Chapter 394: Huguang Chishui (Part 3)
The Han scholars of the Qing Dynasty could show their integrity and respect for power when facing officials. This attitude made General Fucha Fuqing feel comfortable. After all, if the servants knew how to serve and keep decent, General Jiangning would want to give them a thumbs up and say "really good servants".
This is just like when you take your dog out for a walk in the 21st century, if the dog is well-groomed, the dog owner will certainly feel very proud, especially if the dog keeps himself well-groomed.
However, General Fu Qing felt a little bit skeptical when he heard that the leader's surname was Zeng. After all, there was a guy , who was also a scholar from Hunan. When he asked the leader Zeng, the leader quickly said that he had nothing to do with the traitor Zeng Jing.
Fu Qing did not say much. Anyone who could still come to serve the court at this time must be a loyal minister. After all, if so many militias gathered together to block Fu Qing's army, Fu Qing would be in great trouble.
With the experience in Hubei, Fu Qing immediately announced that all the militiamen who came would be given "guerrilla" positions.
After the announcement, the scholars in front of him did not look very happy. This made General Fu Qing very unhappy. The scholars could see that there was only a slight displeasure on his face. The leader, Zeng, hurried forward to explain, "Sir, we are scholars, and guerrilla warfare is a military position..."
Fu Qing still cared about the distinction between civil and military at this time. He laughed dryly and said, "You all started to organize the group a few years ago, right?"
"yes."
"A few years ago, the emperor announced the evil deeds of the traitor Huo Chong to the world. At that time, he said that anyone who organized a militia would be given an official position."
"Yes, sir. It was then that we learned of Huo Chong's evil deeds that ruined the world, and we wanted to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin! That's when we started to organize militia."
"That's right." Fu Qing slapped his thigh. "The emperor ordered you to form a militia, and he can only grant you military positions. If he grants you civil positions, it would be a big mistake. The emperor knows how brave you are. You must be good at reading. But how good you are, we have to meet the emperor after you win, and the emperor will talk to you to know. Right."
The scholars immediately understood what was going on and praised Fu Qing for accepting the minister's courtesy and not exceeding the rules. He was indeed a pillar of the country.
Fu Qing felt better after hearing this apt compliment, and continued to introduce the benefits of guerrilla warfare.
The local militiamen came to surrender with their troops and commanded independently. They were all scholars, and it was a great waste of their talents to be the captain. The only position lower than the guerrillas was the hereditary Niulu, and the militiamen were not bannermen. It was too late to change the official system now, so they could only be guerrillas.
The scholars understood what they heard, and it was obvious that they were very familiar with the Qing official positions. Seeing the court's dedication, they expressed their gratitude from the bottom of their hearts. They also expressed their willingness to fight to the death for the court.
Fu Qing did not hide anything and directly told the newly promoted guerrillas that the Chinese army's pursuers were behind them. It would be better to set up a pocket formation, let the Qing army lure the Chinese army to pursue, and then the Qing army and the guerrillas would ambush them.
When the guerrillas heard this suggestion, they immediately praised it as a brilliant plan. Since the militiamen had just joined, the enemy army certainly didn't know about it. With more people against fewer, they would surely win.
After discussing the countermeasures, the guerrillas discussed where to set up an ambush. Fu Qing listened to these people's discussion and felt that it was indeed a bit like that.
After everything was discussed here, Fu Qing first sent someone to check the terrain, and at the same time let the guerrillas rest.
Of course, the guerrilla leaders held a meeting. Some were nervous about the upcoming war, while others ordered people to make patches quickly. The cautious ones were very unhappy to hear this. Leader Zeng shouted, "How can you still be so pretentious at this time! How can you be so shameless!"
When the brother heard someone criticize him like that, he immediately retorted, "War is dangerous, I might be loyal to my country next time. If I die without even a patch, it would seem that the court is sorry for us. You are all very noble, but I am just an ordinary person. I believe that this title is well deserved!"
After being confronted like this, the scholars were speechless. Everyone was a scholar. This time, the various academies in Hunan called everyone to a meeting. Many scholars said that they wanted to eat the flesh and sleep on the skin of the traitor Huo Chong, but they did not bring anyone to participate in the war. Those who came were indeed as written on the big banner, holding the belief that "reading is not afraid of death, and fear of death is not studying."
We are not afraid of death, and now that we are all guerrilla fighters, there is no reason for us to compromise with others.
After the confrontation, the atmosphere became cold. Some people did not want this to happen, so they advised: "I think that although we have never fought a war, we may not lose."
Everyone was a scholar, and they were not willing to believe such words. Although they wanted to believe it, they couldn't say it out loud. They could only ignore him. But they couldn't help but look at it.
He continued, "Everyone, if I win the first place in the imperial examination, why can I win the first place in the imperial examination?"
Everyone thought this was ridiculous and ignored him. Then he said loudly: "Which champion was not chosen by the emperor? The emperor looked at the test paper and recognized his ability, so he chose him. Now we are third-rank guerrillas. Why? This shows that our third-rank ability has been recognized by the emperor! If we were given the title of guerrillas but not in the army, would our training in the past few years be in vain and we have learned nothing? Everyone has read military books and strategies. So, of course we have the ability of guerrillas, otherwise, how could we be the champion?"
