New Year's Eve, the last day of the eighth year of Chongzhen.
When it was getting dark, a continuous stream of water boats appeared on the Tujiang River, docking towards the dock one after another.
Pang Yu had just disembarked when new boats arrived one after another behind him, filling the berths along the river. Dozens of large pots were set up on the shore. Some soldiers were busy here, and bursts of white smoke rose from the pots.
The nearby shops have been closed. After the garrison camp landed, some idle people escaped without a trace. Logistics tasks can only be completed by the fleet itself. Caobang
This is the second assembly point of the fleet. The Dangtu River section is different from that of later generations. The Yangtze River channel continued to change during the Ming Dynasty. At this time, the channel was dominated by the right branch of Jiangxinzhou (Note 1: not Nanjing Jiangxinzhou.), and at the same time, it originated from the Jiangxinzhou in Nanjing.
For safety reasons, Pang Yu chose to dock at the pier on the south bank instead of Hezhou Pier.
Continuing downstream from Dangtu will lead directly to Nanjing, where Pang Yu needs to confirm the news from the direction of Nanjing for the last time and determine the landing site.
A group of commanders were already waiting on the shore, and Yang Xueshi and Jiang Fan were among them. They followed the navy's small sentinel boat out to scout, and their trip was one day earlier than Pang Yu. They came over immediately after seeing Pang Yu.
"Sir, it is confirmed that Hezhou was captured by rogue bandits, and the rogue bandits massacred the city for two days."
Pang Yu stood at the dock and looked toward the north of the river. Through the mast of the canal boat, he could see Jiangxinzhou in the distance of the river, and Hezhou was on the other side of Jiangxinzhou.
When he returned from Nanjing at the beginning of the year, he crossed the river from Quarry and stopped in Hezhou. The city of Hezhou was not inferior to Tongcheng, but he did not expect that it was captured in two days.
"Have any sentries come ashore?"
"Chen Rulie led the sentry cavalry and water camp marines to land ashore yesterday afternoon and captured one of the horse soldiers camped on the shore. He was confirmed to be from Gao Scarzi. According to his instructions, he was going to Jiangpu, but... the rogue bandits were alarmed during the arrest, and one of them was
None of the Marines returned."
"Caught by bandits or dead."
"Chen Rulie doesn't know whether he is dead or alive." Yang Xueshi said in a low voice, "The marines were recruited not long ago. Although they are good at water, their skills are generally not good. They did not obey the orders when they landed this time. They went ashore to chop and kill randomly, which took a long time to capture the prisoners.
Here come the rogue soldiers."
Pang Yu put his hands on the edge of the table, looked at Hezhou's position for a while, and then asked him, "After their reconnaissance, is there anything unusual about the bandits?"
"Today at noon, the sentinel ship saw that the bandits were moving eastward, and the official road was full of people and horses."
Pang Yu breathed a sigh of relief, as long as the bandits didn't go west, otherwise he didn't know what to do.
Yao Dongshan responded carelessly, "It's better to choose some people who know how to swim in Luying, otherwise the bandits won't run away."
Pang Yu had no expression on his face. The generals in the land camp were quite resistant to the navy and marines. This time the landing sentinels were in trouble again. The scouts were trapped in the enemy camp. Instead, they might have been asked about the movements of the garrison camp by the rogue bandits.
If Gao Scarzi came to the conclusion that Anqing was empty and turned west, then the Marine Corps would indeed have caused a big trouble. Fortunately, with the rogue bandits, economic laws were more important than strategic goals, so the Marine Corps could only be considered a minor trouble.
But today is a bit like a complaint. There is only one Ren Dalang present who belongs to the Navy, and he does not come forward to speak for the Marines. It can be seen that the Marines do not have a status in the army. However, Pang Yu insisted on establishing the Marine Corps. At this time, several
Personally speaking, it seems to be the military's backlash against this decision.
