Chapter 249: The Capital's Counterattack (VIII)
In Jinan City, Shandong Governor Song Xiaosheng's advisor didn't care about his boss's angry expression at all. "Boss, if you don't leave, I can only say goodbye."
"You're leaving too?" Song Xiaosheng slapped the thick documents on the table. With a crash, the documents fell down and scattered on the ground.
The legal advisor instinctively took a look and saw words like "retirement" and "parents are seriously ill" on the scattered documents. Retracting his gaze, the legal advisor looked at the Shandong governor calmly. There was no personal dependence relationship between the boss and the legal advisor, and the legal advisor could leave if he wanted to. The boss could only threaten the legal advisor that he would be retaliated after he left.
The current Governor of Shandong cannot leave Jinan. Once he leaves, the country will be lost and he will be beheaded.
After all, the master had been advising Song Xiaosheng for so long, so it was inevitable that he felt a little sad. He couldn't help but make a final analysis for Song Xiaosheng with a feeling of hospice care, "Boss, this time Huo Chong's troops left Jining and fought to the canal. It's clear that they want to fight a decisive battle with the government troops. The government troops have lost more than 100,000 people, all of whom are elite. If the government troops are hit hard again, Huo Chong will not stop outside the city of Jinan. If we don't leave now, it will be too late."
"The government troops may win a great victory!" Shandong Governor Song Xiaosheng shouted almost at the top of his lungs.
The lawyer sighed and shook his head, "The government army has won a great victory, and the boss will naturally share the credit. By that time, the boss will be promoted to a high position and will not need me anymore. Goodbye." After saying that, he bowed and left.
Looking at the master's departing back, Song Xiaosheng yelled, "If you leave, don't come back!"
However, the lawyer was not moved at all and did not even turn his head. The Shandong governor's eyes were blurred and he could no longer see the lawyer's figure. He raised his hand to wipe away the tears in his eyes and cried, "You traitors, you must be killed a thousand times!"
According to the Qing Dynasty law, treason was punishable by death by a thousand cuts. However, the governor of Shandong himself was not sure whether Huo Chong or the people who fled Jinan should be punished by a thousand cuts.
The lawyer had already packed his luggage, which had even been shipped out of Jinan City a long time ago. He walked out of the governor's residence leisurely and headed straight out of the city.
There was no sign , and the streets were bustling with people and cars, showing the prosperity of a famous northern city.
Only the upper echelons had the inside information about the war, so few people judged that Jinan might change hands this time. Looking at the calm appearance of the people on the street, the master even suspected that these ordinary people would not care even if they knew.
It has been several years since Huo Chong rebelled. The people in Jinan City who suffered were never Huo Chong's people, but the people of the court. The court's explanation for this was of course that it was all Huo Chong's fault, and as long as Huo Chong was eliminated, the people could live in peace.
The lawyer agreed with the court's statement, but he also knew that the people would never accept it.
Since Huo Chong's capture of Jinan would not make life any worse, the people had no reason to worry.
The master was still a little doubtful that he had made a wrong judgment. When he arrived at the city gate, he saw that the soldiers guarding the city also looked indifferent. The master was sure that he was not wrong. When even the soldiers did not care about victory or defeat, how could he expect the front line to win the battle?
After leaving Jinan, the lawyer went straight to the house he rented outside the city. After walking a distance, the lawyer stopped and looked back at the city of Jinan. This famous city looked majestic and magnificent, protecting the officials inside the city. However, the city wall was like a cage, imprisoning the officials. As long as these people wanted to continue to be officials of the Qing Dynasty, they had to share life and death with the Qing Dynasty rule in this city.
As long as the commander of the Qing army in the north, Aixinjueluo Basai, was defeated, all officials in Jinan would die in the city. How pitiful!
The view of Aixinjuelu Basai that the master remembered was different from that of the master. Or rather, he had never considered this matter at all. The 200,000 troops besieging Huo Chong were divided into three parts: north, center, and south. Although Erqi was the main general, he could not control all the troops.
The basic points of the Qing Dynasty's use of generals include but are not limited to: Han people cannot be the masters of the bannermen, and the Aisin-Gioro family must control the troops that decide the situation.
After it was determined that Huo Chong's main force would attack Jining, the Northern Army was ordered to move directly south to attack Huo Chong's old nest, Linzi.
