Now, outside Wuzhou City, the only one with a large amount of food reserves is the First Mixed Brigade. Although the supply column of the First Brigade has stored a large amount of military rations in Changzhou Island and other places, it can only guarantee the food supply of the First Mixed Brigade for fifteen days.
The transportation efficiency of the Sanshui Joint Logistics Base has gradually declined as the traffic lines continue to lengthen. In particular, the joint logistics base has a limited number of steam tugs, and has to use a large number of requisitioned local wooden boats to transport supplies. These unpowered ships are on the Xijiang River.
Going upstream against the current is very slow. The transfer to Zhaoqing is already very difficult.
We originally expected to seize the grain trade market in Wuzhou and seize the local grain reserves to replenish the supply of military grain. However, according to various intelligence, Xiong Wencan has already transported the grain first. Now even if Wuzhou opens the city without blood, there will not be much grain stock.
No matter where you go, you may not be able to feed the local people.
The most troublesome thing is that Guangdong's food supply has long been dependent on Guangxi. Now with the outbreak of war, Guangxi's food supply has been completely cut off. The food supply of Guangdong Province has fallen on the head of the Senate. The rice transported from Southeast Asia has to come from Linzhou.
Gao, Sanya, Kaohsiung and other places were transferred to Guangzhou. As the supply chain lengthened, the food supply crisis became apparent.
Now, if the First Brigade assists refugees, even if it is based on the low standard of "not starving to death", the food reserves can only last for about a week. Even if Wuzhou is taken immediately, the food reserves in the city may not be much, but the burden of the population will be on their backs.
Yes - the first part of Xiong Wencan's arson plan must be to burn the already scarce food in the city.
If the refugees are not assisted, the military food can naturally be guaranteed, but if the refugees are allowed to flee and fend for themselves, many people will starve to death. This is first of all a loss of precious people, and secondly, this kind of "failure to save people"
It will seriously damage the image of "benevolence, justice" and "love for the people" that the Senate has been painstakingly creating, and will be detrimental to subsequent civil work.
"I think this refugee must be rescued." Zhu Mingxia said after thinking over and over again.
"Let the troops eat less and distribute more. If we all drink gruel together, we can at least last a few more days." Zhu Quanxing shook his head: "The question is what to do next? The possibility of getting enough food from Wuzhou
It is already infinitely low, and we are now at the end of the supply line, in our weakest state."
It was originally thought that relying on the supplies from Xijiang, the first brigade's logistical supplies would be the easiest, but based on their transportation capabilities, when the distance reached far enough, the supply weaknesses were completely exposed.
"Now we can only take one step at a time. If Wuzhou City is to be captured, the people also need relief!" Zhu Mingxia frowned.
While they were discussing, the orderly came to report that Xu Xu had brought the old man who was clamoring to see the leader.
Zhu Mingxia was startled. Xu Xu could usually handle this kind of situation. He brought the old man to see him, which showed that he had important information. Thinking that Xu Xu had said that there was a "lone wolf" from the Intelligence Bureau operating in the city - the old man was probably
Just his traffic officer or something.
"Let them in."
Half an hour ago, Xu Xu had specifically interrogated Li Wensheng. As an intelligence officer, he was already familiar with Cantonese vernacular and could converse effortlessly. When he heard the emergency contact code given by the other party, he nodded secretly.
He looked at Li Wensheng and asked, "Do you know Luo Yangming? Did he ask you to bring this letter out?"
Li Wensheng finally met the leader and was just thinking about how to speak. Suddenly the Australian opposite him asked. He was startled and nodded immediately: "It's the boss of the little old man."
Only then did he reveal his identity and relationship with Luo Yangming.
"...Now that there is chaos in the city, I have specially asked you to entrust this letter to the chief, saying that it can save the people of Wuzhou from disaster..." After speaking, he shook his head and took out an oil paper bag from the sole of his shoe.
Xu Xu nodded and saw that Li Wensheng was struggling for half a night and was extremely sleepy, with bowel sounds coming from time to time, so he asked someone to bring him tea and snacks.
The orderly brought a cup of tea and a pack of snacks wrapped in oil paper. Li Wensheng tasted a piece. It was crispy, fragrant and sweet, and tasted pretty good. Li Wensheng glanced at the oil paper package and saw two lines of words written on it, Guangzhou City
Produced by Zhang Ji, Big World's special cookies - Australia's century-old secret recipe.
This Australian snack is really delicious. The old man thought to himself and felt a lot calmer.
He opened the oil-paper package with permission. Inside was a letter, written by the owner of a certain company in Sanshui. He opened the seal, took out two pages of paper, and read it close to the lantern.
The content of the letter was unremarkable. It was about the current siege of Wuzhou. If something unexpected happened to him, the accounts left by both parties, how to deal with the goods, and what arrangements should be made - very consistent with the identity of a businessman who is in danger and makes arrangements for his funeral.
Even if someone searches for it, there won't be any problem.
The secret is that the information is written with secret writing potion in the blank space between the lines of words.
