Chapter 421: There Are Begging Officers at Dagukou
About a hundred Xinwutang school officials and students brought by Li Guolou were arranged to have dinner. They all came to visit and study. For the first time, they witnessed the scene of an artillery battle with their own eyes, a vigorous artillery battle. It was like being transported to a raging battlefield, which made them very excited. When they walked to the dining hall, they were still discussing the artillery drill of the Dagukou Fort.
Li Guolou didn't like to have a meal for two or three hours, so he had already said hello and left first during the banquet. Others wanted to drink fine wine and have a feast as they pleased. Local governments and the army had a system for entertaining superiors. The entertainment expenses are recorded in the accounts and are public expenditures. If the funds are not fully spent, it will affect the amount declared in the coming year. The tricks here are not under the jurisdiction of the imperial ministers. This is a common problem in the Qing Empire, and the same is true for Western powers, unless they are extremely poor. In the land of clinking bells, feasting and drinking have existed since ancient times. Many honest and upright officials also eat with their mouths full of oil. They drink white wine as boiled water, and it has become an eternal legend: the "wine fairy" never gets drunk after a thousand cups.
The army pays attention to sharing blessings and hardships, and takes eating and drinking to the extreme. The imperial envoy inspects, of course, a dinner of the highest standard, with delicacies from mountains and seas, including bear paws and shark's fins. There are three tables in the West Flower Hall, one of which is for Several of the officials' family members were seated at the table. Li Guolou's concubines Xie Liya and Bai Lian, who had become the most distinguished among the family members, sat in the main seat facing south.
It has long been known to everyone that Li Guolou's family owns a high-end restaurant, so everyone in the family is very talkative and cannot hear them praising the delicious food and wine. The British girl Xie Liya said politely: "ok", which made people think This is the highest praise from a foreign girl.
The soldier's personality was exposed, and pairs of eyes were fixed on Xie Liya's breast enlargement. Li Guolou didn't mind, and continued to talk and laugh, and drank three glasses of Jie Feng wine.
Admiral Yulu saw that Li Guolou was silent about the Hongyi cannon and dumb cannon incident. He couldn't bear it anymore and asked in a low voice: "Master Li, this red cannon has been weathered for a long time, so it is overwhelmed. Alas, the Qing Dynasty's military industry There is a long way to go, and there is nothing we can do.”
Li Guolou kept his expression and said with a casual smile: "We won't talk about business tonight. We will drink at Yujunmen. Please feel free to do as you like. I have to write an article tonight. The artillery drill I saw here is an eye-opener for me. .”
Senior officials at the second table looked at me and I looked at you, wondering whether what Li Guolou said was a compliment or a sarcasm.
The boss with a sinister face was a cannon, he was the type to fart whenever he could, and he couldn't hide the material in his stomach. He said loudly: "Master Li, since you have a good idea, let's talk about it so that we can grow up." Knowledge." As he spoke, he grabbed a bear paw in his hand and ate it directly.
Nowadays, no one dares to speak to Li Guolou so boldly, which surprised him. He glanced at Xun Xi, who was very talkative, and did not pretend to be a noble scholar. Instead, he smiled and said: "Xun Guandai, I like your character." , Okay, I will be a theorist and talk about the new pattern of world artillery warfare. You can tell me if I am wrong. There is no distinction between big and small at banquets. The Dagukou Fort is the eyeball of the Qing Dynasty, and Just like the seven inches of a snake, as long as the enemy wants to be the enemy of our Qing Dynasty, what better breakthrough point can there be than Dagukou? The Western powers want our Qing Dynasty to surrender. As long as they occupy Dagukou, they will be able to fight and retreat. situation, and what about us? It’s like it’s stuck in our throats, and we can’t breathe out. We’re in a dilemma, and we don’t have control of the sea. If we want to retake Dagukou, the losses will be terrible. So let me say, there is no room for loss at Dagukou. Yu Jun The gate commander has two thousand troops and horses, which is too few. At least tens of thousands of people must be stationed here. We rely on deploying tens of thousands of people to guard Dagukou during war. The generals do not know the soldiers, and the soldiers do not know the generals. In addition, artillery is a technical job. No matter how many troops and horses are brought in from other places, they will not be able to exert their strength. If the artillerymen are killed in battle, who will fire the artillery? Coordinated operations will become a big problem. It will not be a joke if one of our own people kills his own people. Those who do not understand the rules of artillery battles The army is not easy to manage and is full of complaints. The first person to escape will definitely be the guest army who has no sense of belonging. The army's morale is shattered and it is completely defeated. The tragic ending of Dagukou is destined to happen again. "
Li Guolou's words caused an uproar. Even Admiral Yulu couldn't sit still and said anxiously: "Master Li, be careful, you shouldn't say such things. Dagukou has been repaired over the years, and it is no longer the same as it used to be. You can Defeat any intruders."
