Chapter 634

In fact, it was very troublesome to send troops from Fujian to attack Jiangxi, because Fujian and Jiangxi were separated by heavy mountains, and the Wuyi Mountains were separated by hundreds of miles.

Although Fujian is also full of mountains, there are many rivers, most of which can be navigated by boat, and it is relatively easy to march along the waterway. However, most of the rivers in Fujian originate in the Wuyi Mountains and flow southeast into the sea, and they cannot enter Jiangxi at all.

Of course, there are also valley narrow roads between the mountains, although it is difficult to climb, if you really want to pass, you can still pass, and you can cross the Wuyi Mountains from Fujian into Jiangxi. It's just that the road is difficult. When Qin Shi Huang sent a large army to attack the Dongou Kingdom, he crossed the Wuyi Mountain. At that time, the whole south was full of jungles, all undeveloped primeval forests, Jiangxi was a land of smoke miasma, full of snakes, ants and poisonous insects, even under that condition, the Qin army still climbed over the heavy mountains and captured the Dongou Kingdom. Dongou was one of the hundred Yue at that time, and it was in Fujian.

And in the Ming Dynasty, whether it is Fujian or Jiangxi, they have already been developed, and there are no so many forests and no miasma. In terms of conditions, the conditions are much better than those of the Qin Dynasty.

But even so, it is not easy to climb over the heavy mountains and enter Jiangxi. A few people are okay, but for an army of tens of thousands of people, it is a very difficult thing.

From Shaowu Mansion to the west into Guangguang County, and then over the Shanling Mountains, into the territory of Jiangxi, a full journey of three or four hundred miles, to climb over not a hundred mountains but also eighty, the army to take such a mountain road, not more than half a month to reach Jiangxi at all.

After such a long march, food and grass supplies need to be transported from mountain roads, plus weapons, armor, artillery, and various baggage, it is a headache to think about.

"It's too difficult, at most you can go along the river to Guangguang County, and then you will enter the mountains to the west, and the ships will no longer be able to travel, not to mention anything else, it will be very difficult to transport these artillery pieces over." Zhang Huangyan sighed.

"Then don't bring artillery!" Li Yanzhi said categorically, "I don't bring any red-coated cannons, and if you want other artillery, except for the Tiger Squat Cannon and the Light Franc Machine, you won't bring anything else." ”

The red-coated cannon weighs thousands of pounds, and even if it can be transported on mountain roads, the speed must be very slow and time-consuming. The tiger squat cannon is only 36 pounds each, and the two gunners can easily move too much, and they can also use mules, horses, and livestock to carry the mountain road. The light Franc machine gun weighs only a few dozen catties, which is not much heavier than the tiger squat gun, and it is not troublesome to carry.

"If you don't bring a red-coated cannon, you won't be able to meet a strong city." Zhang Huangyan frowned. For a long time, the Praetorian Guard relied heavily on artillery, but whenever they attacked the city, they bombarded the city walls with heavy artillery, rarely used ladders to attack hard, and were not good at other siege methods.

"We're just a partial division, if we encounter a strong city, it's a big deal not to attack, just bypass it. Our aim is to pin down the rebels and harass their rear. Li Yan said straight.

"That's okay, then I don't even bring the Franc machine, just bring some tiger squat guns." Zhang Huangyan suggested.

The emperor personally led an army of more than 100,000 troops to attack Jiangxi from the Yangtze River, and the main force of the rebel army was inevitably attracted to the line of Nanchang and Jiujiang, and the Jiangxi prefecture and county adjacent to Fujian would definitely not have many troops, even if there were rebel troops, they would not be elite, and with the combat effectiveness of the Praetorian Guard, there would be no need for artillery at all when encountering such a weak division.

"The tiger squat cannon is no longer brought, and the troops will not be brought with artillery this time, and the mules and horses are all used to carry grain and armor, so there is no need to recruit people to transport grain." Li Yan thought about it.

If the army wants to cross the Wuyi Mountains, it must march for at least more than 20 days, and it must bring enough food, and then it must also bring armor. If you don't wear armor, your combat effectiveness will be reduced by at least 30%. Maybe the armor can't resist the fire, but it's still okay to be a sword and arrow.

"In addition to the firearms and ammunition, there is also the necessary food, enough to eat all the way. Nothing else was brought, and the whole army advanced lightly and quickly crossed the Wuyi Mountains into Jiangxi. Li Yan said categorically.

"In that case, the food can only be supplied on the spot in Jiangxi, but what if the city can't be defeated for a while? We can't steal food from the people, can we? Zhang Huangyan asked.

