Chapter 204 Unconditional Surrender

Chapter 204 Unconditional Surrender

Chapter 204 Unconditional Surrender

The backbone of the Huai Army came from the water town of central Jiangsu and were not good at mountain warfare. It was very difficult for them to attack and fight along the normal mountain road from Sanjiaji to Taizisi and then to Hezhou.

However, there was an independent mixed brigade of the Gansu Army in the Huai Army, two of whose infantry battalions were composed entirely of Gansu locals, and they were the elite remaining from the 55,000 bandits.

The scouts of the Huai Army never stopped their reconnaissance and found out that there was a mountain path from Kangleli in Didao Prefecture, which could lead to a detour to the Taizisi Valley.

This mountain path was even more rugged than the one from Sanjiaji to Taizisi, and the army could not pass it at all. The two battalions were ordered to travel light and take a detour, and it took them three or four days to cross the mountains behind Taizisi.

Bo Zai's side has just started fighting, and is waiting for the reinforcements from the Gansu Army Infantry Battalion to arrive.

Bo Zai's attack attracted the attention of the bandits. The bandits had no idea that the outside Huai Army not only knew the path to the back mountain of Taizi Temple, but also sent two battalions to come through the path and ambush overnight in the military camps left behind by the two vanguard battalions of the Huai Army that were trapped.

While the mortars were blasting the enemy to death, the ambushers suddenly rushed out over there and dug pits under the camp to bury the gunpowder.

They didn't bring much gunpowder, and the camp was very simple, so the bandits were stabbed in the back.

The bandits who were about to charge and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Huai Army's frontal soldiers suddenly found that their retreat had been blocked. They immediately became confused and had no desire to continue fighting.

Ma Zhan'ao was an old soldier. He saw that the situation was not going well, so he retreated with his trusted followers and the remaining soldiers in the camp.

This time, the Huai Army chased the Ma tribe all the way to the mountain road intersection leading to Hezhou from Taizisi, killing and wounding hundreds of people. They only stopped the pursuit when they saw more than 10,000 bandits running towards Hezhou.

The Huai Army won the Second Battle of Taizisi.

Killing and wounding more than 3,000 bandits was not a major achievement, but it recaptured Taizi Temple and regained the strategic initiative.

This time Bo Zai learned his lesson. He had people build a temporary camp, control the strategic points, and set up machine guns and rapid-fire cannons. It would be difficult for Ma Zhan'ao's troops to break out from the mountain pass on the Hezhou side.

This victory was, of course, the result of Grant's careful planning after thorough investigation.

However, the strategies given by the General Staff were to send a mortar company to strengthen Lin Bozai's troops' siege capabilities, and to send the Gansu Army's infantry camp to attack via a small route.

As for the specific operations on the front line, the General Staff is not the Privy Council of our Great Song Dynasty. It will not provide detailed battle formations to guide front-line generals who have a better understanding of the actual situation.

Lin Bozai's performance this time was remarkable. The Huai Army captured Taizi Temple with negligible casualties and climbed up from where they fell.

Lin Bozai was reinstated and stationed his troops at Taizisi. Food, fodder and ammunition were slowly but steadily transported from Sanjiaji, preparing to accumulate enough strength to march into Hezhou.

Ma Zhan'ao returned to Hezhou after his defeat. Although he did not lose too many people, he was in a very heavy mood.

I had won the battle before, but that bastard Shao Quanzhong did not surrender to me according to the practice of our Qing Dynasty. Why?
Even if they tried their best and could win, it would be useless. In terms of overall strength, Hezhou had no hope of withstanding the attack of the 80,000-strong Huai Army.

Even if he could hold on a little longer, Hezhou would eventually fall and he would not be able to escape death.

Ma Zhan'ao didn't want to die. He was both wise and brave, and he resisted the first wave of attacks from the Huai Army with inferior forces and equipment. He had already demonstrated his ability, and he surrendered sincerely, so why didn't Shao Quanzhong want him?

"Come here, call over some of the family members of Ma Hualong's army who escaped from Jinjibao and the brothers who fled from Shaanxi."

In Shaanxi and Gansu, there were rioters first and then bandits.

The Huai Army fought against bandits and rioters. Many of them were burned to death in Lingzhou. That was the "price of war". Shao Quanzhong did not massacre rioters who did not openly rebel.

However, the rioters were made up of able-bodied men from the rioters' families. The rioters were all guilty, and if Shao Quanzhong didn't kill them, someone else would.

Shao Quanzhong set up insurance teams and weizi throughout Shaanxi and the Huai Army-occupied areas in Gansu. With guns in their hands, ordinary people thought of the bandits who had harmed them. Ten million Han people died in Gansu and five million in Shaanxi. This was an unsolvable blood feud.

The bandits were captured by the Huai Army and forced to build railways, but the rioters were right next to them.

The insurance team established by Shao Quanzhong was composed entirely of Han people. When the Han people saw this, they thought, "Wow, now I have weapons and you don't, the time for revenge has come."

So, after the Huai Army left, the remaining insurance team began to retaliate against the rioters on a large scale, and Shaanxi and Gansu were once again filled with blood and rain, but this time the two parties in the massacre switched roles.

The children of the rioters joined the rebellion and drove out the Qing government, which they thought was a good thing.

Now I realize that the end of the Qing Dynasty is not a good thing. We are also citizens of the Qing Dynasty. Now someone wants to kill us, and no one cares.

At this time they remembered that they were citizens of the Qing Dynasty.

The rioters had no place to file their complaints, as all the court officials had died in the previous unrest.

As for the Huai Army, we are responsible for suppressing the bandits. "Rural fights" are not our business. We will wait for the government to come.

The government came with Mr. Qiao, and Liuliu arrived half a year to a year late. During the one year in Shaanxi and the half year in Gansu without the government's management, what happened was not recorded in history.

Anyway, the number of rioters in Shaanxi dropped from 1.75 million to 150,000. If the government had not finally arrived, they might have been gone.

The war in Gansu has not ended yet and the number has not been counted.

After Ma Zhan'ao learned about the situation in the Qing-controlled area from the rioters who had fled here, he took a deep breath.

The Qing government wants to take revenge and exterminate us.

Shao Quanzhong was known to be kindhearted and he did not kill any prisoners, but he castrated them all and sent them to build railways, which was also a policy of extermination.

Ma Zhan'ao patted the back of his head and walked back and forth with his hands behind his back.

No, according to the current development trend, the Huai Army will slowly attack, and finally Hezhou will fall, and my troops will be wiped out. I will be tortured to death, my men will be sent to fill the sleepers, and my family members will be killed...

I couldn't just stand by and watch the tragedy unfold, I had to find a way to save myself.

…………

Lanzhou military camp.

"Report, the cable telegraph has been pulled to Lanzhou."

As soon as the telegram arrived in Lanzhou, it started beeping and the reception started. Shao Quanzhong began to receive external information instantly.

Hu Liuniang came over with a stack of telegrams. "Yuting, this is a telegram from Yung Wing, this is a telegram from Liao Rong, this is a telegram from Zhang Siwen, and this is a telegram from Emery."

Shao Quanzhong took it and was just thinking about reading it one by one when the guard outside came to report, "Ma Zhan'ao walked alone to Lin Bozi's military camp and expressed his willingness to surrender unconditionally and give up Hezhou. But before surrendering, he must see you, the commander. He has been brought here."

"I have nothing to say to him, so I won't see you."

"He vowed that his proposal would certainly be of interest to you, sir."

(End of this chapter)