36. Battlefield Diary

On June 17, the battle against Yangzhou began, and Zhao Ze wrote in his diary:

On June 17, the third year of the lunar calendar, I led 2,000 loyal subordinates to leave the wharf of Baoying County in Chuzhou and drove from the waterway to Yangzhou. Shi Wenyuan of Baoyingzhi County led the old and young people of the county to go out of the city three miles to see us off. Even the magistrate sent a large number of supplies, enough for us for three days.

In order to reach the boundary of Yangzhou safely, we have made full preparations.

First of all, a relatively stable combat plan was formulated, and the main generals participated in the discussion. Secondly, a reconnaissance team was sent, which can also be called a reconnaissance team. Although in the Song Dynasty, the exact name was a scout, in order to facilitate the record, I called them a reconnaissance team.

My reconnaissance captain, Mu Yunhan, led a steam warship to walk in the front. He was responsible for opening the way, cleaning the waterway, and preventing the enemy from set traps or traps in the water. Although he was busy for a while, he also delayed the arrival date of the army, one day more than scheduled, but we arrived safely at the boundary of Yangzhou.

It landed smoothly at the beach of Shaobo Town.

According to the requirements of the battle plan, Yang Wenguang and Zhe Xiaolan of the forward troops led the Divine Guards on the road lightly and only brought a day's supply. Although they were not more than 100 horses of the Divine Guards, this was still sent by Lv Yijian by the officials of the pastoral department at the time of leaving Beijing. Du Yan, the Privy-secret envoy, did not want to give us horses.

In order to stand firm as soon as possible and launch the offensive against Yangzhou City, I sent Yang Wenguang and Zhe Xiaolan to lead the army to go first. Their task is to quickly occupy it along the lower elbow town of Henan, and build a barracks fortress to protect the safe arrival of the follow-up troops.

After Yang Wenguang and Zhe Xiaolan went on the road, our musket team began to go on the road.

The middle army is Mu Yunhan and Captain Lu Jun, who lead 500 people. There is no horse, and even the ammunition has to be carried by people.

Although I really want to recruit some people or buy some cattle and horses for military resources in the local area, I didn't know until I sent someone to Shaobo Town to ask. Wang Lun's dog thief actually took the lead and swept all the villages and towns within ten miles around. The horse is invisible, but there are cows, but they are all old, weak, sick and disabled. It's okay to come to the tillland. If it's a long journey, there's simply no way. In case you die on the way, it will be delayed.

At noon that day, Mu Yunhan and Lu Jun led the team on the road. They carried two days of ammunition and dry food for a day.

Zhang Zai advised me to say, "Teacher, we have brought a lot of things this time. If we carry them by ourselves, we will be tired. We don't have to fight when we arrive in Yangzhou. What's more, we have to leave some people to guard the warship. This person's hands are not enough. Why don't we recruit people here to help us carry ammunition and grain? If you go on the road, you only need one person to lead the army to monitor from the side, and you can have no worries."

I said to Zhang Zai with a little worry, "It's a good idea. It costs money to recruit people. We didn't bring much money this time. Even food and drink are provided by local states and counties."

Zhang Zai smiled and said, "Teacher, you really love the people like children. Why do you spend money to recruit people? As long as the teacher gives an order, you can recruit people immediately. There are many people in Shaobo Town. I think most of them are fine. Anyway, farmers are busy, and they can't be tired of asking them to help a little favor. When they win, ask Your Majesty to reward them. That's the benefit."

Zhang Zai's method is really good. On that day, I ordered him to go to Shaobo Town to find the local chief, an old village head in his 70s, and asked him to help mobilize the villagers to help the imperial army carry grain and ammunition.

The old village head is also a well-righteous person. He said to Zhang Zai, "Wang Lun, the thief, hates people so much that he actually robbed a big scalper in my house. If the army wins, ask the official to send my cow back. I have a gift."

Of course, not only was the cow of the old village head's family robbed by Wang Lun, but also many families. Zhang Zai immediately made a promise to the villagers that once Yangzhou is recaptured, everyone will find what they lost. Even if they can't find it, the court will compensate you.

Since the court has made a guarantee, of course, these villagers are very happy. Another point is that when they came to the dock, I said, "Thank you to the villagers for your help in this attack on Yangzhou. I promise that as long as everyone will work hard, and when you attack Yangzhou will be rewarded for meritorious deeds, it is also very important for you. At that time, you will have no less credit; but the general has another sentence, that is, if someone wants to make trouble from it and want to help the anti-thief Wang Lun, he will behead him. In the extraordinary period, the extraordinary means, please forgive me. All right, get ready to go on the road!"

