Chapter 1019: Full of Vitality
Chapter 1019: Full of Vitality (Additional chapter for leader Qing Youjinxin)
The heavy rain finally fell.
In an instant, the surrounding areas were shrouded in rain and fog.
The sounds of running and shouting could be heard from both sides of the Yingshui River.
The water level has been quite high these past two days. In fact, it has been raining for quite some time in various parts of Yuzhou, and the water level of the Yingshui River has risen sharply, causing the soldiers who were unloading cargo to scream and shout.
"Someone fell into the water!" The shrill cry suddenly came through the rain and fog, startling people.
Zhang Shuo, wearing a straw raincoat, walked past the pond without even looking at it.
Can you believe that there are soldiers in the navy who can't even swim well?
He was very excited at the beginning, but now he suddenly realized that compared with the Jin navy, the Daliang navy was a real weak force, which was exactly the opposite of the combat effectiveness of the two countries' land armies.
"General Zhang." Yin Yi stood up inside the awning and forced a smile reluctantly.
Zhang Shuo glanced at the extremely clean shoes and boots at Yin Yi's feet, then looked at the wooden chair placed in the corner of the awning, sat down on the Hu bed in silence, and took off his shoes and boots.
Yin Yi's expression changed immediately, his lips trembled slightly twice, and in the end he said nothing.
"It was me who urged him before, but Master Zu Shishao said the time was not ripe. Later, I stopped urging him, but Master Zu Shishao became anxious to start the rebellion again. Why?" Zhang Shuo asked after throwing his boots on the ground.
"There were reasons for not fighting before." Yin Yi said patiently.
"tell me the story."
"The families of the military academies are all in Xuzhou and have not yet moved. The food and fodder are quite insufficient and can only support the needs of three months. It also took some time to win over the nobles in the county."
"How is it now?"
"Most of the families of the military academies have been moved here. If it weren't for the pseudo-Jin crown prince Sima Pei's inspection tour to Jiangbei, the move would have been much smoother." Yin Yi said, "The food and fodder are enough to last for more than half a year."
"Is that all?" Zhang Shuo asked in surprise.
"That's all." Yin Yi replied.
"It's better to start early." Zhang Shuo's face fell, and he said unhappily: "Either delay it until autumn or winter, or start the fight two months ago. What's the point of starting a rebellion now?"
Yin Yi was so angry after being scolded that his words were filled with emotion. He only said, "Wang Dao is not a fool. He was busy persuading the emperor to ascend the throne and had no time to take care of other things. Now he is almost free. It just so happens that Daliang is on a western expedition against Zhang Jun. They think they have a good plan and are about to take action. Moreover, my master asked a wise man in Wu to use the wind horn to predict the weather. He said that Shouchun is worried about the army approaching."
"You believe this?" Zhang Shuo was shocked.
"Why don't you believe it?" Yin Yi was even more shocked.
Zhang Shuo stood up suddenly, too lazy to deal with this man anymore.
He considered it carefully.
In fact, what Yin Yi said is not without reason.
Transferring Zu Yue from Xuzhou was actually only part of the Jianye court's plan. Their ultimate goal was to get Zu Yue to the court and give him a prestigious official position, thus preventing the troops under his command from becoming Zu's family army and being unable to be used by the court.
The emperor's western tour to Guanzhong and the army's expedition to Liangzhou was a great opportunity for the Jianye court, which was unaware of the situation, to deal with its internal problems. But they could have been faster.
Of course, Sima Rui only ascended the throne in March and had a lot of things to deal with, so he was unable to spare time, so he kept calm, which resulted in giving Zu Yue an extra three months.
Now it seems that he didn't make good use of these three months.
Xishi Mountain was under control, and a new city was built on Bagua Mountain. In addition, a batch of food, fodder and equipment were stockpiled, and some of the military school members' families were moved to Shouchun so that they could follow the uprising with confidence.