He lowered his head and thought for a moment and said, "Zhuang Chaozheng, do you think Lu Ying is good at landing sentries?"
Zhuang Chaozheng remained silent, but he seemed to have a clue. After hearing the question, he immediately replied, "My subordinates feel that when the Marine Corps is recruited, they select people who are good at water and can run over ships. This kind of thing on the dock, maybe the land camp
You can choose a few, but if you want to go ashore in a wilderness place, marines are definitely better."
Pang Yu nodded slightly after hearing this. Mr. Hou noticed this action, looked at the others and said, "My subordinates also believe that this is the first battle of the Shuiying Marine Corps. Although some people have been trapped, they have accomplished the important task of capturing prisoners. It can be said that their flaws cannot be concealed, and their achievements are meritorious."
It should be rewarded.”
"Mr. Hou's views are very appropriate."
Yao Dongshan rolled his eyes and did not dare to speak anymore. The other bosses listened and understood what Pang Yu meant. The topic of suing Lu Zhanbing came to an end.
Pang Yu changed the topic at the right time, "Is there anyone coming from Dangtu County Yamen?"
Jiang Fan whispered, "The city gates were closed, and my subordinates sent a letter in, saying that the Anqing camp was rescuing Jiangnan, but no one responded."
"What's the news about Nanjing?"
"Eight thieves are attacking Jiangpu County. Officers and soldiers from Jiangnan are crossing the river to rescue them. As of the 27th, there is no news that they have been conquered."
A map was unfolded on the desk. Pang Yu now knew that the bandits had not yet crossed the river, and the rescue was still carried out in Jiangbei. The targets were Jiangpu and Lu'an. What needed to be determined was where to land.
"Has there been any news from Mr. Ma? Has the governor's office given a clear military order for our battalion to rescue and disembark?"
Jiang Fan shook his head, "After martial law was imposed in Nanjing, Mr. Ma sent a letter to He Xianya, asking you to pay attention to Puzikou Town. After that, Nanjing was in chaos. Gates everywhere were under martial law, and the road to Jurong was jammed with traffic. He Xianya
I can’t get through Jurong.”
Wang Zenglu asked tentatively, "Since the Hezhou bandits are going to Jiangpu, they are going to join forces with the Eight Bandits. Should our army rescue Jiangpu County or Puzikou?"
On the map, on the east side of Jiangpu County, there was a red dot marked with the words Puzikou. This was something he had never been able to decide on, where to land.
When he returned from Nanjing at the beginning of the year, he made a special trip from Hezhou to Jiangpu County. In a hurry, he only looked at the city and had no interaction with the locals. He even forgot to look at the ferry. According to his understanding, it should be in the south of the city, close to the river.
After the rogue bandits approached, Pang Yu collected information about Jiangpu at the dock and learned that there was another important point in Jiangpu, namely Puzikou Town, where the old city of Jiangpu was located. Because the Yangtze River moved northward, half of the city was flooded, so he moved the county seat
After moving to Kuangshan Pass, which is now Jiangpu County, the old county seat became Puzikou Town.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were five guard posts in Jiangpu, four of which were at Puzikou and only one in Jiangpu County. During the Wanli period, local officials rebuilt the south wall of Puzikou that was damaged by water, forming seven city gates and four guard posts.
The city can be called the first town in Jiangnan from the perspective of defense alone.
There are two important ferries in Puzikou, namely Puzikou Ferry and Xuanhua Ferry, both in the south of Puzikou City. They are the main ferries directly from Jiangbei to Nanjing. In terms of their importance to Jiangnan, they are even more important than Jiangpu County.
Pang Yu's rescue plan was not perfect. There was no staff member to give him a detailed plan, and Pang Yu himself didn't know where to start. The only thing he could refer to was the rescue of Tongcheng and Qianshan. He only needed to send troops to the rescue location and rescue.
The goal is very clear.
