Chapter 185: Layout of Japan
Chapter 185: Layout of Japan
In the war-torn era and days filled with smoke, soldiers fought to the death and forgot about time.
Today is the fifth day of the first lunar month of the fourth year of the Tongzhi reign. No one on either side of the war noticed that the New Year had passed in the midst of the march and preparations for battle.
It was a freezing cold day on the Hetao Plain. Dong Fuxiang came to see Shao Quanzhong with his bare arms, carrying a bramble on his back, and having his hands tied behind his back.
He knelt down from a distance and walked over on his knees, "I am late in surrendering, please punish me, Lord Zhongcheng."
Shao Quanzhong stood up, took off his white gloves, personally helped Dong Fuxiang up, and untied the ropes.
He took off his black military coat and put it on Dong Fuxiang. "I have been waiting for the general for a long time. It's good to see you here. Someone, serve ginger soup to General Dong."
Dong's troops had already surrendered in an orderly manner, and the reinforcements from the southern fortress arrived late, but were hit back by a barrage of machine guns and rapid-fire cannons.
Dong Fuxiang was still shocked when he saw the Huai Army's well-organized movement and fierce firepower. This time they were not attacking his own troops. How could he withstand such an opponent?
"Lord Zhongcheng has trained his troops well and his men are well-equipped. I have never seen or heard of anything like this. I overestimated my own capabilities and resisted the power of heaven. This is a great sin. In the next battle, I am willing to be the vanguard and lead the way for Lord Zhongcheng."
Shao Quanzhong waved his hand, "General Dong, don't worry. If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. How can you fight without weapons? Your troops are poorly equipped, too many people, and the quality of the soldiers is uneven. We can't afford to feed so many soldiers. The next battle will be fought by us. You first select the best soldiers from the deployment, and I will equip you with the latest rapid-fire rifles. Once the soldiers are familiar with the new weapons and trained for a few months, it won't be too late to go to the battlefield."
Dong Fuxiang was surprised. "Your Excellency is saying that we can also be equipped with this kind of rapid-fire gun?"
"Of course. You just arrived and don't know our production capacity. Our arsenal can produce more than 10,000 quick-firing rifles and enough bullets every month. The next batch of 10,000 rifles will arrive in the next few days. When the time comes, select 6,000 elite soldiers and I will give you a regiment and let you be the standard commander."
The Huai Army's fighting style is different from mine. Their regular army does not rely on coercing the hungry people. The more people the better. They have to send most of the hungry people they have gathered back to their hometowns, and their own soldiers have to retrain their fighting methods.
Indeed, the world has changed. With machine guns and rapid-fire cannons, we need elite regular troops to fight wars. However, having more people is not very useful...
Dong Fuxiang thought for a moment, "I am a new subordinate who has not done anything. I was promoted to a higher position suddenly, and I cannot convince the people. I know Gao Wanyi, the leader of the Qingyang group, and Zhang Gui from Jingning County. I am willing to eliminate these two gangs of bandits and relieve the worries of the Minister of Justice. This is my token of my loyalty to you."
"Okay then, go ahead!"
After the Taiping Army and the Nian Army left Shaanxi, there are currently two types of armed forces in the Shaanxi-Gansu region that are dissatisfied with the Qing government: rebellious bandits and trained bandits.
The rebellious bandits were basically disciples of Ma Hualong's faction, while the practicing bandits were armed forces of hungry people transformed from militia.
After Dong Fuxiang surrendered, Gao Wanyi and Zhang Gui were the only ones left in the large group of hungry civilians. Shao Quanzhong had to focus on dealing with Jinjibao and had no time to deal with the bandits, so it was good that Dong Fuxiang was willing to clean them out.
Dong Fuxiang did not leave immediately, but stayed with the army for a day to rest. The next day, Li Shuangliang from Yan'an Prefecture led 10,000 reinforcements to arrive.
Li Shuangliang was called back by Dong Fuxiang to fight against the Huai Army. He was a loyal subordinate of Dong Fuxiang and immediately surrendered to the Huai Army.
