It must be that the vanguard sent by Taiyuan Prefecture has arrived. Chang Yu slowed down and passed by the team. It was roughly estimated that there were more than 500 cavalry, and the rest were all infantry. There was no baggage. It was obvious that this was a lightly armed vanguard.
"Whose troops are we going to ask?" Chang Yule said on the side of the road, and Jiang Quan sent someone to inquire.
After a while, several war horses were seen running quickly. When they arrived in front of Chang Yu's horse, the man immediately dismounted and clasped his fists: "I have finally seen the factory governor."
Chang Yu took a closer look and got off his horse: "It turns out to be General Niu Shen." The person coming was none other than Zhou Yuji's subordinate Niu Yong.
Niu Yong dismounted and returned the courtesy, which made Niu Yong flattered: "I have been ordered by General Zhou to go to Jiaocheng to fortify defenses. I didn't expect to meet the factory governor here." Niu Yong saw Chang Yu's tired face and muttered in his heart: This factory governor
What did you do to make yourself look like this?
"The governor has just returned from Jiaocheng. He inspected the surrounding terrain and has some plans in mind. Before you go this time, you should first..." Chang Yugang suddenly stopped talking, thinking that he had said before that he was only dictating military affairs. Why?
But he broke his promise, so he immediately changed his words: "When you go this time, you may have some plans with General Zhou, and talk to the governor about it."
Niu Yong heard this and immediately said: "General Zhou sent his last general to Jiaocheng to survey the terrain first and then set up positions..."
"There is no danger to defend." Chang Yu interrupted him with a faint smile: "Don't use official language or use jargon. Give me some real information and talk about specific plans."
Niu Yong kowtowed and said yes, then squatted down to pick up a branch and scratched it on the snow: "The general has passed through Jiaocheng several times and has some knowledge of its terrain. There is indeed no danger to defend."
Seeing Chang Yu squatting down with him, he paused slightly and said: "But since we are only building a line of defense and not defending the city but only attacking the arrogance of the rebels, we can make flexible arrangements and don't have to defend the city strictly..."
"Real material" Chang Yu tapped the numbers in his hand on the snow
Niu Gui coughed in embarrassment: "The general is planning to dig a trench in the south of Jiaocheng. It will start from the mountain in the west and reach the river in the east. It will be two meters deep. It can block the enemy cavalry. The rammed earth can also be used as a wall. It is high.
But when the thieves charge, at the same time..."
"The time is tight, the amount of work is huge, and it's unrealistic," Chang Yu interrupted him directly.
"Factory Supervisor, the bandit army is only at Jiexiu at this time and has not yet reached Fenzhou Prefecture. We can recruit civilians and work day and night, so we should have time," Niu Gui said.
Chang Yu shook his head: "First of all, the cold weather and frozen soil make construction extremely difficult. It is more than ten miles from Xishan to Donghe. The amount of work is too large. Secondly, Jiaocheng is already a small town with few people, and there are not many people to recruit at one time.
"Besides, they have all been forcibly expelled at this time. Didn't you see that they are all busy fleeing to Taiyuan?" Chang Yu pointed to the people on the roadside who were hurriedly dragging their families with them.
Uh... Niu Gui was suddenly in trouble: "But General Zhou... Mr. Factory Supervisor, there is a vast plain in the south of the city. If there is no danger, it will be difficult to withstand the charge of the rebel cavalry."
Chang Yu nodded slightly. He had thought about this question before. Generally, the defense line must have a border wall, a mountain pass, a river, or a high wall behind the city. Otherwise, how could one resist the people on the plain with thousands of horses galloping around.
However, Jiaocheng was in an awkward situation. There were mountains, huge mountains to the west of the city, but the rebels did not go west.
There are three rivers, the Fen River and others, but they are in the east of the city.
As for the city wall, forget about it. If you dare to enter the city to defend it, they will besiege you in that small area and beat you.
However, he immediately reminded Niu Gui and pointed the position of Jiaocheng on the snow with a small wooden stick: "Defense line. This is just defense. As for the line, it is here." As he said this, he drew a long line from east to west in the north of Jiaocheng.
.
Niu Gui frowned at first, then stood up and looked south. It was already dark at this time. Although there was a torch illuminating it, it was difficult to reach ten meters away: "If the last general remembers correctly, there is a big east-west river not far ahead.
It must be the line drawn by the factory supervisor."
That's right, the Fen River has three branches, one of which flows through the north of Jiaocheng and goes straight to the vast mountains to the west. As for whether the source is in the mountains or in the Fen River, he doesn't know.
Chang Yu nodded slightly: "Isn't this river bank a ready-made trench? With a little arrangement, it can become a natural moat."
Niu Gui stroked his palm and said, "Look, in fact, when General Zhou and we were discussing, we also used this place as a stronghold, but the river is in the north of the city. If we set it here, wouldn't it mean that we were handing over Jiaocheng to the thieves in vain, so we gave up."
.
Chang Yu secretly sighed because of a small loss. Although Zhou Yuji was brave, he was a bit stubborn.
"Jiaocheng is already an abandoned city. Otherwise, why bother to fortify the walls and clear the country?" Chang Yu said angrily: "Besides, who said there can only be one line of defense? You can use the river as the bottom line and just go south. If you have the ability to hit it,
You can go to Pingyang Prefecture, but if you can't defeat them, just go back."
Niu Gui's face turned red: "What the Factory Supervisor said is absolutely true." But he was also a little impressed. This little eunuch actually knew a little about setting up formations, which was much better than those unlearned and incompetent eunuchs in charge of the army.
