After sending off the eunuch and Ma Yukun, the Anglo-Japanese coalition army, which suffered a heavy defeat, never launched another offensive and turned to the defensive. The first line of the Han Family Tower calmed down.

After lunch, Long Qian summoned several major officers to a meeting. Jiang Yun had already returned, which gave Long Qian the conditions for his next move.

Long Qian did not discuss with everyone, and directly made two decisions. First, he ordered Wang Mingyuan's battalion (owed to the 4th Company), plus the guard company, to retreat in advance from Jiangyun to lead the way, bypassing Beicang and Yangcun, and moving towards Beijing. Second, the cavalry company covered the wounded number of the Xigu defense battle that came to Xigu for a day, and the intelligence department led the way, led a team of people, rendezvous with Ye Yanbing, and accepted Ye Yanbing's command.

Long Qian took out a letter and handed it to Chi Chunxian, asking him to bring it to Ye Yanbing. The officers attending the meeting speculated that the letter must have been instructions to Ye Yanbing, but they didn't know when Lu Dao Longqian wrote the letter.

The wounded must be placed, and it is a matter of morale for the troops, and they must not be sloppy. Moreover, the top brass of the Mengshan Army realized that officers and men who had participated in more than three battles and had been wounded were the essence of the troops, and their value far exceeded that of new recruits.

After arranging these two things, Long Qian asked the chief of staff, Lan Xinzhi, to report on the strength of the troops. This is a daily task that the General Staff Section must do, and they have counted the casualties since the start of the resistance war, and a total of 63 people have been killed and 128 wounded, of whom 30 have been seriously wounded. Fortunately, there were no casualties among officers above the rank of company commander.

As for the opponent, the General Staff estimated that the number of enemy soldiers killed and wounded was more than 500, not including the captured British prisoners who had already been handed over to Ma Yukun. In terms of exchange ratio, it is much more cost-effective than the ambush battle ten days ago. But after all, this blocking battle caused another injury to the Mengshan army, which was already broken. Two more infantry companies were almost scrapped.

After each war, the first thing the General Staff Section does is to accurately count the strength of the troops. It is necessary not only to produce the total number, but also to re-register the roster, and to clearly register the dead and wounded soldiers one by one. Major military assets such as guns and ammunition are also counted. Now, after removing the wounded who could not fight, plus Wang Mingyuan's troops who had not yet left, the actual number of the Mengshan Army was 1,108, including the newly recruited recruits and the friendly personnel who had gathered and were willing to follow the Mengshan Army. The actual combat effectiveness of the troops has dropped to half of what it was before departure. Although there is a surplus of guns, ammunition is sufficient, with an average of 110 rounds per person. But the artillery is finished. The shells are almost gone. The cannon has become a pile of scrap metal. One of the two Gatling machine guns was damaged and scrapped by order of Long Qian. Wang Mingyuan led the second battalion and the guard company to withdraw, and the cavalry company left with the wounded, leaving the main force of the Mengshan Army with the broken eight infantry companies. Six or seven hundred people. What can you do? Everyone listened to Lan Xinzhi's detailed report. The mood is heavy.

"Well, that's the way the strength is. Now on to the next topic, the direction of action of the troops. Long Qian changed the subject.

The atmosphere at the meeting was solemn. There is no joy of victory. Wang Mingyuan, Shi Dashou and Lu Shan did not speak, and Feng Lun emphasized again that they could not fight anymore, and if we beat again, we would be finished.

"Feng Lun, don't accuse the commander, we're just here to fight, not to see the scenery." Lu Shan said with a cold face. Vaguely, Lu Shan sensed that Feng Lun had the intention of accusing Long Qian of stepping on the corpses of the brothers and climbing up the ground.

Now, the Mengshan army has entered the field of vision of the imperial court, the eunuch who passed the decree is here, and the commander of Zhili is also here, and they only have this Shandong soldier commander who has won consecutive battles in their eyes.

Feng Lun glared at Lu Shan and thought, I'm not here for the commander? The troops are gone, who will pay attention to Commander Long and a light pole commander?

"Feng Lun is right." Long Qian said calmly, "Actually, there is an ambush in Xigu, but we can't withdraw to Beijing yet." Do you know what the Tao is for? Because now that we go, we will undoubtedly be caught by the imperial court as one of the main forces to guard Beijing, that can't work. The reason why we are guarding Xigu is to let the imperial court know that we are still fighting desperately on the outskirts of Tianjin, and we cannot withdraw for the time being. Let those bastards of the court not count on us. ”

