In the past few days, Wang Dou has been inspecting the on-site topography of Xiaoling River, and he has a plan in mind at this time. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

When I turned back to the camp of the Jingbian Army, I saw that along the way I was carrying heavy grain and straw to the camp, especially the carts and horses that drank water.

In addition to grain and grass, there is another point that is extremely important, that is, the drinking water of the army.

According to the needs of the human body, a person needs at least 10 liters of water a day, and mules and horses need 30 liters, and extreme conditions can be halved, but it will inevitably affect the combat effectiveness of the army. With more than 10,000 troops, the amount of water needed in a day is really astronomical.

Fortunately, at this time, the army occupied the Loess Ridge, the southeast of the mountain range is not far from the Xiaoling River, the terrain in the south is flat, and there are many rivers in the same way.

If there is a huge city on the ground, looking at the loess ridge at this time, the dense are the Ming army camps.

Now Wang Doujing's border army, Yang Guozhu's Xuanzhen army, Wang Pu's Datong army, Fu Yingchong's Jingying army, Li Fuming's Shanxi army, and Wu Sangui and Zuo Guangxian's soldiers and horses are stationed here in the southwest of Songshan Ridge.

Nearly 100,000 troops hovered in the mountains and Pingchuan in this area, as far as the eye could see, all of them were ocean-like camp flags, and Diao Dou arrow towers were densely forested.

And so many army horses, the need for grain and grass is also a huge amount, so that the Liaodong governor Qiu Minyang, who is responsible for the supply of grain and grass, is anxious, and Shen Tingyang, the squire of the military department, supervises the transportation of grain and grass in Tianjin.

Because of the tight supply of grain and grass, the Ming army on the front line in Liaodong generally had to receive grain and grass only once every five to ten days, and each time it was only about a few hundred stones.

Of course, this is not enough, in the era of lack of oil and water, young and strong men will especially eat one liter a day, that is, two catties of rice is normal. These rice are at least four catties of rice, but some people can even eat them in one meal.

Horses need three liters of forage, and with an army of 10,000 men and horses, they need at least 200 stone of grain and grass a day.

Because the Jingbian army had a large amount of meat, the amount of food for each soldier decreased slightly, and half a liter of rice per person a day was enough, but due to the increase in horses, the overall amount of grain and grass was quite large.

In this expedition to Liaodong, Wang Doujun had more than 10,000 horses and mules, and more than 300 stones of forage were needed for a day, and nearly 400 stones of grain and grass were needed for a day for people and horses.

Around the supply of grain and grass, I don't know how much dirt has been generated between various armies and officers.

Although the army carried some grain and straw with him, Wang Doudu tried his best to let the local government supply it, and only as a last resort did he use the grain, rice and forage brought by his own baggage battalion.

Intimidated by the prestige of the Jingbian Army, the ferocity of Wang Dou, and the members of the Liaodong Household Department who were in charge of grain and grass, they did not dare to be too lazy.

In addition, the attention of Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong, Zhang Ruoqi, the supervisor of the army, Wang Chengen and others, feared that this strong army would rise up and cause uncontrollable consequences, so the supply of grain and grass for the Jingbian army was a priority.

However, even so, every time the baggage battalion received the grain and grass, it could not meet the demand standard of the Jingbian army, and once every five days, the Jingbian army needed about 20 stone of grain and grass, and each time it only had to receive 1,500 stone of grain and grass, or 1,000 stone, and only received 70 percent of the demand, and sometimes the grain and grass were tight, and only about 50 percent of the demand.

Wang Dou knew that the front-line grain and grass were in short supply, and it was not easy to receive five to seventy percent of the demand each time, so he used the old method to buy the remaining shortage.

On this expedition to Liaodong, he brought hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

In the treasury of the east road, there was a lot of gold and silver, and it did not have much effect.

At present, the East Road is widely used for grain stamps, because the credit is opened, the grain and rice exchanged are getting less and less, and the gold and silver are piled up in the warehouse to accumulate dust, which can be used and exchanged for the grain and grass needed by the soldiers, and Wang Dou is still happy. …,

In fact, these household officials are all arrogant, and they are not subordinate to the local military and political system, so if the household department is in charge of grain and Lang, they have to listen to the constraints of the governor, but they are not subordinate to each other, they are only called colleagues, and the general judgment and military equipment are also called colleagues, Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong, Zhang Dou, and others, and they cannot control them.

Of course, although they were arrogant, they were still kind in front of the white flowers and silver, and every time the officers of the baggage battalion went to buy grain and grass from them, they all greeted them with smiling faces. Obviously, when the war is over, a large part of the silver that Wang Dou carries will be spent.

