On Salmon 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 imperial 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 level five must stay on the island!
Even if the Jin Kingdom is destroyed, there will be a wider world in the future, and there will be places for them to show their talents overseas.
In the future, policies will be introduced whereby, 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. You must leave some room for them to vent.
Therefore, they were allowed to drink and gamble in the camp for an hour after the training every day.
But you are not allowed to cause trouble, and you will be severely punished if you have a private fight.
You are not allowed to violate the prohibition outside the prescribed time, let alone do these things during the march and combat. Also, you are not allowed to borrow money for gambling, and 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 actually regretted the marriage after passing the Jinshi examination. He looked down on their merchant family and married instead
The daughter of a noble gentry from the same town.
The development of things here is purely ordinary, and 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.
This kind of lawsuit could not be fought, so Xia Yuqing was furious and killed the father of the man the scholar had married.
Fortunately, the Xia family was in business and had money to atone for his sins and avoid death. They also spent money wildly to bribe officials and commuted his sentence to exile in Hebei Province. As long as he spent more money, his sentence could be commuted 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, bribed Dengzhou officials, and promised to give money every year. As long as they received a personal letter from their son in the first month of each year, they would definitely use money again that summer.
In this way, Xia Yuqing survived on Salmon Island.
Wonderful days have just begun!
As the peasant army rioted 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 eat the meat of the starving dead, so they began to slaughter prisoners for human flesh. The prisoners were forced into a collective riot, and they also called the islanders, killing hundreds of officers and soldiers on the island.
net.
Officers and soldiers are also human beings, and they have meat even if they are killed.
There were more than 800 officers and soldiers, more than 1,000 islanders, and more than 4,000 criminals. After half a year, only 2,000 people were still alive.
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 set of equipment, and the rest all used sticks as weapons.
They gathered together every night to take precautions. Sometimes they also took the initiative to attack. Xia Yuqing was responsible for formulating the attack plan. After killing people, they would immediately share them to fill their stomachs.
At that time, there was no innocent person on Salman 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. People seem to have forgotten that terrible past. But everyone has retained a habit, that is, eating, pooping, and sleeping with weapons in their hands.
I can't sleep without holding anything on.
"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, what rank will the first batch of meritorious officers be promoted to? Captain
.There will be a second batch and a 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 whether it is more interesting to recharge your batteries and kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds."
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 naval ships from 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 had 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 Jin Kingdom's Jiangnan navy came to meet us.
The Kingdom of Jin did not pay attention to the navy at all, and the treatment of these Jiangnan naval forces was extremely poor. They no longer built new warships, but only old antique warships. Many warships even had water leakage but were not repaired.
The distance between the two sides was still outside the artillery range, so the Jin Navy simply fled.
Just kidding, who wants to fight a naval battle where defeat is inevitable?
The Kingdom of Jin moved the Jiangnan Navy garrison from Jinzhou to the vicinity of the seaside salt field. At the commander-in-chief Zhao Lichen's order, the navy rushed into the port and bombarded it, then fired thunder cannons and rockets, setting fire to the buildings of the Jin Kingdom's naval garrison.
Immediately, the army chose a suitable place to land in the salt field, the infantry established basic defensive positions, and the cavalry all dispersed to look out.
"Brothers, we are robbing each other of salt, money, and women!"
"Kill!"
The salt fields were not concentrated in one place, but were distributed for more than ten miles along the coast. The landing points of Ming soldiers were also divided into more than ten places. If it was not conducive for large ships to dock, they would row 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 formations. It is still basically a mandarin duck formation, but they no longer use wolf soldiers and giant shields. The wolf soldiers are changed to archers, and the rattan players are changed to spearmen. In the future, fire fighters will be added.
Gunner.
Xia Yuqing is now the corps commander and the highest officer among the cannibal demons.
They trotted with weapons in hand, but kept their distance, and could form formations at any time when they encountered enemies.
Not long after, a cavalryman who was a horse bandit ran over and shouted: "There is a salt boiling factory ahead. My brother is on horseback to stop the salt workers and prevent them from escaping at will. You go there quickly!"
"Grab the salt!"
The demons cheered.
Xia Yuqing quickly followed the team to their destination, where there were more than a dozen cavalrymen intercepting the salt workers who were trying to escape. They were usually scared back, but if they really wanted to run away, they would rush forward and kill them directly.
The salt workers were driven into a gathering, where they knelt and trembled.