Li Guolou ignored the master Fan Dahui next to him who was pulling his sleeves, and stood up and said: "You are all soldiers, and soldiers must tell the truth. False information will kill countless soldiers of the Eight Banners, and it will also make people die in vain." , The people above are pretending to be peaceful, Wen Tian is playing with martial arts, and the people below are using paper to make a tiger, and they are drunk and dreaming. At Dagukou, I saw that except for the cannons and forts, which were replaced with new ones, everything else was old and stiff. Sticking to tactics, the tactics used in drills are also the same. The theory of weapons victory is not advisable, the theory of range victory is also undesirable, and the theory of racial superiority is even more nonsense. The most important thing is that the thoughts and tactics can keep up with the needs of the war. Are the invaders fools? How many times? They were also looking for loopholes in the Dagukou fort. The first wave of attacks failed, so they immediately adjusted their tactics. The cannons took too long to load explosives and had to dissipate heat for a long time, which restricted them. With our rate of fire, the beachhead will always be seized by invaders. What should we do next, let the enemy build up fortifications?"
Xun Xi, the supervisor, shouted: "Drive the intruders into the sea and kill all the bastards."
Li Guolou nodded and said: "By the way, kill all the intruders. The beach ahead is a mountain of swords and a sea of blood. We need countless heroes of the Qing Dynasty to rush forward and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. The enemy is stronger than us, but we have encountered a bottleneck here." , can we afford to fight a war of attrition? Do we have more elite soldiers, or do the Eight-Power Allied Forces have more elite soldiers? This account requires us to think hard. How much money did the Qing Dynasty spend on your two thousand soldiers and horses? Ordinary soldiers also need 36 dollars a year. Can the imperial court afford to raise so many soldiers and horses with two taels of silver?"
Li Guolou sat down, with too much depression in his chest and no place to vent it. A 2,000-strong elite army could not change the situation of the war. How many of the Qing soldiers from Dagukou who were placed under the muzzle of the invaders' guns could survive? All the elite soldiers would be exhausted. Now, can the old oil man and soldier ruffian behind him be pulled out to fight? Even the army here does not trust the troops behind him. There are too few elite soldiers in the Qing Dynasty, but the high-paying military system has been on the verge of bankruptcy. Dagukou The Eight Banners soldiers who were already considered the best in the Qing Dynasty still had many shortcomings. The Eight Banners soldiers and green battalion soldiers stationed in other places had long been decayed. He was not interested in patrolling. Even speaking, he was just going through the motions, watching the vigorous drills and giving a few words of praise. Just leave the military camp.
Admiral Yu Lu followed the situation and said: "Master Li has great views and the subordinates admire him very much, but a clever woman can't make a meal without rice. There is no general in the Qing Empire who can lead tens of thousands of troops at ordinary times. I am satisfied with this little property. The matter of coordinated operations will be left to Mr. Fu Xiang to take care of. I can't overstep the bounds. Mr. Li's surname is Li, but it's different. Who calls me a Manchu?"
Li Guolou raised his wine glass and said with a chuckle: "Yujunmen, there is a proverb in the West: If you can't eat the grapes, you say the grapes are sour. That's what you are!"
"Oh, really? That's not necessarily true. Women from Andiyan in Xinjiang all have blue eyes. Maybe I can win her back to be my wife?" Admiral Yulu finally withdrew his glance at Xie Liya and said reluctantly. To put it bluntly, if there were not a table of female relatives by their side, these military masters would have said many romantic stories. Tonight they became civilized people and did not dare to talk nonsense.
