Before dawn, there was a smell of hot porridge and steamed buns wafting in the Tongshan Acropolis, and the soldiers who were about to go out drank steaming rice porridge with pickles and ate steaming white flour steamed buns.

In the water village, the trees stand like a forest, and thousands of boats gather. The drums beat in unison, the sails were raised, and the fleet left the dock and sailed to the mainland in the wind and waves.

In this landing operation, there were 1,400 armored soldiers of Chen Python, 2,000 auxiliary soldiers, Wang Xinyu's personal army and 100 land divisions, 1,500 sailors and sailors went ashore to help in the battle, and 1,000 soldiers and horses of Tongshan Wei Guo Yi and Cai Lu, a total of 6,000 soldiers and horses.

The main force is Chen Python's 1,400 armor, each of these soldiers is wearing the excellent iron armor of the Zheng family's army, although the defense is not as strong as Zheng Chenggong's iron army, but the defense of these infantry against bows and arrows is quite good, the bows and arrows of the Qing army are not able to help these infantry at all, even if they are in close combat, it is not easy for swords and guns to penetrate their iron armor. 1,400 armoured soldiers had 400 sword players, using shields and waist swords; Two hundred long swordsmen, dressed in iron armor, carrying two-handed long knives for cutting horses and horses on their shoulders; four hundred pikemen, clad in iron armor and armed with spears; Three hundred armoured archers and one hundred armoured birds.

Wang Xinyu's land division consisted of fifty soldiers and fifty infantry, all of whom were heavily armoured, wielded one-stone bows, and equipped with extremely sharp katanas; Fifty infantry were pikemen, thirty-three of the first pro-soldiers of the time, plus seventeen of the best recruits, all of whom were also well-dressed in iron armor.

Among the 1,500 sailors who came ashore to assist in the battle was a cannon corps, armed with 30 six-pounder guns removed from the ship and 50 tiger squat guns. Wang Xinyu equipped the six-pounder gun with a gun carriage of his own design: a gun carriage with two large wheels, which could easily pull away a cannon weighing seven or eight hundred pounds with two mules. At the time of firing, two shelves behind the gun carriage were propped up on the ground. In addition to the artillery, the rest of the officers and men of the ashore naval division were all archers and bird guns, with light paper armor or wooden armor on their bodies, and the weapons for self-defense were even more varied, including waist knives, plate axes, short swords, forks and other melee weapons.

The two thousand auxiliaries are unarmored soldiers, mainly to carry weapons, transport cannons, and create siege weapons, in addition to a secret mission, Wang Xinyu only explained to Chen Python, and even Guo Yi and Cai Luduo did not say anything.

As for the 1,000 armored soldiers sent by Tongshan Wei Guo Yi and Cai Lu, to be honest, Wang Xinyu didn't expect them to help much. Those soldiers look far inferior to Chen Python's armored soldiers, and the weapons used are also varied, in terms of personal bravery, those soldiers may be okay, but the discipline is definitely not good. This kind of soldier can also be stationed in the strong Tongshan Castle, and the attack really can't count on them.

As with all landing battles in those years, all the armored soldiers did not wear iron armor when they crossed the sea by boat, and after they went ashore, the iron armor was picked up by the auxiliary soldiers behind.

The fleet crossed the strait between Dongshan Island and the Yunxiao Continent and began to land on a sandy beach.

As the boat approached the beach, groups of sailors and soldiers dressed in paper armor or wooden armor jumped off the boat and quickly waded onto the beach.

At this time, most of the Qing army was still sleeping. A spy found out that the Ming army had landed, and immediately ran back to Gaotang Tucheng, which was not far away, and woke up their Master Qianzong.

The sleepy-eyed Qing Jun Qian was always woken up, and he was still scolding and scolding.

The spy trembled and knelt down on one knee: "Report to the lord!" The thieves have come ashore! ”

"The thief has come ashore?" Qing Junqian was so frightened that he fell asleep, "How many thieves are there?" ”

"Go back to my lord, about seven or eight thousand! The sea is densely packed with thieves' ships! ”

In Gaotang Tucheng, a thousand people of the green battalion were stationed, saying that there were 1,000 people, but in fact, because of empty salaries, there were only 500 people, of which there were only more than 100 armored soldiers, and the rest were unarmored auxiliary soldiers. With such a small number of troops, the Qing army naturally did not dare to take the initiative to attack, and attacked the Ming army while it was halfway through.

Mr. Qian shouted: "Wolf smoke! Report the military situation to the clouds! We can't hold out of the city! With only seven or eight thousand thieves, it will not be easy to take down our Tucheng! ”

The Ming army landed without any interception and went ashore smoothly.

After Chen Python's soldiers went ashore, they quickly put on their armor and formed a formation on the beachhead to stabilize their positions in case the Qing army attacked.

The auxiliary soldiers and the sailors behind assisted each other to build a floating wharf made of wooden rafts on the sea, and then used small boats and wooden planks to connect them to form a pontoon bridge, which extended to the beach, and then paved a simple wooden bridge to build a simple wharf that can advance and retreat freely regardless of the high tide and low tide.

