Now outside Wuzhou City, the only one with a large amount of food reserves is the First Mixed Brigade. Although the supply column of the First Brigade has hoarded a large amount of military rations in Cheung Chau Island and other places, it can only guarantee the food supply of the First Mixed Brigade 15.
The transportation efficiency of Sanshui Joint Logistics Base gradually decreases as the traffic lines continue to lengthen. In particular, Lianqin had a limited number of steam tugs and had to use a large number of requisitioned local wooden ships to transport supplies. These unpowered ships traveled upstream on the Xijiang River very slowly. The transfer to Zhaoqing was already very difficult.
We originally expected to seize the grain trade market in Wuzhou and seize local grain reserves to replenish the supply of military grain. However, judging from various intelligence, Xiong Wencan has already transported the grain first. Now even if Wuzhou opens the city without blood, there will not be much grain stock. No matter where you go, you may have difficulty feeding the local people.
The most troublesome thing is that Guangdong has long relied on Guangxi for food supply. Now with the war, Guangxi's food supply has been completely cut off. The food supply of the whole province of Guangdong fell on the head of the Senate. Rice transported from Southeast Asia must be transported to Guangzhou from Lingao, Sanya, Kaohsiung and other places. As the supply chain grows, the food supply crisis becomes apparent.
Now, if the First Brigade assists refugees, even according to the low standard of "not starving to death", the food reserves can only last for about a week. Even if Wuzhou is captured immediately, there may not be much food in the city, but the burden of the population will be shouldered - the first part of Xiong Wencan's arson plan must be to burn the already small food in the city.
If the refugees are not rescued, the army's food can naturally be guaranteed, but if the refugees are allowed to escape and fend for themselves, many people will starve to death. This is first of all a loss of precious people, and secondly, this kind of "failure to save people" It will seriously damage the image of "benevolence, justice" and "love for the people" that the Senate has been painstakingly creating, and will be detrimental to subsequent civil work.
"I think this refugee must be rescued." Zhu Mingxia said after thinking over and over again.
"Let the troops eat less and distribute more evenly. Let's all drink gruel together, which can at least last a few more days." Zhu Quanxing shook his head: "The question is what to do next? The possibility of getting enough food from Wuzhou It is already infinitely low, and we are now at the end of the supply line, in our weakest state."
It was originally thought that relying on the supplies from Xijiang, the first brigade's logistical supplies would be the easiest. However, based on their transportation capabilities, when the distance reaches far enough, the supply weaknesses are completely exposed.
"Now we can only take one step at a time. Wuzhou City will be captured, and the people will also need relief!" Zhu Mingxia frowned.
While they were discussing, the orderly came to report, and Xu Xu brought the old man who was clamoring to see the leader.
Zhu Mingxia was startled. This kind of situation can usually be handled with permission. He brought the old man to see him, which showed that he had important information. Reminiscing that there was a "lone wolf" from the Intelligence Bureau operating in the city with permission - the old man was probably his traffic officer or something.
"Let them in."
Half an hour ago, Xu Xu had specifically interrogated Li Wensheng. As an intelligence officer, he was already familiar with Cantonese vernacular and could converse effortlessly. When he heard the emergency contact code given by the other party, he nodded secretly, looked at Li Wensheng, and asked: "Do you know Luo Yangming? Did he ask you to bring this letter out?"
Li Wensheng finally met the leader and was just thinking about how to speak. Suddenly the Australian opposite him asked. He was startled and nodded immediately: "It's my old boss."
Only then did he reveal his identity and relationship with Luo Yangming.
"...There is great chaos in the city now. The master has specially asked me to entrust this letter to the chief to save the people of Wuzhou from disaster..." He shook his head and took out an oil paper bag from the sole of his shoe.
Xu Xu nodded and saw that Li Wensheng was struggling for half a night and was extremely sleepy, with bowel sounds coming from time to time, so he asked someone to bring him tea and snacks.
The orderly brought a cup of tea and a pack of snacks wrapped in oil paper. Li Wensheng tasted a piece. It was crispy, fragrant and sweet, and tasted pretty good. Li Wensheng glanced at the oil paper packaging and saw two lines of words written on it, "Cookies produced by Guangzhou City Zhangji, Special Cookies for the World - Australia's century-old secret recipe."
This Australian dim sum is quite delicious. The old man thought to himself, feeling quite relieved.
I was allowed to open the oil paper package, and inside was a letter, which was written on the counter seal of a certain company in Sanshui. He opened the seal, took out two pages, stood close to the lantern and read.
The content of the letter was unremarkable. It was about the current siege of Wuzhou. If something unexpected happened to him, what should be done with the accounts and goods left by both parties and what arrangements should be made - very consistent with the identity of a businessman who is in danger and makes arrangements for his funeral in advance. Even if someone searches for it, there won't be any problem.
The secret is that information is written with secret writing potion in the blank spaces between the lines.
