At the end of November, four armies and one cavalry battalion of the Zhongshan Army drove to Jianyang one after another.

After a day of marching, in addition to the more than 3,000 people in Qizhou, Yang Shiwei and the gentry in the city gathered a lot of money and grain, and sent more than 10,000 people to follow the army eastward.

It was already very cold, and the north wind howled in the middle of the night on the first day of the march, and the strong wind blew all night, and the ground was frozen, and in the morning there was no sunlight, only the sky was obscured by black clouds, and by noon the wind was slightly reduced, and then finally the snow began to fall.

At this time, the snow still falls on Fujian Road in winter, but it is not as heavy as the snow in the north, and after the sky begins to snow, large white spots gradually appear on the black earth.

After a day of marching, the number of corpses in the official roads and fields gradually increased, and the people who caught up began to stop along the supply troops established by the previous army, and were ordered to collect the corpses, identify the number of the box army or the forbidden army as much as possible, record the name, and then choose a place to dig a pit for burial.

Because there were too many dead, the pit was dug very large, and a layer of soil was laid after covering the corpses, and soon after the padding, there was a baggage battalion cart of the Zhongshan Prefecture Army rushing over to cover the newly collected corpses.

A large number of long armour, leather or cotton armor, flags, grain and grass, vehicles, and mules and donkeys grazing in the fields were also collected and stored by the baggage soldiers.

In addition to Li Anle, who is responsible for the transfer of Fuzhou people, there is also Zhang Dejian of Houguanzhi County, and at night, along the official road and fields, as well as on the side of the Minjiang River, bonfires are lit everywhere, and there is the aroma of food everywhere, and the bonfires cover the ground, like the twinkling stars in the starry sky, which makes people feel that the heaven and the earth are reversed.

Zhang Dejian hurried at night, and rushed back to Fuzhou with several horsemen to return to Fuzhou, and as soon as the snow fell, the officials in Fuzhou were very anxious, and Zhang Dejian returned to the city to report his trip.

Lin Douyao, Yang Shiwei and Zhao Debang were all waiting in the Shuaichen's mansion, and as soon as Zhang Dejian arrived, he went to the Shuaichen's mansion to ask for a meeting.

Because he was accompanying him to help in the battle, Zhang Dejian only wore a blue round-necked short robe, which was cut to resemble an arrow coat, with short sleeves and short placket, which looked extremely shrewd and capable, and because he wore a ceremonial knife around his waist, he added a bit of martial arts atmosphere.

The three officials all noticed this, Lin Douyao sighed slightly, it seems that it is really a mess, the county is a pro-people official, and he is actually dressed as a martial artist.

Yang Shiwei split his head and asked: "It is snowing heavily, can the army have difficulties in moving, grain and grass, people, but the king of Zhongshan wants Fuzhou to supply more?" ”

Zhao Debang smiled bitterly when he heard this: "Yang Dafu, now the transfer envoy yamen is empty...... I'm almost able to run mice. ”

At the beginning of November, Zhao Debang had already paid the fourth tax at the end of the year, when the king of Zhao had just sent troops, Zhao Debang was afraid that the war would be linked, and the delay would make it more difficult to pay the regular tax after the year, so at the end of the year, the transfer envoy Si Yamen sent his own fleet of ships to send a large amount of money and grain, including tribute, such as raw silk, silk, tea, etc., to Jingshi, which was also according to the practice of previous years, and Lin Douyao and others could not stop it.

It's just that in this way, the transfer envoy is really empty, and there is no savings.

In April and May after the new year, the spring tax will be levied, as well as the normal salt tax, wine tax, tea tax, silk tax, and local ferry money, depreciation money and other miscellaneous taxes.

If Fujian Road also carries out large-scale apportionment according to the order of the central government, this process will be accelerated.

Hearing Zhao Debang's words, Yang Shiwei was dissatisfied and said: "I am an official, don't be flattering in everything, Lord Zhao is too soft in this matter." ”

This is a very serious accusation,

Zhao Debang was very dissatisfied, but he couldn't say anything to refute the old minister Geng Jie in front of him.

"There's no need to rush to say that now." Lin Douyao said to Zhang Dejian: "Is it that His Royal Highness the King of Zhongshan has come down to urge food and wages?" Do you want to send more manpower? Tents, pots, etc., are they insufficient? How far did the army go in a day? These things, let Dejian hurry up and say, my generation is good to discuss with the gentry. ”

This time, the gentry of the capital city will of course do their best to help, and no one wants to be besieged by thieves again. The thieves and cavalry came in an instant, and the situation of burning the village and killing people was just in front of them, but it was just two days ago, and it was precisely because the time was too short, the king of Zhongshan almost didn't stay in Fucheng, and went directly to Jianyang, and the gentry of Fucheng wanted to provide more money and food to help, and there was no way to raise it for a while.

"The King of Zhongshan is in a hurry." Yang Shiwei said urgently: "Why wait a few more days?" ”

Lin Douyao said: "Your Highness is afraid that I didn't expect it to snow suddenly......"

