Leaving Taiyuan, Long Qian galloped on horseback and decided to rush back to the army for Chinese New Year's Eve. After all, Wu Yong had little experience in horseback riding, and he couldn't bear to rush overnight, so Long Qian had to stay at an inn in Shouyang after dark, rest for the night, and rush back to the Niangziguan military camp the next day, Chinese New Year's Eve.

During this time, he has been running around, and his thoughts about the troops are incomprehensible to Wu Yong. And the joy shown by the officers and men of the Mengshan Army when they saw their leader return was not something that Wu Yong could understand. After the battle of Xigu, the troops were divided, and now in addition to most of the intelligence department that remained in Beijing, the main force was finally reunited, Cheng Erhu, Wang Mingyuan, and Ning Shijun returned one after another, plus the news that Long Qian had brought them to Lunan when he returned to Taiyuan a few days ago, the troops were in extreme excitement. The officers and soldiers knew that Commander Long had returned, and it was time for them to go home.

Counting on the fingers, it has been more than half a year since the main force of the Mengshan Army left Shangqin King in the northeast of the mountain.

The troops were divided into several villages, before lunch, Long Qian was led by Lu Shan and Ning Shijun to visit all the companies, and had lunch in the 12th company, the company commander Zheng Shuangqing is a son of Zhengjiazhuang, the only one of all the company commanders who did not come down from Mengshan, was very happy that Long Qian had a meal in the 12th company, and personally went to the kitchen to supervise the stew of pork, because there was silver in his hand, the food of the Mengshan army was very good recently, almost every day there was meat, because it was Chinese New Year's Eve, the logistics department even specially issued a festival fee, 30 taels of silver per company, so he killed pigs and sheep, and ate meat in a big bowl, Drinking in a big bowl is quite a bit of the atmosphere of the New Year's festival in Mengshanzhai.

Alcohol is drinkable, but the total amount is limited. Long Qian turned to toast in every class, and Rao was consciously controlled. I also drank two large bowls of white dry shochu.

Back at the headquarters, Long Qian called all the company commanders and started the military discussion.

The first is to truly implement the strength of the troops. There were more than 1,700 troops when they went out, and the current total strength is 2,060, which is more than 300 more. Because the 350 people recruited in Tianjin were turned into soldiers, more than 400 people were recruited successively after coming to Shanxi, which not only made up for the losses in a series of battles since Xigu, but also increased the number of people. There was more than one firearm, because of the capture of the Battle of Xigu. The ammunition has been replenished by the Shanxi side, which is also sufficient. However, the artillery was lost. Now there are only two five-life-seven mountain cannons and thirty-one shells. These two cannons were obtained from the Shanxi army with the help of Chen Huan. And Chen Eun himself, shortly after the end of the Battle of Niangzi Pass, returned to Taiyuan. When Long Qian was in Taiyuan, he didn't see this emaciated, enthusiastic and upright military management band of Wuweizhong, would he have a chance to meet in the future. God knows.

After the recruits finished their training, Lu Shan had already broken them up and added them to the companies. Because there is a replenishment of recruits. The companies fully regained their strength in numbers. Because there were dozens of disabled soldiers, Lu Shan organized two baggage companies and handed them over to the logistics department Lian Shupeng to take charge of. The artillery battery was restored. But there were less than fifty of them.

"Make a tablet for the brothers who have died since this expedition, and pay tribute to them tonight. Without them, we wouldn't be able to sit here and discuss the New Year and go home. Long Qian's first sentence poured cold water on the excited hearts of all the officers.

More than 400 children have died in battle, and the thought of facing the long-awaited Lunan father and elder after returning home, everyone's hearts are heavy.

