As the sound of "gululu" sounded, the huge iron anchor was sunk into the silt under the sea, and the light cruiser "Beilu Shimen" was steadily anchored near the estuary of the Rongjiang River in later generations.

"With the steam power modification, should I change the anchor rope?" Seeing the sailors still operating the winch hard, they put down the heavy anchor panting, Lu Xiaozhong wanted to complain in his heart, complaining that the Blackwater Shipyard, which was established for steam modification last time, was in a brain disorder. He actually did not change their anchor chains to steaming and rising and falling on the ground on the grounds of lack of corresponding equipment. They must make it correct next time.

Just as Captain Lu Xiaozhong complained about the Heishui Shipyard, several small boats had been placed on the "Beilu Shimen" and the subsequent "Tiangao Yihu" that had been anchored, and dozens of sailors were rowing to the shore. On the simple dock on the shore, a middle-aged man wearing the robe of a military general in Ming Dynasty had been waiting for a long time. It was the person sent by Li Yuanyin to greet them, and the thousand households in Pengzhou were thousands of households.

"Oh, the navy of your army has finally arrived. The eldest son has made me wait here for a long time." Seeing the small boat from the east coast slowly leaning towards the shore, the Qianhu immediately jumped forward and took the cable thrown from the boat. While tying it to the wooden stake, he said with a smile.

As he moved, the group of people who were originally standing behind him also scattered, and they stepped forward to grab the cables and pulled the east coast boats to the side of the pier. The boat was loaded with a lot of military supplies, including monocular telescopes, artillery sighting equipment, ammunition weighing equipment, gun maintenance machinery, common tropical medicines, high-quality engineer shovels, steel bayonets, cowhide saddles, military water bottles, etc., with a wide variety and a large number - well, there are not many yet, but there are still many in the cabin behind - enough to enrich Li Yuanyin's slightly empty arsenal.

Some of these materials were produced by the Sanfan tribe in the Far East, while others were temporarily allocated by the East Coast troops of Denglai, Ningshao and other places, and were given to Li Yuanyin in full, so that he could arm his army. In fact, don't underestimate these materials and equipment. They don't seem to have direct so-called "weapons of destruction", but they can play a huge role in the battlefield. For example, those telescopes can make the commander's vision wider; artillery sighting and weighing equipment can increase the efficiency of artillery soldiers by several times; if there is no gun repair equipment, the damaged guns and cannons will be damaged and cannot be repaired urgently and cannons will be restored again; I won't say much about the role of bayonets and saddles, and they are consumables, and they will never dare to say too much; high-quality engineer shovels and military water bottles are also indispensable, and medicines need not be said, and they are things that must be prepared before the troops move.

Therefore, the supplies transferred by the people on the east coast were very helpful to Li Yuanyin. If the subsequent supplies were sufficient, they could add more combat power (of course this may be a bit exaggerated), and gain an advantage over Li Yuanhao's troops on the battlefield, thereby stabilizing the current territory.

Yes, you heard it right! After Li Chengdong, Duke Hui of the Southern Ming Dynasty, was lingering in sickness for many days, he finally took his last breath in the second half of last year (1683) and returned to the west. After his death, his own son Li Yuanhao immediately inherited the title of Duke Hui with the support of a group of people. Li Yuanyin was "suspected and afraid" and even only appeared at the funeral ceremony for a day. Then he rushed back to his garrison Chaozhou Prefecture overnight to reorganize his army and look like he was preparing for a war.

However, it was not Li Yuanyin who first initiated the war, but Li Yuanhao, who inherited the throne of Duke of Huiguo. This guy couldn't tolerate that cheap big brother. He didn't even want to give him Chaozhou Prefecture, so he gathered 30,000 troops and attacked Chaozhou Prefecture.

Li Yuanhao's decisive actions surprised the East Coast people. At that time, Major Tang Moyu, who was responsible for military affairs in the entire South China region, went to negotiate with Rohl, the governor of the Dutch East India Company, because some incidents that were unfavorable to the East Coast people occurred on Taiwan Island, so he failed to get the news in time.

When he ended his negotiations with the Dutch and returned to Guangzhou Bay, the first round of the war between the two Lis had ended: unexpectedly, Li Yuanhao, who gathered heavy troops to kill, fought in Huizhou Prefecture in a fierce battle, and actually lost a lot of territory, allowing Li Yuanyin's troops to penetrate into Huizhou Prefecture.

