The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

However, Ding Zhenduo's adjutant didn't care about anything and helped Ding Zhenduo onto his horse, then quickly mounted his horse and retreated. At this time, the revolutionary cavalry had also arrived. They held sabers in their hands, and swung their right arms forward like scooping water, following the inertia of the horses' forward momentum. With a flick of their hands and a drop of their swords, several heads disappeared in an instant.

By this time, the revolutionary army had launched a full-scale counterattack, and the cries of killing filled the air. Ding Zhenduo, looking back on his horse, was unaware that he had fallen prey to a treacherous enemy plot. He hated the elite troops he had brought with him; they were all gone. For a moment, he was overcome with grief. When Ding Zhenduo reached the Yangtze River, he saw many Qing troops also on the shore, their faces bewildered, unsure how to cross the river.

Ding Zhenduo didn't know how to cross the river. He saw that the nearest boat had already reached the middle of the river. By the time the boats crossed, the revolutionaries would likely have chopped off his head. Instantly, Ding Zhenduo decided to close his eyes and wait for death. However, he didn't want to die at the hands of the rebels and add to their achievements. Glancing at the water, he decided to drown himself.

Suddenly, he knelt down in the direction he thought was the capital, kowtowed three times, and shouted loudly: "Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, I am incompetent!"

After shouting, he stood up and walked towards the river.

The adjutant knew the man before him was somewhat savvy, but certainly not strong enough to reach the other side safely. And judging by what he had just seen, he seemed to be planning to commit suicide by jumping into the river. Otherwise, even the best swimmer wouldn't be able to swim far without taking off their clothes.

The truth is, those people on TV who jump into the water to save people fully clothed are definitely lacking common sense. Clothes and pants soak up water, making it impossible to paddle, or even extremely difficult. So, if you're diving into the water to save someone, no matter how urgent the situation, you should always take off your pants and clothes. Otherwise, you'll be in great danger of not only saving the person but also yourself.

The adjutant was very clever. He did not point out Ding Zhenduo's suicidal thoughts, but said, "Sir, the weather is not too cold now. I am a good swimmer and can swim with you to the other side."

His words instantly ignited Ding Zhenduo's desire to live. Naturally, no one wanted to die if they could avoid it. He seemed to have forgotten the moment he knelt and begged for death, and asked anxiously, "Really?"

"Sir, there is absolutely no problem."

"Hurry up, let's get in the water."

"Sir, take off your clothes and pants quickly. We will retreat immediately. As long as there is life, there will be no shortage of firewood."

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Ding Zhenduo and his adjutant jumped into the water to escape, which was something the revolutionary army had not anticipated. In the end, the revolutionary army only found the beast clothes that Ding Zhenduo was wearing by the river.

The soldiers felt quite sorry that they failed to capture the governor.

After Ouyang Jun learned about this, he laughed and said, "Let him escape. It's no big deal. We will liberate the whole country in the future. We'll see where he goes then."

When everyone heard this, they thought there was nothing wrong with it and it was indeed true, so they let the matter go.

"Commander, what are we going to do with so many prisoners? And there are so many wounded Qing soldiers. Do we have to treat them as well?"

"Treatment? Of course we need to treat them. Putting aside the differences between the enemy and us, the Green Camp soldiers are just soldiers who eat food, and they have also made contributions to guarding the borders of the motherland. They are also Chinese, and will be citizens under our rule in the future. Their families will also be citizens under our rule in the future, and perhaps they are waiting for them to come home now. And you have also seen that these Green Camp soldiers are still very brave and good at fighting at this time. There must be a reason. If they can be reformed, they will actually

He is indeed an excellent soldier.

Of course, the necessary investigations must be conducted, and all the officers inside must be identified. Then, we can go and complain to them and eliminate the criminals. Soldiers who can be reformed should be reformed, and those who cannot be reformed should be sent to the mines. Digging canals is also a good option. Perhaps, in the future, when we liberate Yunnan and Guizhou, we will need these reformed Green Camp soldiers."

Ouyang Jun had been able to think of this, and many of his ideas were already close to Zhang Yinghao's. If Zhang Yinghao knew Ouyang Jun's thoughts, he would definitely be very happy, as this was a testament to the comrades' progress. The crowd heard Ouyang Jun's words, and no one raised any objections. Everyone saw the fighting power of the Green Camp in Yunnan and Guizhou. At least they were not as rotten as the Green Camp in Sichuan. With the revolutionary army's strong assimilation capabilities, reforming some of them would be no problem. At this point, these Green Camp soldiers were also shocked by the revolutionary army's fighting power. The army only obeys the strong, this is an unchanging truth.

