Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1028 Going North and Going East

It didn't take long for this reaction to reach Qimu Island, and the reports of various spies sent by Lu Wenyuan were always "no situation found".This made Lu Wenyuan, Chen Sigen, and Zhu Mingxia, who were full of confidence and were only waiting for the start of the action, to become anxious.

According to the schedule, Kong Youde raised the rebel flag on October 10, and on November 31 he led his troops to the city of Dengzhou. Only 11 days passed.It has been several days now, and the spies who inquired about the news on the official road of Huang County should at least get some vague news-such as "someone rebelled". The overlooked strength of the ward.

However, none of the business travelers coming from Dezhou brought such news.

In the twinkling of an eye, it was the tenth day of November, and there was still no news on the road.A group of people can no longer sit still.After urgent consultations, Zhu Mingxia decided to send a disguised scout cavalry—Lu Wenyuan, through Sun Yuanhua's relationship, bought a dozen Mongolian horses from the Dengzhou Army as mounts for the scouts.The Fubo army has always lacked the ability to maneuver quickly in terms of battlefield reconnaissance methods.

Serving as scouting cavalry is not a scout of the special reconnaissance team, but a member of the cavalry teaching squadron from the Northward Detachment.Considering that a lot of horses might be seized in the Dengzhou operation, in order to use them on the spot, a company of the cavalry teaching squadron of the Army Teaching Corps was incorporated into the northward detachment, and one of the platoons has been transported to Qimu Island.

The principle of the use of cavalry in the Fubo Army is close to the light cavalry tactics during the Napoleonic Wars, that is, it is mainly used for reconnaissance, harassment and pursuit, and is generally not used for cavalry combat and breakthroughs. Therefore, cavalry in the squadron are taught to receive reconnaissance training.

Lu Wenyuan looked at the dozen or so scouting cavalrymen in makeup in front of him: they really looked like dicks: a single small businessman pretending to be a caravan running goods, accompanied by a guy leading a donkey.He opened his mouth and spoke Shandong dialect that he couldn't understand.When Lu Wenyuan asked, not all of them were natives of Shandong—they were all specially trained, and all of them were fluent in a dialect.

"They have been training for more than a year, and this time it is a real combat." Zhu Mingxia said, "I originally planned to let them go into battle later, but I didn't expect to use them so soon."

The scout cavalry each had a telescope, a revolver, and two grenades.The cavalry watched and took care of each other, and the difference between the two groups of men and horses was only a hilltop or a distance of a glance.According to the arrangement: send out seven or eight teams in the direction of Texas, search and move forward in three to five levels.

The scouting cavalry searched and marched along the road towards Wuqiao, collecting information along the way.But there has been no useful information.It wasn't until a group of cavalry arrived at Sangyuan Town in Wuqiao County that they got useful news from local peddlers.

Kong Youde's troops had passed through this place and marched northward ten days ago. The chicken robbing incident did happen, but the incident was closed later - the soldier who robbed the chicken and killed him was beheaded, and the uncle of the Wang family no longer pursued it.Kong Youde has already left with his troops.

But what happened next made the local people very scared, because a few days later, there was news that a large village dozens of miles away had been wiped out-although the government said it was done by bandits, everyone said that it was mostly done by soldiers from Liaodong .Several big families in the massacred village had some rich and noble relatives, so the matter could not be covered up. The local gentry jointly went to the county magistrate, and sent people to the mansion to sue these lawless "soldiers and bandits" .

"Is it useful to go to the government for this matter?" The scout cavalry deliberately put on a ignorant look, "Over there in my hometown, the masters in the county don't care if the soldiers kill a few people, and they must insist that the bandits did it. Even looking for the master in the province may not work."

"You are always a businessman who runs away. You have wide eyelids. Haven't you seen anything? We ordinary people were chopped off by the military master. However, several big families died in the village, and several gentry families in this county were hanged. Dear, there is a family that is related to Mr. Wang's family. Mr. Wang can't say that he can't see it--he can't explain it to the folks in the village."

The scouting cavalry didn't dare to delay, and immediately sent people back on their way to report the news to the elders on Qimu Island.

This aroused the worries of the "three people on Qimu Island": the news brought by the scouting cavalry showed that Kong Youde did not raise the rebel flag at Wuqiao as in the old time and space history, but eased the matter by other means.In this way, he would lead the army to continue northward, and in the end he would either be defeated at the Daling River, die or surrender, or because he went further north, the morale of the army was shaken and he went directly to vote for the Manchus.

Once this happens, the plan to use Kong Youde to disrupt Shandong will come to nothing.Many plans that follow will have to be revised.In particular, there are big doubts about whether it is still necessary to occupy Jeju Island.

"Kong Youde is not rebellious, we will force him to rebel!" Zhu Mingxia slapped the table, "Otherwise we will have to go into battle naked."

Chen Sigen said: "Is it okay to use Sun Yuanhua to force him? It would be difficult for Sun Yuanhua to protect him if he slaughtered villages and households like this."

