Chapter 245: Seize the Door

Wuqiao and Gucheng are actually already in the territory of Beizhili, and they happen to be guarding the gateway of Beizhili into Shandong, if the Qing army enters Shandong, the first to bear the lead is the Jiaozhou battalion.

If there is something on the front line, you can win the battle and pick up peaches, if the situation is not good, there is an obstacle from the people in front, and the general army of Qiu can lead the army to turn in, even if it is to stick to the city of Dezhou, it is better than blocking in front.

Li Meng is not worried about going to Beizhili to play as a striker, but Qiu Lei is in the rear, but it is a trouble, Li Meng has long expected that the friendly army will not help, but it will lead to disastrous consequences in the back, for example, if he cuts off his own food supply, or detains and delays.

Even if the other party has this idea, causing Li Meng to spend a lot of effort to protect the road of logistics and supply, and disperse his own strength, this is what Li Meng is willing to see.

And this time the command center is in the city of Dezhou, the governor, the general soldier, and the eunuchs of the prison army are all gathered together, and they are stationed outside the city, and the other party's order is down, and there will definitely be no good fruit to eat, if you don't go, the other party has a reason to find trouble for yourself, since Li Meng is here this time, he doesn't want to give himself a reputation for disobedience, which is the target of everyone.

Li Meng is a little ridiculous when he thinks about it, when the army goes out, the first thing he has to consider is not how to fight the Qing army, but how not to be pitted by his own people.

The deputy envoy in front of the horse, Liu Qingsong of Denglai Dao, didn't know why he was caught this time, and he was doing this drudgery, and his face turned white there at this time.

"Zhao Neng, Ma Gang, Chen Liu, Tang Er, you lead the soldiers to the place arranged by the governor."

Several of the cronies and generals around him still wanted to talk more, but they were stopped by Li Meng raising his hand, Li Meng also turned his horse's head, and said to Denglai Dao with a smile:

"Lord Liu, lead us to the north of the city to see the situation of camping!"

Although Liu Qingsong's expression is laughing now, it is more ugly than crying, but what can be done, he can only get on a horse in the Jiaozhou camp and follow towards the north of the city.

Dezhou City is the intersection of the two provinces of North Zhili and Shandong, because of the status of a land hub, so it has always been quite prosperous, and it is also a military town where heavy troops are stationed.

Although it is only a state city, but Dezhou is not inferior to the capital city of Laizhou, the city is wide, the city wall is high, and it can also be called a male city.

In the north of the city, the camping place that has been prepared is just a clearing of the clearing, and the wooden fences and tents have not been fully prepared, but there is some advantage that there is still a river nearby, so that drinking water can finally be solved.

The soldiers and generals of the Jiaozhou battalion all had indignant looks on their faces, and they were not allowed to enter the city, not to mention, and to camp in such an inferior place, which really made people feel angry, but since the main general Li Meng was not angry, his subordinates naturally did not say anything, so they had to start camping under the command of generals and colonels at all levels.

Only a small part of Li Meng's baggage troops followed, but the soldiers still dug deep trenches around the camp and built fortifications in strict accordance with the drill rules.

On a small earthen bag nearby, Li Meng's personal soldiers were half-surrounded with canvas there, and Li Meng was standing in the middle, looking at Dezhou City, and only then did his personal soldiers report to him, saying that when the army did not turn around, the west gate and north gate of Dezhou City were still open, and the Jiaozhou battalion turned around, and the city gate was already closed.

Li Meng walked to Liu Qingsong's side, the fat man was fidgeting at this time, Li Meng reached out and patted him on the shoulder, pretending to be intimately intimate:

"Lord Liu, I wonder if the governor let me enter the city?"

Being slapped by Li Meng like this, Liu Qingsong's whole body trembled suddenly, after he shouted the truth under the city, he let go a little, but among these tigers and wolves, he said in his heart that he was not afraid that it was false, he cleared his throat at the moment, laughed dryly, and said:

"Governor Yan confessed when he left, saying that it was okay for adults to enter the city, but he could only bring his own soldiers into the city, and Governor Yan's officials were all born in the matter, and they didn't know much about this military matter, no matter what they did, they listened to General Qiu and Liu Yuanbin, the supervisor."

This is very clear, Denglai Dao Liu Qingsong was pushed out of the city as a scapegoat, and he was also resentful in his heart, naturally there would be no loyalty and courage in it, Li Meng heard this reason, and he understood the cause and effect of this matter in his heart. At that moment, he asked with a smile:

"How many soldiers and horses does the general soldier of Naqiu have in the city?"

"It was also with hundreds of personal soldiers, there were originally 3,000 soldiers living in the city, but in two days, more than a dozen families were ruined by their scourge, and the governor of Texas kowtowed to the governor, and sent silver to the prison army, and Qiu Lei also made a lot of money, this is to put the soldiers outside the city."

Liu Qingsong, who has calmed down, is clear and eloquent, after all, he is from a wealthy family, and he still has some calm bearing.

