After the concise military parade, it was already dark, and Magong Port presented a lively scene. The bonfire was blazing, more than 300 slaves returned to their homeland, and after landing on the shore, they gave incense to the gods, and the female slaves sang and danced, danced merrily, and shook their waist-high long hair, to bring good wishes to the Qing warriors.

Thousands of long-term husbands carried goods, of which 500 long-husbands were recruited by Li Guolou from Shandong. The other 500 Changfu were formed by the militia of the Nanyang Naval Division, and their leader was none other than Huang Qiying.

Huang Qiying's "Bao Zhilin" opened in Beijing was crushed by Hu Xueyan's "Hu Qingyutang" and ended in a dismal operation. After that, he returned to his hometown of Foshan to continue to open "Bao Zhilin", and the business was decent, and the family had no worries about food and clothing. After Huang Qiying lived a peaceful life, he wanted to serve the country, so he came to Fujian to find Ding Richang.

Huang Qiying knows martial arts, is proficient in medical skills, and has some skills. Ding Richang made Huang Qiying the head of the militia of the Nanyang Naval Division, which was under the jurisdiction of Shen Baozhen.

Shen Baozhen was born in the imperial examination, and he was quite repulsive to people from the left side of the door, and from the beginning he regarded Huang Qiying, the "head of the militia group", as a foreman who did chores. This is also a common problem of officialdom, the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty was controlled by literati from the imperial examination, and if you have no merit, don't want to rise to the top. Now there is only one outlier in the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty, that is, Zuo Zongtang, but Zuo Zongtang was admitted to the examination, and he was only one step away from being promoted to the rank of scholar. Zuo Zongtang is the dragon and phoenix among people, and the Jinshi who was born in a professional class is not as knowledgeable as Zuo Zongtang.

Huang Qiying was under Shen Baozhen's door, and he was not willing, and the militia of the Nanyang Navy Division was the Changfu organization, which used big swords and spears, and was not armed. It wasn't until Li Guolou gave Shen Baozhen a check of 500,000 taels that Shen Baozhen knew that Huang Qiying was Li Guolou's relative and a genuine "nephew". Shen Baozhen immediately looked at Huang Qiying with admiration, and reused Huang Qiying, and the famous regiment of the Nanyang Naval Division began to be armed with a regular establishment.

Shen Baozhen had money in his hands, so he learned from the Xinwu Army, and on the premise that he could not expand the Nanyang Naval Division, he organized and trained the militia organization and trained the militia into an army.

Today, the 500 Changfu led by Huang Qiying is the army of the Nanyang Naval Division, which can be used for landing operations, and the only drawback is that this army has no artillery and no accessories on its uniforms.

"Vulture Eagle" Chen Shuang stood majestically beside Huang Qiying and asked in a low voice: "Huang Jiaotou, Li Guolou didn't invite you to the meeting?" ”

Huang Qiying glanced at him and said, "Captain Chen, the chief has an order, take care of your own dinner, and the meeting will start at twenty-two o'clock." ”

"Yes! Li Guolou is a busy man! I wonder what he's eating? Chen Shuang swallowed his saliva, and it seemed that dinner was salted fish and tofu rice again.

The food stored on the ship is not green vegetables, and most of the vegetables are potatoes, corn, soybeans, red dates, and other foods that can be stored for a long time, and the meat is pickled food. Canned food is a high-class item that can only be enjoyed by the wounded and those who have received meritorious service awards. When the fighters came ashore, they wanted to eat fresh food. However, tonight I am afraid that I will soak in the soup, or according to the menu on the ship, the three things, brown rice, salted fish, tofu, and at most a piece of salted meat.

"It doesn't matter what we eat, we came to Taiwan to fight, if Li Guolou asked us to carry buns. Hum! Huang Qiying sneered twice, as if Li Guolou was afraid of him.

Huang Qiying is the remnant of the Taiping Army, after the Tongzhi Emperor conquered the world, he retired to the rivers and lakes, disappointed in the early morning, and did not want to serve the country. For this reason, he also kept a distance from Li Guolou, but with the dream of a strong country, he saw that Li Guolou had made the Westernization Movement impressive, and the country was thriving.

This time, the Nanyang Navy Division militia came to Taiwan to fight, and Huang Qiying Mao recommended himself and asked Li Guolou for his life, so he got the opportunity to go on the expedition. The morale of the 500 Nanyang Navy Division militia was high, and they wanted to compete with the Japanese army.

Huang Qiyingcai didn't care how Li Guolou used this militia group, he wanted to fight a war, and he wanted to let this militia grow up in battle with a patriotic spirit. Ci is not in charge of the army, Huang Qiying is a hundred households of the Taiping Army, he is not afraid of death, and he thinks that fighting is desperate.

The military horn for the meal sounded, and Huang Qiying led the 500 militia to re-board the ship, and when they saw the vegetables for dinner, they cheered together. Small details can be seen, there is still a difference between the militia and the army.

Lin Tai once entertained Li Guolou and his entourage, according to the standard of three dishes and one soup.

