Chapter 247: The Capital's Counterattack (VI)
After leaving Huo Chong's place, Lei Hu and Hu Yue walked out of the yard, looking at each other. They both felt that something was wrong, but they also felt that it was not that wrong. Finally, Lei Hu showed his generosity and said, "Let's go to the side and have a cigarette."
"Okay." Hu Yue took out a cigarette and handed it to Lei Hu as he walked.
Sitting in the small garden, Lei Hu asked, "Why did you think of doing that? Was it because of the plan I made?"
"It's hard to explain. I feel like the three battalion commanders were inconsistent. They asked why they were like this, and the political commissar asked if they had changed. Then, I don't know why, they started arguing about how it's hard to change a person's nature. We took those prisoners as an experiment, and suddenly found out that what the governor said was right. If we ignore reality and talk about human nature, it's just that there is no humanity."
Lei Hu had a similar experience, so he understood it after hearing this. He couldn't help but complain, "Nowadays, everyone thinks it's hard to find a battalion commander, but the governor said this needs to be taught. Why not just take all the battalion commanders to let the governor teach them."
"Someone will probably have to hang himself."
After Hu Yue finished speaking, Lei Hu laughed out loud, and all the grudges he had against him disappeared.
After laughing, Lei Hu asked with interest: "What do you think those Qing officers think?"
"I don't know. They are different from us anyway." Hu Yue said, and suddenly thought of someone, "Gao Pang must understand!"
Lei Hu slapped his thigh, "Yes, yes, yes! It's him, go find him."
Gao Pang was reading the land reform documents during this period. While he was thinking, Lei Hu and Hu Yue rushed into the room and asked, "Mr. Zhuangyuan, you know what the officials think. Tell us."
"Ah? Why are you asking that?" Gao Pang was happy to find something to divert his emotions. After hearing the two people's sharp questions, Gao Pang became more interested. He pointed at the documents with his fingers and smiled, "Good questions! I just heard these and I have some experience. What the officials of the Qing Dynasty think is probably two main points. Seeking results, and forcing people to work hard by bullying them!"
Lei Hu originally wanted to make things difficult for Gao Pang. This guy passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar. In the eyes of Shandong natives, Gao Pang's status soared, second only to Huo Chong. He was almost on par with Qian Qing.
Everyone knows that Qian Qing is Huo Chong's eldest disciple, and she is Huo Chong's real adopted daughter. This is a real relationship. If there is no such relationship, Qian Qing would probably be ranked after Gao Pang. Unexpectedly, Gao Pang really said something. Seeing Hu Yue listening seriously, Lei Hu, who is also a scholar, felt a little unhappy.
Gao Pang didn't notice any of this at all. He excitedly continued speaking according to his own thoughts, "When we fight, human lives are human lives. The officers of the Qing Dynasty only think about what they can get from winning the battle."
Hu Yue felt a little confused, "Don't we also rely on winning the war to settle down?"
"We win the war, and we all gain something from it. We are just entrusted with the work and we take on the responsibility. This job is not easy, but we think we can do it, and we are willing to do it."
Hearing Gao Pang's lofty speech, Hu Yue nodded repeatedly.
"The Qing officers won battles to get rewards from the Qing emperor. What did the Qing emperor do after winning? He continued to oppress the people and work with the gentry to harm the people. That's why I said that the Qing relied on a system of bullying people to force them to work for them! The Qing used military households, and these people received their salaries directly from the Qing emperor. If they couldn't become military households, they would starve to death. They could only work for the Qing emperor. So these people wanted to win very much. The most feared thing for officials was not how many people died, but losing. As long as they felt they could win, they would dare to do anything. As long as they felt they could avoid punishment, they would be willing to do anything."
"Mr. Gao, what you said makes sense, but what should we do specifically?" Hu Yue asked in confusion.
"I don't understand fighting. How it looks like they're winning, I don't know. If you must ask me, I can only say that if it looks like they can win, there is a logic to winning. For example, if a certain place is occupied by them, they feel they have won. They will go to occupy that place. They set up an ambush, and when they go there, they will be surrounded and killed. Or they will surround a point and attack the reinforcements, and attack the enemy's reinforcements. In short, they just want to win and are afraid of losing. Because everything they get comes from the Qing emperor."
Lei Hu had an idea when he heard this. He didn't want Gao Pang to continue to show off, so he called Hu Yue, "Huh, we've been out for so long, so many people are waiting for us. Let's go back first."
When Hu Yue thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case, he could only say goodbye to Gao Pang.
On March 15, the Qing army's vanguard troops were all dispatched. The area occupied by Huo Chong was the central part of Shandong, which was surrounded by a mountain range that was not so high, with an east-west and north-south mountain range. The Qing army was divided into five routes, one of which started from Jinan. They approached Liangshan all the way, making a gesture to retake Liangshan.
One route was located in the southern part of Shandong. At that time, the Yellow River did not flow northward, but flowed southward along Henan, passed through the Xuzhou area, and flowed eastward into the sea. One route of the Qing army took Xuzhou as its starting point.
There are two more routes in the west of Xuzhou. Lei Hu came up with a new plan after some research. It can be seen that Lei Hu was very uneasy when introducing this plan.
In this plan, the Han army did not fight on the interior lines, but marched out of Jining.
The name alone is very interesting, Jining. It can be understood that this place affects the peace of the entire region.