Cannons, baggage wagons, and mules and horses disembarked from the boats and took to the beach through the improvised docks.

In Yunxiao City, the Qing army garrison general Yang Sheng, the Chinese army garrison Cai Zhong were all woken up, and the supervising imperial historian Xu Shichang and Zuobu political secretary Zhou Lianggong had already gotten up, and they also got the news of the "attack of the sea robbers".

All the military generals and civil officials of the Qing army gathered in the county government to discuss countermeasures.

Yunxiao Zhixian was full of sorrow: "Ladies and gentlemen, Gaotang Tucheng emitted wolf smoke, saying that more than 10,000 thieves landed on the beach, as if they were coming towards our clouds." ”

Yang Sheng sneered: "It's good if the thief comes at me!" They don't have 50,000 or 60,000 people, so they don't want to take our clouds! ”

Not long after coming to Fujian, Xu Shichang, who was not aware of the situation in Fujian, was a little worried that an accident might happen: "The thief's intention is obvious, and he must have taken advantage of the summer harvest to loot." If we don't take countermeasures, I'm afraid the thieves will loot the grain and run away. ”

Cai Zhong sneered: "From the south of Yunxiao City, all the people by the sea have all been moved, and there is only a wasteland left for the thieves!" Where do they go to fetch food? If the thieves land from Tongshan and want to loot in the area of Yunxiao Zhao'an, my Yunxiao County is the only way to go! They can't get around Yunxiao County! If the thieves don't capture our county, their landing this time will be in vain, and they can only return empty-handed after spending a lot of grain and grass! But Yunxiao County is impregnable, and the thieves want to take it, without an army of 50,000 or 60,000, I am afraid that ten days and half a month will be unthinkable! ”

Zhou Lianggong is the most cunning among these people, and after receiving the beacon smoke alarm signal, he was thinking about the problem on the way to the county office.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this official thinks that the thieves must be a suspicious tactic, and they want to divide our army to help Zheng Rebellion's main force take Zhangzhou! There was also a report from Guangdong that another detachment of thieves had arrived in the waters of Guangdong. I just don't know if the thief's partial division is a trade fleet going to Macao, or a war fleet carrying a land division. That Zheng Yi is blooming everywhere, that is, we are tired of moving back and forth, so as to find an opportunity to capture one or two county seats. Zhou Lianggong bowed to everyone in the lobby.

Yang Sheng said: "Yes! Your Excellency is right! No matter how provocative the thief is, we should hold on! As long as we hold on for a few days, when the Governor and the Governor have repelled Zheng Rebellious's main force, we will naturally come! ”

The magistrate said: "If the thieves carry cannons ashore, I'm afraid Gaotang won't be able to hold it." The earth city is very unstable, and it can be blasted open with a small cannon of 500 catties. ”

Cai Zhong said: "If Gaotang is lost, it will be lost!" It was useless for the thieves to take Gaotang, there was no food and grass and no population, and what they got was also an empty city. ”

At that time, the Ming army, which had already landed, was ready to attack Gaotang Tucheng. Before noon, the Ming army had already surrounded Gaotang.

Wang Xinyu asked people to shout to the Qing army in Gaotang Tucheng: "Chen Python of the right tiger guard town of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Yu of the second town of the Ming Water Division, and the third general of Guo Yi of the Ming Tongshan garrison, came to recover the homeland with an army of 50,000!" If the defenders in the city are willing to abandon the city and surrender, our army guarantees that you will be added one level after abandoning the darkness and surrendering to the light! Now give you half an hour to think about it! When the time comes, our army will begin to attack the city! ”

Although the Qing army in the city was afraid, they refused to go out of the city and surrender. They thought that no matter how they said it, this earth city could withstand three or five days. Wait until the city is about to be broken, and then consider whether to surrender.

As soon as half an hour arrived, the Ming army began to attack the city.

At the head of the city, the Qing army was in full array, and there was a boiling cauldron at the head of the city, which was boiling gold juice, and the rolling wood and stones were placed at the head of the city, and the archers stood in a row.

This Gaotang earthen city is not strong, there is no moat outside, and there are not many Qing troops in the city, and the Ming army's attack is very simple.

Seeing the artillery erected by the Ming army in the distance, the Qing army roared and ordered his gunners to open artillery bombardment.

"Lord Hui, Haikou's cannons are too far away, two hundred steps farther than our maximum range, we can't hit them!" The Qing gunner was very embarrassed.

This Qing army commander is also a mediocre talent, he roared: "Aren't these thousand-pound cannons claimed to be able to fight two miles? It's only a mile, why can't it be hit? You're not going to increase the amount of gunpowder? ”

"Lord Hui, these cannons are crudely made, and increasing the amount of gunpowder will explode!" The Qing gunner replied.

But Mr. Qian insisted on letting the Qing gunners open fire, and those Qing gunners had no choice but to bite the bullet and increase the amount of gunpowder.

