***
After the battle of Ziling Town, the military assistant Wu Zhiyuan rewarded Bao Er according to his merits. Bao Er was promoted to sergeant for his merits and was also awarded five taels of silver.
Although the position was not high and the reward was not much, Bao Er was very happy.
Among them, he was the last in terms of strength, the youngest in age, and not the best in terms of training results.
Now, thanks to an idea he came up with during the war, he surpassed several of his comrades who were at the top of the training rankings and was promoted to sergeant. He also made the other opponents admit defeat with conviction. Bao Er felt so happy.
Also, the battlefield had just been cleaned up when the assistant military officer Wu Zhiyuan called him over and distributed the five taels of silver reward in advance. Bao Er walked out of Wu Zhiyuan's tent with the five taels of silver. He felt that the silver was very heavy, but his whole body felt very light, as if he was about to fly.
He lost his father at a young age, and his eldest brother also died in the war when Zhang Xianzhong was raging in Huguang. His mother was the only one left at home, and the family was in a very difficult situation.
He originally volunteered to join the Qin army because he heard that soldiers would be given land and their salaries would be paid in full and would not be withheld by officers.
These five taels of silver were a lot for him, almost equivalent to his three months' military salary.
Now is the time of war, and land is very cheap. Five taels of silver is enough to buy two acres of good farmland.
Bao Er had a goal in mind, which was to kill more enemies, make more achievements, get more rewards, buy a hundred acres of good farmland, and then let his old mother at home rent out the farmland and earn rent, so that his elderly mother would not have to work in the fields anymore.
Bao Er was very happy to see that he was one step closer to his goal. When he passed by the camp of the Dashun Army, he saw many wounded soldiers groaning in pain but did not receive good treatment.
In contrast, the Qin army even had blood type records, and the army was equipped with many military doctors, so the wounded were well treated. A sense of superiority immediately filled Bao Er's heart.
"A-Dai, sing with me." Bao Er shouted to A-Dai who was following behind him. He straightened his chest unconsciously, took firm steps, and started to sing loudly:
Rise up! People who don't want to be slaves!
Let’s build our new Great Wall with our flesh and blood!
The Chinese nation has reached its most dangerous time.
Everyone was forced to let out a final roar.
Get up! Get up! Get up!
We are united,
Advance under enemy fire!
Advance under enemy fire!
Go ahead! Go ahead, go ahead!
Li Guo stood in front of his tent, listening to the loud singing. Looking at Bao Er and the others walking with their chests puffed out, he felt a sense of emotion. Compared with the Dashun Army, which was in a state of panic, the Qin Army was very different. In the Qin Army, Li Guo saw vigor, pride, sharpness, and discipline.
In Ziling Town, the two armies pursued the enemy together. In such a chaotic situation, the Dashun Army's organization was in complete chaos, and every soldier was only concerned with charging forward.
The Qin army also fought bravely. But the difference was that even in such a chaotic situation, the Qin army was still able to maintain the following organization;
Under the command of the squad leader, the soldiers of the same squad always stayed together, greeted each other, and cooperated with each other during the charge.
When the squad leader died, the sergeant took over. When the sergeant died, the soldier with the best training results automatically took over the command of the entire squad.
Li Guo had fought for many years and had never imagined that an army could be trained to this level.
Gao Yigong came out from the back and asked softly, "Buzhi, have you thought about what to do next?"
"I heard that Li Jiu had his cavalry put on Tartar armor, kidnapped Shang Kexi, and took Xiangyang City by deception at night."
"Buzi wants to..."
"Well, I want to go and discuss with Ling Zhan. Let's defend Xiangyang City and help him block the northern gate."
Gao Yigong shook his head and said, "This is unlikely."
"I know that. If they don't give it to us, we can ask for Yunyang."
This is an exorbitant price, and it will be paid back on the spot. If Qin Jun still wants to cooperate, he can't just not give him a place to stay.
***
In Ling Zhan's tent, Lieutenant General Wan Yinglong angrily said, "Why can't they be killed? The Tartars have killed so many of our people and committed so many crimes. Didn't the Lord say that blood debts must be repaid with blood? Why are we still wasting rice by keeping them alive?"
The Qin army generals in the tent generally held this attitude. Some said that they should cut off the heads of all the Tartars and build a Jingguan, just like they did in Huguang.
Ling Zhan said with a narrowed eyes: "Let's not talk about anything else, let's chop off all the dead heads first, no matter if they are Tartars or Green Camp soldiers, if they have a rat's tail, chop them all off. A Jingguan with tens of thousands of heads will barely be spectacular enough."
Wan Yinglong said unwillingly: "General, what about those who are breathing? Why don't you cut them down together?"
