The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

Suddenly Wang Yingkai thought of something and immediately asked: "How many shells, bullets and food do we have now?"

"We had a large amount of supplies stored in Huazhou, but they have now been taken away by the Red Bandits."

"What?"

Upon hearing this news, Wang Yingkai suddenly felt dizzy. Was this a sign of doom? Wang Yingkai immediately forced himself to give the order: "Order the troops to immediately halt the attack and focus on guarding against a surprise attack by the Red Bandits."

"Yes."

In order to reduce casualties, Wang Yingkai's troops consumed a lot of artillery shells and bullets. Unexpectedly, when the ammunition was exhausted, Huazhou, where the ammunition was stored, was occupied by the Red Bandits. It was really a double whammy.

No, we can't just sit here and wait for death.

If we continue to stay here, we might not be able to leave Shaanxi. The troops are currently running low on ammunition, especially heavy machine guns and artillery. Machine guns without bullets and artillery without shells are worth less than scrap metal. The Beiyang government originally lacked heavy machine guns. The Qing Dynasty acquired them only after learning that the Red Bandits in Sichuan were equipped with them. The foreign powers sold these weapons to the Qing Dynasty to help them eliminate the Red Bandits.

Wang Yingkai was a very decisive man. After a moment's thought, he immediately said, "Pass my orders. Cavalry patrol the outermost perimeter, guard and defend. All other troops must assemble immediately, but without making any noise. Tonight, we must concentrate all our efforts on breaking out and attacking towards Tongguan. We must re-open our logistics route."

"Yes."

Wang Yingkai immediately stood up and straightened his uniform. He had already realized that this attempt to enter Shaanxi had failed. But now was not the time to dwell on failure; the only thing he needed to consider was how to safely leave Shaanxi. He was now thinking about how to do his utmost to bring these elite Beiyang troops back. Otherwise, losing a town would be an unbearable loss for both the Qing Dynasty and the Beiyang.

Wang Yingkai looked at the gloomy sky in Weinan and sighed deeply. At noon, they were still so confident that they would capture Weinan today, Lintong tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and Xi'an the day after tomorrow. But in less than half a day, everything had turned around and their side had become the target of encirclement and suppression. Now looking at the gloomy situation,

The weather was gloomy, and looking at the vast world, the situation was changing so fast that it was not only difficult for people to adapt, but also made people terrified.

At this time, Zhang Feng completely ignored the fact that the Beiyang Army in the encirclement was already working on breaking out. At this time, the People's Liberation Army was desperately digging trenches. Zhang Feng also knew that in order to force the Beiyang Army to surrender and resolve the battle as soon as possible, they must do their best to withstand the first few waves of the Beiyang Army's attack. Moreover, not only the Beiyang Army was attacking, but the People's Liberation Army also had to attack from all directions at the same time, so that the Beiyang Army could not concentrate on one direction to break out. If the Beiyang Army concentrated on one direction to break out

If so, the People's Liberation Army will inevitably suffer considerable losses. Of course, kindness is not a good thing for an army. Zhang Feng also knew that since the Beiyang Army had entered Shaanxi, there would inevitably be losses.

Now all we can do is make adequate preparations to minimize the losses on our side.

Zhang Yinghao received a telegram from Zhang Feng and learned that the Beiyang Second Town had been surrounded by the People's Liberation Army. At this time, the Beiyang Second Town was already 60 kilometers away from Tongguan. It was a pipe dream for them to escape from Shaanxi. But Zhang Yinghao suddenly thought of a sentence: If one person fights desperately, a hundred men cannot stop him. If ten thousand people are determined to die together, they can dominate the world. It means that if ten thousand people fight desperately, they can dominate the world. Although one person's desperate efforts are of little use in the face of hot weapons, the power formed by ten thousand people fighting desperately cannot be underestimated.

