"Help!" On the riverside path, several people with money rat tails and silk horse coats ran lifelessly in front, and several Ming soldiers behind them wielded bright steel knives and chased after them.

Shifne rushed over with a few Qing scouts, and the Ming army chasing behind saw that the Eight Banners cavalry had been killed, and left behind the gentry who were about to be chased by him, and jumped into the water to flee for their lives.

"You lackeys of Tartars! Good luck today! Next time, if you let grandpa touch me, I won't be able to spare you! Before a Ming soldier dived into the water, he pointed at the gentry on the shore and cursed a few words before diving into the water to escape.

"Whoosh" Several Eight Banner soldiers shot a row of heavy arrows into the river, but those Ming troops with excellent water properties had already dived under the water and fled without a trace. The Ming army dived for a long time before it emerged from the river fifty-six paces away, changed its breath, and dived into the water again, swimming towards a small Ming warship in the distance.

Severne rescued them and asked, "Who are you?" Why was he chased by Ming Dog? ”

The first person cried and said with a sad face: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are the clansmen of Lord Huang, the right attendant of the military department in the capital, and I don't know what's wrong, those thieves know that we are Lord Huang's clansmen, they killed us all, and the gentry in our village were all killed by them, and there are only a few of us left." ”

Another middle-aged man in a long robe cried, "Ladies and gentlemen, make our decisions! The pirates killed all the villains' family, the villain's old mother was killed by them, the wife and children were killed by them, and the concubines, daughters, and maids in the family were all snatched away by these pirates! I hope the adults are the masters of the villains! ”

Severne ordered the gentry to be brought back to the barracks and handed over to Lang Tingzo.

Back in the middle camp and seeing Lang Tingzuo, Xifene arched his hand and said: "Lord Lang, these are the Jiangnan gentry who were rescued by their humble duties, they say that they are the clansmen of Lord Lang Huang, the right attendant of the military department, and there are only a few left." ”

Lang Tingzo asked personally. learned that they were Huang Xigon, a high-ranking Han official in the military department, and because of this, their people were killed by the Ming army.

One of the gentry, Huang Binghui, also took out a notice: "Lord Lang, this is posted by Haikou, saying that we are the family of the second minister, and they want to kill us all." ”

Lang Tingzuo took it and took a look, only to see that it was a new version of the book of the second ministers to the world, which not only said that the second ministers should be killed, but also that even the family members of the second ministers should be killed, and the foundation of the second ministers in Jiangnan should be eradicated.

"Bold pirates! They are trying to kill all the gentry who support our Qing Dynasty! We can no longer tolerate their misdeeds! Pass my orders. Hurry to Changshu, you must break Changshu! After the city is broken, the knife will not be sealed for three days! Kill all the people who support the pirates! Lang Tingzuo said angrily.

The Qing army continued to march in the direction of Changshu, because the river network along the way was staggered, and the bridges on the river were completely destroyed by the Ming army. After crossing the river. The raft was too heavy to carry, and it was very inconvenient not to carry it, and the march was extremely slow.

In the camp of the Ming army, Zhang Yukun has eyeliner all over the world. He was well aware of the activities of the Qing army.

"Although there are more than 100,000 people in the Tartars, except for the two thousand Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners and the Five Thousand Han Eight Banners, the rest are rabble, and there is nothing to be afraid of. Among them, there are many people. If they want to come to Changshu, they must pass through these two unknown rivers, and we only need to use the power of the water master. By sparing the Tartar through the first river, then intercepting the Tartar in the previous river, and then cutting off the Tartar's retreat with a sailor, we can trap the Tartar in this dead land surrounded by water on all sides! Zhang Yukun pointed to the map and said.

The Qing army went all the way to Changshu to kill, when there were still fifteen miles away from Changshu, a river in front of it was not too small to block the way of the Qing army, this river was more than fifty steps wide, it looked very deep, there was originally a bridge on the river, but now the bridge has long been destroyed by the Ming army, only the pier and a pile of broken stones remain.

Lang Tingzuo ordered to build a raft and cross the river quickly.

The Qing army had just crossed the river, and a mile in front of it, another river blocked the way of the Qing army, and there were originally two stone arch bridges on the river, all of which were destroyed by the Ming army.

The Qing army, who had crossed the first river, saw that the second river in front of them was not too wide, only about thirty paces wide, so they cut down wood and prepared to build a pontoon bridge on the river.

"The Haikou is here!" Just when the Qing army auxiliaries and Minzhuang began to build the pontoon bridge, someone suddenly shouted.

On the other side of the river, a Ming army suddenly appeared under the banner of the Zhejiang army, this Ming army had bright armor, swords and guns, and the soldiers were each strong, and they were definitely an elite division.

"Who said that the Zhejiang army didn't even have to eat, everyone had yellow faces and thin muscles, ragged clothes, and old and tattered weapons?" A Qing soldier always felt very different.

