At the end of November of the lunar calendar, the first snow of 1854 fell in the northern part of the Taihang Mountains.
A little later than previous years.
The Taihang Mountains are rocky and have sparse vegetation. From a distance, they look gray and black.
The falling white snow accumulated in the crevices between the rocks, turning the mountains into black and white.
The whole of Taihang turned into a black and white landscape painting.
Fog covers the earth almost every day, casting a hazy veil over this landscape painting.
Across the line of sky, we are still in the valley where the Taihang Column is located.
There are many such skylines in the Taihang Mountains. It's like a knife was struck between the two mountains, and a huge gap appeared.
It was like a gate made of two huge rocks, with a small crack open.
Behind the crack in the door is the fairy courtyard.
The unique geographical structure has made Taihang Mountains full of mythical legends since ancient times.
Immortals, bandits, merchants, and knights make up the history of Taihang Mountain.
In later generations, Taihang has another important meaning, that is, it is the backbone of the Chinese nation's fight against Japanese pirates.
At this time, the bustling fairyland atmosphere in the valley of the Queen of One Line was no longer there, and the place was completely silent.
It was bright and clear, and the valley was still quiet and peaceful. A small city stood in the valley. In the center of the city was an exquisite courtyard, surrounded by guarded watchtowers.
In the distance are dark mountains surrounded by shadows, giving people a strong sense of oppression.
A crescent moon hangs on the mountain ridge in the southeast, and a gem-like star blinks mysteriously, quietly accompanying Yue Ya'er.
The snow in the valley was so thick that the surrounding rocks could not hold the snow, and it was all blown into the valley by the strong wind.
It was as if the mountains were worried that the valley would feel cold, so they covered the valley with a thick quilt.
"Wow... wow... wow..." The cry was high-pitched and powerful, with a hint of prayer.
Lu Feiyan woke up suddenly. The child was sleeping in the inner room, and he was naturally taken care of by an experienced wet nurse.
These people were sent by Dong Shuheng from Jiangning.
"Is Xiaobao hungry?"
The generals and soldiers of the Taihang Column would be shocked if they saw that their commander had such a maternal side.
"Madam, it's okay, let the wet nurse nurse her, she'll be fine in a while," said a woman who was in charge of the night watch in the outer room. Only the people sent by Jiang Ning called themselves madam.
They were sent by Dong Shuheng, so naturally they were not from the Taihang column.
In the army, everyone calls them commander, but Lu Feiyan likes it when these ladies call her that.
This makes her feel that she also has a family, but the man is too busy and is not around.
Many of his soldiers have families and careers, but aren't they all allowed to stay with their wives?
Moreover, in the depths of the Taihang Mountains, Lu Feiyan's life was very comfortable.
This is already the deepest part of the Taihang column, and the Qing army could not fly in even if it had wings.
Recently, no one came to her to report military affairs. She was forced to take maternity leave by Dong Shuheng.
As for military matters, naturally someone will take over temporarily.
Around the Taihang Mountains, four detachments have formed a large defensive circle around the Taihang Mountains.
Within this circle, civil affairs officials sent by the Huai Navy Headquarters vigorously developed production.
Farms were built in the valleys between the mountains and on the riverbanks. The words "Develop production and be self-sufficient" can be seen everywhere on the green and black brick walls of those farms.
Lu Feiyan spent most of the time teasing her children, and occasionally looked at Huai Haijun's internal reference.
Two major events have happened in Huaihai Navy recently.
One is Dong Shuheng’s wedding.
Another thing is that the Huai Navy occupied Fujian and Zhejiang.
Lu Feiyan felt that she should not stay in Taihang for too long.
At dawn, Lu Feiyan stood in front of the window and admired the snow scene outside.
Through the glass window, she could see a pine tree in the yard covered with ice flowers.
It was as if the green pine trees were covered with white flowers overnight.
Because the temperature difference between inside and outside is huge.
There was a layer of window grilles on the inside of the glass, which had just been wiped off by Juaner, and now there are knots on it.
Juan'er was about to wipe it again, but Lu Feiyan raised her hand to stop her.
The window grilles are pretty nice too.
Although the yard is not very big, the decoration is exquisite.
The windows are made of glass, and the floor is wooden with carpet.
The flue is under the floor, and your feet are warm when you step on the carpet. There is no need to wear shoes in the room.
These are naturally Dong Shuheng's masterpieces. They are just small houses and cannot be considered extravagant.
There is something about the golden house hiding the beauty.
Maybe this way, Scumbag Dong can feel better about his conscience.
I went to tease Xiaobao for a while. The child didn’t have a name yet, so he could only call him Xiaobao.
The name should have been chosen by the father. But at this time, the child's father was thousands of miles away, separated by mountains and mountains.