The Ouyang army was currently dealing with post-war issues, while the news of the complete annihilation of the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Camp remained unknown. However, upon learning that the Qing army advancing from Yunnan and Guizhou had been nearly completely annihilated, Zhang Zhidong in Wuhan was immediately frightened and retreated, hastily withdrawing the troops he had already dispatched. Without fully understanding the strength of the revolutionary army, without making sufficient preparations, and without absolute certainty, he dared not even consider sending troops again.

As for the foreigners, they were in an even greater dilemma regarding attacking Sichuan. The Qing Dynasty was currently unable to attack, and they were unwilling to join the Qing Dynasty in a desperate struggle. The situation remained at that point. Furthermore, Britain was still engaged in suppressing the Second Boer War and was unlikely to be dragged into another conflict that had little to do with it.

However, there was some good news: they hadn't expected the Qing troops in Yunnan and Guizhou to be so weak, unable to even penetrate the heart of Sichuan. Upon hearing the news of the Qing troops' annihilation, Britain and France resumed their maneuvers along the Yunnan-Guangxi border. This frightened the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, who was afraid to deploy more troops to attack Sichuan. Furthermore, the Yunnan and Guizhou regions had always been unstable, with uprisings breaking out one after another. The Qing needed to retain sufficient troops to garrison the region. More importantly, Yunnan and Guizhou were short of money, and the Qing couldn't afford to reorganize the annihilated Green Camp.

After Zhang Yinghao and Hu Songhui had a conversation, Hu Songhui went to study the bandit suppression in these areas. If the bandits were not cleared out, the local area would not be peaceful, and basic work would be difficult to carry out thoroughly.

Although Sichuan has the vast Chengdu Plain, it is also surrounded by mountains and hills, which has cultivated the tough character of the mountain people. The tough character, coupled with the hardship of life in years of famine, naturally makes them think of robbing and robbery. This has led to the situation where there are many bandits in Shu since ancient times, and this was also the case until the Republic of China era.

Sichuan bandits were known locally as "Bang Lao Er" or "Bang Ke." Before guns were available, Sichuan bandits often used large clubs to intimidate single travelers. The term "Lao Er" was used with a mocking and disparaging tone. This is how the term "Bang Lao Er" came about.

There is an old folk song in Sichuan that goes like this: "Guests upstairs, guests downstairs, listen to my boss's words. Don't go into the shop to rest at night, lest you run into a thug ahead..."

This is a common refrain among innkeepers to drum up business these days, urging merchants to stay in the inn instead of traveling at night, lest they run into bandits. This suggests that banditry was indeed rampant in Sichuan. However, the peak of banditry didn't occur until the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, when Sichuan was particularly plagued by it. This was partly due to increasing social unrest. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, various provinces declared independence, and new and old factions were busy fighting for territory, leaving them with little time to manage public security. This led to the growing banditry, especially in Sichuan, where warlord warfare had persisted since the fall of the Qing Dynasty.

On the other hand, it was because of the deserted soldiers and the disbanded soldiers that they turned into bandits. During the reign of the Beiyang government, the warlords fought each other, resulting in a large number of deserted soldiers and disbanded soldiers. These soldiers were used to being fierce and it was impossible for them to go home and farm.

So he went up the mountain to become a bandit, robbing houses.

Therefore, before the warlords' chaotic struggles, the numerous rogue soldiers who fled to the mountains and became bandits, and the widespread availability of firearms, bandit suppression was infinitely easier than in later times. However, northern Sichuan borders Gansu, Shaanxi, and Hubei, a region long since ancient times considered a "no man's land." Furthermore, these areas are characterized by rugged terrain and vast expanses of water, and have long been known for their unruly people and rampant banditry. Bandits in these areas have occupied these areas for countless years, many of them forming long-standing bandit families. If a stranger passed through these areas, they would be stopped and robbed, and a bribe would be a must, with murder and theft being commonplace.

They are familiar with every river and every ravine here. Officers and soldiers from all dynasties have come here to suppress bandits. Without officers and soldiers, they are ineffective and even cannot defeat the bandits.

When there are too many of them, they will hide in the mountains and fight a protracted battle with the officers and soldiers. After a long time, the officers and soldiers will naturally retreat, and this place will still be their world.

Therefore, suppressing bandits in these places is not just the job of special forces, nor is it just the participation of all the troops brought by Zhang Yinghao, but a systematic project. However, before the formal suppression of bandits, there is one thing that must be dealt with first.

