The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"How many artillery pieces do you have here?"

Liu Xian asked, looking at the neatly arranged tiger crouching cannons.

"One hundred and twenty doors."

Qi Jiguang said, "This cannon is simple to make, and even the craftsmen of the guard station can make it."

At this time, Yu Dayou had already stretched out his hand to touch the sound of the cannon, and suddenly asked: "Is this an iron cannon?"

"Haha. Jiujiang Wei also has talented people. They can use this iron cannon to replace the bowl-mouth blunderbuss."

Qi Jiguang said with a smile.

"Ha ha."

Liu Xian understood the secret at this time and couldn't stop laughing.

Yu Dayou just smiled and shook his head, not as wantonly and arrogant as Liu Xian.

They are all sensible people. What Qi Jiguang said was actually telling them how to get together the one hundred and twenty squatting tiger cannons.

Copper was extremely expensive in the Ming Dynasty. Relatively speaking, the court would not distribute copper to the army, but it would supply iron.

They have thought that the guy who developed this artillery did it not so much for the purpose of fighting Japanese pirates, but because he was greedy for copper materials.

"It seems that this thing can really be cast in large quantities."

Yu Dayou said, then he seemed to think of something, and said to Liu Xian: "Director Liu, the iron materials in Guangdong are here, but I would like to ask you to say hello."

"Easy to say, easy to say."

Liu Xian said with a smile.

When it comes to money, the three of them all understand each other tacitly, but Qi Jiguang is obviously one step ahead. He is probably making a lot of money by doing this in Zhejiang.

However, Yu Dayou and Liu Xian were naturally unwilling to lag behind, and both planned to try this artillery when they returned.

Of course, the prerequisite for this is that the squatting tiger cannon Qi Jiguang gave them is really that useful. Otherwise, if the cannon is not good, they will not be willing to make the money.

In the past, Yu Dayou was really unwilling to get involved in corruption and embezzlement of military pay, but since entering the imperial edict, his mentality has also changed somewhat.

On that occasion, if he hadn't met some friends who helped him, especially Lu Bing who spent a lot of money to smooth over the Third Division, he wouldn't have been so relaxed when he went to court.

Thinking about the fact that he used to lead soldiers and never drink the blood of soldiers, but the life of the big soldiers under him will not actually improve because he does not get involved, but his share will be swallowed up by the soldiers below.

In the end, I have nothing, and I can't even get out the money to clear things up if something goes wrong.

Wei Guangde is right again, within the rules, you still have to take what you should take.

Three days later, the three armies left the camp at the agreed time and began to attack Xucuo Wachao. As for the Japanese pirates on Wudang Mountain in front of the Wachao, they were handed over to the Zhejiang soldiers led by Qi Jiguang to eliminate them.

However, both Yu Dayou and Liu Xian tacitly slowed down their marching speed and ruled out multiple groups of scouts to detect the movements of the middle route army.

The purpose, of course, is that once the attack of the central route army fails, they can only form camps immediately to ensure the balance of the entire front.

If the middle road is blocked and they attack Xucuo Japanese Nest from the left and right, then the gap between the three armies will probably give the Japanese pirates a chance to break through the encirclement.

Regardless of the small battlefield area, there may be gaps, and if the Japanese pirates decide to run away, there will always be someone who can escape.

Regardless of whether it was the imperial court or the Fujian Province, they all ordered that this group of Japanese pirates must be wiped out and killed to serve as a warning to others.

Naval warships have also gathered in the waters outside Pinghaiwei City, and a large number of eagle ships have been sent out to serve as sentry ships to monitor the movements of Japanese ships.

The navy of the Ming Dynasty was equipped with warships at this time, mostly in the style of Fu Chuan. The first and second numbers were both called Fu Chuan, but there were some differences in size, so they were also called Da Fu Chuan and Fu Chuan.

No. 3 is called the sentry boat, also known as the grass boat, No. 4 is the Haicang boat, also known as the winter boat, and No. 5 is the bird boat, also known as the wave boat.

Among them, the No. 3 boat has a smaller hull and is equipped with a rowing oar. When the wind is windy, it can sail and drive, and when there is no wind, it can be driven by an oar, so it has better maneuverability.

In addition, the Ming Navy also had Cangshan ships, eagle ships and black owl ships.

The black-tailed boat was also called the "black-tailed boat" or "black boat" in the Ming Dynasty because its hull and stern were painted black. It was originally a unique boat in Dongguan, Guangdong, and was made of iron pear wood.

Because ironwood is strong and durable, the service life of a black stern boat is quite long, ranging from 50 years to 70 years. At that time, ships generally built with pine and fir wood had a maximum service life of only 10 years, and some even only 5 years.

Therefore, during the whole life of the black ship, its cost-effectiveness is quite good. An ordinary medium-sized black ship has a plate thickness of 7 inches, a length of 10 feet, and a width of more than 3 feet. The hull is as hard as iron. "Everything is indestructible, and everything it hits is indestructible." It is extremely strong and can even withstand the shells fired by the Franco machine gun. It can be called a contemporary iron-clad ship.

