Qin Xiaowei nodded and said: "What's the situation in Changwu County? Can we find out?"
"General Gu has sent someone over to inform him of the details." Yuwen Cheng said sternly: "Half a month ago, a group of strong bandits made trouble in Changwu County. This group of people was carefully deployed, divided into two groups, and attacked at the same time. All the way directly
Attacked the Changwu County Government Office, and all thirteen people who were in the county office at that time, including the Changwu County Magistrate, were killed, including the wife and children of the Changwu County Magistrate. Even the cooks and servants in the Yamen were also killed.
The brutal killing left no one alive in the county government. When someone heard the news and arrived, they saw more than a dozen bandits, all masked and holding knives. In addition, another group of bandits attacked the Changwu County arsenal, and three bandits were killed.
A guard was killed, and more than a hundred weapons stored in the arsenal, including four arrows and crossbows, were all looted."
Qin Xiao looked grim and said, "Shunjincheng didn't send anyone to investigate?"
"I heard that several officials from the Criminal Cao were sent there." Yuwen Cheng said: "But they couldn't tell the origin of the bandits, but they found the whereabouts of the bandits."
"Tianji Mountain?" Qin Xiao asked.
Yuwen Chengchao was a little surprised and nodded: "It turns out that the general already knows!"
"The drunkard's intention is not just about drinking." Qin Xiao sneered: "The Liaodong Army's goal is not only Shunjincheng, but also Black Mountain!"
Yuwen Chengchao said: "Yes. After the bandits committed the crime in Changwu County, they immediately fled to Tianji Mountain and were very ostentatious. Many people saw them going to Tianji Mountain along the way, and some people saw them going up the mountain."
"Next Huangfu Yunzhao will send troops to Tianji Mountain." Qin Xiao said: "Under the banner of suppressing bandits, a troop of troops will be deployed on Tianji Mountain."
Yuwen Chengchao said: "We have ascertained the terrain of Tianji Mountain. Tianji Mountain is located in the northwest corner of Songyang Grassland. From the high point on the mountain, you can almost overlook the entire grassland. Once an attack on the grassland is launched from Tianji Mountain, it will be less than sixty miles away.
The land is flat and flat."
Huo Mianzhi had also taken a few teacups, placed them on the table, and said: "This is the location of the troops and horses of Shunjin Fucheng and Tianji Mountain. Once Huangfu Yunzhao deploys troops and horses in Tianji Mountain, Tianji Mountain
Heshun Jincheng formed a corner, sandwiching Songyang Grassland." Moved his finger, clicked on a place and said: "This is the Songshui River, which is the only way from Western Liaoning to Heishan. Every time the general goes back and forth from the grassland
, naturally passed by here.”
Qin Xiao nodded and said: "There is a bridge on the river. Although it is old, it is still strong."
"Exactly." Huo Mianzhi said: "But once the bridge is destroyed, it will be impossible to go back and forth directly from it, and a detour will be needed. One of the two detours will pass by the foot of Tianji Mountain, and the other will go from
Passing near Shunjin City, if Liaodong soldiers and horses are deployed in these two places, they will not let other soldiers and horses pass easily. If this is the case, the only way is to cross the river."
Yuwen Chengchao said: "I have surveyed the river before, and it is not very deep. The deepest point is only up to the chest, and it cannot drown anyone. But once soldiers and horses are deployed on the river bank, it will not be easy to cross the river."
Qin Xiao frowned and said: "Do you think that once a fight really breaks out, the Liaodong Army's first step will be to swallow up General Gu's troops?"
"Most of the original main force of Long Rui's army was transferred to western Liaoning, but 4,000 of them were left in the pasture for training cavalry." Yu Wencheng said: "Including the Black Mountain soldiers after recruitment, there are still five or six soldiers.
Thousands of people, so General Gu now has nearly 10,000 horses in his hands. In addition, almost all of the 7,000 war horses sent from the Zhenyu Department are at Songyang Pasture. If the pasture is attacked, the consequences will be disastrous."
