Chapter 187: Rush to Forge Ahead

As the saying goes: a soldier bears a bear, and a nest of bears will be born. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoAs the foreign proverb goes, a flock of sheep led by a lion can defeat a flock of lions led by a sheep.

Judging from the standards of later generations, the physique of the newly recruited soldiers of the revolutionary army may be a little poor, but the extraordinary physical endurance of the peasants is very surprising. With a little training, they are able to march 48 to 56 kilometers a day, and the climb is almost as effortless as it is on a flat, winding field path.

There have been foreigners who have a general observation about all strata of the Chinese military: ordinary soldiers are docile, disciplined, able to bear hardships and stand hard work, and obey the leadership; Junior officers are quick to carry out orders; There are great differences between individual pipe bands, standard commanders, or battalion and regiment commander levels, but there is no shortage of excellent people.

In other words, officers are inferior to soldiers. Most of the soldiers were children of peasant families, and they had good qualities such as simplicity, bravery, obedience, perseverance, and hardship. If Chinese soldiers are properly led, fed, trained and equipped, they will be as effective as those of any other country in the world.

And the reason why Chinese soldiers are excellent is because of their primitive adaptability. Especially the "tough" Chinese feet. The big calloused feet that only wear straw sandals instead of leather-soled shoes are absolutely amazing. Moreover, their full "peasant energy", after rigorous training, will become animal-like wildness, making them excellent and fierce killers of the night. Because the incredible night vision of these soldiers is always amazing, and they can see clearly in the dark like a cat.

"Anti-left stab." "Kill!" "Anti-right stab." "Kill!" ……

With the sound of the command, the soldiers, under the demonstration of the officer, opened their eyes and shouted in unison.

"Kill!" "Kill!" "Kill!" , the shouts are getting more and more neat. It became louder and louder, and hundreds of bright bayonets reflected the sunlight, constantly emitting dazzling cold light, which made it even more powerful.

Qiu J saw the sweat on his head, but he still did the demonstration meticulously, and stopped from time to time. While correcting the movements of the fighters, he explained.

"In the process of learning and practicing, you must not only repeat it thousands of times, but also keep thinking and summarizing." She said loudly: "If you practice once, you will make progress once, and you will be solid once, there is no end, you must never leave your fists, and you must not let go." Only sweat a lot. Wartime can lead to less bloodshed. ”

Repeated practice is an important means of consolidating the skills that have been mastered. Every time you practice, you should have an effect. Through continuous review, consolidate the learned movements, so that the technical specifications that have been mastered form a positive and determined shape, and gradually form the power stereotype of the correct action, and then improve on the basis of consolidation, forming a natural conditioned reflex.

Because. The cold soldier fight was bloody and brutal, the moment when the two collided with each other. That is, the moment when you are separating the high and low, there is no time to "think" at all.

Although the current revolutionary army has received a large amount of material supplies, it has also been captured, and it has machinery and equipment to manufacture reloading bullets, and the ammunition can still support the battle. However, from the experience of the Wanning Uprising, the Qing army was the most prone to collapse in white-knuckle battles.

For soldiers. In the course of fighting training, they can unconsciously enhance their mental deterrence and fearless spirit, and they will mature as soon as possible, which has a deeper meaning and value in actual combat.

Time is tight, of course for people who have nothing to do and no ambitions. Time is very loose at all times. The situation is an invisible thing, and in order to achieve something, we must adapt to its changes and seize the fleeting opportunity.

After defeating the appeasement of the new army in Yunnan Province, the Long detachment took advantage of the situation to capture Gejiu. Known as the old tin capital, the Qing court set up a government office here to manage mining affairs and collect tin and silver taxes. As a result, the revolutionary army seized more than 100,000 taels of silver, which could also be taxed to supplement the military if it was occupied for a long time.

Another revolutionary army rushed into Mengzi and besieged the city. After the end of the Sino-French War, in accordance with the "Sino-French Continuation of the Commercial Article", Longzhou in Guangxi and Mengzi in Yunnan were designated as trade places, and Mengzi became the "treaty commercial port" between China and France. As a result, Mengzi has become the military and political center of southeast Yunnan in the modern history of Yunnan, and has also become the first customs in modern Yunnan.

Mengzi Guandao thickened the four battalions of the army, but in the face of the menacing revolutionary army, he did not dare to fight, leaned on the city and defended, and urgently sent people to Kaiguang Road (now Kaiyuan) to ask for help from the general soldier of Kaiguang Town.

After leaving a sentry to garrison the old one, the main force of the dragon detachment went to the mountains and forests near Caoba Town to ambush, preparing to stage a good show of besieging the city with the friendly forces besieging Mengzi.