The meal was served in an aluminum basin, a large pot of fragrant wild boar, a large pot of greens, and a pot of smorgasbord soup.

The officers lined up with their own dishes and chopsticks, and the men carried large basins to distribute meals to everyone.

The only privilege of Li Guolou and other high-ranking officers is that there is too much food in the soup, and the soup is more meat than the lower-ranking officers, so it cannot be the same as the soup that seems to float underwater.

This kind of small action, no one will break the mystery, and the officers know how to eat. Today, the officers rushed to serve the rice happily, and pressed the rice with a rice spoon, and they couldn't wait to add two bowls of rice to one bowl. Then a bowl of chowder soup was served, just like a festival, and the officers ate sweetly.

The actions made by Li Guolou and Bai Langning are no different from those of ordinary officers, and the action of pressing rice with a rice spoon is very skillful, and they are veterans at first glance.

"Master, add another bowl of soup." Li Guolou handed over the soup bowl seriously, and when he saw the wind making the rudder, he put two pig's feet and paws in the soup. Li Guolou wanted to say that a pig's foot paw was enough, but he didn't have many mouths, and eating it in his stomach was nutrition. Everything has privileges, and he sits here to eat, which means that he shares weal and woe with all the officers and soldiers, and no one eats more pig's feet than him.

After eating and drinking, the officers of the New Armed Forces lined up to wash the dishes, and then handed over their own dishes and chopsticks to Goshha, who was close to them. The officers of the Changsheng Army did not have to use their hands, and the used dishes and chopsticks were cleaned by the personal orderlies.

As the commander-in-chief, Li Guolou does not have to worry about many things, and many matters such as prisoners of war and slaves are not under his control. Whether a soldier eats well or poorly is not up to him, but depends on the actual situation. In an unfamiliar environment, everything is clueless, and the surrounding situation is full of situations, but Li Guolou believes in the ability of his subordinates, even if he sees the situation happening, he will not blindly command, explain it, and let his subordinates deal with it. Li Guolou's duty is to manage the army well and keep the morale of the whole army high.

Li Guolou, Bai Langning, and other senior military officers came to the command room. Li Guolou talked and laughed freely, and he and Lin Taizeng started a family routine. After Li Guolou learned about Lin Taizeng's resume, he said with a smile: "Lin Taizeng, I can't see that you are still a Confucian general at a young age, and you have also studied in the United Kingdom, just like me." Be good at using your brains on the battlefield, be able to defend Magong Port, and remember your first-class merits. The most commendable point is that you can also handle the relationship with Tusi Yabu of the Atayal tribe and Tusi Shu Faran of the Northern Zou tribe, which is very important, save our army from worrying, you quickly send someone to contact, I will meet with Yabu and Shu Faran as soon as possible. ”

Lin Tai was in his twenties, with a thin face, a figure-eight beard, a sturdy body, and a five-foot figure. Growing up in a privileged environment, receiving patriotic education, first going to the UK to study and then transferring to the Mawei Ship Master School, all paved the way for future careers. The cultural knowledge is not outstanding, and the road to the imperial examination is hopeless, so he put pen to paper. Lin Tai was once a descendant of the national hero Lin Zexu, who belonged to the root of Miaohong and was a reserve talent of the Qing Dynasty. The seniors in the officialdom will mention him, and he will have a lot to do in the future.

As the saying goes, the ancestors planted trees, and the descendants enjoyed the shade, which dynasty was the same, a group of officers of the Nanyang Naval Division were all children of official eunuchs, and they were marching forward in a group, one was prosperous, and one was lost. The same is true for Li Guolou, the family is huge, and this is just one step to the sky. Bai Ding is also in a high position, but it depends on opportunities, and it is difficult to respond to every call.

Just like Feng Zicai, who had outstanding military achievements, but was born in a bandit, he was not welcomed, and he was still removed from power by the commander. Feng Zicai still has to rely on Li Guolou's power to return to the political arena.

Although Lin Taizeng was young and had not been involved in officialdom for a long time, he knew the rules very well, and replied respectfully: "Commander-in-Chief Li, his subordinates dare not be greedy for merit, and defending Magong Port is the life of all the soldiers of the 12th Battalion of the Rising Army." He had a good relationship with Tusi Yabu of the Atayal tribe and Tusi Shu Faran of the Northern Zou tribe, which was the credit of Xu Qiusheng, the governor of the magistrate and the governor of Xuezheng. However, these days, due to the problem of food and grass supply, Xu Qiusheng was forced by his subordinates to be anxious and hiding, and his subordinates had to find him out. ”

Li Guolou shook his head and said, "Nonsense! The two of you, one in charge of the army and the other in charge of the people, even if there are contradictions, you can't avoid them! Hurry up and send someone to call Xu Qiusheng, so that the army and the people can win the battle with one heart. ”

"Yes! The subordinates immediately sent someone to find it, Commander Li, you take a sip of tea first, and the subordinates will come back immediately. Lin Tai once looked up at Li Guolou, and the young commander-in-chief made people dare not look up.

