After leaving Jiangning, after nightfall, the overcast sky suddenly started to fall with snowflakes...
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The first ski resort in Jiangning arrived much earlier than in previous years. Lin Fu, wearing green armor, stood on the bow of the boat, feeling the coolness of the snowflakes on his face. This trip to the north would be extremely difficult.
The Wupeng boat hung its sails and sailed down the river. In order to catch up with the journey, it took eight boatmen on the road. A group of four took turns operating the oar to speed up the journey. In five days, it was necessary to bring a thousand people back to Jiangning to meet up. The time was extremely tight.
.He rushed to Xisha Island and then returned to Jiangning from Xisha Island. This round trip covered more than 900 miles. Lin Fu was racing against every second.
Going down the river and into the wind, the boat was as fast as an arrow off its string. It was enough to reach Xisha Island in one day. When returning, the northwest wind prevailed, and the wind direction was extremely unfavorable for sailing. When returning, we had to take the post road and force the
The army is gone.
"It's time for you to rest, sir," Ao Canghai got out of the cabin and said with a smile, "This time I go north, I will lose all the fat I raised throughout the autumn."
Lin Fu smiled, took the big cotton robe handed over by Ao Canghai, got into the cabin, wrapped the big cotton robe around himself, and lay down to rest with his clothes on. It was useless to worry at this time.
I fell asleep in a daze. When I woke up, it was already bright. In the dimly lit cabin, Ao Canghai was snoring wrapped in a cotton robe. He lifted the cabin door curtain and looked at the autumn grass blowing low in the north wind outside.
On the shore, Lin Fu asked the guard on duty at the hatch: "Where are you?"
"Just after Jiyang..." the guard replied.
"So fast." Lin Fu sat up, got out of the cabin, stood on the deck, and looked sideways at Jiyang City, shining in the morning sun. The old trees on the bank were sparse, and occasionally river birds flew over the sky.
, it seems that it is only ten or twenty miles from Jiyang, and it is already less than a hundred miles by water from Xisha Island.
After landing at the Southwest Beach of Xisha Island before noon, Lin Mengde received the summons and took a dozen horses to wait at the Southwest Beach.
"After receiving the summons, we immediately sent people out to sea, which was three hours earlier than you arrived. The people from Changshan Island will not be able to arrive until after nightfall tomorrow at the earliest. We can't make it in time..."
"Then wait until nightfall tomorrow before hitting the road." Lin Fu said.
"There are five hundred miles to go back to Jiangning. If we go upstream, we will definitely not be able to make it by water..." Lin Mengde said, "If we want to go by water, we must recruit people before nightfall and set out on the road today."
"Three days of forced march by land are enough," Lin Fu said. "If the people from Changshan Island can't come in time to meet up, then we can meet up on the northbound road..."
"It's a five-hundred-mile journey in three days!" Lin Mengde asked dumbly.
"The standard for forced marches by the armed guards is to march a hundred miles with all the armor and equipment. Seven days and nights, a hundred miles of eclipse. Climb to the north bank to Chaotianyi in Gutang County. There are post roads along the way, and there are buildings for rest and food dozens of miles apart. It takes three days and nights to travel five hundred miles with light equipment.
It’s not a harsh standard.” Lin Fu said.
It was Jiyun Wuwei who had to march 500 miles in three days and nights. Lin Mengde was not too worried. It was just that Min Yong forced his way to Jiangning and then went north to King Qin non-stop. Even though he was lightly armed, his strength was beyond imagination.
, he had a huge doubt in his mind.
It's just that Lin Fu has always been able to do what others can't do. He was so confident that Lin Mengde didn't argue with him. He thought: Lin Fu can successfully bring Min Yong to Yanjing this time without the morale of the army being broken. Most of them will
If a person's body is not worn down, he can almost be considered a strong soldier.
"This trip to the north is difficult and difficult. The difficulty of the march is secondary. The supply with the army is the first priority," Lin Fu said. "Other than Uncle Mengde, there is no more suitable person to take on this responsibility."
"Well..." Lin Mengde also knew that the difficulties encountered in gathering three thousand soldiers to complete such a high-intensity march were extraordinary. The key was that the Xisha Island side could not abandon the defense. To go north, King Qin's supplies had to come from Xihe Meeting and the Lin Family Warehouse.
