Great time travel

Chapter 123, A Short Truce in the Snowstorm

At the beginning of February in the sixth year of Chongzhen, Hangzhou, Fenghuang Villa, Huameng Expeditionary Army Jiangnan Battlefield Command
Under the leaden sky, there have been heavy snowfalls of goose feathers for seven days. Even in the daytime, the sky is still as dark as dusk.

In the cold wind, the snow and ice on Fenghuang Mountain were like clouds, and the mountain roads were full of broken ice, which rattled when one stepped on it.In the courtyard of Phoenix Mountain Villa, the snow is already knee-deep, but in the evergreen mountain forest, snowflakes are piled up under the trees, and the accumulation is even deeper.

Under the influence of this kind of icy white magic, many young and lively soldiers turned back into children again. They played snowball fights in the mountains and forests and in the yard everywhere, making a mess.And more people watched the heavy snow in the house while warming up and resting in military coats.

"...I used to hear people say that this side of Jiangnan is a paradise on earth, full of prosperity and prosperity. Looking at it now, it's nothing more than that..."

At the foot of Phoenix Mountain, in the officer’s dormitory by the Qiantang River, several lieutenants wrapped in overcoats each held an empty bowl and huddled next to the blazing fireplace and chatted casually. There are also several cans and half a box of instant noodles on the table.

"...Although the silk produced in this place is very beautiful, it doesn't feel much better than the printed cotton cloth of the chiefs. The tea from Zhejiang seems to be no different from the tea from Fujian. The Jiangnan side All the porcelain that can be obtained is available in the Lingao market.

What's worse, the winter in this place is so cold that it wakes me up every night with frostbite on both my hands!I heard that there are still tens of millions of people living in the north of this city, I really don't know how those guys live in winter..."

Lieutenant Lieutenant Zhen Huan, the commander of the mountain infantry company with black lines painted on his face, trembling slightly, took out instant noodle cakes from the oil paper bag, put them into a bowl, sprinkled with sauce, seasoning powder and Dehydrated vegetables and meat, then lifted the iron kettle, poured boiling water, opened a can of beef, put some canned meat in it, and then counted the time, ready to enjoy a delicious meal of spicy beef noodles as a teeth festival.

——Although in the eyes of the nomads in the north, the land in the south of the Yangtze River is already infinitely warm and beautiful.But for the tropical residents on Hainan Island, the most impressive impression of the beautiful Jiangnan, which is known as "Suzhou and Hangzhou in the sky above", is actually "the severe cold purgatory where people are frozen to death"!
"... Xiaoxue can't stand this little snow? I'm so useless. When I fought Liaodong with Marshal Huang, the weather is considered spring now!"

A scar-faced lieutenant from the Funing Army sneered, "...that Liaodong Tartar woman's ass is colder than ice and snow..."

Next, the scar-faced lieutenant blatantly bragged a lot about climbing ice and lying in the snow in Liaodong, but the other officers didn't bother to listen—because the time was up and the instant noodles had already been soaked.Everyone eagerly opened their noodle bowls.

A strong and tangy spicy smell of red oil, combined with the aroma of beef, immediately whetted the appetite of Captain Zhen Huan, who had just been frozen during the night shift, and immediately picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks Sent it to his mouth... Then he was so hot that he stuck out his tongue and jumped up.

"...Hoohoo! It's too hot! Damn it! This is too hot!"

He opened his mouth and ran outside into the snow, and after taking two deep breaths of air-conditioning, he finally felt better, and then returned to the house.

"...Who made you so anxious? Tell you, this should be done at this time."

Lieutenant Scarface looked at this "mountain barbarian" with black lines in contempt, then walked out of the house, grabbed a handful of clean white snow from the ground, sprinkled it directly into the noodle soup, and then picked up the bowl and gulped it down. After drinking, he used chopsticks to pull the noodles and beef into his mouth.

Seeing this, other people imitated the example and sprinkled a handful of snow into the noodle bowl (good hygienic children should not imitate it), and it didn't feel hot to the touch, so they added a lot of noodles to the bowl. The instant noodle soup of red pepper oil, chili pepper, ginger, and scallions was poured into the stomach... After eating such a bowl of hot noodle soup, there was a trace of sweat on everyone's head. also started to feel hot
——During the winter battles in recent months, Hainan Island’s logistics department newly launched Sichuan-flavored spicy instant noodles, because as long as you bring a thick bowl to boil some boiling water, you can quickly solve the problem of eating and heating on the frontline with poor conditions, Therefore, it is very popular in various combat troops.

