly became dejected. It was okay to let them fight to the death, but they couldn't get up to their energy when they were working.

In the city wall of Haizhou City, those people related to salt merchants looked at the salt transport river not far away. The black smoke from the burning boats rose again, and someone dug a low dam in the salt field. The salt field would not be restored for a while. If this continues, the salt field might be completely abandoned.

Perhaps because the battle consumed physical strength, this time, the salt warehouse and salt trough by the river were not even demolished as usual. It just burned the ships, dug the low dam, and left by boat.

The second time the Haizhou Salt Field was attacked, Ganyu, Huize and other places were immediately informed that nearly 600 were killed or injured by the officers and soldiers, and the Xuzhou soldiers in Ganyu and Huize immediately retreated to the city and did not dare to camp outside the city anymore. Moreover, nearly 20% of the salt workers working in the Yantian Salt Field collapsed.

At present, for the salt merchants in Lianghuai, this is no longer a question of whether they can catch up with the delivery progress, but whether the salt farm can be preserved, which is fundamental to the salt merchants.

Nearly 10,000 officers and soldiers were defeated, and the seaside of Nanzhili was like a door open, allowing thieves to come and go. This was not just the salt merchants' business. Huai'an Prefecture sent people to report to Nanjing City. The Jiangnan earthquake struck. The eunuch Lu Jiude did not expect that such a disaster would arise when he took office.

In theory, the Censor of the Navy in charge of the Southern Zhili was Caojiang, and he was responsible for the river defense and the water transportation protection. In other words, he still had some naval troops, but these navy troops were in ruins and could not be said to be able to drive them out normally. Don’t say that you can defend the enemy on the water and fight pirates on the sea.

The new eunuch Lu Jiude, the governor of Nanjing, also knew that the troops in Fengyang Prefecture, Luzhou Prefecture and Anqing Prefecture could not be moved because he came there. The troops in these three places were all placed in defense of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai from Huguang area. If they were dispatched at will, the other party would take advantage of the situation and take advantage of the situation. Any mistakes in the Fengyang Imperial Tomb would definitely be a serious crime to kill the nine clans.

However, the salt merchants have a great influence in the capital and Nanjing. If they do not come up with a solution as soon as possible, they may not be as safe as the eunuch in charge.

In early November of the 12th year of Chongzhen, the officers and soldiers in Huguang and the bandits had already fought. The salt merchants in Lianghuai were bleak and were in a state of bleakness. The pirates were free at sea. I don’t know when they would come to the salt farm again. If production did not recover, the income this year was probably going to drop sharply.

The fast horses rushed forward, and the pirates in Southern Zhili were already reported to the capital. The Japanese turmoil in the southeast of the Jiajing Dynasty almost shook the foundation of the country, and the officials in the court still remembered them freshly.

When I heard that there was such a situation in the south, my attitude was extremely unified and I could not tolerate it. I immediately mobilized troops to eliminate it. The Japanese pirate rebellion developed from a small sign, because no one cared about it, and it turned into a disaster that happened later. The same mistake could not occur anymore and had to be strangled in the bud.

The key to the problem is to mobilize troops from there to wipe out the pirates. With the help of salt merchants, the imperial court's will and handling of pirates were particularly fast. Within about fifteen days, the imperial court's approval had been transferred back to Nanjing City.

The salt merchants in Lianghuai were indeed anxious because there were rumors that the production delays here were delayed. It was said that salt merchants and salt vendors from Henan and Shanxi were already planning to buy salt in Shandong, and the market was already showing signs of gradual loss, which really touched their lifeline.

At present, the advantages of Shandong General Li Meng's side are reflected. Shandong's salt goods are produced and sold, and they are protected by special armed personnel. Li Meng's Jiaozhou Camp itself is closely related to the official salt and private salt. If you want to do something about the private salt of Jiaozhou Camp, it is not only a business matter, but actually it is still a huge force against the Jiaozhou Camp.

The salt merchants in Lianghuai have been doing business in peace for hundreds of years, and their relationship with the government has been very good. The safety of salt goods transactions and transportation production is maintained by the government's soldiers. The salt merchants are unwilling to throw the money they earn into the bottomless pit of raising soldiers, and they have no idea at all.

But now in the midst of chaos, even the government cannot mobilize these military soldiers who are self-respecting, let alone salt merchants. And even if they are mobilized, what can they do? They fought with the pirates for a few battles and were defeated.

The salt merchants were really anxious. When the approval from the capital court came to Nanjing City, they spent a lot of money. As long as anyone could solve the situation in front of them, they would still thank them very much.

A few days ago, the salt merchants in Lianghuai had always wanted to inquire on the sea, which pirates came to the salt farm to make trouble. Since it was impossible to pacify, it would be better to buy a safe place to buy a safe place. However, the matter on the sea was almost under the control of the Zheng family. In the past, the salt merchants were too lazy to pay attention to the Zheng family at sea, and they also caused trouble for the other party many times. Now they want to use the Zheng family's relationship to investigate the matter, and you can imagine what the Zheng family would react.

