Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 423: Three Battles and Three Victories, Transferred to Haicheng
Relying on his large number of people, Hu Zi did not distinguish between main attack and assist, and attacked from the east, west and south at the same time.

As a result, there are fewer people in the enclosure and the defensive pressure increases greatly.

When Liu Dongshan saw this, he hurriedly called Meng Lanxin to guard the front, and he stayed at the west end.

Meng Lanxin hurriedly ran towards the main gate, and just at this moment, a group of people rushed out from Qu's house.

"Second sister-in-law, you take people up to help Lan Xin, and I will lead people to guard the east gate."

It turned out that it was Chen Xiuyun and He Qingzhu who came out with the maids and wives in their homes to provide support.

In Guandong Mountain, it is normal for women to know how to shoot guns. Many landlords have few gunners at home, and their own family members have to stand guard at night.

But the men still had to work during the day. Usually, the women would stand guard with guns on the artillery platform in the first half of the night, and the men would take over in the second half of the night.

Ever since Meng Lanxin came into the family, she led Chen Xiuyun and the maids and wives in the family to ride horses and shoot guns.

After a few years, almost all the women in the family can shoot.

He Qingzhu also learned from Meng Lanxin after coming to Maoer Mountain.

She has been practicing martial arts since she was young and is very talented in this area. Although she started learning late, she is the best marksman among all the girls.

Chen Xiuyun was in the backyard coaxing her children and accompanying her parents-in-law. When she heard that Hu Zi was going to destroy the kiln, she knew that things were not going well.

So she handed the child over to Chen, Qu Laokouer and others, and then sent a message to all the maids and wives in the house, asking them to change into suitable clothes and follow her with guns.

The women climbed up the wall and without saying a word, pulled the trigger and started shooting down.

With their help, the defensive pressure was immediately reduced a lot.

Of course, the bearded men were numerous and powerful, and their firepower was strong, so it was not easy to defend the enclosure safely.

Fortunately, the flare released by Meng Lanxin worked.

The gold field and the explosives workshop both saw the signal from above Maoer Mountain.

On the other side of the gold field, after winter came, the gold workers settled their accounts and went home to hibernate, leaving only about thirty guards to watch over the machines.

Over at the explosives workshop, due to the urging from Qu Shaoyang, Anders led the workers to produce day and night. Zhao Guangzhi, Jiang Chunfu and others were also busy here.

As soon as the signal was sent from Maoer Mountain, all the people on duty on both sides saw it and immediately realized that something had happened to the Qu family.

Over at the gold field, thirty or so guards immediately set out to rush back.

At the explosives workshop, Zhao Guangzhi reminded Anders and others to be careful, and then hurried to Maoer Mountain with his guards and some of his men.

At this time, the people of Maoer Mountain also secretly went out and began to contact each other and discuss countermeasures.

When Hu Zi first came, no one took it seriously.

The main reason is that the Koreans on the other side of the river have been running towards this side all the time recently, and the patrol team has been chasing them everywhere. Everyone thought that a large number of Koreans were coming here again, and no one paid any attention.

It was not until the Qu family fired a signal flare, followed by continuous gunfire, that everyone realized something was wrong.

Most of the young and strong people in Maoer Mountain followed Qu Shaoyang to fight the Japanese invaders, and most of the people at home were elderly.

But even so, people did not just stand by and watch.

They secretly left their homes, gathered with neighbors to discuss, and then contacted each other.

Those who still had guns at home prepared themselves, gathered into a team, and tried to find ways to support the Qu family.

Just like that, the three teams arrived at the same time and attacked Hu Zi from three directions.

The group of bandits are now in a dilemma. They thought it would be easy to smash the kiln tonight, but they didn't expect that the Qu family is a tough nut to crack.

Especially that strange guy that kept firing "da da da", its lethality was too great, and many bearded men died under the gun.

With the help of the gunners on the wall, it was difficult for Hu Zi to get close, let alone break in.

