Daming kill

Chapter 229
After eating and completing a brief pre-battle mobilization, the leggings were checked again, and the troops immediately started marching. The urgency of the situation did not allow them to waste too much time.

They wanted to enter the vast mountains in the west of Xingguo Prefecture, go deep into the control area of ​​Ke and Chen, and then directly attack the villages where they lived. The journey was very long and the task was very arduous.

But what is strange is that the marching speed of the troops at this time is obviously not as good as before, and the phenomenon of disconnection is everywhere, and the roars of the squad leaders also start to erupt like a volcano.

Luo Xiaoliu knew why, but there was nothing he could do except worry.

He believes that the situation introduction and combat mobilization chosen by the regiment and company commander are very lacking in consideration, and they ignore the differences in the group of subordinates.

If all or most of the officers and soldiers are like him, they have received long-term training and combat experience, and have a certain sense of belonging to the current group, of course there is no problem, and the effect may even be very good. .

But the problem is that the ordinary soldiers in his battalion are all recruits who have only been recruited for more than a month or even less than a month. Strictly speaking, most squad leaders and deputy squad leaders should still be considered recruits and have only participated in the capture of Qizhou. a battle.

This has led to soldiers generally lacking a sense of belonging and responsibility, and lacking the will and confidence to fight vicious battles, let alone go deep into the hinterland of the notoriously vicious native barbarians.

Luo Xiaoliu could easily feel the panic and fear of the soldiers, including some squad leaders.

Although the soldiers could only obediently follow the brigade under the control of a sound organizational system and backbone forces, and the selected squad leaders could continue to perform their functions, the entire team still couldn't restrain the passive procrastination and Heavy steps.

The battalion of the third regiment was also similar.

According to Luo Xiaoliu's knowledge, the strength of the backbone of the platoon is not as good as theirs, which should be the main reason why the third regiment was not taken out as the main force to counter the rebellion.

At this time, the gap between the first battalion and them was reflected.

After only marching for a while, the first battalion saw a large distance from the two battalions, and became a trance shadow at the foot of the mountain ahead.

And Han Jiu, the supreme commander of their temporarily formed troops, is probably also very anxious. He almost completely ignored the problem that the other two battalions were left far behind. The meaning of military speed.

There is only one battalion left in Fuchi, and the situation is indeed urgent.

Suddenly, the first battalion stopped and soon burst into bursts of cheers. The bewildered Luo Xiaoliu and his squad leaders instinctively urged the troops to speed up the pace after looking at each other.

Then, as soon as they approached the first battalion, an excited regimental staff officer ran back and forth with several signal soldiers to deliver a shocking news to them loudly
It turned out that a detachment of cavalry stopped them and brought a battle report.

Last night, Zhang Qing, commander of the cavalry battalion, commanded the cavalry unit that was assembled urgently to raid and defeat the thousands of soldiers and horses led by two rebel native officials to attack Zhiyangxin County, Xingguo Prefecture, in an open valley. One escapes one dies.

cheer!

The two originally sluggish battalions soon cheered, the once expressionless faces were replaced by smiles, and the oppressive atmosphere was swept away.

Although according to General Li Ping's latest order, they still have to go straight to the headquarters of the rebel leader, and they have to divide the troops to implement it simultaneously in order to fight faster.

But the troops that started to move forward again were united at a surprisingly fast speed. Luo Xiaoliu's battalion and the battalion of the third regiment were able to keep up with the first battalion without any urging.

Victory seemed to change everything in an instant.

However, Luo Xiaoliu, who knew his footsteps, knew that the morale of the troops that had been procrastinating had indeed increased and the speed was only one aspect, and the other aspect was that the first battalion had slowed down.

When the mission is no longer urgent, there is no need to exhaust the troops, the safety and integrity of the troops and the ability to complete the mission are rising to become a higher priority.

Before the troops who planned to divide the troops walked the final common road and separated, some blood-stained cavalry and local indigenous mountain people joined in again. They came to lead the way and cooperate with the action as planned, but they came much later than planned.

However, this ignited the mood of the troops again.

Those blood-stained cavalry were part of the cavalry unit that defeated the rebels last night, and part of them were from the reconnaissance company. The raid last night was not in the original plan.

Their arrival strongly proved the authenticity of last night's victory and further encouraged the troops' belief in victory.

According to the division plan, Luo Xiaoliu's battalion and the two companies of the first battalion will continue to be led by Han Jiu, and they are going to attack the native village of the escaped native official surnamed Ke.

On the other side, the deputy chief of staff led by the third regiment led the other two companies of the first battalion and the battalion of his own regiment to attack the native village of the killed native official surnamed Chen.

As a specially reserved backbone elite unit, the first battalion did not have three companies or even four companies under its jurisdiction due to different reception of troops like other battalions dominated by recruits. The one-battalion and four-company system, so it is just divided equally, and it also ensures that there are enough elite forces in each army.

Luo Xiaoliu had long seen the very haggard Zhao Dongdong among the cavalry who arrived later, and Zhao Dongdong was still in his team after the division, but Luo Xiaoliu never left his team to greet him.

Luo Xiaoliu knew his duty, and knew that now was not the time to disturb Zhao Dongdong, so he just watched silently from behind.

The sharp-eyed Zhao Dongdong also spotted Luo Xiaoliu, and he also didn't say anything. He had no energy or mood.

His task was difficult and most tiring.

