The main force of the Mengshan army led by Lu Shan is now in a village in the east of Wanping City, about three miles away from the main road from the capital to Wanping.

Lu Shan and Long Qian broke up in the middle of the retreat to Beijing City. This is the third division of the Mengshan army into the Gyeonggi battlefield, Long Qian took two companies, Lu Shan took the remaining seven companies, one battalion and two companies, all the three battalions, ten companies, twelve companies and artillery companies of the fourth battalion, and a people's team of more than 100 people, according to Long Qian's order, first found Ye Yanbing's department that escorted the prisoners to withdraw from the battlefield in advance, and then led the troops to the Wanping area according to the order, waiting for Long Qian's news.

Ye Yanbing took the first company and the fourth company, which suffered the heaviest casualties in the first battle of Xigu, and escorted the prisoners to a remote village selected by Jiang Yun in advance, where Jiang Yun made arrangements in advance, and ordered a courtyard, a mill and a livestock shed, and when the cavalry company arrived, Ye Yanbing also had more than a thousand men and horses in his hands (most of them were people and prisoners), and lived in these three courtyards. On the one hand, he will rest on the wound, and on the other hand, he will buy and hoard grain and grass. When Lu Shan led the main force of the Mengshan Army to arrive, Ye Yanbing knew that Long Qian had brought five companies (the third company of the first battalion, the fifth and sixth companies of the second battalion, the eleventh company of the fourth battalion and the guard company) into the city of Beijing.

Now, Lu Shan had nine infantry companies, one cavalry company, one artillery company (only thirty men), and three civilian detachments of varying numbers (with a large number of wounded). In addition, there were hundreds of coalition prisoners. The total number of people is nearly 1,500. It sounds like a lot of people, but the actual combat effectiveness is very poor, and the number of people in each company is only fifty or sixty, like the fourth company and the first company, there are only about forty people.

Lu Shan had a secret talk with Ye Yanbing first. He first explained Long Qian's instructions, and after joining up with the 1st Battalion, the troops were completely responsible for their own behavior. Then ask what Long Qian's order was to Ye Yanbing, and what have you done these days.

Ye Yanbing said Of course, you are in charge, you are the deputy commander. The most important rule of our Mengshan Army is that if you don't convey the commander's instructions, I will listen to you. The order given to me by the commander was, first, to be optimistic about these prisoners, especially that Seymour. The second is to take good care of the wounded. The third is to collect as much grain and grass as possible. The captives were all here, except for the seven who were seriously wounded and died. The rest is no less. Five of our wounded numbers have died. Buried on the spot. Twelve lightly wounded were already operational, temporarily grouped into a company and a company of four, six men each. Then there is the issue of grain and grass, which Lian Shupeng is doing. Recently, I bought a lot of wheat. It's all ground into flour here. How much. I don't know. Oh, and what's more, Lian Shupeng has found a lot of big cars. He said that it was also an order from the commander.

Lu Shan asked, is that all? I thought the commander had some special instructions for you.

Ye Yanbing said, you are the deputy commander, you don't know the way, where do I know the way?

The cart must have been used to transport supplies, and Lu Shan called Lian Shupeng over and asked him about the specific situation. Lian Shupeng said that according to the commander's explanation, he bought 11 carts and a full set of mule and horse harnesses, and the exact figure was 73,000 catties of flour, not including the four days' worth of dry food prepared for the troops. Lian Shupeng talked about how much money he spent, but Lu Shan didn't listen, and said that you tell the commander and Lao Song, I don't care about that.

Lu Shan thought about it and gathered the officers above the company commander for a meeting. Including Situ Jun and a soldier named Wang Zhifeng from the Intelligence Department also attended the meeting. Lu Shan conveyed Long Qian's instructions, and after meeting with Ye Yanbing's department, the two parts joined forces and marched in the direction of Wanping City. Lu Shan asked Wang Zhifeng to take out a map and let Wang Zhifeng show it to everyone.

"Wanping is west of the capital, very close to the capital. This is it, and now we are here, and if we march hastily, we won't need it for a day. Wang Zhifeng spread out the map and pointed it out to the officers.

Feng Lun, Shi Dashou and the others listened to Long Qian's explanation in person, and they didn't say anything, but Ye Yanbing was a little puzzled, "The commander only brought two companies into Beijing?" Why do you want to go to Wanping with the main force? If you ambush foreign devils, you shouldn't put troops here. ”

"Probably to pick up the commander out of the city." Shi Dashou is also not clear.

"It's a mess of us. Situ, the commander values you and treats you as a little Zhuge , you say, what kind of reputation is the commander doing? Feng Lun said in a loud voice.

After Situ Jun was captured, he joined the Mengshan Army, and was immediately appointed by Long Qian as the deputy chief of the staff section. But the high-level leaders of Mengshanjun did not accept him, including Lu Shan. Long Qian was leaving, and specially explained that all the actions should not be hidden from Situ, and the military plan should be solicited for his opinion, so today's meeting, Lu Shan also called Situ Jun to participate.

