On April 18th, Hecheng was bustling with activity. The Eastern Expedition fleet had arrived at Changshan Island. The sentry ship entered the port first, so there was no need to block the news. The people of Hecheng already knew that the Zhizhi Envoy would lead the Eastern Expedition today.
The army arrived at Hecheng.
Ordinary people were ignorant and did not care about state affairs, but those who moved to Hecheng mostly suffered from displacement, finally settled down, and were quite sensitive to war.
In the past ten years, the Dai Viet Dynasty had been oppressed by the Donglu to the point where they could not even breathe. The Huaidong Army was able to cross the sea to march eastward and beat the Koreans who had betrayed their faith and surrendered to the Donglu. Naturally, the people of Hecheng were very proud and proud.
feel.
From the moment the news spread, it was like a festival inside and outside Hecheng, filled with an atmosphere of uncontrollable excitement and joy.
The letter ship arrived at the river port at noon to report the news. However, there was a yellow sand channel in the eastern sea of Hecheng. The fleet had to pass through the narrow yellow sand channel, which took a lot of time. Lin Mengde, Qin Chengzu, Sun Jingtang and others also
I can only wait patiently on the embankment.
Zhu Ai and Zhang Gou happened to return to Hecheng for business today, and they also went to the port with Han Caizhi to welcome the return of the Eastern Expedition army.
When the sun set in the west, the sails and masts were finally seen emerging from the sea. The crowd cheered and shouted, and the sky suddenly became full of excitement.
At that time, the wind was blowing from the southeast, the ship was moving very fast, and the exhaust wind was blowing fast. After a while, the entire fleet appeared in sight.
When the Eastern Expedition went to sea, Zhu Ai and Zhang Gou were not in Hecheng. After that, there was no large-scale water camp fleet assembly in Hecheng. The main force of the first water camp was stationed on the Shengsi defense line throughout the winter and spring. This was Zhu Ai's first
The first time I saw such a large fleet
In fact, almost one-third of the warships and soldiers of the Second Water Battalion were incorporated into the Haedong Marching Camp and stayed in Jeju. Adding casualties, the size of the Eastern Expedition Army was reduced by about half when it returned.
Even so, with three Jinhai-class warships and ten Jiyun-class warships as the mainstay, including troop transports, horse transport ships and returning cargo ships, the entire fleet is nearly a hundred ships, with a total transport capacity of nearly one hundred thousand shi.
.A fleet of this size appears in the field of vision like a large floating island.
Lin Fu stood on the bow of the boat with his hands behind his hands, looking at Crane City in the distance.
Compared with Hecheng, the sea defense wall extending eastward from Hecheng looks like a dormant dragon, which is more majestic and spectacular.
"They stayed in Chongzhou, and they were not slow in their actions!" Lin Fu squinted at the sea-defending embankment, and laughed with Zhou Pu and Ge Cunxin.
It took half a year to complete the initial construction of the sea dike from Jiangmen to Hecheng. The pile of earth was one foot six feet high, three feet wide at the bottom, and one foot four feet wide at the top. It extended southeast from Hecheng to Jiangmen and was nearly a hundred miles long.
.
From Jiangmen to the south bank of Qingjiangpu, the entire sea dike is 300 miles long, and the plan is to complete it within two years. The southern section from Jiangmen to Hecheng is the most fully prepared, and it is only at this time that it is initially completed. Next, there are still
It is necessary to build a post road on the top of the embankment, transplant willow trees to stabilize the embankment, and plant a large number of wind and sea-proof forest belts outside the embankment.
The entire Huaidong region will enter the rainy season from May to September and mid-autumn. It is a rainy season, and the busy summer and autumn planting are almost concentrated in these six months. Both working hours and manpower are not as good as those in winter and spring.
adequate.
Based on this calculation, the construction speed of the southern section of the sea wall is slower than planned, mainly due to the impact of the January tide.
However, word of this construction speed would be enough to frighten the officials of Jiangdong County and the Ministry of Industry.
Liu Tingzhou wanted to be considered a capable official. When he was in Yandu, he planned to build and defend the sea dike, and he was very familiar with dike construction. Years ago, Lin Fu convened officials in Chongzhou to discuss the matter of dike construction, and Liu Tingzhou planned to build Lin Fu's embankment.
It would be great to be able to build a sea wall within three to five years. I never thought that a three-hundred-mile sea wall could be built in two years.
At the beginning, Chen Zhongnian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, recruited 300,000 people to build the Yellow River embankment. The amount of work was less than half of the southern section of the sea dike. After more than half a year of hard work, the people who built the embankment caused chaos.
Hecheng Port is also divided into an inner port and an outer port. It is bounded by the river gate stone dam, and the outer port is the sea port. After the river gate is the Yunyan River, the south bank is the inner port, which is the river port.
