After summer, there is abundant rainfall in the Jianghuai River, and the water in thousands of streams and streams in the Tongbai Mountains surges. The water in the Huaihe River in the Tongbai Mountains also suddenly surges, and it becomes even more powerful from Zhouqiao out of Tongbai Mountain.
The Huai River meanders eastward from Zhouqiao. The south bank is close to the steep Jinniuling Mountains, but the north bank is a flat river. Whenever there is a flood in the upper reaches of the Huai River, it will pour out to the north bank.
In the middle and late periods of the previous dynasty, there were decades of chaos caused by the separatist rule of feudal lords. The land of the Hehuai River was empty of ten houses. However, after the establishment of the Dai Viet dynasty, there was more than a hundred years of rest and recuperation. The population north of the Huai River became prosperous again, and the villages also became more prosperous.
It is extremely dense, with millions of people living and thriving on this land.
For more than a hundred years, the people of Zhenyang County, east of Shimen Ridge and north of the Huai River, have built embankments at the foot of the southeastern foothills of Shimen Ridge to restrict the Huai River, and built large ditches to divert water for irrigation. They have gained thousands of hectares of fertile farmland, and the population of Zhenyang County has also been extremely prosperous.
prosperity.
After landing at the ferry, Xu Huai stood on the embankment and looked around.
Preparatory work for the new city on the north bank of Zhouqiao has been completed, and the address has been selected. It is located five miles downstream from where they stand - it is an area about ten miles away from Shimen Ridge in the west and forty miles away from Qingyi Ridge Yingcheng.
It is a rare highland surrounded by low hills to the north of Huai River and east of Shimen Ridge.
Although this highland is only four or five feet higher than the surrounding low-lying areas, if the new city is built there, at least there is no need to worry about the breach of the levee on the north bank and the flooding of the Huaihe River.
At present, the embankment on the north bank of the Huaihe River extending from Shimenling is quite strong, but it has been repaired and maintained by the people on the north bank for more than a hundred years. Even if there is a danger, the villages near the embankment will be the first to rescue and maintain it.
However, after the north bank of the Huaihe River becomes a buffer zone for war, there will no longer be enough manpower and material resources to repair and maintain the embankment. When the water level of the Huaihe River rises again in summer and autumn, any inadvertent small gap will quickly cause the embankment to be destroyed.
It was pulled apart, causing huge floods on the north shore.
In addition to eroding fertile farmland, floods will also silt up ditches and make the inside and outside of embankments more vulnerable to flooding.
This is also called "a embankment of a thousand miles is destroyed by an ant nest".
Xu Huai and the others got up late, and Liu Qiong'er had to freshen up. It was almost noon when they took the boat to the north bank. There was smoke from the nearby villages, and there were many farmers working in the fields. The atmosphere was peaceful and peaceful, and it was unbearable.
Too much fighting spirit.
"The order to strengthen the walls and clear the country has been issued for a long time, but these villagers are very stubborn. Not many of them are willing to move south. It's really hard to see the coffin without crying!" Tang Tiande gritted his teeth and said in anger when he saw this scene.
To the east of Qingyi Ridge and to the north of Huai River, the Chushan Camp (Shenzhou) has issued orders to clear the countryside, but at present, Tang Tiande, who serves in the Changshiyuan (Prefecture Yuan), leads the officers and travels around the countryside to issue new orders.
However, the enemy troops have not yet invaded the north bank of Ru River on a large scale, and the people in Queshan, Zhenyang, and Xincai counties have not felt a direct and urgent threat, and the vast majority of people are unwilling to evacuate south.
People today still regard land as their foundation.
Even in the current era of serious land annexation, most people are considered tenants, but they still feel that they have enough security only by standing on the land they cultivate.
These days, if there were no swords and guns to the neck, how many people would resolutely leave their homes and become refugees and refugees where even their livelihood is in question and they may die on the road at any time?
From the year before to this time, the people who continued to move south were mainly people from Chenzhou, north of Xuzhou and other places, who were directly severely harmed by the southward invasion of the Japanese soldiers, and were frightened by the brutal and bloody Chihu people.
Xu Huai went to Xiangyang for nearly twenty days in order to prepare for Emperor Jian's accession to the throne, and then returned to Chushan and stayed in Huaidu for more than ten days. During this period, there was still not much progress in clearing the country on the north bank of the Huai River. Tang Tiande was very impressed.
frustration.
After finally catching Xu Huai and returning to Zhouqiao, Tang Tiande suggested sending troops to drive them away, saying: "It is impossible for these villagers to leave without using troops and horses to drive them away!"
"After the people all retreated south, wouldn't it be a pity to leave these fields deserted?" Shi Zhen took over and asked.
There are about 20,000 hectares of fertile land in the three counties of Queshan, Xincai and Zhenyang. Who would be willing to let so much fertile land fall into disrepair?
"It is of course a pity that it is deserted, but we can organize manpower to attach to the military camp and carry out farming; it can also make up for the lack of military use." Tang Tiande said.
"These fields are owned by owners. Even the tenants, most of them have been cultivating these fields for generations. We sent troops to forcibly drive away the people, and then sent people to farm the fields. How would others speculate on the commander-in-chief?" Shi Zhen said slowly and leisurely.
"Are they praising Commander-in-Chief for being compassionate and caring for the people, or are they going to Xiangyang to complain, saying that Commander-in-Chief has forcibly taken away people's fields?"
