The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 269: Thanks for the additional chapter!

After summarizing the captured grain, Liu Wenying realized it totaled over 20,000 jin (approximately 10,000 kg). Seeing this amount, he knew the patrol camp wasn't planning to attack him, but rather to confront him or perhaps even surround him. There were also 120 horses, over 400 tents, over 3,000 taels of silver, and a large number of swords, spears, clubs, and bows and arrows.

After Liu Wenying thoroughly plundered the patrol battalion officers and soldiers, he wrote a letter to the Qing troops stationed there, instructing them to take it back to the Anshan County Magistrate. He then released them all, and Liu Wenxiu didn't make things difficult for them. Many of these men were veteran soldiers, slippery and unskillful. Joining his militia would likely corrupt its morale. Furthermore, if he recruited too many of these people at once, it would be hard to say who would be assimilated. After all, it takes three years to learn good things, but only three days to learn bad things.

Liu Wenxiu believed that after this incident, the Qing court in Anshan would never dare to come and annihilate them again. Of course, even if the patrol battalion came to encircle them again, even with the Russians, they really didn't need these useless people. With these Qing troops who had surrendered to them, the Qing army would be more easily divided. Moreover, Liu Wenxiu's release of them was a great favor to these people, and he had established a connection with them. Perhaps he would need their help in the future, such as in the capture of Anshan County.

Ever since the patrol battalion left the city, the Anshan County Magistrate had been feeling restless. This battalion was a sting in the Qing dynasty's ranks, a symbol of the imperial court. Success in suppressing the bandits wouldn't be a big deal, but if they suffered heavy losses, as the leader, he wouldn't be able to explain himself to the court and would inevitably shoulder the brunt of the responsibility. Anshan was a lucrative position, with countless eyes on him. If he made a major mistake in his decision-making, dismissal and investigation would be the least he could do.

Just as he was sighing, a yamen runner suddenly ran in, shouting, "Sir, the patrol battalion is back."

"They're back, ok. Um~ you said they're back?"

If they come back at this time, it is definitely impossible for them to eliminate the bandits in Wujiabaozi. So what are the patrol battalion doing back now?

"Yes, sir, the patrol battalion was defeated and the commander was killed..."

Hearing this, the county magistrate was so frightened that he jumped up from his seat.

"What? We lost the battle? The captain was killed?"

"Yes, they were all captured, but were released by the people of Wujiabaozi. However, the people of Wujiabaozi asked them to take a letter to the adults."

"Tell them to bring it."

"yes."

The yamen runner called in the patrol officer who was waiting outside the hall. The county magistrate took the letter without any signature and began to read it. Inside the letter was the following words: "Brother, read it on the wall, and regret it if you defend yourself outside..."

Upon seeing this, the county magistrate snorted in his heart, but he could only continue reading patiently. The letter went on to say that releasing the Qing troops from the patrol camp was to express their intentions, and also expressed their willingness to accept the appointment of the Qing court to let Wujiabaozi become a militia. Because Wujiabaozi killed the Russians, it was impossible for them to directly surrender to the Qing court, so Wujiabaozi was willing to secretly come under the jurisdiction of the court.

There wasn't much in the letter, but the Anshan County Magistrate was very excited after reading it.

As long as the people of Wujiabaozi only killed Russians and didn't rebel against him, that was enough for the Qing officials. If they could recruit these people from Wujiabaozi, even if it was done secretly, then they would have achieved great success and would definitely be recorded in their political achievements. Officials only cared about the results; the death of a captain and the many dirty tricks in the process were not their concern.

After reading the letter, the county magistrate breathed a sigh of relief. He waved his hand, signaling the yamen runners to leave. Then he addressed the patrol officer, saying, "Tell us the whole story in detail, without leaving out a single detail."

"Yes."

The patrol battalion officer then recounted in detail how they received the order, how they left the city, and how they encountered the ambush.

"You said there are cannons in Wujiabao?"

"There was a cannon. The captain was killed by a cannon."

