In the evening, thirteen groups of troops began to enter the mountains one after another to pursue the Baiwang tribe. More than half of the troops outside Chizhou City were slightly empty, but the officers and soldiers who had not entered the mountains were not idle. In addition to setting up defenses outside the mountains, they also
Assist local people to restore their livelihood, such as resealing the mouth of the lake that was dug out by the bandit army, helping people rebuild their homes in the city, etc.
If this kind of thing were done by other generals, it would be messy and problematic, but it was completely different if it was left to Lu Daqi. Everything was done in an orderly manner, which greatly satisfied Chang Yu.
In the government office in the city, Chang Yu and Lu Daqi were analyzing the current situation. There were mostly small towns on both sides of the Yangtze River from Chizhou to Jiujiang, but hundreds of bandit troops were entrenched. Only Anqing was more difficult. In addition, they had to go into the mountains to capture Bai Wang. As long as these two were solved.
If this is the case, the Southern Expedition will end successfully.
Anqing City is destined to be difficult to fight due to its high walls and thick walls, so the main task is to hunt down Bai Wang and at the same time appease the people and help restore people's livelihood. The rest is to assist Shi Kefa in supplying food and grass.
Before the army moved, it was an iron rule that food and grass should go first. Chang Yu led his troops out of Nanjing, and the logistics supply was handed over to Shi Kefa. However, it was extremely difficult to transport food and grass without shortage.
Traveling by water means going upstream and is extremely unsafe, and it is easy to be attacked. Traveling by land along the river is either a bumpy mountain road or a muddy dirt road, and there is water every ten miles and one ditch for twenty miles, which creates great difficulties for logistics and supply.
At the beginning, the army was not very fast and the logistics could barely keep up.
But after crossing Wuhu, the officers and soldiers rushed forward with overwhelming force, and the logistics supply was no longer available. When they were in Tongling, the officers and soldiers only relied on the remaining food on hand and the slaughter of injured horses and livestock. At this time, when they arrived in Chizhou, not only the soldiers were short of food and grass
Moreover, the local people had to be helped, which was extremely tight and became an urgent emergency.
"How about sending a ship to meet us by water?" Lu Daqi thought for a while and said, "At this time, the bandit army has been defeated and unable to attack the grain ship. It will be faster if we go by water."
"But going upstream may not be faster than on land!" Li Muxian interjected from the side, but Lu Daqi disagreed: "You can drag the boat along the shore with mules and horses, and use human power to drag it along the steep places. In any case, it is faster than on land.
”.
Li Muxian wanted to say something else, but Chang Yu stopped him with a look: "I will follow Master Lu's wishes" and frowned slightly: "Li Yan sent someone to say that there is a slight shortage of food and grass over there, and he wants to transfer some from here."
"There are many mountainous roads over there but not so many rivers. Why can't we supply them?" Lu Daqi was puzzled for a moment. Chang Yu patiently said: "It's not that transportation is unfavorable, but that there is no food supply."
Lu Daqi couldn't help but exclaimed: "Didn't the Governor say before that Zhang Liang and Lu Zhenfei are responsible for raising food on the other side, but the combined power of the two governments is not enough..."
Chang Yu smiled and said nothing, and Li Muchian couldn't help but sigh: "Mr. Lu, there is no food in the official warehouse and the people have no food to eat. Where can we collect food? There is money to buy with money. Do you think everyone is the governor?"
"
Only then did Lu Daqi react and shook his head with a wry smile. Why did the court hesitate to send troops when the situation was very critical? It was because of a lack of food and fodder! This shows how difficult it is to prepare food and fodder!
And he also fully agreed with Li Muchian's words. Not everyone is like Chang Yu. With his method of coaxing, deceiving and intimidating, he can use any means or even no bottom line to prepare money and food!
And even if others want to have no bottom line and use any means, they don't have his strength.
Although Zhang Liang and Lu Zhenfei are both big bosses, when preparing food and grass in Anqing and Luzhou, they can only rely on favors and face to get some luck from the local wealthy gentry. After all, the people are hungry at this time. How can there be extra food to send out?
