It is said that Tao Yundong and Fang Yuhai hid in Wulong Mountain to escape the pursuit of soldiers. Although they were able to save their lives, they were trapped in the mountain because there were several patrols of thieves cruising below the mountain every day, not to mention the villagers and common people at the foot of the mountain.
The thief's spy will immediately report anyone suspicious.
"These people are so hateful! They are collaborating with thieves. They are collaborating with thieves," Chen Suole couldn't help but cursed.
Chang Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Tao Yundong sighed: "Have you noticed any difference between the people here and the people on the other side?"
"What's the difference? The people on the other side don't want to be thieves." Chen Suole snorted. Chang Yu shook his head again and exhaled: "The people here still have food to eat, but the people on the other side are chewing grass roots." Everyone was stunned and speechless, and looked carefully.
I think it's true. Although the people were poor along the way, they still had homes, homes and food, but what about the other side? At the beginning of the year, the bandit army marched east across the Yellow River to go east. The wars and natural disasters had long made the people miserable, and this
On the other side, Li Zicheng transformed the land into self-governance. The people under his rule were exempted from taxes and there was no danger of war. The people were able to recuperate and live. In short, they took good care of their own homes and went to other people's fields to cause harm. This increased and decreased, and the high
Let’s make a judgment. Although the people on the west bank of the Yellow River are suffering and experiencing natural disasters, they can still live in peace and have food to eat. But on the other bank, people are starving and dying. It is said that many people crossed the river west to escape famine in the past few months...
The common people don't care who controls the world, they only care about whether they have food to eat and who gives them food.
The people here think that the rebel army is better when they have food to eat. Look at the people in the imperial court opposite who are starving to death! This comparison makes Chuang Wang better.
So they felt that the rebel army was better than the officers and soldiers, and the Dashun country was better than the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, the people here are very close to the traitors and are hostile and repulsive towards the officers and soldiers. In Chang Yu's words, all the people are thieves!
Don't you think it's very similar to a certain period of our party? At that time, wasn't a certain base area in Li Zicheng's current territory? He mobilized all the people under his rule to counter espionage and counter-infiltration, and the people's enthusiasm for this kind of thing was also very high.
But it also caused a lot of trouble for the officers and soldiers' spies.
Because the mountains were closed by heavy snow, the common people could only chop firewood at the foot of the mountains and seldom go into the mountains. Even hunters rarely came. The bandit soldiers would not wander into the deep mountains and old forests if they had nothing to do. This allowed Tao Yundong and Fang Yuhai to save their lives, but
He also gradually became a little careless. He lit a fire during the day and even though he tried to cover it up, Lu Dahu accidentally discovered it.
Fortunately, the person he met was one of his own, otherwise his life would have been lost.
But fortunately, they were careless before they met their own people, or they didn't know where to go, and they had been without food for several days, relying on hunting in the mountains to survive.
The hardships the two experienced made everyone stunned. Being a spy means walking on the edge of a knife. There are dangers anytime and anywhere. Food, clothing, housing and transportation are extremely difficult. Chang Yu feels the same, but he is more concerned about the intelligence about the enemy's deployment.
According to Tao Yundong and his colleagues, there are at least thousands of people in Pucheng. Of course, it is impossible for a small county to have so many soldiers. Instead, there are military camps outside the city: "There is Wuhu Mountain ten miles due south of here. The thieves
There is a military camp there, and it is difficult for us to get close to spy on it, but we learned from other sources that there are at least two to three thousand people. Including those in the city, the number of troops stationed in Pucheng is as few as five thousand!"
"Are the so-called other channels reliable?" Kuang Ren questioned, and Tao Yundong shook his head slightly: "This is an inference based on what the surrounding villagers saw."
There are many ways to spy on intelligence, but there are three main ones. The first is to have someone from the other side's military try to get close and talk to you, the second is to get close to the military camp and observe, and the third is to inquire from the people in the villages around the military camp, such as
Judging by the number of troops, horses, grain trucks, etc. that have recently entered and exited.
Of course, in this environment where everyone is a thief, if you directly inquire about the people, it will undoubtedly lead to death. You have to make insidious inquiries. For example, I saw thousands of soldiers passing by a certain village a few days ago... Someone must talk to me. Tao Yundong is a senior spy.
, knowing the truth well, he gave everyone some tips on spying, and everyone listened attentively.
No wonder the surrounding area is so tight. To the east is the Crouching Mountain Military Camp and to the west is Pucheng. To prevent officers, soldiers and spies from infiltrating, the bandits have really worked hard.