However, Wang Dou didn't care, silver is only called silver when it is spent, and it is only called broken stone if it is not spent. And because of the dried fish, the cost of this battle can be quickly earned, and it will be promoted and expanded in the future.

When he arrived outside the Jingbian military camp, Wang Dou also saw many merchants staying here, with various accents intermingling, lively and extraordinary, like a bazaar. These are all caravans from all over the world that have come to trade with the Jingbian Army.

The Jingbian army was well treated, and their food supply was differentiated between the first-class army and the second-class army, and each person had a fixed amount of rice (or flatbread noodles), meat, vegetables, salt, soy sauce, spices, and even a certain amount of tea, sugar, and tobacco every day.

On the east road, due to the increase in livestock farms, a certain amount of milk was also supplied when the army was stationed.

The treatment of Jingbian sergeants, not to mention in Daming, is also second to none on the East Road. Therefore, after Wang Dou rose, although it showed that there were constantly people poaching in the secret, no one was willing to leave the Jingbian Army.

Because of the abundant and diverse supply of soldiers, the baggage battalion needs to go out to purchase frequently, and each purchase is in large quantities, seeing business opportunities, many caravans gather here to sell various products they bring to the soldiers of the Jingbian Army.

Of course, unlike other Ming army camps, all merchants can go in and out of the camp, and the camp of the Jingbian army, within 200 steps, no one is allowed to get closer, otherwise they will be killed. The closest to the barracks were the caravans on the East Road, and merchants from other places generally gathered in a mile to form a market.

Among the crowds in the market, there are many local military households, especially many Tunpu military households in the southeast of Niangniang Palace.

Because the army blocked the attack and infiltration of the Tartars, those military households who fled to Songshan and Xingshan returned to their hometowns one after another and stepped up the resumption of production.

After seeing a business opportunity, they also took the opportunity to come and sell their various local products, and each time they were sold out. Vegetables are more popular, and all kinds of seafood, such as dried kelp, are also popular.

In this place of Liaodong, because of frequent wars and a lack of silver and grain, inflation is serious and prices are very expensive. However, the soldiers of the Jingbian Army who went out to purchase money never paid on credit, let alone bad accounts, and every time they made a cash transaction, they were extremely arrogant and really well-known.

As a result, more and more caravans gathered outside the barracks, and more and more local military households sold goods.

In addition, a large number of dried fish workshops were opened, and the laborers who needed manpower to transport grain for thousands of miles also decided to stay and work here to make money, resulting in a strange prosperity in the southern part of the Loess Mountains to the seaside, forming a strange prosperity.

Looking at the bustling scene of the caravans gathered outside the barracks, Zhong Xiancai pursed his lips and finally said, "If it weren't for the war, what would the last general think of coming to Yongning City?" These merchants, in order to earn silver, are really bold and reckless, and they are not afraid of death at all. ”

Wang Dou also saw a great battle between the Ming and Qing dynasties, hundreds of thousands of people fought to the death, and the result became a huge business opportunity between the merchant caravans, no matter how the times changed, the merchant would never lose. …,

He said with emotion: "It's normal, the world is bustling, all for profit, the world is bustling for profit, especially businessmen are pursuing profit is their nature, and many places in the Ming Dynasty are inseparable from them." ”

At this time, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty were powerful, and most of the border army grain and grass in the border towns of the Ming Dynasty were supplied and transported by merchants, and their shadows could be seen in every war.

At this time, the same was true in the West, when the Holy Roman Empire went to war with an army of 30,000 people, and the entourage reached 140,000, most of which were caravans, as well as a large number of hooligan beggars, thieves, prostitutes, and so on.

Wang Dou finally concluded: "From ancient times to the present, merchants and capital have been like this, and once there is a proper profit, they will be bold. If there is a 10 percent profit, the capital is guaranteed to be used everywhere. With a twenty percent profit, it comes alive. With a 50 percent profit, it takes a risk. For the sake of 100 percent profit, it dares to trample on all human laws. With a profit of 300 percent, it dares to commit any crime, even risking hanging its head! ”

All the generals were shocked, and the general's words really portrayed the nature of the businessman to the fullest, worthy of being possessed by gods and men, and the stars in the sky descended to earth.

Everyone followed the firm heart, Zhong Xiancai's eyes were shining, and there were words in his mouth, repeating what Wang Dou said just now.

