A.D. 1** 4th September 15th.

Outside the city of Fengtian Worm Rock County.

In this season, it is the time when the grass and forest in the northeast are dense, the mountains on both sides are lush and green, and a road winds past the side of the county town of Yanyan, turning to the direction of Gaiping and Niuzhuang in the northwest.

At the head of the low county town of Yanyan, the Zhangqi of the army fluttered coldly under the sun. The three entrances to the county seat were sealed, except for the northwest entrance, where several soldiers in black uniforms stood straight with Murata-style rifles. At the entire city gate, except for the soldiers, there was simply no one in or out.

Suddenly, the soldiers snapped their feet and saluted respectfully. I saw an officer with the rank of second lieutenant in a cavalry uniform at the gate of the city riding out first, followed by a convoy escorted by dozens of cavalrymen.

These cars are all commonly used in the Northeast, with two wheels and wide wheels, one pulled in front and one pushed in the back, and occasionally mixed with several horse-drawn carts. The convoy was full of grain, hay and horse fodder, and the people were all Chinese people with pigtails, with their heads down, pulling or driving the carts, there were two or three hundred people. None of these people raised their heads, as if the fluttering Yuezhang flag could pierce people's hearts all the way.

Since the second army of the Qing Dynasty landed at Huayuankou, it first fought from east to west, fell the fortress of Lushun, and then fought from south to north, from Fuzhou Avenue to the past, and defeated the main force of the Qing army in southern Liaoning in Gaiping, and the soldiers have been pursued to the area of Tianzhuangtai. The sharpness and impulse of the initial landing, by the time it got here, several big battles were fought, and it was almost consumed. It is necessary to replenish ammunition, replenish grain, and adjust the establishment, so that we can launch another attack, break the Qing army now guarding the area of Tianzhuangtai, and then turn to attack Jinzhou, and threaten the Zhili Plain along the western Liaoning corridor.

During this period, the Second Army had been expanding its territory with modest forces. The main thing is to collect grain. For the sake of this First Sino-Japanese War, he also took out the old foundation of his national strength, and now the battlefield is getting bigger and bigger, even if he uses the strength to eat milk, the civilian ships will be requisitioned and distributed, and it will be great if he can replenish the ammunition for the Second Army, not to mention that the base camp is still making every effort to plan the strategic operation in Shandong Province. Grain and horse fodder still need to be collected on the spot by the Second Army. During this time, the Second Army was thus divided into four parts.

The Qing army in the southern Liaoning area, in addition to the relatively complete battalion head in Tianzhuangtai, 40,000 or 50,000 people tried their best to hold on there, blocking the front of the Liaoning West Corridor, and other places, both lack of troops and no determination to resist. As soon as the small army arrived, the officials on duty and the newly recruited battalion leaders were defeated by the wind, and more than ten days down, taking the main assembly place of the second army of Gaiping as the starting point to the east, Dashiqiao, Ximucheng, and Yanyan...... More than ten towns, all of them have fallen! And the army didn't even put a few shots!

This area of southern Liaoning, known as the densely populated area outside the Guan, abundant grain, said that the army is entrenched here, a large amount of grain has been forcibly requisitioned, a large number of people have been requisitioned under the bayonet, these China's own materials, will continue to be sent to the second army assembly area, as a reserve to support their next battle!

The convoy left the county seat, got on the road, and headed northwest, and in a blink of an eye it entered the hilly area. The people walked hard, but a cavalry squad of these escorts was lazy and lazy. The regular army of the Qing State was so unbeatable, and there was no resistance to the expansion and levy at these times. According to the comments of General Oyama Iwa, commander of the Second Army of the Qing Dynasty, China is still a country that has not yet fully awakened the consciousness of the modern nation-state...... It's early.

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In the mountains and forests on both sides of the road, there was a sudden call of partridge birds, three long and two short, the call sounded here, and there was a response there, and it spread far away on both sides of the road for a while.

