The next day, at four o'clock in the morning on the 10th of November, the first army camp was lit with torches, and the men began to bury the pot and cook, and it was not long before the rest of the soldiers began to get up, fold the thin blankets and re-tie them, and stuff them into their backpacks.

Then began to eat en masse as a unit of infantry companies!

Although the whole barracks had torches, there was not much noise, and the soldiers were preparing for the start according to the usual discipline!

Time passed little by little, and soon the soldiers of the First Army ran out of rebellion, and then before the sky was completely cool, the army had already begun to move forward.

At this time, I saw the quality of the Royal Army, if it was a soldier who was replaced by the Auxiliary Defense Army, it would be indispensable to make noise and scolding from the officers, but the queue of the Royal Army was quiet, and only the sound of footsteps echoed in everyone's ears.

The gap between the Royal Army and the Auxiliary Defense Force is not only reflected in discipline and other consciousness, but also in training, physical fitness, etc.!

Why did Shi Qingxuan and Shen Chiyun only bring the Royal Army and not the Auxiliary Defense Army when they pursued the Qing army this time?

That's because of the general deviation of the physical fitness of the Auxiliary Defense Army, so it is okay for them to march slowly, but if they are allowed to get up at four o'clock in the morning like the Royal Army, and then walk more than 30 kilometers a day, not to mention whether these auxiliary defense soldiers will be in a mood, but it is certain that there will be many auxiliary defense soldiers who fall down along the way, tired and unable to stand up.

The soldiers of the Auxiliary Defense Army were all prisoners of the Qing army and the Taiping army, and the origin of these prisoners was very complicated. But they all have one thing in common, and that is physical deviation. There are both young and old, and the weak.

In the final analysis, it is naturally the result of not having enough to eat every day. Although after being reorganized into the Auxiliary Defense Army, the Chinese Army increased the supply of food for them, and there may be some differences according to the adequacy of logistics for each unit, but the most basic three meals a day and two dry meals can be guaranteed, so that they can slowly recover their physical fitness.

However, this kind of thing could not be effective in a short period of time, and only a few soldiers in the auxiliary defense divisions established in the early years recovered to an acceptable level of physical fitness after two years of training, but the vast majority of the auxiliary defense soldiers were still about the same as before. It may be an exaggeration to say that it will be blown by the wind, but it is definitely impossible to maintain a certain level of physical fitness and high morale while marching at high speed for several days like the soldiers of the Royal Army.

In terms of physical fitness, soldiers of the Royal Army must have excellent physical fitness when they are recruited, and after joining the Royal Army, they will be provided with almost unlimited food and high-intensity physical training. It's enough for them to build a whole body of muscles in just a few months.

These Royal Army soldiers don't see anything when they put on their uniforms, but if they take off their shirts, their arms are bulging muscles, and people with strong abs grab a large patch. Even from the perspective of later generations, although these Royal Army soldiers are generally not tall in height, they are estimated to be about 1.63 meters on average. But the muscles on the body are absolutely speechless.

In addition to the guarantee of the village chief and the village chief, the recruitment standard of the Royal Army must be guaranteed, and it is true that there are family members in the family. No bad deeds, to ensure that it is a good family. It is also required that soldiers must have a minimum height of one meter six. If the flat lift reaches 100 catties, you must run more than 10 kilometers within an hour, and those who smoke or have smoked foreign cigarettes will not be accepted, those who are cunning will not be accepted, and those who are weak and have dark diseases will not be collected.

It's quite interesting that the cunning above doesn't take it, this means that people who are too cunning and have too many independent thinking don't take it, why, because the soldiers of the army don't need you to be too smart and think too much, on the contrary, the stupid soldiers are better to train, discipline and carry out orders.

A soldier who is too smart is not a good soldier!

Most of these conditions are very high for contemporary China, but height is the most relaxed requirement.

The minimum height standard of the Royal Army is 1.6 meters, this height is average for the people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and the average height of contemporary China is more than 1.6 meters, and the height decreases from north to south, for example, the average height of the northern provinces is about 1.69 meters, and although Jiangsu and Zhejiang are located in the south, they have always been important grain producing areas, and the people's lives are relatively passable, and the nutritional level is slightly higher than that of other provinces. The average male height of the people in this area can reach about 1.63 meters.

However, if this level is limited to rural areas, the average height will have to be reduced by another one or two centimeters.

The recruitment of the Royal Army is concentrated in rural areas, and it is not accepted for the small citizen class living in the city, which is why the recruitment standards of the Royal Army are so relaxed!

The average height of the current Royal Army soldiers is about 1.63 meters, but they are all stout and strong, and their physical fitness is far beyond that of ordinary soldiers in this era.

