Chapter 332: The Siege of Jiangning (VI)
The governor-general is a first-rank official. He is responsible for governing the military and civilians, managing the civil and military affairs, selecting officials, and maintaining the frontiers.
This was the authority of the Governor-General of the Qing Dynasty, which was already a very high status in the Qing Dynasty. However, the Jiangning General was a different system. The Qing Dynasty had 14 garrison generals, and their status was higher than that of the Governor-General.
Shengjing, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Suiyuan City, Jiangning, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Jingzhou, Xi'an, Ningxia, Yili, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Uliastai. These 14 generals held the power of life and death and were only responsible to the Qing emperor.
Jiangning General Fucha Fuqing was one of the 14 garrison generals at that time. General Fuqing's actions were no faster than the vanguard. Although he had decided to occupy Jurong, he had not yet reached the landing position provided by his staff.
At this moment, a small boat carrying a letter came up the river. General Fucha Fuqing received the report and was shocked after reading only two paragraphs.
The vanguard officer wrote frankly that there might be spies from the Chinese Army in the Qing Army. Or, in other words, some people in the Qing Army had already defected to the Chinese Army.
After making such a simple and clear accusation, the vanguard officer wrote down the reason, "I have seen the rebel newspaper, which talked about the plan of the government army..."
Fu Qing read a few paragraphs and soon came to the part about the Qing army's surprise attack on Jiangning City. If an ordinary person read it, he would probably be amused by the first two paragraphs.
The Chinese army had devised a method of attacking the city. For example, the Qing army could line up, walk to the city of Jiangning, and bang their heads against the wall together. As long as the number of bangs was sufficient and the Qing army's skulls were strong enough, theoretically the city wall could be destroyed in dozens or even hundreds of years of bangs.
After such a funny statement, the Huaxia Army thought that the Qing Army was not so stupid and they would take more effective measures. Then came various offensive means.
Fu Qing was not amused at all. He quickly skipped this description and read the more serious statement later. The method of using the Qing army's internal supporters in Jiangning City to break through the city gate was indeed the Qing army's plan.
Seeing this, there was another accusation from the vanguard. Fu Qing was a little confused. Although it was normal for the Chinese army to see through such a plan, the Qing army did not have a better way, so he really hoped that the Chinese army would not see through it. Seeing that his plan was exposed, he naturally felt that he was being calculated.
But Fu Qing also knew that he couldn't order a search for any traitors at this time. In the end, he could only order that all troops were not allowed to leave privately and to keep military secrets.
At this time, the Qing army's vanguard officer had already given up the siege. He wrote this letter, and of course he was shocked and angry. However, he knew in his heart that he was unwilling to take the risk again. If he could not come up with a more terrifying excuse, he would have no excuse for staying at the gate of the city.
In order to avoid appearing to be sitting still, the vanguard officer still sent out troops to start "searching for rioters" in the west of Jiangning City.
At this time, shortly after the autumn harvest, the vanguard officer let the insider lead the way and entered various state-owned farms of the Chinese court. They saw that the land here had been harvested, the houses were empty, and almost nothing was left.
Even if they didn't catch the rebels, these empty houses would provide a place for the Qing army to live. The troops first settled down in places with roofs, and the Qing army's vanguard officers began to collect food.
The insiders were all landlords and gentry, and they immediately made excuses. The vanguard officer was not willing to indulge them, so he immediately sent troops to collect food and grass from their farms.
Unable to take down Jiangning City, the vanguard officer felt that he could always deal with some rural landlords and gentry. After all, the landlords and gentry were Han Chinese, and the vanguard officer was a Manchu. Even if these Han Chinese went to complain, the Manchus had nothing to fear.
After resting for two days, the troops sent out by the vanguard officer came back and reported, "Those people don't have much food at home."
The vanguard officer was furious and shouted, "What nonsense! You must have not searched carefully enough!"
The person sent over hurriedly explained, "Sir, we have searched several times. There is not much food in those warehouses, and we have brought it all back this time."
