Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 211 Liaohai
The next day, early in the morning.

A small boat slowly approached the shore of Ku Niang Island. A general from the Dongjiang Town Army, wearing green cloth armor and satin lining, jumped out, waded through the knee-deep sea water, and walked step by step to the shore.

Guanglu Island guerrilla Sun Yonghuai looked up and saw a wooden fort about a hundred meters away from the road. Wooden logs as thick as bowls and a large amount of rammed earth roughly surrounded the entire fort.

There are two towering arrow towers on each side of the village, with several young men stationed in them, holding muskets and keeping watch.

There is a deep trench dug more than ten feet in front of the village. If you attack from this direction, not only will your speed drop immediately, but you will also be hit by the village wall and arrow towers from several directions when you climb out of the trench.

What was even more troublesome was that there were several barricades behind the trench. Even if they could barely cross the trench under the enemy's intensive firepower, they would not be able to reach the village wall in the first place.

Oh, these refugees on the island are not simple!
The entire defense facility is quite organized and does not look like a mob.

No wonder the captain led his men to fight for two days but failed to capture it.

The defenders in the village saw that only Sun Yonghuai came ashore, and did not make any attacking moves.

When he reached the trench, the other party was even kind enough to drag a piece of wood over it to allow him to pass smoothly.

"I want to see your...head of the family." After entering the village gate, Sun Yonghuai raised his head slightly and said arrogantly to several armed guards in leather armor.

"Okay! Hand over all the weapons on you first!" A young man about seventeen or eighteen years old walked up to him and stretched out his right hand.

"Hmph, take it!" Sun Yonghuai took off the sword from his waist and handed it to the other party.

"We still need to search you!" The young man handed his sword to the armed guard next to him, but still stared at him vigilantly.

"How dare you!" Sun Yonghuai glared at the other man in a rage. "I'm a third-rank guerrilla general of Guanglu Island in Dongjiang Town. How could I tolerate your humiliation?"

"According to the Ming Dynasty's official system, a guerrilla is a military rank subordinate to the commander-in-chief of a military garrison. It currently has no rank or quota, and ranks below a lieutenant general." The young man replied calmly, "You call yourself a third-rank guerrilla commander of Guanglu Island in Dongjiang Town. Do you have an imperial edict?"

"..." Upon hearing this, Sun Yonghuai's face turned red and he didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Damn it, I finally met someone who knows what he’s doing!
I'm here to kill people and steal food. Who the hell would carry his official edict with him for you to check?
"... Furthermore, your army has no imperial edict to raise troops and no order to attack each other. You are a rebellious army. How dare you claim to be an official army under the imperial court here?" the young man continued.

“…” Sun Yonghuai widened his eyes and looked at the young man in disbelief.

Are these people really refugees from Liaodong, or subordinates of overseas merchants?
"If you don't want us to search you, then go ahead."

"Aren't you afraid that after I return, I'll order my army to attack the island?"

"Haven't you been attacking us for several days?" The young man smiled. "Why don't you try again when you get back?"

"..." Sun Yonghuai's expression froze, and he looked around at the situation in the village.

There were about three or four hundred guards guarding the village, all wearing leather armor and equipped with spears, short swords, and a considerable number of muskets.

However, the muskets they possessed seemed to be completely different from the three-barreled muskets equipped by the officers and soldiers of the Liaodong towns. They were a bit like the Portuguese muskets (i.e. large-caliber matchlock guns), but seemed to be lighter.

When his eyes fell on the two cannons deployed on the wall, his eyes suddenly widened and he cursed in his heart. How much benefit did Master Shen (Shen Shikui) receive from others to actually give them all the cannons!
With such defensive power, it is understandable that the captain failed to capture the island after two days of attack.

It seems that it will be a bit difficult for us to seize the food here.

It's possible that you'll get hurt.

No, I have to meet their boss.
-
"This island is not big. Standing on the top of the Ku Niang Peak, you can see the whole island at a glance. You can even see where the enemy comes from from afar." Zhong Minghui stood on a hillside near Dongzhai (now Haiyangdao Salt Field Village), looking at the dozens of Dongjiang Town warships anchored in the sea in the distance, with a confident look on his face.

