Chapter 19 Blue Jade Arrives in Liaodong
Is He Xi doing a good job? It needs an army to verify.
At this moment, Lan Yu was standing on the dock in Jingu.
There are still ice floes on the sea, but these ice floes are generally no more than ten centimeters. Although wooden ships are not as strong as iron ships, they still don't care about such ice floes. More than a hundred boats were parked at the pier. But Lan Yu still frowned and said: "What does this mean? Let us take a boat to Liaodong. Don't you know that we are all cavalry?"
Huang Zicheng said: "We have calculated this and it is the fastest, safest and most convenient way."
As if to be a footnote to Huang Zicheng's words, on the trestle for boarding the ship in the distance, a soldier held the reins of the horse. He tried hard to pull the horse onto the boat, but to no avail, although the war horse was a war horse, it had never been on a boat before. He seemed to be frightened and struggled hard.
Human strength is far inferior to that of horses. As the horse reared up with its front hooves, it neighed loudly and threw its master off the trestle. The horse was also careless and fell off the trestle. Plop fell into the sea.
Horses can swim. With so many people watching, the person who fell into the sea will not die. It's just that in such cold weather, taking an ice water bath may cost half your life.
Lan Yu looked at Huang Zicheng and said, "Are you sure this is the best way?"
Huang Zicheng said; "I'm sure."
Depart from Jingu, transfer to Niujiazhuang, and go all the way to the upper reaches of the Liaohe River. Laomi Bay is almost the northernmost point of Liaodong Capital City. After resting here for a while, heading north for more than a hundred miles, we will directly enter the area controlled by the Ming Dynasty. After running for five hundred miles, Zhaozhou is on the left and right.
Although Nahachu may no longer be in Zhaozhou, he must be near Zhaozhou.
He Xi and Huang Zicheng also thought a lot about it. For example, the cavalry is not suitable for this kind of sea-river transportation. For example, the weather is too cold, the ice on the Liao River, etc.
Even though there were problems like this, He Xi and Huang Zicheng still felt that this was the best way.
The reason is simple: water transport is fast and carries a large load. And most importantly, save horsepower. Yes, even if the horses are not adapted to the sea, it is still better than traveling nearly a thousand miles in ice and snow and then facing hundreds of miles of wilderness.
As mentioned earlier, the cold weapon era was all about physical strength. It’s human strength and horse strength.
As for the problem of ice on rivers and seas, it depends on latitude. From Liaodong to Jilin and Harbin, the thawing time is also different, with a difference of about half a month. And for many large rivers, even in the north, they are not completely frozen.
At the beginning of the 19th century in Hongwu, the ice on the Liaohe River had begun to loosen. It's just that it's the end of the first lunar month, and although there are still large chunks of floating ice in the river, it's a little more difficult to move forward. But it can barely be navigated.
Sapphire knows all these reasons. It's just that Lan Yu has been a land tiger all his life. Now let him get on the ship, even if there are 10 million guarantees, he still resists deep down in his heart.
But he knew that if he didn't take the sea route, he probably wouldn't be able to get there within the specified time. Departure point. He didn't want to get up early but rush to a late market.
Lan Yu snorted coldly, came to the soldier who had just climbed out of the sea, whipped it casually with his riding whip, and drew a blood mark on the soldier's face, and said: "As a cavalryman, you can't even take care of your own horse. What’s the use of you, just stay here.”
Although Lan Yu was cold to the soldiers, she was also very caring. The soldiers swam in the icy water and rested here. Maybe nothing would happen, but if they traveled with a large group of people, they might get sick on the way.
If you get sick during the march, there won't be that much time to treat you. Maybe this life will be lost.
Of course, in Lan Yu's opinion, if a cavalryman can't even manage his own horse well, he should be whipped.
Lan Yu then shouted: "If you can take care of your horse for me, if something happens again, it won't be a whip."
"Yes." Everyone shouted in unison.
When it comes to driving horses to get on board, they are much more careful.
Even so, even with the people and horses, it took a whole day, and it was not until the torches were lit at night that the journey was completed.
