The truck has been invented by the Germans more than ten years ago, until now only Germany and Xiao Zhenlei's Zhenhua company has production, although Germany invented the truck as early as more than ten years, but rarely sold to other countries, let alone China, so in this period of China basically did not see trucks, until Zhenhua company produced trucks.

In the morning, the sun in April and May made people warm, and the Qing soldiers guarding the city gate of Suzhou City were sleepy-eyed and yawning loosely when they heard the roar of the machine in the distance, turned their heads to look, and saw a few very small iron boxes in the distance.

These iron boxes actually moved on their own, and they were getting closer and closer to the city gate, but seeing that the iron box was hung with the dragon flag of the Qing Dynasty, it didn't seem to be hostile, so the Qing soldiers did not close the city gate at the first time. But after a while, as these iron boxes got closer and closer, the iron boxes became bigger and bigger in the sight of the Qing soldiers.

"Boss, why do I feel that something is wrong, what kind of monster is this, I haven't seen me in the Qing Dynasty and such monsters! They don't eat people, do they? A Qing soldier said to the gatekeeper, his voice trembling.

The gatekeeper's face changed when he heard this, and he hurriedly let out a scream: "What are you still standing for?" Shut up the city gate for Lao Tzu, if those monsters eat people and don't spit out bones, I see where you run, hurry up, close the city gate! So saying, he turned around and ran into the city, and climbed up the tower.

When the guards took out their strength to close the city gate as quickly as possible, the car convoy of Xiao Zhenlei and others had already driven under the city gate.

On the tower of the city gate, a Qing soldier was surprised: "Hey, chief, how can I see that there are people in those iron boxes?" ”

"yes, it looks like there's a real person!" Other Qing soldiers chimed in.

The city gatekeeper always saw the commotion around him, and said loudly: "Okay, don't make any noise, let's wait and see what happens!" ”

After the convoy stopped, Xiao Zhenlei raised his hand to move, and Ma Xiaoshuang, the commander of the guard company, jumped down from the passenger seat of the first truck and walked towards the open-top off-road vehicle in front of Xiao Zhenlei.

When Ma Xiaoshuang jumped down from the truck, there was an exclamation from the city gate tower: "Ah, there are really people, you look at those iron boxes, they have so many on their backs, and there are several in their heads!" ”

After these trucks were produced, they were transported to the Nanqiao military camp for the use of the forty-six standards, the residents of Nanqiao Town have already seen it, but these trucks have never shown their faces outside, and it is no wonder that the Qing soldiers who saw this kind of big truck for the first time will be scared to pee, but this is also because the Qing Dynasty people in this era are shallow, too little knowledge, and some ignorance, if they have studied for a period of time, they will never be scared to pee when they see these trucks, just like the first time they saw the train, they were directly scared to lie down when they first saw it, Later, I saw a lot and didn't feel anything.

"Captain!" Ma Xiaoshuang walked to the side of the off-road convertible that Xiao Zhenlei was riding in and saluted Xiao Zhenlei.

Xiao Zhenlei pointed to the city gate: "Go and let them open the door, we don't have time to waste here, we have to rush to Jiangning (Nanjing) after meeting the governor."

"Yes, Captain!" Li Xiaoshuang saluted and ran to the city gate.

"Listen upstairs, we are the 46th target of the 23rd Mixed Association of the New Army, and our Lord Biao is ordered by the Governor to go to the Governor's Yamen to ask for a meeting, open the city gate quickly, and delay the Governor's major event, you can't afford to bear it one by one!"

The Qing soldiers on the city gate tower were relieved one by one after hearing this, and the city gate general wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead and shouted to the other Qing soldiers: "What are you still doing in a daze, go down and open the city gate, don't give the fierce gods below a fat beating by grabbing pigtails, and no one will be able to bear it at that time!" ”

"Yes, yes, put the total!" The Qing soldiers agreed, ran down the city tower and opened the city gate.

The convoy from outside the city then slowly drove into the city, although the speed was very slow, when the five large trucks appeared in the bustling city of Suzhou, it still frightened many people, who had seen this thing in this period? But when people saw that the truck was carrying many soldiers and still alive, they were relieved, as long as the iron box did not eat people.

Soon the convoy stopped in front of the governor's yamen, and Ma Xiaoshuang jumped out of the truck and shouted: "The whole company gathers, and the number of people in each platoon is counted!" ”

Soon there was a lively scene in front of the governor's yamen, and the voices of the platoon commanders and soldiers reporting the numbers came and went, and the momentum was quite mighty, which alarmed the people in the governor's yamen for a while, and many officials who worked in the governor's yamen ran out to see the excitement.