There is nothing unusual about the secret writing potion of the Foreign Intelligence Service. It is mainly rice water - it can be said that secret writing potion is available everywhere. After applying it with iodine solution, the blue handwriting appeared immediately.
The blue regular characters are densely packed, even in the blank space on the back. Xu Xu looked carefully, raised his head and smiled at Li Wensheng: "Thank you so much! This is a great gift!"
Zhu Mingxia looked at the content of the secret letter that Xu Xu had copied out by hand. The content was a report from Lone Wolf. The first part was about the situation in Wuzhou City. First, the people in the city were unstable. He had already contacted a group of powerful local people in the city.
In order to protect their lives and property, these people have taken control of part of the local army and young men in the city, and have protected important government offices and warehouses. However, there are many rebels in the city and they cannot control the whole city. Invite Fubo Army
Launch an attack as soon as possible to restore order in the city to avoid a large-scale loss of order. Finally, he also specifically mentioned that Xiong Wencan's plan to burn the city was imminent. With the collapse of order in the city, large-scale arson may occur at any time, with disastrous consequences.
"It seems that the situation is very urgent..." Zhu Mingxia read the letter and asked Li Wensheng a few more questions, realizing that the situation in the city was already very serious. News also came from the observation post that there was a faint light of fire in the city, and there seemed to be something.
The place caught fire.
If a fire breaks out in Wuzhou, the consequences will be disastrous. Not only will all the remaining food in the city be destroyed, but tens of thousands of people in Wuzhou will also be displaced. At that time, they will have to face tens of thousands of people without food, clothing, and homes.
Refugees. Due to circumstances and reasons, the Fubo Army wanted to rescue them. The joint logistics headquarters in Sanshui not only had to transport food, but also transported a large amount of relief materials to resettle the people on site.
Even if the First Brigade captured Wuzhou City, it would have no choice but to retreat with the refugees due to such supply pressure, retreating to the rear where supplies were relatively unobstructed - a total defeat.
The second part is about the situation of the defenders in the city. First, it is rumored that Xiong Wencan and some important officials have fled Wuzhou...
"Let him run away?!" Zhu Quanxing, who came to attend the meeting, was a little disappointed.
"It's a bit difficult for us to block Wuzhou airtight." Zhu Mingxia said lightly, "If you run away, just run away. If you really want to capture him alive, it will be troublesome."
The letter specifically states that all the people in the city who are preparing to "take action" have agreed on a secret signal, and a white cloth strip is tied on the left arm as a mark. Important government offices, warehouses, towers and other buildings that have been controlled have hung double lights as a signal. I hope Fubo will
Pay attention to identification when the army enters the city.
Looking at the following content, it is mentioned that the main force of the Ming army in Wuzhou City has retreated in two directions to the west and north of Guangxi - this is not a secret, because the scouts have long discovered it; then there is the place where the Ming army stores grain.
, the secret letter mentioned that a lot of the original grain reserves in Wuzhou City had been shipped to Teng County.
"How about we go to Teng County?" Zhu Quanxing suggested, "If the information is true, we can at least get a large amount of food."
Zhu Mingxia nodded, this was a good idea, but they still didn't know where the food was stored in Teng County - the Ming army's grain station may not be located in Teng County. The situation in Wuzhou is more urgent now, and it is not appropriate to divide the troops first.
"Let's settle the matter in Wuzhou first." He looked at his watch. It was now 2:30 in the morning, and there were nearly three hours before the sky would light up. "We have to take action as soon as possible, otherwise it will really cause a fire in the whole city.
It's irreversible." Zhu Mingxia said, "As soon as the sky lights up, we will start attacking as soon as possible! We must capture Wuzhou as quickly as possible!"
"Understood!" Zhu Quanxing responded, "The troops are ready."
Then Zhu Mingxia held a short meeting with the main officers of the First Brigade and reported the intelligence sent back by the lone wolf. A few things were initially decided. The first was to resettle and provide relief to the refugees. Wuzhou, a major commercial town at the junction of Guangdong and Guangxi,
The Senate must be firmly controlled, so we must win over the people of Wuzhou and lay a solid political foundation. Even if the First Brigade's own food supply is tight, it cannot let the refugees leaving the city starve. Not only that, some shacks must be built to accommodate the refugees.
The old, weak, sick and disabled among us have a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
The second is to solve the current food problem. It is decided that the army will reduce the supply of one meal from tomorrow and supply the saved rations to the refugees. Now that we know the Ming army’s food collection points, according to the usual style of the Fubo army, naturally
I want to go hunting in Grass Valley. I decided to send scouts to Teng County to collect further detailed information before making the next decision.
"Has the tweeter been installed?" Zhu Mingxia asked.
"It has been set up." Xu Xu said.
"You wrote a "Letter to the People of Wuzhou" and started broadcasting immediately. Although it is probably not a secret in the city that Xiong Wencan wants to set fire to the city, you still need to take off his underwear. In the meantime, give some to the gangs in the city.
Pressure. Let them know that taking advantage of the situation will never end well."
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Next update Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 326