From Tongzhou to Linqing, marching along the canal is undoubtedly the easiest and most convenient way.
When marching in the hinterland of Gyeonggi Province, there is no need to recruit any accompanying soldiers and civilians. Food and drink are provided by the local government wherever they go.
The new governor of Zhili, Zhou Yuanli, was a seventy-year-old man. The resume of imperial officials compiled by Shuan Zhu showed that Zhou Zitai was an expert in water control and had been working in rivers.
He has never led troops to fight in a war, so he is unlucky to encounter such a big event as soon as he takes office.
Yang Jingsu, the former governor of Zhili Province, was a member of the mutual aid association. Two months ago, he was dismissed from Chaxiong County Magistrate Hu Xiying's flood relief work. The result of the deliberation was that he was dismissed from his post and demoted to a civilian. He didn't know who he was, but he took the initiative to pledge 17,000 yuan.
Two, he was demoted and the chief envoy remained in office.
After the imperial edict required Zhili to send troops to assist in the suppression, the Governor of Zhili, who was ignorant of military matters, had no choice but to let Yang Jingsu, who had been demoted to the chief envoy, lead the troops to fend off the thieves.
This Yang Jingsu is said to be a son of a general. His grandfather was the admiral of the Green Camp, and his father was the commander-in-chief of Gubeikou. However, Yang Jingsu was weak since he was a child and did not like martial arts. Like Zhou Yuanli, he had never been exposed to military affairs since he became an official.
The main reason why Zhou Zhitai was entrusted with the important task of guarding thieves was that Yang Fantai was young. He was only 60 years old this year, which was ten years younger than the governor.
The religious bandits in Linqing directly threatened the security of Zhili. Therefore, although the governor and the feudal lord were old and somewhat incapable of fighting, they still dispatched the strongest combat force of Zhili.
There were 1,200 Green Camp soldiers led by Chief Military Officer Wan Chaoxing and Deputy General Marqing'a.
These are all the elite troops Zhili can use.
It cannot be said that they are elite soldiers who have fought in hundreds of battles, because Zhili has been at peace for hundreds of years. If there are no battles, there will be no elite soldiers.
At the beginning of the founding of the Qing Dynasty, it was an unwritten system that there should not be heavy Han troops in Zhili areas.
Because Zhili is located in an important area of the capital and surrounds the capital. If Zhili holds heavy green troops, the capital will be surrounded in an instant if there is a rebel.
Xu Ji, the governor of Tianjin, who was under the control of the Governor-General of Zhili, also personally led troops to assist in the suppression, using all the property of the Tianjin Green Camp and 800 soldiers.
Now, under the personal leadership of the governor, the 800 soldiers from the Tianjin camp rushed to Linqing, hoping to join forces with Yang Jingsu and Wan Chaoxing to increase their momentum.
On the Shandong side, Governor Cathay assembled the entire province's battalions and 3,000 minzhuang troops, and handed them over to the commander-in-chief, who had suffered a series of defeats, to continue besieging the religious bandits.
Although he kept losing battles, his victory was due to his courage to fight and his valuable spirit. Compared with the generals in Shandong Green Camp who ran away in anticipation of thieves, they could be called strong generals.
After receiving the order, Yao Lide, the governor of Hedao in Henan and Shandong, also sent 1,600 men from the 4th Battalion of the Hedao Battalion under his control. Under the leadership of deputy general Wang Zhen, they rushed north from Jining to assist in the suppression.
According to the Ministry of War newspaper, more than 6,000 reinforcements have been mobilized from various places. Together with the Central Army commanded by Jia Liu, the number is nearly 8,000. To deal with the religious bandits who claim to have tens of thousands of people, although the troops do not have an advantage, the weapons and equipment and
The supply of money and food is beyond the reach of the bandits.
"One flag serves as ten men!"
During the march, Jia Liu used this slogan to mobilize his troops, tied up with ropes dozens of Eight Banners cowards who dared to desert and fled back to Beijing, and walked at the front of the column.
Just deserting and running away, Jia Liu can understand, people are afraid of death.
He, Leader Jia, is also someone who has been through this before. How can he get angry over such a trivial matter?