The vanguard officer certainly didn't believe it. "There hasn't been any natural disasters this year, so how could there be only this much? Did those people eat all the food?"
"Sir, those people said that they sold all the food to the city."
"Bring those people here, I want to question them!"
The next day, all the landlords and gentry from the west of Jiangning were brought in. Seeing the fierce look on the vanguard officer's face, these landlords and gentry immediately knelt down and begged. Some of them were smart and quickly explained.
In the past generations, the sale of grain was very stable. The sellers had a limited amount of grain, and the buyers could not buy too much.
Unless the buyers of grain have some special sales channels, there will be a situation where a large amount of grain is lost during storage and transportation.
However, the Chinese army in Jiangning City was like a fool, buying up large quantities of grain, and the landlords and gentry sold the grain.
When the vanguard officer heard this, he was furious and shouted, "Why are you selling it? How dare you sell it!"
The landlords and gentry dared not say a word. They were all smart people and had already seen that the vanguard officer of the government army had gone a little crazy. At this time, what he did was entirely for his own benefit, and then he took advantage of everyone.
Many landlords and gentry were already thinking about how to get out and never deal with the Qing army again. Although the Huaxia army in the city were all traitors, they were still evil traitors under the banner of nationalization of land. However, at least those Huaxia army traitors would not do anything to everyone just because of their personal likes and dislikes.
Compared with the vanguard officers of the government army in front of them, the Chinese army rebels were like the King of Hell, and the vanguard officers of the government army were like little devils. It really fits the saying that it is easy to see the King of Hell but difficult to see the little devils.
A few days later, Fucha Fuqing led a large group of troops to disembark in a place further west of Jiangning. Someone suggested that the Qing army directly take a boat through the river north of Jiangning City and head straight to Jurong. Fuqing was worried that the Huaxia army had an ambush, so he took a more cautious approach.
The army did not move, but the food and fodder went first. This time they were going by water, and the food and fodder were transported to the landing site at the same time as the army. Fu Qing called the vanguard officer and asked him to send his men to move together.
A total of 120,000 troops were dispatched this time, and 50,000 arrived first. Fu Qing ordered 30,000 troops to go around Jiangning and head to Jurong.
The vanguard officer took the order and immediately talked about the current situation. Fu Qing was also puzzled after hearing this. It was not strange for the landlords to sell grain. However, it was really puzzling that they sold the grain until only enough for them to eat until the next harvest.
Fu Qing knew that most things in war were hard to understand, so if he wanted to understand them, he should first deploy his troops to a place where he could control them. Putting aside what the vanguard officer said, Fu Qing ordered the Qing army to move out.
The scouts sent out from the city have confirmed that the Qing army has arrived. All the generals requested to leave the city to surprise attack the Qing army. Lei Hu felt that if he were a few years younger, he would make the same choice, but now he would not think so.
Feeling somewhat smug, Lei Hu tried to answer calmly: "Thus, a good fighter will establish an invincible position and not lose the opportunity to defeat the enemy. This time, all the people have been transported into the city, and our army has established an invincible position. As for the Qing army, let them jump."
The generals were not so calm. Some suggested that eliminating some enemies now would help to dampen their morale.
Lei Hu disagreed. "Since our army is bound to win, what's the harm in letting the Qing army get more arrogant now? Victorious soldiers win first and then fight, while defeated soldiers fight first and then win. Our top priority is not to defeat the enemy, but to obey the court's instructions and keep the Qing army outside Jiangning City."
Seeing that others were still trying to raise different opinions, Lei Hu interrupted their attempts, "The governor repeatedly said in the military academy that those who are good at using troops cultivate morality and uphold the law, so they can make policies that determine victory or defeat. I didn't understand it before, but later, after doing more practical things, I realized how difficult this statement is. What are the major problems encountered in defending a city? Everyone has studied this in the military academy, tell me."
Seeing that Lei Hu was using his position to pressure others, the generals did not dare to say anything for the time being. They could only answer reluctantly.
