"There is a manor, but there are no Jurchens, just a few Han people in charge." Old Yao told the truth: "I worked hard to collect food, but almost all of it was taken away by the manor. I can only dig wild vegetables and collect mountain treasures...
"
That girl is already fifteen, but she looks like she is eleven or twelve years old. She must not be eating enough and her nutrition is not up to par.
Guo Dajing understood clearly, took out the cake, gave it to the old leader Yao, and asked the soldiers to get dry food for Yao Xin who was behind him.
Old Mr. Yao thanked him wordlessly and ate the cake with big mouthfuls.
Guo Dajing handed over the kettle and said, "Are the people in the village willing to escape from Jianlu rule and live in the territory of the Dongjiang Army?"
Old Yao was stunned for a moment, and then he nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice. He stuffed his mouth with food and made a vague sound, but he could still hear the word "yes".
Whether he likes it or not, Guo Dajing wants to see it with his own eyes and listen with his own ears. Old Mr. Yao is like a prisoner now. He can't even protect his life, so how can he dare to talk nonsense.
But looking at the looks of the old man and the girl, Guo Dajing felt that the shaved Liao people must have a strong desire to escape from the Jianlu rule.
Liu Qishi looked back from time to time. Although the girl behind him was not devouring the food, she was like a little mouse, eating it one bite at a time, and there was quite a lot!
With such a small body, how can he eat so much?
Unable to bear it anymore, Liu Qishi stopped, turned around and snatched half of the cake from Yao Xin's hand. The sudden move startled Yao Xin. He looked at his empty hand raised to his mouth and looked at Liu Qishi with wide, blank eyes.
.
"Be careful!" Liu Qishi, who was not good at saying nice things, threw the kettle over and turned around to leave.
Yao Xin pursed his lips and followed him humiliatedly, drinking water while glaring at the generous figure in front of him from time to time.
Liu Qishi looked at the half piece of cake in his hand and realized that it would be a waste to throw it away, so he simply ate it in a few bites.
Yao Xin gritted his teeth subconsciously. The cake was gone and was eaten by the vicious big man. It had been a long time since he had eaten such a delicious cake, but it didn't make people full.
Under the guidance of Old Yao Tou'er, the troops successfully waded through the shallow water, entered the boundary of Haizhou, and stopped to rest in a mountain forest.
"Mr. Yao, are you familiar with the territory of Liaoyang?" Guo Dajing asked politely again, "For example, Anshan Station and Yongshan Fort."
Old Boss Yao hesitated for a moment and said, "I can't say I'm particularly familiar with it, but I've walked through it a few times."
"Then tell me, if we want to get to Anshan Station, which way is safer?" Guo Dajing said with a smile: "That is, where the population is sparsely populated and there are fewer built-up captives."
Old Boss Yao thought for a while and then introduced him truthfully.
Guo Dajing nodded slightly, which was not much different from the planned route.
After all, there has not been such in-depth reconnaissance and probing before, so it is inevitable that some situations will be different from the actual situation.
It is normal to encounter some unexpected situations during infiltration. Only by adapting to circumstances and being flexible can you successfully reach your destination.
Guo Dajing had a plan in mind, so he found a tree and rested against it.
Liu Qishi came over and complained: "One old and one young, the belly is too big, too much to eat. If we catch a few more on the road, our dry food will not be enough."
Haha, Guo Dajing smiled, waved his hand, and said, "Don't worry about dry food. Even if you get another one hundred and eighty, I will find a way."
Liu Qishi blinked, understanding Guo Dajing's character, and said that if there was a way, then there would definitely be no problem.
He leaned on the other side of the tree and murmured: "It's really strange to see Huang Pila lose weight and chew two pieces of cake into his stomach."
Guo Dajing knows the feeling of hunger. It is the memory left behind by this deity, and it is also a feeling that can drive people crazy.
"Two cakes for a meal, don't overwhelm the girl." Guo Dajing closed his eyes and said slowly: "I am fifteen or sixteen, and I am so young. I rarely have a full meal!"
Liu Qishi hummed and stopped talking, but sighed inaudibly.
………………
Lushun.
As troops from each island arrived one after another, a rare commotion appeared in the small place.
Fortunately, it was summer, so we could camp in a tent. Each of the troops brought their own provisions, so Li Weiluan, Shang Keyi and other Lushun generals were not too exhausted.
The original entrance of Lushun was Shizikou. During the Hongwu period, Ma Yun and Ye Wang, the commanders of the Liao capital, set out from Shandong with an army of 100,000, crossed the sea by boat and landed at "Shizikou" to garrison Jinzhou.
Subsequently, the Ming army gradually moved northward with Jinzhou as its base and regained Liaodong. Because the voyage was smooth sailing, it took the meaning of "smooth journey", so "Shizikou" was renamed "Lushunkou".