Only an army composed of such qualified soldiers can continue to march at a high intensity without worrying about running a few kilometers and lying down.

The 1st and 3rd Divisions of the First Army set out to pursue the north before it was dark, while the soldiers of the Jianghuai New Army in front were still asleep.

They didn't rest until late last night, and now they've only slept for a few hours!

However, these ordinary soldiers can sleep, but some peripheral vigilant troops naturally will not lie down to sleep, just like the First Army sent scout cavalry to closely monitor the Jianghuai New Army several miles away, the Jianghuai New Army also sent scout cavalry to keep a close eye on the pursuers in the rear.

After all, the two sides have only been together for five or six kilometers, and it is not a difference of tens of kilometers, so it has caused the two sides to be transparent about each other's movements.

When the Chinese army at the back began to bury the pot and cook, and then when the number of torches increased, the cavalry of the Jianghuai New Army, which closely monitored the Chinese army in the night, hurriedly sent a letter of return.

It was only at night that the road was difficult to walk, and it was not until nearly half an hour later that the relevant news reached the senior generals of the Jianghuai New Army.

It didn't take long for Li Hongzhang to be woken up from his sleep, and when he heard that the Chinese rebel army behind him had already started to pursue. Li Hongzhang, who had dark circles under his eyes, couldn't help but curse: "Damn! ”

After cursing in a low voice, he didn't seem too flustered. It was not a long time for the Chinese army to chase after them, and they began to pursue them yesterday morning. Didn't you catch up after chasing this for a day?

"Immediately send the order down, and the whole army will urgently move!" Li Hongzhang didn't hesitate too much, and soon gave the order to let the troops go!

Even he didn't let the men of the army bury the pot to cook, because time was no longer allowed, and if it was buried in the pot, no hour would be enough, and more than an hour people would chase you directly behind your ass.

At this time, the distance between the two sides is only five or six kilometers, and as soon as he chases you, he must leave immediately, otherwise he will be caught up by others.

And once he is caught up, Li Hongzhang has no confidence to block the attack of the Chinese army in the field!

He's not one of Dushinga and Nader. As soon as his head was hot, he took the initiative to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese army in the field, which led to a crushing defeat, and he Li Hongzhang was a person who had fought with the Chinese army many times, and his own Jianghuai New Army was a new army unit that imitated the Chinese army, so he was deeply touched by how strong the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army was.

If there is no absolute necessity, he is absolutely unwilling to fight a field battle with the Royal Army of the Chinese Army in the field.

Under the shouts of the officers, the Jianghuai soldiers who had only slept for five or six hours were called up one by one, and then they also had breakfast every day and began to march directly in columns.

At this time, although the sky is not completely cool, you can already make out the ground and rush in the dark!

One was wearing a light blue military uniform. The soldiers of the Jianghuai New Army, whose heads were wrapped in the same light blue cloth, muttered while eating the cold and hard bread in their hands: "I haven't slept for a few hours, and I'm going to die!" ”

As he spoke, he took out the leather kettle on his waist and took a sip so that he could swallow the extremely unpalatable field dry food!

Other soldiers did the same. All of them are eating dry food while marching!

Fortunately, these soldiers are all soldiers of the New Army that Li Hongzhang has been training for a long time, and if they were replaced by the old troops of other Qing troops, it is estimated that they would have made a fuss a long time ago.

Compared to the Jianghuai New Army, which was on the road while eating dry food. The First Army of the Chinese Army was camped and rested on time last night, although it got up a little early. But it still allowed the soldiers to sleep for a full eight hours, and at the same time allowed the soldiers to enjoy a hot meal.

During the battle. Especially in this kind of pursuit battle, it is not easy to eat a hot meal!

Although there is no shortage of rice and grain in the Chinese army, especially for the Royal Army, there is basically an unlimited supply, flour, rice, these staple foods are unlimited supply, in addition to not being wasted, you can eat as much as you want, in short, just two words: full!

When the First Army fought in Taoyuan and Suqian, the Quartermaster Department almost swept away the local pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks and other meat animals in order to supply the meat needs of the First Army.

But this is only when there is no combat mission, and once the war starts, even the food supply of the Royal Army is greatly affected by the logistics supply capacity of the Ministry of Quartermasters.

At the same time, during the current pursuit, the troops themselves did not carry too many rations, except for the three days of dry rations carried by the soldiers themselves, the baggage units of the troops only carried an additional three days of rations, and these rations were said to be eaten for three days, so they must be eaten for three days, and even if necessary, the supply of military rations will be reduced, so as to delay it to four or even more days.