Xia Yuqing gave his 100-man general an idea: "Divide these salt workers into twenty groups, and let us guard one group at a time. Invite the Ma Jun brothers to burn down the houses, and don't want any extravagance, but only take away the salt!"
"good idea!"
These bastards immediately divided the work and ordered the salt workers to quickly carry salt to the landing point.
The cavalry lit torches and ran wildly, burning houses whenever they saw them and lighting anything that could burn. They even rushed to nearby villages, burning houses whenever they saw them and arresting young men, women and children whenever they saw them.
As for the elderly, they can be left to the Kingdom of Jin.
If anyone dared to resist, or tried to escape more than twice, he would rush forward and chop him with a knife.
There were blazing fires everywhere, accompanied by the cries of young adults and children.
This sea salt field, which ranked second in the Jin Kingdom, is basically abandoned. Even if people migrate here again, they may not be able to cook salt.
"Woooooooo~~~"
A horn sounded in the distance, probably indicating that the golden soldiers had been spotted.
The cavalry roared at the people of the Jin Kingdom: "Go to the beach immediately. If anyone dares to run away, we will not leave anyone behind until we come back!"
After speaking, they gathered in the direction where the horn sounded.
Xia Yuqing sped up action, urging the salt workers to move the salt quickly, deliberately dilly-dallying and stabbing him to death.
The enemies who came after hearing the news were the troops stationed in Haibin County of the Kingdom of Jin.
The number is not large, because the Jin Kingdom did not regard this place as a front line. There are only twenty or thirty real Jurchen soldiers, and the remaining hundreds are Han soldiers.
Dozens of Shandong cavalry came up to harass and delay. As time went by, more and more cavalry gathered.
These guys were all horse bandits. They didn't want to rush forward and fight head-on. They just circled and shot arrows repeatedly, and immediately distanced themselves as they got closer.
Gradually, the Jin soldiers were led to Zhao Li's seaside infantry formation (only a thousand soldiers).
"You lead the infantry to charge!"
After Zhao Li finished speaking to Song Jiang, he immediately rode his horse to join the cavalry and shouted angrily: "The enemy is going to be attracted here, don't you know how to kill them directly? Follow me and charge, and destroy the enemy cavalry first!"
This guy who was shot like a hedgehog every time he fought, led the cavalry charge without saying a word.
Song Jiang muttered: "Madman! Grandpa was not so desperate when he rebelled."
Li Kui's eyes flashed and he said: "Brother, I also want to be a cavalryman. It's so fun to charge!"
The troops stationed in Haibin County, even Jurchen soldiers, are second-line troops.
Seeing Song Jiang leading the infantry in formation, Zhao Li led hundreds of cavalry to charge forward. More than twenty Jurchen cavalry immediately fled, and hundreds of Jin Han infantry were abandoned.
These Jurchen cavalry did not understand the situation and did not know how many enemies were coming. They were lured here by the Shandong cavalry. They felt that they had been ambushed and planned to go back to defend the county seat immediately, and asked the chief official of Haibin to issue a militia to defend the city.
As soon as the Jurchen cavalry left, hundreds of Han infantry also ran away. They were still confused until now, and they didn't understand why there were suddenly enemies in the rear.
The last cross-sea battle of the Song Dynasty was ten years ago, and it was a small force attacking elsewhere.
The military and civilians here seem to have forgotten that there is such a thing as a cross-sea war.
Zhao Li took the lead, and the Shandong bandits and cavalry behind him were also inspired by their general to fight high. When they rushed closer, hundreds of Jin Han soldiers collapsed, and some even knelt down and surrendered.
"Those who surrender, carry the soldiers away, and kill all those who are still running!" After Zhao Li gave the order, he rushed out and hacked again.
The Ming Dynasty's army left as quickly as it came.
In just three days, the salt, people, and livestock were taken away, and the seaside salt field that stretched for more than ten miles was turned into a wasteland. Everything that could be burned was burned, not only the houses, but also the firewood stored in the salt field.
However, Haibin County was so frightened that they frantically recruited militiamen to defend the city. At the same time, they quickly requested elite troops to come for support.
The nearest 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 various salt fields.
Zhao Li returned to Dengzhou with the trophies. He was very satisfied with the results of the trip and called Song Jiang, Shi Huan and others: "We must be prepared for those salt fields in the Jin Kingdom. Let's avoid the salt fields and go to plunder the coast.
Villages, snatch away the young men and children there, and then burn down all the houses, leaving only the old people in the Kingdom of Jin, and let these old people go begging outside the prefectures and counties!"