In a depression behind the hills, it was full of men wearing leather jackets with their sleeves torn off. As soon as you look at their outfits, you know that they are a team of big poles and horses outside the gate. I wear a leather jacket in the summer because I am often active in the field, and the leather is moisture-proof. Even in summer, it's not warm at night!

These men are obviously divided into several groups of people and horses, and the horses are all far away, and the team is under the centralized supervision of the green grazing. These squads are not in battle, and when they get something, they are more than half less than those who go into battle. Among these discreet figures, there were twenty or thirty soldiers wearing yellow Western-style military uniforms, leather riding boots, and large-brimmed hats. As soon as they heard the signal from the front, these soldiers were resting on their backpacks, and they all rolled over and sat up.

This is naturally the advance cavalry unit of the Praetorian Guard, and in five or six days, they have gone from the border between China and North Korea to southern Liaoning! These cavalry were scattered, with food and equipment, to contact and convene large poles, insurance teams, and horse teams from all over the country, for a time, all over the border, I don't know how many heroes from the rivers and lakes gathered here!

"Dai is in charge, twenty little devils, escorting a convoy, let's fight in Fengtian! A devil's head is fifty taels of silver, and an officer has two poles in addition to silver, and Hubei makes five sons fast, right? ”

First, a strong man approached Dai Jun, the commander of the first battalion of the Praetorian Guard Cavalry Standard, and asked in a low voice and eagerly. Before Dai Jun could reply, another tall and thin man next to him pushed the man: "your grandma, Fengtian is a pole in Liaoning, and the matter of southern Liaoning, what's the matter is also a good deal for us!" Dai is in charge, we don't want silver, two hundred silver is folded for one pole and five sons is fast, and an officer is exchanged for two old German Mauser immediately, this deal, we are good at it! ”

"The Queen Mother also told you to count the ball, let's go to the Black Tigers for nothing? Twenty heads, let's take at least half of them, right? We don't want officers, it's all brotherly righteousness......"

The leader of the seventh and eighth roads crowded in front of Dai Jun, blushing and shouting loudly. Who is the person in front of him, Dai Jun, the famous gunner of the Qilin team outside the gate back then! Don't say that this face is enough, even if people vote for the official, they have now achieved the title of general! Look at the guy in someone's hand, this dress! Not to mention that they came with white silver and dark foreign guns, there was already news yesterday that Huang Huadian Xiao Zhang Fei's team killed eight devils, burned forage, and received four hundred silver, as well as two five-shot fast guns!

Face, silver, and friendship are all here, and their teams still have a reason not to die?

Seeing these masters crowded in front of him, I don't know why, Dai Jun, who was one of them more than half a year ago, just felt irritable in his heart.

He led the team to enter southern Liaonan, and when he stepped into this land, he could see the bulletin of the blood-red customs of the commander of the town, the banner of the chapter fluttering at the head of the town, the people who were arrested, and the villages that were burned!

In North Korea, all he saw was the subservience of the North Korean Janissaries to their Janissaries, and they were regarded as celestial beings, so he couldn't imagine why these people didn't resist when they stepped into our land?

These horse thieves are between their arrival, these scattered, lonely army food convoys, why don't they attack?

Fortunately, he put on the tiger skin of the Praetorian Guard, and fortunately, he was followed by Lord Xu. And in front of Lord Xu, there is no room for me to play a little prestige! In the first battle of Anzhou, these invincible troops who showed off their might on the ground in southern Liaoning still rolled like mud monkeys, either they were killed, or they fled, or they were only captured alive!

He waved the horsewhip in his hand violently, and couldn't help but roar out: "Everyone, the devils are so scattered, and there are not a few hairy people in the team to collect grain, why don't you fight?" ”

Several masters were yelled at by him, and they all looked at each other and explained their own ways.

“…… The officials of the court and the little devils went to war, and we didn't ...... with the officials all the way."