And more importantly, in the current state of pursuit, it is impossible for the troops to stop for too much time and wait for the guys to cook a hot meal for everyone to eat.

The only time to have a hot meal is to rest at night and before leaving in the morning, and during the day, especially at noon, if there are no accidents, the soldiers of the First Army can only gnaw on military rations while marching, just like the soldiers of the Jianghuai New Army.

In this pursuit, it was not easy for the Jianghuai New Army that fled in front, and it was not easy for the Chinese Army to pursue in the back!

It's a time to compete for endurance on both sides!

Everyone's normal marching speed is half a catty, the Royal Army is certainly strong, but Li Hongzhang's Jianghuai New Army is not vegetarian, and the equipment is not as good as the Royal Army, but the training of soldiers is not necessarily much worse than that of the Royal Army!

How to say it, everyone invites foreign instructors for training, they all recruit scholars to join the army and then train to become officers, and the soldiers are also selected from good families, it can be said that the cottage of the Jianghuai New Army is still very successful, except for the weapon, the Royal Army really dare not say that it is much stronger than the Jianghuai New Army.

After all, Lin Zhe is not a fairy, and more importantly, others are not stupid, you Lin Zhe knows that if you ask foreigners to train the army, Li Hongzhang will too, you Lin Zhe began to use leggings and military ranks, and Li Hongzhang didn't ask why he used it like this, just copy it.

It's not that you Lin Zhe is allowed to use it, but Li Hongzhang is not allowed to use it!

Speaking of which, the Royal Army is not much stronger in terms of training and system in the face of the Jianghuai New Army, and only the weapons that win, especially the rifles, one of the two sides is a smoothbore rifle with a combination of fire cap firing rifles and flintlock rifles, and the other is a rifled rifle fired by a fire cap, and the gap here is enough to change the strategic situation.

The second is the war, especially the experience of large-scale battles, the Chinese army since the era of Yu Shengjun, and the Taiping army has fought frequently, since 1853 Yu Shengjun has not stopped the pace of conquest, and the frequent battles not only trained a large number of officers with rich command experience, but also made most of the veterans in the Royal Army have several years of war experience!

And on the battlefield, the tactical value developed by an experienced veteran is comparable to that of ten recruits!

Just when the First Army of the Chinese Army and Li Hongzhang's Jianghuai New Army were chasing each other before the sun rose, in the right rear of the First Army, Shen Chiyun also braved the cool morning air to lead the army!

Unlike the Jianghuai New Army and the First Army that went directly north from the west of Muyang, it seemed that there was a difference between Muyang and not entering, but his Shen Chiyun's Fifth Army went straight to Muyang!

Yesterday evening, Shi Qingxuan directly conveyed the order to Shen Chiyun, the deputy commander, in the capacity of 'commander-in-chief of Jiangbei military affairs', instead of the previous tone of discussion, and the order required Shen Chiyun to immediately lead his headquarters to attack Muyang, imitate the convergence of Li Hongzhang, the enemy of Muyang, and flank the headquarters of the First Army before and after, and asked the Fifth Army to cover the strategic security of the rear position of the First Army!

The First Army pursued Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang did not go to Muyang, but crossed Muyang directly from the direction of about ten kilometers west of Muyang, and then went straight to the north.

However, the First Army is certainly chasing after it to the death, and the threat of Li Hongzhang's 10,000 Jianghuai New Army to the Chinese Army is better than that of the 100,000 or even 200,000 old Green Battalion Army, and if Li Hongzhang is not destroyed, he will seriously affect the strategic plan of the subsequent Chinese Army to go north to Shandong and Henan.

Since the First Army wants to catch up with it, but this back road cannot be left uncovered, to cover the logistics supply lines and strategic retreats of the First Army, and to avoid letting the First Army fall into the encirclement alone, it is necessary to have a strong force to protect their flank and rear positions.

And in the current northern Jiangsu region, there is no other home than the Fifth Division of the Fifth Army that can take on this important task!

In order to ensure the safety of the flank and rear positions of the First Army, Shen Chiyun had to pull out Muyang first, so as not to let Zhang Guoliang, who had fled into Muyang, come out to make trouble.

It was early in the afternoon, Zhang Guoliang, who had fled back to Muyang for several days, had just slept peacefully, and before he had time to loot local property to replenish the troops, he heard a report from his subordinates that there was a big drum rebel outside the city, and the banner was obviously in the Shen Chiyun department of Lambert, who beat Zhang Guoliang in Yangzhou and Huai'an.

After hearing the news, Zhang Guoliang felt panicked!

Why is it so fast, it's only been a few days, he Shen Chiyun went to Muyang City, could it be that he didn't defeat Huai'an, and directly chased him north? (To be continued......)