Qin Xiao nodded and said: "Our troops are divided into two parts. If Wang Xingchao wants to attack us, he will definitely divide them and eat them. If he has to make a choice, he will definitely choose first.
To swallow the pasture.”
"We have taken control of Guangning City. There are nearly ten thousand soldiers and horses in the city. Guangning City is extremely strong. The soldiers and horses on hand are more than enough to defend the city." Yuwen Chengchao said seriously: "Besides, with the current strength of the Liaodong Army,
Before Caochang is solved, they must not dare to put all their efforts into attacking Liaoxi. Their plan to besiege Guangning cannot be realized."
Huo Mianzhi also nodded and said: "We have control of Yuguan, and supplies can be transported from within the pass. They want to swallow Liaoxi in one go. With the current situation, that is a fool's dream. The best option is to swallow Songyang first.
Grassland, so that we can cut off the trade routes of Heishan Trading Ground, and then turn around to deal with Liaoxi."
Qin Xiao nodded slightly, already understanding the layout of the Liaodong Army.
After all, Wang Xingchao is an experienced veteran. He will not act impulsively. He will only find the enemy's weaknesses first, make full use of the enemy's strength, and wait until the opponent is weak before delivering a fatal blow.
A forceful attack on western Liaoning is undoubtedly a bad idea for the Liaodong Army.
Long Rui's army's weakness is not in western Liaoning, but in Songyang Grassland.
Songyang Pasture has war horses traded from the northern grasslands. Those war horses are definitely Long Ruijun's darlings. In addition, there is the Black Mountain Trading Ground, which will be an important source of finance for Long Ruijun in the future. Once the pasture is lost, the war horses and the Black Mountain Trading Ground will be lost.
Falling into the hands of the Liaodong Army was a fatal blow to Long Rui's army.
The most important thing is that Songyang Caochang's military supplies need to be supplied from the Arms Department. The Arms Department is located in Shunjing City, Yingping County. Now that the Liaodong Army has entered Shunjin City, the Arms Department has been deposed. There is no way the Liaodong Army will let it go.
The Armament Division continues to supply supplies to the pasture.
The supplies of pasture materials can only be transported from western Liaoning.
As long as the Liaodong Army cuts off the grain supply route from western Liaoning to the grassland, or even poses a threat to this grain route, then the survival of Songyang Grassland will be in the hands of the Liaodong Army.
Qin Xiao's back felt cold, thinking that Wang Xingchao's move was indeed very vicious.
If the Liaodong Army's plan is implemented smoothly, then the situation of Songyang Grassland will be really precarious, and then the western Liaoning side will also suffer a fatal blow.
After the incident in Kyoto, Qin Xiao could think with his buttocks that Tantai Xuanye would definitely reach out to Jiangnan in the next step.
The military supplies that Long Ruijun needed before were all supplied from Jiangnan. Of course, Tantai Xuanye knew that this was Long Ruijun's weakness. As long as he issued a decree, he could cut off Jiangnan's financial supply to Long Ruijun. In this way,
, Jiangnan will never send a tael of silver out of the customs again.
At present, Long Ruijun's nutritional supply can only rely on Liaoxi County and Heishan Trading Ground.
Liaoxi County, under the auspices of the governor Bai Yulou, has begun to implement the land equalization policy. Long Rui's army has not yet established a stable foothold in western Liaoning. According to the suggestions of Bai Yulou and others, at this time, the people can only be given light corvee and small taxes in order to gain the people of western Liaoning.
support and support, we must not charge heavy taxes in western Liaoning.
Soldiers need food and pay, and raising soldiers and horses is the most expensive thing. With the power of a county in western Liaoning, it is already the limit to raise 20,000 soldiers and horses. Fortunately, the taxes from the Heishan Trading Center can make up for the financial shortfall.
However, once the trade routes of the Heishan Trading Ground were cut off, or even the trading ground died prematurely, Long Rui's army would be at an absolute disadvantage if it used the power of one county to resist the strength of the Liaodong Army's three counties.