"You can do this, Shupeng. Prepare some sumptuous tributes. Don't be too sad, soldiers, dying on the battlefield of the national war is supremely glorious. What we have to do is to remember our dead comrades-in-arms and use our efforts to make them proud of us in heaven! Long Qian stood up and walked to a hand-drawn map on the wall, "The day after tomorrow, we will set off back to Shandong, the coalition forces in the Zhili area are still entrenched, in order to preserve our strength, we will not go to Zhili, go to the party, and return to Shandong through Henan." The Intelligence Section and the Cavalry Company are responsible for exploring the road, so you work hard, don't drink for lunch tomorrow, set off early, and make a forward station for the main force. ”

"Yes! Please rest assured that the commander will complete the mission. Wang Zhifeng and Chi Chun stood up first and responded.

"Brethren, we have accomplished our scheduled task. The main sign is that I was made an official by the imperial court, and the original deputy general was not a real position, so it was not interesting. It's a bit interesting this time, Yanzhou and Yizhou have become the territory of our Mengshan Army! ”

Lu Shan's eyes lit up, "The brothers are going to die of joy!" Occupy two states at once! Everyone said that the commander still has a far-sighted vision, and if he squats in Zhengjiazhuang, even if he defeats Yizhou, he will not even occupy Yanzhou. ”

"Exactly! At the beginning, some people said that the commander should not surrender to the imperial court. Ye Yanbing answered.

Long Qian pressed his hand and stopped the discussion of the battalion commanders, "Brothers, we have seized an opportunity!" Do you know the way? Opportunity! Without the Eight-Nation Coalition to fight Beijing, we would not be in the current situation! Opportunities are the same for everyone, it's up to you to grasp them. This year's war has given us the opportunity for the peaceful development of the Mengshan Army, but how many crimes have been suffered by the people in the Beijing and Tianjin areas, including Zhili, some of us have seen it, some have heard it, and there are more tragedies and disasters that we have not seen and heard! Tens of thousands of people occupy our capital, shame! I didn't mean to be happy, and it was very bitter when I thought about it. ”

"If our Mengshan army has 20,000 horses, foreign devils will definitely not be able to defeat Beijing City!" Wang Mingyuan said in a muffled voice.

"Let's think about it, why can our Mengshan army win against foreign devils, but not the army of the imperial court? I know that you have a lot of answers, and you don't need to talk about it now, I will give you this question, you should think about it, write a thing for each of you and give it to me, and finish it before returning to Shandong at the latest. Note that it is negotiable, but you must write it yourself. It doesn't matter if the writing doesn't make sense, just say what you mean. At the same time, think about it, as Wang Mingyuan said, if we have 20,000 people, how can we expand to 20,000? Where did the salaries and weapons come from for the salaries of 20,000 men? Think about it. ”

Since the reorganization of the army in Mengshan, Long Qian has vigorously promoted cultural education, and the literacy level of the company commanders is high in the whole army, but the ability to write materials is very rare. Got rid of Ning Shijun, Situ Jun, Shi Dashou, Lan Xinzhi, Zhang Yulin and several others, and the others were obviously a little scared about this task.

"Now, the most important thing I want to talk about is the transformation of the Mengshan Army." Long Qian took a sip of water, "The Mengshan army is not a ringing horse, nor is it an army against the imperial court. Compared to half a year ago. The biggest change was that we became the army of the imperial court. Now it is called the right wing of the Wasion Army, and the Wasion Army is not to say what it is, the right wing refers to one of the wings. The wing is the establishment invented by the imperial court, and the wing is under the jurisdiction of the standard, and the standard is under the jurisdiction of the battalion. Everyone knows the establishment of the battalion, now we have four battalions here, and there are two more at home, Deputy Commander Zhou and they are not idle, and they expanded one battalion during our outing, so that there are six infantry battalions. It is exactly two target preparations. But our cavalry, engineers, artillery and baggage troops are not yet the same. It needs to be vigorously built. At least every special arms of the armed forces, it is a battalion formation. On this expedition, everyone also opened their eyes and realized the power of artillery. In fact. Get rid of Section Chief Situ. No one knows how far the artillery of the Western powers has developed. In a word, what everyone sees outside Tianjin is a child's thing. Think about it, what is the effect of putting dozens of cannons on the opposite side to bombard together? You can't think of it. Therefore, after we go back, we must vigorously build artillery, cavalry, engineering, and other arms. Some of the people present here should be transferred to the construction of special forces, not obsessed with the infantry, but should have a long-term vision. I have promised the Empress Dowager Cixi that it will take three years to build the right wing of the Weisheng Army into a strong army. I have this confidence, and I hope that everyone will work with me to build our troops well. ”

