The setting sun shines on the rippling lake, illuminating the dozens of corpses and broken oars floating in the lake. The bright red blood has long been spread by the lake without leaving a trace.
Xu Huai stood on the bow of the large-wing ship and looked at the water battlefield that had ended.
In the distance of the field of vision, dozens of pirate ships were scuttling into the reed swamps in the distance. Many of the pirate ships were still burning after being splashed with kerosene, and the fire was faintly flashing in the rising black smoke. The pirate army was in full swing.
The eight-legged one took a ladle and poured water on the fire.
"In front of you is the Tiger Mouth. This waterway is like a big trumpet inside and outside. During the flood season, the Jingjiang River surges out and waves surge like a large group of wild tigers. The locals call it the Tiger Mouth.
, or tiger's den,"
Zhou Jing, who has visited the front line many times, pointed to the trumpet-shaped waterway in front of the warship, and introduced the nearby terrain and water conditions to Xu Huai, Han Gui, Tang Pan and others who had visited the battlefield to see the terrain.
"Going out from Huxiakou and crossing the vast Jingjiang River for more than ten miles, you will reach Chishan Bay, the home of Chishan Village. Huxiakou can be said to be the northern gate of Chishan Village. Hu Dangzhou was on the sandy land west of Huxiakou the year before last.
The Tiger Village was built to control the left and right sides, and many wooden stakes were laid inside and outside the Tiger's Mouth. A number of boats and boats were carried with rocks and sank to the bottom of the water. The area around the Tiger's Mouth was made like a fascination array, leaving only a narrow strip.
The winding water channel allows their boats to pass through. Now the water has risen, and the wooden piles and sunken ships are submerged under the water. We have lost a lot of men, boats, and have not yet figured out the water channel - this does not rule out floods.
After arriving, there will be repeated attacks, and there will be many changes. If our army really wants to rush into Jingjiang from the tiger's mouth, the Tiger Village must be captured..."
They were quite far away from Laohu Village at this time and could only take a rough look. Even if the water was rising now, the large-winged ship could not enter or exit as they pleased in Sangchi Lake.
The large-wing ship is currently the largest and most well-equipped warship used by the Nancai Navy to enter Sangchi Lake.
The warship is twelve feet long from front to back. In addition to the two masts that can be hung with sails to ride the wind, there are also eighteen holes in the sides of the ship. During water battles, seventy-two sailors can row thirty-six
A large oar was used to steer the ship; armored parapets were built on the sides of the ship. Five feet inward from the parapet, there was a second parapet and a war tent. The war tent was two feet wide and six feet long, and could hide fifty or sixty people.
For soldiers, there is also a parapet on the top of the war shed, and war weapons such as bed crossbows and whirlwind crossbows are placed on the top of the shed.
A large-winged ship has a total of 200 people, including sailors, shipwrights, and sailors.
Xu Huai knew that Zhou Jing and others would not allow him to transfer to a red horse boat to approach and observe the enemy's stronghold. After looking at the enemy's stronghold for a while, he nodded and signaled to return.
After the Nancai navy entered Sangchi Lake, the former army led by Fan Zongqi also built a camp on the west bank of Sangchi Lake.
Returning to the camp on the west bank of Sangchi Lake, Fan Zongqi, the deputy commander of the rear army who had been in charge of the Sangchi Lake battlefield, Han Qihu, the third commander of the rear army, and the naval commander Zhou Quan reported to Xu Huai the battle plan to storm Laohuzhai.
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After entering April, the water level of Jingjiang River and Han River has risen, and the passage approaching Laohuzhai from the area facing the river in the west has also been submerged; Laohuzhai is surrounded by water, and there is only a circle of shoals outside the village, leaving little room for troops to deploy.
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If you want to launch a strong attack on Laohuzhai from the direction of Sangchi Lake, it will be difficult for all the generals to stand on the narrow shoal in front of Laohuzhai after landing. They need to break through and enter Laohuzhai in one go.
Once the attack fails, the generals who landed will not have the opportunity to retreat calmly, and unpredictable tragic casualties will inevitably occur.
In the past three or four months, Fan Zongqi and others have continuously launched small-scale water battles in the waters of Sangchi Lake. In addition to expelling many groups of bandits from Sangchi Lake and nearby areas, they also changed the terrain and water conditions near Laohuzhai.
After figuring everything out, a detailed offensive plan was drawn up from the Sangchi Lake side.
