But then it went beyond Zhou Huaian’s surprise. At the designated multi-departmental joint meeting, almost most senior and some responsible persons expressed more or less optimism in disguised form about the military operation of this partial division breakthrough. It is in stark contrast to the caution and hesitation that Zhou Huaian expected.
Even the chief judge, Fan Chuo, who has always been relatively steady and steadfast and rarely expresses his stance, said that he could squeeze some resources out of the existing operating basis to help end the war in Hedong as soon as possible. Then Zhou Huaian knew, but their optimism stemmed from good news.
Just two days ago, a report from the mining department was sent from the territory of Hunan Road: During the mining of the Daye open-pit (iron) mine in Yongxing County, Ezhou, more associated copper veins were discovered; according to what has been discovered Partially and inferred from the initial furnace trial, it can provide about 80 to 100,000 jin of crude ingot production capacity per day.
And the positive and prospective expectations brought about by this news are enough to issue an additional five-half of the annual interest (payment due in the current year) military bonds, 3 million to 5 million yuan; converted into military expenditures for the corresponding battle preparations. , Which is more than enough.
After all, compared to the past dynasties with backward technology and low production efficiency, the Taiping Army has now mastered relatively cheap mining, smelting and casting technologies. As long as explosives are used to blast the hardened soil and rock on the surface, scaffolding and conveyor belts can be used to excavate layer by layer.
Then it is crushed in a hydraulic or steam machine near the conveyor, and then sent to a coke reactor built up to filter out copper liquid and impurities with a higher melting point in turn; finally, the pressure roller of the forging machine that uses water power or steam is also used. It is made into a plate, and then rolled into a die to make a stack of money.
After mining, smelting, and casting in this way, the corresponding labor, fire, material, and transportation costs are eliminated. The net profit of a catty of coarse ingots is seven or eight hundred yuan, although most of them have to be allocated internally. It is necessary to continue the industrial production of copper materials; but the remaining part is still sufficient to meet the upcoming payment needs of two or three phases.
In the same way, using this expected income as a guarantee and mortgage is enough to leverage the power of commercial capital that is free from the private sector in the south; it is paid to make it undertake the task of purchasing and transshipment of designated materials, as the official bulk production and transportation. Supplementary power outside.
Therefore, although the current transportation capacity under the Taiping Army has not been restored to the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, it can be divided into two times a year to transport 2.6 million tals of chestnuts, soybeans and wheat into Beijing; but now it has been approved. After the expansion of Shangzhou-Wuguan Road/Danshui Shipping, the monthly transportation volume of at least 300,000 to 400,000 shi is still stable.
In addition, through the reprocessing of grain and agricultural and sideline products, they are transformed into portable products such as cakes, cakes, noodles, bait, dough, cans, etc., which improves the utilization rate and cost-effectiveness ratio of corresponding products; therefore, it is not only sufficient for Gyeonggi Province And the rest of the production needs of the prefectures within the Guan, there is also spare capacity to support the military operations in Kansai and Guan.
With the order of the chief governor, the supplementary camps and Minzhuang who departed from the assembly points in Gyeonggi Province, as well as the hoarding yards of Xiweicang, Yongfengcang, Lantian Army warehouse, and Changan Taicang Department, were transferred and allocated for the transportation of grain at the same time. Materials and equipment; the military forces scattered in the northern part of Kannai Road were once again fully mobilized.
Outside the city of Linfen, Taiping Hedong's deputy general Meng Kai was on the base of the battlefield, and the most difficult and critical moment was also ushered in. The ramp in front of him was already filled with entangled corpses and broken swords and spears; the ground full of blood became soft and muddy.
Even his own robe and armor was splattered with blood and scattered pieces of meat. It was the product of wave after wave of enemy forces that were bombarded and repelled by the use of wide-mouthed blunderbuss and short-barreled cannons at close range; but those Hedong Fanqi, who had already entered the camp, was still rushing over as if he had spotted him.
And those layers of trenches, horses, fences, and soil barriers arranged in layers on the periphery were filled in and impacted by the corpses of the horses and horses to create a large and small gap; and in this piece of the battlefield that surrounds the Chinese army and the generals, they are laid out. Here comes a radiating fan ring that reuses flesh and blood as a color palette.
And the several earthen turrets shrouded in a turmoil behind him had already heated up the barrels, and even watering them on the spot couldn’t cool it down immediately. On the contrary, they burst a door due to overheating, and several people were killed and injured. Individual; the remaining members of the artillery team can only hurriedly picked up the fire blunders and swords, and joined the frontline battle.
However, at this point, apart from the reinforcements successively coming from the south and west of the city, they have been divided into a few people who can only fight on their own. With the attack, Ge Congzhou has already invaded the city and fought. The other part of You Hao's team has yet to come back to help.
