my wonderful zoo

Chapter 150

"Don't worry, the Jin people's invasion to the south has indeed caused serious harm to Hebei, but the food production in Henan has basically not been affected. As long as you have money, you are not afraid of not being able to buy food." Chen Xun explained that during this period, "black food" "Black" made Chen Xun very rich.

In troubled times, food is really the absolute hard currency.

Previously, futures trading in Guangzhou and the implementation of land laws to restrict private transactions in grain had accumulated a large amount of grain reserves for the military government. However, with the rapid expansion of the military government's power, the grain was still not enough, and money had to be purchased.

"I think we have to ask Guangzhou to send people over again. Not only the army, but also the Government Affairs Council has to send people north." Sun Zheng suggested.

"That's right, we really have to send people north to support." Chen Xun nodded.

At first, Chen Xun went north with the intention of stealing horses and plundering money.

Looking back now, I can’t go back.

The opportunity for such a chaotic situation is too rare. I must seize it firmly and take the opportunity to gain a foothold in the north.

This will be much easier than the Northern Expedition in the future.

"The boat is coming!" A guard next to him reminded.

I saw a row of flat-bottomed sand boats sailing far away on the river. The fleet was too long for people to see the tail of the fleet.

"Where did Ke Lei get so many sand ships?" Chen Xun was a little confused. He had been fighting against the "squad" of the Jin Army recently and had indeed paid less attention to Ke Lei.

"From Jingdong East Road, there are also boats on the Huaihe River." Pei Ren replied.As the intelligence chief of the military government, he is very clear about this.

"Where did the man come from to drive the boat?" Chen Xun asked.

"The governor doesn't know that after the Yellow River diverted, everything around the original river and the current river will be lacking, except people." Ke Lei replied.

It makes sense. People who relied on the Yellow River for food in the original river course were directly unemployed. However, the current river course has been washed away several times by the river water. The damage was serious, and they should all be begging for work.

When the fleet came closer, Chen Xun discovered that there were trackers pulling the boats on both sides of the forks of the Yellow River.Going upstream depends too much on the wind, and now it is spring, and there are few windy days, so you have to rely on trackers.

"There is really no shortage of people. We actually hired so many people to stretch our hair." Chen Xun sighed.

...

The handover went smoothly. All the gold and silver treasures captured by the Jinren were transported to the ship, and a large amount of grain and grass supplies were unloaded from the ship.

What surprised Chen Xun the most was that Ke Lei actually brought a thousand flintlock muskets, as well as the corresponding gunpowder and projectiles.

"The output of Guangzhou's gun workshops has increased much faster than expected. Feng Yutie underestimated the efficiency of hydraulic machinery before. Now the gun workshops have begun production in three shifts." Ke Lei said: "It should be back to normal next month. There are a thousand coming."

"What about the artillery?" This good news came very timely, which made Chen Xun feel very good.

"We have prioritized equipping them on ships. From Guangzhou to Xuzhou, after thousands of miles of sea and river routes, we have too many enemies on the water. We need these artillery to enhance the combat effectiveness of warships." Ke Lei explained.

"Okay, but I'd better reserve some for Xuzhou, which may be used later." Chen Xun didn't say much. Ke Lei's arrangement was very suitable.

Now facing the Jin Army's 20-strong army, he relies heavily on mobility, and it is impossible to run around with artillery.

"By the way, there is something you need to arrange as soon as possible." Chen Xun remembered Sun Zheng's suggestion just now and immediately arranged for Ke Lei to set up a reception point for hungry people on the fork of the Yellow River.

"Yes, but the east side of Fengqiu City is easier to say, and the west side of Fengqiu City will definitely be threatened by Fengqiu City." Ke Lei raised his own question.

In addition to the newly added [-] gold soldiers, there are now [-] gold soldiers gathered in the small Fengqiu City. The dragoons have no siege equipment or artillery, so there is nothing they can do against them.