"What kind of food to rob? Let's buy it with silver, as long as we have silver, what can't we buy? Li Yanzhi said lightly. The Fujian Janissaries did not say anything else, that is, there was no shortage of silver, and every year a part of the silver from the sea trade had to be allocated to the Fujian sailors. Compared with the Praetorian Guards in other places, the officers and men of the Fujian Praetorian Guard have high salaries and good benefits, and they are the most wealthy.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to buy food even if I have money." Zhang Huangyan sighed.

There are mountains everywhere along the way, and the population is sparse, even when entering Jiangxi, it is not easy to buy enough food for so many troops.

"That's a problem, too." Li Yan touched his chin and knew that what Zhang Huangyan said was good. In the mountains, there are people and most of them are small villages, often only a few or dozens of households, which simply cannot support an army of tens of thousands of people.

"I have an idea." Zhang Huangyan said suddenly.

"What's the idea, tell me quickly." Li Yanzhi hurriedly said.

"We can send a small army to enter Jiangxi as a merchant before sending troops again, and at the same time probe the enemy's situation all the way, buy grain at a high price, and hoard it on the road that the army must pass." Zhang Huangyan said with a smile.

"Will this work?" Li Yan touched his chin and said suspiciously.

Buying military rations in enemy territory is unreliable no matter how it sounds.

"It should be fine. Entering Jiangxi in the name of doing business should not arouse the suspicion of the rebels, originally there were commercial exchanges between Jiangxi and Fujian, although large quantities of goods could not pass, but there were often small merchants crossing the mountains to travel between the two places. Zhang Huang said.

"Okay, then try it, for fear of arousing the suspicion of the rebels and putting the brothers sent in danger." Li Yan said straight.

"The Jiangxi rebels probably didn't expect that we would attack over the mountains, and maybe we wouldn't be able to defend it." Zhang Huang said.

"Okay, anyway, there are still more than twenty days before His Majesty agreed to send troops, it's okay to try, not to mention anything else, you can always find out the situation on the other side of the mountain." Li Yanzhi finally made up his mind, "Who should I send?" ”

"Otherwise, the end will go." Zhang Huangyan took the initiative to ask, "Just give me a hundred and ten soldiers, all of whom are pretending to be business companions, it shouldn't arouse suspicion." ”

"Okay. Pick any one you want and set off as soon as possible. Li Yanzhi nodded.

Zhang Huangyan began to prepare, in order to play the image, he even sent someone to find a local guide, named Wu Fu, who killed the rebel leader Lin Mantang Kaicheng and surrendered to Wu Lan's house.

Because Shaowu Mansion was too far away from the sea, the local gentry did not do maritime business, but as merchants, they provided a source of goods for maritime merchants. Wu Lan's home was in Guangguang County, and Guangxi was adjacent to Wuyi Mountain, so Wu Lan organized a caravan to travel through the mountains to and from Jiangxi and Fujian, purchasing porcelain and raw silk from Jiangxi at low prices, and then selling it to maritime merchants. Although the mountain road is difficult and the transportation cost is high, you can still earn some silver every year, at least it is much better than farming. And Wu Fu is a steward in charge of trade.

After finding Wu Fu, Zhang Huangyan had an idea and decided to pretend to be the Wu family caravan. He selected one hundred and ten soldiers from the army who were good at walking mountain roads, changed into ordinary people's clothes, packed fire guns and armor as goods, and carried only swords and self-defense weapons with him, and ordered Wu Fu to lead the way and go towards Jiangxi.

The group first took a boat from Shaowu Mansion to Guangguang County. At this time, Guangguang County was also occupied by the Praetorian Guard.

When they arrived at Guangguang County, the stream narrowed sharply, and it was no longer possible to continue the boat, so the group abandoned the boat and went ashore, and then went to the Wu family business under the leadership of Wu Fu. The merchant has all kinds of equipment such as mules and horses, and even the banner of the merchant name, which saves a lot of trouble.

The group changed into the clothes of the business guys, drove the mules and horses of the business, waved the banner of the business, and had Wu Fu, the steward of the Wu family, as a guide, which was no different from the Wu family's business.

Sandwiched between the mountains, Guangguang County is a small basin, from Guangguang County to the west, the terrain suddenly steepens and narrows, and the road is much more difficult to walk. After walking less than thirty miles, you will reach the mountains, and the foothills are all rugged and difficult mountain roads, and these mountain roads are all in the valleys, mostly along mountain streams.

They are all on the mountain road, and when you look up, you are surrounded by lush mountains, full of forests, and the stream beside the road is murmuring, and the scenery is very beautiful. However, except for Zhang Huangyan, everyone had no intention of observing the scenery. Because these Praetorian Guard soldiers are all natives of Fujian, they are used to seeing such scenery on weekdays. Only the guide Wu Fu was not in the mood to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Zhang Huangyan often looks left and right, but instead of enjoying the beautiful scenery, he pays attention to everything around him. As the person in charge of the team, Zhang Huangyan was very vigilant, for fear that there would be chaos.

