"Grandma Wen, there's the Xiang Army in front of us. Should we take a longer detour?" Wen Yuewei's grandnephew asked nervously.
Wen Yuewei looked at her grandnephew first, and then looked at the battalion of Liberation Army cavalry behind her. She only said one sentence, "Keep going!"
"Commander, should we take a detour around the Xiang Army in front of us?" the battalion political commissar asked Xiao Mailong.
"Are you afraid that the woman will use us as bait?" Xiao Mailong asked the battalion political commissar.
"I heard that the woman harmed one of our regimental commanders more than a decade ago." The political commissar was very concerned about this kind of thing.
A regimental commander from more than a decade ago had to be at least a regiment commander to be able to live to this day. If he died in battle, it would be fine. According to the current policy, the families of the martyrs would be taken care of. The Liberation Army's policy was very clear. Previous contributions could not be erased just because they broke the law. Even if they were sentenced to death by the military court, as long as their life and death were decided by the Liberation Army and they were not traitors, their families would still receive basic treatment. However, everyone could deeply feel the difference between a heroic sacrifice and being sentenced to death by the military court.
Xiao Mailong naturally understood this kind of thing. He was unmoved and replied, "That regimental cadre made a mistake. What does it have to do with the Wen woman? If the Wen woman came to steal it, it would be fine. But our people stole the map and tried every possible way to get it out. Instead of blaming others, it's better to think about yourself! "
The political commissar also felt a little embarrassed by Xiao Mailong's response. Seeing that the political commissar's expression was not so good, Xiao Mailong softened his tone and said, "Would anyone dare to steal the map now?"
The political commissar could only smile bitterly when he heard this. He said helplessly, "Yes, who would dare to use their own brains to make a joke now?"
"As long as they don't court death, let them do whatever they want." Xiao Mailong made a simple conclusion.
Not only did they not court death, but they also did not make low-level mistakes. The Liberation Army cavalry also knew that there were troops of the Xiang Army more than 30 miles to the left. However, with the marching speed of the Xiang Army, the troops were not too worried that the Xiang Army would swarm them. What's more, they didn't have to break through the tight encirclement of the Xiang Army. According to the agreement, there would be reinforcements from the Nian Army a few dozen li ahead. If the Nian Army did not come to their aid, they would move to the next rendezvous point.
Things went smoothly. The Nian Army's reinforcements arrived on time. Xiao Mailon breathed a sigh of relief. He now had a more realistic understanding of the Nian Army's combat power. At the very least, this army dared to move. Even when they were less than ten miles away from the enemy, they still calmly moved about. If the Liberation Army were to fight with them, they must be careful.
The cavalry battalion immediately began to retreat in the direction of Xuzhou. After retreating for half a day, the scouts on the outskirts discovered the movements of the Qing Army behind them. From the looks of it, they were tailing them.
"Are you sure it's Sengrinchen's cavalry?" Xiao Mailon asked the scout.
The platoon leader replied, "From their uniforms, they should be Sengrinchen's cavalry. Their numbers are about the same as ours. It seems that they want to see what we're up to. "
After explaining the situation, the platoon leader asked eagerly, "What are you going to do, Commander?"
Xiao Mailon, of course, could tell that the platoon leader wanted to fight. He said decisively, "Our mission is to escort the people. Now that we've completed our mission, we'll quickly go back and report. Let's speed up and retreat. "
The cavalry troops were all elites. When they heard such a boring order, they were a little disappointed. However, elites naturally had the appearance of elites. Although they couldn't quite accept the order, they still carried it out decisively. The troops' horses were bred from the fine breeds imported from Europe at a high price. The horses were all very tall and handsome. The Nian Army's horses this time were very ordinary. There was no chance for the Liberation Army's cavalry to run at full speed. In addition, everyone cherished the horses, and they were even more unwilling to let the horses waste their energy meaninglessly. Now that they had received the order, their comrades sped up. Very soon, the joy brought by flying at full speed blew away the unhappiness brought by not being able to fight without a trace.
The Liberation Army's scouts had made the right judgment. It was Sengrinchen's cavalry who were chasing after them. The Mongolian cavalry, who were following them sneakily, soon discovered that the Liberation Army's soldiers had disappeared without a trace on their tall horses. Even if they tried their best to speed up, they could only see the hoofprints on the ground.
The Mongolian cavalry chased after them on the second day, but they couldn't even see their shadows. Knowing that they could no longer catch up, they could only hurry back and report to Sengrinchen.
Sengrinchen listened to the Mongolian cavalry's report with a straight face. When he heard that the Liberation Army had come and gone in a hurry, he repeatedly asked if they had seen more troops of the Liberation Army. After making sure that the Mongolian cavalry did not discover any news of the Liberation Army moving out on a large scale, Sengrinchen breathed a sigh of relief.
