the world is at stake

Along the way, the team passed by many shops in the suburbs, and then boarded the ship at the pier. Many shop guys and coolies at the pier looked at them straight.

These untouchables are not so bold on weekdays, and there is no time to hide.

"It seems that something went wrong?" Mr. Jiang felt a little uneasy, and he also boarded a passenger boat and headed towards Qinglong Town along the river.

The boat ride is leisurely, but not fast.Every time the fleet passed by, no matter merchants, porters, or even residents of villages and towns on the pier, they all stared and stared.

Not only Mr. Jiang felt strange, but even the bandits on board were deeply puzzled.

It wasn't until a child on the shore counted the fleet with his fingers upright that Scarface's attendant suddenly realized: "They are counting our number of people and the number of ships."

Oops... how bold are you? !

The Jiang family is notoriously vicious, with power in both black and white. Although the status of a maritime merchant is not on the table, the folks are also a big family that no one dares to provoke.

Now the common people dare to point and point at this group of thieves.

Mr. Jiang suddenly felt his scalp tingling, and then remembered what he had seen and heard in the Xinhua Thief's Nest—there was an endless stream of ships waiting to unload at the village pier, and almost wiped out the entire Songjiang Mansion.

"Too bad, it's no wonder that our Jiang family posted a post, but several wealthy merchants didn't come. It's not that the Xinhua rebels didn't communicate with Yinzi, but they used the money to purchase goods early on, and put their hands under our noses behind our backs." .”

All kinds of people who spied secretly along the way had done business with the rebels.These people have made money, so they are naturally the spies of the rebels.

Chapter 18 The Sacred Cattle and Horse Army

Starting from Songjiang Fucheng to Qinglong Town, the straight-line distance is only [-] kilometers.Even if the river network in the south of the Yangtze River is complex, forty kilometers long, it should take a day to march quickly.

However, Zhou Qingfeng and others miscalculated, and the officials and bandits gathered by Jiang's family moved really slowly.Not to mention Qinglong Town in a day, they stopped at Zhaogang Town on the way.

Merchants gather in the town, the market is prosperous, seafood is endless in all seasons, and singing houses and restaurants are often open.Songjiang Prefecture has a tax bureau and inspection department here, which is considered relatively safe.

Before the officials and bandits led by Jiang's family arrived, the town got the news.The merchants closed their doors, the shops closed, and the wealthy households in the town pooled up a sum of money to buy wine, food, meat and poultry, and found a few prostitutes to send them to the wharf.

The head of the town's security chief came to ask Mr. Jiang to show his noble hand and restrain the people, not to enter the town to harass the people.

When we arrived at Zhaogang Town, it was already dark.

Mr. Jiang held his breath, seeing that the town was afraid that his group of people would wreak havoc, so he felt normal.He was satisfied with the money he collected, but the food bought in the town was very poor.

"What's the meaning of this?" Mr. Jiang pointed to the four or five jars of wine delivered to the pier, and there were only twenty or thirty chickens and ducks, and said angrily: "I was ordered by the magistrate to call hundreds of people to Qinglong Town to suppress thief.

The food provided by Guidi is too foolish.These jars of wine are not enough to moisten my brother's throat, and the chicken and duck are not enough.In addition, you don't even have a pig. Could it be that you look down on my Jiang family? "

Scarface's entourage led more than a dozen murderers to the pier, followed Young Master Jiang and shouted and shouted, asking the town to make preparations, fifty jars of wine, no less than two hundred chickens and ducks, and three pigs.

The town security chief backed away in fright, waved his hands and begged for forgiveness: "Everyone calm down, it's not that the town is stingy, it really isn't."

"Why not?" Mr. Jiang became even angrier, "My Jiang family keeps the place safe, and this Mr. is even more famous as a scholar. Eating a few chickens makes me look up to you."

The Baochang took another step back, and said with a wry smile: "Now the chickens, ducks and livestock in the town have been snatched by the rebels in Xinhua Village, and there is no drink. If you want, go find the rebels. There is really nothing I can do."

grab?

It's because you are trying to sell them at a high price.

The entire Jiang family was also stunned, and after a while, they heard Mr. Jiang jumping up and cursing: "The Xinhua rebels are really hateful, how can they eat so much? They almost ate up all the chickens and ducks."

There were three or four hundred officials and bandits who came with Mr. Jiang, and they were all domineering.They were hungry when they docked at the pier, no matter whether the town could get the meat and poultry they needed, they just asked for it.

If he couldn't ask for it, he showed his fierce face and shouted to kill.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Baochang retreated again and again, turned around and picked up the corner of his robe, and left as if fleeing from disaster.Three or four hundred officials and bandits flooded into the town from the pier, smashing doors and looting everywhere, threatening and extorting money.