There is nothing unusual about the secret writing potion of the Foreign Intelligence Service, it is mainly rice water - there are secret writing potions available everywhere. Xu smeared it with iodine solution, and the blue writing appeared immediately.
The blue regular characters are densely packed, even in the blank space on the back. Xu Xu looked at it carefully, raised his head and smiled at Li Wensheng: "Thank you so much! This is a great gift!"
Zhu Mingxia looked at the contents of the secret letter that Xu Xu had copied out by hand. The content is the report of the lone wolf. The first part is about the situation in Wuzhou City. First, the people in the city are unstable. He has currently contacted a group of powerful local "rural sages" in the city. In order to protect their lives and property, these people have taken control of part of the local military and military forces in the city. The strong team protected the important government offices and warehouses, but there were many rebels in the city and they were unable to control the whole city. Please ask the Fubo Army to launch an attack as soon as possible to restore order in the city to avoid a large-scale loss of order. Finally, he also specifically mentioned that Xiong Wencan's plan to burn the city was imminent. As the order in the city collapsed, large-scale arson could occur at any time, with disastrous consequences.
"It seems the situation is very urgent..." Zhu Mingxia read the letter and asked Li Wensheng a few more questions, realizing that the situation in the city was already very serious. The observation post also came with news that there was a faint light of fire in the city, and it seemed that there was a fire somewhere.
If a fire breaks out in Wuzhou, the consequences will be disastrous. Not only will all the remaining food supplies in the city be destroyed, tens of thousands of people in Wuzhou City will also be displaced. At that time, they will have to face tens of thousands of refugees who have no food, clothing, and homes. The Fubo army wanted to rescue them, both emotionally and rationally. The joint logistics headquarters in Sanshui not only transports food, but also transports a large amount of relief materials to resettle the people on site.
Even if the First Brigade captured Wuzhou City, it would have no choice but to retreat with the refugees due to such supply pressure, retreating to the rear where supplies were relatively unobstructed - a total defeat.
The second part is about the situation of the defenders in the city. First, it is rumored that Xiong Wencan and some important officials have fled Wuzhou...
"Let him run away?!" Zhu Quanxing, who came to attend the meeting, was a little disappointed.
"It's a bit difficult for us people to seal Wuzhou airtight." Zhu Mingxia said lightly, "If you run away, just run away. If you really want to capture him alive, it will be troublesome."
The letter clearly stated that all the people in the city who were preparing to "come back anyway" had agreed on a secret code, and a white cloth strip was tied on their left arm as a mark. Important government offices, warehouses, gate towers and other buildings that have been controlled have hung double lights as signals. I hope Fubo Army will pay attention to identifying them when they enter the city.
Looking at the following content, it is mentioned that the main force of the Ming army in Wuzhou City has retreated in two directions to the west and north of Guangxi - this is not a secret, because the scouts have long discovered it; then there is the place where the Ming army stores food. , the secret letter mentioned that many of the original grain stocks in Wuzhou City had been shipped to Teng County.
"How about we go to Teng County?" Zhu Quanxing suggested, "If the information is true, we can at least get a large amount of food."
Zhu Mingxia nodded, this is a good idea, but they still don't know where the food is stored in Teng County - the Ming army's grain station may not be located in Teng County. The situation in Wuzhou is more urgent now, so it is not appropriate to divide the troops first.
"Let's settle the matter in Wuzhou first." He looked at his watch. It was now 2:30 in the morning, nearly three hours before the color show. "We have to take action as soon as possible, otherwise it will really cause a fire in the whole city. It's irreversible." Zhu Mingxia, "As soon as the color shines, start attacking immediately! We must capture Wuzhou as quickly as possible!"
"Understood!" Zhu Quanxing responded, "The troops are ready."
Then Zhu Mingxia held a short meeting with the main officers of the First Brigade and reported the intelligence sent back by the lone wolf. A few things have been initially decided. The first is to resettle and assist the refugees. Wuzhou, an important trade town at the junction of Guangdong and Guangxi, must be firmly controlled by the Senate, so it must win over the people of Wuzhou and lay a good political foundation. Even if the First Brigade's own food supply is tight, it cannot let the refugees leaving the city starve. Not only In this way, some shacks need to be built so that the old, weak, sick and disabled among the refugees have a place to shelter from wind and rain.
Secondly, to solve the current food problem, it has been decided that the troops will reduce the supply of one meal from tomorrow and supply the saved rations to the refugees. Now that we know the Ming army's food garrison point, according to the usual style of the Fubo army, it is natural to go to the grass valley. It was decided to send scouts to Teng County to collect further detailed information before making the next decision.
"Has the tweeter been installed?" Zhu Mingxia asked.
"It's been set up." Xu Xu said.
"You wrote a "Letter to the People of Wuzhou" and started broadcasting immediately. Although it is probably not a secret in the city that Xiong Wencan wants to set fire to the city, you still have to take off his underwear. By the way, give some to the gangs in the city. Pressure. Let them know that trying to take advantage of others will never end well."
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 326
