It was already October 14th when we returned to Yask. After more than two months and nearly ten thousand people building it, the city of Yask had begun to take shape. The two city walls in the northeast had been erected, and the city had begun to reach its full scale.
It has a rudimentary shape, but there is no way to accommodate a large army for the time being, so it can only be hastily resettled by the civilians who participated in the construction.
When Zhao Qiang arrived, Wei Ji had already led officials from all levels of the Civil Service Department and the Yask Security Team to greet Zhao Qiang outside the city. Guo Fei also led more than a dozen officials from the Military Service to meet Zhao Qiang outside the city.
Following Zhao Qiang back to Yask were He Manchuan's 3rd Infantry Regiment, Guards and Cossack Brigade, as well as captured Buryat Mongols and hundreds of young men of various ethnic groups. Together with Wei Ji, Guo Fei and others
After exchanging a few words, Zhao Qiang couldn't wait to check out the construction progress of Yask. Wei Ji was busy leading the way, leading Zhao Qiang to the completed North City.
Yask's design is not built according to the military town, but imitates the construction method of Guannei County. The difference is that the height and thickness of the city wall are double that of Guannei County. The wall is up to ten meters high, and all are made of nearby mountains and forests.
Only large-caliber heavy artillery such as the Hongyi Cannon can destroy this large stone structure. Other small artillery can't do anything against this behemoth.
There are crenels every one meter on the city wall for firing cannons and bows, and a location for artillery is reserved every 30 meters. There are three staircases at the bottom of each city wall, so that
It ensures that when the city is attacked, the defenders in the city can be dispatched in time to the direction where the defense is difficult. Moreover, there is a high platform at the interface of each city wall, from which the commander can have an overview of the whole city. All the trees ten miles outside the city have been cut down.
Light, this ensures that the enemy has no way to provide terrain cover for a sneak attack on Yask. In the event of a war, it will also help the defenders to identify the enemy's main attack direction.
The original design was reduced by half by Zhao Qiang because he did not have the time and manpower to carry out such a large project. However, now, the half-shrunk Yask New City still looks so reassuring. At least Zhao Qiang thinks that such a large-scale city can
No enemy within a few hundred miles would dare to attack it, and if you wanted to capture it, you would have to pay at least five times the casualties of the defenders.
Satisfied, very satisfied, Zhao Qiang became more and more satisfied. After walking along the city wall, he went down the stairs of the east city. There were busy civilians and soldiers everywhere under the city. In the distance, there was a road leading to the mountains.
Carriages hauling stones came and went, mostly driven by women, while men gathered together to build city walls and quarry boulders.
Because there was not much gunpowder for Wei Ji to use for mountain blasting, the speed of mining stones was limited and the risk was high. It was even more difficult than when Zhao Qiang and the others repaired Yongling. Therefore, Zhao Qiang naturally asked the people who built the city.
Regarding the casualties, Wei Ji hesitated for a moment and then told him bluntly that almost two hundred people had died since the city was built, and the rations of the people of all ethnic groups who participated in the city's construction had also been continuously reduced. If this continues, the number of people who died might be
More. Speaking later, Wei Ji's face showed a bitter look. He was worried that if the food shortage situation worsened, the civilians' physical strength would not lead to further increase in casualties, and they would not be able to complete the city construction task assigned by the commander on time. Zhao Qiang made it clear.
However, if the Yask is built in the spring method, its head will definitely not be on the neck.
"Commander, the food we have is getting less and less. If we want to ensure the winter rations for the army, the rations for the common people and these civilians will not be sufficient, or even...even..."
Wei Ji decided to vomit his bitterness to the commander again, otherwise he would not be able to finish it and he would die unjustly.
"Even what?" Zhao Qiang glanced at Wei Ji dissatisfied: "If you have anything to say, just say it readily, what are you doing hesitantly?"
"Yes, Marshal." Wei Ji Yilin said frankly: "If there is no more food assistance, even if it is a humble job, as the Marshal said before, there will be at least 5,000 casualties under our army. This is still the worst.
