Master Yuan, start!

Now he is stationed in Ninghe, mobilizing four armies to spread a large net, and has gradually trapped the White Tiger Regiment in the northern part of Tianjin. He only needs to wait for the encirclement to slowly shrink so that he can catch them all in one fell swoop.

Just when he was commanding his troops in Ninghe City, he met an unexpected person.

"Liu Shengxiu?" Ronglu was startled and stood up immediately. "Why didn't you stay at Shanhaiguan instead of coming here?"

After Liu Shengxiu fled south from Shanhaiguan with several thousand people, he did not go to join the Hunan Army, but instead went to find Ronglu instead of going nearby.

In fact, it is easy to understand if you think about it. Xiang and Huai are not in harmony to begin with, and now he is still leading a few thousand remaining soldiers. I am afraid that after arriving in Yongping Prefecture, he will be immediately swallowed up by the Xiang Army.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to go directly to Ronglu. At least there is still a chance to go south to Guangdong.

"Lord Rong!" Liu Shengxiu didn't have time to rest. He came up and gave Ronglu a thunderbolt: "Shanhai Pass has been lost. Yuan Shikai has entered the pass!"

"How could it be?" Ronglu said stiffly, stunned: "Shanhai Pass is a great pass in the world, the city wall is 3 meters thick, not to mention there are 4 Jiashen new troops, how could it be..."

Ronglu decided to suppress the bandits first because he was sure that Yuan Shikai could not enter the pass quickly.

As the saying goes, one must first stabilize the country before resisting foreign aggression. Only after clearing the area around the capital can we concentrate our forces to deal with Yuan Shikai.

Moreover, he thought that they were just some rioters, how could they really cause trouble? However, he did not expect that the rioters had not been eliminated yet and Shanhaiguan was lost again.

After much deliberation, Ronglu decided that it was more important to resist foreign aggression.

"We can't wait any longer to encircle them!" Ronglu had already waited for two days. If he waited a few more days, he could completely surround and kill the White Tiger bandits. But now he had to give up the plan to wipe out the White Tiger bandits.

"Liu Shengxiu, take your several thousand men," Ronglu made up his mind, packed his luggage with both hands, and walked out of the house: "Follow me to annihilate the White Tiger Regiment!"

"Yes!" Liu Shengxiu replied with a bow, "I am willing to be the vanguard and win the first prize for Lord Rong!"

Liu Shengxiu knew that he was a defeated general. If he wanted to successfully go south to Guangdong, he had to perform well in front of Ronglu, otherwise why would he let him go south?

If someone is blamed for failing to defend the city, he will at least be dismissed and investigated. Lord Li is thousands of miles away, so how can he protect him?

If you want to return to the Huai Army, you have to rely on yourself to fight hard.

But at this moment, the guards outside the door hurriedly rushed into the courtyard and shouted loudly as they entered: "Master Rong, Master Rong, happy news, great happy news!"

"How disgraceful!" Ronglu frowned. Now that Shanhaiguan had fallen, he was in a bad mood. "Shouting and yelling, is this what I teach you?"

The guard only realized Ronglu was angry after hearing the scolding, and said cautiously, "Sir Rong, this is indeed a great joyous occasion."

Ronglu's expression remained unchanged as he stared at his guards intently, wanting to see what great news was going on.

The guard took a deep breath and said excitedly, "Sir Rong, the white-bearded man is outside the city now.

He was dressed in white, alone, and said he wanted to see the Master in person."

"Huh?" Ronglu turned around in disbelief.

What kind of move is it to go into the enemy camp alone?

Chapter 146: The Letter of Independence and Infernal Affairs

"That's perfect," Ronglu said, turning back to his room. "Bring Whitebeard into the city for a chat."

Ronglu did not think of appeasing the rioters, but the rioters were vulnerable and scattered under the encirclement of the army.

Either they would never surrender or would rather commit suicide than surrender to the officers and soldiers.

In addition, most of the bandits were not powerful enough and could only coerce the people. They would wilt when they encountered the artillery of the government soldiers. Therefore, after several raids, he gradually gave up this idea.

However, Ronglu always had a glimmer of hope for the White Tigers, a group of bandits, because they had never openly raised the banner of opposing the court, nor had they killed prefects and county magistrates in various places. They acted like complete chivalrous bandits.

Moreover, they fought in an organized manner, and both the methods of scattered troops and combined troops were feasible. Even when they encountered government soldiers, they would not flee like the other gangs of bandits, but would be chased and killed.

The White Tiger Regiment avoided the main force of the government troops and attacked the weak points in the countryside. At first, it caused a lot of headaches for the Jiashen Army that was suppressing the bandits. It was not until Ronglu divided his army into six routes to encircle and suppress the bandits that his space for activities was gradually compressed.