The Nian Army was carrying out a mobile operation at the border between Henan and Shandong. Sengrinchen commanded the cavalry to close in on them from the flank, while the Xiang Army chased after them steadily from behind. Sengrinchen was not a crafty person, and he knew the situation all too well. The Xiang Army had slaughtered the Nian Army's nest, Huoyang. If the military operation to wipe out the Nian Army failed, there was no need to talk about what would happen to them in the future. The Mongolian cavalry and the Xiang Army had no choice but to work together. Both sides pursued the Nian Army fiercely.
The Liberation Army's neat and uniform grass-green uniforms were already very eye-catching. Now that a large group of cavalry had appeared, Sengrinchen was terrified by the news. He knew very well what would happen if they failed to wipe out the Nian Army, and he knew even more clearly what would happen if the Liberation Army attacked them.
Sengrinchen did not want to start a direct war with the Liberation Army at all. The two sides had not fought in the past few years. Some people in the Manchu Qing court even said an unrealistic idea: "Divide the world equally with the Liberation Army." Of course, even the people who made this suggestion knew that it was completely impossible. It was not that the Manchu Qing court, which was currently in a precarious situation, could not accept such a condition. It was that the Manchu Qing people knew that the Liberation Army would not stop until they seized the whole world.
When Sengrinchen sent troops to track the Liberation Army's cavalry, he had specifically said that they could not start a war without permission. Wiping out a cavalry unit of more than a hundred people was at most a small achievement. If it triggered the Liberation Army's full retaliation, it would be a devastating disaster.
Now that he knew that the Liberation Army seemed to be just a strange small-scale operation and had no intention of fighting, Sengrinchen felt like a stone had been lifted from his heart. But what was the Liberation Army's purpose this time? This question began to trouble Sengrinchen again.
Wen Yuewei, who was very clear about the Liberation Army's purpose, had already returned to the main force of the Nian Army. Unexpectedly, Sengrinchen's Mongolian cavalry did not continue to chase, which gave the Nian Army a good chance to rest. Avoiding Lai Wenguang and a group of generals from the Taiping army, the core generals of the Nian Army held a secret meeting.
Wen Yuewei did not hide anything and told the generals of the Nian Army about the Liberation Army's request. "After the Liberation Army wiped out the Huai army, the Nian Army put down their weapons and accepted reorganization. After reorganization, if they want to become a member of the Liberation Army as an individual, there is still room for discussion. If they want to lead the Nian Army to become a unit of the Liberation Army as a leader, there is no room for discussion. The Liberation Army only recognizes the Liberation Army as a military force. "
Having said this, it was already very harsh, but Vézé did not care at all whether the Nian Army was willing to put down their weapons or not. More than ten years ago, the world rose together, and at that time, anyone who dared to rebel had a chance. Ten years ago, if they could not establish their own territory and transform their own organization into the armed forces of the government, they would have no future. Six years ago, if a government did not have its own ideals and perseverance, it would also have no future. At this stage, any rebel force that held a gun and was the king of the grass had already become a reactionary force. Vézé really could not see any reason to treat them as distinguished guests.
Vézé's meaning was very clear. If the Nian Army refused to put down their weapons, the Liberation Army would use the weapons in their hands to force the Nian Army to put down their weapons during the northern expedition. If the Nian Army refused to put down their weapons even at the cost of their lives, the Liberation Army would kill them.
Although there was no way to judge Vézé's actions with such genteel words, the Nian Army had a correct understanding of Vézé's attitude after listening to what Wen Yuewei brought back.
The generals looked at each other. Finally, Zhang Zongyu asked, "Could the Liberation Army be lying to us? We worked for Heavenly King Hong, so the Liberation Army basically thinks of us as Heavenly King Hong's people. "
This question made the generals of the Nian Army nod. Their hometown, Huoyang, had been slaughtered, and the Qing Army was pressing forward. The Nian Army's situation was getting worse and worse. Recently, several groups of brothers had been caught up and killed by Sengrinchen's troops when they split up. If it weren't for the fear that the Liberation Army would have evil intentions towards the Nian Army, the Nian Army would have fled south into the territory of the Liberation Army long ago.
The news brought back by Wen Yuewei didn't make these heroes feel offended. They were only worried about whether the Liberation Army would honor their promise and allow these brothers of the Nian Army to go home and farm.
"I don't think the Liberation Army is lying," Wen Yuewei answered straightforwardly. Her family was now in Huainan. The reason why Wen Yuewei had mounted a horse and picked up a weapon again was because she wanted to take revenge on the Manchu Qing. If the Liberation Army could really destroy the Huai army and the Huai army, Wen Yuewei would no longer have a reason to continue fighting.
The generals of the Nian Army frowned as they looked at Wen Yuewei. Logically speaking, since Wen Yuewei was responsible for negotiating with the Liberation Army, they should believe her. Needless to say, the other representatives who went with Wen Yuewei brought back the exact same news. But after all, they had been fighting for so long. They knew very well how unreliable those who picked up weapons in such a chaotic world were.
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