Even in this short period of time, in accordance with the instructions of the General Staff, the army still seized all its free time to study and train. Although there was hope for breaking through the Qing army's expected siege, no one dared to take it lightly.

The arm will be swollen and gone; It was swollen again, and it disappeared again, and in the end, there were only lumps of flesh left. This is an ordeal that must be experienced, and those who have experienced it have a deep understanding of this, first they will feel the muscles of the whole body, and then it will not be painful, and they will always feel the blood rushing everywhere in the body, and it is so hot that it seems to be on fire, which is the growth of strength.

Two hundred thrusts, this goal was achieved, and the soldiers were already sweating.

"Close, assemble." With a command, the team concentrated into two columns, and each soldier gasped.

"Sir, there is a military report, please go to the meeting immediately." A herald did not wait for Qiu J to wipe his sweat and rest, so he ran to report.

"Okay, I'll go." Qiu J nodded and hurried towards the detachment headquarters.

When he arrived at the headquarters, Qiu J sensed the tension of the atmosphere. If the Qing army in Kaiguang Town was dispatched, it should be another victory, not the current solemnity.

Although Long Jiguang had no authority, the officers at all levels who had been confessed still gave him superficial respect, and he informed him of the urgent information that had just been delivered.

In the face of the rapid momentum of the revolutionary army, the Qing court panicked and spared no expense, repeatedly rewarding and encouraging the Qing soldiers on the front line with 50,000, 30,000, and 20,000, and allocated 500,000 taels to Xiliang, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, as expenses for recruiting new soldiers and supplying Guangxi's guest army. And, from Hanyang, from Guangzhou, from Shanghai. Guns and bullets are being shipped.

At the same time, the Qing court had already exchanged letters and telegrams with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French Minister in China, and had many negotiations, accusing French officials in Vietnam of conniving at the assembly of revolutionary troops in Vietnam and using trains on the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway to transport grain and ammunition. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an order to the Governor-General in Vietnam prohibiting the use of trains by train to transport food and ammunition.

Other than that. The Qing army in Yunnan Province began to mobilize various local patrol teams on a large scale to assemble in Kunming. Among them, there is Wang Zhengya, the commander of the middle lane, who commands eleven battalions; He Zongzhang, the commander of the West Road, led eleven battalions. Of course, the Qing army has not yet been assembled, but time is already very short.

"The General Staff Headquarters has given an order to the friendly forces, regardless of whether the Qing army in Kaiguang Town is dispatched or not, immediately start attacking Mengzi." Long Jiguang shook the telegram in his hand and said in a deep voice: "Then join forces and attack Guangzhen." Time. The General Staff Headquarters has repeatedly stressed the importance of time. While the Qing army had not yet been assembled, they tried to eliminate the isolated enemy as much as possible and weaken the enemy's military strength to participate in the siege in the future. Moreover, the Army Detachment will also carry out countermeasures to cooperate with our army's ......"

Obviously, the change in the enemy's situation made it necessary for the revolutionary army to speed up its attack and not wait for the enemy to assemble and besiege it. Although the patrol team of Yunnan Province was low, it was outnumbered. In addition, the Qing army from other provinces can also pose a certain threat to the revolutionary army.

In addition to carrying out the offensive battles that the revolutionary army had avoided as much as possible before. The General Staff Headquarters also demanded that the Long Detachment divide its troops into a detachment, with 3 to 500 men, to form an advance squadron in southwestern Yunnan and advance westward into the Pu'er and Lincang areas, taking advantage of the emptiness of the Qing army's local garrison to open up a separate revolutionary base area. and contain the Qing army in Yunnan Province.

"Although our army has captured more than a dozen artillery pieces from the artillery battalion of the appeasement new army, the caliber is small, relatively old, and there is not much ammunition, so it really cannot be relied on to help the siege of the city." Zhou Hua, the chief of staff of the Dragon Detachment, glanced at everyone. Smiling slightly, he continued: "But we still have a way, that is, to imitate the Taiping Army's cave attack and blasting, or use explosives to carry out external blasting, supplemented by artillery. In this way, even black powder can come in handy. And as long as the city is broken, the Qing army will lose courage. ”

The revolutionary movement of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom spread to 18 provinces across the country, persisted in the struggle for 14 years, and swept almost the entire land of China. Due to the extensive practice of the Taiping army's siege of the cave area, this tactic was widely used, and in the middle and late stages of the war, the Hunan army also relied almost entirely on the cave to attack the city, until the more rapid and effective Western flowering artillery bombardment of the city wall was produced, and the cave siege withdrew from the historical stage.

