Under the city of Wuzhou, the heavy rain turned into a continuous drizzle for several days, even in the south, it was so humid and cold, it was unbearable.

Ten miles away from the east of the city, the camp on the Matouling on the north bank of the Xijiang River is densely packed, in front of the big tent of the Chinese army, the two side by side flags are wet by the rain, and they hang weakly, and they can only see the two columns of text on the inside of the banner banner: "Yulin Army Command, Left Captain, Jia", "Longxiang Army Command, Right Captain, Zhang".

"I'm not convinced!"

In the big tent, Lin Tangjie, the commander of the left battalion of the Yulin Army, said in protest.

"When I gave the order to retreat, I had the consciousness of being dismissed, and I didn't hold Jinjiling, which was a dereliction of duty. But if you want to expel me from the Heavenly Punishment Society, I just won't accept it! I'm in the spirit of the Director-General...... No, the teachings of the Heavenly King made it decided to retreat in advance! ”

Lin Tangjie was covered in mud, and the silver stars on the title badges on his shoulders had been removed, and while he spoke, he still covered the blood line Taiji stamp on his left shoulder, not letting Jun Sima take it off.

"I was beaten by Qinggou, I lost Jinjiling, and I still have the face to protect my identity as a Heavenly Punishment Society? I said you ......"

"It's not in training camp! You sit down! ”

Zhang Hanwan was so angry that he got up and reprimanded, but Jia Hao interrupted him in a deep voice.

Although the inside of the matter is far from being as embarrassing as Zhang Hanwan said, judging from the results, Lin Tangjie was indeed repelled by the Qing soldiers, and Jinjiling, six miles to the west, was also lost. Coupled with the setback suffered by Ding Tangrui of the right battalion in Cenxi County, the Yulin Army really hit his head in Guangxi, Jia Hao didn't show any expression on his face, but the anger in his heart was rising day by day.

But he had to admit that Lin Tangjie ordered a retreat from Jinjiling, not because he was cowardly, nor because he couldn't withstand the attack of the Qing troops. A few days ago, it was pouring rain, and neither side could fight. Yesterday, the rain slowed down, and the Qing soldiers dispatched thousands of hand-to-hand soldiers to attack Jinjiling in turn, but they were all repelled by Lin Tangjie with the left battalion. Because it was still raining, even if there was a canopy to cover it, most of the guns were still ineffective, and Lin Tangjie even took his guards to the battlefield in person, and his swords were stained with the blood of the Qing soldiers.

By this morning, the canopy had been completely destroyed, all the gunpowder had been damp, the ground was muddy, and the trenches that had been dug before had become river ditches. The Qing soldiers continued to attack, and Lin Tangjie's left battalion fought entirely with bayonets and rifle butts against the Qing soldiers' waist knives and spears. Relying on the skillful combat skills and tacit cooperation of the old guards, the Qing soldiers still did not take any advantage, but Lin Tangjie felt that it was not cost-effective to fight so hard, although the Qing soldiers were killed and wounded heavily, and there were thousands of corpses in Jinjiling, but the four wing commanders under him were also killed and wounded, and the soldiers suffered more than 300 casualties, many of which were old guards, which made him extremely heartbroken.

Lin Tangjie thinks that it is nothing if Jinjiling is lost, as long as the weather is clear, it will be recaptured with a flying cannon, and the blood of the soldiers should not be shed for such a small place. For this reason, he consulted Jia Hao, hoping to retreat. But before Jia Hao's order to allow the retreat arrived, he saw that the Qing troops were assembling in the brigade, so he took it upon himself to withdraw first.

When he returned to the Matouling camp, Jia Hao removed him, and the Yulin Army Mentor of the Heavenly Punishment Society would expel Lin Tangjie from the Heavenly Punishment Society.

Lin Tangjie admitted the punishment of depriving himself of his military position, but the punishment of the Heavenly Punishment Society was extremely unacceptable.

"You were dismissed from military service because you acted without military orders, abandoned your position, and disturbed the morale of the army. And the reason for expelling you as a member of the Heavenly Punishment Society is because you know what you are doing and what you are doing without reflection! ”

Jia Hao said calmly, while reminding himself in his heart that he must not be angry, he is now the chief general of the two armies and 10,000 people, and he must not let his emotions overflow.

Understanding is understanding, originally he also approved Lin Tangjie's request to retreat, but Lin Tangjie acted without saying anything, and felt that he had done a very reasonable job, with a generous and responsible attitude, Jia Hao did not approve of his mentality. The Heavenly Punishment Society's mentor will expel him, just to let him be touched.

