Chapter 2007

Due to the open terrain, the gunshots fired on the river bank spread very far at night. At least this burst of short and dense gunshots could be heard upstream and downstream of the dock and in the riverside area of ​​two to three miles across the canal.

Many watchdogs raised in nearby warehouses were also barking after being alarmed by the sound of gunshots. However, most people still had no idea what was happening by the river even if they heard the noise, and just subconsciously thought that it should be firecrackers.

Although it is too strange to set off firecrackers by the river in the middle of the night, this is probably the only reasonable explanation that ordinary people can think of.

But among those who heard the gunfire, there were also people who knew the source of the sound and sensed the danger signal.

The place where Lu Kangtai supervises the battle is about a mile away from the dock where the accident occurred. Although the real-time fighting situation cannot be seen here, gunfire from the direction of the dock can still be heard. If necessary, he can also issue new instructions to the combatants. However,

Everything happened too fast. By the time he realized that the gunfire coming from the battle site was too dense, the battle on the front line had actually come to an end. He didn't even have time to send someone to inquire about the battle situation ahead or issue new information to the front line.

After receiving the order, the gunfire from the south had stopped.

Lu Kangtai is very aware of the combat capabilities of his musketeers. It is unlikely that they can maintain such a high shooting frequency in battle, and there is no need to fight against a group of fellow salt merchants. Based on the experience of previous operations,

As long as the first platoon shoots and kills a few people, the opponent will immediately collapse without encountering any strong resistance. Today's unusual gunfire means that something unexpected must have happened ahead.

Lu Kangtai did not immediately think in a bad direction. He still believed that the Musketeers were strong enough to cope with emergencies. However, out of caution, he immediately sent his men on horseback to the front line to check the fighting situation to confirm his judgment.

is right.

The reward was quicker than Lu Kangtai expected, because the people sent out met the members of the Musketeers who were fleeing back from the dock halfway. After learning about the battle ahead, they quickly withdrew together.

No matter how steady Lu Kangtai is on weekdays, he was so shocked that he jumped up from his chair after hearing the news about the defeat of the Musketeers. To be able to make a fat man of more than 200 and almost 300 pounds make such light movements shows that this

The news shocked him greatly.

"How could this happen! Tell me, what happened!" Lu Kangtai pointed at the man who escaped from the front line and said sternly: "How could he be defeated!"

The gap in strength and preparations between the two sides was so huge that in just one meeting, the Salt Merchant Musketeers suffered heavy casualties in the battle, leading to the ensuing defeat. This process was too fast, and even those who participated in the battle suffered heavy casualties.

The people among them didn't really realize what was happening. They only saw their own people falling down continuously, and most of them were killed or injured almost instantly. And those who were lucky enough to survive would probably not be able to escape such a situation if they didn't turn around and run away.

end.

But Lu Kangtai had high hopes for the Musketeers and was really unable to accept such a result. He immediately grabbed the tea cup on the table and threw it directly against the wall. He roared at his men: "Go and gather people! Fight with them!"

However, he quickly calmed down from his rage, stopped his men who were about to carry out his orders, and asked them to evacuate to a safe area. Now that the big mistake had been made, if he still overestimated his capabilities and went to fight with the opponent head-on

, it is very likely that even his own capital will be sacrificed. And if he loses again, it will probably have a big impact on his local status and influence.

In order to facilitate tonight's work, they had already spent money to bribe the government and the garrison not to interfere in the battle that took place by the canal tonight, so they dared to boldly let the musketeers form their formation and take the initiative to open fire.

, but now that an unexpected emergency has occurred, they also have no way to ask for help from the officials in the city.

And Lu Kangtai also realized that since the other party had the strength to defeat the Musketeers, then gathering his own private armed forces to rush over would be just a matter of delivering food to his door. He had even thought that the opponent who fought against his Musketeers on the dock was very likely to be someone who could not win at all.

This is not a salt transport team from Ningbo salt merchants. They are just disguised as salt dealers, but in fact they are a well-trained army. And the purpose of the other party coming to Ningbo is probably not just to sell salt and grab the market, but most likely to do it for themselves.

