Chapter 331: The Siege of Jiangning (V)
Re-entering Jiangning City, the captain of the ship from the three towns of Wuhan felt that there were some indescribable changes in the city.
This change was not because the number of soldiers on the streets had greatly increased. It was not just the increase in the number of soldiers in Jiangning City. The three towns of Wuhan had served as a gathering center for new recruits for more than a year, and the number of both the Eight Banners and the Green Camp had increased several times.
Anqing, which I had just left three days ago, has become a military city. It feels like there are more soldiers and officers in the city than residents.
If it is clothing and hairstyle, it seems to be a bit like that. The military uniforms are indeed different, and the way they are worn is also a bit different. The most obvious thing is the hairstyle. The number of golden rat tails is much less than before, and the number of monk-like flat heads has increased. The second is a kind of double-breasted short coat that looks different from ordinary short coats.
But none of this is important. What is important is that the Cao Gang brothers who defected to the Chinese court described the situation and expressed the Chinese court's views on the Cao Gang. The captain heard the comment that "the food and clothing of millions of Cao workers depend on it." Although this sounded like something only a scholar would say, the captain agreed with it very much. He praised: "Brother Lu, if the situation on the river is still like this, we will really starve to death!"
After chatting for a while, the Cao Gang members from both camps reached a consensus that winning or losing the war was not Cao Gang's business. What Cao Gang had to do now was to survive this war.
The captain of the Wuhan Three Towns ship certainly agreed with this idea, but he was puzzled, "Brother Lu, are you an official?"
Brother Lu laughed and said, "I would like to be an official, but I don't have the courage. I think you might as well go and meet Commander Lei of Jiangning. Commander Lei is a high-ranking official of the Chinese court, a favorite of Master Huo in the Chinese court, and also Master Huo's apprentice. He is truly Master Huo's own man. What I told you is what Commander Lei meant. When you meet Commander Lei, just listen to what he says."
"Will they... keep their word?" The captain didn't dare to trust the government. Even though he was careful this time, he was still tricked. If the people sent here were not from the Cao Gang, and the Chinese government troops blocked the Cao Gang's boats in the Qinhuai River, everyone would really be doomed.
"I don't know what you think. I follow the Chinese court and think they are better than the previous government."
Hearing Brother Lu's sincere words, the captain made up his mind and asked Brother Lu for guidance.
Soon, the group arrived outside Jiangning City. The customs clearance was very strict, and the group had to wait. The captain was a little bored waiting, so he looked around. He saw some objects made of thin bamboo strips hanging on the willow trees by the water, which looked very delicate.
The captain thought it was interesting and went to take a look. When he got closer and took a closer look, he was so shocked that he took a step back.
Living on the river, one has seen many horrible things. Broken bones, broken heads, bleeding heads, and even brains bursting out are common. As for corpses like Jiang Piao, they look even more terrifying.
However, at this moment, the captain saw something he had never seen before: a strange cage made of straight bamboo strips hanging on the willow tree in front of him, which was densely packed with flies.
The captain had traveled a lot and had seen a lot of things. The flies were so dense that they must have gathered around the filth. Seeing so many flies crowded in such a small bamboo cage, the captain instinctively felt that there must be something very strange inside.
Brother Lu laughed when he saw the captain's reaction, walked over and said, "There's nothing filthy in it, just a little bit of maltose. Flies like sweet things, so they gather here."
"Really?" The captain couldn't believe it. As he spoke, a man with dark blue and white ribbons tied on his arm came over and took down the cage full of flies and put up a new one. He looked closer and saw that the bamboo cage was empty. There was no filth in it.
I saw those people taking bamboo baskets filled with flies and heading to the nearby area. There was already a pile of firewood there, and people kept bringing bamboo baskets filled with black stuff and putting them inside the pile of firewood. Not long after, someone poured something on it and set it on fire. After a while, the flames rose and burned countless flies.
The captain finally understood what he thought was wrong. In the past summers, mosquitoes and flies were everywhere in Jiangning City, especially in places like the waterside, where flies were in groups, flying like dark clouds.