"If you beat the devil, you want to die, you want to consume bullets, you want to lose your guns, and the court supplies us? It's not that your brother has brought Lord Xu's silver and Lord Xu's fast gun, and now supplies us......"

"People don't make profits, who can get up early......"

"The devils are all big guns......

Dai Jun wanted to attack again, but he remembered what Xu Yifan had said to the officers of the cavalry when they were leaving.

“…… The team you want to contact is not the Praetorian Guard, no matter what, I just want you to hold back the pace of the army! Everyone, when we return to the Praetorian Guard, we are to be the giant hand that can turn the tide and mend the cracks in the sky, only our Praetorian Guard, only our Praetorian Guard! ”

Thinking of this, Dai Jun's head couldn't help but hold his head higher. Outside, the partridge whistle is getting more and more urgent. Dai Jun cursed and stretched out his hand to assign: "It's good to hit the middle, Fengtianhao and the Black Tiger team are on both sides, a head is fifty taels of silver, don't exchange the silver for a quick gun, just give it on the spot!" Other masters answered, fuck, there are so many little devils in southern Liaoning, you have to beat them! The Praetorian Guards have silver guns! If we don't come back, we will stir up a beacon fire everywhere when we come back! Let the little devil in our land, it will not stand until death! ”

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The sun is spicy, and it is the hottest time of the day. The second lieutenant of the Komatsu cavalry was a little listless on his horse, and the more than 20 cavalrymen under his command formed a vigilant formation with heavy front and light rear, escorting the convoy forward. The guarded advance of the cavalry was different from that of the infantry, because the horses were more mobile, and they could put the main force in front, and always open a large search front for the most dangerous front and front flanks, but when entering the official road sandwiched by the hills, such a formation was not suitable - the team could not spread.

However, Second Lieutenant Komatsu didn't have much interest in adjusting - the Qing people really didn't have the will to fight at all! Whether it was their army, or these people in the northeast who were a head taller than his soldiers. In addition to the smooth progress of the Second Army of the Qing Dynasty, it was originally said that in the hearts of the people, there was a mentality of admiration and worship for the huge neighbor to the west for thousands of years. But when the soldiers set foot on this land, they found that the previous trembling had become a senseless worry.

The soldiers of the Qing Kingdom do not seem to have a sense of honor as soldiers, and they run fast. The people of the Qing Kingdom were numb and silent, as if the changes in the world around them had nothing to do with them, it was nothing more than that the officials of the Qing Dynasty had replaced the officials of the imperial court, and the food and materials that had been levied by the Qing [***] team were handed over to another force......

Second Lieutenant Komatsu was also from a family of feudal scholars, and he read a little Hanshu and modern Western history at the non-commissioned officer school. In this frustrating hot weather, he squinted at the hundreds of people dressed in gray cloth and tamed forward, looking at the lush hills and black land in the northeast. The young lieutenant couldn't help but sigh out of place.

“…… Indeed, as the sages of Matsudo and Tsukisho said, the rule of the Tatars has completely destroyed the morale of such a huge country! I say how fortunate this empire is, when the Western white ghosts invaded, there were Meiji sages who awakened the people's morale and created the current face of the empire in one fell swoop, but such a big Qing country, there is no such a figure! In today's world, it seems that only our empire can take on the mission of the yellow race to rise up! Alas...... Sorry......"

Ensign Komatsu's emotion was not over, and suddenly on the quiet hills and hills on both sides, there was a series of whistle sounds, followed by white smoke rising and gunshots sounding like fried beans!

Two bullets from the fast gun hit the horse that Komatsu was riding, and the military horse under the crotch neighed and fell softly, Komatsu's shoulder was also numb, and he fell off the horse before he could react, he fell heavily to the ground, subconsciously touched his shoulder, his hands were full of blood, and there were a few grains of iron sand that did not get into his shoulder. As he lay there, he heard the clatter of a piece of iron sand, interspersed with the occasional shrill whistling of a few bullets.

The people let out a frightened shout, the Taiping carts collided together, and the neighing and shouting of people and horses rang out uncontrollably.

