Chapter 198 Arrange the bait to catch the golden ao
.Mianxin is honest and suffers too much loss, so he will naturally have more experiences and lessons. With the Yellow River as a barrier and the orders of the coalition headquarters, he will be happy to watch the fire across the river.
Li Hongzhang is not good. He is still a "chiver" who has just debuted. How can he know so much about the depth? How can he win the favor of the master's book without making a few great achievements in the war? How can he become famous? I, Li Hongzhang, is not the way of the sky bridge, and he can only say that he cannot practice.
As soon as the full-scale war on the south bank ignited, Li Hongzhang handed over all the useless trivial matters to Ruilin, who was disgusting, to take care of them. He himself devoted himself to a comprehensive analysis of the situation in person, using the information network that frequently traveled between the north and south of the Yellow River, and using the continuous contact with the Russian Allied forces in the east, striving to seize every moment on the battlefield at any time and look for opportunities that he thought might be opportunities.
With the large-scale offensive of the Red Second Front Army on the opposite side, the "Red Bandits" in Shandong were also extremely arrogant. Jinxiang, Jiaxiang and Yutai County were weak, and Jizhou was lost. Lanshan County was a little while, and Yizhou Prefecture was gone again. Juzhou, Fei County, Teng County, Mengyin, Zou County, and Qufu fell one after another. Yanzhou was defeated one after another. Caozhou Prefecture's "Red Bandits" were rampant, Tai'an Prefecture was in an emergency, and the provincial capital Jinan Prefecture was also in danger.
Most of the Shandong is full of "Red Bandits" and their followers. The Qing soldiers had no power to fight back. They were really defeated. If they did not stop the arrogance of the "Red Bandits", they would completely fall south of the Yellow River, and the Qing Dynasty would be in danger! Li Hongzhang felt really distressed.
The skill was not in vain. God was very good and gave him a chance to serve the Qing Dynasty, and it was a great opportunity.
Li Hongzhang targeted the Red Fourth Army that attacked and opened the seal.
To the east, the "Red Bandits" are trying their best to take over Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. There are no large number of "Red Bandits" regular troops outside Caozhou Prefecture. Another main force of "Red Bandits" in Henan has completely moved to Luoyang. According to Mianxun, the main force of "Red Bandits" in Luoyang has the intention to cross the Yellow River from there.
As far as he knows, the "Red Bandits" in Kaifeng's book was once fought to the death and killed the main bandits of Hubei Governor Shu Xing'a. Now the commander of this army is Yang Fuqing and Shi Zhenlun. If they are eaten up in one fell swoop, they can not only inspire the morale of the Qing soldiers who are in panic and helpless, but also blame the world and have no fighting spirit. They will strengthen the will of officials from all over the country to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty. They can also mobilize the "Red Bandits" in Luoyang to disrupt their deployment of crossing the river. This is not inconsistent with the overall strategy of ensuring that the Yellow River is not lost. Of course, there is more important, and he can also become famous in one battle. He feels that his status is already quite good, but what is lacking is a military merit that can convince people.
The opportunity for a general to become famous is not something that is sitting and waiting for. It depends on his extraordinary wisdom and talent. With his years of military career, he has searched and captured on the ever-changing battlefield. Li Hongzhang firmly believes in this. However, he still seems to have forgotten one thing, where did he have many years of military career?
The fourth army of the "Red Bandits" is only 20,000, and there were 3,000 defenders in Kaifeng City. In addition, there were more than 5,000 soldiers who retreated into the city. Zhengzhou had more than 5,000 troops. Together, the civil rights of Qi County and the civil rights were not all in the hands of our Qing Dynasty. As long as the reinforcements were raised, the "Red Bandits" would be attacked from all sides. However, the thousand people in Caozhou could not move, just in case. After such carefulness and comprehensive calculations, Li Hongzhang immediately felt relieved. He seemed to have seen the beautiful empress dowager in the Forbidden City, which would definitely be very touching.
He immediately sent someone to write to the new Henan Governor Wu Zhenqi who was hiding in Zhengzhou to "supervise the war", hoping that he would go out to Zhengzhou to assist Kaifeng immediately. He also sent a letter to the Henan Admiral Shuanglu, who was struggling to guard Kaifeng. He sincerely hoped that he would consider the ten thousand years of the Qing Dynasty and persist in the last few days.
Afterwards, Li Hongzhang urgently mobilized Zhou Shengbo's troops, the 13th Assistant of the Zhongyi National Salvation Army, who was a mobile force, quietly crossed the Yellow River from Puzhou, entered the Dongming of Caozhou, and rushed to the rear wing of the "Red Bandits" under Kaifeng City through Lanfeng County. He ordered his other two capable generals Zhang Shusheng and Liu Mingchuan, who were stationed in Yuanyang and Fengqiu, to be ready to cross the Yellow River south at any time. As long as the war develops smoothly, he will immediately pounce across the river and catch it hard.
When getting off the ship in Dongming, Zhou Shengbo took the first sign brought by his brother Zhou Shengchuan as the vanguard and immediately led the army to the front line of Kaifeng without stopping. The rescuers were like putting out fires, which could not be delayed for a moment.
Like Li Hongzhang, Zhang Shusheng, Zhang Shushan, Zhang Shuping, Liu Mingchuan, Pan Dingxin, Wu Changqing, Tang Diankui and Tang Dingkui brothers, Zhou Shengbo and his brother Zhou Shengchuan also made their mark in the recruitment of the Loyal and Righteous National Salvation Army.
