I was living at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and I dealt a brutal blow to the Eight Banners!

When leaving the city,

The thousand elite troops that Ma Shaoyu had invested in were already waiting for him outside the city. They were fully armed and armored, and their morale was high; they could indeed be called elite troops.

The leader was a burly man with a rugged face, clearly the appearance of a fierce general.

"This humble servant, Wu Guozhong, pays his respects to Commander Zhang!" Wu Guozhong said in a deep, muffled voice.

On the way back to Donghai Fort, Zhang Jingchuan learned from a casual conversation with Wu Guozhong that Wu Guozhong was originally a captain at the Shanhaiguan Garrison, and had risen to that position step by step from a lowly soldier.

Seeing that he was incredibly strong and skilled in riding and archery, Ma Shaoyu took a liking to him and incorporated him into his personal guard, appointing him as captain.

However, Wu Guozhong was not content to be Ma Shaoyu's "bodyguard" and was instead keen to go to the battlefield to fight against the Qing army.

Ma Shaoyu understood his thoughts, so he sent Wu Guozhong to the front lines to fight alongside Zhang Jingchuan.

As someone close to Ma Shaoyu, he had naturally heard about Zhang Jingchuan's actions and admired him sincerely.

With the help of Zhang Jingchuan's persuasive skills, Wu Guozhong became even more convinced and respectful of him. If it weren't for the connection with Ma Shaoyu, Wu Guozhong would have been eager to serve under him.

Upon returning to Donghai Fort, Zhang Jingchuan and Wu Guozhong conducted joint training with their soldiers while discussing their looting strategy.

Two days later,

With the arrival of the thirty Fujian ships brought by Zheng Zhilong, a thousand well-trained Ming soldiers began to board the ships one after another.

For this voyage, Zhang Jingchuan personally led a musketeer team of 300 men and a cavalry of 100 men, while the remaining 600 infantrymen were entrusted to Wu Guozhong.

To maximize the profits from this raid, Zheng Zhilong also brought two hundred pirates, led by his trusted general Shi Lang.

When Zheng Zhilong introduced the twenty-year-old Shi Lang to Zhang Jingchuan, Zhang Jingchuan's eyes lit up, and he carefully examined this famous naval general who helped Emperor Kangxi recover Taiwan.

Building his own navy had always been an unavoidable and important part of Zhang Jingchuan's plans, and Shi Lang's appearance made him very happy.

It seems we need to find a way to poach Shi Lang from Zheng Zhilong!

Zhang Jingchuan naturally had to personally lead the first battle in the heart of Qing territory, while the defense of Donghai Fort was entrusted to Xu Fuzou.

Xu Fuzou had served in the army for many years and was Yuan Chonghuan's deputy general. He led nearly two thousand soldiers and had the support of hundreds of cannons, so defending Donghai Fort was not a problem.

As the sun gradually rose from the east, its rays gently sprinkled on the sea, the golden light reflecting off the shimmering surface, captivating Zhang Jingchuan on the deck.

Even now, Zhang Jingchuan has been on edge ever since he transmigrated.

Seeing such a beautiful view now left him somewhat dazed.

According to the intelligence Li Ruolian gave him, the first stop was Changsheng Island in the southern part of Fuzhou Guard. The island's coastal defense commander was actually a spy of the Embroidered Uniform Guard hidden in Fuzhou Guard.

Once you make contact with that person, you can learn about the troop deployments of Fuzhou Guard and even Gaizhou Guard.

After a day and a night of sailing, they finally arrived at the waters three nautical miles west of Changsheng Island before dawn.

Although Changsheng Island is a large island, it is sparsely populated, and the residents are mostly fishermen who make a living from the sea.

The fleet was not flying the Ming Dynasty flag, so even if the fishermen of Changsheng Island saw it, they would not think it was the Ming army, but at most they would think it was a merchant ship of some company.

Of course,

The thirty Fujian ships were not together. Only the flagship carrying Zhang Jingchuan and Zheng Zhilong arrived here. The remaining twenty-nine Fujian ships were ten nautical miles away and could not be detected by the fishermen of Changsheng Island.

