The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

After walking for an hour, Yang Ding'an felt his feet hurt from walking, and Yang Dexiu even felt blisters on the soles of his feet. Looking at Zhang Xin next to him, he still looked as normal and walked quickly. I couldn't help but secretly complain and feel even more impressed.

Taking advantage of the situation when he was lagging behind, Yang Ding'an whispered to Yang Dexiu: "No wonder the Ming army and Shun army are no match for Jiannu, but the Yi army was able to defeat Jiannu as soon as they went north. Just look at General Zhang Xin and you will know The Yi army was indeed much stronger than the Ming army and Shun army.

As a brigade commander, he leads more soldiers than many general soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. He can at least be considered a general soldier, right? Another warrior who had just defeated the Qing captives.

But there was no airs at all. In order to encourage the soldiers to march, they actually walked with the soldiers instead of riding them.

Being so close to the soldiers and taking action personally, the soldiers under his command will definitely sacrifice their lives in battle. If the Yi army is well equipped with armor, guns, and other weapons, it will naturally be able to defeat the Jiu slaves! "

Yang Dexiu smiled bitterly and said, "What the clan brother said is that General Zhang's move is indeed admirable, but it has caused suffering for both of us."

"That's right." Yang Ding'an couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this.

Brigadier Zhang was walking, how could they dare to ride on horseback carelessly?

Then he led the horse and walked together.

"Mr. Yang, please come here."

While the two were talking, Zhang Xin, who was walking in front, stopped and waved to Yang Ding'an.

Yang Ding'an immediately quickened his pace, walked over and asked, "What are your orders, general?"

"I heard someone said that this Grand Canal used to have people dedicated to breaking the ice day and night in winter?"

Yang Ding'an said: "It's true - it's all the work of the water workers."

In the Ming Dynasty, those responsible for maintaining water transportation included both soldiers and conscripted laborers. By the late Ming Dynasty, there were approximately hundreds of thousands of these people, all of whom relied on canal water transportation for their lives. Although the vast majority of water transport workers did not live a very good life. But in the end, it is not easy to survive in this era.

Later, the title of Cao Gong was used until the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, Yang Ding'an changed his words again and said: "It is a pity that the world was in chaos before. First, Li Qingshan of Shandong Province cut off the water transportation, and then the Shun Army and the Ming Army continued to fight. In addition, part of the canal grain was transported by sea, and the water transport workers lost their jobs. Each fled.

Without waterworks, there would naturally be no one to maintain all aspects of the Grand Canal, including ice-breaking in winter. "

Speaking of this, Yang Ding'an suddenly felt a little uneasy.

Entering the Yi army, he could see that the Yi army was carrying more baggage than the previous Ming army, and there were many carts.

The official road along the canal was originally spacious and flat, and could accommodate eight large vehicles walking side by side.

But in recent years, the court and local officials have said that they are short of money, so maintenance has been reduced or even non-existent. As a result, the roads have quickly become potholed and muddy in rain and snow.

This is also one of the reasons why the Yi army cannot move faster.

Zhang Xin also asked about breaking the ice on the canal. Yang Ding'an couldn't help but worry that the Wei army would recruit civilians to break the ice to facilitate the transportation of grain, grass and baggage for the Wei army.

Where do civilian husbands come from?

Naturally, the nearby people were recruited.

Yangcun is right next to the canal, and most of the people are among the people who were recruited.

In the Ming Dynasty, they came from a wealthy family, so they didn't have to worry about this - people like him with fame could be exempted from military service. His family had close relations with the local officials of the Ming Dynasty, and they knew all kinds of unspoken rules. Even those without fame, You can also be exempted from military service through connections and money.

But if the Yi army wants to recruit conscripts, the previous method may not work.

So Yang Ding'an specially reminded: "The water workers must patrol the ice day and night continuously, so that breaking the ice is not so labor-intensive. Now the ice has almost reached the bottom of the river, and it is probably beyond human power to break the ice again." " I know this." Zhang Xin nodded, then looked at Yang Ding'an and asked with a half-smile, "Why, Mr. Yang is worried that we will recruit people to break the ice and force the waterway to open?"