Ronglu, who grew up listening to Pingxi opera, had a different view of the chivalrous behavior of the White Tiger Group. He also asked around to find out who the bandit leader was and to find out the true strength of the White Tiger Group.

After much investigation, we only learned that they claimed to have a White Tiger Team of 5000 people. However, according to the information reported by the guards in various places, the core members were estimated to be only more than people, and the rest were coerced.

Marsh ￥860.?73

Then there was the White Tiger Regiment, which was said to have more than a dozen cannons, which were pulled by horses and moved around as fast as the wind.

The White Tiger Regiment was able to roam everywhere thanks to these cannons. Whenever they arrived at a place, they would open fire with their cannons, and the rural camps and forts would be breached within a few rounds.

After breaking into the fort, they robbed the money and food and divided them up, then ran away, and the officers and soldiers could not catch up at all.

With only this little information, Ronglu really couldn't figure out what the White Tiger Regiment was up to, so he could only deal with other bandits first.

In fact, Ronglu had not made up his mind whether to suppress the White Tiger Regiment or not. His original plan was to slowly surround the bandit leader White Beard and force him to surrender to him.

After all, there have been precedents like this in recent years. To take a recent example, Ding Ruchang, the third admiral of the South China Sea Fleet, was a Taiping Army soldier before him; to take a more distant example, Cheng Qiqi, the Hunan Army soldier who died in the battle to recapture Jiaxing, was also a Taiping Army soldier before him.

Ronglu thought to himself that they had never fought against each other and had no deep hatred, so he might be able to recruit the White Tiger Regiment for his own use.

Therefore, over the past few dozen days, we have maintained a certain degree of tacit understanding with the White Tiger Group: if you don’t disturb me, I won’t destroy you.

However, the war in the north was urgent, and before Ronglu could slowly make his way, Shengjing, Liaoyang, Niuzhuang and Jinzhou fell one after another.

Therefore, Ronglu had no choice but to abandon pacification and start suppressing the bandits. After dealing with the remaining bandits, he began to clean up the White Tiger Group.

However, when he was informed that the leader of the White Tiger Regiment had come alone, Ronglu was still tempted.

Forty thousand soldiers were captured in Jiashen, and the defense of the capital was already stretched to the limit. It would be great if they could get reinforcements.

Ronglu packed his luggage and sat quietly in the house waiting for White Beard to arrive. Seeing this, Liu Shengxiu had no choice but to wait with him.

When Whitebeard walked to the door, he was stopped by the guards. Several pairs of big hands touched his body all over. After confirming that there were no hidden weapons, he was taken to the yard.

Ronglu saw this scene and saw that White Beard was not angry. He felt even more grateful for the talent in his heart. If he could get hold of the 5000-strong White Tiger Regiment that was good at roaming and attacking cities, he could keep harassing Yuan Shikai's army.

When he got closer, Ronglu saw that the man with white beard was about 6 feet tall, with broad shoulders and back, and a pair of big feet that were very eye-catching.

Contrary to the rumors, the man had no beard at all, but the hair on the back of his hands was excessively long.

This pair of hairy hands really deserves the name of "Hu bandit", Ronglu thought to himself.

After Whitebeard entered the room, he knelt down and bowed to greet everyone.

"Great Lord Bai, I have long heard of your great name, and today I am honored to meet you." Ronglu stepped forward to greet him, "But I have never asked for your advice before. May I know your name, Great Lord Bai?"

Ronglu once sent people to find out the name of the bandit leader, but all he got was the nicknames "White Beard" and "White King". In addition, some people who had served with the bandits said that he liked to wear white clothes.

"I don't deserve the title of Great King. Lord Rong, you can just call me Hu Zi." White Beard bowed and said, "As for my name, my surname is Bai, my given name is Dingshan, and my courtesy name is Humin."

"Bai Humin, what a good Humin." Ronglu praised, stroking his hand. "I guess this is the origin of your White Tiger Regiment's name? Humin, tiger people, a group of tiger people, naturally it is the White Tiger Regiment."

"That's right." Bai Dingshan stood up and answered.

"Have you ever been to school?"

"When I was young, my family was well-off, and I even read a few Confucian classics. However, after the great drought in the third year of the Guangxu reign, my family was destroyed, and I became a wanderer."

It turned out that they were from a scholarly family, so Ronglu was even more determined to recruit them.

"How dare you come here in person today?" Ronglu asked with a smile, "Aren't you afraid that I'll lock you up and send you to the capital for torture?"

