Chapter 201: Eradicating Evil

Chapter 201: Eradicating Evil

Chapter 201: Eradicating Evil
The Huai Army lost more than 14,000 people in the attack on Jinjibao, and also lost 33,000 Gansu Army trainees, with even more deaths.

But that was a loss in the event of a victory. Jinjibao was a strong city in the world, and Ma Hualong was a great rebel who could be compared with Hong Xiuquan. He was very powerful, so it was inevitable that he would lose troops.

Even though Yan Laoliu and Qu Laosan were killed, the position was not lost. The enemy commander Qu who was being pursued was killed. In the plain battle, more than 10,000 enemies were eliminated at the cost of 2,000 deaths.

If we ignore the fact that the two men are from Jiangyan, this can be explained as objectively drawing out the enemy's manpower from the fortress and destroying it, alleviating the pressure of attacking the fortress and reducing casualties for future attacks on the fortress - well, it can be considered a tragic victory at best due to mistakes.

Tian Xing almost died, but Mawu Village was captured. On the battlefield, who can guarantee absolute safety?

Battle reports can lie, but battle lines can’t. Lin Bozi was forced to retreat 40 miles, but the battle report didn’t even mention the number of enemies killed. This was definitely a real defeat.

Ma Zhan'ao was just the remnant of Ma Hualong, with a total military force of less than 20,000 and less than 2,000 Russian-made Ridge muzzle-loading rifles. However, they were able to defeat Lin Bozai, the most powerful general of the Huai Army who was armed to the teeth. This made Shao Quanzhong very angry.

Moreover, the news of the defeat in the Taizi Temple battle came when he was reporting to his adoptive father. Isn't this a slap in the face of Mr. Shao?
Seeing that Shao Quanzhong looked very bad after receiving the battle report, Qiao Songnian comforted him instead.

"For the Western Expedition Army, the loss of two thousand men is a small matter. After all, from a strategic point of view, Ma Zhan'ao is not a concern, and he knows it himself. Look, hasn't he been intimidated by our military might and asked to be recruited?"

Shao Quanzhong slammed the table and said, "He wants to prove that he can fight and is valuable, so that he can be sold at a good price when he is recruited. I understand. However, we must not recruit him. We would rather suffer more losses than destroy him."

"Yuting, you can't act rashly in a war."

Shao Quanzhong turned around and said sincerely, "Foster father, I didn't refuse to recruit him just because my men died. I didn't feel bad when hundreds of people died fighting against Dong Fuxiang. When the reinforcements sent by Ma Zhan'ao and Ma Guiqing to Jinjibao massacred 100,000 Han people in Lingzhou, I made up my mind not to recruit any more bandits."

Shao Quanzhong recruited Dong Fuxiang because he did not kill people indiscriminately. All the battles were to grab food and fill the stomachs of the hungry people under his command. Basically, because the imperial court had abandoned Shaanxi and Gansu at that time, they had to raise troops to protect themselves, and it was a real militia to protect the people.

Qiao Songnian was a capable person in the imperial court, but he did not love the people like his own children. He was as cruel as Zeng Guofan. Therefore, the historical evaluation of him is very confusing, and people with different standpoints have very different opinions.

He was not indignant about the massacre of 100,000 Han people. He was just concerned that the decrease in the population base under his rule would reduce the efficiency of his administration and affect his political achievements.

"If you, Yuting, pacify Ma Zhan'ao, it will save a lot of trouble. You can also let the capable Ma Zhan'ao lead the way and eliminate more bandits. This will speed up the progress of the Western Expedition, reduce the army's food consumption, and return victoriously soon..."

Qiao Songnian looked at the issue from the perspective of logistics, organization and supply, which he was good at, as well as from the perspective of gaining credit and rewards. He was an absolute pragmatist, and although cold-blooded, he was correct.

Shao Quanzhong knew even more. He knew that Ma Zhan'ao surrendered sincerely.

Moreover, "it is better to kill the rebels than to kill them", and after Ma Zhan'ao was recruited, he remained a loyal minister of the Qing court, bravely fighting on the front lines to eliminate other rebels, and made countless contributions. If we simply calculate the immediate benefits, recruiting is definitely a good deal.

In history, Zuo Zongtang recruited Ma Zhan'ao, and the Ma family later served as the Qing court's western governor. Their descendants ruled the northwest, and they had no territorial conflicts with their previous selves, and their relationship was still good.

However, General Zuo recruited Ma Zhan'ao because his conditions for the Western Expedition were not as good as Shao Quanzhong's. He was short of food and funds, so he had no choice but to -

"Foster father, it is said that bandit nature is hard to change. These bandits massacred Han people, but they were not punished. Instead, they were recruited and promoted to become rich. This will set a very bad precedent. One day, when China is weak, they will be itching to take action. The temporary pacification of Shaanxi and Gansu will bury a huge hidden danger for future generations of China. This Western Expedition has sufficient funds, and the Huai Army also has enough reserve forces. In terms of time, we still have to wait for food and grass to gather. Since it will not delay the conquest of Yili Province, I will be willful this time to eliminate the hidden dangers for China, slaughter all the bandits, and eliminate all evil!"

Shao Quanzhong was making money from selling cabbages, but he was worried about selling something else. Qiao Songnian judged others by himself, and did not realize Shao Quanzhong's sincere heart to serve China. Instead, he keenly realized that his adopted son had begun to treat China as his own.