In addition, there was a serious lack of efforts to win over the officials and wealthy families in Huainan, which might be due to the fear that the news would leak out.
In addition, you should never, ever go to Xuzhou to recruit your old subordinates. Isn't this alerting the enemy?
The Jianye court had already determined that Zu Yue was going to rebel, and Zhang Shuo was sure of this.
Zu Yue seemed to have sensed a hint of danger, so he sent Yin Yi over, intending to start a rebellion immediately...
This response is not too bad. Using the fast to defeat the slow is the essence of military strategy.
Thinking of this, Zhang Shuo stood in front of Yin Yi, stared at him, and asked: "Now that things have come to this, have you made up your mind, Master Zu? You must know that some things cannot be turned back once they are done, and you must not give up halfway, otherwise you will die without a burial place."
Yin Yi's heart trembled when he heard this, and he gritted his teeth and said, "General Zhang, please relax. Hefei seems to have seen something. They neither obey orders nor transport food and grass. If we drag it on, we will have no chance of winning. My master has made up his mind."
Zhang Shuo nodded, then said angrily: "Zu Shishao has been in Shouchun for almost half a year, and he can't even take Hefei, and his army is not very united. He still wants to rebel under such circumstances, it's pure wishful thinking."
"Forget it, forget it. Just give up Shouchun. I will fight this battle, and Zu Shishao can lead his troops to sweep the suburban counties."
"That's it. Go report back quickly."
Yin Yi bowed and took his leave.
This time, Zhang Shuo did not have to wait too long. In the afternoon of the next day, Yin Yi arrived at Yingkou by boat again and entered the camp for a secret meeting.
On the morning of the twenty-third day of the intercalary month, the clouds cleared and the rain stopped.
The first army in the Yingkou camp opened the camp gate and lined up in the wilderness.
One ship after another was pulled out of the pond and began to be loaded with supplies.
The war machine roared and started up.
******
On the day of Sima Rui's family banquet, although the Jianye court had not yet made a formal decision, preliminary preparations had already been made.
The fleet set out from Jianye and gathered in Guangling in just one night. "General Su..." Sima Fei looked at Su Jun somewhat embarrassedly.
"Prince, you can stay in Guangling to transport supplies. I will take care of the fighting in the battlefield." Su Jun clasped his fists and nodded to his younger brother Su Yi.
"Don't worry, brother. I will move my troops to Tangyi tomorrow and set up fences on the road to prevent the thieves from sneaking in here." Su Yi said.
Su Jun stopped talking nonsense and boarded a boat with steady steps.
Behind him, the sound of dense footsteps was heard, and one soldier after another jumped onto the deck and joined the expeditionary team.
The big flag was flying on the river.
The deck was almost filled with silent warriors, their faces filled with numbness.
After the first boat was full of people, the trackers roared in unison, then shouted rhythmic songs, dragged the boat with heavy steps, and headed north.
The brand new ships sailing on the ancient canals are filled with a strange sense of harmony.
Sima Fei looked at the flags flying in the wind and listened to the drums resounding along the river bank, as if he could smell the unique atmosphere of the battlefield. For a moment, he, who was nearly thirty years old, actually felt a passion to fight in the battlefield...
Under the stone city across the river, huge waves surged and crashed against the shore.
Suddenly, the rumbling sound of war drums rang out, and a ship appeared on the river.
Today, the southeast wind was strong, and the large ship coming from Jingkou was sailing upstream at a very fast speed. When it approached the river below Shitou City, it adjusted the sail and slowed down.
A large banner reading "Supervise the Military Affairs of Yangzhou and Jiangbei" appeared on the shore.
This was another position of Houshan Xiashan Yanlin in the Northern Army, so that he could nominally dispatch naval and land troops from various parts of Yangzhou.
The ship was getting closer and slower.
Soon, there was a loud "bang", water splashed from the bow, and the boat dropped anchor more than ten steps away from the shore.
