From August to September, and then to October.

Maple leaves are like fire, and autumn dew turns into frost.

In Jiangnan and Jiangbei, everyone is busy with their own affairs. Some people are in the moonlight, while others are sweating profusely. The war time has been delayed for a long time. In addition to the soldiers who are increasingly bored on the front line, the people and officials in the rear are gradually becoming numb.

People in Jiangnan were waiting for the day when Xiangyang City was captured, while people in Jiangbei were waiting for Dorgon to take down Datong City.

This time, God seemed to be testing the patience of both sides. Neither Dorgon nor Zhai Zhe could get what they expected so quickly.

The Ming army dug tunnels under Xiangyang City, and at the same time built a continuous city of earth in the dangerous place outside Xiangyang City, cutting off the route of helping north of Jiangbei. But the soldiers were already tired. They were not tools, they were living people. Long-term boring and monotonous fights would even cause psychological collapse alone.

Zhai Zhe was already preparing for the inability to break through Xiangyang City. If he wanted to defend Huguang without breaking through Xiangyang, the Ming army would need to garrison a large number of Ming troops here, which would restrain a large number of Ming troops. What was even more troublesome is that Huguang would fall into war for a long time, which would add huge pressure to Jiangnan's finances.

Everything requires money. The current expansion can be so smooth, which has a lot to do with the smooth progress of the Ming army's war and the rich land occupied. Weapon production is deprived of military warfare, which does improve the quality of weapons and increase production capacity in the short term, but the cost will naturally increase. If it weren't for the Yin-Yi Mao food, what would Zhai Zhe use to buy weapons and firearms from several major workshops?

In order to win the hearts of Huguang, the new policy implemented in Jiangnan has not been implemented in Huguang. Du Yinxi met with famous gentry in Jingzhou Prefecture and Chengtian Prefecture to explain the court's strategies. Except for those who once served as officials in the Qing court, the rest of the people were not investigated.

Under the city of Xiangyang.

Zhai Zhe did not live here forever, and occasionally went back and forth in the three cities of Jingzhou, Wuchang and Xiangyang.

The main purpose of the general in Huguang was to coordinate the relationship between various departments. As for the specific arrangements for the siege, Zhai Zhe had all handed over to Zuo Ruo for handling.

Zuo Ruo's reputation was not enough to suppress the Zhongzhen Camp, let alone let Du Yinxi cooperate for him. But in a specific war, his battlefield acumen was even better than Zhai Zhe.

All the generals were left to the left, and he was as different as Feng Qin's status in Hangzhou City. The difference is that Feng Qin was all under his command, and the troops he commanded were varied.

Therefore, among the generals who attacked the city, Gong Chen was the most hardworking one, because only he could personally experience the dilemma in Shanxi. Although he knew that hope was already slim, he was unwilling to give up the last bit of fantasy.

Jin Xiaoding asked him to leave Luzhou because he was incompatible with the rebel army. It was understandable that he killed those people at the beginning, but most rebel commanders did not understand this. They only knew that their close relatives died at his hands. But Gong Chen didn't think so. From his return to Huguang, he felt that he had taken on a responsibility, and he came to ask for help.

Gong Chen had no team in Huguang, and his overly radical suppression gradually aroused dissatisfaction among the soldiers. Zuo Ruo had to reduce the number of times he went to battle.

Zhai Zhe understood Gong Chen's idea, but his mind was no longer focused on Shanxi. The Ming army was not ready for the Northern Expedition, just as the Qing army is now unable to invade the south.

Everything in Shanxi is just a lie, from the beginning.

In more than two months, a simple castle was built on the mountain between Jingzhou and Xiangyang. The fort was named Yongding and was named by the general himself.

In mid-October, half of the leaves in the mountains and forests fell, and a bleak aura filled the world.

Zhai Zhe and Du Yinxi came to the newly built Yongding Fort together.

The castle in front of you has not been completely completed, but the general outline is already established, and you only need some corners and corners to strive for excellence.

"I have worked hard in the past two months," Zhai Zhe said with a sincere tone. He made great contributions to building this castle. Organizing civil servants is not easier than fighting. Du Yinxi had opinions about Zhai Zhe, but it did not prevent him from doing things seriously. This is the difference between him and He Tengjiao, because it is what he appreciated by Zhai.

Du Yinxi's face was thinner than two months ago, and bowed, "I can't compare to the soldiers who worked hard in Xiangyang." He believed that he was doing his best to defend Huguang for the Ming army.

"With this castle, I have relieved a lot of pressure from the city of Xiangyang." Zhai Zhe's tone was not relaxed, with a hint of worry.

Du Yinxi comforted Zhai Zhe and said, "There is only one mansion left in Huguang that is still under the hands of the Qing emperors, so the general does not need to be impatient.

Hong Chengchou's strategy of shrinking the defense line did cause considerable trouble to the Ming army. The troops in Xiangyang City were stronger than the Ming army in Datong City, and Hong Chengchou was also trying to curb the people's hearts in the city. Since he decided to build a castle, Zhai Zhe was already making the worst plans.

Zhai Zhe chuckled and corrected Du Yinxi's mistake, "Haha, it's not a mansion, it's a corner." The Ming Dynasty occupied the second place in the triangle of Huguang and Jiangbei, and the Qing court led the first place.

There were soldiers guarding the gate of the castle, monitoring the construction of civilians.

The two walked side by side toward the fort gate, and a cold smell came to the surface. The ground was the newly paved bluestone floor.

Du Yinxi introduced: "There are 8,000 troops stationed in the fort, and fifty forts were set up according to the general's instructions."

The two of them walked and said that they had been reaching the top of the fort. Because of the tight time, half of the walls of the castle were built on mountains and had irregular shapes. The fort was divided into walls and hidden soldiers, grain storage stations, barracks, gunpowder reserves underground, and more than a dozen wells about three meters.

This place is not as solid as a sacred place, but it has completely satisfied Zhai Zhe. For more than two months, from site selection to design, to now 70% to 80% of the fortifications have been completed, Zhai Zhe cannot have higher requirements.

He inspected carefully for a week and said seriously: "The matters in Huguang need to be more concerned about Du Gong." This sentence has a lot of meaning. Since Du Yinxi was asked to do things, he would give him the right.

Du Yinxi raised his chest and said indifferently: "I am the governor of Huguang. The general can work hard for the Ming Dynasty. If I drag it back, wouldn't it be a joke for the people of the world?" He did not think that he was doing things for Zhai Zhe, but for the court.

The castle has not been built yet, and food and gunpowder have been transported in continuously. With this castle, even if the Ming army did not capture Xiangyang City, the Qing Dynasty's light cavalry did not have the courage to invade Jingzhou City.

Of course, if the Qing court mobilized a large army to capture Huguang from Xiangyang, the castle would not have much effect, and the thousands of left-behind soldiers would become the target of the Qing court.

When Zhai Zhe returned to the city of Xiangyang, Zuo Ruo led the generals to report on the progress of the war.

The city towers at the west gate and south gate of Xiangyang City have been completely destroyed by the artillery fire of the Ming army. The Ming army's attack has slowed down in the past few days. The Ming army did not want to repeat the defeat of Duoduo at the city of Hangzhou.

In Xiangyang City, Hong Chengchou resisted the opposition and resolutely prevented Luke Dehun from leading cavalry out of the city to fight. The food in the city was enough to support for a year. He did not believe that Dorgon could not capture Datong City within one year.
Chapter completed!