Zheng Sha, who was in charge of the Zheng family affairs in Nanzhili, gave the other party a cold face without hesitation and ignored it.

On November 13, a fleet appeared on the sea surface of Haizhou Salt Field. The salt workers who repaired the salt fields on the coast were panicked and fled and dispersed.

The news reached Yangzhou on the 15th and Nanjing on the 17th. Not only the salt merchants were anxious, but also the big men in Nanzhili were shocked. Nanjing naturally had elite soldiers, but these soldiers were used to ensure the safety of Nanjing. No one was willing to release these soldiers. What if the pirates came to Nanjing?

The salt merchants in Lianghuai were even more urgent. At the urging of the financial owners, the officials who had their own relationships contacted the city of Nanjing and urged them to come up with a charter to resolve the problem.

The eunuch in Nanjing, the Minister of War, and the garrison in Nanjing gathered together every day to discuss how to solve the scourge of pirates in the two Huaihe River areas.

Such a meeting is no longer a regular meeting between the three of them, but a convening of their respective subordinates and other senior officials to come up with an idea.

Money can help the gods, and no one can imagine the hearing and hearing of the salt merchants in Nanjing. The content and results of the collegial meetings can be found at the first time that in order to deal with it nearby, the salt merchants came to Nanjing with a huge amount of silver.

The purpose is very simple. Either you completely eliminate the pirates who harass the salt field, or you can send a reliable army to guard the salt field so that the pirates dare not come.

These pirates came from the north, and just to destroy the salt field, the salt merchants vaguely guessed who the people behind them were. The pirates fought desperately to defeat the two groups of officers and soldiers, not having any money, but just destroying the salt field of the salt field. How could there be such an idiotic pirate?

There are only two people who are doubtful at the moment. The most suspicious one is Shandong General Li Meng. He has private salt transactions in a province and has had several conflicts with Lianghuai salt merchants. If Lianghuai salt merchants are defeated, his private salt profit will be able to increase by a large amount. He will have this motivation to do it.

The other person is a salt merchant. The salt merchant’s salt farm is in Ganyu. This time, the pirates have not invaded each other. Everyone always feels a little strange. This salt always sells less and other companies sell more. If they destroy other people’s salt farms, they can make money by themselves.

However, if Li Meng did it, they could not ask or inquire. At present, Shandong controlled by Li Meng is not the dilapidated place in the past. Local gentry and wealthy families obeyed General Li. The regular army of Jiaozhou camp, the armed Yanding and the village guards of the Tuntianzhuang were also strictly guarded. If you want to inquire about what information, you will easily be arrested for being arrested for the crime of ignoring the truth of the officers and soldiers, with ulterior motives and ill intentions.

This is not the time when the salt merchants in Lianghuai were already scared after Liu Zeqing's incident. It was just a business of making money and throwing so many lives into it was already heartbreaking.

Now Li Meng is the general of Shandong and is increasingly unable to provoke him. Now the salt merchants in the Huai River are just afraid of offending Li Meng. The new and old grudges are settled together. Staying away from each other is a consensus and dare not violate it. Although they are suspicious about this pirate incident, they sent a few people who asked about the news and never dared to move again after the news was gone.

The collegial on that day finally came out, which surprised the salt merchants in Nanjing. Today, they finally gave them a solution. The person who proposed this idea was not the spokesperson for their capital investment, but Wu Jiawei, the right assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War.

Wu Jiawei, the Minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing, was promoted last year. He was also the Minister of the Right Assistant of the Ministry of War of Nanjing. To be honest, he was not an amazing official. The salt merchants in Lianghuai gave some common money and did not have too much contact. Who would have thought that this person proposed the plan in today's collegial discussion.

The plan of this Minister of War was very simple. The soldiers from Fengyang, Luzhou and Anqing could not move, and the soldiers from Nanjing could not move. So why not mobilize troops from other places to Huai guards? At present, the only one who can mobilize soldiers is the Shandong ground in the surrounding provinces. The Shandong general had just won the battle when the Tartars invaded. Moreover, there is nothing to do in northern Zhili and Shandong. The ground in Shandong is extremely peaceful, and it is also very appropriate to mobilize the Lu army.

Moreover, Shandong and Huaibei are connected by land, which is always better than Nanjing. The transportation is inconvenient and convenient. Nanjing Governor Li Banghua is irresistible. Anyway, there is no need to mobilize the troops in Nanzhili, which saves the trouble of mobilizing troops and raising military funds. You just need to report this note to the capital and let the emperor and the cabinet make up their own ideas.

They also knew in their hearts that as long as the court did not send troops to pay, they mentioned a general like Li Meng who has made contributions recently, and it was such a trivial matter of pacifying pirates. The court would definitely not object, and what they were worried about was Li Meng's attitude.