At that time, after Ma Yun and Ye Wang landed, they built a northern city with a wooden fence in Lushun to temporarily station troops and store grain.
In the 20th year of Hongwu's reign, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Feng Sheng and others with an army of 200,000 to march into Liaodong and eliminate the remaining forces of the Yuan Dynasty in one fell swoop.
In the 10th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Xu Gang, the capital commander, rebuilt the northern city of Mucha into a brick building. The perimeter of the city was one mile and 280 paces, the pool was one and two feet deep and two feet wide, and there were two gates: Jinghai in the south and Weiwu in the north.
At the same time, Xu Gang also supervised the construction of a southern city with a perimeter of one mile and three hundred paces, a pool one foot two feet deep and two feet five feet wide, with two gates: Tongjin in the south and Renhe in the north.
Beicheng is the seat of the Lushunkou military command structure and is used to station troops;
Nancheng is the location of the shipping agency and is used for storage. Military supplies shipped to Lushun at that time were first temporarily stored in Lushun and then distributed and transferred to various places in Liaodong.
In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing reign, Hou Jin went south and demolished Beicheng.
Now only the southern part of Fort Arthur is left, and it has been greatly changed, which surprised Mao Wenlong and the generals on the islands.
Mao Wenlong walked on the city wall of Lushun Fort, looking at the trenches crisscrossing the outside of the city, smiling and nodding.
Lushun Fort is now a military fortress, with only soldiers and no civilians. In other words, it is both civilians and soldiers.
"Not long after the war to aid Korea ended, you improved the defense system of Fort Arthur, which is really commendable." Mao Wenlong stopped and stood on the north city wall, looking at the several sharp corners built on the rammed earth of the city wall.
Li Weiluan felt proud, but he bowed and said humbly: "With the help of the headquarters and the islands, Lushun has enough troops to complete these projects."
Mao Wenlong chuckled, carefully observed the extra sharp corners on the city wall, narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, and said tentatively: "Is this a horse face? Pointed?"
Li Weiluan smiled and replied: "The commander-in-chief has a sharp eye and can tell at a glance." As he said that, he ordered his soldiers to get the drawings, lay them on the battlements, and explain and introduce them to Mao Wenlong.
"Time is still short, and even the reconstruction of the northern city wall has not been completed. After the repairs are completed, there will be trench breastworks outside the city, and the city walls will have pointed horse faces. As long as there are sufficient supplies, even ten times the enemy will be difficult to capture..."
Li Weiluan raised his hand, pointed at the pointed horse's face, and said confidently: "No matter where the enemy attacks, he will be attacked from at least two sides..."
Mao Wenlong stepped onto a newly constructed sharp-angled platform, looked left and right, nodded repeatedly as if in a sudden state of mind, and praised: "You can cross attack, there are almost no blind spots, and the enemy attacking the city will have no way to hide, and he will suffer heavy casualties.
"
Li Weiluan smiled and raised his eyebrows at the deputy general Shang Keyi next to him. Shang Keyi chuckled, took two steps forward, stood on the edge of the sharp platform, pulled the string and nocked an arrow, and shot an arrow diagonally opposite.
The arrow hit the side of another sharp platform diagonally opposite. If the enemy attacked the city, there would be a wall to climb on.
The generals who accompanied Mao Wenlong made a sound of admiration and started pointing and discussing. Those with combat experience, especially those who had experienced attacking and defending the city, could see the clue.
Generally speaking, after the siege army approaches the city wall, there is still some threat from rolling logs and stones. However, if the archers on the city want to shoot, they have to lean out of the city wall.
But with this sharp-horned horse face, it is useless even if the enemy is close to the city wall. Because the blows to them come not only from the front and overhead, but also from the sides and rear.
"The distance is within the range of the crossbow." Li Weiluan continued: "Even a crossbowman with a little training is enough to pose a threat to the enemy attacking the city."
Mao Wenlong glanced at the crossbow in Shang Keyi's hand, nodded with a smile, and said: "Although the crossbow is slow, the training time is short, and it is very suitable for the soldiers of our Dongjiang Army."
They were all ordinary people who were forced to rise up and fight with the Jianlu. They did not have the conditions to undergo bow and arrow training from childhood. If you become a monk halfway, you cannot ask for the same riding and archery skills as the Jianlu. There is no way.
The pointed horse face is effective when the enemy approaches to attack the city, but if the enemy wants to get closer, they have to break through the trench fortifications under the city.
The trebuchets erected on the city were able to command a high position and provide fire cover for the defenders fighting in the trenches.
Mao Wenlong looked around, nodded with satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Dajing came up with the idea, was it the drawing he drew?"
Li Weiluan bowed and said: "The commander is wise."
"What's so smart about me?" Mao Wenlong laughed, waved his hand and said, "Just by looking at the pen used to draw the picture, and the ugly words with missing pen and strokes, you can still tell that it's him."