Yang Ding'an didn't expect that Zhang Xin, who looked like a rough and powerful martial artist, was actually very considerate, and couldn't help but laugh.

Zhang Xin did not force him to answer, but continued: "Even if water transportation is to be opened, it will only be done after we drive away the Jiannu, that is, next year, and the ice will naturally melt by then.

In addition, even if our Yi army wants to recruit civilian men, they will be given a certain reward and will not be in vain. "

Regarding the last sentence, General Yang Ding'an was doubtful, but he still praised: "We have also heard of the reputation of the Yi army in Hebei, and originally thought it was an exaggeration. Now that the Yi army is passing through the border without disturbing the people at all, we know that the rumors are true Void."

"Hahaha," Zhang Xin was quite happy to hear people praising Wei Jun, and continued, "We just abide by military regulations, it's nothing."

Immediately, Zhang Xin mounted his horse and led a group of guards to patrol backward along the team - this could be regarded as Zhang Xin's rest benefit as a general during the march.

Of course, walking with the soldiers during the march was not a military rule of the Yi army, but a habit developed by Zhang Xin and other generals when Liu Sheng personally led the army.

Liu Sheng did this at that time, and now Zhang Xin and other generals naturally follow the same example.

When Zhang Xin returned from inspecting the team, he met the messenger sent by Peng Youyi and handed him a document.

After reading it, Zhang Xin frowned slightly.

Although Yang Ding'an and Yang Dexiu were curious, they did not dare to ask any more questions.

Zhang Xin didn't mean to say anything - it was mainly a message from the rear, saying that the Qinglu sent more than 10,000 people southward. It was possible that they wanted to take a detour to attack the transportation channel, but it was also possible that they would encounter the Fifth Brigade as the vanguard, which would give Zhang Xin more Send reconnaissance cavalry to avoid being ambushed.

Although there are many plains in Hebei, and there are unobstructed wilderness on both sides of the official road, the Qing captives mostly ride horses, so it is possible to ambush further away.

Zhang Xin is not worried about the fifth brigade, but he is worried about the rear transportation channel.

He knew that Liu Sheng had now sent most of his personal guards and standing troops to the northern front line. The rear grain routes were mainly handled by the Nanjing garrison. At most, there was a group of standing troops or personal guards left in important material transfer towns such as Cangzhou and Tianjin.

The Nanjing Garrison Army was mainly composed of the Ming Army and the five peasant armies of Zhang Xianzhong and Gezuo. It had only fought against the Ming Army in the south before, so its combat effectiveness could not be fully tested.

However, Zhang Xin had seen the combat effectiveness of Jiannu in Sangyuan Town. It was indeed much stronger than the Ming Army and Shun Army, so he was a little worried that the garrison would not be able to protect the transportation channel.

In that case, these frontline troops will also suffer. In serious cases, they may even fall into a dangerous situation where their food and grass cannot be sustained.

The document also stated that Peng Youyi had proposed to Liu Sheng that the first brigade of Xiaoqi Guards be transferred to the rear to protect the grain road, but Liu Sheng has not responded yet.

It should be noted that the cavalry guards are also very useful for the vanguard troops - the Jiannu troops often ride horses. If the Wei army does not have enough cavalry, even if it can defeat the Jiannu troops after encountering them, it will be difficult to retain much of them.

Just like the battle of Mulberry Town, if the Fifth Brigade had a regiment of cavalry to help, even if it could not save all the slaves, it could at least kill ten thousand or eight thousand.

From the current point of view, Liu Sheng may have enough confidence in the Nanjing garrison, or he may think that the cavalry is more important to the vanguard, so he did not move the heroic cavalry guards back.

Although Zhang Xin also believed that it would be safer to move the Cavalry Guard to the rear, since Peng Youyi had already made suggestions to Liu Sheng, it was naturally not his turn as the brigade commander to worry about it.

After reading the document, he handed it to the military confidential personnel for collection, and then said loudly: "Send orders to all regiments to hurry up and try to reach Wuqing County as soon as possible!"

"Yes!"

Several guards received the order flag and immediately rode towards the front and rear of the team to convey the order... (End of this chapter)