That is the problem of landlords and evil gentry. After all, many bandits are raised by them.

The landlords might have secret bases in the mountains. If they were not dealt with in advance, they would become the eyes and ears of the bandits, causing trouble for the revolutionary army from time to time.

The revolutionary army was never polite to landlords and evil gentry. In the face of absolute superiority, the revolutionary army publicly tried and executed the landlords and evil gentry who were caught committing serious crimes, and also took away all the landlords and gentry who were not found guilty of crimes and arranged them in other places.

After the public trials of these landlords and evil gentry, the revolutionary army began to publicize the policy of land distribution and implemented the household registration system. Comrades went door to door to register

At this time, many comrades discovered many problems. Many people who had been persecuted by landlords and disappeared appeared one after another.

When asking many people about the bandits, many villagers were evasive and always talked about other things.

The revolutionary army was very keen to discover that there must be some unknown secrets hidden inside.

Perhaps this secret was unknown only to the revolutionary army that had come from afar. This situation was quickly reported, and some of the details immediately attracted the attention of the intelligence department.

Because according to the early intelligence of the intelligence department, these people who suddenly appeared went up the mountain to become bandits, but now these people actually came down the mountain to divide the land. There must be a lot of things to do here.

The intelligence department started to investigate along this line of thought, and soon found that

The bandits had their own sources of intelligence in various places, and many of them had villagers report to them about what was happening outside. However, the bandits had always distrusted the Qing court, and naturally had no trust in the new government.

However, after the revolutionary army eliminated the Qing forces and overthrew the landlords, they actually began to advocate for free land distribution to the people.

The bandits were exploited, and most of them could not resist the temptation of land distribution. Although the people had heard that the rebels would give the poor people

The land was distributed, but when it really fell on their heads, the people were still ecstatic. After these people knew the policy of the revolutionary army, they naturally hoped that their relatives who had become bandits could also return home and be allocated a few acres of land, so those with connections began to persuade the bandits to leave the mountains.

So naturally, the news that the new government was going to distribute land to the people spread quickly, even among many bandit dens. Aside from a few dedicated to banditry and a life of plunder, how many people would want to live that way? Many bandits had already begun imagining themselves marrying and living a comfortable life after their land was distributed. Isn't it wonderful to have a wife, a little farmland, mountain spring water, a wife, children, and a warm bed? Who wants to live with their head on the line?

Upon learning of this situation, the Progressive Party immediately made several decisions. First, it immediately stepped up its propaganda efforts, vigorously promoting a policy encouraging bandits to return to the mountains and share their land, confess their past, and receive reduced punishments. Villagers whose family members were bandits were also encouraged to persuade their families to return to the mountains and register with the new government, giving them a new chance as human beings. Of course, the Progressive Party wouldn't promote the nonsense of letting bygones be bygones; it could only offer reduced punishments.

Chapter 190: Thanks for the tip and more chapters!

The second is to investigate the evil deeds of these bandits, and through these bandits who have come down the mountain, map out the location of these bandit lairs. For those bandits who have committed many evil deeds, pay special attention to them, severely crack down on them, deter the bandits' psychology, and encourage more bandits to come down the mountain and surrender, map out more bandit lairs, and thus form a new round of crackdowns.

After the policy of persuading bandits to return home was implemented, it could be said that this policy significantly divided the bandits. Coupled with heavy and precise strikes, fierce bandits were frequently brought down. The revolutionary army eliminated one feared bandit after another, and bandit families entrenched in dangerous areas, as well as bandits who had been bandits for decades, were all apprehended. Through these eliminations, countless evidence of the crimes of landlords was also uncovered.

At first, the people did not trust that the revolutionary army would be able to suppress the bandits to the end. They also thought that the Forward Party and the revolutionary army would suppress the bandits just like the Qing Dynasty did in the past, with a lot of noise.

The bandits did not kill anyone, but they stretched out their hands to the common people, causing great harm to the local area. Moreover, after they had caused harm to the local area, they just patted their butts and got away with it. After the officers and soldiers left, the bandits would retaliate even more severely.

Therefore, whether they were soldiers or bandits, they were both a nuisance to the vast majority of the working people. Even in the eyes of the common people, soldiers were actually worse than bandits, because as the saying goes: "Bandits are like combing, soldiers are like rakes, and officials are like shaving." This means that bandits are like combing, at least leaving a lot behind. Soldiers are like rakes, leaving very little behind. And officials are like shaving heads—leaving nothing behind. Therefore, Zeng Guofan was nicknamed "Zeng the Barber." Although he cut heads like a shaving head, he also left no one alive wherever he went. You can imagine how cruel he was.