Everyone here was excited. After a long time in the military, the most exciting thing is the expansion, which means the enhancement of strength, which means promotion and wealth. Although in the Mengshan Army, due to Long Qian's first example, the idea of making a fortune is not so obvious, but if there are two standards, there will naturally be a standard system, and Commander Long originally went out as a standard commander, and now he is a wing commander, who will do the standard commander? So they were all there thinking about their own thoughts.

"I know what you are thinking, don't forget the rules of our Mengshan Army, personnel disclosure, financial disclosure, ideological disclosure, who is what official, although the most difficult will be determined by me, but I will definitely ask for everyone's opinions. You can think about it, you can think about it, but you can't delay it. The second point is the relationship with the imperial court, pay attention, we can no longer scold the imperial court, and we can't scold openly since we were young. That's politics. For example, the prefect of Wu Yong, who came back with me, everyone knows him, and the imperial court has appointed him as the prefect of Yanzhou, and he is the head of the civil officials of a state, so everyone must respect and give face. In the future, we will no longer rely on eating big households, but on the government's allocation of money. Therefore, everyone must remember that our identity has changed and we have become real officials and soldiers. At least you must not scold the court in front of him, understand? This bend must be turned. I know that many people have opinions about the imperial court, and the knots in their hearts cannot be solved at once, but you are different from ordinary soldiers, you must understand politics and the mission of the Mengshan Army! We just want to change the status quo of the country's weakness, and kill all the foreign devils who bullied us. In the end, it is the end of hugging the calf.

"Speaking of hugging calves, a few days ago they opened Yixian, and the court knew about it. I guess this is a little trick played by Yuan Shikai, let us help him. This matter must be done, and I am worried that the people who hold the calf will beat Zhengjiazhuang's idea, so we have to rush back and find an opportunity to fight the calf and eliminate the hidden danger. Not only the calves, but also the poles entrenched in Lushan swept away all of them. In the land of Lunan and Nanfu, except for our Mengshan army, no other weapons are allowed!

"In public, we should call ourselves the right wing of the Weisheng Army, or the Weisheng Army, not the Mengshan Army. But in our hearts, we must remember the three words Mengshan Army, and we must understand that we are completely different from other officers and soldiers! The relevant systems and rules should be comprehensively revised. Including military pay, bereavement pension, etc. This time I went back, I should be looking for a daughter-in-law, I will find it all, everyone's age is not young, starting a family is not a trivial matter. ”

Lan Xinzhi smiled, "Commander, we're going to drink your wedding wine, right?" Our Mengshan Army should also have a mastermother. ”

Lan Xinzhi is right. "Commander, you are not allowed to drink, you have to treat this wine." He remembered the girl in his heart, this time when he went back, shouldn't he come to the door to propose?

Long Qian was stunned, was his life's event so decided? In order to put an end to the possible farce of marriage, he agreed to Chen Shu, but fortunately, Cixi just asked casually and did not mention the matter again, but now there is no room for repentance. These crooked thoughts, naturally, can't be said to these subordinates, so he smiled, "I don't have any money." My military pay is in the hands of the Logistics Section. It's a treat. Tonight's wine will be counted in my account, and you will deduct it from my military salary. ”

"Just kidding." Feng Lun said loudly, "The commander is not a woman, and he is not greedy for money, everyone sees it." Admire the tightness. What deducts the commander's salary? Joke! When the commander marries a girl from the Chen family, he can be regarded as having a family, and there are many places to spend money. ”

"Lao Feng is right. Lian Shupeng, hurry up and buy good wine and food, let's have a good drink tonight, don't get drunk. Wang Mingyuan said with a smile.