This time when I entered the city, I didn't feel any flies at all. Even if there were, I would only see one or two occasionally. I didn't notice their existence at all. This is not just a certain area of the city. I walked through most of Jiangning City and it was all like this. Speaking of which, it feels a lot fresher.
However, watching the flames rise, thinking that this fire had killed at least tens of thousands of people. There were also fires in several other places, and they were probably doing the same thing. The captain couldn't help but recite a few Buddhist verses and sighed, "I hope we don't cause any resentment."
Brother Lu sighed, "Don't think too much about killing. Even if the Plague God is angry, he dare not blame the emperor. If Master Huo becomes the emperor, the Plague God will have to obey his orders."
The captain smiled bitterly. There were often epidemics in Jiangnan, and the people were particularly concerned about the Plague God. Flies, mosquitoes and other creatures were considered to be the Plague God's subordinates. Killing them in this way would certainly anger the Plague God. As Brother Lu said, if everyone was following the true emperor, there would be no need to worry about the Plague God being angry because of the loss of so many of his subordinates.
However… the captain felt that something was stirring in his mind, so he asked, “What’s the situation in the city now?”
"You're right. Since the Chinese army started doing this last year, the number of people falling ill in the city has really decreased. You know, every year some brothers die of plague. From last year to now, the number of people who died of illness on the ship, including children, is less than ten."
"Really?" The captain was shocked. Many of the boatmen brought their families with them, and it was common for them to get sick and die every year. Even the captain himself had a child who died of vomiting and diarrhea in the summer after eating something bad.
He quickly asked, "How many of you are there? Less than ten of you died?"
"We have more than a thousand brothers and family members in Jiangning, but less than two thousand."
Hearing this number, the captain thought Brother Lu was lying. Life on a ship is so hard, if less than one out of a hundred people died... who are you kidding!
At this time, the gatekeeper let a few people into the city. The captain had a goal along the way, and looked carefully. He saw that there were not many mosquitoes near the canals in the city, and the streets were clean, even much cleaner than Jiangning City. Moreover, the streets were filled with the smell of wormwood, which was a bit pungent, but not unpleasant.
When he saw Lei Hu, the legendary disciple of Huo Chong, he saw that he was very tall. The captain had been to Beijing many times and knew that Shandong people were tall. When Lei Hu spoke, he spoke with a Zhili accent, which surprised the captain. It turned out that Huo Chong's confidants were not only from Shandong.
During the conversation, Lei Hu told the captain straightforwardly. Everyone has to support their families. If the brothers of Cao Gang are willing to surrender, the Chinese court will certainly welcome them. If they still have to work for the Qing Dynasty to make money, the Chinese court doesn't care. But if the Cao Gang members become Qing soldiers, they should not complain about the deaths in the war.
Hearing that what Lei Hu said was the same as what Brother Lu said, the captain was a little puzzled. "Master Lei, don't you want to surrender to us?"
"I don't look down on you. But if we want you to surrender, you will have to fight for us, and since it's a war, people will die. If you are really willing to surrender, that's another matter. From my point of view, you all want to protect yourself and your family. I don't want you to lose your life in vain."
After hearing what Lei Hu said, the captain felt very strange. What Lei Hu said was just like homely things, which was the most normal thing. However, it was the most inappropriate thing for such a senior official to say such homely things.
Lei Hu was not very concerned about receiving the Cao Gang. He said what he needed to say and ended the meeting. Although the Cao Gang had many uses, for example, when they were in Shandong, the Cao Gang on the Daqing River and Xiaoqing River provided a lot of intelligence. However, Lei Hu did not need to care about these, as someone had already been ordered to do it.
After sending off the Cao Gang members, Lei Hu held a meeting to discuss the comprehensive infrastructure construction in Jiangning City in the second half of the year.
That’s right, Huo Chong’s advice was not to consider how to annihilate the enemy, and Lei Hu also agreed with it.
