The entire east side of Madang Town has turned into a large construction site!
A large simple bastion is under intense construction. The terrain of Madang Town is a riverside town sandwiched between two hills on the edge of the Yangtze River, a natural river defense fortress. However, the shortcomings are also obvious, which is one word - small!
There is a small town sandwiched between two hills. It has no depth and cannot hold an army.
Fortunately, the terrain to the southeast of Madang Town is quite wide and can be used to build a fortress large enough to station tens of thousands of troops.
Now the camp land for tens of thousands of people is almost flat.
Civil servants recruited from all over Jiangxi are devouring fried rice noodles with lard and eggs. They were crowded together, and the aroma of fried rice noodles spread everywhere. The foreman was still shouting: "Once again, you are not allowed to drink raw water after you go back... You must wash your hands frequently and bathe frequently. If anyone has a fever or diarrhea, you must report it immediately!"
In addition, tomorrow we have to dig trenches, build walls, and build houses... Is there anyone who knows how to do fine carpentry? Double the wages! Is there anyone willing to go into the mountains and cut down trees? Wages are also doubled! Who signs up? "
The policies of the New Ming Dynasty in Jiangxi were similar to those in Guangdong, and land was equally divided among clan units. After equalizing land, equal taxes and equal service were implemented. And this "service" is divided into military service and labor service. Although there is still an element of forced apportionment in it, money will still be given - now the population is small and there are fewer able-bodied men. Without force and apportionment, the number will not be enough. Money is just a hooliganism.
And Zhu Heji's court is also rich now!
Maritime trade between Guangdong and Fujian is now on the rise again, and there are also key products such as sugar, sugar cane wine, internal factory gunpowder, royal perfume, porcelain, and ironware, which can bring in a large amount of tax revenue every year.
Among them, several high-quality sugar cane wines, royal perfumes, and Nei Factory Gunpowder were directly operated by the Bei and Nei No. 2 Factory founded by Zhu Heji, and the profits generated could be lent to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The land equalization and tax equalization in Guangdong Province have basically been completed. There are more than 30 million acres of taxable agricultural land registered in the register, and the annual field tax can collect more than 3 million shi, which is much higher than that of Zhang Juzheng. Soon there were more than twice as many!
In addition, there is a large amount of commercial tax, mining tax, and salt tax revenue.
Now the annual income of Guangdong province, converted into silver, exceeds five million taels!
Moreover, after the Dongyin Coin Factory run by Pang Gonggong gained the income and savings from managing the imperial court (all of which were moved from the church monk Kexi's home in Macau), it also has the intention of developing into a "central bank", which can be used when necessary. Help the new Ming Dynasty raise some funds.
In short, relying on the financial resources of Guangdong Province, Zhu Heji's new Ming Dynasty is quite well off at the moment. Not only can the new army, whose number has exceeded 150,000, be paid and rewarded, but they can also spend money to buy military rations in Jiangxi and hire ships and civilian crews.
Of course, the hired civil servants were more motivated than the captured civil servants, so the construction of the large simple bastion in Madang was progressing very quickly.
The leveling of the land and the wooden outline of the bastion - that is, using wooden fences to encircle the shape of a bastion - have now been completed. The next step is to dig trenches, pile soil, and build houses.
In another ten days and a half, the army will almost be able to move in to take over and set up defenses.
While the civilians were busy building the Madang Bastion, the officers and soldiers of the Army's No. 3 and No. 4 towns who had already arrived at Madang were not idle either. They are setting up forts and forts on the hills on both sides of Madang Town and Madang Town. At the same time, two associations were also divided to "build fortifications and advance" along the south bank of the Yangtze River, that is, while advancing, they built small fortresses.
The plan drawn up by Zhu Heji, Zhuge San and them to attack Anqing and go to Jiangnan is of course a tough battle and a stupid war!
The reason why they fought like this is actually the same as the one who shaved his head in history - the troops were not large enough!
Zhu Heji's current military strength in Jiangxi is the New Army's six towns plus the Yangtze River Navy. At the beginning, the Yangtze River Navy was also included in the six towns, so the army that can actually be used for land warfare is Five towns. Later, the Yangtze River Navy was strengthened by a group of sailors from Guangdong and Fujian, and finally became independent.
