The most advanced outpost of the Lushun Ming Army was the fortress on Songshu Mountain, adjacent to the Long River.
A small flag and about ten soldiers were stationed here. When Huang Sanhu came over, these people were huddled in the stone fort that was leaking from all directions and suffering.
Seeing Huang Long barging in with a group of unfamiliar soldiers, the flag officer shivered in fear.
"Does the main town want to go to war?"
Huang Long laughed and cursed: "Are you crazy? When Baimaoxue goes to battle, there won't be enough people to die."
Since ancient times, battles have been fought in autumn and winter, because at this time the autumn harvest is completed, food and grass are sufficient, and the horses on the grassland are also fat, and some have the strength to run.
Only in Liaodong it doesn’t work.
The snow was waist-deep at once, making it impossible to march.
Therefore, here, except for hunters, no one goes out in winter, let alone fights.
Hearing that there was no war, the flag officer couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Huang Sanhu and others curiously, admiring the way these people were wrapped tightly from head to toe.
Huang Sanhu did his part and said: "From now on, the defense here will be changed. You don't need to stay here. Go back to the city and wait for arrangements."
The official of Xiaoqi was undervalued and he hurriedly led others to give up his position, not daring to ask any more questions.
Seeing how pitiful they were, Huang Sanhu had people distribute the cotton-padded clothes and shoes he brought to them.
Wearing thick and warm cotton clothes and cotton shoes, each of these soldiers had tears in their eyes, and the last trace of doubt was gone.
Huang Sanhu used a telescope to observe the situation on the other side of the Long River. He was worried and asked: "The Tatars won't come over, right?"
The Long River has long been frozen and has lost its role as a hindrance. If Hou Jin comes to attack, it will be very easy to cross the river.
Their advance detachment only had a few hundred people in total, but they could not stop the attack of Hou Jin's army.
Huang Long was very determined.
"Don't worry, brigade commander, the Tatars will never attack. They are all guarding Jinzhou. They have traveled hundreds of miles to get here. If they dare to send troops at this time, they will all die on the way."
This guarantee somewhat reassured Huang Sanhu.
However, it is the tradition of the New Army to always assume the worst outcome when encountering problems, and Huang Sanhu would not place his hopes on the enemy's thoughts.
He called over Diao Jiasheng, the commander of the reconnaissance company, and ordered: "Take your soldiers and spread the reconnaissance outward as far as you can."
Huang Long and others all changed their expressions after hearing this.
Going into the wild in this kind of weather is going to be a recipe for death.
But Diao Jiasheng did not hesitate and accepted the order on the spot.
Among the new army, the special forces and scouts never complain about hardship. Their slogan is, go to the most dangerous places.
More than a hundred soldiers from the reconnaissance company were divided into three teams, brought enough supplies, and disappeared quietly into the snow.
As for when they will be able to come back, no one knows.
But these people will be the security barrier for Lushun in the coming period.
Although he took over the defense of Lushun, the weather was too cold and Huang Sanhu was unable to make a big move. In order to help the soldiers keep out the cold, the only thing they could do was to take simple measures to keep each fort warm.
Fortunately, the advance detachment brought plenty of supplies, so the New Army soldiers could still live in such a crude place.
In Lushun City, as food and clothing were distributed, the hearts of local soldiers and civilians were immediately conquered, making Zhu Qinglan's work much smoother.
He took his people with him and completed the census in just one day.
It's just that the results were very unsatisfactory.
"County Magistrate, the current population of the local area is 31,575. Among them, 8,321 are military personnel. Most of them are old, weak, sick and disabled, and cannot be used for much purpose. Among the people, there are more men than women. Many people, young and old, are suffering from diseases, and it is unclear whether they can survive this winter."
This is the current situation in Lushun, which makes Zhu Qinglan extremely distressed.
But since he accepted this job and wanted to achieve results, Zhu Qinglan knew that the difficulties in front of him were actually opportunities.
He thought for a while and said to his assistant: "When the first fleet returns tomorrow, you will go back and report the situation here to the counselor. Remember, you have to cry harder and ask the counselor to give you more benefits. ."
The people below were holding back their laughter, but they also knew that crying poverty is a necessary means if we want to develop Lushun successfully.
Zuo Mengeng quickly received the report. Although Zhu Qinglan's assistant burst into tears, it was a pity that his acting skills were poor and Zuo Mengeng didn't take it seriously at all.
"Things have their own priorities. Although Lushun is important, controlling Shandong is an established strategy that cannot be changed."
Li Banghua made a statement on behalf of the Administrative Committee. Even though he has not yet been angry with Hou Xun, Chen Zhi and others, he is confident that this is the common intention of everyone.
