On June 25, the fourth year of Chongzhen, on the bank of the Daling River in Liaodong, at the abandoned Daling River Fort, 14,000 men who were ordered to build the city were driven by the leather whip of the Liaodong Army and worked together with more than 2,000 Jingbian Fort troops to dig a city foundation one zhang deep and one foot five feet wide on the outside of the original city foundation.

And the circumference of this Dalinghe Fort is only four miles, covering an area of 375 acres, which is not very large, so more than 16,000 people dig the city foundation together, and the progress of the project is naturally relatively fast, and it is expected that it will only take five to six days to dig the city foundation.

At a time when the fortification service and the Jingbianbao army were digging the trenches at the base of the city, Sun Wuzhi selected a total of 48 men with the strongest combat strength in the army, and together with Han Dong, a guerrilla general of the Liaodong Army, went to the east of the Daling River to investigate the enemy's situation.

Li Jiye was tasked with digging tunnels, so he took dozens of his professional-level burrowing subordinates to explore how deep the groundwater level was, and how deep it would be necessary to dig a tunnel through the Daling River.

He Ergou carried more than 200 baggage wagons back and forth between Jinzhou and Dalinghe Fort, transporting reinforced concrete and grain.

He took the cement and rebar that people had delivered directly to the construction site. If it was food, it would be quietly sent to the camp of the Jingbianbao army to hide.

When the steel bars were transported to the construction site, the Jingbian Fort Army took out a 3-meter section of steel bars, and put together a 12-meter-long steel bar for every four, and the heads and tails of these steel bars were joined together by quenching and hammering. This was used to make the skeleton of the city wall.

If the reinforcement is used on the foundation, more reinforcement needs to be joined together.

After these steel bars were joined, the soldiers of Jingbian Fort were familiar with the steel bars, and first bundled several rectangular structures as the skeleton in the foundation.

More than 14,000 soldiers and 2,000 Jingbian Fort troops worked together to dig out the foundation of the city in six days.

After this process is completed, the next step is to place the steel bar as the foundation skeleton, then bundle the vertical steel bar on the foundation frame, then bundle the horizontal steel bar, and finally pour the concrete.

It stands to reason that it is best to use sand and gravel in the river to make concrete, and it happens that Dalinghe Fort is next to the Daling River, and there are as many sand and gravel as you want.

Liu Renyu divided some of the servants who were temporarily idle after digging the trench into three groups, one of which was to dig up the sand and gravel in the Daling River, the other was responsible for sifting sand, and the last group was responsible for cutting down more trees in the surrounding mountains and forests, and piled them all up in the city.

Zu Dashou, who was patrolling around the left and west of the Daling River, saw that Liu Renyu had specially sent someone to collect firewood, so he asked the other party with a smile: "The trees in the mountains and forests are inexhaustible, why do you have to hoard so much firewood?" ”

Liu Renyu saw that Zu Dashou had this question, and knew why this well-known figure in Liaodong at the end of the Ming Dynasty would use human bones as firewood after being surrounded.

He found that Zu Dashou, the old man's understanding of this war is not in place at all, the siege of the city is a long-term process, now the mountains are full of wood, cut as much as you want, wait until the Houjin soldiers surround the city, and then come out to chop wood, that process is called, brave the enemy's artillery fire, advance, advance, so not miserable.

Liu Renyu didn't want this kind of phenomenon to reappear in front of him, a traverser, so he smiled and said: "Dashuai, the last general has always been careful, just thinking that in case we are blocked in the city by Jiannu, and the reinforcements of the imperial court cannot be relieved in time, there is also firewood in the cold winter, so that whether it is cooking or heating, there is hope." You don't have to fight a few battles to chop wood. ”

Zu Dashou listened to Liu Renyu's words, and was slightly stunned for a moment, and then he nodded and said: "What Renyu said has some truth, it's always good to prepare early." ”

"Dashuai, at present, the foundation of Dalinghe Fort has been laid, and the reinforcement and fastener have been buried, and only concrete needs to be filled when the time comes." Liu Renyu talked about the progress of the project by the way.

"This is very good, Renyu, Han Dong and your subordinate Sun Wuxian have crossed the Daling River many times in the past few days, and there seems to be no change on Jiannu's side." Zu Dashou said.

"Dashuai, in the past, when Inspector Yuan was in Liaodong, he wanted to repair Dalinghe City many times, and every time he had to succeed, Jiannu would come to attack, and the last general thought that the slave chief Huang Taiji would definitely bring troops to demolish our Dalinghe City, so we still need to deal with it carefully." Liu Renyu smiled.

This ancestor Dashou suddenly heard Liu Renyu mention that name, and he was suddenly shocked, and there was an inexplicable look staring at the other party.

Liu Renyu had been stared at by the old man for a long time, and he couldn't help but feel a little furious in his heart, so he asked in a low voice, "Dashuai, what's wrong?" ”

"Nothing." Zu Dashou retracted his gaze, looked away, and then asked Liu Renyu as if he was inadvertent: "Renyu, what do you think of Inspector Yuan?" ”

"Outsiders only said that he voted for Tartar." Liu Renyu smiled slightly.

"Oh, listening to what Renyu meant, it doesn't seem that Inspector Yuan collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country?" Zu Dashou turned his head suddenly, stared at Liu Renyu again, his eyes were full of excitement, and he asked in a trembling voice.

"The superintendent is dedicated to the country and will never commit treason, his old man just has the wrong way to do things, and he was framed by traitors." Liu Renyu met Zu Dashou's gaze and said word by word.

"Renyu's words come from the heart?" Zu Dashou became more and more excited.

"It comes from the heart. If Inspector Yuan wants to betray the enemy, he only needs to take your Guanning army to surrender to Jiannu, and then sacrifice Shanhaiguan, why bother to fight so hard and fight to the death with Jiannu in Beijing. Liu Renyu said calmly.

