Chapter 137 Difficulties
Looking through the telescope, it was a warship. If there were cannons on board, there must be ammunition.
The military has a rule that no one is allowed to leave the boat where there are firearms. In other words, there must be someone guarding the boat. After such a long time, no one was seen walking around, so there must be something wrong on the shore.
Zhao Xiao said: "Captain Ge, gather all the soldiers and prepare for battle!"
Ge Zhongshun was confused. Huh? Start a war? Who to fight? Of course he would not ask this question. Soldiers just need to follow military orders.
With a head full of question marks, he ran to gather the soldiers on the ship. Soon, a thousand soldiers wearing armor and holding weapons were neatly lined up on the deck.
Charles was awakened by the noisy footsteps. He walked out of the cabin holding his daughter and was shocked by the scene before him.
During these few months of getting along with them, he thought that the soldiers on the ship were all approachable people. Who would have thought that they would be completely different when they put on their armor.
Especially the young general named Ge Zhongshun in front. He took himself out of the boat to fish yesterday. Who would have thought that after putting on armor and helmet, he was full of murderous aura.
This army is no less powerful than the most sophisticated knightly order of the Papal States!
Gina was also frightened by their aura and lay on her father's shoulder, not daring to move.
Song Yutang came over and said, "Duke, please take your daughter to the cabin to rest first."
"Are you in danger?" Charles asked worriedly.
"I don't know, but it looks like we might be in some trouble."
Song Yutang couldn't help, so he followed him back to the cabin, but there was no sign of worry on his face.
Charles asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid? If a fight breaks out, there won't be many people on the ship."
"Are you scared? That's General Zhao, the god of war of our Daqi. If we can't defeat him, then we'll just have to wait for death."
Charles was amused by his words. General Zhao indeed had a temperament that ordinary people did not have.
*
Soon the Hope arrived in the waters near Johor. When it was about 500 meters away from the shore, the sailors dropped anchor.
It was completely dark outside. With the help of the moonlight from the sky, Zhao Xiao saw seven or eight ships parked at the port where he had landed before.
Zhao Xiao waved his hand, and the soldiers began to release small boats into the sea. There were many small wooden boats hanging on the side of the Hope. These boats were used for escape and combat preparation.
The small boats dropped down with a crackling sound like dumplings, and the soldiers got off the boats one by one and rowed towards the shore.
"Let's go to the warship first."
"Yes!" The subordinate rowed the boat towards a warship nearby.
Soon the boat arrived near the warship, and Zhao Xiao climbed onto the warship by breaking the rope. There was no sign of damage on the entire ship, and the cabin was full of ammunition, which meant that they went ashore without using any shells.
Zhao Xiao also found two moldy cakes in the cabin. It seemed that they had been ashore for many days.
When we came to the tribe where Li Hainiu and his people lived again, what caught our eyes were the burnt wooden fences, the crooked thatched houses, and the food scattered on the ground. It was obvious that a war had taken place here not long ago.
"Look around to see if there is anyone alive!"
"Yes!" The soldiers dispersed to search.
Chen Jing stepped forward and said, "General, it's not that our Daqi sent people to take all the people here..."
Zhao Xiao shook his head: "No." With the strength of Master Da Qi Hai, he would never sacrifice himself to fight a small tribe like this. There must be something else here. It would be great if he could find Li Hainiu and ask him clearly.
After half an incense stick of time, a soldier came over with more than ten people: "General, we found these people in a cave ahead!"
Zhao Xiao walked over, and before he could say anything, one of the younger girls suddenly shouted, "You are the General! The General is back!" Then she repeated it in the local aboriginal language, and these people became visibly excited.
Zhao Xiao walked up to the girl and asked, "Do you know me?"
The girl nodded vigorously: "My grandfather is a princess, and you gave her the title of princess."
"You are... Chen Ya?"
"Yeah, yeah!" The girl jumped for joy when she saw that he still remembered her.
Zhao Xiao rubbed the child's hair. He didn't expect that she was Li Hainiu's granddaughter.
"Where's your grandfather?"
Speaking of grandpa, Chen Ya couldn't help but burst into tears: "Grandpa... Grandpa is dead. Grandpa was killed by the people of the Xietu tribe! They also captured daddy, big brother and second brother!"
Zhao Xiao patted the little girl's back and comforted her: "Good girl, tell your uncle what happened? Where did all the people on the boats go?"
The little girl was quite brave and articulate, and she told him in detail what had happened in the past few days.
More than three months ago, the Xieda people suddenly attacked their tribe, killed the tribal leader and most of the warriors, and took the rest away as slaves.
Chen Ya and others managed to escape and lived out their days in hiding in a nearby cave.
A few days ago, many boats suddenly came to the beach, and they thought it was Zhao Xiao who had returned. But when they ran over, they found that it was a group of strangers, but they were wearing the same clothes as Zhao Xiao and speaking the same language.
Zhao Xiao guessed that Chen Ya was talking about the navy sent by Daqi.
“Where did those people go afterwards?”
