Thick fallen leaves covered the ground, and the fields were silent, except for a team of riders who were riding alone in the wilderness.

It was Liao Degong's first time to come to Liaodong. They landed at the Yalu River Estuary on a boat, and then walked all the way to Jiuliancheng to see where they would be stationed and lived in the future.

The history of Jiuliancheng is said to be very early, but since the central government's financial resources were in dire straits in the middle of the Ming Dynasty and the local military preparations were abolished, the military defense value of Jiuliancheng, which was disrepaired fortresses, was greatly reduced, so that the Ming government later built a new fortress in the Zhenjiang area, completely abandoning the fortress group in the Jiuliancheng area.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, because the Qing army entered the pass through a large number of people and North Korea's military power was also weak, so only some people were stationed in Zhenjiang Fort, and the Jiuliancheng area was completely abandoned. The original bricks and adobe were gradually collapsing under the wind and rain. A large number of houses were built inside and outside the city walls, and people farmed and herd sheep, turning a good place of fighting and fighting into a village with smoke rising from cooking. It was very sad to see.

However, in the 7th Mixed Battalion of the East Coast Army, the Third Battalion of the Cavalry Regiment and other elite troops crossed the sea to the north, conquering Zhenjiang Fort with lightning speed and repelling the Qing army's first counterattack, the second repair of Jiulian City was put on the agenda and soon entered the substantial construction stage.

Except for some of the materials used to build the castle, the rest of the materials were either transported from Yantai through sea and land (it depends on how the ship schedule is arranged), or the North Koreans were transported from opposite the Yalu River. After several months of large-scale construction, with the help of the hard-working Koreans, the two north-eastern forts have become thick and thick-shaped - at least, the interior has been completely cleaned up to serve the troops of Lieutenant Liao Degong from afar.

Today is October 20, 1666. The Yalu River has not been frozen yet, but it has already made people feel a little chill. Jiuliancheng is all located on the right bank of the river. Liao Degong and others are looking for the No. 1, where the No. 2 Fortress is located on two slow slopes. A stream that flows into the Yalu River passes through the two forts. At this time, the brothers from the Seventh Mixed Battalion Engineer's Squad have built a small floating bridge to communicate with the two fortresses.

The black water horse under him jumped hard to a small earth bundle. Liao Degong looked at the No. 2 Fortress in front of him and felt that its blue-gray wall looked quite pleasant. There were some stone or wooden buildings inside the wall, which had basically been vacant. According to the contact staff of the 7th Mixed Battalion, 250 soldiers could be stationed.

It is worth mentioning that these small forts are not all military facilities. On the contrary, some civil facilities also exist, such as shops, Taoist temples, etc., which seem to have been newly built; the "streets" in the fort are straight and wide, with sandy soil on the ground, which is not hardened, but are still flat; several wells are dotted everywhere, which is not only a source of drinking water for military and civilians in the city, but also can be used to put out fires to prevent the wooden buildings in the city from being damaged by enemy fire.

There were already some residents moving around the No. 1 Fortress. Lieutenant Liao Degong had long known this. They were just Shandan people and Ming people. The original Tartar residents fled in scattered places, and the houses, sheep pens and cow pens left behind were cheaper.

"Many of them are Shengfans. Commander Liao Xiaoyao was born in the Wudi River and sent them here in advance. He was the outer guard post of the Shandong disaster-stricken army. He has seen our strength in the Amur River Basin and looks quite obedient at present." A young soldier from the Corps and Fortress followed and said to Liao Degong: "In terms of the days when I have been in contact with them, these Shengfans do not like drinking, have few group activities, and like to live alone. How to say it is that they are a bit inhumane and withdrawn. They try to avoid dealing with our management cadres as much as possible, and only seek happiness in their own family circles..."

"We must manage them effectively." Liao Degong immediately said after hearing this, "Living habits can be changed! Perhaps every tribe has its own rules that have been stubbornly maintained over time. These rules are like the legacy of the ancestors from generation to generation, but we must let them know that life is like acting. Once the protagonist changes, the side set changes. Now the protagonist is our East Coast people, and they are just poor people who belong to us, and there is no need to follow them in everything."

"I like Jiuliancheng very much because it looks like a gentleman with a spring breeze. The air is fresh and pleasant. The small sandbanks of the Yalu River are as if they are calling us to come and avoid the shade and cool off. Such a scenery always looks refreshing - of course I am talking about summer, now it is autumn, and only withered wormwood remains here, haha." Liao Degong took the lead in breaking out and rushed towards Fort No. 1, and said.

The arrival of the horse team caused a commotion inside and outside the fortress, but it was quickly suppressed by the officials because the tall war horses under their crotch and yellow military uniforms on their bodies had clearly shown their identity. They were from the East Coast!

Some Shandan people who had just rushed out of the tent with a knife went back silently and then went to do their own things. In their spare time, they liked to organize their saddles—especially those Buryat Mongols—and this is one of their favorite things to show off to outsiders. The saddles are covered with engraved metal bells, which may be gold or silver, but without exception, the quality is poor and the knife skills are not very good, which correctly reflects their civilized level.

Liao Degong and his party 50 or 60 people got off the horse at the base of the wall of Fort No. 2, and then several figures came over. Among them, in addition to the two local civil affairs officials, there was also a middle-aged man called "Adaman" (Adaman is the name of Russians, used to refer to the leader of native tribes or military forces in the northeastern region). He wore a belt that looked expensive on his waist, because the coral and malachite swayed on it blinded everyone's eyes - it's really a habit of the Mongols!

