Lu Shan was arranged by Long Qian on the back road, and it seemed that he was somewhat wronged by his title as the number one general of the Mengshan Army.

Lu Shan knew that this arrangement was Long Qian's respect for him, and it had always been so.

The fourth battalion was the unit led by Lu Shan, and her predecessor was the company formed from the New Army prisoners captured from Maoyang Town. Long Qian left Feng Guozhu in the base area, and Shi Dashou, the newly appointed battalion commander, did not have the slightest contempt for Lu Shan, and only admired it.

Lu Shan belonged to the kind of commander who fought with more "aura", and this has been repeatedly proved in the battles in which the Mengshan army left Mengshan to open up and defend the base area.

Lu Shan deeply understood the tasks of the 4th Battalion. His first step was to "take over" the Xigu stronghold. This task was not simple, the four battalions (including the cavalry company that was attached to the four battalions before the battle began), did not need to be covert to enter the position, they allowed the enemy in Xigu to find out.

The first thing Lu Shan had to do was to contain the Boxers around the stronghold. The mission began on the afternoon of July 3. The fourth battalion was the first to leave Yang Liuqing and head for Xigu, and Lu Shan found that Long Qian's prediction continued to maintain a magical record, that is, there were very few regular troops of the Qing army around Xigu, and the main force besieging Xigu turned out to be the Boxers! The courage of the Boxers was almost wiped out in the more than ten days of fighting, and the bravest members were turned into corpses, using "asleep" to deceive people for a long time, and the Boxers who had suffered heavy losses had lost the fanaticism they had had received more than ten days ago.

Lushan began to recruit the Boxers. The solution was simple, handing out silver and promising to allow them to take anything other than weapons after they conquered the stronghold.

Silver is a sharp weapon, more practical than holding things. Lushan at the price of a day and a half taels of silver (very expensive price). In half an afternoon, more than 300 people were recruited and handed over to the 12th Company, the newest company of the 4th Battalion, to organize a large transport team, plus the transport platoons of each company of the 4th Battalion, which was 500 men.

After the coalition forces retreated, Lu Shan was pleasantly surprised to find that the enemy did not burn Xigu in a fire, and Li Sancai's task of killing Cai was really good.

Lu Shan quickly took over the Xigu stronghold after the coalition retreated, and immediately ordered Shi Dashou to lead the 12th Company and the transport team to sort out the weapons and ammunition - get rid of the weapons and ammunition, and do not want anything else.

There was no time to count the weapons and ammunition that were recovered. Lu Shan gathered the 10th and 11th companies. Replenishing the ammunition to the maximum, he followed the allied forces behind the palace out of the Xigu stronghold, he placed the 11th company in a conspicuous position, and slowly followed behind the allied forces along the main road and the open space around the stronghold. Attract the attention of the German army. And let the main company of the 4th battalion, the 10th company, secretly follow from the flank. Prepare to strike a fatal blow at a critical moment.

His task was to hold back as much as possible the enemy force, which Lu Shan judged to be a battalion, and according to Commander Long's description, it should be German.

Two companies in their hands alone could not take down this enemy. The commander attached great importance to the Germans, and it was said that they were very powerful. Lu Shan was well aware of Long Qian's combat intentions, and his task was to hold back the German army, delay the German army's marching speed as much as possible, and create conditions for the main force to complete the intermediate breakthrough.

Constantly launching attacks by small forces, the Germans turned around and retreated on their own. Lu Shan firmly grasped the rhythm and waited for the middle lane to start.

Finally, the middle lane moves! Lu Shan led the 11th Company to charge again and crushed the broken German army, and the 10th Company made a just right attack to crush the stubborn Bork.

"Don't pursue, stop!" Even if Lu Shan and Wang Mingyuan stopped the pursuit of the troops, the Germans had already run into a small forest to the west.

"Thanks to you, I would have died here." Wang Mingyuan seemed to be a little prostrate, panting heavily with his gun.

"It's okay, is it?" Lu Shan saw the blood stains on Wang Mingyuan's body.

