Three days later, the sergeants of Li Ziying got up at the sound of the morning bugle and began to prepare and set off. This team has the largest number of carriages. The number of captains exceeds that of soldiers. There are more than 1,800 people and more than 500 cavalry.
People. Some soldiers from Lijiabao also stood aside and watched.
The officers and soldiers of the Chu army were naturally impressed by the sophisticated weapons and high-quality food of Li Ziying's army, and they had a good impression of Li Ziying's army. Although these soldiers looked fierce and ferocious, they were friendly and kind.
Qiu made no mistakes. What made the Chu officers and soldiers jealous the most was the outfit of the officers and soldiers of Li Ziying. They left Lijiabao in a showy manner wearing brand new green military uniforms, but they were still wearing shabby winter clothes and had not changed their clothes.
Deputy Commander Xu Zhanbiao's Left Army had 40,000 regular troops. The departure of the army was an unprecedented event. Just lining up the troops and marching required the counselors to study the marching plans for each road. Since the Qing army launched the offensive early, it had to prepare
A battle began with the main force of the Hui army in the wild. Xu Zhanbiao believed that attacking Yongyang Fucheng was likely to encounter the main force of the Hui army, so this time he dispatched the main force, ready to start a decisive battle with the Hui army in the wild at any time.
According to Zuo Zongtang's deployment strategy, the Qing army's policy for dealing with the returning troops was to compress space and occupy strategic locations. The complete victories at Xiaokongtong and Lijiabao greatly boosted the morale of the Qing army. Whether it was a field battle or a fortified battle,
Be sure to win
Determination. The troops of Xu Zhanbiao's left route army were the main force in attacking Dong Zhiyuan. As for Zuo Zongtang's army in the middle route, they mainly focused on containment and containment. As long as Dong Zhiyuan's returning army did not escape, the two Qing army troops would fight together.
Still a long way off.
The terrain of Dong Zhiyuan is a high loess slope, with endless hills. It is impossible to completely block the movement of the returning army. Therefore, the Qing army is most concerned about the movements of the main force of the returning army, and they set out on a ranger basis to find out what was going on.
The entire Dong Zhiyuan is full of wandering cavalry from the two armies, fighting back and forth, and there is news of casualties among the cavalry every day.
Li Guolou did not follow the main force of deputy commander Xu Zhanbiao and stay in the position of the Chinese army. Instead, he asked for orders to lead the army alone in the name of the left wing vanguard. The team behind him was Guo Baochang's Anhui army, which reassured Li Guolou.
In addition to 2,500 infantry, the Anhui army also had 1,500 cavalry. This time he did not bring any female relatives, and the thought of a bloody battle lingered in his mind.
The dispatch of the army is said to be a battle, but it is better to say that it is a move. A siege is a large-scale transfer of supplies. The three armies are actually not far apart. Standing on a high loess slope, you can see the other two armies also climbing up the hills in the distance.
Over the mountains and ridges, we passed an abandoned village of the Hui people. Even the wells were filled up and the houses were burned down. It was clear how ruthless the Hui people were.
The army's march did not directly approach Yongyang Fucheng, but also constantly solved many problems in the small villages along the way.
In some small mountain villages, there are still old, weak and sick people left in the village. When they saw Qing troops passing by, they quickly lined up to greet them. They placed incense burners on the ground, knelt on the ground and held a Qing snow mountain lion flag in their hands.
Looking at these hungry and cold Hui people, they couldn't bear to attack them as long as they were human beings. The passing Qing army did not attack these villagers. Instead, they gave these villagers some food and clothing. The counselors who accompanied the army stopped to stay, chat with these villagers, and inquire about them.
some situations.
Li Guolou was riding on the horse in the wind, snow and thunder. When he passed the village, he saw Wei Hanyu and Xu Lan still chatting with two old farmers. He jumped off the saddle and asked casually: "Old Wei, Old Xu, and these Huizi, who are you?"
There’s nothing much to say.”
Wei Hanyu picked it with cunning eyes and said with a smile: "Chief Li, we are just chatting about some common matters and asking them if there are any returning troops hiding in the village?"
Li Guolou glanced at a group of old farmers who were bowing their heads, played with the riding crop in their hands, and asked: "Is there any?"
"No, no, absolutely not, we are all obedient citizens of the Qing Dynasty." The old farmers saw that Li Guolou was an officer, and knelt down to kowtow to Li Guolou again.
Li Guolou sneered and said: "No? I see you are tired of living. Whose are those two horses? You can hide them, but the horses are in front of you."