The people's assumptions about the revolutionary army were completely different. While they believed they would cause disturbances, the revolutionary army lived in tents and rarely invaded homes. Even if they borrowed a house, they would immediately compensate them. Borrowed items were returned on time, and any damage was compensated according to the price. Furthermore, the people found the revolutionary army to be very fair in their dealings, never taking advantage of the people.

In fact, the revolutionary army could live in the homes of the landlords, but considering that this would have a bad influence, the revolutionary army still lived in the marching tents. And since this operation was used as a military training, it was natural to make it as realistic as possible. What was the point of living in a big tile house?

While the revolutionary army distributed land to the people, they also helped them dig wells and do other work. The people quickly sided with the revolutionary army and began to believe its propaganda, knowing that this army was their own, the people's army.

Soon, the common people would sometimes voluntarily provide food to the revolutionary army, knowing that the army wouldn't eat their food for free but would pay them, often more than they earned from selling the food. They would even personally lead the way for the revolutionary army and help transport supplies. With the common people's support, the revolutionary army's advance became even faster, and the bandits in the mountains quickly vanished like snow meeting the sun.

The bandit chiefs in northern Sichuan did not try to stop the revolutionary army's anti-bandit campaign. It can even be said that they were very good at dealing with officers and soldiers. However, they soon discovered that the previous measures against officers and soldiers were ineffective. There were still a large number of bandit minions escaping from the stronghold. These stronghold chiefs began to fear the revolutionary army and became suspicious. So they began to make stupid moves. They restricted the bandits' freedom, blocked the news, and did not allow people in the stronghold to discuss the revolution.

The news of the army was so intense that even the people in the stronghold were not allowed to talk to each other.

Will it be quick or will it end in failure?

The revolutionary army's patience in suppressing the bandits was excellent. After clearing out the old and local

After the bandits colluded with the landlords and evil gentry, most of the bandits became deaf and blind.

After the revolutionary army gained the support of the people, the bandits had less room to survive.

Being constantly compressed by the revolutionary army, these bandits finally lost their living ground.

It can only move towards destruction step by step.

There is a large bandit force in Xinshun Township, Qingchuan County, led by Jia Sidao.

He was a big landlord, and he also supported a group of bandits.

Although he is a vicious person, he appears to be very kind.

The revolutionary army arrived in Qingchuan County to fight against the local tyrants.

The landlord Jia Sidao knew that he could no longer escape, so he immediately turned around and

He became a bandit leader and hid in the mountains with his family.

When the cadres were presiding over the land distribution, they suddenly rushed out and killed five of them on the spot.

There were dozens of people in the crowd, and then they fled again, and then they made several more

A massacre broke out, and for a time, everyone in Qingchuan County was in danger.

Jia Sidao was still secretly spreading the word that anyone who dared to take his family's land would be punished.

The land will inevitably be fought to the death and will inevitably be retaliated.

The local people have long been

Living under the rule of the Jia family, they feared retaliation and joined the revolutionary army.

keep distance.

At this time, Jia Sidao was scattered and hiding in the mountains, making it very difficult to eliminate the bandits.

The disciples were led by his sons, making it extremely difficult to divide them.

Faced with this situation, the revolutionary army immediately sent soldiers to further develop

The masses were mobilized to try to find out where Jia Sidao was hiding. With the cooperation of local cadres, the masses and the militia, they divided their forces and launched twelve battles. Two of his sons were also killed by the revolutionary army.

Especially when encircling and suppressing the stubborn bandits led by Jia Sidao, Hu Songhui and his team searched many places in all directions but found nothing. Later, the locals discovered that one of Jia Sidao's sons had gone down the mountain to eat, drink and have fun. After careful tracking and investigation, they found the headquarters of the bandit leader Jia Sidao.

The revolutionary army immediately deployed, with 007 and the scouts leading the attack, surrounded by a circle of revolutionary soldiers and militia troops. This time, the revolutionary army was determined to completely wipe out Jia Sidao's bandits.

This cave was located in the middle of a cliff, making it impossible for a large force to launch an attack. Gunfire from below was impossible, and explosives were also impossible. Jia Sidao had built this cave at great expense, and it could be considered his last stronghold. He had already considered conventional methods of attack and could naturally avoid them. However, Jia Sidao was unaware of the existence of special forces. As long as there was a crack in the cliff and they could reach the top, they would have a way to enter the cave.

The revolutionary soldiers slowly reached the entrance of the cave commanded by Jia Sidao and heard the conversation of the people inside.

"What? You still want to go out?"

