Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 254

Zhao Xingde revealed a little about the Han army's plan to capture Suzhou Guannan.Li Sihai listened with a cloudy expression on his face, and secretly cursed the Han army doves for occupying the magpie's nest, but he had to suppress his anger, frowned and began to think about countermeasures.

Occupying the Guannan area of ​​Suzhou as the base, and managing the coastal areas was a plan he had considered for more than a month, but who would have thought that he would be pulled from the bottom of the pot all of a sudden.If Suzhou Guannan was in the hands of the Liao army, it might still be possible to seize it.But it is the Han army that wants to occupy it.This makes people helpless.The purpose of Chengying Ying to Liaodong is to assist the Han army so that it can deal with the Liao and Jin without being wiped out or even annexed.Although General Quan has great autonomy in how to complete the dispatch of military affairs, if he dies and seizes the fundamental ground of the Han army, the Huguo Mansion will not be able to explain it.If Zhao Xingde led the Eighth Battalion of Chengying to be stationed in Guannan, Suzhou, could he request to fortify a separate port in case of emergencies?However, if you can't own the entire Suzhou Guannan, it is not safe to set the main port of the Xia Guo Navy there.

After Zhao Xingde finished speaking, Li Sihai's expression also returned to calm, and he only sighed lightly: "What a pity." He took a sip of tea, closed his eyes and sipped it for a while, then raised his head and asked, " Is the Eighth Battalion going to be stationed in Suzhou together with the Han army?"

"We will continue to manage the southern part of Taibai Mountain and the Yalu River." Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice, "Although there are tens of thousands of acres of wasteland in the south of Suzhou Guannan that can be reclaimed, it is still too small compared to more than [-] soldiers and civilians. We will not Let's join in the fun. Although the side is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the target is too obvious and requires heavy defense. It is conceivable that as long as the Han army keeps focusing on that side and cannot develop to the hinterland of Liaodong, it will face food and grass. Insufficient problems. At that time, it will be up to Li Xiaowei to escort the food and grass, and fire artillery on the sea to help him guard the city."

Li Sihai suppressed his anger, nodded and said: "It's easy to talk about what's in it." He was silent for a moment, and asked: "Lieutenant Zhao decided to stay here because he didn't take the Han army's decision seriously."

Zhao Xingde didn't answer directly, just sighed, took another sip from the teacup.According to the military order of the General's Mansion, he was fully responsible for assisting the Liaodong Han Army. Li Sihai led the Eighth Battalion to transport food, grass and military equipment from the sea.Therefore, as usual, Li Sihai cannot directly contact the Han army, nor can he judge the strategy of the Han army.Zhao Xingde would not easily discuss this issue with him.

Li Sihai nodded knowingly, did not continue, and changed the subject: "Lieutenant Zhao has taken in a lot of people, just to open up wasteland and cultivate land, but also to guard against constant harassment by the enemy. I am afraid that food and grass cannot be self-sufficient. It needs to be transported by sea." When it comes to food supplies, there is a half-smile in his eyes.

Zhao Xingde said with a helpless wry smile: "Exactly, we need Li Xiaowei's help."

Li Sihai waved his hand and said with a smile, "Why are you and I being polite?" He lightly tapped his fingers on the table, and said in a deep voice, "I have a method here, which can be said to be the best of both worlds, so I took it out and gave it to Captain Zhao. Let's discuss it. As far as I know, both His Majesty and the General's Mansion intend to expand the navy, and Liaodong is full of oak trees that are more than a hundred years old, and they are urgently needed for new seagoing ships. Eighth Battalion The Taibai Mountains and the Yalu River currently occupied are not only made of high-grade wood suitable for shipbuilding, but also full of ditches. After the big trees are cut down, when the water rises, the wooden rafts are rushed downstream, and then along the Yalu River. Going down the river, we arrived at Haikou. Instead of returning to the sky, the sea-going ships carrying grain and armaments might as well transport the high-grade wood back to the shipyard in Yuntun Port.”

As soon as he mentioned shipbuilding, Li Sihai's eyes sparkled, "This wood is stored there, and it will have to be stored for a few more years before it can be used after dehydration." He cleared his throat, took a sip of tea, and said to Zhao Xingde He said with a smile: "The wood is felled from Liaodong, and we will build a navy when we transport it out. We will exchange it for money to buy food in Annan, Dali and Song and go north to Liaodong. It is really not a waste to take this sea route. And the income from logging must be It is much higher than opening up wasteland and farming, if this can be done, Captain Zhao will no longer have to ask the General’s Mansion to allocate food to help the people.”

"This strategy is wonderful!" Zhao Xingde clapped his palms in praise, and cupped his hands towards Li Sihai, "Thank you for your advice!"

"It's easy to say, easy to say," Li Sihai looked at Zhao Xingde, and said with a smile, "You and I have jointly signed a letter to the military government. It should not be a big problem to implement it at this time. I have another consideration, long-distance transport of timber to Yuntun Port in Annan. , although it can be used, but it is still a bit expensive, it is better to build a shipbuilding branch in Liaodong, I originally chose Guannan, Suzhou, but now I have to think about it."

