With the continuous arrival of the main army of Zhenjiang Fort and the follow-up troops of the West Route Army, the small Yaozhou City suddenly became crowded.
Kaizhou, on the other hand, has directly become Yaozhou's forward grain and ordnance base. The grain harvested in Zhenjiang Fort last year began to be transported to Kaizhou one by one.
If you look down from the air, you can see endless motorcades and crowds of people on the road from Zhenjiang Fort to Kaizhou, even day and night.
When fighting, we fight for money and food.
Jiang Wan has a deep understanding of this, and I believe Zhu Youjian in Beijing is also deeply aware of this.
Therefore, since he established himself in Zhenjiang Fort, Jiang Wan has never stopped storing grain, grass and ordnance. The fleets from all over the world have not only brought him the guarantee of these grain, grass and ordnance through trade, but also brought him a steady stream of money.
Continuous military pay.
It is precisely because of such a guarantee that today's Liaodong Dusi not only supports the nearly 20,000 people from the West Route Army who were originally from Pidao, but also supports tens of thousands of other legions. And if it weren't for Jiang Wan
If we have been working hard to prepare for this, with the current size of Liaodong Dusi, without the support of the Ming Dynasty, it is basically impossible to support these tens of thousands of horses.
Raising soldiers is not just about words. It requires real money and silver. The soldiers must be able to survive, have military pay, and even have the morale to fight the enemy. Don't expect all soldiers to be those who are familiar with the book.
For most people in this world, those who know etiquette and festivals through poetry and books must first survive before they can serve the court and their country.
If you can't survive, let's talk about our country.
In a short period of time, nearly 20,000 men and horses gathered in the small Yaozhou. This was the number of men and horses that Jiang Wan mobilized after suppressing the desire of most generals to fight. Zhenjiang Fort must keep troops and horses here, not only to guard against the Tartars.
Jiang Wan would not be 100% assured of Li Yongfang, Li Sizhong and the others behind him.
If the war goes well, this will probably be the entire military strength of the Liaodong Dusi for this battle in Shenyang.
Jiang Wan arrived in Yaozhou with the army. There is no doubt that as the commander-in-chief, he took over all command rights as soon as he arrived in Yaozhou. Whether it was the Western Route Army or the main army, they were all under his control from top to bottom at this moment.
.
Yao Chunyong also got his wish. His West Route Army Cao Wenzhao was appointed as the vanguard by Jiang Wan. They headed towards Liaoyang the day before the army gathered to set off. Yao Chunyong followed Jiang Wan and later
Lead the army and set off.
"Commander, actually, I am not crying for poverty!"
The army moved forward slowly. Yao Chunyong followed Jiang Wan in the middle army: "What I, the West Route Army, can do is the old foundation of Fenyong Camp. Cao Wen ordered these two thousand people. I really risked my life."
, these firearms I asked for from Mei Xiaofei, you see, this guy Cao Wenzhao is quite up to date, after this battle, will the commander-in-chief let my West Route Army eat some meat?"
"Aren't you pretty awesome?"
Jiang Wan looked at this guy with a smile: "Even Zhao Huchen's things when he went to Ryukyu, you were able to keep a lot of them half-coaxed and half-deceived. I think, as long as I don't care about you, your West Route Army's belongings will be lost sooner or later.
Better than the others!"
"We are poor!" Yao Chunyong looked aggrieved: "Let's not talk about Mei Xiaofei. He relies on the mountain to rely on the mountain. Tieshan City has to look at his face to feed him. He can still get less of such good things. Li Zicheng's
If he feels that the property is not enough, he can go to the Tatars to rob it later. But our Western Route Army is nestled in Pidao Gaizhou, with Liaoyang above our heads and Zhenjiang Fort next to us. Besides farming, what else can we do!
"
He said aggrievedly: "Not to mention that the food task set by the Civil Affairs Office for us is the heaviest. I think if we don't complain in the commander's ear all the time, our West Route Army will change sooner or later.
Become a group of soldiers who only know how to farm fields!"
"Isn't it good to farm?" Jiang Wan looked at him and smiled slightly: "If Liaoyang is captured in this battle, your West Route Army's territory will be protected by Liaoyang and Zhenjiang Fort. You can develop with peace of mind without worrying about the Tatars.
You are harassing the troops, and I am pointing out that you, the Western Route Army, will show off their skills and provide all the military rations for the entire army!"
"Then the commander-in-chief might as well just transfer me to the Civil Affairs Office! What kind of troops should I bring?" Yao Chunyong shouted.
"If you are good at farming, this is not impossible!" Jiang Wan said with a smile: "Being the deputy manager of the Civil Affairs Yamen is in charge of the entire army. That authority is stronger than being the commander of the West Route Army.
