Chapter 279

Just as Jia Cong was leading two warships, sailing the Bohai Bay at night.

Twenty li outside Yafu Pass in Liaodong Town, a bloody slaughter and chase were continuing.

Facing the Jurchen fast cavalry's surprise attack, Guo Zhigui was forced to burn a grain cart first, forcing the cavalry acting Commandant Xiong to comply.

Because apart from the burning of military grain proposed by Guo Zhigui and leading the army to avoid the enemy's edge in time, the cavalry acting Commandant Xiong couldn't think of a better way.

If they confronted twice their own number of cavalry with two hundred cavalrymen, in this kind of pitch-black environment, with no reinforcements behind them, wanting to win with fewer men was nothing but a pipe dream.

Their only result would be being slaughtered by the opponent and having their grain and fodder looted.

Guo Zhigui followed suit and burned the grain and fodder of the other two carts as well.

And the musket formation composed of more than thirty musketeers had already emitted a rain-like sound of gunfire.

All the cavalrymen mounted their horses, raised their bows, and shot arrows at the Jurchen cavalry who had already run within a hundred paces.

The sound of hooves roared, and two hundred Great Zhou cavalrymen charged fiercely, passing the left flank of the Jurchen cavalry formation, causing a chaos in the Jurchen cavalry formation.

The speed of the cart was not even slower than the fast horses of the musketeers beside him, and no one knew how he managed to do it.

"Everyone, form ranks, charge the left flank of the Jurchen cavalry unit, do not get entangled in battle, and then retreat north toward the military fort."

"Tomorrow night, send some more people to Yafu Pass to report the news, just in case."

Soon, the other musketeers were divided into four squads and fled in different directions.

Guo Zhigui jumped onto the last horse cart and said: "Commandant Xiong, I will take ten musketeer brothers and the last cart of grain to lure the Jurchens away; you take the others and retreat to the military fort."

And the large Jurchen force behind was just following closely behind Guo Zhigui's horse cart, ignoring the other musketeers who had scattered and escaped.

This also bought precious, fleeting time for Guo Zhigui; a grain cart and ten firearm soldiers galloped away in the opposite direction to the Great Zhou cavalry.

He pointed his long blade at the grain cart that was galloping away: "Chase that side, that's the grain we want!"

Guo Zhigui drove the grain cart, just turned around a mountain col, and suddenly turned the cart around.

Commandant Xiong said to Guo Zhigui: "Brother, come back alive!"

"General, the Zhou people have split into two paths; we are chasing that side."

Among the Jurchen cavalry, the leading general was burly, with a shaved head, gold rings on his earlobes, wearing a deer-skin short jacket, and holding a long blade with cold light in his hand, looking very fierce.

At this moment, it was a time of extreme urgency; Commandant Xiong knew there was no time to say more, but he was filled with admiration for this unknown firearm squad leader.

"Jiang Xiao Si, have the brothers divide into four squads and run in different directions; run as many as you can, don't gather together and let them be wiped out in one net. You follow my horse cart!"

Commandant Xiong knew what Guo Zhigui meant by this; it was to prevent all ten musketeers from dying in the Jurchens' pursuit, leaving no one alive to return and report the news, in which case they would have to rely on themselves.

Guo Zhigui had learned excellent driving skills in the Rongguo Prefecture, and he actually drove a horse cart full of supplies very fast.

Dense bullets and arrows temporarily slowed down the Jurchen cavalry's charge, but this process could only last for a very short time.

Guo Zhigui shouted: "Jiang Xiao Si, take ten brothers and go with me; the rest follow the cavalry battalion and retreat to the military fort!"

This person could be so quick-witted and decisive in a crisis; although his methods were a bit unusual, he was indeed a formidable figure.

On the side, Jiang Xiao Si hurriedly reined in his warhorse: "Zhigui, why did you turn around? Don't you want your life?"

Guo Zhigui chuckled, jumped off the horse cart quickly, and threw the lit fire-starter in his hand onto the horse cart; the entire horse cart burned rapidly, emitting a strong smell of tung oil.

He stabbed the buttocks of the horse pulling the cart hard again; the severe pain plus the burning horse cart made the horse go crazy immediately, charging fiercely toward the Jurchen cavalry that had just chased them.