When defending a city, the defenders need to pay great attention to manpower, food, organization, information, and hygiene.
Lei Hu really remembered what he heard, so he told the current situation in Jiangning City based on these key points. While he was telling the story, someone outside hurriedly came to ask the person in charge of the logistics department to deal with the matter. Although the person in charge of the logistics department didn't know what was going on, he knew that his subordinates would not make a fuss, and Lei Hu's story was really unpleasant, so he went.
After two or three hours, the person in charge of logistics came back and called the person in charge of security. When the person in charge of logistics and security went away, everyone had some bad associations.
Just as he had finished what needed to be said, after the meeting Lei Hu went to see what had happened.
No one dared to hide the truth from Lei Hu, and soon, Lei Hu arrived at a granary. At this time, the granary was brightly lit, and he saw a soldier in military uniform lying dead on the ground. Although he didn't know how long he had been dead, his body had not rotted. Instead, because the air was relatively dry, the body looked a bit like a mummy.
Lei Hu saw several areas circled with chalk on the ground, one of which was a candle that was less than half burned. There were also several spots of dried blood on the big iron door with a rubber air cushion at the entrance. It looked very tragic.
The person in charge of the investigation was called in for questioning, and he explained the situation to Lei Hu. This person must have been locked in and couldn't get out, and the cause of death was suffocation. Before he died, this person used the candle in his hand to find the location of the door and knocked desperately.
The people outside had no idea that there was someone inside, and since there was no one at the door, they naturally didn't hear anything. The bloodstains were probably from the man's desperate attempt to grab the door in an attempt to escape.
Lei Hu frowned when he heard this and was about to blame the people in the granary for being so careless. The person in charge of the investigation said, "Commander, this man doesn't look like he was locked up accidentally. If he was locked up, he wouldn't have a candle in his hand."
"Ah?" Lei Hu was stunned. Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. If he was imprisoned accidentally, he should have the Chinese Army's windproof lantern in his hand, not a civilian candle.
"Could it be... that they came here to steal food?" Lei Hu felt that something was wrong.
The investigator continued, "I don't know what this guy is thinking. And, Commander, this guy has braids. He deliberately stuffed them into his military cap."
Lei Hu knew something was wrong, and immediately ordered, "Check carefully to find out what's going on!"
Soon, the entire army began to count the number of people. The troops in each camp gathered separately, and orders could be heard everywhere in Jiangning City.
"Everyone, report your numbers!"
"One", "two", "three", "four"...
"Report, there are thirty-four people in my platoon, and the actual number of people present is thirty-four!"
"Report, I have 34 people in the queue, 32 are present, and two are on sick leave. I have sent someone to go."
"Report, a patient in my platoon has been confirmed to be ill and is resting in the camp."
Starting from the most basic platoon-level units, the intelligence was reported layer by layer. At night, the intelligence was reported to the headquarters. All the troops were present, and no soldiers were missing.
Since no one was missing, the man with braids and military uniform was most likely a suspicious person from outside. The logistics department had retrieved the records from the grain depot and quickly determined who was in charge. They began questioning him overnight.
After a day of hard work, I had a general understanding of the overall situation.
At this time, the investigation department handed over the latest breakthrough to everyone. A knife was found on the ground in the granary, and a sack was found that was cut open from the inside. There was a small object in the sack that could hide a person. After investigation, it was roughly determined that the deceased hid in the sack to enter the granary and then came out of the sack.
Rat droppings were found in a bamboo tube found on the ground, and after searching the entire granary, the corpses of several small mice were discovered.
Piecing these together, it looked like an enemy spy was trying to deliberately sabotage the granary contents.
Lei Hu looked unhappy, and everyone involved in the incident in the headquarters also looked unhappy. Seeing the depressing atmosphere, the logistics director said, "It seems that the comrades in charge of ventilation in the grain depot were right. After using that method, not only rats, but even insects can't survive. They really didn't lie. "
Even though they knew this was true, they were not satisfied. At this time, the person in charge of the investigation made a suggestion. Since they already knew how and when this person died, they should investigate all the people involved during this period of time.
