There is a saying that "there is strength in numbers", but it is actually not accurate. At least we need to add "unity of mind" to make this statement true.

Not only do we need a lot of people, but we also need unity of mind to unleash great power.

To put it in a scientific way, "united hearts" means "high mobilization", which is the key to a group's combat effectiveness. A group with strong mobilization can defeat the strong with the weak and the many with the few. This is why pirates and bandits can easily defeat the government troops, which have far more people and equipment than them.

But when Mr. Zhao mobilized the officials and wealthy families of Chaozhou Prefecture, the situation immediately changed.

The mobilization capacity in Chaozhou City was greatly enhanced. The wealthy families donated money and materials to prevent the people from fleeing, and brought their children to the Sima to await orders.

Zhao Shouzheng's eyes almost popped out when he saw the young men from each family shouting slogans, pushing and pulling, and moving the thick black cannons to the top of the city walls.

"Is this reasonable? What do they think of the Ming Dynasty Law?" He complained to Wu Chengen beside him. The imperial court prohibited the people from owning fire guns and fire barrels, let alone cannons.

"I thought the wealthy people in Jiangnan were too much, but when I arrived in Lingnan, I found that Gu Dadong and his people were just little white rabbits, okay?"

"Can Nanzhili be compared with Lingnan? The emperor is far away here, and it is easy to get firearms." Wu Chengen said without surprise: "Whether it is a musket or a cannon, the quality of Guangdong-made ones is higher than that of the official ones. When Hu Meilin fought against the Japanese pirates, he specially invited folk craftsmen from Foshan to Nanjing to teach them the skills of making guns."

"Hehe, they showed all their weapons. In addition to trying their best to defend the city, I'm afraid they also want to show Sima their power." Pan Jixun on the side interrupted with gloating: "Your kid often says that the truth is only within the range of cannons. If you want to touch them in the future, you have to be careful that you will be blown up by a cannon."

"Scared?" Mr. Zhao said in disbelief, "Do they dare to fire at the Tongzhi Yamen?"

Halfway through his words, he suddenly remembered his superior, Magistrate Li, and his mouth twitched, and he couldn't continue.

"Don't think too far ahead, Mr. Dong. With these cannons, we are more confident in defending the city at least for now." Wu Chengen hurriedly comforted Mr. Zhao, "Let's get through this hurdle first."

"That's right." Master Zhao adjusted his mindset instantly and said loudly to his attendants, "We have all the people, money, food, and firearms needed to defend the city. Now, please show your skills!"

"Yes!" Everyone responded in unison and immediately took action according to the plan.

~~

The operational strategy for the Chaozhou defense war was very simple, it can be summed up in eight words: 'fortify the city, clear the fields, hold on and wait for help'!

At the battle meeting before entering Chaozhou, Xu Wei pointed out that Zeng Yiben, a great bandit who had been jointly suppressed by Fujian and Guangdong provinces for many years, was no longer as strong as before. The reason why he was able to gather 50,000 people this time was entirely because of the civil strife in Chaozhou. This gave the various sea lords an opportunity to fish in troubled waters. Zeng Yiben would respond to his call.

That's why the sea lords came so hastily, just to see if there was any chance to take advantage of the situation. Therefore, it was easy to predict that their food and preparations in all aspects were definitely not sufficient, and it was even more impossible for them to be prepared for a tough battle.

Therefore, as long as we defend our city and clear the countryside and hold on to the enemy's three weapons, the offensive power of this mob will immediately weaken, and the difficulty of defense will naturally be reduced.

Then, once the reinforcements arrive, the bandits will retreat like boiling water poured over snow.

After Xu Wei decided on the general policy, he left it alone. Wu Cheng'en and the two old Pans formed a command center, worked out a detailed battle plan, and divided the 500 followers into several groups to act according to the plan.

The logistics team was responsible for taking over and distributing supplies, the ordnance team was responsible for repairing weapons and making gunpowder, the internal relations team was responsible for understanding the wind direction in the city and connecting with officials and gentry; the propaganda team was responsible for propaganda and mobilization among the people...

In actual combat, the military team was composed of veterans of the anti-Japanese war in the escort, responsible for commanding the soldiers and local militias to fight. There was also a reconnaissance team outside the city, monitoring the slightest movement of Zeng Yiben's troops and Chaozhou City...

They even formed a civil engineering team, led by several technicians from the Agricultural College and two thousand civilians, to tear down all the illegally built shops and houses outside the city wall, so as to prevent Zeng Yiben's men from using these houses as cover. They also moved all the usable materials back to the city, and transported bricks, stones and wooden beams to the top of the city to be used as rolling stones and beams, so as to prevent the pirates from using local materials to build siege equipment.

Now it was the turn of the officials and gentry in Chaozhou to be dumbfounded. Most of them had been officials before, and even those who had not been officials had been the heads of their families. They naturally knew that the more detailed the division of labor, the more difficult it would be to cooperate and coordinate.

For someone like Mr. Zhao, who had just arrived, to divide the defense of the city into more than a dozen sections and assign them to different groups was simply nonsense in their view and would soon turn into a disaster.

What surprised them was that the communication between superiors and subordinates was extremely smooth. Under the leadership of the headquarters, each group had clear responsibilities and powers, and there was no shirking of responsibility. The cooperation was very tacit, and in a blink of an eye, they had sorted out the matters on and off the city.

Lord Sima actually has such terrifying organizational skills, Master Zhao is simply like a god!