"You can drink wine, and I have already drunk a lot at noon. Speaking of money, I would like to give a strong tribute to the three companies, the third, fifth, sixth, eleventh, and guard companies that went to Beijing with me to carry out their missions. What they did with me, I think everyone knows. When is the most testing time? It is the time to face fame and fortune. What is the difference between a military man and an ordinary person? The biggest difference is obedience, that is, the execution of discipline to the letter! The officers and men of these companies have set an example for the whole army! Originally, I thought that there might be half of the scum who would lose the battle in front of the silver of the white flowers, and could not resist the temptation of silver and gold, and snitched and ran away, but no! Everyone is basically from a hard background, and they all know the importance of silver, but they also know that this money belongs to everyone, and it belongs to the whole army of our Mengshan Army. Without the brothers who stayed behind in their hometowns, and without the brothers who answered outside the city, they were nothing, and they could not accomplish anything! What kind of open-mindedness and discipline is this? This is the real reason why we can defeat the foreigners, and we can use bayonets to kill the foreign devils and other troops can't! What a good soldier, everyone must cherish them, love them, and cultivate them, these soldiers are the real wealth of our Mengshan Army.

"We have money now, but we can't spend it indiscriminately, the brothers who died in battle, we must give generous pensions, and we must raise their families. Disabled brothers, you have to support them for the rest of your life. Officers and men who have made meritorious contributions should be rewarded. In addition to these, we must also solve the problems of food, clothing, shelter, transportation, weapons and equipment, and start a family and a business, all of which must be done with silver. But there are more important things to do. I have a big plan, and when I mature, I will explain it to everyone. The brothers and I are fighting for the battlefield, and Long Qian is responsible for everyone's future. Let's go back to Shandong, we have to do a good job, and that money is our starting capital. Everyone has a share, and when I go back, I want Lao Song to come out with a charter. You can rest assured. All of you here are the backbone of our Mengshan Army, and we must always remember military regulations and military discipline and truly cultivate the sense of honor and pride of officers. Let the beautiful girls in the base area be proud of marrying our officers of the Mengshan Army, and let our children be proud that their father is an officer of the Mengshan Army. Those stinky problems in the ranks of the officers and soldiers, such as smoking big cigarettes, drinking soldiers' blood, prostituting women, beating and scolding soldiers, we won't touch any of them! We will always maintain the tradition of the present advance soldiers, and we will take the lead in doing what is required to be done below. With such a momentum, coupled with advanced tactical training and sophisticated weapons and equipment, our Mengshan army will fight more and more, and become stronger and stronger, not only occupying Yizhou and Yanzhou, but also the whole province of Shandong, and going to the whole country and even the world! Everyone follow me Long Qian, work together to create a piece of their own sky, and come to this world in vain! ”

Long Qian's mobilization made the officers' blood boil. They are no longer the bandits who fell into the grass and lived one day at a time, nor are they farmers who only know how to dig food in the loess and plan to eat their stomachs. After the reorganization of the army in Mengshan, the construction of the base area, and especially the bloody and fire experience in the past six months, my horizons have been broadened and my vision has been long-term. Many of them didn't expect that their leaders would become the big officials who managed the two prefectures in less than two years, and they didn't expect that the original ringing horse would become a legitimate official army! Therefore, there is no resistance or antipathy to Long Qian's mobilization and requirements, and there is an infinite vision for the future.

Long story short. The main force of the Mengshan army has been in full swing in Niangziguan for a year, since the second day of the Lunar New Year, the whole army has been drawn out, Xiaoxing has stayed overnight, the average daily marching distance is more than 100 miles, through Liaozhou, Lu'an, Zezhou, Guide, around a big circle, on the thirteenth day of the first month, the troops went east from Caozhou, and returned to the base area after a long absence. (To be continued......)