Whether it was to besiege Wei to save Zhao, or to separate the enemy's main force from its base and defeat them one by one, Deputy Jingbian General Aixinjueluo Basai felt that there was no better choice than this.
Since crossing the Xiaoqing River five days ago, the 50,000-strong army has been very cautious along the way and has sent out a large number of cavalry scouts to gather information at all times.
If Deputy General Basai knew that the Shandong Governor's advisor had run away like this, he would probably think that this advisor was too cowardly and did not take the government troops seriously at all.
As they walked along the main road, they saw that the villages along the road were empty, with no one in sight. Basai ordered the cavalry to go investigate, and they soon brought back a local. The man knelt on the ground, kowtowed first, and then said loudly: "Master, the soldiers are finally here. We can see sunny days again! I am from Master Yang in the village. Someone in Master Yang's family used to be an official in Dengzhou. Master said that the soldiers will definitely come, and he has already written to the soldiers."
Seeing that this man knew the rules of kowtow without being scolded. Although his behavior was not as natural as that of ordinary people in the capital, at least he knew the rules. Since the other party knew the rules, Basai did not scare him first. Basai was a warrior and was not familiar with the civil official circle. He continued to ask: "Let me ask you, why is there no one in the village?"
"Reporting to the Lord, the people in the village listened to Huo Chong's evil words and believed that the master would treat them badly, so they all ran away."
Basai became interested when he heard this. If the man from the gentry family in front of him did not make a false report, and what he said to Huo Chong when he persuaded the people to flee was true, then Huo Chong was telling the truth. Massacre of the village was part of the government army's plan this time.
"Where did they run to? Who took them away?"
This man was originally a gentry who secretly colluded with the government, and at this moment he quickly told everything he knew. Now there are working groups and militia teams in every village under Huo Chong's rule. Upon learning the news that the government troops had crossed the river, the working group joined forces with the militia to persuade the local people to move to a safe place.
The people of the Yang family did not know where the people from other places had gone, but he knew where the people from Yangjia Village had gone.
After saying all this, the man lowered his head and said nothing. Basai waited for a while and asked unhappily, "Where did they go? Tell me!"
"Master, some of those people were just bewitched by Huo Chong. They have escaped. As long as we take the land back..."
Basai had been getting impatient for a long time. He had wanted to slaughter a few villages along the way to let his men see blood and build up their courage. In the end, he saw no one except the gentry who colluded with the government. Seeing that it would not take long to reach Linzi, Basai was also anxious. He immediately shouted: "Slap!"
Several guards came forward and grabbed the Yang family man's arms. Someone came forward and gave him a slap like a storm. The man's head shook left and right. After the beating, Basai continued to ask: "Tell me quickly, where did those people escape to? If you don't tell me, I will kill you immediately."
The Yang family had never expected that they would be treated like this after they surrendered to the government. Hearing that he was going to be killed, he could not care about anything else and cried out in a crying voice: "Master, they have fled to Chenzhuang, which is more than ten miles away."
"How many people are there in Chenzhuang?"
"A few thousand."
…
After the interrogation, Basai sent cavalry to Chenzhuang. At the same time, he ordered the army to camp and rest. After all, there were not many people in this village, but at least there was a house to live in.
The next morning, the cavalry came back. There was indeed a Chenzhuang over there, and it looked quite large. The most important thing was that there were fortifications on the road outside the village, and it must be as the people of the Yang family said, many people from other villages fled in.
"Banlong, take three thousand troops to surround Chenzhuang first. Don't let those people escape." Aisin-Gioro Basai ordered.
After the vanguard set off, Basai ordered his troops to head towards Chenzhuang.
Basai was a member of the Manchu Bordered Blue Banner, a member of the Qing imperial family, the grandson of Prince Zhengxian Jirgalang, and the son of the auxiliary state Wuxianggong Balkan. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, he participated in the expedition against Galdan and served as the commander of the Zhenghong Banner Mongolian Army and the general of Heilongjiang. During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, he successively served as the general of Ningguta, the deputy general of Jingbian, and inherited the title of the auxiliary state duke. In the war, Basai firmly believed that the army was won through fighting and killing. However, there had been peace for too long, and there had been no major wars for too long. Therefore, it was not the border army, whether it was the Eight Banners or the Green Camp, that was too fancy. The generation of Emperor Yongzheng was relatively better. When it came to the generation of Hongzhou, to put it bluntly, if they were asked to kill a chicken, they would recite a mantra for the chicken to be reborn.
