Zhu Si led the team into Xu Gang more than an hour late. Although the scene of eating pots of pulp was gone, Xu Gang was still quite enthusiastic about their arrival. As soon as they entered the village, there were dedicated people to greet them, and there were people on the roadside.
There were tea jars and tea and food for the reception. The soldiers were tired and hungry. Seeing that there was food and drink, they all rushed to get it and start eating and drinking.
"You lieutenants, please eat slowly. We will arrive at the threshing floor later, and there will be hospitality. Don't worry..." The steward who came to entertain saw that the team had not finished, and several large bamboo plaques of tea and food were swept away, and the soldiers were all
He looked like he was reborn as a starving ghost, and he couldn't help but secretly despise him. However, Qiu Ba could not afford to offend him since ancient times, so he still greeted him with a smile.
"After you have eaten and drank, move forward quickly and don't block the road." The sergeants kept urging the soldiers to move forward. However, the soldiers ate and drank, and stuffed food into their bodies.
"Hey, you are only allowed to eat, not to take!" Li Dong quickly stopped him loudly, "When you get to the place, bury the pot to make rice. If you all take it, the brothers behind will be gone!"
The soldiers had just fought a battle and were extremely hungry and thirsty. Now that they had food and drink, they couldn't help but feel relaxed. They looked around.
"This village is so nice!" Luo Mao looked at the village, "It's not inferior to the one in Lingao!"
"Many of these houses are made of bricks and tiles! Even Wuzhou Mansion is not so grand!"
"There are still stone slabs on the road."
"This village is really big, bigger than the market town in my hometown."
…
Such comments came from time to time in the team, and the soldiers curiously looked at the village they had just saved.
Although Xugang is a village, its scale is more similar to that of a small town. Most of these wealthy southern towns are similar, with a river or a large pond as the center, and the houses in the village are spread out from east to west, north and south along the river.
Most of these villages are relatively prosperous, so most of the houses in the village are relatively neat and the roads are paved. The vertical and horizontal waterways not only provide abundant water, but also provide ready-made drainage facilities, coupled with the constraints of the "township rules and regulations" of clan governance
The environment is very strong, and the environment is much better than that of the county or even the prefectural city. It is even better than some "standard villages" in Lingao.
Because of the war, there were not many pedestrians on the streets. Only the National Army from Fengchuan County and the local regiments who had arrived early were patrolling the roads.
The receptionist took the integrated squadron to the threshing floor in Qian Village to rest. Since they did not stay overnight, there was no need to call a house or prepare for laying grass or the like. They set up sentries on the threshing floor, set up spears and
Rifle, rest on the spot.
As soon as the Wuzhou Integrated Squadron settled down in the threshing floor, local people came to "work" with pots and buckets. The dishes were not rich, and there was not much fishy meat, but there was enough white rice and a large pot of soup. This
The hot meal and hot dishes taste delicious.
While Zhu Si was eating, he called Li Dong to discuss the next step.
He originally had a strong opinion of Li Dong. He felt that this person was very aggressive and might drag him down if he failed to get things done. But just now, Mi Longtao praised him for his "decisive action", which made him feel very happy. In any case, Li Dong
Dong's adventurous actions earned him face, and he was able to appear in Mi Longtao's battle report. You must know that Australians do not award merit easily. To the officers and soldiers, one level of beheading can be recorded.
In the Fubo Army, no one cares at all about how many enemies are killed. Promotions and promotions are more based on "daily performance." How do you judge this daily performance? It does not depend on specific "achievements."
Although Li Dong is reckless, he is a good at collecting merits. After all, he is the commander, and having merits must mean that he has "commanded well"; if something goes wrong, at least there is room for evasion.
After the battle in Xu Gang, they were delayed for several hours on the road. They were originally supposed to meet up with the transport fleet going up before sunset, but now it was obviously impossible to do so.
"If we hurry up, we may not be able to get there. But there is no guarantee that there will be similar things on the road. I think we should be more cautious and just go slower." Zhu Si said.
Before setting off from Fengchuan County, they notified the counties along the river and the shipping command center through the local radio station that their arrival would be delayed due to participation in the fighting.
"I think so too. I'm afraid the enemy has not gone far." Li Dong agreed, "As soon as we set off from Xu Gang, we might have to fight again."
This was something Zhu Si did not expect. In his opinion, the bandits suffered heavy casualties in this battle. They buried more than thirty corpses on the hillside alone. I heard that dozens of corpses were also lost in Xu Gang. Deaths and injuries
With such a heavy weight and no benefits gained, how can the minions below be willing to continue fighting to the death?
"The bandits have suffered such a big loss, and they still want to continue fighting with us. Aren't they afraid that the minions below will rebel?"
"Captain, these bandits are not simple. They are definitely not ordinary thieves who rob homes and homes." In fact, Li Dong felt this way when he was cleaning the battlefield. "Look at the firearms they bring..."
"A few wooden cannons, what's so rare about them?"