"I'm afraid it won't work. Sun Yuanhua's ability to govern the army is limited, and his ability to restrain his subordinates is not strong, and the old Dongjiang people are regarded as capital by him." Lu Wenyuan shook his head again and again, "Besides, this kind of thing was not uncommon in the late Ming Dynasty, so Sun Yuanhua would not To make things difficult for such a brave general like Kong Youde."

"I think we can only count on the local gentry in Wuqiao. For example, the Wang family." Lu Wenyuan is an expatriate, has received a lot of professional training in history, and has been in Shandong with Zhao Yingong for several months. He is relatively familiar with the social conditions and people's livelihood of Ming Dynasty. After consideration, a new plan was proposed.

Lu Wenyuan continued: "The Wang family is a well-known gentry in Wuqiao, and they are very powerful. The head of this family, Wang Xiangchun, is a key member of the Donglin Party. He was in the "Donglin Points Record" back then, and he was called "the white strip in the star waves of the sky." '."

"Good guy, you're still 'white strips in the waves'! The eunuchs are very talented." Chen Sigen laughed.

"Moreover, Wang Xiangchun has a cousin named Wang Xiangjin, who is the chief political envoy of Zhejiang—and his position is not low. Not to mention these two brothers, just Wang Xiangchun can make Kong Youde unable to eat and walk around."

The question is whether the Wang family is willing to take the lead. Lu Wenyuan believes that the possibility of the Wang family is very high.

Since the uncle of the Wang family is willing to stand up for a chicken of the servant, a village in the hometown was slaughtered, and distant relatives were also involved. Whether it was public or private, their family had to speak out.

"The problem is that it will be a few months before they come out to speak, and they won't be able to catch up."

Lu Wenyuan scratched his head—since he wore his hair in a bun, he couldn't wash his hair often, and often felt his scalp itchy: "That's true."

"The most urgent thing is to find Kong Youde's department, and find out his next move before we can deal with it." Zhu Mingxia said.Originally, their mastery of historical materials gave them a feeling of "one-way transparency" about the battlefield situation, but now Kong Youde's abnormal actions made the "fog of war" once again diffuse.

"Where are they now?"

According to the report of the scouting cavalry, after Kong Youde led his troops to leave Wuqiao County, they walked northward for about twenty miles, slaughtered a large village, and then lost the news.

"... There are still several groups of people searching all the way, and the latest news has not yet arrived."

Zhu Mingxia opened the map and marked the last trace of Kong Youde on the map.From the map, if he wants to continue northward to Shanhaiguan to carry out the task of reinforcing the Daling River, he should go east instead of suddenly going north.To the north, Dongguang County and Nanpi County are far from the route north to Shanhaiguan.

"What did he go to Dongguang and Nanpi for?" Chen Sigen was a little puzzled, "Could it be..." He noticed on the map that these two county towns are on the bank of the canal, "He didn't mean to rob the ships on the canal, did he?" ?”

The Grand Canal is an important north-south traffic route, and there are hundreds of ships sailing on the river every day, which is obviously a very lucrative target.

"No, he dare not do it." Lu Wenyuan shook his head, "If you openly lead troops to intercept the canal ships, that is rebellion..."

"He didn't rebel in the first place."

"That's true."

Zhu Mingxia said: "I guess: Kong Youde went north to Dongguang Nanpi, either intending to make a big deal on the side of the canal, or it was purely a feint."

He thinks the latter is more likely.

If Kong Youde wanted to rebel, he could do it in Wuqiao. There was no need to go to Nanpi or Dongguang. Wuqiao County was enough for him to rob.He avoided Wuqiao County and headed north, which obviously had an element of disassociation. Once the court wanted to pursue it, he could renege on his debt—his route was not going north in the first place.

"...Kong Youde's men are cavalry, and they can move very fast. He can go all the way north, slaughter several villages along the way, make a lot of money, then suddenly turn east, return to the original route and continue to Shanhaiguan. With enough food and grass, cavalry troops can walk 40 kilometers a day without any problem."

"But in this way, wouldn't he stop rebelling in Shandong?"

"There is indeed such a possibility." Lu Wenyuan said, "However, in history, Kong Youde had no intention of rebelling at the beginning, and he himself was forced to participate in the Wuqiao mutiny. The main decision to launch the mutiny was Junior officers and soldiers."

This shows that the rebellious sentiment has always existed in the old part of Dongjiang in Shandong.Kong Youde mutinied in Wuqiao, and as soon as he arrived in Dengzhou, he got the response of Geng Zhongming and other former Dongjiang old people.Throughout the Dengzhou Rebellion, the rebel army continued to receive support from the former Dongjiang Department, and grew rapidly.

"At a deeper level, the mutiny of the former Dongjiang old department is inevitable. Just look at the situation in Shandong to know."

Lu Wenyuan stayed in Shandong for a few months and had a lot of dealings with the church, the government, the army, and the people. In his opinion, the rebellion of the Liaodong Army was inevitable.Shandong's guest army and main army clashed constantly, and the land was barren and the people poor.The gentry are powerful and powerful.The Liaodong Army, which has been excluded and discriminated against for a long time, has accumulated enough grievances, but it lacks a fuse.

(End of this chapter)