Chapter 3590
After Shi Chengwu captured Liuhe County, he stayed there for another five days to confirm that social order in the county had gradually returned to normal. Tao Hongfang had already dispatched several officials from Nanjing to Liuhe County to form a temporary management committee and began to take over various local government affairs before announcing that he would break camp and move to the next target.
Shi Chengwu left two infantry companies in Liuhe County to cooperate with more than 300 militiamen transferred from Nanjing, Yangzhou and other places to maintain local security.
After weighing the pros and cons between the county magistrate Zhou Sen and Qianhu Wang Bingzhong, Shi Chengwu finally retained Zhou Sen, who was more familiar with local government affairs.
Shi Chengwu was not interested in transferring a general like Wang Bingzhong who had no military talent to the Haihan Army, but he wanted to see him as a hero in presenting the city, and his subsequent placement could not be too careless, so he found a reason to send Wang Bingzhong there. He went to Yangzhou and asked him to arrange another position for him that had nothing to do with the army.
Jiangpu and Liuhe counties are adjacent to each other, but the straight-line distance between the two counties is more than 80 miles, and the official road is about 120 to 30 miles. It takes about three days for a large army to march.
Shi Chengwu still adopted a similar strategy as before, sending cavalry troops to advance along the official road between the two counties, while clearing the armed forces in various places along the way.
Jiangpu County may not have the strength to fortify itself at all levels and organize resistance forces, but during times of war, it is inevitable that civilian armed organizations such as bandits and bandits will appear, as well as some landlord armed forces that spontaneously resist foreign enemies. These will inevitably be attacked by the Haihan Army. object.
The large troops and baggage still travel by water. Although the voyage is longer than the land route, the actual time spent on the way is much shorter. You can arrive at your destination the next day after setting off on the first day. This will greatly save physical strength during the march and ensure that the troops can enter combat as soon as possible after arriving in Jiangpu County.
Jiangpu County did not have a county government until the Ming Dynasty. However, the original county seat was built on the riverside. It was flooded repeatedly in summer. It only lasted for more than ten years before it became unusable. The county seat was forced to be moved some distance away. The river bank is seven or eight miles inland.
However, the construction of the new county seat was delayed for more than a hundred years. It was not until the Wanli Period that Japanese pirates invaded the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the construction of a new Jiangpu County seat began. An earth city was built first, then a brick city was built, and moats were dug in the east, south and west directions of the city to introduce river water. It took eleven years to complete.
However, the scale of this new county town is much smaller than that of its neighbor Liuhe County. The city wall is only five miles in circumference, two feet high, and has five gates.
The river water in the moat flows eastward into the Yangtze River. However, the width of the river in the lower reaches is only more than ten feet, and the water depth is several feet. Its navigation capacity is extremely limited, and larger ships cannot turn around after entering. Shi Diwen did not dare to risk letting the fleet enter, so he could only land on the banks of the Yangtze River and then advance towards the county town.
Fortunately, he was prepared for this and had transferred several steam-powered inland river armed patrol boats from the other side of the Yangtze River in advance. Although the space for carrying personnel on this type of patrol boat is limited, it is perfect for transporting troops and baggage. Its small size can be turned around in narrow water, and it is also very convenient to make more trips back and forth.
Although Zhou Sen had written a letter of persuasion to surrender and sent it to Jiangpu County a few days ago, Shi Chengwu would not place all his hopes on it. He was still prepared to attack the city and specially transported more than a dozen cannons to the front line.
The fall of Liuhe County next door must have also put great pressure on the Jiangpu government. Since the landing, they have not encountered any resistance, and the troops have successfully moved outside the county town.
Before the position could be set up, the gate of the county town opened, and several people came out and asked to negotiate on behalf of the local government. It was obvious that they had no intention of resisting by force.
The conditions proposed by the local government are also very simple. To ensure the personal and property safety of all people in the city and to be free to leave Jiangpu County, Kaicheng can be surrendered. If Jiangpu County could be captured peacefully, Shi Chengwu naturally did not want to cause trouble and immediately agreed. However, he then curiously asked why the local government had no intention of resisting at all, and the answer he got was somewhat beyond his expectation.
Shi Chengwu originally thought that Zhou Sen's letter of persuasion to surrender had some effect, but unexpectedly it had nothing to do with Jiangpu County's attitude. Because the recipient of this letter, Bi Laozhi of Jiangpu County, died suddenly of a serious illness a few days ago, but the time was before Zhou Sen's letter was delivered to Jiangpu County.
Just when the county government lost its backbone, news of the fall of Liuhe County came. A battalion of Ming troops originally stationed in Jiangpu County was actually led by the general to Chuzhou in the north, and the euphemistic name was to "lure them." The enemy goes deep."
As a result, Jiangpu County lost its leader and the garrison troops also fled. The opinion of surrender naturally prevailed immediately - don't you see that after the surrender of Liuhe County next door, the local area was peaceful and there was no trouble, so why bother to fight to the death? Resistance.
So after a group of people from the county government gathered together, they decided to surrender in Kaicheng when the Haihan army approached the city. But they were not as anxious as Wang Bingzhong of Liuhe County. They first negotiated terms with the Haihan Army outside the city and then implemented subsequent surrender matters. This was very consistent with Zhou Sen's thinking.
Shi Chengwu had imagined various situations he would encounter in Jiangpu County, but he never thought that the defenders would flee. It was like a punch on cotton, so soft that it had no impact at all.
But on second thought, this saves a lot of trouble in the takeover process, which is an excellent result.
But Shi Chengwu was disappointed with Jiangpu County's financial situation. The economic situation here was originally weaker than that of neighboring Liuhe County. When the garrison withdrew, most of the county government's bank account was taken away in the name of requisitioning military supplies. Money, and more than half of the food in the official warehouse in the city.
Although what is left for Haihan is not a blank, there is indeed not much left.
Fortunately, the proportion of people fleeing from Jiangpu County is slightly lower than that of neighboring Liuhe County. After that, the restoration of social order and normal production will definitely progress faster than that of Liuhe County.
After taking over the defense inside and outside the county, Shi Chengwu ordered a report to be sent to Nanjing and Hangzhou to inform them of the progress here.
In terms of the predetermined goals set before the start of this operation, Shi Chengwu can be said to have successfully completed the task, and the consumption was much smaller than expected.
There were almost no large-scale battles during the entire operation, and the county seats of two counties were captured without a single blow. If compared with the process of attacking Yingtian Mansion last year, it is simply a world of difference.
The only thing that made Shi Chengwu slightly regretful was that he seemed to have organized this operation a little late. In an area that could be captured so easily, he should have taken action earlier.
And this also triggered him to think about another question, that is, whether other state capitals in the Jianghuai region are like these two counties. They have become frightened birds and can push them all the way through as long as they send troops to assume an offensive posture.