Chapter 178: Defeating Dong Zhiyuan
Chapter 178: Defeating Dong Zhiyuan
"Military secrets."
Shao Quanzhong used military secrets to fool Hu Liuniang because he hadn't decided who to rob yet, so he decided to buy the warship first.
There are so many fat sheep in the world, anyone can grab them except Britain and France.
As long as my fist is bigger than yours, wouldn't it be easy for me to find an excuse to beat you up?
…………
More than two months later, on the first day of November in the third year of Tongzhi, Tongchuan.
Twenty-six thousand Huai troops gathered in Tongchuan, ready to launch military operations.
At that time, Tongchuan was called "Tongguan", a county town under the jurisdiction of Xi'an Prefecture. However, almost no one knew the name Tongguan, so it was better to just call it Tongchuan to save trouble.
During these two months, hundreds of insurance teams had been established in southern Shaanxi and Guanzhong, and there were many dikes. The Huai Army quickly achieved actual control over southern Shaanxi and Guanzhong.
The difference between the insurance team and the original militia in various places is that the militia is a professional military organization, while the insurance team is a militia.
The leaders of the militia were mostly ambitious gangsters, and the soldiers were mostly ruffians. The leaders of the insurance team were soldiers sent by the Huai Army, and the militia they recruited were all real farmers.
The insurance team protects the real good people. Inside the wall of the weir are the elderly, the weak, the women and the children.
Only when the people are safe can food and wealth be produced. This is the governance strategy of Shao Quanzhong, the governor of Shaanxi.
Wu Ziyi sent over six fully equipped reinforced battalions of soldiers, including five infantry battalions and one cavalry battalion.
The number of infantry battalions reached twelve, organized into three regiments, and Song Laosan was promoted to the commander of the third regiment.
Shao Quanzhong's Guards Platoon and Tian Xing's Regiment all replaced their troops with newly produced breech-loading rifles, and the other two regiments replaced one-third of their troops.
Grant was promoted to commander of the cavalry regiment. However, when he became the chief of staff, his rank had been promoted to colonel, and the cavalry regiment was only in charge.
“Snap, snap, snap!”
He fired thirty bullets in one minute and every shot hit the target. Song Laosan was extremely excited.
A muzzle-loading rifle can only fire three rounds per minute, so the Huai Army's combat effectiveness soared.
Of course, the average firing rate of the first generation of breech-loading rifles is fifteen rounds per minute, and for experts it is twenty rounds per minute. Song Le’s firing rate cannot be used as a reference.
Moreover, a large number of paper bullets have not been used up yet. The expensive quick-firing copper bullets developed by Ding Gongchen based on the copper bullets of the Gatling machine gun can only be used when Song Laosan is testing the gun. The paper bullets cannot be destroyed, which also affects the firing rate.
"Report, Xihuade called and requested to purchase our patented technology for converting muzzle-loading rifles to breech-loading rifles and the new copper bullet technology."
"No, tell him to exchange it with the warship special steel smelting technology and spring steel smelting technology."
Shao Quanzhong has always been resentful about Zhang Siwen's failure in negotiating with the Americans to purchase special steel smelting technology for warships.
"Report, Liao Rong called and said that the UK is willing to build us the most advanced 10,000-ton Minotaur-class ironclad warships, and is willing to sell them at a preferential price of 210,000 pounds per ship, but only two ships can be approved in exchange for our muzzle-loading rifle modification patent and copper bullet technology."
"How much is two hundred and ten thousand pounds?"
"More than 700,000 taels of silver."
"Fuck, that's damn expensive. Deal, I buy it. By the way, why are the British suddenly so open-minded?"
"Liao Rong said that according to the information he had heard, the British are already planning to build a new type of ironclad ship called the 'Destroyer-class' that is all steam-powered and does not require sails. The Minotaur-class will probably be obsolete in seven or eight years. The British feel that even if we have two Minotaur-class ships, they will not pose a threat to them." Hehe, with two Minotaur ships to keep things under control, my Nanyang Navy can fight with the French fleet. As long as I don't fall out with big brother Britain, I can roam the seven seas.
No, I want to name these two battleships "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan", and they must be used when fighting the Japanese.
After more than two months of construction, the telegraph line has been extended to Longju Village, and now express horses can transmit instant messages with only a one-day delay.
After dealing with a large number of official duties that were brought to the Tongchuan Camp, Shao Quanzhong presided over a military meeting of the Tongchuan Camp.
