Daming kill

Chapter 226
Fang Guoan and Chen Keli were defeated, and Li Ping, who had been closely following the situation in Guangji County, got the news soon.

Guangji County is too close to Qizhou.

Li Ping's scouting cavalry also easily brought back the heads of Fang Guoan and Chen Keli, and at the same time brought back the terrifying scene outside Guangji City.

Thousands of severed heads of officers and soldiers were densely packed and spread over a large area of ​​land, while thousands of headless corpses were piled up into a huge pile of human flesh without fear of the plague.

This is intimidation, and it is also a demonstration.

"The cycle of karma, retribution is not good!" Xu Wenqi sighed.He came to Fuchi with the boat that sent the heads of Fang Guoan and Chen Keli. He knew that Li Ping could not go to Qizhou at this time.

Li Ping was taken aback for a moment, and asked without knowing it, "Why do you say that?"

Xu Wenqi sighed: "At the end of the year before last, Zuo Liangyu beheaded more than 1200 captives in Dongyizhou, Macheng (now in the area of ​​Muzidian Town). This is probably the root cause of the current tragedy outside Guangji County."

Xu Wenqi used to be the prefect of Huangzhou. In 1640, he was transferred to the deputy envoy of Xiajiang Defense Road and stationed in Qizhou.

"Mr. Zuo fought in Macheng? Why did he attack so hard in the small city of Macheng?" Li Ping became even more surprised.

Although Xu Wenqi called Zuo Liangyu by his first name, Li Ping couldn't do the same at this time.

Some people are qualified to be disqualified by others, but it does not mean that you are also qualified to be disobedient along with openly, especially if you are the direct subordinate of the person who was disobeyed.

This is one of the unspoken rules of officialdom, and it is also a big taboo.

The kind of middle-aged people who don't care about their seniority and don't care about any rules are rare or even non-existent in the real officialdom, because that kind of people can't be promoted at all.

"Oh, where do I start?" Xu Wenqi raised his head slightly and began to think.

After organizing the language, he patiently explained: "That's right. The soldiers of Xian Zei and several other thieves have passed through Macheng repeatedly in the past few years. Few people are in chaos.

In order to prevent an accident in Macheng, the martyr Song Governor (Song Yihe) had launched a strong suppression with the surrounding officers and troops the year before last.Among them, Zuo Liangyu contributed the most and was the most ruthless.

Finally, in Dongyizhou, Macheng, Zuo Liangyu's soldiers and horses won the biggest and most decisive victory at that time.Then he directly took the most ruthless action of killing prisoners in order to intimidate, which caused the resentment of Zuo Liangyu among the rioters in Macheng.

It's just that I don't know if any of Zuo Liangyu's soldiers were captured and killed this time. "

Although there is no accurate information to confirm where the peasant army that destroyed Fang Guoan and Chen Keli came from, it is undoubtedly not from Guangji County.

Fang Guoan and Chen Keli have a total strength of about 5000 troops, including a large number of elite troops lent to them by Zuo Liangyu. Such a large and not weak army will be defeated even if it is attacked. , but it should not be a problem to run away most of them in the dark.

However, out of the 5000 people, it was initially estimated that only about a thousand people escaped, and the rest were either captured or killed. This result shows that the number of peasant troops participating in the attack was not only indispensable, but also very elite.

However, according to the capture of prisoners in the anti-sneak attack in Daye County, there were only about 5000 people in the army who had been following Zhang Xianzhong (about 7000 people in the history of Qizhou without Li Ping).

Zhang Xianzhong's own army generally does not participate in the garrison of the cities that have been captured. After they win the city, they often select strong soldiers with certain combat capabilities from the local surrendered officers, bandits, and common people as supplements, and then hand over the city to the remaining ones. That most of the people are stationed.

Only in some important cities and large cities will some or a small number of so-called veterans and confidantes be left under the jurisdiction, such as Qizhou.

This is also the reason why the city defense forces in the areas controlled by Zhang Xianzhong are generally relatively weak.

And Macheng, a place with an extremely special source of troops, was garrisoned by the Macheng native Tang Zhi (appointed as a captain) who had gone to Qianshan, Anhui to find him, with 4000 people, and the rest followed Zhang Xianzhong.