The Qing army had searched the village for a long time, but not a single living person was found. There were more than 40 old, weak, sick and disabled people on the roadside, but they found two horses from the village.
"It's mine, I raised it." An old farmer kneeling on the ground raised his head and greeted him with a smile.
"Bang!" The whip in Li Guolou's hand has already hit the old farmer's face, and the blood mark has been left on the old farmer's face. His bitter and resentful face can no longer smile. Li Guolou frowned and shouted: "
Let me ask one last time, where are the owners of the two horses?"
Silence! Only the sound of horses snorting could be heard clearly. More than forty villagers became mute, and some of them looked at Li Guolou with hatred.
"Captain Jin, I'll leave this to you. Old Wei, Old Xu, stop looking, let's go together." Li Guolou didn't care about these old haters and got on his horse. The Hui people also wanted to start a guerrilla war for the Qing army.
When all the people are united as soldiers, he is not a kind person. If he kills all the rebels, there will be no more rebels. He would rather kill three thousand by mistake than let go of a hundred.
"Don't worry, Commander Li. I, Captain Jin, will be here to ensure a safe journey." Jin Erzi jumped out of the dark corner eagerly, like a hound that smelled delicious food, and his minions had a place to use.
Li Guolou waved his whip, and the horse moved forward. He sighed slightly: "Old Wei, don't look back. This is war. Everything is done according to the laws of war. The principles in the book are all false. There are only two shameless things in war."
To sum it up in words, how can there be any just war? Huizi also believed that they were fighting for justice. Your reasoning cannot refute Huizi. Hundreds of years ago, Dong Zhi was originally the land of the Huihe people, and we were all invaders.
"
Wei Hanyu sighed and said, "Sir, how could I not know that they are lying? But my heart is not as vicious as yours, and I always want to give the Hui people a chance to change their ways."
"Being kind will have to wait until the Qing Dynasty reoccupies this land. Now we can only rely on killing. We are soldiers, and the barrel of a gun can only speak of death. As long as the enemy refuses to surrender, we cannot put down the guns in our hands. You, Confucius and Mencius
Reading the books of sages makes me stupid."
Goshiha next to him let out a sneer, as if he was mocking the two scholars for being stupid, wasting their time, and getting close to the people in the old base of the Hui people. Who would tell the truth to them?
Xu Lan sat on the horse, stroking his short beard, and said with a smile: "Sir Li, it's not that you're bad at reading, it's that you will miss the book when it's used. Why don't you dare to write down something that you can clearly explain? Xinwutang
Aren’t we all about telling the truth? Commander Li, it’s up to you to write about the essence of the war. You even dare to talk about the scandal of the Qing military, so you have to bear the responsibility for such a small matter."
"I'm stupid!" Li Guolou galloped away without arguing with the two scholars. He was not a shabby scholar. He used a pen to use the past to satirize the present. This kind of thing has never changed since ancient times.
Even historians refuse to explain it clearly, so why should he? Indiscriminate killing of innocents has become a common problem on the battlefield. All armies in the world kill civilians. The difference lies in how much they kill and in what name.
Especially if the rebels want to accumulate property and feed an army, they must first eliminate the big families and classify the rich as reactionaries. Kill them all! Rob them all! Establish a new order, gain the right to speak, and rely on guns to fight for the last word and the truth.
Based on political power, whoever is in power is the embodiment of justice.
Mountain ridges come one after another. This is the unique scenery of Dong Zhiyuan. Standing on the hills and looking far into the distance, the white loess slopes are like human ears, endless. The trees are sparse, and the crowds are like ants.
On top of the hills.
There were bursts of gunfire in the distance. It was a small fort that was resisting and was broken by the Qing army. Li Guolou was no longer interested in seeing the Muslims blocking the car with their arms. He actually thought that a few forts could block the Qing army's advance.
pace.
He held his telescope high and stared closely at the mountain ridge, where a huge offensive and defensive battle was unfolding. A snow-capped lion flag was planted on it, showing his heroic appearance on the mountain ridge. Li Guolou couldn't help but feel relieved, put down his telescope, and said with a smile:
"Grandma's bear, you are wasting our artillery shells. You are a fool who does not know whether to live or die. Tell Cheng Kun to restrain the team according to Li Ziying's rules and escort all the prisoners of war to Lijiabao."
The herald rode away. The army would constrain its troops at the beginning of the war. They would not kill prisoners of war or indiscriminately kill civilians. The enemy and we would see victory or defeat on the battlefield. But the officer could not be killed. If a senior officer was killed by the enemy, then this place
Don't even think about living. The battle will end with a massacre. It is also called: revenge!
