The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

He came up with a good idea. Tsarist Russia was the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. If it was not convenient for him to send troops, why not let the Qing Dynasty send troops?

In their eyes, they are weaklings, but the Russians definitely want to see the Qing people fighting each other.

Chapter 267:

At this point, Wujiabaozi had returned to its previous bustling training scene. Liu Wenxiu knew it was no time for rest. Everyone in the meeting agreed that, given the Russians' vindictive nature, they would likely launch another, larger-scale attack on Wujiabaozi soon. If they wanted to stay here, they had to continue expanding their strength, and they had to do so by any means necessary.

Although Liu Wenxiu and his men didn't publicize their two consecutive victories over the Russian army, their deeds naturally caught the attention of those who cared, and their reputation became well-known to some. For the Japanese, who were desperate for "friends," Liu Wenxiu and his men were natural allies because they had a common enemy: the Russians.

Just as Liu Wenxiu was thinking about what to do next, the sentry came to report: "Commander, two people have come to see you."

Liu Wenxiu subconsciously asked: "Who?"

"I don't know. He just said he wanted to see you to discuss something. He can only tell you when he sees the battalion commander."

"Oh, let them in, and let me see who they are."

When the two men came in, Liu Wenxiu took a look and saw that they were short and ugly, with their chins held high and an attitude of "I am the boss, the sky is the boss, the earth is the second, and I am the third". They were undoubtedly Japanese devils.

"I'm the leader of the Wujiabao militia, Captain Liu. What do you want to talk to me about?"

At this time, Liu Wenxiu had been promoted directly from battalion commander to regimental commander. The militia was not recognized by the Qing Dynasty anyway, so it didn't matter what they called it.

"Captain Liu, we are envoys from the Empire of Japan." After saying that, his nostrils immediately turned up to the sky.

When Liu Wenxiu heard this, he immediately remembered what Chairman Zhang Yinghao had said when he saw them off. He was delighted and immediately stood up, asked them to sit down, and expressed a warm welcome. Then he said to the guard, "Please ask Representative Lian to come and meet the envoy of the Empire of Japan."

Hearing Liu Wenxiu's words "meeting" (pay your respects), the two Japanese were even more satisfied. Unbeknownst to the Japanese, what they had just said was actually a hint to those outside. Liu Wenxiu's choice of Anshan County as their base was a carefully considered decision. If a war between Japan and Russo-Japanese really broke out, this would undoubtedly be the battlefield. Upon arriving, they had already planned to ally with Japan against Russia, after all, it was the Russians who occupied this place. To do otherwise would be putting the cart before the horse. Now that the Japanese were here, it was their chance to profit from the war.

"I wonder what the two envoys want from my fortress?" "We heard you had a fight with the Russians just now."

Hearing this, Liu Wenxiu's mind became clearer. He deliberately sighed and said, "Alas, there's nothing we can do. These old Russians are too bullying... Let's not talk about these sad things. You don't know, these old Russians are really capable. Their shooting skills are accurate. If we kill a few of them, we will lose more than 300 of our own people. Now, there are not many people here who can fight. I wonder what the two envoys from the Great Japanese Empire want to come to me?"

"Of course, we also can't stand the evil deeds of the Russians, so we are here to help you."

"Oh my..."

At this time, Lian Chengjue walked in and shouted, "Captain Liu, what do you want from me? Don't you know that three of our brothers just didn't make it! This old Russian is really abominable."

"Alas, there's nothing we can do. The Russians are so powerful. If there's no reward money, no one will do this. Let's not talk about this for now. Come, these two are envoys from the Empire of Japan. They say they are here to help us."

"Oh, my name is Lian Chengjue. Nice to meet you two messengers. How do you plan to help us?"

"How many of you are left now?"

"Alas, to be honest with you two envoys, we only have more than 200 people. We killed a few Russians in this battle, but we lost more than 300 of our own men, and even more were injured. Look, three of our brothers just died. We must avenge this on the Russians."

In fact, the Japanese are also confused now. The news they received is that Mao

More than a hundred people died, but no one believed this news. More than a hundred regular soldiers, even if the Japanese wanted to take them down, the price they paid was not small. Now it seems that it should be the other way around. Many people died here, and the old Russians deliberately released false news.

They were bragging about how powerful these bandits were. Thinking of this, the two Japanese were a little disappointed. Two or three hundred people couldn't do much.

Thinking of this, the Japanese immediately felt that this old Russian had also learned bad habits and actually lied. The two Japanese looked at each other and said, "Liu Sang, we also heard that you fought with the old Russians and killed many of them. We are very happy, so we came to help you, Liu Sang."

