In fear, Brother Richard began to order all party members outside the city to enter the city. Even herdsmen must drive their cattle and sheep into the city.
For several days, the Dangxiang army carried out a fortification and clearing out the wilderness in Fuzhou. The Dangxiang people living in various parts of Fuzhou were forcibly driven into Fugu County. Millions of cattle and sheep were also driven into the city. The city was filled with stench and the residents suffered.
It was unspeakable that not only livestock, but also nearly 100,000 party members poured into the city. The city was almost overcrowded, with feces and garbage everywhere. The sanitary conditions in the city deteriorated sharply, and the well water became turbid and smelly. Many people fell ill as a result.
But Brother Richard turned a blind eye to such a serious living situation. He immediately ordered the seizure of all iron tools in the city, including farm tools, kitchen knives, iron pots, iron doors and windows of wealthy families, and even scissors and awls used by women.
If you let them go, they will all be confiscated, and you will get nearly 200,000 catties of iron.
Brother Richard ordered to melt the iron and forge weapons. He was not messing around this time. The situation was like this. The two groups that sent Lanzhou and Kelan's army to grab food were also cut off. I'm afraid the situation is more serious than bad.
How can we defend the city with only 5,000 troops left in the city? But there are still more than 15,000 young herdsmen men, and they must all be requisitioned.
The army slaughtered cows for hides to make leather armor and helmets, and used the pig iron obtained by melting iron to make weapons. In just a few days, the Party Army recruited another 13,000 people, bringing the number of troops in the city to 18,000. Richard
Brother's fear was slightly relieved.
That afternoon, a continuous sound of trumpets sounded from the top of Fugu City. Sixty thousand Song troops appeared from all directions. Li Muqing led an army of ten thousand from the east, Zhe Yanzhi led an army of twenty thousand from the west, and Niu
At the same time, Gao's 30,000-strong army appeared from the south.
Niugao sent deputy commander Hu Yantong to lead 10,000 troops to camp in the north. As a result, there were Song troops from all directions, east, west, south, and surrounded Fugu County.
Although Niu Gao was the main general in the Northern Expedition, he was willing to play a supporting role in the attack on Fugu County, and Zhe Yanzhi was the main general in the attack on Fuzhou.
In the Chinese army tent to the west, many generals gathered around the sand table on the table. The sand table was relatively small, eight feet long and wide, and only included Fuzhou, Fengzhou, Linzhou, Baode Army, and Volcano Army.
military.
What everyone is paying attention to is Fuzhou, or Fugu County to be precise.
Zhe Yanzhi said to everyone: "I just checked Fugu City carefully and confirmed that it is still the old Fugu City and has not been expanded or repaired. However, according to the confessions of Dangxiang prisoners of war, the Han people and other ethnic groups in the city have been killed by Dangxiang people."
After driving them all away, Fugu County has become an out-and-out Party City. However, Fugu is not a big county. The city has a circumference of less than twenty miles. It can only be regarded as a medium county, with a maximum capacity of 30,000 people. Now suddenly
It’s terrifying to think about how crowded the city is with so many people and livestock crammed into it.”
Hu Yantong frowned and said, "Why don't the Dangxiang people want to move north and have to squeeze into a small county?"
Zheyanzhi smiled faintly, "If we stay in the city and ask for help from the Jurchens, there may be a chance of survival. If we migrate to the grasslands, it will be like sheep entering a wolf's den. They will be chewed to the bone by the nomads."
remain."
Li Muching said from the side: "Brother Richard's real purpose is to forcefully recruit soldiers and drive everyone into the city, so that he can select young men from them. The city is full of family members of the soldiers, and the soldiers will fight to the death to defend the city, and then there will be a large number of cattle and sheep.
It will become food for the army and civilians, supporting them to hold on to the city. This is Brother Richard's idea. When we run out of food and are forced to retreat, they will win without a fight."
Li Muqing's opinion received support from everyone. Zhang Xiao praised: "Li Tongzhi is right. In siege battles, the two sides often compete for patience and food and logistics. It usually takes a year and a half for the results to come out. Brother Richard
You may have this idea too!”