However, Li Yuanhao was a big family and a big business. He controlled the four prefectures of Guangzhou, Huizhou, Nanxiong and Shaozhou quickly stabilized his position, and then relied on the core Lianzhou New Army to fight steadily. When the people of the East Coast hoarded a large amount of supplies and personnel, and formally sent envoys to Guangzhou City to issue a solemn warning to him, the guy had completely recovered the lost territory in Huizhou, and then counterattacked and entered Chaozhou Prefecture, and the situation gained the upper hand.

At this time, the people of the East Coast had to make preparations. While sending ships to Li Yuanyin to support war materials - almost all sold at a moderate price and allowed him to buy them for credit - while starting to gather troops on Haizhu Island, threatening the safety of Guangzhou City. Faced with such decisive actions by the East Coast people, Li Yuanhao was shocked and furious, but he had to treat them with caution. For this reason, several envoys were sent to the Haizhu Island Fortress to meet with the temporary commander of the East Coast people. It was obvious that their negotiations failed, and Li Yuanhao was unwilling to give up the opportunity to enter Chaozhou Prefecture to completely defeat his cheap brother, and the East Coast did not allow Li Yuanyin to be defeated, so the two sides naturally inevitably broke down the negotiations.

Subsequently, Li Yuanhao strengthened his vigilance in Guangzhou City, and continued to demand that the front line attack and attack fiercely, and not relax, and strive to resolve Chaozhou Prefecture as soon as possible. At this time, the East Coast army, which had been on the front line of Xiangshan for a long time, quickly mobilized. Because the peace agreement had been signed with the Qing court, many of the troops stationed in the southern pioneering team went south this time, the most famous of which were the soldiers of the capital and more than 1,400 officers and soldiers of the First Mixed Battalion.

The battalion commander of the battalion was the famous Lieutenant Colonel Lan Fei. He had gone to the United Provinces with Yang Liang (this lord has been transferred to the commander of the South African garrison army) and others. He was experienced. After hearing the news, he dispatched the first Mixed Battalion, the Fifth Cavalry Regiment of the Zhejiang New Army, the right wing of the Taiwan Land Battle Battalion (two companies) and recruited some mercenaries in Macau, with more than 4,500 people. In just two days, the main force arrived in Shunde County.

Nearly a thousand cavalrymen of the Fifth Cavalry Regiment had disarmed the Li army in Shunde County in advance. The total number of Li army soldiers of more than 3,000 people were ignorant of the changes in the situation. In addition, the uninterrupted infiltration of the East Coast people over the years, some officers also secretly communicated with each other. Therefore, these people had almost no effective resistance and were disarmed. Then, under the order of the officer, they all returned to the camp to rest and cut off their contact with the outside world.

After the main force arrived, the main force took over the Shunde County Town as soon as possible, then smashed the gate of the county treasury, used the grain as military supplies, and then took out part of the treasury silver to recruit a group of masters and mules and horses in the county town, and set out with the army to help transport supplies. The people of the East Coast have been operating in Guangdong for many years, so they naturally have no worries that no one came out to lead the way. In addition, they were ordered by money, so this matter was accomplished all at once, and the army relieved their worries.

After the soldiers captured Shunde County without bloodshed, Lan Fei did not stop at all, but rushed to Foshan Town, which was close to the corner. Here, they encountered the first real resistance. Thousands of Li soldiers relied on the terrain and buildings to counterattack, but soon they were defeated after the bombardment of the cannons of the East Coast and the long-range volley of Minni rifles. The fleeing enemies were even difficult to escape. The Fifth Cavalry Regiment, a rare cavalry unit on the southern land, directly cut off its retreat. Then, with the support of some anti-escort officers, most of its troops were soon captured, with about 3,000 people.

The smooth military operation surprised Lieutenant Colonel Lan Fei, who served as the commander-in-chief, which made him reassess the influence of the East Coast people in Guangdong. In his opinion, such a devastating action was due to the fact that Li Yuanhao's main force was transferred north and the local area was empty, but there were so many soldiers leading the way along the way, which also meant that the East Coast people were famous here and no one could have the idea of ​​resisting wherever they went?

