Dominate the Country

"The eternal honor is fought for in an instant."

"The teacher will not raise the army again, and the time will not come again."

Chen Ming's speech was spread one by one, and naturally reached the ears of Chen Jianbai and others on the reviewing platform. These two sentences were particularly touching to them.

They are the most direct descendants of Chen Han, they are high-ranking officers of the Fu Han Army, and of course they think differently from the soldiers who are looking for a piece of military merit. What they hope for is wealth and honor, and generations of nobles. In the future, when the Chen family sits on the throne, they will be the founding heroes. Whether they are dukes or marquises, they are rich and honorable, and they are all generations of nobles who share the fate of the country. When Chen Ming went up to the reviewing platform and repeated what he said to Feng Shaohua to them, Chen Jianbai and others were so excited that their faces turned red and their necks became thick. The eight words "generations receive the same honors as the founding of the country" made their eyes red, and they swore to Chen Ming their determination and will to be loyal to Chen Han until death.

The sound of cannons rang out for the second time, accompanied by the sound of exciting trumpets and drums. Eight formations, each with 250 soldiers, lined up neatly and passed under the reviewing platform.

The iron armor on their bodies made a rustling sound when they marched. The soldiers were either holding muskets or swords and guns. Those holding muskets had sharp bayonets; those holding swords and guns had shiny swords and guns; Chen Ming stood in the middle of the reviewing platform with a sword, looking solemnly at the two thousand soldiers passing by him one by one.

"Drive out the Tartars, restore China; wash away the Hu dust, rebuild the mountains and rivers..."

The whole time was not a long review, but it had a great impact on the Fu Han Army on the northern line. Chen Ming brought a bunch of medals and a bunch of commissions for promotions, promises, hope, money and the future.

That afternoon, when Chen Ming's ceremonial guard appeared on the front line of the Fu Han Army, the Qing army on the opposite side knew that a big man had arrived. No wonder the Fu Han Army was howling so much. The morale of the Fu Han army was surging. If the Qing army wanted to defeat the morale of the Fu Han army at this time, launching a fierce attack would naturally be the best choice. But the Gansu army on the opposite side did not dare to take the initiative to attack the solid defense line of Linru Town, which was to die.

That night, Chen Ming rewarded the soldiers on the northern line for the last time, and the wine and meat prepared when he came were completely wiped out.

The next morning, Chen Ming's Lu Bo ceremonial guard left Linru Town and went to Xiang County along the Beiru River. There were still so many soldiers guarding, and when passing through Ruzhou and Jiaxian along the way, the wine and meat silver coins that had been consumed before were full again, but this time they had a boat for transportation.

Xiang County and Xuzhou are separated by 70 miles. As a systematic defense war zone, Huang An's position has always been in the most dangerous Xuzhou City. In the first battle last year, Xuzhou was surrounded by the Qing army three times on all sides, the longest of which was in the autumn and winter seasons. The Qing army continued the encirclement from the beginning of autumn to the beginning of winter. It was only after the news of the Qing army's defeat in the battle of northern Jiangsu came that the siege of Xuzhou was resolved.

That siege was the most severe test Huang An had experienced since entering Xuzhou. The Qing army surrounded but did not fight, and shouted every day to shake the morale of the defending troops, forcing Huang An to release false news to stabilize the troops. But at that time, Xuzhou and the base area had cut off direct contact by land, and all news could only be communicated through carrier pigeons, which meant that whatever Huang An said was what it was, which inevitably made people suspicious, suspicious...

It was not until October that the Qing army directly withdrew the siege, and the news of Chen Ming's victory over the Qing army in the battle of northern Jiangsu came, and the crisis disappeared silently.

Huang An was also relieved. By this year, half a year had passed, and Xuzhou had not been besieged once. Earlier, the Qing army was confused by the news that Chen Ming had released about the Northern Expedition. A large number of troops were transferred out of the battlefield and assembled in Guide and Kaifeng in the east. Then the Grand Commander changed the Northern Expedition to the Westward Expedition. Huang An said that the old nest had not been completely consolidated yet, so what was the point of the Grand Commander's Northern Expedition? Agui led more than 20,000 people to Hubei in the south, and he didn't even have time to bring a cannon. As a result, he was easily defeated by the Grand Commander's troops, and Xinyang Prefecture was lost. The road between Henan and Hubei was completely cut off.

