A bolt of lightning pierced the night sky, illuminating all the buildings and people for a second. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info then there was a violent thunder that almost shattered the entire universe. The heavy torrential rain and the whirlpools of the wind whipped down from the sky like cruel whips twisted together.

Although the rainy season has not really arrived, it is not that it does not rain, but it does not continue. And this heavy rain made the pace of the Qing army's attack and suppression have to stop.

"This battle can't be fought!" Yu Ruizhi, the leader of the first battalion of the 29th standard of the Hubei New Army, rushed into the house and complained loudly without taking off his raincoat.

Zhang Jingliang frowned and glanced at his subordinates, and continued to study the map on the table, his fingers moving slowly on it.

Yu Ruizhi hung up his raincoat, walked to the table and sat down, looked at Zhang Jingliang, and said: "My lord, the mark is not for fear of death and cowardice, but for this battle is not like this." ”

"How do you fight that?" Zhang Jingliang didn't raise his head, snorted, and asked rhetorically.

Yu Ruizhi swallowed hard and said angrily: "If the two targets of our new army act together, I dare not say that we can defeat the chaotic party, but we won't be so tired!" If you look at those patrol battalions and patrol teams, they are simply afraid of the enemy. Don't dare to divide the troops, don't dare to rush forward, don't dare to get too far away from us. This makes interception not interception, encirclement and suppression not encirclement and suppression, there are loopholes everywhere, let the chaotic party come and go freely, when will it be victorious? ”

Zhang Jingliang raised his head, exhaled a long breath, and said in a deep voice: "With the combat effectiveness of the patrol battalion, it is very risky to divide the troops and advance quickly. Once ambushed and besieged by the chaotic party. They could not resist it, and in vain they increased the seizures of the rebels. ”

"But how can you start a war with the rebels?" Yu Ruizhi leaned heavily in the chair, "Self-transfer to Yunnan Gui." The dignified battle was not fought, and hundreds of soldiers were wounded and sick. If this continues, sooner or later it will bring us down. ”

"This dragger is a good use." Zhang Jingliang slapped the table lightly, "It is precisely this idea that the chaotic party fights, so that it will not fight with us in an upright manner." But it is different for the patrol battalion, the chaotic party is to avoid the strong and attack the weak, and look for opportunities to pick up the soft pinch. The patrol battalion is no longer good. is also armed with a gun, and if he is close to us, the chaotic party will not dare to act easily. If only we were the only ones left. Despite its strong combat power, I am afraid that the rebellious party will also attack. ”

"My lord, are you saying that we are with the patrol battalion, and we have relied on the strength of the population to maintain until now?" The flesh on Yu Ruizhi's face moved. It seemed that I wanted to laugh and held back.

"You underestimate the strength of the rebels. I was also deceived by their illusion of avoiding war. Zhang Jingliang glared at Yu Ruizhi and said solemnly: "Even if the chaotic party fights an upright battle with us, victory or defeat is between the two sides." Do you think that the chaotic party is vulnerable, do you think we will have a good chance of winning? Don't forget, how many officers and soldiers have been killed in our Hubei New Army? can capture Nanning, how can the chaotic party be comparable to the rivers and lakes? ”

Yu Ruizhi blinked his eyes, this remark made him have to think seriously, and his expression slowly became serious. But he still asked with some doubts: "What is the plan of the chaotic party to avoid war?" ”

Zhang Jingliang sighed softly. said: "A few months have passed, you look at our Hubei New Army, the two standards have been separated, the officers and soldiers have been injured and sick, and they are running around, and the new division is already a tired journey. So, I just said that it's good to be with the patrol battalion. If my army is isolated, do you think that the rebel party will not gather troops to attack? I think it's dangerous. ”

"The official army is attacking and suppressing the chaotic party, why does it sound like it-" Yu Ruizhi's hand made a few circles in the air, and he couldn't think of suitable words to describe it at once.

"The official army is being led by the nose by the chaotic party." Zhang Jingliang said hesitantly, "They first avoided fighting our army head-on, but they specially picked old troops like the patrol battalion to fight. While fighting, expanding the number of men and horses, while training soldiers, we are still dragged tired. When they feel like they have the stakes in their hands, they-" He stopped talking and made a downward gesture.

