On the dirt road leading to Taunggyi, a team came from afar. The neat procession, the uniformly colored Mauser rifles, and the murderous look in the soldiers' eyes made it easy to distinguish them from the Burmese rebels on the side of the road.

Zuo Zongtang was riding on a horse, and his face was not very good-looking. After all, he is old, and the poor mountains and bad waters along the way have bumped him up enough. Guan Xuqing next to him specially arranged for him to see the American doctor, and hurriedly stepped forward to ask a few words, Zuo Zongtang waved his hand to signal that there was no need to be nervous.

Nie Shicheng next to him saw it and said with concern: "Dashuai, you better rest." I'll just send someone to say hello to the Burmese! ”

Nie Shicheng is Zuo Zongtang's old subordinate, and when he recovered Xinjiang, Nie Shicheng was promoted from a guard to a deputy general. Therefore, the heartfelt and grateful to Zuo Zongtang is no less than that of the current emperor.

Zuo Zongtang shook his head and said, "Prince Jiang Kuo must have invited me so urgently, there must be something important. The tide of battle is changing rapidly, and there is no room for delay. As he spoke, he first patted his horse and hurried to the road.

When I saw the castle built on the Taunggyi Mountain from afar. Jiang Kuo had already come out surrounded by a group of people. "Zuo Dashuai, hello, I'm really sorry to let you make a special trip. Originally, Jiang Kuo was going to ask you for advice in person, but recently, the leaders of various ethnic groups have brought people back one after another. Xinjiang really can't leave, please forgive me. ”

These rebels gathered from all directions to fill the nearby open space, people next to person, camp to camp, and a stench emanating from the hot and humid air. They wear a variety of costumes. There are Kachin, Shan, Burmese, Karen, Chin, Kayah, Mon, Rakhine and other ethnic groups, and the weapons in their hands are also varied, including Mar rifles taken from the British, and self-made land and horses. More often than not, bows and arrows and traditional Burmese scimitars.

Zuo Zongtang arched his hand and said: "Where is the prince, you are the prince of the emperor's title, and it is reasonable for Zongtang to ask you for peace." Zuo Zongtang looked around at this time. Sure enough, there were quite a few men stationed near Taunggyi. Zuo Zongtang then asked: "The prince summoned Zongtang so urgently. Could it be that the British army has some new news? ”

Jiang Kuo's face was slightly happy at this time. Looking around, he said: "Thanks to the help of the Qing Dynasty, our righteous army has gained momentum. Now there are 100,000 of them. Now that I have taken Taunggyi, I have discussed with the leaders that it is a great opportunity to regain Mandalay. I don't know much about military affairs, so I invited the marshal to guide us. ”

Zuo Zongtang's face changed when he heard this, but when he saw Jiang Kuo's excited face, he considered his words and said, "Prince, do you still have to think about this matter?" Nowadays, almost all the British troops are huddled near Mandalay, and there are 5,000 British troops alone, and it is not easy to succeed. ”

"Do you just stay here and do nothing, waiting for the British to come and die?" At this time, a Burmese man with a beard and a crimson turban walked out with a sarcastic smile on his face and said, "If you Qing people are afraid, we will go up by ourselves, there are 100,000 troops here, and it is not necessary for you." ”

"Presumptuous, you fucking respect the handsome. Otherwise, Lao Tzu, whether you are Burmese or British, will let your head move! Nie Shicheng couldn't stand it anymore and scolded loudly. And a guard battalion behind him instantly aimed all the Mauser guns in his hands at the Burmese who was speaking.

Zuo Zongtang frowned, and looked at the person who spoke: "Who is this?" ”

When Jiang Kuo heard this, he hurriedly said: "This is General Sadandhu, a descendant of Bandura, and this time he brought 20,000 Burmese warriors. General Sadan has a fiery temper and hopes that the marshal will not be surprised. ”

Zuo Zongtang waved his hand back, and the soldiers behind neatly put away their guns. The movements are coherent and skillful, and at first glance it looks like a well-trained unit. Sadan Du also secretly said in his eyes, even if the quality of the Qing Army was not worse than that of the British Army.

Zuo Zongtang said calmly: "General Sadandhou, although we are quite numerous, but my troops do not carry heavy artillery because of transportation problems, if we forcibly attack the city, the British army has sharp guns and artillery, and there is a strong city defense, our army will inevitably suffer heavy casualties." ”

Sadan Du laughed at this time and said, "Who said that we must attack the city, that is the stupid idea of your Qing people. Now that we have Taunggyi, we are opening a door behind Mandalay, and if we go all the way west, we can cut off the connection between Mandalay and Yangon. When the British run out of food, will they be able to hold Mandalay? Do you Qing people know how many Burmese people in the south are being bullied by the British, who have robbed them of their grain and their women, and how many villages and farmland have been burned? Of course, you Qing people won't care, and we can only rely on us to save them. ”

Sadhandu's words stirred up the Burmese leaders behind him, and they shouted in agreement one by one. Zuo Zongtang saw that the crowd was excited, so he swallowed what he wanted to say back into his stomach.