Zhang Yinghao also knew how difficult it was to completely encircle more than 10,000 people. The old saying goes, "Let them be lenient, and leave one behind when you're surrounded on three sides." God has a merciful spirit. If these 10,000 people were to die on the way to the charge, Zhang Yinghao felt it was unnecessary. However, Zhang Yinghao didn't know the specific situation in Shaanxi, so he couldn't give orders blindly, otherwise it would cause chaos in the front-line command. However, Zhang Yinghao still felt it necessary to remind them, so he immediately said, "Call the Shaanxi Military Region back and suggest that the Weihe Plain is suitable for a pursuit battle. Can we consider encircling three sides and leaving one behind, eating up the Beiyang Second Regiment bit by bit, or forcing them into Huazhou and forcing them to surrender? Please consider it as appropriate."

Zhang Feng immediately understood Zhang Yinghao's message upon reading it. While his suggestion was sound, the troops were already deployed. Changing the arrangement would be time-consuming and laborious, and would also be counterproductive. Zhang Feng also understood why he'd added the "consider the situation" clause at the end. It was because he didn't fully understand the situation and was leaving it up to Zhang Feng to make his own decision.

.=.-.

Darkness fell completely, with only a dim moonlight in the sky. The Beiyang New Army had already quietly scouted the PLA positions, and the infantry was slowly approaching them. The artillery had also moved all their cannons to the breakout position, ready to fire at the PLA positions at any time.

At midnight, after Wang Yingkai sent a telegram to the Army Department expressing his intention to break out immediately, he immediately issued the order to attack.

The remaining forty-two Beiyang cannons roared in response. Wang Yingkai's goal was to use the most intense firepower to tear through the Red Bandits' defenses in the shortest possible time. The shells landed accurately on the PLA positions, with a resounding explosion. Wang Yingkai knew he couldn't remove these cannons, so the artillerymen fired all the barrels red hot in one breath, until they could no longer fire.

The cannons had not yet stopped firing, and the Beiyang infantry had already moved to a place not far from the trenches. When the cannons stopped firing, the infantry immediately launched a charge towards the PLA positions. PLA soldiers also came out of the anti-artillery holes and quickly opened fire on the Beiyang New Army who were so close.

Chapter 348:

As the PLA opened fire, flares were fired into the sky from afar. These flares, made of aluminum-magnesium alloy powder, instantly shattered the darkness, illuminating a bleak world. Regarding the use of flares, they were generally used by attacking forces, as they illuminated not only the enemy but also themselves. However, using flares by defending forces was not very effective, as they only allowed the attacking forces to clearly identify the defending forces' positions.

But it was true that the Beiyang Second Regiment was attacking at this time, and they were attacking to break out. The People's Liberation Army was attacking from the other three sides, so they naturally needed flares to support them.

Taking advantage of the momentary illumination from the flares, the PLA soldiers quickly closed their eyes and retreated into their trenches. The darkness instantly turned white, and the PLA soldiers immediately saw the positions of the Beiyang New Army troops, who were attempting to use the darkness to fight the PLA. Heavy machine guns quickly opened fire. However, the Beiyang soldiers were completely unaware of the need to immediately close their eyes to protect them when the flares were lit, as this would temporarily blind them. The Second Regiment of the New Army was blinded by the sudden flash, and the momentary daze was fatal. The standing figures of the Beiyang New Army soldiers were clearly visible to the PLA soldiers, and they were shot and fell to the ground one after another.

Da, da, da,.......

The charging Beiyang New Army was harvested like ripe wheat. "Ah~"

Many Qing troops had no idea about flares. They had originally prepared for a night battle, but now they were fighting under bright light. They developed a deep fear of flares and many Qing troops collapsed.

But Wang Yingkai was not affected much. The light was more advantageous to their attacking party. But he knew that he needed to break through the enemy's defense line in a shorter time.

After the initial panic, the Beiyang New Army quickly calmed down. Their marksmanship was no pushover either. Having adjusted to the light, several soldiers opened fire on the heavy machine guns, killing a PLA soldier who was firing, and the deadly flames ceased.

The Beiyang Army immediately stood up again and charged towards the trenches. The deputy gunner of the heavy machine gun pushed away the main gunner who had been shot and immediately pulled the trigger at the Beiyang New Army.