The captain wasn't killed by artillery fire, but rather by sniper fire from the soldiers. However, a mortar shell landed not far from the captain's body, disfiguring it beyond recognition. The patrol battalion mistakenly believed they were killed by a shell. Furthermore, Liu Wenxiu and his men ultimately used artillery fire to force the patrol battalion to surrender, so they naturally insisted that Liu Wenxiu and his men had artillery. Of course, they also said this to shift the blame for the defeat. Since the captain was dead, surrender shouldn't be a big deal!

After receiving the soldier's confirmation, the county magistrate asked again: "Did your captors say anything else?"

"Nothing."

The officer felt that there was no need to tell the county magistrate what Liu Wenxiu and the others had said at the end, that they would only attack the Russians and not the Chinese, so he naturally said no.

"Did that old Russian really get beaten to death?"

"Yes, he was killed by a stray bullet. The brothers carried his body back." "Oh, how can I explain this to the Russians?"

The officer said carefully: "Sir, what do you want to confess? What can a dead person say?"

"Humph,"

Although the officer did not speak out loud, the county magistrate understood the reason behind it. Now the patrol battalion and he, the county magistrate, are on the same boat, and they will prosper together. Moreover, the officer also needs to thank Liu Wenxiu and others, because the position of captain may be his next.

Regardless of how the county magistrate would respond to the Russians' questioning, Liu Wenxiu and his men, after returning to Wujiabaozi, immediately split up into several groups and headed for the designated mine. Upon arrival, they immediately hid themselves and waited for nightfall.

As night fell, these half-naked, pale and skinny miners were driven out of the mining area by the Russians. The miners returned to their shacks one after another to rest and recuperate, waiting to start work the next day and receive a meager reward after completing their tasks.

As the miners entered their huts, the soldiers immediately sprang into action, following them in. The miners, having worked all day, were about to lie down on their beds to rest when they saw a group of armed strangers approach. The soldiers flashed their guns, and all the miners immediately froze like little children.

"We are the Wujiabao militia, and we are recruiting people. We see that it is not easy for you to work for the Russians, so we are here to recruit you. You will follow us later."

After the soldiers finished speaking, they raised their guns and aimed at everyone, then continued: "You are already in this situation, and you have no money. We don't have any good plans for you. Do I still take pleasure in killing people? Join our militia later. Who is in favor and who is against?"

He raised his gun again. Seeing this, the miners who had originally expressed their dissatisfaction quickly agreed. The soldiers then led the group back to the other shacks. With the "help" of fellow miners, the rest of the process became much easier. Soon, everyone was out.

At this time, a slick-looking man appeared outside the miners' shack. Seeing so many people gathered together, he immediately shouted: "Why are you running out now instead of going to sleep? Are you lazy at work during the day? Go back to sleep quickly, you still have to work tomorrow." Group number: 775111838

The supervisor's loud shouting was actually to divide the miners and attract the attention of the old Russians in the mine. Seeing so many miners looking at him, the supervisor was a little scared and immediately used the powerful weapon of withholding wages to scare these people.

"Liu Ermaizi, why don't you go to bed quickly, or your wages will be deducted."

The supervisor knew Liu Ermazi was the most timid and fearful, so naturally, he was the first person he targeted. Normally, these words would have obediently led the miners to follow his orders, sleep in their shacks, and continue to be bullied by the Russians and the supervisors the next day. But now, his words, which had always been effective, not only failed to work, but instead made the miners glare at him angrily.

At that moment, a soldier suddenly appeared from behind the overseer. He grabbed the overseer's feet and lifted them up, causing the overseer to fall flat on his face. The soldier quickly let go of the overseer's feet, stepped forward, grabbed the overseer's hair, and pulled it back. The overseer's head quickly lifted up, and his chin immediately lifted high. The soldier immediately grabbed the overseer's chin and twisted it. The miners heard the sound of bones dislocating, and the overseer immediately went to see his grandmother.

