Huainan, located in the north of the Jiangxi Province, is also a large area of flat water villages, and Yangtze County is only thirty or forty miles away from the city of Yangzhou, Jiangdu/Jiangyang Dayi. Most of the day's rapid march can be a straight line. The distance, if you add the Yangtze River and the Caohe Ancient Road that lead directly to the city of Yangzhou, you don’t even need so much time.
But all this was completely destroyed by a man-made flood; although the floods in Yangzhou gradually drained along the rivers one by one, the large swamps and waters left by this became an attempt to besieged and attacked Yangzhou. The biggest problem that the peasant army in the state city must face.
In fact, after talking with the leaders of the rebel army who came to meet in Yangtze County, Zhou Huaian was sensitive to the discovery that he had brought this ready-made reinforcement to him; they were more concerned about the follow-up gains from the Taiping Army. Aid and transaction for the use of the baggage.
Today, the Taiping Army, which maintains a scale of about 30,000 in the Runzhou area, has only brought over 10,000 people, consisting of eight front battalions and four garrison battalions. The vehicle array and heavy equipment are only equipped.
Are there other more than 20,000 people who are relatively light-packed and normalized? They were left in the south of the Yangtze River to be responsible for the distribution and acceptance. The place where Gaihong was left was blank after crossing the river north; at the same time, in the designed lake, In the three prefectures of Chang and Run, a new round of social clean-up and resource collection will be carried out.
And the horse that followed Zhou Huai'an across the river belonged to the first and third armies that had fought for a long time in the south of the Yangtze River. In addition to a battle front battalion with its own name, it was from the second army that completed the establishment and reorganization. In the Fifth Army, each selected a number of troops to enrich, in order to achieve the purpose of round battle experience.
Therefore, under the optimal combination of the newly arrived newcomers and the long-time and experienced old forces, this army that has crossed the river can basically be regarded as a new force representing the prosperous state of the Taiping Army above the average level.
However, as we get closer to the city and river capital of Yangzhou, the smell of water in the air on both sides of the road, and the mosquitoes, flies, and insects that rise with transpiration, are almost devoid of various rancid smells, and they are clearly mixed in layers. Together; people can't help but frown.
It seems that these rebels are also filthy or ineffective in their prevention, control and management after the disaster. You know, after the battle of Zhenhai in the south of the Yangtze River, one of the aftermath measures the Taiping Army spent the most energy in was to take out food to recruit local laborers to search for and bury the corpses in various wilderness, cities, and villages. Discard bones.
In this regard, while gaining a good reputation for the Taiping Army and facilitating propaganda, it is also to prevent and control the probability of an epidemic caused by a large number of dead people after the war. In order to obtain the buffer time for the population to recuperate and regenerate under the corresponding treatment. Therefore, if someone was sailing on the Caohe River near Xuanrun at this time, they would see many old and new colored earthfill pits and a little bit of fireworks burning abandoned houses.
But here, what Zhou Huaian could see was chaos and disorder, as well as chaos and disorder. From time to time, teams of various banners run chaotically on the road, but most of them ignore the bad conditions nearby; they even directly rush into the fields and rivers that have not been purified to quench their thirst and supplement, or they are Dump filth.
Well, in Zhou Huaian's eyes, these conditions are simply the source of the humanoid plague walking unconsciously. We must know that the whole spring is over, and the midsummer that is about to enter will be a time when various epidemics are rampant and rampant. Therefore, for the first time, he regretted taking his troops north across Huainan.
But he can only restrict his subordinates more strictly and enforce various castrations and harsh sanitation and epidemic prevention regulations to ensure that he is as independent as possible under such circumstances. With this kind of sighing thoughts, the carriage ride accompanied by the brigade suddenly shook to a halt. Then someone from outside reported:
"Military, the main formation has already arrived outside Yangzhou City... is waiting for instructions..."
Only then did Zhou Huai'an move the legs and feet that became a little numb after signing the case, slowly picking up the steps and getting out of the car, breathing in the warm midday air in the sun, well, at least The compound smell here is not obvious anymore.
The temporary rest camp where Zhou Huai'an parking is located is on the bank of a wooden bridge that spans the river, and in the distance to the east is a giant city that is larger, more magnificent, and even more majestic than Dantu City.
It’s just that on the long-lost war-fighting blue-gray-toned trenches and gray-white walls, there are still many patches of weeds that have not yet been cleaned up, moss marks, like a giant whale lying on the Huainan wilderness; this is the so-called "Yang" in the history books. "One benefit two" is the world's first-rate prosperous place; the "Huaizuo famous capital" that has been praised and missed repeatedly by countless literati and ink guests.
