Suddenly there was a commotion in the yard. Looking out the window, a black flag messenger ran straight towards here, and the craftsmen gave way.
"Who is it?" the guard outside the door asked.
"Staff Section is forwarding an urgent report!" the messenger replied, standing still and giving a military salute.
"Oral message or written message?" Mao Zaidi stepped forward.
"written."
"Send it up!"
Mao Zaidi took the cover in his hand and asked, "Do you need a reply?"
"want!"
"Wait a moment."
Mao Zaidi came in and presented the cover.
Li Dan looked at the integrity of the word "confidential" embossed in red on the seal, stretched out his hand to open it, and first saw an introduction that read:
Leijiawan reported the enemy's situation. Below was the signature of the responsible confidential staff member and the signature of Zhao Jingzi.
Below is a piece of folded mulberry paper, which is written by Ma Jiu.
This letter is Ma Jiu's report on the inspection branch's withdrawal from Wuni Town and arrival at Leijiawan.
According to his figures, 2,300 people have taken refuge in Leijiawan, and more than 1,000 people are about to arrive.
On the day after the division's evacuation, about a thousand leading troops of the Lake Bandits entered Wuni Town. The patrol team's sentries at the rear saw thick smoke from multiple fires. In addition, there are already enemy sentinels in Lulu Port and Lijiadu.
"Oh, they're finally here." Li Dan sneered.
"What?" Chen Sanwen was surprised. He thought Li Dan was talking about the enemies in Huxi: "The lake bandits are out? But we only have three vehicles and boats available now!"
"It's not Huxi, but Wuni Town was occupied by Polygonum Huazi." Li Dan thought for a while:
"Speed up the construction of the tractor-trailed catapult and try to replace it with hardwood and grease lubricants. Time is too late. Send as many as you want to Santang Town first!"
He thought for a moment and then asked: "Can we first dispatch a few trebuchets to Leijiawan? Not only to strengthen their defense, but also to test and improve them in actual combat?"
"This..." Chen Sanwen bit his lower lip: "Is it okay to transport the parts just like Santang and let Tang Kai send two craftsmen to guide and install them? But in this way, we have to allocate experienced craftsmen. .”
"It doesn't matter, go into actual combat so they don't make the same mistakes you and I did!"
Li Dan made up his mind, and immediately found a piece of paper and wrote a few lines. After checking whether there was any problem, he took out the "Southern Metropolitan Inspection and Judgment Seal" from his pocket and pressed it.
Then he called the messenger, put the "Read" introduction, Ma Jiu's handwritten letter and the just-written order into an envelope and handed it to him, saying: "Tell Zhao Xianfu to pay close attention to any news from Santang Town. I'll be back soon."
"Here!" the messenger turned around and quickly went out.
"Polygonum flower seeds can't hold it anymore, how can the Chen family and his son here in Huxi endure it? Xie San'er has been gone for several days, why is there no news?" Li Dan was secretly worried, but in front of Chen Sanwen, he had to keep calm and act as if nothing had happened. Talk to him.
"I just asked them to deploy three trebuchets as reinforcements to Leijiawan. If Liaohuazi attacks there first, we can use him to practice our skills."
Li Dan suddenly felt that the Polygonum Flower Seed looked like a turtle, and couldn't help but poke his head out. Unexpectedly, there was a stick on his head outside, ready to knock it down. Li Dan couldn't help but smile when he thought of this.
"What is Sanlang laughing at?" Chen Sanwen asked.
"Nothing." Li Dan waved his hand: "I was thinking about setting two traps. How many turtles can I catch? It turns out that Li Dan's original intention was two-fold:
Block the enemy's attack on Yugan, and try to contain or prioritize one of them to weaken its offensive power.
Now it seems that this is how it is implemented. As promised to Zhao Chongbi, he must try his best to hold back the main force of the Lake Bandits in Yugan and give the Raozhou Prefecture time to recruit An Mining Rebellion and appease Bailang.
At this moment, there was another shouting outside, and Mao Zaidi jumped in with a letter in his hand and said, "Sir, this is a letter from Zhao Tongzhi!"
Li Dan's eyes lit up, he reached out to take it, opened it and looked inside. Sure enough, it was a letter with three feathers sealed in red varnish.
Take it out
Looking at it, I saw the words on the cover: "To Li Dan, deputy envoy of the regiment training of the state, inspecting the southern capital, to personally express it."
After opening the letter and reading it carefully, a smile appeared on Li Dan's face.
"Ziru, how many trebuchets can be completed in two days?" After sending the messenger away, Li Dan turned back and asked.
Chen Salmon picked up a folder. This thing is made of two bamboo clips fixed on a thin wooden board, which can be used to clip scattered single pages. A hemp rope can be hung between the bamboo clips on a bamboo nail on the wall for easy use.