"Go and prepare a hundred taels of gold for Lord Liu, suppress the shock."

Li Meng commanded the soldiers below, nodded and nodded at Denglai Dao, who didn't know why, and walked out of the camp tent by himself, Wang Hai, the leader of the pro-soldiers, trotted to Li Meng, and a few officers, listening to Li Meng's assignment there, Liu Qingsong sat in the cloth enclosure, watching from a distance, although he was confused, he didn't dare to ask what the other party was talking about.

Guarding the north gate of Dezhou City were the subordinates of Qiu Lei, the general soldier of Shandong, but it was not brought this time, and the general army of Shandong was stationed in Jinan Mansion in the past.

This time, these soldiers guarding the city gate have been ordered, that is, they must not let the troops of the Jiaozhou battalion enter Dezhou City, originally these soldiers guarding the city gate did not take this order seriously, thinking that the other party is just a man from the countryside, he has not seen the world, but he is a strong man from the countryside, he doesn't have to care at all, who wants to see the other party march to the north of the city, the neat march, after the orderly camp, the scalp of these soldiers has a feeling of explosion, the strength of the army, Sometimes it is not necessary to distinguish between superiority and superiority on the battlefield, it is enough to look at the appearance of the army.

The Jiaozhou battalion under the city has such a distinct armor and high morale, and the soldiers guarding the gate of Dezhou City have been located in the traffic arteries for a long time, and there are many soldiers and horses coming and going, but there are soldiers and horses like the Jiaozhou battalion have never seen it.

The anger that I wanted to be domineering has disappeared, and I am there hoping that the other party will not come to find trouble.

But things in the world are always unsatisfactory, originally looked at the other party camped on the spot, thinking that this matter was in the past, who would have thought that after the camp was set up for an hour, but a few cavalry ran to the city, running to the distance beyond the range of bows and arrows, there was a person with a horn made of white iron, shouted loudly:

"Listen, the people of the city, open the gates, and my general will enter the city."

After shouting this, the people at the head of the city were in a panic, and it took a long time for someone to poke their heads out and shout:

"The brothers in the city, it's not that we are embarrassed, but there are strict orders from the top, and I don't dare to disobey them, and I hope to be considerate and understand the difficulties of us as soldiers."

When the cavalryman below heard the reply, he replied even more sharply:

"If we don't open the city, we're going to bombard it!"

When the soldiers in the city heard this, they were stunned for a moment, and before they could react, they saw that the horse-drawn people had pushed it, and the city had already pushed the cannon under the city wall, and a group of people unloaded the horses, and some people began to raise the muzzle of the cannon by playing wooden tenons between the cannon body and the gun mount.

Soon the muzzle of the cannon is already aimed at the side of the city tower, and I don't know who shouted, the soldiers on the city gate tower immediately dispersed, if you resist foreign enemies and bandits, everyone still has the strength to fight, the outside is still a friendly army, but the door is not allowed to let people in, the other party is angry to bombard the city tower, this is too unworthy to die, someone starts, no one wants to stay in the city.

Seeing that the people at the head of the city dispersed, the artillery below never fired, but many people in the camps on both sides rushed out with ladders, and quickly ran to the bottom of the city to set up the ladders.

The city gate that was temporarily closed here, even the drawbridge was not pulled up, the ladder was erected, and the soldiers climbed on it, this artillery was not a bow and arrow, if you stayed in the city, you would be injured by the fragments of the cannonballs, and the soldiers defending the city fled quickly, and there was no one on the city.

The first soldier of the Jiaozhou battalion to go to the city, carrying an axe, biting a short knife in his mouth, carrying a fire gun in the hand of the person below him, blowing the fire rope without listening, I thought that there would be a fight after going to the city, who would have thought that after turning over the battlement, except for the weapons that were thrown away on the head of the city, there was no one, it was really crying and laughing.

With a simple assault, the north gate of Dezhou City has been taken, and Liu Qingsong, who was sitting there panting, saw this scene and immediately jumped up.

Taking control of the city, the soldiers began to go up through the ladders, and after opening the city gates inside, the officers of the Jiaozhou battalion began to lead the army into the city. Denglai Dao Liu Qingsong didn't care about the obstruction of his own soldiers, ran to Li Meng with a sweat, nodded and said:

"General Li, everyone is a subordinate of the imperial court, doing things like this really hurts the peace, so let's let the humble go and have an explanation with the governor!"

"Lord Liu, don't worry, didn't the governor say that he can only bring his own soldiers into the city, the general will never bring more soldiers and horses, and the general will bring as many personal soldiers as he wants into the city."

The city gate was wide open, and after the Jiaozhou battalion arranged the army inside and outside the city gate, an officer rode towards Li Meng and handed Li Meng a note.

"General Qiu has a total of 526 personal soldiers in the city, Wang Hai, let's suffer a loss, so we will bring 500 people in."

Liu Qingsong on the side was stunned for a while, thinking to himself how this Li Shen would know so accurately.