Before the Qing army could react, Chen Wenda, the Ming general led by him, shouted: "Release the arrow!" ”

The Zhejiang army fired arrows in unison, and the locust-like arrows drilled into the crowd of auxiliaries and people without armor, raising a burst of blood, a large number of Qing soldiers screamed and fell into the water, and the shore was like a reed growing like a reed, full of arrows, many people were shot into hedgehogs on the spot, and a large area of the river was stained red with blood.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Qing army auxiliaries and Minzhuang threw away the tools at hand and fled backwards.

"Dashuai, there are thieves blocking the way ahead!" A Qing army commander returned to the Chinese army camp to report to Lang Tingzuo.

Lang Tingzuo snorted coldly: "The thieves actually gave up the city defense and wanted to fight with our army in the field!" Good! Ben will be unwanted! Pass my order, immediately transport the cannon behind to assist, and must attack the river before dark! ”

The red-coated cannons of the Qing army were all in the rear, and at this time they were still halfway through and had not yet crossed the first river. The attack could only be launched by transporting the artillery across the first river and constructing an artillery position in front of the second. At this time, on the surface of the first river, the rafts of the Qing army ferried back and forth, crossing the hundred-pace-wide river, and constantly sending the Qing soldiers to the opposite bank.

In fact, Lang Tingzuo's tactics are still good, at the Qing army's river crossing site, Lang Tingzuo ordered to open up a certain width of the river crossing site, lay hidden piles in the river on both sides, and pulled up the iron cable, which was used to prevent the Ming army's naval division from sneaking attack. However, the Ming army was a master of chess, and arranged eyeliners and spies familiar with water on the bank of the river, and knew the Qing army well.

At that time, the army did not have the kind of latent technology of later scouts, and the night of the Qiongzhou army was just called night non-collection. The techniques of concealment and lurking were all the techniques of later generations of scouts, and the Qing army could not detect them at all.

It was also when the rear team of the Qing army crossed the river on a raft that the clipper of the Ming army's sailors suddenly came out.

"The Haikou is here!" Someone shouted.

The Ming speedboat rushed over, and when it rushed to the barrage, the Ming sailors cut the barrage. Then someone threw several objects into the water, and then quickly rowed out of the boat. I could only hear a few violent explosions under the water, and the water column on the river surface was painful, and the hidden piles laid by the Qing army were blown into pieces of wood floating on the river.

After the Ming army's sailors blasted the underwater piles with mines, they rushed into the section of the river where the Qing army crossed the river.

The ships of the Zhejiang army are not large. The ships are also equipped with the Franco cannons eliminated by Wang Xinyu, but these small boats are the most powerful weapons for fighting in inland rivers. The ships of the Ming army rushed over, and the small Franc machine guns on the bow of the ship continued to spew fire, and rows of shotguns hit the raft of the Qing army, and suddenly a dazzling blood mist rose, and the Qing troops on the raft screamed and fell into the water.

The Qing soldiers on the shore used bows and arrows and bird guns to shoot at the Zhejiang ships on the water, but the female wall on the ship blocked the bows and arrows and projectiles, and the small cannons on the ship spewed out balls of fire at the Qing troops on the shore. The Qing army was beaten with flesh and blood.

At the same time, the 6,000 Ming Army Land Division, which had landed in the other direction, took advantage of the cut off of the Qing army and launched an attack on the baggage and artillery teams of the rear of the Qing army.

The Ming army quickly landed with the help of the sailors, and after going ashore. launched an attack on the Qing army.

The red-coated artillery of the rear team of the Qing army was still on the march, and there was no time to set up artillery to bombard, and the land division of the Ming army killed them in a blink of an eye. How can these Qing army auxiliaries and Minzhuang be the opponents of the Ming army's soldiers! The Ming army first shot a volley of random arrows, and then rushed into the crowd of Qing troops. There was a burst of indiscriminate chopping, killing the Qing army's auxiliaries and people's strong soldiers.

The Qing army in the rear also had soldiers to protect the auxiliaries and the people, but the number was not large. After only a while, all the soldiers of the Qing army were killed, and the remaining Minzhuang and auxiliary soldiers were fish on the chopping board, which were slaughtered by the Ming army.

"Don't kill, let's surrender!" The auxiliaries and the people fell to their knees and surrendered.

The baggage team and the red-coated artillery team in the rear of the Qing army were all annihilated, a total of more than 1,000 Qing troops were killed, more than 4,000 people and auxiliaries became prisoners of the Ming army, and 12 red-coated cannons, 22 general cannons, 30 Franc machine guns and 46 tiger squat cannons all became the trophies of the Ming army.

These artillery pieces fell into the hands of the Ming army and became a sharp weapon for the Ming army to bombard the Qing army across the river.