Wu Zhiyuan, the deputy official who was equivalent to the political commissar, waved his hand to stop the angry generals: "For those who are already dead, you can chop off their heads and build a memorial for them; but for prisoners, you cannot. The Lord has already ordered before the war that no prisoners should be killed at will and they should be taken to Wuchang as soon as possible."
When everyone heard that it was Qin Mu's idea, they finally fell silent.
"It is the tens of thousands of Dashun troops that are now difficult to deal with." Wu Zhiyuan frowned and said. The General Staff did not make further arrangements before the war, which is understandable. After all, no one knew how the two sides would cooperate before the war.
Ling Zhan said casually, "Aren't we going to take the prisoners to Wuchang? Our military strength is tight. Let Li Guo transfer 10,000 troops to escort the prisoners south with Li Jiu. The rest of the Dashun Army will follow us north to sweep the prefectures and counties north of Xiangyang."
Wu Zhiyuan said: "Li Guo is not a simple man. It will be difficult to divide his troops."
"What's so difficult about that? The captured food and supplies are in Zhao Jian's hands. Li Guo's army is short of food and won't obey our orders. The worst that can happen is that we have to fight them again."
"Yes, I say, just swallow him and save trouble."
Several lieutenant generals started to make a fuss again. Most people did not take Li Guo's tens of thousands of troops who were short of food and clothing seriously.
Ling Zhan shouted in a deep voice: "What are you yelling about? Hurry up and prepare weapons and food, and go north to Xiangyang to replace Li Jiu."
“Yes!”
Wan Yinglong and others quickly responded and left.
"Report, the commander of the Dashun Army, Li Guo, is asking for a meeting outside the camp." Suddenly, a personal soldier came in to report from outside the tent.
Ling Zhan ordered his personal soldiers to go out and bring the people, then he exchanged a glance with Wu Zhiyuan, and they went out of the big tent together. After the two sides met and exchanged a few pleasantries, they went into the tent and sat down together.
Military people don't like to beat around the bush, so Li Guo immediately said, "I heard that your army has recaptured Xiangyang City?"
"It's true." Ling Zhan replied.
"General Ling, Deputy Commander Wu, this time our two armies joined forces to wipe out Shang Kexi's 40,000-strong army, which is truly rare. This proves that our two armies can benefit from cooperation. We hope to further strengthen cooperation with your army and fight against the powerful enemy together."
"This is also the wish of our army." Wu Zhiyuan replied with a smile.
"However, our army has suffered many casualties in the process of meeting the enemy, and we are short of food and fodder, so we are in great need of supplies and rest. How about this, let our army enter Xiangyang and serve as a barrier to your army in the north?"
Ling Zhan laughed and said, "General Li, do you think our army needs a barrier? You probably haven't heard how our army sings: Braving the enemy's artillery fire, advance, advance, advance!"
Li Guo paused secretly. Although Ling Zhan's words were arrogant, the well-trained and high-spirited Qin army did have the capital. He said calmly: "This time the two armies will work together to defeat the enemy, and our army should have half of the spoils. In addition, Xiangyang originally belonged to our Dashun. Our army stationed in Xiangyang is not just to serve as a barrier for your army. At present, the Qing army's strength north of Xiangyang is relatively weak. We should work together to recover the lost territory. Do you agree, General Ling?"
"In my opinion, your army really needs to rest first. As for the saying that Xiangyang originally belonged to Dashun, this is not true. It originally belonged to Ming Dynasty...
Just as Ling Zhan said this, there was a sudden sound of hurried horse hooves, and then a personal soldier ran in from outside the tent and reported: "General Ling, General Ma Yongzhen has arrived."
"Ma Yongzhen?" Ling Zhan couldn't help but ask back. At this time, the sound of horse hooves was actually coming straight towards the central army tent.
"General Ling..." Ma Yongzhen walked into the big tent exhausted, and when he saw another stranger there, he quickly stopped talking.
"Why is General Ma here?" Wu Zhiyuan introduced: "This is General Li Guoli, the commander of the Dashun Army."
Ma Yongzhen nodded to Li Guo, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "General Li, I want to tell you some very unfortunate news. Your Emperor Dashun was attacked by local villagers in Fenghuang Mountain south of Qizhou and died!"
"What?" Li Guo jumped up instantly, grabbed Ma Yongzhen by the collar and shouted, "Say it again!"
"Your Grand Master Song Xiance will be here soon. General Li can consult him for details."
"This is impossible, this... impossible!"
****************************************
ps: There was a power outage this morning, so I couldn’t update on time, sorry sorry~!
.(To be continued..)
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