Everyone knows that the Zhongyi National Saving Army is well treated and has a high position. If you can get a single official or a half position there, you can reach the top. In today's world where soldiers are popular, abandoning literature and going to the military is far faster than the imperial examination after studying hard. However, it is not easy to enter the Zhongyi National Saving Army. First of all, you need military merit. Of course, this kind of military merit is different from what is usually said, and it is more similar to the "vote letter", that is, whether you have a good record of killing thieves. This is not something you make up by you, but it requires joint guarantee recommendations from local gentry and government officials. Only those who have such conditions are qualified to enter the capital for written examinations, interviews, and other selections.
What to do in the interview? The foreign language test is of course not English. Russians do not speak English, so Russian is a must-take the subject. If you give you a day, you must be able to memorize the pre-examination's sentences to you fluently, and it is almost impossible. Only in this way can officials at all levels be selected learn Russian in a short time and communicate with the consultants.
It is said that there are still many "very capable" candidates who are ruthlessly washed out because they failed the foreign language. There is no way, is it hired for the exam? It is fair competition. After layers of checkpoints, the one who can stand out in the end is of course the loyal "talent" of the Qing Dynasty who can eat special imperial grain.
The "vote of fame" of Zhou Shengbo's brothers was very pleased by the superiors. He had a total of six brothers. As soon as the Taiping Army entered Anhui, in order to gain the opportunity to make a name for themselves and to honor the ancestors, the six brothers organized a village warrior in their hometown of Anhui to fight against the Heavenly Army.
In the Yangzhou defense of the Heavenly Army and on other battlefields, we have seen the crazy faces of their brothers. During the repeated madness, his brother Zhou Shenghua and his three younger brothers successively became the sword ghosts of the Heavenly Army. Although it seemed very unfortunate, it was because of this kind of hatred that the surviving Zhou brothers had a temporary glory. After repeated selection, Zhou Shengbo relied on Li Hongzhang's strong recommendation in front of the Russians and became a second-rank co-ordinator who was equivalent to a general in the past.
The brother was promoted overnight, so his younger brother would not suffer any losses. According to the policy of the chief officer of the National Salvation Army, the first was the leader of the camp, and then the Biao Tong. Zhou Shengchuan was also content with his satisfaction. This official came too quickly and he didn't dare to think about it in his dreams. Now it has become a reality. This is all due to the blessings of the Empress Dowager Yingming and the Qing Dynasty, and fortunately the favor of the Russian Lord. Even for this, the Zhou brothers also wanted to be horses and dogs to repay their empress dowager, their Qing Dynasty, and the Russians.
In Kaifeng City, the Henan Admiral Shuanglu, who had just received the letter of encouragement from Li Hongzhang on the north bank, had not yet had the time to be happy. Shi Zhenlun led the Red Thirteenth and Sixteenth Divisions to open the Renhe and Lijing Gate east of Kaifeng City, and Nanxun Gate south of the city, and roared into the city.
The city was in chaos, with scattered soldiers and brave men everywhere. Shuanglu took his remaining commanders and horses to retreat from Nanxun Gate and defeated the whole city on the north side of Longting. He worked hard to support the remnants of the defeated soldiers and the eight banners in the city.
Besides, the governor of Henan Wu Zhenqi, he was hiding in Zhengzhou to find an opportunity to flee north. Wu Zhenqi never had any illusions about the development of the situation in southern Yellow River. In his opinion, the court was so vicious that he wanted them. What is delaying the offensive of the "Red Bandits" is that he just treats Henan's officers and soldiers as scattered bags that block the flooding of rivers and throws them away at will.
The soldiers have no fighting spirit and the generals have no fighting spirit. Kaifeng and Luoyang are in a tight position. It’s not that he doesn’t want to rescue them, but that he can’t send people out at all. When he mentions going out to rescue, look at the soldiers and generals in the city, all of whom are pale and their lips are purple, as if they are going out to rescue them. It’s no wonder that in Henan now, there are no people who are not afraid of the devil-like Red Army? If the general of Zhengzhou, Huali Yasson, hadn’t deliberately walked a little slower on the road when he reinforced Xiangyang last year, he wouldn’t be wandering in front of him today. Even this powerful general, Huali Yasson, who has always claimed to be a hundred nostalgic, is afraid that his opponents will be in the Bone Book, let alone others.
After receiving a letter from Li Hongzhang, Wu Zhenqi felt an indescribable feeling. Is it joyful? It seems that it is not, timid? It seems a little bit. However, there is still a glimmer of hope. What hope is it? It is also hard to say. No matter what, this time, he finally saw that Yasuno had a little angry on his face. It would be better to save Kaifeng, if he could eliminate the "Red Bandits". Even if he could not be eliminated, he could escape the Yellow River in the chaos and never stay here and wait for death.
Wu Zhenqi handed over everything from Zhengzhou to the magistrate of Zhengzhou, and then gathered Fu Biao in the city to practice courage, plus the Zhenbiao people in Hualiyasu, and pieced together less than 4,000 people. It was also considered a mighty escape from Zhengzhou City. With the robbery that could not be stopped along the way, he rushed to Kaifeng.
After capturing several city gates in the east and south of Kaifeng, the two divisions led by Shi Zhenlun continued to clear out the Qing army in the city. Yang Fuqing and Zhang Suimu each led a division of troops to retreat from the battlefield.
Chapter completed!