Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1163 Jiangbei ([-])

"Boom! Boom!" The originally calm and picturesque Hongze Lake was broken by a sudden shelling.

Several tank boats that had no time to escape were forced to dock on the lake in desperation, waiting for the navy gunboats on the east coast to come to pick them up.They are usually ships that hid in some small river ports a few days ago. After the naval gunboats on the east bank blocked the mouth of the canal, the Yellow River, and the Huaihe River, these ships became the turtles in the urn, and they didn't know where to escape.

And after a large number of warships of King Lu's Navy entered Qingjiangpu Town via the Yellow River to assemble, and then entered Hongze Lake in batches for patrol through the port gate, these hidden tank boats couldn't sit still anymore, and escaped from hiding places one after another. , trying to break through the blockade and flee into the Luoma Lake area, and fled back to the area controlled by the Qing army (in fact, they did not know that Suqian County had been captured by the North Route Army, and the escape route to Xuzhou had also been cut off), but it was a pity that the navy on the east coast had long been watching With them, together with the first batch of hundreds of warships of King Lu's navy that entered Hongze Lake, the fate of these tank boats is basically doomed.

These tank ships captured one after another in May - also including many privately owned merchant ships - have added up to more than 5 ships, and counting the more than 3000 tank ships staying in Qingjiangpu Town and Qingjiang Shipyard There are more than 5500 inland water tank boats in the hands of people on the east coast, and how to deal with them has become a big problem.These ships are not navigable, and the limitations of navigating inland rivers are too great. It is really a headache. No way, some of them have to be burned when they retreat, and the rest will be handed over to the Shun army.

Moreover, after all the craftsmen in the Qingjiangpu Shipyard were relocated to the east coast to settle down, the largest shipyard in the country (some shipyards along the coast of Daming had long since withered, and the shipbuilding not only had less production capacity, but also had a small tonnage, which was completely useless). All the plants and equipment will be burned down, and it is not uncommon for China's shipbuilding capacity to go back 50 years at that time-although they have not made any progress in the past 200 years.

It is conceivable that when the shipyard is destroyed, the artisans are relocated, and the entire Huai'an Mansion becomes the frontline again, the North-South water transportation will actually stop.Although the Manchu and Qing courts in the north did not rely on water transportation as urgently as they did in the later Kangxi and Qianlong heydays, it was still very uncomfortable. The potential for war will undoubtedly be hit again, and it is really hard to say where to go in the future.

By the way, this time the people on the east bank captured so many tank boats, and the cargo loaded on them is also a huge amount. There are 48 shi of rice and wheat (this number is far lower than the people on the east bank expected. , because at the end of the Ming Dynasty, a big landlord in Suzhou could collect one million stones of grain a year), 360 pieces of high-quality wood (mostly from Sichuan, Huguang and Jiangxi) for building palaces, as for silk cloth, porcelain tea, and rare jade wares ( Most of them are privately carried), books and antiquities, salt, sugar, sauce and vinegar, etc. It is even more impossible to count them. In short, the value is no less than [-] million yuan-this is estimated based on the low purchase price of the people on the east coast.

Among these goods, except for commodities such as timber and salt, which are low-value commodities for people on the east coast, the others are of great use, which is undoubtedly an important factor for the long-term resettlement of hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Replenish.Especially the more than one million shi grains obtained before and after, if supplemented with some salted fish, cured meat and miscellaneous grains, it is enough to support 30 Qingjiangpu people for two years-of course, it is limited to factors such as transportation capacity and digestion capacity. The East Coast Republic of China will not be able to transport and resettle these 30 people within two years anyway (not to mention that the people on the East Coast may eventually abduct far more than 30 people), these people must be divided into several years before they can be transported away , so this batch of grain is extremely important for them to get through this waiting period.

You know, although Denglai (mainly Dengzhou prefecture, at least half of the prefectures and counties in Laizhou prefecture has been abandoned) and Ningbo under the rule of the East Bank these years are relatively "stable and peaceful", the population reproduction rate exceeds the general level of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, agriculture and Commercial development is relatively rapid, but after all, the combined population of the two places is only more than one million (including nearly 70 in Ningbo, less than 50 in Dengzhou, and less than 10 in Laizhou controlled by the east coast), even if there is a surplus of food It is also extremely limited, and it is almost impossible for new immigrants whose support numbers are between 30 and 50.Moreover, even if the people on the east bank try to import grain from North Korea and the Netherlands, it will be inconvenient, and the quantity and delivery cycle cannot be guaranteed. Estimated.

"The transfer of grain and population is carried out almost at the same time." On the surface of Hongze Lake, Navy Captain Liu Fubo said to Army Lieutenant Sun Wu: "Most of the more than 5000 water ships have been concentrated to the east of Qingjiang Gate, and they have begun to transfer materials and personnel with all their strength. These flat-bottomed tank boats will go down the Yellow River all the way to Yuntiguan wharf, and then pile up the supplies on the wharf, waiting for the navy's big ship to return to Dengzhou (some of them will be shipped to Ningbo). Now the Shun army left behind at Yuntiguan has begun Zhuding built temporary warehouses and wharves. I have never been there, but I heard people say that Yuntiguan Wharf can’t stop at all. Thousands of sailors, tens of thousands of masters, and thousands of sergeants huddled together, and it was extremely chaotic. Just kidding, if the Qing army can organize thousands of elites to cross the Yellow River to attack at this time, the Yunti Pass may explode camp, more than a thousand tank boats, tens of thousands of lives, and countless money and food will be instantly reduced to fly ash..."