The more Qin Yi pondered Wang Dou's words, the more he felt the profound meaning in his heart, and he couldn't help but praise deeply: "The general's words are really golden and jade words, and they are the essence of the way." ”

Every time he came into contact with Wang Dou, Qin Yiyue felt that Wang Dou was mysterious, he had carefully studied Wang Dou's body, except for the ancestor who was born in the Qi family's army, everything else was very ordinary, and he didn't have any higher education, why was he suddenly so dazzling and outstanding? As far as his eyes could see, it seemed to cover thousands of years in previous lives and thousands of years in the afterlife, and he had never seen it in anyone else.

Qin Yi was born in the book of sages and sages, and believed in the god of silence and chaos, but in Wang Dou, this point was deeply broken. Except for the explanation of the stars descending to earth, suddenly opening his mind, and awakening the memory of his previous life, Qin Yi couldn't find any other explanation.

He thought to himself: "Sage Yun, every time the country is in turmoil, there is always a heroic king, is the general this person?" ”

Back to the camp, it was almost noon, Wang Dou ordered the meal, the firefighters and guards of the handsome tent brought the meals one by one, and everyone ate around the table.

The generals of the Jingbian Army, except for Sun Sanjie who was in Changling Mountain at this time, Zhong Tiaoyang of the Chinese Army, Han Chao, Zhong Xiancai, Li Guangheng, Wen Daxing, Zhao Xuan, Chi Dacheng, the chief medical officer, Wang Tianxue, were all at the table, and Qin Yi, who praised the painting, was more and more appreciated by Wang Dou because of his outstanding performance, and he was also ranked among them.

The meals are still very rich, with roast whole sheep, large pieces of pork and beef, large plates of all kinds of fresh fish, kelp fresh fish soup, some new vegetables and so on.

Fish and seafood are the majority of the table, and a large amount of fresh fish is now transported outside the barracks every day to be purchased by the baggage camp. As long as the Jingbian Army spends money, some merchants and fishermen are willing to serve it.

And silver, now Wang Dou is the least lacking.

The staple food is a large bucket of rice, as well as noodles and flatbread and the like, to be honest, although Wang Dou has been in Daming for many years, he actually likes to eat rice, except for supper, he doesn't like to eat noodles as a staple food.

"Starving, starving."

Zhao Xuan ate a lot, he was not interested in seafood, but just greeted mutton and pork beef.

Li Guangheng and Wen Daxing also ate quite rudely, and drank wine one by one.

Both of them are quite good at drinking, but they can't drink a lot outside the expedition, so the alcohol they drink is relatively light and they don't drink much. Wang Tianxue was once an alcoholic, but he has been in the army for many years, but he must drink alcohol at every meal, and he can't eat food, and he can't drink wine. …,

Compared with the rudeness of the two, he was much more slower, shaking his head while drinking.

Han Chao sat upright, slowly eating with a handsome and rigorous style, and Zhong Tiaoyang beside him was also calm and silent.

Wang Dou scooped a spoonful of soup, drank it into his mouth, nodded and said, "This fish soup is good, very delicious."

He said: "Relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the sea to eat the sea, the sea is rich in all kinds of fish, but it is a pity that they cannot be preserved for a long time, otherwise the fishermen would not be so poor." ”

Qin Yi stopped and said with a smile: "Now that the general has given dried fish, the sea fish can be preserved for a long time, if it is promoted, the life of fishermen in the future will be much better." ”

Everyone nodded their heads and felt that the fish soup was delicious, and said: "Speaking of dried fish, in the past, in Ulzhou, there was also a kind of dried fish in my hometown that was pickled and hung in the kitchen to dry, and when eaten, it was put into a soup bottle and simmered slowly, and it tasted very delicious and had a unique flavor when cooked." ”

Zhong Xiancai looked at Wang Dou: "If the general likes it, the general will personally cook at the end of the day and offer a dish to the general." ”

Wang Dou smiled with some surprise: "I didn't expect that I would be able to cook." ”

Zhao Xuan was eating together, the juice was dripping, and he said vaguely: "The gentleman is far away from cooking, Brother Zhong, a good man, how can anyone cook in person?" ”

Wang Tianxue also stroked his beard, shook his head and said: "Yes, General Zhao's words are very much in line with my heart. Although General Zhong said that he had a fist, he only needed to say how to make it and let people cook. I have to say that General Zhong is a woman's words. ”

Qin Yi shook his head, I have to say that although Wang Tianxue is from the same literati background as him, Wang Tianxue's stinky mouth, unconsciously, is easy to offend people.

