East Factory Governor

Chapter 245
Hexiwu is known as "the first town in Jingdong" and "the first station in Jinmen".In 608 A.D., Emperor Yang of Sui dug the Grand Canal and opened the waterway from BJ to Hangzhou. Hexiwu got its name because it is close to the west bank of the canal.After the Yuan Dynasty established the capital of BJ, the salaries of the quartermasters were all paid to the south of the Yangtze River, and Hexi Wu became the throat of the waterway going in and out of Kyoto. Therefore, there were as many as thirteen government offices such as bank gates, post stations, and military equipment set up here by the imperial courts of all dynasties. The highest official rank is Zheng Sanpin, which shows the prominent status. In the sixth year of Ming Longqing (1572), Hexiwu began to build the brick city.However, due to the shortage of funds in the late Ming Dynasty, Hexiwu was always able to build strong cities like Tongzhou and Jizhou. Its city defenses can only be regarded as small and medium strength at best, and it is not difficult for Houjin to attack such cities.

In fact, Hexiwu's best defense facility is the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to the east of it.Later Jin passed through Jizhou. After capturing Sanhe, if he wanted to attack Hexiwu, he had to go south to capture Xianghe, and then cross the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal from east to west.

Qin Shuhuai marched for more than an hour with his troops, and then came to an arch bridge.There are many such arch bridges on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.Hexiwu, as the name suggests, is on the west side of the canal, and Qin Shuhuai came from the east, so he had to cross the bridge to reach Hexiwu.

However, under the general martial law, the arch bridge has been taken over by the Ming army.

Several Ming soldiers came up to interrogate them, and after Qin Shuhuai showed them the disk related to the token, they immediately let them go.

After crossing the bridge, it took less than a quarter of an hour to arrive at Hexiwu.

At this time, Hexiwu has also been under full martial law. Not to mention that people entering the city must be thoroughly interrogated, even passenger ships and merchant ships on the edge of the city must be inspected at any time.

At the gate of the city, Qin Shuhuai was allowed to enter after submitting the voucher again to the captain of the city gate.It was only after entering the city that I realized that He Kegang had taken over the entire defense of Hexiwu.

Qin Shuhuai immediately rushed to the city defense yamen where He Kegang was.

After seeing He Kegang, he found that Wang Ning, the cavalry commander under Zhao Lijiao, was also there, and it seemed that he was temporarily recruited.With Wang Ning's introduction, Qin Shuhuai and He Kegang quickly became acquainted.

Qin Shuhuai gave a general account of the Hengling victory. He Kegang and Wang Ning didn't know about it before, but they were both surprised and happy after hearing it.

What surprised them was that they originally thought Governor Yuan's defeat must be because Qin Shuhuai's ambush in Hengling had no effect, but they didn't expect him to wipe out nearly ten thousand enemies.The good news is that if what Qin Shuhuai said is true, then the main force of Jiannu is only in the early [-]s, which greatly relieves their pressure.

Although they still thought that Qin Shuhuai was exaggerating in their hearts, based on Qin Shuhuai's means and good character, they felt that there should not be too much water in it.

He Xiwu originally had 500 defenders, but He Kegang brought [-] fine cavalry from Yutian. He didn't want to encounter [-] horsemen from the Houjin Right Wing Vanguard Battalion on the way, and the two armies immediately fought fiercely. After the enemy's [-] golden horsemen lost more than [-] cavalry, they broke out of the encirclement and returned to Hexiwu.However, during this battle, Yue Tuo's [-] cavalry also lost nearly a thousand, which was not a small loss for Hou Jin who was in short supply.

Calculated in this way, Houjin's current main force is only [-].

He Kegang has already reported to Yuan Chonghuan about the encounter with the cavalry of Houjin Brigade near Hexiwu.Hexiwu is an important town for food and grain, and Yuan Chonghuan will definitely not abandon it after receiving the news.

Yuan Chonghuan was in Tongzhou. If he sent troops to reinforce him, he would definitely choose to mobilize ships to go by water. This way is fast and can avoid being ambushed by Houjin.

The most important thing now is He Xiwu's current defensive problem.Yue Tuo's vanguard battalion appeared near He Xiwu. Although he didn't know what he was here for, it meant that Huang Taiji's army was not far away.

