march to victory

Those who can get a seat at the banquet in the mansion, except for their status, are basically old fritters. There are so many people together, and they all want to ease the atmosphere. Very friendly.

Even at the banquet, Li Jing and Ma Hongji directly called each other brothers.

In the end, if Mr. Zhang hadn't stopped them, both of them would have to become sworn brothers.

However, after drinking and eating, Li Jing and Ma Hongji had a secret talk.

No one knew the content of the secret talk, but after the negotiation ended, both sides showed smiling faces. It can be seen that the secret talk went smoothly and was very friendly.

However, Mr. Zhang frowned slightly, because he found that although Ma Hongji smiled brightly like a flower, his left thumb was always stroking the jade ring finger on his ring finger——My old man Zhang knew Ma Hongji well. A particularly bad habit: Once there is a puzzle in my heart, I like to touch the jade wrench on the ring finger of my left hand.

Afterwards, Li Jing and the others left, and Ma Hongji personally sent Li Jing and the others to the gate, and specially asked the old butler to guide Li Jing and the others.

Seeing Li Jing and others disappear around the corner with a smile, Ma Hongji turned around and returned.

"Xiaoji, how did the talk go?"

"pretty good."

Mr. Zhang really regarded Ma Hongji as his own son. When he heard this, he thought that Ma Hongji was unwilling to tell him, so he immediately stared: "Why, don't you trust me, an old man?"

"Father, it's really not what you think. We talked really well." After Ma Hongji hastily explained, he helped Mr. Zhang walk inside and said, "However, my child does have a big confusion in his heart. Daddy give me some pointers... Daddy! Let's talk in the study."

Only then did Mr. Zhang nodded in satisfaction.

There were only three people in the room, Mr. Zhang, his father and his son, and Ma Hongji.

After Ma Hongji personally served tea to Mr. Zhang, he picked up the teacup and took a sip of the tea himself. After putting down the cup, he said seriously to Mr. Zhang, "Father, Li Jing and I mainly talked about four points."

"First, they will be stationed here for a period of time, roughly waiting for the assault group to drive the little devils away, and then they will evacuate. I don't think it's okay. Besides, in this world, there is an army around Everyone is at ease, so the baby agrees. Dad, am I doing the right thing about this?"

"Yes, Not Bad."

"The second point is that they demanded that the defense on the top of the back mountain be handed over to them. I thought that we might be able to defend the back mountain if we fight bandits and other rogues, but if we want to deal with little devils, it is estimated that based on the strength of our village I’m afraid we won’t be able to keep some troops, so it’s better to hand them over to them directly. First, we can use their power to protect us, and we can show our sincerity when we come, so I also agreed.”

Majiapo Village is flat on three sides, with only the back mountain as a barrier.Moreover, the height of the back mountain is only about 160 meters. For firearms, it is definitely within the range of firepower control... To put it bluntly, no matter who it is, as long as it controls the top of the back mountain, it is equivalent to mastering the commanding heights and can form an attack on the surrounding area. huge threat.In other words, as long as the back mountain is guarded, no matter where the little devils attack Majiapo Village, it will be useless.

Naturally, Majiapo Village is well aware of this, so for many years, it has been continuously strengthening the defense of the back mountain, especially the construction of permanent fortifications. Three fortifications have been formed on the back mountain, and people have been stationed for a long time.

Back then, the main reason why Li Jing attacked Majiapo Village three times and failed the first two times was because he could not break through the defense of the mountain behind Majiapo Village.The last time was also unsuccessful, but they sent a team to attack the rear side of the mountain to contain the defensive force of the mountain. Only in this way could they barely break into the village.In the end, seeing that the road to victory was approaching, the reason why he was driven out of the village at once was also because the troops who attacked Houshan were repulsed, causing the defensive forces of Houshan to turn around and shoot them condescendingly. Coupled with the united counterattack of the villagers, they were forced to withdraw from the village immediately, otherwise, it would be a massacre.

This shows the importance of the defense of the mountain behind Majiapo Village.

That is to say, in the past six months, because the Eighth Route Army Assault Regiment has controlled the three surrounding counties, after forming a confrontation with the little devils in Baoyuan County, it has freed up its hands to deal with the bandits and bandits in these three counties, making the environment of the three counties It has changed a lot, the disappearance of bandits and bandits has made Majiapo Village relax its defense against the back mountain... Today, if Zhang Jinlong hadn't taken the lead, if it hadn't been for Mr. Zhang's face, Li Jing and the others would never have been able to do this went up the mountain smoothly.

Mr. Zhang thought for a while and nodded.

"Also, they handed over the defense around us to them so that they could agree to arrange patrols. I also agreed. The reason is similar to the second point. Anyway, we are not as strong as them, so we might as well relax."

Mr. Zhang pondered for a while, and asked: "I think they only have this small force, can they really guard the surrounding area? Why don't they concentrate on guarding the back mountain? In that case, they will be condescending, and if they join forces with us, in this way, as long as the back mountain Keep it, even if the little devil wants to attack our village, he will definitely suffer a big loss."

