Chapter 1025 Coincidentally

Chapter 1025 Coincidentally

Chapter 1025 Coincidentally
In the camp, groaning and wailing were heard constantly.

At least two to three thousand people lay in separate camps separated by trenches.

Doctors ran back and forth, and a large number of civilians were recruited to take care of the patient.

They had all read books like "Endemic Diseases" (first edition), but after careful comparison, most of the symptoms did not match. They were at a loss and had no idea what was going on.

The imperial physician Huangfu Fanghui even followed the army to the southern expedition, but he could not explain anything and could only treat the symptoms he could identify.

"It has rained a lot since late spring, and many potholes are filled with water. This is called 'stagnant water.' When there is too much stagnant water, mosquitoes breed. This is malaria. Treat it according to the prescription." As he spoke, he picked up his pen to issue orders and allocated medicinal materials.

It is hard to say whether the medicinal herbs are useful or not.

There were prescriptions for treating malaria in the late Han Dynasty, but according to his observation, the effect was very poor. Perhaps only medicinal materials produced in special places can have better effects?
But there is no other way now, so it’s better than nothing.

Malaria is very troublesome.

He talked to the emperor about this, and the emperor thought that stagnant water was the most likely to breed mosquitoes, while flowing rivers were better. After mosquitoes bit people with leprosy, they would bite other people, and it would be easy for them to spread the disease. Over time, more and more people in the camp would fall ill, and it would eventually become unmanageable.

The emperor also believed that mosquitoes could only fly a few dozen steps, or at most a hundred steps, so it would be enough to clean up the stagnant ponds within a hundred steps.

Huangfu Fanghui was skeptical about this, but the emperor insisted on including it.

This time, the military camp did the same thing and filled in many ponds, but the problem was that it was not perfect.

With such a large army, and numerous rivers, lakes, and ponds around, it is impossible to fill them.

The camps stretched out for a long distance, and trenches were laid between each individual camp to prevent the spread of camp noise or the enemy from breaking through one camp and taking the next one directly. In short, it was impossible not to be bitten by mosquitoes.

But this move does reduce the possibility of abuse and is generally effective. Otherwise, more people would have died.

"The rain has stopped in the past few days, so let the woodcutters go out in large numbers and bring back more dry firewood." Huangfu Fanghui gave another order.

Drinking hot water is also recommended in "Fengtu Diseases".

Why just a suggestion? Because it is hard to do.

Let's not talk about the restriction on firewood collection, the Liang army was not so bad. But the surrounding environment, there are many lakes, swamps, water plants and reeds, these things are not easy to burn, it takes a lot of effort to collect, and it is not enough - setting up camps and camps is conducive to firewood collection, which is a very important advantage.

Furthermore, the continuous rain added to the difficulties.

The soldiers might not even be able to eat hot meals, and could only chew dry food that had been preserved for some time and drink raw water.

As for the small amount of charcoal that appeared during the Han Dynasty, it was too little and impossible to transport it over long distances because there was no such capability.

Huangfu Fanghui signed orders and summarized at the same time.

The book "Endemic Diseases" still needs to be deleted, revised and supplemented. The more humid and hotter the place, the more dangerous it is and the easier it is to get sick. "Poisonous insects" and "epidemic insects" seem to come not only from water, but also from soil, air and wind. Overall, there are much more of them than in the relatively dry and cold north.

At the same time, he also discovered a phenomenon: Shouchun was much better.

It seems that the earlier a place becomes a city and the more radically its surroundings change, the less likely it is to get sick, while sparsely populated wastelands where wild animals roam are much more dangerous.

At the end of writing, he simply put down his pen.

This battle should not be fought in the summer. If we wait until winter, won’t there be fewer pests and diseases? At least the mosquitoes will be gone.

******
In the camp, Zhang Shuo had just put on his armor.

The soldiers were not in a very good mood.

It was because it rained every day and the camp was so wet that I almost grew hair on my body. It was so uncomfortable.

Not to mention that people kept falling ill and being sent to rear camps for isolation, which hit morale.

