Chapter 27: The Crisis Comes Between the Black Waters
It's not that Wei Changhui is addicted to pleasure. In fact, his focus now is on Tianjing City.
The people he stayed in Tianjing would be sent the latest information every day. Sometimes there would even be a fast horse delivering the information in the morning and afternoon.
Because Wei Changhui's intelligence transmission channels were arranged in advance, even if Hou Qianfang now blocks Tianjing City, the intelligence from the North Palace can still be transmitted unimpeded.
It can be said that Wei Changhui's attention to Tianjing City is definitely no less than that of Dong Shuheng's Huaihai Navy.
Therefore, before Hong Renfa arrived in Nanchang, Wei Changhui had already received the news that Hong Xiuquan would give the Zen throne to King Dong on June 15th.
The excited Wei Changhui quickly called his confidant General Xu Zongyang over.
"Zong Yang, our opportunity has finally come. The situation is urgent. Are the elite troops I asked you to prepare some time ago ready?"
"Everything is ready. There are five thousand people in total. They are all the elites of the army. They can carry ten men with one head. These five thousand men and horses can hold up fifty thousand men."
"Are the supply ships ready?"
"Everything is ready. The supplies and dry food are enough for us to reach Tianjing City. In addition, I have also prepared 200 fast ships."
"Okay, let's leave for Tianjing now."
"Ah, Your Highness the King of the North, but the messenger from the King of Heaven has not arrived yet?" Xu Zongyang felt that Wei Changhui's decision was a bit too sudden.
"We can't wait any longer. We must return to Tianjing earlier than Shi Dakai." Wei Changhui said.
In fact, to Wei Changhui it was the same whether there was Hong Xiuquan's imperial edict or not.
What he was actually waiting for was the opportunity for Yang Xiuqing to relax his vigilance.
At this time, Yang Xiuqing had already confirmed that he would obtain the throne through abdication. Hong Xiuquan agreed again.
Yang Xiuqing must have felt that he had a winning chance, and this was the best time to kill Yang Xiuqing.
Wei Changhui's fleet sailed to the Hukou area and happened to encounter Hong Renfa's ship.
Hong Renfa burst into tears when he saw Wei Changhui.
"Oh, you are six thousand years old. You have to save my brother. That white-eyed wolf Yang Xiuqing is going to rebel!"
Hong Renfa wiped his tears and took out the imperial edict of King Qin written by Hong Xiuquan with blood on his fingertips.
The general meaning of the above is: "Dong Ni turned grass into a monster, which is really a heinous crime! Tianjing and I are in danger, please brother to quickly send the holy soldiers and return to the capital to serve the king!"
Wei Changhui had no time to comfort the big fat man and asked directly: "What did King Yi say?"
Shi Dakai was getting closer to Tianjing City, and he was worried that Shi Dakai would get there first, and then he would have nothing to do.
"Back in the 6000s, King Yi went to the Huangzhou front line to supervise the army. He saw no one. It was said that the Hubei army from Hubei took the initiative to attack."
When Wei Changhui heard this, he congratulated greatly in his heart. The Hubei army did a great job! They just happened to hold Shi Dakai back.
"Then has your letter been delivered to King Yi?"
"I sent a courier over there, but it probably hasn't been delivered yet!" Hong Renfa replied. This time he spoke to Wei Changhui very politely, not at all as arrogant as in the past.
"Oh, then you can go back with our fleet." After thinking about it, Wei Changhui decided to take Hong Renfa with him, maybe it will come in handy again.
Let's not talk about the south. In the Far East, a fierce battle ended. The Huaihai Navy's Far East Guard Brigade eliminated the invading Russian hunters and captured a baron.
After interrogating the prisoners, Lin Wei found out that these people were just hunters from the Far East, and that the commanding baron was also the manager of a so-called American company.
This made Lin Wei very surprised. It was just the power of the people that made him destroy the boss after he was defeated.
What would happen if the Russian regular army came over?
From the mouth of Baron Oberon, Lin Wei learned that the Tsar had agreed to an Amur River expansion plan.
In other words, the Russian regular army will take boats from the upper reaches of Heilongjiang to fight them down.
Thinking about it, not everyone can pass through the large forest in the Waixing'an Mountains. Especially for a large-scale regular army, it would be an absolute nightmare to pass through the forest.
It was only these hunters before who were able to cross this boundless forest.
When the previous war ended, Bao Youzhi's fleet finally arrived at Temple Street and saw that the fleet had brought almost a division of the army. Lin Wei felt slightly relieved.
Now that everyone is here, the command of the troops is another problem. Among them, Bao Youzhi and Wang Xiao have no lower status than Lin Wei.
Fortunately, the General Staff had already made arrangements for this. On the Far East side, Lin Wei, Wang Xiao, and Bao Youzhi would form the Former Enemy Committee.
Major military decisions and arrangements will be decided by three-person discussions, with the minority obeying the majority.
Lin Wei takes the lead in handling daily affairs. Although Lin Wei is only the garrison brigade commander, he will be stationed in the Far East in the future, and he has already stayed here for a winter.
