People have always regretted long-distance railways, and this section of railway was built in the south of the Yangtze River with dense water networks. In addition, the inland waterway shipping companies tried their best to belittle long-distance railways.
Therefore, not many people paid attention to the corporate railway bonds issued by Datang Railway Company to raise funds for railway construction. The one million taels of silver bonds scheduled to be issued were only sold for more than 100,000 taels of silver. Most of them were sold.
It was also a friendly purchase from officials.
In the end, Datang Railway Company had no choice but to go to several major banks to find loans.
Naturally, they did not go to those private banks, because those private banks ignored them. They could only go to the Royal Bank and several banks controlled by the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises. However, even these banks with official backgrounds, they
Those who need to be responsible for savers cannot make high-risk loan investments.
The current railway is undoubtedly a very risky project!
There are all kinds of risks. Some people even say that this railway is built in a barren mountain and the tracks will be stolen in any minute.
The steel these days is very good, and don't overestimate the moral character of those unscrupulous people. It is highly likely that they will dig out the rails and sell them as scrap metal.
In the end, several big bosses from the Ministry of Industry personally lost face and went to officials from the Royal Assets Section and the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises, saying that everyone was working for the empire and had to help their brothers no matter what.
At the same time, the Ministry of Justice has also taken corresponding measures, and even added a new crime called the crime of railway sabotage, which is more serious than ordinary theft.
At the same time, the patrol department also stated that they will set up relevant agencies to specialize in railway protection.
Immediately afterwards, Sheng Tianzi also made a personal decision. In order to balance the costs of the railway company, he followed the example of the Shanghai Port Company and allowed them to own part of the land development rights along the railway line, especially the development rights in areas near the stations.
By doing this, Li Xuan turned the railway company into an enterprise integrating railway operations, real estate development, retail and other service industries. Even if the railway operation loses money, it can still recover part of the cost through real estate, retail and other fields.
After many measures were promulgated one after another, the major banks were initially reassured. They thought that even if the railway suffered losses, they would be able to recover part of their investment by selling the tracks, land, etc.
The losses were too serious, so in the end, the Royal Bank took the lead and combined with several banks or securities companies controlled by the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises and other financial institutions to provide Datang Railway Company with a loan totaling one million taels.
After much tossing and tossing, the funds were finally collected, and Datang Railway Company finally started the first phase of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, that is, the construction of the Beijing-Zhenjia Railway.
The reason why the construction of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway was not launched at once is because the railway is still a new thing. Even Li Xuan himself is not sure whether it will be profitable to build the railway these days. After all, it only uses horses now.
The trailer truck has a limited cargo capacity and is at best an upgraded version of ordinary roads. No one knows what it will be like in the end.
The construction of the first long-distance railway began in the Zhili region, while the war in the north continued!
Li Xuan of Jinling City received battle reports from the north one after another, not only from the Ninth Army, but also some military reports from other areas.
For example, in Gansu in the northwest region, a large number of Tatar cavalry movements were discovered, and they even launched an attack on the northwest region. Although they were repelled by the garrison, this also proved that the Tatars would not be distracted by the Tang army.
If the Datang Army sends troops to the Hetao, it will have to fight the Datang Army in the Hetao. They can launch attacks in other directions.
However, although there are Tatar invasions in other areas, they are all under control. The local armies may be reluctant to go north to fight, but if they rely on the direction of the Great Wall to conduct defensive operations, it is still relatively easy.
Under such circumstances, the core area of the fighting between the two sides will still be in the Hetao.
Judging from the battle reports collected by the Ninth Army, the Tatars mobilized more and more troops, from 40,000 cavalry at the beginning to 50,000 and 60,000.
Today, the entire Hetao area has gathered more than 70,000 Tatar people.
However, the Tatars' increase in troops also had a process, and taking advantage of this process, Deng Xide had already led his troops to attack Dongsheng City, and rebuilt strong defenses on the old site of Dongsheng City.
Relying on more than a dozen bastions along the way, including Dongsheng City and Nanlimbao, a solid line of defense was built, which made the Tatars very uncomfortable.
Because at this time, the main infantry of the Tang Dynasty army basically did not come out to actively fight with them, but were stationed in the city, and the only troops active outside were the cavalry corps.
The main task of today's cavalry corps has also evolved to cover the logistics line. At the same time, because the Tatar troops are increasing, the pressure on the logistics line is also increasing. For this reason, the Ninth Army even dispatched enough
An entire infantry division serves as an escort force for the transport troops.
