The financial conference convened by the Manchu court in Beijing and the provisional government in Nanjing seemed to have become a watershed, and with the convening of their respective financial conferences, the officials of the Manchu court seemed to have become frosted eggplants, and they all wilted, while the officials of the provisional government were full of energy.

Wang Qiang didn't know that such an important meeting was held in Nanjing, and he was in a bit of trouble now.

It's not really troublesome, it's actually a bit of a dilemma. The march lasted five or six days day and night, and the troops were dry food and canned food every day, although there was no shortage of nutrition, but Wang Qiang himself felt a little unbearable eating like this every day.

The scouts came back and reported that they had inquired with the villagers and that there was a Qing army in Fan Town, between Tai'an and Laiwu, with an estimated number of about 3,000 people, and it was estimated that it was also a grain and grass transit point, and it was only more than 20 miles away from Wang Qiang's current location.

When the head of the regiment, Xie Kui, heard the news, he hurriedly ran to find Wang Qiang.

"Commander, let's fight? Everyone is tired of eating dry food and canned food every day, let's wipe out this Qing army, and everyone can eat hot food. ”

The words of the head of the regiment aroused everyone's echo, which made Wang Qiang also moved.

"Take a look at the map."

The guards opened the map and laid it on the ground, and Wang Qiang leaned on the map to think while looking at it.

There are still more than 100 miles away from Jinan, and the troops really have to march in a hurry, and they will arrive in one day. Judging from what the scouts learned and the news they heard from the people, Tai'an is Tan Tai's base camp after all, and there are still nearly 10,000 Qing soldiers stationed there, while Laiwu only has more than 1,000 people.

I really want to fight here in Fan Town. Once the news reached Jinan. This sneak attack becomes impossible. At that point, the only way to do that is to storm is possible.

A regiment with a few hundred catties of zha medicine, it is not difficult to blow up the city gate of Jinan, but once the Qing soldiers get the news, they immediately return to help, their cavalry speed is extremely fast, and then a regiment will be attacked by the enemy, although a regiment is not afraid, but it is a lot of variables.

"Can't fight! What is the purpose of our thousands of miles interspersed this time? The purpose was to occupy Jinan. In Jinan, we will drive a big nail to the Qing soldiers, so our ammunition must be used sparingly. ”

"Division commander, fighting these 3,000 Qing soldiers can't consume much ammunition for us, can I let everyone save as much as possible?" Xie Kuiyou was unwilling and tried to persuade Wang Qiang.

"Xie Kui, I think you're greedy, right? Let me tell you, these dry food and canned food were made by Sister Liu Lan, don't you want to eat them? We can't afford to lose the big for the sake of the small. You go and tell the troops, hold on for another day. We'll be in Jinan tomorrow. Wang Qiang looked at the head of the regiment Xie Kui unhappily, this kid can fight, but the overall situation is still a little worse.

When Xie Kui saw Wang Qiang wipe his face, he suddenly didn't dare to say any more, and turned his head to do the work of the army.

"Come back, you kid didn't figure it out himself, can you still do a good job in the army?" Wang Qiang called out to Xie Kui.

"Commander, why don't we hurry? Rush to Jinan early tomorrow morning? Xie Kui said hesitantly.

"Will the troops be able to hold out? If everyone can hold on, let's make a quick march tonight and rush to the city of Jinan early tomorrow morning. ”

Wang Qiang thought about it for a while, and felt that marching in the belly of the Qing soldiers was indeed too dangerous, and it was indeed very necessary to hurry up.

Xie Kui responded and hurriedly ran away, and Wang Qiang continued to stare at the map.

After a while, Xie Kui ran back, "Division commander, everyone wants to rush to Jinan early tomorrow morning, when do you think we will leave?" ”

Wang Qiang raised his hand and looked at his watch, it was three o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was still shining, and the goal was too big to run.

"Wait another two hours, let everyone sleep well, and let's leave on time at five o'clock!" Wang Qiang gave the order.

It wasn't until later that Wang Qiang realized how correct his decision was.

It was actually impossible for a team of more than 3,000 people to hide their traces, and a regiment marched for five or six days without encountering Qing soldiers. Second, we have to thank the extremely backward dissemination of information.

On the third day after a regiment burrowed into the belly of the Qing soldiers, that is, in the territory of Fei County, it was reported to the Manchu officials.

Fortunately, almost all the mules and horses in Shandong were looted by the Qing soldiers before this, and the county officials of Fei County wanted to inform Tan Tai of Yizhou of the news, so they had to run over on two legs. Fortunately, in order to invite merit, the county official of Fei County did not send an official messenger to deliver the letter, but personally took a sedan chair to Yizhou.

By the time the county officials of Fei County arrived in Yizhou in a sedan chair, a day and a half had passed, and Wang Qiang and the others had already rushed to Laiwu.

The magistrate of Fei County received a reward, but it was not what he had hoped for, as he received a severe whipping.

Tan Tai, who received the report, was shocked, at this time he wanted to kill the county magistrate of Fei County, but he had to rely on him to lead the way to chase this Wehrmacht that entered the stomach of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, otherwise Tan Tai would reward him not only with a whip, but with a knife in the head.

The infantry army must have been unable to catch up with this national defense force, so Tan Tai had to send 20,000 cavalry and let the county magistrate of Fei County lead the way to chase back.

The county magistrate of Fei County also heard a letter from a rich man named Li Dayan in the village, but he did not see the Wehrmacht with his own eyes, and how did he know which road the Wehrmacht was taking, so he finally went to the village to find Li Dayan, but said that the Wehrmacht had long since disappeared.

The county magistrate of Fei County was slashed by the cavalry general in front of the rich man's house, but with the back of the knife, the rich man in the village was also kicked in front of his house.