Attacked!

After a long period of training, Komatsu subconsciously struggled to stand up, and also pulled out the Western-style saber at his waist, looking around, the hills on both sides continued to spit out white smoke, and the unprepared cavalrymen of the army turned on their backs, and the second lieutenant shouted loudly: "Fire!" Fight back! ”

Before the shouting stopped, he was shocked to see a group of knights on the ridge line of the opposite hill, and the first few people were wearing Western-style military uniforms! The saber in his hand reflects the sunlight and is dazzling. The first was a tall man, the sleeves of his uniform had been rolled up high, revealing his muscular arms, and he controlled his horse with one hand, and let out a roar that he did not understand!

It was Dai Jun who appeared from the ridge line of the hills, and it was the first time he encountered the enemy, and he had to kill the enemy himself no matter what. He and a few of his men rushed in front of the good pole that hit the front. Standing on the horse, I saw a scene of people shouting and neighing in front of me, looking at hundreds of sturdy people just screaming and shouting everywhere to hide, and the cavalry was squeezed together on the not wide road, and there were not many soldiers who could stand guns, most of them were knocked off the horse and fell to pieces, it was these suddenly attacked and chaotic several cavalry, these people and they were huddled together, but no one made a move on them! I don't know why, but his anger is uncontrollable.

"It's all five-foot men, why don't you get up and kill devils? They're taking over our home now! ”

In the roar, he raised his saber and rushed down first, and several cavalrymen rushed down after him, and the sabers were raised high behind him. Then there were the variegated teams all over the mountains, roaring down with the impact, sabers, iron rulers, foreign guns and earth guns all held high.

Dai Jun took the lead, staring at the officer who was standing there with blood and wielding a command knife, several cavalrymen shot at him, he didn't dodge, the bullets whizzed over his head, and the team behind surged up, immediately drowning these few soldiers who could still resist. Dai Jun had already rushed to the side of the officer, he half turned around and looked at him blankly, his mouth wide open, and before he could react, he had already been cut off by a knife with a shoulder strap.

"See, it's as simple as killing devils!"

In the rain of blood, Dai Jun roared angrily.

Everywhere there were local accents shouting, and the good team also shouted to the people who fled everywhere: "Three elders, four young, only kill devils, don't hurt the neighbors!" A head, fifty taels of silver! ”

More than 20 cavalrymen were almost powerless to fight back, and the people seemed to react from ignorance when they heard the familiar accent, looking at those screaming soldiers, blinking and not believing it. A wounded cavalryman crawled out of the chaotic crowd, and at last a few civilians pounced, picked up a stone and smashed him on the head.

"Our potatoes, our jade, our wheat...... Take it if you don't give money! Live in our big house, smash our pots, and kill our people. Small nose ...... The most fucking bad! ”

More than 20 cavalry members were suddenly attacked by absolutely superior forces, and they were all wiped out in the blink of an eye. The teams are still too suicidal, and the twenty or so heads are really not enough to divide the wolf with more meat and less meat, and the red eyes of the leaders are just looking at Dai Jun.

Dai Jun's chest was still indignant, and he swung his saber when he saw the blood: "I can see it, the devil's neck is not iron!" The teams scattered, killed their stragglers, burned their grains, in short, so that the devils could not live in peace! Xu Dashuai's army is coming...... All rewards can be cashed out at any time! It's not for the silver, everyone in charge of the house, but also for our ancestors! He stretched out his hand and took off the German Mauser horse pistol on his back, which made the eyes of all the heroes look hot, and threw it to the good boss: "Next!" ”

The man stretched out his hand and took it: "Thank you for being in charge!" We are not cowards, if the official family had the same blood surname as Lord Xu, we would have done this a long time ago! Aren't all our folks around here? Dai Da Master, wait to count the heads! ”

Each team was refreshing, a series of whistles, each beckoning the team, and the rolling ones went around. Dai Jun gasped and looked back, except for dozens of Praetorian Guard cavalry guarding him, the hundreds of people stood in a daze, and no one dared to clean up the convoy piled up on the road.

