Xie Ming

Chapter 190 Preparations for War
From the end of April to the beginning of May in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen!

After Li Zicheng was defeated in the Battle of Yipianshi, he returned to the capital and led 18 battalions of troops to fight back against the Jiannu soldiers who were following him, but he also failed!

The Dashun Army immediately fell into a serious situation of being trapped both internally and externally!

At this point, Li Zicheng no longer had any intention of staying in the north.

At the end of April, shortly after he hastily ascended the throne in the Wuying Palace in Beijing, he decided to abandon the capital and led his remaining troops to flee to the southwest, preparing to take the route through Baoding and Zhending, through Shanxi, and escape straight back to his old nest in Xi'an!
On the fifth day, the troops arrived at the small town of Yi County in the southwest of the capital and retreated directly to Baoding Prefecture!
On that day, the rebel general Jiang Ge defected to the Jiannu again, and Datong, an important city in northern Shanxi, was lost!
After Dorgon led his troops into Beijing, he changed the reign title to Shunzhi and named it Yuanshi.

He also ordered Ajige to lead Wu Sangui and his troops to pursue Li Zicheng all the way to the southwest.

Later, a plan was made, ordering Ye Chen's troops to be divided into two routes, advancing along the Great Wall into the northern part of Shanxi Province, and taking over the surrendered Qing troops from Datong!

At that moment!

Within the city of Baoding!

Since the first day when Xiao Jingchuan's army divided its forces to absorb the surrendered soldiers, the morale of the entire army has been rising!
For five consecutive days, his generals and their troops were actively preparing for war and training!
The four gates in the east, south, west and north of Baoding City are strictly checked for traffic, so be careful to prevent scoundrels from taking advantage of the situation to cause chaos!
In the past five days, the number of newly recruited soldiers in the city has increased by more than 800. Xiao Lang ordered that they be temporarily handed over to Ma Minglu for management to be used as a logistics force, and in the future they will be responsible for the allocation and transportation of military supplies and food.

In addition, Xiao Lang and Zhizhong also received instructions, ordering Ma Minglu to work together with Xu Baoyi to purchase large quantities of food and fodder in Baoding City and its suburbs, and to buy and sell them at market prices.

As of the fifth day, the new grain purchased was about 9,000 dan, and the cost was 19,000 taels of silver!

It is estimated that it can support the entire army's expenses for another ten days!
[Material statistics: remaining after use! ]

[Silver: 19.1 taels - 1.9 taels (for grain purchase) = 17.2 taels]

[Food: 0.4 dan - 0.1 dan (consumed by more than 0.9 soldiers in Baoding Prefecture in five days) + 1.2 dan (newly purchased food in the city) = dan]

Training and food and fodder are the foundation of building an army. As for the rest, Xu Baoyi has to run around Baoding City on other errands in the past few days, which is very tiring.

The purchase of various equipment for defending the city among the various military units was also the responsibility of this man.

There are many other activities, including pitchforks, flying hooks, Yaksha hammers, ground listening, stones, rolling logs, ground listening, etc., all of which are co-organized by the Changting.

In the army, Peizhong also took charge of overall planning and overseeing the reinforcement of the city gates and walls on all sides!

Outside the city, soldiers were assigned to urgently build trenches, chevaux de frise, and other structures.

By the evening of May 5th, Baoding Prefecture had completed all preparatory work for the war mobilization.

20: pm (:).

Xiao Lang and Zhizhong prepared some wine and food in the front hall of the Governor's Office in the city, and invited Xu Baoyi, who had been working hard on his errands and had helped a lot, to come in to entertain them, and also to entrust them with some important follow-up matters.

After the first hour, Xu Baoyi was delayed by the matter of obtaining military equipment and arrived late.

In a hurry, he trotted into the gate of the government office, sweating profusely.

"General, general!"

"Ouch! General Xiao, Mr. Qiu, there was something we had to do to check and purchase something that stopped us from going!"