Such as Li Bai’s "Fireworks in March", Du Mu’s "Ten Years Dream of Yangzhou", "Twenty-Four Bridges and Bright Moon Night", "Spring Breeze Ten Miles of Yangzhou Road", Xu Ning's "The world is three centuries with a bright moonlit night, and the two rogues are Yangzhou "." Zhang Hu's "Life can only die in Yangzhou", Su Shi's "Ask the Jiangnan partners, who is like me and drunk in Yangzhou.". . . . It is not enough to fully explain the elegance and charm of the prosperity.
However, after Zhou Huaian saw and saw the situation outside the city of Yangzhou with his own eyes, his feelings and yearning were somewhat diminished. The large fertile fields outside Yangzhou City, the villages of Fangshi, and many scenic spots and historical relics were almost all turned into muddy ground by a flood; and after the surface was dried, the dust was so full that everything was contaminated. Yellow tone.
Even walking on the road is deep and shallow in the potholes, and even if you are not careful, your feet and horseshoes will be sunk in the mud that seems to be dry and hardened, but can not pass the ankle. in.
Of course, the sequelae of this flood is also a great trouble for the Huainan Army in the capital of Shoujiang. The remaining mud and water on the ground, although the rebel forces gathered near Jiangdu and even in Yangzhou, it is really impossible to set up camps and prepare for war, to carry out routine long-term siege and detention.
But if the Huainan army in the city wanted to fight out, or even take advantage of the momentum to counterattack and pursue, it was also quite difficult. The mud and mud flats all over the ground are enough to make the struggling to make a good target for the bow and crossbow.
In this case, it is enough to maintain a few guard posts above the terrain; theoretically speaking, there is no need to gather heavy soldiers under the city.
"Lao Pang, this Yangzhou city is unbeatable for a while... not to mention the equipment built, even if people walk up it, it's not enough..."
Zhou Huaian faced the former army envoy Pang Shigudao who came to visit.
"Xu... Brother Zhou also feels like this... So we don't expect too much from this place;"
As the commander of most of the rebels in Yangzhou, Pang Shigu was not surprisingly successful.
"But the fourteen states of Huainan are vast, apart from Yangzhou, there is actually a lot to do. This time I invited Brother Zhou to lead his troops to solve some of the problems that we could not overcome for a long time or failed to achieve success. Well..."
"Everyone says that the Taiping Army’s people are the best at using weapons and fire attacks; not only have they beaten down the stronghold of the Dantu, but also lost a piece of armor to the Huainan official dog’s navy. Don't keep it..."
"It's so good..."
Zhou Huaian smiled slightly. One of the main motives for the requested leader to come to Huainan this time was not because of the resources that the rebels had collected and plundered in Huainan.
The fourteen prefectures of Huainan alone accounted for half of the wealth of the Southeast, which Datang relied on to maintain. Yangzhou, which is a hub of the world, is also rich in wealth and wealth.
Moreover, compared with the Jiangzuo land where the Hao surnamed groups are lined up, Huainan has not been under fire for a long time; even the Huangchao peasant army who had fought southward before swept across the border and took the location of Jiangxi, Jiangdong, and Fujian. Therefore, the general appearance of the place is preserved.
Therefore, it is on the normal historical line. Huang Chao’s army of hundreds of thousands of troops rising from the south of the Yangtze River, relying solely on the income and inputs from Huainan, claims to be sufficient and cost-effective; since then, they have been driving all the way down to Chang'an for several years. In between, there is no longer a shortage of food and equipment.
As the saying goes, "the thieves are powerful, and they walk from the north of the Huai River to the crowd, do not plunder the wealth, but drive Ding Zhuang as a soldier" "Old Tang Book·Xizong Ji". This was also the last time Zhou Huaian could borrow and benefit from the momentum of the rebels.
Although most of the rebel generals in Yangzhou City, Gao Bohai, who had been thorny and defeated them in the early years, still had lingering fears and different guards; but Zhou Huaian, who remembered a little bit of the corresponding historical trend, knew the last recovery of the late Tang Dynasty. The famous general, how faint and old Mai is weak until he digs his own grave.
And under his governance, Huainan Road, which is destined to end in the future, is simply a ready-made experience package and transportation captain. It's worthy of excavation and harvesting.
Naturally, according to the obscure words in Pang Shi’s ancient words, although most of the leaders of the Rebel Army have suffered major defeats, they have not actually damaged the fundamental power of many old brothers; especially in the Huangchao headquarters and the rear. After the team also crossed the river, the Zhenshu they had passed was almost invincible and invincible.
But for some of the larger towns and towns, these lightly armed soldiers flooded the majority of the peasant army, and it was really helpless. Therefore, after hearing about the Taiping Army's experience in designing counterattack under Dantu City, inviting troops to assist in the battle in the name of the General's Mansion also meant to use corresponding equipment and force.
Regarding this, Zhou Huaian was of course happy to see it, and it was also the result of his being able to let people spread the news.
However, since it is the seller's market where the other party has taken the initiative to offer exotic goods, the corresponding difficulties and complaints have to be exaggerated a lot, and the resulting price and conditions have to be fully demanded. (End of this chapter)