In the middle of the night, several cavalry scouts rushed from the south. They were quickly stopped by the outer patrol sentries and led to the camp.
Dozens of candles were re-lit in the big tent and the lights were bright. Liu Qiong and a dozen generals returned to the Chinese army's big tent. In the middle of the big tent was a sand table from Jiangnan West Road, which was successfully made a few years ago.
, which didn't work until now.
The scout commander Wei Sheng explained the latest information to everyone in front of the sand table, "Currently, the 60,000 troops led by Han Shizhong are in Linchuan County, Fuzhou, while the 100,000 troops led by Zhang Ziqi are in Nanchang County. The two armies are about two hundred miles apart.
"How long did Han Shizhong's army stay in Linchuan County?" Tang Qian asked.
"Reporting to Tang Dutong, I just arrived in Linchuan County this morning."
"Where's the logistics?"
"The logistics equipment consists of two thousand carts, traveling simultaneously with the army, also in Linchuan County, mainly containing food."
Liu Qiong pondered for a moment and then asked: "How is the equipment of Han Shizhong's army? Does it have cavalry?"
"About 6,000 cavalry. Their equipment is relatively ordinary, including leather armor, spears, and swords. The 30,000 cavalrymen look relatively elite. The other 30,000 cavalrymen clearly feel like new recruits, lacking in toughness and murderous intent. I guess they are
Recruit."
"Where are the siege weapons?" Liu Qiong continued to ask.
"Reporting to the capital, the two thousand carts only had food, and no siege weapons were seen."
Liu Qiong nodded and said to everyone: "Zhang Jun's Huaixi Army carries a large amount of kerosene. It is obviously unrealistic to use Han Shizhong's 60,000 troops to attack the city. Moreover, Han Shizhong's army only has 30,000 elite troops, and the other 30,000 troops are weaker.
In addition, there are only 6,000 cavalry, while the Huaixi Army has an army of 100,000, which is superior in strength. Therefore, Han Shizhong's army rushed to Jiangnan West Road and pretended to compete with the opponent for Jiangnan West Road. In fact, it was just a false move.
, his fundamental purpose is still to prevent the Huaixi Army from attacking Lin'an Prefecture, but he just stretched the defense line to Jiangnan West Road."
Tang Qian also smiled and said: "This can clearly explain why Han Shizhong's army did not carry siege weapons, because he never considered attacking the city at all."
Li Fuxing said slowly: "Then we have to let the Huaixi Army understand this."
"There is a way!"
Liu Qiong thought for a moment and said slowly: "We have an intelligence point in Nanchang County, and we can let the intelligence point think of a solution."
Nanchang County is now in a wartime state. The Nancheng Gate is opened for an hour at noon every day, allowing the people in the city to go out to buy groceries. They must come back within an hour, otherwise they will be locked out. Therefore, the official road outside the Nanchang Gate is full of goods.
The vegetable stalls, where city residents and vegetable farmers are bargaining over prices, are extremely lively.
At this time, the bell on the city head rang rapidly, "Dang! Dang! Dang!" This was urging everyone to enter the city.
There is only one stick of incense time between the sound of the bell and the closing of the city gate. Thousands of people outside the city rush into the city carrying vegetable baskets. Disputes often occur at this time, such as short scales and short change, but no one cares about it.
It’s up, we can only talk about it tomorrow.
Thousands of people swarmed into the city, and the city gates were immediately closed, the suspension bridge was raised, and the people went home. In fact, the control was not very strict, and even if there were spies sneaking into the city, they would not be discovered.
A middle-aged man wearing short clothes also sneaked into the city. His name was Wang Yong, a cavalry officer who joined the army. He was chosen because he was from Yihuang County, Fuzhou and could speak Fuzhou dialect.
Wang Yong quickly found the Ping'an Inn near the south of the city. The Ping'an Inn was the intelligence point of the Western Army in Nanchang County, and it was also the intelligence point of the entire Jiangnan West Road. They were not collecting military intelligence, but collecting population, cities, and shipping.
Disclose information on grain production, prices, officials, etc., and also establish contacts with the wealthy noble families on Jiangnan West Road.
The shopkeeper is named Ge Wenli, a native of Nanchang County. He has been collecting intelligence on Jiangnan West Road with five assistants for nearly three years. The collected intelligence is sent to Ezhou, and then transferred to the Intelligence Department from Ezhou.
Wang Yong walked into the inn, and the shopkeeper greeted him warmly, "Welcome to stay in the inn!"
Seeing no one on both sides, Wang Yong asked: "I'm looking for Ge Wenli!"
"Ah! I am."
Wang Yong took out his military badge and showed it to him. Ge Wenli quickly said: "Please come with me!"