Chen Ya said: "I begged them to save our parents, and Uncle One-Eyed led his men to the Xietu tribe."
That would explain the absence of the people on the boat.
"Do you know where the Xietu tribe is?"
A slightly older man spoke timidly, mumbling a few words.
Chen Ya translated for Zhao Xiao, "Walk from here in the direction of the rising sun. It will take about two days to reach the Xietu tribe. But none of us have been there. We heard about it from the people in the tribe."
Chen Jing asked with some doubt: "Since the Xietu tribe is not far from here, why didn't they attack them before?"
Chen Ya was too young to understand why, but Zhao Xiao had some guesses in his mind that it might be related to the porcelain and cloth he left behind.
This place was just a poor little tribe before, and it was useless for Xie Tu to attack it. But suddenly there were more beautiful fabrics and exquisite silks in the tribe, and naturally the possession of such a treasure attracted the attention of other tribes.
Zhao Xiao said: "Good boy, stay here, uncle will help you find your father and mother."
The little girl knelt on the ground and kowtowed to them in gratitude.
Zhao Xiao led 800 people and set off in the direction they said, and the remaining 200 people stayed behind to look after the Hope and other ships.
Zhao Xiao didn't know which general was leading the troops from Daqi, how many soldiers they had, and whether they could defeat the Xietu tribe. He had to go and support them quickly.
They marched all night long, rested only for an hour, and continued on their journey after the sun came out.
There were many traces of trampling on the road, left by the people ahead.
The soldiers also found a place to set up camp and rest, and the water on the ground had not dried yet.
Looking at the familiar signs of garrisoning, Zhao Xiao could conclude that these people must be the soldiers he brought with him.
It seems that it was Yuzhu who really sent someone.
*
On the other side, An Feng led more than a thousand people to lurk around the Xietu tribe, preparing to figure out the nearby terrain and enter the city to rescue people.
The dense trees here are very suitable for hiding, but there are too many mosquitoes, which makes the soldiers suffer a lot.
Five days ago, they came here according to the sea map given by His Majesty.
Before going ashore, Anfeng always suspected that no one lived here.
Unexpectedly, after getting ashore, I really found a group of people. They were wearing Daqi-style cloth clothes, had dark skin, were short in stature, and spoke incomprehensible words.
There was only one little girl who could speak Chinese. From her, Anfeng learned that this place actually belonged to Daqi and was called Johor State. Her grandfather was the princess here.
Just three months ago, a war broke out here. A nearby tribe called Xietu defeated their tribe, killed her grandfather and captured her family.
An Feng decided to lead his troops to rescue those people and meet the Xietu tribe at the same time.
He led a thousand people to follow him on the shore to search, and the rest of the people drove the warships behind them. Soon they found the tribe that the girl mentioned.
This place is much larger than he had imagined. Looking from the mountain, it is almost the size of a state capital.
The tribe is surrounded by walls with sentries on the walls. They carry bows and arrows and are always alert to the surrounding situation.
Although the cannonballs on the warships were extremely powerful, they had a fatal flaw: their range was limited. The Xietu tribe was fifteen miles away from the sea, so there was no way to reach them.
Anfeng could only settle for the next best thing. He planned to use the warships' artillery shells to lure out the people in the tribe, and then go into the city to rescue them.
The soldier who went to investigate quickly came back and said, "General, the city is heavily guarded and there is no way to get in. We don't know how many soldiers the other side has."
The longer the time drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for them. They didn't bring much food and supplies with them when they went out to sea. Once they are discovered by the people in the city, it will be even more difficult to attack.
This place is not like Daqi, where reinforcements can be sent at any time. Because of the shortage of manpower, he even left a few ships at the landing place.
An Feng said with a stiff upper lip: "Send a signal to the people on the boat, prepare to bomb the hilltop on the shore, and lure the people in the city out!"
"yes!"
The soldiers took out the bamboo shoots used for reporting good deeds and lit them, which made a sharp whistling sound.
The soldiers at sea received the signal and began to attack the hills near the Xietu tribe.
"Boom!" As the sound of a cannonball rang out, everyone was frightened by the huge explosion.
The people in the Xietu tribe were so frightened that they ran away in panic, thinking it was thunder in a sunny day.
Then the second and third bombs sounded, and everyone realized something was wrong. The sound seemed to come from near the seaside.
The leader of the tribe decided to send someone outside to see what was going on.
Not long after, a team of more than 500 people walked out of the city.
"There are so many people..." An Feng's face looked a little ugly. He didn't expect that there would be so many soldiers in such a small town.
If they fail to rescue the people in the city in time, they will be blocked in the city by the people who return.
Although the enemy's equipment is crude, we may not be able to gain an advantage if we fight with real guns and swords on their territory.
"General, what should we do now?"
An Feng took off his blindfold and scratched the scar on his eyelid. Just when he was in a dilemma, a shout suddenly came from not far behind him.
"Hey! Who's the general leading the troops in front? Tell me your name!"
An Feng turned his head and looked at the person behind him in amazement.
(End of this chapter)
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