"...Hey, although the portion of this noodle is a bit small, it feels good. No matter where you are in winter, as long as there is hot water, you can get hot food anytime." A bowl of instant noodles with canned beef After Hulu Hulu ate, the lieutenant with the scarred face wiped his mouth, and sighed sincerely, "...When I was in Liaodong, it would be great if there were such convenient hot noodle soup to eat, so that people would not be ashamed. It feels so hard."

At this moment, another former captain of the Funing Army who came back from his shift opened the door and came in. Hearing what the scarred face said, he couldn't help but feel a little strange, "...Liaodong? Did you vote for Marshal Huang? When did you fight in Liaodong?!"

"...uh... I was joking with you before, haha~ eh? What kind of eyes are you all getting? Hey, don't hit people in the face..."

……

In the past few days, although due to the continuous heavy snowfall in the Hangzhou area, these allied troops who are not suitable for fighting in the cold season have been forced to retreat to the Phoenix Villa and temporarily stopped sweeping the surrounding countryside of Hangzhou, but at this time The whole army is still permeated with contempt for the enemy: so far, the Allied landing force has only paid more than 50 people to die in battle and more than 400 people to be injured, many of them are at the slight price of non-combat attrition, and they have successfully eliminated More than [-] "irregular troops" collected [-] immigrants-of course, a lot of violence was used during the period.

As for the so-called regular army of the Ming Empire, it is said that they have been hiding in the city walls of Hangzhou honestly, and have never been seen on the battlefield so far. In fact, many officers and soldiers doubt whether there is such a regular army of the enemy. Already been paid by those civil servants?
In this way, out of contempt for the enemy's combat power and the cherishment of their own forces, Major General Sun Yang and Zhuang Zhuang Zhao Yingong finally made the decision to stop the mopping up operations and shrink all forces to Phoenix Mountain—ground traffic in heavy snow weather Inconvenient, if the soldiers are sent out to sweep up towns and villages, large-scale non-combat attrition is likely to occur.If they are scattered and stationed in various villages, because it is difficult to support each other, there is also the danger of being plotted against and being defeated by the enemy one by one.So it would be better for the whole army to shrink back to Phoenix Villa and wait for the snow to stop before making any calculations.

In this regard, Wang Qiu, an outsider, once raised objections, thinking that this would be tantamount to taking the initiative to lift the siege of Hangzhou City, which might allow the rich and wealthy households inside and outside Hangzhou City to take the opportunity to escape, which is not conducive to continuing to collect population.But both Major General Sun Yang and Zhuang Zhuo Zhao Yingong said that it doesn't matter at all - the governments of the republics under the Global Chinese Traversing Alliance have recently sent emergency calls to the frontline troops who wantonly collect population on various fronts through the satellite communication system The communication stopped, claiming that there were too many Ming Dynasty immigrants introduced into their country recently, which has exceeded their digestion capacity.Although the food supply is still sufficient for the time being, there is a shortage of manpower in the education and management of the new immigrants.

Especially the latest batch of immigrants recruited from Zhejiang by force, because they have not experienced the miserable life of fleeing from famine and being refugees, they are relatively "coddled" and not as easy to satisfy as the refugees in the north, so the commotion is particularly fierce, especially for the various franchisees. The Republic has been criticized.

Therefore, the Jiangnan Raiders will temporarily stop collecting populations in the coming time.At most, they will try to get a group of good-looking young women after Hangzhou is captured, to satisfy the desire and fantasies of some people in the rear for "beauties from the south of the Yangtze River"...

Since there is no longer a need to collect population, and it is not for the time being that the purpose is to permanently occupy the territory of the south of the Yangtze River - this densely populated and complicated territory is also beyond the current digestion capacity of the Huameng, then the tasks of Major General Sun Yang and Zhuangzhu Zhao are only The remaining one is to break through the city of Hangzhou with a thunderous force, as the most severe warning and punishment to the Nanjing court, and then try to reach an unequal treaty with the other party that is beneficial to itself.

In this case, the Allied forces would not value the wealth in the city, and temporarily no longer need the population in this land, so what does it matter how many gentry in Hangzhou took the opportunity to escape?If there are more people fleeing, it can also weaken the resistance of Hangzhou City in future offensive and defensive battles!On the other hand, if the Ming army in Nanjing sent troops to rescue Hangzhou on a large scale, it would definitely be seen from the photos of the reconnaissance satellite.