Shan Xia stroked the sword with his left hand and his beard with his right hand, quietly watching the huge ship sailing towards him.
The boat is more than twenty feet long and three feet above the water surface. It looks like a gallery on the river. It can carry six hundred soldiers, who can kill the enemy using rackets, crossbows, iron juice and even individual weapons in the hands of the soldiers.
Without a doubt, this is the culmination of Eastern Wu's shipbuilding technology and the most powerful warship in the entire world. If there is any place with second-best shipbuilding technology, it must be Shu. They like to build linked boats, which look like moving water towers rather than warships and can carry up to 2,000 soldiers.
"Huala" a small boat was lowered from the warship.
A moment later, more than ten people got on the boat and rowed towards the shore.
"Lu Wan greets the governor." General Fenwu, Wu Jun Lu Wan was wearing leather armor and a fake clock, looking very majestic.
"With the help of Lu's son, great things will be accomplished." Shan Xia said with a smile.
There was a clear Wujun accent on the warship, drifting far away with the wind.
The ship belonged to the imperial court, but the boatmen who steered it and the soldiers who fought on it were Lu's men.
"Shao the bandit has unified the northern land, so he must have many elite soldiers and generals." Shan Xia continued, "When dealing with Zu Yue, if the northern troops go south, the chance of victory will be on the navy. This battle depends on Shi Yao."
"I am already past the age of 50, and I am getting old." Lu Wan shook his head and said, "If I hadn't known about the loss of Shouchun, I would have been at home idle. The post of Liyang Navy Commander should be left to the young men."
Shan Xia laughed and said, "Let's talk about it after this battle is over."
While the two were talking, many more ships came from east to west, and most of the people operating the ships were private soldiers of the wealthy families of Eastern Wu.
The safety of Wu is indeed inseparable from them. If they don't support you, to put it bluntly, you won't even be able to gather enough naval officers and soldiers.
In the year when Eastern Wu was destroyed, the Eastern Wu navy registered by the Jin army still had more than 5,000 ships of various sizes, most of which were unmanned and were confiscated by the Jin army.
"Boom boom..." Another burst of drum sounds came from the west.
A large ship of the same type raised its stone anchor and slowly set sail.
The big flag of "Dudu Shitou's naval and land military affairs Sima" fluttered in the wind. This was the new position of Xiyang King Sima Ying.
He led more than 20,000 naval and land troops from Jianye to march westward, and had currently assembled more than 8,000 men. The first batch of 5,000 naval forces led the way to Hefei.
Together with the more than 10,000 navy soldiers from Liyang, the 20,000 naval and cavalry soldiers from Dongguan, and the 5,000 imperial guards and cavalry led by Shan Xia himself, the total army was nearly 60,000 people. They marched westward along the Yangtze River and attacked Huainan in a mighty manner.
Outside the Stone City, the people of Jianye who came to watch the ceremony were endless.
At the most beautiful part of the scenery, Prime Minister Wang Dao quietly looked at the river.
The navy is unprecedentedly powerful, but the land force is slightly insufficient, and it seems a bit top-heavy.
But Jiangdong is like this. You can't have a strong navy and invincible cavalry at the same time. That's not realistic.
Accompanied by Danyang Yin Shanwei, Crown Princess Shan Yinan pointed at where Shan Xia was.
"For this battle, the Jiangdong nobles are still supportive. They have promised to send out more than 40,000 naval and land troops. At present, no less than 5,000 have been assembled and distributed to Jianye, Liyang, and Dongguan. If we win a great victory, Yan Lin's reputation will grow, and he will be the commander-in-chief of China and foreign countries..." Shan Wei said with great enthusiasm.
Shan Yinan had a reserved and subtle smile on his face. Only when he heard the last sentence did he turn his head slightly and look at his cousin calmly.
Shan Wei shut up.
Suddenly, warm cheers broke out outside Stone City, and another larger "Northern Expedition" navy was dispatched.
What a lively scene!
(End of this chapter)