Chapter 418: A Thousand Miles of Pursuit
Wang Yue defeated the Liukou, and the danger of Anqing was lifted, and Shi Kefa was of course overjoyed.
But then, he couldn't sit still, more than 300,000 people! More than 300,000 people gathered in Changfeng Shagang, not far from Anqing, and Shi Kefa couldn't sleep! How many people are there in Anqing? The local population is not so large, and if there is a mess, it will be a big mess.
So Shi Kefa came to see Wang Yue again, he brought a team of Chizhou soldiers, but his soldiers were blocked by the security army, and he was only allowed to go to see Wang Yue with a few followers.
Hungry camps, the security army has three steps and one post, and five steps and one sentry. The hungry are fenced off by barbed wire in areas outside which many are queuing up to receive food rations. At the food distribution point, the loudspeaker played on a loop: "No one is allowed to snatch other people's food, violators will be punished on the spot, and whistleblowers will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver." ”
Shi Kefa didn't understand who could be so loud, but when he saw that although the camp was full of people and seemed to be very chaotic, it was actually quite orderly, so he put a snack.
"Yo, Master Shi is a rare guest!" Wang Yue said with a smile.
Wang Yue's joking tone, of course Shi Kefa heard it, but he just didn't hear it, after all, the rogue was indeed Wang Yue's escape, but he didn't do anything.
Shi Kefa arched his hand to Wang Yue and said, "Lord Wang defeated the Liukou, and the lower officials came to congratulate him." However, there are so many hungry people here, and in order to prevent trouble, I have transferred 2,000 soldiers from the city to assist Lord Wang in taking care of them. ”
Wang Yue shook his head and said, "Thank you, Lord Shi, for your kindness, this official is not worried about the military discipline of your soldiers." There are more than 300,000 hungry people here, and a little spark can cause chaos. I only hope that Master Shi can take good care of the city, restrain those soldiers and soldiers, and don't come to make trouble, which is the greatest help. ”
"You...!" Shi Kefa felt that he might not agree with Wang Yue, and every time they met, it was so unpleasant.
He came to help with good intentions, but Wang Yue actually doubted the military discipline of his Chizhou soldiers. These Chizhou soldiers were personally organized and trained by themselves, and their military discipline was among the best in the Ming army.
Of course, Wang Yue, the military discipline of the Ming army, was not at ease, thieves were like combs, and soldiers were like grates, referring to a common phenomenon in the army in the old era.
Only the Tiance Army and the Security Army, which were trained in modern ways, could reassure Wang Yue.
The Ming army in each town has completed the phased task of suppressing bandits, and they have all been arranged by Wang Yue to help take care of the hungry people on the periphery. But they have no direct contact with the hungry people, and the internal management of the hungry people is a matter for the Tiance Army and the Security Army. The labor work was handed over to those selected by Hui Dengxiang and Li Wanqing.
The first batch of 30,000 hungry people has already set off for Shanghai, where they will go to Tamsui, Taiwan.
The second group of hungry people will be shipped in six days, including 500 orphans who have just been counted, and these orphans will be sent to the starting point city, where they will receive intensive education and life near the starting point city together with the orphans who will be counted later.
Wang Yue has already thought of the name of the place where these orphans will live in the future, and it will be called the Eagle Camp. They will be subjected to semi-military management and learning, and these children will be Wang Yue's strong support when they grow up.
A total of 250,000 people were transported to Shanghai, and it is said that with the capacity of Shen Tingyang's fleet, it can reach 270,000 people in nine shipments. But in order to ensure the safety of those children, Wang Yue insisted that more space be left for them.
In order to increase the speed of transshipment, the remaining 80,000 or so hungry people will go to Shanghai by land in batches, and these 80,000 or so hungry people are those who are still in decent physical condition.
When Shi Kefa came, he also had something to do, so he asked him to requisition ships to transport these more than 80,000 people from Jiangbei across the Yangtze River, and then to Shanghai by land.
Hurry up to send these hungry people away, Shi Kefa couldn't ask for it, so he gladly accepted the task.
As a result, Anqing Changfeng Sha Port was extremely busy, all kinds of ships kept coming and going, and large and small sailboats on the river shuttled on both sides of the Yangtze River.
If you look down from the sky, you can see the endless flow of ships on both sides of the Yangtze River, and on every official road leading to Nanjing on the south bank of the Yangtze River, there are hungry people winding their way.
Wang Yue didn't use much of the silver taels he brought to buy the population, and he also captured more than a million taels in the battle against the Liukou, so he gave one tael to each of those who embarked on the journey, which made the hungry people more energetic to walk, and they were more hopeful for their future life.
In addition to the silver, there were also a large amount of other property in this crackdown, which were all looted by Zhang Xianzhong and others from all over the country, and now they are all in Wang Yue's pocket.
The whole process of transporting hungry people will take about two months, as there will be more hungry people coming in the future.
After Zhang Xianzhong escaped into the mountainous area, the food of nearly 100,000 people could not last, and they rushed out of the mountainous area to take Yingshan and Luotian counties, and then marched into Susong.
Wang Yue ordered Wang Hongwu to lead the fourth regiment and the third battalion of the fifth regiment to rescue Susong.
The Tiance army is in hot pursuit, most of this side is mountainous, Wang Yue thinks that this is a good opportunity to train the Tiance army, so he has an order: chase!
Zhang Xianzhong, who was anxious, plunged into Huguang, but he took a lot of displaced people with him, and he abandoned more than 20,000 displaced people in a hurry. This delayed the attack of the Tiance army, and the 20,000 displaced people were to be transferred back, so the displaced people were collected and escorted by the third battalion of the fifth regiment.
This time when they came to attack Zhang Xianzhong, the Tiance army brought a large amount of food, coupled with the propaganda of the political propaganda team, so it was basically able to stabilize the mood of the displaced people.
Zhang Xianzhong ran into Huguang, and Wang Hongwu asked Wang Yue again to chase him, because entering Huguang was beyond the jurisdiction of the governor of Yingtian.
Wang Yue still ordered the pursuit, and led the remaining two battalions of the Fifth Regiment to come to support. The transfer of hungry people has been carried out in an orderly manner, and the Tiance Army can finally free up their hands to attack Zhang Xianzhong. After all, Zhang Xianzhong still has the ability to conquer cities, which is also a threat to Wang Yue's jurisdiction.
After entering Huguang, Zhang Xianzhong finally breathed a sigh, and the Tiance army was thrown off, so he was ready to fight Macheng, but there was no way, so many people did not fight Macheng food, and it became a problem.
Zhang Xianzhong, who was preparing to fight Macheng, received a report from the scouts that the Tiance Army appeared in Jilong Town, more than 30 kilometers away, Zhang Xianzhong immediately became anxious, whether to fight or not to fight in Macheng? After asking about the grain and grass reserves, he still decided to fight, and the terrain here was favorable to him.
So he dispatched 10,000 horses to deploy in the Zhongguan Station, where the mountains are steep and have a good restraining effect on firearms.
After arranging the defense of the Tiance Army, Zhang Xianzhong continued to come back to fight. The direction of Macheng found Zhang Xianzhong's abnormality, and naturally knew that the reinforcements were coming, and the county ordered the mobilization of the gentry to fight to the death.