Yu Ruizhi nodded slightly, as if he had an understanding. After a long time, he said in a deep voice: "My lord's analysis, I can understand everything under the mark." The chaotic party is really cunning, and its plot is deep and poisonous! ”

"Although I know the plan, it is difficult to solve it." Zhang Jingliang sighed a little sadly, "It's on paper, and we're tired." If they are all new troops, it is easy to do, they should be blocked, they should be pursued, and they should be divided into forces to attack, and the chaotic party will be forced to retreat or surrounded and annihilated. It's a pity that only our two standard soldiers can fight, and the rest can only protect themselves when they get together, but it is difficult to entrust them with important tasks, and they can only let the chaotic party kill and break west. ”

"yes!" Yu Ruizhi nodded yes, "Although the large number of people makes the chaotic party retreat, but it can't be blocked, and the chase is worried that the lone army will go deeper, when will it be the leader to follow the chaotic party?" ”

"The rainy season is coming." Zhang Jingliang stood up, walked slowly to the window, listened to the sound of wind and rain outside, and said meaningfully: "We have to have a respite, and the chaotic party probably wants to rest." By the time the rainy season is over, it will already be winter, and the new armies in the provinces will be able to train some of them, right? The Governor may send reinforcements again, and that's when the time to really fight the rebels! ”

………….

There was a terrible thunderclap, and the lightning went down like a sharp sword, and the sky was completely cut and shattered.

The battle began at a time that no one expected. The Qing army did not expect that the revolutionary army would suddenly target the southern Yunnan group, and the revolutionary army did not expect that the plan had been decided, but a heavy rain came.

There was no scene of 10,000 artillery bombardments, taking advantage of the thunderstorm and strong winds, the attacking troops of the revolutionary army ignored the wind and rain and launched their actions according to the original plan, which caught the Qing army by surprise. By the time the enemy realized that the battle had begun on several positions at the same time, a fierce hand-to-hand battle began with the roar of thunder and lightning and the pouring rain.

The Qing army had never seen such a battle, and the revolutionary army did not have much experience. Artillery has no effect, grenades, bayonets, and long and short guns are the most convenient weapons, and the factors that determine the outcome of the battle also depend more on the will and spirit of both sides.

A Qing army officer who was captured afterwards still had lingering palpitations many years later," ...... The enemies that come up to me are simply a bunch of devils. By the time we found out, many had died quietly under their daggers and bayonets. They are brave, and some can even be said to be fanatical. And we. It's like a flock of frightened ducks, shooting indiscriminately, shouting, exposing themselves, and then being killed by the enemy. Bayonets, daggers, bullets. The bomb, like the life-seeking Yama in the night, is terrible......"

The battle for the capture of the outlying positions was not fierce. But it was very cruel, and the shouts and exclamations were almost all made by the Qing soldiers. Sudden and fierce attack, fierce and brutal fighting, the Qing soldiers collapsed, and they either raised their hands and surrendered. Or run around like crazy.

The 2,000 revolutionary army that suddenly came out of Cao Ping in Vietnam recovered Malipo. After the recovery of Maguan County, the soldiers pointed to the mouth of the river; More than 3,000 people of the revolutionary army that recovered Nanning traveled from Longzhou to Gaoping and became the backup of the forward troops; More than 3,000 men and horses of the Western Yunnan Military Region crossed the Yuanjiang River from Zhenyuan, recovered Xinping, and then conquered Shiping, making a posture of cutting off the retreat of the Qing army in southern Yunnan; Another 2,000 troops attacked and advanced along the south bank of the Yuan River, recovering Mojiang and Luchun. Attack the Qing army group in southern Yunnan from the west.

As soon as the battle began, the cable telegraph of the Qing army in southern Yunnan was cut off. Relying on the primitive messenger transmission, not only did the situation of the Qing army headquarters in Kunming be unclear and the judgment was delayed, but also the surrounding friendly forces were slow to get the news and rush to support.

The positions and towns defended by the patrol battalions and patrol teams of the old army were lost one after another, and the speed was jaw-dropping. On the one hand, the combat effectiveness of the old army is really not flattering; On the other hand, the onslaught of the revolutionary army had been planned for a long time, and all the units participating in the war received a resolute and stern order not to count the losses, but to win the battle.

It's a decisive battle. Not only military, but also politically significant. The Qing court would suffer its greatest setback since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and would no longer be able to launch a large-scale offensive before the end of the rainy season. The defeat of the Qing army group in southern Yunnan would also allow the French to re-evaluate the gains and losses of interests, thus opening up the passage from Vietnam to the base areas.

In other words, this campaign should not only destroy the enemy, but also let the enemy feel the vigorous fighting spirit of the revolutionary army and the fighting spirit of fearless sacrifice, so as to buy time for the revolutionary army to operate and grow in Yunnan and Guizhou.

Lassalle, a famous tactician of the era of the French Revolution? Osh said, "If the sword is short, take one more step." The inverse of this proposition is: "If the sword is long, take a step back." ”

In the initial battle, the revolutionary army tasted the sweetness, and repeatedly launched night battles and close combat, with great results. And the Qing army, whether it was the old army with low combat effectiveness or the new army with more conceited troops, was not adapted to this method of warfare, so that it developed an inexplicable fear of darkness. And the fear of melee night combat also shows their lack of will to fight.