"If you come down a moment later, you will be punished with death, you will be punished with death!"

Xu Baoyi arrived late, feeling extremely ashamed, and kept apologizing.

"Hahaha"

"What are you talking about, Brother Xu?!"

"It's just our military affairs. Mr. Xu has been working hard these days!"

"Feiyu (Qiu Zhizhong) look at him, he seems to have lost a lot of weight from running!"

"Feiyu and I really feel bad for this, so we thought of preparing some wine to show our appreciation, ah!"

"Hahahaha" Xiao Lang's speech became lively.

"Oh, it's my duty. The general has given the order, and I will do it. Even if I have to run myself to pieces, I will never fail to do the job!"

"The general is the commander-in-chief, and I am just a new soldier!"

"How can I accept your kindness, if you can invite me?"

"It's really embarrassing, it's really embarrassing!" Xu Baoyi made an excuse in a high-sounding manner.

"Haha, alright alright!"

"Let's stop talking while standing!"

"Come on, Brother Xu, sit down!" "Let's sit down and talk while we eat, haha!"

Zhizhong also observed what they were saying and took the opportunity to push the conversation forward to prevent the two from continuing to exchange pleasantries.

Upon hearing this, Xiao and Xu offered their seats to each other again, and then they were able to sit down side by side.

"In the past five days, the purchase of food and the military equipment for defending the city have been a real hassle!"

"Mr. Xu played a very important role in this matter. Minglu and Changting have already told me about it."

"Before this, I ordered Feiyu to go to jail to meet the great official. It seems that I did nothing wrong!"

"hehe."

"Fei Yu said before that the master also has dozens of retainers in this city who can help him. We have seen it all these days. They are all talented. When it comes to doing things in Baoding Prefecture, they are more powerful than us!"

"Hahaha!"

As Xiao Lang spoke, he also deliberately lowered his attitude. He raised his hand, picked up the wine jug, and poured wine for him himself.

Upon seeing this, Xu Baoyi bowed and cooperated, not forgetting the etiquette.

"Haha, the general is joking!"

"I, Xu Baoyi, can't do much else, but my family is in Baoding Prefecture, so I'm familiar with all the affairs in this city."

"Fortunately, it's just in time for use!"

"General, let me speak from the bottom of my heart!"

"You don't have to be so polite!"

"Just tell me if you need anything!"

"I, Xu Baoyi, am grateful to General Xiao and Master Qiu for their kindness!"

"And also be able to serve the country and the people!"

"No matter how hard or tiring it is, I am willing to do it and my heart is clear!"

"You said so!"

After saying this, Xu Baoyi raised his hand and finished the wine in the cup.

Xiao Lang and Tong Zhizhong saw his attitude and laughed and said they also raised their cups and drank it all.

Xu Baoyi observed the expressions on people's faces, then he leaned forward, took the wine jug and filled up Xiao and Qiu's glasses.

"Haha, Mr. Xu is a chivalrous man. Zhizhong and I have heard about this a long time ago!"

"After spending these few days together, I can see that it really lives up to its reputation!"

"so!"

"Since you have expressed your sincere gratitude, I, Xiao Lang, will not say much more about polite thanks!"

"After all, we are all family now!"

"Today, I have specially invited you, the great official, to come here."

"I do have a question to ask, and I hope you can tell me the truth!"

Seeing that this person was very reasonable, Xiao Lang thought that there was no need to say more to test him and just get straight to the point!
Hearing this, Xu Baoyi raised his eyebrows, then quickly turned sideways with a serious expression, continued the conversation and pretended to listen carefully.

"Oh?"

"I wonder what the general is asking?"

"Just ask me anything you want, I will tell you everything I know!" Xu Baoyi replied simply.

"Oh Well!"

"In fact, sir!"

"I want to ask, after the defense of Baoding Prefecture, my troops will immediately move to the southeast!"

"When the time comes, I wonder if you, sir, would be willing to go with the army?!"

(End of this chapter)