The Dongjiang Army was about to leave, and Ji Town was in ruins. Chongzhen wanted to build the outer defenses of the capital as soon as possible and exchange horses for muskets. The idea is understandable.
A war horse was exchanged for a musket. For the Dongjiang Army, it was not a loss but a profit. Besides, this was the emperor's wish and it was difficult to refuse.
As for the issue of leaking secrets, Guo Dajing has never worried about it since the Dongjiang Army began to equip a large amount of equipment, and he knew that it could not be prevented.
The advent of flintlock muskets does not mean that they can be widely used. There is a constraint of traditional thinking and the urgency of application.
Moreover, it is unwise to worry about these unnecessary issues at this critical moment when the Mining and Gold situation is declining and the strategic situation is undergoing a major change.
According to the current technological level of the Ming Dynasty, it is not difficult to make flintlock muskets, but if the system is not changed and corruption is not eliminated, the muskets produced will not be used.
It is rotten from top to bottom, and no matter how good the policy is, it cannot be implemented, or it is distorted into bad government by the crooked monks below.
Now, with 15,000 to 6,000 war horses, the flying cavalry has regained its strength and expanded significantly, so there is no longer any difficulty.
"Can you train 10,000 flying cavalry in half a year?" Guo Dajing raised his glass and gestured to Liu Xingzuo next to him, and asked with a smile: "In July and August, I am going to launch another offensive."
Although Jianlu had tightened its defense line, in Guo Dajing's view, it would not be too stable to regain these lands without destroying the enemy's effective forces.
This cross-sea long-distance attack can be said to have opened up Guo Dajing's thinking. Making full use of the navy's advantages to make the captives unable to support themselves and force them to divide their forces was the purpose of the next military operation.
In Liaodong, there are two places that Jianlu must defend and cannot give up easily.
One is Liaochen, which is already the ruling center of Jianlu. Shenyang is equivalent to the capital, and there is also the tomb of the old slave.
The other is Hetuala, the so-called Longxing place of Jianlu, respectfully called Xingjing, which is the original Jianzhou Wei.
Compared with Liaoshen, Hetuala is not of great economic and military significance, but its political significance is of great importance, and it is equivalent to the hometown of Jianlu.
When his hometown is in trouble, Jianlu cannot fail to save it, because once it is destroyed, it will have a huge impact on the people's morale.
Guo Dajing also saw this, so he planned to go north along the Yalu River, cross the Changbai Mountains, and go straight to his hometown.
In the fourth year of the Apocalypse, the Dongjiang Army secretly sent a force northward along the Yalu River and entered the Changbai Mountains to harass Houjin's rear areas. In Gaoling, Shasongpai won successively.
Because it was a small-scale special submarine team and it was also a harassment operation, the results of this deep dive behind enemy lines were not great.
Guo Dajing's action plan called for dispatching at least one corps, plus artillery and flying cavalry, reaching a scale of nearly 20,000 troops.
It would be best to destroy Hetuala and inflict a heavy psychological blow to Jianlu. Even if this goal cannot be achieved, it will still force Jianlu to divide his troops and strengthen the defense of Jianzhou Guard.
You must know that the main force of Jianlu is now basically entrenched in Liaoshen, which has caused certain difficulties for the Dongjiang Army's operations in southern Liaoning.
The so-called criticizing the strong and attacking the weak means attacking wherever the enemy is weak. It will make him exhausted and always passive.
Moreover, after the Jianlu troops contracted their defenses and abandoned the Zhenjiang and Kuandian areas, they could not effectively monitor the ships on the Yalu River. The navy's move up the river and sneaking into the enemy's rear became even more covert.
However, Jianlu suffered heavy losses in Gyeonggi and Huang Taiji was captured alive, which will inevitably affect North Korea's attitude and should provide more convenience.
Liu Xingzuo drank all the wine in his glass and said with a flushed face: "Don't say ten thousand, as long as there are enough horses, twenty thousand is not a problem."
After a pause, he smiled and said: "Of course, the longer the time, the better the training will be, and the stronger the combat power will be. It is best to wait for another two or three months to keep it up to the current level."
Guo Dajing smiled and nodded, and did not continue to delve deeper into this topic.
Half a year is not an accurate time, it can also be August or September. The weather in that season is also relatively hot, and Jianlu is not very adaptable.
When it comes to fighting, one also has to pay attention to the right time. Just like the mobilization of Jianlu, which is mostly in the autumn and winter, it is also based on one's own considerations.