The next day, the fleet set sail.
When we arrived at Niuzhuang Port, Niuzhuang Port had changed drastically.
Originally Niuzhuang was just an inn. Although there are also land and water. It is a big inn, but it is just a big inn. But things are different now. Under the command of He Xi, several nearby health centers were under construction here. Dozens of trestles were built in succession. The trestles go deep into the Liaohe River, like big hands.
All the cavalrymen did not need to get off the plank road at all. They changed directly from sea boats to river boats, and the river boats were even smaller. Barely one-third of a sea-going ship. People and horses were a little crowded up there. But there is no way. Now we are in the lower reaches of the Liao River. The river surface is wide and it suddenly looks like the sea. The water is deep enough even for sea boats.
However, it won't work upstream.
Some people may say that you cannot change boats upstream.
No, because there is no such a big port upstream. Even if you want to build it, it won't work. Building a large port in a place is certainly a human effort, but it must have natural endowments, otherwise it will be half the result with twice the effort. Niu Zhuang is like this.
These trestles are also temporary. If it's urgent, I guess it won't be enough to support it for a few years. But without the natural hydrological conditions here in Niuzhuang Port, such hasty measures would not be possible.
It's just going against the current, not with the current, but the south wind is picking up, which can be regarded as a boost.
After three or five days of this, we arrived at the destination of this stop, which is Laomi Bay.
The situation here in Laomiwan is much worse than in Niuzhuang Port.
All the boats almost blocked the river.
Therefore, after the ships unloaded the people and horses at the dock, they had to continue heading north without turning back. Because if we turn back, we will block the waterway. In this way, the 30,000 troops and war horses were transported here like a flowing stream.
Moreover, He Xi had already prepared the camp, and there were more than 10,000 troops here to entertain him. Although there are no houses, there are ready-made campsites, tents and fire pits. As soon as these people arrive, they can go and rest.
He Xi calculated three full days. The cavalry can rest here for three days.
In his opinion, three days was enough.
This is not ordinary, they are all elite soldiers and strong generals. Even though I'm not used to the sea, seasickness or something like that. Three days isn't enough time to recover. If it is really not enough, the Shenyang guards personally commanded by Ye Wang, the most elite of the Liaodong Army, are here and can mobilize manpower to supplement at any time.
Although the Liaodong guards were considered second- and third-tier armies in the Ming Dynasty, their most elite troops were determined not to lose to Lan Yu's elite troops.
The reason why Ye Wang is not used is probably not just a matter of combat effectiveness, setting up such a big stage, not to mention whether Ye Wang can sing the play well on stage, even if he can sing well. There is only one He Xi behind Ye Wang, but behind Lan Yu there is the prince and the Chang family. Only he can hold up the scene.
He Xi is not enough.
From the end of the 18th year of Hongwu, when He Xi returned to Liaodong, until now, in less than three months and less than eighty days, He Xi has completed a lot of work, collecting sea ships, river ships, and almost everything that can float on the sea. , and even sang the empty city strategy along the Yalu River. Only Ye Chen's cavalry of a thousand households was left to patrol, and all the other strong men were recruited.
Even the lumberyards along the Yalu River, which He Xi valued most, were all closed.
Even Huang Zicheng was transferred over, but He Xi really lacked the manpower to take charge alone. The Imperial College students under He Xi may be able to produce many ministers in the future, but now they are all novices, and the difference is too big.
In any case, his hard work in the second half of this year has finally paid off. For He Xi, the first half of this battle was over. It’s time to watch the second half.
Lan Yu got off the boat, feeling a little dizzy.
Lan Yu is also considered a fierce general. When he first got on the boat, he felt seasick for a while because he was not used to it. But Lan Yu soon adjusted. He felt dizzy at the moment, not because of seasickness. But some can't believe it.
Lan Yu is not old, but he is also a veteran. When he followed Chang Yuchun, he was just like Feng Cheng following Feng Sheng now. After being tempered for a long time, he was finally released to lead the troops. I have indeed seen a lot of wars. But the logistics work is as good as He Xi's. Sapphire is really rare.