When the cavalry roared away, the magistrate and the rich man got up from the ground, looked at each other, and groaned and sighed in unison.

The cavalry sent by Tan Tai came and went and delayed for more than two days, and these two days were too precious for Wang Qiang.

In fact, the 1st Regiment of the Seventh Division set off at half past four in the afternoon, another half an hour ahead of schedule, because the officers and men took the initiative to request it when they learned that it was only more than 100 miles away from Jinan.

Wang Qiang also understood that at this time, as long as Tai'an and Laiwu passed, there was no need to hide traces. What is needed most now is time.

From the time of departure. A group went straight to the main road. A rapid march was adopted to rush to Jinan.

At this time, it was late to get dark, and at more than eight o'clock in the afternoon, when it was completely dark, Wang Qiang looked at the map, only more than fifty miles away from Jinan City, worried that the five hundred people could not keep up, Wang Qiang ordered the troops to rest for half an hour.

When the troops were resting, Wang Qiang was not idle, and he found the guide he had just found in the afternoon to carefully inquire about the situation in Jinan City. To Wang Qiang's surprise, this guide turned out to be a businessman who had been traveling between Jinan and Yangzhou for a long time, and he was also very familiar with the situation in Jinan.

There are indeed not many Qing soldiers in Jinan City now, only more than 2,000 old, weak, sick and disabled remained, it seems that the pressure on the Qing soldiers caused by the pressure of the three main divisions of the National Defense Army is huge, and Tan Tai has indeed emptied Jinan City.

"Jinan City hasn't even sealed the city gate now, so it's not difficult to get in if you want to."

The guide set off from Jinan early this morning, and what he said made Wang Qiang a little suspicious.

"The general doesn't believe what the little one says? The little ones are still in your hands, where do you dare to tell a lie? I also want the Wehrmacht to get rid of the Tartars sooner, so that I can cut off the rat's tail from my head. If it weren't for the fact that the whole family was in Jinan, I would have run to Yangzhou and not come back. Shang Jia saw that Wang Qiang was a little unconvinced. Hurry forward and make a guarantee.

"Xie Kui, come here, we need to adjust the battle plan, you arrange about a hundred people, change into the clothes of the people, and wait for the Jinan city gate to open early tomorrow morning, and immediately blend into the city and control the city gate."

Wang Qiang thought about it for a while and felt that it was unlikely that Shangjia would deceive himself, so he wanted to go to Jinan without a fight.

"There are still some relatives in the village outside Jinan, I can go to them and ask them to come in with you, so it may be smoother." Shang Jia was also very happy to see that Wang Qiang believed his words, and took the initiative to step forward and say to Wang Qiang.

"Your relative's village is not far from Jinan City?" Wang Qiang asked.

"It's not far, it's not far, it's just four or five miles."

Wang Qiang raised his hand and looked at his watch, and seeing that half an hour was almost up, he turned to Xie Kui and said:

"Order the troops to leave immediately, let's get to that village first."

The weather tonight was excellent, with a bright moon hanging in the sky, and Wang Qiang could even see Xie Kui's face on the other side. The first few nights were gloomy, which caused the march to be too slow, otherwise it would have been in Jinan City by now, but fortunately the sky was beautiful tonight.

"The first battalion and I are marching in a hurry, Xie Kui, you can take the second battalion, the third battalion and the people together to be a little slower, just arrive before dawn, notice that there is a need to hide near Jinan, let's get there early and prepare." By the way, fellow, can you keep up? After Wang Qiang finished speaking to Xie Kui, he turned to ask Shang Jia.

"General, the small one is doing a small business, relying on two legs, and it is not a problem to walk dozens of miles."

Hearing Shang Jia's words, Wang Qiang stopped being verbose and took a battalion of more than 600 people to set off first.

Under the moonlight, the battalion led by Wang Qiang walked quickly, and no one spoke, only the sound of footsteps.

"Why didn't you hear a dog bark?" Wang Qiang felt a little strange, after walking for so many days, he only heard some dogs barking near the village shortly after he set off, and after entering the hinterland of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, he never heard them again, which made him feel a little strange.

"General, where are the dogs in the village! All of them were captured and killed by the Qing soldiers. Shang Jia was indeed not walking slowly, and he kept following Wang Qiang closely, and only then did he reply when he heard Wang Qiang's question.

At more than two o'clock in the morning, the first battalion rushed to Lijiazhuang, where Shangjia's relatives were located, and stood outside the village, and the city wall of Jinan City in front of it was already faintly visible in the moonlight.

Shang Jia took Wang Qiang and the guards to knock on the door of a farmer's house, and it was a middle-aged man in his forties who opened the door, looking at dozens of people standing outside the door, and was so surprised that he almost shouted.

"Don't scream! They were the National Defense Force in Nanjing, which was formerly the Yangzhou Army. The merchant stepped forward and pressed his mouth and pulled him into the house.

Then the middle-aged man and the businessman knocked on the doors of more than a dozen ordinary people one after another.

Wang Qiang personally selected more than 20 soldiers, and quickly changed the people's clothes, but fortunately, the people now have the habit of wrapping their heads with turbans, and the short hair of the soldiers is not a big problem.

More than two dozen people were led by the commander of a battalion, and Wang Qiang wanted to go in person, but Shang Jia said that he was too tall and would attract the attention of the Qing soldiers at the city gate.

When everything was ready, Xie Kui also arrived with the second and third battalions and the people, and was now resting in the woods outside the village.

The battle to seize the gate of Jinan was not thrilling at all, and more than 100 Qing soldiers guarding the south gate of Jinan City found out that the national defense army was coming, and they surrendered directly.

Less than twenty minutes after the opening of the gate of Jinan City at dawn, Wang Qiang was already standing on the tower of the south gate of Jinan City. (To be continued.) )