Guo Zhigui jumped onto Jiang Xiao Si's warhorse; at this time, the dark clouds in the sky once again obscured the full moon, and the earth fell into darkness again, and the two men and one horse disappeared quickly into the night.

The Jurchen cavalry chasing from behind discovered that the burning grain cart was charging toward them, and their formation was in chaos.

That burly Jurchen general shouted: "Shoot the startled horse, put out the fire on the grain cart immediately!"

Just now he saw clearly from the rear that this grain cart had just been lit; as long as they put out the fire in time, they could still save most of the grain.

You know, such a large cart of grain was enough for a hundred elite cavalrymen to eat for five days.

They had dispatched several hundred cavalrymen to patrol near the Zhou people's military fort just to loot the military grain transported by the Zhou people.

They didn't expect this group of Zhou soldiers to be so hateful, burning most of the grain in time; this grain cart might be their only harvest tonight.

"General, this cart is not grain, it's just fodder for warhorses."

The Jurchen general's face changed greatly, the gold ring on his ear shone in the firelight, and he shouted angrily: "What did you say!"

He let the Great Zhou cavalry go just for this cart of grain, but he didn't expect that the cart was only loaded with fodder; fodder is light, no wonder the Zhou soldiers could drive the cart so fast.

The clamor full of murderous intent echoed in the night, making people shudder.

"These treacherous Zhou people, chase those people just now for me, don't let a single one go; I want to tear them into ten thousand pieces!"

But the night was pitch black, and the original musketeer cavalry, under Guo Zhigui's arrangement, had already fled in different directions a step earlier.

And Guo Zhigui and Jiang Xiao Si, two men and one horse, also ran away without a trace; where could they be found back?

Jia Cong and Wei Yongzhou led five hundred musketeers and a large number of firearms, crossed the Bohai Bay, and landed at Lushun.

After saying goodbye to Liu Yong, the Embroidered Uniform Guard company commander who escorted the cannons, they traveled day and night for four days and finally arrived at Guangning City, the garrison of the Liaodong Town Regional Commander.

Wei Yongzhou led five hundred musketeers and arrived three full days earlier than the arrival time for rotation stipulated by the Ministry of War.

As soon as Jia Cong entered Guangning City, he discovered that it was completely different from the cities he had passed along the way.

This was a real military city, and ordinary residents in the city only accounted for a small part.

Sentries patrolling everywhere, cavalry riding past in formation, and large numbers of infantry waiting to be deployed or rotating could be seen in the city.

There were even more vehicles transporting supplies and grain, driving into the city in an endless stream; these supplies were all requisitioned from all over the Great Zhou by the Ministry of War.

These included various war supplies such as grain, fodder, vegetables and meat, cotton clothes, weapons, arrows, leather armor, tung oil, etc., which were classified and transported to military warehouses all over Guangning City.

Finally, according to the arrangements of the Liaodong Regional Commander, the Liaodong Provincial Governor would mobilize civilians to transport them to the various passes on the front line of the border town.

It was precisely because the Liaodong Town was in the midst of a war with the Jurchens that this military city radiated greater vitality than usual, becoming a huge war machine that could be clearly felt with the naked eye.

Jia Cong didn't have an intuitive understanding of the Great Zhou's war national strength before, but until he entered Guangning City today, he truly realized the foundation of the Great Zhou's strong national strength.

The Great Zhou border army possessed such a systematic war coordination system and the most sufficient supply of war supplies.

Compared with the various Jurchen tribes struggling in life and death and famine in the long, severe winter.

As long as there was a normal and effective command system, victory was almost just a matter of time, or in what way victory would be achieved.

Jia Cong looked at the cannons, porcelain grenades, muskets, etc., behind him.

He vaguely felt that these firearms would change many people's understanding of war, and perhaps they could bring him unexpected opportunities in the land of Liaodong!

Jia Cong and Wei Yongzhou arrived at the Regional Commander's office, and according to the requirements of the military supply officer, they checked and counted the quantity of firearms transported and proofread the roster of the musketeers who were rotating.

Just after finishing all the regulatory procedures, a soldier came over to pass a message to Jia Cong, saying that the Nine Provinces Controller, Master Gu, and the Liaodong Town Regional Commander, Master Liang, summoned the Firearm Office Supervisor.

(End of chapter)