Tang Shaoyi was indeed in a hurry to go to Tianjin, at least to see Yulu, the governor of Zhili. The right army of Wuwei stepped on two boats, not only responding to the initiative of mutual protection in the southeast, but also unwilling to offend the imperial court. Li Dai Taozhuang, who sent the Mengshan army, did not expect that Long Qian's troops would open the door and win a big victory at once, and nearly 500 people were captured by the coalition forces alone, and even the British lieutenant general was captured. This credit is not revealed, not only sorry for the soldiers of the Mengshan Army, but also sorry for the lord of Shandong.

Long Qian asked him to contact Tianjin first and ask for instructions on the next task, which was in Tang Shaoyi's arms. After discussing with the two entourages, it was decided to leave Zhang Bocun behind, and he and another staff officer, Yu Qianzhu, went to Tianjin.

Xigu is not far from Tianjin, but it has become a mess, full of chaotic soldiers, and the Boxers are mixed in, which is very unsafe. Long Qian sent a cavalry squad to escort Tang Shaoyi over under the leadership of a guide Jiang Yun had found. In the middle of the afternoon, the impatient Tang Shaoyi said goodbye to Long Qian and set off.

Before leaving, Long Qian said to Tang Shaoyi, "There are no special circumstances, our army will not leave the Xigu stronghold, pay attention to safety on the road, if you can't pass, come back." ”

Tang Shaoyi clenched his fists and arched his hand, "Please rest assured General Long, Tang will definitely contact the Governor's Mansion of Zhili as soon as possible and bring the general's great achievements to the peak." I don't know when, Tang Shaoyi called General Long Qian, he felt that with the merits of this battle, it was not too much for the imperial court to award a guerrilla general, as for the standard system, the actual authority was not weaker than that of the guerrillas.

Tang Shaoyi did not dare to take the road in the morning, for fear of encountering the rout of the coalition army defeated by the Mengshan army, but took the road from Xigu to Tianjin, at dusk. I met the Qing cavalry of the brigade, and when I inquired, it turned out to be Ma Yukun's division of the Wuwei Left Army who reinforced Jinmen.

Tang Shaoyi was overjoyed, he had heard of Ma Yukun's name, this person was older than Yuan Shikai, he was a general of the Qing army, and Yuan Shikai was a comrade-in-arms during the First Sino-Japanese War, and his current title was Governor of Zhili.

explained his identity, and with Yuan Shikai's handwriting, Deputy General Ma, who led the team, believed in Tang Shaoyi's identity. Tang Shaoyi knew that this Qing army was Ma Yukun's cavalry. was ordered to reinforce Tianjin, and the main force of the Wuwei Left Army led by Song Qing and Ma Yukun still arrived in Tianjin in a few days.

Seeing that the task was completed, the cavalry of the Mengshan Army who was guarding him returned directly on horseback.

"Wuwei Right Army? Did Yuan Futai come over in person? "Wait for Tang Shaoyi to see the etiquette according to the rules of officialdom. Deputy General Ma, who had a brick knife face, asked Tang Shaoyi in Anhui dialect.

"There is only a detachment of more than 1,000 people from Qinwang. In the morning, he fought a battle with the Seymour coalition army, which had invaded the Beijing division in advance. It was basically wiped out. Seymour was captured. Tang Shaoyi couldn't hold back her excitement. Report the battle situation in the morning to Adjutant General Ma.

"What? With just a thousand of you, you defeated the Seymour coalition? Also captured Seymour? Vice Admiral Ma looked incredulous, and then laughed wildly. It's like hearing the funniest story, "Yuan Futai is really a genius, no wonder there are strategists like you under him." Where is Seymour? ”

The 1,500-strong army he led was ordered to reinforce Tianjin, which was the backup force of the Wuwei Left Army, and he had heard the fierce battle between Nie Shicheng's troops and Seymour in Xigu. And this madman surnamed Tang actually said that their right army defeated the coalition army with only more than a thousand people, and also captured the supreme commander of the coalition army__

"Why is General Ma suspicious? If you don't believe me, you can send someone back to Xigu with me, and the enemy chief will be in the hands of our army. ”

Adjutant General Ma waved his hand, "The military order is like a mountain, and the general will not have time to play with you." If you want to go to Tianjin to see Yulu Dashuai, then come with us. ”

It's not that he doesn't want to verify, it's true that he doesn't have time. If the Xigu stronghold is recaptured, why bother to detour for dozens of miles? Adjutant General Ma shook his head, ignored Tang Shaoyi, and struck forward.