Poor mountains and bad waters come out of the people, and Shaowu Mansion is the most remote and poorest in the whole of Fujian, and some of them are mountain people who can't get by, so they choose to go up the mountain as bandits.

"General, there is an old crow mountain twenty miles ahead, and there is a group of bandits on the mountain, numbering about a hundred, who often go down the mountain to rob business travelers." Wu Fu said to Zhang Huang.

"Don't call the general, call me the shopkeeper, by the way, if your Wu family business encounters mountain bandits, what will you do?" Zhang Huangyan frowned.

"There's nothing you can do, the guys from the business may be able to beat it, after all, these poor mountain bandits don't even have a few good weapons. But what if you can beat it? If the bandits are angered, this mountain road is so long, they can find a place to set up an ambush business and they can't bear it, so they can only break the fortune to avoid disasters, and send them some silver every time. However, the shopkeeper and your subordinates are all elite soldiers, so you don't have to be afraid of these mountain bandits, just exterminate them. Wu Fu said.

"No, I don't. In the past, as much silver was given to them, they were given as much as they were given. Zhang Huangyan said lightly. It was important to enter Jiangxi to open the way for the army to raise food, and there was no time to pay attention to the small group of mountain bandits.

"Yes, yes, yes." Wu Fu didn't dare to say much.

The procession continued to advance, and as it was almost dark as he spoke, they camped on the mountain path, and sent sentries to both sides of the mountain road to keep watch. Everyone sleeps in clothes, and the weather in June will not be cold when sleeping at night, but it will be exceptionally cool.

The next morning, after eating dry rations, the team continued its march. The mountain road was too difficult to walk, and it was only in the afternoon that I arrived near the old crow mountain that Wu Fu said.

Zhang Huangyan ordered everyone to remain vigilant and move forward slowly.

"Where are the bandits?" Zhang Huangyan raised his eyes and looked around, only seeing the mountains and forests, and the surroundings were quiet, and he couldn't see the shadow of the mountain bandits at all.

"The mountain bandits' nest is in the Lao Ya Mountain, ten miles south of the mountain road, and there is a flat land with a radius of dozens of zhang on the mountainside, which is three or four hundred acres in size, and the mountain bandits have built houses on it and reclaimed fields." Wu Fu introduced.

"Will they not know that we are coming? After all, now is not the time for your Wu family caravan to go to Jiangxi. Zhang Huangyan asked. The Wu caravan generally went to Jiangxi in the spring, and returned before the summer after purchasing goods, so as not to delay the maritime trade of the year. Sometimes I will go to Jiangxi in autumn to transport some Fujian specialties, and then purchase some sea trade goods for the next year when I come back. And now it's June, it's summer, the weather is too hot, it's not a good time to do business at all, these Zhang Huangyan have long figured it out.

"The mountain bandits are relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, the mountain road here is the only way for Shaowu Mansion to Jiangxi Jianchang Mansion, the mountain bandits will definitely have eyeliner nearby, Shao Dong rest assured, they will appear soon." Wu Fudao.

"What do I have to worry about...... "Zhang Huang said speechlessly.

Having said that, he ordered the whole army to be put on alert. The firecrackers even held the package wrapped in the firecracker in their arms.

"Young owner, they're here." Wu Fu suddenly pointed ahead and said.

Zhang Huangyan looked fixedly, and sure enough, he saw that there were many shadows on the mountain road in the distance, which should be the mountain bandits that Wu Fu said.

After another moment, the two sides were already very close, only forty or fifty paces away, and Zhang Huangyan secretly ordered to stop.

Forty or fifty paces, which is already within the range of the firearm, can make the "caravan" so close, which shows that this mountain bandit is a rabble at all, and does not know how to fight at all. Of course, perhaps because they were too familiar, these mountain bandits were not much guarded, after all, the caravan was under the banner of the Wu family's business, and according to Wu Fu's statement, the old crow mountain bandits usually dealt with the Wu family's business.

At such a close distance, I could clearly see the situation of the other party, and I saw these mountain bandits, all wearing tattered clothes, all with unkempt beards and long beards, holding messy weapons in their hands, knives and guns, wooden sticks, and even mountain bandits with hoes. Ranged weapons are also available, just a few hunting bows.

"It's the Wu family's business name in front?" At this moment, a loud voice suddenly sounded.

"It's the big boss of Lao Yashan Ma Chi." Wu Fu said quietly

Zhang Huangyan stabbed Wu Fu and motioned for him to talk. Wu Fu could only go to the front and shouted at the other party: "It is the Wu family's business, don't come to the master of Martha."

"It turned out to be Shopkeeper Wu, Shopkeeper Wu, why did your firm enter the mountain at this time, don't you usually come here in spring and autumn?"