But when I came out of Songyang this time, I learned that the rescue along the river was a hundred times more complicated than the rescue inside Anqing. The information collected from various places was different. The number of rogue bandits was huge and the soldiers were divided into separate groups. The meeting point was probably at Jiangpu, which made Pang Yu even more worried.
, if the 1,600 people of my own land directly, will they be besieged by many rogue bandits?
During the transfer to Jiangpu, there were docks everywhere along the river. Zhang Guowei issued an order to expel the river boats. However, the areas north of the Yangtze River such as Hezhou and Chaoxian were not under the jurisdiction of Yingtian. I don’t know if they were in Qingjiang. If the rogue bandits were obtained in these places
Enough ships also pose a threat to the south of the Yangtze River, and crossing the river is the area under the jurisdiction of the Yingtian governor. Therefore, Pang Yu set up assembly points along the way, first to gather straggler ships, and secondly to inspect the river defense to find out whether the rogue bandits have any intention of crossing the river.
Just like the rogue bandits crossing the Yellow River to the south of Mianchi, after crossing the Yellow River, the heartland of the Ming Dynasty was eroded, and the situation was out of control. Now there are no Jiangnan officers and soldiers deployed in the Dangtu area, and they rely on the Yangtze River.
At present, the main force of the bandits is determined to be in Jiangpu and Hezhou. Although the Hezhou bandits are moving eastward, Gao Scarzi once attacked Lu Xiangsheng in Henan, and he still has to prevent the Hezhou bandits from turning around and crossing the river. Jiangpu is over there.
We are under siege, and the deployment of garrison troops needs to be decided as soon as possible.
Wang Zenglu hesitated for a moment and said, "If the rogue bandits want to meet up in Jiangpu, their number can reach 200,000. In Hezhou, there are only Gao Scarzi and Chuang Jiang. Based on the scale of the Chao County camp, the number of sentries is estimated to be about 100,000."
, less than half of Jiangpu. Therefore, you don’t have to disembark at Jiangpu. You can disembark at Hezhou. If you think the bandits are somewhat afraid, you may go north and save Jiangpu."
Jiang Fan turned to Wang Zenglu, "What if we return to fight with the local bandits? Our battalion will be pinned down by the bandits on the river bank. Once the fighting starts, it will be difficult to withdraw. During this period, Jiangpu was captured by the bandits. How can we explain to Master Zhang?"
Wang Zenglu did not give in and said, "According to the customs of the rogue bandits, you must stay for three to five days after breaking the city to completely plunder the money and food in the city. This time, you left in a hurry in two days. It must be because you arrested the marine soldiers and learned that the officers and soldiers were approaching. It can be seen that
They are still afraid of the officers and soldiers. If our battalion goes ashore, they will be so emboldened that they will dare to turn back and fight. Moreover, even if we go ashore at Jiangpu, our battalion may not be besieged on the river bank. The Jiangpu bandits are twice as likely as Hezhou."
Mr. Hou, who had been silent for the whole time, said, "That is also the bank of Jiangpu. It is under the jurisdiction of Governor Yingtian. The soldiers and horses in the south of the Yangtze River can be provided with food and grass. How about it in Hezhou."
Wang Zenglu turned to Mr. Hou, "The Jiangpu bandits may be several times more numerous than those in Hezhou."
Mr. Hou didn't say anything after hearing this. Yao Dongshan shouted from behind, "It's better to kill him several times more."
Yang Xueshi, Ren Dalang, and Zhuang Chaozheng were present with low eyebrows and did not participate in the discussion.
Pang Yu had been listening. It seemed that only Wang Zenglu proposed to land in Hezhou. Others still thought that he should land in Jiangpu, but this was the same as his idea. After thinking about it, he said, "Zenglu is considering that Hezhou rescues Jiangpu."
, threatening the bandits' retreat is also an optional strategy. There are many ways to achieve the goal. Zenglu has done a good job in this regard. However, Jiangpu is currently under attack, and the Hezhou bandits are moving to move their camps.