The current new king of the so-called Zedeshar Kingdom in Xinjiang, Agub, is an Andiyan native. He was originally the pasha of the Kingdom of Kokand in Central Asia and was the supreme ruler of the national army. Later Agub led an Andiyan army of 3,000 people. He went to help the prince of Xinjiang, Busuluke, and established the Zedeshar Kingdom in Xinjiang by pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger.
Admiral Yulu now also wants to go to Western Xinjiang and establish immortal great achievements. As a soldier, he wants to go to the battlefield. If he can lead 2,000 elite soldiers of the Eight Banners from Dagukou to Western Xinjiang, there will be no need to worry about failing to achieve his great cause. Unfortunately, the imperial court refuses to use this artillery. , and still let them defend the Dagukou fort, leaving Yulu empty of ambitions and nowhere to display them.
As for plundering the enemy's women, this was a characteristic of the Qing army. There is a slight mention in the history books. Zeng Guofan's Hunan army plundered the female dependents of the Taiping Army, which has been remembered in history. Most of the time, there is no mention of looting, burning, killing, raping, and rape. They are all dirty things done by the enemy. The righteous side has no desires and desires, just to liberate the working people.
Li Guolou touched his chin and said with a playful smile: "You have a great responsibility at Yujunmen. A strong man guards the country. I'm afraid he won't have the chance to go to Western Xinjiang. But I have many opportunities. All imported military supplies must go through my hands. I borrow them first." Give Xinwutang thirty artillery officers, and then Yujunmen’s dream will come true.”
"Oh..." Admiral Yulu suddenly realized. No wonder Li Guolou wanted to watch the artillery fire one by one, and also gave him enough face to reward the middle-level officers. Western wonders are not cheap. Li Guolou was bleeding profusely. It turned out that he had bad intentions and fell in love with his artillerymen. Suddenly, there was no pressure anymore. Li Guolou came to make friends with him and wanted to ask for something from him. Yulu took a thief look at Xie Liya and warned: "Master Li , A gentleman is said to be hard to catch up with, and the minimum requirement is the age of twenty-eight. As for whether it is a gold ingot, I don’t have such high hopes, hehehehehe.”
When Li Guolou saw Yu Lu agreeing to his request so readily, he left the dinner table, stood up with a smile, and went to toast other officers. The officers at the banquet all boasted that they were able to fight, and all of his artillerymen were expert artillerymen, so they volunteered to go Lectures at Xinwutang.
At this time, most of the artillerymen of the Qing Dynasty were Manchus, and they were mainly descendants of Manchu nobles. They were all well-educated scholars and knew ballistics. Many artillerymen had Western arithmetic skills and eagle-like eyes. They studied artillery. Technical skills must be subject to political review. Artillerymen are the best soldiers. They are treated first-rate and have a proud and squeamish attitude. All artillerymen are at the officer level. As for the artillery officers who spend their salaries and squander their salaries and have sex with prostitutes, those are just trivial matters and do not affect them. Loyal to the emperor and patriotic, there is no way out when guarding the Dagukou Fort. These Qing officers and soldiers are the most sophisticated army in the Qing Dynasty and have the most advanced weapons. Cannons are the most advanced weapons in the world and are the soul of an army. The army of the Qing Dynasty did not have artillery, and could not even fight a war. When the artillery was disabled, an army immediately fled.
Li Guolou toasted to each officer. He is the leader of the new generation of civilized people, but he still has a ruffian streak in him. As long as he is willing to give in, he can be brothers with the gang boss. After they put their arms around each other and open their hearts, Li Guolou came to the banquet The conversation and laughter in the building were lively, the strange stories of the capital, and the grievances and grievances in the world were unforgettable.
Yulu has been impressed by Li Guolou. No wonder Tanhualang, who is capable of both literary and military skills, has been favored by the highest-class foreign girls and British beauties. Look at the wives of the officers, they are all rushing to toast Li Guolou and eat with their hands and feet. Even though Li Guolou is a tofu, even his third wife is also interested in Li Guolou. He is a piece of cake in the eyes of women!