At the time of the lantern, Qian Yuanshan and other traversers who had eaten dinner, as well as officers above the deputy level of the squadron, all came to the Chinese military tent and began to listen to Chang Shengjun and Li Fu's report on the results of the battle.

Chang Shengjun saluted Qian Yuanshan and the other four people, and reported: "The four masters, after the inspection of the subordinates and the deputy Li team, our army killed 304 people, including the two deputy village masters of the enemy Zhang and Zhao, and captured 41 people, including Shi Song, the master of the enemy's big village, a total of 345 people.

Our infantry was killed 11 and 43 wounded, of which 6 were seriously wounded. No one of the Rangers was killed, five wounded, two of them seriously. ”

As Chang Shengjun reported the numbers one by one, Qian Yuanshan quickly calculated the proportion in his heart. Although he was mentally prepared for the large number of casualties, he still felt a little distressed when he found that the casualty ratio of his infantry was close to 30 percent. In his heart, these soldiers are the seeds of the expansion of the "Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion" in the future, and the loss of one may affect the construction of a squad in the future.

"Captain Chang, are your statistics true? I don't think the first squadron has lost many people, why is the casualty ratio so high? Tang Chao asked with some puzzlement-as the squadron leader of the first squadron, he still had a few losses in his squadron.

"Back to the words of the Twenty-fourth Master," Chang Shengjun explained, "The losses of the first squadron under your command are indeed not large, only two people were killed, seven people were injured, one of them was seriously injured, and the casualty ratio was less than one percent. ”

Speaking of this, Chang Shengjun paused, glanced at Wang Baoshan, the leader of the third squadron standing next to him, and hesitated for a moment before continuing: "The losses of our infantry are mainly due to the third squadron, and the proportion of casualties is about sixty percent. ”

"Sixty percent casualties? How could it be so high, could it be that they were all standing there motionless so that the other party could not cut it. Tang Chao asked in disbelief - if it was in the previous life, the team with such heavy casualties would have basically lost its combat effectiveness.

As the deputy of the Ranger squad, Chang Shengjun naturally couldn't answer Tang Chao's question, so he could only be silent at this time. Chang Shengjun can be silent, but Wang Baoshan, as the supreme commander of the third squadron, can't help but express something. Therefore, he immediately stepped forward, knelt on the ground, and said: "Twenty-four masters, lords, the third squadron has suffered heavy losses in this operation, and his subordinates are hard to escape the blame as the squadron leader, please punish you." ”

Regarding Wang Baoshan's statement that he did not shirk his responsibilities and asked for punishment, Qian Yuanshan still appreciated it very much. At the same time, he also knew very well that the reason why the third squadron performed so poorly today was not rooted in Wang Baoshan's command of the enemy and his usual training. Therefore, he hurriedly got up and left his seat, walked over to help Wang Baoshan up, and explained: "Captain Wang is serious. Although the 3rd Squadron suffered large losses in this operation, the fault was not Captain Wang. ”

Speaking of this, Qian Yuanshan paused slightly, looked around at the people in the Chinese military tent, and explained: "You should all know that when the Third Squadron was formed, the original Second Squadron was divided into two, and more than 100 Northern Han refugees were added to form the new Second Squadron and the Third Squadron. In terms of combat effectiveness, these two squadrons can be called congenitally deficient compared with the first squadron. The vast majority of the members of the first squadron are the best of the original 'Five Tiger Village' minions, not only are they experienced in the green forest, they are skilled, and to put it mildly, before being subdued by our brothers, which of these soldiers in the first squadron has never killed anyone, never set fires, and has not participated in the vendetta between the cottages?

Although the last time the 'Baihua Village' was extinguished, there was also an incident of accidental injury by a flintlock pistol in the first squadron, but the soldier who made the mistake was one of the few Northern Han refugees who were added later. As far as the elite minions of the original 'Five Tiger Village' are concerned, in terms of combat experience, killing methods, and mutual cooperation, not to mention those Northern Han refugees recruited later, even the old Second Squadron cannot be compared with them. This can be seen from our recent battles -- whether it is chasing and fleeing the 'Baihuazhai' minions, or fighting against the 'Zishizhai' minions just now, the eyes of the vast majority of the soldiers of the first squadron are always full of indifference, for them, fighting the enemy, like eating and drinking, is just a trivial thing. This kind of calmness, or this attitude of not taking the other party seriously, can never be trained by ordinary training.

This time, the 3rd Squadron seemed to suffer heavy casualties, and the loss of soldiers was far more than the 2nd Squadron last time. However, everyone must understand that last time due to our excessive use of firearms, in fact, the two battles with the 'Baihuazhai' minions were not real face-to-face confrontations, at most they could be called chasing and defeating soldiers or searching for remnants of the enemy. This is completely different from today's hand-to-hand combat, and the number and proportion of casualties between the two cannot be simply compared together. I don't think any of the brothers here dare to pat their chests and guarantee that the 2nd Squadron will definitely be better than the 3rd Squadron in this battle. ,

We must see that although the 3rd Squadron suffered heavy losses today, and although most of the soldiers were relatively nervous and passive when they first came into contact with the enemy, not a single soldier was afraid to retreat, not a single soldier was timid and cowardly, and not a single soldier turned around and fled. Under the command and leadership of commanders at all levels and veterans, they slowly adapted to the battle and the battlefield, and together with the first squadron and the rangers, they completely annihilated the minions of the 'Zishi Village' charging into battle.