More than 10,000 infantry, plus 1,800 artillery, and 3 to 5,000 flying cavalry are enough to cause a big disturbance in Hetuala.
The vague combat plan gradually became clear in Guo Dajing's mind. Especially with rockets, a portable artillery-like weapon, he became more certain of victory.
"Commander Guo, I would like to propose a toast to you." Another general came forward to propose a toast, interrupting Guo Dajing's thoughts.
Guo Dajing said with a smile, raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp. He felt that his chest was burning, and he wished he could return to Liaodong immediately and fight with Jianlu again.
………………
The long team was sluggish, heading towards their hometown in the cold wind.
These are the people who were taken captive. Just as the new year is approaching, they cannot stay in warm houses. When they return to the villages and towns where they are, they also find a shabby home.
Fortunately, they all carried a lot of dry food on their backs and two taels of silver each given by the Dongjiang Army. If the government handled this matter, it would definitely not be so lenient.
Many of the villages, towns and counties along the way had been ravaged by the rebels. The newly appointed officials were busy with local reconstruction and could not provide much help to the people who returned home.
"The pots and pans at home should still be there. The suffering is certain. I hope the government can provide relief so that we don't miss the spring plowing." A middle-aged man stopped, put the loose grain bag back on his back, and sighed.
Wei Qinghe shook his head, glanced at his wife, and said warmly: "Are you tired? Let's take a rest?"
The wife hesitated for a moment, nodded slightly, and said: "The forest in front is blocking the wind. It looks like someone is lighting a fire. Let's go there and rest for a while!"
Wei Qinghe happily agreed and took his wife with him to the small woods ahead.
Many people had already lit fires in the leeward areas, baking pancakes around the fires, and some even used the earthen pots they brought to boil snow water.
"Brother, there's no need to collect firewood for the fire. Just stay by the fire!" A dark-faced man greeted, with two teenage children beside him.
Wei Qinghe hesitated for a moment and cast a questioning look at his wife.
When the wife saw the two children, one of them was a girl with bright eyes blinking, she couldn't help but pursed her lips and nodded slightly.
It's very common for two families to get together around a fire. It's a long journey, so shouldn't we help each other and take care of each other on the way?
The little girl was wrapped in a leather jacket, which didn't fit at all and looked very bloated. The boy was wearing half a blanket and a rope tied hastily around his waist.
Many of the common people were dressed like this, and they didn't bother to keep warm. Many fur coats were stripped off Jianlu's bodies, washed hastily, and distributed to the common people.
The black-faced man put an earthen pot on the fire, and the snow water was already boiling. He put the frozen cakes in and added some salt.
"No dried meat!" the little girl muttered in a low voice.
The black-faced man laughed dryly, took out two pieces of dried horsemeat, put them into the earthen jar, and reached out to touch his daughter's head lovingly.
Wei Qinghe also had a jar with him, but he only boiled snow water and baked the pancakes directly on the fire.
"Little girl, where is your home?" The wife looked at the little girl with eyes full of affection and asked warmly, taking out a piece of dried meat and passing it over.
The little girl blinked her big eyes, a little too timid to answer, and whispered: "My family is from Shunyi County."
"They are all from the same county." The wife handed the dried meat into the little girl's hand and said, "We originally set out together, but as we were walking, they dispersed."
Wei Qinghe said: "This is normal. People are not the army. They are fast and slow. How can they be so neat?"
The black-faced man nodded and said: "Brother, what you said makes sense. It's not surprising that the people are doing their own thing. The Dongjiang Army has good intentions and hopes that the fellow villagers will take care of each other on the road. But when we walk, we get into trouble.
Already."
Wei Qinghe handed the baked pancake to his wife and said: "We have passed Jizhou, and it is not far from Shunyi. We will be home in three to five days."
Home?! My wife took the pancake and ate it slowly, sighing secretly: No matter what, it’s just a piece of rubble, but it’s still home!
At this moment, the sound of a gong sounded on the road, attracting the attention of the people.
The gong opened the way, and dozens of carts came over under the escort of officers and soldiers. The carts were built like chicken coops, and human heads were placed in each cage. There were hundreds of them in one cart.
The heads have turned white from the cold, but you can still tell that they are Jianlu with rat tails. Some have eyes as wide as dead fishes, and some have scars on their faces. The signs of death are different and terrifying.
"They are the leaders of the slave establishment. They were all killed by the Dongjiang Army." The black-faced man was not afraid. He stood on tiptoes and looked around. He also gritted his teeth and cursed: "You bastard, I made you so rampant that you lost your head, didn't you?"
