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The army marched out, hundreds of ships surging towards the estuary, terrifying the Panyu defenders. For a moment, the artillery batteries were on alert. If it weren't for the pressure from their superiors, they might have sent in their ships to confront the enemy. Unexpectedly, the Red Banner Army had no intention of attacking the city, and they marched north along the river.
This left many officials dumbfounded. Weren't these bandits trying to seize Panyu by taking advantage of the situation? Indeed, they weren't. Word soon spread that the Red Banner Army was preparing to march north to wipe out the rebels, sparking an uproar. How could the sealords move first while the government troops remained silent? Was this still considered imperial territory?
Regardless of what these people thought, the people who were grateful to the Red Flag Gang suddenly increased in number. In this world, as long as there were people who could protect the village, it didn't matter whether it was an official or a bandit. This year's strong winds and floods had already affected the summer planting, and they could not withstand the harassment of refugees.
Merchants, already aware of the news, spontaneously raised money and food to support the Red Flag Gang. For them, Panyu was their home, their livelihood dependent on the trading market and maritime trade. How could they afford to be ravaged by the rebellious army? Besides, the Red Flag Gang had already shown their strength, so how could they not make peace with them and maintain a bond of friendship? If they truly conquered Guangdong Province and became a regional hegemon, wouldn't they also be able to profit from it?
As a result, this grand military operation did not encounter any resistance. The Red Flag Army poured into the main channel of the Yue River and headed straight north.
The Yue River is a vast river system, with main channels on the west, north, and east sides, converging into the sea in the south. The Red Flag Gang brought out nearly all of their flat-bottomed riverboats and some of their multi-masted seagoing vessels, which, due to the flooding, were able to sail unimpeded on the river, a magnificent display.
What Cheng Xi wanted was the deterrence brought by the large fleet. Only by facing such military power could the refugees who were swept up be contained and dispersed, rather than rushing forward in a daze.
However, even so, the situation is not that simple.
Standing at the bow, Cheng Xi looked towards the banks of the river. The water hadn't completely receded yet, and the fields that had once been farmland had become a swamp. From time to time, he could see people hurriedly running, carrying the elderly and children. Some were simply fleeing, while others had heard that the rebel army was approaching and wanted to hide in the safety of the town before the disaster arrived.
However, not every county magistrate was willing to take in the refugees. There were so many mouths to feed, so many restless young men, that if things went wrong, they would easily cause a mutiny. If the rebellion could not be quelled in advance, these people would probably become new refugees, and be coerced by someone else.
The imperial officers and soldiers who should have shown up were hiding in the city at this moment. The continuous fall of the city had made them lose confidence in field battles. Moreover, those thousand households and captains did not have enough troops. How could they dare to show up in the face of an insurgent army that was several times their number?
The Red Flag Army, which was at the forefront, had become an isolated force.
"Boss, we will reach Lianshao Prefecture in half a day. According to the scouts, the rebel army has not yet withdrawn." Yan Yuan whispered while standing next to Cheng Xi.
This was a large city that had recently been captured. It was said that the commander, fearing a battle, fled overnight, only to be beheaded by the invaders. Because food was plentiful, the hungry refugees paused, intending to loot before continuing south.
"Speed up the boat, arrive at Lianshao before nightfall, and stop them outside the city." Cheng Xi looked at the city in the distance and gave the cold order.
This place is not far from Panyu. If the rebel army continues to move south, it will either go to Panyu or Dongning. These two places are her bases, how can she lose them?
These were all arranged in advance, and Yan Yuan did not hesitate to give the order. With one order, all the ships hoisted full sails and rushed like arrows.
…
Zhang Gou'er bit the bright yellow hairpin hard and said, "Damn it, how can this be made of gold? It's bad luck!"
Following his fellow villagers all the way from his hometown to here, he'd endured considerable hardship, even narrowly avoiding being hacked to death. Who would have thought that after finally capturing such a large city, when it came time to distribute the rewards, he'd only received a few hundred yuan and a few bushels of rice. Unable to contain his anger, Zhang Gou'er joined the leader of the group to raid the city. They finally managed to steal a hairpin, but it turned out to be a fake gold item.
Who said that people in the south were all rich and had no worries about food and clothing? Alas, I'm just unlucky...
While complaining, Zhang Gou'er raised his head, but this casual glance made him jump up: "What, what is that!"
Hearing his call, his companion who was bragging beside him turned around, his eyes widened, and he shouted loudly: "It's the fleet! The government troops are coming!"
This shout frightened many people, and chaos broke out on the city walls. The city was already very close to the river, and if the fleet launched a full-scale attack, it could have directly rushed to the city. Moreover, the government troops were already scared and fled, so how could there be such a large navy?
Someone immediately ran down to report, and many more hurriedly picked up their weapons and swords, trembling as they watched the boats approach. Fortunately, they did not rush straight to the city, but instead landed a little further away, and then saw groups of people disembarking.