Qin Xiao knew clearly in his heart that Songyang Grassland could not be lost, and Heishan Trading Ground could not be lost even more.
"Does General Gu have any countermeasures?"
Yu Wencheng said: "Huangfu Yunzhao has only been stationed in Shunjin City for a few days, and there is no news from General Gu yet. But the Liaodong Army's thoughts,
General Gu will definitely know it, and he will definitely come up with countermeasures."
Qin Xiao thought that the situation was serious and Gu Baiyi was smarter than others, so he only hoped that he could think of a countermeasure.
"General, you have worked hard all the way, why don't you go back and rest first." Seeing Qin Xiao's solemn expression, Yu Wencheng said with relief: "There must be a road before the car reaches the mountain, and we can always come up with countermeasures." He glanced at Huo Mianzhi and said with a smile: "
I'm afraid Madam is already impatient."
"Madam?" Qin Xiao was stunned for a moment, but immediately understood and said: "Sister Qiu Niang? Where are they?"
Huo Mianzhi smiled and said: "General, don't worry, everything has been properly arranged here. The lower official found a quiet house in the city as the general's residence. His wife and entourage have been arranged to enter the house, and everything they need is available."
Everything has been arranged."
Qiuniang arrived safely in the Northeast. This was the best news Qin Xiao heard. He felt very excited and said, "I'll go see them first. I'll take it easy, and we'll discuss countermeasures later."
"I will lead the general to his residence." Huo Mianzhi stood up.
The house Huo Mianzhi was looking for was in the east of the city. It was indeed a relatively secluded place. There were not many people around. There was also a pond next to the house. The pond was surrounded by green trees and pleasant scenery, and the water in the pond was crystal clear.
At the bottom, lotus leaves are already blooming on the lake. To be honest, it is better than the living environment in Kyoto.
Huo Mianzhi personally sent Qin Xiao to the front of the house, and then left. Qin Xiao knocked on the door, and soon someone opened the door. He only glanced at it, then turned around and said happily: "Your Majesty is back, Your Majesty."
The master is back!" He knelt down on the ground and said respectfully: "Young man, I have met the master!"
Qin Xiao met Hu Yuan in his house in Kyoto. He was a member of the Taiping Society. He followed Tu Baoshan to serve in his house. Although he couldn't name him, he felt very friendly. He stretched out his hand to help him up and said with a smile: "Get up, get up."
!”
Then I saw a group of people running towards me from the courtyard. The first person in front was Tu Baoshan, who was moving vigorously.
"Sir!" Tu Baoshan rushed forward and knelt down on one knee: "I pay my respects to you, Sir!" Seven or eight people behind him also knelt down.
Qin Xiao saw that these people were all familiar faces. He helped Tu Baoshan up first, then raised his hand and said: "We are all brothers, don't be formal. I am happy to see you." He led everyone to stand up and saw everyone's faces were full of smiles.
He was excited and said with emotion: "Everyone has traveled thousands of miles from Kyoto to Northeast China, and they all think highly of me. I would like to thank you all here."
Tu Baoshan said: "Sir, there are nine of us escorting my wife. There are four other brothers who have family ties and cannot accompany us. They all have families, unlike us who are all singles, so we are not good either.
Force them to follow us. But I told them that if they want, they can come to the Northeast to find us, and the Duke will definitely take them in."
"Understood." Qin Xiao asked, "Can I leave them settlement money?"
"Madam is so kind and kind, leaving fifty taels of silver for everyone." Tu Baoshan said gratefully: "Madam said she didn't have much silver on hand, and if the lord was at home, she would give more. They are all grateful.
, and they all agreed that sooner or later they would come to seek refuge with the Lord."
Qin Xiao thought to himself that Qiuniang was a bit stingy because she had always been in poverty before, so she didn't want to do this beautifully. She nodded with a smile, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure not far away from the corner of her eye, and turned to look over.
, I saw a beautiful figure standing there under the porch, looking directly at me, as beautiful as a flower, who could it be if she wasn't Qiuniang.