So, as I just said. Although the losses of the 3rd Squadron were relatively large, Squadron Leader Wang did not make a mistake, and all the officers and men of the 3rd Squadron did not make a mistake. Such a loss is the only way for every inexperienced new team to grow into a heroic veteran. How can you get a good piece of steel without a lot of hard work? I believe that after the tempering of this battle, the 3rd Squadron will definitely be reborn and become another sharp blade of my 'Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion'. Moreover, I also believe that you will not let us down, Captain Wang. ”

Qian Yuanshan's words were reasonable, which not only calmed Tang Chao's anger, but also made Wang Baoshan, who had always blamed himself, feel a lot more relaxed, and his confidence and enthusiasm became very strong. He knelt down on one knee again and said to Qian Yuanshan: "Subordinate Xie Eleventh Master is not guilty. Eleventh Master, please rest assured, his subordinates will definitely refine the third squadron into a good piece of steel and sharpen it into a sharp sword, and will never let you down Eleventh Master. ”

Qian Yuanshan helped Wang Baoshan up again and said, "Captain Wang is not guilty, so why use me to forgive." In addition, you have to remember that although Ye is the front commander of the 'Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion', the 'Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion' is not Ye alone, but belongs to all the 'Qingyuan' brothers. So, if you don't lead the soldiers well, it's not just the master who will be disappointed, but all the 'Qingyuan' brothers, do you understand? ”

Wang Baoshan nodded hurriedly, indicating that he fully understood. Qian Yuanshan patted him on the shoulder to show his encouragement.

After pacifying Wang Baoshan, everyone began to study the next attack plan for the "Zishi Village" village.

According to the previously formulated combat jihua, after defeating the "Zishi Village" minions who came to challenge, the "Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion" should temporarily stay where it is, and then pull out the camp and attack the main village of the "Zishi Village" the next morning. Moreover, in view of the fact that the field battle in front has been able to achieve the purpose of training, in order to reduce unnecessary casualties, it will give full play to its own firepower superiority when attacking its own village, and use artillery fire to complete the attack process as it did last time in "Baihua Village."

However, to everyone's surprise, this afternoon's battle at Zishitan not only wiped out all the enemy soldiers, but also captured Shi Song, the owner of the "Zishi Village". With this bargaining chip, the "Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion" is expected to win the "Zishi Village" village without blood.

Although Shi Song's strategy of blackmailing the remaining minions of the "Purple Stone Village", especially Shi Liang, the son of Shi Song, who is responsible for defending the village, if successful, can save the trouble of attacking the village, it will also bring another trouble - once Shi Liang surrenders, the remaining minions in the village will become prisoners. Counting the minions captured at Purple Rock Beach, the total number was only two hundred. For the "Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion", which no longer uses the surrendered enemy minions to strengthen its own Liliang, how to deal with these captives is a big problem. After all, there is no mountain village like Qiulinzhuang, which has a deep hatred with the "Zishi Village" and has a certain ability to protect itself. The "Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion" can't hand over the captives to the people of Qiulinzhuang for disposal like last time, and they don't bother anymore. Therefore, as to whether to use Shi Song as a bargaining chip to coerce the "Zishi Village" to surrender, it is difficult for the thinking of the people in the Chinese military tent to unify for a while.

To say that, in principle, everyone still agreed to peacefully resolve the issue of the "Zishi Village" itself, and their differences were mainly on the handling of prisoners. After they successively rejected the two proposals of killing and surrendering and handing them over to the local government to deal with—although Qian Yuanshan had the status of a township commander, Liangxiang and Yi County were more than 100 miles apart, and it was not easy to explain to the local government the reasons why the villagers in Liangxiang had traveled so far to suppress the bandits—Qian Yuanshan put forward his own views. He said: "Since everyone does not agree to kill, the procedures for handing over to the local government are more troublesome, and there are no allies like Qiulinzhuang nearby, then we might as well bring these captives back to Liangxiang to deal with them." When it comes to our own territory, whether we hand them over to the government or send them to our own mines or salt farms to do hard labor, isn't it all up to us? ”,

Qian Yuanshan's suggestion was quite innovative, and although some brothers felt that it was a bit troublesome to escort nearly 200 people back to Liangxiang, which was more than 100 miles away, most of them still expressed their support. After unifying the thinking within the forward command, Qian Yuanshan reported the decision to the committee through the radio.

In a short time, the committee sent a reply, saying that it agreed with the forward command that the prisoners could be escorted back to the "Flying Dragon Village". At that time, the relevant departments of the team will arrange for these prisoners to serve in the coal and iron mines under the control of the team - according to modern terms, "labor reform". The length of time for which the prisoners will need to be rehabilitated and the specific personnel allocation plan will be determined according to the severity of the crimes committed by the prisoners after the necessary examination and interrogation of the prisoners has been carried out by the Internal Affairs Section of the Ministry of Intelligence.

With the consent of the committee, Qian Yuanshan and others let go of their hands and feet. The members of the forward command gathered together to carefully study and discuss the next course of action, and made preparations with both hands. On the one hand, they will send people to negotiate with the injured and captured Shi Song, trying to dispel his hostility and concerns, so that he can take the initiative to cooperate with the "Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion" to persuade his son and a group of minions who stayed behind in the cottage to surrender. On the other hand, the forward command headquarters was also prepared to carry out a strong attack if it failed to persuade him to surrender.

When the people had made up their minds, they went their separate ways. Zeng Zhilin, Tang Chao, Muter, and others worked out a plan for storming the "Zishi Village" with firepower in accordance with the pattern of the last bombardment of the "Baihua Village," so that when persuasion to surrender failed, it would be handed over to the infantry squads, artillery squads, and ranger squads to follow and implement. Qian Yuanshan sent Liu Xiaoliu and Li Fu, who had some friendship with Shi Song before and were more familiar with Shi Song, to the tent where Shi Song was being held, so that they could have a good chat with Shi Song, and try to persuade him to surrender.

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