From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 501

Shi Yi and Wang Xiong each brought two thousand men, all of whom were elites who had fought guerrilla warfare all the way from the Central Plains. They had strict military discipline, could execute complex orders, and find their own positions in it.

Although there were only four thousand people in total, Zhou Yuan believed that these four thousand men were enough to achieve the strategic goals he had set, not to mention that the combat effectiveness of Dayong's elite battalion should not be underestimated. Even the armor on them was not something that the opponent could break through.

When he boarded the warship for the first time, Zhou Yuan felt a little emotional. In fact, the navy of Dajin had its highlights. When it was the most powerful, there were six or seven thousand large and small ships, and more than one thousand warships.

After a century of decline, there were only twenty-six large warships left in the Leiden navy, which was really a pity.

The main reason was military expenses. The court did not pay attention to it, the military expenses were small, and the soldiers were exploited at all levels. The shortage of wages was so severe that many soldiers fled.

After the eldest sister took office, she began to rectify the situation, but the country was weak and ultimately failed to rise.

"Guo Quan, the general of the Leiden Navy, greets the Grand Marshal!"

The three warships, except for the necessary helmsmen, sailors and logistics personnel, had no combat personnel, just to eat all of Zhou Yuan's 4,000 men.

Zhou Yuan said: "General Guo, please stand up and tell me the situation."

Guo Quan clasped his fists and said: "Marshal, although our warships are not fast, it will only take two hours at most to get to Xinglin Fort."

"Everything is ready, and the soldiers still have time to get familiar with the operation."

Zhou Yuan immediately said: "Take me to see the things first!"

Guo Quan led Zhou Yuan to the warehouse, where the guns were brand new and shiny, and bags of gunpowder iron balls had been loaded firmly, which made Zhou Yuan excited.

He picked up a gun and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Good! Good! Good!"

Three consecutive good words were enough to show Zhou Yuan's excitement. This was a flintlock rifle. Each gun was equipped with six sub-guns, which meant that it could fire a full seven bullets in a very short time. The combat effectiveness was completely different from those junks in the Shenjiying.

Moreover, the barrel of this gun had good sealing, higher mechanical precision, and much greater power from the fire chamber. As long as it didn't encounter the heavy armored soldiers of the Eastern Tartars, it would be lethal enough.

Ordinary Eastern Tartar soldiers wore cotton armor. Except for the breastplate on their chest, other parts could be penetrated.

Zhou Yuan was glad that the era had not yet developed to the point where the three armors were combined into one. If the chain mail was covered with cotton armor, the flintlock rifle would not be able to penetrate it, and that would be bad.

"Qu Ling did a great job!"

The Jinling Firearms Bureau actually rushed to produce a thousand guns within three months, at the cost of burning silver.

The manufacturing cost of a flintlock rifle plus six sub-guns is at most 200 taels of silver, and 1,000 rifles cost 200,000 taels of silver.

But Guan Lu said that it cost a full 900,000 taels!

This is because of the initial industrial base cost investment, and three groups of people worked continuously, and double wages were paid directly, so it was rushed out.

According to Qu Lingxin, the craftsmen of the Portuguese were in pain and happiness. The pain was that they were too tired and needed everywhere.

The happiness was that they did receive unprecedented respect and unprecedented benefits.

"I didn't expect that you actually developed the flintlock rifle."

Li Yu'an couldn't help but marvel.

Zhou Yuan shook his head and said, "It's not research and development, but stealing and learning from others. We asked other craftsmen to do it, but our people are already learning, and soon we can independently develop it."

Li Yu'an said, "Four thousand people, including one thousand flintlock rifles, it's easy to burn food and grass, after all, they only have two thousand people."

"No..."

Zhou Yuan chuckled and said, "They have eight thousand people."

Li Yu'an looked up and asked in confusion, "During dinner, you said there were only two thousand. I have a good memory."