"I suspect that Dali is also heavily garrisoned! However, we can't get through at all and are not allowed to cross the border," Tao Yundong said with a frown. Dali is the seat of Tongzhou Prefecture, and across the river is Puzhou (Yongji). If the officers and soldiers from Puzhou
Crossing the river in Dali is the first to bear the brunt!
Dali is more than a hundred miles southeast of Pucheng.
"What do you mean by not allowing transit?" Chang Yu frowned.
"Look at this." Tao Yundong pulled out something from his cloth bag. Chang Yu took it and it was a piece of mulberry paper. On it was written the "Photography Poster" and where Tao Yundong lived in the city. What occupations did the family members have?
It was also stamped with the seal of the fake magistrate. It was an ID card, and it was no different from the Good Citizen Certificate from the Japanese period.
"Everyone in the city has one manpower, and entry and exit depend on this. Otherwise, even if you don't even think about Potian, you might be caught as an officer and soldier spy..." Tao Yundong's words left Chang Yu and the others dumbfounded.
"Do people outside the city have this?"
Tao Yundong shook his head: "There are a few villages near the city, but the rest seem to be only available in the village's Li Changli... I once wanted to go to Dali with this thing, but I was stopped halfway, saying it didn't work there.
If you want to enter the country, you must write a note. You must indicate where you are going, whether to visit relatives or friends, the names of relatives and friends, etc... If you enter without these, you will be interrogated as an officer or soldier..."
So strict!
"But there is no need to take the risk of going to Dali to spy." Chang Yu shook his head lightly after hearing this: "Whether Guanzhong Plain is the main line of defense for the rebels, the confrontation between Dali and Puzhou across the river must be heavily defended!" Everyone nodded.
Agree.
Chang Yu fell into deep thought again. The information he had at this time showed that there were more than a thousand soldiers in Hancheng in the northeast corner of the Yellow River, more than 3,000 in Heyang, hundreds in Chengcheng County, and unknown numbers in Baishui, but there were at least more than 5,000 in Pucheng.
It goes without saying that Dali, which is confronting Puzhou across the river, has at least tens of thousands of soldiers and horses within a hundred miles. The southern line is close to Tongguan, Huazhou, Weinan and other places close to the Huashan Weishui River. It is not known yet, but over there
The terrain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, so the number of troops is secondary.
How many troops does Li Zicheng still have today?
During the Eastern Expedition, they boasted that there were one million, but in reality there were only 60,000 elites, and the rest were cannon fodder. As a result, they were beaten by Chang Yu in Taiyuan, pushed to the ground and rubbed in Baoding Mansion, and were later beaten by Gao Jie and three others.
Chew, when crossing the river, there were only 40,000 to 50,000 yuan left, or even only 30,000 to 40,000 yuan left.
Of course, these are not the only ones under his command. During the Eastern Expedition, he stayed in Xi'an to see the show and a group of soldiers and horses to guard his hometown. The number of these soldiers and horses is unknown, but assuming there are more than 10,000, the number of troops in Xi'an now is at most 50,000!
Of course there are other places, but his territory is also huge. Yulin, Guyang, Yinchuan, Lanzhou, and Yan'an also have to be garrisoned. There are also many soldiers and horses in Xiangyang and Jingzhou, but Zuo Liangyu has already started to take action, not from Xi'an.
It would be nice to have soldiers and horses to help.
Just these 50,000 soldiers and horses want to stop me. Li Zicheng, you think so.
Of course, Li Yan also knew Li Zicheng's ability to confuse people! The common people within his jurisdiction could become soldiers at any time!
Fifty thousand soldiers and horses, at least 20,000 are stationed in Xi'an. Tongguan is a battleground for military strategists. More than 5,000 to 10,000 people cannot escape. Dali will bear the brunt of it, and it will cost tens of thousands! The remaining 15,000 will be divided among the Guanzhong Plain.
throughout.
Now that we have a rough idea of the deployment of troops and horses in various places, we still have no way of knowing where the main line of defense is!
But!
Chang Yu thinks it’s not important anymore!
Because he already has the best combat plan at this time, no matter where the main defense line of the thief army is placed, it will be the same!
Now he is going back to Puzhou to discuss this matter with Li Yan!
It's just that now... I can't help myself. Do you think this is a playground, where you can come and leave whenever you want?
There are not only soldiers stationed around, but also thief patrols that come and go, spies specifically tracking and killing them, and spies from all over the country. Maybe they were spotted just after they came down the mountain. Where to run?
I can't escape even though I'm being chased and intercepted everywhere. How can I hide in this mountain?
You can hide for a while when no one knows about it. If you know that there are a few officers, soldiers and spies who have come all the way hiding here, where will the bandits hide when they enter the mountain?