The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 551 The Sword Points at Xiangyang
At the end of last year, Huang Han formulated the plan of "Sun Moon Shipping" to develop the Yangtze River intermodal transportation.

In the first month of this year, master craftsman Wang Yuqi and dozens of young technicians rushed to Longjiang Shipyard to work with all-steel keels.

They adopted the model of purchasing ship materials locally, recruiting masters and labor from Longjiang Shipyard, and renting the dock of Longjiang Shipyard to build ships with a displacement of [-] to [-] tons suitable for navigation on the Yangtze River and inland rivers.

The technical strength of the Longjiang Shipyard was already second to none in Ming Dynasty, and the standardized steel keel reduced the need for high-quality giant wood. The quality of Jiangchuan ships with a displacement of less than [-] tons is unquestionable.

Most of these ships are flat-bottomed, which can better avoid grounding due to low water levels.

Ships that do not enter inland rivers or the Yangtze River must be flat-bottomed boats. On the Yangtze River with high water levels, sea-going ships with sharp bottoms can sail as long as the tonnage is not too large.

In history, Zheng Chenggong once led warships with a displacement of [-] to [-] tons into the Yangtze River in an attempt to capture Nanjing.

It's just that because of the depth of draft of a sharp-bottomed sea-going ship, the requirements for the water level of the channel are higher than those of a flat-bottomed ship.

The deeper the draft, the better the stability of the ship. The river ships used for warships can be used in common with sea ships. The channel from Nantongzhou to Jingzhou can fully meet the navigation of sharp-bottomed sea ships with a displacement of [-] to [-] tons.

Several groups of bandits broke through Mianchi County and were just preparing to repair it. In less than three days, the "Red Banner Army" arrived, and a group of bandits had to throw away their luggage and head west.

Of course Huang Han refused to follow the rogues westward into Shaanxi, chasing and beating a group of rogues with a size of about [-] who fled southward. direction to flee.

Because the "Red Banner Army" pursued too quickly, the number of cities and towns attacked by this route of rogues decreased by more than half in history. It was also because it was the first time that Henan encountered large-scale rogues entering the country. I was not starved to death or exhausted all the way.

The royal family of Zhu Ming who enfeoffed Henan was the most, followed by Huguang.

Nine days later, Huang Han led the "Red Banner Army" to Nanyang, and Tang Wang Zhu Yujian and many local officials were already eager to see through.

Xiang Wang Zhu Yiming's long history has just arrived in Nanyang under the protection of the royal guards, and seeing the "Red Banner Army" is as happy as seeing a savior.

Most people don't get up early because they don't have any benefits, and there is a reason why the "Red Banner Army" came to Nanyang and received courteous treatment.

That's when the rogues who went south had fled into Huguang a long time ago, and now nearly 20 people are besieging Xiangyang, among them are the Eight Great Kings Zhang Xianzhong, Cao Cao Luo Rucai, Chuangtatian Liu Guoneng and other big bandits.

The thieves are so powerful, and the officers and soldiers along the way are all guarding the city, how dare they go out of the city to fight with the thieves?
In fact, these civil and military officials are not to blame for this. The Ming army in the interior was slack in training, and there were very few troops with combat effectiveness.

There were really some generals who brought together two or three thousand troops to fight against the bandits, but nine times out of ten they were beaten by the bandits. It was actually within their means to choose to stick to the city as much as possible.

I was afraid that the civil servants with a broken brain would command blindly and force the generals who knew what they knew to fight. The final result was that part of the Ming army who went to the battle was killed by the rogues, and many people simply joined the rogues to seize the city they were very familiar with.

Xiangyang has been besieged too much, and all the civil servants and military generals in the vicinity know the danger. If the city is captured by bandits, the King of Xiang will somehow lose his head.

Now that there is an invincible "Red Banner Army", the civil servants and generals are of course relieved. The governor of the palace, Shi, kept urging Huang Han to go to Xiangyang to relieve the siege. The Nanyang magistrate did not dare to neglect. material.

In history, Zhu Yujian, Emperor Longwu of the Southern Ming Dynasty, donated [-] shi of grain and hosted a banquet for Hou Zhuang of Dongping.

Huang Han knew in his heart that Xiangyang was captured seven or eight years later, and Yang Sichang, who was already seriously ill, died of fright.

The enemy's situation is unknown, so there is no need to play a surprise attack, just fight steadily.

In fact, Huang Han was still somewhat wary of Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, Liu Guoneng, etc., the backbone of the rogue team. He believed that if all the regular soldiers, guards, and miscellaneous servants were gathered together, they would not be self-defeating if they did not play tricks.

Throughout the world, there will be no group of people who can surround and wipe out the 2 "Red Banner Army" with sufficient soldiers and food. As long as the rogues who besieged Xiangyang are defeated, the great contribution of rescuing the feudal clan will be achieved.

Then you can go south to chase the bandits, and enter Huguang, where rice and grain are abundant, to celebrate the New Year.

At that time, the "Sun Moon Shipping" fleet that received the order will rush to the river near Jingzhou to stand by, and there will be no difficulty in hiring hundreds of ships to transport refugees on the Yangtze River.

After all, the Yangtze River is the busiest waterway, and no one can say for sure whether the total number of ships is tens of thousands or 10,000+.

It is most efficient to use ships to send people down the Yangtze River. Those people who have been following from Henan to Huguang can take a boat to Nantong Prefecture and transfer to a sea boat to Ningyuan or Southern Liaoning.

He was dozing off, and someone offered him a pillow, how could Huang Han refuse.

Without the slightest hesitation, he agreed to Wangfu Chief Shi that although the "Red Banner Army" came from afar, they continued to go south to rescue Xiangyang without repairing, which made the official fifth-rank civil official tearful.

Chang Shi knelt down and swore that as long as King Xiang was well protected, the prince would reward the three armies with money and food.

Seeing someone solve the urgent need, the civil and military generals of Nanyang finally smiled.

The magistrate and a group of officials assured that the tens of thousands of refugees left by Dongping Hou outside Nanyang City would not go unnoticed, and it was guaranteed that each person would be given two bowls of porridge every day.

These tens of thousands of refugees have gone through the knockout round of marching fifty miles a day. Those who are mentally unstable, those who are not physically strong, and those who are seriously dragged down by their families are all left behind.

Now these people have an organizational structure under the management of the "Red Banner Army". More than [-] young and middle-aged men have been organized into township warriors with white wax spears. Liu Zaiqi's armed propaganda team directly leads these people.

These refugees have to be on guard along the way, and it is impossible to allow them to stay for a long time. Huang Han just asked them to follow up a few days later because the army was going to fight with the bandits, so as to avoid military disasters as much as possible.

After Liu Zaiqi led the refugees to rest for three days, they continued to chase the large army on the road. At this time, the war must be over. When they encounter the defeated bandits, they can lead the villagers to defend themselves.

Huang Han thought that the men and horses did not have the conditions to encircle and suppress so many rogues under the city of Xiangyang, he could only ensure that they were defeated and killed more old thieves.

He adopted the strategy of concentrating his forces and advancing step by step. More than [-] men and horses carried luggage and still advanced at a speed of fifty miles a day.

(End of this chapter)