After counting the number of people in each platoon, the platoon commanders came to report to Ma Xiaoshuang, and finally Ma Xiaoshuang walked up to the whole company and said loudly: "All of them are there, tidy up your clothes!" ”

The soldiers quickly sorted out their clothing and equipment.

Then Ma Xiaoshuang asked the soldiers to stand upright, then turned around and ran to Xiao Zhenlei, who was standing in front, and reported to him: "Report to the commander, the 46th Standard Guard Company of the 23rd Mixed Association of the New Army has been assembled, and all the combatants have arrived, please instruct the commander!" ”

"Take a break, stay put!"

"Yes!"

The officials standing on the steps at the entrance of the governor's yamen looked at the guard company's cousin, and they were all very surprised, and they began to talk one after another.

"Ah, this posture, this is no worse than that of the six towns of Beiyang!"

Seeing this, someone who understands military affairs said: "What's not worse than Beiyang Six?" I think it's stronger than the six towns of Beiyang, and I can compare with the Japanese devils! ”

In the governor's yamen, a master walked up to Cheng Dequan with an official document and said, "My lord, a document came from the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion, saying that it was transferred from the War Department!" ”

"Oh, what's that going on?" Cheng Dequan put down a book and asked.

Master said: "The War Department said that some time ago, Xiao Zhenlei, the 46th standard commander of the 23rd Mixed Association of the New Army, went to Germany to conduct military exchanges with the German Ministry of Defense, and the German Ministry of Defense appreciated Xiao Zhenlei's military talent very much, and hoped that Xiao Zhenlei could stay in Germany for a while longer, but he did not agree, and returned to China after completing the exchange meeting. The War Department asked the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion and the Governor's Yamen to consider promoting them as appropriate! ”

After listening to it, Cheng Dequan took the official document and read it again, frowned and said, "This War Department is too lenient, right?" The 23rd Mixed Association of the New Army is an army built by our province itself, and the appointment and dismissal of officers are all appointed and dismissed by our governor Yamen, and they do not take a penny of military expenses from the War Department, and they still want to meddle in the personnel appointment and dismissal of the army of our province? ”

There are many reasons why the Qing court is getting weaker and weaker, and the excessive local authority is definitely one of the very important reasons, just like the governor and the governor, these feudal officials, are all military and political powers, taking the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion and the Jiangsu Governor's Yamen as examples, the Ninth Town of the Army (also known as the Ninth Town of Nanyang) was formed by the Liangjiang Governor's Office, and all the military expenses and other expenses are allocated by the Liangjiang Governor's Office, and the current system is Xu Shaozhen, and the Ninth Town only obeys the orders of the Liangjiang Governor, and the 23rd Mixed Association of the New Army was formed by the Jiangsu Governor's Yamen, At first, military expenses were also allocated by the governor's yamen, and officers were also appointed and dismissed by the governor's yamen, but as one of the three provinces under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu as the governor of Liangjiang, the governor of Liangjiang not only had the right to meddle in civil affairs but also in military affairs.

The master persuaded: "My lord, let's make a show, you should think about it, give them a face, and talk when we meet in the future!" ”

Cheng Dequan was a little angry and said: "My Jiangsu New Army is also a new army of the 23rd Mixed Association, and he Xiao Zhenlei is already a standard, how can this official promote him?" Do you want to remove the co-commander Ai Zhongqi and replace him? Didn't removing Ai Zhongqi offend Bao Di again? Besides, I'm worried that I won't have a chance to take away his position of the 46th standard, and now let the official promote him instead, isn't it intentionally blocking the official? ”

The master hurriedly said: "My lord, I am angry, I am angry!" Actually".

Cheng Dequan saw that his master was like that, and frowned: "If you have something to say, you don't have to say it, you don't have to say it, just say it if you have something!" ”

"Yes! My lord" The master agreed, thought for a while and said: "My lord, Bao Di has been transferred, what is it that his people still occupy the position of co-ordinator?" Now that you are in office, of course you have to replace your own people, which is reasonable, and no one can say anything, otherwise you will still be subject to others? The other one, from the villain's point of view, you have to carefully consider one or two if you want to remove Xiao Zhenlei's position at this stage! ”

"Why?" Cheng Dequan was extremely unhappy in his heart, the twenty-three mixed associations were under his control, but he couldn't appoint and dismiss the officers among them, so no one should be angry?

