Zhang Yan sent two thousand salt guards from Weiyangti, and sent a large number of salt soldiers south from Qingjiangpu. The salt guards gathered in Sheyang amounted to more than 7,000 people, far exceeding the number of soldiers guarding Hecheng.
----It's just that when Dafeng was defeated, the salt guard's crotch was poked open, and anyone with a discerning eye could clearly see what eggs were hidden inside.
In the view of the Japanese soldiers, it was impossible to break through the defense line of the left army east of the Yangtze River and march westward to Chongzhou, but the salt guard army was absolutely weak.
Most of the official salt comes from the Lianghuai River, and most of the private salt comes from the Lianghuai River. All the officials and generals who have fornicated with the salt lords and salt merchants have enriched their own pockets, bought houses and fields in the famous city of Dayi, and kept beautiful concubines. How many of them dared to bear the brunt of this?
Lead the army to kill the enemy?
Zhang Yan hated the fact that iron is not as strong as steel. He stared at Song Xiaobo's fat face with trembling fat and asked in a soft voice: "I treat you well. What benefits did you get from Chongzhou, helping others to come to Hecheng?
"
"Sir, you have wronged me!" Song Xiaobo fell to his knees on the ground, with snot and tears pouring down his face. He knelt at Zhang Yan's feet, looking like he had been wronged, and wanted to hold Zhang Yan's thigh and cry...
Zhang Yan took a step back in disgust.
Song Xiaobo was confused about major matters, but when it came to his own interests, he was not ambiguous at all.
The officials in the Salt and Iron Department were in charge of salt, and they all had huge private pockets. If Zhang Yan treated him well, why did he kick him to come to Hecheng to manage grass for five years? What was Lin Fu's plan? Song Xiaobo didn't care, and he didn't play this drama
If he continued to act, the hair on his head could not be saved, and the head on his neck might have to be moved. He continued crying with snot and tears: "I think the invaders first came and they were so fierce. Your Excellency and Captain Mao are far away from each other. I want to lower my official rank.
We can only rush to Chongzhou to ask for help to relieve the crisis in Hecheng..."
"Break through the siege?" Mao Wenjing sneered, "You broke through the siege so well. How come I heard that it was you who abandoned the city and fled first, which led to the fall of Hecheng and the serious situation in the Huainan Salt Zone?"
"My lord can indeed escape responsibility for the fall of Hecheng, but the situation in Huainan is so bad, and even the defeat of Dafeng, what does it have to do with my lord?" Wang Chengfu, who had been pretending to be Song Xiaobo's personal guard, stood up and said, "He
After the city fell, my family worked actively to collect the defeated troops and joined forces with the Jiangdong Left Army, resulting in the great victory of Chongzhou. The Chongzhou victory severely dealt a blow to the arrogance of the Donghai bandits and the situation was great. However, Captain Mao used power to suppress my family.
, emphasized that the Hecheng Army should go north, and also undermined the proposal of our Hecheng Army and the Jiangdong Zuo Army to join forces, leaving our family with no soldiers to lead the horse, and thus missed the good opportunity to counterattack Hecheng. In terms of guilt and loss, the guillotine should be used first.
It’s going to be on Captain Mao’s neck!”
"What kind of bastard are you? Is there any place for you to talk here?" Mao Wenjing stared at Wang Chengfu angrily. He was far away and couldn't kick him, so he wanted to call someone to kick him out of the tent.
Zhang Yan coughed lightly, reminding Mao Wenjing that he was the one who called the shots here.
Song Xiaobo also pretended to be angry and yelled at Wang Chengfu: "If you close your eyes, Captain Mao will be guilty. You can talk about it? Get back!"
At this time, Liu Shidu and Wu Meijiu announced that they had entered the tent. When they saw the appearance of the tent, they knew that Zhang Yan, Mao Wenjing, and Song Xiaobo were quarreling.
Zhang Yan glanced at Song Xiaobo and said, "You go out first..." He knew that Song Xiaobo could no longer be trusted, so he invited Song Xiaobo and his sharp-tongued guard out, and then asked Liu Shidu, "Liu Shidu,
Sir, what did he say?"
Of course Liu Shidu hoped to promote a coalition of troops as soon as possible. After all, Gao City in the north of Chongzhou was also threatened by the bandits. He paraphrased Lin Fu's words in a gentle way, and then said: "Time waits for no one, and the situation will deteriorate. Even if we can
It will be difficult to defeat the invaders."
Zhang Yan knew that he could not delay. Once a large number of salt households fled, it would inevitably delay the autumn and winter salt industry. However, Lin Fu actually threatened to cut off his troops, which also made him feel bad. He said: "The left army in Jiangdong is too aggressive. It seems that it is against the enemy."