By the way, not having hot meals and hot soup is okay for a few days, but if it happens frequently, it will be really demoralizing.

However, after the military order was issued, they quickly organized themselves and prepared to set off.

Zu Yue's general Xu Liu had already set out with two to three thousand men, following the enemy's tracks and pursuing them in the direction of Hefei.

The Liang army, as the successor, set out one day later.

This was undoubtedly a bold move.

Zhang Shuo judged that after Shanxia retreated, the Jin navy on the Huai River in the north would definitely retreat as well.

In this way, there will be no worries in the future.

As for whether there will be reinforcements to support the Jin army, it is unlikely.

Li Chong of Xuzhou and Le Kai of Nanyang will both launch attacks to tie down part of the enemy forces.

Li Zhong might not be able to hold back many people. After all, the water in the lower reaches of the Huai River is powerful and the river is wider. If one is not careful, he will be left on the south bank. Going south from Xuzhou to Jianye is the most difficult and least desirable route among all the routes, unless the defenders are defeated at the first touch.

Lucky can actually restrain some people.

In fact, this is enough. The most powerful troops of Jin State are the soldiers of Jingzhou. Just hold them back. The Jin court used to call Huaiyin the "Northern Palace" and Huainan the "Western Palace", because the generals guarding these two places often have the titles of generals with the words "North" and "West" and can set up their own palaces. Now that Zu Yue has rebelled and Huainan is in chaos, the title of "Western Palace" may go to the governor of Jingzhou. As for whether the "Northern Palace" will change hands, it is hard to say.

After the army was assembled and ready to set out, the military supervisor Cai Yi hesitated to speak.

He was not afraid, but it was his duty.

To be honest, if he were in Zhang Shuo's position, he would definitely do the same thing and go south to pursue the enemy, but he is now a military supervisor and his responsibilities are different, so he has to consider other aspects.

After Zhang Shuo tried to draw his sword back into the sheath, he saw that Cai Yi looked unhappy and asked, "Why is Yuanzi like this?"

Since Zhang Shuo asked, Cai Yi no longer hid the truth and said directly: "Commander-in-chief, what if the Jin navy on the Huai River does not retreat? By then, the army is far away in Hefei, and the rear food supply is cut off. Can they hold out for long?" Zhang Shuo pondered for a moment and said: "If everything must be done with extreme caution before taking action, then it is what is called 'building a strong camp and fighting a stupid battle' in martial arts. This time I was attacking Huainan, but I didn't expect the Jin people to come so quickly, and it became them attacking and I defending. Now the enemy is retreating, what else should I wait for if I don't chase them?"

"What if the enemy pretends to retreat to lure the enemy?" Cai Yi asked.

"We have to chase them." Zhang Shuo insisted, "Now all the counties in Huainan are waiting and watching. If we can chase them to Hefei, even if we are unable to capture it, the counties in the north of Huainan may change their flags. In addition--"

At this point, he turned his head and looked towards the north, saying: "The Jiangdong navy is really annoying. They always cut off our retreat and cut off our food supply. This is really worrying. So we need to follow the old wisdom of Cao Wei and cultivate land in Huainan to raise food nearby."

"Military farming?" Cai Yi was really shocked and couldn't help but look at Zhang Shuo a few more times.

"Deng Ai settled in Huaibei and Huainan in the past. There were 20,000 people in Huaibei and 30,000 people in Huainan. There were 40,000 people in the twelve divisions. They were both farming and guarding. In six or seven years, 30 million hu of grain were stored in Huaibei." Zhang Shuo said, "Unfortunately, most of the land and canals that were settled back then have been abandoned, and many of them have been blocked. It will take a lot of effort to repair them. If I still guard Huainan, I will recruit soldiers and civilians this winter to repair ponds and irrigation canals. When the grain is harvested in Huainan, what will I be afraid of even if the Huai River is cut off?"

Cai Yi was speechless for a moment.

Zhang Shuo was more of a farming general than a military general.

His main purpose of going south was to expand the occupied area so that he could concentrate on farming and storing grain in the rear.