Wei Qinghe also stood up and looked at it with both hatred and joy, "Damn Jiu slaves, there will be no good end."
Many people stopped to watch and talked a lot. They were extremely angry when they saw the end of this gang of dog robbers.
Behind the cart was a prison cart, which contained the slaves and the Mongols. Behind the cart were chained a string of prisoners, all of whom were traitors. They only had their hands tied, and their faces were miserable, as they staggered along behind the prison cart.
The escorting officers and soldiers all held their chests and heads high, hitting the prisoners who were walking slowly with the barrels of their guns and the backs of their knives from time to time, and scolding them fiercely.
It turned out to be so arrogant and ferocious, these officers and soldiers were frightened to death, fearing to fight the Jianlu.
But now, the rampant and ferocious bastards have fallen into their hands, giving them the mentality and behavior of a villain who has succeeded, torturing the captives and making them even more hungry.
"Traitors - damn traitors!" Some people pointed and cursed, and some couldn't help being angry. They picked up snow and stones on the ground and threw them hard.
A fair-skinned scholar, with a rat's tail on his head, was hit by a stone. He covered his face and screamed in pain.
An officer rode over and whipped the whip in his hand carelessly, "You damn traitor, what do you call me? I'll whip you to death."
The traitor was whipped so hard that he screamed in agony, and the flesh on his face was frozen and bruised, leaving a series of gashes.
"Beat him to death, you traitor." The people cheered loudly, "Master, beat him hard!"
The officer became more and more excited, and with the sound of his riding whip, he added a few more bloody cuts to the traitor's head and face. Then he stopped and exhaled thick white mist from his mouth.
"Jiannu, that's Jiannu."
"And Xilu——"
"Mongolian Tatars——"
The common people recognized more prisoners, threw more snow, stones and tree branches at them, and more people vented their anger.
The escorting officers and soldiers did not actively stop them, but only threatened them in vain, but they were happy to see the people do this. It seemed that this also added glory to them.
Cao Huachun was wrapped in fur and riding a horse slowly, with a vague smile on his face.
Despite the cold weather, he was willing to show off like this. Being escorted to Beijing was a hard job, but Lao Cao knew that the moment he entered Beijing, he would become the center of attention and would be rewarded by the emperor.
"Hurry up, don't let the common people beat these bastards to death." Cao Huachun waved his hand and asked the Jin Yiwei beside him to pass on the order.
The Jin Yiwei obeyed and followed the order, knowing that Eunuch Cao did not care about the life or death of the prisoners, except for Huang Taiji.
These prisoners were cut into pieces when they arrived in the capital, died of cold and starvation on the road, or were beaten to death by the people, but they were less guilty.
The escort team sped up, but these prisoners did not escape the experience of being beaten to a bloody head.
The number of people returning home is sparse and long, and they set off early. I am afraid that on the way to the capital, they will become the target of the people to vent their hatred.
"Dad, I threw several stones." The young boy ran back to the fire and said happily: "I threw the stones so hard that Jian Nu screamed."
The black-faced man chuckled, not blaming, but with an expression of appreciation. He served his son a bowl of hot porridge and said, "You bastard, eat it quickly!"
The little girl giggled and lowered her head to continue eating and drinking.
Wei Qinghe swallowed the pancake in his mouth and said with a smile: "If you are brave, you will have a bright future."
The black-faced man shook his head helplessly and said: "This kid was making trouble earlier to leave with the Dongjiang Army. He didn't go along with his wishes and even got angry along the way!"
The young man's thoughts were aroused again, his face darkened, he lowered his head to eat, and said no more.
Wei Qinghe said with a smile: "If you want to join the army, you have to join the Dongjiang Army. Their treatment is very good, their food and salary are paid on time, and their families can also get tax-free land. Unlike the Ming army in the mainland, they are short of food and pay, and some are like
Like a beggar."
"That's what I say, but we only have such a boy in our family, so we can't bear to leave him." The black-faced man looked at his son and said, "Besides, when the child grows up, the slaves will probably be wiped out by the Dongjiang Army, and the world will be peaceful.
Already."
"After defeating the Donglu, there are still Xilu!" The young man frowned, snorted, and said, "When I grow up, I will definitely join the Dongjiang Army. I just want to be like General Guo."
"General Zhao." The little girl raised her head, blinked her big eyes, and playfully teased her brother.
The young man laughed, his chest rising high, making several adults smile.