Too much!"
Yao Chunyong thought for a while and seemed to be fascinated, but after a moment he immediately began to shake his head: "Forget it, I have been a soldier all my life, but in the end I went to farm. I really did this, and my dead
My father would crawl out of his grave and scold me for not growing up!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Jiang Wan laughed, and the other generals around him also laughed. The entire Chinese army was filled with a relaxed atmosphere.
The army marched in strict accordance with the rules of field marching. Jiang Wan was determined to win this battle and acted even more cautiously.
After having a meal every day, the army went out. After marching for about thirty miles, at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, the army began to stop and set up for meals, and sent out scouts to alert the camp.
As for the camping places, the vanguard soldiers and horses have already explored them in advance. They are almost always in places with running water. When the army marches, they also march along the rivers as much as possible. In this way, there is no need to spend a lot of manpower to carry a large amount of food baggage.
Come and take action with the army.
It is said that there is an army of 20,000, but in fact the number is far more than 20,000. There are thousands of young and strong civilians accompanying the army and even auxiliary soldiers.
This is very different from the time when Jiang Wan was typing and thousands of people dared to go into battle bare-chested and fight against the Tartars. It was only now that he truly looked like a commander in chief of an army; it was only now that the army he commanded could truly be regarded as an army.
A large army, not a single force.
By the time we set up camp on the third day, we were only twenty miles away from Liaoyang, and Cao Wenzhao's troops had already clearly surveyed the enemy situation ahead.
"The Tatars have learned to be cunning!"
After being summoned, Cao Wenzhao's first sentence after meeting Jiang Wan was a very depressing sentence: "Except for encountering a few groups of their scouts with less than fifty people, their entire group is holed up in the city.
I’m not sure, but looking at the flags, they should look like four or five soldiers and horses. In addition to the Tatars with red flags, there are also several Mongolian Tatar flags, but how many there are will have to be fought to know!”
"Didn't you try to fight?" Jiang Wan looked at the legendary warrior and said, "This is not your style!"
"I tried it!" Cao Wenzhao looked even more depressed: "Before I got close, I was bombarded back by the cannon from the top of the city. More than a dozen of my brothers were killed. I asked Cao Bianjiao's artillery team to avenge my brothers.
, but that guy actually said that our artillery team couldn't reach the other side!"
"It's the Folangji cannon!" Cao Bianjiao followed Cao Wenzhao and explained weakly: "The cannon installed on the city head is the Folangji cannon. It should be the kind of cannon that was left over from our defenders and repaired by the Tatars.
If the attack is far away, our artillery team will not be able to hit the opponent at all, but if it is close, it will be beaten!"
Jiang Wan's face became slightly serious: "Have you tried how many there are? Are they available in every direction?"
"There are them in every direction, but the Tatars are very cunning. They only fire one or two cannons at a time. I don't know exactly how many there are!" Cao Wenzhao said: "The total number should be no less than ten!"
"Commander..."
Several people were talking, and some soldiers walked into the Chinese army's tent from outside: "The scouts in the army captured a group of people who were suspected to be the defeated army of Liaoyang City. Their leader said that he was an old acquaintance of the commander-in-chief and asked to see the commander-in-chief!"
Jiang Wan glanced around and saw a young general walking out with his soldiers.
After such an interruption, Cao's uncle and nephew finally relaxed a bit, no longer as nervous as when they first met Jiang Wan.
"The city of Liaoyang is still well equipped with weapons. Otherwise, Lu Xiangsheng would not have been able to persist for so long. However, with Lu Xiangsheng's character, if he knew that the city would be destroyed, he would never leave these cannons to the Tatars.
of!"
Jiang Wan pondered for a moment: "Even if the Tatars have repaired a few cannons, their gunners, gunpowder and shells for the cannons are not always available!"
"How about if the battle starts tomorrow, I'll have another go at the end!"
Cao Wenzhao's eyes lit up: "Commander, give me some war horses. I think as long as I charge fast enough, those cannons will definitely not be able to hit anyone!"
"You have a good idea!" Jiang Wan was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and laughed: "Nurhaci thought the same way when he was in Ningyuan, but now his son is in charge of the Tatar side!"
Cao Wenzhao's face suddenly turned bitter. Being teased by Jiang Wan, it seemed that if he continued to ask for a fight, he would not be brave but reckless.
"These Fo Lang machine cannons are a trouble. We don't have time to fight them under the city. We have tens of thousands of troops here to engage in a siege battle with them!" Jiang Wan pondered: "Being held back by them, Sheng Jing's
We can calmly deploy our troops, and we don’t even need to send out an army to outflank us. We will suffer just from harassing us and cutting off our retreat. If this battle cannot be decided quickly, we will have already lost!"
