evil slave

It was already October [-]th when we returned to Yask. After more than two months and the construction of nearly ten thousand people, the city of Yask has begun to see its scale. 【】The two city walls in the northeast have been erected, and the scale of the city has begun to take shape. However, there is no way to accommodate large troops for the time being.

When Zhao Qiang arrived, Wei Ji had already led the officials of Cao's various divisions and Yask's security team to meet him outside the city, and Guo Fei also led more than a dozen officials of Juncao to meet Zhao Qiang outside the city.

Accompanying Zhao Qiang back to Yask was He Manchuan's [-]rd Infantry Regiment, Guards and Cossack Brigade, as well as captured Buryat Mongols and hundreds of young men of various ethnic groups.After exchanging pleasantries with Wei Ji, Guo Fei and the others, Zhao Qiang couldn't wait to go to Yask's construction progress.Wei Ji hurriedly led the way, and led Zhao Qiang to the completed North City.

The design of Yask is not based on the construction of a military town, but imitates the construction method of Guannei County. The difference is that the height and thickness of the city wall are double that of Guannei County. It is built with large stones, and unless a large-caliber heavy artillery such as the Hongyi cannon can blow it down, other small cannons have nothing to do with this behemoth.

There is a crenel every one meter of the city wall for firecrackers and bows and arrows, and a place for artillery is reserved every 30 meters. There are three lower staircases on each city wall, which can ensure When the city is attacked, the defenders in the city can be dispatched in time to the direction where the guards are struggling.In addition, there is a high platform at the interface of each city wall, and the commander can have a panoramic view of the whole city. All the trees in the direction of ten miles outside the city have been cut down. During the war, it is also helpful for the defenders to identify the main direction of the enemy's attack.

The original design was reduced by half by Zhao Qiang, because there was no time and manpower to carry out such a large project, but now, the Yask New City, which has been reduced by half, is still so reassuring. At least Zhao Qiang thinks that such a large-scale city, Within a few hundred miles, no enemy dared to attack it, and to capture it, at least five times the casualties of the defenders would have to be paid.

Satisfied, very satisfied, Zhao Qiang became more and more satisfied.After walking around the city wall, he went down the stairs in the east city. There were busy peasants and soldiers everywhere. There was a road leading to the mountains in the distance, and the carriages hauling stones went back and forth. Most of them are women, and the men gather together to build the city wall and mine the boulders.

Because Wei Ji didn't have much gunpowder for mountain blasting, the speed of mining stones was limited, and the danger was high, which was even more difficult than when Zhao Qiang and the others were repairing Yongling.So Zhao Qiang naturally asked about the casualties of the people who built the city. Wei Ji hesitated for a moment, and said bluntly that nearly 200 people had died since the city was built, and the rations of the people of all ethnic groups who participated in the city construction were constantly reduced. If things go on like this, I am afraid that more people will die.Speaking later, Wei Ji's face showed bitterness. He was worried that the situation of food shortage would worsen, and the physical strength of the peasants would not lead to further increase in casualties, so that he would not be able to complete the task of building the city entrusted by the commander-in-chief on schedule.Zhao Qiang has clearly stated that if Kaichunfa builds Yask, then its head must not be in the neck.

"Marshal, we have less and less food in our hands. If we want to ensure the winter rations of the army, the rations of the common people and these peasants cannot be supplied in sufficient quantities, or even...even..."

Wei Ji decided to vomit bitterness to the commander-in-chief again, otherwise he would not be able to finish it, and he would die too unjustly.

"Even what?" Zhao Qiang glanced at Wei Ji with dissatisfaction: "Just say what you want, what are you hesitating for?"

"Yes, Marshal." Wei Jiyi said frankly: "If there is no more food relief, it's a humble job. As the Marshal said before, there will be at least 5000 casualties under our army's rule. This is the most optimistic If the weather is bad, I am afraid that more people will die.”

"Commander, the people are the foundation of our Guanning army. Now our army has only tens of thousands of people from all ethnic groups. If there are such a large number of casualties, it will not be conducive to the war after the beginning of spring."

Liu De also had a sad expression on his face. Tang Taizong said that water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. For him, the Guan Ning army and the people of all ethnic groups also had the same reasoning, but it was not Li Shimin's original intention, but a an interdependent relationship.The Guan Ning army is currently implementing the method of fighting to support the war. The army's food and supplies are obtained by captives, including from the Raksha people, and from the people of various ethnic groups.Now that the war has come to an end, Guan Ning's military law will inevitably turn into a static state if it relies on warfare to obtain survival. For an army, this state is the output of pure consumption.The tens of thousands of people under the rule were forcibly moved from the original living areas to the major cities and strongholds. They had no way to support themselves through the original life mode, and they were all engaged in various productions under the unified arrangement of the Guanning Army. , construction matters, which determined that the burden of feeding them fell on the head of the Guanning Army.

Liu De is familiar with the Three Kingdoms, so he naturally knows the importance of logistics and food for an army. Looking at ancient and modern times, the army's expedition is supported by the production of the people in the rear, and the people of all ethnic groups under the Guanning Army are not farming. Production, they can't provide enough food for the needs of the Guanning army, not to mention that even if they are all converted to farming like the Han people, they can't produce the food needed by the army.What's more, when the army goes out, all logistics matters will fall on these civilians. Without them, the army will have to transfer its combat strength to logistics transportation, which will weaken its combat power.And there are people who have soldiers, and every battle will consume soldiers. This is unavoidable. If you want to ensure the soldiers of the Guanning Army, you must treat these people well, at least not let them so-called casualties.But food is not something that can be obtained by using the brain, so although Liu De was worried, even though he knew that this situation could not be allowed to continue, he couldn't think of a good solution.

Qi Zhuang, He Manchuan and the others didn't care much about the food issue. To them, the food issue was the people's business. They just wanted to fight well, and they couldn't worry about it.Therefore, unlike Liu De and Wei Ji's frowning faces, the few people went to the side and pointed at several buildings under construction, not paying attention to the food shortage at all.Seeing their appearance, Zhao Qiang gave a wry smile. These things cannot be counted on them. He sighed slightly, and said to Wei and Liu:

"I have been thinking about the food issue, and I am also concerned about the survival of the people. I have already thought of a way to get here, and I will discuss it with you."

As soon as Wei Ji heard that the commander had a plan, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "I don't know what the commander has in mind?" Liu De also stared at Zhao Qiang eagerly, with a look of wanting to know.

Zhao Qiang glanced at Liu De, and said to Wei Ji: "There is news that the Qing army has transferred tens of thousands of shi of grain in Jilin, Shengjing and other places to Aihui City in Heilongjiang..."

Before he finished speaking, Wei Ji exclaimed: "Tens of thousands of stones of grain?! Oh boy, this is enough for us to eat openly for a year or two!"

Liu De was stunned for a moment, and looked at Zhao Qiang incomprehensibly. Zhao Qiang understood what he meant, nodded slightly, and continued: "I have thought about this matter repeatedly. At the beginning, I decided not to move, but now the matter is urgent, we will Make an idea of ​​how to get this batch of food from the Qing army. Just in case, this commander has already thought about how to get this batch of food."

Liu De asked back: "How can the commander-in-chief not lure wolves into the house?" He was worried that Guan Ning's army would rob the Qing army of food, and would expose himself early. The development of Ning Jun is a very bad thing.

"promise!"

Zhao Qiang pointed at Grievsky who was standing aside stupidly because he didn't understand, and chuckled lightly: "It's not our Guan Ning army who grabbed the food this time, but the Raksha people."