In the county government office, Gao Heng was sitting in the lobby and resting. Annan's county seat was smaller than that of Ming Dynasty, so naturally this county government office couldn't be that big. After entering the county government office, Gao Heng felt that all the bones in his body were falling apart. He really wanted to have a good sleep. He fell asleep almost as soon as he next to the chair. After guarding the city for so many days, he spent almost every day lining up on the tower. I didn't get a full night's sleep during the formation of the troops. Now that I relaxed, I naturally fell asleep.
"Second squad leader! Second squad leader! Gao Heng! You're fucking deaf!" "What the hell are you doing! Kill it!" The platoon leader's voice came to Gao Heng's ears. In a daze, he seemed to see He reached the machine gun position in front of him that was spitting out tongues of fire. He picked up the tube and was about to fire an individual cloud burst bomb at the opponent, when he found a rocket with a white tail flame approaching him at high speed.
"See General." came a voice.
"Huh? Huh? Who? Who?" Gao Heng suddenly woke up from his sleep and jumped up from his chair. Only then did he realize that what had just happened was just a dream, and that it had not been long since he came here. However, Gao Heng felt as if a century had passed, and many things in later generations seemed to have been forgotten.
"General, what's wrong with you?" A familiar voice came. Gao Heng rubbed his eyes and realized that it was Jackie Chan standing in the lobby. He looked up at the sky outside the main entrance and found that it was already dark. .
"Military advisor, me." Gao Heng said, somewhat at a loss for words.
"Haha, general, don't blame yourself. He must have been too tired and stressed these days. He suddenly relaxed and felt very good sleep. The general must have had a nightmare." Cheng Zilong said with a smile.
Gao Heng concealed his embarrassment. He must have lost his composure just now. He immediately changed the subject and said, "How long have I been asleep?"
Cheng Zilong cupped his hands and said: "It's already midnight. I came to see the general during dinner, but he was sleeping soundly. I couldn't bear to disturb him, so I left. I'm back now because the cleaning work outside the city has been completed. It’s basically over, I came here to bring the general back, I’m really sorry for disturbing the general’s sleep.”
When Gao Heng heard this, he immediately waved his hand and said: "It's okay, military advisor, please sit down and let's talk slowly."
Cheng Zilong sat down, Gao Heng stood up, took a cup, blew out the ashes inside, poured some white water, placed it in front of Cheng Zilong and said: "The conditions are simple and there is no tea, so I will give in to the military advisor first."
Cheng Zilong picked up the tea cup and drank it all in one gulp. Although it was cold water, it was obvious that Cheng Zilong had been busy until now and had not had enough water, so he drank it all in one gulp. He wiped his mouth and said: "General, loss or gain, which one should the general listen to first?"
Gao Heng said: "Let's hear the losses first."
Cheng Zilong sighed and said: "If you look at it from the enemy's perspective, our losses are insignificant, but for ourselves, the losses in this battle are not small. Our vanguard battalion and reserve battalion have a total of two thousand people. About 400 people died in the battalion, and more than 200 people were injured, nearly half of whom were seriously injured. Only God knows whether these people can be saved. The total number of casualties in the reserve camp was about 300, and hundreds of civilians were killed and injured. People. Since then, our army has lost nearly half of its strength in this battle, which is a heavy blow to the newly established survival brigade."
"This." Gao Heng didn't know how to answer for a while. He knew that his losses would definitely not be small, but he didn't expect to lose ordinary soldiers and horses. Gao Heng shivered with heartache. He originally expected to expand After arriving at a brigade, there is now only one battalion left. What will we do in the future?
Cheng Zilong said: "General, look away. Compared with the results we have achieved, this loss is relatively small. In this battle, our army wiped out a total of more than 2,000 enemies and injured no less than a thousand, at least they were defeated." Their three battalions also captured the Crown Prince of the Zheng Dynasty. And most importantly, after a rough inventory just now, we have obtained at least five thousand people's equipment, including thousands of sets of weapons and armor, including at least nearly a thousand pairs of iron armor. I took the damaged parts to the blacksmith to see if they could be repaired."