"The transfer of materials and personnel cannot be completed overnight, especially because the navigation conditions in the lower reaches of the Yellow River are not good (Liao Xiaoyao even ordered the opening of the sluice to release the water from Hongze Lake into the Yellow River to the east of the Qingjiang sluice, increasing the water depth of the river). The condition of the disrepaired Yuntiguan Wharf is also very poor. I don’t think it will take half a year for the transshipment of materials and personnel. That is to say, we still have to stay in Huai’an Mansion for half a year. It’s only been a month now. Army Lingqi has already appeared in Baoying, Xuyi, and Pizhou, and the situation will become more and more severe." Sun Wu said with a wry smile.

As the liaison staff officer of the North Route Army, he just rode from Suqian County to Qingjiangpu to report the situation of the North Route Army to Liao Xiaoyao. He will be escorting a batch of supplies and reinforcements to return to Suqian County via the Yellow River, in case Xuzhou may attack The Qing army -- of course, it is not up to him to command the specific battle. Yuan Bao and He Daoning of Dashun Zuoying, and the dynasty of Lu Wang's department are all veteran generals. Naturally, they are better at marching and fighting than he, a young man like him.

However, as the liaison staff officer of the Yellow Army, Lieutenant Sun Wu, the "gold master", still has a certain influence, and it is not a problem to urge the more than [-] of them to rely on rivers and lakes to stick to it for a period of time.What's more, now that Liao Xiaoyao has sent the newly recruited independent regiment Hu Xingbang to the north to help in the battle, and there may be more troops in the future, so with the help of the naval superiority, it is still possible to hold Huai'an Mansion for several months or even half a year - of course It's true that everyone's life in the next few months will not be easy. It's uncertain when the Qing army's counterattack will come. I hope it can be resisted. This time it is really true to eat so many people and supplies in one go. Playing too big.

"Let's guard it carefully. We have less than [-] warships (belonging to the Zheng family) in the Guanhe, Shuoxiang Lake, and Shushui areas, and there are more than [-] warships of the King of Lu in the Qingjiangpu and Hongze Lake areas. This kind of naval strength is unmatched by the Qing army. What's more, we have now won thousands of tank ships. This logistics transportation and water maneuverability are beyond the reach of the Qing army. They are not afraid of us going along the river, Do you want to maneuver along the lake to attack their logistics line?" Captain Liu Fubo said disapprovingly, "To put it bluntly, if the main force of the Qing army dares to cross the Yellow River from Xuzhou and Fengyang and enter the canal eastward, we will dare to cut them into two sections. Then eat them separately. The only thing to worry about now is the land pressure from Yangzhou, and nothing else is a threat..."

"I hope so." Sun Wu smiled when he heard the words, and then changed the subject, referring to the large number of people captured this time, and said: "This time, 30 people were captured in the battle of Qingjiangpu, Anton, Qinghe, Shuyang, The population and property in Suqian and other counties are also being evacuated. I heard that Commander Liao intends to plunder the nearby Xuyi and Taoyuan counties before the main force of the Qing army crosses the river, so as to maximize the results of the battle. All in all, it is estimated that Capturing more than 60 people is a high probability event, and there are a lot of supplies and property, how can this be transported away? Even if it takes a year and a half to transport the event away, how can it be supported? What a headache! Think about last year At this moment, we are still worrying about not being able to fulfill the quota of immigration transport (at that time, we even got 10 or [-] North Koreans to make up the number), but now we suddenly find that we can get away with tens of thousands of people, the world is changing, nothing is more wonderful than this!"

"Hehe, don't be too optimistic." Liu Fubo hit Sun Wu, only to hear him say: "Since we have granted the Huai'an Mansion to Dashun Zuoying, naturally we can't go too far and pull people away, Liu Guochang , Liu Shijun, where do they come from for soldiers? Where do they come from for money? Therefore, it would be good to be able to take part of the population of the four counties of Hebei. Adding people to the Dashun control area. I estimate that in the end we will be able to get rid of 40 people, and the burden will be too big and inappropriate. Commander Liao will not ignore it."

"Okay..." Sun Wu nodded resentfully when he heard the words, and then said excitedly: "It's already the beginning of June, and when the transportation season starts in October, a large number of valuable craftsmen and sailors (sailors on tank boats) will be able to ship to In China, it will be able to reach the mainland as early as the beginning of 6. At that time, the domestic shipbuilding capacity and the number of sailors will have a huge leap in a short period of time, and the country's merchant ships and warships will be able to expand rapidly. The British and the Dutch saw it. I don’t know what to think, haha, I really want to know their expressions!”

(End of this chapter)