"Battalion Commander Feng," Situ Jun smiled, "I guess the commander didn't go to Beijing to help the Qing court defend the city, but on another business." Otherwise, it wouldn't have been just that many people. ”

Situ Jun's most outstanding military participation in the Mengshan Army was to put forward the plan of the Hanjiata ambush, placing the main force on the east flank of the Hanjiata, and simply and neatly defeating the outflanked Japanese army.

"I shouldn't have done anything for the court in the first place!" Feng Lun spat out a thick phlegm, "So many good brothers died in vain." ”

"You can't say that," Lu Shan did not allow the following to slander Long Qian's prestige, "The commander teaches us every day that being a soldier is to defend the country, and it is the duty of a soldier to fight hard with foreign devils." Don't talk about this, the commander asked us to transfer the prisoners to Wanping, and keep it as secret as possible. I decided that we would march at night and rest during the day. The marching order was to start with three battalions and one battalion to the center, responsible for escorting prisoners, supplies, and our wounded numbers. After the four battalions were broken. Unless there are special circumstances, no one is allowed to shoot at will, let alone harass the people. Wang Zhifeng, you lead the way. Got the task, right? ”

"Understood."

"Well, if you don't have any opinions, I'll leave tonight. The old Englishman, to be escorted alone, not to be left with the captives. Give him to the fourth battalion, Da Shou, you arrange a class and give him a horse. By the way, the cavalry company should set off in advance and work with Wang Zhifeng to find out the road situation. ”

"Yes!" The officers stood and saluted, and each prepared to go.

Since entering Gyeonggi, Lu Shan has also been a little unable to understand Long Qian. Like Ning Shijun and Wang Mingyuan, Lu Shan was also full of doubts. felt that Long Qian had a big plan, but he kept his mouth shut and didn't even tell himself.

If Long Qian didn't trust himself, Lu Shan didn't believe it at all. But why didn't Long Qian tell himself? Why did the main force withdraw to Beijing and divide the troops again? Lu Shan faintly felt that Long Qian's choice of the third and eleventh companies to enter Beijing with him was a little meaningful.

"Situ, you said that the commander didn't go to defend the city, what was that for?" When everyone went out, Lu Shan beat his leggings. asked Situ Jun, who was looking at the map.

"I don't think Beijing can hold on. Tianjin can't hold it. Beijing will not be able to hold on. It is not a question of a small number of people, let alone a question of weapons. The morale of the Qing army has declined, how to defend the city? Therefore, the commander is by no means helping the imperial court to defend the city. As for what the Commander is going to do, I can't say well. Maybe the commander is contacting the military department? Didn't the military department send someone to convey the order? ”

"Yes. Orders from the Ministry of War. And the dead eunuch. They all want us to go to Beijing. It was the first time Lu Shan had seen a "living" eunuch, and his arrogant demeanor was angry when he thought about it, and the commander gave the dead eunuch a sum of money in a low voice!

"Deputy Commander. Do you think the commander really wants to die for the Qing court? ”

"What the commander thinks, I really don't know. However, I believe that everything the commander does is for the Mengshan army. Lu Shan made his leggings, "Situ, you kid joined the Mengshan Army, don't you regret it?" ”

Situ Jun smiled and didn't speak.

"It's too late to regret it. If you dare to run, I will punish you for deserters!" Lu Shan patted Situ Jun's shoulder heavily, "Just kidding!" The commander can weigh you. He told me that when time came, he would set up a regular military academy with the battalion and train a group of qualified officers. He has to use you for this matter, you have studied military affairs in a foreign country, and you are much stronger than us farmers. ”

"No, Deputy Commander, you're strong. It's true. I didn't expect that the commander would build such a strong army in just one year. It's a big deal to use it as a parent extension. ”

Saying this, Situ Jun is still looking forward to running a military academy with the battalion. He has been in the Mengshan Army for four months, got to know all the officers, and feels that the officer group created by Long Qian is really good. First of all, the execution is super strong, the discipline is very well enforced, and there are so many regulations, which makes Situ Jun very surprised. But if you think about the main officers, there are still some differences, their loyalty to Long Qian is enough, but there are differences in the treatment of learning, including the study of cultural classes, such as Lu Shan, Ning Shijun, Ye Yanbing, Shi Dashou, more conscious, especially Lu Shan, the most hardworking, no wonder Long Qian promoted him to be the deputy commander, and he is the deputy commander in charge of the military. And Zhou Yi, Wang Mingyuan, Feng Guozhu, and Feng Lun are relatively poor. It is not that they do not study, but they attach importance to reality rather than theory; like Feng Lun, who pays special attention to the experience of actual combat, such as fighting and blocking, thinks that he is inferior to Wang Mingyuan, and goes to the second battalion to learn from experience, but he does not pay enough attention to modern military theory, such as the use of artillery.

