9ooo6983 Chapter 462 under defense

Seeing that the thousands of Mengye were dispersed by only six mortar shells, and that Zhaomao did not approach the city wall again, or even fire at the city wall, the officers under Xu Shuzheng were a little surprised, and a few officers even began to underestimate the enemy.

Xu Shuzheng frowned, and said: "The bandits are known for being fierce and strong, and the discipline is a little loose, but no matter how you say it, it is stronger than the strong men in the city, so we can't be careless." Now we are cowering in the city, not going out of the city to fight, the bandits have no artillery, do not dare to storm the city, so they retreat, however, they may not be far away, after all. There are many merchants in the city of Naturalization, and the silver in the cellar is not a million taels, but hundreds of thousands of taels, and it is this silver that the bandits fancy is this silver, how can they retreat so easily? How could the bandits who mobilized these thousands of bandits return willingly empty-handed? I think. We're going to send extra men at night and keep an eye on the outside of the city. lest the bandits attack at night. ”

"Mr. Xu, in your opinion. Which bandit team is this besieging bandit? Yang Banghan asked.

Xu Shuzheng pondered for a moment. said: "It's hard to say, now the intelligence compiled by the 6th Army Department shows that there are two major groups of Mongolian bandits on the Inner Mongolia grassland, one is the Taoshitao bandits, and the other is the Babu Zabu bandits, both of which have the background of the princes of Outer Mongolia, and the Russians have also intervened, and now they can mobilize such a large group of bandits, I am afraid that these are the only two bandits." Other than that. In the past, the Qing court sent Nayantu to the grassland to summon the "Qinwang Army" Nayantu could also organize such a large cavalry team, but since the Qing Dynasty issued the edict of abdication, Nayantu does not seem to have shown up much, and it is difficult to say whether it is his team or not. ”

"It doesn't matter whose team he is. As long as he dares to come, Lao Tzu will let him taste Lao Tzu's power."

Yang Banghan snorted coldly, slapped the submachine gun that collapsed on his waist, and walked down the city wall with the adjutant.

"Deputy Division Commander Yang, where are you going? Xu Shuzheng asked.

"Go find foreign oil and tallow, since the bandits may attack at night, we need to prepare some torches

Xu Shuzheng and Yang Banghan were both stationed in the north of the city all afternoon, perhaps because they were worried about the artillery of the defenders in the city, and the Mongolian bandits outside the city moved the camp a few miles to the north, and the telescopes could no longer see the details of the camp.

Obviously, Xu Shuzheng has a point, the bandits seem to be planning to attack the city after nightfall, if there are enough cavalry troops in the city, the defenders seem to be able to take the initiative to attack in the afternoon, but the problem is that there are not many regular troops in the city, even if you add the 500 cavalry of the "patrol guerrillas" supported by the ostrich merchants, the troops in the city that can be used for field battles are only 800 people, if the battle out of the city is lost, then there will be no available soldiers in the naturalized city.

Therefore, whether it is Xu Shuzheng or Yang Banghan, they all think that it is the best choice to hold on to the city and wait for reinforcements, but they are not standing on the city wall and doing nothing, in addition to continuing to organize the strong men in the city to strengthen the defense facilities, they also took advantage of the chaos of the bandits after the shelling to send a few cavalrymen to Zhangjiakou with a letter for help, which is for the first brigade of the Zhangjiakou cavalry; It was also for the cavalry regiment that was rushing to Guihua City, and if the cavalry regiment could receive the letter, they recommended that they send some troops to advance quickly to Guihua City to reinforce the defenders.

The soldiers are nervously preparing for war, and the civilians in the naturalized city are also busy with their lives, in addition to assisting the army in building defense facilities, almost all of them are packing up the soft and horses, once the city falls, they also decide to fight hard, rush out of the city, and rush to the direction of Zhangjiakou, so that the whole family can not all fall outside this fortress, this mentality further aggravates the tension in the city, although Xu Shuzheng understands that this mentality is not good for the belief in defending the city, But now he has not established enough prestige here, and relies on those local snakes to help maintain order in the city, so he did not force everyone to have the determination to live and die with the city, but only sent people to post a notice, announcing that there will be a curfew in the city after dark, and no one can walk around the streets without an order, and the patrol can shoot those who violate the order on the spot.

It is autumn now, the sky is getting dark earlier and earlier, less than six o'clock, the sun will fall on the horizon, seeing that the sky is about to get dark, Xu Shuzheng hurriedly sent someone to give an order, the whole city immediately entered the curfew state, the patrol began to carry lanterns, torches, patrol in various sections of the city, check the spies, and maintain order in the city.