The two came to the inner hall and sat down. Ge Wenli poured him a cup of hot tea and asked with a smile: "Your Excellency, you are also from the Intelligence Department?"
"No! I am Wang Yong, a cavalry officer who joins the army under the Huben Guards. I am a civil servant and I came to Nancheng to act on the orders of Liu Dutong."
"It turned out to be a civilian officer, no wonder!"
Ge Wenli smiled slightly again and said: "Wang Canjun's accent seems to be from Fuzhou! People in Fuzhou speak with a heavier tone, so you can hear it."
"That's right, I'm from Yihuang County, Fuzhou, that's why I was chosen here."
Ge Wenli nodded, "What is Wang Canjun's mission?"
"I want to see Zhang Ziqi, the commander-in-chief of the Huaixi Army, and introduce him to the intelligence of Han Shizhong's army. General Liu does not want them to confront each other."
Ge Wenli thought for a moment and said: "Although I can go to him directly, I can't be exposed, so let's do it! I will take you to see the head of a wealthy family, also named Wang, who is also famous on Jiangnan West Road, and ask him to take you there."
"Anything is fine, you can arrange it!"
The man Ge Wenli was looking for was Wang Lusheng, the largest landowner in Nanchang County and even Longxing Prefecture, and one of the three wealthy families in Nanchang County.
Wang Lusheng had already bought a house and a shop in Jingzhao City. In fact, he was betting the fate of his family on Chen Qing. Ge Wenli was collecting intelligence on Jiangnan West Road, and he was of great help.
Hearing that he was looking for Zhang Ziqi, Wang Lusheng agreed and immediately took Wang Yong to the Marshal's Mansion.
Of course Zhang Ziqi valued local powerful people very much. When he heard that Wang Lusheng was visiting, he personally welcomed him.
Wang Lusheng clasped his fists and said, "Sorry to disturb Marshal Zhang. This is my brother Wang Yong. He came from Fuzhou and was requisitioned by Han Shizhong's military camp for a few days. I want to understand some situations and see if Marshal Zhang needs it?"
Zhang Ziqi was overjoyed. He was worried that he didn't know about Han Shizhong's military situation, but someone with knowledge came to visit him.
Zhang Ziqi quickly invited Wang Lusheng and Wang Yong to the back hall. The three guests and host sat down, and Zhang Ziqi asked others to serve tea.
"Excuse me, why does Mr. Wang do things in Han Shizhong's camp?" Zhang Ziqi asked with a smile.
Wang Yong spoke in poor Mandarin with an obvious Fuzhou accent: "Han Shizhong's army recruited a group of scribes to go into the camp to write letters home for the soldiers. I was one of them. I stayed in the camp for three days because there was a conflict over wages.
, I won’t do it anymore.”
"What's the conflict about wages?"
Wang Yong was a little unhappy and said: "Originally we agreed to pay three guans a day, but later it was changed to a letter giving 20 guans. I write slowly, so I can only get at most one guan a day. I don't think they are trustworthy."
, I stopped working after three days, and my brother happened to ask someone to send me a message, asking me to be the steward of the manor, so I came over."
"I see. It's really not appropriate to go back on one's word. I wonder how much Mr. Wang knows about the situation?"
Wang Yong thought about it and said: "I probably know a little bit about them. When chatting with their soldiers, their soldiers will talk about everything."
Zhang Ziqi quickly called for the deputy general Han Jin. Zhang Ziqi was also a civil servant, but it was the deputy general Han Jin who could really represent him in the war.
After hearing the introduction, Han Jin raised his eyebrows and asked, "Mr. Wang, does Han Shizhong have an army of 100,000?"
Wang Yong was stunned, shook his head and said: "They only have 60,000 people! I haven't heard that there are 100,000 people. Who did the general listen to?"
Han Jin was actually just testing Wang Yong to see if he was talking nonsense. It seemed that the other party did understand the situation.
Han Jin laughed and said: "I heard some rumors, it seems that the rumors are not reliable!"
"What does General Han want to know?"
Han Jin thought for a moment and said, "Are all 60,000 veterans veterans?"
Wang Yong curled his lips and said: "What veterans? There are 30,000 sailors, and the other 30,000 are new recruits. The new recruits were frightened to death one by one. They cried and begged their families to find a way to transfer them back, saying
They will die if they fight, but they don't want to die."
Han Jin's eyes suddenly widened. Of course he knew that this information was too important when it came to morale and combat effectiveness.
"How is the training for these new recruits?" Han Jin asked anxiously.
Wang Yong sneered and said: "What kind of training! There was no time for training. Many soldiers cried and said that they didn't even know how to use a crossbow, so the superiors forced a crossbow to them and let them serve as crossbowmen."