In short, since there is no need to worry about the Ming court’s reinforcements and the escape of wealthy households in the city, why bother to risk a large number of non-combat casualties of frostbite and getting lost every day, just spread out the troops and maintain the blockade of Hangzhou city? ?

So, in the carelessness of the "Australian thieves", a group of "loyal men" from Nanjing quietly approached the city of Hangzhou...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On the Grand Canal in winter, where the north wind howled, an unattractive tank boat was slowly driving in the middle of the river covered with snowflakes.

In the dimly lit and swaying cabin, the well-known backbone of Fushe, Zhang Dai, Zhang Zongzi, the world's first-class wealthy dandy, and several young scholars dressed as scholars, are all holding a "bestseller" in recent years. " "Kun Shi Zhi Lu", the face is full of worry and distress.

It was less than a month before the feast on the Qinhuai River, and Mr. Zhang Dai, who used to be suave and suave with a face like a beautiful jade, was already quite haggard.

——They are the first batch of "reinforcements" sent by the Nanjing court to Hangzhou...

A few days ago, when the news of the "Australian thieves" invaded Hangzhou and the Fujian rebel General Huang Shi personally led his troops to attack Ningbo spread to Nanjing, the Yonghe Emperor, which had just been established less than a month ago, was immediately attacked. * Inside, a large earthquake like a landslide and tsunami was caused.

One must know that the court of Emperor Yonghe in Nanjing today is an out-and-out leader in the south of the Yangtze River.Because the Nanjing court dared to disobey the world, abolished the emperor and established a new emperor without authorization, it has not yet been recognized by most provinces in the world, and the actual territory is only the two provinces of Nanzhili and Zhejiang.

Moreover, at present, the Jiangbei area in Southern Zhili, except for a few important towns along the river, is basically occupied by the Wenxiangjiao uprising army. The territory that the Nanjing court can effectively rule is only a small area of ​​southern Jiangsu, southern Anhui, and Zhejiang in later generations. , and there are only a few port cities on the north bank of the Yangtze River that have not yet fallen. Although they are all the essence of China, they only have an area of ​​10,000+ square kilometers, which is really pitiful.

What's more terrible is that around such a small piece of actual territory, there are still powerful enemies around - needless to say the Wenxiang Sect demons in Jiangbei, most of the elite soldiers and horses in Nanzhili, followed them since last summer The fight has not stopped until now; although there are not many garrisons in Huguang and Jiangxi in the west, the deposed Emperor Chongzhen who lost the capital in the north is collecting soldiers and horses along the way and gradually going south. Huguang's food and rice support the strong soldiers in the north, and then raise the banner of rebellion and go eastward, then the Nanjing court will soon face a life-and-death crisis!
In addition, the Funing Army under Huangshi, the Fujian General Soldier in the south, has been confronting the soldiers and horses led by the governor of Zhejiang among the high mountains in southern Zhejiang since it was forced to rebel last year... In a tense state of embarrassment, and now being stabbed severely in the waist by the "Australian thief" who came from the sea, the joint rebels stabbed Huang Shi in the waist and eyes-this life is really unbearable!

Therefore, after hearing the bad news that a large group of fierce bandits entered the Qiantang River from the sea, and the whole province of Zhejiang was on the verge of collapse, Nanjing Chaotang and Shilin burst into an uproar. To quell the rebellion in Fujian, and make the provincial capital Hangzhou almost lost.Then, recalling the past four years of Chongzhen, they turned their heads one by one and scolded Qian Qianyi, the leader of Donglin, for being reckless and misleading the country. The Kun bandits even pushed back the sloppy and honest Funing army before, and provoked a vigorous southeast war, but it was impossible to deal with it. It really harmed the country and the people to the extreme...

Because of being scolded so badly by a group of young scholars all day long, the unlucky Qian Qianyi has been afraid to go out to go to court for several days in a row.

However, although it is easy to curse people, how to retreat from the enemy is a difficult task-how can the Nanjing Communist Party get reinforcements at this moment?

In these years, Jiangnan has already been peaceful and peaceful, and the military equipment is extremely decayed.There are only more than 1 field troops in the entire Southern Zhili, and all of them are firmly nailed to the front line of Yangzhou by the Wenxiangjiao army, and they cannot move at all, otherwise the entire Jiangbei will no longer have a foothold for the court.