The Qing army was like this from top to bottom, and there was no trace of the bravery that the Qing army had when they entered the pass .
At that time, the Qing army would massacre cities, towns, and villages at will. When there was no water, they drank horse urine, and when there was no food, they ate human flesh and drank human blood.
Only such cruel training can train a brave and powerful army with no more than 10,000 Manchus but more than 10,000 of them being invincible.
Moreover, Yongzheng hated the Shandong people who followed Huo Chong. If Yongzheng had not been killed by Huo Chong in a surprise attack, the people of Shandong would have been slaughtered by now. As long as all the Shandong people were killed, there would be no more traitors in Shandong.
The 50,000-man army dragged the cannons and moved slowly. It took them half a day to get there after walking more than ten miles. Looking at Chenzhuang in front of them, it was indeed not small. The vanguard led by Ban Long had already blocked the road, so no one should be able to escape.
The troops were assigned to surround Chenzhuang tightly. It was already dark. Basai ordered the whole army to rest and ordered them to cook at 3 o'clock and prepare to attack Chenzhuang at 5 o'clock.
"Sir, what should we do after we rush in?" Banlong asked.
"No one will be left alive." Basai replied calmly.
After the moon went down, the sky was dark. The Qing army strictly guarded the camp and did not give the people in Chenzhuang any chance to attack at night. In the darkness, the Qing army had finished breakfast and waited for the sky to light up before marching in formation.
Basai has already arrived at the tent, and all the generals and officers are seated in the big tent.
"Listen, the late emperor knew that Huo Chong was a traitor and was hopeless, but the Shandong people who were attached to him were even worse. If it weren't for these people, Huo Chong would never have gotten into the current situation. Huo Chong is a bandit, if he killed all the Shandong people, he would have dispersed. There are only two million Shandong people now. We don't need more than one person, just killing forty people will kill them all. What's more, only 20% of the people are men, the rest are women with bound feet, and there are old people and children. It's not difficult to kill them all."
The Qing army generals in the big tent all looked unhappy. They had not expected that Basai would actually propose a massacre. Although they were shocked, no one came out to object.
Seeing that his men's morale was low, Basai told them about Nian Gengyao.
When pacifying Qinghai, Nian Gengyao had just arrived in Xining and his army had not yet assembled. Lobsang Danjin learned of this and led his army to launch a surprise attack and directly capture Xining. Nian Gengyao led dozens of people around him to sit on the city wall, not panicking at all. Lobsang Danjin thought it was a trick and led his army to retreat.
Nian Gengyao ordered his troops to attack the enemy camp. The enemy thought that Nian Gengyao had few soldiers and was not prepared, so they drove the native tribes from Zhuozi Mountain to the front. When the artillery was fired, countless native tribes were killed. When Yue Zhongqi's troops arrived, they attacked the enemy camp directly. Lobsang Danjin was defeated and fled, leading only a hundred people to escape.
"Nian Gengyao dealt with Qinghai and Tibet by using barbarians to control barbarians. This time when we pacify Shandong, we must use Han people to control Han people. This place is still far from Linzi, and we cannot escort so many Han people away. We will kill them all first. When we arrive in Linzi, we will do this immediately..."
As they talked, the day dawned. Basai didn't say much. He had been in many battles and knew that it was useless to just talk about killing someone. Only after actually killing someone would he know how to raise the knife and do it.
After assigning the tasks of attack to each group, Basai shouted to the generals, "Go quickly. If you hesitate for even a moment, I will not let you off!"
None of the generals dared to look at Basai at this time, they lowered their heads and went their separate ways. Basai sat firmly in the central army tent, waiting for news from all directions.
Chenzhuang is located in a large flat land, so there are roads on all four sides of the village. Banlong was responsible for attacking the east side and first sent people to overturn the roadblocks. As soon as he approached, he heard gunshots. Several people who approached were immediately knocked to the ground. The rest of the people fled back in a flash.
Banlong was not in a hurry. He immediately ordered his men to bring cannons and start firing at the fortifications.
