“？????? There is also here, in the Yanghu area, there is a group of bandits, the number of people is about the same as the number of Yang Fei's men, but they like to move the case, everyone has horses, everyone has muskets, the bandit leader is called Zeng Qinglin, it is said that he is the son of the salt lord Zeng Guozhang, after the death of Lao Zeng, he wandered around with the remnants, this group of bandits is the most difficult to deal with, the above are the two bandits we need to exterminate.

So this commander ordered, Xiao Zhenlei, you take your two battalions to exterminate Yang Fei, this commander takes two battalions to exterminate Zeng Qinglin, and each of them will lead their troops to set off tomorrow morning, and you must exterminate Yang Fei within half a month and get his head, otherwise the military law will be engaged, do you have any opinions? ”

The orders have been issued, and it is useless to have any opinions, it seems that Jiang Guodong has taken away the hard bones himself, after all, the bandits who are running around to commit crimes are the most difficult to deal with, because their whereabouts are uncertain, there is no fixed foothold, where to find them for a while? However, Xiao Zhenlei didn't believe that Jiang Guodong would be so kind to let him pinch soft persimmons, there must be something greasy in this.

Xiao Zhenlei asked: "I don't dare to give advice, but Lord Jiang, you have set a half-month period for the lowly position to suppress bandits, I don't know how long you have set for yourself?" ”

As soon as these words came out, Jiang Guodong was immediately asked.

Before Jiang Guodong could speak, He Hongsheng next to him shouted: "Bold, the commander has his own plans, how can you ask a small standard?" What's more, you have not yet been officially appointed by the imperial court, and you have asked the official so much, you are guilty of disrespect! ”

Xiao Zhenlei's face changed when he heard this, and he turned his head to stare at He Hongsheng and said coldly: "Don't bluff Lao Tzu, which green onion are you?" What is your little pipe belt called? No matter how small Lao Ziguan is, you have a big pipe! If you are not convinced, you can go to Master Cai and say, don't him, do you think you have something great. It's just a bunch of bastards who are waiting for death, if Commander Jiang thinks that I shouldn't ask that, then let me deal with Zeng Qinglin, the same time, the same half a month. If I can't get Zeng Qinglin's head within half a month, I will be punished by Lord Cai! ”

This remark not only scolded He Hongsheng and the others, but also scolded Jiang Guodong, Jiang Guodong couldn't help but change his face several times when he heard this, a burst of white, a burst of red, and then a burst of blue. In the end, he actually laughed, waved his hand and smiled: "What else should I do, okay, since Xiao Biaotong asked so, the commander also set the time for suppressing bandits at half a month." If Zeng Qinglin can't be eliminated within half a month, the commander will go to Lord Cai to ask for guilt! Okay, okay, Xiao Biaotong don't be angry with him, this matter is settled, you better go back early and let the soldiers rest more, once you get out, there won't be much time to rest! ”

"Then Xiao will leave, let's go!" After Xiao Zhenlei finished speaking, he shook his hand and turned around and stepped on his riding boots and left, and the two battalion commanders, Wu Shiyou and Chen Jizu, also immediately left.

Xiao Zhenlei guessed that Jiang Guodong must have prepared a pit for him to jump. Otherwise, that guy would not have been unwilling to lead the team to exterminate Yang Fei after being so insulted and chose Zeng Qinglin, if it seems that Yang Fei's strength is definitely not as only a hundred people as Jiang Guodong said. There must have been more than twenty or thirty guns.

Xiao Zhenlei knew that the division of troops to deal with a group of bandits, this idea itself has a big problem, the most important reason why Cai Naihuang wants to transfer the merchant group armed forces and factory guards is because of the lack of troops, knowing that the troops are insufficient, Jiang Guodong still has to divide the troops, either because of a problem with his head or on purpose. That Yang Fei is definitely a hard bone, and it will definitely be difficult to deal with.

Chen Jizu rode a horse and followed Xiao Zhenlei and said, "Regiment leader." This Jiang Guodong obviously has bad intentions, you scolded him like that just now. He was not angry, he endured it all his life, and still asked us to deal with Yang Fei, but I am afraid that this Yang Fei is not as simple as he said, should we go? ”

Chen Jizu was originally the most well-trained member of the escort team, and he was also very capable of command and leadership, and later Xiao Zhenlei sent him to the merchant group, this time the merchant group sent 400 people out, Xiao Zhenlei appointed one of the battalion commanders, and Wu Shiyou was appointed as the commander of another infantry battalion.

Xiao Zhenlei nodded and said: "Go, of course we have to go, the main purpose of our coming out this time is to hone, so that the brothers can see blood, we can't retreat because the enemy's situation is still unclear, we have eight hundred people now, all of them have guns, as well as heavy machine guns and artillery, I don't believe that he Yang Fei, a bandit, can be better equipped than us?" His people are rigorously trained? The left and right are just a group of rabble, they may be a little brave, but they can definitely only fight a good fight, if they fight a tough battle, the rabble will not work, I believe that among the bandits, Yang Fei's power is definitely not weak, but it is definitely not strong, otherwise the government will not tolerate him until now! ”

Wu Shiyou rode and followed on the right, he listened to Xiao Zhenlei's analysis and nodded: "Yes, the regiment commander has a point, to be honest, we have been training for so long, but we don't know what it is like to really fight, this time we are here to learn to fight, and we must learn it."