"Don't try to persuade me any more." Zhang Shuo stepped out first, his voice drifting from afar: "If you don't dare to go in now, you will regret it too late."

******
June 25th, Tianshui.

There is a military report from the front every few days, most of which are about the northern grasslands, which is also what Shao Xun is most concerned about.

As for the message from Zhang Shuo's camp, he didn't care much about it.

It's a bit surprising though.

Zu Yue kept delaying and finally got into trouble.

According to the original plan, Zu Yue started the uprising in Shouchun, and then incited as many people as possible to join in, cooperating with Zhang Shuo's troops who were heading south, so as to change the color of the entire Huainan area.

But the first step failed.

There were long delays, one moment demanding food and equipment to paralyze the Jianye court; the next moment adjusting the defenses and disbanding or sending away unreliable troops; the next moment going to Xuzhou to move the families of officers, otherwise they would not be willing to join the rebellion. In short, there were so many things that eventually made the Jianye court smell something was wrong.

Shao Xun was basically certain that the Jianye court had concluded discussions some time before Zu Yue launched the uprising and had begun appointing officials and mobilizing troops.

Zu Yue paralyzed them, and they also paralyzed Zu Yue.

So by the time Zu Yue started the rebellion, the main force of the Jin army had already arrived at Chaohu Lake. When Xu Liu went south, Lu Wan, the commander-in-chief of Liyang's land and water forces, had already arrived in Hefei, and the vanguards of both sides collided head-on.

Zhang Shuo decided to march south to Chengde to engage in a battle with the main naval and land forces of the Jin army. This was quite risky because their rear was unstable.

But Shao Xun did not stop.

As the saying goes, a general is not bound by the orders of his king when he is away from home. There was no need for Zhang Shuo to write this letter to make his intentions clear.

What is the use?

If you escape alone and flee back to Huaibei, you will still be beheaded. You are the governor, holding full power and taking full responsibility. It is impossible for you to avoid prosecution just because you have given a warning in advance.

Shao Xun is not very clear about the current progress of the war.

He even suspected that the navy had been completely wiped out, which was a difficult problem.

So, today he decided to write a letter back to Zhang Shuo, which would be drafted by Secretary-General Lu Chen.

"Several key points. First, repair the Erxishi mountain city and water fort to accommodate the naval garrison."

This is actually a place for the navy to avoid war and establish a fleet.

Although the existence of the fleet is always ridiculed, it is not useless. Combined with water forts, wooden stakes and even iron chains, a passage connecting the north and the south can be barely maintained.

But this cannot be accomplished in a short period of time, it will take at least several months.

"Second, if we can control Shaobi, then we will repair the pond. If we cannot, try to seize the good farmland as much as possible. I will send Hu and Han men to cultivate the land there."

Military farming was a must, because even if there were water forts, they could still be destroyed and the north and the south would be separated again as the navy's combat power was far inferior to that of Jiangdong.

In other words, crossing the river from Henan to attack Huainan often only has a short window of several months, and the ability to sustain is insufficient. If grain can be collected in Huainan, this dilemma can be greatly alleviated. By then, the Jiangdong navy will not even come over because it is of little use.

"Third, keep an eye on the soldiers of our ancestral army and don't let them escape."

Zhang Shuo reported that Zu Huan led 3,000 men eastward to take over various counties. Halfway through the journey, the soldiers started to make noise and half of them simply dispersed.

Where did these people go? Of course, they ran back to Xuzhou to reunite with their families.

Most of the troops left in Zu Yue's hands are in a state of flux, so we must be on guard against them.

“Fourth, if you encounter a major epidemic, do not force yourself, but do what you can.”

"Fifth, do not kill the surrendered."

"Sixth, withdraw the Proton Army. They have suffered too many casualties."

"That's all. Please feel free to polish the sentences. Once you're done, I'll send it off quickly."

"I obey your order." Lu Chen replied.

Shao Xun nodded, then stood in front of the map and carefully looked at the Yinshan Mountains that stretched from east to west.

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(End of this chapter)