Zhong Xiancai looked at Wang Dou, and then at Zhao Xuan and Wang Tianxue, his white face turned red, and argued: "How is it a woman's words...... Why, the two look down on women and women? Mulan, Mrs. Xi, they are also women. ”

Zhong Xiancai snorted even more, and raised his fist: "Your mother, who is also a woman, Xiao Xuan'er, if you say this, it is a great unfilial piety." ”

Everyone looked at Zhong Xiancai, as if he was in a hurry, on weekdays, Zhong Xiancai was shy and gentle, but sometimes he was very aggressive, especially in front of the general, showing a competitive side.

Wang Dou took a closer look at Zhong Xiancai, and then saw a few people arguing, smiled, and said: "That's it, after the meal, you will compare, whoever wins, even if his words are reasonable." ”

Zhong Xiancai's fists clenched, and he said proudly: "Xiao Xuan'er, Doctor Wang, do you want to compare?" ”

Zhao Xuan and Wang Tianxue were dumbfounded, Zhong Xiancai was a small soldier to a general, and he was once a high-class technical sergeant, Zhao Xuan is a technical nerd, Wang Tianxue has no power to restrain the chicken, which is the opponent? All looked left to talk about him, Zhao Xuan said: "The gentleman doesn't move his mouth." ”

Wang Tianxue also coughed and said: "Yes, General Zhao's words are very much in line with my heart, I have read the books of sages and sages, how can I do it with others, it is really insulting." ”

Everyone laughed, Zhao Xuan and Wang Tianxue were even more embarrassed, Zhao Xuan changed the topic, and suddenly said: "General, you said that if the last general used a lot of silk, what do you think?" ”

Everyone was surprised, what did Zhao Xuan suddenly want a large amount of silk for?

Han Chao quipped: "What? Brother Zhao wants to do any happy event, marry a wife or take a concubine, I remember that you already have a wife's room. ”

Everyone snickered, Zhao Xuan waved his hand again and again, and just said, "Do you remember the medicine bag in the artillery barracks?" The last general accidentally discovered that silk is more flammable than cotton, and if the silk medicine bag is used instead, the gun chamber is not easy to overheat, which can greatly speed up the process of reloading the gun. ”

Everyone was moved, Wang Dou was also moved, Zhao Xuan said this, and he also recalled some information in later generations. …,

It seems that the artillery team at that time used silk medicine packs, which really made the gun chamber not easy to overheat. The gunners of the Jingbian Army have reached the peak of their personal skills, and what restricts the firing speed of artillery is the problem of heat dissipation in the chambers.

And when Zhao Xuan said this, he also remembered the catheter of the fire door medicine, will the future generations use goose feather tubes or chicken feather tubes? It can avoid the stagnation of the lead rope, and the problem of loose medicine being blown away by the wind.

While Wang Dou was groaning, the generals were discussing and arguing, regardless of whether the silk medicine bag was feasible or not, but it would be costly. The artillery army is a money-burning army, training gunners, making artillery, all of which have invested a lot of money, and now there is a large amount of expensive silk to burn, so you can imagine how huge the cost will be at that time?

Wang Dou pondered for a long time, although the silk medicine bag costs a lot, but it represents the direction of the future development of artillery, the Jingbian Army is in the forefront of the times, in order to win and reduce the casualties of the army, the investment should still be invested.

Thinking of this, facing Zhao Xuan's expectant gaze, Wang Dou said: "In this way, first find some silk merchants to order a batch of silk pre-test training, if it is really effective, the medicine bags in the artillery camp will be used in the future." ”

When Zhao Xuan was overjoyed, Wang Dou said again: "Also, you can find some goose feather tubes or chicken feather tubes for the fire door primer of the artillery to try whether it can be used as a fire door guide." ”

Zhao Xuan slapped his thigh and shouted: "Wonderful-ah, the general and the last general want to go together, the last general has been thinking about the material of the fire door guide, to be stiff and flammable, I have never thought of goose feather tube or chicken feather tube to go up, this is really ......"

He admired it in his heart, he was in charge of artillery, and when he thought about it day and night, he was not as ashamed as the general casually said.

After that, Zhao Xuan was restless, only thinking about the trial of the new drug package, and it seemed that Wen Daxing was also a little uncertain.

Suddenly, he put down the dishes and chopsticks, and said to Wang Dou worriedly: "General, yesterday, Brother Xie Yike led the sentry to the thief slave Baimiao Fort to investigate, and now the Tartar soldiers are heavily guarded on both sides of the Daughter River, and the general is a little worried, whether Brother Xie will be in danger." ”

The tent was quiet for a while, Wang Dou's hand paused, slowly raised his head, was out of his mind for a long time, and sighed: "The soldiers are in danger, on the battlefield, who knows when to live and when to die?" However, the warriors fought on the battlefield, and the horse leather shroud, no matter who they were, must not be cowardly, and they must not be afraid. Brother Wen, although the first branch is my brother-in-law, but there is no father and son in the army, how to deal with it, according to military law, he should be allowed to sentry, you must also give orders, and there is no favoritism. ”

Seeing what Wen Daxing was going to say, Wang Dou waved his hand: "The first department strongly asks to go to the sentry camp, presumably all kinds of consequences, he has already thought about it clearly, he has rich experience in sentry sentry, and he will be fine." ”

"Alright, you've all eaten and drunk, now let's take matters into account!"

