The canal boat that Marshal Shao saw in Fengzhou had gone down the river and sailed to the Lanshi area.
This is what later generations called the Shanxi-Shaanxi Gorge section, which is the boundary river between Shaanxi and Shanxi.
The water is relatively turbulent and navigation is difficult, but it is not a problem for the businessmen who are dedicated to doing business.
The old Shanxi-Mongolia grain and oil road was very famous during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It started in Dengkou (in Fengzhou at this time) and ended in Qikou Ancient Town in Shanxi (in Shizhou at this time). The goods were unloaded here and transported by land to Taiyuan, mainly grain and oil.
, salt-alkali, glycerin, fur.
After this section, the river slowly narrows, the current becomes more rapid, and the probability of shipwreck and death increases greatly, requiring experienced boatmen to operate the ship. But even so, accidents of shipwreck and death do occur from time to time.
At this time of war, shipwrecks and casualties to a certain extent are tacitly accepted as tolerable losses...
However, the army supply yamen has also improved its transportation methods.
After setting off from Lingzhou, the large tanker sailed all the way to Linzhou, then docked and transferred the goods to the small boat.
This kind of vessel is light and flexible, and although its transport capacity is small, it can effectively cope with shoals, rapids, and flood peaks in the downstream section.
Yes, the Yellow River downstream in this section is very violent.
"The raging waves stirred up the waves, sometimes washing away the sand in the shallow water and making it suddenly deep; sometimes silting up the mud in the deep water and making it suddenly shallower. Every time, the boat was capsized and stranded..."
After the boat departs from Linzhou, it sails to Wushui Pass in Yanchuan County, Yanzhou, where a warehouse and dock are set up to unload and change ships.
Then sail to the downstream waterfall, dock, unload the cargo, and sail on dry land for several miles.
For this section, it will be much easier to walk along the middle of the river, but the cost is much higher in the west of the river.
Moreover, the hydrological conditions on the west coast are not as good as those on the east coast, and the distance traveled by boat on dry land is also longer, making it difficult to find a suitable dock.
After sailing on dry land, the ship is launched into the water and loaded with cargo.
But there is still another difficulty, and that is the floating bridge of Kamajin Pass Sanjo.
The pontoon bridge built by the Kingdom of China is actually capable of navigation, but it is necessary to temporarily dismantle a few pontoons in the middle channel and arch the pontoon bridges on both sides to ensure north-south ship navigation without interrupting east-west river traffic.
But Wang Chongying refused to let go of the pontoon!
Because he was worried that Shuofang's army would take the opportunity to attack Zhongli City and seize the floating bridge.
We need to unload the damn cargo again and change ships!
Every time you dock, unload, change ships, etc., the cost will increase, which the river does not want to do!
If you make me angry, I will burn that damn pontoon of yours.
In order to bypass the pontoon bridge, we have to transport it by land, and the distance is not short. Because the hydrological conditions are not good and the water is strong, it is not easy to find a place to build a dock on the west coast.
After passing this section, we will change to a slightly larger ship until we reach Tongguan.
After arriving at Tongguan, we had to change ships, that is, the ships of the Imperial Shaanzhou Transfer Institute, otherwise they would not be able to adapt to the hydrological conditions of the downstream channel.
The route from Tongguan to Shaanzhou is not navigable all the way. There is also a section of land transportation in the middle. It is not possible to take a boat, which is also very embarrassing. It has to be unloaded and loaded, and the cost has increased again.
After careful calculation, the ship sank, the cargo was damaged, personnel pensions, various ship transfer costs, and in order to motivate the boatmen, high rewards were offered. The cost of transporting a bucket of rice to Shaanzhou was more than 100 yuan, which is not cheap!
The transportation cost in Henan is about ten yuan, which is ten times the difference.
In the previous discussions at Lingzhou Duyu Housi, all the Yamen generals unanimously recommended that we capture Hezhong!
Not only can it reduce some transportation costs, but it can also use the money and food from one prefecture, four states, and thirty-seven counties in the river to support the army's campaign.
But taking the middle of the river might lead Li Keyong to send people to cut off the water transportation of the Yellow River. He would hit two at a time. This decision was not easy to make.
