Traveler Major League

Chapter 174 Xi'an

A dozen or so officers and soldiers were sitting around the woods by the Baishui River, resting and drinking their horses, and there were more officers and soldiers hiding in the bushes, with only a pair of eyes showing. Passing through a grove of locust trees, there are a few officers and cavalry figures standing guard on the top of the small slope in the distance, which cannot be seen clearly from a distance.

"Battalion Commander, what should we do?" The soldier hiding in the woods on the other side of the river, out of sight, asked Chao Zhongchen, who was watching with binoculars. They came to investigate the movements of the officers and troops. A few days ago, the [-] officers led by Wu Guofu retreated at night, but failed to be bitten by his cavalry battalion in time. After being criticized by Liu Ze, he held back his anger and insisted on destroying this army It must be done.

These cavalry of the Sichuan Army are all serious frontier troops, not from Sichuan, but transferred from Xi'an to cooperate in the battle. They basically ran away when they saw it, and wandered outside the attack range of Chao Zhongchen's cavalry, like a dog's skin plaster.

"They're weak, let's just say that we can chase after them, and they can keep running?" Chao Zhongchen held the binoculars with both hands, and unconsciously rubbed the brass hoop on the tube, with a beard on the corner of his mouth Pointing at the strange gesture, "Order to gather, and destroy them first."

After giving the order, the few of them led their horses and retreated from the forest. In the depression behind the forest was the majority of the cavalry battalion. After many fights, Chao Zhongchen finally realized that his previous method of spreading out his troops was extremely inadvisable.

Just like the last time the officers and soldiers escaped, the [-]-man cavalry companies couldn't stop them at all, even if each company had about [-] rifles, they couldn't form a joint force. This is also the current change in Liu Ze's army. In a decisive battle, as long as a small number of core officers and troops are defeated, the rest is basically hunted down.

Behind the hillside are three reinforcement companies and the platoon directly under the battalion headquarters. This is all the remaining troops in the battalion after sending out a large number of sentries. The reinforcement companies here are 150 cavalry with a large establishment. The core of their combat effectiveness is to hold guns There are more than [-] people in the company, and the other combat capabilities are uneven, which is why each company has such a large establishment.

Chao Zhongchen recruited several company commanders, and said softly, "What the scouts said before is correct. Sure enough, there is a group of officer cavalry here. There are more than 100 cavalry. We have to destroy them all."

These company commanders nodded one after another. Like Chao Zhongchen, they held back their anger. They took a few stones and set up a simple sand table. After assigning their respective tasks, they divided into three directions to investigate Swimming across the river in the shallow water, he quickly surrounded the officers and soldiers on three sides.

The official cavalry scattered on the hillside were the first to spot the popular army cavalry that had entered the offensive formation, and the horn sounded, but it was too late. The cavalry attack speed in three directions far exceeded the time when they were fully armored. A company killed the scattered detection posts, rushed up the hillside in their respective directions and continued to attack down.

Some of the smart sentinels of the officers and soldiers ignored the others and escaped from the gap, but most of the officers and soldiers did not have that chance. The rifle cavalry at the forefront of the offensive formation, they first went uphill to attack the officers and soldiers in the forest. Shooting, this burst of gunfire wiped out more than half of the dozen or so cavalry who rushed up from a distance, and the rest ignored them and ran towards the Baishui River one after another.

The three cavalry companies present a goose-shaped formation, which is different from the traditional wedge-shaped formation that is better at breaking infantry formations. The goose-shaped formation is a formation that imitates the flying geese formation. It can form attack surfaces on both sides of the enemy, which is more conducive to the use of rifles and firearms. , any officers and soldiers within the flanking range of the wild goose formation will be attacked from both sides. For example, in modern machine gun deployment, it is a typical wild goose formation. As long as two machine guns are deployed on both sides of the enemy's attack, the maximum firepower can be exerted. Advantage.

Under this blow, one-third of the cavalry of the officers and soldiers were killed or injured, and they collapsed one after another. Swimming away, when Chao Zhongchen, who had already been in ambush, led dozens of horses to the opposite bank of the river, nearly two hundred officers and soldiers in the river were in despair.

Facing the soldiers of the People's Army surrounding them on both sides, these officers and soldiers could only be captured without a fight. After cleaning the battlefield, they found that one-third of the cavalry of the officers and soldiers were concentrated here, and all of them were wiped out in one fell swoop.

Seemingly amazed at the fighting power of the civilian army cavalry, the official army cavalry who were still wandering around Pucheng County all retreated to the vicinity of Huayin like frightened rabbits and joined Hong Chengchou's brigade.

