The imperial court in Beijing was urging three times a day. Governor Luo Xiujin was unable to calm down under the urging in Dengzhou, so he had to rush south with troops, horses, people and food.
Deng County is very close to Xiangyang, but it is almost 200 miles away. It can only be flowed along the rapids to the Baihe River and merged into the Han River. Originally, the troops could just go south, but now they have to bring thousands of extra civilians who were temporarily recruited to help transport food.
The autumn harvest is just around the corner, and many people actually have little food left in their homes, or even a shortage of food.
But in order to supply the army, Luo Xiujin had to order a search everywhere, and finally scraped together a batch of food.
The people of Nanyang Prefecture were unlucky. They had to work as laborers to transport grain. If they wanted to exchange money for the labor, the yamen required each person to pay two taels of silver. Who among ordinary people could afford to pay two taels of silver?
Now a long-term laborer in Nanyang Prefecture works for a landlord for a year and only earns three taels of silver from the beginning to the end of the year.
If you can't afford the money, you can only serve on your own. What the government goes even further is that they not only ask the people to transport grain, but also let the people be responsible for the ships that transport the grain. The government only pays one-fifth of the silver, leaving the rest to hire ships or
Whether it's shipbuilding or platoon building, it's all borne by the common people.
Coupled with the temporary increase in military ration apportionment, Nanyang Prefecture, an originally prosperous Central Plains Basin, suddenly caused countless people to go bankrupt. Many people had no choice but to drag their families and leave their homes in the middle of the night to escape to the mountainous areas to the west.
Go and vote.
At least I heard that there are still fields in the mountains over there, and there is still a way to survive.
The Qing Dynasty left no way for everyone to survive.
There are always people who did not run away or who did not run away. Luo Xiujin and the others collected a batch of military rations, a batch of boats, and rafts through extensive levies. So there were a total of 5,000 Henan Green Camp troops, plus several thousand civilians.
Down the river.
It took them several days to reach the ruins of Fancheng on the north bank of the Han River.
They walked for five days on a two-hundred-mile journey, with a total of 10,000 soldiers and civilians. In these five days, they had consumed more than a thousand dan of grain and grass, and there were still 3,000 dan left. Based on this consumption, they could still supply half a month.
.
In fact, Fancheng is generally well-preserved, but it is an empty city, and the defensive walls and moats are basically destroyed.
"The city wall must be repaired and troops must be stationed for garrison. Otherwise, as soon as we leave, the Ming thieves from Yunyang may come again, and may even attack Dengzhou, Nanyang, etc. behind us. What's more, we only rely on the small amount of food we carry.
It’s not enough, we will have to continuously transport grain to replenish it, Xiangfan must be under control.”
Admiral Sun Dingliao said firmly to Governor Luo Xiujin.
Now ten thousand people have crossed the Han River with the remaining three thousand stones of grain. Not to mention whether they can reach the gates of Wuchang within half a month. Even if they can, with the current situation in Huguang, where will the follow-up grain and grain be?
If we can't count on local collection, we have to supply from behind.
Therefore, this transportation line must be safe. This is something anyone who knows something about military affairs understands.
Luo Xiujin had a headache, and he had already lost a lot of hair before he left for the expedition.
Wuchang's tens of thousands of people are urgently waiting for rescue. Beijing is already very impatient with him. If he doesn't rush over, it's probably the end of him as governor.
But it passed like this, but the entire road from Xiangfan to Chengtian has been captured and swept by the Ming army. They cannot resupply. There are too many unexpected situations on the road. Once they are blocked halfway, they may not be able to advance or retreat, or even be blocked.
Starved to death on the road.
"Do you think you can divide the troops into two groups, leaving five hundred soldiers and one or two thousand civilians to repair Xiangfan City, and then stay and garrison to ensure the transportation of food and wages behind? The other soldiers will continue to go down the Han River to Wuchang for reinforcements?
"
Sun Dingliao sighed, "If Xiangpan City is intact and the population in the city is there, the governor's plan can certainly be given a try, but if only one or two thousand people are left in this dilapidated city, it is estimated that it will not be repaired at all in a while."
It's a good city, but if thieves attack at any time, how can we defend it then?"