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong's troops who attacked and killed Fang Guoan and Chen Keli in Guangji County can be sure that Macheng people will account for at least half, if not the vast majority.

As for how they suddenly and quietly ran to Guangji County, both Xu Wenqi and Li Ping looked at the map and simply guessed that they should have detoured from the mountainous area north of Qizhou.

"The offering of thieves is not only to please Xinde's Macheng subordinates, but also to demonstrate to Zuo Zongbing and us!" Li Ping was very speechless, and Xu Wenqi's explanation did make sense.

"Yes! It's just that we are in trouble." Xu Wenqi echoed helplessly.It is also difficult for him to tell whether he should regret or be angry about such retribution.

But he glanced at the hideous heads of Fang Guoan and Chen Keli again, and Li Ping was distracted.

He has a feeling of dreaming.

Li Ping always thought that he would inevitably entangle with Fang Guoan for a long time, and he would spend a lot of energy to guard against Fang Guoan's backstabbing.

But now Fang Guoan died like this, so without twists and turns, so unexpected and so simple.

Like an insignificant cat or dog.

Of course, there was another person he had a lot of affection for who died just as easily?
Li Ping has a deep understanding of the impermanence and drama of the war era, and also intuitively feels Zhang Xianzhong's current strength and deceit.

Although it is unclear who the general of the Peasant Army who commanded this operation is, there is no doubt that the ruthless and wise generals cannot escape.

Such a large-scale night attack, but also such a successful fight, is definitely not something that an army with ordinary combat literacy and ordinary generals can achieve.

Zhang Xianzhong's strength is beyond Li Ping's estimate.

"Let's nitrate them with lime and send them to Anqing immediately!" Li Ping sighed.

He could almost imagine how shocked Zuo Liangyu would be when he just started to move around, and he could also conclude that Zuo Liangyu's troops would retreat again, and at the same time he would lose the strategic support that Zuo Liangyu brought him intentionally or unintentionally.

In the end, he still had to bear Zhang Xianzhong's military pressure alone.

Li Ping began to worry about whether he could defend Daye County, and he also had a headache
How to deal with Zhang Xianzhong's main force crossing the river, the increasingly aggressive peasant army in Wuchang County made it impossible for him to determine whether he or Wuchang Fucheng would be hammered next.

The Peasant Army only broke the siege of Guangji on the morning of the 22nd, and Zhang Xianzhong led his army across the river from Yadanzhou (upstream of Tuanfeng) to the south on the 23rd. This was definitely planned early.

At the same time, it also put Li Ping in great danger.

Xu Wenqi left Qizhou, which was already in a semi-surrounded state, and went to Fuchi at such a critical time. He was a little afraid that Li Ping would run away.

But without hesitation, Li Ping gave Xu Wenqi a firm promise that he would fight until he was unable to fight anymore.

Xu Wenqi went back satisfied. He believed in the guarantee made by Li Ping himself, and he had enough reasons to believe that Li Ping was a trustworthy person.

But after Xu Wenqi left, Li Ping was full of bitterness.

He really wanted to run away now, and he was very reluctant to let go of the huge family business he had accumulated with great difficulty.

Take it hard!It is really possible to go back to before liberation.

Although his army is currently undergoing an emergency expansion, and the expansion speed is quite satisfactory, but because the time is too short, the combat effectiveness is actually in a serious decline due to dilution.

Moreover, in order to quickly expand the troop strength, the quality of the newly recruited troops had to be lowered, which led to a further decline in the quality of the troop.

What's more troublesome is that due to the great expansion of the military force, the already tight and extreme logistical support can't continue to bear the original standard for food and clothing, so the support standard can only be substantially lowered.

Ordinary soldiers not only could not eat meat often, but even the supply of ordinary rice had to be limited.

The size of Xingguo Prefecture is too large, and there are too few people who can support them, and their resources are too few.

If food and clothing are not available, the quality and benefits of training will naturally not be improved, and it will even lead to more and more dissatisfaction among the officers and soldiers who are used to being well guaranteed.

This is human nature, and it is also a problem that is difficult for an army without ideals and beliefs to solve.

Why did General Sun Liren's new army look like a completely different army after going abroad to fight and returning to China? Fighting against foreign enemies is not the same as fighting a civil war. But the sharp drop in the level of support and the sharp drop in the proportion of veterans in the army are also very important. A decisive factor that cannot be ignored.