"The entire island is rugged, with crisscrossing valleys and few flat plains. Furthermore, the cliffs along the coast are steep and rugged, making it impossible for enemy ships to land. They can only attack from the coast facing the east and west camps, which greatly facilitates our defense."

"Since arriving on the island at the beginning of the year, we've selected hundreds of strong Liao civilians and trained them day and night, organizing them into squads. Equipped with the guns and cannons we purchased from the trenches, we're quite well-equipped. In the days ahead, as long as we don't make any mistakes and can hold off any incoming enemy on the beach, preventing them from reaching the East and West forts, we can ensure the safety of the thousands of Liao civilians on the island."

"Captain Zhong, what should we do if the Dongjiang Town rebels fail to capture our island and instead stay on the sea, cutting off our access to external supplies?" Shi Xiaobao asked worriedly.

"Those rebels can't afford to waste time!" Zhong Minghui said with a smile. "If the Lushun, Guanglu, Changshan, and Shicheng Islands raise the flag of rebellion, the Ming court will immediately cut off their food and wages. Why do you think Mao Chenglu insisted on mobilizing thousands of troops to attack our Weeping Mother Island? Isn't it because he wants to seize the hundreds of tons of food here to feed his army?"

"Besides, with all the islands rebelling, how could General Huang Long of Dongjiang Town remain idle? To atone for his sins and protect his own future, he will undoubtedly dispatch troops from Pi Island to quell the rebellion. I estimate that within a month at most, these rebels will collapse and flee across the sea to Dengzhou, where they will reunite with Li Jiucheng, Kong Youde, and the rest of the rebels."

"Will the chaos in Dongjiang Town allow the Jiannu to take advantage of the situation and attack Pi Island again?" Shi Xiaobao asked.

"Well, that's good, that's good. You're now able to draw inferences from one instance, systematically linking the many chain reactions that followed from one event. Our years of instruction are well worth it." Zhong Minghui looked at him with satisfaction, his eyes full of hope. "Given time, you'll surely grow rapidly and become a versatile talent capable of standing on your own."

"With such a big commotion in Dongjiang Town, the Jiannu will definitely take action. However, they lack a navy and cannot attack Pi Island again. I estimate that the Jiannu may launch a limited attack in the direction of Gaizhou and Yingzhou, but they will definitely not engage in a large-scale conflict."

"Why?"

"The Jiannu would be most pleased to see Dongjiang Town rebel. Why would they launch a fierce attack on the rebels?" Zhong Minghui laughed bitterly. "If I were the leader of the Later Jin, I might even reduce my forces appropriately to relieve the military pressure on the Dongjiang Town rebels and let them cause as much trouble as they want."

"If the Dengzhou rebellion spreads to the entire Dongjiang Town, or even affects the Ming troops in the Guanning Towns, and then disintegrates the Liaodong military defense system, it will be a great blessing for the Jiannu."

"Will this happen?"

"Probably... not." Zhong Minghui thought for a moment and said, "However, the aftermath of the Dengzhou rebellion was extremely serious, and in the end, the Jiannu army gained a huge advantage."

It seems that the three big traitors Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi (this thief was actually squeezed out and oppressed by Shen Shikui, and surrendered to the Jiannu one year later than Kong and Geng) crossed the sea to surrender to the Jiannu with a large number of firearms and boats after the Dengzhou rebellion, which greatly enhanced the military strength of the Later Jin Dynasty.

What is even more criticized is that after the Jiannu acquired artillery, they had the ability to attack the Ming army's strong city defense fortresses.

Thinking of this, Zhong Minghui couldn't help but sigh.

If there was a chance, killing these three people in advance, I wonder if it could save the Ming Dynasty from its decline?
"Captain Zhong, Dongjiang Town has sent an envoy to the island and wants to see you." An armed guard hurried over and reported loudly.

"Oh?" Zhong Minghui smiled immediately after hearing the news. "Those Dongjiang Town rebels won't be able to capture the island anytime soon. They're probably here to persuade us to surrender. ... Yeah, maybe they'll even try to get us to join them in the rebellion."

"Let's go meet them!"

(End of this chapter)