There is also a city port in the city, which must be entered through the North Water Gate.
Since sea ships have high masts and can pass through the river locks, but not the city locks, Lin Fu's ship can only be anchored at the river port. Lin Fu, Zhou Pu, Ge Cunxin and others boarded the shore and met the people who stayed in Chongzhou.
Lin Mengde, Qin Chengzu, Sun Jingtang, Sun Jingtang, Hu Zhiyong and others met.
Even though the imperial court and Jiangdong County officials were indifferent to the Eastern Expedition, Lin Fu's return from the Eastern Expedition with a great victory was a great joy for Chongzhou and Huaidong. Besides, it had been more than four months since Lin Fu left Chongzhou, and the officials who stayed behind
, almost all those who could leave came to Hecheng to greet them; the Chongzhou gentry who had known the news in advance also rushed over to greet them. The scene was very lively and spectacular.
Among more than a hundred people, Zhu Ai and Zhang Gou didn't get a chance to talk. They just came to join in the fun. When Han Caizhi entered Hecheng with Lin Fu and other officials who greeted them, Zhu Ai and Zhang Gou planned to return to the construction section first.
Go. I still have a lot of things to do. I agreed to rush back today, so I won’t stay in Hecheng overnight.
Zhu Ai and Zhang Gou walked to the stable to pick up the horses. Han Caizhi turned back to look for them and said, "Why can't I see you two in the blink of an eye? Your Excellency wants you to stay for the banquet!"
Zhu Ai was quite excited. Although he was still a grassroots official, he had integrated into the group of Huaidong Military Division. Naturally, he was more eager to be appreciated and promoted. He rubbed his hands and walked to Hecheng with Han Caizhi.
Zhang Gou was quite indifferent. He knew in his heart that whether he was facing the Huaidong Military Division or the Huaidong Military Division was treating him, Mr. Gan could not get over the threshold. His real power in the labor camp was even limited.
Not as good as Zhu Ai, but at the same time he had to admit that Zhu Ai was an extremely capable person. If the Huaidong Army Chief could really use him regardless of his background, Zhu Ai's future achievements should be higher than Han Caizhi's.
Although Hecheng is the establishment of the Inspection Department and the Grassland Department, the city is as solid and large as the prefectures and counties. The people in the city and the surrounding farmland have a large scale. Like Jiangmen, including the Inspection Department
Regarding the establishment of officials in the division, preparations for setting up a county have actually been completed, and all that is needed is an order from the imperial court.
Lin Fu took office as the envoy of the Huaidong system. As the military and political officer of the eleven counties of the two prefectures of Huaidong, he only had complete control over military and civil affairs, finance, official appointments and other affairs in Chongzhou.
Even if the Lianghuai salt area does not need Hecheng Grassland to provide fodder, Zhang Xie, Yue Lengqiu and others will only agree to split Hecheng Grassland into counties and let Lin Fu fully control it if they take the wrong medicine.
The area expanded from one county to three counties.
Because Zhang Gou was rough at writing and calligraphy, he had more knowledge than other generals in the refugee army. He was favored by Liu An'er and Sun Zhuang. Zhang Gou was also quite proud of himself. However, it was only after arriving in Chongzhou that his horizons were truly opened and his knowledge improved.
One advantage of being in Chongzhou for more than half a year is that Zhang Gou can see the Tangchaodi newspapers collected from all over the country, both old and new. These alone provide Zhang Gou with a higher level of vision to reflect on the refugee army.
Over the years, the problem has been that the more we fight, the more we fight, and the more we fight, the weaker we become.
The year before last, the number of refugee troops who entered the Huaisi area was as high as 400,000. The officers and soldiers in the Huaisi area were mainly composed of the Changhuai Army and the Huaidong Army, with only 40,000 to 50,000 people. The refugee army was suppressed by 40,000 to 50,000 officers and soldiers.
It has to be like flowing flowers and falling into the water.
Not to mention the Huaidong Army, even the Changhuai Army, under extremely unfavorable circumstances, with less than 20,000 troops, resisted the siege of hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers by the refugee army, and defended Xuzhou City for half a year without wavering.
The gap can no longer be simply measured by combat effectiveness and tactical level.
Many generals of the refugee army who have surrendered, including Han Caizhi, Chen Kuili, Zhang Gou, Chen Zhi and others, are reflecting on this issue.
Since he did not have much real power, which meant that there were not many affairs, Zhang Gou had more free time to reflect on the success and failure of the refugee army.
In the past, due to limited vision and limited conditions, the books collected from local areas were all classics with unfamiliar words, concise and profound meanings, and seemed to be mysterious. A military book can be written in just a few thousand words.