Li Zijun's flag is still advancing forward. The troops keep a certain distance and echo each other's flags. In addition, the rangers are dispatched around. If the returning troops want to fight an ambush, it is impossible. The terrain of Dong Zhiyuan is undulating and mountainous.
But it's not that steep. Although the hills seem to be endless and it makes it difficult to see the situation in the distance, you can still have a clear view of the hills in front.
When the rangers occupy a hill, they can observe the situation of another hill in front. Some roads were destroyed by the returning army, so the army moved very slowly. The civilians accompanying the army also had to build roads. They were walking on the first day of march.
It ended with a pause. Dong Zhiyuan's terrain restricted the Qing army's ability to maneuver quickly, but since the Qing army had set off, it would not retreat and would continue on the road no matter how difficult it was.
The soldiers of Li Ziying took off their clothes and worked with the civilians to build roads. Without roads, the cannons could not be dragged to the front line. An army had to overcome many difficulties to advance. On the map, it seemed that Lijiabao and Yongyang Fucheng could not meet each other.
It is more than forty miles of land, but these forty miles of land are full of hardships and hardships.
In an instant, one army after another turned into a road-building army. The crowds on the high loess slopes spread everywhere, and the magnificent marching scene was vividly visible. Military flags and national flags were planted on the surrounding high loess slopes. Although the three groups of people fought against each other,
There were several small-scale battles, but the morale of the Qing army was high. The soldiers screamed and stood on the high hill, waving military flags, and reported to the Qing army in the distance that this land had returned to the embrace of the motherland.
"Hey, this can be called a war." Li Guolou scratched his head and looked at the latest battle report. He was very dissatisfied with the results of the first day's march, so he only captured more than thirty people to return to the army. In fact, he fought to the end and did not know whether to live or die.
The common people were still in the vanguard camp, and marching was not satisfying at all. Those returning guerrillas just harassed us and fled.
Gunshots can still be heard from some loess hills. They are returning guerrillas, using guerrilla tactics to harass the army. For these small groups of guerrillas, the Qing army has a headache. There are endless hills, and they want to pursue the returning guerrillas.
Military guerrillas often allow returning guerrillas who are familiar with the terrain to escape.
"The whole army has been sent out, but they can't bite us. Let them play." After eating and drinking, Battle slept with his clothes on, lying on a sheepskin. People are inert, and Li Guolou was beside them.
, so that they have a backbone, and they can still sleep even if there are sporadic gunshots.
"Well, you guys go to sleep! I will be on duty tonight." Li Guolou stood up and got into a carriage, lit an oil lamp in the carriage, hung it above his head, and looked at Dong Zhiyuan's map.
Now that several mountain ridges are controlled by the Qing army, with powerful troops deployed all around and backed by depth, the returning army will definitely suffer a heavy blow if they want to attack at night.
The total population of the Hui people in the Dong Zhiyuan area is more than 200,000, and they have to defend scattered forts. But in this area, the two Qing armies combined have exceeded 100,000 people. The huge gap in military strength puts the Qing army in a strategic position.
The deployment was easy. So from the perspective of the battle situation, the Qing army was ahead of the game and took the initiative in every aspect. The only constraints on the Qing army were the supply line and the situation of injuries and illnesses.
Xu Zhanbiao had already gained a huge psychological advantage by virtue of two major victories and a quick victory. The Qing army marched on such a large scale that it required very high logistics supplies. Deputy Commander Xu Zhanbiao put all his wealth on the line. This time the Qing army still demanded speed.
Victory, occupy the strategically important Yongyang Fucheng, wave an iron fist at the front door of the Hui army, and see how capable the Hui army is in defending Yongyang Fucheng.
Li Guolou studied Xu Zhanbiao's strategic deployment, trying to find any omissions in it, and wondering what means he would use to counter the Qing army's attack if he were the commander-in-chief of the Hui army. If the Hui army used guerrilla tactics, which weak points of the Qing army would they attack?
?Li Ziying suffered a big loss from the Huijun cavalry last time. Will the Huijun target him this time?
Li Guolou stared at the map in horror. Danger was lurking around him, as if there was a huge net opening towards him. Don't rush in, you must not rush in! If the returning coach is a smart man, tomorrow Li Zi
The camp will be able to move smoothly, and there will no longer be any road damage. The other two armies will encounter many problems such as road landslides and constant gunfire. Li Guolou's face glows with a blue light under the oil lamp, like a ghost in the underworld.