Qin Shuhuai, He Kegang, and Wang Ning looked at the map and discussed for half an hour. The result was that they had a very unanimous opinion, that is, to keep the Hexi affairs, we must make a fuss on the canal.If Jiannu wanted to attack Hexiwu, he had to cross the canal. If he didn't guard the canal, once Jiannu crossed the river, the strength of the city wall of Hexiwu would not be able to stop Jiannu from attacking the city.

There are two ways for Jiannu to cross the river. One is to recruit small boats and cross the river.The second is to pass through the canal arch bridge across the two banks.During the Ming Dynasty, many arch bridges were built on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.There are three arch bridges within [-] miles of Hexiwu alone, but all of them have been stationed by the Ming army.

Qin Shuhuai said, "General He, I don't think these three bridges can be defended. It's better to destroy them. Otherwise, once Jiannu crosses the bridge, we won't be able to stop it."

He Kegang thought for a while and said, "That's right, we would rather let Jiannu cross the river than let them cross the bridge."

Just as he was talking, suddenly spies outside the door came to report.

"General Qi, there is a woman outside asking to see her, she says she is a friend of Master Qin."

Qin Shuhuai was taken aback, he didn't seem to have any female friends here, did he?But he said immediately, "Please come in quickly."

Not long after, a beautiful woman in purple walked in.

It was Chu Yun, the Zi elder of the Demon Sect.

Qin Shuhuai was sure that he had never seen this person before, so he was curious about her claiming to be his friend, so he couldn't help asking, "Maybe?"

Chu Yun giggled, and said, "Master Qin, I am in your 20s. You don't call me aunt but you call me girl. It's a pleasing mouth."

Qin Shuhuai took a closer look and confirmed that the woman was only in her early twenties, thinking how could she be more than 20 years older than me?Could it be that she has practiced exercises like the "Yu Nu Heart Sutra" that can keep her young?

So he said, "My eyes are clumsy, so don't blame me, senior. But I really look like a stunning girl, I'm afraid everyone in the world will think so."

"Hehe, glib." Chu Yun smiled again, and said, "I won't gossip. I was entrusted by Shenxi to pass on a message to you. The army of founding slaves has already passed Xianghe, and I'm afraid it will take another hour or two. The soldiers are going to the west of the river. If Mr. Qin wants to save grain, he needs to make preparations early."

Qin Shuhuai and the others were shocked immediately. Although they knew that the Jiannu army would arrive soon, they did not expect it to be so soon.This time was a full day or two away from what they had expected!

It seems that what Huang Taiji wants is a surprise attack!If Yue Tuo's three thousand cavalry hadn't happened to meet He Kegang's reinforcements, Qin Shuhuai might not have known about it until now!

Chu Yun said again, "Also, the 500 people I taught Qingshuiqi will come to help you when the time comes. Chief Qin, I hope you can pass this test."

Qin Shuhuai was overjoyed, if he wanted to defend the canal, it would be great to have people with Qingshui Banner around.

After Chu Yun finished speaking, she waved her sleeves and walked away.

Wang Ning immediately said, "It's too late. General He, the last general will take people to blow up the three bridges now, otherwise the consequences of Jiannu's arrival will be disastrous."

He Kegang immediately nodded and said, "Then there will be General Lao Wang!"

At this time, I heard Qin Shuhuai say, "Wait a minute! General He, General Wang, since Jiannu had already intended to seize Hexi Wu, I'm afraid they also thought that we would blow up the bridge!"

He Kegang was taken aback for a moment, and asked, "What does Lord Qin mean?"

"When did General He order the control of these three bridges?"

"Naturally, I'm going to Hexiwu, after taking over the Great Seal of City Defense!"

Qin Shuhuai said, "That's the problem! General He, don't you think it's strange that Yuetuo's three thousand cavalry suddenly appeared near Hexiwu? Could it be that he can predict the future and go to ambush you?"

He Kegang thought about it for a while, and his face suddenly changed.

It only takes less than half a day to get from Yutian to Hexiwu by yourself.Even if there is an internal response in the army, if you want to run to tell Jiannu first, and Jiannu then bring someone to ambush him, it is absolutely impossible to complete it in half a day.

So Yue Tuo definitely didn't come to ambush him.So what was he doing here with so many cavalry?

A bad premonition rose in his heart, and He Kegang said, "Master Qin, what you mean is that Yue Tuo's cavalry has already crossed the bridge ahead of time?!"

Qin Shuhuai said, "I'm afraid it's not just Yuetuo! There is no pressure for Jiannu to attack Xianghe, so they can send more cavalry to cross the river in advance to guard the bridge for the army!"

(End of this chapter)