Dong Fuxiang originally had 20,000 soldiers. After being defeated by the Huai Army, excluding those who were killed or wounded, there were still about 15,000 soldiers who could fight. After joining forces with Li Shuangliang's 10,000 soldiers, the number became 25,000.
Shao Quanzhong ordered his men to return the weapons to them. Dong Fuxiang was full of confidence and left with his men.
"Yuting, if you let Dong Fuxiang go like this, what if he doesn't come back?"
"Hehe, if he doesn't come back, it means he didn't really surrender. Staying here now would be a hidden danger. I'll just shoot him next time. But I calculated with my fingers and he can come back."
Well, Shao Quanzhong's finger reading is almost always accurate, much more accurate than fortune-telling. He is probably the only one in the world who can really read with his fingers.
Taoist Qing Hong expressed his dissatisfaction...
With the appeasement of Dong Fuxiang, Li Shuangliang followed suit and surrendered. The rebellion in northern Shaanxi was pacified and the entire Shaanxi Province was liberated. Now the busiest person under Shao Quanzhong was Le Sen. Dong Fuxiang was recruited, and his men gathered 300,000 people. The remaining 200,000 hungry people were to be disbanded and sent back home.
These people are distributed in Zhenjingbao, Huanxian County, Yan'an Prefecture and Fuzhou in Shaanxi. We cannot just drive them away. We need to provide them with relief first, and then send instructors to set up insurance teams, build villages, and restore rural order...
Le Xiucai was busy as hell when something even busier came up.
"Report, Wu Ziyi has sent three battalions of infantry, 500 replacement soldiers, and 10,000 quick-firing rifles, and is also escorting this batch of food and fodder."
Well, the Huai Army has already reached its full quota of 40,000, and this time the number of quick-firing guns sent is greater than the number of people.
Le Sen was busy distributing quick-firing rifles. The extra 5,000 muzzle-loading rifles were taken back and modified by the new soldiers who were escorting the grain and fodder.
In fact, Wu Ziyi was responsible for recruiting 80,000 soldiers, and now 40,000 of them were left in Fengyang for concentrated training.
The logistics of food transportation were not fast enough to support 80,000 soldiers to fight in Shaanxi and Gansu. It was necessary to store food and grass in Shaanxi and Gansu for a period of time before organizing an expeditionary force of 80,000.
Le Sen is busy, Shao Quanzhong is even busier.
"All troops, prepare to recapture Lingzhou."
You can't attack Jinjibao if there is an enemy nail behind you.
When fighting Dong Fuxiang, scouts were sent to Lingzhou continuously, and the news they brought back made the generals angry.
Eight thousand bandit reinforcements went on a killing spree in Lingzhou, slaughtering all 100,000 people in the surrounding areas of Lingzhou in one fell swoop.
Shao Quanzhong was furious. "I declare that all the bandits are dead and will not be appeased. All the prisoners will be sent to build the railway. If they are not pardoned, they will be exhausted to death."
"Report, the Japanese interpreter you asked for has arrived with the grain delivery team."
"Please, please, please."
A young man in a long gown and with a big smile on his face was brought in.
When he saw Shao Quanzhong, he knelt down and kowtowed, then stood up, bent over and smiled apologetically.
The generals around Shao Quanzhong were all very surprised. Doesn't the commander hate the Japanese the most? Why did he find an interpreter?
Shao Quanzhong said amiably, "What's your name? What did you do before? How did you learn Japanese?"
"My Lord, my name is Zhang Shangde, and I am the second in command of the Dachang Grocery Store in Shanghai. Our store has trade with Japan, shipping foreign goods and silk to Hokkaido and Nagasaki, and shipping seafood back for profit, so I learned Japanese."
"Okay, come here, call Yang Banhou and his detective team 2 over."
Yang Banhou came with a dozen Wudang disciples. They were on special missions, and were usually well paid. They had been in Shaanxi and Gansu for several months, but had no chance to take action.
"Brother Banhou, from now on, the experts of your Detective Team 2 will learn Japanese from Zhang Shangde and strive to master it within a year. I will send you to Japan."
(End of this chapter)