Later, the Five Towns Lu Division expanded to another town and became six towns. Each town has 20 battalions of the Four Associations under its jurisdiction - including one battalion each of artillery, engineering, transport, and cavalry, and 16 infantry battalions, plus one division headquarters and four association headquarters, with a total strength of approximately 12,500 people. The total number of people gathered in the six towns is 75,000, plus the naval army of 10,000 people, which is about 90,000.
If these 90,000 people were used to attack Kangxi and go to Jiangnan, the force would be enough. But Zhu Heji still had to guard against Wu Sangui!
So he set up a town in Tianjia Town - Banbishan Fortress, and also set up a confederation in Nanchang, Ji'an, Jiujiang, and Yuanzhou. He also placed a division headquarters and four battalions directly under the division in Raozhou and Widely believed.
As a result, the Ming army that could be used to go to the south of the Yangtze River only had four towns and one Yangtze River Navy. The total strength was only 65,000, which was nearly 100,000 less than Emperor Kangxi's 160,000 Banners New Army. !
With such a small number of people and the main attack, it seems impossible not to form a stronghold or fight stupidly... Anyway, Zhu Heji and Zhuge Sanhe can't think of anything better. There's a solution.
In addition, it is the summer between late April and May, which is a hot and rainy time.
Zhu Heji's army relied on sugar medicine to output firepower. In this rainy season, only fortresses with better conditions could provide conditions for boiling sugar medicine and preserving sugar medicine.
Zhu Heji and Zhuge Sanhe have now led a group of their men to climb the collapsing mountains in the northeast of Madang Town. They are looking around with telescopes, checking the surrounding terrain, and at the same time observing the progress of the Madang Bastion under the sunset.
After watching for a while, Zhu Heji and Zhuge Sanhe both put down their telescopes.
Zhuge Sanhe, who was in charge of supervising the troops on the front line in Ma, said to Zhu Heji: "Supervise the country, in at most half a month, the Madang Fortress will be completely completed... By then you can enter the Madang Fortress. , take command!"
"How is the situation in Xiangkou Town and Huayang Town?" Zhu Heji asked, "When can the third and fourth towns march towards Xiangkou Town?"
"Now we are marching towards Xiangkou Town!" Zhuge Sanhe said, "There are two passages from Madang to Xiangkou. One passes through the Yangtze River, and the other passes through the mountainous area in the south. There is a lake and swamp in the middle. The army cannot pass through. I plan to let the third and fourth towns take the northern passage, camp step by step, and slowly advance to the area of Xiangkou Town.
As for the military strength in Xiangkou Town..."
"Report..." The "report" sound suddenly sounded, interrupting the conversation between Zhu Heji and Zhuge Sanhe.
A young soldier from the Military Advisor's Office hurriedly ran to the messenger who came up from the foot of Bengshan Mountain. He took a report from his hand. After reading it, he quickly walked to Zhu Heji and Zhuge Sanhe and handed them over. The report said: "Reporting to the Supervisor and Military Advisor, Commander-in-Chief Ling of the Third Town reported to the Army that the patrolmen from the former Military Association of the Third Town discovered that a large group of clear demons had arrived at Xiangkou Town via waterways, and raised a 'Pelted Yellow Flag', the New Army General Manager Zhao’s recognition flag!”
"It's Zhao Liangdong!" Zhuge Sanhe said, "I heard that he was seriously injured in the Battle of Jianyangshui and was carried down covered in blood. Although he did not defeat Wu Sangui, he still gained a reputation as a brave man who was not afraid of death. , For this reason Kang Mazi also gave him the brave title of Baturu."
Now the Qing Dynasty is full of courage!
Wang Fuchen, Zhao Liangdong, Sun Sike, Shi Lang, Bahai, Zhuo Butai, Fei Yanggu, Mang Yitu, Echu and others were all awarded the title of "Yong" to Batur!
"Batulu..." Zhu Heji thought for a while, "Military advisor, what are your ideas?"
Zhuge Sanhe shook his goose-feather fan and said with a smile: "Just stay unchanged to cope with all changes."
"Stay unchanged in the face of ever-changing conditions?"
"Our army only needs to move forward step by step, advance the fortress, and build the fortress outside Xiangkou Town... Zhao Liangdong will give Batu Lu for nothing!
When the time comes, he will either escape by water, or we will be trapped in Xiangkou Town. Then we will have to wait for Zhuo Butai to come to rescue us, and we will just call Zhuo Butai for help! "