There was silence in the Chinese army's tent. Although there were more than a dozen people in the tent at the moment, no one dared to disturb Jiang Wan's meditation.
Until the voice of the young general who had just left came from outside.
"Commander, this is Qi Wu. Qi Wu once stayed in our Zhenjiang Fort for a while. I don't know how he survived. Apparently he has been guerrillas around Liaoyang!"
"Qi Wu?" Jiang Wan was stunned, and a figure immediately appeared in his mind. At first, this figure was following Lu Xiangsheng, and later, this figure took 500 people from the Tianxiong Army to Zhenjiang Fort for "further training"
time.
"Let him come in!" Jiang Wan said to Cao's uncle and nephew: "Don't leave either. This person should be very familiar with the situation in Liaoyang City. You might as well listen here!"
A moment later, Qi Wu stumbled in. Seeing that the young man in front of him who had once laughed and chatted with his master was still as charming as ever, and after his master and even the Tianxiong Army no longer existed, he frowned slightly.
, the tough man's eyes suddenly turned red.
"General Jiang, you must avenge my master and the soldiers and people of Liaoyang!"
He knelt down with a thud: "Since the defeat of Liaoyang City, Qi Wu and I led the remnants of the Tianxiong Army, more than 200 people. I originally wanted to die with my master, but Qi Wu swore that he would not avenge my master in this life.
Seeing the Tatars die, Qi Wu will not rest in peace!"
"So, Qi Wu has been surviving until now, and what he is waiting for is my Ming Dynasty's soldiers and horses to make a comeback!"
"Get up and talk!" Jiang Wan walked over and helped the man up: "Now that you have waited for us, we will definitely live up to your expectations!"
Qi Wu wiped away his nose and tears and stood up: "General Jiang wants to regain Liaoyang, and Qi Wu is willing to be the pioneer. My brothers and I have been fighting against the Tartars here these days, and we don't dare to relax for a moment!"
"You still have more than 200 Tianxiong troops. Where are the others?" Jiang Wan nodded and asked.
"There are only one hundred and twelve people left. Most of the other people died for their country on the day the city was broken. The remaining two hundred or so people were killed because they were equipped with the new muskets that Mr. Jiang gave me as support.
I was lucky enough to escape from the city..."
Qi Wu lowered his head: "It's just that these days, more than a hundred brothers have been lost. They are all good men!"
"Okay, okay!" Jiang Wan patted him on the shoulder: "Loyal ministers and martyrs, your master, Quanxia Youzhi, will also feel gratified for you loyal and brave men. However, since my army has arrived, how about you Tianxiong Army?
I will never allow you to consume the remaining seeds in this city!"
"Rebuilding the Tianxiong Army and continuing to kill the Tatars is the best tribute to your master!"
"General Jiang, we will not do nothing until the army arrives!" Qi Wu shouted loudly: "These brothers under me are all well-known men. As long as they can avenge my master, General Jiang will
As soon as the soldiers give the order, even if there is a pit of fire or a mountain of knives in front of us, my brothers and I will jump in without hesitation!"
"To contribute, you don't necessarily have to fight face to face with the Tatars!"
Jiang Wan glanced at the other party: "You are already familiar with the city of Liaoyang, and you have been guerrillas near Liaoyang for several months, so you know their situation even more clearly. Tell me all the situations you know in detail, not only
This will allow our Liaodong army to suffer fewer losses and kill more Tatars, which is also an act of revenge for your master!"
"Liaodong Army?"
"My commander-in-chief has been promoted to the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong capital!" The young general beside Jiang Wan said with a smile: "If there is no separate order from the imperial court, it stands to reason that the soldiers and horses who retreated from Liaoyang will also be subject to the command of my commander-in-chief.
Handsome and temperate!"
"This..." Qi Wu hesitated and glanced at Jiang Wan.
"Why, would you rather fight the Tatars alone than go back to Liaodong and fight the Tatars with open swords and guns?" Jiang Wan looked at the other party calmly.
"Of course the general is willing to return to our Ming Dynasty's army, but I still want to kill the Tatars in Liaoyang and ask for some interest from the Tatars for my master!"
"What's the use of killing a few Tartar minions!" Jiang Wan looked at him and said word by word: "Help my army break the city. After the city is broken, I will use the heads of the Tartar leaders in this city to pay homage to Lu.
Governor, I’ll let you and your brothers be the surgeons!”
This time, Qi Wu no longer hesitated: "Okay, I will obey the commander's orders in everything!"