"..." Tang Tiande was slightly startled. He really hadn't considered the subtle differences here.
"If we really want the people of the three counties to evacuate south, we can only wait until the Japanese troops approach Rushui," Shi Zhen sighed. "Even so, some people in Xiangyang will still accuse Commander Jie of allowing the enemy to seize farmland, let alone us.
We directly sent out troops to drive them away..."
"..." In his early years, Tang Tiande spent time in the countryside, as a township secretary, and after the banditry in Tongbai Mountain, he went to Biyang to work as a housekeeper for a period of time, and then came here again after Chushan was established as a county.
The changes in the country made him dizzy. He was promoted to serve in the state court. He thought that his horizons had broadened in the past two years. How could he have imagined that there were so many twists and turns?
"Yue Hailou has gone to Xuzhou at this time, but it is impossible for him to attack Xiangcheng from Xuzhou. It is impossible for him to have no scruples about us in Xuzhou, on the flank of Xiangcheng!" Xu Huai said, "He should be very quick.
They will move to Chenzhou and use their military force to overwhelm Ru River - we still need to overcome the difficulties as soon as possible and build pontoon bridges at the mouth of Shixi River and Zhouqiao. When the Japanese soldiers advance into Ru River and hundreds of thousands of people in the three counties rush south, they will not be trapped.
The Huai River blocks the way."
"Xinyang has requisitioned more than 200 boats, and pontoons can be erected at any time if necessary!" Shi Zhen said.
"It's better for Mr. Shi to be in charge of the prefecture, so I can have some leisure time!" Xu Huai said with a smile.
This is not a perfunctory boast. It is true that after Shi Zhen went south, no matter how tight the money and food supply in Chushan was, everything was arranged in an orderly manner, and Xu Huai did not need to worry about the documents. As for the military training and other matters, Xu Wuqi, Chen Zixiao,
Tang Pan, Xu Xin'an, Wang Xian and others took care of it, but Xu Huai was really much more relaxed.
At this moment, everyone was discussing the construction of the new city on the north bank.
In terms of construction, Yu Chengzhen is a master of the world.
Chushan's financial resources are currently extremely stretched. At first, it could only build a small city with a depth of more than 500 steps for garrison use. Now the foundation of the city wall has been cleared, and thousands of stones have been mined from the mountains upstream of Shixi River. It is being selected for the new city.
The newly built trestle pier on the south side of the site was moved and unloaded.
In the new city, strips of stone were used as the foundation of the city wall. After autumn, when the weather was clear and dry and there was not much rain, soil was mixed with lime and chopped grass clippings, and the soil was compacted layer by layer.
Rammed earth walls were built using the block-building method at that time, and their sturdiness was not too bad. Although they could not withstand rain and flooding for a long time, it did not affect the short-term garrison use.
As for how to build the future outer city, that is, the real new city, Yu Chengzhen also had ideas, but everything had to be finalized by Xu Huai.
The new city is the second large-scale military fortress built by Chushan on the north bank of the Huai River after the Qingyi Ridge Camp. It will also serve as the military and political center of the Chushan Camp (Shenzhou) in the future.
In addition to ensuring the defense needs of the city, it is also necessary to take into account the surrounding villages, causeways, bridges, pontoons and even naval camps. Obviously, you cannot simply build a square city fortress on the north bank of the Huai River and it will be considered qualified.
The inner city built in the first step is mainly to ensure that there will be enough space in the future. It is enough to build many government offices reasonably, which is the simplest.
Xu Huai took the sketch and discussed the plan of the new city with Yu Chengzhen and Shi Zhen. He also asked Shi Zhen to pass the sketch to Qingyi Ridge, Xinyang, Luoshan, Huaiyuan and other cities to consult Chen Zixiao, Xu Xin'an, Tang Pan, Wang Xian
others’ opinions.
Xu Huai's current main military and political affairs will be arranged to consult Tang Pan, Xu Xin'an, Wang Xian and other princes of Yu, the military officers of the camp, and the main officials of Chushan and Xinyang counties. On the one hand, he will brainstorm ideas, and on the other hand, let the core personnel go deep
Participating in the decision-making of military and political affairs is conducive to the growth of everyone.
At present, Xu Huai, in addition to the army, also requires the business, prefecture and county offices and even the township bureaus to cultivate this kind of atmosphere and break the traditional strict hierarchy as much as possible.
At this time, several fast horses were galloping from the north, hundreds of steps away from the embankment. Seeing that the perimeter of the embankment was heavily guarded, they stopped their horses and asked, "We are the messenger from Shangcai. Can Jingsheng Hou Xu Huai be in front of the army?"
Shi Hu rode up to meet the messenger, verified his identity, and brought him to the embankment.
The messenger reported: "I am following the orders of General Yang Lin and reporting to Marquis Jingsheng that the enemies of Xuzhou have left Xuzhou City a few days ago and are marching eastward along the north bank of Yingshui River. They seem to be heading towards Chenzhou..."
"After all, it is impossible for Yue Hailou to attack Xiangcheng by exposing his flanks in front of Tianxiong's army and Zuo Xiaosheng's army!" Shi Zhen said.
"The Huai River has surged, Ying River, Ru River has flooded with water since summer, and Yue Hai Tower has moved his troops to Chenzhou. Can he still forcefully cross the Ying River and go north at this time? He won't let me take advantage of this," Xu Huaihua
He waved his hand and said to the messenger, "Go back and inform General Yang Lin that I know the enemy's movements..."
