Xu Xiaoyun said: "If the city is not repaired, no matter whether the Liao soldiers or pirates invade the territory, the people will only be killed." ”

Zheng Bin and Tan Zizai heard the accusation in his words, but they didn't answer, I don't know if they didn't want to be the enemy of Xu Xiaoyun, a Qingliu scholar who was in the limelight, or whether they didn't bother to respond to his question at all. After all, the magistrates are all elected by the state school students, and no matter how Xu Xiaoyun knocks on the side, it is impossible to dismiss them like the legal supervisor of the shipyard. On the contrary, if they made a big move to repair the city wall, causing dissatisfaction and backlash from the local gentry, and then launching an impeachment in the state school, the two officials would be at the end.

Xu Xiaoyun's face was gloomy, and this clear attitude was more frustrating than a straightforward rebuttal.

"In the years of war and chaos, the city is faith, if it has been such a ruined wall, how can it keep people?"

"If the cost is not enough, the walls don't have to be built that long." Zhao Xingde's words broke the silence, "The ancients did not seek to build a big city, and the city was small but strong. The circumference of Yangzhou City is twenty miles, if the defenders are 10,000 people, all of them will stand on the city wall, and the city wall is only 500 defenders in one mile. If the walls are too long, the forces will be scattered, and the enemy only needs to choose one point to break through, and the whole city will fall. The money and food for Yangzhou to repair the city are not enough, and the defenders may not be sufficient in the future, so you can first choose the terrain to build a corner village as the central fortress, and then make up enough money in the future, and then gradually build subsidiary corner villages around the center, and gradually expand the fortress group. Even if the enemy army breaches a fort, it will not damage the overall situation. In this way, not only can the defensive forces be saved, but if the long-range heavy artillery is placed in the corner village, the area controlled by the corner village group will far exceed the ring city. ”

This kind of city building method was obtained by Zhao Xingde from the experience of defending the city with artillery, and Ma Yuan, Liu Wengu and other people who had participated in the actual battle were thorough at all, and their faces showed a look of surprise. Zhou He and other military officers were a little confused, while civil officials such as Zheng Bin and Tan Zizai were completely confused. Xu Xiaoyun's face was different, and after a little thought, there was a trace of doubt in his eyes.

"Xia Guan has a question," Zheng Bin politely said, "Please ask Lord Zhao for advice." ”

If others say that they want to change the way the city is built, Zheng Bin and others will definitely disdain it. But Zhao Xingde's reputation for being good at defending the city is too great, so he questioned it in a consultative tone. Zhao Xingde also understands this and doesn't think it's wrong. Jiaozhai has a relatively good performance in Liaodong Peninsula and Henan, but the Liaodong Peninsula is too narrow, and the land of Henan is too wide, which is not suitable for building a group of Jiaozhai in a row. The Huainan zone is the main passage for the northern cavalry to go south, although there is no high mountain danger, but the plain is not wide, the water network is vertical and horizontal, it is suitable for building the corner village group, using artillery to control the key area.

Zheng Bin asked: "The Jiaozhai that the lord said can only accommodate the official army, in case the enemy army attacks, where can the people stay?" ”

Although Zheng Bin is not familiar with the military, this question hits the nail on the head, and even a little heart-wrenching. Although Xu Xiaoyun had prejudices against him, he also nodded slightly, obviously this was also what he was thinking. Ma Yuan and the others' faces changed slightly, and their eyes fell on Zhao Xingde. Zhao Xingde's face was as usual, as if he had expected this question. The river breeze blew slightly, and outside the cabin, the wails of the hungry people on the dock were clear, and Liu Wengu said in his heart: "The teacher is by no means a person who abandons the people. ”

"Since the Liao army entered the army, have the big cities protected the people?" Zhao Xingde sighed, Xu Xiaoyun's expression sank, and he immediately secretly said that he was strong, Zhao Xingde continued, "This is the difference between ancient and modern. If it is a large city, the area within the walls is wide, and there are grain, grass, wells, and even fields, and the city has a heaven and earth of its own, which can also protect the people around it. Supplemented by the strategy of fortifying the walls and clearing the wilderness, as long as the enemy cannot capture the city, he will not be able to confront the defenders, and the only way to withdraw the army is if the food and grass are insufficient. Therefore, since the Middle Ages, the city has become bigger and bigger, and the Bianliang Jingshi of this dynasty is the largest city in the world. He slowly looked around at the officers in the field, accentuated his tone, and said in a deep voice: "However, in modern times, the situation on the battlefield is very different. ”

"Very different?" Ma Yuan, Liu Wengu and others chewed on his words carefully, and there was a trace of feeling in their hearts, but they were vague.

