Author: Zero Romance

Although Hai Hanjun did not allow shopkeeper Ding and his waiters to help in the kitchen, and even did not 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.

's 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, all of whom seemed to be officers, turned out to be many who were not Han Chinese, and among 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 the actual situation did not seem to be the case. These people were coming in and out of the inn and looked very busy. Real big shots obviously would not behave like this.

group.

Until the evening, the officers in the lobby seemed to have received some kind of order, and they all went to wait in line outside the inn's 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.

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 did not dare to raise their heads to look at him, and they knelt down on the ground unconsciously.

The waiter nodded repeatedly and said, "My back is still feeling cold right now... Shopkeeper, maybe this is murderous intent?"

"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."

Those who came also raised their hands to return the salute, and while looking around at everyone, they said lightly: "Thank you for your hard work!"

After Shi Diwen took his seat, he first listened to the battle report from 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.

"Oh?" Shi Diwen raised his eyebrows upon hearing this: "What do the local people say?"

After hearing Shi Diwen's words, the two people kneeling on the ground looked at each other, and then stood up slowly and tremblingly.

General Haihan, who walked into the inn surrounded by officers, was of course the initiator of this battle, Shi Diwen. However, the terrifying aura exuding from him was not entirely murderous, but also partly due to his years as a superior.

The accumulated majesty.

After finishing everything here and just starting to run, Shi Diwen arrived at Sudong Town, and the timing was just right.

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!"

Regarding 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.

But as for the 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?"

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.

An officer responded: "Commander, according to their confession, in fact... they just came to rob property!"

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.

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.

When it comes to local people, there are ready-made people to ask questions.

Less than forty miles away from Yixing County, and right on the shores of Taihu Lake, Fudong Town can not only command front-line operations, but also deploy personnel and materials at the rear, and make strategic plans. It is perfect to serve as the front-line headquarters for this battle.

In Hangzhou, the Haihan army assembled in Huzhou would attack Nanjing by land, and Shi Diwen personally commanded this army, leaving the relatively easy waterway attack to Yan Chujie.

Shopkeeper Ding muttered: "How many people must have been killed to have such a powerful murderous intention!"

The vanguard battalion arrived at Fudong Town half a day earlier than the main force. Although they unexpectedly ran into a small group of Ming troops, the battle to seize control of Fudong Town was uneventful, and the Ming troops were driven out effortlessly.

After leaving the town, they conveniently commandeered shopkeeper Ding's inn as the temporary headquarters.

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.

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 sea.

The Han army's frontal offensive.

Shi Diwen said: "Whatever I ask you, just answer it truthfully."

Shopkeeper Ding quickly responded: "You must tell the truth, I don't dare to lie at all!"

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 who was driven away by the forward battalion indeed just wanted to take advantage of the interval before the war to come out and make a war fortune.

.

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.
Chapter completed!