These Beiyang New Army soldiers, who had just stood up and rushed a few steps, were immediately shot to the ground. The Beiyang Army behind them immediately opened fire on the heavy machine gun fire point, killing the auxiliary gunner. The comrades nearby saw the auxiliary gunner killed and the firepower reduced. They immediately turned over, pushed the auxiliary gunner's body aside, and opened fire on the Qing army.

After two rounds of attacks, the Beiyang New Army still failed to break through the PLA's carefully dug defense line. Wang Yingkai was anxious when he saw this situation and immediately shouted: "Order, bombard the Red Bandits' trenches."

"Commander, our own soldiers~"

"We can't worry about that anymore. We must break through the entire Red Bandit defense line in one fell swoop." The Beiyang artillery received the order and fired shells at the PLA trenches, regardless of accidentally bombing Beiyang New Army soldiers. The shells exploded inside and outside the trenches. Although several shells landed among the Beiyang attackers, overall, the PLA suffered greater damage. In particular, two shells exploded directly next to a heavy machine gun, shattering it into pieces and instantly weakening the PLA's firepower. The Beiyang New Army seized the opportunity to launch a charge and broke into the trenches in one fell swoop.

The PLA was also shocked by the ruthless behavior of the Beiyang New Army, which was also bombed by its own people. Even though they had learned the experience from the XZ side, the comrades were still not used to the Beiyang Army's fighting style of killing one thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of their own. Seeing that the Beiyang Army had already attacked their trenches, the soldiers immediately

A bayonet fight broke out. Wang Yingkai was getting more and more anxious at this time, because he knew that the red bandits on the opposite side had already launched an all-out attack, and their encirclement was getting smaller and smaller.

If they don't break out of the encirclement quickly, once the Red Bandits break through the blocking troops, they will have no way out here and the entire army may even collapse.

Wang Yingkai no longer held back and gave the order directly: "Continue the bombardment, extend it to the distance, and attack with all your forces."

If the PLA could have continued to engage the Beiyang Army in the trenches, they would have been able to completely stop them. However, at this point, the two sides were in a complete melee, and the battle was essentially a matter of numbers. How many PLA soldiers could be placed in such a short blocking position? The Beiyang New Army attacked with all their might, killing the blocking PLA soldiers one after another, forcing a bloody path through them.

"Report, the Beiyang New Army has chosen the southern direction of the ditch."

After Zhang Feng heard the direction of Beiyang's breakout, he had to say that this was a good place to break out. If they broke out directly from Zhang Feng, the Beiyang New Army would not only

They will directly face the main force led by Zhang Feng, and also face the PLA's preparations for them.

Several blocking lines. However, breaking out from the south is the direction where the PLA has deployed the least troops, and there are only two blocking lines. Zhang Feng can only hope

I hope the comrades there can withstand the Beiyang attack and hold their positions.

"Report, the Beiyang Army launched an artillery attack while the infantry attacked."

When Zhang Feng heard this, he knew it was over. The Beiyang Army fought desperately. Sure enough, after a while, there was another report: "Report, the Beiyang New Army broke through."

After hearing this, Zhang Feng sighed and continued to wait for further news. "Report, the Beiyang New Army fled directly eastward after leaving."

Zhang Feng heard this and gave the order: "Order the cavalry to harass the Beiyang New Army from the south. Do not let them enter the Qinling Mountains and Shaohua Mountain."

"Yes."

"Report, forty cannons of the Beiyang New Army have been seized, but no ammunition."

After hearing that most of the Beiyang Army's artillery had been left in the encirclement, Zhang Feng knew that this was the Beiyang Army's last stand. They were traveling light and with a small force, just to fight for what they thought was a way out. But without heavy weapons, how far could the Beiyang run? Zhang Feng thought of Zhang Yinghao's telegram again. If a passage to Huazhou was left, then the Beiyang New Army might directly enter Huazhou through this gap. After the Beiyang New Army entered Huazhou, it might be better to besiege and persuade them to surrender. The Beiyang New Army without heavy weapons was like a tiger without teeth when gathered together. But now if these Beiyang New Army were all dispersed and the chaotic soldiers started to cause chaos in the area, it would take many days to completely eliminate them.

