Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1188 Emergency transportation and resettlement ([-])

There was a faint sound of rumbling artillery in the distance, which was the artillery position deployed outside Suqian City.In recent days, with the crazily squeezed by the enemy from two directions, the activity space of the tens of thousands of allied soldiers gathered in Huai'an Mansion has become more and more compressed.However, at this critical juncture, the weather has also become a helper for the people on the east coast——

It has been raining for several days!The continuous autumn rain brought more rain to the already muddy land. The magnitude of the rain was astonishing, as if God wanted to return the rainwater owed to the land of China for decades during the Little Ice Age. Luoma Lake , Hongze Lake, Shuoxiang Lake, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Guanhe River, Shushui, Lianshui, and canals have all risen sharply. The Qingjiang Gate has been opened for the sixth time under the control of the East Bank. It became a place of whiteness, and the battlefield with more than [-] people on both sides of the enemy and us also temporarily suspended fighting under the coercion of God.Now except for small-scale tentative attacks, large-scale military operations have stopped, and both sides are taking advantage of the rare respite to start adjusting their deployments, waiting for the next fight.

"The pattering rain, the bleak wind, and the chill of autumn. This time in the local area, it should be the preparations before the spring sowing; or, in some places where the overwintering wheat is planted, the wheat seedlings are already tall. Let's go..." After dinner, Liao Xiaoyao, accompanied by his staff and staff, walked out of a solemn ancient temple, and then started walking in the evening rain along the bluestone road at the entrance of the temple.

A cluster of bonfires was lit in the guard post not far away, and to the west was the silent and majestic Yellow River. The harsh rainy weather and the chaotic battle situation were like a heavy millstone, weighing on the hearts of Liao Xiaoyao and others.

"It's raining continuously these days. The Qing army, who dare not transfer supplies by water, must have been dumbfounded. The heavy rain and muddy roads are enough to turn the Tartars on the front line into weaned children, waiting to be fed, miserable. If they don't know each other again, we will The army can take this opportunity to launch a counterattack and weaken their morale." Considering the recent unfavorable sentiments in the army - such as lack of ammunition, medicine, rain gear, etc., and the high casualty rate caused by continuous fighting ——Liao Xiaoyao felt that he should say something to boost morale, such as: "Since the landing operation started in April, our troops have dispatched Yunti Pass, broken Huai'an City, plundered Qingjiang Pu, and conquered Suqian County, killing, injuring and capturing [-] enemies Surprisingly, even the real Tartars would shy away from the sharp edge..."

Liao Xiaoyao is very aware of the recent dynamics of war avoidance and war fear among various departments in the army.In fact, it's normal to think about it. Whether it's the servant army on the east coast or the allied soldiers, they have been fighting outside for more than five months, and they have been plundered for a long time. It is common for generals to have no fighting spirit and soldiers.Coupled with the fact that the Qing army is now desperately attacking the defense line on the east coast, it is not difficult to understand why the various ministries want to retreat due to the sharp increase in casualties. To put it bluntly, everyone has money now, and it is no longer the bitterness of the first landing. , are eager to bring money home to spend, who would sit in this mud and waste with the Qing army?

However, the soldiers are "satisfied", but Dadong'an is not there yet!Don’t you see that it’s already mid-October, and there are still a lot of money, food, materials, and people inside and outside Yunti Pass. The hundreds of thousands of people, millions of stones, rice, wheat, and other valuable items looted in Huai’an Mansion are worthless. How much did you ship?With all the calculations, there are only more than 10 stones of grain that have been transported to various places for storage, and only 60 people have transported away. Jewelry, jade, tea, silk, books and medicinal materials, silver and other rare treasures are also missing. After the transportation is over, it seems that it will take a long time to fight, so the frontline soldiers still need to be firmly nailed to the frontline to create opportunities for the rear transshipment.

"The Qing army set up a general grain platform in Pizhou, and blocked some rivers leading to Luoma Lake to prevent our naval warships from going upstream. It seems that they intend to transport armaments and food by water. I think I think they are really miserable, the people in the left and right have fled and have nothing to loot, they can only eat some tasteless dry food, it would be amazing if they can still attack our troops without fear of death..." A staff officer followed Liao Xiaoyao said.

"I heard that it has been raining for days. Not only do we lack rain gear, but the Tatars are also very short. Some campers have run out of dry food, and the rear supplies have not been delivered, so they can only go to the fields to cut some rice that is not yet fully mature. Cook it and eat it; and there are some worse ones. It is very difficult to even start a fire, so the soldiers can only chew raw rice with shells like animals. Some battalion leaders who had been out of work for a long time were withdrawn to Pizhou for rest, and I am afraid that they will not be able to launch a large-scale offensive against us in a short time..." A cadre from the Bingtuanbao also said with a smile.

"Hehe..." Liao Xiaoyao smiled, and said the same thing, it's hard for me, and it's hard for the Tartars too!It would be best for everyone to make it difficult, until all the supplies accumulated in Qingjiangpu and Yuntiguan are transported away, then you will be done and you can withdraw your troops.

A gust of cold wind blew in, and the raindrops hit the rubber poncho, splashing many fine sprays. The preoccupied Liao Xiaoyao wandered around the stone road before returning to the ancient temple surrounded by his entourage and staff. Inside.