Ning Shijun blinked, he was a little unsure of Long Qian's current thoughts. On the one hand, he felt that Long Qian did everything possible to lead the army to Gyeonggi, which was definitely not to serve the country as he said, and there must be a major plan. What are you plotting? Ning Shijun felt that Long Qian must have established direct contact with the imperial court. Because he was recruited by Yuan Shikai to surrender, he was indeed a little hasty and reluctant, and he was bloodied with Yuan Shikai, and he was sent to him in a blink of an eye, and the consequences were unpredictable. Therefore, Long Qian did this, in fact, for the sake of the whole army and the future of these brothers, there is nothing wrong with it. However, he couldn't say what would happen in the future when he established contact with the imperial court. Because of his family background, Ning Shijun did not trust the imperial court. Also, where will the main force of the Mengshan Army go in the future? Can you go back to Shandong? Back to Zhengjiazhuang? If you don't plan to go back (Ning Shijun has always thought that Zhengjiazhuang is definitely not a place to live for a long time), why do you want to leave Zhou Yi, Feng Guozhu, Song Jinguo, and hundreds of troops? From the beginning of the extermination of Hong Yang, there are soldiers and everything, look at the current governors, get rid of the Manchu nobles, which one does not occupy the territory with the army in hand? If the whole Mengshan army is dispatched and plays a majestic role in the Gyeonggi War, Long Qian may not be able to get rid of Yuan Shikai's shadow and get a piece of territory in Zhili or other places, isn't the future more promising than now? But Long Qian has always said that he wants to return to Shandong, and he really said so, especially when he encouraged the soldiers to mobilize, he always emphasized that the troops would return to their hometowns. This made Ning Shijun deeply confused.

Just to calm the morale of the army?

In addition, Long Qian's continuous division of troops and his constant violation of the principle of concentrating troops he emphasized also puzzled Ning Shijun, was it just to protect the wounded? Thinking about Ye Yanbing's department, who didn't know where he went, plus Jiang Cunxian's guard company, the strength over there was not small. Why do you want to keep them away from the battlefield, are you going to leave some fire for the Mengshan army?

There is also Jiang Yun, Commander Long's henchman has been a god since he left Zhengjiazhuang in March, and Yang Liuqing appeared at the headquarters as soon as he came, and then disappeared. Now hurry back, and soon leave again. I don't know what the hell is going on.

For this war that brought heavy casualties to the Mengshan army, Long Qian must have his own plans, and Ning Shijun firmly believes this. But he served as chief of staff. It is also unusual to participate in the planning of all combat operations without knowing Long Qian's true intentions. Since the end of the Mengshan Army's reorganization and leaving Mengshan, Long Qian has not concealed himself from all his actions, why didn't he tell himself this time? Is it that he has lost his trust? Ning Shijun immediately denied this idea, thinking that Long Qian didn't tell himself, nor did he tell others, looking at Wang Mingyuan's expression, he knew that Long Qian ordered him to take the second battalion and Jiang Yun to retreat in advance. It's also confusing.

If it is a post-break force. You can't leave the main force behind.

"Everything is up to the commander." Lu Shan said loudly, "Whether to fight or withdraw, and where to retreat, the brothers can't say what a meridian is." Commander, you give the order. ”

"That's good." Long Qian was not prepared to ask for everyone's opinions. "Mingyuan, Jiang Yun and Cun set off first. The troops began to reassemble. After the four camps were broken, prepare three days of dry food and get a good night's sleep. Set off as soon as it gets dark. In addition, the artillery team destroys the cannons, but not in the form of explosions, dismantling the main parts, completely destroying the frame, those things are useless. Feng Lun wants to catch the last of the people's team, and they want to follow us. ”

The meeting was dispersed, and everyone was busy with their own business. Long Qian first sent away Chi Chunxian's cavalry company and the wounded, and then called Ning Shijun and went to the second battalion, which had been assembled and ready to set off.

"Mingyuan, Jiang Yun, you come." Long Qian called Jiang Yun and Wang Mingyuan to go away, and Ning Shijun followed.

"Mingyuan, your mission this time is very important." Long Qian looked at Ning Shijun, "The route, follow Jiang Yun." You have to wear makeup to enter Beijing, don't wear our clothes, it's better to change into the uniform of the Green Battalion. Not to mention our identity. Can it be done? ”

"For what?" Wang Mingyuan asked puzzled.

Long Qian looked at the second battalion and the guard company that were already lined up, "Don't ask what is going on, let alone say anything below." The quality of the second battalion is very good, and you must effectively control the troops. Bring more silver, and buy more clothes for the common people along the way, but not Boxer clothes. When entering the city, he wore the clothes of the people, and if he couldn't, he wore the green camp. After entering Beijing, the troops were hidden in Jiang Yun's pre-prepared residence, and they were not allowed to act at will, absolutely avoiding conflicts with people, and recuperating their strength, and the specific tasks were waiting for me to talk about after I arrived in Beijing. ”

Wang Mingyuan was still confused, but out of habit, Lizheng shouted, "Yes." ”

"Military operations - anything is in case, you are in charge. Jiang Yun is responsible for the rest. There are still many things to do in Beijing, I have explained them all to Jiang Yun, and he will tell you. It is you who will be taken by Beijing, but you have to discuss it with Jiang Yun. In addition, the current situation in Beijing is very chaotic, and it is necessary to strictly control the troops and prohibit deserters. If there is a deserter, there is no mercy. ”

Ning Shijun suddenly found that the second battalion did not receive any replenishment of the new recruits this time, and the main force in the Xigu Garrison Battle was greatly damaged, although the number was not much more than the original company, but all of them were veterans.