The miners had never seen such a quick and decisive killing before, and were stunned. They had already investigated this supervisor, Liu Wenxiu, and found him to be just like the Wu family's eldest son, a man who specialized in sucking the blood of miners, killing more than one. Of course, killing this supervisor in front of the miners was partly to avenge them, but also to intimidate them and keep them in line for the time being. As for why he wasn't put on trial like they had been with the Wu family's young master, it was because the miners were watching, so there was no need for a public trial followed by execution.

Moreover, the soldiers had already reached the mine and were about to capture it. Since they had decided to start killing, there would be no problem in killing just one supervisor.

At that moment, a massive explosion erupted from the gate protecting the mine. The gate was thrown high into the air, landing more than ten meters away. It turned out that the soldiers had eliminated the mine's guards and set explosives to blow up the gate. Once the gate was blown apart, the soldiers immediately rushed in and rushed into the mine.

When the Russians in the mine heard the loud noise, they immediately took action and fought a desperate battle with the soldiers. However, in front of the brave soldiers, the resistance of these Russians seemed too weak, and in the end it was still in vain, and they were all killed by the militia soldiers.

After the situation was under control, Liu Wenxiu immediately organized the miners to move supplies and dismantle the machines.

"Captain, we've made a fortune." "Hmm~ What good things did you find?"

"At least five thousand kilograms of explosives, all of the finest smokeless gunpowder. We also found over ten thousand taels of silver in the mine owner's room."

"Okay, move everyone out, and then blow up the mine. We can't let the Russians dig up the mine again."

"Yes, I'll make arrangements right away."

Anshan has a lot of iron ore, which is a strategic resource that the Russians naturally want to control. Their invasion is for profit, and they naturally use various means to seize a large number of coal, iron, gold and silver mines for themselves, and then frantically mine them, and the ore they dig out is continuously shipped back to the country or sold, making a lot of money.

Of course, the Russians took such a huge advantage very seriously. They stationed a reinforced battalion in the small town of Anshan alone, and also had more or less Russian soldiers at various mines. Some large mines were even equipped with heavy machine guns. Moreover, these heavy machine guns were placed in locations that were easy to defend but difficult to attack. Without artillery, it would be difficult to completely eliminate the Russians inside.

However, Liu Wenxiu and his men had no plans to attack the large iron mines immediately. Taking down a few small and medium-sized mines would be enough to expand their militia. By this time, the Russians had already learned of the mine attacks, and Lieutenant Colonel Joseph naturally bore the greatest pressure. Several mines were attacked, and almost all the Russians inside were killed. Why almost? Because it was night, some Russians saw the situation and hid, so a few still slipped through. According to the surviving Russians, the mine attackers were an organized and disciplined force.

For the invaders, the presence of local resistance forces was their greatest fear. This forced them to deploy troops everywhere, significantly increasing the cost of invasion and occupation. Furthermore, with Anshan being such a large area and so many mines, it would be impossible to completely guarantee the safety of the mines, let alone a reinforced battalion, even a division. Furthermore, defending everywhere would dilute the force, leading to a situation where they would be vulnerable everywhere. The best solution was to identify these rebels and completely eliminate them; this was the approach that best served the interests of the Russian Empire.

Chapter 270:

When the Russian battalion commander Joseph in Anshan County heard that the mine had been attacked, he immediately led his troops to the mine to investigate. When the Russian troops re-entered the mine, they were shocked by the scene inside! All the Russians in the mine, regardless of gender or age, had been beaten to death.

Some of the miners were still hanging on the same wooden stakes that the miners had used to punish them. Their blood had drained out, and their faces were extremely pale. The scene was extremely horrifying. And looking at the wounds on the bodies, it was obvious that they had been tortured. One can imagine how much torture these miners endured before they died.

These were all the work of the miners. Perhaps the mine Liu Wenxiu conquered didn't have this kind of thing going on. However, some mines were harshly managed, and the miners suffered from constant abuse. Once these miners joined the attack, the soldiers were too busy to fully control them in the darkness, and ultimately had to wait for the miners to vent their anger.

Joseph continued to walk inside and saw some Russian civilians who had also died tragically in the mine. Some were beaten to death on their beds in the house, and some had already run out of the house but were still beaten to death with sticks. Their deaths were extremely horrific.

