xymnovel Chapter 138 Grain Transport and Island Transport
Chapter 138 Grain Transport and Island Transport
Chapter 138 Grain Transport and Island Transport
Moon stars are rare.
Hexiwu, military camp.
Senggelinqin had not yet gone to sleep. Outside the central army camp, several Green Standard Army soldiers were patrolling with torches in hand.
Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats rang out, heading straight for the central army camp.
"Who goes there?!"
The patrol leader drew his long sword and roared.
The Green Standard Army soldiers behind him also raised their spears and lances, aiming them at the approaching figure.
Upon hearing the chaotic sounds of horses' hooves and shouts, Senggelinqin frowned, rose, lifted the curtain, and stepped out of the tent.
In the torchlight of the training ground, Choktu was tumbling off his horse, looking utterly disheveled.
He looked up at the central command tent and immediately spotted Senggelinqin behind the Green Standard Army soldiers. He immediately knelt down and said, "Your Highness, this humble general is incompetent!"
"What happened?"
Choktu, his voice hoarse, recounted the events that had occurred outside Beicang City in detail.
"The shells landed on the ground, creating craters that were a full step in circumference. Those who were hit by the shells, both men and horses, were not even left with intact bodies."
""
"I ordered the captain to lead 700 cavalry in a feigned attack from the front, while I led 800 cavalry to circle around to the east, intending to break through their formation from the flank."
But their muskets were completely different from anything we'd seen before; they fired at an extremely high rate, one shot followed immediately by another, hundreds of muskets firing in rapid succession, bullets raining down like downpours.
He paused, then continued, "When they had charged less than a hundred paces, they pulled out another kind of firearm they'd never seen before. It was a repeating weapon; one sweep and entire rows of them fell down—"
The drill ground fell silent. The Green Standard Army soldiers and Mongol cavalrymen around them looked at each other, wondering if they were listening to some kind of myth.
"That's enough!"
Senggelinqin interrupted Choktu, saying in a deep voice, "Tell me, how many were killed or wounded?"
Choktu's voice lowered: "Six hundred riders have died."
Senggelinqin closed his eyes, his heart burning with rage.
The Mongol cavalry were not just any Han Chinese men randomly recruited from the streets; each rider was an elite selected from the Khorchin grasslands.
The fact that 600 people were killed or injured in one attack, while not a major loss, still angered him.
"Someone come here."
The two Goshkhas stepped forward.
"Choktu underestimated the enemy and advanced recklessly, resulting in heavy losses. He is stripped of his rank of lieutenant commander and detained pending trial. After I report this to the court, he will be dealt with according to military law."
Goshha grabbed Choktu's arms on either side and dragged him down.
Senggelinqin watched the figures being dragged away and slowly said, "Send men to Yangcun to gather the surviving soldiers back together. Tomorrow morning, take a headcount and reorganize the ranks."
The cavalry will now be under my direct command, and all combat operations will be suspended until the main infantry force arrives.
"Yes." The messenger accepted the order and left.
Dagu Fort Site.
The night had not yet completely faded, and a thin mist floated on the sea.
The lookout, holding a monocular telescope, peered out onto the sea, looking for any passing ships.
At first, the sea was shrouded in a gray fog, and nothing could be seen. As the morning breeze gradually dispersed the fog, a few blurry shadows appeared on the sea.
The shadows grew larger and larger, and gradually their outlines became clear; they were several ships.
The boats were wide and flat, with square bows and two flags on each boat: one was a signal flag for the canal transport, and the other was a small flag to direct the canal transport.
Following closely behind the grain transport ship were three warships of the Qing Dynasty navy: two bird boats and one Tong'an boat.
The bird ship is an old ship type inherited from the Kangxi period, with a narrow and long hull and a high bow. The Tong'an ship, on the other hand, was the main warship of the navy after the Jiaqing period. It was a size larger than the bird ship and was equipped with dozens of cannons.
The assassin put away his binoculars and relayed the message to Hongwu.
The Chengfeng was anchored in a secluded bay near Dagukou. Hongwu was squatting on the deck, adjusting the carriage of the breech-loading cannon with a wrench.
"I was wondering why there were magpies chirping this morning; they were waiting for me here." Hongwu whistled. "Five grain transport boats and three naval warships—this is a juicy piece of meat."
He took out a map, glanced at it, and then ordered, "Once the cargo ships enter the Haihe River, we will find a calm spot in the middle reaches to stop and take control of them."
"The Wind Chaser sets sail to slaughter those three escorting naval warships!"