But he had already paid such a huge price and offended the Qu family. If he talked about retreating now, wouldn't he be prepared to be punished?

So Hu Zi had no choice but to charge forward.

Unexpectedly, gunshots were heard behind him, and reinforcements from the Qu family arrived.

The retreat was cut off, and the bearded men immediately panicked.

In the darkness, I didn't know how many reinforcements there were. I only heard gunshots coming from three directions. It seemed that I was surrounded from behind.

The group of bearded men were terrified, and when their leaders saw that things were not going well, they immediately ordered a retreat.

This group of bandits is a rabble formed by the union of several gangs. If it weren't for the fat piece of meat hanging in front of them, who would be willing to put in the effort?

Now that the kiln was not being destroyed successfully, not only did they suffer heavy casualties, but they were also surrounded. These bandits immediately scattered like birds and beasts and tried to break out in their respective directions.

Although Hu Zi lost a lot of soldiers and horses, there were still many left. The main purpose of the reinforcements was to lift the siege of the Qu family, so they did not want to fight.

The two sides met, fired a few shots, and then Hu Zi ran away.

After the beards were all gone, Zhao Guangzhi and others came to the outside of the wall. At this time, Liu Dongshan, Chen Xiuyun and Meng Lanxin also came out with people, and everyone began to clean up the battlefield.

"Guangzhi, take your men to the patrol team quickly. I think something might have happened over there." Liu Dongshan hurriedly shouted as he saw Zhao Guangzhi.

"We are here, don't worry about it."

Zhao Guangzhi also understood at this time and immediately led the guards to the patrol team's duty room.

When they got there, they saw fifty patrol team members lying on the kang and the floor in all directions, snoring loudly and refusing to respond no matter how they were called.

There was no other way, so Zhao Guangzhi asked someone to bring cold water and splash it on everyone's faces, and these people finally woke up.

Upon asking, I found out that the patrol team works in two shifts, one group rests in the duty room while the other group goes out on patrol.

I don’t know what’s going on with the people on duty. They slept like dead pigs and didn’t hear any noise outside.

Zhao Guangzhi thought to himself that something was wrong and immediately took people out to look for him.

It turned out that those who were standing guard and patrolling outside had all been ambushed. Some had already died, while others were seriously injured and unconscious.

So, everyone rushed the seriously injured to the hospital for treatment and notified the families of the dead.

After a final headcount, we discovered that two people were missing from the patrol team and we didn't know where they had gone.

On the other side, Liu Dongshan and others quickly cleaned up the battlefield, piled the dead bearded men in one place, woke up the injured and unconscious ones first, and interrogated them to get their confessions.

In this battle, more than thirty Huzi soldiers died and more than twenty were seriously injured.

Among the guards and farmhands of the Qu family, one who was unlucky was hit by a bullet and died on the spot. There were more than ten people injured. Doctor Chen and Chen Xiuyun took people to rush to treat them.

After interrogation, it was learned that these bearded men came from Tadian, Manjiang, Shuangdianzi, Niangniangku and other places.

They heard from a man named Jiang Laowai that Qu Shaoyang had led his troops to fight, Maoer Mountain was weak, and only the elderly, the weak, women and children were left in the Qu family.

When he heard that the Qu family had several gold mines and earned several million taels a year, he became greedy and wanted to take advantage of Qu Shaoyang's absence to destroy the kiln.

These people, through Lao Wai, instigated two people from the patrol team to rebel. After knocking down the patrol team, they attacked the Qu family.

However, they did not expect that the Qu family’s defense was so strong and the reinforcements arrived so quickly. They failed to destroy the kiln and many people died.

"Tonight, thanks to all the uncles for coming in time, otherwise I wouldn't dare to say anything.

Shaoyang is not at home, so I thank you all on his behalf. When Shaoyang comes back, I will ask him to treat all the uncles to a drink and thank them in person. "

The cleanup here was almost done, and Chen Xiuyun hurriedly thanked the people from Maoer Mountain who came to help.