In the Daxiong Hall, an old monk was refilling lamp oil tremblingly. Several young East Coast military officers in neat uniforms were gesticulating and arguing with the map. He scolded why this group of pirates in yellow clothes came to our land of the Qing Dynasty to do evil.

"The Shun army was supported by five thousand veterans from Huguang, and their combat strength has recovered somewhat. However, under the continuous pressure of 3 to [-] troops from Zhunta's troops, it is still hard to say how the battle is going. After Baoying County was lost, Zhang Guangcui once led the army to retake it. Now under the onslaught of the Qing army, isn’t it lost again? Although the strength of the two armies is similar now, but the Shun army has expanded too fast, and its combat effectiveness is very problematic. The situation on the southern front is not very optimistic.” Looking at the map, an officer said, Walking around while talking, the cowhide military boots stomped in the Daxiong Palace, showing the anxiety in the young man's heart.

"Otherwise, although Liu Guochang and Liu Shijun of the Shun Army expanded their army very quickly (relying on 2 veterans to pull up a team of [-] people), after these hours of practice, they have not slowed down. Moreover, the new five thousand Huguang veterans, the battle formation Rich experience, bringing the old with the new, will surely make the newcomers grow up as soon as possible. Of course, the most wonderful thing is that this heavy rain from the sky has extinguished all the ambitions of Zhunta, and also gave Shunta a chance to grow up. Therefore, the situation in the southern battlefield is basically stable." Another staff officer sang the opposite tune and said.

The argument between the two caused other people to join in, and the Daxiong Palace became a battleground for martial arts fighters for a while.Seeing this, the old monk in the corner sighed and recited the Buddhist scriptures in a low voice. Tens of thousands of troops were fighting in Huai'an Mansion, and the number of casualties was unknown every day.Amitabha!

"Commander Liao is here!" The guards outside the door stood at attention with their feet together, and the cooked cowhide military boots made a loud clashing sound. The officers in the room immediately stopped arguing, looked ahead, and stood at attention to salute.

"Take it easy." Liao Xiaoyao returned a military salute and said, "Hold the lamp!"

Soon, the staff officer brought a thick whale oil candle with a glass cover, which made the room brighter.A little novice who was serving tea looked at the dim oil lamp, and then at this extremely bright "candle lamp" - the candle shed many "teardrops" in the lampshade, perhaps during the months of war Let the innocent dead and injured soldiers or civilians go away—this reminded him of his relatives in the lay family, and his expression was a little crazy for a while.

Liao Xiaoyao carefully looked at the map hanging on the wall. After scanning it with anxious eyes for a long time, he seemed to be moved and drew a circle on it with a pencil.After finishing the drawing, he pondered for a while, then threw the pencil casually, touched the stubble on his chin and smiled, it seemed that he had made a decision.

That night, Liao Xiaoyao went to the police all night, and ordered the temporary No. 11 division stationed in Yangzhai Township to set off immediately, rushing to Liujiazhuang in the southeast of Shuyang to defend the front line, and tried his best to prevent the possible southward movement of the Qing army; Sun Shengjun, the captain of the First Wing of the Standing Squad and the captain of the Army, was also ordered to lead the Wing Headquarters and the elite Fourth Brigade with a total of 500 people, and [-] spear-wielding soldiers from the Army Corps to go south together. Garrison around the White Horse Lake, echoing the main force of the Shun Army to fight - this order basically means that the east bank of Huai'an Mansion has been fully equipped. Currently, there are only [-] officers and soldiers guarding the area around Qingjiang Gate and Huai'an City (excluding Military husband), the meaning of success or success is quite strong.

The continuous rainy weather did not stop completely until late October. On October 10, under the strict order of King Doni of Xinjun, the Qing Army of the North Road launched a fierce attack on Suqian and Shuyang at the same time.Liao Xiaoyao personally sat at the head of Suqian County, looking at the officers and soldiers of the Qing army slowly wriggling like maggots in the muddy field, but his mind had already flown to the city of Yuntiguan hundreds of miles away——

On October 10, the last wave of steam sailboats also left Yuntiguan Wharf. So far, the people on the east coast have successively transported away 29 shimimai, nearly 86 immigrants, and some other materials, with great results.However, there are still quite a lot of materials piled up inside and outside Yuntiguan, especially grain. Because the people on the east bank have driven the people to rob some of the grain in these days, the grain transported to Yuntiguan by water boat is still more than 38. Shi, there are as many as 20 to 8 immigrants waiting to be transported, not to mention that there are still a lot of livestock and other materials. In short, it will still take some time to be completely transported.

But what is depressing is that this year's immigration transportation season has also begun, and almost all sailboats have to be pulled to transport immigrants, which greatly reduces the sea transportation capacity of the people on the east coast-after all, the navy alone The limited tonnage of armed transport ships, frigates and a few transport ships cannot transport too many things.Fortunately, more than 40 medium-sized fishing boats (150 tons) from Sakhalin Island for the winter also arrived at the sea off Yuntiguan via Jiaozhou Port, and took [-] shi of grain along the way to Dinghai Port (because it is a sailing ship, here The seasonal wind is unfavorable to the ocean current, so it is difficult to transport back and forth), which slightly reduces the transportation pressure of the Navy.

But even so, with the navy's painful transportation capacity, it will take half a month or even a month to "digest" the remaining materials and personnel accumulated at Yuntiguan, and this will undoubtedly depend on the performance of the army.

(End of this chapter)