At midnight on October 18th, the twelfth year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhen put aside all the affairs in Songshan City, took most of the troops from the advance camp for the Eastern Expedition, and took the fleet of Yuan Jin, Qiu Zhenhai, Yu Liangtai, and Yan Shengsan.

Facing the biting west wind, we set sail and sailed into Liaodong Bay towards Changxing Island on the other side.

Behind him, Yang Chaojin, the minister in charge of overseeing the army, who had written the report overnight, also sent out his troops, took various customs clearance documents, and left the city to the south early in the morning.

Yang Zhen's plan to offer prisoners to the capital is also in line with Yang Chaojin's thoughts. He has been in Songshan City as a supervisory minister for several months, and he also needs to make some noise to prove his ability and prove that the emperor is not wrong about the person.

Traveling south with the messenger sent by Yang Chaojin, there were Fang Guangchen, a consultant from Songshan General Military Mansion, and Jin Shijun, a garrison officer from Yang Zhenzheng's advance camp to the east.

There was of course a reason why Fang Guangchen did not follow Yang Zhen on the expedition, but left Songshan and returned to Ningyuan City.

One is that Yang Zhen entrusted Fang Guangchen to report in detail to Fang Yizao, the governor of Liaodong in Ningyuan City, about the successive victories of the advance battalion in the eastern expedition. He hoped that through Fang Yizao, he could persuade Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, to ask him to facilitate Yang Zhen to go to the capital to offer sacrifices.

The matter of capture.

The other is that not long ago, the Manchu Tatars attacked Ningyuan City. Jin Guofeng, the commander-in-chief of the Ningyuan regiment, led his troops in the battle and unfortunately died in the battle. If something like this happened, Fang Yizao, as the highest official in the city at the time, was afraid that he would inevitably be killed.

If you follow the situation, you need to prepare countermeasures in advance.

In the original history, Fang Yizao's position as governor of Liaodong was dismissed by Emperor Chongzhen because of this incident, and he fell sadly.

In this life, the situation is slightly different. For example, Songshan Commander-in-Chief Yang Zhen, who also belonged to Fang Yizao, fought several victorious battles after the death of Ningyuan Commander-in-Chief Jin Guofeng.

However, can these victories achieved by Yang Zhen change Fang Yizao's fate of being dismissed from office in history? It is not easy to say? The key lies in how to go about it.

In view of this, Fang Guangchen not only has to return to Ningyuan City, but also rushes to the capital as appropriate to meet with important people in the court on behalf of his father Fang Yizao.

As for Jin Shijun? Needless to say? After confirming that the Manchu Tatars had withdrawn their troops, they had asked Yang Zhen for a long leave, and were going to Ningyuan City to collect the remains of Jin Guofeng, Jin Shijie and his son, and prepare to return with the coffins of his father and his brother.

Buried in Xuan Mansion.

Of course, Yang Zhen fully agrees with this matter.

Couldn't change Jin Guofeng's fate? While he felt regretful, he also felt somewhat guilty? Faced with Jin Shijun's request, he certainly couldn't refuse.

So, Yang Zhen not only immediately approved Jin Shijun's long vacation, but also asked Zhang Degui to allocate him a sum of gold, silver, supplies, carriages, and manpower, and asked him to lead the team of Jin family servants that Jin Guofeng had left in Songshan City together.

He rushed to Ningyuan to deal with the aftermath.

As for all the affairs behind Songshan? Yang Zhen simply became the boss and made it clear before leaving - Xia Chengde will be responsible for city repairs, Zhang Degui will be responsible for ammunition manufacturing, and Zu Keyong will be responsible for the defense of Rufenggang and Xiaohongluoshan.

If there is a major issue that the three of them cannot resolve, Yang Chao, the supervisor of the army, will take charge of the matter.

Yang Zhen himself led more than 200 large and small ships and more than 3,000 men of various types. At midnight on the same day, he set off from the sea outside Songshan. Under the guidance of Yu Liangtai, Yu Haichao's uncle and nephew, he set sail and steered across the sea.

Liaohai, heading to the southeast.

Sailing on the sea, bumpy with wind and waves, is unspeakably miserable, but fortunately, Yang Zhen and others have experienced this kind of thing not once but twice, and they know that they are safe, so they can grit their teeth and bear it.

However, they said that after sailing with favorable wind for a whole day and night on the sea, they finally arrived at the northwest sea of ​​Changxing Island in Fuzhou Bay around 4:00 the next morning.

The two sides of Liaodong Bay, which had been gloomy for many days, also received a very rare good weather on this day. The morning fog dispersed early. Around 4 o'clock, the weather became warm and the sun suddenly became brighter.

When Yang Zhen's Juehua Island Navy's No. 1 ship arrived, Yu Liangtai, Yu Haichao's uncle and nephew had already taken the boat to Daqian Station on Changxing Island.

Not long after Yang Zhen led the rear team to arrive at the northwest sea of ​​Changxing Island, near noon, the Yu family's uncle and nephew took Hu Changhai, Gao Chengyou and Hu Dabao, whom they had not seen for a long time, by boat to see them.

