Dominate the Country

[My fault, the chapter name was repeated and it doesn’t show up at all in the table of contents]

Chen Ming from Gaoyou Prefecture couldn't sleep tonight. He was in control of every move of the Fuhan Army. Of course he knew everything about the secret camp's plan to assassinate Liu Yong, so tonight he kept hearing that song in his ears. Old songs:

"There are stalks between the sky and the earth, and the slaves are the common people; the stalks carry the country and the mountains, and you are the star that determines the fate..."

Chen Ming was familiar with this song when he was a child, and he had a very fond impression of Liu Luoguo and Liu Yong played by Li Baotian, including He Shen, the fat He Zhongtang played by Wang Gang.

That is a childhood impression, the best impression in a person's life.

Although when he grew up, he knew that Liu Yong was not a Luo Guo, and he did not have a wife that would make Emperor Qianlong "savoury". Because at that time, Manchus and Han people did not intermarry, and the prince of the Qing Dynasty would not marry a Han. And He Shen is not a fat man, but an absolutely beautiful man!

Coming into this era, Chen Ming was destined to be on the opposite side of Liu Luoguo. As an adult, his understanding of Liu Yong was no longer comparable to that of his childhood. The Liu family in Zhucheng had been officials for generations, and it was impossible for them to rebel against the Qing Dynasty. Liu Yong's father, Liu Tongxun, is even more famous. He has a high status and is famous all over the world. His status and reputation are too prominent and prominent.

These facts cannot be covered up by a ‘good feeling’. After Liu Yong went to Shandong as the first team training minister of Shandong, all the good things were suppressed in Chen Ming's heart. Liu Yong was already his direct and direct enemy. Besides, he's not a child now, he's an adult. The impression of Liu Yong in his mind was no longer 'Liu Luoguo', and he was now responsible for the soldiers who followed him.

When the army's morale and fighting spirit were low, Liu Yong had to die in order to win the crucial battle of Northern Jiangsu. Although this kind of 'decapitation'-like assassination behavior seems not so upright.

But only if Liu Yong dies, the Shandong regiment training will be leaderless, and the military morale will be more likely to be in chaos, which is more likely to be seduced by rumors and internal fighting. The Fuhan Army will have a better chance of winning, and can break the Manchu and Qing army heading south before the war begins. of a humerus.

"Gugu, gugu..."

Suddenly, a carrier pigeon landed in the backyard of the Yamen in Gaoyou Prefecture with fluttering wings. The attendants who stayed there immediately took out the secret letter and sent it to Liu Wu. It was not a red letter of urgent military information, but an ordinary secret letter. Liu Wu took the password and translated it according to the script. He couldn't help but have a smile on his face. He looked at Liu Dezhao aside with a strange look and reported to Chen Ming:

"Grand Governor, a secret message from Fujian. The old Zhang family is planning to send a distant girl from the clan. After hearing this, the Zheng family brothers are also preparing to send it. Even the Tiandihui in Taiwan and Fujian are ready to move. If everything goes well, It can take as little as one month, or as long as three or two months, and the inner chamber of the Grand Governor will be very lively."

Liu Wu's words put a strange look on Chen Ming's face, and he immediately understood in his heart that this was a 'marriage'. Then Chen Ming must accept these women, so that they can calm the hearts of the Southeast. And Liu Dezhao was feeling unhappy mentally. His girl had been "exclusively doted on" by Chen Ming for several months, but there was no good news. It didn't matter before, the Fuhan Army is different now, but it's useless.

Chen Ming never took women with him when he led troops to fight, and he never lingered on what he gained from collecting along the way. Everything he does and does, to put it more harshly, is worthy of being said to be "not a fan of women."

"I won't be able to sleep tonight." How could Chen Ming sleep until the flying pigeon from Yancheng arrived? "You don't have to stay up late with me, just go down and sleep."

"If the secret camp succeeds tonight, it's a blessing for our Han Dynasty army; if we can't, it's because of Liu Yong's fate. How much real strength does a regiment of only 18,000 people have to fight for in a big battle?"

The Qing army's troops going south were first the cavalry, the second the artillery, and the third the Eight Banners New Army. The remaining Manchu and Han soldiers were no different from those who fought against the Han army in the past.

However, the Qing army moved south aggressively, and the retreat of the Fuhan army will definitely make them more confident. Fifty thousand troops cannot be underestimated.

The night sky is like a navy blue curtain, dotted with twinkling stars, which makes people deeply intoxicated. The night is beautiful today. In China in the 21st century, it is rare to see so many stars at night even in small counties. But tonight will never be silent. The flashes of swords and shadows in Yancheng will add a terrifying chill to this beautiful night sky.

At this time in Yancheng, the fire outside the city had panicked countless refugees, and also involved many regiments stationed outside the city. Just as Xiao Changchun and Wei Changkong imagined, after everyone fell asleep that night, the shacks burned down on their own without the help of the lurking Fuhan Army, or the firewood burned out and the sparks were blown to the reed mats by the wind. , or for other reasons, anyway, without taking any action, each shack area will burn badly on its own.

Liu Yong didn't sleep that night, and he wasn't surprised when he heard that the shack area outside the city was burning badly. When the fire in the city also broke out, a sneer appeared on his face: "Sneaky people, evil tricks. The fire in the city must be caused by traitors lurking in the city. Send orders to everyone, don't panic. The place is full of gunpowder and food." Guard strictly. The soldiers on patrol will have their swords and guns unsheathed. If there is chaos, anyone who dares to stir up chaos will be killed. Anyone who dares to take advantage of the situation will be killed.