He turned to the "Yujiadu Trebuchet Production Schedule" reported by Tang Kai, looked at it, and answered:
"As of today, six tractor-trailers have been completed and have been shipped. Three of them have just been allocated to Gaojiawan. Another 11 are not completed because they are waiting for bearings. In addition, there are seven more units under construction.
Four boat platforms have been assembled and handed over to the Navy for practice at Lake Biwa. Six units are being assembled on the slipway, and another six finished units are waiting for assembly at the dock because they do not have bearings. "
He knew what Li Dan was concerned about, so he said:
"If we change the process now and remove the bearings from all catapults, the progress will be very fast. At least all the bearings can be shipped with slight modifications.
In this way, Santang Town can receive and assemble seventeen units within three days, and the remaining seven units can also be completed quickly. "
After thinking for a while, he added: "The slipway type can also be modified to the traditional method without bearings. In that case, the aiming and launching time may be slightly longer, but the number can be increased rapidly, ensuring that all three ships on the slipway can be delivered to the navy in three days. .”
"Okay, let's do it! I'm afraid we don't have time to wait for the bearing. Let's finish this battle first! Then we will have enough time to continue using it or modify it." After finishing speaking, Li Dan walked to him and said softly:
"Information from Mr. Tongzhi said that the enemy from the west of the lake set out early yesterday morning. They should have arrived at Meixi or Ruihong by now, and maybe they will arrive at Santang the day after tomorrow.
I will try to delay them for a day or two, allowing you to transport all the trebuchets to the front lines and assemble them. However, I worry that brothers may not have much time to learn how to use it. "
He paused and said, "Ask Tang Kai to prepare three groups of craftsmen who will instruct the front line in installing the trebuchets. They will go with the transport fleet to Santang to assemble and teach on site!"
Chen Salmon nodded and agreed, feeling very nervous. Looking at this posture, the situation is very urgent.
There was no time to wait for the bearing now. He regretted not listening to his second brother earlier on this matter!
As a result, there are now so many unfinished assembly parts on the construction site waiting for bearings.
However, I am somewhat fortunate that Li Sanlang actually came up with a proposal for standardization and assembly line operations.
All trebuchets have the same size and materials, and the parts can be interoperable. After letting Big Brother participate in the design, a large number of mortise and tenon structures are used, so that whether they are trailer-mounted or boat-mounted, they can be quickly assembled.
The former only takes half an hour, and the latter only takes an hour and a half.
The advantage of this is that it can be quickly disassembled and transported, or assembled at a new launch site to prepare for war, which has very good mobility.
At the same time, if one is damaged, you can find a spare car nearby, take the corresponding parts according to the number and replace them, and you can continue to use it.
The purpose of Li Sanlang's making this catapult is to allow the team to obtain heavy weapons that can maneuver and flexibly attack opponents, and to achieve "distance strike".
By destroying local weapons and facilities, causing casualties and damaging morale, he achieved what he called a "delayed attack." So these pieces of equipment are very, very important and critical.
Chen Sanwen realized this and couldn't help but secretly clenched his fists and thought: "I can't let anything go wrong here!"
Li Dan didn't worry about how to modify the existing trebuchet products into equipment that did not use bearings, leaving it entirely to Chen Salmon to think about.
He went home first and changed his clothes inside and outside, then went to the backyard of Renli Inn to see how the quilt factory run by Wu Niang was making autumn and winter clothes. He gave some advice on the new style of double-breasted military uniforms, and then returned to the Inspection Department of the capital. .
When he entered the door, he saw Zhao Jingzi giving an order. Seeing him
He came in and said happily: "Great, if you come back I don't have to send a messenger to find you."
"What happened again?" Li Dan asked deliberately.
"Whatever happens, everything is under control!" Zhao Jingzi felt quite proud. Returning to the hall, he turned around and handed the letter that he had just not given to the messenger to Li Dan, and said softly:
"The Chen family and his son have sent out troops. Xie San'er sent back a report saying that the matter was completed. More than half of the leaders in Huxi are willing to participate. This time, Chen Yuanhai is dead!"
In Leijiawan, the newly built fort was named Sanhuzhai, but people still used to call it Leijiawan Fort.
The wall itself in the northwest corner is actually not high, maybe about a foot, but it was built to take advantage of the high terrain in this area. The surface outside the wall was flattened several feet, and it was protected with cement to form a steep cliff. Therefore, If someone comes across the river, they will have the illusion that the wall is a foot and a half high.
It was also by taking advantage of this section of the platform that the northwest corner was built into a semicircular enemy platform that protruded outward. The city defenders began to call it the Round Corner Platform.
Li Dan's original intention was to make it echo the enemy tower on the right side of the West Gate and the two enemy towers on the left side of the Beishui Gate.
