On the banks of the canal, where catkins fly and peaches and plums shine, countless armor lights shimmer and reflect on the rippling water.

He had already led the army along the southern end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the waterway between Runzhou and Suzhou, and arrived at Dongchang in Xiaodanyang City, southwest of Dantu; At this moment, he was also on the ruins of embers, looking in the direction where Dan Tucheng was, and the grass thief cavalry who were following the sky far away.

Although he had already sent someone to secretly reach some kind of tacit understanding and secret agreement with the monk Xuxu, the head of the Taiping thieves, his way to the north was really fought by the grass thieves who had risen again from all over the country.

Of course, he didn't force the cities that were occupied by the army of grass thieves or that were related to the Taiping thieves. It was only after a "bitter battle" and "fierce fighting" that they were successively seized from the defeated thief army, and many large towns and cities distributed along the canal were used as follow-up grain platforms and temporary stations.

The bulk of the losses caused by this are mainly those who came with them and were sent out by the tribe to sentry grain and clear the countryside, but were often defeated by grass thieves, and belonged to the local native regiments and town garrisons of Chang, Run, and Lake; There were five or six thousand people in total.

And just a few days ago, with the news that the remnants of another Gai's grass thief had moved south to Huzhou and attacked the shores of Taihu Lake; Among the local armed forces that he gathered, they did not say goodbye one after another or scattered a dozen large and small units, about three or four thousand people.

Therefore, most of the people who can insist on attacking here with him are only the people and horses related to Hangzhou Badu.

And his headquarters also learned the lessons of the defeated troops collected from other records, and strictly restrained his subordinates from giving up the plans and benefits of plundering places and raising military funds along the way; It also severely punishes many possible extraneous behaviors.

Between the daily marches and formations, everything was based on the baggage, grain, grass and equipment carried by the army, no matter how the thieves who came to attack and disturb were provoked and provoked, most of them were resolutely unmoved.

Therefore, steadily and step by step, most of the organization was basically maintained and arrived in the territory of Dantu; Only then did he send people to sneak along the canal into the river, and then along the shore to try to infiltrate the siege, and get a certain connection with the city of Dantu.

However, with such a smooth operation, he became more and more vigilant and vigilant; Although all the news proves directly or indirectly, those Taiping thieves, who are known as the most ferocious among the thieves and the most like the official army, are gathering troops and horses and waiting for a decisive battle.

Now there were only a few scattered thieves and horsemen scattered along the way, constantly harassing, pinning down and covertly surveilling, but he was still cautious and tireless, driving all the men and horses to set up camp, without giving the other side any opportunity to take advantage of the battle.

Not far from him, the Kanyu division from the Hangzhou army was carrying the level, the plate, the rod and other ranging things, according to the "Island Sutra" in the geographical method, in the distance with reference to the low hills and the road intersection of the sealing pile (road signs), recalculate and determine the location of the camp.

Subsequently, in the temporary cowhide covered cloth tent, a delicate plate from the "Fengshu Road and Other Maps of Xuanshe Town, Western Zhejiang, Eastern Zhejiang" given by the Zhenhai Jiedu Envoy was spread out on the table composed of several long cases.

Wu Xuan, Qin Changyu, Lu Qin, Zhu Zhan, Dong Zhen, Li Chang, Xue Liao and other generals and subordinates under his command also gathered in front of this plate, which can be called a military cardinal, and whispered and talked about something, until Dong Chang, who walked in with several Yu Hou and his own generals, he also became silent.

"In today's situation, what can you see? Feel free to speak your mind. ”

Dong Chang sat on the high rope bed left in the middle of the first house, and then he went straight to the point.

"Don't dare to hide from the capital group, there is still less news about what this Taiping thief wants to do,"

Later, after coveting each other, a particularly old military general spoke, but it was Wu Xuan, one of the eight generals, who was also a rich town second only to Shijingdu.

"Even if there are oral claims of several defeated soldiers, it is not enough to discern and get a glimpse of their fundamental combat power; It is only known that it is very good at using horsemen, and can also use boats as a fold; There are many bows and crossbows used in battle, and they are interspersed with instruments for throwing fire and setting fire. ”

"Once the place is rotten and the poisonous smoke is unstoppable, the situation is chaotic, so I have to cover it with horses; It is because once the local officials and troops make it gather into a situation, it will be impossible to escape the doom of defeat. ”

"What's the news on your side?"

Then Dong Chang turned to another leader in the army, Qin Changyudao, the general of Tangshan (now Lin'an Changhua).

"Back to the capital group, except for Jintan City, where some people have mixed in and got some exact news, other Qu'a, Yanling, and Jurong are all confined by the city defense and do not go out. As soon as anyone came close to the walls, they were shot; Even the usual manpower who infiltrated our army first was trapped for a while, and he couldn't deliver the news. ”

"Although the thieves in the city are unknown, no matter whether they bluff or not, or they are ready to call, they must not be taken lightly. Continue to send more people to act as a police post. ”

Dong Chang said something ambiguous.

"But the real key has to fall on the head of the Taiping thief, as long as it can break the moment or hit it hard, then the rest of the thieves are not enough to worry about. May you go with a certain force,"

"Dutuan, is it true that you really want to have a fight with that Taiping thief."

After everyone dispersed, the new deputy general of Shijingdu, Xue Liao, asked in a low voice

"Of course, it's just waiting for the opportunity."