As soon as the edict of declaring war was issued, the orders urging reinforcements came one after another, and Song Qing, the head of the Wuwei Left Army, was also regarded as a general, and he was not optimistic about this absurd war at all, and declared war on the eleven countries? It's child's play. But the military order of the imperial court can not be disobeyed, Ma Yukun military gate with the selection of the main force of the left army of 5,000 people rushed to Tianjin, his cavalry is the follow-up troops, starting from Shanhaiguan, all the way south, anxious to meet with the team.

Along the way, the information that Deputy General Ma got was messy and contradictory. First of all, it was said that the warships of the coalition forces had hit a wall at Dagukou, several warships were sunk by Luo Rongguang, and the Tianjin Concession was fiercely attacked by the Boxers. The imperial court has issued a decree to Yulu to reward meritorious officers and soldiers, as well as the Boxers who have made great contributions. Immediately, there was news that Dagukou fell in less than a day, and Luo Rongguang killed his old wife, and then committed suicide and martyrdom. A large number of coalition troops have landed, numbering tens of thousands, and have occupied the Armed Forces Academy, and are preparing to attack the city of Tianjin.

Is that news true? Adjutant Ma preferred to believe the latter. The liaison officer sent by the Ministry of War could not explain the situation in Tianjin, but showed off the victory in Langfang, saying that the official army and the righteous people of the Boxer Rebellion had repelled the Eight-Nation Coalition led by Seymour, forcing it to retreat all the way, and now it was surrounded in the Xigu arsenal, and the front army of Nie Junmen was attacking day and night, and the foreign devils could no longer bear it, and like the foreign devils in Beijing, they would be finished soon.

Deputy General Ma's Gan Army (Wuwei Rear Army) of Dong Fuxiang entered Beijing and was attacking Dongjiaomin Lane. His lord was unimpressed by Dong Fuxiang's old return behavior, it was wrong to kill foreign envoys, and the two countries did not kill the envoys when they exchanged troops. Vice General Ma sneered at Dong Fuxiang's results, how many days has it been? How big is it? How many people are in the Gan army? Squeezing also squeezed them to death!

Adjutant General Ma's troops went straight to Tianjin. When I arrived in Langfang, I learned that Nie Shicheng had not defeated Xigu, and the coalition forces were still guarding there. The main force of Nie Shicheng's army has already gone to Tianjin to help, and the siege of the Xigu stronghold is just some messy troops. After weighing it, Deputy General Ma decided to bypass Xigu and go directly to Tianjin. Nie Shicheng's troops are more powerful than himself, he can't beat it, and he can't do it with his 1,500 cavalry, so why bother looking for fun?

Who would have thought that he would meet Yuan Shikai's Qin Wang Bing? This Tang Shaoyi will not be fake, but the results he boasts about must be fake. Yuan Shikai's kid has a lively brain, and on the one hand, he follows the governors in the south to engage in mutual protection in the southeast. Staying on the sidelines to see the jokes of the court, on the other hand, he sent thousands of people to Qin Wang, and he always stepped on two boats! With a thousand troops, you can open Xigu and capture Seymour alive? I'm too lazy to talk to him about a little senatorial theory, let Yuan Shikai explain it to Lafayette in the future.

Tang Shaoyi was Chinese New Year's Eve eight years old, and his experience of studying in the United States and going to Korea was rare at that time, and he knew the strength of the great powers, which increasingly brought out the value of the Mengshan Army in the Xigu War. He felt resentful of the contempt of Ma Yukun's subordinates. I can't help but think of the tragic scene on the battlefield yesterday. The Mengshan army sacrificed life and death to defeat the strong enemy. Why is it that no one believes it?

Tang Shaoyi's position unconsciously stood on the side of the Mengshan Army. From the beginning of June, when he was ordered to "send an envoy" to Zhengjiazhuang, he began to have direct contact with the Mengshan Army, and in one month, he got to know most of the officers of the Mengshan Army. In particular, he had many knee-to-knee conversations with Long Qian, the supreme leader of the Mengshan Army. I have a more comprehensive understanding of this armed force, which is completely different from the bandits. After yesterday's fighting. Tang Shaoyi regarded this army as the real pillar of the country, if the imperial court had such several armies, or the strength of the Mengshan army would be expanded dozens of times. There's no such thing as an external problem.