"What else?" Chang Yu asked again: "In addition to setting up a defensive line, are there any other plans?".
Niu Gui nodded heavily: "There are two routes from Jiexiu north to Taiyuan. Although the bandit army is going west to attack Fenzhou Prefecture at this time, it cannot be ruled out that the army will be divided into two routes. After discussing with Zhou Zongbing, we feel that we should attack Fenzhou Prefecture in the east.
Troops were also deployed on the road, with Qi County as the line..."
"There is also a large river running east to west a few miles north of Qi County," Chang Yu interjected.
Niu Gui nodded and continued: "Qixian County is less than a hundred miles away from Jiaocheng. After discussion, we set up a hundred-mile defense line to block the enemy to the south. Although the hundred-mile defense line is too long, our troops are based on Qixian County and Jiaocheng.
The two cities are the main ones, and a force of troops is stationed in the middle, which can be mobilized to support both sides."
"More than thirty miles east of here there is a hill called Nan'an, where troops can be stationed!"
Chang Yu added another sentence, and Niu Gui's eyes lit up, and he was even a little surprised: "We have decided the same way!"
Damn it, I'm so fucking tired that I haven't eaten or slept well all day and night. I've traveled hundreds of miles around, and I've traveled through time in later generations. I've seen a rough map of this place. If you haven't made a few points in your mind yet,
, it would be better to hit him to death.
Chang Yu murmured in his heart, and a slight smile on his face signaled him to continue.
"It is reported that the bandit army has more than 200,000 people. Once they move out, the probing horses will appear in all directions, and their tentacles may even extend a hundred miles away. Even Taiyuan may have spies at this time."
"so what?"
"So we have decided that before the formal contact between the two armies, it is inevitable that we will not mind having a small-scale encounter with the rebel army." Niu Gui said with a slight smile: "We will also release the spies intensively to ensure that the rebel army can spy from all directions."
If you work carefully, you won't be able to get past this line of defense."
"Okay! Just spread it out in large quantities." Chang Yu nodded slightly, but his heart was still unmoved. In fact, he had discussed this suggestion with Zhou Yuji on the road, and it was not surprising that it was adopted at this time.
"Who is sent to guard Qi County?" Chang Yu asked again.
"Zhao Yuanzhong," Niu Gui said, but Chang Yu sounded strange and didn't know this person. He should be a low-level officer with the rank of general. He thought it was because he knew that the main force of the rebel army was going to Fenzhou Prefecture, so he didn't know him there.
Not so seriously.
After chatting for a while, Chang Yu got on his horse, said goodbye to Niu Gui, and rode straight to the north.
At this time, the sky was dark, and although there was little wind and snow, it was extremely cold. People were walking in small groups on the road. The wealthy families had horse-drawn carriages to avoid the cold. Many people were parked on the roadside.
They light fires to keep warm, or eat with their heads lowered, and there are also those who howl and cry loudly.
Why are you crying? It's just that you have left your hometown, or it's snowy and cold, or you're hungry and cold.
But living in these troubled times, who doesn’t live like a purgatory?
Chang Yu had a dark face all the way, seeing howling and wailing all the way, but there was nothing he could do. That helpless mood really drove him crazy.
After walking for dozens of miles, there is a city ahead, which is the county seat of Qingxu.
Chang Yu reined in his horse and drove slowly, looking at the dark little town: "Jiang Quan, send a few people into the city to inform the county government and ask them to set up porridge shops outside the city immediately to provide relief to the people." He was worried about these people who were rushing on the road in the wind and snow.
It is difficult to support Taiyuan.
"Brother Chang, I'm afraid it won't work." Jiang Quanquan said with embarrassment: "I heard that almost every county under Taiyuan's jurisdiction has very little granary left, and..."
Moreover, when using official warehouses to provide disaster relief, the county magistrate of a city cannot make the final decision. He must report to the higher authorities for approval, and some even have to report to the court. The procedures are cumbersome... Chang Yu understands this truth, better than anyone else.
"I don't care about so much. Let him act first and complete the formalities later. If something happens, our family will help him fight it." Chang Yu waved his hand: "There is no food in the official warehouse, let him borrow it. If he can't borrow it, he will take it to his house."
Take out the food, no matter what, you must see the porridge shop tonight, otherwise you will bring his head to see you."
Jiang Quan agreed and ordered to go down.
"Go and do it yourself," Chang Yu said, and Jiang Quan followed the order and left.
"Brother, if this matter is brought to the fore, the civil servants in the imperial court will probably scold you to death," Chunxiang said with concern.
"Why should I be afraid of those lowlifes?" Chang Yu smiled coldly and rode off in a hurry.
The two horses changed lanes and traveled more than a hundred miles. Just after midnight, Chang Yu arrived outside Taiyuan City. In the distance, he could see the faint lights coming from the tower of the South Gate.
Not sure if Wu Mengming and the others had arrived, Chang Yu turned his head and looked southeast. The night was dark, windy and snowy, and the visibility was extremely low. He could not see anything in a hazy state.
Wu Mengming was nearly half an hour ahead of him. In addition, he turned from Qixian County to Jiaocheng and took the west road back. Theoretically, he should have arrived in Taiyuan before him. However, the silver carriage was moving slowly and the horse could not run. It was estimated that it would not be until dawn.
Before he could return, Chang Yu thought of riding a horse and rushing towards the south gate of Taiyuan City.
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