"Father, don't you know? Li Jing's 200 people are just taking the lead. Later, we will gather the elite militiamen from the three counties to our Sanqiao County to help the assault regiment. The purpose is to deal with the little devils who have slaughtered the villages around the county." Ma Hongji said with a wry smile: "By the way, Father, on the way here, Li Jing mentioned to me the matter of temporary land acquisition... Li Jing and the others plan to use our Majiapo Village as an example. The central point, sitting in the center, commanding thousands of militiamen, setting up a large formation to round up those little devils who dare to harm the village. There are 1000 militiamen stationed in our Majiapo village alone, plus these more than 200 people, I'm really going to have a big fight with the little devil."

Now, even Mr. Zhang was shocked: "There are really so many people?"

"Father, think about it. The advance publicity of the commando group caused the villagers to move away. Most of the villagers left were old and weak, women and children, and most of the people who stayed were young and strong men. There were tens of thousands of people. In addition to the necessary defense personnel in the two counties, I am afraid that the elite militia that can be transferred, I estimate that the minimum number will not be less than this number."

With that said, Ma Hongji slapped openly.

"My God!" Zhang Jinlong, who had been listening silently, couldn't help but exclaimed, "In this way, this Li Jing is really a shotgun for a cannon—it's not what it used to be! In just over half a year, he has changed from Two 300 troops, in turn, can actually command more than 5000 troops?"

"This is the least I estimate, and it's definitely not much more, because the commander Zhang of the assault regiment gave him an order to fight this battle at all costs, and to ensure the safety of the lives and property of all the people. For this reason, He was specially appointed as the commander-in-chief of the militias in these three counties, and all the militias in the three counties were under his command."

Speaking of this, Ma Hongji sighed with some emotion, and said, "Don't say five thousand, I believe even twenty or thirty thousand horses."

"It's not surprising." Mr. Zhang speculated for a moment, and sighed: "In the past six months, the assault regiment has done a lot of good things for the common people. Among other things, the suppression of bandits alone has won the hearts of the people, and naturally won the support of the common people. Support. Now, the commando group and the little devils are fighting to the death in Sanqiao County, also to protect the safety of this side, and the common people naturally support it...Hey~! This is the general trend, so, Xiaoji, this is also what I want you to take a long-term view root cause."

Ma Hongji immediately stood up, bowed to Mr. Zhang, and said, "Thank you, Father, for your guidance."

"Why are we father and son so polite? Let's talk about the third point."

"Yes!" Ma Hongji sat down and continued: "Third, they want to mobilize the villagers, saying that they want to unite everyone to kill devils. I don't agree with this, but I agree to help them resolve their grievances with the villagers as much as possible. He was still a little unhappy, and in the end, I also had to agree to him, only to launch something about fighting devils, and nothing else was involved."

"Well! You did it right!" Mr. Zhang nodded happily, and said, "Although we support them in fighting devils, it is also beneficial to us after all. The two sides have the same goal. However, I heard that their policies have their own merits. As soon as we talk about this point, we have nothing to do with it. So, I reckon, after the little devils are beaten away, we won't be able to cooperate with them so happily."

This is a class antagonism, and there is nothing to be said about the innate standpoint.

"Anymore?"

"Gone."

"Then why do you still have a puzzled face?"

"No. Daddy, think about it, this Li Jing used to be a big bandit, how could he not do everything he could to benefit himself? But now, all the conditions he proposed are actually beneficial to us, don't you think? Is that weird?"

Seeing that Mr. Zhang frowned and became pensive, Ma Hongji immediately added: "For example, I felt a little sorry, and thought, anyway, I have to pay a sum of money to reward the army. Rather than waiting for them to say it, I might as well It’s good for everyone to do the work first. So, I offered to donate some money to them, but he didn’t want it. After I insisted again and again, he said, sell them some food at the market price... Dad , Li Jing's personality has changed too much, it's almost like a different person. It makes me wonder if another person made up Li Jing."

"Didn't he say why not?"

"I said it, and told me one by one about the three major disciplines and eight points of attention, and especially told me not to take a needle from the masses. If you dare to violate this, you will be imprisoned at least, or shot at worst. I was very embarrassed at the time."

Mr. Zhang thought for a while, sighed, and said, "Perhaps, this is why the Eighth Route Army can get strong support from the common people."

The other two were filled with emotion when they heard this.

For a while, the three of them lost their interest in talking.It was Zhang Jinlong who took the initiative to ask a few questions, which barely resolved this little embarrassment.

Then, everyone talked about the situation in Mr. Zhang's village and other things... They were all waiting for the old housekeeper to come back.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

About an hour later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

After the butler entered the door, he first bowed his hands to Mrs. Zhang, and then saluted Ma Hongji and Zhang Jinlong: "I've seen Mrs. Grandpa, Master, Third Master."

"Okay, old housekeeper, you are not an outsider, so you don't need to be so polite. Sit down!"

The old butler thanked him, but dared not sit down.

Ma Hongji asked indifferently: "How is the observation?"

"If you go back to the master, you can basically see clearly."

"Tell me!"

"Yes!" After replying, the old housekeeper's expression became a little strange...