Sure enough, Lin Tangjie was not only touched, but also argued in person.

"It's all wrong, the lesser of two evils! I believe that the King of Heaven is here, and he will approve of my decision! Didn't you also accept my request to retreat? ”

Lin Tangjie still stiffened his neck, he was originally a miner in Lao Fengtian Village, and he couldn't be more familiar with Jia Hao, Wu Ya, Zhang Hanwan and others, although he had to obey orders in the army, but he didn't treat Jia Hao as his boss completely, and he didn't have too many scruples when he spoke.

"You are not the king of heaven, you don't have to be responsible for a country, and you are not me, you don't have to be responsible for the Yulin army. Lin Tangjie, you are the commander of the left battalion of the Yulin Army! What you have to bear is the responsibility of the left battalion! ”

Jia Hao's voice was a few points higher, turning over the year, he had just turned twenty years old, one year younger than Lin Tangjie, listening to the other party's loud tone, he was always very uncomfortable in his heart, and subconsciously reprimanded.

"The punishment of the Heavenly Punishment Society for you is decided by the Yulin Army Mentor, and the punishment is not that you retreat without authorization, but that after you withdraw, you did not reflect on your behavior at all!"

Ding Tangrui, the commander of the right battalion of the Yulin Army, couldn't help but speak, and when Lin Tangjie withdrew, he said to Jia Hao with a very responsible look: "Remove me", which made him very angry, it was he who first proposed to expel Lin Tangjie at the mentor meeting.

"I'm wrong, that's not enough? Should I weep bitterly? I have this temper, I can't act if I want to act, besides, don't you encourage everyone to act like this? ”

Lin Tangjie was puzzled.

"What do you think is wrong? Is it the fault of admitting that you act without permission, or the fault of admitting that you are afraid of death in war? ”

Lian Yaoying's commander Pan Shiyu had just returned from the Hunan and Guangdong border in the north, and when he saw Lin Tangjie's attitude, he couldn't help but jump to his feet.

"Of course, people die in war, but it depends on whether death is worth it!"

Lin Tangjie was also annoyed, Pan Shiyu was punishing his heart, he was by no means a coward!

"Tang Jie, you are really wrong, you are wrong, whether it is worth dying or not is not for you to judge, but for Jia Tong."

Xiang Shanxuan, who joined the army, saw the smell of gunpowder rising in the big tent, and hurriedly spoke up, except for him, a middle-aged man in his thirties, the other generals were all hairy boys in their twenties. Now that he encountered the first setback, these boys were a little unbreathable, he was full of reconciliation, but with little effect, and he felt that he was under great pressure, so he hoped that Li Xi could come to calm the field as soon as possible.

Xiang Shanxuan has experience after all, these words shocked Lin Tangjie, he began to frown and think deeply, but then he shook his head.

"No, the King of Heaven said very early on that we should act according to our own hearts, and in times of crisis, stick to what we think is right, that's what I thought at the time, and I decided to bear the consequences of this choice, and my attitude is right!"

Jia Hao nodded, Lin Tangjie began to think deeply, this is very good, but in his opinion, the direction is just off.

"The Heavenly King has also repeatedly emphasized that when you ordered the retreat, did you ever think that your decision would not only affect your left battalion, but the entire Yulin Army, and even all our Anglo-Chinese soldiers, especially the Heavenly Punishment Society!? What is the slogan of our Heavenly Punishment Society!? The heart is in the sky! Blood on the ground! We are supposed to treat ourselves as if we were dead! When the King of Heaven took us to swear an oath, didn't he make it clear? ”

Jia Hao finally couldn't suppress his churning mood and began to get excited.

"I can't say it more accurately to join the army, and judge whether the soldiers are worth dying or not, not in you, not even in me, but in the king! On what basis do you judge? You think you're thinking about the big picture, but you have to figure out where you stand first! Don't get dizzy! You are responsible for the lives of the soldiers of the left battalion, but that responsibility is not to retreat with them under the enemy's blade to save your life! It's when it's time to die, let them die more worthwhile! As a member of the Heavenly Punishment Society, you should be more responsible for the honor of the Heavenly Punishment Society and the soldiers! ”

He took a breath and began to talk about the practical.

"I gave you permission to retreat, but after the right battalion changed guards with you! Jinjiling is indeed not a strategic place, as long as the weather is clear, a few cannons will be recaptured, but the weather will not be clear? God will not give anyone a chance for nothing, it is up to us to grasp it ourselves! ”

He glanced at the generals of the two armies in the tent and began to judge himself.