In fact, this is true. Jining was one of the important cities on the canal during the Qing Dynasty, and it was located on the east bank of the canal. Once Jining was occupied, not only would the so-called be cut off, but it would also mean that the canal transportation of the Qing Dynasty would be immediately cut off.
At the same time, capturing Jining also means that the enemy must be rescued. The Qing Dynasty will definitely mobilize troops to come to the rescue, and it is possible that a decisive battle with the Qing Dynasty in the plains will break out.
Lei Hu was very uneasy. "Everyone, the Qing army has suffered a great loss before, and they know how good we are in field battles. The Qing army's commander, Ertai, and his deputy commander are both experienced and prudent people. They will not make any moves easily. The plan of the General Staff this time is to attack the enemy and rescue them."
Someone asked: "With the main force gone, isn't Shandong just playing the empty city strategy?"
"Twenty thousand men will be left in Shandong to defend the north and south."
"Can you come?" another team leader asked.
Lei Hu wanted to say loudly that it was okay. But when the words came to his lips, he still didn't dare to make such a huge decision. There were 30,000 to 40,000 Qing troops in Jinan in the north, and there were probably about the same number of Qing troops in Xuzhou. It was really hard to say what would happen to the 20,000 Han troops if these 70,000 to 80,000 Qing troops rushed in regardless of everything.
"It will be no problem." Huo Chong said, "Relying on the militia and the county brigade, it will be no problem. The results of this land reform are better than I thought. It looks like 20,000 to 80,000, but it's actually 800,000 to 80,000. Shandong will definitely win!"
The Qing army's punitive army headquarters was set up in Liaocheng. Although this place was not very famous, it was right in the middle of the entire battle line. Both Ortai and Yue Zhongqi thought this place was convenient for command.
The two Qing officials, who Lei Hu regarded as mature and prudent, did not think that the five-way expedition was a good idea. In history, dispersing troops had never had good results. Especially when a 100,000-man army was defeated in a direct battle with Huo Chong, dispersing troops seemed even more stupid.
The two planned to use five groups of troops to threaten Huo Chong and confuse him. No matter which group Huo Chong attacked, the other groups would continue to act and put constant pressure on Huo Chong.
If Huo Chong dispersed his forces and attacked five Qing armies or two or three Qing armies at the same time, the five Qing army vanguards would first hold Huo Chong back, and at the same time gather the main force to launch an assault on one of them, thus annihilating Huo Chong's troops with an absolute advantage in force.
By the end of March, troops from all directions came to report that they had spotted Huo Chong's troops. However, Huo Chong's troops only confronted and harassed them, and did not launch a major battle.
Although Ortai was anxious, he knew that he could not act rashly at this time. In early April, the letters of surrender from gentry from all over Shandong were sent to Liaocheng. Ortai was relieved and smiled to Yue Zhongqi: "Brother Yue, it seems that Saileng'e also deserves some credit!"
"Hmph!" Yue Zhongqi buried his head in reading the letter, and only used "hum" to express a certain subtle attitude.
The Qing army also had maps, and there were many officials from Shandong and gentry who escaped from Huo Chong's brutal rule to help. The Qing army was very familiar with Shandong's geography. After reading most of the letters, Yue Zhongqi felt that he had a general understanding of Huo Chong's actions.
At this time, the Qing army was a military household system. Needless to say, the Eight Banners, and the Green Camp were also a military household system. Correspondingly, the letters all mentioned that Huo Chong "recruited unruly people and rounded up landless tenants" in every village and township in Shandong. After thinking for a moment, Yue Zhongqi asked Ortai, "Governor, you have changed the land system in the southwest, can the barbarians over there be defeated?"
"You can't fight."
"What do you think of these poor people recruited by Huo Chong compared to the barbarians?"
Ertai had never compared things like this before, and after thinking for a while, he answered, "Aren't we supposed to be worried about Huo Chong's personal soldiers?"
Recalling his impression of the direct battle with Huo Chong, Yue Zhongqi didn't think that any his personal soldiers. In terms of ferocity, the tens of thousands of troops should be equally ferocious. Yue Zhongqi sighed, "We must fight Huo Chong as soon as possible. If Huo Chong is allowed to train his troops again, something bad will happen."
Two days later, news finally came. Huo Chong's troops suddenly rushed out from Yimeng Mountain and headed straight for Linyi.
Upon hearing the news, two experienced and prudent Manchu generals ordered their officers to quickly find out how many troops there were.
Accurate information about Huo Chong's troops soon arrived. The prefect of Linyi sent a letter that was a suicide note. It said that Huo Chong was powerful, and Linyi had been conquered by Huo Chong once before, so it was impossible to defend. Huo Chong's troops this time were about 30,000 to 40,000, and it was completely unclear. The prefect was ready to die for his country, and only asked for quick rescue.
"It can't be saved!" Ortai sighed.
Since the current Governor of Henan had spoken, Yue Zhongqi felt that this fifty-something-year-old brother in front of him was quite righteous. At least he did not push the responsibility of being unable to rescue onto others.
It turned out to be so. Two days later, the news that Linyi had fallen and all the officials had fallen into Huo Chong's hands reached Liaocheng.
But two days later, the news that Huo Chongjun did not stop but set out from Linyi and headed straight for Jining scared Ortai.