The area of this enemy tower is not small. It is used for observation and alert. A watchtower stands behind it, six feet higher than it. There are wooden stakes fixed between it and the wall. Personnel can enter and exit the watchtower from the enemy tower through pedals, or walk on the side of the tower. Ladders going up and down the fort walls.
Since Li Dan sent for three catapults, Ma Jiu ordered them to be placed on the round corner platform and the two adjacent enemy towers.
At this time, he was holding a telescope and observing the enemy's movements on the other side of the river from the watchtower. There was a patrolman on both sides of him who was also holding telescopes to observe and alert in other directions.
"It seems that they were really frightened, otherwise the team should have arrived outside the wall." Ma Jiu seemed to be talking to himself.
"That's great!" Sun Liang, who was looking at the rice fields in the northeast with one hand on his hips and a pergola with the other, said:
"Tomorrow all the food on the other side of the river will be harvested. As long as the rice is shipped back, we can slowly clean it up. It doesn't matter how much trouble they like to make outside!"
"My lord, that's what you said!" Sun Liang flattered. He knew that although Ma Jiu had some problems with his legs and feet, he had fought Japanese pirates and was awarded a martial title, and he was Li Dan's martial arts master, so he respected him very much.
"But I think we need to urge them to hurry up. Who can guarantee that the lake bandits won't come until tomorrow?"
"That's right." Ma Jiu thought for a while and said, "The way I see it, you lead the district team across the river to form a warning, and at the same time I go down below to recruit laborers from the refugees in various villages and towns to go out and help. This way we can collect food faster." It will be collected within a few days."
"Okay." The two agreed and went their separate ways. Sun Liang's whole team crossed the river and headed northwest to guard, while Ma Jiu discussed with the squires and sent 500 laborers to the fields to help harvest and transport grain.
It turns out that the reason why this fort is named Sanhu Village is because there is a large area of low-lying land in the northwest, which has become a natural reservoir on the south bank of the river.
The three largest lakes are located between Luodang Port and Leijiawan. There are four or five hundred steps of ground between them. They are the only way to reach Leijiawan from the occupied Wuni Town. Sun Liang The purpose of leading the team is to defend this place.
Due to the abundant water in the west and the crisscrossing rivers and dense ponds in the south, the main cultivated land around Leijiawan is concentrated in the north and east.
In the past, farmers in Leijiawan and Xiaozhai had to cross the river by boat every day to go to their fields. It was much more convenient to build a bridge from outside the north gate. Therefore, the kindness of the ancestors of the Lei family left a lasting reputation and wealth to their descendants.
Even so, some people continued to live along the river on the other side. The biggest resistance to the clearing of the wilderness this time came from those families.
Alas, the cat and dog kennels are not as good as your own kennel. No matter what, these people are unwilling to leave home and evacuate to the other side. In the final analysis, they still have nostalgia and luck, but there is only so much they can cherish.
Ma Jiu actually understood and felt helpless. When the thieves arrived, these people would still come to seek refuge, but those houses could not be taken away and would be destroyed as usual.
He arranged for his deputy He Wei (the same He Dalang who was teased by his teammates when he entered the city) to take three sentry riders to Luou Port to investigate, because that might also be the direction from which the lake bandits were attacking.
Being confused about his opponent's intentions makes him uneasy
, Ma Jiu hopes that He Wei and others can catch him alive this time and come back for questioning.
Fortunately, there are three trebuchets that Li Dan sent yesterday. Once these three big guys are erected, they immediately boost the morale of the people.
Brother Dan and Chen Sanlang are really smart people. I don’t know how they designed it. Such a big thing was actually assembled by a dozen people in an hour.
As Ma Jiu walked upstairs, he glanced at the catapult again with an appreciative expression. There were more than a dozen selected young men gathered there, learning how to use the trebuchet from two men wearing navy vests.
They erected a white flag outside the city as a target, and several patrolmen were on guard outside to help them pick up the practice stone bullets and put them on a donkey cart to take back when they returned to the city.
Ma Jiu heard the cast pole bounce with the sound of wind, and people cheered loudly for a moment, and he couldn't help but smile slightly on his face.
"Sir, are you back?" Ma Jiu looked up and saw a patrolman on the lookout who was about to go down. "I was just about to let you know, it seems that Adjutant He and the others are back!" the patrolman said anxiously.
"Oh?" Ma Jiu quickly came to the watchtower, took out the telescope and looked in the direction of the patrolman's finger.
I saw several people getting on the boat in the direction of the river crossing, and behind them there were two people walking down the river bank with their horses.
"Excellent, it seems they have captured him alive. Sign the signal and open the west door!" After he said that, he put away the binoculars and walked downstairs. The soldiers quickly shouted from behind: "Old man, please slow down!"
