Chapter 628 0623 [Cross-Sea Plunder]

"Big, big, big..."

"Open, open, open!"

"Hi!"

On Salman Island, a group of sailors were gambling in the military camp.

The troops of the Ming Dynasty and the New Dynasty were not allowed to engage in gambling or drinking during training in the military camp, but Salmon Island was an exception.

The court has already decided that these serious criminals are not allowed to return to their hometowns to live a normal life. At most, a group of them will be selected every year to be allowed to go home to visit relatives.

Unless someone has made meritorious deeds and risen to level five or above. Even generals below the fifth rank must stay on the island!

Even if the Jin Kingdom is destroyed, there will be a broader world in the future, and there will be places for them to show their talents overseas.

A policy will be introduced in the future. As long as they have not committed any of the "Ten Evil" crimes, those serious criminals who should be sentenced to death and have extenuating circumstances can voluntarily choose to be exiled to Salmon Island and join the army.

For a group of people who are destined to never return home, there is no need to place too much emphasis on military discipline, and some room must be left for them to vent.

Therefore, they were allowed to drink and gamble in the camp for an hour after the training every day.

But no trouble is allowed. If there is a private fight, you will be severely punished.

It is also not allowed to violate the prohibition outside the prescribed time, let alone do these things during the march and combat. Also, borrowing money for gambling is not allowed, both the borrower and the borrower will be severely punished!

Xia Yuqing held a piece of grass in his mouth, lay beside him and patted his belly, turning a deaf ear to the sound of gambling.

"Xia San, why don't you come and play?" someone shouted.

Xia Yuqing said: "It's boring."

The setting sun shines on the sea, flashing golden-red waves.

Xia Yuqing sat up and admired the beautiful scenery, and whistled happily. His desperate life finally saw light.

He is a scholar. Although he has never passed the imperial examination, he has read the books of sages seriously.

There was nothing strange about his murder and conviction. His father fell in love with a poor scholar and not only supported his education, but also betrothed his sister to this man. This scholar was admitted to Jinshi but regretted his marriage. He looked down upon their merchant family and instead married the daughter of a prominent gentry from the same town.

The way things develop here is purely ordinary, similar stories happen from time to time.

But for the sake of face, the wealthy gentry did not want to bear the reputation of breaking the engagement, so they secretly spread rumors that his sister was having an affair with someone, so it was logical that the engagement would be annulled.

Xia Yuqing's sister couldn't bear the humiliation and hanged herself to prove her innocence with her death.

This kind of lawsuit could not be fought, so Xia Yuqing killed the father of the man the scholar had married in a rage.

Fortunately, the Xia family was in business and had money to atone for his sins and avoid death. They also spent money to bribe officials like crazy, and his sentence was changed to exile in Hebei Province. As long as he spends more money to manage his crime, his sentence can be reduced in two or three years.

However, the family of the murdered person belonged to a prominent family and had unusual connections, so the Criminal Division changed the sentence to exile on Salman Island.

Xia Yuqing's family came over with money and bribed Dengzhou officials, promising to give them money every year. As long as I receive a personal letter from my son in the first month of every year, I will definitely spend money again that summer.

In this way, Xia Yuqing survived on Salmon Island.

Wonderful days have just begun!

As the peasant army wreaked havoc in Shandong, even Dengzhou was captured by the rebels, and Salmon Island became completely unpopular.

Food no longer arrived, and they had no ships to leave the island.

The officers and soldiers stationed on the island first looted the islanders to obtain food, and then ate the human flesh of the starved to death.

The officers and soldiers became more and more cruel. They found it too unpalatable to starve the dead without meat, and even began to slaughter prisoners for human flesh. The prisoners were forced into a collective riot, and the islanders were also called in, killing hundreds of officers and soldiers on the island.

Officers and soldiers are also human beings, and they have meat even if they are killed.

Of more than 800 officers and soldiers, more than 1,000 islanders, and more than 4,000 criminals, only 2,000 were still alive after half a year.

Xia Yuqing had more than 20 friends. They formed a small group and grabbed a long gun and a pair of light armor from the officers and soldiers. They took turns wearing this equipment, and the remaining people all used sticks as weapons, and gathered together for defense day and night. Sometimes he also took the initiative to attack. Xia Yuqing was responsible for formulating the attack plan, killing people and immediately eating them to fill his stomach.