Adjutant General Ma stationed his troops outside the city and entered the city with a few retinues to give orders. Tang Shaoyi naturally followed Deputy General Ma, he also needed to pay the order, and the Shandong soldiers went to aid Gyeonggi, what they wanted was to let the imperial court know the way, how could they work hard without saying a word? What's more, as soon as they entered the battlefield, the Mengshan Army won a big victory, which greatly embarrassed the right army of Wuwei, and Tang Shaoyi was of course anxious to see Yulu, the governor of Zhili.

followed Adjutant General Ma into the Governor's Mansion of Zhili, and it happened that the officers were holding an important military meeting, probably Adjutant General Ma brought reinforcements, and was allowed to enter immediately after the report, Tang Shaoyi did not have that qualification, so he had to wait. Taking advantage of this time, Tang Shaoyi inquired about the situation with the officials who received him from the Governor's Palace, and after quietly stuffing a silver ticket of fifty taels, the subordinate official of the Governor's Mansion, whose voice was as sharp as a eunuch, suddenly had a smile on his face, not only serving fragrant tea, but also telling him all the military information he knew. A few days ago, the Russian army raided the ammunition depot of the East Bureau, because a shell from the coalition gun's gun detonated the ammunition depot, resulting in the loss of the East Bureau. The battle of the Wuwei Left Army and the Boxers to seize the Laolongtou Station, the choke point, was lost again, and with the arrival of allied reinforcements, even the safety of Tianjin City was in danger.

After waiting for more than an hour, the meeting ended, and Yulu's "Goshha" shouted in a loud voice, "Which one is Tang Shaoyi from Shandong?" The marshal summoned. ”

Tang Shaoyi finally saw the gloomy Governor Yulu. Yulu sat behind the handsome case, and there were three elderly military attachés sitting on both sides, the candlelight was dim, Tang Shaoyi couldn't see his face and grade clearly, since these three people had seats in front of Yulu, it was estimated that the position was not under Yuan Shikai.

He didn't dare to look around, according to the etiquette of the imperial court, Tang Shaoyi saluted meticulously, "Tang Shaoyi, the chief copywriter of the Wuwei Right Army, knocked to see the marshal." ”

"Well, get up and speak. I heard Jing Shan's subordinates say, you defeated Seymour's soldiers in Xigu? ”

"Back to the commander's words, the Qinwang detachment of the right army launched an attack yesterday morning, crushing the Eight-Nation Alliance led by the enemy chief Seymour in one fell swoop, capturing the enemy chief Seymour and more than 400 of his subordinates, and killing him."

Yulu stood up and walked up to Tang Shaoyi, "On the Shandong side, how many people did Yuan Shikai send to King Qin?" ”

"Seventeen hundred."

"How many coalition forces are there in Xigu?"

"I don't know the exact number. The pre-war analysis said that it should be around 1,600. ”

"You're a three-year-old child?" Yulu suddenly changed color, "Honestly, what is the situation?" ”

"Great Marshal," Tang Shaoyi protested, "our army has indeed defeated the coalition army, and the enemy chief Seymour is in the hands of our army, I have seen it with my own eyes and talked to it." How dare you deceive? If you don't believe it, you can send someone to verify. Our army is now resting in Xigu, and you can see it at a glance. ”

Yulu's eyes rolled wildly, he didn't speak for a long time, the situation in Tianjin was critical, and he urgently needed a victory to boost the morale of the army, if this news was true, it would be really good, and it couldn't be better.

"Since Yuan Weiting's soldiers have arrived in Tianjin, why are they only here now?" Yulu still didn't believe it in his heart, but for other considerations, he no longer accused Tang Shaoyi of talking nonsense, but changed his tone.

"Marshal, our army arrived at Yang Liuqing the day before yesterday, Long Biaotong, oh, it is the commander of the Qinwang detachment, and he found out that the enemy army in Xigu was a lone army, so he decided to lure the enemy out first__" Tang Shaoyi 1510 explained the general process of the ambush battle on July 5.

The officer sitting on the left side of several cases stood up, "Big handsome." It seems to be true, a good soldier trained by Yuan Weiting! Why haven't I heard of this dragon standard? ”

Yulu's face relaxed, and he looked at Tang Shaoyi with a puzzled expression, "This is Nie Shicheng's military gate." The two over there are Song Junmen and Ma Junmen. ”

"I've seen three military gates." Tang Shaoyi knelt down and saluted again.

"Get up and speak." Nie Shicheng pulled Tang Shaoyi up.

Of course, Tang Shaoyi had heard of this Qing army marshal, and when he saw his round fat face, his eyes were squinted, and occasionally one, flashing a terrifying light.