On March 10,000th, after eight or nine days of trekking, the People's Army's [-]+ brigade finally left the mountainous area and entered Pucheng County. The whole team was like a giant beast. Fuping County was captured, and the rear team was still in Pucheng, a hundred miles away.

At this time, the people's army was divided into three major structures. The most elite battalion of riflemen was attached to an artillery company, a cavalry company, and [-] militiamen, replacing Chao Zhongchen's cavalry battalion as the offensive forward. The cavalry battalion is used as a wandering force, and these have concentrated a small half of the elite of the People's Army.

The Chinese army is led by Liu Ze, the core of which is the workshop equipment and technical personnel, plus the old battalion for the old and the weak, women and children, all of them continue to concentrate in Fuping County, which will be used as the logistics base for attacking Xi'an. The militia formed by Wan Qingzhuang is guarding the surrounding area. Unless Xi'an is successfully captured, they will stay here permanently.

The rear army is composed of nearly [-] militiamen. They have not left the mountains yet, and are responsible for continuing to mobilize personnel and materials in the mountains. However, the delay will not be too long, because the official army of Yan'an Mansion has begun to mop up the civilian army forces in the mountains, and dispatched The army brigade came to aid Xi'an.

At this time, Liu Ze no longer cared about the internal affairs of each militia company. Each militia company was organized into a thousand-man battalion, and battalion commanders and instructors were dispatched to manage each militia battalion. Company-level commanders remained the same. the core of people.

Such a large-scale march of the people, and most of the people are untrained, so there are rules in the march. Every afternoon, each team and each battalion will send one person to the headquarters (Liu Ze) to discuss.

The actions of the entire army are based on the opinions of the headquarters led by Liu Ze. They are stationed wherever they are ordered, and they are transferred when they are ordered. Power is highly centralized.

When marching, you must prepare to set off when you hear the crowing of the rooster. At the start of the line, the headquarters will let the Propaganda Department led by Cheng Mo hold various activities, such as singing military songs and small tunes in Qin opera, etc., to relieve the tension of the soldiers. Mood and morale.

During the march, the banner of the headquarters was in front, surrounded by the rifle battalion and artillery battalion, and the workshop and other teams followed in turn.

There are also arrangements for the marching order. Sometimes the first two militia battalions are in front, the fourth and fifth teams are behind (responsible for cover), and the sixth and seventh teams are rushing on both sides. The rest are in the middle, and there are cavalry led by Wang Youyuan on the periphery. It will greatly improve the safety factor in the march.

This is also the exercise of marching in the mountains in the past ten days. Generally speaking, the militiamen are responsible for guarding, guarding, and digging fortifications to earn money, while the core cavalry and riflemen are responsible for fighting and fortifying. The most important workshop technicians, equipment and food Following Liu Ze's headquarters.

During the break at noon, the Chinese army as a whole is also in an orderly manner, adopting the strategy of a collective big pot meal, and a special cooking company is responsible for the food, boiling water, chopping firewood, chopping vegetables, and cooking. In addition, the army implements The principle of uniform food standards for everyone, even Liu Ze is no exception, but because the officers have heavy tasks, it saves them the time of queuing up, and the cooking team reserves the meals in advance.

When each team rests during the march, the headquarters will send someone to raise a flag at the intersection and shout loudly: "A certain team is here", and the team will go to that road.

On the second day, the order will be adjusted again, every day, and so on.

The militiamen also paid great attention when setting up the camp. They set up the camp with fire as a sign, and put a fire pile in front of the bed at night, and a large fire pile in front of the main gate.

This is done to prevent night attacks by officers and soldiers and chaos in the camp.

Once they are stationed for a long time, the militia will set up a guard post in advance, and the sentry will choose one person for each team, and watch from the heights.Once you see any movement, notify Tang Ma and the main force behind.

In this way, during several raids by the cavalry of the Ming army, the people's army was already prepared, so they often stole chickens without losing money, and were chased by Wang Youyuan's cavalry, causing heavy casualties.

The People's Army also distinguishes between ordinary people, and it does not simply kill and loot.When encountering rich and unkind landlords, gentry and wealthy households, all their property will be squeezed out and then they will be executed in a public trial to put an end to the habit of private executions.

Whenever they encounter doctors or skilled craftsmen, the People's Army will not kill them, and usually save their lives to ensure the safety of basic life and property.

Skilled craftsmen, such as tailors, were incorporated into the tailor team, silversmiths into the silversmith team, and blacksmiths into the steel factory and weapon manufacturing plant, trying to make the best use of everything.