Although the march was less rushed, and despite the general optimism of the troops, the long and almost mountainous march that required concealment once again sapped the hard-won morale.

The troops continued to climb mountains and ridges, and walked on the rugged mountain paths that were not inhabited.

The next day, the same journey continued.

Everyone is out of breath, everyone is exhausted, the ambition that was once ignited has long been extinguished, and only depression and numbness remain.

But this is war, and if you want to take the initiative and achieve surprise, you must learn to march and get used to marching.

Military operations are actually more of marching.

Fortunately, that night, Luo Xiaoliu's team finally arrived at the village of the local official named Ke, and everyone, including the recruits, began to long for a fight.

But they did not launch a night raid.

In unfamiliar mountainous areas, night raids are not a good choice. The backbone group of officers with rich training and combat experience and the fried noodles that do not need to light fire allow them to continue to hide well.

The fighting took place early in the morning the following day.

Although the stockade to be attacked is not only very large, but also a fully enclosed fortress, when Luo Xiaoliu walked at the front of his spearman company with a spear in his hand and approached the stockade surrounded by smoke, what he saw was the stockade. Few and panicked faces on the wall heard the chaotic sound of gongs and drums in the village, as well as all kinds of fear and hoarse shouts.

He thought that today's battle probably wouldn't be too difficult.

The enemy obviously didn't discover them in advance, the enemy was obviously terrified in the battle the day before yesterday, and the enemy's vitality was obviously greatly damaged.

Sure enough, they did not receive any long-range attacks when they lined up to approach the stockade, which greatly ensured that the recruits maintained their morale and maintained a tight and orderly offensive formation.

Even several warriors of the first battalion held up their shields and placed an oversized gunpowder bag under the thin wooden gate and successfully ignited it before withdrawing without causing any casualties.

This made the blunderbuss company of the first battalion, which was preparing to implement strong fire cover, completely cover the loneliness.

This further confirmed the confusion, weakness and bewilderment of the enemy.

With the sound of the explosion that shocked both the attacker and the defender, the cavalry rushed in along the collapsed gate of the village in the smoke, and then the horns sounded, and then another company of the first battalion reached Luoyang. The whole battalion to which Xiao Liu belonged also started to rush inward.

Han Jiu's tactics are very simple and brutal, very direct and fast, not only does not give the enemy any time to react, but also does not leave a way out for himself.

When Luo Xiaoliu nervously led the whole platoon into the stockade, there was still no effective and organized resistance in the stockade, and it was obvious that there were not too many middle-aged men, and there were more panicked women, half-sized men and women. The figures of the old men running around in panic.

Of course, occasionally there would still be two or threes of middle-aged male soldiers rushing towards them in disorderly manner with ferocious expressions, not knowing whether it was bravery or stupidity, and then they were beaten to the ground by them.

Such a one-sided battle is definitely the best training ground for new recruits.

The recruits quickly changed from nervousness to excitement. One-sided killing was the easiest way to arouse human ferocity, and the order to kill all those who dared to resist let go of their hands and feet and unleashed their courage.

Luo Xiaoliu has no interest in chasing down and controlling those ordinary women and weak villagers, he no longer needs or cares about such military exploits.

He consciously led the whole platoon all the way to the center of the village, trying to search for the largest and most magnificent house.

But he was still a step too late.

Soon, Luo Xiaoliu heard the soldiers of the battalion in front shouting excitedly that they had captured the leader of the rebels, and when he hurried over, he found a disheveled man being dragged like a dog to the dirt road in the middle of the village.

Amidst the fearful nods of the villagers whose necks were tied with knives, the unkempt man's head was directly chopped off with a few knives and he was picked up high with a spear, and then a group of soldiers surrounded the provoked The heads of the people started to walk along the road in the village and shouted like a parade.

……

At noon, Luo Xiaoliu ate his best meal in a while, and it was almost all meat.

All the pigs, chickens and ducks in the stockade were caught and roasted, and the whole stockade was filled with the smell of meat.

Although this may seem a bit ruthless, it is the greatest kindness.

Except for the native official surnamed Ke himself, his children, and the villagers who resisted, no one in the village, male, female, young or old, including relatives of native officials who gave up resistance, were not killed.

"Punish only the chief culprit, his parents, children, and stubborn people, and not affect the public" is Li Ping's serious and earnest order.

Expanded military killings and bloody intimidation cannot fundamentally solve the problem, and may even lead to a deep quagmire of war with the aborigines in the mountains, which is not in Li Ping's current interests.

Even Luo Xiaoliu understands this very well.

In addition to the native village, there are a large number of native official families and their offshoots, as well as villages that are intertwined with the native official family. They shouldn't be entangled here for too long regardless of whether they can kill them or not!
But most of the recruits don't understand this kind of benevolence, and they take it for granted to kill grass and roots and kill the three clans.

They haven't killed enough yet, and they feel a little omnipotent.

However, the squad platoon leaders who directly control them strictly enforced the military orders and did not complain. Naturally, they did not dare to be presumptuous and reckless. And enjoy the meat on.

Taking advantage of the time when his subordinates were excitedly chatting and feasting, Luo Xiaoliu went to find Zhao Dongdong with a large piece of grilled, fragrant and fat pork chop.

But when he found Zhao Dongdong, he found that Zhao Dongdong was snoring loudly.

Luo Xiaoliu stayed quietly by the side for a while, then picked some clean leaves, wrapped the pork chops and placed them beside Zhao Dongdong, then turned and left.

(End of this chapter)