Zeng Guoquan led his 500 Zuoying soldiers and marched in two columns on foot.
Only Zeng Guoquan and Su Shen were riding on the horse.
The Hunan army was short of horses, and it took several governors Zhang Liangji, Luo Bingzhang and Zeng Guofan to manage it before they had a battalion of horse troops.
This battalion of cavalry troops was under the jurisdiction of Zhang Deshun's "Shun" battalion.
Zhang Deshun was a martial arts prodigy at that time, proficient in riding, shooting, swords, and spears. Zeng Guofan only recruited him after his boss had exhausted his strength.
Zeng Guoquan always admired those who were more powerful than himself.
Zhang Guoquan's newly built "Ji" battalion was for infantry. Zeng Guofan spent a lot of money to buy most of the muskets and artillery that were allocated to him.
Zeng Guoquan knew that his eldest brother still favored him, so he must bring out a strong army to give his eldest brother a voice.
Just looking for a refugee stronghold to practice his skills, Zeng Guoquan felt that there was no need to conduct reconnaissance in advance.
If you rush forward with people, these refugees will naturally flee in all directions.
When the time comes, just let the soldiers chase you from behind.
This is much better than shooting on the school field.
During the 100-mile journey from the station to Liling County, Zeng Guoquan and his men marched in a hurry to reach their destination in one day.
Able to travel hundreds of miles a day, Zeng Guoquan's army was considered elite among the Qing army.
That night Zeng Guoquan and others stayed at the military camp in Liling County.
Early the next morning, Zeng Guoquan, who couldn't wait, and Zhang Shen led their 500 men to kill the temporary refugee camp early in the morning.
"Brothers, our target today is a group of refugees who are disobedient to government management. When we see them later, don't be soft-hearted. It is an honor for them to fall under your guns."
Zeng Guoquan announced with his loud voice, as if he was doing a pre-war mobilization.
In fact, their situation is more like going hunting, and the homeless refugees have become prey in their eyes.
After walking along the pipeline for two hours from Liling County, they finally saw the refugee base they were looking for.
They didn't shout. They weren't here to gather the refugees. If they shouted, the refugees would lie down on the ground and surrender. There was no point in killing them.
There were still five hundred yards away, and Zeng Guoquan could already see the dirty refugees eating while riding on his horse.
They gathered in small groups at the door of their shacks, drinking thick vegetable porridge. This was the happiest moment of their day.
No one pays attention to the movement of the pipeline. This is a pipeline, and caravans pass by it every day. There is nothing unusual about the footsteps.
"Mom, look, there are officers and soldiers coming!" A thin child with disheveled hair said to his mother. The child was so dirty that he couldn't tell whether it was a boy or a girl, and he couldn't even tell his true age.
.
When Zeng Guoquan saw the refugees still squatting there, only caring about eating, he suddenly became angry. They didn't take him seriously.
Hundreds of people pressed down on me, but these refugees didn't run away? It's really unreasonable.
"Bang." He took the musket from a soldier next to him.
He fired a shot at random in front of him.
Only then did the refugees squatting there react.
"Oh my God! Run, the officers and soldiers are coming to arrest you." Old man Zhang was older and more alert. He threw down the bowl in his hand and shouted loudly.
Then he didn't care about anything and ran towards Guancheng. He believed that when they arrived at the Huaihai Navy post, the soldiers would protect them.
The others all stood up and ran away like a flock of frightened birds.
They didn't need anyone to direct them, they all ran towards Chalingguan.
"Hahaha! That's it. It's interesting when you run." Zeng Guoquan laughed wildly.
"Free fire, see who kills the most prey today, I will give you a reward, general."
These refugees have been malnourished for a long time and cannot run very fast, even though they have already unleashed all their potential.
"Bang bang bang" gunshots rang out one after another.
The Hunan soldiers in the "Ji" camp seemed to be very confident in their marksmanship. They aimed and shot from two hundred yards away.
The effective range of a rifled gun reaches four to five hundred yards, but under normal circumstances, it is within two hundred yards before shooting, otherwise most eyesight cannot be used to aim effectively.
The refugees could not outrun the Hunan Army, let alone the bullets. They were racing with their companions, because those running behind would be the priority to be shot, and at the same time they would become shields for those in front.
A refugee woman was running with a child in her arms. Her child was only two or three years old and could not run on its own.
Although the child was thin and light, the woman was even weaker. This made her the one running at the back.
Su Shen, who was riding a horse, took a musket and aimed it at the woman from a high position.
"Bang." A shot hit the woman in the back of the heart. The moment the woman fell to the ground, she instinctively lifted the child in her arms to her side.
"General Su, your marksmanship is great!" the squad leader said flatteringly.
