The Jiangdong Left Army fought on the inside line in Chongzhou, with accessible roads, no logistical worries, and rapid dispatch.
com The Chongzhou infantry camp and the cavalry camp set off from the Zilang Mountain garrison at the same time in the afternoon. Before three o'clock, as the sun was setting in the west, Lin Fu, Cao Zi'ang, and Zhou Pu first led the cavalry camp and some of the guards' cavalry camp to arrive at the west garrison of Hecheng.
tower.
Just in time to catch up with twenty or thirty pirate ships coming from the east, they did not dare to rush into the hinterland of Chongzhou easily. They docked at the south embankment a few miles east of the garrison. Three to four hundred pirate soldiers landed ashore and tentatively approached the garrison.
They were beaten back by crossbows. When they saw the cavalry coming to help, they retreated to the river embankment and formed a defensive formation, but did not retreat.
Lin Fu dismounted and, accompanied by Liu Zhenzhi, the former guard of the west garrison of Hecheng, boarded the garrison with Cao Ziang, Zhou Pu and others to watch the enemy's formation. This group of pirates relied on the fleet of Hengzhou boats lined up in the river.
The formation on the river embankment was much stricter than last year's bloody battle in Jiyang.
"The horse still has enough energy to charge two or three waves," Zhou Pu said, rubbing his hands beside him. "We must drive these turtles out before dark, so as not to stay here and be an eyesore..."
The project to connect the Xishan River and the Yunyan River only requires the excavation of a three-mile-long river channel. In early August, more than 10,000 civilians were recruited and tens of millions of dollars were spent, so that it could be dug and opened to navigation in early September.
Jiyun-class thousand-stone warships can sail directly from Zilang Mountain to the northwest hinterland of Chongzhou via the Xishan River. However, the Yanyan River section from Jiuhua to Hecheng has been in disrepair for hundreds of years and is heavily silted, making it difficult for hundreds-of-stone ships to sail smoothly.
In order to achieve the purpose of allowing large warships to operate unimpeded in the Chongzhou inland river, Lin Fu is planning to carry out large-scale dredging of the Chongzhou section of the Yan River in the autumn. The amount of the project is huge, the people are recruited, and the money and food are consumed. It reaches the order of the order.
To the point of jaw-dropping.
This matter will not be officially launched for another month, and it is not expected to be initially completed until next spring. At present, the Jinghai camp can only support as far as Jiuhua via inland rivers.
In sea areas where Jinhai-class warships can pass unimpeded, the Jinghaihai Battalion can rely on its warships and tactical advantages to fight against two to three times the number of invaders without suffering a loss. However, when fighting in shallow waters, large warships cannot participate in the battle.
, and the number of small and medium-sized warships was insufficient, the Jinghaihai camp was like tying its own hands, losing all its advantages compared with the invaders.
In order to facilitate the invasion of Jiangdong, the East China Sea pirates chose flat-bottomed boats with shallow drafts in the coastal prefectures and counties of Zhejiang and Zhejiang. The loach boats could directly sail to the shoals to dock and land. The East China Sea pirates also clearly understood the advantages and disadvantages of each other's navy, so they avoided this time.
Open river mouths with deep and unobstructed water, and choose to attack coastal areas with shallow water tidal flats.
Lin Fu had no intention of transferring the Jinghaihai Battalion into the Yunyan River to confront the invaders. There were only a few small paddle boats on the west garrison of Hecheng. If a large group of invaders attacked, these small boats could not be expected to survive.
To fight against the invaders, we just calculated that the situation was wrong. These boats were used to scuttle and block the river.
At this time, twenty or thirty small pirate ships came from Hecheng Army. They relied on the garrison built next to the river and used crossbows to block the river. This section of the salt river was only a hundred or ten paces wide, and they were all using strong bows and crossbows.
Within the blockade range, the pirate ships did not dare to rush over easily by taking advantage of the arrow stones.
Cao Ziang looked at the sky and said: "The sky is clear and cloudless. If the sky does not change, the stars and the moon will be bright at night, which is enough to support a night battle. This group of bandits gather together and refuse to retreat. I am afraid they will wait until dark to rush over and divide into two groups."
Small groups will infiltrate and harass the rear, and then we will be much more passive..."