"Yes, you're right, it's rare that you know this truth as a guerrilla in a border area, don't you understand the princes in charge of the court, and the emperor?"

Zu Dashou finally couldn't control his emotions, and shouted in the direction of the capital, which attracted the sideways glances of the officers and soldiers near the left.

"Dashuai, the superintendent was personally ordered by the emperor, and we can't help it as courtiers, let's keep our duty and be a loyal minister." Liu Renyu saw that Zu Dashou was a little too excited, so he persuaded him.

"Loyalty! Hehe, if this town wants to be a loyal minister, now I'm afraid that it has been captured by the fans of Dongchang, alas! That's it, it's useless to talk more, let's guard Liaodong for the emperor. Renyu, you command the construction of the city here, and this town will go elsewhere. After Zu Dashou said this, he said goodbye to Liu Renyu, and with a complicated look, he went to inspect other places again.

Liu Renyu looked at the back of Zu Dashou who was gone, and said secretly in his heart: "I know that Inspector Yuan saved your life, so I will say a few good words about him to you, so that we can cooperate more closely." ”

He muttered in his heart, and then went to see how the concrete was doing.

Nearly 10,000 servants, under the command of the Jingbianbao Army, bundled the rectangular steel reinforcements and put them into the foundation, and then the Jingbianbao Army poured concrete into the cuboid.

Now this season, it happens to be the beginning of July of the lunar calendar, which is converted into the Gregorian calendar commonly used in later generations, that is, August, which can be said to be the hottest time of the year, even if the end of the Ming Dynasty enters the Xiaoice River period, the hot summer is still hot, so under the scorching sun, the cement on the surface of the foundation is dried in the blink of an eye.

If the concrete dries too quickly, the hardness is not enough, so Liu Renyu ordered to water the concrete every once in a while.

This process lasted for two days, and the concrete of the wall foundation had begun to turn white, indicating that the concrete had begun to dry out.

Liu Renyu specially ordered the next step.

At this time, the base of the city wall has been laid, Liu Renyu ordered the servants to build scaffolding, cover the 3-meter-high steel skeleton with wooden boards, pour concrete, water, and after three or five days, this section of the city wall will be dry and solid, and then the next section will be followed.

The process of building the city was very smooth, and the husbands who built the city with the Jingbian Fort army were very surprised by the speed of the construction method, and the fact that the mud could be turned into stone.

And the soldiers of the Jingbian Fort Army saw the situation of these husbands and servants, as if they saw themselves back then.

You must know that when Liu Renyu first used this method to build a city, they also thought that Liu Renyu was an immortal and would turn mud into stone.

Liu Renyu didn't know anything about these things, he just calculated with Zu Dashou every day how long it would take to build the city.

"Dashuai, according to the current progress, it will only take 20 days to complete the Daling River Fort, and the next task is to ask the craftsmen to build the city gate, the suspension bridge, and then divert the water of the Daling River as a moat." Liu Renyu smiled and said to the inspecting Zu Dashou.

"Sure enough, Renyu's method is wonderful, the city wall of Jinzhou has collapsed, if it needs to be rebuilt in the future, this town should invite the quasi-imperial court, and use your method to build the city." Zu Dashou said with a smile.

"The last general thanked the commander." Liu Renyu saw that Zu Dashou opened his mouth to come to a big business, so he happily replied.

"Renyu, let's make such a big move here, Jiannu's side should react, right?" When Zu Dashou said this, he looked at the east and the direction of Shenyang with a worried face.

"Dashuai, what should come will come after all, what we need to do is to prepare." Liu Renyu also looked in the direction of Shenyang, and his eyes were full of perseverance.

******

To the east of the Daling River, on the Guangning Avenue from Jinzhou to Guangning, a team of about 100 people, knights dressed in Ming military uniforms were riding eastward horses.

These knights walked for a while, one of them was wearing a red mandarin duck fat jacket military uniform, and the young man dressed as a military general stopped his horses, and smiled at another young man wearing a bright silver mountain armor: "Sun Family Minister, let's cross the Daling River, we have already walked about 10 miles, let's not go east anymore, and we haven't seen the Jiannu army left and right, so let's go back to the business, okay?" ”

"General Han, this can't be done, our Jingbian Fort army is usually exploring the road, at least ten miles, and you also know that Jiannu are all cavalry, coming and going like the wind, if their brigade of men and horses is coming, it won't take much time to get to Dalinghe Fort. I think it's better to go a little further. Sun Wuxian suggested.

"The Sun family is so courageous, my old Han really admires it, but we are not as equipped with two horses as you, and our horses are not as strong as yours, I am afraid that we can't travel far, if the Sun family is still trying to investigate the enemy's situation, please take care of yourself, I want to go back and raise horses." Han Dong pretended to be helpless and said.

Sun Wuxian saw that the other party was lying so bluntly, and there was nothing to say, he could only say: "Horses are the life of our cavalry. Root, General Han is naturally right to cherish horsepower, and he will explore the way on his own. ”

"The Prime Minister of the Sun family insists on this, I will no longer persuade you, you go east along this post road, and you can go to Xipingbao in a short time, and if you go over again, you can go to Shenyang to meet Huang Taiji." Han Dong said with a smile.

"General Han is really good at laughing, if he sees Huang Taiji in his humble position, wouldn't he have already been a prisoner, hehe, General Han, let's say goodbye." Sun Wuxian also smiled and said.

"Gone." Han Dong arched his hand at Sun Wuxian, and then took his horse and led his knights Shi Shiran back to Dalinghe Fort.

"Let's go, let's go and investigate the enemy." Sun Wuxian waited for Han Dong and the others to go away, and said to his sons.