Holding a half-hooked spear, Meng Kai couldn't hide his fatigue and body twitching, but he still stood as a mountain among the piles of corpses; just beside him, his left arm had fallen softly and his whole body was like a soldier soaked in blood. Head, but still trying to persuade him:
"The lord, the children can't hold on for long, so let's retreat for a while, press against the city and then end the battle... Otherwise, I really want to fold it here..."
"If you have not received the order, you are not allowed to retreat..."
However, Meng Kai twitched unmovedly and said, because of too much force, and said:
"Since I have received the military order, as long as I can stand still from the beginning, the enemy is not allowed to take one step..."
"Meng Tou, let me wait for you to fight for the front line. Only when you are alive can you retreat. Only when you have a useful body can you have more thoughts!!"
The other was blinded by an old man, but he raised a placard to open a flying arrow and hissed again to persuade:
"No, I'll follow the Chinese army's big gun and nail it here until the last moment..."
Meng Kai shook his head expressionlessly again; at this step, he had no joy or sorrow in his heart, and even some understanding, maybe his first death here is the best result. In this way, the remaining old brothers can better integrate into the new dynasty, instead of having such unnecessary thoughts.
As his field of vision penetrated through the firework camps, those Hedong cavalry who gave up their mounts and turned to foot combat, although they lost the advantages of impact and mobility, they also greatly reduced the killing effect of firearms. .
Therefore, between the close and close fights piece by piece, it was the grenades that were thrown into force. But soon after the grenadiers were exhausted, it became the place where the traditional swords and spears regained their victories;
At one point, the battalion outside the city was filled with a large number of left-behind troops with reorganized soldiers and auxiliary pawns, and they would inevitably fall into the wind and retreat steadily; to the end, even the civilians on standby had to take up swords and swords. , Added to the front of the match.
If it weren't for Meng Kai who had previously reserved a few small artillery pieces, and took turns to bombard the momentum at critical moments; I'm afraid they would have been rushed away by these enemy forces early. But the strength, spirit, and number of these enemy forces will not be endless in the end.
Therefore, he also seems to have an intuition and feeling. As the enemy has been fighting from a long distance, it should be somewhat exhausted and declining. The next battle for victory is to see who can last longer. Some, and drag the opponent down and weak.
At this time, a few fierce blasts suddenly came from a distance, and then they turned into loud noises and shouts in the Chinese army's main formation: "The left wing No. 3 artillery fort has also fallen..."
However, it was a high platform on the east as one of the echo and arrival angles of the original formation. In the end, under the forward and backward attack of the Hedong soldiers at any cost, they were broken into the barrier by the daring soldiers holding the axe and hammer; The gunpowder in the detonated artillery fortress exploded a huge cloud of blood and rain.
At the same time, there are people beside Li Siyuan, the south road chief who is fighting outside the front line, who are trying to persuade him, but it is the commander of the left-wing horse army and the commander of the Yizhou governor Li Sien (Luo Yangxing) hiss. Road:
"Brother, let the children take it easy, there will be no more people after the fight, what hope is there in the future?"
"Management, since the attack on the children, the water has not yet entered, I am afraid that they will be exhausted..."
Another vanguard envoy, Kang Junli, who retreated all blood and water, also gasped in a rough voice and echoed:
"Because of this, we must continue to fight..."
However, Li Siyuan's expression was as firm as a rock and said coldly:
"You have to slow down, but if you want the thieves in the city to slow down, then there is nothing to count on! Can these people who attacked the enemy camp be able to retreat all over?"
"It's not a pity for those vassals to die, so they send the normal order soldiers to go immediately. The normal order soldiers are not enough to use, so they will bring their own troops up. Even these thieves outside the city can't break through, how can they win in the future! "
"If you can't hold on to the only chance to win at the moment, how many more people and equipment will be added in the future, what use? If you are consciously unable to do so, you will hand over your own troops and horses, and I will take care of all of them. Yes.."
"According to my order, the Chinese army moved forward five hundred steps, entered the enemy camp, and shared with the soldiers and soldiers..."
It didn't take long for his voice to fall, but with the large flags that moved one after another, slowly advancing and pressing in front of the battle; however, several obvious roars suddenly came from the direction of the city. However, someone in the city took all the trouble to move the heavy artillery to the top of the wall, and began to support the battle in the camp outside the city.
Although there were only a few cannons, the bombardment was in the midst of the densely clustered enemy forces on the periphery of the last few bases, and it still inevitably exploded one after another of blood-colored gullies; and he was attacking the full-blown Hedong. The army was also repelled and dispersed again in an uproar.
However, this strengthened Li Siyuan's determination to make a desperate move. He raised the sword in his hand and pointed at the largest platform on the largest platform, and said to the left and right generals:
"All armies should first attack and destroy this hut, and the first one is willing to guarantee the reward of Jingjie..." (End of this chapter)