However, the cost of building this kind of ship is also quite expensive. One ship requires 700 to 800 taels of silver, and 800 taels of silver can build 5 pine and fir wooden warships of similar tonnage in the Fujian and Zhejiang regions, so the Ming Navy also has less equipment. .

When it comes to wrestling in the sea, the lucky ship is naturally the main force, while when it comes to sentinel investigation, the sentinel ship and the winning ship are the best.

The two ships not only have shallow drafts, but also have good maneuverability.

In terms of speed alone, the bird ship is still the fastest and is often used as a communication ship.

The two Ming troops on the left and right tried to stay parallel to Qi Jiguang's troops in the middle and slowly advanced.

As veterans who have experienced battles for a long time, neither Yu Dayou nor Liu Xian will be impulsive on the battlefield, and will not secretly use Tao Zi to sabotage this Japanese suppression campaign just because Qi Jiguang took away the main offensive position.

During the march, Yu Dayou soon received news from Tanma that Qi Jiguang's troops were attacked by Japanese pirates from Wudang Mountain.

At this time, on the battlefield in the middle, Qi Jiguang's troops were forming formation and slowly walking down the south side of Wudang Mountain. Regarding the Japanese pirates stationed on the mountain, Qi Jiguang did not intend to attack the mountain, which would only increase casualties, but chose to bypass it from one side. , directly attack the Japanese nest.

If the Japanese pirates on the mountain are lured down the mountain to fight, they can be defeated at the foot of the mountain. If the Japanese pirates still stick to the mountain, only two thousand troops can be sent to surround them.

Wudang Mountain is not big. After surrounding the mountain and setting up camps on all sides, these Japanese pirates can be trapped on the mountain to death.

However, after the army entered the mountains, the Japanese pirates could not hold back their composure and rushed down from the mountains first, hoping to crush the Ming army's formation with thunderous force.

In fact, such tactics were common in battles between Japanese pirates and the Ming army, probably because the Ming army at this period had long lost the courage to fight in close combat.

Relying on its strong national strength and a large number of firearms and crossbow equipment, the Ming army has gradually evolved into a force that relies mainly on long-range strikes. However, once the enemy comes close, there are few teams that can persist in the battle formation.

Japanese pirates often directly broke through the Ming army's formation, and even created a record of killing the first-level military attache commanding the Ming army.

Japanese pirates are, in the final analysis, just a bunch of desperadoes.

This desperate style of play is exactly the ambition of the Ming army.

Due to various reasons, the current Ming army still has a strong fighting spirit, and often gets confused in the face of the surging Japanese pirates.

Even the Japanese pirates were more brave than the Mongols in the north.

However, the advance route was drawn up by Qi Jiguang himself, leaving an open area at the foot of the mountain just for the purpose of using firepower. In front of the military formation, there were countless small mandarin duck formations composed of old soldiers to build a large defense line. Japanese pirates attack.

As the Japanese pirates rushed down from the mountain, the Ming army's Franco machine gun took the lead in firing. After the Japanese pirates approached, the sound of continuous firing of a whole row of muskets was heard. After the Japanese pirates approached the Ming army's formation, a hundred The multi-door tiger squatting artillery fire was fired in three batches, and the Japanese pirates rushing at the front were swept to the ground.

However, because the Ming army's queue was long, so much firepower did not have the effect of covering the battlefield intensively, and the Japanese pirates in some areas were still not defeated by the Ming army.

However, after the fierce battle between the brave Japanese pirates and the Ming army's first-line defensive infantry, the familiar mandarin duck formation appeared, which prompted a large number of Japanese pirates to flee.

Yes, during this period, the Ming armies from all provinces used the Yuanyang Formation to fight, and only Qi Jiguang's troops fought in this way.

There is no doubt that after the close combat broke out, the Japanese pirates knew that they were encountering the Qi Army, which made them fearful. What followed was a rapid decline in the morale of the Japanese pirates.

Even Fujian Japanese pirates are no strangers to Qi Jiguang and the Qi family army he led. Many Japanese pirates here have the experience of going to Zhejiang to plunder before, not to mention that last year Qi Jiguang led his troops south to Fujian to assist the Fujian government in suppressing Japanese pirates. .

The Japanese pirates who did not collapse in the face of Qi Jiajun's powerful firepower began to collapse after discovering that they were facing Qi Jiajun.

The contact between the two sides only lasted a short time, and the Japanese pirates began to actively retreat and break away from the Qi army.

As for their fleeing backs, they were constantly hit by the Ming army's crossbows and muskets.

Leaving corpses on the ground, the remaining Japanese pirates finally broke out of the Ming army's firepower range.

By this time, the Japanese pirates also knew that escaping back to Wudang Mountain would be a dead end, so they chose to retreat directly to Xucuo Japanese Nest, preparing to gather together and rely on the camp to resist the attack of the Qi Army.

Of course, the other thing is to report to the Japanese pirate leader in the lair and discuss what to do next.

