Chapter 745: Winter Campaign
Chapter 745: Winter Campaign
All counties on the south bank of the Yellow River posted notices strictly prohibiting the sale of salt to the north bank, and violators would be severely punished.
But even so, many people and merchants still took risks and tried various means to transport salt to the north bank. In various counties in Hebei, the price of a pound of refined salt had risen to five hundred coins.
Baima County, Dongjun, is a ferry crossing and a hard-hit area for salt traders. In the middle of the night, hundreds of people rushed to the Yellow River carrying large baskets.
Each basket was filled with salt, ranging from thirty to forty kilograms to fifty to sixty kilograms.
They were still several hundred steps away from the Yellow River when suddenly a team of inner guard cavalry rushed out and surrounded the group.
"Mercy! Mercy!" Hundreds of people knelt down and begged loudly for mercy.
The inner guard grabbed one of the leaders and shouted, "How dare you sell illegal salt!"
The leading man was terrified and stammered, "No, it's not private salt. It's all official salt. Someone asked us to transport the salt. As long as we deliver it to the north bank, we will pay one hundred coins for one pound of salt!"
"Is there anyone on the other side to pick me up?"
"Someone is here to help!"
The inner guard general waved his hand and said, "Take it back!"
The internal guards confiscated all the salt and took hundreds of people back to the county town.
There was a punishment camp outside the county town. Hundreds of people were taken to the camp and each of them was beaten with thirty sticks, leaving their skin torn and their flesh shed. Then they were taken back by their families. If they did it again, they would have one hand chopped off.
Thirty thousand internal guards and fifty thousand troops patrolled the south bank of the Yellow River, constantly arresting civilians who were transporting salt to the other side. In just half a month, tens of thousands of people were arrested.
But the salt shop did not stop selling salt, nor did they arrest the merchants who sold salt. They only arrested the people who transported salt across the Yellow River.
Although a small amount of salt escaped and was sent to the other side, about tens of thousands of pounds, which sounds like a lot, but in fact it is only a few hundred stones. For Dou Jiande's army of hundreds of thousands, it is only enough for ten days at most. But even so, it still gave Dou Jiande a glimmer of hope.
This tactic of "besieging the city and leaving a gap" was indeed effective. Dou Jiande put all his energy into smuggling salt. It was not that he did not want to go to the seaside to break ice and get salt, but it was really too difficult to get salt in winter.
Moreover, the cost outweighed the gain. One hundred kilograms of seawater could only produce two kilograms of salt at most. It consumed tens of thousands of strings of manpower and material resources, and caused dozens of soldiers to freeze to death, and in the end, only a few hundred kilograms of coarse salt were obtained.
Unless it is a matter of life and death, Dou Jiande will go to the seaside to get salt at all costs.
Now that salt smuggling can keep one alive, why should one pay such a heavy price?
In late November, several heavy snowfalls swept across Hebei, and the entire province became a world of snow.
Hejian County and Bohai County were also covered with heavy snow, and the whole earth became quiet.
However, the Sui army did not rest. The 100,000-strong army, accompanied by 100,000 camels, used Yangxin County, the capital of Bohai County, as their logistics base and marched northward, continuously capturing county towns.
Leling, Qingchi, Wudi, Yanshan, Nanpi, etc., after capturing Bohai County, continued to move northward into Hejian County.
Hejian County is the largest county in Hebei Province. Its population is mainly concentrated in the west, with very few people in the east. This is directly related to the salinization of the land. However, this saline-alkali land cannot be used to make salt. The salt made from it is extremely bitter and harmful to the body. Even livestock are unwilling to touch it.
Basically, the Yongji Canal was the dividing line. To the west of the Yongji Canal, the land was fertile and the population was large. To the east of the Yongji Canal, the land was barren and the population was extremely sparse. There was only one Lucheng County within a thousand miles. Seizing Lucheng County would control the eastern coast of Hejian County.
But in the northernmost part of Hejian County, there is an extremely important strategic place, the Sanhui Haikou, where the Hutuo River, Juma River and Lushui River meet. The Yongji Canal was built in the Sui Dynasty, and it flows into the sea from here. In later generations, an important city appeared here, Tianjin.