Although the demons of Wenxiangjiao have experienced the rapid development of last year and a half, now they have insufficient stamina, and they are beginning to decline. It is reported that these demons have suffered repeated setbacks on the Yangzhou battlefield recently, and their internal eruptions have erupted several times Fire and infighting.But after all, Nanjing and Yangzhou are only separated by a river. Who knows if the imperial court voluntarily withdraws Yangzhou soldiers and horses, will these monsters unite again and go south across the river?
In that case, Jiangnan, the last safe haven of the gentry in the world, may also experience a catastrophe.

Therefore, after a lot of quarreling and spitting at each other in the court, the ministers finally reached a consensus. In view of the heavy military pressure Nanjing is currently facing, the court can only give priority to spiritual assistance when the prefect of Hangzhou asks for emergency help. Supplemented by material assistance, specifically, it is to generously issue a bunch of commendation orders to the Hangzhou government to encourage local officials and gentry to do their best to resist.At the same time, he ordered the governor of Zhejiang, who was on the border of southern Zhejiang, to retreat from Wenzhou and return to Hangzhou, the provincial capital. He pinches his nose and admits it.However, the essence of the Hangjiahu Plain to the north of the Qiantang River must not be lost.

In addition, the Nanjing imperial court, which was in a hurry to go to the doctor, also brainstormed to recruit "loyal and righteous men" among the market, hoping to recruit a group of young scholars full of enthusiasm, to go to Hangzhou to mobilize the people to fight the war of resistance ... It's just that the list has been hanging for three days, and still few people have applied for it: there is neither reward nor promotion. What fool is willing to go to a dangerous place like Hangzhou, which is besieged by thieves, to die?
However, in the face of the large-scale attack of the thieves, others can back down, but Zhang Dai, a celebrity in the restoration society and a famous dandy, must not retreat-most of his family, mansions and farm properties are in Hangzhou and Shaoxing.As soon as the Kun bandits come, they are bound to burn everything... So, Zhang Dai, unable to give up his sense of family responsibility after seeking help in various activities in Nanjing to no avail, had to make an appointment with a few acquainted Hangzhou scholars under the comfort and pity of his colleagues in Fushe. The son, with the solemn and solemn momentum of "the wind is rustling, the water is cold, and the strong man will never return when he is gone", hired a tank boat and embarked on the road back home.

However, although with a sense of responsibility and mission, Zhang Dai is determined to "sacrifice his life to face national disasters", but Zhang Dai has no idea what he can do after he arrives in Hangzhou. He reads the Five Classics well, is also very proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and the articles he writes can be selected into the Chinese textbooks of later generations. He also participated in the political struggles of the Ming court with great fanfare...however, he has no knowledge of war at all!

——For hundreds of years, scholars in the south of the Yangtze River have been doing their best to educate their children, learning poetry, etiquette, and sage classics.Because as long as there are children who get fame in the exam, the safety of the family will be guaranteed, and they will not be bullied by the government, they will not be framed, and they can bully and frame those who have no fame in turn.It is precisely because of these great benefits that in the minds of Jiangnan scholar-bureaucrats, reading sage books is the only serious thing. Only by reading sage books well can they be promising "talents" with a sense of family responsibility.The safety and continuation of the family also depend entirely on these children.Even if you can't get a good reputation, as long as you have a good reputation among scholars, the government will probably give you a little face, and you won't find a way out if you really encounter problems.

Taking a step back, even in the war-torn era, in order to avoid too fierce resistance and to quickly acquire the ability to tax cities and villages, after the victory is decided, the various armies generally will Treat the local gentry and subordinates with kind words.

——The plague of Japanese pirates that raged in the middle of the Ming Dynasty was never a real foreign invasion. Most of the Japanese pirate leaders and more than [-]% of the Japanese pirate members were Chinese. The Japanese were just acting as elite thugs. Shangnai is a melee between various maritime merchants/pirate groups in Fujian and Zhejiang.So there was such a strange phenomenon... On the one hand, the Japanese pirates plundered the people everywhere, making the people miserable, and on the other hand, the gentry and landlords all over the coast were inextricably linked with the Japanese pirates, and even cooperated in smuggling and doing business Clearing up the Japanese pirates is equivalent to cutting off their financial resources...

In view of such a social atmosphere, among the literati and bureaucrats in the south of the Yangtze River, although there are many "artists of war" who boast and talk about military affairs, and some have read military books seriously, but when it comes to real warriors who fight and fight for their lives, they are It's hard to find even one—because there's no need for that.

Moreover, in the late Ming Dynasty, when the style of "nobleness of culture and inferiority of martial arts" reached its peak, if any stunned youth really "willed to be inferior" to lead troops, not only would he not be appreciated, but he would also be criticized by the entire family. Contempt and ridicule, even the same year in the academy may break up with him...