More than half of the town's population is lucky, and now everyone is suffering.The cries quickly expanded, spreading from the pier to the whole town.

The wealthy households gathered in the inspection office, and when they heard the news of the destruction of their homes in the direction of the wharf, they all lost their souls, anxious like ants on a hot pot.Their family property is all here, and they can't escape if they want to.There is only one plan for now...

When Bao Zhang fled back, he was out of breath, and shouted in a sharp voice: "Hurry up, send someone to Xinhua Village, and ask Master Zhou and Master Xiao to send troops to rescue quickly.

This group of officers and soldiers, like animals, rushed into the town in three or four hundred days.If no one comes to rescue me, Zhaogang will be full of mess and smelly tomorrow. "

In fact, the 'Holy Light' team knew where the enemy was and the armed forces were preparing to strike.Fifty members of the machinery group, construction group, metallurgy group, and chemical group had just had dinner and had a rest in the central kitchen.

These people are all between 35 and 40 years old, have passed the peak of physical strength, and all have families. In the past, let alone killing people in battle, they have never killed chickens.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, everyone was full of confidence in technology, but they were blind to war.At the beginning, I still had confidence, and I felt that my side had an advantage in equipment, but when I really wanted to go to battle, I was all apprehensive.

Liu Fuyang was among them, and his mind was in a mess after eating.

After the metallurgical group smelted tool steel with crucibles, his mechanical group began to build hydraulic lathes.The first one had just been installed and before it had time to test, the work was interrupted, and it was supposed to be combat training.

"One long gun, two short guns, bullet belts, gunpowder clips, water bottles..." A colleague from the agricultural team next to him was repeatedly counting his equipment for fear of missing something.

"Don't order, everything is ready." Liu Fuyang whispered: "It should be no problem, we have stronger firepower, and we are not afraid of the opponent's crowd."

Time is limited, and the 'Holy Light' team does not expect to obtain more food by promoting improved varieties of pesticides and fertilizers.Therefore, there are only two people in the agricultural team, and they are only responsible for strengthening the farming and planting techniques in the territory.

Of these two people, one stayed behind and the other went out to fight—every team had to keep people, and even the military team left the team leader Chen Ding to direct the defense in the village.

The agricultural team member smiled bitterly and said, "I've lived to be 40 years old, and I've never fought since I was a child. I didn't expect to go to the world at the end of Ming Dynasty to go to the battlefield and kill people."

Who said no.

Liu Fuyang couldn't help but want to clean his gun, even though he knew his barrel was very clean.He wanted to practice loading more, for fear that he would be in a hurry if he really fought.

As an experienced fitter, he is well aware of the huge difference between training and actual combat.

The reloading of the flintlock is forced in with a pick rod, and the loaded ammunition must be fired to get out--the battlefield is messy. If anyone reloads the bullet first and then the powder, the gun has to be scrapped. Fire stick.

Turning his head, Liu Fuyang saw a hundred 'assistant policemen' who had also eaten and rested, all young men in their teens.Just learned that the officers and soldiers were coming, everyone was excited.

But when he calmed down, the prestige accumulated in the minds of the officials and gentry over the years came into play.Many "assistant policemen" are also trembling and afraid.

"Actual combat training, it's good to fight once." The companions in the agricultural team also turned their heads, "We just lack experience. After the first battle, we will have confidence."

Time passed slowly, Xiao Jinlang came over and asked everyone to rest, it is best to take a nap, lest they really fight and lose energy.But everyone squinted for a while at most, and couldn't fall asleep at all.

At twelve o'clock at night, Zhou Qingfeng led the military team into the big dining room of the central kitchen, and said in a low voice: "Everyone is there, stand up."

The 150 people sitting on the ground stood up in unison and lined up neatly.

"Check the watch, it's [-]:[-] now." Zhou Qingfeng raised his wrist, the old mechanical watch was one for each team member.Due to the technical limitations of the task, everyone's watch has a large error, and the watch must be adjusted before taking action.

"The enemy is divided into two routes. Among them, the water route reaches Zhaogang Town, 360 kilometers away from us, with a force of about [-]. They are raging in the town without organization and discipline.

The Standing Committee of the team decided to attack the main force of the enemy first, cause as much damage as possible, and pursue it if necessary.We're leaving now in the vehicle.Strive to reach the combat position before dawn. "

Simply report the battle situation, and all personnel get on the bus.

But outside the village, there are very few fast horse-drawn carriages, and most of them are slow-moving ox-drawn carts in the countryside.This was all the transport the team could muster, and it would have been nice if the strike force hadn't had to walk twenty kilometers at night.

