On 20 February, Li Zhi arrived at the Huai'an front line to inspect it. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Although Li Zhi now has 100,000 Tiger Ben troops, 20,000 in Korea to suppress the newly annexed peninsula, 50,000 in Henan to deal with land verification matters, and Tianjin needs 10,000 garrisons to deter all sides, the Huai'an front line has always had only 20,000 Hu Ben infantry. Together with the thousands of artillery supported by the navy later, there were 28,000 men in total.

Previously, Huai'an's troops were only 20,000 people, but later, as the Jiangbei Army continued to be equipped with new rifles, the firepower became more and more fierce, and Zheng Kaicheng had to ask Li Zhi to increase his troops. Fortunately, the navy has not participated in the war now, and there are more than 10,000 artillery on each ship of the navy, and Li Zhi has transferred 8,000 men to strengthen Huai'an's defense.

The 28,000 days and nights guarded in the trenches to prevent the Jiangbei Army from advancing northward, and the fight was also quite hard.

It's not that the attack of the Jiangbei Army is unbearable, but that the living conditions in the trenches are too poor.

Of course, after more than half a year, the trench environment has improved. The first was the rain shelter, which was built within a few days of the trench being dug and expanded to cover the trench in times of heavy rain. Rest rooms were also built in the trenches with bricks and cement at intervals, so that the soldiers could sleep indoors instead of sleeping on the dirt.

But in any case, the environment in the trenches was tough. Because this is underground, after all, when it rains, the soil on both sides of the trench is all wet, and it will not dry for several days. In addition, there are many mosquitoes in the south, especially underground, and bites and even infections often occur.

And the Jiangbei Army stuck to the outside of Huai'an City like kraft candy. The 160,000 people of the Jiangbei Army seemed to perceive the lack of strength of the Tiger Ben Army and did not leave.

Li Zhi stood in the trench and used a telescope to observe the Jiangbei Army in the distance.

In fact, the Jiangbei Army is now also fighting in the trenches.

The Jiangbei Army is not stupid, and it will naturally learn such an advanced tactic as a trench. Although the Tiger Army was unable to fight back, and the Jiangbei Army was not in danger of being attacked for a while, Shi Kefa still asked the soldiers to learn from the Tiger Army to dig trenches, and let 160,000 soldiers fight in the trenches.

160,000 men surrounded Huai'an from both the south and the east, hiding in the trenches, and even the artillery hid in the trenches.

Both sides are in trenches, both easy to defend and difficult to attack. On weekdays, the infantry on both sides basically did not participate in the battle, and the only attack and defense on the battlefield came from the artillery of both sides. From time to time, the artillery of the Jiangbei Army fired hundreds of cannons at the position of the Huben Army, and although few shells could be fired into the trenches, the Jiangbei Army seemed to rely on this to prove its position as an attacker.

The Tiger Army will naturally fight back, although the effect is also not good, but just being beaten and not fighting back will do great damage to morale, and the artillery of the Tiger Army will shoot him hundreds of rounds from time to time.

Compared with the trench system of the Tiger Army, the trenches of the Jiangbei Army did not have barbed wire and hidden bunkers, and their defensive strength was poor. However, the defense of the trench system in the rifled gun era was really high, and even if these facilities were lacking, the defense system of the Jiangbei Army was very strong. Judging from the situation, even if the Tiger Ben Army sends tens of thousands more, I am afraid that it will not be able to counterattack and break the trenches of the Jiangbei Army.

This is also the reason why after both Korea and the thieves were defeated by Li Zhi, the Jiangbei Army still dared to fight against Li Zhi alone.

Li Zhi looked at the trench with a telescope for a long time, but did not find any obvious loopholes in the Jiangbei Army.

Zuo Liangyu and Wu Sangui are both famous generals in history, and they do have a few brushes in battle scheduling. Especially on the eastern front that Wu Sangui was in charge of, Wu Sangui even dug the trench into a prismatic shape, and it seemed that he had the intention of exerting flank firepower through the prismatic layout, and Li Zhi had to nod his head.