Allocating manpower and coordinating various matters is not something that ordinary people can undertake, so Lin Mengde also did his part, "Who are you going to take with you and who will stay when you go north this time?"
"Intelligence scouts are particularly important when going north. I will take away Wu Qi's secret guards and ask them to spy on the intelligence along the way. After I go north, the East China Sea bandits will come to Xisha Island to spy on the truth. There may be a tough battle to be fought. Zhao Hu then
When we come to Xisha Island, the Jiyun Military Guard and the main force of the Xisha Island Township Battalion will stay. Over at the river mouth, Cao Zi'ang is going north with me. Over here, Zhou Pu, you are all going north with me. I want to ask Ning Zechen if he can leave or not.
In addition, Mr. Fu and Mr. Da Loach stayed, and Qin Chengzu also stayed on Changshan Island to provide support..."
After eating a few dry and cold steamed buns and preserved meat to satisfy their hunger, Lin Fu, Lin Mengde and others rode diagonally across Xisha Island and rushed to the Guanyin Beach station in the north, where they met with Fu Qinghe, Zhou Pu, Hu Zhiyong, Ning Zechen and others.
Convergence.
Compared with three months ago, a beach protection stone dam with a width of more than 100 steps was built along the Guanyin Beach. In the future, the Guanyin Beach Port will be built around this stone dam. The river gradually receded, exposing the shoal, and organizations are organizing here.
Two temporary gravel roads were built by hand to extend to the shoal to make final preparations for building a cross embankment after winter. A lot of stones transported from the southwest of Taihu Lake have been piled on the shoal.
In addition, two fence buildings with thick walls and connected by roads that restrict Guanyin Beach in the topography have also been completed.
After Lin Fu went north, he would leave nearly 600 military guards, soldiers and the main force of Xisha Island Township Yong at Guanyin Beach. The Xisha Island Township camp was full of 300 people, most of whom had gone through bloody battles on the island. In the past three months, Zhou Pu
He led the armed guards to station on Xisha Island and conducted rigorous training on these local warriors. Even if they lacked combat experience, their combat effectiveness was definitely stronger than that of ordinary pirates.
Inward from Guanyin Beach, the high and thick outer walls of six enclosed houses within a thousand steps have been built. When pirates attack the island, refugees can evacuate or take refuge in the enclosed houses.
Lin Fu looked at the sky. Although there was no snow in Chongzhou, the sky was filled with clouds and the wind was miserable. This winter was extremely cold. It would be very difficult to survive this winter on the island.
Lin Fu summoned Fu Qinghe, Zhou Pu, Hu Zhiyong, Ning Zechen and others who were on the island to discuss the details of recruiting troops. This trip was very difficult and sufficient mobilization was required before recruiting troops. Before Lin Fu could ask Ning Zechen,
Ning Zechen took the initiative and offered to go north with the army.
In addition to the official combat establishment of the three hundred warriors in the township camp, Lin Fu also ordered Fu Qinghe, Zhou Pu, Hu Zhiyong and others to formulate and train civilian warriors on Xisha Island in the river mouth method.
There are more than 24,000 Xisha Island refugees left after the two catastrophes, and the proportion of young and middle-aged men and women in the labor force is close to 70%. In Chongzhou County, it takes almost 50,000 people to gather such a large-scale young and middle-aged labor force.
Unlike the expansion of workshops and docks at the mouth of the river, the construction of houses requires a large number of young and strong laborers. The scale of the early construction of Guanyintan is limited. So many young and strong laborers cannot work at full capacity, which means that the people on Guanyintan are brave.
The training cycle can be longer, and the scale of a training rotation can be larger.
Lin Fu organized rotational training of civilian bravery at the mouth of the river. He transferred more than 200 people each time for half a month. The rotational training was implemented from the beginning of June. As of now, there are less than a thousand civilian bravery who have undergone rotational training.
The logistics supply is sufficient. The civilian bravery training organized by Fu Qinghe and Zhou Pu at Guanyintan can be organized for thousands of people at a time and lasts for one month. The training is more complete. In addition, most of the people living on Xisha Island come from poverty in the northwest.
When the land was moved, the people's customs were strong and their fighting potential was actually stronger than that of the people in Hekou.