But just run away. Don't f*cking shake the morale of the army. They say that going to Shandong is going to be a suicide. They say that the bandits can teach magic and magic. Once they drink the talisman water, they will all be invulnerable.
This made Leader Jia feel guilty.
It's not that I'm afraid of magical magic or invulnerability, but I'm worried that with the religious bonus, the gang of religious bandits won't be able to possess the fighting faith of the Taiping Army.
As we all know, no matter the quality of an army's personnel or weapons and equipment, once it has faith, it is truly invincible.
When the team arrived in Tianjin, they received the latest military information. After the bandits captured Linqing, they did not go north to attack the capital, nor did they go west to attack Henan.
This is good news, because this move by the religious bandits gave the Qing troops in various places time to react.
"Master, why are those bandits trapped in Linqing and don't know how to move north?"
Yang Zhi could not understand the strategic policy of the religious bandits. No matter how ignorant he was about military affairs, he also knew that as long as the religious bandits fought northward with all their strength, the Qing army would not be able to stop them along the way. In the end, the religious bandits would inevitably rush to the gates of Beijing.
Jia Liu, who was admiring the scenery of the canal at the bow of the boat, couldn't help but glance at Shuan Zhu: "Brother Zhu Zhu, we are the official army of the Qing Dynasty, and we are here to quell the chaos! What are you thinking about?"
Yang Zhi glanced at the Eight Banners soldiers on the boat behind him, and started smashing and smashing: "Master, I think if the religious bandits attack the capital, we will all loot the Old Summer Palace, not to mention the imperial mausoleum."
""
Jia Liu felt a little urgent to urinate, so he stood on the bow of the boat and peed.
After several days of continuous travel, the Central Army finally arrived in Qinghe County, north of Linqing.
Successfully joined forces with Yang Jingsu, the chief envoy of Zhili, Xu Ji, governor of Tianjin, and Wan Chaoxing, the commander-in-chief.
The arrival of the Central Army obviously greatly boosted the morale of the local army.
The good news comes one after another.
Xu Ji, the governor of Tianjin, said that he had fought two battles with religious bandits the day before yesterday, one in Xiaodengzhuang and one in Zhangjiazhuang, killing hundreds of enemies each.
"The thieves' weapons are mostly short-handled guns, iron forks, sharp knives, and simple knives. They have hundreds of cattle, horses, and carts, all loaded with women's clothing. The governor's troops are advancing fiercely, and the thieves have no way of guarding against them."
Xu Futai's vivid description boosted Jia Liu's spirits. Sure enough, the bandits were the bandits, and they even dragged women along when marching and fighting. This was really an opportunity given by God to Jia Jiashikai to make a comeback.
It was just that Yang Jingsu came to see him in the evening, and did not identify the mutual aid members. He just told Team Leader Jia not to believe Xu Ji's bragging during the day.
Because, according to what he secretly sent to find out, Xu Ji lost two battles in a row, not only losing more than 200 battalions, but also hundreds of rural soldiers.
In order not to be held accountable by the court, he resorted to fraud.
What Jia Liu could say was to scold the dog official.
News of the arrival of the Central Army reached the ears of the Shandong General Soldiers who were besieging the east and south of Linqing. They immediately requested the Central Army to join the battle. Two days later, all forces mobilized at the same time to fight to encircle and annihilate the religious bandits in Linqing City.
Jia Liu had no opinion on this.
He came here to fight and teach the bandits to gain military exploits. At present, there are eight thousand soldiers and horses in these groups, three to four thousand muskets, and no less than a hundred artillery pieces. No matter how hard they fight, they can't lose.
Big deal, a draw.
Two days later, the trumpet sounded and the drums beat.
The Central Army, Zhili Army, Tianjin Army, Shandong Army, and Hedao Army launched the attack as scheduled.
Since they were stationed on the north bank of the canal, the Central Army and the Zhili and Tianjin troops had to cross the river first.
The crossing went very smoothly.
Jia Liu stepped onto the land on the south bank and looked at Linqing City in the distance, feeling very high-spirited.
He ordered the counselor and deputy general Yingjitu to quickly deploy the artillery team and let the religious bandits have a taste of the power from the Qing Dynasty's Iron Fist.