Soon after, it was completely dark, and the gunfire outside the city rang out after dark, but soon fell silent again, and the city was strangely quiet outside the city, and the defenders on the city walls listened to the sounds outside the city, but they could not hear anything except the wind, and for fear that the bandits outside the city would shoot at the bright side, so that the city walls were almost dark and gloomy, in contrast to the transparent lights everywhere.

All shops and houses in the city must be lit up all night, this is an order issued by Xu Shuzheng, the general office of the Northwest Frontier Affairs, the purpose is to illuminate the streets, to prevent the spies in the city from coming out at night to make trouble, not to mention, it is a few forage fields in the city, once the spies set on fire, it can cause a big chaos, and the people in the city are in chaos. It's hard to say what these strong men on the city walls will do

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As the commander of the city defense, Xu Shuzheng set up his headquarters in his city, because according to reconnaissance before dark, the bandits' camp was still in the north. If they want to attack at night, the north of the city must be the brunt, but which direction the bandits will choose for the main attack, this has to wait until the battle starts, in order to facilitate the command, Xu Shuzheng selected some merchants with better riding skills through the merchants in the city to act as communication soldiers. Patrolling back and forth in the city, Xu Shuzheng sent reserves to reinforce wherever the fighting was tight, and the few machine guns in the city were handed over to the reserves so that they could fully wield their firepower at critical times.

The defenders of the city were ready to fight, but the Mongolian bandits outside the city still did not move, and it was unknown when they would attack. Xu Shuzheng also understood this truth, so he ordered to go down, and the soldiers defending the city took turns resting on the city wall, and as soon as the gong sounded, it was the order for the battle to begin.

Yang Banghan also sat in Xu Shuzheng's headquarters, sharing a can of battery cigarettes and a few cans of foreign bacon with General Xu's office, and the two also took the opportunity to get acquainted with each other, although they couldn't talk about becoming confidants, but at least the relationship was closer.

This is the middle of the night, seeing that the time has reached eleven o'clock in the middle of the night, there is still no movement outside the city, Xu Shuzheng and Yang Bang

"Deputy Division Commander Yang, what time do you say people are the most sleepy?"

Xu Shuzheng asked Yang Banghan, although the relationship between the two has become closer, but it is not yet the time for the title to be called, so this is still "Deputy Division Commander Xu General Office"

Yang Banghan yawned, picked up the empty can, looked at it, and said, "I'm very good now."

。

Xu Shuzheng smiled faintly, took out the wall watch and glanced at it, and said: "I think the most sleepy and tired time for people is not in the middle of the night, but at four or five o'clock in the morning, at that time, people are the most slack, and the temperature on the grassland is also the lowest. If I were a bandit, I would have chosen that time to attack. ”

Yang Banghan yawned again, stretched, lazy, and muttered a few words.

"When you say that, I feel relieved. Now it's time to get some sleep, and when I'm full of energy, I'll fight the bandits again. ”

After speaking, he found a corner in the headquarters and spread a military blanket, which seemed to be about to be laid on the floor.

Xu Shuzheng was not sleepy, and called an adjutant and asked him to prepare a horse.

"Where are you going?" Yang Banghan asked curiously.

"Out of town. See what the bandits are doing? In the middle of the night, I didn't hear the sound of horses' hooves. I didn't hear any gunshots, so I was a little confused. ”

Xu Shuzheng explained a few words, walked out of the headquarters with a horsewhip, and Yang Banghan hurriedly followed.

"You, it's better to sit in the city and command, I'll take people out of the city to take a look, but I'm from a cavalry, isn't it more suitable for reconnaissance than you?"

As soon as Yang Banghan pulled Xu Shuzheng, he got on the war horse with an adjutant, and then ordered a platoon of cavalry, wrapped the horse's hooves in cloth, and quietly left the Naturalization City.

Xu Shuzheng personally sent Yang Banghan and others out of Beicheng, standing outside the city, listening to the sound of horses' hooves gradually disappearing.

"This person is a man of temperament, but he is worth associating."

Xu Shuzheng sighed in his heart, and he also had a deeper understanding of Yang Banghan's character.

Back at the headquarters, Xu Shuzheng adjusted the deployment of troops in the city, and then sent several reconnaissance teams to other directions outside the city.

Half an hour later, the reconnaissance team 6 continued to return, but Yang Banghan did not return for a long time, which made Xu Shuzheng a little worried, but no gunshots were heard outside the city.