"Report, some food for the Beiyang New Army has been found."

"Report....…""

Wang Yingkai led his troops in a frenzy as he ran ahead, his left, right, and back constantly firing deadly bullets. In order to delay the PLA's pursuit, Wang Yingkai had already deployed a battalion of blocking troops on each of the other three sides. However, he did not expect that these blocking forces would not last long before they collapsed. This could not be blamed on the blocking Beiyang Army. Wang Yingkai led the main force to break through, and the PLA immediately fired flares, which made the Beiyang New Army, which was fully prepared for a night battle, suffer directly. The PLA also immediately launched an all-out attack. How could a battalion of troops withstand the PLA's penetration? After being shot at from the side, these Beiyang New Army chose to surrender directly.

"Those who surrender will not be killed. The People's Liberation Army will treat prisoners well." "Those who surrender will not be killed. The People's Liberation Army will treat prisoners well."

Tens of thousands of people shouted this, and those Beiyang New Army troops who still had the will to resist surrendered immediately. The cannon fodder patrol battalion led by Wang Yingkai were among the first to surrender. Beiyang New Army soldiers were required to study upon entering the barracks, and there were also comrades from the Forward Party infiltrating the ranks. Therefore, all officers and soldiers of the Beiyang New Army were more or less aware of the PLA's prisoner policy. Moreover, it was well known that the Chinese surrendered truly; even when the Japanese took a large group of prisoners to be executed, no one would resist. For those who had not been educated in struggle, surrender was seen as mere submission, as if they had completely handed their fate over to others. They would not bargain with the surrendered, as was the practice in Western countries, for rights. During the War of Liberation, a few soldiers could guard hundreds of surrendering militiamen. Similarly, a few PLA soldiers could escort hundreds of Beiyang Army and patrol troops with virtually no difficulty.

Therefore, the speed of the PLA's pursuit of the Beiyang Army was completely beyond Wang Yingkai's expectations. On this vast plain, Wang Yingkai kept leaving behind the Beiyang Army to block the PLA, but he felt that it was of no use at all. The PLA soldiers were still sticking to them like leeches. In fact, no matter how Wang Yingkai ran, could he still outrun the PLA wearing Liberation Shoes? Could the Beiyang Army he left behind be able to quickly and comprehensively block the PLA's pursuit? The PLA was like a flood at this time, penetrating every hole.

Regardless of the Beiyang Army's blockade, they quickly penetrated through it and closely followed the fleeing Beiyang main force.

The reason why the People's Liberation Army did this was to trap the Beiyang Army together because they were worried that these new Beiyang troops would scatter. If these new Beiyang troops scattered into villages where the people had not been evacuated, these disorderly soldiers might harm the people.

Wang Yingkai looked at the flares that kept rising, and he suddenly hated this thing that illuminated them. Without this thing, how could the Red Bandits dare to get so close to them? They could have quietly dispersed and broken out. At this time, the Beiyang New Army had completely scattered. The officers could not find the soldiers, and the soldiers could not find the officers. They could only helplessly be driven away by the People's Liberation Army.

Zhang Feng heard the current situation and remembered the telegram Zhang Yinghao sent him.

Isn't this situation exactly what Chairman Zhang Yinghao said! The pursuit of half of Yuan Langshi was eliminated, and the Beiyang New Army was eaten up bit by bit. Zhang Feng picked up Zhang Yinghao's telegram again,

I read it again and sighed after reading it. If the PLA had deployed according to the contents of Zhang Yinghao's telegram, it would definitely not have suffered such losses.

By this time, the pursuing People's Liberation Army was slowly tightening the noose around the necks of the Beiyang New Army. One side was well-trained, the other was disorganized and unable to fight. The PLA completely outran the Beiyang New Army. The Beiyang could run five or six kilometers, but could they really run ten or twenty? This place was dozens of kilometers away from Tongguan. Wang Yingkai knew that this was a complete miscalculation. After running for a while, the Beiyang New Army began to fall behind. These stragglers gasped and coughed, their faces pale under the illumination of flares. They held their rifles high with both hands, or simply dropped their rifles and raised their hands.