"Understood." Wang Mingyuan turned his head to look at Jiang Yun and saw Jiang Yun, who was wearing civilian clothes, with his head down, kicking the stones under his feet.

"Alright, let's go. See you in Beijing. Long Qian stretched out his hand and shook hands with Wang Mingyuan. walked to the troops again and hugged Cheng Erhu, Hu Zongyu, Jiang Cunxian and others one by one. saw Liang Huada standing solemnly at the end of the team, and specially shook hands with Liang Huada. This new army baggage officer, who had witnessed the reorganization of the Mengshan army, joined the Mengshan army after being captured again, and originally stayed in the base area, but he insisted on going with the troops, so he was assigned to the sixth company of the second battalion as a squad leader, and now he is a platoon commander. But his former subordinate Shi Dashou was already one of the four battalion commanders under Long Qian.

The second battalion left Hanjia Tower as a whole and disappeared into the wilderness in the north.

"Shi Jun, you must be full of questions, right?" Long Qian turned his head to look at Ning Shijun, who was contemplative.

"Yes, Commander. I know that you are playing a big game of chess, but I don't know what kind of chess it is. ”

"yes. Playing chess. But I don't know if Lu Dao can win. We are fighting so hard with the coalition forces, in fact, I am more distressed than Feng Lun. This is the essence of our hard work, and when I return to the base area in the future, how can I explain to the villagers who sent my children to me. Before dawn, I was in a daze, and I dreamed of Fei Ning, as if on the march from Shandong to here, I woke up talking and laughing, and I felt very uncomfortable. When Cao Kun entered the Mengshan Mountain, he was injured and left on the mountain, thinking that he would definitely die, but he did not expect that he would die here a year later__If I die, you will do it for me, but Fei Ning's wish, find his family, and try to give the family as much money as possible. ”

"Phew. Commander, you can't have three longs and two shorts, then our Mengshan army will be finished. ”

"yes. I know it. Shi Jun, I hope we all survive, marry one or more beautiful daughters-in-law, and have a bunch of children. When we are old, how pleasant will it be for the old brothers to get together to drink and chat? Every time I walked an old brother from Mengshan, my heart twitched hard. I remember telling you that I hope to see a new China, which is no longer poor, ignorant, and backward, and no longer has no country and no more sea defense. Except for the foreigners who come to China to do business, study and settle down, any foreigner with a gun will never want to set foot on our land. I also want to have a strong navy, more powerful than the Beiyang Fleet in which your uncle served. Shi Jun, would you like to learn the navy? ”

"Commander, I'm willing to do all of this. I swear to follow you to the end. But what do we do now? Mingyuan advanced to Beijing, what are they doing? Pick us up? In my opinion, the coalition forces will definitely fight Beijing, and how many of us can hold Beijing? ”

"Of course I can't hold it. This is a catastrophe that cannot be avoided. I hope this is the last time. In the dignified China, the national capital was opened twice, which is really sad to death! Shi Jun, we went to Beijing, not to defend the city for the Manchu court, but to rob money! You know, the country is very poor, but the officials and nobles are very rich. We don't rob those riches, and the Eight-Nation Alliance must also rob them! You, the chief of staff, have too weak economic concepts in your head, and you can't compare to Lao Song in this regard. Throughout history, without the army, there is no real power. But without money, our Mengshan Army will not be able to develop and grow. On the other hand, without political status, even if you have money, you can't keep it, you have nowhere to spend it. It's as simple as that. I know that not only Feng Lun, but other people also have grievances, and in the future, they will understand. The sacrifices we make now are the price we must pay for the rise of the Mengshan Army. ”

"Grab money? Rob whom? Ning Shijun's eyes widened.

"Whoever has the money will rob him! Within a few days, Beijing would be in chaos. Rather than let the invading army effortlessly snatch the gold and silver treasures, it is better for us to do the right thing for heaven. God testifies, we are not for ourselves. ”

That night, the main force of the Mengshan Army left the Hanjia Tower silently under the leadership of Long Qian.

With the active withdrawal of the Mengshan Army, the Anglo-Japanese coalition forces, which suffered heavy losses, finally cleared the way forward. But this force seemed to have lost the courage to move forward and stopped at the front line of Hanjia Tower. (To be continued......)