…
Outside the Shaanzhou Transfer Hospital, there were people crowded and busy.
Taiyuan warehouse was used.
This warehouse city can store millions of grains, so it is very large. After all, during the Tianbao period, one million grains of grain would be lost if the ships moored on the river were burned. It was too small to fit in.
A convoy loaded with grain, beans and other military supplies left the transfer yard and moved forward along the deep and winding valley road.
"This is wheat and Uighur beans brought from Lingzhou with great pains, so be careful." Cheng Yi, the new governor of Taiyuan Cangcang, was sweating profusely from his work.
This Cangcheng theoretically belonged to the imperial court, but it was controlled by Shaanzhou, and its actual users were Shuofang's army.
who cares!
After Cheng Yi came from Yanzhou, he directly took up the post of Cang Governor. He also had two hundred soldiers under his command, and he was led by a Cang Commander and two deputy commanders.
In the war with the Bian Army, they initially used the supplies accumulated last year. Later, they began to requisition money and food from the two states of Shaanxi and Guo on the spot. Now, finally, a ship has shipped supplies from Lingxia, but it seems that the cost is not small.
The National Army in Tongguan Town sent 500 people to escort the people.
Tianxiong and Shunyi's Second Army have already moved to Shangnan Road in the mountains to the south and set up strongholds on the road to block the Bian Army brigade that may come over.
The high plateaus on both sides of the road echoed with the sound of horse hooves. These were the constant movements of the horsemen, preventing a small group of Bian Army men and horses from infiltrating with their magical powers.
This kind of plateau terrain is the most annoying.
The road opens between plateaus and is very narrow. The plateaus are tens of meters high. If someone shoots arrows and rocks from the plateau, the road will be paralyzed even if there are not many people. Therefore, heavy troops have to be assigned to guard it. Although the Bian Army has so far
Haven't done this yet.
Wang Jiao was the leader of the team, and he was in charge of 49 local men who were recruited from Huizhou.
It is not accurate to say that the local regiment soldiers were recruited, because they had been incorporated into the Zhenguo Army and became members of the outer Zhenjun Army.
The Zhenguo Army may have the largest number of troops in the Shuofang Army system (it has expanded to more than 20,000 men), but it is also the army with the worst combat effectiveness.
Mainly composed of state soldiers from various states, local men from the local regiments, and some surrendered troops, Marshal Shao did not dare to send them to fight in the field, and could only maintain their livelihood by guarding the city gates.
A horse's neighing suddenly sounded ahead, followed by angry shouts and curses.
Wang Jiao strode forward and asked, "What's going on?"
"Head of the team." A sergeant was whipping the master. Hearing this, he stopped his hand and said, "The horse got angry and refused to leave."
"What's going on?" This time he asked the master.
The master came from the same state and was a little scared when he saw a military academy. Nuonuo didn't dare to say anything.
"This is the leader of the team." Master's fellow countryman rushed over and said: "Don't blame me for waiting, the commanding is too harsh. People can be commanded very hard, and animals can be commanded also harshly. People can be patient, but animals can't.
"
Wang Jiao glanced at the carriage, which was filled with bundles of arrows.
"The military envoy has an order. Food, fodder, and equipment must be delivered on time. If it is missed, do you know what the consequences will be?" Wang Jiao's voice was not loud, but his words made people shudder.
In the towns of Huazhou and Weibei, some masters fled almost every day, even leaving their families behind.
The reasons vary, but there must be many delays due to various reasons. The military situation is urgent, and if the delay is missed, the punishment will be whipping at the least, and beheading at the worst. It is normal for some people to flee in fear of punishment.
"Take the horse's hitch and pull the cart aside so that it doesn't block the road." Wang Jiao ordered.
As if they had been pardoned, the masters immediately got busy.
The convoy continued to move forward, winding for several miles. The ones in front had already traveled a long way, while the ones behind were still hidden among the mountains and forests of the plateau, as if they had disappeared.
There were many abandoned carriages on both sides of the road, and food was scattered all over the floor before they could be cleaned up.
There are butchers slaughtering draft animals that have died of illness or exhaustion by the roadside. The dried horse meat is hung on the branches. The hides are processed one by one and handed over to the military envoy's yamen.