It’s not good for Mr. Liu either!”
Liu Shidu laughed and said: "Everything is done for the imperial court, so why do I, Liu, have any personal interests?"
Wu Meijiu couldn't tell what Liu Shidu was thinking, but he was not hypocritical in wanting to promote the alliance. In any case, the Jiangdong Left Army protected Jianghai both inside and outside, and Hailing Mansion was not troubled by bandits, which was a rare big benefit at least at the moment.
, as for the future... things in the world are unpredictable, who can control what happens in the future.
Seeing Liu Shidu saying the same thing, Zhang Yan lost his temper and said with a bluster, "If the Jiangdong Left Army can also take on the responsibility for the transshipment, I will have nothing to say!"
Hecheng's grassland is vast and sparsely populated. It is not difficult for tens of thousands of grassland households to harvest six to seven million yards of hay from Hecheng every year. However, the hay is bundled into bundles, which is light in weight and large in size. The difficulty is to harvest these six to seven million yards.
The hay is transported to Dafeng and Sheyang salt areas in the north - this is where the hardships of grassland households are. On average, each person harvests six to seven hundred hay in a year, and the officials only get one penny for each hay.
The whole family worked hard all year round to pay for the carriages and boats, as well as the money for the mules and horses. Even wrapping the belly was a problem.
There are more than 1,200 troops stationed in Hecheng. In addition to defense, the most important duty is to supervise transportation.
By assigning Hecheng Pasture to the defense of the Jiangdong Left Army, as long as the forage supply is ensured and the Jiangdong Left Army General assumes the responsibility of supervising the transportation, there will not be much actual loss of interests for the Salt and Iron Division, but the loss will be dignity.
It’s about face! Also, once this gap is opened, Lin Fu’s ambition may not be easily curbed——However, Zhang Yan was forced to have no way out, and he could not find reinforcements from elsewhere at this time...
In terms of tactical and strategic principles, in a relatively narrow area, it is more advantageous to have unified command and dispatch in the defense zone.
As for the fragmented defense system around Chongzhou, Lin Fu had long written to the Ministry of War to bluntly point out its shortcomings. The Ministry of War had also long discussed the inclusion of Hecheng Grassland in the Jiangdong Left Army Defense Zone. However, the matter of salt and iron was special, and the Salt and Iron Department did not
If we let go, support from the Ministry of War will not be possible.
Zhang Yan relented, which was the most critical step. As long as the Jiangdong Left Army actually controlled Hecheng Port and Hecheng Military Fortress, they would not worry about things happening again.
*************
At dawn, the clear morning light shines through the window. The candle on the long beak of the bronze crane is swaying. The blue-black pod is placed on the desk. She Feihu is sitting in front of the desk in armor and studying the military situation. It has been another night, and it is already dawn without realizing it.
.
Qin Zitan stood up and before he knew it, the weather became as cold as water again.
Others may not be able to guess it, but it should not be difficult for Lin Fu to guess where the second master is hiding. What is strange is that there has been no movement from Jiangdong Zuojun in the past few days. What on earth is he waiting for?
"The Jiangdong Zuo Army has moved, and a team of thousands of people is pressing towards the Great Wall!" Cheng Yiqun came in to report. The arrow wound on his shoulder had not healed yet. He was not wearing armor on his left shoulder, and was wearing a robe over his armor.
A Confucian general who gave up his writing and joined the army.
She Feihu heard the news and got up. He and Qin Zitan followed Cheng Yiqun out of the house and climbed up the wall to see how the Jiangdong left army was doing. Xu Zhong also came out of the camp after hearing the news. After two years of preparation, they had become a force in the East China Sea.
After fighting to support the war, looting places, and accumulating a lot of savings, it would not be a big deal even if the She family raised their flag to rebel again, so they were not as cautious as before. Ordinary officers in the army also knew about the arrival of She Feihu. At this point
As a first step, they should also let ordinary generals know why they are fighting!
Standing with his hands on the wall, She Feihu saw that in the still dim morning light, the Jiangdong Left Army came out of camp and meandered towards them. Near the Yunyan River Embankment at the northwest corner of the Great Wall, the cavalry of the Jiangdong Left Army were already in formation.
, to suppress them and send troops out of the fortress.
"What do they want to do?" She Feihu asked in confusion, "Will Lin Fu be stupid enough to attack the fortress?" Looking back, there was no sign of the warships of Jiangdong Zuojun Shuiying in the vast sea to the east.
.
Hecheng is one of the four fortresses in the Huainan salt area. In the early years, the old fortress was washed away by large waves caused by tsunamis. Later, the new fortress was rebuilt and a stone pond for wave prevention was built.