Liu Yong, who was in charge of the government office, never thought that the goal of the Fuhan Army was his own life. The Yancheng government office was heavily guarded by soldiers, and there were sergeants inside and outside the government office, making it completely impregnable.

Regarding tonight's 'accident', Liu Yong had only four words - calm it down!

As long as the more than 3,000 Shandong warriors in Yancheng are stable and undisturbed, what use will the evil tricks of the Fuhan Army be?

Liu Yong never imagined that in the land under his feet, in the two tunnels connecting the outside world and the Yamen, eight masters of the Fuhan Army Special Section were lurking inside. In a small courtyard four to five hundred meters away from the Yancheng government office, more than a dozen people were busy going in and out of the house. Boxes of explosive bullets and gunpowder were moved to the backyard. Xiao Changchun stood in the courtyard, surrounded by four people. A short mortar.

This is a type of artillery recently cast by the Fuhan Army. It can fill the firepower gap between the flying thunder cannon and the three-pound cannon. It is light in weight and has a fast firing speed. Because the mortar cannon body is extremely short, the ratio of caliber to barrel length is generally Below 1:10, the shooting angle is large and the arc is high. Although the range is also short, the projectile is powerful. The small-caliber portable mortar was the original ancestor of the later mortars.

Xiao Changchun wanted to use this specially fortified courtyard as a fortress to wreak havoc in Yancheng.

In addition to the dozen or so people in the backyard, there were twenty or thirty people in the entire front yard and inside the house. Half of the entire Yancheng Station's manpower was gathered here. Their only role was to attract the attention of the Qing soldiers. Let me explain: those artillerymen and musketeers were not from the Yancheng Station. They were experts specially selected by the Fuhan Army before they left. After completing today's mission, they have to return to the army.

Just after the second watch, a fire broke out in Yancheng. It was noisy until 3:10, when Yancheng Station broke out. When the bombs fell one after another on the Qing army's camp not far away, and when the violent explosions resounded through the night sky in Yancheng, Liu Yong jumped up.

——Could it be that the Fuhan Army left an army in Yancheng? Such fierce artillery fire.

"Sir, the rebels have left a small artillery team in the city and are bombarding the Qingzhou regiment training." Just when Liu Yong sent people to inquire, someone from outside had already come to report. The Shandong regiment trainer who was unlucky enough to fall within the shooting range of Yancheng Station turned out to be from Qingzhou.

"You are so bold, you are so bold. Immediately send troops to suppress the rebellion." When Liu Yong heard that the explosion was indeed an artillery team, he was so angry that one Buddha was born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven. Chen Ni was bullying others too much, "You are bullying others too much!" They were so bold as to ambush an artillery team in the city. How much they despised the Shandong regiment training.

"Sir, we should send out men and horses to guard the whole city. It's hard to guarantee that Chen Ni will keep only one man and horse in the city." If only this man and horse remain in Yancheng, how many nails can they drive even if they are covered in iron? Isn't it just to die?

"What Xianyang said is true. There must be thieves ambushing Chen Ni elsewhere in the city. Send an order to all camps to be on strict alert. The thieves there will have their own Qingzhou regiment training. Xianyang, you bring 300 people to support." Zhucheng Just in Qingzhou, the Qingzhou regiment training was divided into two. Liu Yong's personal camp had six or seven hundred people at the head, and the other Qingzhou camp also had six or seven hundred people.

The small courtyard where the artillery fire was fired was only the size of an ordinary courtyard, and even if it was full of people, there were only two or three hundred people inside. What's more, if there were so many people, how could the people patrolling the city not notice it in the afternoon? Liu Yong thought for a while and thought that there might not even be a hundred people there.

If there are six to seven hundred people in the Qingzhou camp, and Zhang Gu [zi Xianyang] brings another three hundred people, why is it that nearly a thousand people can't take over a small courtyard? It's dark now, and the power of firearms cannot be more than 30% to 50%. As long as they deal with it properly, Qingzhou Battalion can definitely achieve success.

Wei Changkong could hear the noise outside. The sound of explosive bombs exploding was not comparable to that of iron bullets. He didn't know if the four people in the other tunnel also noticed the noise. He lit up a fire in the darkness and said to the three following behind him: "It's time, let's go!"

Anyway, that person is just a spare tire. The tunnel leads directly to the main room in the backyard of the government office. If Liu Yong stayed there, he could be killed with one knife. Otherwise, there is a second exit - a side room in the front office.

Yancheng Government Office is an ordinary county government office. It is a traditional Chinese official building. It covers an area of ​​15 or 16 acres. It is large in scale and majestic. It follows the current etiquette and has a symmetrical layout, with civil servants on the left and military officers on the right, with the office in front and sleeping in the back.

Its north-south axis is forty feet long and its east-west width is twenty-five feet. From the outside to the inside, on the central axis are the screen wall, the main door, the ceremonial gate, the lobby, the second hall, the house gate, and the third hall; on the east side, there are the Yamen Temple, study room, kitchen, Ghosh room, and miscellaneous rooms. On the west side line are the ice cellar, governor's hall, Hongshan Station and official hall. There are carports, stables, tea houses, granaries, etc. within the courtyard walls.

"Crack..." There was a crisp sound in the dark night, and a young man dressed as a servant in blue fell to the ground. Wei Changkong stood behind him, his expression ugly.

The person who took action looked at Wei Changkong, waiting for his order.

"Liu Yong is in the lobby. Let's go to the front office!"