One hour later.
The fog had dissipated, and the surface of the Haihe River estuary shimmered in the morning light.
Five cargo ships lined up in a row, taking advantage of the tides and strong winds to travel upstream along the Haihe River. Three naval warships remained anchored outside Dagukou, watching from a distance.
Warships have a deep draft, while the Haihe River is shallow; bird boats can barely enter, but Tong'an boats cannot.
The cargo ship sailed further and further away, and after turning a corner, it disappeared from the sight of the naval warships.
It was at this moment that a checkpoint consisting of four iron chains blocking the river came into view of the cargo ship.
The iron chains are linked together, with both ends fixed to stone piers on both banks, leaving a narrow opening in the middle, just wide enough for small boats to pass through.
"Which bastard dares to block the cargo ship? Does he have a death wish?" The officer at the head of the cargo ship cursed loudly when he saw the iron chains.
But soon, he couldn't bring himself to curse anymore.
Dozens of figures emerged from the reeds on both banks, their long guns pointed directly at the boat.
Before the boatmen could even lower the rudder of the lead cargo ship, the assassins had already released several nimble shuttle boats from the reeds and moved close to the ship's side.
The leader of the assassins climbed onto the deck, drew his revolver from his waist, and slowly bowed to the officer at the bow: "Brothers, you've worked hard. We'll accept this grain on behalf of the disaster victims in Tianjin."
Outside Dagukou.
Navy Admiral Zhao stood on the stern of the Tong'an ship, watching the cargo ships gradually sail into the depths of the Haihe River, pondering where he should go for some fun after completing this mission.
He had served as a lieutenant general in the Shandong navy for over a decade, and this assignment was not originally his. However, due to the Yellow River breach and the Grand Canal blockage, the Shandong governor transferred him from Dengzhou to oversee the transport of the grain to ensure its safe delivery.
The journey was peaceful; we encountered no storms or pirates.
"Brothers, let's go back to Dengzhou!"
Just as the three warships were about to turn around and leave, a large ship suddenly emerged from the distant horizon.
Upon receiving a warning from his soldiers, Lieutenant General Zhao squinted and looked over, puzzled. "A foreign ship? How dare they come to Tianjin territory?"
Before he could finish speaking, he saw flames erupting from the bow of the large ship!
A tremendous roar resounded, like a muffled thunderclap rolling across the sea. A cannonball hurtled in and struck the sea not far from the Tong'an ship, creating a huge column of water.
"What?!"
Lieutenant General Zhao stared wide-eyed, unable to believe his eyes: "This distance, this power, how is this possible?!"
He had been in the navy for more than ten years and had never seen a ship that could fire cannonballs from a mile away. The foreigners' cannons were already that powerful.
Soon after, a second shell landed, this time even closer, only a dozen meters away.
The seawater that had been blown into the sky poured onto the deck, soaking the soldiers on board.
"How could it be so fast?" someone exclaimed. "Their bow cannons just fired once. Are there other cannons hidden there?"
"At this point, who cares what it is!"
General Zhao gritted his teeth and shouted, "Brothers, move the boat closer! We have no chance of winning at this distance. If we move closer, it'll be three against one. If we capture the boat, promotion and titles will be within our grasp!"
"oh!!!"
The soldiers on the ship shouted and steered the boat toward the larger ship.
But they soon realized their mistake.
A shell struck the side of the Tong'an ship with precision.
The Tong'an boat was an old-fashioned wooden-hulled boat with a hull made of thick planks. Under the bombardment of breech-loading cannon shells, the thick planks could not withstand even a single breath.
The shell tore a huge hole in the hull above the waterline, and wood chips flew into the surrounding sea like rain.
After a few more shots, a shell exploded inside the ship's hold, igniting the gunpowder stored in the lower deck.
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, the Tong'an ship exploded from the inside.
A deafening roar, deeper than the sound of cannon fire, emanated from the hull, causing the ship to lurch upwards. The keel let out its final groan before snapping in two.
Flames erupted from the cracked hull, accompanied by thick black smoke and glowing red-hot planks. The stern mast tilted precariously, crashing into the sea and sending up a huge spray.
When the two bird boats saw that the Tong'an ship broke in two and sank to the bottom of the sea after only a few shots, they were terrified and hurriedly tried to steer their boats toward the Dagu Fort.
At the fort, the Green Standard Army soldiers, hearing the cannon fire, brought out their cannons and aimed them at the sea.