If the logic of this statement were put to the Chinese army, they would certainly be laughed to death. But for scholars, at least there is an internal logic. If you are told that you can do it, you can do it, even if you can't. If you are told that you can't do it, you can't do it. Even if you can do it, you can't do it. This logic is in line with the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues for the feudal Qing Dynasty, and it is correct.
The scholars wanted to have support, and now they finally found the logical support that being recognized by the emperor was proof of their ability, and they felt a little comforted. They felt much better.
Chief Zeng was not so confident, but since everyone was like this, he did not say anything inappropriate. After all, since the emperor ordered all places to form militias to deal with the traitor Huo Chong, the gentry in Hunan discussed and proposed to the governor of Hunan that the money for training local militias could be used to offset taxes.
At that time, the Huaxia Army cut off the canal and the grain transport was interrupted. The money was okay, but the grain could not be transported out at all, so the Hunan governor agreed. These gentry originally thought that the court could levy heavy taxes because they had soldiers. At this time, the gentry had the local militia in their hands, which also increased their bargaining chips with the court. They were quite serious about this.
In the past two years, scholars have read some military books and trained some local militia. If it is said that there is no progress in the use of troops, Chief Zeng also thinks that this is also an underestimation of scholars.
The next day, the scholar who wanted to make the patch actually sewed a decent patch on the chest of his gown. Guerrilla, third rank, square leopard patch. The leopard on it was black and white, with the same shape, and lifelike. Everyone looked closer and realized that it was not embroidered overnight, but drawn on paper.
Hunan produces bamboo, which naturally produces good bamboo paper. This man used the finest paper to draw a patch and sewed it on his gown.
Although many people laughed at him, they were envious in their hearts. If I could think of this, wouldn't I be able to do the same?
Although they were nervous, the scholars were also very cautious. When they were in ambush, they followed the instructions of the people sent by the government army. As expected, they saw the government army retreating all the way, and a group of people behind them were chasing closely.
When the group of people entered the encirclement, the "guerrillas" were about to close the net. The Qing army hurried to stop them. Some "guerrillas" listened to the advice, but some "guerrillas" were unwilling to listen. They were already guerrillas, and they were also scholars. There was no room for the soldiers to speak in front of them.
Without caring about that, the guerrilla ordered the militiamen of his headquarters to charge out. These militiamen were taught to yell during their daily training, and when they rushed out, they really shouted loudly. The other guerrillas saw this and could not bear it any longer, so they also ordered the militiamen of their headquarters to charge out.
When these troops gathered together and thousands of them rushed out, the sound of killing was truly deafening.
Seeing that they were surrounded, the Chinese army immediately turned around and rushed back. The guerrillas were afraid of letting the enemy army escape, so they urged their militiamen to run faster.
But the bandits ran as fast as rabbits. Although there were a few fast-running militiamen stuck on the road, they were knocked to the ground by the bandits with three punches and two kicks. The bandits then carried these militiamen and escaped from the encirclement, disappearing without a trace.
Although they failed to destroy the enemy army, they defeated it so easily. The guerrillas who won the first battle could not help but cheer loudly. Their subordinates also cheered and felt that they had made a great contribution. For a time, the cheers went up to the sky and could be heard several miles away.
Yu Qian was the commander of the vanguard. Hearing such a commotion from afar, Yu Qian was really shocked. This kind of commotion must be caused by tens of thousands of people. Have the Qing army's reinforcements arrived?
Yu Qian quickly sent people to meet the spearhead troops, and soon the troops came back. Yu Qian quickly asked about the losses of the troops. However, he saw the troops pushing several people who were tied up up, "There are a lot of people over there, tens of thousands. But they are not powerful. We even captured a few alive."
Looking at the frightened prisoner with a pale face, Yu Qian scratched his head and couldn't imagine what had happened.
At this time, Lei Hu was heading south with the headquarters. As a northerner, Lei Hu felt that Jiangning was already in the south. The local customs, climate and products were all very different from Zhili. But the closer he got to the border of Hunan, Lei Hu realized that the south was just a concept. The area from Hubei to Hunan felt more southern than Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In other words, it felt more southern.
The structure of the houses is different from that of Zhili, the land is different from that of Zhili, the humidity is different from that of Zhili, and even the way people dress is completely different from that of Zhili.
On the way, Lei Hu was even a little worried that he might not be able to complete the task. The trees on the mountains of Zhili were almost all cut down. The forests were only the firewood forests of the big landlords. In other places, there were only lonely trees.
There aren't many trees in central and southern Hubei , but there are many more bamboo forests and trees than in Zhili. As for mountain roads, they are commonplace.
In such terrain, the Chinese army certainly couldn't set up a large-scale battle of queuing and shooting. Huo Chong's latest flexible combat of the columns seemed to have better room for development in such mountainous terrain.
Not to mention, if the Qing army could not defeat them and hid in the woods, the Chinese army could only divide its forces to chase them, and if they were surrounded, it would be dangerous.
What you fear will come true. Yu Qian, the leader of the vanguard, sent intelligence that the defeated Qing army had joined forces with more than 10,000 Hunan militiamen, and the number of troops had recovered to more than 30,000.