Jiang Kuo said with a sad face at this time: "Since General Sadan Du has this good plan, we will act according to the plan. Here I appoint General Sadan Du as the chief military officer, and all the rebel armies must be at his disposal, and if there is any violation, I will not spare it. Saying that, he still looked at Zuo Zongtang.

Zuo Zongtang's face sank like water: "Our army has been fighting for days, and we are already sleepy and tired, and the ammunition replenished from the country has not yet arrived, and it still needs to be repaired for a period of time." If the prince is going to send troops, I will hand over the guns and ammunition of the British army captured over the past few days to the prince, and the other Zongtang can't help him. With that, Zuo Zongtang turned around and left.

Sadandu sneered and looked at Zuo Zongtang's back, spit out a mouthful of phlegm and said, "Phew, I think I am something." ”

Since the declaration of war on Britain, news of victories has continued to come from Burma. This made the morale of the people in the First World War of France rise to the peak again at this time. What was once a sporadic strike phenomenon has turned into a trend. Swept across the country. Many of the British factories in China simply couldn't find anyone to work, and their products were rejected by the shops. At this time, in addition to the things that must be used and there is no domestic production, who dares to buy foreigners' things, it will be poked in the backbone and scolded. Even the original chartered cars that ran all day in the concession were gone, and the drivers who could not read big characters and could only rely on pulling cars to support their families would rather fart and bask in the sun on the street, or rush up several cars at the same time in order to compete for a Chinese guest.

He Kun was an adjutant in a baggage battalion in the Dong Liang Department. He Kun Zushang can also be regarded as "entering the customs from the dragon", and later Kangxi got the title when he pacified Geerdandi, and Su Chun now still holds the title of a loyal and righteous uncle.

However, because of his lack of discipline since he was a child, he followed those powerful children to lose his family fortune, and no girl from a good family was willing to marry him when he was almost thirty years old. Later, I asked my maternal uncle, who was the commander of the infantry army, to find an envoy to enter the barracks, and when I was reorganizing the new army, I was selected because I could read and write, and I did logistics deployment in the baggage camp.

This time he went to Tianjin to pick up a batch of new guns with the chief, but the new guns did not arrive, and the chief was invited to a banquet by his colleagues, so he had to go back to the station alone.

Out of the yamen of the Supervision Division, He Kun habitually waved his hand, and a rickshaw immediately ran over, and the driver looked at He Kun in a navy blue military uniform with a smile. As soon as He Kun touched his wallet, he remembered that he came in the chief's carriage today, and he didn't bring any extra money at all. Although He Kun was squirming, he still couldn't do anything about eating white food and riding in a white car, so he couldn't help waving his hand to the coachman with an embarrassed face: "Forget it, don't do it." After saying that, he walked down the road.

The coachman was stunned for a moment, but when he saw He Kun's demeanor and demeanor, he quickly reacted, and pulled the car and chased after him. "Sir, where are you going? I'll give you a ride, no money. ”

"Don't want money?" He Kun was stunned for a moment and looked back at the coachman.

Come on, I don't want your money. Although I can't read, I heard others say that those who wear your clothes are all with seeds, and they risk their lives to do it for this country, how can I ask for your money. The coachman smiled honestly.

He Kun didn't know what it was like in his heart when he heard it, and silently boarded the car. In the past, he looked chic when he lived a careless life, but in fact, he also knew that few people looked up to him, and it was not until today that he felt what it was like to be respected, but he knew that people respected not himself but his own military uniform.

At this time, the coachman was pulling the cart and chattering: "I didn't bring enough money today, you chiefs either ride in a carriage or ride your own horse, I don't know how difficult it is to meet you like this, I can also blow with Zhang Hezi and them today." ”

“…… The kid in our family told me a few days ago that if he saw me pulling a foreigner again, he wouldn't recognize me as a father, so I had to come out to Dongcheng to pull guests. ”

Until he got out of the car, He Kun didn't say a word, but quietly listened to the coachman chattering there, from which he felt that he understood a lot of things that he didn't understand before. When he arrived at the station, he insisted on giving a French pocket watch to the coachman, and then resolutely stepped onto the train.

This is actually a small and negligible matter, but this matter has left a great impact on He Kun's heart. It is also because of this that He Kun's immortal achievements in the future have been achieved!