Each car has lanterns, a coachman, four people, plus some luggage and medical care.Forty messy animal-drawn vehicles slowly left Xinhua Village and drove into the darkness with the sound of creaking wheels.

Zhou Qingfeng sat in the first carriage, holding a flintlock gun with a long barrel, and touched the eight hand grenades hanging behind his waist, feeling somewhat inexplicable.

This kind of ancient war lacks instant communication and information fog everywhere, and the outcome sometimes depends on luck.

Due to the mixed formation of oxen and horses and carts, the team couldn't get up fast, and could only move forward slowly on the bumpy dirt road at a speed of three to four kilometers per hour.

Some members of the military team even acted as avant-garde guards in person, running back and forth around the convoy to avoid being ambushed-although the possibility is extremely small.

Halfway there, the team ran into an officer from the inspection department who came from Zhaogang Town for help.Seeing that the master of Xinhua Village really sent troops, he expressed his thanks in tears.

But looking at the old men actually sitting on the bullock carts slowly, the guards in Zhaogang Town kowtowed on the ground and cried loudly, begging the anti-thief grandpa to give him more whips.His whole family is in the town, and they may be harmed by the officials and bandits commanded by the Jiang family at any time.

"The sea bandits of the Jiang family are not human beings. Once they become aggressive, they will slaughter them at will, even women and children. The people of Songjiang have suffered for many years."

The guard cried so hard that his head was bleeding from the beating.

Zhou Qingfeng could only shrug his shoulders, "There is no way, our group is either old or weak, and we have to march [-] kilometers at night, so we must get tired and lie down.

In order to save physical strength, battlefield maneuvers must take a ride.But we only have bullock carts, and we can't go as fast as we want. "

The guard brought his horse again and begged: "Master Zhou, you ride this horse first. With your name, you can scare many pirates by shouting in the town."

Jiangnan does not produce horses. The horses in front of us were either trafficked from Jiubian or raised by Mahu in Shandong.It seems that the horse breed is a Mongolian horse, neither tall nor big, and it does not run fast.

Seeing this horse, Zhou Qingfeng still shook his head, "None of us know how to ride a horse."

The guard almost died when he heard it—you guys are rebels, how can you not know how to ride a horse?Reckless heroes, shouldn't they all be on the spur of the moment, tossing and turning like the wind.

But no one in the 'Holy Light' team can ride a horse, not even Wang Xin, who wants to play Three Kingdoms COS the most.His size was not as strong as that Mongolian horse, and riding on it was like riding a big dog.

The guards hurried around, rushing back to Zhaogang Town to report.

Zhou Qingfeng refused, and forced him to stay, "If you go back and say something, you will startle the snake, don't leave."

The guard refused and was knocked out and thrown on the cart, but the horse joined the cart.

Just moving so slowly until dawn the next day, Zhao Gang Town finally appeared in the distance of the road.The town was quiet, no one came in or out, not even a dog barked.

There are only a few faint black smoke columns in the town, which are blown crookedly by the cold winter wind.

There was still a mile away from the town, and the attacking team got out of the car to rectify.Officers at all levels began to mobilize and let combat soldiers drink some water and eat some cold steamed buns.Those who need to pee make a report and take turns to solve it.

The military team had already done many investigations on Zhaogang Town, and Zhou Qingfeng led the team to a willow forest near the pier outside the town.

The woods were less than 50 meters away from the pier, and the naked eye could see forty or fifty small boats parked on the bank of the river in Zhaogang Town, carrying the pirates from the Jiang family, and stopped here.

Looking from the edge of the forest, you can see several corpses lying on the trestle bridge leading to the pier.Among them was a naked young woman with clothes scattered on the ground, messy hair, a stab wound in the chest, and blood all over the ground.

I don't know whose daughter or whose mother died here.

The military team left two people to lead the team in the willow forest, Zhou Qingfeng led the remaining four people as the hunting team, and moved forward with guns.After walking for 1 minute, I saw that there were still a few pirates staying behind on the boat at the pier, huddled in the cabin and sleeping soundly.

"Spread out, I'll deal with the sentry." Zhou Qingfeng put his spear on his back, took out his dagger, and boarded the passenger ship by the pier.

The first one was a black-covered boat made of bamboo strips, with a narrow hull and low canopy.An ugly, unkempt man was sleeping in the cabin, with a short knife at his feet, with blood on the blade.

Zhou Qingfeng stepped on it, and the boat sank.The ugly man immediately opened his eyes, but saw a cold light streaking towards his throat.Before he could yell, blood sprayed from his neck and sprinkled in the cabin.