In the past two years, as Qi Jiguang completed the training of the new army and continued to join the fight against Japanese pirates, the Japanese pirate gang had long been deeply afraid of Qi's army.

Not to mention those Mingren Japanese pirates, even the extremely brave real Japanese pirates were either killed or injured when facing the small formation formed by the Qi family army.

Also because he realized the power of this Ming army, Qi Jiguang was nicknamed "Qi Laohu" by the Japanese pirates at some point.

On the other hand, Liu Xian, Yu Dayou and other generals, because they were commanding common Ming troops, even though they won one battle after another, the Japanese pirates had no impression of them.

After detecting the battle between the Japanese pirates and the central army, the two Ming armies on the left and right naturally slowed down their marching speed. It was not until news came that the Japanese pirates had killed and injured more than a thousand people, and the remaining Japanese had been defeated and retreated to Xucuo Japanese Nest, then they resumed their marching speed again. Thinking about leaving the Japanese nest.

By the afternoon of that day, the three armies had gathered and set up camp outside Xucuo Japanese Nest. As it was getting late, Liu Xian, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang met to discuss and decided to launch the attack on Japanese nest after dawn the next day.

However, what they didn't know was that because of the arrival of Qi's army, the Japanese pirate leaders in Xucuo Wachao had already hurried back to Pinghaiweicheng to discuss with several other Japanese pirate leaders. The Japanese pirates left behind in Wachao were only ordered to strengthen their vigilance. .

If at this time, the three Ming armies attacked Xu Cuowochao in one go, there might be unexpected surprises.

After all, although there are more than 3,000 Japanese pirates in the current Japanese nest, they are actually leaderless due to the departure of their leader.

When a three-pronged army attacks the Japanese pirates, as long as one of them gets a breakthrough, the Japanese pirates will definitely flee in chaos.

When the Ming army was camping, several Japanese pirate leaders were having a heated discussion about whether to stay or leave in Pinghai Guard City.

Now they are blocked here. If they want to escape by land, they have only one way to break out. But even if they succeed, most of the gains from attacking Xinghua Fucheng will be lost.

What's more, they had packed up most of the stolen property and placed it on the Japanese ship outside the Acropolis. They just waited for the wind to change and immediately set sail for Dongfan Island for repairs.

Of course, the Japanese pirate leader would not regret not grabbing a vote and running away after breaking Xinghua City at this time. It was already too late to regret it. However, he was still very afraid of the tens of thousands of troops mobilized by the Ming army, especially the appearance of the Qi family army.

"At the beginning, I thought that the two camps at Wudangshan and Xucuo would have to resist the Ming army for a month. After a month, the weather would be about the same."

"If it doesn't work out, give up Xucuo. We will take the brothers here on board the boat overnight and run to Hui'an."

"Quanzhou is good there. The plague killed a lot of people last year. It's not easy for the court to find us if we go there."

The Japanese pirate leaders are naturally very clear about the situation around them.

Wanan is to the north, and Fuzhou is behind it. As the provincial capital of Fujian, the armed forces deployed by the Ming court are naturally sufficient. Moreover, Wanan itself has a Qianhu Station.

Escape to Wan'an is tantamount to throwing yourself into a trap, but the direction to Quanzhou after the plague is much better. It is a time when the land is vast and sparsely populated. Even if they land, they may not be discovered by the Ming Dynasty.

The decision was made quickly, and naturally he was ready to escape.

No Japanese pirates are willing to face the Qi family army directly. The small formation formed by a few of their soldiers is too powerful.

Unless there is an absolutely superior force that can surround such a small formation, it is possible to kill them by attacking from all sides.

A simple one-sided or two-sided attack will not be effective.

The changes in that small formation are so complicated that at least no Japanese pirates have thought of a solution yet.

As for military formations like the Qi Family Army, the battlefield is composed of countless small formations that rely on each other and cover each other. It is really difficult to achieve the effect of being surrounded on all sides.

Only in small areas, the Qi family army will appear alone in a small number of military formations.

However, due to terrain restrictions, the Japanese pirates were unable to achieve their goal of encircling and annihilating them.

Just when the Japanese pirates were about to escape by boat, several Japanese ships that had been sent out to investigate the sea situation also returned. The news of the Ming navy's appearance in the outer sea also reached the ears of the Japanese pirate leaders.

This time, knowing that the situation was urgent, the leader of the Japanese pirates did not let others talk and discuss, but directly made a plan.

"Everyone summoned his brothers to board the boat and retreat according to the old rules."

"Boss, do the brothers in front want them to evacuate overnight?"

"There are too many people, it's too late, and if we call too many people, the ship can't move. Now is the time to compete with the ships of the Ming Army."

"Going to Penghu or Jingang?"

"Let's go to Penghu. I've been watching the sky in the past few days and the wind has picked up, but it's a little bit softer. It should be okay to go to Penghu."

After the Japanese pirate boss made his decision, he said fiercely to the others: "We will go to sea tonight. Before we break through the Ming Navy, we are not allowed to tell our subordinates our destination, and we must be strict with our mouths."