If according to the military standards of later generations, five months can only be regarded as leaving the training of the recruit company, only learning some of the most basic things, being able to shoot guns, and having discipline, but it is not at all possible to train a high level of tactical literacy, only half of these people have had tactical training, this half of them are the four hundred people of the escort team, and the other four hundred merchant soldiers have no tactical training at all, but in terms of the level of tactical thinking in this period, the tactical level of various countries is still very primitive, During the attack, almost all the armies of the countries rushed forward in formation, or rushed forward in a swarm, so in the First World War, there was a case in which the Germans used machine guns to kill tens of thousands of British troops in one day.

Xiao Zhenlei thought for a while and said: "Let the soldiers have a good rest today, and leave early tomorrow morning, we will speed up and rush to the destination, and after camping, we will send personnel to investigate the details of the bandit Yang Fei, in the past few days of sending people to investigate the situation, Wu Shiyou, you have sent some squad leaders and platoon leaders from your battalion to Chen Jizu's battalion to teach them tactical training, and now it is the era of hot weapons, and there are repeating guns and machine guns, these continuous fire weapons will cause heavy casualties to the infantry charging in groups, We can't let our soldiers die unjustly, we have to familiarize them with several offensive tactics before they can go into battle, understand? ”

"Yes, Commander, I'll transfer people when I go back!"

On October 6, Xiao Zhenlei led his troops to set off, on the way he ordered the troops to carry out training, the baggage company and heavy weapons were left behind, and the others carried weapons and backpacks to go into battle lightly, starting from 7 o'clock in the morning and arriving at the destination Mudu Town at about 10 o'clock in the evening, but the soldiers were already very tired, Xiao Zhenlei immediately ordered to camp and rest, and let the guard platoon be on guard.

It is only a dozen miles away from Phoenix Mountain, the entrenchment point of Yang Fei's gang, and Yang Fei's gang often goes down the mountain to go to the north and south of the town to rob the trade roads in the north and south directions, but they never rob Mudu Town, Mudu Town is not a traffic artery, close to the too? The lake, with only some aquatic products, does not need to pass through the merchants who travel between the north and the south.

Mudu Town is an old town, the town has a network of water, but there are many bridges, and the people of the town have lived here for generations, and the life is very clean.

Early in the morning, the people of the town found that there were a lot of tents outside the town, and there were many people wearing strange clothes and carrying muskets, and they knew at a glance that this was an army, and the arrival of this army immediately caused panic among everyone in the town, because there had been Qing soldiers here to suppress bandits before, and the bandits were not exterminated, but the town was looted many times by the Qing soldiers, so the people in the town were very afraid of this army of unknown origin outside the town, and they were very vigilant.

Xiao Zhenlei immediately arranged for personnel to go to the town to buy food, and arranged for the reconnaissance company to go nearby to investigate the situation to see if he could touch the situation of Yang Fei's gang on Phoenix Mountain.

Walking into the town, Xiao Zhenlei found that the town was very old, everywhere seemed very quaint, and the people seemed to live very leisurely, but people were vigilant and very guarded against the two faces of him and the pony.

There are a lot of pedestrians on the street for a while, and occasionally there are old farmers picking vegetables walking by, and from time to time there are shouts of selling, but there is not a single young man in sight, which is very strange. Xiao Zhenlei was wearing a suit, the pony was wearing a short fight, the two walked for a while and saw a teahouse, at this time the sun rose high, there were already many people sitting in the teahouse chatting while drinking tea, noisy, in this secluded town, this is the most lively place.

The two walked to the door, and immediately a shopkeeper with a white towel on his shoulder came out to greet him, "The two guest officers are from out of town, come in and have a cup of tea, and there will be a gentleman in the teahouse later!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei couldn't help but smile when he heard this: "I don't know what book this gentleman is talking about?" ”

"Yang Jiajun, this is popular, please please!" The shopkeeper greeted him very warmly.

Xiao Zhenlei walked into the teahouse with the pony, and as soon as he entered the teahouse, he found that the people sitting here were basically old people, both men and women, and basically no people under the age of forty.

Not long after the two sat down, Xiao Er brought a teapot to pour tea for the two, and Xiao Zhenlei took the opportunity to ask: "Why are all old people here and young people busy?" ”

Xiao Er's face was a little abnormal when he heard this, he looked left and right, and when he saw that no one was paying attention to this, he said in a low voice: "This guest officer doesn't know, the bandits on the Phoenix Mountain Cottage in the west with Yang Fei as the bandit leader often come to our town to catch strong men, and the young people are worried about being arrested as bandits, so they basically go to Shanghai to make a living, leaving the old and weak women and children here, it is useless for the bandits to catch these people, and they have to waste food, Yang Fei's bandits see that they can't catch people in our town, so they rarely come, they generally don't rob a town like ours, Only grab the business convoy from the south to the north, guest officer, you are a foreigner, right? If you're in business, then I have to warn you, be careful, don't let the bandits in the mountains target you! ”

Xiao Zhenlei hurriedly said: "Thank you, thank you!" (To be continued)