"It's all right, devil. To turn back, rendezvous with the main force __"

"Yes, this battle has been won, I will bring four battalions over, you stay here to monitor them__" Lu Shan looked at the Germans who had fled without a trace.

"No, I'll take the fourth company and the guard company with me, and you are still in charge of your back road. Four companies assembled, guard companies, listen to my command! Wang Mingyuan tried to mix his breath evenly.

"Don't kill the captives, keep them!" Lu Shan saw a soldier covered in blood viciously smash the head of a wounded German soldier with the butt of his gun.

That soldier was none other than Huang Jinhui, a recruit who participated in the battle for the first time, and one of his combat group companions, the squad leader and his friend Bai Daifu, were all killed in this brutal hand-to-hand combat. After Huang Jinhui was pulled away by the company commander Fan Deping, he squatted on the ground and began to cry.

The stretcher team has come up and begun to rescue their own wounded.

The battle on the middle road was basically over, the Russian army's approach to the German army was blocked by the sixth company, the Russian army's will to fight seemed to be crushed by the first battalion, and instead of trying again, it broke and fled to the northeast, and the troops of the first battalion launched a pursuit, and in a cotton field, there were fleeing Russian troops and pursuing Mengshan Army soldiers everywhere. And the cavalry companies began to play their role, chasing down the Russians who had lost their resistance.

Wang Mingyuan ran with the broken Fourth Company and the Guard Company to join the Sixth Company, and then saw Long Qian running over with a rifle.

"How's it going over there?" Long Qian asked loudly.

"The Germans fled, at least half of them. My fourth company, it's a pity that my fourth company. Wang Mingyuan saw Long Qian, and his voice choked.

"Okay, it's good that you're fine." Long Qian couldn't understand Wang Mingyuan's feelings for a while, he looked excited, "I've caught Seymour." We've won! ”

The annihilation of Seymour's own team, as well as the effective bombardment of the British brigade by the artillery team, led to the collapse of the British army. The fundamental reason why the artillery team, as Long Qian's most decisive weapon, only entered the battle at the last moment, was that this battle was basically hand-to-hand combat, and the artillery could not easily open fire. Before the British army was ready to open fire on the blocking troops on the other side of Cheng Erhu, the Mengshan artillery opened fire first, and only the "simple" British brigade could be used as the target of the artillery.

Like the Germans, Colonel Rudy chose to break through. Having discarded almost all of their baggage, they ran southward, and the three battalions were powerless to stop the movement of the British troops, and most of the British troops fled from the battlefield.

"Commander, commander, the company commander is no longer good, I want to see you." A soldier came running profusely.

"Who?" Long Qian hurriedly asked.

"Company Commander Fei__"

Strips of gauze were shoved into the wound between Feinin's chest and abdomen, and the paramedics anxiously stopped the bleeding, but the blood still poured out in large streams. Fei Ning was half-lying in Feng Lun's arms, panting for breath. I saw Long Qian running over. The already faint gaze lit up, and he opened his mouth to speak, but blood trickled down the corners of his mouth.

"He called the commander just now......" Feng Lun had tears in his eyes.

Long Qian squatted down and took a look, and knew that Fei Ning was finished. The internal organs were seriously injured. It's powerless.

Long Qian held Fei Ning's cold hand. "Good brother, you have done your best for our group. I know all the things in your heart. I'll do it for you, so go with confidence__"

Fei Ning made a strange gurgling sound in his throat, tilted his head, and died in Feng Lun's arms.

Long Qian stretched out his hand and wiped Fei Ning's eyelids off, "Let the Seventh Company bury him, he will always be the company commander of the Seventh Company." Make a mark, and in the future we will move his bones back to our hometown. He stood up, and the joy of victory was gone.

"Commander__" Feng Lun stood up with difficulty, "He__"

"I know his thoughts, he is Mingyuan's little countryman, and he is still thinking about his family when he is dying, and he will find his family as soon as possible, but his heart is gone." Long Qian said in a low voice.

Tang Shaoyi had already followed the people from the headquarters to the battlefield and saw this scene.

