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The officers and men of the prefectures and counties of eastern Henan, southern Henan, and southwestern Shandong did not dare to take half a step out of the city without permission, and there was no regimental training outside the city for a long time, and the remnants of regimental training could only huddle together like the officers and men, and what emerged everywhere were peasant armies fighting for the protection of the fields.

The Luyu-Anhui guerrilla column has expanded from less than 10,000 to nearly 50,000 at once, and if we count the peasant army they have mobilized, the entire number will definitely not be less than 200,000. What a powerful force this is.

There was no money to pay the army, let alone recruit and expand the army, and in much of the area south of the Yellow River, the Manchu officials faced more than that. In order to carry out the Yellow River strategy formulated by the Russians, the main forces of the Manchus gathered at various points north of the Yellow River, but they all accepted a strict order, that is, except for seizing the time and mobilizing a force to complete the defense of the Yellow River in front of them, they were not allowed to send any force of men and horses to the south, and they wanted to preserve their existing strength and create conditions for consolidating the vast area north of the Yellow River.

Under such circumstances, the provinces, prefectures, and counties south of the Yellow River will either protect themselves or will be plunged for thousands of miles, and where will they have any combat effectiveness.

Take the Guide Mansion in eastern Henan as an example. The guerrilla columns did not like to attack fortifications, so many county towns suspended in the red sea were initially saved. It was as if it had been agreed, and those inside the city did not come out, and those outside the city did not enter.

However, as time went on, people in some places did not agree to this kind of "peaceful coexistence", albeit temporarily, and superficially.

The magistrates of Ningling County, Luyi County, Xiayi County, Yongcheng County, Yucheng County, Kaocheng County, Zhecheng County, Dangshan County, and so on, were either sent out of the city by the local people and the rebellious officials, battalions, or Lian Yong, or the county seat was captured by the peasant self-defense forces who could not bear it. In the end, in desperation of crying and not answering, the prefect of Guide Mansion simply left the city with the seal letter in both hands and voluntarily surrendered.

Shi Xiangzhen was a more belligerent general than Qin Rigang, and the Supreme Command gave him the task of fighting hard and fiercely, and beating the main force of the Qing army stationed north of the Yellow River, that is, he could not have any attempt to reinforce the northwest, let alone any opportunity to take into account the operational intentions of the east.

The army of the Red Second Front Army roared out from Yunyang Mansion, Nanyang, and Xinyang, and fought absolutely fiercely.

As a result of the galloping of the Shandong-Henan-Anhui guerrilla columns in the early stage, as soon as the army came out, it was even more invincible with the coordination of the peasant self-defense forces in various localities. More than ten counties such as Yancheng, Wuyang, and Linying went down in one drum. Subsequently, persistent efforts were made, Linying, Yuncheng, Xiangcheng, Changge, Yuzhou, and Lushan County, Jiaxian, Baofeng County, Yiyang County and other places under the jurisdiction of Ruzhou fell into the bag, and Runing Fucheng and Xuzhou Prefecture were besieged by the Red Army in the blink of an eye.

Shi Xiangzhen originally wanted to take advantage of the siege of Runing and Xuzhou to come to their encirclement points to send reinforcements, and to take the sheep and eat some of the main forces of the Qing army from Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Kaifeng. As for those "bystanders", as long as the fire has not burned their heels, that is, their fathers and mothers are married, and they take care of themselves, regardless of whether you cry and grab the ground for help or not, they will sit idly by, and there will be no reinforcements who will ask you to fight. It is no wonder that the task given to them above is to delay the attack of the "red bandits", not to say that they want to destroy the other party, of course, they can't eliminate the other party, so the best way is to defend, and it will be counted as a day if they hold it.

After waiting for a day without any movement, Shi Xiangzhen was annoyed, and in a fit of anger, he took Xuzhou, an important town in southern Henan, in only half a day. After that, Yang Fuqing and Zhang Suimou led the Red Fourth Army and Zhang Zongyu, a guerrilla column in Hubei, Henan and Anhui, to wave a shot at Zhengzhou, and gathered under the city of Kaifeng with great fanfare, while the main force of the front army was personally led by Shi Xiangzhen and Luo Xuan, and ate the city of Runing Mansion with their hands, and went straight to Luoyang, the capital city of Henan, an important town in western Henan. The army besieged Luoyang, controlled the Mengjin ferry, and had the potential to leap over the Yellow River moat in one fell swoop.

On the north bank of the Yellow River, the Yellow River defense line of the Qing-Russian coalition army was divided into three sections.