Lin Tai once looked for two retired veterans, who had business dealings with Xu Qiusheng, and asked them to go to the town overnight to find Xu Qiusheng.

Lin Tai's admiration for Li Guolou is beyond words. His fellow brothers, Deng Shichang, Liu Buyun, Lin Yongsheng and others, had already blown Li Guolou into the sky. Taiwan's second victory in the naval battle of World War II wrote a chapter of victory for the Nanyang Naval Division. What made Lin Taizeng most excited was that Li Guolou was the richest official and businessman in the Qing Dynasty, and he didn't have to worry about money. The toasts of ethnic minorities are all the masters who see money, what else can't be done if they have money? Patriotic compatriots Atayal and Northern Zou would sell their grain stocks to the Qing army.

The difficulties that Lin Tai once faced, for Li Guolou, there were no difficulties. Lin Tai once changed the subject, talking about the Japanese army's attack on Pingtung and the harassment tactics of the coastline pirates.

Li Guolou and others gathered in front of the model map, looking at the terrain of Pingtung, discussing how to fight the first battle with the Japanese army.

"Lin Taizeng, what should I do if pirates make trouble around?" Li Guolou pointed to the long and narrow coastline, and the harassment tactics of the pirates made it impossible for the Qing army to concentrate the main force, and it was impossible for the main force of the naval division to fight the pirates. Although Li Guolou wiped out a fleet of pirates, there were pirates from other places operating in the vicinity.

At this time, Japan was transformed from a warlord-autonomous shogunate government to a centralized power, and the Diet was in power. However, the local warlords are still very powerful.

The Japanese invasion of Taiwan was the result of a compromise between the central government and the local forces.

Japanese Minister of the Interior Okubo believed that Japan's national strength was far from that of the Qing Dynasty, and Okubo did not support the Japanese army's attack on Taiwan. However, Japan's domestic economic situation was not good, and the government was unable to make ends meet in order to repay the losses of the shogunate, which led to peasant uprisings in various places and local warlords rebelling against the centralized system by force. In order to divert domestic contradictions and strengthen national cohesion, the Japanese army invaded Taiwan.

At the same time as the Japanese army invaded Taiwan, local Japanese warlords followed the ancient tradition and organized non-governmental "exploration groups" to make a fortune in Taiwan, and even invaded the coastal areas of Fujian. But the times are different, the appearance of hot weapons made pirates dare not easily enter the interior, for fear of being surrounded and annihilated by the Qing army, and the fishing villages and towns along the coast, the slightest harassment turned back to the sea.

However, this kind of harassment tactics made the coastal areas of the Qing Dynasty rumorous, containing many Qing troops, and the local economic losses were incalculable.

Li Guolou was ashamed to ask, and pushed the difficult problem to his generals, believing that among the generals under him, there must be capable ministers who govern the world and good generals in troubled times.

Lin Tai was quite distressed, and Li Guolou praised him, but the problem of pirates is a thousand-year-old stubborn disease, and there are pirates in a peaceful and prosperous era! During the war, pirates flocked to Taiwan because they got up early to see the benefits and were supported by the Japanese army. Relying on the forts, he could only keep the port safe, and seeing the coastal areas ravaged by pirates, it was impossible to divide his troops to save the fishing village. Although Lin Tai once had eight warships, they were old-fashioned clippers, and where could he catch pirate ships.

"Commander-in-Chief Li and his subordinates believe that for pirates, it is still necessary to organize the people of Taiwan, form a strict alarm system, build strong watchtowers, and let the people take refuge first if there is an invasion of pirate ships. Our army drew out mobile forces to clear out the pirates who had landed, and sent ships to search for pirate ships at sea. Lin Tai once had a clear mind and retold the experience of his ancestors.

Li Guolou values Lin Taizeng very much, and he is the same kind of person, and he is very satisfied with Lin Taizeng's answer, learning from the lessons of the older generation, and there is no need to be a maverick. Relying on the valuable experience accumulated by our ancestors and fighting a protracted war, we can eliminate pirates.

"Lin Taizeng, you said it very well, but it is not easy for our army's sailors to be dispatched now, so they can only make more fuss on the shore. Can you lead a capable mobile force, rely on the mountainous terrain to establish a garrison point, and coordinate the forces of the Atayal and Northern Zou tribes? ”

"Subordinates, do your best, and you will definitely live up to the trust of Commander-in-Chief Li." Lin Tai once accepted the impossible task, this is the consciousness of a soldier, knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, and he prefers to go to the tiger mountains.

Li Guolou saw his own shadow on Lin Taizeng and appreciated Lin Taizeng's attitude. Shen Baozhen recommended Lin Taizeng to him, and sure enough, after being a loyal martyr, the newborn calf is not afraid of tigers.

At 22 o'clock, the officers in the command room gathered together, and Lin Taizeng first gave a briefing on the battle situation, giving a detailed introduction to the defense of Magong Port and the situation of the local ethnic minorities, so that the new guest troops could understand the specific situation in Taiwan.