In China at that time, the new army was indeed a modern army that was different from the old army, and its combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of the old army. But the historical evaluation is also very objective, that is, "new but not strong".

The so-called "new but not strong" should be measured and reasoned by many aspects.

For example, compared with the world powers at that time, the new army was still far behind. You must know that the Western military system has been tempered and matured after one international war after another in modern times. At this time, the establishment of a modern army requires a strong industrial and economic foundation, the number of people is no longer the decisive factor, and the industrial strength and mobilization capacity are the true embodiment of a country's war capability.

Therefore, the Qing Dynasty, which was in an agrarian society, simply did not have the ability to build a powerful new army, not to mention the form of war in which the Qing State did not dare to hope for consumption, steel, and industry, and even the inherent system problems made the new army itself a bunch of ills.

Someone once lamented the chaos and corruption in the new army: "The state has spent a lot of money and trained soldiers for many years, but in the end it is just putting on a show!" "Proofreading is like child's play, and spending money is like running water, and there are many problems within the army, such as gambling, such as the relationship between officers and soldiers, and so on. What is even more alarming is that some people in the military who buy officials and buy officials clearly mark the price and sell them openly, which is a miasma.

Of course, this does not refer specifically to the Hubei New Army, and there are indeed some problems in the Hubei New Army, such as too few opportunities for promotion, such as the revolutionary party hiding in them.

However, the main reason for the defeat was that the Hubei New Army did not adapt to the water and soil environment and lacked actual combat experience in the mountains and jungles.

Clausewitz, the Prussian military philosopher who was defeated in life and honored after his death, said it well: overcoming the enemy's available means and willpower, it is possible to defeat the enemy. And how many means and willpower does the 30th Standard of the Hubei New Army led by Yang Kaijia have now?

The 10 battalions of the Yunnan Provincial Patrol Corps deployed in the surrounding areas were defeated and retreated one after another, suffering heavy losses, and more than 1,000 remnants of the defeated troops gathered at Hekou and Mengzi to seek the protection of the Hubei New Army. Yang Kaijia sent an urgent report to ask for reinforcements, and on the other hand, he urgently ordered the two battalions stationed at the mouth of the river to return to Mengzi, preparing to gather troops to hold on and wait for reinforcements.

The Eastern Route Revolutionary Army took the estuary without a fight, continued the pursuit, and recovered all the way to Basa, Longjiao, Xinjie, Manchu, and Gulinjing; The Middle Route Revolutionary Army successively seized Nibahei, Chehe, Nanxi, Laofanzhai, Sancha River, and Baihe; The Western Route Revolutionary Army broke through Jianshui and the old one, approaching Mengzi.

Yang Kaijia saw that the revolutionary army had the advantage of strength, insisted that Mengzi would be completely surrounded, and had no way to retreat, so he led the army to retreat north and retreat to Kaiyuan.

However, the various units of the revolutionary army were like packs of vicious wolves, killing from three sides, sticking to the Qing army to the death. Now there is no need to save ammunition or adjust any tactics, the goal is to completely annihilate the Qing army in the shortest possible time, which is very likely to be a decisive battle.

Finally, the retreating troops led by Yang Kaijia were strongly blocked, and a revolutionary army unit responsible for cutting off the retreat of the Qing army in a hastily dug trench, soaked in waist-high muddy water, fired fiercely at the fleeing Qing army in panic, announcing to the Qing army that this road was impassable.

After the Qing army was reorganized, it launched fierce attacks on the blocking positions again and again. Extreme hardship and danger, and there was no way out, made the Qing army seem to have the spirit of fighting against the odds.

The heavy rain a few days ago had brought trouble to both the enemy and us, the position was muddy, the trenches were all in the country, and the blocking troops of the revolutionary army were extremely stubborn in guarding the position, using machine guns, rifles, pistols, bayonets, grenades, and even rifle butts, fists, and teeth, to counterattack the Qing soldiers who rushed into the position again and again. On the staggered positions, the small number of artillery of the Qing army did not dare to bomb indiscriminately, so as not to injure their own people by mistake.

The sound of guns and artillery was one, and the Qing army took the battalion as a unit to attack the revolutionary army's blocking position in turn, shouting and killing was earth-shattering, both sides were fighting to the death, the position was lost and lost, and the front of the position was full of corpses of soldiers on both sides.

Yang Kaijia held the binoculars, and in front of him were soldiers of the two armies screaming like madmen, stumbling and jumping in the flames of battle. With an indescribable impulse and annoyance, he muttered, "Fellow human cannibalism, are we fighting for our honor?" ”

…………… (To be continued.) )