Seeing their physical strength continue to decline, Wang Yingkai knew that they couldn't keep running like this. If they couldn't run a few more kilometers, they would be either killed by the Red Bandits or exhausted to death.

"Commander, there is a village ahead."

Sure enough, Wang Yingkai, riding on his horse, saw the shadow of a village looming in the distance. Wang Yingkai didn't care about anything else at this point. Looking at the dwindling number of new army soldiers, if they were all gone, he would have no bargaining chips. He simply shouted: "Enter the village."

The village was deserted; the villagers had long been relocated by the People's Liberation Army. When the People's Liberation Army saw the Beiyang New Army entering the village, they didn't immediately attack. Instead, they stopped and immediately began digging trenches, surrounding the entire village. Then, they quietly waited for dawn.

Perhaps it was fate that saw this pursuit victory as too easy, for a chilly wind suddenly blew, and a cold rain began to fall. The biting cold wind and rain pierced the PLA, which had just achieved a brief victory, facing another huge challenge, a downpour of cold water on its head. Zhang Feng glanced at the bitter wind and rain outside and immediately divided the work with the comrades of the Military Commission to begin the intense and complex finishing work.

At this point, the Beiyang New Army could have sealed off the enemy and left them alone. However, the defending People's Liberation Army, lacking rain gear or other protective gear, faced a formidable challenge in the bitter cold. Furthermore, with so many prisoners to house and wounded to treat, wounds exposed to the rain could easily become infected, requiring a warm operating environment for the doctors. Without a warm environment, their fingers would become numb, rendering surgery impossible. There was also a vast amount of battlefield supplies to be handled. The battle wasn't just won; the aftermath was a complex matter.

Working in the cold and rainy winter was really a very hard job. The rain was mixed with blood, and the whole battlefield was really bloody. Flares were constantly fired into the sky, and grease torches were lit all around. The soldiers wearing rubber shoes were working hard to clean the battlefield.

"Report, the blood reserves are insufficient now."

Zhang Feng felt quite helpless after hearing this. The people of all places were essentially the largest, naturally renewable blood bank, yet people these days simply didn't dare to donate. They were accused of ignorance, fear, and the idea that seeing blood would bring disaster. They were told why they had no relatives, and that it was detrimental to their vitality. These days, donating blood was seen as a matter of life and death, as if it meant giving. Whenever someone tried to donate blood, their family would question and try to stop them.

Chapter 349:

For healthy adults, donating 200cc of blood at once has little impact on their health. Women generally live longer than men, partly because they experience menstruation each month, which automatically renews the blood and regulates the body. However, Zhang Yinghao advises against donating blood for those who perform heavy labor. Without adequate rest and nutrition, the body won't be able to recover, which can be detrimental.

Of course, many people are reluctant to donate blood because they believe someone is profiting from their donated blood. Otherwise, how could there be blood sellers and AIDS villages? Furthermore, many organizations offer compensation for lost work and nutritional supplements to encourage donations. Where does the money come from? It must be someone profiting from blood donations! Therefore, we encourage everyone to donate blood in legitimate venues. Donating blood is a great and glorious thing.

"How much blood is missing now?"

"Twenty-five thousand milliliters is enough. For those with less serious injuries, we can still use saline and glucose solution to maintain blood pressure and osmotic pressure. However, those with serious injuries must receive blood transfusions to save their lives. Otherwise, they will eventually go into shock and die."

When the hospital ran out of blood, Zhang Feng had no good solution. He knew that if Chairman Zhang Yinghao faced this problem, he would first donate blood himself, then ask Party members and cadres to donate, and then mobilize the trainees in Chengdu to donate blood. Zhang Feng also knew that Zhang Yinghao had donated blood publicly many times to show his comrades that donating blood was harmless and to encourage them to donate blood. With Zhang Yinghao's personal leadership, the top leaders of the Party, government, and military naturally followed suit, and they also frequently set an example by donating blood in public.