"Well, niece-in-law, isn't what you said quite unorthodox?

What did Shaoyang do? He went to fight the Japanese invaders, defend his country, and do great things.

We are old and can’t help in other ways, but we can’t just stand by and watch Hu Zi smash the kiln.

Besides, if those bearded men really break in and rob your house, won’t they rob us too?
When we encounter this kind of thing, we must unite and help each other.

No need to thank me, niece-in-law, please send someone to send a message to Shaoyang and ask him to be careful over there." Lao Zhou and others laughed.

After the cleanup was completed, everyone who helped went home. Zhao Guangzhi also led his people back to the explosives workshop. Only the guards from the gold field stayed behind.

Such a big thing happened at home, with more than 30 people from the patrol team killed, Chen Xiuyun naturally could not hide it, so she sent someone to Kuandian to deliver the letter the next day.

When the messenger arrived in Kuandian, Qu Shaoyang had just received news that a Japanese army was invading Kuandian City from Changdian.

“Xingjia, you take a thousand people back to Kuandian to maintain public order near Maoer Mountain.

For those who died in the patrol team, each family will be given a compensation of 100 taels of silver. As for the follow-up matters, I will discuss them when I return after the war is over.

Also, find a way to track down the two traitors from the patrol team and the one who escaped from the gold field, dead or alive."

The matter here was urgent, and Qu Shaoyang was unable to get away to return to Maoer Mountain, so he arranged for Xingjia to take people back to deal with it.

Xingjia followed the order and carried out the task, while Qu Shaoyang urgently discussed with Chen Yunhan, Chen Yunzhe and others to formulate an ambush plan.

After discussing, the three decided to set up an ambush at Panling and give the Japanese army a head-on attack.

In this way, Chen Yunzhe led his men to guard the city to prevent the Japanese army from attacking from other directions. Qu Shaoyang and Chen Yunhan led their troops to Panling and set up an ambush in advance.

On the twenty-seventh day of the winter month, a group of about two hundred Japanese troops were ambushed by the Dingbian Army and militia while passing through Panling.

As soon as the two sides exchanged fire, the Japanese army realized that the situation was not right and immediately retreated and fled back to Yongdian.

In this battle, more than twenty Japanese soldiers were killed.

That evening, Qu Shaoyang and Chen Yunhan led their men to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese encampment in Yongdian, burning food supplies, tents, etc., killing several people and escaping unscathed.

On the 29th day of the winter month, the Japanese troops from Phoenix City bypassed Jiulian City and invaded Kuandian. Near a mountain in the south of the city, they were attacked head-on by the Dingbian Army and the militia.

The two sides fought from nightfall to dawn. Dozens of Japanese soldiers were killed, and a Japanese leader, Hirota Jinkichi, was captured alive. Dozens of pack horses, a number of guns and ammunition, and more than 300 kilograms of rice were seized.

The Japanese army broke through and fled back to Phoenix City from Shuanglingzi.

At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, the Japanese army invaded Kuandian again and was surrounded near the Yezhu Bridge in Dashuigou.

The Japanese army was repelled three times in its attempt to break out, and finally fled from Grape Ridge at night and retreated to Phoenix City.

In this battle, dozens of Japanese soldiers were killed, and more than 20 rifles, several war horses, and 200 kilograms of rice were seized.

The Japanese army invaded Kuandian three times. The Dingbian Army and the militia won three battles in a row. Zhang Xiulan reported to the court and asked for credit for the Kuandian army and civilians.

At this time, the Third Division of the Japanese First Army had already captured Ximu City and Haicheng.

Haicheng is close to Liaoyang, and Liaoyang is the gateway to Fengtian. Therefore, the imperial court urgently dispatched troops and vowed to defend Haicheng and Liaoyang.

Because of its outstanding military achievements and far-reaching reputation, the Dingbian Army was selected and urgently transferred to Haicheng to assist in the defense.