"Don't believe what you heard. It's a lie that we killed a lot of Russians. We did ambush a group of Russians, but they were too powerful. My brothers suffered heavy losses, so we had to retreat. Those Russians must have something to do, so they didn't pursue us. Otherwise, we might have been wiped out. But we really need your help now, otherwise we will have to disband. We are really out of money and food."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Why would I lie to the two envoys? That's the truth. Those Russians were busy, so they didn't pursue us and just left. Otherwise, we would have died there. The Russians were too powerful. We could only attack their logistics and transportation. The frontline troops didn't even dare to touch them."

"Yoshi, your news is very important to us. What difficulties are you facing now?"

"Alas, you don't know. This time we've suffered heavy losses. Now there are only less than 80 or 90 people left intact in the entire fort, and there are many wounded. More importantly, our food is almost gone. These old Russians are a piece of shit, trying to trap us here. Now, if we can't find a way out, we have no choice but to leave here and find another way out. We are in urgent need of money, medicine, ammunition, and food."

The Japanese are now fully preparing for war, knowing that the more troops they have, the more likely they are to win. That's why they're recruiting people to fight the Russians. If they encounter anyone with a grudge against the Russian army, they're naturally unwilling to let them go. Cast a wide net, and you'll always find fish. Furthermore, helping a group of a few hundred people doesn't cost much, but the impact is truly significant. Their war with Russia is a war of national turmoil. If they lose, they'll lose everything. If they win, they'll receive war reparations, and everything will come to them.

The two Japanese looked at each other and said, "Liu Sang, you are friends of the Empire of Japan, so we naturally want to help you. I wonder what we can do to help you overcome your difficulties?"

"Needless to say? We need guns, bullets, and food. Without them, we can't hold on."

"That's easy. If you are willing to serve the Great Empire of Japan, we will give you these things immediately."

"Deal with the Russians? No problem. They killed so many of my brothers. Even if I die, I'll take the Russians with me."

"Yoshi, how much food and ammunition do you need?" "Of course the more the better..."

Before Liu Wenxiu could finish his words, Lian Chengjue interrupted him and said, "Silver, at least 10,000 taels of silver. With the silver, we in Wujiabao can continue to recruit soldiers and continue to seek revenge on the Russians. We need at least 300 guns, otherwise we won't dare to attack the Russian company. We also need 80,000 rounds of ammunition and the corresponding medicine."

Lian Chengjue had thought about these figures for a long time. If he asked for more, the Japanese would not agree. If he asked for less, he would suffer. And as the saying goes, moderation is the key to long-term success. If he needed something later, he could just ask the Japanese for it.

"Yoshi."

The two Japanese were quite satisfied with the figures Lian Chengjue had given them. They knew what they wanted and were not asking for exorbitant amounts. These figures were neither too much nor too little, and were generally within the Japanese's tolerance range. After all, the Japanese didn't want to raise a tiger that would become a threat.

After some thought, the Japanese who had just spoken said again: "Lian Sang, ten thousand taels of silver is too much. We can only provide you with fifteen hundred taels."

Liu Wenxiu glanced at the Japanese who had spoken. Just as Chairman Zhang Yinghao had said, he was being stingy. Liu Wenxiu tilted his head slightly and continued, "Eight thousand taels. Only with this amount can I stabilize the militia, keep them fighting for us, and restore our former strength. Without this amount, nothing can be accomplished."

Eight thousand taels was still too much. Five thousand taels might still be within the Japanese's tolerance, but given the Japanese's stingy nature, a tael less would be a tael less for them. So he said, "Liu Sang, two thousand taels. The Great Japanese Empire can support you with two thousand taels of silver to solve the personnel problem."

"Two envoys, we are very grateful for your willingness to help us. However, without money, we will not be able to recover our strength. In that case, we will not be able to recruit soldiers, and we will not dare to fight the Russians. Therefore, the eight thousand taels I calculated is the lowest number. If the two envoys only give two thousand taels, we will not say much. If it does not work, I hope you will not be offended!"

Hearing this, the little Japanese was about to get angry, and the other one quickly said: "Eight thousand taels is too much, three thousand taels."

"How about this, five thousand taels. We'll recruit soldiers in a month and train them for three months. Once we're done training, we'll go out and beat the old Russians. I never bargain."

"Yoshi, we agreed to Liu Sang's request."

Liu Wenxiu said: "Good, now we can quickly go down the mountain to fight the Russians. The two envoys can rest assured that as long as I am alive, I will continue to fight the Russians. The Great Japanese Empire will always be our sincere friend."