"Lord Rong, I am acting on behalf of Heaven. Every time I kill someone, they are the ones who are rampant in the village and have committed many evil deeds." Bai Dingshan explained.

"Indeed, the reputation of Whitebeard has been spreading throughout the capital for some time now," Ronglu said, standing up and helping Bai Dingshan to his feet. "Even I, the Governor-General of Zhili, have heard of him."

"A little empty reputation is not worth Lord Rong's concern." Bai Dingshan bowed and said, "Lord Rong has been surrounding the White Tiger Regiment and not destroying them. I would like to thank you for your mercy."

Ronglu listened to Bai Dingshan's compliments without blushing or beating his heart, so how could he not suppress the enemy?

But he had previously thought that he would appease the enemy if he could, but after the Shanhaiguan City was broken, he had no choice but to wipe out the enemy as soon as possible.

If Bai Dingshan had arrived two days later, the White Tiger Regiment might have been surrounded and annihilated.

"That was something you fought for yourself," Ronglu said, deliberately praising Bai Dingshan. "You have never killed officials, and you have always been clearing out the local tyrants and evil gentry in the countryside. You have quite the spirit of a righteous army."

This is what defines the White Tiger Group. It is a fact that they have never killed a sitting official.

As for those landlords in the countryside who held official positions, Ronglu directly classified them as local tyrants and evil gentry, and they were also targets of crackdown by the imperial court.

After saying that, Ronglu saw that Bai Dingshan was struggling, his brows furrowed, as if he was weighing something.

He was not in a hurry and waited quietly for Bai Dingshan's reply.

"Since that's the case, Bai Dingshan has come here alone today," Bai Dingshan struggled for a few moments, as if finally making up his mind, "I would like to ask Lord Rong to take in the 5000-plus members of the White Tiger Regiment."

Good! Ronglu was delighted. It was worth all the foreplay he had done.

It is said that the White Tiger Group still has more than a dozen cannons. If they can take them for their own use, their strength will increase greatly in an instant!

However, Ronglu was happy but did not agree immediately. Instead, after thinking for a moment, he asked:

"Bai Dingshan, how can you make me trust you?"

"I dared to go to the enemy camp alone because I knew that Lord Rong had the intention to pacify us!"

This is true. Ronglu was indeed undecided about whether to wipe out the White Tiger Regiment.

"Not enough!" Ronglu stroked his beard and twirled it gently. "After the Taiping Army overthrew the Hunan Army, they launched a fierce attack on Tianjing. Bai Dingshan, where is your letter of surrender?"

"On the 10th!" Bai Dingshan replied with a resolute look in his eyes, his tone firm: "Yuan Xiangcheng's army is heading south, and my brothers in the White Tiger Regiment are willing to go north to block the 10th and create space for the imperial army to make a detour!"

"Pfft!"

Liu Shengxiu, who was standing aside, laughed out loud, and Ronglu couldn't help laughing when he heard it.

"How many of you are there?" Liu Shengxiu couldn't help but ask.

"5000!"

"Humph," Liu Shengxiu sneered, and then couldn't help laughing: "Haha, hahahahahaha!"

Even Ronglu, who was standing by, couldn't help laughing, until he saw Bai Dingshan's determined eyes.

"There's no joking in the army!" Ronglu saw that Bai Dingshan seemed serious and asked sternly, "Did you know that the 4 Jiashen troops stationed at Shanhaiguan were captured by Yuan Shikai in just two days?"

"Give me another 5000 people, and I will stop Yuan Shikai's army for 15 days!" Bai Dingshan was unmoved and made another shocking statement.

Liu Shengxiu looked at Bai Dingshan in disbelief, trying to figure out what was going on in his head.

"Bai Dingshan, do you know that Yuan Shikai's army swept through Shengjing in 50 days and was invincible outside the Great Wall?"

"I know that, but I also know that Yuan Xiangcheng's army has broken through five places in a row and is like a spent bow and arrow," Bai Dingshan replied. "The fact that Yuan's army has not yet moved south and is still resting is the best proof!"

"Great!" Ronglu couldn't contain his excitement. "Liu Shengxiu, allocate 3000 of the several thousand men you brought back to Bai Dingshan, and the rest will be recruited from the Zhili training army."

Liu Shengxiu never expected that Rong Balu would choose to believe in Baidingshan, and he never expected that the price of his belief would be himself.

"Sir, Sir Rong! This man's words cannot be trusted!" Liu Shengxiu objected: "Thinking of stopping Yuan's army from advancing south with only 1 men is simply wishful thinking!"

He finally escaped from Shanhaiguan with his defeated troops just so that he would have someone to rely on when he went south in the future.