Of course, there is a more reliable plan, that is, Dongzhou Village accepts the recruitment immediately. They can have Shi Xiong's naval force stationed near Changlin Town cross Bailu Lake and go south into Jingjiang from the waterway controlled by Dongzhou Village, and at the same time, from
Launch a surprise attack on Laohuzhai from the south.
Laohuzhai is closer to the Jingjiang River. After the water level in the Jingjiang River rose in April, part of the Laohuzhai was submerged in the river and became a veritable water village.
A part of the naval force launched a surprise attack directly from the Jingjiang River. In addition to catching the rebels even more unprepared, the cyclone cannons installed on the warships could also throw kerosene cans directly into the enemy's stronghold.
When the time comes, they will attack Laohuzhai from the north and south. If they are unable to capture the village in one fell swoop, which is located on the outskirts of the Chishan Army and has only a thousand defenders, Fan Zongqi will have no shame in being the deputy commander.
Faced with the battle plan drawn up by the former army, Xu Huai did not give a clear reply, so he returned to Changlin Camp overnight, surrounded by Wang Ju, Tang Pan, Zhou Jing, Han Gui, Wu Chihai, Shi Hu and others.
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Xu Wujiang, accompanied by Shi Zhen, Xu Wuqi, Su Laochang, Pan Chenghu, Guo Junpan, Fan Yong and others, have also arrived at Changlin Camp today and are waiting for Xu Huai's return.
Xu Huai has been in charge of Jingbei for a period of time. The line is in charge of Shi Zhen, Xu Wuqi, Su Laochang, Pan Chenghu, Guo Junpan, Fan Yong and others, while the three major lines of defense are headed by Chen Zixiao and Wang Xian respectively.
And Xu Xin'an, who actually succeeded Xu Wuqi as commander of the left army, was in charge.
In addition to Liu Qiong'er, Wang Xuan came to meet with Xu Huai every once in a while. At this time, Ruying and other rivers were also entering the flood season. Xu Huai then summoned Shi Zhen, Xu Wiqi, Su Laochang and others.
Come to Jingbei to discuss follow-up measures.
It was almost early in the morning when Xu Huai returned to Changlin Camp. After two hours of hasty sleep, he got up to meet everyone.
The place where Xu Huai handled military affairs and lived was the house left by a wealthy gentry in Changlin Town who fled with his family. It was a garden-style building that was quite luxurious and spacious. The study hall was a second-floor building facing a small lake.
Storey wooden building.
In mid-April in Jingbei, the weather was warm and mild. Everyone was wearing robes and sitting in a wooden building with windows on the four walls, letting the breeze blow, which was a pleasant feeling.
Xu Wujiang first introduced the Nancai Recruitment Division's recent resettlement of refugees.
After the beginning of spring, the grass and trees along Dongting Lake and Jingjiang River become lush. For ordinary people, they may consider how to survive the spring famine. However, for the hungry people, it is the season with the most abundant food sources in the year. At the same time, due to Sun Yanzhou and Hu Dangzhou
As the rebels secretly strengthened their control, the number of refugees passing through Bailu Lake and seeking refuge in Beijing dropped sharply.
Of course, this aspect also alleviated the pressure on the Nancai Recruitment Department to resettle the refugees.
As of mid-April, the Nancai Recruitment Division had not only relocated 80,000 people from Nancai, Qiao County to relieve the land pressure in Nancai County, but also recruited a total of 250,000 hungry people from the Dongting Lake and Jingjiang River coasts.
Due to the extreme physical weakness of these hungry people, a total of more than 40,000 people died due to various reasons.
In addition to Jingbei Changyan and Zhangfan Xinhe, river channels were excavated and repaired before mid-April, with a total of more than 200 miles of horizontal canals, further strengthening Jingbei's ability to withstand floods, and more than 220 new villages were built.
Although it is not yet possible to say that the floods in Jingbei have been completely eradicated at this time, and the vast majority of the hungry people in Beitou still need five or six people to live in a shack, the most difficult moment has been passed, and there will still be no floods before mid-April.
A total of 300,000 grain fields have been reclaimed and cultivated. Even a batch of grain fields cultivated last autumn will soon be harvested to make up for part of the grain shortage.
The more than 300,000 new residents in Jingbei are mainly young and strong men and women.
