Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 157 Preparations before the war

After Yunhua pushed Liu Qing down, he used bamboo poles to tie him into a cross, propped up Liu Qing's official uniform and took it back.

There were many kinds of official uniforms in the Qing Dynasty, and different official uniforms were required for each different occasion. Some minor officials who had just come to Beijing to take up their posts even had to rent official uniforms to keep up appearances, because official uniforms were very expensive.

For example, the set of clothes that was stripped off Liu Qing had a top bead on the hat that was a sapphire bigger than a finger, and it was inlaid with some tiny rubies around it. The peacock pattern on the clothes was also embroidered with gold and silver threads.

Such a set of official uniform is worth at least several hundred taels of silver, and officials' clothing is divided into several types, such as court dress, auspicious dress, daily dress, travel dress, etc., and it is also divided into winter and summer seasons. If two sets of one kind of clothing are made, then more than twenty sets of clothes will be needed.

"Our Liu Qingtian's clothes are bright and luxurious, he really deserves the name of Qingtian!" Chen Gu said sarcastically.

"Maybe our Liu Qingtian only has this set of good clothes for going out?" Lao Piao said with a smile.

Chen Gu nodded and said, "It's not impossible. I'll give you one more task. After you take Chengdu, go to Liu Qing's house and search it to see if he is truly honest or just pretending to be."

"How are we going to fight this river crossing battle?" Lao Piao asked with a frown.

Chen Gu thought for a moment and said, "Send soldiers to dig trenches along the banks of the Naxi River!"

"Now?" Lao Piao looked at the sky which had already darkened and asked in surprise.

Chen Gu nodded and said, "Right now, the enemy's Eight Banners soldiers have many muskets and artillery. Digging trenches in the dark can reduce a lot of casualties!"

Although the range of a shotgun is only about a hundred meters at most due to its lack of airtightness and its accuracy is poor, the Naxi River is only twenty to thirty meters wide, and it is actually very dangerous to build fortifications on the river bank.

As for why Chen Gu did not dig the trenches in advance, it was mainly because he was afraid of leaks, which resulted in the navy not daring to sail the warships into the Naxi River.

Now, except for the two flying dragon ships, all the dozens of ships of the entire navy have entered the Naxi River and docked on the opposite bank.

At this time, Chen Gu only needed to block the river mouth to block all the ships in the Naxi River.

What about the 1,000 Eight Banners soldiers, 1,000 Green Camp soldiers, or the navy on the other side who escape after landing?
Let them run away. Without the boat, they can’t run fast.

Chen Gu was not afraid of them escaping. The reason why he wanted to block the boats in the Naxi River was mainly because he was afraid that they would find that they could not defeat him and had no way to sail upstream to defend Chengdu. At that time, they would choose to go downstream to attack Jiangjin County.

Although Chen Gu did not think that their limited military force could capture Jiangjin County, they could still cause incalculable losses to Jiangjin County.

Jiangjin County is Chen Gu's base. Not only are the core Buddhist treasures in Jiangjin County, but what is even more rare is that the major families in Jiangjin County have agreed to distribute the land equally, which means that Jiangjin County is developing in the direction that Chen Gu expects.

Chen Gu would naturally not allow any accidents to happen in Jiangjin County at this time, and any threats would be nipped in the bud.

At this time, the soldiers had already eaten snacks, and it was the best time to exercise. Chen Gu first asked the cooks to cook again, and then led the main force to the Naxi River to dig trenches. The 1,000 soldiers of the Fobao headquarters were divided into 50 snipers, Yunhua's 150 special companies, 300 veterans, and 500 main forces converted from logistics soldiers.

Although the 500 logistics soldiers are divided into different types of soldiers such as cooks, transport soldiers, and fortification soldiers, each of them is equipped with an engineering shovel.

Due to technical limitations, the engineer shovel designed by Chen Gu cannot be folded or disassembled, but the serrations on one side and the blade on the other side are retained, so the engineer shovel can not only shovel soil, but also kill enemies. It is definitely a weapon.

The soldiers liked this kind of engineering shovel very much, so even after the logistics soldiers were transformed into the main combat force and equipped with rifles and bayonets, they still did not give up the engineering shovel.

Anyway, a shovel is only two or three pounds, and not much more with the wooden handle, so it can bear the weight. Having an engineer shovel is very useful. Not only can it be used to build fortifications at any time, but when it is necessary to fight with cold weapons, the engineer shovel is actually better than a bayonet, at least the attack distance is longer.

Snipers, special forces companies, and veterans, together with 500 people, defended on high ground, and 500 engineering shovels dug the ground face to face, and the trench sank very quickly.

Chen Gu chose to dig the first trench two meters below the river bank. He dumped the excavated mud and sand downwards and built a parapet in front of him. The width of the trench only needed to be one and a half meters, which was enough to ensure the safety of the soldiers while limiting the attacking enemies from crossing in one step.

The second trench was on the river bank and was dug by Feng Yuanqiao's Sword and Shield Battalion. Countless passages were dug between the two trenches to ensure that the soldiers could quickly evacuate from the first trench to the second trench at any time.

Although the possibility of an attack by the enemy's forces was not great, Chen Gu still made sufficient preparations. After all, a soldier needs a one-meter-wide space to operate. Even if there are only 500 soldiers deployed in a trench, it is still a trench 500 meters wide.

In addition to the width extending on both sides, if the enemy concentrates their attacks on one point desperately, it is not impossible for them to rush up without machine gun defense.

On the opposite bank of the river, Yang Kui was observing the situation with a telescope. After a while, he could not see anything. So he frowned and asked the generals around him, "What are the rebels doing?"

"In reply to the Governor, the enemy army is digging defensive trenches because they are probably afraid that our army will attack them." One of the generals replied.

Yang Kui thought for a moment and said, "We only have 3,000 soldiers, and we have sent 300 naval officers to the Chishui River. After the bandit army joins forces, we will have 2,000 soldiers. The remaining 1,000 are the main force of the bandit chieftain. Is it necessary to dig trenches to defend against our army?"

"Not good. The enemy army may have realized that there is no hope of escape and wanted to attack Luzhou City to get supplies before putting up a last-ditch fight. They are also worried about being attacked by our army while sieging the city, so they dug trenches for defense!" someone speculated.

Everyone else couldn't help but sigh. Yang Kui smiled bitterly and said, "It's a pity that our army has more than enough defense but not enough offensive power. I'm afraid Luzhou City will not be spared!"

"It is actually a good deal to exchange the city of Luzhou for the execution of this official!" someone whispered. This was actually what everyone thought. Their strategic goal was to trap Chen Gu to death in Luzhou.

If Chen Gu knew what the other party was thinking, he would probably laugh to death. Digging trenches is indeed for defense, but it does not mean that you cannot attack at the same time.

Just like when Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall, many people in later generations thought that Qin Shihuang only did it to defend against the nomadic peoples in the north. But would a person like Qin Shihuang be someone who would not fight back?

The reason why people spent so much effort to build the Great Wall was essentially to build a bridgehead for attack.

(End of this chapter)