Although the fire in Wuchang was extinguished, most of the entire city had been burned down. Only some buildings and houses on the edge of the city and near the city wall were saved. The closer to the center of the city, the more burned they were. It was a terrible disaster, especially the two main streets in the center and the area where the Chu Palace was located, where the Western Army set fire. They were almost completely burned, leaving only a pile of steaming ruins and rubble.
In Wuchang City, there were originally more than 200,000 residents, but now there are less than 50,000, and the rest were all buried in the sea of fire. The whole air is also filled with a choking burnt, putrid smell. Even those who are used to smelling the battlefield The soldiers of the Merchant Army couldn't bear the smell of smoke and sulfur, and many of them vomited.
In the next few months, the city of Wuchang will become uninhabitable. Fortunately, there are many villages and towns outside the city. When the Western Army retreated, they only looted and did not have time to set fire to it, so many houses were vacated. , the merchant army built some tents and simple shacks, so that the surviving people could live in them. Fortunately, it was only early to mid-August, and the weather was not too cold, so the people could still support themselves.
Although the soldiers and civilians were resettled, thousands of civilians were injured in the fire. Most of them suffered burns and scalds, and many of them were very seriously injured. In this era, there were not many treatments for burns and scalds. , at the same time, the merchant army also lacked doctors and medicinal materials. Although the existing doctors tried their best, some people died every day. In addition, almost all the surviving common people had family members buried in the sea of fire, so every day The cries of the people could be heard, and the whole camp was very miserable.
Looking at this hellish scene, Shang Yi couldn't help but smile bitterly. It can be said that Wuchang City was completely destroyed. It would take at least three to five years to rebuild it, and it would also require a lot of manpower. Material and financial resources will do. As for complete recovery, I don’t know how long it will take. It could be ten or twenty years. And my original idea of establishing a base with Wuchang as the core may be difficult to realize. Without Wuchang Prefecture, Hanyang Prefecture also lost its support and could not be put to great use.
So what should I do next? Should I choose Xiangyang Prefecture or Changsha Prefecture? But Shang Yi knows that neither Xiangyang Prefecture nor Changsha Prefecture can replace the superior conditions of Wuchang Prefecture. Here, Shang Yi couldn't help but feel angry at Zhang Xianzhong. At this time, after he traveled to this era, he was so angry for the first time except for the Qing army's invasion of the pass. Therefore, he ordered Zhou Shaohuan to pursue Zhang Xianzhong. A stubborn order.
But there was no other way now. Shang Yi ordered all the merchant troops and supplies to be moved to the east of the Yangtze River. On the one hand, it was convenient for centralized management, and on the other hand, it was to provide relief to the surviving people. At the same time, he wrote to Wu Di from Luzhou urged him to quickly deliver the supplies he had promised him, and also asked him to prepare a batch of food, supplies and medicinal materials to relieve the people.
Although the people were very sad, they were very grateful to the merchant army. It can be said that without the merchant army, even if they could escape from the fire, they would only freeze to death or starve to death. Those who are like now would still have a place to stay. In this land, you can eat plenty of food, and there are people who are treating the wounded. We have seen such an army several times in the Ming Dynasty, so the people have a very cordial attitude towards the Merchant Army. And the name of the Merchant Army as a benevolent and righteous teacher has also further It spread widely in the Jiangnan area.
At this time, Zhou Shaohuan sent someone to report back to Shang Yi. The Second Regiment caught up with the Western Army's rear-cut troops near Fankou. The two sides fought another fierce battle. As a result, the Second Regiment once again defeated the Western Army and not only took advantage of the situation to seize the
Fankou County, and Zhou Shaohuan led his troops to pursue them. They continued to chase the Western Army all the way to the vicinity of Tieshan. It was not until they met the Western Army's supporting troops that they finally stopped. However, Zhou Shaohuan was also afraid that his army would go deeper.
If they dared to stay, they had to retreat to Fankou County. At the same time, they also found out clearly. Zhang Xianzhong's army retreated to Daye County to temporarily station. Therefore, he sent someone to report to Shang Yi.
At this time, the 20,000 shi of grain, grass, and other materials transferred by Wu Zongba to Shang Yi were also delivered to Wuchang Mansion. In addition, the materials, troops, logistics, and prisoners of the merchant army also arrived in Wuchang one after another. Food and basic living materials were also delivered to Wuchang.
They have all been protected for the time being. The second batch of supplies arrived from Muling Pass at about the same time. This time there was no food, and almost all of them were ammunition and firearms. There were 5,000 hand grenades alone, and various thunderbolt rockets.
The number reached two hundred. The merchant army was also fully equipped again.
However, including the prisoners captured in the Hanyang Prefecture in the First World War, the number of prisoners of the Merchant Army has now reached more than 8,000, plus the current 40,000 to 50,000 civilians. After the capture of Wuchang Prefecture, they did not even have any supplies.
, Although he now has 20,000 shi of food, he can't even support it for two months. Although Shang Yi is also very confused, he can't leave these people alone, so he can deal with it like this first.
Fortunately, the prisoners of the Western Army are obviously much more honest than the prisoners of the Chuang Army, because most of the Western Army are soldiers who have just joined the army a few months ago. They were farmers before and have not yet developed their courage, and they have experienced it on the battlefield.
The merchant army was also afraid of the blunderbuss, so it was much softer from the beginning. However, Shang Yi still treated the captives of the intruder army, first exposing each other, finding the leader, and executing them all at once.