A musketry team arrived.

"Prepare the car and go to Hejia Manor!" Lu Kangtai knew that the current situation would be difficult to solve by himself. He must quickly inform his partners of the situation and ask them to use all feasible means to stop the "Ningbo" gang.

"Salt Merchant" left Yangzhou. Although losing the Musketeers made him very distressed, the trouble it would cause him in the future was the real reason why he was so anxious.

His partners have warned many times that this armed force cannot be exposed to public view, otherwise it will definitely attract the attention of the Haihan people because of the weapons it uses, and may even call for a military strike. Lu Kangtai

He once thought that this statement was just the exaggeration of his partners, but after what happened just now, he realized that this warning was not just words, the existence of the Musketeers would really attract the prying eyes and attacks of other strong men.

On the pier not far away, Gong Shiqi and Ji Yuanqing were already commanding their men to clean up the battlefield. In fact, the process of the battle just now was basically what they expected. They built fortifications and set up positions like this.

, waiting for the opponent to attack, and winning cleanly with calculated calculations but not care is the natural result, so their mood is relatively calm.

According to the plan made before the war, they needed to leave Yangzhou as soon as possible after the battle to avoid possible subsequent troubles. This kind of trouble does not refer to armed attacks from local salt merchants, but the possibility that the local government will intervene.

Private fights in the salt industry will escalate into diplomatic disputes between the two countries. This is a situation that Haihan does not want to see. Because their purpose is not to attack Yangzhou salt merchants, but to find out who is responsible for it.

Who helped Yangzhou salt merchants form this musketry team?

After the battle, everyone immediately began to count the results of the battle, seized the opponent's weapons, and moved all the people who were defeated on the dock, dead or alive, to the ship.

As for the salt bags used to build the fortifications, there was no need to waste manpower in carrying them back to the ship. Compared with the results achieved today, the cost of these props was only a small expense.

The muskets that the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Bureau have always been thinking about, at least more than 30 were seized during this battle. This time, there was no need to wait for a special inspection after returning to Zhoushan. Ji Yuanqing picked up one of them and lit the torch.

Lighting had already come to the conclusion at a glance: "This gun was made by Westerners. When we attacked Manila at the beginning of the year, we captured a lot of these muskets locally, and later sold some to the Koreans!"

"Spanish!" Although Gong Shiqi has been active in the north in recent years, he is not completely unfamiliar with the existence of Spaniards. When he was still working with He Xi, he often listened to He Xi's science popularization about Western countries.

All kinds of knowledge. In recent years, there have been many battles of wits and courage between the Ministry of Security and the Spaniards. He also learned about the increasingly fierce battle between the two sides from internal reports.

But how the Spaniards got through Haihan's blockade on the southeast coast, connected with Yangzhou salt merchants, and collaborated on such a paramilitary project was something that Gong Shiqiyi couldn't figure out for a while.

From the Pearl River Estuary to Hangzhou Bay, it can be said that the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty has been regarded as its own sphere of influence by Haihan. Merchant ships from countries such as the Netherlands and Portugal cannot enter Taiwan Island at will without Haihan's permission.

In the northern sea area, it is even more forbidden to bypass Haihan and conduct trade directly with the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty and other countries. Haihan has multiple ports in this large sea area, and armed fleets are deployed near important waterways and will patrol the sea regularly. If

The military and the Ministry of Security should have received reports on the discovery of a Spanish galleon with obvious appearance characteristics, but so far there has been no news in this regard.

"I'm also wondering how the Spaniards got involved with the Yangzhou salt merchants!" Ji Yuanqing seemed to know Gong Shiqi's thoughts very well. In fact, he also had the same confusion. From Haihan's perspective, this matter is indeed true

A bit unreasonable.

"Perhaps there are other middlemen between them and the Spanish, such as brokers and arms dealers." Gong Shiqi could only find a reluctant possibility to explain the current situation.

Haihan is no stranger to the practice of supporting private armed forces and local armed forces in the Ming Dynasty. In fact, Haihan had already tried to do this as early as ten years ago. Li Jifeng in Guangzhou and Xu Xinsu in Fujian were both Haihan and Haihan.