Our primary goal in sending troops is still to rescue Jiangpu."
After Pang Yu finished speaking, Wang Zenglu stopped insisting and lowered his head slightly. Hearing what Pang Yu meant, the others headed straight for Jiangpu, but where exactly they landed was still not explained clearly, and no one asked questions.
Seeing that no one was talking anymore, Pang Yu said to several generals, "Each department will count the number of troops arriving at Dangtu and report to the Chinese army before the end of the hour."
When the chief officers saluted and left, Jiang Fan and Mr. Hou were left here. Pang Yu looked at the map for a moment and suddenly said, "Do you think, for Zhang Duye, which one is more important, Puzikou or Jiangpu County?"
.”
Mr. Hou and Jiang Fan looked at each other and quickly understood that Pang Yu himself had not yet decided whether he should help defend Jiangpu or Puzikou.
Jiang Fan waited for a moment and saw that Mr. Hou had no intention of speaking, then whispered, "I feel that Jiangpu County is no different from Hezhou, Hanshan, and Quanjiao. It is just a county in the north of Jiangbei, and Napuzikou is the key to the south of the Yangtze River."
.For Mr. Zhang Du, the south of the Yangtze River is the foundation. As long as the bandits can't cross the river, the north of the Yangtze River will be just a side branch."
Pang Yu looked at Mr. Hou again, and Mr. Hou was stunned. He knew that it would be impossible not to say anything, so he hesitated and said, "But after the martial law in Jiangpu, if we really clear the river, there will be no ships in the north of the river. Even if Puzikou is lost, there will actually be rogue bandits."
You can't cross the river. Puzikou is a town, and Jiangpu is a county. If the county seat is under the jurisdiction of Governor Yingtian, if a town is lost, the emperor may not pay attention to it, but if the county seat is lost, it will always be more conspicuous."
Pang Yu rubbed his forehead, "Puzikou and Jiangpu are twenty miles apart. If we land at Puzikou, we need to march twenty miles on land for rescue, pass through three bridges, and pass through the camp of at least 100,000 rogue bandits. It may be quite difficult."
If we directly rescue Jiangpu, our battalion can go ashore at Bazigou Ferry, which is by the river, eight miles away from the county seat and ten miles away from Puzikou, so the threat to the rogue bandits besieging the city will be great."
Jiang Fan coughed and said, "My subordinate's detective sent back the news that Bazigou Ferry is a ferry crossing for passenger ships. The pier is not big and may not be able to accommodate so many warships. Many of the ships operating in Shuiying this time have never been to this place.
If the landing at the ferry is not smooth, and the water boats behind are crowded at the ferry, or even the rogue horse soldiers come after hearing the news, they are afraid that our army will not have a stable foothold. However, the Puzikou ferry pier is wide and protected by the Puzikou city, so the boats
We’ve already gone ashore, so we can slowly go ashore and form a team.”
"Let me think about it." Pang Yu felt a little headache. He had never led an army before. It was okay to fight on the inside of Anqing, especially when Shi Kefa was with him. He had to support more or less from various places and had a single goal. Now he is leading an army outside.
, everything needs to be carefully planned, and there are no veterans to give him advice, so he deliberately dismissed a few bosses to prevent them from feeling that he had not made a decision.
There are many uncertainties when disembarking at Baligou Ferry, but it is located between Jiangpu and Puzikou, and can handle both cities. The disadvantage is that the dock here is narrow and it is not clear how far away the bandits are. It is a bit similar to
Landing in front of the enemy.
He turned back and looked down at the pier. There were still water ships arriving, and there were many masts on the berth, but the colors of the small triangular flags at the top were mixed. The colors of this small flag were used to distinguish each division. When setting off from the previous assembly point, it was
After being organized, after the ferry, the groups were in chaos when they arrived, and it may not be possible to complete the assembly in two hours. If we land before the enemy in this state, we can only pray that the enemy will be in the same chaos.