"Leave the lead longer, and run away as soon as you light it!" A Qing army general said to the gunners.

The fuse of the first gun was ignited, and the gunner, having lit the fuse, immediately shouted and dropped the torch and ran away.

After the lead was completely submerged in the cannon, the cannon made an earth-shattering loud noise, and the cannonball did not fire, and the cannon exploded to pieces, and a large part of the female wall of the earth city was shattered.

When the Ming army heard the explosion in the city, they were startled at first, but then they saw a cloud of white smoke rising from the city, and then the female wall was broken down, and they knew that the Qing army's artillery had exploded.

Thirty six-pounder guns had been erected, and the gunners had loaded the cannons with gunpowder and shells. With the rumbling of drums, the gunners lit the fuses.

With the granular gunpowder made by Wang Xinyu, the power and range of the cannon have increased a lot, and the Qing army could not hit the Ming army's artillery positions at all, and the Ming army could calmly bombard the Qing army.

The cannon roared, a cannon spit out white smoke, and the cannonballs flew towards the earth city with a whistling whistle, causing the female walls of the city to collapse one after another, and the walls of the earth city were also smashed out of big pits by the cannonballs, and the soil was splashed everywhere, and cracks appeared on the earth walls.

Gaotang is not a strong earthen city, although the six-pounder cannon can not collapse the city wall for a while, but it can blow up the female wall, and it can also make the city wall unstable, as long as the Ming army attacks the city, dig a hole casually, and put it into a number of national surname bottles, the city wall can be blown down.

After several rounds of bombardment by the Ming army's six-pounder guns, the few broken guns of the Qing army at the head of the city were all destroyed.

Immediately afterwards, the tiger squat cannon of the Ming army was pulled up, erected, aimed at the gap in the female wall of the city head that was blown up, and bombarded it continuously with shotguns.

However, after only two teas, the female wall in the area that the Ming army was going to attack had all been smashed, and the Qing soldiers behind the city wall lost their protection and were completely exposed to the fire of the tiger squatting artillery.

"Artillery stop bombarding! Suppress the Tartars with Tiger Cannons, Bird Guns, and Bows and Arrows! Wang Xinyu asked his soldiers to pass the order.

The drums rumbled, the banners waved, and the Ming army marched towards Tucheng in a neat formation.

The Qing army at the head of the city had already suffered heavy casualties, and there were no archers and bird guns to organize defense, and the Ming army archers and bird guns did not receive any interception, so they went to fifty steps away from the city, and the bows and arrows fired in a volley, and the birds roared, so that the Qing army did not dare to come up to defend at all.

The auxiliaries had already prepared a simple ladder, and in the rumbling drums, the sword and card players were divided into two sides to protect, and the armored soldiers in the middle carried the simple ladder and rushed towards the earthen city.

Some of the brave Qing soldiers shot a few arrows, but the feather arrows were shot at the Ming soldiers wearing iron armor, and they were all bounced away, and only one unlucky Ming soldier was shot by the arrow on the calf without iron armor protection, and was injured and fell.

The Qing army that dared to fight back was either killed by random arrows or killed by birds, and the remaining Qing archers did not dare to venture up and shoot arrows again.

When the Ming soldiers were about to rush to the city, the tiger squat cannon stopped firing to avoid the shotgun injuring their own side. However, it was enough to suppress the Qing army with birds and bows and arrows.

The simple ladder was put on the earth city, and the Ming saber players climbed up one after another.

The head of the city where the female wall was blasted open was completely defenseless, and both the Qing archers and the auxiliary soldiers who were ready to drop gold juice and rolling wood and stones were shot by bows and arrows and bird guns as soon as they appeared. However, a few brave auxiliaries still threw down the rolling wood and stones, knocking several Ming soldiers down from the ladder, and the ladder also broke one. Of course, those Qing army auxiliaries were killed on the spot.

The Ming soldiers climbed up to the top of the city, and the Qing soldiers in armor on both sides brandished their waist swords and killed them, trying to drive the Ming army down.

The soldiers on both sides collided together, and immediately judged the high and low: these green battalion Qing soldiers were not opponents of the Ming army at all, their swords were cut on the Ming army, unless they were very lucky, or they had great strength, it was possible to cut down the Ming army. The Ming army not only has strong armor, but also the knife in its hand is also very sharp, and slashing and killing the Qing soldiers is like chopping melons and vegetables.

Soon, the Ming army attacked the city tower.

The shouts of killing on the southwest tower and the southeast tower shook the sky, and the green flag on the city tower fell to the ground, and was trampled on by groups of Ming soldiers as garbage. On the castle tower, red chess pieces are rising.

"The city is broken!" There were Qing soldiers shouting.

"Those who surrender are not to die!" The morale of the Ming army shouted.

The Qing soldiers surrendered on their knees, and their swords were thrown aside.

In order to survive, the Qing army defending the city did not order the warehouses in the city to be burned. After the Ming army entered the city, they opened the warehouse and seized a hundred stone of rice, a thousand catties of gunpowder, and spare armor, knives and guns and other trophies.