One man showed his power, and then divided the remaining prisoners into groups and began forced transformation. Now the prisoners' task is to clean up the debris in Wuchang City.
Of course, let the prisoners clean up the city of Wuchang. Not only did Shang Yi plan to rebuild Wuchang, but also find something for the prisoners to do. Don't waste food all the time and have enough food to think about other things. In addition, the remains of the corpses were left for a long time.
It is also easy to breed germs and cause contagious diseases. In fact, Shang Yi is now a little confused. He doesn't know what to do next. Should he stay in Huguang and rebuild Wuchang, or find another place to settle down. For a while, Shang Yi
I didn't have a good idea in my mind. I could only take it one step at a time. Fortunately, it didn't take much effort to clean up the mess. At most, I just asked the prisoners to put in a little effort.
After receiving Zhou Shaohuan's notification, Shang Yi immediately decided to pursue Zhang Xianzhong regardless of anything else. Because Shang Yi knew that when Zhang Xianzhong left Wuchang, he brought a lot of money, food, materials, gold and silver treasures with him. Now he is here.
When money and food were tight, he had no choice but to look for Zhang Xianzhong to fight against the autumn wind. Shang Yi couldn't help but smile bitterly. He had traveled to this era for almost a year, and he still had to rely on robbing to survive. In addition, Shang Yi was really holding his breath towards Zhang Xianzhong, this guy was too
I'm so angry. If I don't give him a lesson, I'm sure I won't be willing to do it.
Therefore, Shang Yi immediately ordered Luo Yuanbin to lead the fifth regiment to stay in Wuchang Mansion and slowly clean up the mess. At the same time, he also left a reconnaissance company and a cavalry company for him in case of unexpected use. Then Shang Yi led the third regiment and
The cavalry battalion set out to the southeast, joined Zhou Shaohuan's second regiment, and continued to pursue Zhang Xianzhong.
After a day of rapid march, Shang Yi's army arrived at Fankou. After the two armies merged, they immediately reorganized and set off, once again reaching Tieshan and approaching Dazhi County.
Because Zhou Shaohuan had previously attacked Tieshan and then withdrew, Zhang Xianzhong thought that Shang Yi would stop there and planned to stay in Daye for a few days and think carefully about where to go next. But he knew that Shang Yi not only It was not over, but he personally led the troops to catch up again. So Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but become a little anxious, and thinking about it, he had lost so many formations to Shang Yi, and Hanyang and Wuchang had also given up. It was quite interesting. Shang Yi Why is it not over yet? Is it so difficult that I have to kill myself to death?
This is too much to deceive people. Clay figures also have local characteristics, let alone Zhang Xianzhong, who has dominated the world for more than ten years. Although Zhang Nanzhong also knows that the merchant army is super strong, the merchant army only has more than 7,000 troops in total, and Zhang Xianzhong still has There are nearly 100,000 troops. Even if five cannot defeat one, ten should be enough to defeat one. In the past, Cao Wentuo was able to fight. He often used thousands of people to chase tens of thousands of peasant troops away, but in the end, ten were defeated. Surrounded by more than 10,000 peasant troops, an ant came and killed an elephant, making the battle difficult. Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong also decided to fight in person. He wanted to see how powerful this merchant army was. He really didn't believe it. , the merchant army can really count one against ten, and one against a hundred.
So Zhang Xianzhong gathered 80,000 troops, and the remaining three adopted sons, Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Qineng, all went with the army and came to Tieshan to face the merchant army.
This time, Shang Yi did not engage in positional warfare of digging trenches, but also showed his battle formation, preparing for a head-on battle with the Western Army. The first group was Zhou Shaohuan's Second Regiment. Zhang Xianzhong also ordered Liu Wenxiu to lead 20,000 troops. Go to war.
As a result, the two sides opened up their formations and clashed with each other. However, the Merchant Army deployed their formations in three bursts and took turns to shoot. At the same time, there were six tiger cannons in the team, firing canisters. It turned out that Zhou Shaohuan discovered that the tigers If the Crouching Cannon fires shotguns, its range is about the same as that of a musket, and even not as far as the Lumi Gun. But the biggest advantage of the Crouching Tiger Cannon is that it is light and can be carried by one person, making it easier to move. Therefore, instead of using it Instead of putting it in the artillery, just throw it into the musketry team and use it as additional firepower.
The Crouching Tiger Cannon can be filled with one hundred to one hundred and twenty iron pellets at a time. With one shot, it can kill at least thirty or forty enemy soldiers. Zhou Shaohuan divided the six Crouching Tiger Cannons into two batches, and took turns to fire along with the volley. As a result, the power of the volley fire increased a lot, and the Western army was hit with corpses all over the field before they even got close to the Merchant Army's array, with countless casualties. The Western Army's fighting will was not strong in the first place, and they were beaten repeatedly. After a few blows, he immediately lost his will to fight and turned around and ran away.
At this time, Shang Yi also arranged an artillery position in the main formation. A series of artillery fires directly hit the main formation of the Western Army. The main formation was immediately thrown into chaos. In addition, the troops who went out to fight also retreated in defeat. The soldiers Some of them were still determined to hold on, but they ignored Zhang Xianzhong's greetings and fled one after another. The men and horses trampled each other and crowded, and many people were injured and killed.
Upon seeing this, Shang Yi immediately ordered the entire army to attack and launched a full-scale charge against the Western Army. However, the 70,000 Western Army was simply vulnerable and was immediately defeated.