At that time, there was no innocent person on Salmon Island, only cannibal demons with bloody hands.

It has been more than a year since the Ming Dynasty took over Salmon Island, and the food supply has long been restored, and people seem to have forgotten that terrible past. But everyone has retained a habit, which is to carry weapons when eating, pooping and sleeping. They can't sleep without holding something in their hands.

"You are not allowed to gamble anymore. Go back to the barracks and sleep immediately. We will go to sea early tomorrow morning!" The officers came and shouted.

These officers were transferred from other places and had some prestige but not much.

Seeing that the gambler couldn't be persuaded, he had no choice but to run and report.

Not long after, the chief general Shi Huan came over, clapped his hands and said: "We generals are only responsible for training you, and will be transferred elsewhere in the future. Tomorrow, when we cross the sea to invade the Kingdom of Jin, the first batch of meritorious service members will be promoted to commanders and captains. . There will be a second and third batch in the future, and finally the leader will be selected from among you. Think about it for yourself, whether it is more interesting to gamble and make money here, or to concentrate on killing enemies and making achievements. "

Xia Yuqing stood up and shouted: "Everyone has gone to bed!"

His small group of more than twenty people immediately left laughing and joking.

The rest of the soldiers also left together one after another.

After sleeping all night with his weapon in his arms, Xia Yuqing got up early in the morning, packed his things and lined up to board the ship.

Not long after, the navy ship in Dengzhou Port also brought the army to join them. Even the six large-scale ships brought back by Xue Daoguang also set off for this operation.

Shi Huan, who escaped from the Liao Kingdom, acted as a navigator and led the way straight to the seaside salt fields of the Jin Kingdom.

The whole journey was smooth, until we saw the coastline, and then the Jiangnan navy of the Jin Kingdom came to meet us.

The Jin Kingdom did not attach importance to the navy at all, and the treatment of these Jiangnan navy was extremely poor. Moreover, they no longer built new warships, and they were all old antique warships. Many warships even had water leakage but were not repaired.

The distance between the two sides was still beyond the range of artillery fire, and the Jin Kingdom Navy ran away directly.

Just kidding, who would want to fight a naval battle that was bound to be lost?

The Jin Kingdom moved the Jiangnan Navy’s garrison from Jinzhou to the vicinity of the coastal salt field. At the command of Zhao Li, the commander-in-chief, the navy rushed into the port and fired a round of artillery, and then fired thunder cannons and rockets to ignite the buildings of the Jin Kingdom Navy’s garrison.

Then, the army chose a suitable place to land at the salt field, the infantry built a basic defensive position, and the cavalry all scattered to stand guard and explore.

"Brothers, they are robbing salt, money, and women!"

"Kill!"

The salt fields were not concentrated in one place, but were distributed over more than ten miles along the coast. The landing points of the Ming soldiers were also divided into more than ten places. In places where it was not convenient for large ships to dock, they rowed small boats to the shore.

Xia Yuqing and two other small groups formed a team of 100 people to land.

This year, the Ming army in the north has completely changed its equipment and formation. The foundation is still the mandarin duck formation, but wolf mills and giant shields are no longer used. Wolf mill hands are changed to archers, rattan shield hands are changed to long spearmen, and musketeers will be added in the future.

Xia Yuqing is now a sergeant and the highest officer that the cannibal demons can now hold.

They trotted with weapons, but still kept a distance, and could form a formation at any time when they encountered the enemy.

Not long after, a cavalryman who was a horse bandit ran over and shouted: "There is a salt boiling field ahead, and my brothers are riding horses to stop and kill, so as not to let the salt workers escape at will. You hurry over!"

"Salt is being robbed!"

The demons cheered.

Xia Yuqing quickly followed the team to the destination, where more than a dozen cavalrymen were intercepting the salt workers who were trying to escape. Usually they were scared back, and if they really wanted to run, they would rush up and kill them directly.

The salt workers were driven together and knelt there trembling.

Xia Yuqing gave his hundred-man general an idea: "Divide these salt workers into 20 groups, and we will guard one group in each squad. Ask the cavalry brothers to burn down the houses, and take away all the floating wealth, just take the salt!"

"Good idea!"

These bastards immediately divided the work and cooperated, ordering the salt workers to carry the salt to the landing point.

