For the first time, ordinary people felt the difference brought by the country's destiny, and the pride and happiness in the hearts of many Anbei soldiers suddenly swelled.
"This, this is the world outside our country? It's cold and desolate."
"Hey, I told you, Lao Li, don't act like a big-tailed wolf. It's only in the past few years that Bojun has been in power that life has become easier."
"Yes, once the drought is over, the weather is getting better and the weather is smooth."
"Before I came out, my 30 acres of rice fields were already green, and the rice seedlings were as tall as chopsticks."
"I heard from the township official from the Township Department that from now on our land in Anbei will be able to produce three crops a year, and the summer harvest will be another record-breaking harvest."
Among the auxiliary troops escorting the heavy supplies and supplies, similar discussions were endless, and many people were smiling.
Occasionally, he would glance at the ragged local residents in the distance who were peeping at them, then straighten his chest and show off his brand-new military uniform.
Thanks to the popularization of the assembly line production model, the production efficiency of Anbei Kingdom has greatly increased. Even ordinary civilians and auxiliary soldiers can have standard military uniforms and weapons.
"It's hard for the people to prosper and it's hard for the people to die. You still have to follow our Lord to live a good life."
"In this southern expedition, we are the King of Justice. We are here to punish the people and bring a better life to the people of Dingnan."
As the voice of the envoy accompanying the army's policy was heard throughout the long march, the morale of the various units of the Anbei Army reached its peak.
"Yes, we are the masters of justice. How can Lei Haomiao be able to hold the position of Marquis of the State!"
"Condemn the people and fight crimes, support justice, and Dingzhou rises..."
Amid the enthusiastic slogans and cheers, Zhou Bai looked at the increasingly agitated military situation and raised his right hand in response.
It is extremely necessary to unify our thinking and shape the justice of war.
But now it seems that the strategy he advocated for recruiting talents into the army and granting military posts to envoys was correct.
These envoys, who are able to understand the superior's intentions, can unite the hearts of the troops and increase their morale with just their sharp tongue.
Compared with the conventional warlord army, which always needs incentives from wine, meat and money, the Anbei Army does not know how advanced it needs to be.
On February 13th, the frontline military newspaper was delivered. The knight who watched the delivery looked happy, obviously it was good news.
In fact, as early as two hours ago, the frontline monks had reported through the communication array. However, there is obviously not only one channel for conveying military orders or news in the army.
Regular military and horse rushes are also reserved in the Anbei Army, and there will be more than one group of messengers coming one after another.
"Report, Changxian County has been captured by General Li. The magistrate and garrison of Longpu County opened their doors and surrendered. At present, General Chu has led his cavalry to the outskirts of Longfeng County."
Zhou Bai nodded slightly and immediately told the messenger beside him: "Come here and inform the whole army of this news."
Amidst the cheers, the steady Lou Jinpeng also stepped forward to congratulate him at the right time: "In less than five days, the three counties south of Longfeng County and the five pass military towns have been captured. This means that the entire Longfeng County is waiting for the capture of the county. The county can then be settled."
The civil servant who was accompanying him also tried to ask: "By then, your Majesty will exclusively own half of the eight counties in Dingzhou, maybe you can go further?"
Zhou Bai took a look at the attendant and found that it was Lang Jiang Yuankui, the new secretary of Miwen Pavilion. This person was the top candidate in the first imperial examination of Anbei Kingdom.
Although he cannot be called the number one scholar or Jinshi, judging from the blessings of Anbei's national luck, it is enough to say a word of enlightenment.
After capturing Longfeng County, there will be a large number of official vacancies. Without adequate training for new imperial examination candidates, reserve officials will be insufficient.
A large number of minor officials in rural and county government offices will be promoted based on their assessment results, and secretaries who have been in the central government for a long time will also be decentralized to become officials.
The prime minister must be promoted from the state department, and the strong generals must be promoted from the soldiers. This is the promotion system being implemented in Anbei Kingdom.