, but even those rich gentry will be called poor if you want more of them, so you can't just grab them by force.
Moreover, the Anlu area has experienced war disasters for a long time and is an area hit hard by thieves. The people are very poor. Unlike the rich in Nanjing, where there are many people with money and food, even the people are rich, so Chang Yu can get enough food and grass.
He might not be as good as Zhang Liang and Lu Zhenfei when he went to Anlu to collect grain.
Not to mention anything else, after Shiduo City in Wuhu, we could still get some food and grass, but then we went south to Fanchang, Tongling, and Chizhou. They were all empty, and not a single hair was left wherever the bandit army passed.
This is true for all, not to mention the people outside the city.
"Master Shangshu should coordinate the food and grass matter as soon as possible, otherwise tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Yangtze River will go hungry. Whether by water or land, we must do it as soon as possible. After the food and grass arrive in Chizhou, porridge stalls can be set up to provide relief to the people on the premise of ensuring the rations of the soldiers.
, and at the same time distribute some to the other side, we can’t let them attack the city hungry there.”
Lu Daqi nodded in agreement, but Li Muxian was a little confused and said: "Didn't the governor say that Anqing's side should be besieged first? Why are they attacking the city again?"
Chang Yu laughed: "Taoist priests can be so naive and cute sometimes. The siege that I am talking about does not mean letting the soldiers sit around outside the city doing nothing, eating, drinking, and sunbathing. Instead, they need to carry out small or even medium-sized attacks from time to time, even if it is just a show.
This is actually a psychological tactic to put pressure on the rebels in the city, giving them the illusion that we have food and leisure to spend it slowly with them. If this continues, the rebels will be confused, and one day they may suddenly open the door to civil strife and surrender."
.
Li Muxian suddenly realized it, but he scratched his cheek again in a low voice, and asked Ping Dao out of curiosity: "The governor said that Ping Dao is cute..."
"I say you are interesting. Could it be that I am in love with you?" Chang Yu rolled his eyes, and Li Muchian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, which made his anus shrink.
At dusk, Lu Daqi was about to leave the city after finishing his work. He happened to bump into Chang Yu leading dozens of personal guards to the west gate and felt a little strange: "Is the governor going hunting?"
After all, the surrounding area of more than ten miles is under the control of officers and soldiers at this time. If Chang Yu is not traveling far away, there is no need to take so many people with him. Based on his understanding of the little eunuch, he has a restless temper and should go to relax for a while.
Chang Yu chuckled: "The military affairs and people's livelihood here are very important. Lu Shangshu has to worry about it. I am going on a long trip." Lu Daqi said casually and asked: "Is it possible that I also want to go into the mountains?"
Chang Yu shook his head: "Go ahead and go for a walk to the south."
Lu Daqi nodded, and just as he was about to say goodbye, he suddenly realized, with a look of horror on his face: "The Governor wants to go south! No, absolutely not!"
"Why not?" Chang Yu raised his eyebrows and asked curiously when he saw his reaction. Lu Daqi took a step forward and grabbed the reins of his horse: "Chizhou is a mountain road to the south. The west side is along the water and the east side is along the mountains and rivers. It is rugged and bumpy.
, there are many places with steep terrain, high mountains and dense forests, which are actually easy to be ambushed by bandits. It is too risky for the governor to lead only a few dozen horsemen with his bodyguard."
Chang Yu laughed loudly when he heard this: "Master Shangshu is too cautious, not to mention that there are only a few rebels in front. If they knew that Bai Wang was defeated, it would be too late to escape. How could they have the courage to attack me, not to mention that I am that governor?"
Can everyone pinch a soft persimmon?" The guards around him laughed loudly, but Lu Daqi still refused: "Having said that, if you are not afraid of ten thousand, you are afraid of just in case. If the governor wants to dismiss the official first, he will not stop him, but please ask more
Take people and horses with you."
"It's okay, I won't go far." Chang Yu had no choice but to persuade Lu Daqi to leave. Then he quickly led his troops out of Xiushan Gate and went straight to the Qiuqiupu River. There were dozens of boats waiting there, and they hurriedly crossed to the other side.