Nearly a thousand pairs of iron armor. This number really surprised Gao Heng, but if you think about it carefully, it should be about the same. There are tens of thousands of enemy troops, many officers are wearing iron armor, and the heavy armor of two hundred cavalry must have also been captured. In addition, there are soldiers from the other side participating in this battle, which is also a large source of iron armor. In this way, basically all of the surviving thousand soldiers can be equipped with iron armor, and the combat effectiveness of the army will be greatly improved.
"In addition, we also captured more than a hundred war horses, which can be used to form our own cavalry team. We also captured a lot of artillery. Together with our own heartless cannons, we now have about thirty artillery pieces of various sizes, including the Buddha Ten cannons, ten cannons, five cannons, three cannons, two cannons, and some ammunition." Cheng Kang took out a list from his arms and read.
"The most important thing is that we captured a large number of matchlock guns. Together with our original ones, there are at least 800 guns." Cheng Zilong stroked his beard.
Oops! This number shocked Gao Heng. Eight hundred fireguns was a large number. Unfortunately, the number was insufficient, otherwise Gao Heng could have organized a firegun camp.
"General, can I come in?" As he was speaking, a voice came from outside the door. Along with the voice, there was a smell of meat.
Gurgling, Gurgling, Gao Heng's stomach growled twice instinctively. Like Cheng Zilong, Gao Heng has basically not eaten enough since he led the troops in battle, and Gao Heng has consumed a lot of physical strength, so he is hungry now. normal.
The person who came in was Fan Yu. Since Gao Heng was elected as everyone's leader, Fan Yu had a hint of respect for Gao Heng. The Gao Heng now is completely different from the Gao Heng he knew before, as if he has changed. As an ordinary person, if it were before, how could Fan Yu have imagined that Gao Heng could lead thousands of troops to fight? This is not something that a civilian should consider at all.
But today's battle gave everyone in the city a new view of Gao Heng. The image of a brave, wise and unafraid of sacrifice leader emerged vividly on the paper, making the people feel that it would not be wrong to follow such a person.
What Fan Yu brought in was a bowl of broth. The pottery bowl was filled to the brim with meat. It was more like large pieces of meat than soup.
"Fan Yu, what is this?" Gao Heng asked with some confusion. They are very poor here, and the original Annan people in Tuo County are not rich either. Meat is very valuable, and there are generally two ways to do it, either by raising some livestock at home, or by hunting by yourself. Annan is similar to the Central Plains area, basically. There are animals such as chickens, ducks, and pigs, but there are not many of them. The farmers do not eat these for themselves. After excluding the part that they pay taxes on, there is almost nothing left for themselves. Like the farmers in the Central Plains, their people cannot eat meat. .
This is not a problem for the Annan people. Even in the Ming Dynasty, ordinary landowners could only eat meat and white flour during festivals.
Cheng Zilong explained: "While the general was sleeping, I discussed with several generals and made an independent decision to share the horses we killed outside the city and eat them. These horses were either dead or seriously injured. There is no use in keeping them. Each one is fat and strong, just right for cutting and eating. A horse has at least three to four hundred kilograms of meat that can be eaten, including internal organs, which is quite a lot. There are nearly a hundred horses outside the city, which is enough. Everyone in our city eats one or two kilograms each, and the excess is salted with collected salt for emergencies."
Only then did Gao Heng realize, "You are doing the right thing. This horse meat cannot be wasted. It is a good thing. The soldiers have been fighting for a day and they should really replenish their bodies. Give more to the sick and wounded to help them recover."
Cheng Zilong nodded and said, "Don't worry, General, I've made all arrangements."
Now that Cheng Zilong said this, Gao Heng was no longer polite. He didn't bother to pick up the chopsticks. He reached out and grabbed the horse meat and put it into his mouth. The horse meat was a bit sour and they didn't have any extra seasonings except salt and chili. , but Gao Heng still found it extremely delicious.
Napoleon once said that soldiers march on their stomachs, and food is their morale. After eating a bowl of hot horse meat, Gao Heng felt like he came to life instantly. He hadn't eaten such delicious food in a long time.
Cheng Zilong didn't say anything. He watched Gao Heng finish eating with a smile, stroking his belly and leaning on a chair to rest. Then he said: "General, since Zheng Zuo has been captured, Lord Zheng has only two choices, or send troops to attack. Otherwise, it is negotiation. Based on my understanding of them over the years here, Zheng Zuo has a transcendent status and Lord Zheng will definitely not give up. What should we want? I wonder if the general has any plans?"