, I just want to finish talking about leading troops to fight. The actual help is very limited. It depends more on the generals’ personal summary and understanding based on actual combat experience.
The Huaidong Army Horse and Infantry Drill Code, written by Lin Fu himself, contains tens of thousands of words covering only the most basic tactical drills at the banner level. In addition to the text, more importantly, it is supplemented by hundreds of illustrations. Even if it is not
If you are literate, read diagrams, listen to explanations several times, and have a slightly more flexible mind, you can master the most basic flag team-level tactics.
When Zhang Gou first got the Cao Dian, he borrowed it from Han Caizhi. When he first got it, he felt like he had found a treasure. He thought that only Han Caizhi could gain the trust of the Huaidong Army and get such a top-secret file. He wanted to secretly copy it and give it to the police.
I sent a copy over, thinking that if the refugee army could have obtained this manual earlier, they would not have beaten the officers and soldiers so badly.
The combat training school located in Hecheng will recruit people after the year. The work camp recommended 400 officers at a time to study at the Hecheng primary combat training school, and Zhang Gou was among them. He went to Hecheng to study intensively for half a month every month.
There is still half a month left to go back to the work section to deal with matters, taking turns.
After entering the battle training school, Zhang Gou discovered that he had a treasured horse infantry drill code. As long as he entered the battle training school, he could have a copy of it. It was not a top-secret file in the Huaidong Army Department. It is no wonder that Han Caizhi did not guard against him and easily captured it.
Let Cao Dian be lent to him first.
Continuously seeing new gaps made Zhang Gou increasingly depressed about the future of the refugee army.
In addition to the treasure-worthy content written in the Shuocao Dian, there is only an ordinary book with more than 200 pages, nearly three inches thick, and well-printed. Zhang Gou once asked someone to buy it from a Jiangning bookseller.
He said he wanted ten taels of silver.
For the most basic horse infantry and water camp drills, officers of the Huaidong Army and above can almost have one copy for each person, and students entering the junior combat training school can have one volume for each person. There are also various handouts, printed by Tangzhi
, the paper consumption within the Huaidong Army has reached an astonishing scale. This alone is far incomparable to the refugee army who cannot even have enough to eat.
In addition to the books distributed for free, other books supplied by the Huaidong Military Division to internal generals and officials are also sold at extremely low prices. You can often buy a book for only one or two hundred yuan, which requires several taels of silver to buy in city bookstores.
of a book.
In addition to books, the Huaidong Army Division supplies other daily necessities to internal generals and officials, and the selling price is usually only half or even a fraction of the market price. Most of these books and other daily necessities are purchased from Guanyintan
, Chongcheng’s supply of workshops is also a key factor in the low selling price.
This also ensures that the generals and officials, while their salaries are not high, are relatively well-off and their lives are less embarrassing.
The refugee army needs to go through cruel and bloody wars to eliminate them, and among thousands of dead bodies, only one qualified battalion general can stand out, and that is just a matter of being brave and resourceful on a basic level.
The 400 officers from the industrial camp who were selected for short-term study at the Hecheng Junior Combat Training School later in the year were mostly grassroots officers at the level of the former civilian army. After short-term concentrated study, many of these officers showed outstanding performance.
It will have a higher tactical level than the refugee camp.
Zhang Gou realized that unless the refugee army could have Huaidong's excellent and complete logistics support system and organize such a large-scale combat training school, it would never be able to catch up with the Huaidong Army's combat power level.
The tactical training of officers at all levels is far behind, not to mention the Huaidong Military Division's direct control over officers at all levels, which is far beyond what the refugee army can match.
At least within the Huaidong Army, no general has the ability to independently pull his troops out to join his family, and it is even less likely that Commander Qu will lead his troops to attack and kill the commander.
The more Zhang Gou knew about the Huaidong Army, the less surprising the Huaidong Army's victory in the Eastern Expedition was.
With all kinds of thoughts in his heart, Zhang Gou was also unhappy at the party at night.
At the night banquet, even Han Caizhi didn't have much chance to squeeze in. Zhang Gou had a cold temperament, so naturally he didn't even have a chance to talk. After drinking, he left early and returned to the hotel first.
Han Caizhi, Zhu Ai and others came back very late drunk. It was a rare opportunity not to abstain from drinking. How many people who lead troops to fight are not greedy for alcohol? Zhang Gou woke them up and told them that they would return tomorrow.
He cannot leave Crane City and has to wait for the summons.
When Lin Fu returned to Chongzhou for the first time, he had too many things to deal with and too many people to meet. There was no timetable for when he could summon them. He just asked Han Caizhi, Zhu Ai, and Zhang Gou to wait in Hecheng.