"Either we just make a desperate move and send the whole army southward and ignore it, or we repair the city first and then divide our troops and go southward. In this way, even if there are not many troops left behind, but there is a city to rely on, we can still fight."
Luo Xiujin thought about it and couldn't decide, "What does the admiral mean?"
"I mean, we only have these five thousand soldiers. Even if we rush to Wuchang City now, it will be of no use. It is better to repair the two cities of Xiangfan here first, and at the same time, we can also reserve more food and grass here. When Baylor and the others arrive in Wuchang, we
It’s not too late to go south again.”
"But the imperial court pressed hard!"
"Then send a group of light cavalry to go south first, hoist more flags to bluff, go around Wuchang and show the flag from a distance."
"This is a good idea. Okay, just do what Admiral Sun said."
The troubled Luo Xiujin finally decided to stop at the Han River first, because what Sun Dingliao said made sense. Before the main force of Luck Dehun and others arrived, it would be of no use to them to go to Wuchang. Instead, they might get themselves involved, so that was not as good.
Be steady.
Five thousand green battalions and five thousand civilians entered the dilapidated boat-shaped Fan City, and then began to repair the city wall together.
They were busy shouting slogans all day long, but not even a single gap was repaired. It is easier to dismantle than to repair. Especially when the Ming army demolished the city wall, they filled the city bricks and other things into the moat. It would be difficult to salvage and mend the city wall.
It was very difficult. They could only cut down the trees first and then make them into wooden piles to plug the gap.
But even so, the amount of work is still huge.
At night, the soldiers and civilians who had been busy for a day could only eat a simple dinner. Because the food they could carry was limited, they didn't know when the second batch would arrive. Luo Xiujin asked for a limited supply.
Originally, a soldier received at least one liter of rice for a meal, but now it was reduced to one liter per day.
The civilian husband also lost one-third.
There is no meat or vegetables, just some pickles and porridge.
The hungry soldiers and civilians secretly cursed Luo Xiujin and Sun Dingliao before they fell asleep.
midnight.
Fires broke out all over the Han River, burning half the sky red.
Luo Xiujin hurriedly put on her clothes and stood up. Sun Dingliao had already taken the lead and led his family to guard the gaps in Fancheng.
"what happened?"
"It's a Ming thief!"
Sun Dingliao said helplessly, "The Ming thieves came down by boat from the upper reaches of the Han River. They set fire to our boat parked at the dock, row."
Luo Xiujin's beard trembled wildly.
"Where are the people on duty? Didn't anyone notice them? Shouldn't they be on guard for twenty miles before patrolling at night?"
Sun Dingliao said helplessly, "It was dark at night, and the Ming army was sailing down the river without noticing it. By the time it was discovered, it was already too late."
It was unknown how many Ming troops came in the darkness, but Sun Dingliao did not dare to leave the city easily to pursue them.
I could only watch helplessly as all the ships and platoons transporting grain were burned to the ground.
He was still very worried that the Ming army would advance into the dilapidated Fancheng. Fortunately, the Ming army only made noise and noise in the darkness all night, but did not advance in.
Sun Dingliao and Luo Xiujin spent the night nervous and frightened. Only at dawn did they discover that the Ming army's ship was anchored on the south bank of the Han River, and they were right in front of Xiangyang City.
"It's estimated to be five thousand." Sun Dingliao estimated while standing on the wall of Fancheng, looking at the Ming army.
The two armies faced each other across the Han River.
The row of boats was burned, and now they could no longer go south. Even seeing the Ming army on the other side, they could only look at the river and sigh.
Luo Xiujin looked at it for a while and then said, "If we continue to build the city today, we won't need to go out to cut trees. We will just demolish the houses in the city and use bricks, stones and wood to build them."
"I suggest that we only allow the civilians to build the city today, and that the soldiers be divided into two groups. One group will prepare for battle outside the city, and the other group will defend on the city in case the Ming army may cross the river to attack at any time." Sun Dingliao suggested.
"Okay." Luo Xiujin said very helplessly. After thinking for a while, he said, "Hurry up and send people back to Dengzhou and Nanyang, and ask them to quickly recruit ships, rafts, and food and grass."