Although Hai Hanjun did not allow shopkeeper Ding and his waiters to help in the kitchen, and even refused to let them touch the well in the backyard, as the owner of the inn, they could not just sit idle, so they still spent half a day cleaning the inn inside and out. The outside was cleaned again, and all the bedding and pillowcases in the two upper rooms were replaced with new ones.
During this period, the combat troops of the Haihan Army also passed through Sudong Town one after another and continued to march north.
Many more people came to the inn. These people put together several dining tables in the inn lobby. Then they took out a large pile of drawings from the box, spread them on the table and started splicing them together. In a short time, a huge picture was formed. map.
Several others climbed up to the roof of the inn and set up an iron frame shaped like a branch on top. They led a black line as thick as a chopstick from the top to the house and connected it to a device that shopkeeper Ding didn't recognize.
What confused Shopkeeper Ding the most was that the large group of soldiers gathered next to the big map in the lobby seemed to be officers, but many of them were not Han Chinese, and some of them were even Westerners with blond hair and blue eyes.
He originally thought that these people were the "big shots" mentioned by the officer who came to the inn earlier, but this did not seem to be the case. These people were coming in and out of the inn, looking very busy. A real big shot would obviously not behave like this.
Until the evening, the officers in the lobby seemed to have received some kind of instructions, and they all went to wait in line outside the inn gate. Shopkeeper Ding thought that the real owner had arrived this time, so he followed him outside the gate to watch the excitement.
A black carriage escorted by dozens of armed cavalry slowly stopped at the door of the inn. After the door opened, a man with gray hair and a strong build got out.
Although Shopkeeper Ding didn't know Haihan's military system, looking at this posture, he could guess that the person coming must be a senior general in Haihan's army.
Sure enough, the officers standing at the door raised their arms and saluted the visitor with a military salute.
Those who came also raised their hands to return the gift, and while looking around at everyone, they said lightly: "Thank you for your hard work!"
After these Haihan officers returned to the inn, shopkeeper Ding said to the waiter with lingering fear: "Did you catch the general's gaze just now? It felt like a knife was scraping across your face. It was really scary!"< br>
The waiter nodded repeatedly and said: "My back is still feeling cold right now... Shopkeeper, maybe this is murderous intent?"
Shopkeeper Ding muttered: "How many people must be killed to have such a powerful murderous intention!"
General Haihan, who walked into the inn surrounded by a group of officers, was of course Shi Diwen, the initiator of this battle. However, the terrifying aura exuding from his body was not entirely murderous, but also partly the majesty accumulated over the years as a superior.
The Haihan army assembled in Hangzhou and Huzhou would attack Nanjing by land, and Shi Diwen personally commanded this army, leaving the relatively easy waterway attack to Yan Chujie.
On the offensive route, Shi Diwen's choice was to attack Shuntian Prefecture, where Nanjing City is located, from Changzhou Prefecture, so that he could make full use of the convenient shipping in the Jiangnan water system and transport logistics supplies directly to Yixing through the canal and Taihu Lake.
In this plan, Yixing County will become an important transshipment place for Haihan combat supplies and must be captured at the beginning of the war.
As for the importance of Yixing's geographical location, as long as the generals in the Ming Dynasty were not idiots, they would certainly be aware of this and would have mobilized troops here long ago.
Shi Diwen did not dare to be careless. According to the regular combat procedures, he sent a forward battalion to explore the road and personally led the army to gradually advance towards Yixing County. He knew that as long as he fought steadily, even if the opponent could station 100,000 troops in Yixing County, they would not be able to stop the Haihan Army's frontal offensive.
Less than forty miles away from Yixing County and located right on the shores of Taihu Lake, Sudong Town can not only command front-line operations, but also allocate personnel and materials at the rear, and make strategic plans. It is perfect to serve as the front-line headquarters for this battle. The forward battalion arrived at Fudong Town half a day before the main force. Although they unexpectedly ran into a small group of Ming troops here, the battle to seize control of Fudong Town was uneventful, and the Ming troops were driven out without any effort. After leaving the town, they conveniently commandeered shopkeeper Ding's inn as the temporary residence of the headquarters.
This inn is located in the center of the town. It is spacious and easy to get in and out. It has complete living facilities for eating, drinking, sleeping, and sleeping. It happens that there have been no guests staying recently. It is a perfect place to deploy the headquarters.
The various people who arrived at the inn before were the headquarters of the Fifth Army Division, the foreign military observation group, as well as the communications platoon, sanitation platoon, cooking squad, etc. directly under the division headquarters. They quickly transformed the inn into a wartime 's headquarters.
After finishing everything here and just starting to run, Shi Diwen arrived at Sudong Town, and the timing was just right.
After Shi Diwen sat down, he first listened to the battle report of the forward battalion.
The Qianfeng Battalion captured several Ming army prisoners in Sudong Town. According to their confessions, thousands of soldiers and horses had been assembled in Yixing County, and Ming army troops were constantly rushing to the area from other places.
But for more detailed military information, the level of these prisoners was too low to tell anything.
Shi Diwen said: "Are these Ming troops coming to Sudong Town to stop us, or are they just to reconnoiter the military situation?"
An officer responded: "Commander, according to their confession, in fact... they just came to rob property!"
"Oh?" Shi Diwen raised his eyebrows upon hearing this: "What do the local people say?"
When it comes to local people, there are ready-made people to ask questions.
Shopkeeper Ding and his waiter were brought to Shi Diwen for no apparent reason. The two of them felt frightened when Shi Diwen glanced at him before. Now they didn't dare to raise their heads to look at him, and they knelt down on the ground unconsciously.
"Get up and say something! We Haihans don't like to kneel to the government. If we do, we will only kneel to our parents and elders."
After hearing Shi Diwen's words, the two people kneeling on the ground looked at each other, and then stood up slowly and tremblingly.
Shi Diwen said: "Whatever I ask you, just answer it truthfully."
Shopkeeper Ding quickly responded: "You must tell the truth, don't dare to lie!"
The matter is actually very simple. Comparing the confessions of the prisoners of war with those of shopkeeper Ding, the answer was quickly obtained. The Ming army that was driven away by the forward battalion really just wanted to take advantage of the lull before the war to come out and make a fortune from the war.
It's just that they didn't time it well and moved a little too late. As a result, they ran into the forward battalion of the Haihan Army in Fudong Town.
These Ming troops were not prepared for a battle at all, so they collapsed at the first touch in Sudong Town and fled north. However, this seemed like a move by the Ming troops to lure the enemy, so the forward battalion did not dare to advance too rashly.