Zhao Xi and Wen Hongchang have been sent to serve as county magistrates, and the other secretaries have also been arranged. They are currently familiarizing themselves with the intelligence of the areas where they will serve with the reserve officials.
Now, those who follow Zhou Bai are all the top ten new imperial examination candidates like Jiang Yuankui. The first one is released, and the second one is awarded the title of Secretary Lang and goes with the army.
Zhou Bai can understand that he is a little unmotivated when he first arrived.
Establishing a Secret Pavilion and personally taking care of secretaries are like "principals", so that they can become the most loyal and able to implement national strategies.
Zhou Bai put his hands behind his hands and said with emotion: "If we go one step further, we will indeed have enough luck, but the state city has not yet been conquered, and the title of Marquis of the state is still above Lei Haomiao's head."
"Calling yourself Marquis of Anbei? It's an unorthodox name for a big country, and I don't want to do that."
"According to the title of state candidate, conquer Luding from the west, unify the whole state, and cast the state tripod. This is the way of a majestic king."
He looked around at the secretaries following behind him. Their faces were a little unfamiliar, and they were still in the getting-together period.
Jiang Yuankui was born in Ruinan County. In recent years, he has been unable to take the imperial examination and has been exposed to more private and clan disputes. He has never seen the royal way and the overall situation.
At this time, his mind was shaken, and he bowed his head and said: "I will remember this edict. Your Majesty's ambition will be achieved by us."
After Zhou Bai finished giving instructions to these secretaries, Lou Jinpeng stepped forward and Shan Solo reported another situation.
"Your Majesty, the navy is still blocked at the Ningrui Ferry and cannot enter the Longfeng section of the Ningjiang River."
"The naval officers are too aggrieved. Li Bao, the captain of the fleet, wrote a letter asking for a battle. He said frankly that everyone in the fleet has the courage to die with the enemy." As Lou Jinpeng spoke, he handed over the letter of request for battle that Li Bao submitted to the Chinese Army Staff Headquarters.
When it comes to the Navy, Zhou Bai frowns. Even though he has increased his investment in the Navy, his foundation is too weak and he is still unable to compete with the Dingguo Navy.
In fact, this is Lei Haomiao's confidence to stick to Dingzhou County. The essence of Dingzhou is in Dingzhou County. The essence of Dingzhou County is in the area along the river. It is also important in grain trade. Even the city of Dingzhou is not far from Ningjiang.
If an enemy wants to attack Dingguo, it will be difficult to capture its key areas without naval forces.
In the end, we can't go by water. Logistics and transportation will consume too much, and sooner or later we will be able to push back the powerful enemy.
"What do you mean? Can we have a fight?" Zhou Bai threw the question back to Lou Jinpeng.
As the deputy commander and chief of staff of the Southern Expedition Camp, he was duty-bound to provide clear advice to Zhou Bai.
After getting rid of Dayan's weak body, Lou Jinpeng has now completely recovered his handsomeness and talent as a civilized and military man. He said calmly: "If we follow the planned plan and capture the entire Ruinan County first, then according to the general's intention, we cannot fight. .”
"After adding two ironclad ships and enriching the naval officers who returned from Dayan, the navy's combat effectiveness has been greatly improved."
"Currently, at least we can rely on the port and the favorable river section to prevent the Dingguo Navy from entering the Ningjiang section of Ruinan. However, once defeated, the entire Ruinan will face a major threat, not to mention Longfeng."
Since the incident, Zhou Bai had never been so aggrieved by the navy. He wanted to fight, but he knew the battlefield law of using strengths and avoiding weaknesses.
Relying on the strong combat capabilities of the cavalry and infantry, Ruinan will be bulldozed first. At worst, the ports along the river will be temporarily abandoned.
As for worries about landing raids and sending more flood troops, the cavalry can also stay on the riverside.