The two officials were anxious, Zhang Dejian first wanted to speak and then stopped, but now he couldn't help but say: "The handsome ministers and the mansion don't need to worry...... The Zhongshan Mansion army has sufficient baggage and food, and the subordinate is ordered to come, otherwise, there is no need for this trip? ”

Lin Douyao's eyes froze and said, "The food and salary are complete, and the materials are sufficient?" ”

"Exactly." Zhang Dejian said: "For every 100 people in the army, there are 60 miscellaneous horses, mules and donkeys, hundreds of horses and mules and donkeys for each baggage battalion, and 100 carts, carrying a large number of long guns, horizontal knives, armor, grain, tents, and medicinal materials, and marching with the army along the official road. And there are more than 100 grain ships on the Minjiang River, moving forward with the army, and the lower officials saw with their own eyes in the evening, unloading a large amount of dry food, bacon, and fish from the grain boats, and the soldiers buried the pot to make rice, and the fragrance floated for ten miles. After dark, the tents are ready, and candles and bonfires are lit all over the fields. Surrounded by cavalry patrols, the people of Fuzhou set up grain depots along the way to contain defeated soldiers and hidden displaced people. The subordinate officer was ordered to supervise the grain team, and today day and night due to heavy snowfall, they traveled more than 20 miles, less than 30 miles. The government army brigade has already walked nearly fifty miles, and tomorrow night, the soldiers will be able to reach the vicinity of Jianyang County. ”

Several adults looked at each other, and after half a sound, Lin Douyao sighed: "What is it called to plan and then act, if you don't send it, it will be like thunder, this is probably the case." ”

……

When the government army arrived at the battlefield outside Jianyang County, it was not near evening or dark as Zhang Dejian said, but in the afternoon.

Although there was occasional snow in the sky and a thin layer of snow on the ground, which brought some difficulties to the march, the government army exerted its strength the next morning, and each of the more than 100 people had a large number of miscellaneous horses and mules and donkeys, and the march was extremely fast, and the soldiers put their armor and weapons on the animals or carts, and hurried lightly.

Before the wilderness and the village, if anyone saw it, it was a scene of wonders.

Countless gray-robed soldiers, lined up in columns, along various roads, like streams flowing down mountain streams, and finally converged into a river. All of them were strong men, and although they marched in the snow, they were extremely fast, almost like ordinary people trotting, but these soldiers were able to maintain the frequency of high-speed walking, and did not feel tired.

This is the result of the long-distance training in the Eastern Domain, the distance to and from Taichung has increased from 300 li to 400 li, and then 600 li.

As for the training of about 100 miles, it is divided into two types: armed training and speed training, and now the march to Jianyang is the mode of training at speed, and the soldiers are lightly armed, if it is not for the fact that the terrain is not familiar, and it is a real battlefield, the whole house

The speed of the army can still be accelerated, and it is not difficult to reach ten miles per hour, and the whole army, at a speed of five to six miles per hour, marched like a long snake, and soon after the afternoon, that is, around three o'clock in the afternoon, under the dark weather, finally arrived at the battlefield not far from Jianyang City.

In addition to the snow, deserted villages, broken official roads and county seats, and layers of mountains, there is also a deep ditch and long fortress that winds like a long snake.

This long base was obviously hastily controlled, and the place near the north camp was dug wide and deep, and near the county seat and the south camp, the long base was much narrower and more shallow.

And countless strong people, gathered in the county seat and Nanying, saw the government army brigade arrive, these people are strong, and they all roared loudly.

There were even loud drums, and the military attache of thieves took the lead, and everyone began to sing loudly again.

"The little people are like leeks...... Cut the resound? Xu Zi rode on the white horse first, and his face became solemn.

On his left and right hands, and even as far as his eye could see, there were discarded military flags everywhere, and there were also a large number of corpses that were also abandoned in their place, and no one cleaned them up.

Just a few days after the battle, Li Kaiming sent cavalry to Fuzhou Fucheng to investigate, and then encountered an ambush by the Xuanjia cavalry of the Zhongshan Mansion Army, and was defeated and almost wiped out. After that, the thieves dug a long base to consolidate the defense, such as moving the north camp to a higher hillside, almost building a camp on the mountain, the big camp is like a tall earth fence, and like a long sword made of stone, pointing proudly into the air, when digging a long base and digging a slope for a camp, how could Li Kaiming have the heart to ask people to collect the bodies of officers and soldiers who died in battle?

Between the two battalions, on the east side of the long base, there were still about 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers of the Xiang Army trapped here.

They mutinied on the battlefield, which directly led to the collapse of the army, but these captured van troops did not fall well. Li Kaiming's headquarters has more than 10,000 elite talents, more than 80,000 people, and nearly 50,000 people who have surrendered to the Xiang army. After the news of the attack of the Zhongshan army spread, the Xiang army had to dig the base day and night to prepare for the war, in addition to the long base, but also cut down trees around the perimeter to form a sharp pile, inserted at the bottom of the ditch or at the edge, originally Li Kaiming wanted to build the entire Jianyang, including the official road to the state city into a long trench and ditch, with the battalion, so that the government army had no gaps to take advantage of, and fell into a long-term confrontation and bitter battle.

The food and salary of the officers and soldiers is not as sufficient as that of the thieves, which seems to be a joke, but it is the reality of the Fujian Road. After all, a large amount of food, salary, and military supplies were collected by the imperial court, and local reserves were insufficient.

Fujian Road is not a place of a hundred battles such as the Central Plains, where the imperial court is afraid of the success of the Liukou, not only deploys heavy troops, but also arranges a number of large official warehouses to the locality, and the forbidden army and the box army have a large amount of money and food support, of course, it can maintain the long-term suppression and suppression of the Liukou.

In Jianzhou, Li Kaiming collected a large amount of money and grain, but the preparation was more than the officers and soldiers, when the Xiang army and the forbidden army came with King Zhao, the officers and soldiers were worried about running out of food, and even the Xiang army was just hungry with miscellaneous grains every day.

This time, Li Kaiming of course also fought a long-term confrontation and consumed the vigor of the government soldiers to achieve the goal of winning without a fight.

The Xuanjia Iron Cavalry of the government army, the thief Kou Jingcai who fought in the First World War had no power to fight back, and this giant Kou who once crisscrossed the east of the Central Plains River has also become quite cautious.

Li Kaiming is not afraid of war, at least fleeing without a fight is not his option, and confronting the Zhongshan army head-on, fighting after battle, Li Kaiming is not so stupid.