In addition to the rural camp on Xisha Island, as many as 2,000 civilian warriors can be deployed on Guanyin Beach. Considering that the East China Sea bandits have always been the most serious and urgent threat to Xisha Island, Lin Fu cannot possibly reduce the short-term defense potential of Xisha Island.
All drained.
Five days later, on October 14, King Jiangdong Qin’s army agreed on the day to march north.
At Chaotianyi Ferry, the boats were spread across the boat, and the masts were as dense as the forest tops in autumn and winter. Under the cold dark clouds, there was a suppressed tragic emotion waiting to be vented. The troops and horses sent by the Admiral's Palace and the Garrison Palace had all boarded the ship and were ready to go.
Li Zhuo, Wang Tian, Gu Wuchen, Wang Xueshan and the main officials of the Jiangning Ministry gathered at Chaotian Post to bid farewell to Master Qin. Zhang Yubo looked eagerly to the east. There were only a few solitary sails on the river, and there was no flying dust rising on the post road.
In the past few days, the northwest wind has prevailed, which is extremely unfavorable for ships to sail upstream to Jiangning. The day before yesterday, news came from the land route that Lin Fu was going to lead his people to brave the land route and come to Jiangning to join them.
The wind direction was unfavorable and the current was against the current. It would be impossible to catch the boat trip to Jiangning. It was almost impossible for thousands of people to forcefully walk nearly 500 miles of land in three days.
Zhang Yubo looked around and saw that so many officials from Jiangning were gathered here. Rather than saying goodbye to King Qin, they were more waiting to see the good show of Lin Fu or the inspector Gu Wuchen.
She Feihu rolled up his sleeves and stood on the bank near the water, squinting at the cold and white water facing the sky. The She family did not fall out with the court, and according to etiquette, he naturally wanted to bid farewell to Master Qin. However, Jiangning officials superficially
Everyone has to draw a clear line with the She family. Except for those who travel with him, She Feihu is alone and has no one else.
"How long do you think Lin Fu will delay his arrival?" She Feihu asked Qin Zitan.
Qin Zitan looked at the sky. It was dark and it was only afternoon. He just said: "Maybe Cheng Yuqian led the main force first. Can't we hold him responsible for missing the deadline at this time?"
In three days, he led more than a thousand people to Jiangning, a task that no one could complete. If Li Zhuo used this to blame Lin Fu for missing the deadline, I'm afraid everyone would feel aggrieved for Lin Fu and think that Li Zhuo was too demanding.
.
Of course, Lin Fu's failure would be a blow to Lin Fu himself and Gu Wuchen's prestige.
"Isn't it still early? Why don't you have any patience?" Song Jia and She Mingyue couldn't show up in public. They couldn't miss the farewell scene for Master Qin Wang. They had been sitting in the carriage, lifting the curtains to look out.
She Feihu looked back and saw that in the open space next to the post entrance were more than 2,000 newly recruited civilian warriors. There were also more than 200 mules, horses and carts prepared at the mouth of the river. In addition, there were forty awning boats carrying supplies.
The supplies were accompanied by Lin Fu. Gu Xi really spent a lot of effort to lead 3,000 people to the north by land.
In addition to the more than 600 civilian warriors recruited directly from Hekou, who were still in good order, the other nearly 1,400 civilian warriors recruited from Chaotiandangbei refugees would not even be able to stand in line if they were not suppressed by the Dongcheng horse infantry outside.
Neat. She Feihu thought that Lin Fu could not drain all the defense forces of Xisha Island, so it is not difficult to imagine what the situation of the more than a thousand civilians recruited from Xisha Island would be like.
The forced march of five hundred miles in three days, in addition to taking the post road, also required extremely high standards for first-class strong soldiers. She Feihu did not believe that Lin Fu could come to Jiangning as scheduled.
When She Feihu was deep in thought, two horses galloped up from a distance. The bells on the horses' necks made a special sound. They were signaling the messenger. Before they arrived, the messenger handed the token to the surrounding guards, and the people were on the horse.
Announce loudly from behind: "Report to the Commander-in-Chief. Lin Fu, the Superintendent of Military Preparation and Duty, led the troops to rest at Shiliupu for about an hour to reorganize the army. After about an hour, they reorganized the army and arrived at the Post Office to report to the Commander-in-Chief and all the gentlemen.