After another twenty minutes, Yang Banghan finally returned, it turned out that he not only went to the north, but also went to the south, and searched the entire vicinity of the Naturalization City.

"The bandits withdrew, and I don't know where to pack"

The information that Yang Banghan brought to Xu Shuzheng made the border affairs general office a little surprised, thousands of horse bandits said to leave, so neatly and neatly, it really made people a little puzzled.

"Could it be that the bandits went to Suiyuan?" Xu Shuzheng muttered to himself.

"You mean, this is a ploy by the bandits? Surround us, and then withdraw at night to fight Suiyuan? Yang Banghan frowned slightly.

Suiyuan is located in the northeast of the naturalization city, the two cities are not far apart, showing the trend of horns, there were originally some merchants in the city, but after Xu Shuzheng arrived, he persuaded the merchants there to withdraw to naturalization, so the current Suiyuan city does not have much oil and water to fish, and the bandits are unlikely to take a fancy to Suiyuan.

Out of prudence, Xu Shuzheng immediately sent a small force to Luoyuan to reconnoitre, and at the same time informed the residents of Guihua City of the news of the retreat of the Mongolian bandits, but the curfew was still not lifted.

A few hours later, the cavalry who went to pick up the reconnaissance in Yuancheng rushed back, and the news brought back put Xu Shuzheng's hanging heart down.

Suiyuan was safe and sound, and the bandits did not attack Yuyuan City, as for where they went, I am afraid that they can only wait for dawn to reconnoiter carefully.

Before dawn, Yang Banghan's cavalry regiment arrived at naturalization, and Xu Shuzheng was able to send a large group of cavalry to disperse and reconnoitre, and after a day of reconnaissance, he finally figured out the whereabouts of the Mongolian bandit brigade

。

Judging from the horseshoe prints and the camping traces along the way, it is obvious that the Mongolian bandit brigade has retreated to the north, and it seems that it is retreating to Outer Mongolia.

This made Xu Shuzheng and others very puzzled. It would be an exaggeration to say that the Mongolian bandit brigade was scared away by mortars, but apart from this explanation, it seems that there is no other more reasonable explanation, so everyone used this reason to convince themselves.

However, a few days later, when the First Cavalry Brigade arrived in Guihua City, the commander brought an official letter from the 6th Army Headquarters, through which Xu Shuzheng vaguely grasped the truth about the retreat of the Mongolian bandits.

According to the official document, the central center reached an agreement with the tsarist Russian government a few days ago, announcing that the two countries would cooperate to build a railway from Kulen City in Outer Mongolia to the naturalized city of Inner Mongolia, and this railway would go around in a circle in the Eastern Mongolia region and connect with a railway branch line extending from Zhangjiakou, and moreover, the central center ignored the strong opposition of railway expert Zhan Tianyou and others, and agreed to the additional conditions of the Russian side, that is, this railway will lay rails according to the width of the Russian railway.

The content of this official letter surprised Xu Shuzheng, who originally thought that as the president of the Republic of China with the title of "Far Eastern Madman", Zhao Bei, who was born in the revolutionary, would never reach such an agreement with Russia.

As a soldier, Xu Shuzheng understood that the reason why Russia wanted to build this railway was to control Outer Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, and Zhao Bei, as a national leader who has always had a strong strategic vision, could not see this.

Why, then, did the central government agree to this railway cooperation agreement? Is it that Zhao Bei can't withstand Russia's diplomatic pressure, or does he have other plans? Xu Shuzheng leans towards the latter interpretation.

On the other hand, Xu Shuzheng also affirmed his initial analysis, the group of Mongolian bandits who dumped the city a few days ago were directly commanded by the officers of Tsarist Russia, and it is precisely because of this that when Tsarist Russia got the railway it wanted, the group of Mongolian bandits quickly retreated, and it was a group of political bandits.

Xu Shuzheng only thinks about strategic interests, but the merchants in the naturalized city are thinking about economic interests, although they are not qualified to see this official document, but, this. The Sino-Russian "Kugui Railway Plan" soon appeared on the front page of the newspaper, so the merchants in the naturalized city finally understood that this ostrich team was lagging behind the times after all, and its elimination was only a matter of time. Moreover, if the resident merchants cannot adapt to the trend and change their identity, then they will also be eliminated by history.

Perhaps, in the future, the Naturalized City will no longer be an "ostrich city", and the term "ostrich merchant" will also be withdrawn from history.