When stationed in India, the security of the New First Army was the responsibility of the Americans.Soldiers can eat half a catty of meat every day. Each meal includes a can of beef, two packs of cereal, biscuits, a vitamin pill, a pack of tea and a pack of cigarettes. Officers also have extra milk, ham, fruit and eggs.

With the belief in resisting Japan, good supplies that you don’t have to worry about, and excellent generals, the New First Army is of course strong in combat effectiveness.

But what about after returning home?
The supplies of the New First Army began to be borne by the Nationalist Government, let alone half a catty of meat for the soldiers, and even their platoon and company commanders could not guarantee it.At that time, the monthly salary of the company commander could only buy two catties of meat, while the platoon leader could only buy one catty.For this, military pay is often issued every few months.

With such a level of support, the training level of the New First Army will naturally drop significantly, and the morale of the army will collapse even more rapidly.

Then the Anti-Japanese War ended, and many people with lofty ideals in the army also left.

According to incomplete statistics, more than 38 members of the new 1700th Division, which was founded by General Sun, retired after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, of which 624 were educated youths and 78 were lieutenants.

For example, Jiang Dazong, a former academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a master of biomedical engineering in China, joined the New Army during the Anti-Japanese War. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, he retired and went to Shanghai Jiaotong University to study.

And this is only for those who have been discharged from the army. When more southern officers and soldiers heard that the troops were going to the Northeast to fight the civil war, they simply asked for long leave to leave the army without going through the discharge procedures.

In the end, except for some veterans, most of the new army that was pulled to the Northeast battlefield were urgently recruited strong men of mixed quality and bad that they had once looked down upon, and their combat effectiveness was severely diluted.

Li Ping's army is in a similar situation now. Although it looks like there are more people, its organizational and combat effectiveness has actually declined, which is even very worrying.

But Li Ping had no other better way.

The defense of the three places must have the basic quantity of troops, which cannot be solved by quality.

Despite the turmoil in his heart, Li Ping also knows that he can keep his word. This is his little stubbornness, and it is also the bottom line of his life and work.

……

After returning to Qizhou, Xu Wenqi said to Xu Keran who was waiting for him: "You can go, Li Guerrilla will stick to this place, you can rest assured. Li Guerrilla urgently needs food, war horses, gunpowder and other war-related materials. The core is food. The more the better, the sooner the better."

Xu Keran's body has basically recovered now, and he arrived in Qizhou after he was almost raised.Now that Zhang Xianzhong is in this state, it is definitely impossible for him to go to Hankou again.

But even though Xu Keran was in Qizhou and had made all the preparations for the return trip, when Xu Wenqi went to see Li Ping, Xu Keran didn't follow him along the way.

Xu Wenqi didn't want Li Ping to feel that he was persecuting him.

"Not to mention participating in politics, the younger one understands the urgency. And Li Gueran has saved my life, so the younger one will definitely do everything possible to buy these things. I think the boss will definitely support it even if he spends all his money." Xu Keran cupped his hands.

Xu Wenqi nodded in satisfaction, and then said: "Take the four-wheeled carriage that Li Gueran gave me, it should sell for a good price! Tell your boss, he doesn't have to worry about losing his wealth, he will only make a lot of money."

"Eh! You don't need this carriage, you just keep it. Nanjing already has it." Xu Keran replied with a suppressed expression on his face.

"Yes! Li Guerrilla has already sold it to Nanjing?" Xu Wenqi said in surprise.

Xu Keran said seriously: "It wasn't Li Gueran who sold it. It is said that this technique came from a general named Li in Zuo Liangyu's army, and it has been continuously improved. It is not uncommon in Zuo Liangyu's army."

"It didn't come from Li Guerzilla?" Xu Wenqi shook his head in disbelief.

But immediately, he stopped struggling and said, "It doesn't matter. Li Gueran sold you refined salt and refined steel, and saved your life like a god. There are too many miracles in him. That's a mystery." The same people. You still have short days here, and as time goes on, you will find more things that shock you. Doing business with him, you will only make a lot of money, and it is impossible to lose the slightest."

This time, Xu Keran desperately nodded his head.

Notes:

In history, Zhang Xianzhong led an army across the river from Yadanzhou on May 23.

(End of this chapter)