The cavalry lit torches and ran wildly, burning any house they saw, and burning everything that could burn. Even rushing to the nearby villages, they also burned any house they saw, and caught any young men, women and children they saw.

As for the elderly, they can be left to the Jin Kingdom.

Anyone who dared to resist or tried to escape more than twice, just rushed up and chopped them with a knife.

There were blazing flames everywhere, accompanied by the cries of young men and children.

This sea salt field, which ranked second in the Jin Kingdom, was basically useless. Even if the people were relocated here, they would not necessarily cook salt.

"Woo woo woo woo~~~"

The sound of a horn sounded in the distance, probably because the Jin soldiers were discovered.

The cavalrymen roared at the people of the Jin Kingdom: "Go to the seaside immediately. If anyone dares to run, we will kill them all when we come back!"

After that, they gathered in the direction where the horn sounded.

Xia Yuqing accelerated his actions and urged the salt workers to move the salt quickly. He deliberately dragged his feet and shot them to death.

The enemy who came upon hearing the news was the Jin Kingdom's Haibin County garrison troops.

There were not many of them, because the Jin Kingdom did not regard this place as the front line. There were only 20 to 30 real Jurchen soldiers, and the remaining hundreds were all Han soldiers.

Dozens of Shandong cavalrymen went up to harass and delay, and as time went on, the cavalry gathered more and more.

These guys were all horse bandits, and they were unwilling to rush up and fight hard. They just repeatedly maneuvered and shot arrows, and immediately distanced themselves when they got a little closer.

Gradually, they led the Jin soldiers to Zhao Li's seaside infantry formation (only 1,000 soldiers).

"You lead the infantry to charge!"

After Zhao Li said this to Song Jiang, he immediately rode to join the cavalry and roared: "We have to lure this little enemy here, don't you know to kill them all? Follow me to charge and eliminate the enemy cavalry first!"

This guy who was shot like a hedgehog every time he fought, led the cavalry to charge without saying a word.

Song Jiang muttered: "Crazy! Grandpa didn't fight so hard when he rebelled."

Li Kui's eyes were shining, and he said: "Brother, I also want to be a cavalry, it's so fun to charge!"

The army stationed in Haibin County, even the Jurchen soldiers, belonged to the second-line troops.

Seeing Song Jiang leading the infantry to line up and rush forward, Zhao Li led hundreds of cavalry to rush over, and more than 20 Jurchen cavalry immediately fled, and hundreds of Jin Han infantry were all abandoned.

These Jurchen cavalry were confused about the situation and didn't know how many enemies had come. They were lured here by the Shandong cavalry, and felt that they were ambushed. They planned to go back to defend the county immediately and let the chief officer of Haibin issue militia to defend the city.

As the Jurchens rode away, hundreds of Han infantry followed them. They were still confused and didn't understand why there was an enemy in the rear.

The last time the Song Dynasty fought across the sea was ten years ago, and it was a small force attacking other places.

The soldiers and civilians here seemed to have forgotten that there was such a thing as fighting across the sea.

Zhao Li led the way, and the Shandong horse bandit cavalry behind him were also led by the commander to fight with high morale. When they rushed to the nearby area, hundreds of Jin Han soldiers were directly disbanded, and some even knelt down on the spot to surrender.

"Those who surrender, take their weapons and armor away, and kill all those who are still running away!" After Zhao Li gave the order, he rushed out again and hacked.

The Ming army came and went quickly.

In just three days, they took away salt, people, and livestock, and plundered the coastal salt fields that stretched for more than ten miles. Everything that could be burned was burned, not only the houses, but also the firewood stored in the salt fields.

The coastal county was frightened and frantically recruited militia to defend the city, and at the same time requested elite troops to come to support.

The recent elite Jin soldiers were quickly mobilized, and they were afraid that other salt fields would be attacked, so they mobilized a large number of troops to protect the salt fields.

Zhao Li returned to Dengzhou with the spoils. He was very satisfied with the results of this trip. He called Song Jiang, Shi Huan and others: "The salt fields of the Jin Kingdom must be guarded next. Let's avoid the salt fields and plunder the coastal villages and take away the young and strong people and children there. Then burn all the houses, leaving only the elderly to the Jin Kingdom, and let these elderly people go begging outside the county city!"