During the war, some words must be made clear, such as military discipline and rewards; but some words must not be said too clearly, or tell others, just like the upcoming battle. If I say that the Battle of Yangzhou will be cruel and many people will die, I guess few pickers are willing to work hard, because my words have been a serious blow. The morale of the family, so these words can't be said.

There are more than 60 miles from Shaobo Town to Elbow Town. Yang Wenguang and Zhe Xiaolan arrived at noon that day. Mu Yunhan and Lu Jun arrived when the sun went down in the afternoon.

As for the pickers, I didn't dare to let them march at night. Because I was worried about the enemy's sneak attack, I recorded their names and put them all home for a night's rest. The next day at dawn, my student Zhang Zai led 100 people to escort the transport team on the road. Of course, for the sake of safety, I asked Ouyangchun to go with him. After all, Ouyang Chun has martial arts. His loyalty is absolutely reliable.

Time flies, and it's noon on June 19 in a blink of an eye.

I asked Chao Fang to stay in Shaobo Town. First, he came to take care of the warships here, and second, he came to take charge of the civil group that came from Chuzhou. I gave him 200 people and told him: "Don't be careless. Don't think that you can take it lightly if it's the rear. Wang Lun's thief is very cunning. Maybe he will use tricks, burn the ship, rob the ship, and assassinate him. I think. These are the possibilities. You'd better be careful. In case something happens, it's easy to deal with."

At that time, Chao Fang assured me that as long as he still had a breath, he would not take a step closer to the warship.

After arranging the left-behind people, I took the remaining 250 people on the road. The companions were Shangguan Mei, Zhan Zhao and Ding Yuehua. As for Shangguan Baoer and Yao Lian, I let them stay, and Chao Fang took care of them.

Elbow Town.

On the afternoon of June 19, I led the last group of troops to Elbow Town, ten miles west of here, which is the famous Yangzhou City.

Elbow Town is actually a very small fishing village. There is a big river winding in front of the village, because it is a corner on the edge of the canal, just in time to camp.

It's very safe across the water. At least you don't have to worry about the enemy's sneak attack. I don't think Wang Lun's son will be stupid enough to cross the river to attack me, because it's obvious that if he dares to come, he will die.

Yang Wenguang's army is very good. He built three barracks in Elbow Town. On the left is his people and horses, and on the right is Zhe Xiaolan.

The biggest one in the middle is mine.

It is in the shape of a product, arranged from north to south.

That night, Yang Wenguang and Zhe Xiaolan reported the situation to me. He said to me excitedly, "General, it's really difficult to fight in Yangzhou."

"Captain Yang, how do you know?" My intuition tells me that something bad is about to happen.

Zhe Xiaolan looked at me strangely and then lowered her head, but heard Yang Wenguang say to me, "General, I'm wrong. I shouldn't attack the city."

I was shocked and immediately understood. No wonder, when I came to Elbow Town, I found that many soldiers were injured. It turned out that they went to pull out the city.

I suppressed my anger and asked, "How many casualties are there? Don't worry about your own attack on the city."

As soon as Yang Wenguang heard that I was going to investigate the siege of the city, he bowed to me with great gratitude, and then said, "General, more than 200 people were injured, but we killed the city head, but we were soon driven down."

"Forget it, even if the general goes into battle in person, he has to send someone to attack and test the enemy's reality. Since we know the enemy's reality, we have to find another way."

After I finished speaking, Zhang Zai came over and whispered in my ear, "Teacher, Captain Mu Yunhan said that Di Ning sneaked into Yangzhou City without permission, and his life and death were uncertain."

"What?"

I was shocked by the fact that Di Ning sneaked into Yangzhou City without permission, because it was so serious that I didn't even dare to think about the consequences.

It happened that Yang Wenguang and Zhe Xiaolan were all there. I called Mu Yunhan and asked angrily, "Captain Mu Yun, what did the general say? I just let you pretend to be fishermen to explore the way in Yangzhou. Why did you let Di Ning act without authorization!"

Mu Yunhan had been prepared for a long time and immediately knelt down and answered, "General, I really don't know that Di Ning will make his own opinions. When I returned to Chuzhou, I also warned him to secretly monitor the movement of Yangzhou City. I didn't expect that he would dare to sneak into the city and ask the general to forgive me."

That's good. Before the war began, someone violated the military law. I know that the fault is not Mu Yunhan. He is right, but Di Ning has really gone too much. Unless he can atone for his merits, otherwise, I issued a military order at that time: "If Di Ning has the face to come back, he will go straight to the prison and wait for the end."

After revealing this matter, we began to discuss going to Yangzhou City the next day to check the enemy situation. As long as we find the enemy's weakness, we can attack the city again.