Hongzhou is the location of Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province in later generations, originally began in Yuzhang County of the Han Dynasty, there were 5 years of Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, the Han general Guan Ying was ordered to garrison the local army, and the construction of "Guancheng" was also regarded as one of the few big cities in Jiangxi Province in the Tang Dynasty.

By the way, the local tyrant Internet celebrity who became famous in later generations because of archaeological discoveries, the one who loves to eat melons but kept the undigested melon seeds until the modern Han Dynasty Emperor Haidun Marquis Liu He, the last fief and the tomb after his death are located here.

It is located at the junction of the mouth of Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River, and is known as a local shipbuilding industry and water transportation hub. Since ancient times, there is the name of "three rivers and five lakes", which is the so-called "Jingxiang on the top, Huaiyang on the bottom, into the Cao and far away to the Kanto, and the sea is up to the Guangzhou", and there is a saying that "the prosperity of the boat on the river is all in Jiangxi, Jiangxi sail width, half in Hongzhou." ”

During the Zhenguan period, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty ordered the master craftsman Yan Lide to supervise the construction of more than 500 "floating sea boats" at one time, thinking that it was necessary to cross the sea to conquer Goguryeo in eastern Liaodong, so the shipbuilding capacity and technical heritage accumulated over the years became one of the places that was worthy of the name of Guangzhou in the world.

At its peak, Hongzhou claimed to have 55,530 households and 353,231 mouths. Except for two tight counties, the other five counties under his rule are all upper counties with many household registrations and rich in silk and grain.

Although it has declined because of the turmoil in the country, a few years ago when Huangchao went south, it was also captured by Wang Chongyin's army, and then when Huangchao went out of the mountains and marched eastward, it was broken twice, and between the great plunder and the city, but according to the records in the household register, it still has more than 40,000 households and a population of more than 200,000

As the ambassador of Jiangxi Observation and Disposal and the envoy of the Zhennan Army, Yuzhangcheng is the concentration of most of the essence of the period As one of the few metropolises in the south of the Yangtze River, Yuzhangcheng itself concentrates on shipbuilding, papermaking, printing, textile, weapons, gold, silver, bronze manufacturing and many other industries.

In history, the industrial chain generated and formed by this has almost all covered the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. For example, on the Meishan Mountain in the northeast of the contemporary Yuzhang City, almost all of them are densely packed with official and private caves, although the Hongzhou porcelain fired by this is not as famous as Xingqing Yuebai, but it is also a rolling source of wealth that has a special ship to go down the river and sell overseas.

Among them, there are docks of the Donghu Shipyard located outside the city of Yuzhang, although most of them have been suspended and abandoned, but there are still enough materials and craftsmen to build hundreds of large and medium-sized ships at the same time. The navy and shipping that Huangchao had rebuilt before leaving Jiangxi were the local supplements.

Therefore, the Taiping army did not simply give up after expelling the other rebel troops who occupied the area in one fell swoop and taking a large number of manpower, goods, and materials from the city. Rather, it is to operate and govern this extremely distinctive regional central city as an important rear transit base and advance base.

Of course, today's Taiping army is far away from the center of gravity and hinterland between Jiangling and Tanzhou. For the sake of maintenance cost and cost-effectiveness, at present, it is only focused on controlling the coastal areas from Hongzhou to the confluence of Penglize and the Yangtze River, with Fengcheng, Yuzhang and Jianchang as the core strongholds.

As for the rest of the place, it is still distributed in other parts that have been supported by the Taiping army, or small and medium-sized forces that act on their own under the banner of the righteous army, or the local armed forces that have temporarily subdued Huangchao.

It's just that according to the report of the previous pioneer team, the current Hongzhou City is actually smoking, and the outside of the city is surrounded by a large number of camps and defense lines, and someone has already inquired and led troops out to meet it.

Zhou Huai'an remembered that he left three garrison battalions in the local area, plus a boat sub-regiment. The site of Hongzhou City in this era is located on the west bank of Ganshui, and the east-west side of the mountain is close to the river and has its own natural geographical victory.

Only on the plains to the south and northwest could there be room for an all-out attack, so with a limited number of troops deployed on these two sides, coupled with the echo of a small number of water troops, the force to take the initiative to attack was not enough, but it was enough to deal with most situations with ease.

How could it be that even the city had collapsed, and almost no news was delivered? Fortunately, Zhou Huai'an's doubts did not last long, and he received new news and changes on the way.

"Report, Captain Zhou of the vanguard team has already broken through the enemy army, and now he has captured the leader in the formation. Escorted to come.。。 ”

Zhou Huai'an couldn't help but sigh slightly, this week Ben was really reckless as always, and he actually caught the opponent's general in front of him, and then saw a group of galloping horsemen, and quickly threw a blood-stained person to the ground, and suddenly fell out and snorted in pain.

"Who are you, and which part of the official army are you with, why are you attacking us and the Nineteen Towns Joint Defense Army. Aren't you afraid of the court's condemnation? ”

The other party still roared angrily with his neck strained.

Zhou Huai'an suddenly became a little happy. The other party has not figured out where he came from for a while, so he was caught in a daze, if Hongzhou City is full of this kind of goods, then the next thing is much simpler.

Zhou Huai'an didn't speak, it didn't mean that others wouldn't be observant, I saw that Zhang Guiba stepped forward and kicked him, and said sharply:

"You bastard, don't keep your dog's eyes open to see who the grandfathers are."

"You guys... Dare.. ”

The disgraced other party struggled hard and hissed.

"Why don't you change your name, sit or change your surname, and the Taiping Army who only fights for justice for the people."

Then, Zhang Guiba kicked him down again as he spoke.

"This can't be, haven't the thieves already crossed the river? Why are you waiting for the peace thief to be here again? ”

The other party shouted in shock.

"Pull it down and cut it. Let the horse team in front try to catch another sensible one. ”

Zhou Huai'an said a little boringly, this kind of unclear situation is not worth wasting his time at all.

"Thief, I swear not to break with you."

Just as the other party was dragged away and shouted loudly, and turned into a terrible cry for mercy, another flying horse rolled to report.

"Report, the Xuanfeng and jumping athletes led by Wang Duwei have broken into the camp under the city and begun to set fire to it, and I also ask the cavalry, hussars and cavalry of this formation to go to echo and outflank."

"That's right. Riding Captain Zhao Yingong led the team to the camera and moved. ”

Zhou Huai'an immediately issued an order.

"Report, the car battalion deployed in the left formation near the river is already engaged with an enemy army that has bypassed the west of the city."

"From the rear, there are several groups of enemies from the river, and the mule and horse teams that have attacked our army have been repulsed by the bows and crossbows of the auxiliary guards and armed servants."

"The craftsmen and workers of the left formation have begun to build bridges on the river. There were dozens of small boats full of firewood and grass, and men with swords went down the river to attack... It has been ignited in advance by the fire throwing team and crushed the water. ”

When Zhou Huai'an was able to cross the temporary pontoon bridge on the Ganshui River and saw Yuzhang City in this series of large and small encounter reports, what he saw was all kinds of miscellaneous flags under the city, and the chaotic melee was torn into a camp.

In the city of Hongzhou, which is full of fireworks, it is like a rat hole or rabbit hole that has been flooded, and there are constantly enemies who open the door and pour out, and they do not hesitate to join the chaotic battle in the camp under the city.

And in the nearest place, on the gatehouse of the ruined city gate like being gnawed by dogs, there is a silver-red flag embroidered with the word "observation" embroidered with a large seal, and a slightly smaller "high" character blue-background general flag, swaying and waving on the top of the city echoing the battlefield under the city.