He knows more about the situation in the Far East. Besides, Bao Youzhi and Wang Xiao will leave after the war is over, so Lin Wei still has to leave the Far East to his own devices.
"Brigadier Lin, you fought beautifully in this battle. I heard that you wiped out more than two thousand Russians at once." Bao Youzhi was an acquaintance. When he saw Lin Wei, he came up to say hello.
They had already met at the port, and Dong Shuheng's order had been handed over to Lin Wei. Now it was the first military meeting between the three of them.
Of course, in addition to the three of them, there were also officials sent by the Huaihai Navy in charge of civil affairs and officials in charge of militia affairs sent by the Training Department.
Although these people do not have the final right to vote, they do have a say in their respective affairs.
"Commander Bao, don't mention it. The price we paid this time is very high. I am already prepared to accept the punishment."
"This is not the regular Russian army. Tell me how I feel so comfortable."
"Hey! I've read the report, and I can only say that the tactics of these hunters are just right against our Huaihai Navy, and the combat capabilities of these hunters are no worse than those of the regular army."
"I have seen how the Russian regular army fought in Temple Street. They still used that kind of line formation." Bao Youzhi was trying to comfort Lin Wei.
"According to the information we obtained from the prisoners, Tsarist Russia had a governor of Eastern Siberia named Muravyov. This man submitted a plan to invade Heilongjiang to the Tsar."
"According to this plan, they will gather forces in the Chita area, and then move down the Heilongjiang River to occupy the areas along the Heilongjiang River." Lin Wei introduced the intelligence he had recently learned to everyone present.
"Isn't Heilongjiang under the jurisdiction of the Qing court's Heilongjiang generals?" Someone asked this question.
"Now the Northern Expeditionary Army of the Taiping Rebellion has entered Liaodong. General Yinglong of Shengjing has just been transferred from Heilongjiang, so now all the soldiers in the Heilongjiang Basin have been transferred."
"That is to say, Heilongjiang is basically in an undefended state now." Lin Wei continued.
"Of course, even if the soldiers in Heilongjiang have not been transferred, they will not be a match for the Russian army. The Russian army has gathered at least 50,000 people this time, and among them there must be the most capable Cossacks in Tsarist Russia."
"Commander Lin, then I think our problem is whether to block the Russian army in the upper reaches of Heilongjiang, or let them go to Temple Street and fight again." Wang Xiao, who had not spoken much, said.
Wang Xiao's words hit the point. No matter what, this battle will be fought. The key is how to fight it?
Having never fought against a large-scale regular army of Tsarist Russia, no one knows what the outcome will be?
"Mr. Wang's words are on point. I think the Russians must be coming to our Temple Street this time."
"Originally, this was their so-called Far East Governor's Palace. So they will definitely not give up this port. This time they go east along the Heilongjiang River, and I think they will go straight to Temple Street.
"There are not many Chinese people along the Heilongjiang River now. If they stay where they are, they will lose the meaning of the expedition."
"Therefore, I think we should build fortifications on Temple Street, wait for them to attack, and then use the strong fortifications on Temple Street to defeat their 50,000-strong army." Lin Wei expressed his point of view. He was older,
The way things are done is relatively prudent.
Bao Youzhi obviously had some opinions on this plan.
"Brigadier Lin, last fall I led a team to explore the upper reaches and established contact with the villages upstream."
"The land in the middle and upper reaches of Heilongjiang is fertile, and there are still many people settling and farming on both sides of the river. If we stick to Temple Street and don't go out, where will these people be? And a large part of these people are Han people."
"I know that they are all under the rule of the Qing court, and the Qing army should take care of them, but how can the Qing government have time to take care of these people now? You must know that the number of these people combined is not as large as that of a county in the pass."
"But we can't ignore it. Everyone knows what the purpose of the Huaihai Navy is. If the president knew that we allowed the people to massacre Tsarist Russia, what do you think he would think?"
He softened his tone, he was a little excited just now.
Bao Youzhi continued: "Commander Lin, your judgment is correct. Those Russians must be coming to Temple Street. I heard the British say that the Russians are full of desire to fight in their bones. In Europe, there are
The title of "European Gendarmerie" is truly earned."
"Even now, the Russians are still at war with Britain and France on the Crimean Peninsula in the west! That's why this country is not afraid of war!"
"Brigadier Lin placed the location of the decisive battle on Temple Street, and I agree. This place is further away from the rear of the Russians. Once we hold the Russians back, we can trap them here as long as they cut off their supplies.
"
"However, I think we should still send a small group of elites up the river to harass the Russian fleet, anger them, and make them speed up so that they have no time to worry about plundering on both sides of the river."
"On the other hand, we can also organize the people to evacuate. It is the farming season along the Heilongjiang River. If we don't see the Russians, the people may not be willing to evacuate. It would be better if someone organizes it then."
Lin Wei was not angry at all. Bao Youzhi's suggestion was the same as the last time he fought against the Russian hunter.
If I didn't send a commando team into the woods, I don't know what the final battle would be like.