Zhang Xiao asked Zhe Yanzhi again, "Excuse me, veteran general, what is our biggest problem now?"
Zhe Yanzhi pondered for a moment and said: "Our biggest problem now is that we don't have siege weapons. We need to transport large trebuchets and siege ladders from Chitang Pass. It will take at least a month. When the siege weapons arrive, they have to be assembled.
When the debugging was finally completed, it was probably starting to snow, so I was considering whether I could get food logistics support from Lingzhou."
Niu Gao smiled and said: "This is not a big problem. We have stored a large amount of grain and grass in Lingzhou itself, allowing 30,000 camels to make more trips."
"But if Niu Dutong participates in the attack on Fuzhou, will it affect the battle to the east?" Orihiko asked a little worried.
Niu Gao shook his head, "The battle in the east is over. General Xiao Liu led 40,000 troops to occupy Shuozhou and Yingzhou. To the north is Taiyuan Prefecture. We will wait until next spring before attacking, and from Fugu to Shuozhou
The two states are less than a hundred miles apart. If Shuozhou needs it, I can lead my troops there at any time."
Zhe Yanzhi knew in his heart that Niu Gao led his army to help him, which must be the order of King Yong, but Niu Gao was concerned about his own face and refused to say it clearly.
After thinking about this, Zheyanzhi said excitedly: "We have an army of 60,000, and we must completely wipe out the remnants of Xixia this time!"
The official in charge of government affairs in Fuzhou is none other than the veteran politician Bari Zuren. He is definitely a two-faced guy. On the one hand, he and Li Kan and others opposed Brother Richard. When Brother Richard gained power, he immediately turned his allegiance to Brother Richard.
So during the breakout, Brother Richard also took him and his family away.
After the Kingdom of Jin ceded Fuzhou to the Dangxiang people, Bali Zuren was appointed as the prefect of Fuzhou, in charge of the government affairs of the Dangxiang people.
But Bali Zuren's life was not easy during this period. He did not agree with many of the decrees issued by Brother Richard, but he had to implement them.
For example, this time Brother Richard wants to clear the country and move all the party members and their property in Fugu City into Fugu City. Of course, Bari Zuren also knows Brother Richard's purpose, and he doesn't have enough troops to trick all the herders into the city.
Conscription was carried out, and the millions of cattle and sheep they brought with them naturally became military rations.
It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone, and the problems of troop sources and food and grass are solved.
But everything has two sides. Brother Richard took away the good side, but threw the bad side to Bali Zuren. The population in the city skyrocketed, there were too many cattle and sheep, millions of cattle and sheep, millions of
Carrying fodder took up too much open space in the city, making the city unbearably crowded.
Military camps need to occupy land, cattle and sheep need to occupy land, and grain and grass supplies need to occupy land, so the most useless people can only be suppressed. Bari Zuren had to implement the method that Chen Qing implemented in Ganquan Fort and implement a collective living system.
The so-called collective living system is to break up families. The elderly live together, women live together, and women with children live together. This breaks the upper limit of family size, and a dozen people can live in one house.
After this method was implemented, Brother Richard was greatly praised and even praised Bali Zuren for his ability.
But this only reduces the problem of insufficient housing on the surface, but in fact there is another huge hidden danger hidden, that is, the deterioration of sanitation, the rampant feces and urine that cannot be treated, the groundwater is seriously polluted, and the serious shortage of fuel makes it impossible for the people to boil water for drinking.
causing more and more people to get sick.
The collective living system has caused various diseases to be highly contagious, especially the elderly with weak resistance living together. Often not long after one person falls down, the entire dormitory of elderly people will fall ill, and there is no cure, and then a large number of people will fall ill.
die.
More and more people died, and the change gradually evolved from quantitative change to qualitative change.
At night, Balizuren was woken up by his subordinates, "Manager, something big has happened!"
Bari Zuren was extremely sleepy, so he reluctantly got up and complained: "I am as tired as a dog during the day, and turn into a rooster at night, and I can't let anyone live anymore!"
He yawned long and asked: "What happened in the middle of the night?"
His subordinates whispered a few words into his ear, and Bali Zuren was shocked, and his sleepiness suddenly disappeared without a trace.