A hard life not only brings hope, but also despair. Only seven days after Huyantong's army arrived, the first desertion incident occurred. Three soldiers on duty at night climbed down using ropes prepared in advance.
The city wall fled under the cover of night.
This news caused an uproar in the whole army, and deserters actually appeared in the army. This was something that had never happened since the establishment of the army.
Huyantong was under tremendous pressure. Although deserters were not uncommon in Jiangnan, this was the first desertion incident in Chen Qing's army. However, such a thing happened under his own hands, which made Huyantong hate and angry.
Extremely frustrated.
Chen Qing was also deeply shocked. He had to know that the army led by Hu Yantong was trained by him personally. He saw them transformed and won the first place in the new recruits and generals competition.
He had deep feelings for this army and wanted to take it away with all his heart. Unexpectedly, such a big thing happened in the end. You know, in any army, desertion is a major event that cannot be tolerated. It affects morale.
Downturn sign.
In the big tent, Hu Yantong lowered his head and said: "They are no longer the same army as before. A few months of training can only last for a while at most, but it cannot change their nature. When they were stationed in Jiangning, sneaking things happened from time to time.
Rape of women has also happened, but it is unwise for the governor to look at them in the same old light."
"Are you saying that this army has begun to degrade again?"
"It's not degradation, it's assimilation. It's gradually becoming the same as Zhang Jun's army. If you don't believe me, try their physical strength again. They can't even run half the distance they did back then. This is the result of not training for several years. In fact, the physical decline is still small.
The key to the problem is that their mentality has changed. These people came to the northwest because they wanted to get rich, so when they saw such a bitter and cold place, they didn’t want to work there anymore. The problem of deserters will definitely happen again in the future.”
Chen Qing walked a few steps with his hands behind his back: "Go back and make it clear to all the soldiers that I will never force them to stay. If you want to leave, you can ask for it. I will give them travel expenses and dry food, and handle the withdrawal procedures for them.
Then send the army to send them to Xianren Pass. Without enough dry food, they will not survive on the road. If they go to rob it, they will definitely be beaten to death by the local people."
"I'll go back and summon all the soldiers to make it clear!"
Hu Yantong bowed and left.
Chen Qing looked out of the tent and was upset for a while. He had realized the mistake he had made. He always thought that they were still the same army as before, but in fact they were no longer the same. It seemed that he needed to follow the example of Zhang Jun and Han Shizhong in setting up a military academy to strengthen the military.
Ideological education of lower-level generals
Two days later, a group of hundreds of golden soldiers came from outside the city. Xiao Dongsheng came to Ganquan Castle again. This time he brought 270 concubines and maids, but unfortunately, he did not bring back the Emperor Ji.
The emperors and concubines died, married, or became palace concubines, and could not be returned to the Song army. At the same time, the Jin Kingdom provided 2,700 taels of gold as an additional ransom.
Twelve taels of gold to redeem one person and give a palace concubine and a palace maid as a gift, which is considered the biggest concession made by the Kingdom of Jin.
Chen Qing accepted this concession. Just like last time, he still did not allow the Jin soldiers to enter the city. He sent people to pick up 270 palace maids and concubines, and at the same time received 2,700 taels of gold. He also sent people to bring back the last
Two hundred and seventy family members were escorted out.
Chen Qing did a very good job. When these Jurchen family members entered the city, they were all brought into the city with hoods, and then they were placed under house arrest in Ganquan Fort and were not allowed to go out. When they were escorted out, their heads were also covered with cloth bags, so that they could not sleep at all.
I don’t know what it’s like inside Ganquan Fort.
Even the people living outside, who help transport things, are not allowed to enter the castle.
Xiao Dongsheng counted the Jurchen family members one by one, and they were all correct, but what frustrated him was that they failed to enter the city. This was actually another of his tasks, to understand the various military deployments in the city, and prepare for the attack on Ganquan Fort after the beginning of spring.
Good information preparation.
But now, not only his people can't enter the city, but even the redeemed family members don't know anything about it. They haven't seen what's like inside the city at all.
With no choice, Xiao Dongsheng had no choice but to lead the team and set off back to Fengxiang
At night, a thousand Jurchen soldiers and dozens of ox carts were stationed in a mountain col about fifty miles away from Ganquan Fort. There was no human habitation for dozens of miles, there were no trees, not even small animals could be seen, and there was deathly silence between heaven and earth.