After sending the two Japanese away, Liu Wenxiu immediately convened a party meeting. He said bluntly: "Comrades, do you still remember the purpose of coming to the Northeast? It seems that the Japanese are indeed determined to launch a war against the Russians. Now the Russians' every move is under Japanese surveillance. The Japanese are now trying to win over armed forces that are opposed to the Russians to fight together. Next, time waits for no one. We must immediately establish a secret training camp in the mountains, recruit a large number of personnel, and speed up the training of the team. Does anyone have any objections?"

"I agree." "I agree too."

"How do we prevent spies from infiltrating our ranks?"

"We start with the source of the team. When the Chairman came, he said that there are countless miners in the three northeastern provinces. We start with these miners. The Japanese should not become miserable miners. Of course, all of them need to be examined, but they can be rescued and then examined again."

"agree."

"This time we won't be recruiting miners in secret. We'll directly attack the mines, move the machines that can be moved, and blow up the ones that can't. The minerals that remain in the mountains belong to our country. Once they're dug up and transported away, they're no longer ours."

"I agree. We can also train troops while fighting."

Seeing that his comrades all agreed, Liu Wenxiu took out a map and spread it on the table. He said, "According to recent investigations, the Russians have opened many mines in the mountains. The number of miners in these mines may be several thousand. If we can rescue them, we will have sufficient manpower. Look here, here, and here... Political Commissar, you and your men will immediately begin searching for a place to set up a secret camp. I will immediately prepare to attack the mines."

"Okay. So, does anyone else have anything to say?"

Seeing that no one spoke, Lian Chengjue said, "Then let's adjourn the meeting."

Taking advantage of the brief time the scouts were on their final reconnaissance, Liu Wenxiu took the opportunity to briefly review the soldiers' training. In particular, the theoretical explanations, combined with the two battles, suddenly opened the eyes of the soldiers.

Chapter 268:

Liu Wenxiu wanted to capture the mine and rescue the miners, but things didn't go as he hoped. Although the Russians he had long feared never arrived, he did receive the patrol battalion, a force Liu Wenxiu had never considered seriously. Naturally, Liu Wenxiu was cautious in attacking the Russians, as he had no idea of ​​their combat effectiveness. However, he had a psychological advantage against the patrol battalion. The revolutionary army had driven the Qing army to tears in Sichuan and Shaanxi, and Liu Wenxiu had never taken the Qing army seriously.

To make life difficult for Wujiabaozi, the Russians, with their limited manpower, immediately turned to the Qing patrol battalion. They reasoned that the Qing would naturally have their own solutions. Therefore, Joseph simply threatened the Anshan County magistrate, who obediently ordered the captain to lead the patrol battalion to suppress the bandits. As soon as these patrol battalion officers and soldiers appeared on the road to Wujiabaozi, news of this had already reached Liu Wenxiu's ears.

Upon hearing that a patrol battalion was approaching, Liu Wenxiu smiled. He hadn't expected his sleepiness to finally find a way to use the patrol battalion's officers and men for training, which seemed like a good idea. The soldiers, newly armed with rifles, were also incredibly excited, eager for the patrol battalion to appear before them so they could engage in battle.

"Soldiers, the important affairs of the country, the place of life and death, the way of survival, must be observed."

Lian Chengjue, as the political commissar, naturally wanted to discourage the soldiers' optimism. He continued, "Strategically, we must despise the enemy, but tactically, we must take them seriously. Everyone should know that once a firefight breaks out, no matter how inferior the enemy's firearms, both sides will almost certainly suffer casualties. Therefore, we must be extremely cautious and guard against arrogance and impatience."

Upon hearing this, Liu Wenxiu was immediately struck by a sense of arrogance, realizing he'd gotten a little carried away by his recent success. A clever man, he immediately engaged in both criticism and self-criticism, saying, "The representative is right. We can't let our past achievements lead us to become complacent, thinking we can't take the Qing army seriously just because we've been trained. If we do, we'll suffer losses sooner or later. We must remain cautious, trembling with fear, and treading on thin ice."

Liu Wenxiu then asked the reporting officer to report on the patrol battalion's weapons and equipment. "Except for the few remaining troops, the patrol battalion should have already left the city to attack our Wujia Fort. There are approximately 500 of them. Their weapons include muskets, muskets, rifles, broadswords, spears, bows and arrows..."