Wait, these people don’t seem to be wearing official military uniforms, and why are there only red flags on the ship and no other flags?
Just as they were in a state of confusion, a general came up to the top of the city wall and shouted, "Don't panic! Those are not government troops, they are from the Red Flag Gang!"
There was an uproar on the city wall for a while. They had all heard of the Chiqi Gang. Wasn’t he a big shot on the sea? Why did he come here?
"Perhaps they want to negotiate peace with us. The general has already sent people over. If we have a boat, we can even get to Panyu!" The young commander spoke with such confidence that the soldiers felt somewhat reassured. I heard the Red Flag Gang were also rebels. Aren't they just like these rebels? Perhaps they could still negotiate.
While these soldiers were still rejoicing, the bandit leader in the city was already furious: "How dare these bandits control me? What do you mean by surrender immediately and I'll open the city for you? You dare to go against me with just a few broken boats? Don't you know I have 100,000 soldiers under my command?"
They said there were 100,000, but in reality there were only 50,000 or 60,000 young and strong men, and they had fought their way through, so many had fallen behind. Now there were barely 30,000 refugees in the city, and those who were really willing to fight were probably less than 5,000.
However, five thousand is not a small number. These ships may seem numerous, but how many soldiers and horses can they hold? They haven't even reached Panyu yet, and they're already rushing over to stop us. How arrogant!
Although he had heard of the Red Flag Gang's reputation, the prestige of conquering three cities in a row had already made this "rebel leader" dizzy. He spat fiercely and cursed, "Tomorrow, we will mobilize the army to attack their camp and drive those pirates into the river!"
There weren't many enemy troops disembarking, less than 3,000. If he pushed 30,000 on board, wouldn't they all be pushed into the river? Without a trace of fear, the bandit leader gave the order directly.
Another war was about to begin, and the enemy wasn't the government army, but just a bunch of pirates. The rebels breathed a sigh of relief. Fighting was good. If they won, they could eat their fill and get rewards. And this time they had to seize a boat. Wouldn't they no longer have to walk and could just take a boat to Panyu?
These chaotic thoughts grew wildly with the instigation of the generals and commanders. At dawn, after hastily filling their stomachs, all those who had weapons grabbed their weapons, and with shouts and curses urging them to fight, they rushed towards the enemy camp in a chaotic and noisy manner.
This was the refugees' way of fighting. There was no need for formations or elaborate tactics. As long as they pressed forward one after another, they would naturally overwhelm the enemy. And facing such an overwhelming force, who could come up with a solution?
Yet, facing the overwhelming force, the Red Flag Gang camp on the shore remained motionless, like nails driven into the riverbank. Five hundred steps, three hundred steps, one hundred steps… As those hideous, distorted faces became faintly visible, the sound of cannon fire rang out.
The muzzles of all the warships were pointed towards the shore, and the calibrated cannons were fired in sequence, rushing towards the enemy with the force of wind and thunder, and exploding in the crowd.
This was the essence of the Queyue Formation: using chariots and shield soldiers to hold back the enemy, while using warships to fire from high vantage points. Once the enemy's formation was in disarray, the elite troops on shore could launch a counterattack. Although they lacked chariots and shield soldiers, their ships were not equipped with explosives, but with artillery of greater firepower and range. With a single barrage of bombardment, they interrupted the enemy's charge.
The refugees, who had never seen artillery before, were utterly terrified by the sight of such a terrifying weapon. Some stopped in their tracks, others retreated hastily. In a split second, everything was scattered like a swarm of bees.
Yan Yuan, who was guarding the front, waved his hand and said, "Beat the drums and blow the horns."
The loud trumpet sounds pierced the wilderness, the sound of drums rang out along with the rumbling footsteps, and a torrent of black clothes and red flags rolled back towards the gray-brown enemy army.
Tens of thousands of chaotic troops collapsed at the first blow.
…
Following the team, Zhang Gou'er was bewildered, practically mad. Weren't they charging? Why were they suddenly hearing artillery fire? Weren't there only three or four thousand enemies? How could they collapse so quickly? Should he flee with them, or hide in the city?
However, all the chaos stopped at the deafening shout.
"Surrender and you won't be killed! Kneel and you'll be spared!"
That was handed over by the enemy. Seeing that the enemies around him were becoming fewer and fewer, Zhang Gouer threw down the spear in his hand without hesitation and knelt on the ground with his head in his hands.
He was just fleeing famine with others. He hadn't married yet and he didn't want to die.
The black torrent passed over the surrendered soldiers crawling on the ground, over the shivering refugees, and strode towards the city.
They encountered no serious resistance, and the bandit leader, realizing the situation was bad, abandoned the city and fled. Before noon, the Red Banner Army had recaptured Lianshao City.
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