It is said that Tao Yundong and Fang Yuhai hid in Wulong Mountain to escape the pursuit of soldiers. Although they were able to save their lives, they were trapped in the mountain because there were several patrols of thieves cruising below the mountain every day, not to mention the villagers and common people at the foot of the mountain. The thief army's spy will immediately report anyone suspicious.
"These people are so hateful! They actually colluded with thieves. They are collaborating with thieves," Chen Suole couldn't help but cursed.
Chang Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Tao Yundong sighed: "Have you noticed any difference between the people here and the people on the other side?"
"What's the difference? The people on the other side don't want to be thieves." Chen Suole snorted. Chang Yu shook his head again and took a long breath: "The people here still have food to eat, but the people on the other side are chewing grass roots." Everyone was stunned and speechless, and took a closer look. I thought it was true. Although the people were poor along the way, they still had homes, homes, and food to eat. But what about the other side? At the beginning of the year, the bandit army marched eastward across the Yellow River to go to the east. The continuous war and natural disasters had already made the people miserable. But here, Li Zicheng transformed the land into self-governance. The people under his rule were exempted from taxes and there was no danger of war. The people were able to recuperate and recuperate. In short Even if you take good care of your own family, they will cause trouble in other people's fields. One increase and one decrease will make a judgment. Although the people on the west bank of the Yellow River are suffering and suffering from natural disasters, they can still live in peace and have food to eat. But on the other bank, People are dying of hunger everywhere. It is said that many people crossed the river west to escape the famine in the past few months...
The common people don't care who is in charge of the world, they only care about whether they have food to eat and who gives them food.
The people here feel good about the rebel army when they have food to eat. Look at the people in the imperial court's territory opposite who are starving to death! From this comparison, I feel that Chuang Wang is better.
So they felt that the rebel army was better than the officers and soldiers, and the Dashun country was better than the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, the people here are very close to the traitors and are hostile and repulsive towards the officers and soldiers. In Chang Yu's words, all the people are thieves!
Don't you think it's very similar to a certain period of our party? At that time, wasn't the base area of XX in Li Zicheng's current territory? He mobilized all the people under his rule to counter espionage and counter-infiltration, and the people's enthusiasm for this kind of thing was also very high.
But it also caused a lot of trouble for the officers and soldiers' spies.
Because the mountains were closed by heavy snow, the common people could only chop firewood at the foot of the mountains and seldom go into the mountains. Even hunters rarely came. The bandit soldiers would not go for a walk in the mountains and old forests. This allowed Tao Yundong and Fang Yuhai to save their lives, but He also gradually became a little careless. He lit a fire during the day and even though he tried to cover it up, Lu Dahu accidentally discovered it.
Fortunately, the person he met was one of his own, otherwise he would definitely have lost his life.
But fortunately, they were careless before they met their own people, or they didn't know where to go. Moreover, the two of them had been without food for several days, relying on hunting in the mountains to survive.
The hardships the two experienced made everyone stunned. Being a spy means walking on the edge of a knife. It is dangerous at any time and anywhere. Food, clothing, housing and transportation are extremely difficult. Chang Yu feels the same, but he is more concerned about the intelligence about the enemy's deployment.
According to Tao Yundong's investigation, there are at least thousands of people in Pucheng. Of course, a small county town cannot have so many soldiers. Instead, there are military camps outside the city: "There is Wuhu Mountain ten miles due south of here. Thieves There is a military camp there, and it is difficult for us to get close to spy on it, but we learned from other sources that there are at least two to three thousand people. Including those in the city, the number of troops stationed in Pucheng is as few as five thousand!"
"Are the so-called other channels reliable?" Kuang Ren questioned, and Tao Yundong shook his head slightly: "This is an inference based on what the surrounding villagers saw."
There are many ways to spy on intelligence, but there are three main ones. The first is to have someone from the other side's military try to get close and talk to them, the second is to get close to the military camp to observe, and the third is to inquire from the people in the villages around the military camp, such as Judging by the number of troops and horses that have recently entered and exited, the number of grain trucks, etc.
Of course, in this environment where all the people are thieves, if you directly inquire about the people, it will undoubtedly lead to death. You have to make insinuations. For example, I saw thousands of soldiers passing by a certain village a few days ago... Someone must talk to me. Tao Yundong is a senior spy. , well versed in the art, he gave everyone some tips on spying, and everyone listened attentively.
No wonder the surrounding area is so tight. To the east is the Crouching Tiger Mountain military camp and to the west is Pucheng. To prevent officers, soldiers and spies from infiltrating, the bandits have really worked hard.