"Wooden cannons are not rare, but when they attack a village, why do they bring so many wooden cannons and throw them away after shooting? It doesn't hurt at all... This is not the way of bandits."
"You mean... they are officers and soldiers - the Ming army?"
Li Dong nodded, "There are also many people in our army who came from the Ming Army. Just now Luo Mao said that these bandits are at least as good as soldiers in the Ming Army. They fight in a very organized manner - the commander is not an ordinary person."
bandit chieftain."
"So you think they haven't gone far at all and are just waiting for us to come out and fight again?"
"Yes." The more Li Dong thought about it, the more likely it seemed. "Either Xu Gang and the others can't be defeated, or they are just a decoy - waiting for us to rescue them so that they can catch us off guard! Look at the position on the hillside, it is obvious that they are waiting for us.
Come……"
Zhu Si took a breath of air. He hadn't thought of this just now. What Zhu Si said made sense.
"did not expect……"
"What didn't you expect?" Mi Longtao's voice suddenly came.
Zhu Si was startled and quickly stood up with Li Dong and saluted. Li Dong said:
"We are discussing the enemy's movements."
Zhu Si looked at him slightly dissatisfied, stood at attention and reported: "Judging from the enemy's actions..."
"Okay, let's sit down and talk. Don't be so formal." Mi Longtao said and sat down on the stone bar beside the threshing floor, "You guys sit down too!"
Zhu Si immediately explained Li Dong's thoughts just now.
"I agree with Lieutenant Li's view: the enemy has probably not gone far and is still waiting for opportunities nearby. After all, they have set up such a large formation and there is no way they can withdraw their troops just like that."
"Your speculation is very reasonable." Mi Longtao looked at the two of them with approval. "The enemy is besieging Xu Gang. To put it bluntly, it is 'encircling the point to bring reinforcements'. In terms of their strength and firearms, Xu Gang has long been able to resist."
They can't stand it any longer - they are deliberately waiting for us to come to rescue them. Speaking of which, this strategy is partially successful..." At this point, Mi Longtao's tone was a little heavy.
"The enemy is indeed very insidious. If we don't come to the rescue, we will destroy Xu Gang, make a fortune, and create an atmosphere of terror; if we come to the rescue, there will definitely be casualties..." Li Dong said.
"Yes, when I was training in the teaching team, the teacher told us: A good commander can choose the battlefield on which to fight the enemy. Our battle today is to fight on the battlefield chosen by the enemy. In fact, it is very passive.
..." Mi Longtao looked at their faces as if they didn't understand. He knew that they wouldn't understand if they talked too much, so he didn't go into details. "...Although we are very passive tactically, to do a good job in local appeasement, we must have
It is difficult to save us, otherwise once the enemy breaks through Xu Gang, the local people's trust in us will be reduced. Over time, we will be 'squeezed' out by the enemy..."
Seeing that they were all in disbelief, Mi Longtao took out a copy of the telegram from his canvas bag and handed it to Zhu Si:
"This was just posted this morning. You probably haven't seen it yet. This is the latest enemy situation. Please look at the fourth article..."
Zhu Si and Li Dong got together. The fourth article was based on the intelligence they had obtained. Some bandits were extorting food, cloth, gold and silver from some villages on both sides of the Xijiang River. Villages that refused to pay would be harassed and kidnapped.
They used other methods to force the villages to submit, and gathered a large number of people to capture the villages and massacre them to form a deterrent to the surrounding areas.
Zhu Si didn't quite understand why Mi Longtao showed him this. In his opinion, this bandit often did this, and it was nothing unusual. After all, after using the "kill one to serve as a warning" model to cause terror, extorting the property and food of each village was worse than licking the blood of a knife.
Fighting for one's life is much easier.
Seeing their expressions, Mi Longtao knew that their "political consciousness" was not enough. He reminded:
"Since we have come to Guangzhou, defeated the Ming Dynasty government, and established a new regime, the most basic thing is to 'protect the country and the people.' The common people don't care about what you say. They first want to see if the world is peaceful and uneven after you come.
We can't keep everyone safe! If we can't protect the lives and property of the people, and can't let them work peacefully in the fields during the day and sleep peacefully at night, we won't be able to gain a foothold here!"
Zhu Si and Li Dong both nodded involuntarily.
"If we fail to do a good job in public security as soon as possible and allow bandits to flourish, over time, in order to make ends meet, ordinary people will have to compromise and 'cooperate' with the bandits and become 'two-faced people.' At that time, we will
It is difficult to move forward on both sides of the Xijiang River!"
"I understand. We have to take the initiative!" Li Dong said excitedly.
Mi Longtao nodded slightly with appreciation. Zhu Si was not happy that he had snatched the words from his boss, so he blurted out: "How are you chasing them? Do you know where they went?"
"Look," Mi Longtao opened the map, "according to the intelligence we got and the prisoners' confessions, there are about 500 enemies in this group - now they still have at least 400 troops. The enemy will not escape to the sky.
, such a large force cannot run far or hide in a short time."
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 364