"Our next goal is to enter Gansu and send troops to Dongzhiyuan. The first step is to destroy the 18th Battalion headed by Bai Yanhu."
"report!"
Le Sen stood up and spoke, "I think we should first pacify northern Shaanxi and eliminate the bandit group led by Li Shuangliang that is entrenched in northern Shaanxi. The bandits are mainly made up of hungry people, so they are easy to fight. After we unify Shaanxi, it will be easier to raise military rations."
Shaanxi has now completed the autumn harvest, but the results are far below expectations. Due to the destruction of spring ploughing by the 18th Battalion bandits, Shaanxi has a poor harvest this year, and military rations still need to be transported by water by Mr. Qiao to make up for the shortfall.
Le Sen was in charge of logistics and was deeply troubled by this and immediately expressed his different opinions.
Grant shook his head. "Lieutenant Colonel Le, I think you should study the intelligence you sent me more. Li Shuangliang's troops are not independent. He is a subordinate of Dong Fuxiang, a bandit in Gansu, and was sent to northern Shaanxi to develop. If we fight Li Shuangliang, Dong Fuxiang, the leader of the bandits in Huan County, Bai Yanhu in Dongzhiyuan, and even Ma Hualong, the chief bandit leader and Jinjibao in Wuzhong County, will support us. The war will spread to Shaanxi, which is not worth the loss."
"Then we should also fight Dong Fuxiang first. Uh, I was wrong."
On the map hung by Grant, Huanxian Zhenjing Fort where Dong Fuxiang was entrenched was located to the north of Dong Zhiyuan. In order to attack Dong Fuxiang, Dong Zhiyuan could not be bypassed.
Shao Quanzhong had already discussed the battle plan with Lao Ge in advance, and seeing that no one had any different opinions, he issued the order directly.
"The Eighteenth Battalion is extremely vicious, but its combat effectiveness is not very high. Duolong'a was able to drive them away, so it will be no problem for us to deal with them. They have only been in Dongzhiyuan for more than half a year and have not yet built solid fortifications. We must win this first battle. I order--"
Looking at the generals who stood up, Shao Quanzhong began to assign tasks.
"The Tian Xing Regiment, all equipped with breech-loading rifles, will be the vanguard, the cavalry regiment will provide support, and the Shao Hengzhong Regiment will be the right flank to prevent Dong Fuxiang's troops from supporting Dong Zhiyuan. I will personally lead the Song Laosan Regiment, the artillery, and the engineering corps as the rear of the central army. Let's go!"
Four days later, the Lin Bozai Battalion, the vanguard of the Tian Xing Regiment, engaged in a firefight with the Eighteenth Battalion in Taichang Town.
The breech-loading Schneider rifle with a firing rate of fifteen rounds per minute was used for the first time on the battlefield of our Qing Dynasty and demonstrated its power.
Battalion commander Lin Bozi led the charge and captured Taichang Town in one go, but they were not satisfied at all. In one day, they captured Xiaojin Town and Dongzhi Town, and the rebels and bandits of the 18th Battalion fled.
Without solid fortifications and fortresses for defense, the Huai Army, with its overwhelming firepower advantage, was simply unable to resist in plain combat.
Seeing how brave the Huai Army was, the bandits in the 18th Battalion were hesitant, not knowing whether to continue resisting or go to defend the sturdy Jinjibao and join the bandit leader Ma Hualong.
While they were still discussing, Bai Yanhu, the strongest of the 18th Battalion, saw the powerful firepower of the Huai Army and ran away with his men without consulting other leaders...
The bandits in Dong Zhiyuan were leaderless and collapsed all of a sudden.
Originally, Shao Quanzhong's order to Tian Xing was to engage in a firefight with the bandits, test the enemy's main force and then confront them, wait for the slower-moving artillery and machine gunners to arrive, and then launch a general attack.
But the enemy was fleeing and would not obey orders from the outside. At Lin Bozai's strong request, Tian Xingtuan launched a large-scale pursuit.
Lin Bozai abandoned his baggage and pursued Bai Yanhu's troops lightly.
After chasing for fifty miles, five thousand Bai bandits were killed, and tens of thousands of Bai's family members fell into a deep ditch and died of hunger and cold.
Bai Yanhu escaped with only 2,000 elite troops. Like a stray dog, he did not dare to stay in Gansu. He ran all the way, passing through Lanzhou, Wuwei, Jiuquan, and hurriedly rushed to Hami.
(End of this chapter)