But at that time, this was still a military town called Haikou Town. When the late Emperor Yang Guang conquered Goguryeo, this military town became the most important material distribution center. Xiao Xia sent thousands of large ships to transport supplies from here to Liaodong.
At present, thousands of warehouses are still there, but they are basically empty. Of the original 3,000 garrisons, only 500 are left. However, this area is an extremely good salt field. In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court developed the Changlu Salt Field here.
Dou Jiande was still far from realizing the importance of this place, but Xiao Xia knew that after the 20,000-strong army occupied Lushan County, General Xie Yingdeng led 10,000 troops and 20,000 camels to continue northward.
The soldiers also rode north on horseback, followed by a large camel supply team.
Three days later, the army arrived at Haikou Military Town. The five hundred soldiers thought it was their army coming to the north, so they ran out to greet them. But when they found out that they were facing the Sui army, everyone was dumbfounded.
The Northern Expedition in winter did have its pros and cons. The pros were that the army was unstoppable along the way, without any obstructions or encountering any defenders. The heavy snow blocked everything, including the exchange of information, and even Dou Jiande did not know that the Sui army had already captured the coastal area.
But the disadvantage is also very obvious, that is, material supply. None of the counties along the way can support the supply of an army of 100,000, and the sea is frozen and the warships cannot be supplied. If it were not for the Sui army's 100,000 camels, they would not be able to launch this winter war at all.
This was a battle of national strength. With sufficient supplies and strong national strength, the Sui army was able to march northward in the severe cold and heavy snow. Even if Dou Jiande knew about it, they would not be able to rescue him because they did not have the supplies and transportation to ensure that the army could cross hundreds of miles of snowfields.
But taking over the Hebei coast is only the first step. What is important is the subsequent supply of materials. Otherwise, how can one hundred thousand troops survive the freezing months?
One hundred thousand camels once again began their transportation journey, transporting large amounts of grain, mutton, fodder, black beans, coal cakes, quilts, salt, tea, sugar and other supplies from Yangxin County to the north.
Yangxin County is only more than 100 miles away from the Yellow River. There is a Xihai River that leads directly to the Yellow River. Before the river froze, the Sui army captured Yangxin County and used thousands of ships to transport a large amount of supplies to Yangxin County, establishing the Sui army's first supply city in Hebei.
On this morning, the salt shop in Baima County did not open as usual, but closed directly. At the same time, a notice was posted that the business would be closed for three months, and the government would provide two kilograms of salt to every household every month.
Of course, this purchase restriction was not limited to Baima County, but to the entire counties along the Yellow River, and even the entire Henan Province. Each household could only purchase three kilograms of salt per month, for a period of three months.
The Sui army had completed the closed loop and the loophole for salt smuggling had been closed.
At the same time, the Sui army's internal guards launched a source-clearing operation in counties along the Yellow River, arresting merchants sent from the north, searching for the salt they had hoarded, and offering heavy rewards to whistleblowers, while also imposing heavy penalties on inns and B&Bs that knew about the incident but did not report it.
For a time, all the counties along the Yellow River were in an uproar. From Baima County in the west to Linji County in Qi County in the east, the thousand-mile-long coast of the Yellow River was full of people arresting Hebei merchants and searching for salt stores.
Why start from Baima County? Because to the west of Baima County, on the other side of the Yellow River is Henei County, and to the east of Linji County, on the other side is Bohai County, both of which were the territories of the Sui army.
Not only that, there are hundreds of temporary wooden watchtowers on the south bank of the Yellow River, with soldiers holding telescopes to observe the situation on the ice of the Yellow River. Once they find any small black spots, patrol ice sleds will immediately chase after them.
Although it was possible to secretly cross the Yellow River at night without being discovered by the Sui army's clairvoyance, all official roads leading to the Yellow River were checked by the internal guards. Unless carts were carried by manpower, they could not pass the checkpoints. Moreover, the city gates were closed at night, making it impossible to leave the city.
The Sui army set up a tight net to crack down on all attempts to sell salt to Hebei.
(End of this chapter)