The only person who disagrees with this matter is that the eunuch Lu Jiude, the governor of Nanjing, and the relationship between Li Meng and his ex-girlfriend Liu Fulai is not a secret. Although Lu Jiude himself has nothing to do with the change of position, the ex-girlfriend is unemployed by the people, so it is difficult for General Li to have no idea. Now he is also governor of Nanjing, so why bother to make trouble for himself?

What's more, the matter of Lianghuai Salt Field has nothing to do with me? It's better to keep it like this, so that those salt dealers can pay more money to themselves and make some profits.

As a result, the Nanjing Minister of War Wu Jiawei stood up and said passionately:

"In the Jiajing period, dozens of Japanese pirates passed by the city of Nanjing. The gate of Nanjing was closed and he did not dare to go out to fight. It became a laughing stock for the whole world. Japanese pirates rampant in various parts of the Yangtze River, and some Japanese pirates approached the Zhongdu Imperial Mausoleum, which almost caused a disaster! The news from Haizhou City must have seen it. It was a huge bandit of nearly 10,000 people. The Xuzhou soldiers were already scared. If they did not adjust their troops to defend themselves, these pirates would be brave and go deep into the inland. What should they do at that time? "

These words were reasonable and well-founded. The powerful people present nodded one after another. Lu Jiude, who had expressed his opposition, also fell silent. Moreover, everyone knew that Wu Jiawei was born in Fujian and had no interest in both the salt merchants in Lianghuai and Li Meng. Such a blunt statement should be out of public interest.

Wu Jiawei glanced at the expressions of the people in the room, knowing that his words had touched everyone, so he couldn't help but lower his voice and said slowly:

"Donalds, the officials have read several documents and magazines in the Ministry of War, and many of them have reported them from all over the country. Although there are large soldiers in Fengyang, they are all in Huguang, Jiangxi, and the east side, and there are no soldiers, which are extremely empty. If the pirates are rampant, they will advance west from Huaian Prefecture and head straight to Zhongdu, then it will be a huge disaster!"

The pirates went deep into the inland and approached Fengyang Zhongdu. There was no possibility in reality. The wealthy land in Nanzhili was all along the canal. Fengyang Mansion was heavily guarded by the imperial villages, and there were nothing worth looting among the people, and pirates would not take the initiative to make stupid.

But this theoretical possibility has to be guarded against. Everything is absolutely absolutely true. What if such a situation really happens? What if someone even raised this possibility in the court? Today's Emperor Chongzhen is not a tolerant person, I'm afraid it will be...

When everyone in this room, including the eunuch Lu Jiude, the governor of Nanjing, was shocked. There were not a few high-ranking officials who lost their heads in recent years. No less than ten first-rank and second-rank officials were convicted and killed. During the Wanli and Tianqi years, they had no need to worry about becoming an official at the fourth-rank or above. They could be safely and steadily until they were old and prosperous for the rest of their lives.

But during the Chongzhen period, this emperor was so strict that he was still a little confused. The central and front-line officials were often imprisoned for things that had nothing to do with him. The chaos in Shaanxi broke out, and Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were all in the five provinces. This crime was even more real. If it were in the previous dynasty, there was a saying that he had made meritorious service, and now he would be arrested and beheaded.

Although the future is not great in Nanzhili, it is stable and has a lot of benefits and resources. I just want to do this position to be longer. I am trying to transfer Shandong soldiers into Huaihe River. What I have to worry about is that Shandong General Li Meng, why should I stop it?

Everyone in the room was full of human spirits. After exchanging eyes with each other, they immediately made a decision. Lu Jiude, the eunuch in Nanjing, coughed and said with a sharp voice:

"Mr. Wu said it reasonably. This matter is very important and cannot be delayed. Let us write a memorial to the minister Li and the guardian Lord Xu and report it to the emperor and come up with a result as soon as possible. What do you think?"

"My father-in-law is right, so it should be handled."

"Well, it depends on whether the Shandong general takes into account the overall situation. However, the emperor issued an edict, and he must also understand the pros and cons..."

The senior officials in the room were in tune with each other. At the same time, they looked at Wu Jiawei, the right assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War, all with a look of praise. They thought that this official understood what he saw and knew how to make progress and retreat. Even after experiencing the pros and cons, everyone agreed with his opinion, but they still sat there calmly and unhappy. It was really rare and would definitely be of great use in the future.

Since it has been agreed, everyone will immediately write a memorial and send a quick horse to the capital. Now, except for the pirates in southern Zhili, Shandong and northern Zhili, the rest are still peaceful.

Moreover, the salt merchants were also nervous about this matter. As soon as the collegial agreement came out, someone immediately went out of the city and crossed the river to Yangzhou. In just half a day, the salt merchants got the news that more than a dozen salt merchants who were qualified to decide the matter immediately gathered together to discuss the matter.
To be continued...