Zheng Kaicheng asked: "Lord Wang, the Jiangbei Army is dragging us in Huai'an, and it seems that the battle under Huai'an City is being used as a training ground, what should we do?" ”

Li Zhi thought for a while and said, "Just drag it, they can only drag our 30,000 troops." They train their troops, and we train our troops. ”

"When our tax officers and police teams in Henan are established, and 50,000 tiger troops are drawn out of Henan, it will be time for us to counterattack."

Zheng Kaicheng was stunned and asked, "Wouldn't it be at least another year?" ”

Li Zhi pursed his lips and said, "I'm afraid it will take a year." ”

Zheng Kaicheng thought for a long time and said: "Fortunately, there are no casualties in the stalemate under this Huai'an City, just one year at a time." ”

Li Zhi nodded.

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Li Zhi watched the Huai'an front line for a few days before returning to Tianjin.

The atmosphere in Tianjin and Fanjiazhuang is still very warm.

Last month, when I heard that Li Zhi had been crowned the queen of Tianjin, Fanjiazhuang and the people of Tianjin put up lanterns, and the atmosphere was even warmer than the Chinese New Year. Firecrackers and gongs and drums were everywhere, and some folk lion and dragon dance teams also spontaneously ran out to parade through the streets. Red lanterns were hung all over the streets, and the people planted small red flags in front of their doors.

This kind of small flag was invented by Li Zhi, and it has been printed and produced in large quantities since last month, and it is sold cheaply in Tianjin and Shandong, for a penny. Seven white five-pointed stars are painted on it. Six are small stars and one is large. The big star is in the middle of the red flag, symbolizing a town in Tianjin. The six small stars are in a circle around the big star in the middle, symbolizing the six provinces under Li Zhi's command.

This flag is actually Li Zhi's national flag, which is a bit of a mistake to say. However, the Ming Dynasty interacted with the West very little, and there was no flag system. Therefore, Li Zhi came up with this kind of flag, and the people of this era did not feel that this flag had a conflict with the national sovereignty of the Ming Dynasty, and no one raised objections from the capital of the Son of Heaven to Li Zhi's one town and six provinces.

Li Zhi advertised in the newspaper that this flag symbolized one town and six provinces, and everyone used it widely.

As soon as Li Zhi walked twenty miles south of Tianjin, he saw that the welcoming team was all holding such small flags.

The people at the head held a banner that read, "Warmly welcome the return of the prince's inspection!" slogan. Next to it is another banner that reads, "Warmly celebrate the canonization of the prince as the king of the county!" There is also a banner next to it, which reads "Warmly celebrate the liberation of Henan Province!" ”

Li Zhi would sometimes put up banners and write slogans outside the city hall, and the people also learned at this time.

The last time Li Zhi returned from the capital after being crowned the king of the county, the people of Tianjin had not yet prepared a banner to welcome Li Zhi. This time, it took Li Zhi to go out to inspect for a month, and the people prepared things, and all of them were typed out at this time.

Not only were banners prepared, but these people also prepared all kinds of things to welcome Li Zhi.

Li Zhi walked in with the guards, and saw many children on both sides of the road running out and sprinkling the rhododendron petals they had picked on the guards.

The annexation of North Korea and the recovery of Henan from the thieves symbolized the strong strength of the Tianjin system and made the people of Tianjin very proud. After the two major provinces were merged into Li Zhi's system, the implementation of Li Zhi's law brought unlimited business opportunities to the people of Tianjin, and these were real benefits.

Maybe not everyone in Tianjin can do business, but they can buy shares in industrial and commercial enterprises and benefit from it.

Li Zhi walked forward a little further, and saw dozens of folk lion dance teams jumping and dancing on both sides of the road, and the people on both sides beat gongs and drums, turning today's welcome into a triumphal ceremony.

Li Zhi rode forward with a smile and entered the brightly lit city of Tianjin.