"Hmph! Sister Feiyan, let me just say that Dong Shuheng is not a good man. There is no such thing as a good man."
The cuckoo is here again...
"Okay, Juan'er, are you uncomfortable living here? There are so many people waiting for you. We, the children of the world, don't have that much respect." Lu Feiyan comforted her skillfully.
For some reason, this girl seemed to be complaining. Originally, I should have complained a few words, but every time I heard what Juan'er said, I no longer blamed Dong Shuheng in my heart.
As long as you know that Dong Shuheng cares about you, it will be fine.
As for the sins I suffered when I gave birth to a child, I deserved it.
As a woman, it would be a pity if she never gave birth to a child.
Having said that, she still hoped that Dong Shuheng could come over to see her and their children.
She didn't feel wronged in her own heart, but she didn't want her children to be wronged.
Although the child doesn't understand anything yet, he should have a name.
For some reason, Dong Shuheng hasn't named his child yet.
There is a fast communication line between Jiangning and Taihang. If you send a letter, it can arrive in a few days.
…
The entire north is now generally in peace.
In addition to Ruzhou in Henan, the Taiping Army who escaped from Anhui captured Ruzhou under the leadership of Luo Gang.
Luo Gangyou wanted to march eastward to join the Nian Army.
However, Huang Hao insisted on taking Henan Prefecture and captured Luoyang. Luo Outline still wanted to fight for it, but Huang Hao had the crown prince of Heaven in his hands.
In the end, Luo Gang had no choice but to lead troops to attack Henan Prefecture.
At this time, Yinggui, the governor of Henan, had already assembled a regiment of 50,000 people in Henan Prefecture for training.
Although they all rely on the temporary organization of local gentry, they are more powerful than others.
Luo Gang was unable to attack Henan for a long time and did not dare to devote all his troops.
Until winter came, the Taiping Army and the Qing Army had no way to continue fighting due to their logistical supply capabilities.
Luo Gangyou could only lead his army back to defend it. And Yinggui did not have any elites capable of fighting in the field.
The two sides could only remain in a stalemate.
At present, among the provinces under the jurisdiction of the Qing army, only Henan has the greatest pressure to suppress bandits. There are bandits in the west and bandits in the east.
Kaifeng Mansion, Yinggui's Yamen, at this time, a middle-aged fat man dressed as a businessman was brought into the governor's Yamen through the side door.
"Sir, Zhang Yanren has returned."
Yinggui put down the book in his hand, glanced at the domestic slave who came to report, and said: "Bring the person in!"
After a while, the middle-aged man was taken to the study room.
"Let's do it. How's the errand going?"
The middle-aged man, named Zhang Yan, is a famous businessman in Kaifeng City. He is also a grain merchant.
These days, anyone who can be a grain merchant is not an ordinary person, especially in the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. Without a strong backer, it is impossible to be a grain merchant.
This Zhang Yan is also a capable man, and his backer is Governor Yinggui.
Isn’t it said that Henan is short of food?
The more food is scarce in a place, the more profitable the grain merchants' business will be.
Because food shortage means higher food prices, and the higher the food prices, the greater the profits.
The reason why Zhang Yan was able to get close to the governor was naturally because he was smart and knew how to get things done.
But the most important reason is that he can always show his value in front of the governor.
"Oh, sir, I almost didn't come back," Zhang Yan said with a cry as soon as he saw Ying Gui.
"What? Things didn't work out?"
"Oh, no, sir, the little one was almost killed. But the little one used some tricks to save the day."
"As you said, that Huang Hao is really a money-hungry man."
"Tell me, what does he want?" Yinggui said impatiently.
"He wants the soldiers and horses currently in the hands of the Luo bandits, and he also wants the title of Admiral of Henan." Zhang Yan quickly stopped complaining and directly stated Huang Haoti's conditions for surrender.
"Haha, I still have a big appetite!" Yinggui sneered.
"What do you mean, sir?" Zhang Yan asked carefully.
"It's good to have a big appetite. Such people are easy to control. I will go to the secret store and wait for the court's reply."
"You did a good job. Most of the gangsters are stubborn. It's not easy to meet Huang Hao, who is enlightened."
"Your Majesty attaches great importance to this matter. You, you can donate an official position. It is rare that the imperial court has now opened an opportunity to donate official positions. I will help you find a real candidate."
Zhang Yan was filled with gratitude. In his opinion, this time he risked his life and spent a lot of money to do this errand, and it was worth it in the end.
Although the donors themselves have to dig out of their own pockets, the actual shortage is not much now.
It is said that Liangjiang no longer accepts officials from the imperial court.
…
Huang Hao did this secretly, and no one else knew about it. Luo Gang was a good man in leading troops in war, but he was not good at intrigues.
But Huang Hao was surrounded by Hong Xiuquan, and he didn't learn anything else. However, he excelled in the ability to make small moves in secret.