In a house, Russian soldiers found a family of four. The male owner was

The man was beaten to death near the door. It should be that the male owner wanted to block the house. After being hit by a hammer, the gangster broke into the house and beat the male owner to death with a hammer.

The man not only had gunshot wounds on his body, but was also beaten to a bloody mess, and his head was completely shattered.

The bed was covered in dried blood. Beside it lay a naked white woman, the deep gash on her neck her fatal wound. The woman, probably in her thirties, was unusually plump, with teeth marks on her breasts. Her pubic hair was tangled and matted, and a thin film of film lay at the entrance, the residue of dried semen. One could imagine that before her death, she must have suffered the most brutal treatment from the enemy, brutally tortured in front of her lover and children.

Her eyes were still wide open, her mouth stuffed with a cloth, and she was looking to the side. Because there were two lovely children in the quilt, but these two children had been beaten to death in the quilt without even lifting the quilt.

The Russian officers and soldiers were completely furious when they saw this! For them, this kind of thing could only be done to the Qing people. After all, it was them who had burned, killed, and looted all the way here, so they thought it was natural. But now the Qing people were using such evil deeds on their compatriots, which was absolutely unacceptable!

The miners killed all the Russians there. Liu Wenxiu believed many of them deserved to die, such as the elderly and children. But as the saying goes, "Don't teach others good things without experiencing their suffering." Since the miners chose this form of revenge, Liu Wenxiu and his men naturally took on the crime of murder without hesitation, even in future history books.

"God, please open your eyes and take a look. God, who can tell me why this happened? Why did the Qing people dare to treat us like this?"

Joseph was so angry when he saw the tragedy here that he trembled all over! Who was it, who dared to challenge the Great Russian Empire?

The equally angry company commander next to him asked, "Battalion Commander, what should we do now?"

Joseph said, "What else can we do? Of course we must take revenge. These are citizens of our Great Russian Empire! God knows that such a thing could happen to them! Even if His Majesty the Tsar heard the news, he would be furious and would swear to avenge us for them!"

At this time, another company commander came over and said, "Battalion Commander, should we burn the body now?"

Joseph may have a natural sense of politics. He immediately thought of a way to recycle waste. He smiled sinisterly, rolled his eyes and said, "No! This is evidence of the crime committed by the Qing people against our Great Russian Empire. We must take pictures, keep evidence, and send them to our reporters, to those in Britain, France, and the so-called civilized world! Let them know what these barbarians of the Qing Dynasty did to us here! I must kill all these barbarians!"

"Commander, if this matter gets out, the British and French will definitely laugh at our Great Russian Empire. I think it's better for us to handle it ourselves."

"Haven't you heard that Britain and Japan are forcing us to withdraw? Let's show them how brutal the thugs here are. The Qing Dynasty is simply unable to maintain law and order here. Therefore, our Russian Empire's troops must stay to maintain order, and at most we will have to give up some interests. I will write the report, and you just take care of taking the photos."

The Russian company commander had no choice but to find a camera, posed the bodies one by one, and took careful photos, especially those of the women, the elderly, and the children. They filmed from multiple angles, fearing that the civilized people of Britain and France would not be able to tell what had happened.

At this time, Joseph was still wondering who had attacked the mine. His first thought was the bandits from Wujiabaozi. However, when he sent people to investigate, they found no trace of the thousands of miners, nor anything suspicious. However, Joseph had to take responsibility. Without finding the gang that attacked the mine, he could only find a scapegoat. So, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph hit upon the right spot and chose Wujiabaozi.

To capture Wujiabaozi, Anshan's current military strength was naturally insufficient, so Joseph immediately reported to his superiors and sent the photos he had taken. His superiors were furious after seeing these photos. Finally, his superiors dispatched a regiment to completely eliminate Wujiabaozi. Of course, this is a story for later.

