Chapter 26: Attacking the heart first
He Xi shook his head and said, "No, you prepare first." Then he wrote a letter and asked people to shoot it into the city.
When He Xi wrote the letter, he did not carry Ye Chen behind his back, and Ye Chen could see it clearly.
He Xi wrote very simply. He first complimented the magistrate as a capable minister, then expanded the power of the army, and then said that he would go to the city in five days. Then he deduce the fate of Zhizhou for the Zhizhou. If the city is destroyed like this, in order to warn the people of the world, they must be killed quickly. And even if Zhizhou is lucky enough to defend the city, is this one thing over? No. Prefectures and counties in Shandong are less prepared and more unprepared. It is impossible for all prefectures and counties to be like the city of Dezhou. The army swept away the prefectures and counties, and Dezhou became an isolated city. Even if reinforcements come here, they will fight us under the city of Dezhou, and blood will flow like rivers. No matter who wins or loses, the people of Texas will suffer heavy casualties. There is no one out of ten. Both Nanjing and Beijing are the grandsons of the late emperor. The two families are fighting for unification. It is difficult to say who is the right. It is better to know the state and leave with a seal and gold to report the kindness of the late emperor. The suffering of the people. He also promised that as long as Dezhou opens the city, the army will not kill anyone, only ask for grain and tax from the official warehouse, and will not take a penny from the people. If the army fails to move southward, Dezhou can surrender. No one was hurt in Texas. You can also report the name of the state order.
Ye Chen said, "Is this enough? Will the governor of Dezhou agree?"
He Xi said calmly: "I have to give it a try. If it doesn't work, let's talk."
He Xi felt that she was 50% sure.
Without him, once he came to Dezhou to know the state, he actually understood that Dezhou had become a troubled place at this moment. If he served here, he would probably be involved in the war and die. Even if he could hold Dezhou, he might not be able to survive a war. Protect yourself. If you hang up the seal and leave with gold, it is still possible to save your life.
Secondly, many of what He Xi said were not meant for the governor of Dezhou. But I'm telling it to the people of Texas.
For the people of Texas, it doesn't really matter who is right or wrong, who wins or loses. The most important thing is not to start this fight in Texas. After all, if the battle lines are repeatedly drawn in Texas, it will do too much harm to Texas.
Surrendering the Union Army was not acceptable.
Thirdly, He Xi could tell by looking at the morale in the city that none of them had the confidence to really defend the city.
As far as He Xi is concerned, there is a battleground, which is the Hejian Defense Line. This is his bottom line, and in the area south of the Hejian Defense Line, He Xi has no mandatory requirements for the local governments. This is a civil war after all. It is acceptable for them to come from the south to conquer the south and from the north to conquer the north.
Apart from certain strategic points, He Xi had no idea of where to defend.
Now even if we want to defend it, He Xi doesn't expect local officials to defend it.
I don’t know if He Xi’s letter was effective or if the people of Texas are really afraid of repeated wars. So Kaicheng really surrendered. And all the officials in the city fled.
He Xi led troops and horses into Dezhou City and obtained more than a few stones of official grain and thousands of taels of silver. It can be said that this time the military rations for going south are available.
Originally, He Xi wanted to make some repairs in Texas and continue south. But he never expected that as soon as he settled down, he heard crying in the city.
He Xi immediately sent someone to inquire and immediately understood what was going on. There were soldiers who robbed the people.
He Xi was immediately furious.
To be honest, He Xi has always known the virtues of the Ming army.
Although the Ming Dynasty's army is said to be good, with a well-organized army and sufficient money and food, it is still essentially an old army. Military discipline in the army has always been maintained by harsh laws. And once it comes to wartime, military discipline is somewhat lax.
After all, when you have to work hard below, you can't care too much about some things.
Many people even regard sending troops to fight as a great opportunity to make money.
As for why, these troops are very honest in Hebei. Once they leave Hebei, that's it. Without him, there are elite soldiers from all over the country, and some of them are local guards in Hejian. As long as they are here, it is impossible for them to cause harm to the village.
Now, as soon as the Hebei Army leaves Hebei, it goes to other places. Naturally, I let go.