"Reply to Li Bao and ask him to practice hard so that he can go into battle."
"Invite the Ministry of Industry to urge the shipyards to build more small warships." Zhou Bai pondered for a moment and immediately asked Lou Jinpeng to write down the order.
Lou Jinpeng's expression changed, and he quickly remembered something, and asked respectfully: "Small warship? Your Majesty, do you want to restore the story of Dayan?"
Zhou Bai nodded and narrowed his eyes slightly, remembering the battle to conquer the Yangtze River Navy.
At that time, although most of the navy officers on the ships were infiltrated and bribed, the core ships were firmly controlled by the enemy commanders.
On that day, the Yangtze River Navy revolted, and Zhou Bai transferred fleets from other inland rivers to help out, and most of them were small warships.
In the process of capturing the core ship, it was also the small boats that approached the siege and carried out boarding operations.
Yu Lin and the imperial guards who are good at water-based skills on the small boat all use light skills to climb and seize the boat with hand-to-hand force.
"Yes, the Tianjiang River in our main world and even its tributaries are too huge. Most of the horizontal rivers are dominated by large ships, and the same is true for the naval fleet."
"Since you can't beat a head-on collision, let's fight in a jumping battle."
"The drawings of small warships such as the stern, red horse boat, and yacht over Dayan have been submitted to the Ministry of Industry for archives. These small ships are low-cost and fast to build." Zhou Bai said very calmly.
He couldn't let the navy become his weak link, and at least he had to have the capital to fight for his life. Otherwise, with the Ningjiang River lying in the middle of the prefecture, when would it be possible to unify the entire Dingzhou.
Lou Jinpeng bowed his hand in admiration: "Your Majesty is wise. Throughout the history of the dynasty, small boat warfare has never become the mainstream. This is because martial arts has never been as popular as our Anbei army."
"However, the navy soldiers are not strong enough. Large ships of the same level may be able to fight in the swings. As for the small ship fleet, the Imperial Guard soldiers with good water skills should be selected as the swing soldiers."
The emperor and his ministers did not know that a decision made on this desolate march would change the pattern of water wars in the world.
Big ship and giant crossbow doctrine will not be the only solution.
"Send a partial division to various ports in Longfeng to clear out all supplies and then block them with iron chains."
"The whole army is marching quickly. Before the sun sets tomorrow, we must arrive at Longfeng County to join forces. There is a lot of pressure on the border town."
…
As Zhou Bai expected, the pressure in Border City County is indeed not small. The civilian workers who have finished spring planting in advance are like dense ants forming a long logistics supply line.
Border County is vast and sparsely populated. Only the towns and cities have food reserves, and the largest granaries are built in Longbei City to supply the Great Wall defense line.
Once the Dingxi Army invades, there is no need to mention logistical supplies. The huge border town will immediately fall into a situation of fighting on its own.
Except for Longbei County and the Great Wall Border Gate in the north, the five counties in the south will have no support, and it will only be a matter of time before they are captured.
This is why Zhou Bai had to send Jiao Tu first to capture Menju Pass. If he captured both Menju and Longbei, he would get the border town.
At Menguguan, the city wall, which has been reinforced and raised many times with cement masonry, has been dyed dark red or light red in patches.
This red is dyed red by the blood of soldiers from both countries. The depth of red represents the number of people who died on that section of the city wall.
The darker the red, the more intense the attack and defense of this section of the city wall, which also means the more important the place is.
This is the experience gained life by life by both sides during the continuous offensive and defensive operations for five whole days.
Gaocheng and Deep Ditch, now only Gaocheng remains, and the deep ditch without water outside the city has been filled with sandbags and Dingxi people.
At noon, during a short break in the siege, the soldiers on Guancheng alternately rotated, and it was time for the previous wave of soldiers to go down to eat and rest.
However, as the coach, Zhou Yuan has no way to rotate. The importance of family barriers and high-intensity offensive and defensive battles prevent him from relaxing.