Lei Hu listened quietly, and after listening, he asked the case officers to leave first. Then he said to the participants: "There is a traitor among those people!"
The voice was not loud, but everyone looked gloomy. If this person sneaked in like a thief, they would be amazed at his ability, but it was an external invasion after all. However, Lei Hu revealed something that no one wanted to touch upon, that is, there was a traitor within the Huaxia Army.
The head of logistics knew that he had to speak up when everyone was silent. After all, this incident happened in the logistics department. However, he felt heavy-hearted when he had to take action against his brothers. "Alas... We are all old brothers in the logistics department, how could there be traitors?"
The head of the security department heard this and saw that everyone else was looking at him. He felt that he was under tremendous pressure and retorted: "This is not something that anyone can guarantee. With things getting to this point, someone must have sent this person in."
The logistics manager said unhappily, "It may not be our own doing to send someone in."
"Tsk!" The head of the security department couldn't help but be amazed.
Without waiting for him to speak, Lei Hu said, "Can you explain this in more detail? The teacher said that if many things are not explained in detail, they will seem to be pervasive. As long as you are detailed enough, you will find that there is only a tiny hole where the problem occurs."
Although everyone was angry, they knew it was not the right time to take it out on their own people. They started to sort out the time.
This is what the people in the General Staff are best at. Of course, in the continuous work, the General Staff also understood one thing from the ruthless blow of reality, that is, plans cannot keep up with changes.
However, this time we are regressing according to what happened, that is, regressing according to reality. This is much smaller.
Based on the time of each report, the distance and the walking speed, and the testimonies of different people, the blackboard lists the action tracks of the various departments involved with time as the main axis.
Everyone initially found it troublesome. Because at first, no matter how you looked at it, everyone seemed suspicious. However, as the content became richer, things started to look different. People who were originally considered suspicious began to be excluded.
However, after this deduction, a surprising result emerged. That is, no one was suspected.
The logistics manager breathed a sigh of relief. Although he felt that something was wrong with this result, it was acceptable. At least no one had any problems, which meant that there were no traitors among the old brothers. The old brothers were all good people, which was what the logistics manager hoped for the most.
However, the head of the security department frowned. If no one was a suspect, then could this guy have appeared out of nowhere?
No one in the meeting room said anything for the time being. Everyone wanted to say something, but they were afraid to say it. At this moment, a young man broke the silence, "Commander, if nothing went wrong at this time, could something have gone wrong earlier?"
Lei Hu turned his head and saw that it was Yu Qian. Looking at Yu Qian, Lei Hu felt a little complicated. Although everyone thought that Lei Hu was Huo Chong's apprentice, Lei Hu actually knew that he was just a very outstanding student among many trainings. In other words, he was an outstanding student among so many students.
However, Yu Qian was sold because of the disaster, and Huo Chong bought Yu Qian and his brother. So Yu Qian is Huo Chong's disciple, and he really kowtowed to him. Now Yu Qian is already a military advisor and a graduate of the military academy. His future is really limitless.
The head of the security department asked in confusion: "Officer Yu, what do you mean by this?"
Yu Qian explained: "Everyone has sorted out so much, but this sack was not packed here. When I passed by the warehouse, I also saw some sacks that were packed in other places and then transported here."
The logistics manager slapped his thigh and said, "Yes! That's true!"
The head of the security department couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. This was the point of contention between the two sides. The grain was believed to be packed outside the warehouse and then transported directly into the warehouse. If something went wrong, it must have been someone inside.
If there was a person already hidden in the sack and the transporter didn't know about it and transported the person in, that would be another matter.
At least it can prove that there may not be a traitor among the old brothers.
Lei Hu saw that the tense atmosphere between the two sides had subsided a lot, and patted the table, "Come on, sort it out again!"