The conscription in Shandong, northern Jiangsu, and Henan, where land reform has been implemented, is going very smoothly, and it is expected that 150,000 troops can be completed. In addition to the 60,000 to 80,000 troops that are garrisoning and training new recruits in various places, the Huaxia Army can draw 50,000 field troops to fight in Jiangning.
There are 28,000 troops in Jiangning City, which adds up to nearly 80,000 troops. According to the news, the Qing army in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River sent about 120,000 to 150,000 troops, and the rest of Fujian, Jiangxi, and Guangdong and Guangxi will probably send 50,000 to 80,000 troops. The Huaxia Army has comprehensive advantages, including internal operations.
Therefore, the purpose of Jiangning City is not to win a battle alone, but to take advantage of this opportunity to build infrastructure. After all, this Jinling City will be one of the fulcrums of the future Chinese court in the Yangtze River Basin.
While Lei Hu was thinking about it, someone here complained: "Commander Lei, there are 100,000 people entering the city right now. Most of them refuse to cut their braids. Should we send someone to urge them to do so?"
Lei Hu laughed, "It hasn't been long since we cut our braids, why do we need to threaten the people? The people are smart, if they think cutting their braids will benefit them, they will cut them off secretly even if you don't allow them to. Haven't we seen this in Shandong?"
The next question is somewhat related to cutting the braids. After all, the Chinese army must have the character of the Chinese army. Many people will be incorporated into the guards and participate in military operations such as patrols. If the braids are not cut off, will the Chinese army actually use braid soldiers to fill the scene?
Many officers expressed that they could not accept this.
Without waiting for Lei Hu to answer, Chief of Staff Li Dongsheng advised: " Commander , the walls of Jiangning City are strong and the defense is effective. However, such a large city requires 100,000 people to defend. I am afraid we can't gather 100,000 people in the city."
"Riesling, if there aren't enough people, it's hard not to worry."
Lei Hu chuckled when he heard this, "Everyone, if Commander Qian heard this, do you think she would be very happy?"
When they heard Qian Qing mentioned, all of them shut up for a while. Qian Qing is Qian Qing, and women are women. Although everyone actually thinks women are not good enough, Qian Qing probably cannot form a female association in everyone's mind.
But after Lei Hu said this, everyone had some ideas. However, this idea was a bit strange, so everyone couldn't really say it.
Lei Hu didn't care. "There are many women in the city who are short of food. It's better to save themselves than to give them relief. When organizing patrols, it's not impossible to form a female patrol. They will always be useful when patrolling on the city walls. Besides..."
Everyone looked at Lei Hu as if he was keeping the secret, and after a while he stopped completely. Everyone looked at each other, wondering what Lei Hu was doing.
Lei Hu also felt that he couldn't say anything, so he stopped talking and jumped to another topic, "Have you arranged the patrol team? How many people are needed?"
The staff immediately provided numbers. Under normal patrol conditions, the outer wall of Jiangning City is more than 100 miles long. Keeping more than 10,000 people patrolling the city walls is enough to provide vigilance at any time.
The patrol teams can also be divided into different levels. For example, the female patrol team can't be expected to fight. But even if the women yell and throw a few stones at the city, they can scare a lot of people. The time gained is enough for other quasi-garrison teams to arrive at the location and fight.
According to the calculations made by the General Staff, 100,000 people would be enough to defend the city of Jiangning.
As soon as the plan was completed, someone came running to report, "Report, the enemy in the west of the city is trying to attack the city!"
The people here were not in a hurry, and they had already made preparations. They did not expect the enemy from the west of the city to arrive so late. Originally, everyone thought that they would launch a surprise attack after getting off the boat and launch a swift offensive.
In the west of the city, the Qing army looked at the tightly lowered water gate fence and the tightly closed city gate next to the water gate, and cursed angrily.
No matter what the Chinese army in the city thought, the Qing army in the west of the city really tried their best. After getting off the boat at the reed marsh, everyone immediately reorganized the team and set off. The Qing army worked so hard because they wanted to win the battle. Half of the officers in this team were from Jiangning, so they certainly knew the defense of Jiangning City.