The master said: "My lord, the villain has already sent someone to inquire, these forty-six standards were set up by Xiao Zhenlei, although Shanghai Dao Cai Naihuang funded a lot, but the money he gave was only enough for Xiao Zhenlei to plug his teeth, these forty-six standards up and down the officers are all his Xiao Zhenlei's people, last year from the War Department transferred down several officers into his army, two of them were taken to the West by him, but this time he did not come back with him, I think nine times out of ten by this surnamed Xiao died outside!" ”

"Hiss-" Cheng Dequan gasped when he heard this, and said in shock: "He has such a big guts?" ”

"My lord, according to what he said to the War Department, those two people got seriously ill after getting seasick and vomiting on the ship to the West, and they couldn't afford to get sick, and they died before they arrived in England, and this kind of thing is not surprising, it takes more than a month to go to the West, and it is common for them to get sick on board, and it is not uncommon to die on the ship, and I don't know if what Xiao Zhenlei said is true or false, who knows about this except him? Isn't it up to him to say it with one mouth? If this matter is true, it means that Xiao Zhenlei is definitely a ruthless person, and the forty-six bids are regarded as forbidden by him, and you can casually send a few people into the forty-six bids It is very likely to follow in the footsteps of those two people.

While the two were talking, an official walked in and reported: "My lord, Xiao Zhenlei is here."

"Just say Cao Cao, Cao Cao will arrive!" Cheng Dequan was about to order this official to bring Xiao Zhenlei in, but seeing that his words were not finished, he frowned and said, "What else do you have to say?" ”

The official hesitated for a moment and said: "My lord, Xiao Zhenlei came with a full two hundred people this time, all of them are fully armed, good guys, these people are all mighty and powerful, I am afraid that they are better than the six towns of Beiyang!" ”

"Oh?" Cheng Dequan's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, and he said in his heart, what does Xiao Zhenlei want to do? The official just asked him to come to the governor's yamen to see him, and he brought so many people, and everyone was loaded with guns, what did he mean by this? Show the color old man?

Cheng Dequan didn't say it, but the master couldn't help but say: "This Xiao Zhenlei is too arrogant, right?" The adults just asked him to come and meet, he brought so many people, what did he want to do? Show off force or force the palace? ”

Cheng Dequan's face changed, and he commanded for a long time: "Go and send someone to inform Liu Zhijie, let him be ready to reinforce at any time, and inform the governor of the yamen of all the Wu Nabei forces, how many are counted, once Xiao Zhenlei is in trouble, he must quickly block the official and support until the forty-fifth standard arrives!" ”

The master hurriedly said: "Adults and slow, adults think twice, I don't think Xiao Zhenlei is going to attack the governor's yamen, if he wants to attack the governor's yamen, he won't only bring such a few people, if we do it too obviously, I'm afraid it will anger him!" ”

The official who reported just now also said: "Yes, my lord, the subordinate just now looked at Xiao Zhenlei's subordinates, if he really wants to make trouble, I'm afraid that this little force and firearms of the governor's yamen will not be able to stop them for a quarter of an hour!" ”

Cheng Dequan trembled when he heard this, "Is it so powerful?" ”

"Yes, sir!"

Cheng Dequan thought about it, his face changed several times, and after two minutes, he said: "Let's go, go out with this official to meet Xiao Zhenlei and those subordinates he brought, this official wants to see what his subordinates are like!" ”

When he walked out of the Governor's Gate, someone shouted, "Governor Cheng has arrived."

When the officials heard this, they turned around one after another, and when they saw that Cheng Dequan was really coming, they all knelt down and saluted with their horseshoe sleeves, and greeted the governor loudly, Xiao Zhenlei took a few steps forward and stood still, his feet in long leather boots leaned vigorously, made a clear sound, and saluted immediately: "Sir, Xiao Zhenlei and the forty-six standard guard company were ordered to come to report, please give instructions to the chief!" After speaking, he turned around and shouted to the guard company: "Get off the gun and salute the commander!" ”

The soldiers heard the order to remove their rifles from their shoulders and put them on the ground, and this series of actions divided into several steps looked extremely rhythmic and imposing, and then all the soldiers shouted in unison: "Hello sir!" ”

The soldiers' neat movements and neat shouts shocked Cheng Dequan, and Cheng Dequan saw Xiao Zhenlei wearing a straight New Army uniform, with a command knife hanging from his left waist, and a pistol with a holster hanging on his right waist, plus he was tall and straight, and his body exuded a heroic spirit, which he had never seen in any soldier, even the soldiers in the Japanese and Tsarist armies he saw during the Russo-Japanese War did not have such heroism and righteousness as him. R1152