In the past six months of this year, Huang An was very relaxed and comfortable, especially two months ago when the Grand Commander opened up the connection between the base and Hubei. A large amount of grain, rice, medicinal materials, salt, gunpowder, cloth, cotton, etc. were continuously transported into Xuzhou City, which made Huang An greatly relieved. Now Xuzhou City has no shortage of food and wages, a full source of soldiers, and sufficient ammunition. Even if the Qing army sieges the city for another year, he is not afraid.

Huang An led a battalion of soldiers to meet Chen Ming thirty miles outside Xiangxian County, and he was also thirty miles away. When Chen Ming arrived in Xiang County, he did not mention the banquet and awards, but only talked about the vast uninhabited area outside Xiang County. The damage done by the war team here was really too great.

From Xiang County to the north, east, and southeast, looking around, there was no trace of human habitation in the dozens of miles.

The Beiru River runs diagonally from the northwest to the southeast of Xiangxian County, and the county seat of Xiangxian County is located on the right bank of the river. Chen Ming thought that on the way here, although there were fewer villages on the left bank of Xiangxian County, and abandoned and deserted villages could still be seen from time to time, they were still inhabited. Moreover, not far from the left bank of the Beiru River are two opposing hills - Lingwu Mountain and Shoushan Mountain, with a vast plain of twenty to thirty miles in between, and beyond that are the Ziyun Mountains - Guishan Mountain, Jianshan Mountain, Baishi Mountain, and more There is Ziyun Mountain, as the last city in the Fuhan Army's defense system, firmly guarding the 'gate'. In the past year or two, the Qing army had not rushed to the back of Ziyun Mountain, but they were quickly driven out. And as the 40,000 recruits from Yunyang became more and more mature, the gate here became more and more mature. It's been a year since I heard the sound of Qing soldiers' hooves behind Ziyun Mountain.

"We dug trenches, and they also dug trenches. We set up defensive positions, built earthen cities, and built strongholds to lock us directly in the city." Huang An pointed to the traces left by the Qing army's camp outside the city and said to Chen Ming , “Here in Xiangxian County, it’s just ordinary "When your Highness arrived in Xuzhou, he knew what a big battle was." Because the Qing army built a fortified city, two large pits were dug outside Xuzhou City, and now there is water at the bottom of the pit. I thought they were two water pools that were about to dry up.

Whenever the Qing army retreated from the earthen walls, earthen cities, and fortifications built by the Qing army, the Fuhan army in the city would come out and destroy all the fortifications. Many of the earthen and wooden structures were transported into the city, or piled up in defensive positions. The high ground, which was once a flat area outside Xuzhou City, is now filled with ravines and uneven terrain, with no trace of the original trace visible at all.

The earthworks that were transported to the city were also built by Huang An at each of the four corners of the city. A high platform was built, which was higher than the height of the city. It was equipped with cannons, watchtowers, and buckets. The entire Xuzhou City had become too large in the past year or so. Too much.

Although he has never seen Xuzhou with his own eyes, Chen Ming feels that Huang An's description is accurate. The northern front of the Han Dynasty was very simple. The eastern front was divided into three parts: Xuzhou-Xiangcheng, Yancheng and Wuyang and Yexian of Nanyang. The most miserable place here was Huang'an.

"Drive out the Tartars and restore China; wash away the dust and rebuild the mountains and rivers..."

In Xiangxian and Xuzhou, the cheers and excitement of the soldiers, the pride of the decorated soldiers, the glory on the faces of the officers who received the commendation, the changes in the entire army's organizational structure, and the longing brought about by the promotion of the position, all finally turned into morale, high-spirited High morale.

There are also people who have daydreams about princes, generals and ministers, who live together with the country: eternal honors are fought for in an instant; teachers are no longer promoted, and time will never come again.

The simple sixteen words said everything. As for national justice and Huayi Defense, they can only wrap themselves around the four pillars of fame and wealth like vines, trying their best to make themselves look more dazzling.

From Xiangcheng and Xuzhou to Yancheng, the situation in the latter was much better than that in Xuzhou. The confrontation between the Qing army and the Fuhan army in Yancheng was mostly across the Shahe River. In the military reports and folders submitted by Chen Hongtao, Shahe Alliance became a word that appeared very frequently.