Sitting in Huaiqing Mansion is Shi Xiangzhen's old opponent, who was beaten by the Heavenly Army in Hubei last year like a lost dog, desperately fleeing all the way from Xiangyang to Mianxun in the north of the Yellow River. Now, as the vice president of the Loyal and Righteous Salvation, under the coordination of a total of 4,000 men and horses led by Kong Guangshun, the governor of Shanxi, who was stationed in Jiezhou, he once again supervised the loyalty and righteousness of the four associations, and now he has undertaken the garrison task of the Yellow River defense line west of Wuzhi County.

In the middle of the road, he personally sat in Weihui Mansion and rescued the five associations from Wuzhi County, Yuanwu, Yangwu, Yanjin, Fengqiu to Changyuan County, Kaizhou to deploy the defense of the Yellow River, which was Li Hongzhang, who had just been promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of the Qing and Russian coalition forces and was entrusted by the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Behind him, there was also Prince Hui Mianyu, who was awarded the sharp knife and was crowned the general of the Northern Great, with the assistance of the king monk of Horqin County, led by the capital Jianrui, firearms, forwards, guards, patrol battalions, and the Mongolian soldiers of the three alliances of Zhelimu, Zhaowu Dadong, Zhuo Suotu, and Shengjing, Jilin, and Heilongjiang infantry cavalry composed of more than 100,000 troops gathered in Zhending Mansion.

As for his east, Puzhou in Caozhou Prefecture in Shandong, Dezhou in Jinan Prefecture and River Defense in Wuding Prefecture are naturally under the jurisdiction of the Russian ** team.

As the deputy commander-in-chief of the Qing-Russian coalition army, Li Hongzhang was originally a hundred reluctant to come to the front line, but with his keen sense of smell, he already felt that the Russians seemed to be getting closer to Wang Yixin, who was loyal to the president of the army, although he was not a member of the joint command, but he also began to frequently go back and forth to the headquarters of the coalition army in Fengtai Daying. But why this is the case, he is also puzzled.

Second, this expedition, the imperial court sent him some kind of military affairs, but it was none other than Ruilin, who was released back after the defeat of Anhui and the capture of the "red bandits". What's going on, the general of the defeated army who surrendered to the rebels, if he didn't kill himself, he was embarrassed to come out and mix with a shy face.

However, he can't help this kind of thing, after Ruilin was released back to the capital, not only was he loyal and righteous, but even the officers of the military department and the imperial historians all felt that their faces were gloomy, and they wrote books one after another, asking that Ruilin be punished as he did when he treated Su Shun in order to set an example.

Especially in the folds of the Hanlin Academy, the words seemed to be bloody, reprimanding Ruilin for not having "my Qing Dynasty's integrity", "losing the face of my first group", etc., seeing that Cixi, who was already like a snake and scorpion, had red eyes and almost burst into tears. She really didn't expect it, she really didn't expect that in the midst of the ups and downs, there would be so many pillars who remembered and took care of the foundation and face of the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, the Hanlin people's folds containing blood and tears also made Cixi's murderous heart suddenly. It's a pity that she still can't kill her, because it was none other than her closest adviser Putiyatin, as well as the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Muravyov, and the Russian minister to China, Ignatiev. There are many reasons, but in the end, not only can he not kill, but he also has to use Ruilin again, because he has actual combat experience against the "red bandits".

Cixi can not listen to anyone, but the words of the Russian allies cannot be ignored, she herself knows how many taels she has, and she does not understand the war, just as she depends on Yixin to govern the country, and she depends on the Russians to fight.

The compromise at the top made Li Hongzhang uncomfortable. He was superstitious about feng shui, and it is said that the "talented people" at that time seemed to be like this, and Ruilin followed him like a dog, and he felt that he would definitely go out and hit ghosts. But he didn't dare to say anything, even if he was respectful to Ruilin, after all, he was an authentic banner man and a master.

The third point is even more difficult to say. Among his colleagues, Li Hongzhang can even speak like a river in the court, quote scriptures and classics, and can also stare at the big eyes of those who listen to him, and he will be stunned for a moment. In terms of reality, he himself has some two tigers, especially when he goes to the battlefield. He had been on the battlefield before, but he was just mixed in the army, leading some villagers to seize the opportunity, and then pounced on it to fight cheap hands, and then killed the good people to falsely report their war exploits, as for the big war that was about to be encountered now, he saw a lot in the book, but he was not sure at all about fighting. However, he could only say this to himself.

That's it, Li Hongzhang felt awkward in his heart, and he took office with anxiety.

Xuzhou and Runing Fucheng were trapped, Li Hongzhang knew it, but he could only swallow his anger. Because according to the division of labor, the war zone south of the Yellow River is not under his control. His immediate task was only to gather a single ship on the north bank of the Yellow River, block all the crossings, and neither support the south nor allow the army from the south to retreat across the Yellow River.

However, when Shi Xiangzhen's Red Second Front Army suddenly attacked Luoyang and Kaifeng from the east and west, Li Hongzhang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he couldn't bear it anymore.

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