The ugly man couldn't speak, he could only hold his neck and try to stand up and run out, but he was kicked into the water again, bobbing up and down.

From Zhou Qingfeng getting on the boat to getting off the boat, it took only two or three seconds.He took out the first bandit, and then cut the ropes that tied the ship to the dock.The current washed away the awning boat and slowly moved downstream.The military team is all from the field troops, and has never seen such a quick killing method.When they were surprised and wanted to imitate, Zhou Qingfeng shook his head and said, "You guys are not good at this, so I'll do it."

In terms of battlefield command and decisive battle, Zhou Qingfeng is no match for the military team.But when it comes to stealth assassination and taking out the enemy's leader, there is no one in the world who is better at it than him.

In just a few words, Zhou Qingfeng quickly searched for more than a dozen boats by the pier.There was no one on most of the boats, and a small number of people were stabbed to death by him with a single knife.

No one yelled, no one warned, but a figure appeared and disappeared in the mist of the morning light, moving as fast as a ghost.Everywhere he went, the boats left by the Jiang family's pirates would be cut off from the cables and drift away slowly.

At this moment, a few wobbly and yawning pirates came out of the town.After a night of fun in the town, they finally ate and drank enough, released their animal nature, and walked out as if nothing had happened.

The leader was none other than Mr. Jiang's 'Scarface' entourage.He made crude jokes with his companions in slang, and talked about the evil he had done the night before, and smugly.

But when we got to the pier, Scarface was stunned for a moment, and shouted: "Where's our boat? Why is it half missing? The guards are too drunk to survive? Why did the boat disappear?"

For pirates, ships are more important than lives. 'Scarface' walked a few steps with his companions, and suddenly saw four outsiders in black armor and iron helmets appearing from the side of the pier.

This outfit looks familiar!

'Scarface' immediately yelled strangely, "It's the Xinhua rebels, they touched..."

As soon as the words were spoken, the four members of the military team raised their guns to aim, quickly assigned targets in the words, and fired at the same time at a distance of more than ten meters.

Bang... Four gunshots exploded at the same time, and the [-]mm caliber projectile hit accurately.

'Scarface' was hit hard on the chest and fell to the ground immediately.His last vision turned to the sky, his body twitched from time to time, and after about ten seconds a face appeared in front of his eye sockets, spitting at him.

The sound of gunfire spread throughout the town, and it officially opened with killing and stopping killing.

Chapter 19

The moment the flintlock gun fired, Mr. Jiang woke up suddenly.

The moment I opened my eyes, the lingering sound of the gunshot was dissipating.The morning light shines through the window panes, and in front of his eyes are silk quilt covers and white gauze curtains.The woman who was ravaged all night was crying silently beside her bed.

The bandit leader forcibly broke into the private house of the cloth merchant in the town yesterday, not only ate and drank, but also forced the daughter-in-law of a rich family to sleep with him all night, showing off his prestige.

Seeing the woman crying, Mr. Jiang stretched out his foot and kicked, cursing bad luck.

He turned over and got up to find his clothes, and the door was suddenly pushed open.The accompanying guards only wore shorts, ran in staggeringly, and shouted in a panic: "Master, something seems to have happened at the pier."

"Don't worry, go and have a look. Maybe that idiot is playing with firecrackers to shoot birds." Mr. Jiang quickly put on his clothes, grabbed the firecrackers and short knives on the table, and walked out quickly.

Playing firecrackers and fighting birds was not so loud, Mr. Jiang just comforted his subordinates.

In the house that entered three times and exited three times, the owner of the cloth merchant disappeared without a trace, and the servants stood in the distance. Seeing the pirate leader, he was out of his wits.Several other pirates also grabbed their weapons and ran out from different rooms, shouting that they heard movement.

Said there was movement, and there was another low muffled sound from the direction of the pier.Mr. Jiang's expression changed even more, and he greeted a dozen brothers and ran towards the pier.For someone like him who lives at sea, what he fears most is losing his boat.

Following the direction of the muffled sound, the group of people sprinted for a hundred meters along the streets of the town, and when they turned a corner, they suddenly saw a few big men in black armor standing at the opposite intersection.

The other party was clearly waiting here, although the number of people was small, they were lined up in a row, waiting for Young Master Jiang and others to show up would be a critical blow.

With the sound of bang bang bang, a dozen pirates standing at the intersection were shot straight.Mr. Jiang stood at the front, subconsciously flinched when the gun fired, feeling the bullets flying past him.

A stout sea bandit was holding a short knife and pointing at the opposite side, yelling and cursing at a high level, and the projectile hit his chest.Fifteen millimeter projectiles shattered its torso.