"Since the fall of Xinyang, most of the Qing army went south to Runing Prefecture, and the Qing troops outside Yancheng were completely withdrawn. They were deployed along the Yinghe River, from Linying in the north to Xihua and Zhoujiakou in Chenzhou Prefecture. And Shangshui, and then Shangcai in the south, the strength of the troops is at least half smaller than that of the Shahe joint camp, and the remaining soldiers have been transferred to Runing Mansion. "

The expeditionary force's return to the west solved too many problems for the military, government and finance of the base area. Just like this year's Eastern Front, whether in Xuzhou or Yancheng, the pressure the Fuhan Army endured was much less than last year. Moreover, the Fuhan Army had the blessed land of Hubei, and a lot of military merit fields were allocated. The morale of the entire army was high, which was also very different from last year.

Last year, the entire base could only feel truly happy when Chen Ming received good news. Besides, even when Chen Erbao broke the Shahe Alliance, his excitement was just average. Because everyone knows that the future of the Fuhan Army does not depend on how many battles are won in the base area, but on how the progress is made by the governor.

"We still focus on defense in Henan. In the short term, our strategic plan is to isolate the north and the south and divide the Manchu and Qing Dynasties into two..."

After inspecting the Henan front line, Chen Ming was really relieved about the current battle situation of the Fuhan Army in Henan. Hundreds of cannons were gathered on each front, and the ammunition was very sufficient. The super firepower combined with the solid fortifications made it impossible for the Qing army to do anything no matter how many soldiers they had. An absolute iron wall, impregnable.

Yes, on the great plains of the north, the Qing army's cavalry was very powerful, but so what? I won’t fight north now! I go south, I go east!

After Chen Ming's troops captured Wuchang, the army took advantage of the victory to plunder the territory, and at the same time asked Liu Dezhao to quickly restore the shipbuilding industry in the prosperous business circle of Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hankou. There was also Yueyang captured by the Navy Battalion, which was officially the shipbuilding base of Hunan warships. A large amount of intact timber storage, tung oil, hemp silk, bamboo, hemp rope, canvas, etc., all fell to Fuhan intact. in the hands of the army.

Therefore, the Fuhan Army formed three shipbuilding bases in Jiujiang, Wuhan, and Yueyang. Chen Ming ordered them to go all out to build various warships. In addition to the small boats tossed in the Yangtze River, there were also bird boats and warships based on the Southeast rice boats. Thunder boat. The latter has not yet appeared in this era. During the Jiaqing period, the Qing army imitated the Southeast rice boat and made it into a tingling boat, with the intention of destroying foreign bandits and patrolling the sea.

This kind of warship is certainly not comparable to the European warships of the same period. All Chinese warships are probably considered "clumsy" in the eyes of Europeans, but Chen Ming only intends to use them to fight against the Qing army's foreign navy. The displacement of a large-sized thunder ship can generally reach 250 tons, with a straight bow and a steep hull. It can usually be equipped with eight to ten cannons. More than that will damage the hull.

Chen Ming knows nothing about naval warships. Except for knowing a clipper bow and the future development direction of warships, he knows nothing else.

But now he doesn't need to build any first-class warships. He only needs to build enough warships, recruit enough sailors, train enough gunners, and then flatten the Qing army's foreign navy at the mouth of the Yangtze River in one wave, and then communicate with Zhoushan, then the Qing Dynasty will really be separated into north and south.

They may still be able to communicate via the Yangtze River, but the silver, food, and various materials from the south, the bulk of the materials, will not reach the north at all. I really don't know how the millions of Eight Banners in Beijing will survive.

The Yangtze River is full of people who make a living on the water. Sailors can also be recruited on the banks of Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake, not to mention the surface fleet in the logistics force of the Fu Han Army, which is a ready-made navy reserve. Chen Ming decided to postpone this battle until the beginning of next spring, giving the three shipyards half a year and the navy half a year. In addition, Chen Jigong must also prepare in Zhoushan, and on the eve of the action, he must say hello to Zhang Qiu and Zheng brothers in the southeast...

On July 20, when Chen Ming set off from Nanyang to Lushan, the Fu Han Army's talent discussion ceremony ended hastily, and then the Jichou year of Chongzhen's 142nd year of the imperial examination officially kicked off in the newly renovated examination hall in Lushan...