To avoid being tracked, the soldiers took detours, and it took two days before they finally brought back thousands of miners. By then, the location of the secret camp had been discovered. Liu Wenxiu immediately took these miners and some food obtained from the landlords to the secret camp and began construction. With so many people working together, a simple camp was established in just a few days.

Over the next few days, Lian Chengjue launched a large-scale grievance campaign among the miners. In a short period of time, he gained the miners' loyalty. He also uncovered two hidden Japanese spies and three hidden supervisors who were specifically bullying the miners. In the end, the supervisors and the two Japanese spies were executed together.

Meanwhile, the promised guns, ammunition, and money from the Japanese had been delivered and secretly transferred to the camp. Inside, the camp was a scene of intense training. With the exception of a few who remained at Wujiabaozi to watch over the place, everyone, even the horse caravan, was now training at the camp.

The workers were the most disciplined group, the most hardworking. Apart from some initial conditioning, they all trained themselves to death. This was because they had learned from the lectures how cruel the world was, and that a new world could not be built without destroying the old one.

They also understood that they were not the only ones suffering, but that the entire country and nation were suffering. If they did not save themselves, then their descendants would continue to suffer.

In a short period of time, thousands of men were added, hundreds of guns were missing, and ammunition was seriously insufficient. With no way to obtain guns and ammunition, everyone could only take things one step at a time. During daily bayonet practice, everyone used wooden spears instead, which was a compulsory course for every soldier.

With so many people in the mountains, the food consumption was enormous. Liu Wenxiu and his men had no choice but to leave the mountains again and continue to harass several landlords, thus seizing enough food.

Looking at the Mosin-Nagant rifles in the soldiers' hands, and the many old Russian uniforms still stored in the mountain warehouse, a very bold idea immediately emerged in Liu Wenxiu's mind. He remembered that when they first came to Northeast China, Chairman Zhang Yinghao had said that they were here to train troops, and since training was inevitable, fighting was inevitable.

Liu Wenxiu immediately came to the map and looked at the Russian strongholds, checkpoints, and the long railway line marked on the map. He fell into deep thought, so much so that he didn't even notice Lian Chengjue coming in. Seeing Liu Wenxiu in deep thought, Lian Chengjue didn't bother him, but sat down and looked at the map as well.

Liu Wenxiu came to her senses and saw Lian Chengjue and asked, "When did you come?"

"It's been a while, what are you thinking about?"

"The Chairman sent us to the Northeast for training. Now the Russians may attack us again at any time. We must take the initiative to attack and eliminate these Russian strongholds and checkpoints. This will expand our range of activities and our strategic depth. If necessary, we can also cut off the railway."

"I agree with attacking strongholds and checkpoints, but I don't agree with cutting off the railway. This railway is the Russians' testicles. We can get some benefits from the railway, but once we touch the railway, it's like grabbing the Russians' balls. The Russians will definitely destroy us at all costs. There is no need for us to attract hatred now."

"Well, you're right. Let's start the operation immediately. The first operation requires speed. We should seize more strongholds and checkpoints while these old Russians are unprepared. By the way, have we divided up the areas under our control?"

"Haha, it's already been divided. Dividing the land here is simple, not as troublesome as it is in Sichuan. As the Chairman said, we can divide the land here by acres instead of mu. However, we still only got five mu per person. Rice is not grown in the Northeast, so we need more, otherwise there won't be enough to eat. We didn't even get any of the mountains and forests."

"That's fine. We're now facing the same problem we faced back in Sichuan: a lack of administrative talent. Now you're the only one who can take charge of this area."

"However, I think we should still invest more energy in building the base so that we can integrate with the people here."

"The problem is that now is not the time to build in Northeast China. If a war breaks out between Japan and Russo-Japanese, our construction will be in vain. I still stick to my view that armed struggle is the main focus now. Those comrades should continue to take time off for training. If we run out of food, we can fight the landlords. Which landlord doesn't have three years of grain at home? I heard that the Japanese are now recruiting bandit forces everywhere, and they are even building their own armed forces. I have a hunch that this war will start soon, and we must now focus on military struggle."

"Okay, then we can only organize the people and produce more food."