After years of operation in Guangdong, it seems that it has achieved miraculous results! I am afraid that this foundation will not rebound if it is directly ruled! Or even if it is not directly ruled, the agent will still rule Guangdong. However, this condition may be discussed further. There should be a need to further strengthen the control over Guangdong. It may have been a bit concealed in the past, but now it does not have to be like this. After all, the situation is completely different!

Of course, the above is just Lieutenant Colonel Lan Fei's illusion. In fact, the smooth flow from Xiangshan to Foshan is naturally because the East Coast people have focused on their business for many years. However, if you move forward to Guangzhou City, there will be no such good things in front of you. The enemy's resistance will definitely become fierce. Although the First Mixed Battalion is brave, there are only more than 1,000 people, and they can get a few nails on them! Maybe after all, you can get lucky with the cooperation of the Haizhu Island Merchant Station Garage Team to enter Guangzhou City to play, but you will definitely not be able to defend it, and even if you catch the population, you may not dream as soon as possible!

The purpose of this advance was already stated in the plan formulated last year, which was to force Li Yuanhao to return to his troops to protect himself, give up his strategy for Chaozhou Prefecture, and restore Guangdong to peace. To put it bluntly, it is best for you brothers to be together and not fight and kill to take advantage of outsiders. You must know that in order to hold down Guo Shi'an, the governor of Jiangxi in Shunguo, did not order him to send troops south, the people of the East Coast also exerted considerable influence, and even paid a considerable price. It is better to end the drama of Guangdong brothers' fences as soon as possible, otherwise it would definitely cause trouble if the time was long.

On March 6, 1684, the 4,000 infantry and cavalry led by Lieutenant Colonel Lan Fei arrived at the suburbs of Guangzhou. At this time, Li Yuanhao, who was shocked and angry, sent people to negotiate at the East Coast camp, but his tone was relatively humble, and he was thinking that he would ask the East Coast to stop the troops. At the same time, the new Duke Huiguo also urgently drew all the personnel that could be drawn from the surrounding prefectures and counties to aid Guangzhou City. The Lianzhou New Army, who was still fighting with Li Yuanyin's troops in Chaozhou Prefecture, naturally received an order to return to the rescue quickly. The situation ahead changed suddenly in just a few months, which made people feel at a loss.

Since Li Yuanhao sent an envoy to seek peace, the people of the East Coast naturally would not kill them, let alone they were not able to do that. Therefore, on March 7, Major Tang Moyu, who was in charge of the entire Guangzhou Bay affairs, sent people to negotiate with Lan Fei to suspend the advance to avoid further conflicts, and then negotiated with Li Yuanhao to raise the conditions - because the First Mixed Battalion only accepted the jurisdiction of Commander of the Denglai Security, and Lan Fei's military service and rank were above Tang Moyu, so he could only discuss it with him.

There is no doubt that Lieutenant Colonel Lan Fei did not agree with Tang Moyu's opinion very much. He believed that at this time, he should increase investment and completely reverse the Guangzhou Prefecture. At the same time, he should mobilize all forces to bribe and instigate Li Yuanhao's group to make the rear unstable, and then attack Li Yuanyin from inside and outside, completely changing the situation in Guangdong. Even if possible, the people of the East Coast could enter the city of Guangzhou and establish direct rule.

Although Major Tang Moyu respected his predecessors, he still had some disagreements on this matter. He insisted that the Li family of Huiguo ruled Guangdong for 40 years and was also known as the ministers of the Southern Ming Dynasty. The foundation of rule was still very solid and could not be completely overturned in a short period of time. Therefore, it is unlikely that the matter of taking over the direct rule of Guangzhou will be successful. On the contrary, it will cause himself to fall into a huge quagmire, which is not worth it, and it is more cost-effective to continue to rule through an agent.

In addition, it is also extremely risky to support Li Yuanyin and let him take the position of Duke Huiguo. This first involves the power comparison between Li Yuanhao and Li Yuanyin, and it is also related to the external situation. It should be noted that according to the information collected a while ago, Fujian Zheng Jing recently sent a large amount of money, grain and materials to Zhangzhou Prefecture, at the junction of Guangdong and Fujian, and there is a possibility of sending troops into Guangdong. If we contacted the situation where he had been verbally supporting Li Yuanyin, it is possible that Zheng Jing, the guy, would directly go into the troubled waters to take advantage of the name of supporting Chaozhou Prefecture. This is undoubtedly something that the people on the east coast cannot tolerate, and it has always been something they tried to avoid.
Chapter completed!