While munching dry food, he inspected the defense of Guancheng. Behind him was a proud young general. Judging from his fine armor and the general seal on his waist, he was obviously not an ordinary person.
"Bingtai, this Lu Ding is so cruel. He actually used the lives of civilians to fill the ditch. How is this different from those bandits?" the young general sighed angrily.
This young general is Huo Feiguang, who was born in the border town. Near Menjuguan, there are many families who are related to the people in the border town.
Zhou Yuan shook his head, pointed to the world outside the door and said: "What you don't know is that except for the emperor who never uses the people as a shield, Lu Ding, Lei Haomiao, and any warlord have done this kind of thing."
"In their view, when civilians die, they die. It can reduce the consumption of military rations and reduce the casualties of soldiers, which is the way to use the army."
Huo Feiguang clenched his fists, and Hou Tianqi exploded: "No wonder when I was studying and learning to read with the Lord, he always said that he would benefit the people and make the world peaceful."
"I, Huo Feiguang, swear that I will follow you, bring peace to the troubled times, clear up the world, and bury these thieves of the remnants of the people into the underworld!"
As expected of a general who was personally selected by your Majesty, the progress in both civil and military fields has been so rapid.
Zhou Yuan noticed that Huo Feiguang's martial arts cultivation in the middle of the day after tomorrow, as well as his speech and conversation, were completely different from a few months ago, and he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
Now his attitude has become more gentle. From a servant to the Minister of the Ministry of War, he knows that his potential has been exhausted and he will give up his position sooner or later, so he has never been stingy about promoting those who are underachieving.
In the early stage of offense and defense, Zhou Yuan thought it was not time to send out the dragon dragon cavalry trump card, so he gave Huo Feiguang a task he was good at.
Investigate the movements of the Jin Kingdom, and try to recruit reinforcements from the five ministries outside the Great Wall.
On the eve of the last founding of the country, Zhou Bai led his army out of the Great Wall to sweep the grasslands, gained a great reputation, and brought back many small tribes who were willing to join.
Later, scattered grassland people came to seek refuge. After several integrations, a total of five tribal leaders entered the court and were recognized by Zhou Bai and granted official positions.
These five tribes, each with thousands of people, lived beside the Great Wall, which served as the first barrier.
Zhou Yuan swallowed the last piece of cake, turned around and asked: "How is the situation on this trip? Do the five ministries beyond the Great Wall agree to send troops?"
Huo Feiguang immediately replied: "Hu Yanhe has completely occupied Yinshan, the holy land of the Jin Kingdom. According to the news on the grassland, he will worship heaven on February 20th and become the only king of the Jin Kingdom."
"At present, all the major tribes on the grassland have received the news, and they have selected gifts and sent envoys to Yinshan Mountain to participate in the ceremony."
"The five troops outside the Great Wall were willing to send troops, but I didn't let them come."
Zhou Yuan looked at Huo Feiguang intently: "Beware of the Kingdom of Jin?".
"Returning to the military platform, the Jin Kingdom must also be on guard. Also, luring these tribes into the pass may make the grassland think that we are in a weak state." Huo Feiguang beat his chest in a military salute and explained loudly.
Zhou Yuan was stunned. He really didn't expect this. The thinking of the grassland beyond the Great Wall cannot be generalized.
"I will report the news about the changes in the Jin Kingdom to your Majesty and mark your merits."
At this time, the thunderous sound of war drums rang out in the Dingxi Army camp that stretched ten miles outside the city.
Suddenly, the roar of a tiger came, and all the soldiers on Guancheng looked to the sky, only to see that the Dingxi Army's thick black evil spirit had condensed into a vicious tiger.
"Feiguang, take your dragon dragon riders and get ready. I'm afraid Lu Ding won't be able to hold back anymore and will send elite troops to tackle the problem."
(End of chapter)