This is a good thing for me. My son has great ambitions, and now it seems that he has a good chance of success. Hehe, as a godfather, I will definitely be promoted to a higher level...

"Your father will stay behind to ensure your logistical supply, and in the court, I will defend you against impeachment by your opponents. As for the Western Expedition, just do as you wish."

The cooperative relationship between Qiao Songnian and his son Shao Quanzhong is very good, and there is still no friction at all.

…………

When Shao Quanzhong returned to the camp, he immediately went to find Grant to ask why the Battle of Taizisi failed. Hezhou was the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in later generations, the home of Ma Zhan'ao. Facing the attack of the Western Expedition Army, Ma Zhan'ao was ready to fight and set up defense lines along both sides of the Tao River.

Lin Bozi used force to defeat the enemy's clever tactics and sent the vanguard battalion to capture Kangjia Cliff on the north bank of the Tao River, using it as a base to bombard the south bank of the Tao River. Ma Zhan'ao's troops were suppressed by the firepower of the Huai Army and could not stand by the river at all, so they had to retreat to Sanjiaji.

The main force of Lin's troops set out from Didao, sailed down the Tao River, attacked Sanjiaji, and captured the city in one day.

Everything was going smoothly in the battle here, but the road between Sanjiaji and Hezhou was all mountainous, with only a flat valley in the middle called Taizisi.

The rugged and narrow mountain roads made it impossible for siege guns to move, and even rapid-fire cannons and Gatling machine guns were difficult to use.

Lin Bozai did not take the poorly equipped opponent seriously. He sent two battalions lightly armed to pursue the enemy and established a forward base in Taizisi. He planned to slowly transport food, machine guns and rapid-fire cannons along the mountain road. After accumulating enough troops, he would attack Hezhou directly.

At this time, Ma Zhan'ao's fighting ability was demonstrated. Using his men's familiarity with the local terrain, all the men went out at the key point of the narrow mountain road from Sanjiaji to Taizisi, built three camps overnight, strangled the pass, and trapped the two vanguard camps of Lin's army in the Taizisi Valley.

The vanguard camp had neither sufficient food nor artillery, and was helpless against the sudden appearance of the One Night City.

The two sides were deadlocked for two days. The two vanguard camps ran out of food and had no choice but to attack the camp. The reinforcements from Sanjiaji attacked from the other end of the camp, intending to rescue the two vanguard camps.

However, neither the vanguard battalion nor the rescue force had artillery, and the only fire support was rapid-fire guns. The mountain roads were narrow, and the rescue force could only have one battalion fighting in the front. Fighting a company-level siege was basically scratching the surface.

Ma Zhan'ao's subordinates were fearless and brave. As long as the Huai Army's engineers reached the camp, they would rush out and fight hand-to-hand regardless of casualties despite the Huai Army's rapid-fire suppression.

Ma Zhan'ao had several thousand cavalry and more than ten thousand infantry, who relied on Hezhou and slowly moved them to three camps.

Although the hastily built fortress was very simple, there was no time to dig tunnels and it was impossible to blow up the city walls. The morale of the two trapped vanguard battalions was almost gone. The two battalion officers had no choice but to suppress the firepower of the three camps with quick guns and climb the city to attack.

Ma Zhan'ao also had nearly two thousand quick-firing guns, although they were muzzle-loading guns, he also had enough matchlock guns and earth cannons in the camp.

Three thousand men attacked three camps defended by more than ten thousand people with cross fire. Even if the firepower was not strong, it was still impossible to take them.

Three thousand Huai Army soldiers fought forward one after another, and two battalion officers were killed one after another. Two more temporary battalion officers who were promoted to the acting company commander were killed. After suffering heavy casualties and still unable to take the camp, they had to flee to Sanjiaji through the pass under the firepower of the camp.

This time the escape route became a road of blood, and they couldn't just stand there and take the beating.

Under favorable terrain conditions, the homemade cannons, muzzle-loading rifles, matchlock guns, bows and arrows, and rolling logs and rocks in Ma Zhan'ao's camp could kill a large number of Huai troops. The cavalry in the camp rushed out, hacking and killing the fleeing soldiers, and chased them all the way to the mountain pass.

There were three thousand men in two battalions, but only one thousand escaped.

The commander who came to support them led a company to cover the escaped subordinates, but was shot in the forehead and died.

Lin Bozai, who arrived at the scene urgently, saw that his subordinates had suffered heavy casualties. He was so excited that he wanted to lead the charge himself. He was shot three times and was dragged back by his subordinates.

However, it seemed that Lin Bozai was truly blessed by gods and Buddhas. Although he was wounded in almost every major battle, he was never hit in the vitals.

"Ma Zhan'ao is well versed in military strategy and is a brave general who knows how to fight. If he joins the Huai Army, the overall combat capability of the Huai Army will definitely be improved."

Grant didn't know what Shao Quanzhong was thinking, but he agreed to recruit Ma Zhan'ao purely from a military perspective.

Shao Quanzhong stared at Grant's map. "No! Ma Zhan'ao must be destroyed. This is not a military issue. Your task, Lao Ge, is to formulate a battle plan to destroy him. Never consider recruiting him."

(End of this chapter)