The soldiers on the two bird-shaped ships breathed a sigh of relief and exclaimed, "We're saved! We're saved!"
One of the soldiers, looking in the direction the cannons were pointing, asked uncertainly, "Are those cannons pointed at us?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!"
One of the familiar soldiers sneered, "We're all on the same side, why would we point our cannons at us?!"
Before he could finish speaking, several cannons on the fort opened fire at the same time, blasting the two closely packed bird ships into pieces!
In the central Pacific Ocean, about 60 kilometers south of the equator.
The small fleet dispatched by Yongle set off from Honolulu and headed south according to the directions found on the nautical chart.
The markings on the nautical charts weren't very precise. Finding an island of only twenty square kilometers in size in the vast ocean where the sea meets the sky was like finding a needle in a haystack.
The ship kept rocking in this area, and food and fresh water were being consumed quickly, so they had to request a resupply from Zeng Tai.
Finally, on the afternoon of the twenty-third day, the lookout on the mast shouted, "Motion! It's an island!"
The leader of the suicide squad was named Lin Asi. He was short, with a reddish-black complexion from the sea breeze. He climbed the mast, raised his binoculars, and looked ahead.
Where the sea meets the sky, the outline of an island emerges from the water. The island is not large, only a few kilometers long and wide, like a green leaf resting on a blue satin.
"Is it that? That Pleasure Island?" one of the assassins asked.
"I'm not sure, we'll have to go to the island and check."
Lin Asi slid down from the mast and shouted to the helmsman, "Move closer. Watch out for reefs, and anchor in deeper water."
The Flying Fish slowly approached the island.
The island is surrounded by a white atoll, where waves crash against the rocks, creating white foam. There is a natural gap in the atoll, just big enough for a small boat to pass through.
Lin Asi led a dozen or so assassins in a small boat into the atoll. After passing through a gap, the view suddenly opened up before them.
Behind the beach lies a dense tropical rainforest, with coconut trees and pandanus trees huddled together, and thick, impenetrable shrubs growing beneath them. The ground is covered with a layer of grayish-white rocks, which feel somewhat soft underfoot.
"Is this phosphate rock?"
Lin Asi pried off a piece with a pickaxe and examined it closely: "The exterior is grayish-white, but after cracking it open, it reveals yellowish-green and greenish-brown fibrous crystals in a radial or starburst-like aggregate —"
"It seems to match what was said in the materials they sent us!"
"So we found it?!" one of the assassins laughed. "Thank goodness, this mission was pretty easy."
"Don't be too happy yet, it might just be a similar stone."
Lin Asi said, "Tap around the island and collect enough samples. Only if subsequent chemical analysis confirms it will it be truly confirmed."
The group nodded and began to walk deeper into the island. They had walked less than two hundred steps when they suddenly stopped.
On the beach ahead, several brown-skinned human corpses lay scattered about. The corpses were naked from the waist up, with bark cloths wrapped around their waists. A tattered feather lay beside the head of one of the corpses.
"Are these the island's natives?"
Lin Asi squatted down to examine the wounds on the corpse.
The fatal wounds were from a spear piercing the chest and a blunt object striking the back of the head. Judging from the state of decomposition, the fight must have occurred yesterday.
He stood up and gestured to the assassins behind him. The assassins drew their revolvers from their waists, silently dispersed, and crept into the depths of the rainforest.
After walking about a mile, the trees suddenly thinned out, and a clearing appeared ahead.
Dozens of simple thatched huts were built on the open ground, forming a semicircle with a square in the middle made of mud.
Several brown-skinned natives were squatting in the square, holding bowls made of coconut shells filled with a milky white, murky liquid. They looked dejected, their heads bowed, like survivors who had just escaped a battle.
From the rainforest further away, faint sounds of shouts and drums could be heard, clearly indicating that the indigenous tribes on the island were fighting amongst themselves.
Lin Asi hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not step out of the rainforest edge. He gestured for everyone to back away.
One of the assassins asked in a low voice, "Should we take advantage of their fighting and wipe them all out?"
"Don't alert them yet."
"The fact that they can fight each other means there are at least two tribes on the island, and their numbers are not small. We only have a dozen or so people, and our ammunition is limited. We might as well seize a piece of land first and build a military camp."
He lowered his voice and said, "We'll proceed to the next step once we've confirmed whether there's any phosphate rock here."
Lin Asi and his group began to retreat, disappearing silently into the shadows of the rainforest.
Behind them, the incomprehensible shouts of battle and the chaotic sounds of wooden drums continued to echo through the forest.