This question stunned Gao Heng. He really didn't think about what to do next. "What do you want? Yes, military advisor. I don't know what I should want. Besides, the war is over and we have secured the territory." If the lives of some overseas Chinese go according to the ideas of the Zhennan Guan Ming Army, these people can go back to the Ming Dynasty."
Cheng Zilong shook his head and said: "No, General, you think things are too simple. In fact, no one has thought about going back in these years, but now the Ming Dynasty is in trouble both internally and externally, and the local officials regard those of us who leave the country as We are different, no longer the people of the Ming Dynasty. We have lost our household registration. After we go back, everything has to be handled again. When there are internal and external troubles, how can the local government handle it for us? Why not make things difficult for us at all levels? When we go back, we You also need to peel off a layer of skin.”
He paused and then said: "Furthermore, with so many of us going back, the local government's food supplies have already been stretched thin. The imperial court has been fighting successive wars, and the excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes are horrifying. In fact, how much of these taxes have been paid to the imperial court?" , who hasn’t counted in their mind? If ten thousand of us go back, we will have ten thousand more mouths, and if one hundred thousand of us go back, we will have one hundred thousand more mouths. How can these be expatriates? In the eyes of the government, they are clearly refugees. Which government would allow a large number of people to speak in their territory? Large-scale refugees? The soldiers at Zhennanguan are just kind-hearted. If we really go back, we will definitely be stopped by the local officials under strict orders."
"General, you are new here, so naturally you don't know the joints inside, but we people know it too well. Now that we have come out, we are not ready to go back. If you want to blame it, you can only blame yourself for your bad luck. I heard that some People went to Nanyang and got along pretty well. Besides, what's so good about the Ming Dynasty? Even if we go back, we won't have better results. As far as I know, the north is already in dire straits, and no one can guarantee that bandits will not escape. We invaded the south, and if we go back now, we will be completely destitute and without our property, how will we live?"
Gao Heng sighed. Jackie Chan said the same thing. The world is so big that there seems to be no place for these expats. Cheng Zilong said: "The most important thing is that now our camp is full of wounded soldiers, and many people are injured. They are fathers, sons, wives, and daughters. No one will abandon them. I still remember when we first met, Is it something I brought up?"
Gao Heng said: "Sir, are you talking about Jizi North Korea?"
Cheng Zilong said: "Yes, now the overseas Chinese have united around the general. Everyone trusts the general very much. If the general is willing, he can lead everyone to live a good life. We are also willing to follow the general, just like Xu Fu's eastward crossing, to establish a A home of our own.”
Gao Heng said: "But even so, we only have less than 10,000 people. Although Zheng Zuo is a hostage, it is not a long-term solution. How should we get along in this northern part of Annan?"
"This is what I want to tell the general. Since we are raising conditions, we have to get to the point. We want Zheng to ask for something." Cheng Zilong stood up and said.
"I wonder what the military advisor is referring to?" Gao Heng asked.
"people!"
"people?"
"Yes, it is people. The general is like a dragon and a phoenix. If you want to achieve great things, talent is an indispensable condition. I told the general before that there are many overseas Chinese in Annan, no less than tens of thousands. What the general sees now is just one of them. There are many people in Lang Son, Thang Long, Taiyuan, and Thanh Hoa. There are many people in the same situation as the people here. If we can replace them with Zheng Zuo and gather them all here, It's like saving them." Cheng Zilong said.
"But with so many people, will the Annan people agree?"
"How will we know if we don't give it a try? With tens of thousands of people, we can occupy the land of Lang Son and use this place as our base. We will have a lot to do in the future. If what I predict is good, we don't have to worry, there will be forces from all sides coming. Take the initiative to find us." Cheng Zilong said confidently.
Gao Heng was still chewing on Cheng Zilong's words, when suddenly Fan Yu came in again and said: "General, please go out of the county office and take a look. All the expats are outside."
Gao Heng hurriedly walked out of the county government office. Chengmen Street, which was not particularly spacious, was densely packed with people. They were all expatriates in the city. Thousands of people held torches in the dark and stood in front of Gao Heng. It was Jing Zhao.
"Jing Zhao? Folks, what are you?" Gao Heng said.