Luo Gangluo led troops to attack Henan Province earlier, and Huang Hao took the opportunity to bribe several generals who were left behind.
Without soldiers in his hands, Huang Hao never felt safe.
Originally, if Luo Outline could be possessed by the God of War and open up the situation in Henan, Huang Hao would not have other ideas.
If we could really build a kingdom of heaven again, wouldn't it be more delicious if one person was inferior to ten thousand people?
But now Luo Gang is trapped here in Ruzhou, unable to advance or retreat, with only 20,000 troops and horses, and a large number of elite soldiers have been lost.
Even a novice leader like Huang Hao could see that the situation was set.
In such a situation, only a fool would not find a way out for himself.
From joining Yang Wending to the Taiping Army, Huang Hao has always been an egoist.
If you don't do it for yourself, you will be punished by heaven and earth!
Huang Hao has no psychological burden at all in this regard.
Hong Xiuquan's eldest son, Luo Dayou, and his 20,000 brothers are all their own chips.
Recently I heard that Dong Shuheng seems to have rebelled against the Qing Dynasty.
That is one's biggest enemy in life, and the enemy of one's enemy is one's friend.
Since Dong Shuheng rebelled against the Qing Dynasty, he would seek refuge with the imperial court.
Huang Hao didn't believe it. After joining the imperial court, he couldn't make a comeback by relying on his abilities.
…
Jiangning City, the east campus of the city.
This used to be the military camp of the Taiping Army, but now it is the headquarters of the Huaihai Navy Jiangning Garrison Brigade.
At this time, a group of senior officers gathered on the shooting range of the military camp.
Everyone stood under the pergola, eagerly waiting.
She looks like a crowd waiting to see her new wife.
A temporary shooting position was built with sandbags more than 20 meters in front of the pergola.
At this time, four soldiers came over from a distance carrying a big guy.
The reason why it was not installed in advance was to allow the senior military officials to intuitively see the weight of this machine gun.
Four soldiers moved this big thing and walked around normally.
It consists of a bracket and a gun body. It needs to be placed on the bracket when shooting.
At this time, an engineer who was not wearing military uniform introduced: "My lords, now you see this gun, we call it a rotary machine gun. Its weight including the bracket is 175 kilograms, and its length is 105 centimeters."
Everyone's eyes were attracted by the dark metallic luster of this machine gun. But their ears were perked up and they listened carefully to the engineer's explanation.
"This machine gun has an independent steel chamber, and the barrel is separated from the chamber. This gun has a total of six barrels. There is a crank on the rear side. By shaking the crank, the barrels evenly arranged along the circumference are rotated. When the barrel is filled with ammunition,
The chamber passes from the feed hopper into a locking slot behind each barrel."
Worried that everyone could not hear clearly, the engineer paused and continued: "When the barrel rotates to a certain position, the firing pin fires the ammunition. When the barrel rotates to another position, the fired cartridge exits the machine gun. The ammunition
The chamber can be reused, and one rotation of the barrel can complete the loading, firing and retraction of 6 rounds of ammunition, reaching a rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute. If the shooter's proficiency increases, the rate of fire can be increased."
"Oh, by the way, this gun uses our latest 7.62mm rifle bullet. Its effective range is 800-1000 meters, and the maximum range is three thousand meters."
Everyone gasped. Only Dong Shuheng was calm and composed. He had seen tens of thousands of rounds per minute. Even Dong Shuheng looked down upon the 200 rounds.
However, the current technology is limited, so we can only create an excessive thing.
In fact, none of the Huai Navy generals understood the previous introduction.
Everyone was surprised because they heard its rate of fire.
What follows is the most exciting shooting demonstration.
I saw two gun testers in military uniforms walking behind the machine gun. One of the soldiers was carrying a wooden ammunition box.
After opening the box, there is a loaded machine gun magazine inside.
There are two hundred rounds in each magazine.
Just enough for one minute of shooting.
I saw two people kneeling on one knee behind the machine gun. One person stood behind the gun, holding the crank with one hand and holding the gun body with the other.
Another gun tester took out a magazine and stuck it in the feed port above the machine gun.
As the gun tester turns the crank, "click, click, click..."
"It's ringing!"
Everyone shouted in their hearts.
This continuous sound strikes everyone's heart.
It made everyone's heartbeats seem to speed up a bit.
Someone took out a pocket watch and looked at the time.
Less than a minute later, the gunfire stopped, indicating that all 200 rounds of ammunition had been fired.
It seems that these two gun testers are both experienced gunners.
ps: Thank you for the reward for liking meat dishes/I am the most handsome person in the world. Well, let’s all eat meat together. Thank you to the readers who still have their monthly tickets at the end of the month and voted for this book, okay ^3＾