"Clean up the battlefield, quick. We're going to move. Long Qian suppressed his sadness and calmly gave the order. As he spoke, he picked up a small round shovel that had been discarded on the ground and headed south. Everyone knows that Long Qian is digging a grave. Some of them followed Long Qian over.

"Let the coalition capture the people who buried them." Long Qian turned around.

The sun rose overhead, and the bloody battle was over. The gunfire had been extinguished, and the groans of the wounded had been silenced. It was the first time for Tang Shaoyi to see so many corpses and so much blood in such a small place, and she could hardly find a place to stay.

"Oh my God, oh my God," Tang Shaoyi didn't know how to describe his feelings, just now he heard the ecstasy of the victory over the Eight-Nation Alliance Army and was washed away by the Shura Field in front of him.

"What about your standards?" Tang Shaoyi asked a soldier of the Mengshan Army who was helping his comrade-in-arms with an injured leg on a stretcher.

"Standard? Oh, you ask us, Commander? He's over there. Isn't that? The commander is back. ”

Tang Shaoyi looked up and saw Long Qian walking over with long legs, followed by his herald and orderly Lu Guangda.

"With such a big victory, congratulations to Long Biao for unification," Tang Shaoyi said loudly.

"Don't talk about that." Long Qian waved his hand, "Where is Seymour?" Bring him here. He said to Lu Guangda.

Soon, sixty-year-old Edward. Seymour was escorted by two soldiers, with a bruise on his face, and he didn't know how he had left it.

"Commander, he is Seymour, and Section Chief Situ has confirmed it just now."

"Barbaric Chinese, despicable Chinese." Seymour seemed to confirm that the tall and burly young man in front of him was the leader of the army that had defeated him, and two sentences of English unconsciously came out of his mouth.

"Aggression against the territory of another country is even more despicable! As for barbarism, do you mean their actions? Long Qian replied coldly in English.

Seymour was shocked, he did not expect to meet two Chinese who spoke fluent English in a row.

From the commander of the British Empire's East Asian Fleet to the inexplicable commander of the coalition to rescue the diplomats in Beijing, Seymour was still somewhat complacent, never thinking of defeat, but just adding some material to his future memoirs. Where did you think that all of a sudden you would be defeated and captured? The change of status is amazing.

Seymour's first feeling when he woke up from a knockout was not a pain in his back, but that he was about to be killed. Reports about the Chinese's extreme hatred of foreigners are no longer reports, let alone rumors, and he has seen the fanaticism and hatred of the peasants called the Boxers, armed with the most primitive weapons. If it falls into the hands of those barbarians...... Seymour couldn't have thought about it. And now that I have woken up, my worst fears have become reality.

It wasn't until a Qing soldier who spoke fluent English asked who General Seymour was, that his mood stabilized. Denial is unnecessary, and it is not only detrimental to the face of the British Empire, but also not a gentleman's act. Not to mention the past at a glance. There is no other coalition officer and soldier of his age. So, when the young officer asked who the commander of the coalition forces was, General Seymour, he immediately confessed.

"Very good, please rest assured, the general is a noble army, not bandits, let alone the Boxers. As long as you lay down your arms, we will give you the dignity of prisoners of war. ”

This passage restored a lot of "dignity" to Seymour: "What position are you in the Qing army?" Please bring me to your Supreme Commander! You despicably attack coalition forces for humanitarian purposes. It will be punished most severely by the British Empire and even the entire civilized world! If you release us. May you be forgiven for your actions today. ”

The young officer smiled and scolded, "Idiot! He turned away.

"Hey. I want to see your Supreme Commander! Seymour shouted.

Right now. Seymour finally met the commander of the Qing army. He is also very young, and he also knows English. and spicily countered the two insults he uttered casually.

Following Long Qian's fingers, Seymour saw the soldiers of the Mengshan Army bandaging the wounded of the coalition army.

Seymour had long noticed the peculiarity of this army. Their eyes are full of hatred, but they behave civilly, do not torture and kill prisoners of war, and even take the initiative to treat wounded prisoners of war.