Even the unskilled elders were not spared, and they were all taken away. The unemployed vagrants were incorporated into the grain hunting team, the stupid and powerful were incorporated into the horse grass, and the strong and fighting people were given horses and swords.

And those who can't fight don't kill and loot easily, so they are coerced, but they are not allowed to leave privately. Once they are found to have left privately, the escapers will be beheaded immediately. strict.

As a result of such rules, the entire team has become larger and larger. After capturing two counties, the number of people is still expanding. For example, before reaching Xi'an, there are tens of thousands of new recruits, which vary every day. Even Liu Ze only knew the approximate number of people.

However, they are still positioned as the coerced ones. They did not form a militia, but just broke up and used it as a labor force. They are far less trustworthy than the militia in the Luochuan County camp.

On this basis, the People's Army also recruited a limited number of deserters with rich combat experience, deserters, and surrendered soldiers.The military discipline of these people is extremely poor, but they still have combat effectiveness. They are organized into combat companies with pure cold weapons and assigned to rifle companies. Tests in actual combat show that even these combat companies are more effective than ordinary militia companies. At the very least, they are all veterans who know how to fight in battle. According to Liu Ze's plan, these people will be entrusted with important tasks after they travel through time.

Fuping County is adjacent to Jushui in the west. At this time, there are various waterways that have not yet dried up in the Ming Dynasty. A large number of peasants here are working hard to dig trenches and build new bastions. The militiamen who supervise the work are standing around guarding To prevent these coerced people from escaping, it is the same as the scene of other forces working on projects at this time. The only difference is that there is a propaganda team led by Cheng Mo to perform agitation, and the workers will also get enough food. People who are full will die in batches, and all core figures know the importance of population to Liu Ze.

"Let's work harder, old and young, and repair the fortress. Our commander said that each person will be paid ten catties of millet, and they will be able to eat and work every day. They are much better than the officers and soldiers. As long as we take Xi'an, every day Everyone can share [-] mu of land, and they will have enough to eat every day." With a kind smile on his face, the propagandist walked back and forth on the construction site to describe a beautiful blueprint for the future, and his voice was extra loud because he was afraid that others would not be able to hear clearly. .

There are fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls singing folk tunes on a high place with a paper megaphone, and old men singing Qin opera, making the whole construction site very lively, and by the way, promoting various programs of the mass assembly. And good treatment for joining the People's Army, etc.

After so many days in a row, the civilian husbands who thought their lives were in jeopardy finally put down their guard. After all, compared with the corvee of the imperial court, these soldiers of the people's army are too kind, and they don't rob money and looting (the food still needs to be concentrated), and they don't want to lose money. They don't beat people or kill people. Although they coerce and control their personal freedom, they still have to eat and listen to ditties. In their years of hard life experience, this kind of hope for a better life is unique even if it is a big cake.

"Brother, can we really be allocated land after we finish?" An old man asked with his head raised to cover the glare of the sun. His single clothes were covered in patches, he was skinny, and he couldn't tell the exact age. He was obviously the poorest of the poor. A person like this, Cheng Mo, can see him from his throat to his asshole at a glance, which is too experienced.

Cheng Mo recalled the rich forests, grasslands and rivers in Hongmaoman's land, nodded lightly and said, "Is it possible to lie to you, our people's army has settled a piece of land, there are not many people in that place, and there is no disaster, what do you think?" Unexpectedly good."

"Before, our commander said to invite me to eat fish and chicken. When I arrived, I saw that the pot was empty, and the basin was also empty. I wondered why there was nothing when I was invited to eat fish and chicken."

"Guess what?" Cheng Mo stroked his shiny black beard, waiting to hear the questions of the peasants he was talking about. Sure enough, the curious peasants stopped their work and asked, "What?" "The commander teased You?" "Did you go at the wrong time?"

Cheng Mo laughed, "It's not right, I didn't expect the commander to go out to the river with a ladle and scoop it into the river. Hey, there are a few big fish in the ladle. Once they were beaten in the woods, two of the pheasants passed out, this is really a good place with rich products."

"Really? Where else is this kind of place in the world?" someone asked.

"Hey, Nai Weng can still lie to you? This is what I saw with my own eyes. If I lie to you, then I will let God give me five thunderbolts." Cheng Mo cursed with his hands on his hips, "Hurry up, just listen to your ears, don't hold your hands." Stop, take down the Xi'an Mansion earlier, and go to divide the land earlier."

(End of this chapter)