However, withdrawing from the stage of history does not necessarily mean abandoning it, the lack of heavy artillery, and the lack of more human lives, the siege of the cave or the explosion of explosives are naturally proposed. Explosives blasting is no stranger to the revolutionary army, it has been used since the Wanning Uprising, and if the city wall is not strong and thick enough, it can be an effective means.

And the city wall is a physical line of defense, and it is also the psychological line of defense of the defenders, especially the old-style Qing army. Once destroyed, most of the soldiers will be shaken and their fighting spirit will be lost, and those who stubbornly resist will become a minority, and most of them will panic and find their own way out. This has been verified from previous battles, and the Qing army had no experience in street fighting, nor was it psychologically prepared for street fighting.

The attack began with Mengzi, and because Mengzi was one of the 24 customs offices in China, there were a large number of tariffs and silver taels, which was of great benefit to the long-term persistence of the revolutionary army.

At the very beginning of the uprising, the revolutionary army formulated a very detailed revolutionary strategy, which stipulated the method of "providing food on the spot", and also brought with the army many talents and cadres who could take charge of the affairs of "food for food". He is responsible for the following things: receiving all official property; confiscation of the property of the rebel junta officials or gentry; If you use a two-month cash payment "price coupon" to purchase grain goods, the interest will be calculated at 5% at the expiration of the period; Borrow money from wealthy investors with "bonds" and repay it without interest within three months, and the maturity will be calculated at 2%. The amount of taxes levied from the people shall not exceed 70% of the period of the reign of the Qing government......

Yes, the charter is well developed and the administration staff is staffed, but when it will come into force is a question. When you come, you will collect taxes, and the common people will know whether your revolutionary army is a gust of wind. The tax is less than that of the Qing court, but when you leave, the Qing court government comes back, don't you have to collect it again?

Therefore, regardless of whether or not many of the harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes imposed by the Qing court are abolished, the key is that the revolutionary army must occupy the territory, at least win the first siege of the Qing army, and even if it is a confrontation, it must show the strength of the revolutionary army and let the people see long-term hope.

Since it was not possible to use "white strips" to buy supplies, and it was not allowed to collect donations and taxes for the time being, the revolutionary army could only use real money. In order to seize more money, grain, and straw, it is necessary to occupy such solid places as Hekou, Mengzi, and Kaiguang.

The military discussion ended quickly, and the dragon detachment continued to ambush, no matter whether the general soldier of Kaiguang Town Bai Baizhu came or not, this place was the only way to break the card from Guang to Mengzi, whether it was to besiege the city and send reinforcements, or to intercept the rout of Mengzi, in short, it could not be left undefended.

From the beginning of the incident to the present, the revolutionary army has become more and more confident in the face of the old-style Qing army, and the deployment of troops has also been much relaxed.

"Is the headquarters going to shift its strategic focus to Yunnan Province?" Qiu J was a little puzzled, and after the meeting, he talked with Yang Wenkai, another deputy detachment leader, while walking.

"I feel that way, too." Yang Wenkai thought for a while and said: "Relatively speaking, Yungui's Qing army is relatively weak, maybe it's because of this factor, right?" ”

"The Qing army is weak, but the place is not rich." Qiu J frowned and guessed: "Maybe the headquarters has other considerations, after all, they have seen it more comprehensively." ”

"Anyway, this arrangement is very large, and we have to work harder." Yang Wenkai stopped, smiled and said, "I will straighten out the people and horses, and I will leave for southwest Yunnan tomorrow." Leading an army alone, majestic enough, and spirited enough! ”

Qiu J nodded with a smile and stretched out his hand, "I wish you success, play the prestige of our revolutionary army in southwest Yunnan, and make a situation." ”

"Definitely." Yang Wenkai shook hands vigorously with Qiu J and turned to leave.

Maybe it's the joyful reunion after victory, or maybe it's the last time comrades-in-arms see each other. Qiu J stared at Yang Wenkai's back, and did not withdraw his gaze until he was out of sight.

This is the revolution, there are differences, there are sacrifices; Today it is still alive in front of us, but tomorrow it may fall on the journey of revolution.

Qiu J was glad that he was able to devote himself to this fiery torrent, and that he was able to join the powerful and united revolutionary group of the Renaissance Society. Only the Revival Association can organize such a momentum of the anti-Qing struggle, and still have the confidence and strength to forge ahead when the Qing army is about to be overwhelmed.

The sun was lower, and the gray turned a reddish, which gave the treetops a light red. In Qiu J's eyes, it was not a sunset, but a blood-stained splendor. (To be continued.) )