"I'm sorry, I apologize to you. Your army is a mighty army, and even more so a civilized army......" In the face of the facts, Seymour had to face inferior Chinese bow his noble head.

"I accept my apologies. Now that you are a prisoner of war, please tell your former subordinates to obey the orders of our army, do not do anything that misunderstands my soldiers, and I will treat you as prisoners of war. When this war is over, you can return home. Long Qian waved his hand and asked people to take Seymour down, and then ordered the guard company to escort Seymour alone, without any mistakes.

Long Qian didn't have time to waste time with this old British man now.

The situation has become clear, except for a small number of Russian, German and British brigades, none of the remaining five troops under Seymour have escaped the net, and all of them have been annihilated. Shi Dashou came over with the main force of the 12th Company, that is, more stretcher teams, and the stretcher soldiers were all Boxers recruited yesterday, and under the supervision of the Mengshan Army, the wounded, including those of the coalition army, were treated simply, their wounds were bandaged, and they were carried on stretchers and began to move to the Xigu stronghold.

"Why do you want to save those foreign devils?" A Boxer with a red turban on his head angrily asked Zheng Shuangqing, the commander of the 12th Company who brought them here, that he was the first batch of Zhengjiazhuang's children to join the army, and that he was the first of Zhengjiazhuang's children to be promoted to company commander.

"This is our commander's order! It must be carried out. These captives are useful to our commanders. ”

"What's the use? Oh? Are you going to dig out their hearts and livers and drink to strengthen their courage? ”

"Ass! Who have we been afraid of? Get to work! Beware of me deducting your wages! ”

"Oops." The young man in the red turban hurriedly beckoned his people to carry the wounded Mengshan Army in gray cloth military uniforms on the stretcher, these are good men, they have suffered enough of foreign devils these days, and the neighbors and friends don't know how many people have been killed, and finally let this group of Shandong soldiers who suddenly appeared for themselves out of a bad breath! These people are very powerful in beating foreign devils, too powerful. Look at the corpses of those foreign devils, it's really relieving! But I just don't understand, why don't you kill the foreign devils you caught, and treat them? However, this young man named Bao Guangman did not dare to suspect that Shandong Bing was a traitor, but he was always uncomfortable. His subordinates will not carry the wounds of foreign devils, and carry these Shandong heroes, no problem.

Long Qian strictly forbade the slaughter of prisoners. The Boxers were shocked by the brutal scene of the battlefield and did not dare to disobey the orders of this Qing army unit that suddenly appeared and overwhelmed the foreigners.

At about four o'clock in the afternoon, after hastily burying the dead, the Mengshan army cleaned up the battlefield and returned to the Xigu stronghold with the captured military supplies and prisoners.

"Commander, the preliminary statistics are out." Ning Shijun came to Long Qian, who was sitting on a burden, "Our army lost 231 people and 332 were wounded, of which 80 were seriously wounded. 433 coalition troops were killed and 445 captured, including wounded. Seizure __"

Long Qian interrupted Ning Shijun, "Not to mention the capture, call Lu Shan and the battalion commanders to come." ”

The seized supplies were massive, including eight guns of different calibers, and the artillery team was now rich—but he had no intention of counting the captured weapons.

The four battalion commanders and Lu Shan came over, Ye Yanbing was slightly injured, one arm was hanging, and the rest were lucky.

"Briefly meet and discuss the next move." Long Qian cheered up, "Brothers, don't be sad about our casualties, for the sake of our future future, this is the price that must be paid. This battle is well fought, better than I thought, and now, we are going to start the second step. Sit down, everybody. Have the guards stop the others. ”

"Commander, you can't do this anymore__" Feng Lun stared at Long Qian's eyes.