From the planning in the second year of Chongzhen to the present, we have seen that a complete site is about to be built, which makes everyone from top to bottom so excited that they don't even care about other places.
Even if they could, they would rather give up Liaodong than allow their current strategy to be affected.
The idea of the Administrative Committee was approved by Zuo Menggeng.
"Meng Angong is right. We can no longer invest more resources in Liaodong. When you go back, tell Huang Sanhu and Zhu Qinglan that they must try their best to find their own way out."
Zhu Qinglan's assistant Xu Xinsheng is also a top student in the School of Administration and knows how to bargain.
"Come on, Sir Meng Angong, we are really not complaining on purpose. There are so many people around Lushun and the area is small. If there is no support, we can't feed so many people just by relying on the local area. We are also clever women who can't make a meal without rice, and there is no room for us to use it."
Unexpectedly, Zuo Mengeng's thinking was very strange.
"You said there are many people in Port Arthur but little land?"
Xu Xinsheng nodded, wondering if his explanation was not clear enough?
Zuo Mengeng came up with an unconventional solution.
"There are many people in Lushun but little land, but there is a shortage of manpower everywhere. It would be better to move the excess population of Lushun here, as many as there are."
To what extent is the area currently occupied by the New Army lacking manpower?
The reservoir projects in Mengyin County had to be stopped.
Nowadays, all the manpower has been allocated to military industry, agriculture, and people's livelihood areas, which are still insufficient, and some not-so-critical projects have to make way.
The Administrative Committee is really racking its brains for manpower. It not only goes to the areas controlled by the imperial court to recruit people, but also goes to neighboring Gyeonggi, Henan, and Nanzhili to recruit people.
Nowadays, poverty is everywhere in the world, and countless people have no food and clothing. Therefore, they only need to pay a very small price, and refugees from all over the country flock here.
Everyone is only thinking and working hard on manpower issues, not knowing that this is actually the population absorption effect of economic centralization.
Thinking about the population agglomeration effect of several economic core areas hundreds of years from now, the current situation can only be regarded as trivial.
With the rapid development of Shandong's economy and industry, it will definitely absorb people from all over the world in the future.
Zhu Qinglan and others in Lushun are worried about the extra population, but here in Shandong they are worried about the lack of manpower.
Among other things, Laizhou was slaughtered by the rebels and has now become a ghost town.
It is really worrying that so much land is uncultivated and so many resources cannot be used.
In view of this, Zuo Mengeng immediately thought of using the excess population of Lushun to fill the gap in Laizhou.
In the past, the people of Shandong and the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong hated each other, but now that the local population of Laizhou has been completely lost, the introduction of manpower from Liaodong will no longer cause any conflicts.
Shandong in the early years of Chongzhen could be described as a hell on earth.
The most serious place among them is undoubtedly Laizhou.
First, the White Lotus Sect rebelled and wiped out the countryside of Laizhou. Then the Wuqiao mutiny and the Dongjiang rebels destroyed Laizhou City.
As a result, in Laizhou Prefecture today, bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no rooster crow for thousands of miles.
According to preliminary statistics, the entire Laizhou Prefecture now has a population of less than 30,000, even less than Liaodong.
After driving out the rebels and occupying Laizhou, how to restore the local people's livelihood and economy has become a top priority.
When he heard that Lushun was worried about too many people, Zuo Mengeng immediately thought of population migration.
There is no problem of regional hatred in Laizhou, which is now desolate. Even if the population of Lushun is moved here, it will not be enough to fill the vacancy.
Xu Xinsheng was stunned when he heard Zuo Mengeng's method.
Is it still possible to do this?
But after thinking about it carefully, he suddenly realized that this method was really good.
First of all, of course, it can greatly alleviate the problem of people and land tension in Lushun.
Secondly, the New Army's combat method does not rely much on civilians. The New Army itself has a complete logistics and engineering system, and many times the participation of civilians will affect the operations.
One fundamental reason why there are so many people in Liaodong is to support the war.
Since the New Army does not need the support of the people, there is no need to retain too many people in Lushun.
Finally, Shandong has a vast territory and rich resources. If the redundant people are resettled here, they don’t have to worry about survival problems at all. On the contrary, their lives will be greatly improved.
"Seeing thousands of miles from the seat, it makes people fall in love. I will rush back and tell County Magistrate Zhu about this method."
Xu Xinsheng couldn't wait to catch up with the third batch of fleet heading to Liaodong.
Zuo Menggeng, knowing that it was imperative to relocate the people from Lushun, immediately discussed the layout of Laizhou with Li Banghua and others.