Hearing that his rear team was attacked by the Ming army, Lang Tingzuo sent an order to go down and let the Qing army cross the river and turn back to rescue the baggage team. However, the river was controlled by the Ming army's sailors, and the Qing troops who tried to cross the river were beaten by the Ming army's warships and fell into the water. The raft of the Qing army was overturned by the Ming warship, and the Qing soldiers on it fell into the river like dumplings.

The Qing army forcibly crossed the river several times, but was defeated by the Ming army's sailors.

"Dashuai, no, we are dead here, and there is water all around! The Minggou water and land armies blocked the river on three sides! We can't get out! A Qing soldier reported to Lang Tingzuo in a panic.

Lang Tingzuo picked up the map and looked at it, and found that the location he was in would be a dead place if there was no water master! Here is the Yangtze River in the north, rivers on three sides, a relatively large river in the west, a relatively small river in the east, and the Grand Canal in the south, all the bridges on the river are destroyed, and the Ming army sailors block the way. The Qing army was surrounded by water on all sides in a narrow area one mile wide and ten miles long, and it was impossible to advance or retreat.

"The canal in Jiangnan has also been occupied by thieves?" Lang Tingzuo was surprised. You must know that entering the canal from the Yangtze River requires passing through many gates, and on the Jiangnan Canal, there are also water transporters of the Qing army. It seems that the water transport division of the Qing army in Jiangnan is also complete, otherwise it is impossible for the Ming army to enter the canal easily.

Surrounded by water on all sides, Lang Tingzuo observed the situation and found that the river in front of him was relatively narrow, the river was not very deep, and there was no Ming army sailor to enter, so he ordered to attack to the east and force the river to cross.

The Zhejiang army in front was digging trenches, erecting wooden fences, and building fortifications along the riverbank.

"Kill!" The Qing army rowed the raft, shouted, and rowed towards the opposite bank.

Seeing the Qing army crossing the river, Chen Wenda ordered to intercept the Qing army crossing the river with bows and arrows, bird guns and small cannons.

Arrows, projectiles, and cannonballs rained down on the river, causing a splash, and the Qing soldiers who were forcibly crossing the river were shot one after another and fell into the water.

The Qing army on the opposite bank also counterattacked with bows and arrows and bird guns, and the random arrows flew over the river and shot into the formation of the Zhejiang army, and the river bank was full of arrows; Projectiles whizzed and hit wooden fences and planks. Many Zhejiang sergeants were shot by arrows and fell on the ground. However, they were protected by planks and wooden fences, and the casualties were not very large.

"Boom" A door tiger squat cannon spit out scarlet fireballs, solid cannonballs hit the surface of the river, the Qing army rafts that were hit were shattered one after another, and the Qing troops on the boat fell into the water.

The river was not very deep, but it only flooded the chest of the Qing army. However, the Qing soldiers who crossed the river had no armor on their bodies, and if they had armor, they would drown if they accidentally fell into the water. As a result, he was killed by random arrows from the shore, and suffered heavy casualties.

"Let the Eight Banners come on! Shoot the thieves on the other side with random arrows! Lang Tingzuo called Kafona and asked him to bring five hundred elite Eight Banners soldiers to cover the Qing army's crossing of the river.

The Eight Banners joined the battle group, and the armor-piercing heavy arrows shot by the Eight Banners were accurate and ruthless, and the feather arrows pierced into the crowd of the Zhejiang army with a piercing whistling sound, and suddenly a miserable scream sounded. Many Zhejiang troops were shot in the face and fell to the ground and died immediately.

"Aim at those real Tartars and bombard me!" Chen Wenda yelled.

The Ming army's Franc machine guns and tiger squat guns were aimed at the formation of the Eight Banners who were shooting arrows, and the muzzles of the guns spewed out balls of fire.

The cannonballs swept across the river and smashed into the crowd of Qing soldiers, and the Eight Banners soldiers, no matter how fierce they were, were flesh and blood, and they were bombarded by the shells, and a large number of people were killed and injured in an instant.

The artillery of the Qing army was thrown on the other side of the river behind, and all became the trophies of the Ming army, and the Qing army at this time had no artillery to fight against the Ming army on the other side, so they could only watch the shells of the Ming army continue to fall in their own formation.

On the other side of the river in the west, the Ming army pushed the captured cannons over, set up cannons on the bank, and fiercely shelled the opposite bank.

The artillery, gunpowder and cannonballs of the Qing army became sharp weapons against the Qing army itself. With the roar of artillery, the cannonballs fell into the crowd of Qing soldiers like hail, causing heavy casualties to the Qing army. More than 100,000 people were crowded in a narrow strip of land, and they were scattered, and every shell that penetrated into the crowd could take the lives of a large number of Qing soldiers.

The Qing army, which was cut off by the river, could only be beaten in vain, but could not fight back, even the most elite Manchurian heavy cavalry could not cross the river, and could only watch the shells continue to fall, which was a great blow to the morale of the Qing army. (To be continued.) )