"Hu Changhai, the guerrilla general of Fuzhou Bay, a humble official, pays homage to the Governor!"

"Gao Chengyou, who serves as the garrison of Jinzhou Bay, pays homage to the governor!"

"I am humble enough to march to the east of Gaizhou Bay to guard Hu Dabao and pay my respects to the Commander-in-Chief!"

Hu Changhai, Gao Chengyou, and Hu Dabao boarded Yang Zhen's boat moored at sea. They saw Yang Zhen standing in the wind on the deck from a distance. They quickly walked forward in small steps and quickly arrived a few steps away from Yang Zhen.

Kneel down and pay homage.

Only about half a year later, when everyone met again, the situation was already very different from the past. Hu Changhai, Gao Chengyou, Hu Dabao and others had lost their bargaining power in front of Yang Zhen.

If Yang Zhen doesn't come to support them, they may not be able to survive this winter in this area.

Because of this, the imperial titles that Yang Zhen once used to recruit them, but were discarded by them like worn-out shoes, were now picked up by them and began to be regarded as treasures.

Especially for Hu Changhai and Gao Chengyou, the official reports from the Ministry of War handed down by the imperial court have not yet come down, but in front of Yang Zhen, they have already begun to claim their humble positions according to the status Yang Zhen promised them.

Hu Changhai followed the promise given to him by Yang Zhen and called himself Fuzhou Bay Guerrilla General.

Gao Chengyou, in accordance with Yang Zhen's original promise, claimed to be the defender of Jinzhou Bay.

It's just that the two of them knew that they had not received the official complaint document from the Ministry of War of the imperial court, and their confidence was not that strong. After kneeling in front of Yang Zhen and announcing their identities, they kept observing Yang Zhen's face.

Fortunately, Yang Zhen is determined to establish a long-term foothold in this area, so his intention to recruit and win over them has not changed.

At that moment, when Yang Zhen saw Hu Changhai, Gao Chengyou and others boarding the ship to pay homage in person, and upon meeting him, they knelt down and professed their humble position. He was also happy in his heart and said to them with a smile:

"Hey, we are all members of our own family, why should [58 Novels www.58xs.info] be so open to outsiders? Please get up, please get up, please get up quickly!"

As Yang Zhen spoke, he stepped forward and helped them up one by one.

When Hu Changhai and Gao Chengyou saw Yang Zhen like this, a stone fell in their hearts. They immediately stood up, clasped their fists at Yang Zhen and said:

"The Commander-in-Chief has made a promise and will do what he says, which makes us extremely convinced. From now on, I, Hu Changhai (I, Gao Chengyou), am willing to lead my brothers and follow the Commander-in-Chief, through fire and water, to the death!"

More than a month ago, Hu Changhai and Gao Chengyou expressed their intention to surrender to Yang Zhen through Yu Haichao, but after all, they did not express it in person.

Now that Yang Zhen personally led his troops to the sea outside Changxing Island and met with them directly, the two of them naturally had to swear allegiance in front of everyone.

After the somewhat ceremonial meeting, Hu Changhai, Gao Chengyou, Hu Dabao and others accompanied Yang Zhen and his party, docked in the harbor, moored the boat and landed on the island, arriving at Hu Changhai's camp on Changxing Island.

Changxing Island is a large, approximately rectangular island, running roughly from northeast to southwest. The east and west ends are up to fifty or sixty miles long, and the north and south sides are as wide as twenty miles. The area is quite large.

The terrain of the island is higher in the northeast and lower in the southwest. The northeast is surrounded by reefs, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. The southwest is surrounded by beaches and is rich in products.

The entire island has undulating mountains from the northeast to the southwest, almost running through the entire island. There are many small plains between the mountains, with deep soil, suitable for farming. The island has lush forests and freshwater rivers, which can station a certain size of army and establish a long-term foothold.

Hu Changhai, Gao Chengyou and others were originally scattered on different islands, but in order to cope with the Tatar suppression and not to be defeated individually, they are now stationed together on Changxing Island.

Hu Changhai led his troops to camp in the north, and Gao Chengyou led his troops to camp in the south. They were all located on the east side of Changxing Island, backed by mountains and facing the coast between Fuzhou and Jinzhou.

There is only a narrow bay running north to south between them and the coast at the southern end of the opposite peninsula. The bay is very long from north to south, but the width from east to west is only a few miles.

Normally, this bay is a natural danger and cannot be crossed without a large number of warships. However, in winter, once the ice freezes, the Tatar horse infantry can step onto the ice to land on the island.

In the past, they were just pirates, scattered and hidden among these islands, making a living by fishing and farming, and plundering passing ships, without attracting the attention of the Tatars.

At that time, they did not attack the Manchu Tatars, and the Manchu Tatars did not bother to wipe them out. It can be said that there was no conflict between the two sides, which allowed them to survive on these islands and survive one after another.

A winter.

But now, the situation is different. They followed Yang Zhen and broke through Xuguan Fort, Xiongyue City, and Gaizhou City, which aroused the high vigilance of the Tatars.

If Yang Zhen doesn't come to support them this time, they may not survive the winter on Changxing Island.
Chapter completed!