Li Weiluan and other generals who had received Guo Dajing's autographed letter all laughed. This was indeed Guo Dajing's signature, even though it was not so convincing.
But he was still very proud of himself and gave many people quill pens, explaining the benefits of writing with them.
"When Dajing sent a letter to a certain person, he also sent a certain number of quill pens, saying that there were many benefits." Shang Ke, a guerrilla from Nading, laughed happily and said: "Now I know what he is thinking. If he uses this pen to write ugly words,
, no one will laugh at him anymore, this is pulling someone into trouble!"
"He also gave me a few branches." Yu Liangtai, the governor of Dachangshan Island, echoed with a smile, "A certain person is rough and gets a headache when he sees the book and the words, but I didn't fall for his trick."
Mao Wenlong laughed loudly and said: "Dajing is very smart. You guys, be careful of being deceived by him!"
After a while of joking, the atmosphere became more relaxed and cheerful.
Although the situation in the Battle of Ningjin was severe, it was different from the Battle to Aid Korea. The Dongjiang Army only had to do its best, and it did not have to go all out.
Mao Wenlong knew the situation in Lushun and immediately decided to launch a feint attack on Haizhou. After that, he mobilized these troops to help Li Weiluan repair the Lushun Fortress.
Anyway, the troops have been mobilized and the generals have been mobilized. Thousands of soldiers have taken action. It won't take long for Lushun's defense system to be fully repaired.
As for the bastion, except for Lushun, it actually doesn't play much role for the Dongjiang Army. Wouldn't the island be safer? The sea is a natural chasm that is insurmountable for the captives.
But Lushun is the hub connecting Dongjiang, Denglai, Juehua, and Tianjin. It is of great significance to be able to hold it. Moreover, it is still the only fortress of the Dongjiang Army on land, so it is worth the effort to build it.
Mao Wenlong had this understanding, but he still admired Guo Dajing's construction of a fortified city.
The support for the Battle of Ningjin became easier because Guo Dajing took the initiative to sneak into the attack. Success was the icing on the cake, and even if it failed, he had the record of feigning an attack on Haizhou.
Anyway, the imperial court had given money and mobilized supplies. It was quite understandable that the Dongjiang Army sent troops to fight without having time to rest and recover after the battle.
As for the huge reward mentioned by the emperor, Mao Wenlong did not dare to expect too much. There were too many enemies in the court, and the Dongjiang Army's situation could be greatly improved, which was due to its own hard work and was only a temporary need of the court.
After inspecting Lushun, Mao Wenlong held a military discussion with the generals and decided to dispatch tomorrow, march north, pretend to attack the Haizhou Guard, contain Jianlu, and break the siege of Ningjin.
………………….
On June 8, Huang Taiji led his main force to Ningyuan and began to attack the city.
Huang Taiji is not as powerful and resourceful as the legend says. Don't you know that Ningyuan has more and more powerful Hongyi cannons than Jinzhou? Even the range of the Hongyi cannons is unclear.
It may be that Huang Taiji had never participated in the Battle of Ningyuan, and the artillery on Jinzhou City was not as powerful as Ningyuan's, which was why he kept making blind moves.
The situation of the attack on Ningyuan was not as good as that of Jinzhou. After only one day of fierce fighting, Huang Taiji's tent was blown up, and Jianlu also suffered heavy losses in the siege.
In desperation, Huang Taiji withdrew his troops from Shouyuan on June 9 and turned back to attack Jinzhou.
Hastily launched, repeated back and forth, failed to attack the city, and the scorching heat was approaching.
On the surface, the Jianlu troops were aggressive and still besieged Jinzhou, but they were at the end of their efforts and withdrawal of troops was already foreseeable, although few people could make such a clear and accurate judgment.
On the same day that Jianlu withdrew his troops from Ningyuan, the commando led by Guo Dajing had already sneaked close to the target - Anshan Station.
The name is Yi, but it is equivalent to a small fortress. The full name is Anshan Yibao. It was built in the middle area of East and West Anshan, with Yangliu River (anshan River in ancient times) to the east. It was an integral part of the Great Wall defense system in the Ming Dynasty.
The posthouse is an "isosceles trapezoid" structure with masonry and rammed earth structures, with a circumference of more than 1,100 meters and a city wall seven meters high. Because the east and west walls were built against the cliff, there are only two gates in the northeast and southwest.
The setting sun, which was about to set, gave off its last brilliant rays, dyeing the earth golden.
Guo Dajing climbed to the top of the tree and used a scope to spy on Anshan Station. As he expected, the security situation at the border of Haizhou was tighter than that of the important city of Liaoyang.
The closer to the center of Jianlu's rule, the lower the Jianlu's vigilance and the more lax their defenses.
Obviously, Mao Wenlong led his troops to pretend to attack Haizhou not yet launched, or the troops had not yet reached the city, and there was no early warning, so the soldiers in Anshan Station were relaxed.