"...But the current world is not like this. The rules of the past 300 years have all been broken. Even if they are famous, even if they enjoy a high reputation among scholars, the Australian gangsters still fight when they want, and kill when they want. They are even more unruly than the Japanese pirates back then! If we can’t stand up and resist, we won’t be able to keep our tribe and property just by relying on the fame we got from the imperial examinations. The only end of arrest is the whole clan’s destruction!”

Recalling the tragic cries of the fleeing gentry who met in Suzhou and Jiaxing and the "cruel atrocities" of the Australian barbarians, Zhang Dai couldn't help but feel even more heavy--in the past few years, as a novelty-loving A playboy, Zhang Dai has always had a great liking for all kinds of things produced by Australians.But now, these ingenious Australians who can make many good things have turned into murderous and vicious thieves. The strange gap between "things turning into beasts": Although since the year before last, he has participated in the whole process of the Donglin Party instigating the war in the southeast, and he has also written articles scolding many gangsters for their crimes.But deep down in his heart, he still only regarded these short-haired strangers as a group of artisans proficient in miscellaneous knowledge.

However, no matter how awkward the feeling in his heart, Zhang Dai is still very clear that with the outbreak of such a huge military disaster, with the vicious style of these thieves who do not respect the gentry, now his family is in catastrophe. Neither Wan Guan's family wealth nor the court's fame can save the situation. The only effective countermeasure is to find the flaws of the Kun bandits, and drive the Kun bandits into the sea again like Qi Jiguang Pingwo in the past!

However, even though he and his fellow scholars have been studying the "Kunshi Zhilu" all day these days, they still don't know the point at all, and they can't come up with any clever strategies to suppress the thieves... Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sighed, Looking up at the seat opposite, there was only a dark man in a coarse cloth jacket instead of a Confucian uniform, and the other party nodded and smiled, "...Mr. Zhang, don't worry about it. Turn bad luck into good fortune..."

"...I hope! You have received a good word!" Zhang Dai smiled wryly. This Gou Xunli, who is said to be from Qiongzhou, is a magical figure in the eyes of Master Zhang Dai. He is young next year, but he knows everything about the world. Xiao, his understanding of Kun Thief is far above everyone else—this person claims to have a family-breaking feud with Kun Thief. When Kun Thief first appeared in Lingao in the seventh year of Tianqi, he broke Lingao's Gou's family village slaughtered all of Gou's family and forced him into exile. From then on, he vowed to fight the Kun bandits forever.Next, this person once joined the army and advised the governor of Guangdong Wang Dezun in the war against Kun. He also gathered "righteous soldiers" (actually bandits) in Qiongzhou and Annan, and confronted the Kun bandits many times. Unfortunately, the Kun bandits were really powerful. However, Gou Yishi is still persevering, and has been paying attention to collecting information from the enemy and waiting for opportunities to hunt down thieves.

The year before last, this Gou Xunli somehow drifted to the south of the Yangtze River and became a guest in Qian Qianyi's house.Qian Qianyi, who has never been to Lingnan in half his life, has noticed the threat of the Qiongzhou Kun thief to a large extent because of his alarmist words...

Now Zhejiang has encountered a catastrophe. The gangster fleet went deep into the Qianjiang River and swept across Hangzhou. Zhang Dai, who was worried about his family, led the crowd to the battlefield generously. As one of the "culprits", Qian Qianyi was immediately accused by everyone. He himself was very sorry, but he didn't dare to put himself in danger, and ran to Hangzhou together to face the hail of bullets, so he stuffed this Gou Xunli here, saying that he could refer to his experience and knowledge of the Kun thief.

For this guy in front of him, Zhang Dai has mixed feelings. On the one hand, he secretly hates this guy in his heart for his own selfishness. Such a monstrous disaster has been caused.On the other hand, he had to rely heavily on Gou Xunli's understanding of the Kun bandits, as well as his rich experience in fighting against the Kun bandits in the past few times and being able to retreat unscathed...

In short, amidst Zhang Dai's entanglements and worries, the tank boat they took was getting closer and closer to Hangzhou. Fortunately, at this time, Major General Sun Yang had completely given up the blockade of the canal and withdrew his entire army to Fenghuang. The mountain villa is sheltered from the cold, and no one will come to intercept this unarmed boat.

At the same time, in the city of Hangzhou, the prefect Liu Mengqian was also taking advantage of the short gap brought about by the heavy snow, thinking hard about the strategy of calming down...