"Su Shen, just let the brothers practice their skills. It's not like you have never been on the battlefield." Zeng Guoquan was somewhat dissatisfied with Su Shen killing people for fun.
He didn't feel that he was cruel.
In Zeng Guoquan's opinion, it was not a big deal to lead new soldiers to annihilate a few groups of refugees. In his opinion, refugees who were restless and farming the land were the ones who deserved to die.
"Haha, General, I haven't killed someone for a long time, and my hands are itchy."
The woman fell to the ground, and the child fell beside her. He seemed uninjured, but was frightened. The child sat next to his mother and cried loudly. The tears washed away the plaster on his face and turned black.
"ah……"
At this moment, a sudden change occurred.
Three of the Hunan Army soldiers rushing in the front row shouted almost at the same time and fell to the ground.
Zeng Guoquan's sharp eyes saw someone leaning on the tree trunks on both sides of the official road in the distance and shooting towards him.
"Who is that person opposite?" Zeng Guoquan asked Su Shen beside him.
"The guns they use seem to be similar to ours. They can shoot very far." Su Shen grasped the key point.
Who else but Huai Haijun could have such a musket in this place?
"You said they are the Huai Navy. Why did they cross the border to attack us?"
The county magistrate of Liling will naturally not tell them that these refugees have always been protected by Huai Haijun. This is tantamount to admitting his own fault, because Liling County officially acquiesces to Huai Haijun's management of these small settlements.
"General, what should we do? I think there are only a few of them."
Zeng Guoquan fell into a brief thought. He was a vulgar martial artist, but he was not a fool.
The Huaihai Navy on the opposite side does only have a few people, and they have 500 people. It is a very simple matter to eliminate the opponent. But afterwards, with the strong posture of the Huaihai Navy, it will inevitably retaliate against the Hunan Army.
The eldest brother seems to be gathering strength now and does not want to start a war with Huai Haijun right away.
"Withdraw!" Finally, Zeng Guoquan gritted his teeth and said this word.
"General, this..." Su Shen seemed unwilling to give in and wanted to give some advice, but Zeng Guoquan glared at him and took it back.
The golden sound sounded, and all the Hunan soldiers who were chasing the refugees retreated.
Although they are cruel, they are able to enforce orders and prohibitions. The most terrifying thing is for soldiers like this to kill people.
The five hundred Hunan troops reluctantly retreated and took away the bodies of several of their companions.
They didn't know why a violent general chose to let them retreat even after suffering a loss. But the fear of Zeng Guoquan made them choose to obey.
When retreating, these Hunan troops looked at the Huai Haijun opposite with eyes full of hatred.
The person we met here must be the Huaihai Navy. The soldiers of the Hunan Army who had just rushed forward saw the opponent's flower-green military uniforms.
Wang Xiao poked his head out from behind the tree and saw that the Hunan army had retreated. He had just been prepared to die in battle.
But he was not happy at all. Shooting the unarmed refugees with a rifle was as simple as shooting. Just in that moment, dozens of corpses fell on the pipeline.
There were also some refugees whose limbs were broken and fell to the ground struggling.
The remaining refugees were still running, instinct driving them towards the wall.
"Save people quickly!" Wang Xiao said to the soldiers around him.
The fleeing crowd will be comforted by the brothers who come from behind to support them.
If the injured on the ground are not treated in time, they will easily die from excessive blood loss.
Especially for these refugees who were already very thin, Wang Xiao felt that the blood on their bodies would drain out within a few minutes.
He took out the first aid kit he carried with him. This kind of emergency repair kit is very light, and everyone in Huaihai Navy has one.
In fact, there is nothing in it, just a roll of gauze and a small bottle of alcohol. Sometimes when marching long distances, some ready-made medicines will be put in as needed.
"Brother, please bear with me for a moment." Wang Xiao said to a middle-aged man lying on the ground.
This was a skinny refugee who had been shot in the leg. The lead bullet pierced a hole in his calf, almost tearing the entire calf open.
With that said, Wang Xiao simply cleaned his wound with alcohol.
"Ah!" The alcohol irritated the wound, and the man couldn't help but scream.
Wang Xiao quickly took advantage of the temporary numbness caused by alcohol and wrapped gauze around the man's calf.
Wang Xiao has never looked down on these refugees, because he was also a refugee two years ago.
He wandered with his parents from Anhui to Jiangsu, almost starving to death many times along the way.
After arriving in Jiangsu, they were taken in by Huai Haijun's farm, and their family's fate was reversed.
The family has lived a stable life. Last year, he was selected as a farm militia soldier to become a local garrison soldier, and then assigned to the Yuanzhou garrison brigade.
It was only through personal experience that he could understand the helplessness of the refugees. It was not that they had to leave their hometowns. Even if there was a little hope of survival, who would be willing to leave their hometown and become a precarious refugee?