In order to feed the tens of thousands of people collected by the eighth battalion of Chengying, Zhao Xingde racked his brains and thought hard about various ways to earn money from the camp.There are towering giant trees everywhere in the mountains and forests of Liaodong. Compared with land reclamation, logging is a worthless business. Zhao Xingde naturally hoped that the more wood from Liaodong used for shipbuilding, the better. He immediately nodded in agreement and thanked Li Sihai repeatedly.

"It's all Chengying robes, why are you so polite." Li Sihai said with emotion, he also wanted to understand, although he couldn't occupy the Guannan of Suzhou, he simply supported the Eighth Battalion to build the foundation of the Yalu River in Taibai Mountain, and go there At that time, this area was lonely in Liaodong, and it would inevitably need to be supported, and the navy still had a lot of room to play.

The two discussed the specific details of the joint operation of the Yalu River area. Zhao Xingde suggested that not only sea-going ships should be built, but also shallow-water gunboats suitable for cruising on the river to cover the fortresses close to the river. Come to attack, just bombard his mother with heavy artillery on the water.Although Li Sihai didn't know artillery skills, he felt that his style of play made sense.In addition to the cooperation of sea ships, shallow water gunboats can also go up the river and fight deep into the inland hinterland, and the status and role of the navy have been greatly enhanced.

The words you and I say between these two people have a sense of sympathy for each other, and after getting acquainted with each other, they don't have so many scruples.When the business was almost finished, Li Sihai approached and asked in a low voice: "Lieutenant Zhao, you have taken in so many people here, do you have a register of prostitutes? The brothers under my command have been floating on the sea all year round. A lot of women vent their anger."

"Prostitute?" Zhao Xingde was taken aback.

Li Sihai chuckled, and said in a deep voice: "That's why I always only allow these bastards to find themselves clean." He paused, and asked again: "Is there a roster?"

"This," Zhao Xingde was a little embarrassed, he spread his hands and smiled wryly, "It's really not."

"That's troublesome," Li Sihai 'touched' his chin, "If you allow these guys to go down and look for it, you'll be in trouble." He muttered again, "Straightforward, I didn't say You, you must have this roster. One is willing to fight, and the other is willing to accept the business, anyway, you can’t help it, it can only be Dayu’s control of the water, it’s better to block it.” Zhao Xingde’s expression was a little weird, he couldn’t say yes, and he couldn’t It's hard to say, but the image of Chengying Army's senior captain, the glorious and majestic image, suddenly collapsed.Not long after sending Li Sihai away, Zhao Xingde sat in the tent, considering the cooperation plan with Chengying Fourth Battalion, he could not help smiling, and shook his head again.

About half an hour later, Jin Changtai returned to the camp and came to see Xingde in person.He first made a detailed report to Zhao Xingde about the situation in Fenghuang Village during this period, and then suggested to select and train two battalions of guards from among the common people to solve the problem of insufficient troops in Chengying Battalion.

"Although we have more than [-] common people and more than [-] young adults, these people have never practiced martial arts and usually spend most of their time opening up wasteland and farming. It is difficult to be of great use when they are really drawn to the battlefield. It is a pity that there are some heroes in the Central Plains of the people of Liaodong, but it is a pity to bow down among these mediocre people. In my opinion, it is better to select a thousand elites and train them into two battalions of garrison soldiers. A force that can also serve as a supplement to our battalion sergeants. With these garrisons, our battalion sergeants can be relieved from the daily redundancy."

Jin Changtai coughed twice, he sat down and kept talking, his throat was dry, Zhao Xingde handed him the teacup, Jin Changtai took a sip of the tea, and continued: "There is another benefit in selecting guards, if you give these The garrison's monthly salary of [-] dou of food is much more than the rations of an ordinary young and strong family. "

After finishing speaking, Jin Changtai looked at Zhao Xingde with burning eyes.This strategy of establishing a garrison battalion is the result of his hard work during this period of time, because the Chengying Battalion is isolated in Liaodong, and every sergeant who dies will lose one sergeant. Ordinary regiment training can't supplement the sergeant's consumption at all. Only by establishing this garrison A garrison battalion between sergeants and ordinary regiments is the long-term solution.

Zhao Xingde pondered for a moment, then pondered: "There is no problem with regiment training. If a garrison battalion is established, can it be justified on the side of the Huguo Mansion?" The garrison battalion is composed of soldiers who have escaped from labor. But it is a real army.

Jin Changtai nodded and said: "It shouldn't be a big problem. In name, they are still part of the Liaodong Han Army. They just obey our military orders." He has thought about this question many times, and the answer blurted out at this moment, "We can Report the situation here truthfully, if the military government really disagrees, disband the garrison battalion, or hand it over to Wang Hengzhi." He smiled confidently, "As long as the Huguo government has a little brain, it will not do such a thing. Kind of self-defeating thing."

"En." Zhao Xingde nodded.Having said that, because the new battalion involves increasing the number of lieutenants, it may change the power structure of the Huguo Mansion itself. Therefore, the Huguo Mansion is extremely cautious and even disgusted with all plans to expand the battalion.Therefore, the number of Xia Jun's battalions has also been maintained at a "reasonable" level.