"If you go back to the military gate. The dragon mark is collectively known as Long Qian. Originally grew up in the United States, and after returning to China, he was coerced by Lunan Xiangma, and later became its big boss, and was recruited by Yuan Futai this spring. The department was reorganized into the Qinwang detachment. Tang Shaoyi took the opportunity to tell Long Qian's origin. This credit. Yuan Shikai has to have it, and he has to have it, Long Qian, who is the main master. Tang Shaoyi felt that she couldn't afford to lose. Wouldn't it be nice to take the opportunity to wash off the stains?

"A bandit?" Yulu said in astonishment.

"Long Qian's heart is for the imperial court, so he took the initiative to contact Lord Yuan, accepted Zhao'an, and took the initiative to invite Ying to come to King Qin."

"Yuan Weiting's consistent slippery head." Ma Yukun, who was sitting on the other side, shook his head and said.

"Rely on a ringing horse to fight the coalition army?" Song Qing, whose voice was old and looked old, was also shaking his head, "If this is a rumor, hey." ”

"Heroes don't ask where they come from. Dashuai, if the world's ringing horses are like this dragon standard, it would be a good thing. Nie Shicheng said calmly, "Mr. Tang, the day before yesterday, were you on the battlefield?" ”

"Yes."

"Well, tell me how you captured Seymour?"

Bad, forget that this man was defeated by Seymour...... Tang Shaoyi swallowed hard, "The humble post has always followed Long Biaotong, and the farthest distance from the battle field is the appearance of a mile away......" Tang Shaoyi then told in detail what he saw the battle situation, especially emphasizing the dense pile of dead people, blood all over the ground, and it was almost impossible to step on it.

"You mean Dragon, that Long Qian's soldiers defeated the coalition forces with bayonets?" Nie Shicheng gasped. Nie Shicheng is not Yulu, he has been on the battlefield, and after forty years of military career, he knew that what Tang Shaoyi said did not look like a lie.

"Yes, as soon as the gun went off, the soldiers rushed forward!" In front of Tang Shaoyi's eyes, it seemed that the shocking scene was reproduced.

Unconsciously, the other two sitting veterans stood up, "What a fight!" Good guts, so murderous! With only 2,000 people, he dared to fight and annihilate the enemy's plan! This Long Qian, so daring! Good soldiers! Ma Yukun, who was about the same age as Nie Shicheng and had a similar physique, walked over, "So, the enemy chief Seymour is in your hands?" ”

"If you go back to your lordship, get rid of Seymour, there are more than 400 captives, French, Germans, Italians, Russians, Austrians, oh, and the British, all of them, but there are no Japanese, and the Japanese are all killed."

"Well killed!" The three veteran generals spoke in unison.

"Long Biaotong did not intend to kill prisoners, it was the Japanese who did not surrender. I asked. ”

"That Seymour, have you seen it?"

"Yes. I talked to him for half an hour. ”

"You speak Yiyi?"

"...... who studied in the United States in a humble position"

"Yuan Weiting is really a masterpiece, no wonder his subordinates are full of talents. Marshal, please quickly transfer the Shandong soldiers to Tianjin. Nie Shicheng turned his face to Yulu, who was already beaming, and said, "If there is such a strong army in hand, the old dragon head is not enough." ”

"What Nie Jun said is very true, Xigu is opened, and it also solves the worries of our army." It was Ma Yukun who spoke.

Yulu was worried about Seymour, "Well, of course I have to transfer them to Tianjin, and I will be directly under the old man." He turned his face to look at Tang Shaoyi, "You did a good job, but you can't rest yet." Tomorrow, he will return to Xigu, convey the old man's general order, and order Long Qian's department to move to Jinmen immediately, and all foreign soldiers will be captured, including wounded soldiers, no one should be missing! Do this well, and you will definitely have a share of the merit of this handsome. ”

Tang Shaoyi hesitated, "Marshal, the lower officials have a saying, I don't know whether to say it or not." ”

"Hmm, you say."

"The Longbiao Command Department was seriously damaged after the first battle of Xigu. You have to rest and replenish it."

"Food and ammunition are replenished, and the commander will arrange it, when the country is employing people, how can he be afraid of war? What's more, it's still a ringing horse! You go back and tell the man surnamed Long that since he came to King Jingqin, he should follow the orders of the commander. If you violate the military order, don't blame the marshal for his crimes! Let's go down. Yulu lowered his face and waved Tang Shaoyi away. (To be continued......)