We first handed over the insiders we had contacted. The insiders were divided into several groups, one of which was outside the city. We went to find them first. When these people learned that the government troops had returned, they were all happy. We immediately told the city defense personnel at the west water gate and the west gate of the city to the Qing army's vanguard.
After hearing about the situation, the Qing army launched a surprise attack. However, when they arrived outside the city, they saw that it was empty, which was completely different from what the local traitors had said!
In the past, there were still many people doing business outside the West Gate. The Qing army wanted to launch a surprise attack, taking advantage of the chaos at the city gate and the people trying desperately to escape into the city.
But the city was empty, and the gates and floodgates were tightly shut. There was no chance of exploitation. And this was not just today, or even a day, but had been going on for at least three days. It was obvious that the insiders were talking nonsense.
The leader of the vanguard angrily called the insider, who had already seen the situation and kept explaining, "Sir, we really didn't know. We really didn't know it would be like this. We really didn't know!"
The commander asked angrily, "When was this door closed?"
The insiders hesitated and could not explain clearly. Finally, after further questioning, they finally got the answer. It turned out that the insiders had been at home for the past five or six days, letting the Chinese army deal with them.
Because the Huaxia Army has moved all the so-called state-owned farms outside the city and the tenants who have signed planting agreements with the Huaxia court into the city. These internal forces outside the city do not support the Huaxia court, and their existence is relatively open.
Since they were the only ones left here, they couldn't help but worry that the Chinese court would launch a fierce attack on these people when no one knew about it.
The Qing army commander was furious, "I didn't touch you before, why would I touch you now!"
Seeing that the commander was furious, the insiders could only tell the truth, "Sir, the Chinese army is extremely cunning. They didn't move against us before because they were afraid that those people would think they were too cruel after seeing us. They lost the support of the people. Now that the people who followed them have entered the city, if they move again, they can frame you and say that you killed us. We don't have to be afraid then. Now that you are here, we are relieved!"
When the Qing army commander heard this, he was so angry that he wanted to hit someone. But suddenly an idea flashed in his mind and he asked, "When did you know we were coming?"
"This...will take at least several days."
The Qing army commander grabbed a man and asked fiercely, "Who told you that?"
The spy was so frightened that he quickly explained, "Master, master, don't hit me. It was written in the newspaper of the thieves. They wrote it a long time ago. The imperial court will attack us. Everyone should be careful."
"What newspaper!" the Qing army commander asked angrily.
The traitor here immediately took something out of his arms. The Qing army commander took it and looked at it. The anger on his face disappeared and he was filled with surprise.
The newspapers were full of printed texts. One of the articles was about the Qing army gathering in Anding and other places, preparing to attack Jiangning. The people in Jiangning were asked to prepare for war. If you felt that your relatives' homes in the countryside were safe, don't go to the places where the Qing army would go. Because the Qing army lacked food, they would loot food outside the city...
The Qing army commander shouted: "When was this sent?"
The insider took the newspaper and looked at the front page. "Yes...it was half a month ago."
"Bullshit!" The Qing army leader was furious. Half a month ago, the Qing army's plan had just been formulated, and some of the troops had not even set out from the three towns of Wuhan.
"You are telling lies! How dare you tell lies!" the commander shouted angrily.
The insiders begged for mercy and said they were not lying. In the midst of the struggle, the deputy leader interrupted the scolding and showed the Qing army commander an article in the newspaper.
The commander temporarily let go, and the result seemed to be: I saw a report in the newspaper: Take the city gate or other entrances by surprise, and then go straight to the city when the insider reports that there are no garrisons in the city, use explosive packs to break through the city gate, seize the city and defend it. Find the hidden soldier caves and other mechanisms on the Nanjing city wall. The local defenders will definitely know a number of such existing secret passages in the city wall, or even secret passages pre-dug inside and outside the city wall. Then take advantage of the suddenness, use centipede ladders to sneak attack and seize the city, fill the pre-existing internal holes in the city wall with explosive packs, and then blow up the city wall and retreat...
The Qing army commander was sweating. This was the Qing army's plan! How did it get written in the newspaper?