Behind Adaman were some strong and savages, with a rebellious look. Because they were poor and had no valuable accessories to show off, they were covered with patterns on their faces, and gained a reputation for being dressed in gorgeous clothes at the cost of their own pain (perhaps not so much pain in their eyes).

As the highest military commander of the newly appointed nine fortresses in Jiuliancheng area, Liao Degong naturally stepped forward to hug him, shook hands, and then focused on chatting with Adaman in half-baked local language and creating a relationship. After all, for a long time, these Shandan people were under his command, and most of them were good soldiers. They were counting on these people when dealing with the Qing Dynasty.

Then, he shook the hands of some tribal warriors following Adaman one by one, and asked his deputy to take out many well-made leather robes from his luggage and reward them as gifts. The leather robes were made of good lambskin and dazzling brocade as fabrics, with otter or sealskin trim, cuffs, front closures, hems and other places with furrows, and some black velvet was pasted, which was comfortable and beautiful to wear, which immediately made the faces of these barbarian warriors turn from shade to sunny, and immediately became more obedient.

There were many long-lasting fires in the tent, and some children in strange clothes were sitting around eating something, which made Liao Degong and others realize that after riding among the hills for half a day, they had been a little hungry, so they simply sat around with these Shandan people and had a hot mutton meal. This was indeed eye-catching in the face of famine. If Liang Xiangjian caught him, he would definitely be a scolding.

"This time I met Commander Liang on the way from the north and learned good news and bad news." After lunch, Liao Degong sent his entourage to check all kinds of military supplies and whether the facilities were complete. He himself talked to the local civil affairs officials about other things: "The good news is that the grain in Denglai area has not been completely eliminated this year. Among them, wheat alone collected about 130,000 tons, and other fragments of grains such as corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and mung beans (almost everything that can grow grain has been used) and collected tens of thousands of tons in total, which is enough to make everyone persist for a long time. It is definitely the best and most exciting news I have heard in the past six months."

"Oh, I actually collected so many?" Two civil affairs officials who graduated from the Anti-Qing Military and Political University were also a little excited and immediately said: "This is really not easy. Shandong drought locusts are constantly emerging. Our people must not only use the inherent water conservancy irrigation facilities to irrigate the fields and grab food from God's mouth; at the same time, they must also have enough luck to ensure that they are not targeted by hateful locusts, or even if a certain degree of locust plague broke out, they must try their best to fight with them and try to slow down the disaster. All of this is really not easy. Last year, I had the honor of experiencing some experiences and empathizing with these things. It is understandable how much do we have paid to achieve this level. Haha, more than 100,000 tons of grain are really amazing, and have solved a large part of the trouble! Moreover, I heard that the drought seems to have been alleviated since this summer? Then we can also try to re-sow overwintering wheat, which is also of great help to increase grain production."

"Yes, with this food, and the food we have tried our best to raise from various places, it should be able to make millions of people in Denglai (including victims) persist for a while, and the grain reserves will not be immediately clear. However, this problem should not be careless. The more food the better, because God knows when the disaster will end completely. Therefore, Commander-in-Chief Liang said that if we try every means to expand the area of ​​reclamation, if Denglai doesn't work, go to Ningbo, if Ningbo has no place, go to Heishui, Liaodong and even North Korea, if the above is not possible, you can't do anything above.

After resettlement, even if we go to Rabaul, we must insist on reclaiming and growing grain in Australia!" Liao Degong also echoed and said, "Only enough food can feed more people. Look, Deputy Commander Wei Boqiu and Deputy Commander Wei took a boat to the southern coast of Japan to catch the autumn wind a while ago. I heard that he had robbed or traded a lot of grain back. Commander Liang was so happy that he could not stop hearing it. Therefore, we are waiting for the reclamation work in Dandong County. It seems that we have to hurry up. And I heard that before the port is frozen, more than 10,000 victims will be sent to reclamation. This pressure is not ordinary...

"No matter how stress is, you have to do it. Dandong is a good place, there is no shortage of water, and there is no other disaster. And it is backed by the Kingdom of Korea, and the material transfer is convenient. It is really a good place to farmland." The civil affairs official said, "By the way, Lieutenant Liao, what is the bad news you just said? Let's say it together, it doesn't matter."

"The bad news is naturally related to the military farming, that is—" Liao Degong smiled and said seriously: "The Qing Dynasty may have to attack Dandong, but the number of people should not be too many, because the Shaerhuda on the Ningguta side tends to shrink its troops and return south. Anyway, it is not interesting to nail it there. It is faintly surrounded by our flanks, and it is awkward to do anything. Therefore, this time, it may be led by a Qing army official in Chenyang, who drew the elites of the Eight Banners outside the pass to attack our Dandong County."

"What level of attack?" Although he was a civil affairs official, he studied at the Anti-Qing Military and Political University, so he asked the key point at once.

"Don't worry, the scale should not be large, and it would have killed thousands of people. If we really want to let go of the fight, our army may not be able to cope with it. The only problem is that the Qing army will probably not fight head-on with us this time, but will mainly fight harassment, which is quite destructive to the settlement. Jiuliancheng is the most important barrier in the north of Dandong County, and the city wall has been disrepaired for a long time. The Qing army knew it clearly, and it might be their key target of attack." Liao Degong obviously thought about it, so he had sufficient ideological preparations. He continued: "And Jiuliancheng is blocked in the center of the official post road between the Qing and North Korea. If they are not eliminated in one day, they will not be able to communicate with North Korea. Therefore, even from this perspective, the Eight Banners of the Manchu and Mongolian have reason to send troops to attack us. Therefore, we should be fully prepared!"
Chapter completed!