Dong Chang waved his hand disappreciatively

"You all listen, if the thief is strong, we will do a good job of explaining the situation according to the agreement; But if the thief is exaggerating, then why not take advantage of the situation to be loyal to the court. ”

"But no matter how you act, you have to remember that the eight capitals of Hangzhou have their own strengths, and they rely on working together to make a great reputation; Where the order is directed is my command, and I must go forward and die without turning my head. Only then can we have a future and hope. ”

However, then he said to Dong Dong, the pro-general who walked in

"In the battle array, show me Shijing, Fuyang, and Longquan Sandu, if there is any abnormal movement, you are allowed to deal with it on the spot. Only the children of the three capitals near Lin'an are the foundation of our generation, and they are not allowed to move until the last moment. . . The rest of the people might as well make a lot of contributions before the battle. ”

In the end, Dong Chang, who had retired from all the left and right and his personal followers, came to a unique camp; Then he frowned in the heavy smell of incense and medicine, and the scorching smell, and then said to Han Yuan, a sorcerer who was covered with goosebumps:

"The current enemy situation, the long-worshiped Wuguan Hou and Zhu Langguan, can there be any signs and dreams to show down?"

"Tell the Lord that this is a good omen among the great evils. It's just that after this period of full strength, the human master is out of control, and the pattern of being the master counts. ”

The hoarse sorcerer shook his head.

"Where should a noble man be invoked before that to ride the wind?"

The sorcerer then took out a large piece of torn bone from the scorching furnace and drenched it with blood before muttering to himself in the smoke

"When the place of the Northeast ... There are noble people with the help of the wings, and there are disasters that are difficult to escape. ”

After half a ring, Dong Chang, who had already changed his mind, said to the generals who had been recalled,

"Who can lead a group of elite soldiers with me, and invite the thief to fight in front of the present."

。。。。。。

And outside the city of Dantu, where most of them were ready to stop and everything was ready and only the east wind was owed, Zhou Huai'an was looking at a report from the southern states that had been sent from the Jiangling waterway.

The main problem is nothing more than the fact that from Hengzhou in Hunan to Guizhou in Lingxi, the remnants of various mountain bandits and river thieves have re-activated after the beginning of spring; However, with the work teams and armed reclamation regiments that went deep into the inland areas along the Yangtze River to clear the waters, there was a kind of see-saw and repetition between the mountain water networks.

According to the analysis of various news and intelligence, it seems that there is some indirect means of temptation and infiltration from one of the local forces that have seized the three prefectures of Xiangxi. It needs to be deterred and threatened by corresponding military action. At present, the main object of suspicion is Lei Man, who occupies most of Langzhou (Changde, Hunan) and has never formally negotiated with the rebels.

Seeing this, Zhou Huai'an couldn't help but annotate on it, and determined that once Jiangling had a little spare strength, he would immediately dispatch manpower to take Lei Man as the main target for attacking and weakening; Even if he wasn't, he could be used as a deterrent target. The grasp of specific tasks and the assignment of personnel were handed over to Chai Ping, who was sitting in Jiangling.

During the period from winter to spring, the anti-infiltration and harassment operations against Xiangyang that he presided over in the follow-up can be regarded as very effective, but he has accumulated a lot of experience in dealing with things in the corresponding localities.

After passing Guizhou, the main problem became the conflict between many newly established reclamation sites and the nearby mountain people and Tuyi because of water sources, field boundaries, and mountain forests; Of course, the corresponding scale is not large, and most of the losses are the other party, and the other party can easily clean up the other party by relying on the establishment of the semi-full-time patrol team and the engineering battalion.

It's just that there are too many things, and it will inevitably affect the progress of the corresponding construction and development. Therefore, before the arrival of the summer after the beginning of spring, it is recommended that a mountain search and plunder team be organized again from Guangzhou and Guizhou to carry out a new round of combing for those mountain villages and villages close to the reclamation points.

Of course, there is also complete good news in the midst of all these unexpected situations and things.

In the past six months, the Taiping army has increased the population by more than 100,000, at least half of whom are barely qualified young adults, then women and children, and very few elderly people (basically eliminated by nature). Of course, these populations are not conjured up in a vacuum;

Rather, it was the result of the accumulation of scattered displaced people and hidden household registration scattered in the countryside from Lingxi to Hunan controlled by the Taiping Army, as well as the liquidation of those wealthy surnames and large families who had a large number of tenants and tribes, and their transformation into collective farms and tuntians.

In fact, many non-commissioned officers of the volunteer army who retired from the army or were transferred to the second and third lines constitute the main support force and core backbone of these compilation and review operations.

Although there is still a long way to go to turn them into qualified soldiers and reserves; But there is nothing wrong with collective labour such as farming and work; And there is a ready-made experience and system.

Even women and children are no exception, and most of the resources that need to be invested can be solved on the spot, the land is developed, the houses are ready-made, only need to be slightly modified and repaired, and then fenced off; Household goods and livestock can be confiscated on the spot, and improved seeds and new farming tools are provided from other sources.

The largest expenditure is the need to maintain the personnel ration until the next harvest. And this process is basically a virtuous circle of gradual value-added. After they have settled down initially, they can obtain about 10,000 or so potential military resources through intermittent basic training from the slack time, or 30,000 or 40,000 part-time laborers.

Then, after the efficiency transformation of mines and factories, it will become a source of new blood and vitality in the economic system of the Taiping Army.

(End of chapter)