"Then you set it up east of Fengqiu City first, and I will find a way to solve it as soon as possible." Chen Xun responded.A small county-level city is crowded with [-] gold soldiers. It has strong defensive capabilities, but its supply consumption will also increase sharply. This is their weakness.If there are weaknesses, they can be broken through.

"Okay." Ke Lei responded.

Soon, with the cooperation of many people, the exchange of gold, silver, treasures and materials was completed, and Ke Lei led the fleet back to Xuzhou down the river.

"Equip these thousand muskets to the troops as soon as possible, and now we will be able to defeat the Jin Army's miscellaneous cavalry." Chen Xun said happily.

"Commander, how to distribute it?" Sun Zheng asked. He already had a musketeer battalion. According to the principle of equal distribution, it should be divided into two parts and divided between Chen Xun and Lai Qingyun.

"You two have five hundred each." Chen Xun arranged. He has Ma Jun Camp and Miao Dao Camp under his command. The soldiers of these two battalions are carefully selected elite soldiers and strong generals. They have super close combat capabilities and are equipped with muskets. Icing on top.

In contrast, equipping ordinary infantry with muskets will increase combat power more significantly.

"Okay." Sun Zheng and Lai Qingyun went down to make arrangements, while Chen Xun took out a flintlock gun to check.

The quality of this batch of flintlock muskets is better than that previously equipped to the troops. The barrels are drilled out of solid iron bars and are completely seamless.

The barrel drilled out by the water drilling machine is very smooth and straight, and its power will definitely be further enhanced.

In early March, after being harassed by dragoons for several days, the Jin army finally couldn't stand it anymore and gathered all the mules, donkeys, pack horses and other animals that could carry people in Kaifeng City, and then selected and formed a 5000-man army. A motley crew of cavalry.

If it weren't for the slow speed of the cattle, it is estimated that there would be "ox cavalry" among this miscellaneous cavalry.

Before today, the dragoons had only [-] musketeers, and fighting against this miscellaneous cavalry would inevitably result in heavy losses, so Chen Xun had been relying on his own speed advantage to avoid him.

It's different now. The number of musketeers has increased to [-]. The three-stage shooting has been able to completely suppress this miscellaneous cavalry and prevent them from getting close. There is an opportunity to solve it.

Once this miscellaneous cavalry is dealt with, the dragoons will be freed from their final restraints and can fully cut off the supply line from Fengqiu to Fengqiu.

……

On March 20, Pei Ren received intelligence that the strength of King Qin's army in the five cities north of Kaifeng and along the Yellow River had reached [-], which was the same number as Jin's army.

Chen Xun was wreaking havoc in Kaifeng for half a month. He may not have done much damage to the Jin soldiers, but his reputation in the Song army camp became very loud.

With such a brave army charging forward, coupled with the gradual fulfillment of the previous covenant (sending food, money, and horses), more and more King Qin's army was mobilized to participate.

The Supreme Emperor Zhao Ji issued an edict to stop it, but it was useless.

Not only the Qinwang Army gathered in the north of Kaifeng, but also the Qinwang Army gathered in the east, south and west directions were approaching Kaifeng step by step. In Zhengzhou City, which was very close to the west alone, 15 Qinwang Army gathered.

It can be said that if the Jin army can no longer reverse the situation and cannot cross the river to return to the north, it will not be long before it is hard to say whether they can leave.

But the Yellow River has been blocked by Chen Xun. If the Jin army wants to leave, they must secure Fengqiu City and recapture one of the five cities north of Kaifeng and along the Yellow River, and build a pontoon bridge before they can successfully cross the river and return north.

The way out is right in front of him, but Chen Xun can't let him get what he wants.

Starting today, the battle in Kaifeng has finally reached the "match point".

If Chen Jiajun can hold on, Jin Bing will become a trapped beast.

If the Jin soldiers can successfully capture any of the five northern cities and successfully cross the river, it will be considered as letting the tiger return to the mountain and successfully escaping from trouble.

(End of this chapter)