A little confused in his mind, Pang Yu shook his head. He still had some time to make a decision, but before setting off from Dangtu, he had to decide on a landing place.
Overall, the intelligence this time was much better than at the beginning of the year. He looked back at Jiang Fan. Currently, Jiang Fan was considered a non-staff member, but he was actually the intelligence leader. This time, he also helped complete some of the logistical preparations. Dangtu's food was purchased in advance. Yes, it's ready.
Pang Yu said to Jiang Fan, "The Caobang performed very well this time. You just mentioned that the detective from Jiangpu was able to send back useful information in a short time. He is also a useful talent."
Jiang Fan quickly bowed and said, "I don't dare to be a lord and make false remarks. Not all of them are useful this time. Quanjiao lost the news. The detective in Hezhou did not send back the news in advance. The personnel stationed in Dangtu came from the people across the river." knew."
"Did Hezhou's spies escape with their lives?"
"Your Excellency, you have seen Tan Leizi. He was lucky enough to escape. Last night, the sentinel ship met this man on the downstream sandbank and brought him back to Dangtu."
Pang Yu smiled and said, "Hezhou was killed very badly this time. He is really lucky to be able to escape."
"There were few survivors in the city. Tens of thousands of people were driven into the river. Only a handful of them swam to the center of the river. Most of them froze to death later. Tan Leizi saved two people after entering the river because he had prepared a boat."
Pang Yu said with great interest, "Those two are luckier than Tan Laizi."
Seeing Pang Yu's brows tightening, Jiang Fan quickly joked, "I've met both of them. The man is the son of a bamboo businessman in Hezhou. He has the status of a student and has joined the Fushe. The woman is..."
"You said his family is a businessman, and he is also a scholar of Fushe?"
Jiang Fan nodded in surprise. He didn't know what was strange about this. There were many Fushe children in Anqing, but he had never seen Pang Yu care so much.
"He escaped alone, where were the others in the family?"
"According to him, he was killed by the bandits. He saw it with his own eyes. The bandits originally planned to keep him, but for some reason they rushed into the river together that day."
Pang Yu hummed, smiled slightly, and said, "Bring him to see me immediately, and bring everything you can find with the surviving people of the state."
…
"Let me tell you, Mr. Pangda summoned me this time just to meet me, Tan Ya. You have been blessed in your previous life. Only when you met me, Tan Ya, were you lucky enough to meet such an amazing person as our Anqing Great Immortal. Mr. Pangda, this time I must give Master Tan a reward."
Not far from the pier, Tan Leizi said as he took another handful of his sleeves. He fled to the sandbank in the river that day and found a way to survive in a fisherman's shelter. In the evening, he was brought back to Dangtu by a small sentry boat. I found this outfit in a dilapidated store on the pier. It was a bit too big, but at least it kept me warm.
A group of Hezhou people followed him, including his grandson's wife and the young man on the same boat.
Tan Leizi was a little excited, and the mucus came out from under his red nose. Tan Leizi wanted to suck it back, but thinking that he was about to see Mr. Pang, Tan Lezi pinched both sides with his hands and blew out a large string with a sigh.
After wiping it with his long sleeve, Tan Leizi felt that his nasal cavity was clear. He turned back to hold the grandson's daughter-in-law. The grandson's daughter-in-law subconsciously took a step back, and then said, "Slave, I can go on my own."
Tan Laizi didn't think about anything else. He chuckled and said, "We have saved our lives. We can't go back to Hezhou. We will go back to Anqing in two days. Mr. Tan, I still have dozens of taels of silver. I will have a good life with you." .”
As soon as these words came out, the crowd behind them all looked enviously. They were all from Hezhou. They were all impoverished at this time, so they were naturally envious of Tan Lezi's family background.
After Tan Laizi said that, he walked away in a big way. The young man on the same boat looked at Sun's wife and hesitated to speak, "Miss Sun, you..."