The new fort is much stronger than the old fort. The fort wall is based on a stone strip, covered with green bricks, and has a core of rammed earth. It is four feet high, three feet thick, and has a length of 100 steps. The new fort is built on the south bank of the Yan River.
, there are three gates in the east, west and north. The east and west gates are dry gates. The north gate has a waterway connected to the Yanyan River and is a water gate. Connected to the north water gate is a large pool that occupies nearly half of the area of the fortress. You can hide battles in the fortress.
There are fifty or sixty ships.
When building the new fortress, we drew on the experience of Dengzhou Water City and thought of stationing a battalion of boatmen here. However, due to various reasons, we put it on hold. At this time, it became easier for the East China Sea bandits. Although the water from the upper reaches of the Yan River was intercepted, this
The terrain on the edge is quite low, and it is usually covered by shallow water. When the tide rises, it is filled with recharged seawater, making it easier for warships to go to sea.
The victory of Dafeng restored the morale after the defeat of Chongzhou, and the soldiers became more elite and guarded the fort. To be honest, She Feihu wished that Lin Fu would send troops to attack. With the strength and reserves of Jiangdong Left Army today,
There is simply no way it can withstand the exhaustion of such a brutal siege battle.
"We won't attack by force." Qin Zitan shook his head. He saw an army approaching from the north bank at this time and pointed over there. "It has been delayed for a few days. Maybe Lin Fu has negotiated some terms with the Yantie Division...
…Lin Fu seems to be a loyal person, but he is a person who does not rush into things that are not beneficial.”
"What the hell, I'm going to order a battalion of elite soldiers. If they dare to form a formation under the fort, they'll kill their mother's ass while his position is not stable..." Xu Zhong cursed.
She Feihu nodded, he couldn't let Jiangdong's left army approach the city without any action, and ordered Cheng Yiqun to mobilize more strong bows and crossbows to the fortress wall to support Xu Zhong in charging out of the fortress.
The Japanese soldiers only had infantry in the Hecheng Fortress and were unable to attack the cavalry array of the Jiangdong Left Army. They could only wait for the Jiangdong Left Army's infantry to approach and attack while their position was not stable, hoping to dampen their vigor.
When the infantry array of the Jiangdong Left Army approached and was fully displayed in the morning light, She Feihu was dumbfounded at first sight: the Jiangdong Left Army infantry of about 2,340 people advancing under the fortress were divided into two teams, one team along the
The Yanyan River's south embankment was advancing, and one column was approaching the southwest corner of the Great Wall. The front wing of the column was protected by a tightly organized formation of vehicles. After about three or four hundred steps, it slowed down. At this time, the troops who had been stationed on the river embankment from the beginning were
The cavalry also moved to the current guard position at the Great Barrier Gate, completely giving this side no chance to send troops out of the barrier to attack their positions.
She Feihu gave up the idea of sending troops for a surprise attack and saw Jiangdong's left army forming camps with nearly a hundred chariots at the southwest corner and northwest corner of the Great Wall, forming a horned tiger looking at the Xise Gate - this kind of chariot
When marching, it is covered with high armor on three sides. When it stops, the high armor on both wings unfolds to form a protective surface that is one foot and five six feet wide. Hundreds of chariots are interlocked in a ring, enough to form a protective surface with a circumference of one hundred and fifty six feet.
A strong fortress ten feet wide was filled with elite soldiers, equipped with strong bows and crossbows. They peered at the west gate and suppressed the attack by sending troops out of the west gate.
Seeing Jiangdong Zuojun forming a car camp outside the fortress, She Feihu ordered people to test the car camp with a bed crossbow. They were 250 or 60 steps away. Although the bed crossbow was sharp, it could not penetrate the high plate and injured the people inside the car camp.
However, the Jiangdong Left Army formed a car camp, and the Jiangdong Left Army made no move to attack the fortress. Another large group of men and horses came from a distance, carrying shovels and other tools for digging ditches and filling soil on their shoulders.
"No, Jiangdong's left army is afraid that they will build a trench wall to surround us." Qin Zitan frowned when he saw the arrangement of Jiangdong's left army under the fortress. He immediately pulled She Feihu and flew to the east wall, pointing to the open space in front of the fortress.
, said, "We must send troops to occupy this place. If the Jiangdong Left Army is allowed to build a trench wall under this border fortress, I am afraid that the passage to the sea will soon be lost..."
New Sai was built along the Salt River, but there are still five or six hundred steps away from the seawall to the east. Blocking the Salt River would be too simple, just sinking a few ships. Once this open space is used,
The left army in Jiangdong built a trench wall to isolate them, and they were completely trapped in the fortress.