The regiment commander and the political commissar reached a consensus, and Liu Wenxiu immediately led the company to rush to the designated checkpoints and strongholds, striving to capture multiple strongholds at one time, thereby expanding their strength and base.

The development of Northeast China's industry began as early as the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, the international situation was very bad. In order to maintain feudal rule, the Qing government decided to learn Western military equipment and industrial technology. Therefore, it established a series of industrial factories such as the Jilin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau and the Mohe Gold Mine. At the same time, it built defenses in the mining, military industry, telegraph and communications industries in Northeast China.

One year after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Russia forced the Qing government to agree to amend

A South Manchuria branch line was built, and several more lines were built one after another. This generation of transportation trunk lines created very favorable conditions for the powers to open mines and build factories in Northeast China.

They also invested in railway factories, iron foundries, flour mills, machinery factories, oil presses, distilleries, sugar factories, tobacco factories, etc. in Northeast China. The biggest common feature of these factories is that Chinese people work in some non-technical positions.

According to statistics, foreign powers' investment in Northeast China accounted for 43% of the nation's total. Capitalizing on the Northeast's abundant resources and cheap labor, the powers sought to control its economic lifeline, significantly hindering the development of Northeastern national capitalism. However, these foreign investments and the establishment of factories also inspired self-help patriotic movements and significantly stimulated the development of Northeastern national capitalism.

The place Liu Wenxiu led a company to was not a stronghold or a checkpoint, but a flour mill built by the Russians. Obtaining these factory equipment was also one of Liu Wenxiu and his team's important tasks.

Chapter 271:

Liu Wenxiu and his men advanced stealthily. When they passed a stronghold, the outpost suddenly approached Liu Wenxiu and said, "Captain, there's something wrong with that stronghold ahead. Previously, it was occupied by a few Russians and a group of recruits, but now it's completely occupied by Russians, probably a platoon. Furthermore, they're heavily guarded right now, so we can't get through on the main road for the time being."

"The Russians ambushing these troops here is definitely not without purpose." After saying this, he immediately took out the map and checked it. At this time, they were far away from Wujiabaozi and should be not far from Haicheng. After searching for a long time on the map, he finally found his position. Then he looked at the mark on it and said, "It seems that there are bandits nearby?"

Hearing this, Old Li said, "Yes, I remember now. There was a bandit gang here, and their leader was called Sun Tongpao."

"What is a righteous bandit?"

When a soldier asked this question, Old Li patiently explained, "Sun Tongpao is called a righteous bandit because he has never burned, killed, or looted since he became a bandit in the mountains. Those he attacked were either landlords, bullies, or corrupt officials. Furthermore, Sun Tongpao often helped the poor, making him a lifesaver in the eyes of the people."

After hearing this, Liu Wenxiu said, "Haha, then this Sun Tongpao shouldn't be very strong now."

"Why did the captain say that?"

"If Sun Tongpao was strong enough, he would have conquered several large landlords and become famous long ago. With money and food, Sun Tongpao would have recruited soldiers like crazy, and he would have been wiped out by the landlord militia, the Qing court, or the Russians long ago. The fact that they are still alive means they are definitely not strong enough to conquer the large landlords."

"The captain is right. Sun Tongpao was indeed weak before, but I heard that his strength is getting stronger and stronger now."

"Haha, Sun Tongpao still doesn't understand why Ming and his men are becoming increasingly powerful. He's just courting death. They only grew stronger with the support of the common people. If you don't understand this and don't establish a base, everything will be in vain, just a mirage."

"Captain, you're right again. Sun Tongpao is no longer satisfied with petty escapades like robbing the rich to help the poor. He's begun to shift his focus to the Russians in Northeast China who are acting like traitors. I heard they've even defeated them a few times before."

"This is one of the reasons why the Russians deployed a large number of troops to eliminate them. The Russians fear the most that someone will challenge their authority and shake their ruling status and prestige. Such a person will inevitably be a thorn in the Russians' side. Once the Russians start to make a real move, Sun Tongpao will be doomed."