Many people laughed out loud after hearing the introduction. Liu Wenxiu heard that the Northeast Patrol Battalion was similar to those in Sichuan, with the same rubbish equipment. Liu Wenxiu didn't believe that if it was rubbish in Sichuan, it would be so powerful after it arrived outside the Great Wall.

"Everyone, be serious. We're in a meeting. Don't laugh. The Qing Dynasty relied on these weapons to rule the country for over two hundred years. If we weren't lucky enough to intercept these rifles from the Russians, we might not be able to defeat these patrol officers and soldiers. So, no matter how inferior their weapons are, we must treat them as if they all have rifles. We must not let our guard down even a little. Even a little laxity on our part could cost the lives of the soldiers below."

The Qing Dynasty's patrol battalion, like the militia, was a mysterious unit. The militia had no official organization in the Qing court, but the patrol battalion had an official organization. However, the number of soldiers in the patrol battalion varied, ranging from a few hundred to five hundred or six hundred, or even thousands. It's unclear how the Qing court mobilized these troops, and how could they defend against the enemy without knowing their numbers?

Anshan was originally a small, obscure county with a sparse population. However, everything changed after the discovery of a vast iron ore mine. The population surged, and the Russians and Japanese intervened, creating a complex situation. While the majority of the iron ore was now in Russian hands, some remained in the hands of the Qing court. The Qing court, aware of the profitability of industry and the lucrative potential of selling the mines, established a dedicated patrol battalion in Anshan, complete with a dedicated cavalry unit, to protect the mines, maintain stability in the region, and maintain its presence there. Despite its modest equipment, the Qing court nonetheless attached great importance to it.

After the meeting, Liu Wenxiu and his men immediately packed their guns and ammunition and headed for the patrol battalion. Halfway through the journey, they didn't see the patrol battalion. They then walked the remaining halfway, still no sign of their escort, and even less of the patrol battalion. Just as Liu Wenxiu was wondering if the information was wrong, a soldier suddenly appeared in the distance on horseback. He galloped over to Liu Wenxiu and his men, dismounted, and said, "Captain, at this rate, the patrol battalion will be here in about half an hour."

Liu Wenxiu had no idea how the patrol battalion marched. He had already covered three-quarters of the distance, yet the patrol battalion still needed another half an hour to arrive. Liu Wenxiu observed the terrain and realized it was indeed a good place to set up an ambush. He could wait for the patrol battalion to arrive and die.

"Set up an ambush right here. Fifth Battalion, walk a little further and set up an ambush in the woods. Once the battle begins here, immediately cut off the Qing troops' retreat. Don't let a single Qing patrol battalion escape."

"Yes."

"Sixth Battalion, you will be on the left side of the road. Seventh Battalion, on the right side. The rest of you will retreat behind the hillside. Once the battle begins, hold back the charging Qing troops. This time, we're going to completely destroy the Patrol Battalion."

"Yes."

After the soldiers took their orders and left, Liu Wenxiu found a high ground and watched his comrades slowly hide in the woods, doing camouflage work. Seeing that his comrades were moving in an orderly manner, he simply sat down to rest.

After the soldiers finished their preparations, the battlefield gradually quieted down. The sun shone down, warming their bodies. Unexpectedly, many comrades dozed off, and Liu Wenxiu simply fell asleep.

When Liu Wenxiu suddenly woke up, he felt a little confused.

Three questions of life suddenly appeared in his mind: Who am I? Where am I? What should I do? Then he saw the surrounding environment and suddenly remembered that he was here to ambush the Qing army.

He felt like he had slept for a long time, and he didn't understand why no one had woken him. He was a little confused, wondering if the patrol battalion had already passed by, and if everyone was asleep like him. This made him panic, and he immediately jumped three feet high. The soldier next to him saw Liu Wenxiu like this and immediately said, "Captain, you're awake."

Liu Wenxiu didn't say anything. He immediately took out his pocket watch and looked at it. The hands had indeed moved a large angle. Still in disbelief, he asked, "How long have I slept?"

"About an hour." "Has the Qing army not arrived yet?"

"No, I just reported that the Qing army is already cooking and eating. It will take at least another half an hour for them to reach us."

Liu Wenxiu was completely speechless. Damn, are the Qing army here for a picnic or to fight? Why are they fighting a war in such a miserable state? They are just here to die.

Liu Wenxiu naturally had no idea that the patrol battalion commander had no desire to fight, so he simply procrastinated. Since their superiors all had this attitude, the patrol battalion soldiers naturally followed suit. Who wouldn't slack off? They naturally walked slowly, showing no sign of being in a hurry. Perhaps they were still hoping the Anshan County Magistrate would withdraw his order to dispatch the troops. However, they received no such order, so they could only procrastinate. But as long as the Qing army continued to advance, no matter how far the distance, they would eventually cover it.