"In recent times, the garrison has been exhausted by books. Zhang patrolled Suiyang, and the city had to eat people to satisfy hunger, and only a few hundred of the 30,000 people were left when the city was broken. No matter how big the city is, the defenders of the city are no longer able to destroy the siege, why is this? Zhao Xingde looked at everyone's confused expressions and sighed, "This is because of the increase in population." In ancient times, the land was vast and sparsely populated, and the defenders only needed to clear the fields with strong walls and gather the grain, grass and people in the city, and it was difficult for the enemy to grab enough food even if they plundered around. However, since ancient times, the population of the Central Plains has been fertile, and the more people in the city, the greater the consumption of food, which is not good for the defenders. Those who defend the city can't afford to attack the city and plunder the land, which is a very natural result. ”

"No wonder, I see," Zhou He sighed, "It's not that soldiers don't need to die. There was also a man next to him: "So what? ”

"So what?" Zhao Xingde sneered, "If you can't even consume the other party's food and grass, that means that if there are no reinforcements or other plans, defending the city is already a strategy that is sure to fail." As long as the enemy controls a vast area outside the city, the population, grain and grass can be driven for their own use. No matter how big the city is, the population in the city is not as large as outside the city, and the grain and grass in the city are not as large as those outside the city. He sighed and said, "No one is a fool, since defending the city is a matter of defeat, will the defenders really wait for cannibalism again and again?" Abandoning the city, or simply surrendering at first, is the choice of the 'smart people'. ”

"In that case," Ma Yuan asked as he pondered, "and how to deal with it?" ”

"Offense is the best defense," Zhao Xingde said with a regretful face: "If the field battle can defeat a strong enemy, then there is no need to defend the city." ”

"Passive defense is only a strategy, if it is a last resort, the defender's strategy is to try to expand the defensive area, firstly, to form an area similar to the ancient 'strong wall and clear wilderness' as much as possible, so that the enemy can not obtain grain and grass as desired, and drive our people, and secondly, the larger the defensive area, the more difficult it is for the enemy to besiege, and the easier it is for the defender to contact the outside world. The city I am building is getting bigger and bigger, and in fact, I am also following this path, but no matter how long the city wall is, it only encloses a limited piece of land. This is especially undesirable when the enemy is dominated by cavalry and can plunder an unprecedentedly large area. ”

"With the addition of artillery, the area that can be controlled far exceeds that of an isolated city. If this fortified area is of the right size, even the cavalry will be difficult to bypass, and the enemy army will not be able to surround it, and there will be nothing to plunder, so it will be difficult to hold on to the defenders. He paused, "The enemy can't go around this place, and there's nothing to plunder." The loss of one or two peripheral corner villages will not affect the overall situation, and the enemy army will pay a very heavy price if they want to capture all the corner villages one by one. In this way, the rear of the fortified area is relatively stable. ”

Everyone suddenly realized, but Xu Xiaoyun said: "The corner village is narrow, if the enemy army attacks, the people still have no place to stay." ”

"If the enemy army attacks," Zhao Xingde replied, "the people should be evacuated to the rear in advance." ”

"Then," Zheng Bin asked hesitantly, "isn't that to make the people flee?" He didn't say, "If you can't protect the people, what's the use of building these corner villages?" It was polite, but everyone heard the meaning of his words. Ma Yuan and Liu Wengu showed strange looks, and secretly shook their heads in their hearts. No matter how much you ask, anyone will ask for it, but whether you can do it or not is another matter. After the recovery of the north, it was already vast and sparsely populated, and the main role of the corner village was to accommodate the people of Tunken to avoid the Liao army to fight the grass valley. However, the Jianghuai area is densely populated, and the role of the corner village here is mainly based on the hard consumption of the Liao army by the artillery fortress, if it accommodates more people, I am afraid that the local grain and grass in the village are not enough.

"Lord Zheng, the times are different from ancient to modern." Zhao Xingde once again emphasized, "If there are not many enemies coming, the people only need to temporarily hide in the defensive zone of Jiaozhai, but if there are many enemies, they can only retreat to the rear." However, can you stay in the city forever? The tide of time has changed, and the enemy is extremely cruel, and if ordinary people cannot evacuate to the safety of the rear, neither the corner village nor the city can protect them. Compared with ancient times, the scope of the battlefield has been greatly expanded, and the security of the rear can at least be guaranteed in the corner area, while the isolated city is easily bypassed by the enemy cavalry, and the people do not even have the rear to flee. ”

Seeing this, Zheng Bin no longer questioned it, he didn't know what he remembered, and sighed.

"Lord Zhao is reasonable, please forgive the officials for being rude. As the adults said, if the enemy army can be defeated, why bother so much, and the people will not have to be displaced. Zheng Bin's face was gloomy, and he arched his hand, "After the Liao army set fire, the city is in ruins, I plan to try my best to raise money and food, according to Lord Zhao's intentions, first build a corner fortress in the city, in order to calm people's hearts, at this time, I need more guidance from adults." ”

"It's nature." Zhao Xingde nodded and said, "Zhao should do his best." He paused and said, "Although Yangzhou City is in ruins, this location is still very important. Why don't you refer to the method of Chang'an, and only stipulate the general French style, divide the area of the state city into a number of areas, and let the merchants openly bid for it, and the one with the highest price will get it, and the merchants who start must build the houses within the time limit, so that the speed of the reconstruction of the state city will be greatly accelerated. ”

Tan Zizai and the others looked at each other, and after a while, Zheng Bin stroked his palm and nodded and smiled: "It's really the same as what heroes see." We are going to do this, but the original owners of the places in the city are still confirming the title deeds of each family, and if no one claims them, they will put them out and bid for them, and if the original owners cannot go to the yamen to register the title deeds within the time limit, or rebuild the houses within the time limit, the title deeds will be invalid. Now some people plan to rebuild their former homes, and many people are waiting to sell them. It was precisely because of the clearing of the title deeds that the rebuilding was delayed. ”

He said it simply, but Zhao Xingde had a strange feeling in his heart, these Yangzhou officials seemed to be a group of chambers of commerce.

Author: The second one made up for yesterday's leave.