The harm caused by guest armies has always been like this.
There are also other problems, such as ideological confusion in the military.
Yes, Zhu Xiongying raised his troops too suddenly.
. Not only did Nanjing feel it was sudden, but Beijing also felt it was sudden. Many people had already sent troops to fight before they had figured out what was going on. Under such circumstances, the soldiers were at a loss as to what to do and did not care so much about military discipline.
After all, if the boss gets it, why can’t I?
This is also without encountering a fierce battle, otherwise, it would be easy for deserters to appear.
Even if He Xi gave many orders before entering the city, it would be of little use in this situation.
It can be said that in the current situation, Nanjing has Nanjing's difficulties, and Beijing also has Beijing's problems. Neither side is ready. But many things are like this and can never be prepared. The two sides of the war are fighting to make fewer mistakes, not not to make no mistakes.
He Xi immediately ordered Ye Chen to integrate the entire army and capture the soldiers who violated military laws.
There were more than a hundred people in total. Generally speaking, sin does not lead to death.
After all, the military discipline of the Ming army was generally good, and there were no serious crimes. However, the most serious one was robbing things, sweeping the streets, and molesting women.
Without saying a word, He Xi ordered them all to be killed.
First, we should clean up military discipline and let the people below know that now we are going to war. Be serious. If you don't obey military orders, you will be killed. Secondly, it is also to win over the people's hearts. After all, in He Xi's plan, he never thought of the idea of deciding the world in one battle. After at least several years of fighting, Shandong is likely to be the main battlefield. The support of the people here is very important.
And based on He Xi's understanding of the Ming army, especially the guest army, the Beijing camps in various places are already pretty good, and they are elite at any rate. It’s not that the elite stopped looting, but that the elite adhered to military law more. Don't dare to mess around without orders from above.
Therefore, when soldiers and bandits form a family, it is mostly when military discipline breaks down.
He Xi doesn't expect that the army under his command will be as good as ***, that's impossible. He Xi has been in the Ming Dynasty for so many years, but he has not actually changed the ecology of the Ming Dynasty's army. However, it must be better than the south.
Sure enough, He Xi used a series of measures to stabilize Dezhou City.
Of course, in troubled times, military morale comes first, so He Xi rewarded all the silver in the Dezhou treasury to the entire army. Although each one received not much, even less than one yuan, in this era, even if the lower-level soldiers fought in wars, they only received a few bushels of food per month. One yuan was two or three months' wages, which was equivalent to one month's salary for everyone. .z.
Immediately morale stabilized.
Immediately, He Xi left a thousand households behind for the army. He took care of the grain and grass here and prepared to transfer it. He left part of it and transferred the rest to Hejian Mansion. After all, food will be a strategic resource in the future, and it will be transferred to Beijing. The scarcest resources.
He Xi did not appoint Texas officials, but summoned the grain officials of Texas and prominent local people and asked them to organize and temporarily manage Texas affairs. If a soldier violates the law, he can report it directly to the army and he will be dealt with severely. He also announced that if the army retreats, they will be informed in advance that after the army leaves, they can surrender to the south. But if they collude with the Confederate Army and it is detrimental to them, don't blame them for killing them the next time they come back.
Don't say that you didn't predict what you said.
Those words made everyone in Dezhou dare not neglect.
After all, maybe one of these people has special ambitions and wants to make achievements in the chaos, but it magnifies it to the people on the stage in Dezhou City. But not many people are willing to take the risk. Most people are ordinary people, and it is already good to be able to preserve their family property in troubled times.
Any other ideas out there.
The way out given by He Xi can be done without any risk, so I am naturally willing to do it.
He Xi also sent people to buy some things in Dezhou City, but it was actually no big deal. It's nothing more than medicinal materials used in the army, but all of them are bought with real money. There was no forward requisition at all. As a result, the whole Texas field was blocked, and some people even watched the army travel.
It doesn't look like troubled times at all.
Seeing this, He Xi secretly thought: "I hope all this can be maintained."
Although He Xi himself was not like someone who would spread the war to the people. But he alone has no say in this matter. We also need cooperation from Nanjing.
Just fine.
