Having said that, Lu Yuan felt that the "surprise attack on Qingzhou" was already a difficult tactical operation for the rebels whose activity space had been compressed to Dengzhou. Zhu Dadian and Gao Qiqian both came to the city in person. Commanding the encirclement and suppression army, the number of officers and soldiers was at a time when their morale was high. According to the news coming from the city, Li Jiucheng, Kong Youde and others were already determined to escape by boat, but were blocked by their subordinates. Obviously, the morale of the rebels had begun to decline. 【Read the latest chapter】
Zhu Mingha, who returned from Jeju Island, holds a different view. He believes that judging from historical records, the backbone of the rebels has never been weak in fighting will. After the great victory in Beima Town, the officers and soldiers never took advantage of the several-month siege of Dengzhou. Not only were the officers and soldiers who entered the city expelled several times, but the rebels also took the initiative to go out of the city to fight many times. Until Li Jiucheng Although they died in battle, the rebels still refused to surrender. After fleeing at sea, they fought many times with the Ming and Korean troops in the Bohai Bay. They did not surrender to the Manchus until they could no longer survive. He can be called a true diehard and a desperado.
"The rebels in Dengzhou do not lack the will to fight, but they lack accurate intelligence and maneuverability." Zhu Mingxia said, "As long as we help them, Kong Youde and this group of daring people will definitely survive in death."
"The problem is, if we help them get rid of the food and grass for the officers and soldiers, wouldn't Xie Sanbin and Zhu Dadian immediately want to take advantage of Qida Island? We are the only big family in Huang County that can raise a large amount of food." Chen Sigen expressed concern.
It is of course easy to fight with force, but they have to exist in Dongsanfu for a long time. Going against the government openly is not in line with this strategy.
"It will be like the Battle of Wuchao back then." Zhu Mingxia already had a case.
As soon as the grain platform was lost, Yuan's army was shaken, and Cao's army took advantage of the situation to attack. In one fell swoop, the fate of Hebei was decided. It's almost the same in Dengzhou. The rebels took advantage of the loss of food and grass for the officers and soldiers. When the morale of the army is shaken, he can attack in one fell swoop and at least break the siege.
"The execution and control requirements are very high..." Lu Yuan felt a little unbelievable.
"I think the rebels have this problem." Zhu Mingxia said without hesitation, "I read the historical compilation materials about this incident in the Great Library. Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde performed very well in tactical command, and the army's combat performance was also excellent. Yes. As long as we provide enough intelligence and necessary convenience, they will seize this only opportunity to make a comeback and make a desperate move."
When the officers and soldiers began to be defeated, the northward detachment supported Sun Yuanhua's attack from Laizhou. Defeat the rebels in one fell swoop and save the defeated army from the danger of total annihilation.
Every failure is an excellent opportunity to criticize political opponents. Whether it is Zhu Dadian or Xie Sanbin, they have to face the wave of impeachments against them from top to bottom in the court, and they will become more approachable in their attitudes - the more chaotic the situation in Shandong becomes. . The less the Senate had to achieve to maintain its presence here.
At night, on Dazhushan Island, a small boat without a flag quietly docked.
Dazhushan Island is very small, with no Ming troops stationed there. It is also moderately close to Penglai and Longkou, so it was chosen as the place for the northward detachment to meet and liaise with the rebel leaders. Although the two sides have been cooperating for a year on human trafficking and purchasing stolen goods, there is still no trust between the two parties. Meeting on this island can give both parties some sense of security.
Since the two sides secretly reached an agreement of mutual benefit and non-aggression, a regular communication system has been established between the rebels and the three people on Qimu Island, and the two sides have sent envoys to each other. Using the tokens as evidence and the oral messages passed down - the engine headquarters repeatedly reminded them that no scraps of paper were allowed to be left in the hands of the rebels, and no one except the Elder Yuan was allowed to negotiate with the rebels. Others are not allowed to keep relevant documents and records.
For this reason, naturalized citizens selected as liaison officers are considered the most reliable. Someone who can keep secrets strictly. However, this time the matter was serious, so Chen Sigen took action personally.
In the Taiwan soldier's room under the abandoned beacon tower on Dazhushan Island, the lights were like beans. Kong Youde, who was waiting for the "messenger", looked gloomy and gloomy. On this small island, he doesn't need to pretend to be "confident" and "unfazed by changes". The current situation of the rebels may not be an overstatement.
"Promote pacification through war" and "break through Laizhou, seize the road to enter Xisanfu, and enter the Central Plains" - none of the two major strategies formulated at the beginning have been realized so far. Since the day they launched their troops, Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde have sent many agents to the capital, Jinan and other places to inquire about information. Many of the ministers who may have been in charge of the imperial court suddenly lost their voices, and they all talked about "suppression" in unison, which greatly weakened the voice of the original governor.
Promoting peace through war failed, and their attempts to seize the road and invade Xisanfu failed many times. Although the Ming army performed poorly in the field battles, they blocked the rebel offensive in almost every battle in the city defense battle, making them It can only move in the narrow area between Denglai.