The grandson's wife blushed and walked away with the crowd, and the young man had no choice but to follow quickly.
Soon we arrived at the pier, and there were groups of red-clad officers and soldiers standing in front of them. Then someone led the way, and a group of civilians followed cautiously until they were in front of a young general.
Tan Leizi hurried over in a few steps and knelt on the ground with a thud, "The villain Tan Erlin has met Panda Man and met Gang Leader Jiang."
The young general said casually, "This time you sit down to explore Hezhou. You are very loyal. Let's go and rest first. Where is Mr. Liu who has returned to society?"
After saying that, he walked towards the back accompanied by Gang Leader Najiang. Tan Laizi was stunned for a moment and then quickly followed.
General Pang walked directly in front of the young man. Forced by the momentum of the army, the others knelt down. The young man also knelt down involuntarily, "I have seen you, sir."
Pang Yu supported him and said, "Master Liu's family runs a bamboo and wood business in Hezhou?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone behind them looked at Mr. Liu in surprise. Even Mr. Liu himself was very surprised. How could a general far away in Anqing know what was going on at home?
"Sir, my family does sell bamboo and wood."
"I dare to ask your honorable name."
"Father Liu Guangyuan"
"Sure enough, it's Liu Guangyuan." Pang Yu clapped his hands suddenly, startling everyone, and then he held Mr. Liu's hand emotionally, "By the way, his name is Liu Guangyuan. Did your father tell you that he is at Dajiang Bank in Anqing?"
Have a sum of money saved?"
Mr. Liu shook his head blankly.
Pang Yu's face was full of excitement, "Your father has saved five hundred taels of silver in Dajiang Bank in Anqing, and plans to buy bamboo and wood in Anqing. He is a distinguished guest of Dajiang Bank. He never thought that he would suffer this accident before he could use it. When Dajiang came,
The shopkeeper of Yinzhuang asked me to find shopkeeper Liu, for God’s sake.”
Mr. Liu was so shocked that he couldn't speak. Although he was in grief, he knew very well that his father had not been to Anqing for five or six years. How could there be a huge sum of five hundred taels of silver there?
Dajiang Yinzhuang is even more unheard of.
The people behind him were in an uproar. Mr. Liu cried all day long. Everyone was originally poor. Who would have thought that such a good thing would happen. In the blink of an eye, Mr. Liu became a rich man. Tan Laizi's nose flowed out again,
I didn't notice it even though I was talking about it.
The surrounding soldiers were also confused. Could it be that Pang Pang knew that Hezhou had been breached when he set out.
"I will send someone to take you to Nanjing immediately. Mr. Liu, don't worry about your livelihood anymore. Dajiang Bank is the most trustworthy person and will definitely give you this deposit."
Pang Yu waved, and two soldiers came over and took the confused Mr. Liu away.
Pang Yu turned around and walked away for a while, and said in a low voice to Mr. Hou who was following him, "Mr. Hou, if you write a manuscript about Mr. Liu's deeds, you must clearly state that Mr. Liu himself did not know how to deposit money. It was Dajiang Bank who took the initiative to find Mr. Liu."
The young master not only allowed him to receive five hundred taels of silver from his family, but also escorted him all the way to Nanjing, so that the family bloodline could be preserved. Write it as soon as possible, send it to Nanjing as soon as possible, and publish it in Jiangnan Times, and print another issue as soon as possible. Anqing Guards
The camp and rescue of Nanjing must also be written in this magazine, but Mr. Liu is the headline. It doesn't hurt to do it as quickly as possible and spend more money. The best effect is when people are panicked now."
Mr. Hou was also confused, but Pang Yu urged him urgently, so he had to hurry up and do it.
Tan Leizi approached Pang Yu, but was stopped by Guo Fengyou.
He said in a calm voice, "Sir, my family has sold bamboo before..."