Chapter 622 The decision to promote peace through war
A total of more than 100 foreign business delegations and local officials from Shandong were coming to Zaozhuang to visit. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, more than 60 people were hired.
Li Guolou, Browning and other officers of the Ever Victorious Army held a meeting to report the latest situation of the Lincheng kidnapping case, express their sorrow for the imprisonment of British and French businessmen, explain the practical difficulties currently faced by the New Armed Forces, and let the Ever Victorious Army make their own decisions.
The next day, Li Guolou led four thousand new armed forces to march towards Lincheng in a mighty manner. Li Guolou also borrowed a thousand men from Yulu, the admiral of Dagukou, to transport supplies, including 300 Dagukou artillerymen. The officers were mixed with the captains so that the Dagukou soldiers could leave the fort. Quartermaster Hongdu was given the important task of taking charge of the captains' team. Now the new armed forces became strong enough to fight to the death with the 10,000 Lincheng garrison.
Browning is not stupid. Li Hongzhang let the victorious army return to the command of Li Guolou because he wanted to serve Li Guolou with his loyalty and blood. The victorious army under his command needs to take refuge with a strong man. If he joins Li Guolou at this time, he will retire in the future. He could also find a good job in the Li Group, so this time, his troops took the lead, with 500 forward battalion soldiers, ready to sacrifice their lives for the Qing Dynasty.
The Ever-Victorious Army is indeed different. During the march, they beat military drums to pay tribute to the raised battle flag of the New Armed Forces. As a professional soldier, it is a bit expensive in terms of ethics. The annual salary of an elite soldier of the Eight Banners is thirty-six taels of silver. Earning four stones of rice for half a year is enough for a family to live a life of food and clothing. The sergeants of this ever-victorious army earn at least 40% more than the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners. The weapons and equipment are the most advanced British equipment. Practical training in daily life requires Spending huge sums of money, these investments are enough to feed ten Lincheng garrison troops, so Li Guolou does not agree with disbanding this ever-victorious army. The Ministry of War has spent so much money to hire this foreign gun team, and has trained it into elite soldiers. Now it is time to disband this army. To build an army, the ever-victorious army must make full use of its resources and fight to the death for the country.
At this time, Li Guolou regarded this army carrying the banner of the New Armed Forces as one of his own and wanted this army to fight bravely and rush to the front line. However, on the surface, he still admired the victorious army and praised Browning. Train your troops well.
Along the way, people lined the streets to welcome the arrival of the New Armed Forces. They were full of curiosity about the officers with tall noses and blue eyes. The people rushed to see the style of the New Armed Forces. The only regret was that they had a glimpse of the style of Li Guolou. The spies of the Sun brothers could not find out. Where exactly is Li Guo Tower?
The cavalry of the New Armed Forces Army dragged artillery carts, and the artillery carts were covered with collodion tarpaulins. They passed majestically through the street. The thirty artillery carts passed by, and there were also large carriages wrapped tightly. The New Arms of the Armed Forces soldiers were murderous. Tengteng, this frightened the spies of the Sun brothers. This was the vanguard of the New Armed Forces. The New Armed Forces were powerful in combat. The Sun brothers' spies immediately spread the news that 500 New Armed Forces troops were stationed in Qicun Town.
Until now, the Xinwu Army is the army closest to Xuancheng. The other three armies only send a few sentries to investigate the situation in Lincheng. Of course, the two sides are in peace. Those sentries are free and sent out by the Lincheng garrison. The so-called Sentinels are people who pretend to be ordinary people. They want to sneak into Zaozhuang, Xuancheng and other places, but they are discovered by the armed forces of the Sun brothers. What the Qing army did, the Sun brothers' spies are all over Xuancheng, and the local people are all In support of the Sun brothers' feat, a wave of refugees formed in the area, and the people continued to live their lives, thinking that there would be no war and waiting to see the Qing government make concessions to the Sun brothers.
As soon as the Xinwu Army fired a shot, they stationed in Qicun Town. It seemed that the two opposing sides had agreed. People should respect me a foot and I should respect others a foot. The Sun brothers left an intact Qicun Town to the Xinwu Army. Just watch.
Did Li Guolou repay his kindness?
Li Guolou sat in an ordinary carriage and entered Qicun Town. Most of the town had been emptied out and turned into a military camp. He entered a watchtower lined with sentries and held a pre-war mobilization meeting to unify his thinking and implement "promoting peace through war."
decision.
Li Guolou's words were true to his word. The generals put aside their unrealistic fantasies and prepared to regain Lincheng by force. They first destroyed the lair of the Sun brothers. Li Guolou's move was a presumptuous move and brought Shandong back to Shandong.
Governor Zhang Renjun took it seriously. Since Li Guolou, the commander-in-chief of the New Armed Forces, was determined to fight, no one dared to sing the opposite.
The military orders fell like a mountain, and Browning accepted the order and prepared to attack Yong'an Township, the Sun brothers' stronghold, early tomorrow morning, and fight a small-scale battle to see how armed and combat effectiveness the Sun brothers were.
Browning returned to the camp to do the final pre-war mobilization. He was very happy to have a place to use. The Victory Division has been fighting for more than three years. This time he got the striker, which shows that Li Guolou values him very much. His grade is second grade.
A military attache, but this official hat is worth a lot of money to him. Two thousand men and horses is considered a commander. Only foreigners with tall noses have this honor.
Browning knew how much he had, and did not dare to pretend to be a master in front of Li Guolou. He arranged his tactics very seriously, hoping to fight a beautiful battle and let the New Armed Forces see that the victorious division was not in vain.
I am very dissatisfied with Li Guolou for not being able to raise the glorious battle flag of "constant victory". How can "Xinwu" compare with "constant victory"? It will be a harm to the combat effectiveness of the army. If the soldiers do not
No wonder he is willing to fight to the end for the "Xinwu" flag.