But this time there was a better option. He immediately instructed Political Commissar Cai Zhonghe to mobilize Beiyang prisoners to donate blood. Cai Zhonghe also thought it made sense. He immediately brought blood collectors to a group of prisoners and shouted: "Dear brothers of the Beiyang New Army, we are running out of blood in the liberated areas. Many of you brothers in the New Army are seriously injured and have lost a lot of blood. So now, they need your help..."

The New Army prisoners also listened attentively, not understanding what this Red Bandit official was saying. But when they heard Cai Zhonghe say that they wanted to draw some of their blood, these Beiyang soldiers who dared to fight immediately became timid, and could even be said to be scared half to death. No matter what Cai Zhonghe said, they were afraid of having their blood drawn. In their cognition, being shot by a gun would cause death due to excessive bleeding, so drawing blood would naturally also cause death. For these people who had no medical knowledge to understand this for no reason, and for them to draw their own blood to save people, in their view, it was like using their own life to exchange for someone else's life, and they naturally did not agree. If anyone was willing to do this, then he really had made up his mind to exchange one life for another.

Zhang Feng was also listening to Cai Zhonghe's mobilization at this time. Seeing that these Beiyang New Army soldiers were unwilling to donate blood, Zhang Feng thought about it and without saying a word, he returned to the office and brought the Military Commission cadres and comrades working in the external office to the group of prisoners. He immediately sat on the blood-drawing chair and asked the blood-drawing nurse to start drawing blood. Other party members and cadres lined up and waited behind.

When Cai Zhonghe saw Zhang Feng doing this, he immediately knew what to say. He heard him shout: "Dear Beiyang brothers, this is Zhang Feng, the commander of our Shaanxi Military Sub-district. He is now personally leading the blood donation to save the wounded of your Beiyang New Army. You came to Shaanxi to fight us, but we are still willing to donate our blood to save you once. Why? Because we are all Chinese. You are working for the Qing Dynasty with different positions, and we can understand that, so we are willing to save you once..."

These Beiyang New Army prisoners listened to Cai Zhonghe's calls, and saw the blood-drawing nurse first prick Zhang Feng's arm, and saw the nurse use a syringe with a thick needle to draw a tube of blood from Zhang Feng's vein. Looking at the tube of blood, the Beiyang New Army soldiers turned pale and felt deeply shocked in their hearts.

In this cruel era, treating the enemy's wounded and treating prisoners well is a very benevolent act. Now seeing these former enemies willing to offer their own blood to save their own enemies, this can no longer be justified by benevolence and righteousness.

As for the possibility of cross-infection of blood diseases, the only thing left to do now is to keep the wounded alive. However, military doctors still prefer to use PLA blood on the battlefield. After all, the PLA blood is safe. Moreover, PLA soldiers all know their own blood types, so as long as the blood type of the injured is tested, they can directly use blood for the injured.

As Zhang Feng's blood was drawn, a Beiyang New Army soldier, receiving an IV drip, was brought out. A nearby nurse took the syringe and, right in front of the Beiyang Army captive, slowly injected Zhang Feng's blood into the wounded Beiyang New Army soldier's body. The pale soldier's face suddenly regained color, and his condition had clearly improved.

Zhang Feng pressed the needle hole with a sterilized cotton swab and said, "Brothers from the Beiyang Army, this is how blood drawing works. It won't kill you. We all know that excessive bleeding can kill us, but if we have a basin of blood in our bodies and we only draw out a cup of it, it won't have much impact on our bodies. Comrade Political Commissar just said that no matter if you are from Hebei or Shandong, we are all Chinese. Maybe we were one family hundreds of years ago. Although we were fighting last night, even brothers have to fight! We think we should save these wounded. Even if you don't want to, we will find a way to save them."

Zhang Feng's words made many Beiyang New Army soldiers look ashamed. Zhang Feng was an old comrade of Zhang Yinghao, so he naturally knew that now was the best time to publicize the ideas of the People's Liberation Army. Zhang Feng continued, "Have you ever thought about why you came to fight? The Qing Dynasty paid one tael of silver to each person in the country during the Boxer Indemnity. Have you ever thought about how many people lost their fortunes and their families? For this money, there were peasant uprisings in Hebei and Shandong, and the slogan was "Resistance to Foreign Donations", right? These were honest peasants, and it seems that their uprising was suppressed by your Beiyang New Army in collusion with foreigners, right? You should have killed many of us Chinese together with foreigners, right? You should have some idea in your hearts, right? Doesn't your conscience hurt?"