In addition to the more than 10,000 soldiers who were incorporated into the Nancai Recruitment Division - the civilian households who moved from Nancai in Qiao County to northern Jingzhou, they were also mainly composed of generals and soldiers who were incorporated into the rear army and the Nancai Navy. After moving to northern Jingbei,
Directly rationing land—among the more than 300,000 new residents in Jingbei, there are as many as 100,000 young and strong men.
These young and strong men were all the old, weak, sick and disabled who had been abandoned by the Dongjing Allied Forces. After experiencing the training in winter and spring, although many of them failed to survive, most of those who survived recovered.
Xu Huai organized 100,000 young and strong men into the largest supply chain under the Chushan camp, and established three inspection departments in Zhangshan, Fantai, and Changlin, twelve inspection departments, and two hundred inspection departments.
Twenty-one villages were responsible for training, farming and other matters. Shi Zhen's eldest son Shi Xun, Xu Xin and Ji Zhongtang were appointed as the capital's inspection envoys. They were temporarily under the jurisdiction of Nancai's recruitment department and reported to Xu Wujiang.
Xu Huai also left Xu Pang and Su Mi to Xu Wujiang to assist in the training of the supply troops - Xu Huai asked them to select Jian Rui during the training of the supply soldiers and form an elite division that they could command like an arm.
Go to the battlefield instead of handing ready-made elites to their command.
In addition, Dongzhou Village has really expanded in the past six months, recruiting more than 100,000 people, as many as 40,000 young men, and more than 8,000 soldiers and horses.
In addition to Zhao Shan and Liu Fujin, Jiang Ping also led a group of generals to join Dongzhou Village in the name of surrender. Jiang Ang and others also cooperated very well in promoting these generals to military officials at all levels and in charge of the troops in Dongzhou Village.
training etc.
In fact, after achieving this step, even if the Dongjing bandit army did not accept the recruitment, it would not be able to pose a threat to Jingbei; even if Sun Yanzhou, Hu Dangzhou and other bandit generals led their direct troops to surrender to Ge Boyi, the court would not be able to force them to do so.
Chushan withdrew from Jingxiang.
However, Xu Huai formally submitted a petition in early March, requesting that Nanyang, Jingbei and Xiangyang be placed under the jurisdiction of the Chushan camp in order to better resist the enemies in the west of Beijing and Heluo, but the court still did not reply.
"The main cavalry force of the Red Guards stranded near Yanshan and Yinshan Mountains will go south again as early as autumn, which means that the Dongjing banditry must be completely eliminated before winter, and Sun Yanzhou, Hu Dangzhou and others must be attacked as much as possible.
The strength of the thieves will prevent them from defecting to the imperial court first and then turning to the Red Husbands..." Shi Zhen frowned slightly and asked, "How are the arrangements here?"
Xu Huai personally informed Shi Zhen and others about Fan Zongqi's preparations and the proposed battle plan against Laohuzhai.
"Even if Sun Yanzhou, Hu Dangzhou and other bandit generals were prepared to prevent Dongzhou Village from defecting to Chushan, they never imagined that Dongzhou Village was actually under our control," Shi Zhen frowned and said, "This move finally revealed
Its true appearance is that it is only used to raid the Tiger Village where more than a thousand thieves are stationed, so it is really overkill!"
Dongzhou Village has openly accepted money and food support from Chushan since mid-September last year, and has been negotiating recruitment matters. It is not unimaginable that Jiang Ang and others finally chose to defect to Chushan, but this is not the same as Chushan has already done.
In fact, there is a huge difference in mastering the troops and horses of Dongzhou Village.
The former means that it is difficult for Chushan to trust Dongzhou Village unreservedly in a short period of time, let alone pass through the area controlled by Dongzhou Village and completely expose its belly and back to the eyes and noses of Dongzhou Village soldiers and horses to the Dongjing downstream.
Allied forces conduct a surprise attack.
Raid operations are inherently military adventures. Generally speaking, it is necessary to reduce all kinds of unexpected and uncontrollable factors as much as possible to have the possibility of success.
Chushan has actually mastered the troops and horses of Dongzhou Village, and the surprise soldiers are coming out of the area controlled by Dongzhou Village, which means that Dongzhou Village is no longer an uncontrollable factor, and may even be the reinforcements of surprise soldiers.
"You also think that Dongzhou Village's move is a bit overkill because of the storming of Tiger Village," Xu Huai said with a smile, "Then let's take Chishan Bay this time! Sun Yanzhou's home base is still too far away, and there is a gap in the middle.
There are too many water village forces, let’s spare them this time!”