Liu Wenxiu waited until the flowers were about to wither when he finally saw the Qing patrol battalion's marching column in the distance. The Qing army at this point could never have imagined that Liu Wenxiu would actually walk three-quarters of the way to ambush them so close to Anshan County. According to the patrol battalion commander, even if there was an ambush, it should have occurred after they had walked three-quarters of the way. Therefore, the Qing army had no defenses at all and continued to march slowly.

At this time, the soldiers were ready for battle, like cheetahs, ready to attack at any time. The Qing troops of the patrol camp passed by the soldiers one after another along the road.

Finally, Liu Wenxiu aimed his Mosin-Nagant rifle at the patrol battalion commander, but when he looked carefully, he found a white man inside the patrol battalion. Liu Wenxiu thought for a moment and realized that this must be the supervisor sent by the Russians.

Liu Wenxiu immediately recalled what Chairman Zhang Yinghao had said during their training: "We snipers have priorities. People these days tend to fear authority and obey the powerful. Therefore, snipers' first targets are military supervisors and the like, followed by military commanders, and finally, machine gunners and artillerymen. As for ordinary soldiers, they don't enjoy this level of priority..."

So the moment he saw the military supervisor, he immediately changed his strategy. He had to kill this military supervisor.

He then pulled the bolt, loaded a round into the chamber, and ordered the soldiers around him, "Pass the order down. First target: the Russians. Second target: the patrol commander. Third target... At the sound of my gunfire, fire three rapid-fire mortar rounds at the center. Afterwards, proceed as planned."

Liu Wenxiu's order was quickly passed down, and he raised his gun again and aimed at the Russians inside.

"Bang..."

A dull gunshot rang out in the dense forest, and the Russian soldier whose gun was within Liu Wenxiu's sight fell heavily on the mountain road with a look of astonishment on his face.

The sound of gunfire was an order. The moment Liu Wenxiu pulled the trigger of her rifle, the soldiers followed suit, firing their rounds. Suddenly, there was a loud bang—the sound of a mortar shell exploding.

Accompanied by a burst of dense gunfire, all the officers surrounding the patrol battalion's command area fell to the ground. At this moment, any well-trained army, even facing a sudden attack, would immediately drop to the ground to evade and counterattack. But the Qing army was completely different. They were now running around like headless flies, screaming and shouting in unison.

Seeing this situation, Liu Wenxiu felt no need to continue fighting and said directly: "Everyone stop shooting."

The order was immediately passed down, and soon the battlefield quickly became quiet.

At this time, the person responsible for shouting appeared.

"Brothers of the patrol battalion in front, you have been surrounded. Just now, there was a foreign devil among you, so we had to kill him, so we fired a round of gunfire. Now that the foreign devil is dead, your captain is also dead. If you surrender immediately, we will not make things difficult for you and will let you go back later. We Chinese do not fight against Chinese. We know that you were forced to encircle and suppress us by the foreign devils and the captain. We are all forced to do this. Surrender immediately.

Brothers of the patrol battalion ahead, everyone has a family. If you don't surrender now, we'll fire our artillery and kill you all. Nothing will be left of you. Don't disbelieve us. Now that we see nothing in the middle of the road, we'll fire our artillery. If you don't surrender, we won't give you a chance to do so."

After shouting, Liu Wenxiu made a gesture, and a shell was fired instantly. With a bang, the shell exploded in the middle of the road, completely destroying the last bit of resistance in most of the patrol battalions.

"Brothers of the Patrol Battalion, raise your hands and surrender immediately. We won't make things difficult for you. We'll let you go back later. Chinese people don't fight Chinese people. I'll count to ten. If you don't surrender, we'll completely destroy you. Those who surrender, raise your hands and come out immediately. We..."

"Brothers, don't listen to them, they are bandits..." "Bang"

The only one still fighting so desperately at this moment must be the Manchu military supervisor in the patrol battalion. After a gunshot, the bewitching voice abruptly stopped. Liu Wenxiu knew it was the work of a sniper. Now that the patrol battalion officers and soldiers were completely surrounded, surrendering would save him some ammunition.

"one.

,

"two."

"three.

"

"Don't count, we surrender, we surrender

Before they could count many numbers, someone shouted "surrender." With one surrender, a steady stream of others followed. Liu Wenxiu immediately led his men to confiscate guns, ammunition, and food, even the scrap metal from the patrol camp. Spearheads could be used to forge hoes and sickles.