Haihan is the direct beneficiary of this measure. And the effect of this approach is also very significant. These local powerful people supported by Haihan must bind their interests to Haihan in order to obtain the military equipment and equipment they need.

Technical support. After they developed and expanded, they became the spokesperson for Haihan's local interests, playing a big role in opening up the market for Haihan in the Ming Dynasty and obtaining raw materials and labor force.

But if other colonial countries want to use similar methods to support spokespersons in the Ming Dynasty, they will form a direct competitive relationship with Haihan, especially their Western counterparts who have extended their tentacles to all over the world. Haihan has always been paying attention and vigilance

If there was a secret military cooperation relationship between Yangzhou salt merchants and the Spaniards, then Haihan would definitely not sit back and watch this relationship continue to develop, but would decisively nip it in the bud.

Although it is still unknown where the Yangzhou salt merchants obtained batches of Spanish-made muskets, this is obviously an extremely dangerous signal. If these two parties unite to oppose Haihan, it is really possible to cause some trouble in the future.

After all, Yangzhou salt merchants have plenty of money. As long as someone provides corresponding military technology and gives them some development time, it is possible to use money to build an armed force.

"We can't control that much for the time being. Fortunately, we still caught some survivors. Maybe they can tell us what happened in the middle." Gong Shiqi didn't expect to get the answer right away. The first priority at the moment was to evacuate this place safely and bring

Witnesses and physical evidence were brought back to Zhoushan Island. Otherwise, these local salt merchants would go to the Yamen to report a robbery and murder case, and the government would intercept them after dawn. It might not be so easy for them to leave Yangzhou again.

Another reason is that almost all the people they caught alive on the dock had gunshot wounds, so they were unable to escape in time. The medical conditions on the ship were limited, and they may not be able to treat these wounded people in time.

In addition, there is still nearly a thousand miles of flight back to Zhoushan Island from here. It will be difficult to provide better medical conditions for the wounded for a while. If we are delayed for an extra day and a half on the way, there may be no people, so we must rush back as soon as possible.

While cleaning the battlefield, Ji Yuanqing also sent several groups of people to guard the periphery of the dock to prevent the other party from gathering manpower to launch a counterattack again. However, perhaps the previous battle made the other party realize the gap in strength and did not send more people to die.

The offensive came to an abrupt end.

After spending more than an hour cleaning the battlefield and confirming that nothing was missing, Ji Yuanqing sent a signal to recall everyone on the shore, then ordered the anchor to be raised and the sails to be returned to the Yangtze River waterway along the original route of the canal. However, the visibility at night was poor, and they were not sure about the environment of the canal.

They were not familiar enough, so in order to avoid accidents in the narrow river, the two ships could only slow down and move forward slowly.

Gong Shiqi checked the time. It was about two hours before dawn, and it was about forty miles from the dock where they parked the ship to Guazhou, where the canal connects with the Yangtze River. They would definitely not be able to reach the Yangtze River in two hours. If anyone

They rushed downstream with fast horses and notified the navy along the river to dispatch an interceptor. Theoretically, it was still possible to get ahead of them. And all they could do at this time was to pray that the local salt merchants would not be too stubborn and continue to be stubborn.

Rao Di chased after him.

At the same time, Lu Kangtai had arrived at the He family manor and met He Huan and others who were waiting for news. But unfortunately, the salt merchants who had prepared a celebration banquet did not get the good news they expected.

Lu Kangtai, who directed this operation, brought bad news. His invincible musketeers were defeated by the opponent in a very short period of time, and the weapons used by the opponent were also muskets.

"They are just waiting for my musketeers to show up." Lu Kangtai had figured out the key point on the way back and directly came to his conclusion: "This group of people came to Yangzhou to sell salt to anger us and make us angry.

We take the initiative to use force to deal with them, and the ultimate goal is my musketeers! Everyone, only seven of the people who went to the dock to perform the mission this time escaped alive, and the lives of the rest are unknown. If we let them leave Yangzhou

, then the next time they appear, they will probably come to deal with everyone here!"
Chapter completed!