These cannons were all very new and looked quite shiny on the surface, but the gunners were not very skilled and fired more than a dozen times without even hitting the edge of the wooden fence.
Banlong was a little angry this time, and immediately ordered the artillery to be pushed closer to fire. The Qing artillerymen shouted, pushed the carts forward, and just when they were about 50 or 60 meters away from the fortifications, the guards opened fire again.
Their guns were extremely accurate, and almost every time a gunshot was fired, an officer would fall to the ground. Although the enemy had few guns, they were too fierce. The Qing army could not bear it and actually retreated.
Then, some people suddenly came out from behind the fortifications and headed straight for the dozen or so cannons that had been abandoned. Banlong was shocked. He didn't expect that these people were not afraid of the government troops. He quickly shouted, "Shoot them!"
The Qing army's musketeers were already prepared, but they didn't dare to approach. When they saw the enemy rushing over, they immediately opened fire.
There was a deafening bang, accompanied by smoke. In a blink of an eye, the platoon of guns could no longer be seen clearly.
As the rifle squad continued to fire, they were enveloped in a thick cloud of smoke. They could hear constant coughing in the smoke, and it seemed that they were choking.
Banlong did not stand with the volley of rifles. When the soldiers on the opposite side saw the Qing army start firing volleys, they did not move forward or flee, but fell to the ground.
I thought the group was frightened, but they lay on the ground and crawled forward using their hands and feet. The platoon was already wrapped in smoke, but they just kept firing. The bullets flew over the heads of the people and didn't hurt them at all.
When the musket line could no longer fire, the people on the opposite side had already climbed in front of the cannon. They took out something, and after some unknown treatment, they stuffed it into the muzzle of the cannon. Then they turned around, bent down, and ran behind the wooden fence.
Before the smoke surrounding the rifle platoon could dissipate, these people had already fled back to the wooden fence and hid again.
Just when Banlong was puzzled, he heard a series of explosions. The tampered artillery pieces were already jumping around. Banlong quickly ordered people to drag the artillery pieces back. Instead, they were shot at by the rebels behind the wooden fence, killing and injuring more than a dozen people.
In the end, only two cannons were taken back. When Banlong saw this, his face turned green. I don't know if he was angry or scared.
The barrel of one of the cannons was blown apart, and the remaining part was crooked and uneven like an irregularly cut wooden board.
The other gun didn't seem to have changed much on the surface, except for a large gaping hole in the barrel.
No matter which one it was, whether the muzzle was blown to pieces or the barrel was blown to pieces, the two cannons were completely useless. They couldn't be used even if they were dragged back. As for the cannons that couldn't be retrieved, Banlon didn't dare to think that they would be unscathed.
With such heavy losses in just one battle, Banlong immediately ordered that the attack should not continue and sent someone back to report.
As Banlong attacked, there were gunshots and explosions from other directions. Banlong was unable to break into the perimeter and stopped. The same was true for the other directions. Soon there was no movement. I guess they were unable to break in either.
Soon after, Basai's soldiers followed Banlong's soldiers and ran back. Basai's soldiers unfolded the handwritten letter and read aloud: "Banlong was not doing well in the battle and was afraid of the enemy. He will be beaten with ten military sticks!"
Banlong became anxious when he heard this, but he heard Basai's personal soldiers continue to read: "At this time of the war, we must give Banlong some face. The attack is not going well, and the deputy general is guilty. The deputy general will lead the ten military sticks that should be used to beat Banlong! After the military sticks, if he is still afraid of the enemy and does not move forward, it will be Banlong's turn to be beaten!"
After saying this, Basai's personal soldiers immediately stepped forward and dragged out Banlong's deputy general, pinned him to the ground, removed his armor, pulled down his pants, and started beating him with military sticks. They counted as they beat him, and only let go of Banlong's deputy general after they had beaten him ten times.
When they first arrived, they looked ferocious, but after they had performed their military duties, the guards smiled and said, "Sir, we are all here for official duties. Don't blame us."
Banlong wanted to give these guys a few slaps, but he could only reply, "Got it, you guys go back."
Looking at the back of his personal soldiers, Banlong really wanted to kill them. Without even looking at the deputy general, Banlong gritted his teeth and shouted to his subordinates: "Go again!"