The Jiangdong Left Army is fighting on the inside. If it is a battle, it will be more convenient to gather troops, form a local advantage, and achieve the goal of defeating the Japanese soldiers. However, the Japanese soldiers obviously have no intention of fighting with the Jiangdong Left Army. Once they are divided into small groups and infiltrate along the creek branch,
Infiltrating, massacring, and looting civilians in the hinterland, the Jiangdong Left Army did not have enough troops to defend Chongzhou impenetrably no matter how hard it fought on the inside.
Lin Fu frowned and looked at the Hecheng military fortress in the distance. The fall of Hecheng made their side much more passive. Otherwise, he only had to concentrate his forces in Jiangmen to threaten the East China Sea bandits on the rear, and the East China Sea bandits would plunder the Huainan salt fields.
If there is no result, they will be withdrawn in ten and a half months.
"The enemy soldiers formed a formation on the river embankment, so there is no need to worry about their rear. If we attack their two wings from both sides of the river embankment, we will be hit by the crossbows on the boats." Lin Fu then recovered his thoughts and responded to Zhou Pu's request for a battle.
, "You can only use armored soldiers to press from the front. Only after disrupting their positions, and then using cavalry to quickly attack along the river embankment, can you achieve the purpose of repulsing them. But before dark, you have to dampen their spirit. You guys, please do your best."
Let’s discuss how to fight this first battle, Zi Ang and I are here to watch.”
Pu responded, punched Liu Zhenzhi on the shoulder again, and said, "The armored soldiers are the main ones, and the cavalry and battalions will cooperate. It is up to you to plan how to fight."
Liu Zhenzhi was twenty-six years old at the time. He was also a refugee from Xisha Island and a native of Wuxian County in central Shanxi.
There was a great famine in Jinzhong the year before last. Jinzhong is adjacent to Yanjing and there are very few local warehouses. However, a batch of relief grains was transported to Jinzhong via the Taihang Mountain Road. However, the food was severely damaged in all aspects, and in the end there was not much left in the hands of the victims. Wu County officials
He was even more greedy and could not save even a grain of rice.
The victims of Wu County gathered around the city to beg for relief. They drove Chen Zhihu and his troops to cross Wu County and used force to drive away the victims. After encountering resistance, the situation escalated to the attitude of the bandits. In the end, villages were massacred and blood flowed like rivers.
To this day, people in Jinzhong still talk about it.
Liu Zhenzhi led his tribe to participate in a gathering to beg for relief, and was listed among the twenty-three bandit leaders in Wu County. He was forced to flee south to Chongzhou with his tribe to avoid disaster. Last year, the disaster in Xisha Island severely damaged Liu Zhenzhi's tribe, so he followed him
Of the two to three hundred people from Wu County who traveled south, less than thirty survived. His wife drowned and his three sons survived.
Liu Zhenzhi actively participated in disaster relief after the disaster. He joined the Xisha Island Township Camp and participated in resisting the invasion of Taihu pirates. He was later incorporated into the Jiangdong Left Army and served as the flag leader of the fifteen soldiers with his strong body and good command of the spear. He went north to fight with King Qin.
They were all good at fighting and brave, and were recruited from the army by Lin Fu. They were promoted from captain of the capital, deputy sentry general, and sentry officer, to the position of the first sentry general of the Chongzhou infantry camp.
Earlier, Lin Fu was assigned Jiuhua to defend one side, but later Hecheng's west garrison was in short supply, so Liu Zhenzhi was assigned here.
In the army, Zhou Pu naturally had a much higher status than Liu Zhenzhi, but he knew that in order for the Jiangdong Left Army to develop, more outstanding young generals like Zhao Hu, Ning Zechen, and Liu Zhenzhi must emerge, so he didn't mind
In the first battle, he served as a foil for Liu Zhenzhi.
Liu Zhenzhi's expression perked up. It was the year of his determination to make progress, and he refused to give in. He bowed his hand to Zhou Pugong and thanked him: "Please give me some advice from Zhou Yingguan." Then he and Zhou Pu went down to the garrison to arrange the war.
The west garrison of Hecheng is five feet high on the south bank of the Yanyan River. It is a hollow enemy tower structure, nine feet square. It is based on a strip of stone. The wall is more than ten feet thick, with bricks and rammed earth as the core. It is quite solid.
Along the river bank on the west side of the platform is a small military fortress that can garrison 300 soldiers.