Optimistically, if the weather is bad, there may be more deaths."
"Commander, the common people are the basis of our Guan Ning Army's survival. Currently, there are only tens of thousands of common people of all ethnic groups under our army. If there are such large casualties, it will not be conducive to the war after the beginning of spring."
Liu De also had a sad look on his face. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once said that water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. In his case, Guan Ning's army and the people of all ethnic groups also had the same truth, but it was not what Li Shimin meant, but what he meant.
There is an interdependent relationship. The Guan Ning Army currently implements a method of supporting war through war. The food and materials for the army are obtained by plundering, both from the Rakshasa people and from the hands of ordinary people of various ethnic groups. Now that the war has come to an end,
If Guan Ning's military law relies on war to survive, it will inevitably enter a stagnant state. For an army, this state is produced by pure consumption. The tens of thousands of people under his rule are all from
Those who were forced to move to various major city strongholds in their original living areas have no way to support themselves through their original lifestyle. Moreover, they are engaged in various production and construction matters under the unified arrangement of Guan Ningjun, which determines how to support them.
The burden fell on Guan Ning's army.
Liu De was familiar with the Three Kingdoms and naturally knew the importance of logistics and food for an army. Throughout ancient and modern times, large armies were supported by the production of domestic people in the rear, and the people of various ethnic groups under Guan Ning's army were not farmers.
Production, they will not be able to provide enough food to meet the needs of Guan Ning's army. What's more, even if they are all converted to farming like the Han people, they will not be able to produce the food needed by the army. What's more, when the army goes on an expedition, all logistics matters will fall on these
Civilians, without them, the army must transfer its combat forces to logistics and transportation, which will weaken its combat effectiveness. Moreover, if there are talents and soldiers, every battle will consume soldiers. This is inevitable.
, if you want to protect the soldiers of Guan Ning Army, you must treat these people well, at least not let them suffer so-called casualties. But food is something you don't have to think about, so although Liu De is worried, he knows that he can no longer let this happen.
This situation continues, but I can't think of a good solution.
Qi Zhuang, He Manchuan and others did not care much about food matters. For them, food matters were a matter for the people. They only wanted to fight a good war and had nothing to worry about. Therefore, they were different from the sad faces of Liu De and Wei Ji.
, but a few people went to the side and pointed at several buildings under construction, not caring about the food shortage at all. Zhao Qiang saw their appearance and smiled bitterly. They couldn't count on these things, and he was slightly stunned.
, said to Wei and Liu:
"I have been thinking about the food issue, and I am also concerned about the survival of the people. I have thought of a way on the way here, and I will discuss it with you."
When Wei Ji heard that the commander had an idea, his eyes lit up and he hurriedly asked: "I wonder what the commander has in mind?" Liu De also stared at Zhao Qiang eagerly, looking like he wanted to know.
Zhao Qiang glanced at Liu De and said to Wei Ji: "Information came in this month, saying that the Qing army was transporting tens of thousands of grains from Jilin, Shengjing and other places to Aihun City in Heilongjiang..."
Before he finished speaking, Wei Ji screamed: "Tens of thousands of stones of grain?! Darling, this is enough for us to eat for a year or two!"
Liu De was stunned for a moment, and looked at Zhao Qiang in confusion. Zhao Qiang understood what he meant, nodded slightly, and continued: "I have thought about this matter many times. I decided not to move at the beginning, but now that the matter is urgent, we will
Let’s take a look at this batch of food for the Qing army. Just in case, I have already figured out how to take this batch of food.”
Liu De asked back: "How can the commander-in-chief do it without attracting wolves into the house?" He was worried that Guan Ning's army would steal the Qing army's food and expose himself early, and then the Qing army would hit him hard.
Ning Jun's development is a very bad thing.
"promise!"
Zhao Qiang pointed at Grifsky, who was standing aside stupidly because he didn't understand, and chuckled: "It's not our Guan Ning army who is grabbing food this time, but the Rakshasa people."