"Wuzhou can't be attacked for a long time, regardless of the reason, the blame lies with me, and I am willing to accept how the king of heaven wants to punish him. But I asked myself that there was no fault in arranging the troops, relying on your efforts, the goal of absorbing the Qing troops to gather in one place has also been achieved, so far, not counting the battle of Jinjiling, our Yulin army has been killed and wounded more than 500 people, their deaths, I think it is worth it. I, Jia Hao, at least have not been derelict in this matter! ”

Then he looked at Lin Tangjie.

"And what moment is it worth it or not? The King of Heaven also said that shouting slogans for the sake of an illusory goal, letting others die, and letting oneself live, is mostly an ulterior motive. I'm sure you're not, but if you're ignoring what's in front of you for the sake of a future that's hard to see, don't blame others for thinking in that direction! ”

Zhang Hanwan said angrily: "That's right! Be a man, don't be good and small, and be a soldier, you can't feel worthless and dare not work hard! ”

A layer of fine sweat appeared on Lin Tangjie's forehead, and he vaguely understood that he had made a big mistake and he had crossed the line. He is not qualified to bear the responsibility of when his subordinates should die in battle and when they should live, his responsibility is to let them die as they deserve.

Pan Shiyu interjected: "Now Qinggou should be arrogant, I think we can't fight them hand-to-hand, look, they have to take advantage of this rain to continue to advance!" ”

Jia Hao snorted coldly: "All along, the Qing soldiers have only been sharp in our guns, and now in the battle of Jinjiling, I have told them that we are really weak in hand-to-hand combat, but do you think that this is really the case?" ”

Everyone shouted at the same time: "Of course not!" ”

Starting from Qingtian Siwei, Li Xi's soldiers practiced hand-to-hand combat with muskets, and even practiced more hand-to-hand combat. It's just that guns alone were enough to clean up the troops before, and the ability of hand-to-hand combat has not yet been fully revealed.

Zhang Hanwan said: "Although the Qing soldiers have gathered forty or fifty thousand, less than one-third of them are hand-to-hand soldiers!" All of us are hand-to-hand soldiers, and if we really have to fight, the troops are not much less than them! ”

Jia Hao said in a deep voice: "Wuzhou faces the river on both sides, and the north is a stretch of mountains, and the riverside low land in the east is barely able to set up troops, and the situation outside the city is undulating, and it is difficult to use artillery." This is a narrow road, and the brave wins! The Guangxi soldiers are also relying on a spirit to support, we are on this rainy day, just rely on hand-to-hand combat, and defeat them in a dignified manner, so that their hearts can be broken, and Guangxi Province can be truly shaken. ”

Hearing Jia Hao's words, he already had the intention of fighting hard with the Qing soldiers on a rainy day, and Xiang Shanxuan subconsciously persuaded: "The King of Heaven should arrive in these days, is it not to stabilize first, and then make a decision when the King of Heaven comes?" ”

Jia Hao's eyes flashed with a resolute light: "At the beginning, the Heavenly King was in Guanyin Mountain, with a thousand people against a five-fold enemy, and in Shaozhou, with 4,000 against 30,000, it was all fought with a decisive heart!" Now we have 10,000 soldiers, and there are less than 20,000 Qing soldiers who can fight with us in the rain, so they don't dare to fight head-on, what does the king want us to do!? ”

The phrase "What do you want us to do?" Not only did Zhang Hanwan and others boil with enthusiasm, but Lin Tangjie almost bit his lip, hating himself for having too many distracting thoughts. He lost Jinjiling, and the entire Yulin Army and Longxiang Army had to pay the price of blood to get this game back, judging from his previous worthless algorithm, his withdrawal was really not worth it.

Seeing that Xiang Shanxuan only sighed slightly, and had no objections, Jia Hao got up and ordered.

"Without sharp guns, we still have butts and bayonets, we are still a unit, we have always been used to fighting hand in hand, we have too many advantages against the Qing soldiers, rainy days should be our home field! Instead of what the Qing soldiers thought, we became weak soldiers on rainy days. Now, defeat them with dignity, and let them be afraid of us, day and night, rain or shine! ”

He lowered his voice, and commands seemed to roar out of his chest.

"On this rainy day, beat the Qing soldiers so that they don't dare to take the lead!"

The generals agreed with a bang, and their faces were full of excitement.

(To be continued)