Situ Jun has investigated the members of the core officer corps of the Mengshan Army in many aspects, and even the experience of Long Qian as a captain in Mengshanzhai, Situ Jun also inquired. thinks that Long Qian uses people not only to look at qualifications, but also to look at ability, for example, he chose Lu Shan as the deputy commander to be more discerning, and listening to the old people of Mengshan Army, when they were in Mengshan Village, the relationship between Long Qian and Wang Mingyuan seemed to be closer. And the people who got rid of the old eighth team, such as Feng Lun, Ye Yanbing, Feng Guozhu, Song Jinguo and even Shi Dashou, can also be regarded as making the best use of their talents.

The most mysterious is Jiang Yun, the intelligence chief who is basically unfamiliar. Situ Jun felt that Long Qian's trip to Beijing had a great relationship with Jiang Yun__

"Situ, this army is the brainchild of the commander. You don't know how much work Commander Lu Dao has put in. In terms of culture, it turned out that Ning Shijun could help the commander, and now there is another you. Be sure to be attentive and bring out all the good things you learned abroad. When the school is set up, I will be the first to sign up, as your student. ”

"Of course I'll do my best. I'm also a member of the Mengshan Army. However, the commander is better than me, and I think he knows no less about modern military affairs than I do. I suspect that he received very formal military training in the United States, and you can see how beautiful the commander's military posture is, even if he is a German instructor, he is not as good as the commander. Could it be that the commander was trained in the United States? As far as I know, the U.S. Army can't, and we're fighting each other. In contrast, the Germans were more powerful, and the other was the Japanese, who were very tenacious, and you see, none of the Japanese were taken prisoner."

Situ Jun felt that it was still more pleasant to be with Lu Shan, although this person was not highly educated, his prestige in the army was very high, that is, he could still hold down the formation after Long Qian left, and the order was forbidden__

The Lushan detachment, let's call it that, successfully came to Wanping, the prescribed rendezvous place. Before the battle of Beijing began, this small town by the Lugou Bridge was already in the dust, and the rich people had fled. There are many rumors, and most of them are always unfavorable to the war, saying that the queen mother chose to be a prisoner of foreigners. Lu Shan met with several major officers and decided not to enter the city, so he waited for Long Qian outside the city. Because it was the height of summer, camping was easy.

Wang Zhifeng is silent, but he is a good hand at intelligence. After the Lushan detachment arrived near Wanping, Wang Zhifeng had to go out with a few cavalry every day to collect intelligence, and more importantly, to inquire about Long Qian's news.

The Gan army did retreat from Wanping to the direction of Shimen, and Lu Shan got Wang Zhifeng's report and led the troops to avoid the avenue and let the Gan army pass. Fortunately, this Qing army did not stop in Wanping.

The withdrawal of the Qing army of the brigade strengthened the judgment of the Lushan detachment, and Beijing would definitely not be able to hold it, which added to the worry of Long Qian and others. The sound of artillery in the direction of Beijing can be heard very clearly in Wanping, Lu Shan is worried that Long Qian will be caught by the military department and sent to the city wall, Feng Lun has similar worries, and proposes to simply enter the city with the whole army. Ye Yanbing objected, saying that the commander was always thoughtful, and he would not do anything he was not sure of. Not to mention that we still have so many wounded and prisoners with us.

Feng Lun was a little resistant to the order to treat the coalition prisoners well, "They have become uncles, and they have to hire someone to carry them, what a fuck!" ”

Lu Shan sent Chi Chun to lead the cavalry out to explore the outposts every day, hoping to meet Long Qian from the prominent city. Although it was only a few days of breakup, it felt like a long time. And the news from Beijing kept coming, mainly brought by the refugees who escaped from the capital, and he was sure that the foreigners had broken Beijing, so Lu Shan was even more anxious, but he still had to try to calm down, comforting the following and saying, since the commander wants us to wait here, then he will definitely come, we can't do without the commander, and the commander is reluctant to everyone, right? It's better to wait for someone than to find someone, such a big capital, and everyone hasn't been in, where to find them?

At noon that day, Lu Shan had lunch, sitting under the willow tree in front of the land temple leaning against the big tree in a daze, Chi Chun ran hurriedly first, "Deputy commander, the commander is here, we have found the commander!" ”

"Where?" Lu Shan jumped up. Ye Yanbing and Du Sanli, who were enjoying the cool in the house, also ran out, "Where is the commander?" ”

"Not far from the village, Wang Zhifeng brought it over, and there was also a court official, who said what kind of military minister. The Commander told us not to tell the dog officer about our team as much as possible, and that the Commander would take care of everything. ”

Lu Shan grabbed Chi Chunxian's war horse, jumped on the horse and ran east, far away, saw a group of men and horses coming this way, all infantry, Lu Shan on the horse opened his voice and shouted, "Commander, commander!" We've finally waited for you! (To be continued......)