What is creepy is that there are still some human heads hanging on the branches, all of which are captured fugitive masters, which makes everyone's morale even lower.
The service has been the most feared thing by the people since ancient times.
After leaving Kip Shek County, the road opened up a little, but it couldn't be said to be very smooth.
The mountains running from north to south are connected one after another, but the road is from east to west. I drove quickly and slowly all the way, and finally arrived at the Qianhaozhai camp before the end of June.
…
"Wow!" The appropriate "background sounds" sounded all around, and Wang Jianji smiled with satisfaction.
The city of Wei County is eight miles in circumference. Its base is more than six feet wide and nearly two feet high. It may be shorter than Xin'an County, but it exceeds the height of Mianchi County. It was obviously designed as a military fortress.
There is a city god dug thirty steps away from the city, but the water has not yet been diverted. The sheep and horse wall is still under construction, but it is almost completed.
There are four gates in the county, two gates are always open, two gates are always closed, and a suspension bridge has been built outside the gate.
This is a bit strange. In the former enemy-heavy town, opening two gates is enough. But actually opening four gates can only be said that Li Tangbin is very confident. He feels that this will be the rear area in the future, where a large amount of grain, grass, equipment, personnel, vehicles and horses will be stationed.
.
Wang Jiao looked at the city wall carefully and found that it was similar to Dingxi County he had been to.
An urn city was built outside the city gate, with a female wall and enemy tents on top.
There are crossbow stations set up on all sides outside the city, where troops can also be stationed.
The urn city, the enemy shed, and the crossbow platform are all to protect the city gate. Wang Jiao understands this. The cities built in the Helong area basically look like this.
It is common sense that the land is connected to the border and is heavily guarded.
"Today, we will rest outside the city overnight. Early tomorrow morning, we will transport these arrows and equipment up to Mount Lu, and then transport the damaged swords, spears, and armor down from the mountain for repair." Wang Jianji knocked on the sheath with his sword to see a few things.
The enchanted Master, Tao.
Everyone agreed.
Wang Jiao turned his gaze elsewhere and found that a large open space had been cleared in the wilderness outside the city.
Someone is busy up there. Judging from their attire, they should be officials or civil servants.
Could it be that the land is being measured and registered?
He is very familiar with this!
In the early years, Huizhou was still a frontier, and people would be sent here every three days, often with their families. After settling down, there would be officials and envoys, driving officials and the like to come over to measure the fields, and each person would be given a hectare.
If you know how much is given here, it should be less than one hectare, but there are many mountains!
It's time to build cities and establish counties, and it's time to measure land. This means we must hold on and not retreat.
The sound of drumming came from the east, and Wang Jiao turned to look again.
At the end of the field of vision, a large group of sergeants was marching eastward. There was faint smoke and dust brought by the cavalry. This was the sound of the drums of the entire group during the march.
There must be a large number of camps to the east!
"Don't look, it's dozens of miles to the east and you can't see it." Wang Jianji walked up to him and sneered: "You can see it when you get to Xiaoshan Mountain. The camp is several miles away, so don't be frightened.
"
Wang Jiao glanced at him: "I've seen thousands of Tatars charge head-on, but they didn't let the thieves steal the food."
"Are all the Zhenguo troops so powerful?" Wang Jianji said in a teasing tone: "What's your name?"
"Wang Jiao, the front team of the Jin Douguan Camp on the left wing of the Zhenguo Army is at attention."
"You look quite strong, how about you become my adopted son?"
Wang Jiao's eyes suddenly became fierce, regardless of whether the person standing in front of him was probably a deputy general or ten generals, and his unruly and wild nature was clearly revealed.
"I don't know how to praise!" Wang Jianji cursed angrily. He really has no control over foreign military academies.
The rapid sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded, attracting the attention of the two men.
I saw a messenger with a recognition flag on his back and three horses galloping from the east. He did not stop when he passed through Wei County, but went straight west to Xiashi County.
"It's a fucking fight again!" Wang Jianji cursed in a low voice, then glanced at Wang Jiao with gloating, and said: "It's bad luck for you, I will escort the military supplies tomorrow, be careful not to lose your life."