As early as early June, Lin Fu replaced a large number of farmland nearby, with as many as a thousand households. In addition to Liu Zhenzhi's 200 soldiers stationed there, he also mobilized more than 400 people to help defend. Lin Fu took the lead in riding.
The battalion rushes for reinforcements, and Zhou Tong leads the second, third, and fourth posts of the Chongzhou Infantry Battalion to arrive before dark. Wang Chengfu will gather here after gathering the troops in Hecheng and defeating them.
Before dark, the number of troops gathered here will reach 2,400 to 500.
"I don't know if Li's military training in Jibei has any actual results, and whether it can withstand the invasion of Donglu in autumn," Cao Zi'ang said without looking at the Hecheng military fortress in the distance. He turned around and looked back at the Yunyan River to the west, sighing,
"If we can survive this winter, no one can shake your foundation in Chongzhou..."
"If we can avoid a big war, I don't want to fight a big war," Lin Fu said, "But She Feixiong wants the soldiers from eastern Zhejiang to fall into the trap, so the actions here must be huge. Only in this way can Quan Ciqing be assured of attacking Changguo. I am
I'm really worried that Quan Ciqing will be fooled. Once the situation in eastern Zhejiang deteriorates, even if Li Shuai can block the Donglu in the north, the situation in the world will still not turn around. We can dredge the Yanyan River this year, which can be regarded as laying some foundations, but there are still many problems.
The reserve is too thin and cannot withstand the consumption of the war."
"Brother Lin, tomorrow is your big day, why did you personally lead the troops here?" Ge Siyu, wearing a short-breasted shirt, came up to the garrison and asked, "Are you really going to attack the Hecheng military fortress?"
"Why are you here?" Lin Fu asked in surprise when he saw Ge Siyu boarding the garrison. "It's too dangerous here. Besides, it's rare for Shu Han to come from Jiangning to Chongzhou as a guest. I asked you to pick him up in Jiuhua."
You, why did you come here?"
"I'm worried. I feel relieved when I see you here. You brought so many soldiers here. I heard that there are more soldiers gathering here. It seems that there is going to be a big battle." Ge Siyu ran away angrily.
Panting, he said, "The old man is worried that I come to Chongzhou to fight with him about building the city. Tell me, I would be so ignorant when fighting with his father and son. But compared to building the city, dredging and dredging the Yan River is the only way.
It’s really a big event that will be famous in the local area for thousands of years. Only you have the courage to do this in Chongzhou. If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t even dare to think about it.”
Lin Fu smiled slightly and said: "Just stay with me. The territory of Chongzhou is no longer safe. I don't know if the battle can start tomorrow - who wants to lead troops to fight outside on the big day?"
In early August, after Lin Fu ordered the last batch of sea-going ships from Longjiang Shipyard and delivered them, he would no longer be able to obtain warships from Longjiang Shipyard in a short period of time. Longjiang Shipyard will concentrate manpower and material resources on Jiangning in the future.
Shuiying, Ninghai Town Shuiying built a number of warships, mostly small and medium-sized warships for inland river warfare.
Ge Siyu was supervising the construction of large ships that no one before him could even imagine, and at this time he was unwilling to waste time in the Longjiang shipyard. Lin Fu then seconded Ge Siyu to Chongzhou as a supervisor in the name of building a city.
official.
The supervision of the construction of Chongzhou New City has been taken over by Ge Siyu's old father, Ge Fu, an old engineer. Ge Siyu's actual responsibility after arriving in Chongzhou was to lead a group of master craftsmen and officials to clean the Salt River.
Busy with preparations for the siltation project.
Dredging a hundred-mile-long salt-carrying river to the point where large ships with a thousand or even five thousand stone can pass without hindrance is a major undertaking that costs hundreds of millions. It is initially estimated that it will cost four to five hundred thousand taels of silver and employ one hundred thousand people.
Generally speaking, local governments simply do not have the financial resources or manpower to do such a thing. Even if the court wants to do this, it is common for such a large project to assign the minister of the Ministry of Industry to supervise the construction. Ge Si Yucai is a ninth-grade junior official in the Ministry of Industry in Jiangning.
Naturally, he was very excited to be responsible for such a large project that would leave his name forever. It was rare for Zhao Shuhan to come from Jiangning, so he couldn't escape and rushed back to Zilang Mountain.