Liu Zixing and other wealthy people felt their scalps tingling. They thought that these people were so bold that they dared to intimidate Sima Zhao?

If the war wasn't imminent, I would have just washed myself and waited for the punishment...

Officials such as Shu Tongpan also had mixed feelings. Master Zhao stood out from the crowd and stole the limelight, but the problem was that they were chickens. Could they enjoy being a chicken?

"Fortunately, Mr. Zhao is not the prefect, and he went to Anbu after the battle. Otherwise, life would be unbearable." Shu Tongpan and others secretly rejoiced that justice was done.

Only the prefect Qin was extremely happy. With such a good and powerful noble classmate protecting him, his life in the future would definitely be much better!

~~

Two days later, Zeng Yiben's joint fleet finally arrived at the foot of Chaozhou City. It stretched for two miles on the river outside Guangji Gate. The masts and sails were like a forest, and the momentum was as far away as the invasion several years ago.

Zeng Yiben didn't get any advantage because of Hou Bideng's presence. With the army and people of Chaozhou united as one and defended the city tightly, he attacked for several days without success. Fearing that he would be surrounded by government troops, Zeng Yiben had no choice but to plunder a few poor villages outside the city and returned with regret.

But this time the situation was different. Hou Bideng had already left, and the successor prefect had not yet taken office, but was killed by the local tyrants in Chaozhou. This was a big taboo! Zeng Yiben had been dealing with the government for half his life, and had surrendered and rebelled countless times, so he knew the pros and cons of this too well.

The reason why the imperial court was always unwilling to trust him and wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible when they got the chance was because they believed that he would not submit to the king's rule and would definitely rebel again.

The actions of the Chaozhou local tyrants this time will also be labeled as disobedience to the king. The imperial court is worried that it will not be able to thoroughly investigate the case in a short period of time. It would definitely be what they want to let these unruly Chaoshan people suffer a little.

Therefore, he concluded that as long as he could get in and out quickly this time, there would definitely not be any government troops rushing to rescue Chaozhou City like last time.

So can he get in and out quickly? Of course he can. Because Chaozhou City is leaderless at the moment, officials and gentry are alienated, and it must be in chaos. As long as he puts his troops at the gates of the city, he will naturally win without fighting.

This time, the timing, the location and the people are all right. If I don't make a fortune and make up for the losses of the past few years, how can I be worthy of God who has given me chances time and time again?

But when Zeng Yiben arrived at the city of Chaozhou with his flagship, a 5,000-hu-capacity black-tailed ship, he was surprised to find that the city gates were closed. The soldiers and civilians on the city had already formed their battle lines, with the black muzzles of their cannons pointing at the river, ready to await the arrival of the invaders and give them a head-on blow.

Zeng Yiben had been on the brink of death for decades and had rich military experience. He could see at a glance that the soldiers and civilians on the city had united and were ready to fight him to the death.

Several sea lords who were on the same boat with him also felt that something was amiss.

A pirate named "Pepper Old" asked in a muffled voice: "Big Dragon Head, this doesn't seem to be quite the same as what you said."

"This..." Zeng Yiben was speechless for a moment. He had been unlucky in recent years and no longer had that unquestionable arrogance.

"What's the big deal? They are government troops. They are just pretending. Their true colors will be exposed after a charge." His second in command, Da Jin Ya, said nonchalantly.

"Hmm..." Zeng Yiben nodded slowly and said, "Since we are here, it would be useless to say more. Let's just fight first and see."

"Who among you is willing to play as a vanguard?" Then he glanced at the sea lords and asked in a deep voice.

Old Pepper and the others looked up at the sky and then down at the deck, and no one dared to respond.

"Hehe, Big Gold Tooth, you lead our team to attack first." Zeng Yiben was not surprised by this. These people followed to take advantage, not to bite the bullet.

"Well, I got your order, boss." Da Jin Ya thought to himself, why am I so noisy? But Zeng Yiben had already spoken, so he could only blame himself for his bad luck.

~~

After the meal, Da Jin Ya led his troops in more than 20 small boats, slowly sailed out of the main camp in the middle of the river and headed towards the west bank.

When Chaozhou City Wall was first built, it was only a few feet away from the river bank, but after years of sedimentation, the widest part has been silted up to a distance of more than 100 meters. People then built houses outside the city, and the area outside Guangji Gate developed into a prosperous market.

Da Jin Ya's plan was to take a small boat to the shore, use the cover of the houses, and sneak to the city wall to test the waters. People in their line of work were all slick and slick, and no one dared to fight. The real men who dared to fight were all killed by the government troops...

Before the fleet reached the shore, rumbling sounds of cannons were heard from the city walls. More than a dozen cannons fired at the same time, causing columns of water to stand on the surface of the river. The sound was astonishing.

Although it did not cause any casualties, it gave the pirates a fright.

"Hurry up, get ashore and find a house to block the attack!" Big Gold Tooth shouted orders and ordered his men to row hard.

The pirates used all their strength to row the boat to the riverside, then abandoned the boat and went ashore, running towards the nearest row of houses with their heads held high.

They had just rushed to the base of the wall and hadn't even had time to catch their breath when they felt their feet suddenly tremble, and then with a deafening bang, they were blown up into the sky...

ps. I started working on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. I sorted out my thoughts today, mainly to collect my thoughts, so I will update once for now. I will update three more times tomorrow.