Have you ever thought about it? If you beat us, what will happen to Shaanxi? Are you going to kill people in Shaanxi too? We are all Chinese! The corrupt officials of the Qing Dynasty will immediately come to Shaanxi like jackals and tigers to squeeze our bones and marrow. Do you know what will become of Shaanxi? Now you know why the PLA soldiers are fighting with you to death, because if we are defeated by you, the people of Shaanxi will never have a peaceful day. The Qing Dynasty was defeated repeatedly in the battles against the foreign powers, but they fought us Chinese fiercely. Have you, the Beiyang New Army, ever fought against the armies of the foreign powers? You are an army, and the army should defend the country against the foreign powers, but you are fighting among yourselves to fight us. What's the logic?"

Many Beiyang soldiers immediately expressed deep thought at Zhang Feng's criticisms and questions. For a semi-feudal, semi-private army like the Beiyang New Army, bred to foster a certain blind loyalty, the upper echelons' greatest fear was the soldiers' ability to think for themselves. They expected absolute obedience from their soldiers, and the military was riddled with oppression. They could only coax them into service with high salaries and generous benefits. Of course, these tactics were tried and tested: as long as there was money, there was no shortage of willing soldiers.

But once the soldiers had a reason in their heads, had their own ideals and pursuits, and began to think for themselves, this Beiyang New Army was doomed. Just like in later generations, high salaries still couldn't retain some people, because this person had higher aspirations than money, and began to pursue his own ideals. So although people live in reality, living in their own ideals is the happiest thing.

However, when some soldiers heard Zhang Feng say that the Beiyang government was not good at fighting foreign powers but was very good at fighting the Chinese, they were dissatisfied and directly retorted: "Didn't you also rebel? You attacked Shaanxi, then sent troops to Xinjiang, and now you are attacking Yunnan and Guizhou. Isn't this also Chinese fighting against Chinese?"

Zhang Feng listened to this rebuttal and smiled faintly: "First of all, let me correct one thing. We are not rebelling, but revolting. We sent troops to liberate Shaanxi, not because we wanted to, but because the people of Shaanxi invited us to do so. You also know that Shaanxi and the entire Northwest suffered from a severe drought in the past two years, and tens of millions of people died. The Qing Dynasty did not care about these people, so naturally we will manage them. The reason is that simple. As for sending troops to XZ, Yunnan and Guizhou, that was the Qing Dynasty ceding land in the border areas. Do you know how much land the Qing Dynasty ceded? The land of all your families combined is not as much as the Qing Dynasty ceded. You say that the Qing Dynasty ceded so much of our land that belongs to our country. We are all Chinese. Can we agree to it?"

"No."

"No."

At this time, several Beiyang soldiers shouted, and when they saw the Beiyang New Army next to them looking at them in surprise, they immediately lowered their heads with red faces. The scene was very awkward for a while.

Zhang Feng laughed when he heard this and said, "What's there to be embarrassed about? It's just not right. Think about what you would think and what would you do if your family's land was taken away by someone else? Would you fight him to the death? If it were me, I would definitely fight those who took our land to the death. By the same token, you came to attack us in Shaanxi to take the land we distributed to the people, and the people will naturally fight you to the death. Now the imperialist powers are coming to take our land, but the Qing Dynasty ceded our country's land to the powers. How can this be justified? So since the Qing Dynasty cannot protect our country's land, then what's the problem with us overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and protecting these lands ourselves? So for our Forward Party and the People's Liberation Army, revolution is not a crime, and rebellion is justified."

Hearing Zhang Feng's powerful words, "Revolution is not a crime, rebellion is justified," many of the Beiyang New Army soldiers were stunned. They had seen many cries of insurgents and bandits, but Zhang Feng's righteous and confident voice was the first they had ever seen. Of course, the Beiyang New Army soldiers didn't know that this was a powerful feeling only victors could give them. If the People's Liberation Army had been defeated, a few prisoners of war shouting these words from the gallows or guillotine would have seemed like mere whining. But now, watching Zhang Feng's righteous and confident expression and listening to his righteous words, they suddenly felt as if this was indeed the truth.