After waiting for about an hour,

A fishing boat came into view of Zhang Jingchuan and the others, slowly approaching them.

Zhang Jingchuan then gave Zheng Zhilong a look, and Zheng Zhilong understood, so he instructed the flag bearer to signal towards the fishing boat.

A moment later, the fishing boats in the distance responded with flag signals.

Zheng Zhilong nodded to Zhang Jingchuan, then launched a small boat and carried Zhang Jingchuan toward the fishing boat.

After boarding the fishing boat,

A dark-skinned middle-aged man looked the young man dressed as a businessman up and down, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Zhang Jingchuan smiled slightly, took out the Embroidered Uniform Guard token from his pocket, and handed it to the middle-aged man.

After the middle-aged man looked at it, his eyes lit up. He handed back the token and bowed, saying, "Tian Dahai, the commander of the Right Thousand-Household Office of Liaodong Prefecture, greets the centurion!"

"Time is of the essence, no need for formalities." Zhang Jingchuan lifted the other person's wrist.

The two did not exchange pleasantries but went straight to the point.

When Tian Dahai learned that Zhang Jingchuan wanted to know about the Qing army garrison situation in Gaizhou and Fuzhou, he was also taken aback.

But as an intelligence agent, he knew he shouldn't ask questions, so he immediately reported all the information he had gathered to Zhang Jingchuan.

Zhang Jingchuan was quite shocked by the Qing army's garrisoning in Gaizhouwei and Fuzhouwei.

It cannot be said that the Qing army's garrison in the two places was very tight; it can only be said that it was almost non-existent.

Of the two Han Chinese banners originally stationed in Gaizhouwei, one was transferred to Liaodong, leaving only the Han Chinese Plain White Banner led by Shi Tingzhu with a total of 1,800 men stationed in Gaizhouwei.

As for Fuzhou Guard, there were only two hundred or so garrison soldiers stationed there.

Zhang Jingchuan was also surprised to find that the Qing army's garrison in the heart of the territory was in such a state. Did the Ming court not consider landing the Qing army in the heart of the territory by sea?

However, when he thought of Zheng Zhilong's complaints about the Ming Dynasty's navy, he felt relieved.

After returning to his flagship, Zhang Jingchuan immediately decided to attack Fuzhouwei that night.

With Tian Dahai acting as an inside man, using his position as the coastal defense magistrate, he hosted a banquet for the battalion commander in charge of the city's defenses, getting him drunk during the meal. In this way, the two hundred city defense soldiers would be leaderless and would surely collapse at the first touch.

The main attack was led by Wu Guozhong and Shi Lang, who led 800 infantrymen and 200 pirates.

Under the night,

The moon was obscured by dark clouds.

On the sea, apart from the lights on the thirty Fujian ships, the surroundings were pitch black.

The dim light on Changsheng Island guided thirty Fujian ships to slowly approach, where small boats were lowered to transport the soldiers and pirates to the shore.

There weren't many small boats, so it took several trips.

Although it took some time, fortunately, the cover of night prevented them from being discovered by the people on the shore.

Zhang Jingchuan and Zheng Zhilong were having a drink in the cabin. After a few rounds of drinks, Zheng Zhilong started humming a folk song from his hometown.

One person hummed a tune, while the other tapped out the rhythm with chopsticks.

If it weren't for the soldiers standing outside the cabin, one would really think the two were there for leisure.

I do not know how long it has been,

A soldier came in and reported: "Sir, Fuzhou Guard has been captured!"

Upon hearing this, the drunkenness vanished from Zhang Jingchuan and Zheng Zhilong's eyes, replaced by a burning intensity.

"Quickly!" Zheng Zhilong shouted as he staggered out, "Quickly, send a ship to load the cargo!"

Zhang Jingchuan smiled slightly, picked up a crispy bean from the plate, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly.

Fuzhou Guard was merely an appetizer for Huang Taiji; his true objective was Gaizhou Guard.

Because Tong Puhan built several warehouses in Gaizhouwei to do business with Zhang Jingchuan, the mountain products, grain and supplies were piled up like mountains.

……