So every time he sees these refugees, he will try his best to help them. He will talk to the refugees in good faith and convey hope to them.
He took out some candies and snacks that he personally distributed and distributed them to the children among the refugees.
If the military salary was not sent directly to the family, he would even use part of the military salary to buy some food for these people.
He knew why these Hunan troops slaughtered the refugees, because they did not regard the refugees as human beings at all.
When he was a refugee, Wang Xiao saw officers and soldiers slaughtering refugees at will.
Soon the company's reinforcements arrived.
Company commander Zhao Cheng asked with concern: "What's going on? Are there any casualties among our brothers?"
"No, but dozens of refugees were killed or injured. Company commander, can we send them to the rear hospital for treatment?" Wang Xiao said in a pleading tone.
"I will apply. Now let's move them back first. We can't let them wait to die here." Zhao Cheng said.
As he spoke, he called on the soldiers to find wooden sticks and cloth ropes to make simple stretchers, and carried the injured refugees back to the pass.
"Who did it? There are no bandits around here." Wang Cheng continued to ask.
Wang Xiao recalled it and said: "Those people seem to be the Hunan Army, and their military uniforms belong to the Hunan Army."
"Well, that's right, it's the Hunan Army." Wang Xiao paused and then said with certainty.
"Company commander, they also use rifled guns, which are similar in performance to our guns, because I saw them easily hitting these refugees from more than two hundred meters away." Wang Xiao added.
The company's soldiers carried the wounded all the way back, and the refugees all ran to the edge of the outpost.
They huddled up and squatted on the roadside, looking like they were extremely frightened.
"Wang Xiao, go find some people among the refugees, take your squad of soldiers and go back to bury the bodies of the murdered refugees. It's hard to let them be exposed in the wilderness."
"Yes, company commander." As he said this, Wang Xiao handed the three or four-year-old child in his arms to his comrades. His mother was already dead.
There was no chance of survival after being hit by a lead bullet.
With that said, Wang Xiao found Uncle Zhang, whom he was familiar with before, and asked him to call some people, take the shovel and return.
"Monitor Wang, who do you think these people are? Why did they kill us when they came up?" Uncle Zhang said with a cry.
Most of the refugees in this gathering point came from the same place. They have been together for a long time and have a certain sense of neighborliness between them.
"Uncle Zhang, he should be from the Hunan Army. These beasts kill people for fun. We will avenge everyone." Wang Xiao's eyes were firm and filled with hatred.
"Hey, it turns out that it was the subordinate who had shaved his head who fucked his mother. Their whole family will die badly." Uncle Zhang cursed.
The bodies on the pipe were still in the same place. Everyone dug a long deep pit in the woods on the roadside and buried all the people in it.
The company commander returned to Pingxiang to report the situation here to the regiment. The military government sent people to pick up and resettle all the refugees, and the injured were also sent to rear hospitals.
This matter finally reached Dong Shuheng through telegrams. This was the first time that surrounding forces issued a provocation to Huai Haijun.
The chess pieces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan have already taken the lead in starting to move.
Dong Shuheng has not moved here for a long time because the Huai Navy troops were previously concentrated in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.
You must gradually change defenses with the newly built garrison, and then you can enter your established position.
Without the troops in place, Dong Shuheng would not be able to pledge his troops to attack the Manchus.
Because of the telegraph connection, Dong Shuheng knew about this matter earlier than Zeng Guofan.
This incident made Dong Shuheng realize that the Renaissance Army should launch as soon as possible.
As new armies were being built in various places, local Manchu governments stepped up their efforts to exploit the people to obtain military expenses.
With every day of delay, the local army of the Qing Dynasty becomes stronger, and it will be more difficult to overthrow the Qing Dynasty.
On the other side, Zeng Guoquan returned to Liling County. He was a little scared. Zeng Guofan told him not to provoke Huai Haijun at will.
Zeng Guoquan is not afraid of heaven or earth, but he is afraid of his elder brother blaming him.
Zeng Guofan has always been the pride of the Zeng family and the person Zeng Guoquan admires most. He always wants to express himself in front of his eldest brother, hoping to gain his approval.
"Su Shen, what do you think we should do about this matter? I think we should report it to the Governor's Yamen."
"General, today we only responded to the request of the local government to disperse the refugees. It was the Huai Navy who suddenly crossed the border and killed our people. What's wrong with us?"
"If you ask me, let's just report it and let the Governor make the decision for our brothers. Five of our brothers have died. When the time comes, the Governor will only praise General for your prudent handling of things."
After hearing what Su Shen said, Zeng Guoquan thought clearly in his heart that he was indeed right about this matter. In this case, what should he be afraid of?
"Well, if you are smart, just submit a written document as we discussed. By the way, let the Liling County Magistrate also stamp it."