The man who said this was a burly man who looked to be in his thirties. He had a long scar on his face, which made him look particularly ferocious. Even in the lair, he did not relax at all.

He was on guard, and I saw that he was carrying a machete on his back, a pistol on his waist, and a rifle on his shoulder. From a distance, this equipment was not very good in this era.

The revolutionary soldiers had never dealt with the man inside, otherwise they would have recognized him as Jia Youde, the eldest son of Jia Sidao.

Opposite him, there was a guy with a face full of flesh, and he was full of banditry. It shouldn't be said to be full of banditry, because they were bandits to begin with. Now he said with a helpless look on his face: "Alas, big pot, who wouldn't want it? I've been here for so long, my mouth is almost dry. It was better before, eating delicious food and drinking spicy drinks."

Needless to say, the one who led the revolutionary army was Jia Sidao's son Jia Youyi.

"Then we don't know how long we have to wait. If the imperial court doesn't send troops to drive those people out, we can forget about leaving."

"That's right, when will this day end?" "What did you eat this time when you went out?"

"Oh, forget it. The food is just so-so, but our brothel is closed down, so there's nowhere to go if we want to have fun."

"Yeah, damn, what has our family done to those rebels? They want to kill us all. What has those brothels done to those people? Don't they play with women..."

At this moment, a stern voice rang out: "Alright, stop arguing. Are you still in the mood to argue in this situation? And you, Youyi, this is a very dangerous situation. People are looking for us everywhere. Is it time to leave?"

"Old man (Dad), go out and contact the other gangs. How are they doing?"

"Alas, they're even worse off than we are. Those gangs usually seem okay, but they're still relying on us landlords and gentry to keep us in check. Now, without their backers, they've become nothing but dough, at the mercy of the rebels. Several groups have already been wiped out. These rebels are truly ruthless, striking silently and mercilessly."

"We're bandits now, and they're claiming to be government troops. Since ancient times, officials and bandits can't coexist. Why should we show them any mercy? Didn't many of us go down the mountain to divide the land? What's the matter? You brought us into the mountains yourself, and now you regret it?"

"Youyi, don't talk nonsense. Officials and bandits have been one family since ancient times. If we don't go up the mountain, we won't have a good life."

"Da Guo, we're in such a difficult situation right now. It must be those who escaped who tipped off the rebels. Otherwise, how could the rebels know all of our hiding places?"

"Well, it seems that our family can no longer survive in Sichuan. The Shaanxi-Gansu region is in chaos, and we may not be able to get out. Let's leave Sichuan and go to Hubei. The terrain there is even more rugged and difficult to travel, and the government is not as powerful as in Sichuan. With just a dozen guns, we will have no problem breaking the situation."

The bandits still following the Jia family were unwilling to farm anymore. Hearing Jia Sidao's advice, many pondered: conditions there were far worse than in Sichuan, and most importantly, they were unfamiliar with the place, making it difficult to survive. But the soldiers down the mountain wouldn't let them go, so where else could they go? The original group of hundreds was reduced to just a handful. If they encountered soldiers again, they would be completely wiped out.

When the revolutionary army heard this, they knew what was going on inside. While the bandits were thinking, the revolutionary army slid the rope and immediately airdropped down, firing their pistols at the same time.

Just as everyone was pondering this, a transparent hole suddenly appeared on the forehead of the man named Jia Youde. His skull flew off, and red and white blood burst out from inside his head. His huge body fell to the ground without a sound. Then several more people suddenly knelt on the ground, and then suddenly several gunshots were heard.

At this moment, Jia Sidao saw his eldest son being shot and falling to the ground, and he immediately shouted: "You are virtuous..."

These bandits were also experienced and had been bandits for many years. They knew that now that they had been discovered by the revolutionary army, they had no choice but to fight to the death. They immediately used the body of a bandit who had been shot as a cover, raised their guns and fired at the position where the revolutionary army was firing, retreating while shooting.

"Old man, you retreat first, we'll hold on here."

At this time, Jia Sidao hated the revolutionary army so much that he vowed to take revenge. When he heard his son's cry, he immediately forced himself to be brave. He was also a ruthless man, so he no longer cared about his son's body and retreated to the rear.

"Retreat, everyone retreat together."

The one who was in charge of the bandit suppression work this time was Hu Songhui. This time, Li Lao Hu had no part in the encirclement and annihilation of the Qing army. They could only do the guard work outside, so he was quite anxious. And this bandit suppression work was used to train the troops, so he was very careful. I thought that dealing with some bandits should be easy, but how could it be so?