Dai Jun waved his hand: "Carry your own food home!" Those who can't carry it are burned! You're all five feet long, and you're not missing two eggs, and twenty devils are running around with you! ”

A few people asked, "Dare to ask which battalion leader the chief is?" ”

Dai Jun returned his sword to the sheath: "Praetorian Guard!" ”

"Did you listen to what the chief master stationed in front of me said, Lord Xu's Praetorian Guard who killed a lot of devils in North Korea?"

"Is there a second Praetorian Guard in the world?"

Several people glanced at each other, and then looked at Dai Jun, who was standing proudly on the horse, and suddenly cried loudly: "Let's send husbands, mules and horses, grain, and silver, and we will transport as much as the official family levies." Tens of thousands of masters, the devil will run away when he comes, what else can we do as people? If the chief masters fight devils like this, how can we, the people with sorghum flowers, suffer this crime, and how can we be reluctant to give up this life? Why didn't we get a Master Xu! ”

"As long as the Praetorian Guards come back to fight devils, we will have food and food, and we will have a master and a master, and we will transport it wherever the adults want to send it!"

"As long as the master supports him, let's run if he doesn't lose it, and when he sees a lonely devil, let's fight with them!"

Soldiers, fighting to defend the community. Responsibility, Honor, National ...... This is something that Xu Yifan occasionally came to class during the short-term training of the teaching team, and those German instructors, Chu Wanli, and Li Yunzong would instill it. Dai Jun and they are all big and coarse, being a cavalry is just a horse and a fast gun, and they can run and survive, and no one listens to them.

Following Xu Yifan's Canglong Banner, he was invincible in North Korea, and all he saw was the awe-inspiring gaze of the North Korean people. turned back to China, but saw the chapter flag fluttering, the mountains and rivers shattered, and looked at the scene of everything in front of me. Think about the main force of the Qing army that fled all the way, and then think about Xu Yifan, who stood at the front of the team when he launched a charge against Suchuanli......

"Lord Xu...... I seem to get a little bit of a idea...... Let's go to you, but it's just a background, but you take us to fight in the east and west, and you want more than just everyone's background, right? Do you just want to change everything about this bastard? ”

“…… It's just ...... to die."

He smiled suddenly, turned to the cavalry under his command and said, "Brothers, are we going to have a lively time, go to Worm Rock and say hello to the little devil?" ”

The cavalry under his command responded violently, and Dai Junle's horse man stood up, turned around in half a circle, and went first, with dozens of knights behind him, and the wind seemed to follow.

That night, several military grain collection teams outside the city were attacked, with dozens of casualties. The army closed the city gate tightly and imposed full martial law. I didn't dare to take half a step out of the county seat of Yanyan within a few days, and I couldn't talk about the supply of Gaiping's first line at all.

Such a scene is still happening in various parts of southern Liaoning. The advance force of the cavalry of the Praetorian Guard has been fully deployed in southern Liaoning, Chen Bin is in Ximu City, and Jiang Ziming has even gone around to the vicinity of Haicheng. Horse teams from all over the northeast came in an endless stream, attacking the small units of the Japanese army that were collecting grain. General Dashanyan of the Second Army of the Qing Dynasty was surprised to find that starting from 15 September, he lost contact with many troops scattered as military stations for a time, and beacon fires burned everywhere in southern Liaoning. There are rumors everywhere that Xu Yifan's Praetorian Guard is coming soon!

And on the night of this day, in the sea off Shandong, east of Rongcheng Bay, under the low-hanging sunset, two steel fleets flying the Yuezhang flag completed the convergence, and dozens of smoke plumes went straight into the sky.

The Third Army of the Qing Dynasty, and the combined fleet that had just shelled the Dagu area, had already appeared outside the Weihai Fortress!

(To be continued)