Chapter 169: Drag the knife plan
A fire ship, burning with raging fire, sailed down the canal from the upper reaches and rushed into the Union fleet downstream.
This is not the first time.
The first time such a fire ship appeared was when Fu Youde decided to withdraw his troops. Hundreds of fire ships were released at one go. The scene was so dark that the whole canal turned red.
It also brought a lot of trouble to the Northern Army.
After all, the canal is a canal, and it is the main artery of this attack. Hundreds of thousands of troops are moving, and the supplies required are simply huge. Even the armies that are circuitous left and right rely on the canal for their logistics. Because transporting hundreds of thousands of troops by land requires too much transportation power.
This is why Fu Youde went north as soon as the war started, just to block this aorta. This can limit the opponent's power to the south.
But at this moment, this canal has also become a battlefield for both sides.
This time it was just a fire ship, nothing at all. The first time, the densely packed fireboats kept the fire burning for three to five days. The Northern Army also lost dozens of boats and blocked the canal for several days.
Now they have experience.
Immediately, someone came forward in a small boat with bamboo poles to hold it up. Then someone on the shore used an iron hook to drag it to the shore and wait for the fire boat to burn out.
It's just that each of these ships is not the same twenty-four hours a day.
It made it difficult for the Northern Army's fleet to move forward.
Seeing this, Ye Chen could only give an order. Let the fleet clear the river at the rear. He took the lead with his army.
The army divided into two lines and marched hand in hand along both sides of the canal.
Although there are no big ships, there are still small ships or flags to exchange messages between the two armies.
Just doing this is not very smooth.
Fu Youde personally led the troops to cut off the rear.
The pursuit battle became an endless offensive and defensive battle, with dozens of positions of various sizes set up along both sides of the canal. It takes several days to attack each position, and it will take dozens of days to get from Botou Town to Anlingbao.
Now, dozens of days are enough for Fu Youde's army to withdraw.
After all, there are canals, and indeed a large number of ships on them.
However, Ye Chen naturally didn't just do this. At this moment, a Northern army starting from the west has already headed towards Texas. They encountered no strong resistance.
After Fu Youde got the news, he was silent for a while and said, "That's fine."
Then he retreated even further. But at this speed, it was impossible to escape Ye Chen's pursuit. It can only be said that it is slightly faster.
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In Anlingbao.
Life in Anlingbao was difficult.
There is already a vast ocean outside Anlingbao.
The embankments outside are being raised all the time. Even though this is no longer the right path of the canal. But there is still a steady stream of water flowing into it. Not to mention, Hebei is also rainy in summer. Even if there is no upstream water source to replenish. Just a few more rains.
The water in this dam can rise several inches.
Now, looking outside the city from the city wall, there is a lake several miles wide.
Looking down from the city wall, it seems that you can reach out and touch the water.
Just like this, the water outside the city also seeped into the city wall little by little.
Zhang Ming thought of many ways. But it's all in vain. First, water seeps in through sewers. Then, there is rainwater flowing from the cracks in the door, or simply from nowhere.
Anlingbao is very strong. But no matter how solid it is, problems will arise if it is soaked in water.
Today, large-scale infiltration has not occurred, but waterlogging alone is a big problem.
Not to mention other things, gunpowder, food, and many other supplies cannot have water at all. Once something goes wrong, it cannot be stored.
Therefore, the biggest problem in the city is drainage.
The flooded water must be brought up bucket by bucket and then poured outside.
But even so, there is still no shortage of water in the city.
It’s also unstoppable, and many supplies can no longer be used.
Therefore, Zhang Ming could only find a way to dig holes in the city wall.
Used to store grain.
In order to prevent shelling, the city walls are very thick, and carriages can run parallel to the city top. However, digging holes like cave dwellings from the city wall can store some things, but this will destroy the structure of the city wall once it is actually bombarded.
That's going to be a problem.
Maybe the city walls will collapse.
But when things got to this point, Zhang Ming had no choice.
It's not just a matter of city walls. Even most of the soldiers were already sleeping on the top of the city.
Because except for the top of the city, there are few places that are not wet.
In fact, these problems are still minor problems. Disease is the big problem.
If you stay in this situation, all kinds of diseases will naturally come to your door. From the beginning of the water storage to now, hundreds of soldiers have died of illness. Now there are hundreds of soldiers dying. As for peeling skin on the body or having any skin diseases, it is very, very normal.
Almost no one is in good health.
As for morale, it was extremely low.
Sometimes death is not a terrible thing, life is worse than death. Now Zhang Ming's situation is similar to life being worse than death.
Zhang Ming even felt that if the Confederate army came to attack by boat, they would take it out without much effort. Zhang Ming even killed several soldiers in order to stabilize the morale of the army.
Although these soldiers had already been investigated before they were sent. They are all the most loyal to Beijing.
However, to die in battle all at once, and now this kind of torture, with no way to bury the dilemma even after death, is really too torturous.
It is unbearable for many people.
Even Zhang Ming is like this.
He actually thought about committing suicide several times.
However, there was always a question in his mind, that was why? Now Anlingbao is already a ripe fruit and is within reach. Why didn't Fu Youde win it? Have you forgotten?
This question has been lingering in Zhang Ming's mind.
Suddenly on this day, he vaguely heard the sound of cannon again. At first, Zhang Ming thought it was thunder, but one after another, although it came from a distance, Zhang Ming was very clear that it was the sound of cannons and had nothing to do with thunder.
In an instant, Anlingbao, which was originally lifeless, suddenly came to life again.
For several months, he had been cut off from outside news.
I never knew what the situation was like outside. Now when I heard the sound of cannons, I knew it was news.
This shows that the battlefield has moved here again. The Northern Army moved south.
Zhang Ming stood at the highest point of the city and looked to the north. The north was blocked by a dam. Can't see anything. When he was disappointed, he suddenly found some people on the embankment in the north. These people are weird. Don't know what you are doing? ..
He looked at it for a while, and suddenly his whole body was shaken.
In an instant, the answer to his previous question was found.
Why? Anlingbao is already under the control of the Southern Army, but they just won't take it. Why build such a big project just for a mere Anlingbao? Now, Zhang Ming finally understands. This is a drag-and-knife tactic, using water instead of soldiers.
In order to hide something, the best way is to hide it within another thing.
For example, to replace soldiers with water. Fu Youde needed to artificially create flood peaks. This technology was already very mature during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It even created a historical record of ancient Chinese wars. This record cannot be surpassed even by the dam in front of us.
Outsiders just think that this is blocking Anlingbao.
After all, Anlingbao was too shocking. A castle that even the founding marquis couldn't defeat with his life.
No matter how much strength I use, I don't think there is any problem.
No one has ever thought that there is so much water here that it can actually create a flood peak.
Zhang Ming’s question also has an answer.
The matter of blocking Anlingbao may have been important from the beginning. But it doesn't matter now. Anlingbao has become a cover for Fu Youde's poisonous plan. Even if Anlingbao wants to surrender, Fu Youde probably won't accept it.
Now the people on the embankment are either doing other things or burying gunpowder. Prepare to explode.
Zhang Ming watched for a long time before he understood what these people wanted to do.
When Zhang Ming thought about it, countless soldiers of the Northern Army were washed away by the flood. Zhang Ming couldn't bear it. Maybe the Northern Army still had a chance to go south. But the various conditions here in Zhang Ming no longer support them in persisting.
"You must tell the adults." Zhang Ming thought.