"I suspect that Dali is also heavily garrisoned! Naihe can't get through at all and is not allowed to pass through," Tao Yundong said with a frown. Dali is the seat of Tongzhou Prefecture, and across the river is Puzhou (Yongji). If the officers and soldiers cross the river from Puzhou to Dali, they will be the first to bear the brunt!
Dali is more than a hundred miles southeast of Pucheng.
"What do you mean by not allowing transit?" Chang Yu frowned.
"Look at this." Tao Yundong pulled out something from his cloth bag. Chang Yu took it and it was a piece of mulberry paper. On it was written the 'Photography Poster' and where Tao Yundong lived in the city. What occupations did the family members have? It was also stamped with the seal of the fake magistrate. It was an ID card, and it was no different from the Good Citizen Certificate from the Japanese period.
"Everyone in the city has one manpower, and entry and exit depend on this. Otherwise, even if you don't even think about Potian, you might be caught as an officer and soldier spy..." Tao Yundong's words made Chang Yu and the others stunned.
"Do people outside the city have this?"
Tao Yundong shook his head: "There are a few villages near the city, but the rest seem to be only available in the village's Li Changli... I once wanted to go to Dali with this thing, but I was stopped halfway, saying it didn't work there. If you want to enter the country, you have to write a note. You must indicate where you are going, whether to visit relatives or friends, what are the names of relatives and friends, etc... If you enter without these, you will be interrogated as an officer or soldier spy..."
So strict!
"But there is no need to take the risk to spy on Dali." Chang Yu shook his head lightly after hearing this: "Whether Guanzhong Plain is the main line of defense for the rebels, the confrontation between Dali and Puzhou across the river must be heavily defended!" Everyone nodded. Agree.
Chang Yu fell into deep thought again. The information he had at this time showed that there were more than a thousand soldiers in Hancheng in the northeast corner of the Yellow River, more than 3,000 in Heyang, hundreds in Chengcheng County, and unknown numbers in Baishui, but there were at least more than 5,000 in Pucheng. It is self-evident that Dali is facing Puzhou across the river. There are at least tens of thousands of soldiers and horses within a hundred miles. The southern line is close to Tongguan, Huazhou, Weinan and other places close to the Huashan Weishui River. It is not yet known, but over there The terrain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, so the number of troops is secondary.
How many troops does Li Zicheng still have today?
During the Eastern Expedition, they boasted that they had millions, but in reality they only had 60,000 elites. The rest were just cannon fodder. As a result, they were beaten by Chang Yu in Taiyuan. They were pressed to the ground and rubbed in Baoding Mansion. Later, they were beaten by Gao Jie and three others. Chew, when we cross the river, there are only 40,000 to 50,000, or even only 30,000 to 40,000 left.
Of course, these are not the only ones under his command. During the Eastern Expedition, he stayed in Xi'an to see the show and a group of soldiers and horses to guard his hometown. The number of these soldiers and horses is unknown, but assuming there are more than 10,000, the number of troops in Xi'an now is at most 50,000!
Of course there are other places, but his territory is also huge. Yulin, Guyang, Yinchuan, Lanzhou, and Yan'an also have to be garrisoned. There are also many soldiers and horses in Xiangyang and Jingzhou, but Zuo Liangyu has already started to take action, not from Xi'an. It would be nice to have soldiers and horses assisting.
Just these 50,000 soldiers and horses want to stop me. Li Zicheng, you think so.
Of course, Li Yan also knew Li Zicheng's ability, his ability to confuse! The common people within the jurisdiction can become soldiers at any time!
Fifty thousand soldiers and horses, at least 20,000, are stationed in Xi'an. Tongguan, a battleground for military strategists, cannot escape with more than 5,000 to 10,000 troops. Dali is the first to bear the brunt, and it also costs tens of thousands! The remaining fifteen thousand were distributed throughout the Guanzhong Plain.
Now that we have a rough idea of the deployment of troops and horses in various places, we still don't know where the main line of defense is!
But!
Chang Yu thinks it’s not important anymore!
Because he already has the best combat plan at this time, no matter where the main defense line of the thief army is placed, it will be the same!
Now he is going back to Puzhou to discuss this matter with Li Yan!
But, now... I can't help myself. Do you think this is a playground, where you can come and leave whenever you want?
There are not only soldiers stationed around, but also thief patrols that come and go, spies specifically tracking and killing them, and spies from all over the country. They may have been spotted as soon as they came down the mountain. Where to run?
I can't escape even though I'm being chased and intercepted everywhere. How about hiding in this mountain?
You can hide for a while when no one knows about it. If you know that there are a few officers, soldiers and spies who have come all the way hiding here, where will the rebels hide when they enter the mountain?