Xiao Dongsheng sighed and said to the commander Wanyan Heishi who was accompanying the team: "I now know why Chen Qing chose Ganquan Fort as the base. No matter which army attacks Ganquan Fort, the cost will be very high. The logistics alone are not ordinary."
The army can handle it."
"Excuse me, Xiao Sima, does the Fourth Prince want to attack Ganquan Castle?"
"Of course we have to fight. The fourth prince said that no matter Ganquan Fort or any other fort, as long as Chen Qing is in the northwest, it will be a cancer in the northwest. If it is not dug out, there will be no occupation of the northwest."
At this moment, there was a commotion outside. Xiao Dongsheng and Wanyan Heishi hurriedly walked out of the camp. Soon, a soldier ran over to report, "Report to Sima, catch two Song soldiers stealing food!"
Xiao Dongsheng and Wanyan Heishi looked at each other with doubts on their faces. Xiao Dongsheng immediately ordered: "Bring them up!"
In the big tent, two men wearing Song Army uniforms were devouring meat cakes. Xiao Dongsheng smiled broadly, "Eat slowly, drink some water, don't choke!"
He never expected that he would actually catch two fleeing soldiers from Ganquan Fort. According to them, there were originally three of them. One of them went to find water and never came back. They only found a pile of bones that had been chewed up by wolves.
The two were frightened and ran for their lives. As a result, they got lost and didn't eat for three days.
Xiao Dongsheng was worried that he could not go back to explain. Now he caught two Song army deserters, and his mission was successfully completed.
No one knows the situation in Ganquan Fort better than the soldiers of the Song Army.
Chen Qing did not know that two of the three deserters were caught by Jin Bing. To Jin Bing, these two people may be very important, but to Ganquan Fort, the arrest of the two was just a trivial matter and would not trigger Ganquan.
The defense crisis of the fort.
With the arrival of spring, Chen Qing now has several major things to do. The first is to store wood, the second is to store water, the third is to store coal, and the fourth is spring plowing.
First, Chen Qing sent Hu Yantong and Wang Duo to lead four thousand people to Black Pine Mountain, fifty miles away in the northeast. There are two mountains with pine forests planted there. Although most of them have been cut down, there is still a little tail forest. He wants to cut down all these tail woods.
, there are at least thousands of pine trees, and even the branches are not wasted.
Wood is the most important strategic material. With wood, various combat weapons can be made, such as fire kites, trebuchets, etc.
In addition, Chen Qing sent Huyantong's troops to participate in cutting down trees, which actually gave these soldiers an opportunity to escape. Although everyone stated that they would not deserters again, Chen Qing did not know whether this attitude was their inner thoughts.
Then simply give them a chance to escape. Each of them takes seven or eight days of water bottles and dry food and goes to cut down trees fifty miles away. At this time, it is easy for the soldiers to escape. If they do not escape at this time, it means that their stance is convincing.
, only those who successfully resist temptations and tests are worthy of trust.
The second major thing in Ganquan Fort is to store water and burn coal. Needless to say, coal burning is the energy needed to maintain life and production. Chen Qing sent Zheng Ping to lead five thousand soldiers to dig coal mines and transport the coal back to the city. Among them,
Hundreds of soldiers went to collect sulfur ore.
The key is water. Ganquan Fort is named because it can dig wells to produce spring water. This is related to the abundant groundwater in Huizhou. There is only one white water river on the surface, but there are several undercurrents in the groundwater.
But Ganquan Fort not only has tens of thousands of troops and civilians, but also war horses and a large number of livestock, all of which need drinking water. Digging wells alone is not enough. Once the enemy besieges the city, what should we do if there is insufficient drinking water? Therefore, it is necessary to store water to the maximum extent.
It's an urgent matter.
Containers are needed to store water, and water tanks and large urns are the best water storage containers. It was under the guidance of this idea of preparing for war that the first large-scale handicraft workshop of Ganquan Fort was established.
That is to use the extremely rich loess resources and coal resources to make pottery and bricks.
Two thousand soldiers turned into clay workers and started working in full swing three miles west of Ganquan.
Then, the third major event is spring plowing. The spring plowing season has arrived.