As for the many simple bastions along the way, they were often attacked. Many bastions were breached. Among them, South Limburg was breached three times. However, each time it was breached, the Ninth Army would send heavy troops.
To recapture.
Then during the process of repeated battles, a large number of attrition battles took place between the two sides. The Tang Army suffered a lot of casualties. In just two months, tens of thousands of new soldiers were added to the rear. At the same time, the Privy Council recruited from other places.
The region dispatched a main infantry division and two reserve divisions to form a second echelon to support the Ninth Army's operations.
Currently, the Tang Army's troops fighting on this line have reached three main infantry divisions, five reserve divisions, one artillery brigade, and one cavalry corps, with a total strength of one hundred thousand.
The Tang army suffered a lot of casualties, and the cost was even greater, but the Tatars were not in pain either. After these months of attrition warfare, the Tatar casualties had reached seven to eight thousand riders.
Because the Tang Army almost forced the Tatars to use their best fighting method, which was positional warfare, instead of the mobile warfare that the Tatars were best at.
From a military point of view, the best choice for the Tatars is not to go head-to-head and repeatedly compete with the Tang army for those bastions, but to send cavalry troops to attack the grain transport troops.
But the grain transport troops of the Tang Dynasty Army are not so easy to attack. The Tang Army has formed a second batch of troops consisting of a main division and two reserve divisions. The task of this second batch of troops is to escort supplies. The Tatars
If you want to cut off the supply line, you won't be able to defeat them unless you send tens of thousands of cavalry to attack them.
Even if they have an advantage in terms of military strength, they will be in a hard fight after rushing forward, because at this time, the escorting infantry of the Tang Army often defend on the spot and then wait for the support of the cavalry regiment.
Facing transport troops with tens of thousands of troops at every turn, the Tatars were helpless!
Because in this case, even if they use 30,000 to 50,000 cavalry to charge forward, they can't expect to be able to break through their formation.
Even if you are not careful, you will be attacked from behind by the cavalry regiment of the Tang Army.
When the time comes to November, with the gradual completion of Dongsheng City's defense system, it will basically announce a complete change in the strategic posture of both parties.
Anda Khan spent several months, but failed to completely destroy the Tang Army's plan to rebuild Dongsheng City. He almost watched Dongsheng City being rebuilt, and the feeling was extremely uncomfortable.
But in this process, he had no choice at all!
The Army of the Tang Dynasty fought steadily and did not take the initiative to ask for war at all, let alone go hundreds of miles into the grassland to conduct pursuit operations. They just honestly built castles all the way across, and finally established the huge Dongsheng City in the hinterland of Hetao.
Incredible nails.
Sitting on horseback and looking at the Dongsheng City of the Southern Tang Barbarians, An Dahan sighed deeply!
This feeling of helplessness has not occurred for a long time, at least for decades. Even when he entered the Central Plains, was finally defeated by the Tang Army in Shandong, and fled north in embarrassment, he had never experienced this helplessness.
a feeling of.
At most, I felt that I had not reaped the benefits, but in the end, I still gained the benefits of mutual trade by negotiating with the Tang Empire by relying on the large number of border cities that I occupied when entering the customs.
But now, this is no longer a question of profit or loss, but a feeling of powerlessness. He simply cannot stop the Tang Army from rebuilding Dongsheng City.
And he knew even more clearly that once the Tang Army took root in Dongsheng City, the huge Tumochuan and Hetao areas would no longer belong to the Tatars.
The situation is very dangerous!
He knows this very well, but how to change it?
He also knew that the best and best way was to conquer Dongsheng City and pull out this huge nail. Without Dongsheng City, those earthen fortresses would have no mission at all.
Because he can see that the more than ten simple bastions have only one function, and that is to serve as a logistics transportation line for Dongsheng City. If Dongsheng City does not exist, then these earthen bastions will have nothing
strategic value.
Now the Tatars and the Tang Army are repeatedly fighting for these bastions, with the ultimate goal of completely cutting off the supply lines of Dongsheng City. Unfortunately, they have been doing this for several months, but they have never succeeded.
.
This supply line seems fragile. Those bastions are easy to break, but they can't hold it even if they conquer it. The barbarians of the Southern Tang Dynasty will raise heavy troops to counterattack every time. This back and forth fight becomes a pure war of attrition.
!
But it was not easy to achieve this. When they were in the field, they were helpless against the infantry phalanx of the Tang Army, let alone directly attack the city.