"I know. If we fight again, we will be wiped out. Tomorrow. Yan Bing led the four companies and the first company. Take those Boxers temporarily recruited by Lushan, lead the way by Jiang Yun, and transfer. Bring any extra weapons and ammunition with you. Specific matters. I'll give you an account. Extend ice. Two things, you are not going to war, you are hiding and standby. Protect our wounded. Try to save them as much as you can. Second, to protect the captives, especially Seymour, he was of great use. Not only to our Mengshan army, but also to this country. Do you understand? ”

"Understood." Ye Yanbing was a little in a trance, "However, what is it for me?" ”

"Because you're wounded. There will be a war to come, there will be a rapid march, and our main mission here has not yet been completed. You have to rest, even if you have a minor injury, you can't follow us. Understand that the task I have given you is very important. This group of captives is our biggest capital at present! Long Qian's eyes sharpened, "Look at you, all of you are wilting, as if you have lost a battle, we have won!" Defeated the Eight-Nation Coalition with basically equal forces, and captured their lieutenant generals! This is a great victory to be written in the history books! Get rid of us, who can achieve such a result? Cheer me up, and the price we pay will soon be compensated. The blood of those sacrificed comrades-in-arms was not shed in vain. Below, we have more important tasks, and this is just the beginning. However, we are no longer desperate with the coalition forces, it is enough. ”

Feng Lun, Wang Mingyuan, and Shi Dashou breathed a sigh of relief.

Cheng Erhu acted as the commander of the second battalion, and Feng Lun temporarily served as the commander of the seventh company. We will rest here for a day, and the whole team, and the vacant posts below the company, each battalion will propose candidates and report to me for approval. The 5th and 12th companies served as guards, and the rest rested, so that everyone could eat well and sleep well. Disband. By the way, the casualties of the seventh and fourth companies were heavy, and a platoon was drawn from the twelfth company to supplement Ye Yanbing's detachment. ”

"Yes," the four battalion commanders, including Deputy Commander Lu Shan and Chief of Staff Ning Shijun, all rose up to answer.

When Tang Shaoyi and his two entourages found Long Qian, Long Qian's small-scale meeting had just ended.

"Long Biaotong, you have made a great contribution, but I didn't expect to capture a British lieutenant general! I will write a letter to tell Lord Yuan about the military exploits of your troops. Tang Shaoyi rubbed his hands excitedly, "What's the next step, what are Long Biaotong's plans?" ”

"Mr. Tang no longer doubts our department, does he?" Long Qian looked at Tang Shaoyi coldly.

"There, your ministry is worthy of being a strong army in the world, and it is an immortal achievement__" Just now the prisoners of the coalition army were counted, and the three "prison troops" looked at Long Qian's gaze, still full of awe.

"Don't talk about those useless ones. You have also seen that this battle is equivalent to using the hands of the Eight-Nation Alliance to wipe out our Mengshan army! Do you dare to say that Yuan Shikai didn't have such a mind? Well? But Long does what he says! Since you say that you are fighting for the country, you won't just talk about it! ”

"Of course. General Long's personality was admired by Tang. In particular, the general's order not to kill prisoners made Tang even more admired. Tang must play the Ming court and ask for credit for the general. ”

Long Qian waved his hand, "I have to let my brethren breathe a sigh of relief. In this way, is Mr. Tang advanced Tianjin? As soon as I reported the situation of the battle in Xigu, the Seymour coalition army had actually been wiped out. The fleeing enemy is no longer a matter of concern. Second, please go down to the top and see what errands are going on for our army. If it weren't for Long Qian to avoid the battle, he really needed to take a breath__"

"Needless to say, General Long has already made immortal achievements. If the army of my Qing Dynasty is like your army, it will not be enough to calm the external troubles. Tang Shaoyi complimented again, and then asked him the question he was most concerned about, "These captives? ”

"It will be handed over to the imperial court. What's the use of me keeping them? Can you bring it? ”

"Okay, then, Tang will first contact the Governor's Mansion of Zhili to get supplies for our army, and as soon as there is news, he will immediately report to the general."

Tang Shaoyi really wanted Long Qian to lead the troops into Tianjin, but now he really couldn't open his mouth. (To be continued......)

PS: Present a big chapter, as a gift for the National Day, and wish book friends a happy National Day!