Han Chao and others are a little worried, and it is really dangerous not to harvest at night, especially now that the Tatars are paying more and more attention to the Jingbian Army.

Xie Yike has an active temperament, and they actually like it quite a lot, even if he is not Wang Dou's brother-in-law, everyone is good friends with him. Especially Han Chao, a friend who has known Xie Yike since the Jingbian Fort era, Xie Yike's sentry detection skills were still trained by Han Chao, and it is impossible to say that he is not worried.

But the generals did not discuss the matter any more, and they did not talk about it again, so as not to be worried.

The firemen took the table, and the generals gathered in front of the sand table.

Compared with when I first arrived in Songshan, the sand table topography map near Jinzhou at this time is more detailed.

At this time, many small flags were planted on the sand table, representing the distribution of the enemy and the enemy. In the original Rufeng Mountain, Shimen Mountain and other places, the banners representing the Qing soldiers have been reduced a lot, while in Jinzhou City and other places, there are many more banners representing their military strength. …,

These small flags were set up based on the results of reconnaissance and surveys conducted by the sentry battalion.

Looking at the sand table, everyone was pondering, what was the intention of the Tartars to retreat in Rufeng Mountain and other places, and to increase troops in Jinzhou City?

What are their intentions?

Han Chao pondered for a long time and said: "General, the last general thinks that the reason why the thieves and slaves withdrew a large number of troops in Rufeng Mountain and other places, and stepped up the attack on Jinzhou, was to lure our army to go, extend the battle line, and spy on the opportunity to take advantage of it. ”

"And the place where the mountains withdraw troops, Shimen Mountain is the most, and there are still a lot of thieves and slaves in Rufeng Mountain, so the plan of the thieves and slaves is to lure the main force of our army to reach the city of Jinzhou, if our division is dragged by them, they can cross the daughter river with tens of thousands of iron horsemen and intercept my grain road!"

"The sentry cavalry has arrived, and the soldiers and horses of the thief Baimiao Fort have increased a lot, and it is obvious that they have been spying on Xingshan and other places for a long time."

He pointed to the wilderness to the east and northeast of Jinzhou City: "When the two sides fight, it is estimated that this is the place." At that time, our army and Songshan Fort were separated by Rufeng Mountain and Shimen Mountain, and it was inconvenient to go back and forth, or go over the mountains and mountains, or detour to the southeast of the Xiaoling River, and Rufeng Mountain, as well as the northwest daughter river section, were all controlled by slaves, and it was extremely difficult to rescue Xingshan at that time. ”

Han Chao sighed: "Under the thieves and slaves stepping up the siege of Jinzhou, now that part of their purpose has been achieved, Wu Sangui and the others can't hold it anymore and are eager to go to the rescue." Even the governor of Jiliao also thought that Jinzhou was difficult to defend, and he was afraid that the city would be attacked and taken down, and this consequence was unbearable. ”

Wang Dou nodded slowly, and Zhong Xiancai said: "Although the plan of the thief and slave is like this, our army can also plan and attack Shimen Mountain, reach the bottom of the Xiaoling River, and then control all sections along the river, directly use boats, send grain, grass, firewood, and even reinforcements, and continuously transport them into the city from the south gate." In this way, it can also solve the danger of a section of Jinzhou, and the general of Liaodong will be anxious to relieve the siege of Jinzhou. Today, we followed the general to survey the various sections of the Xiaoling River, and the river water was as boatable as possible. ”

Han Chao said solemnly: "Having said that, when I fought with the thief army, it was under the city of Jinzhou, and the terrain, artillery transportation, and grain and grass were far less convenient than in Songshan Fort. In fact, the best strategy is to hold on to the thieves and slaves in Songshan! ”

"Today, hundreds of thousands of troops, both sides, are in difficulty in supplying grain and grass, but my Ming Dynasty has more national strength, and now there are dried fish and other things, which can last longer than thieves and slaves. If they continue to hold each other, the thieves will not continue to produce grain and grass, and they will definitely collapse without a fight, and if they march into Jinzhou, they will fall into the tricks of thieves and slaves! ” 。 ）