Finally, Zhang Feng said to the Beiyang New Army, "Brothers of the New Army should think carefully about why we are fighting. Don't let others use you as a pawn and waste your lives. If you are unwilling to donate blood to save these wounded soldiers, we are willing to do our best to save them. If anyone is willing to donate blood, please line up at the back to donate blood. These are your own comrades who will be saved."

After Zhang Feng finished speaking, he turned around and left. Before leaving, Zhang Feng glanced at the Beiyang New Army and saw several soldiers shyly walking out of the group of prisoners and lining up at the back of the queue.

Zhang Feng was quite pleased with the new soldiers who had come forward to donate blood. If none of them came forward, Zhang Feng would be completely disappointed with these so-called new soldiers and would absolutely despise them forever. It was understandable that they didn't know what blood donation was, and were apprehensive and fearful, but if they remained indifferent and unsympathetic after seeing others donate blood, then there was really no need to save them. Seeing soldiers donate blood would confirm that these new soldiers were not all hopeless.

After Zhang Feng donated 200 milliliters of blood, he sent people to Xi'an to mobilize party members, cadres and the people to donate blood to save lives. Now that the weather is cold, blood can be preserved for a long time, and Tongguan will definitely need blood.

After the blood problem was solved and the situation was under control, Zhang Feng immediately led a group of Military Commission leaders to the front line. They personally pushed carts loaded with food and carried baskets loaded with ginger soup, and personally delivered the hot soup and food to the soldiers on the front line. When the cadres and soldiers saw Zhang Feng personally come to the front line to bring them hot soup, they felt warm in their hearts when they drank it.

Zhang Feng didn't say anything to show his concern. When he saw a soldier, he would say, "Work hard, and then go back and rest."

After delivering the food and soup, Zhang Feng wiped the rain off his face, glanced at the busy crowd, and sighed: It's finally almost done.

At this moment, he received a telegram from Tongguan, saying that the Beiyang New Army was attacking Tongguan. Zhang Feng looked in the direction of Tongguan from afar and seemed to hear the rumbling sound of cannons. Zhang Feng put down the telegram and immediately plunged into his intense work again.

"These Beiyang soldiers are so damn rich, son of a bitch, they're spending their artillery shells like they're free."

Ma Long learned some culture after joining the People's Liberation Army. He could pretend to be a cultured person at ordinary times, but when it came to fighting, his rough nature was exposed and he was basically full of swear words.

Fang Xiaohu laughed and said, "The Beiyang army must be fighting desperately at this time. If they can't take Tongguan, they will inevitably be eaten by us if they enter a town in Shaanxi. Only by taking Tongguan can they have a glimmer of hope to rescue the second town. The new army of a town is a serious blow to both the Qing Dynasty and the Beiyang army."

Chapter 350:

Tongguan is the most important pass from Henan into Shaanxi, known as the "Number One Pass in the World." Since ancient times, it has been the only way to reach Chang'an from Luoyang. As long as Tongguan is controlled, Shaanxi is safe. Of course, there are many other ways to enter Shaanxi, but those places are so mountainous and densely forested that even locals dare not travel freely. It's impossible for outsiders to enter, let alone large armies.

The one attacking Tongguan is currently the Sixth Regiment of the Beiyang Army. They have been closely following the movements in Tongguan. After knowing that Tongguan was captured by the Red Bandits again, they immediately knew that Wang Yingkai's troops were trapped in Shaanxi. Wang Shizhen immediately led the army to Tongguan. After receiving the situation of the Second Regiment and learning that Tongguan was captured by the Red Bandits, the Qing Dynasty immediately ordered the Sixth Regiment to support the Second Regiment entering Shaanxi. The Sixth Regiment led by Wang Shizhen naturally began to attack Tongguan fiercely, hoping to open a gap for the Second Regiment to enter Shaanxi.