Zhou Yuan said, "But Huang Taiji has rushed to Xinglinbao with six thousand people. With six thousand people guarding there, we can't do anything."

"Even if we have guns, it is impossible to wipe out all of them. These six thousand people, and set fire to the food and grass, and retreated safely. "

Li Yu'an said: "How do you know this? Besides, since Xinglinbao can't be fought, where can we go?"

Zhou Yuan narrowed his eyes, stroked the gun in his hand, and said coldly: "Let's go directly to Jinxi! Stab Nurhaci in the ass!"

"Eighty or ninety thousand troops gathered in my Shanhaiguan, the reserve guards are empty, and Jinxi City has only thousands of guards. We will kill them quietly and no one will know. "

Li Yu'an said: "But what is the purpose of that? Whether the surprise attack is successful or not, it seems to have no effect on the battle situation. "

Zhou Yuan said: "Of course there is, there are many factors that affect the battle situation. If I fight like this, I must kill Nurhaci.Fighting in a hurry."

"He is seriously ill and is most afraid of a sudden internal conflict among the Eight Banners Beile. If I fight like this, it will hurt their morale, which is what Nurhaci least wants to see."

"I want to force him to make a strategic decision!"

A few hours later, just after dawn, two large ships had already docked.

The three thousand troops got off the boat one after another without any crowding or chaos and entered the jungle on the shore.

Zhou Yuan looked at the people around him and said in a deep voice: "Everyone! There is no way out! We must wipe out the Donglu bandits in one go! Let them taste the bloodshed!"

"Song Wu! I will appoint you as the vanguard deputy general, follow Shi Yi, and lead everyone to attack and kill!"

Song Wu's face was excited, and he held the knife tightly in his hand and said loudly: "Yes!"

Zhou Yuan said loudly: "Remember! We only have two hours! No matter what the result is! After two hours, meet outside the northwestern city of Jin!"

"Yes! "

Three thousand people roared and rushed directly towards Jinxi City.

The soldiers on the tower were still dozing off when they saw thousands of troops coming. They were all dumbfounded for a moment.

There was a battle on the front line, so how come there were Han soldiers in the rear?

Except for the two or three hundred soldiers on duty on the city wall, the other soldiers were still sleeping...

Zhou Yuan's five military camps were powerful, and it was a sudden attack. The enemy was not prepared at all, and they didn't even wear armor, so they were caught off guard.

This battle took almost no effort. Zhou Yuan and others annihilated most of the enemy troops and then left in style.

Gathering outside the north city, everyone's faces were excited. Zhou Yuan said: "Report!"

Shi Yi said loudly: "Report to the commander, we killed more than 800 enemies in total, and the remaining 500 to 600 people fled on horseback, and we couldn't catch up."

"We lost 72 people and 130 were injured, all of whom were slightly injured."

"But we seized more than 300 war horses. "

Zhou Yuan grinned and said, "Good job! The war horses cannot be taken away, so kill them all. Continue to follow me! Let's go directly to the northwest and kill Jizhou!"

Jinxi was attacked, and the enemy must have supported it at the fastest speed. Horses run much faster than people. Zhou Yuan did not dare to stay and left with his men.

In Xinglin Fort, more than ten riders came galloping, and the voices shouted before the people arrived.

"Jinxi was attacked! Jinxi was attacked!"

The man turned over and got off the horse, staggered and fell to the ground, shouting: "Eighth Beile! Eighth Beile! Jinxi City is lost! We were beaten to death!"

Huang Taiji's face suddenly became extremely ugly. He took a deep breath and growled: "Jinxi has 915 war horses. You didn't give them all to the Han army?"

The spy shouted: "No! We let all the horses go. Even if they catch them, they can't catch them all. "

Huang Taiji said: "They can't run far! This time I must catch these elite soldiers who came by boat! Maybe... Zhou Yuan is among them!"

He stood up and shouted: "My men! Follow me! Catch Zhou Yuan!"