More than a year of crazy burning, killing and looting has turned this area into a deserted area, and it can no longer support the rebel army, which has expanded to dozens of times its original size.
The desperate gangsters, the defeated officers and soldiers who were forced to live among thieves, the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong who crossed the sea in large numbers from the hungry and cold Dongjiang Town to defect... These people gathered together to form an armed group of unprecedented scale. . Like locusts, they ate up everything. The idea of getting promoted and getting rich, and having children and treasures, has gradually been replaced by the imminent problem of "having enough to eat".
Dengzhou did have a "mountain" of grain at the beginning, and later captured a large amount of grain and grass from the four villages. However, except for a few places that were not swept by the war, there was no farming for the entire year, and naturally there was no summer and autumn grain. . As the food reserves are running out, a large-scale famine has quietly enveloped the rebels.
Now the only place in Denglai that can store a large amount of grain is Qimu Island. However, when they had strong troops and strong horses, they returned in vain, not to mention that now the officers and soldiers are stationed outside the west gate of Dengzhou!
If this continues, the troops who do not fight will eventually collapse due to hunger and cold.
The owner of the Deer Village on Qimu Island suddenly asked to see him, what was his purpose?
Concerning the owner of the Deer Village, Kong Youde has never been able to figure out what his intentions are. After witnessing the powerful combat prowess and powerful firearms of his subordinates Xiang Yong in the first few face-to-face battles, he became obsessed with this beast on the side of the couch. The tiger has always been fearful.
Fortunately, the owner of Luzhuang did not interfere with his actions except for once sending people to help defend Laizhou. After the two parties reached a tacit understanding, the territory occupied by Qimu Island was only Zhaoyuan, and they did not care about the territory. Then they continued to accommodate refugees and loaded people on ships to transport them away in an endless stream. It seemed that what he wanted was people. . If it weren't for the fact that Qimudao Xiangyong's fighting method was completely different from Donglu's, he would even suspect that the owner of Luzhuang was a Tatar in disguise.
I don’t know why the owner of Deer Village specially invited him to come here to meet this time - of course he is putting himself at risk by coming to meet in person. After all, he is also the deputy marshal of the rebels and the second leader. Once he is captured, it will be a great achievement. pieces.
However, Kong Youde knew very well that with the strength of the owner of Luzhuang, if he wanted to help the officers and soldiers destroy the rebels, he could have done so long ago, and there was no need to do it again today.
"The general has arrived, I'm late." The person who came had a loud voice. He was eight feet tall and had a strong physique, but he was not the owner of the deer village.
"I don't dare. I just arrived." Kong Youde saluted with clasped fists, "Your Majesty is..."
"I am the representative of the owner of the village, and I have come to talk to the general about an important matter." Chen Sigen looked at the unassuming young general in front of him with a complicated mood. The two exchanged pleasantries for a while and then immediately got to the point. Chen Sigen opened a paper bag and took out several pieces of light rice paper.
"General, please look."
Kong Youde took it and looked at it carefully under the light, and was suddenly surprised.
This is a detailed map of the garrison distribution of officers and soldiers in the Qingzhou area. It not only includes the terrain and roads, but also the number of people and the names of the generals and officials under command. The most important thing is that there are many places marked on it where officers and soldiers store food.
Kong Youde also knew that the grain and grass of the army were transferred from Qingzhou through the spies he sent, but he did not have such a clear and accurate map.
As a veteran general, Kong Youde certainly knew the key points of this map. He suppressed the excitement in his heart and looked up at the other party: "This is..."
"This is a little gift from the owner of the village." Chen Sigen said.
Kong Youde held the map tightly in his hand. This was not a map. It was simply the elixir that brought the rebels back to life!
For a moment, he didn't know what to say. The other party gave him this map, and his intention was self-evident. But then he became confused again - what on earth do these people on Qimu Island want to do? !
Among the core members of the rebels, it feels like it is still difficult to grasp the purpose of the forces on Qimu Island. They were said to be loyal to the imperial court, but they had no interest in aiding the suppression. Kong Youde knew very well that with the combat power of Qimu Island's "Xiang Yong" and the large ships they kept sailing to Longkou to pick up refugees, it would not be difficult to defeat them alone. ——Not to mention, as long as they are willing, they can cut off the sea routes from Dengzhou to the Dongjiang islands at any time. They will not be able to "recruit the old Dongjiang people" and get the aid of a large number of Dongjiang soldiers and civilians.
Not to mention that this group of people has been doing business on their own, purchasing large amounts of people and materials, giving the rebels an excellent channel for selling stolen goods on a large scale.
If we say that they are just ambitious tycoons who are taking advantage of the Dengzhou Rebellion to expand their power, this group of people only occupied Zhaoyuan in addition to Qimu Island. Zhaoyuan is a place even in Dongsanfu. Poor place. Even local powerful people know how to occupy more land and occupy wealthy areas. I would be satisfied if I occupied a piece of land on the seaside to protect myself from the bitter cold.