"Shao Yang, this trip to Haicheng is an opportunity for you.

Perform well. If you make achievements in this battle, you will have a bright future. "

Before leaving, Zhang Xiulan specifically called Qu Shaoyang over and gave him repeated instructions.

"Thank you for your advice, I will keep it in mind.

I will lead the troops to Haicheng to assist in the defense. Kuandian is short of troops, and I am afraid that the Japanese army will take the opportunity to attack. Your Excellency should also pay more attention. "

Qu Shaoyang was worried about Kuandian, but he had to go because he had received an order from above.

There's no other way, so I can't help but nag a few words before leaving.

"Big brother, second brother, you too, please take care of yourselves.

Remember, don't fight the Japanese army head-on, avoid their sharp edge, fight in a roundabout way, and find ways to delay them and waste time with them."

Qu Shaoyang turned around and gave some instructions to his two uncles before leading his troops away.

Qu Shaoyang led the Dingbian Army to leave, and the news soon reached the Japanese army in Fenghuang City.

At this time, the commander of the Japanese Army's First Army was no longer Aritomo Yamagata.

This guy disobeyed the headquarters' order to camp in winter and sent Katsura Taro's division to attack Kaijo. As a result, Katsura Taro's division was in trouble due to fierce resistance from the military and civilians near Kaijo.

In the end, Aritomo Yamagata was recalled and had to take a ship from Andong and return to Japan.

After Aritomo Yamagata left, Michinori Nozu was in charge of the First Army.

Nozu Michitsugu was very angry about the resistance of the Kuandian military and civilians.

However, the Dingbian Army was too difficult to deal with and the Japanese army suffered successive losses. Moreover, the Phoenix City defenders were short of manpower and did not dare to act rashly.

After learning that the Dingbian Army had been transferred from Kuandian, the Japanese army immediately ordered troops to be mobilized from Andong, Fenghuang City and other places with the intention of capturing Kuandian.

Zhang Xiulan, who learned the news, was afraid that a head-on confrontation would result in heavy losses, so he proposed to voluntarily withdraw from the county, divide his troops to guard the entrances, and wait for an opportunity to encircle and annihilate the enemy.

So everyone persuaded the people in the city to evacuate to the surrounding villages and towns as much as possible, leaving the Japanese army with an empty city.

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Japanese army dispatched more than a thousand troops to invade Kuandian.

On the way, the Japanese army was attacked by the "Xin" group, and the two sides fought fiercely for more than an hour.

The militia was defeated and dispersed, with dozens of casualties and more than 20 brave men captured. The Japanese army entered Kuandian City.

Unexpectedly, at this time in Kuandian City, most of the people had fled and all shops were closed.

The Japanese army was furious and looted the county government office and burned down many shops.

On the other side, Qu Shaoyang led the Dingbian Army and marched towards Haicheng in the severe cold and snow.

"Come on, everyone. Today is the Little New Year. We are still on the road and there is nothing delicious to eat. We can only make do with one bite."

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Qu Shaoyang and others were still on their way to Haicheng.

In the evening, they found a village to settle down near, sent people out to buy some vegetables and other things, and cooked some food.

Qu Shaoyang called Zhao Zhengguo, Zhou Chuanyong, Wang Musen, Zheng Tiezhu and others to his tent and celebrated the New Year's Eve with everyone.

"I estimate that it will take us a few more days to reach Haicheng. Thank you for your hard work on the journey in this cold winter."

Qu Shaoyang looked at the people in front of him. They had been killing enemies everywhere these days, without any peace, and had poor food and sleep. They were all dark, thin, and looked much more haggard.

"What are you talking about, sir? The Japanese invaded our Chinese territory and murdered the people. This hatred is irreconcilable.

We martial artists cannot allow this. It is our honor to follow you into battle and kill the enemy." Zhao Zhengguo and others said.

(End of this chapter)