The sun never sets

The Baoding Infantry Academy adopted the full set of PLA models, which was called "Lin's Infantry Drill Manual" in this world. From the way of marching to the bayonet technique, from housekeeping to gun maintenance, they were basically copied from the PLA. This is what Lin Yongchang is most familiar with. He once found many interesting books on the Internet, including "Militia Training Manual", "Encyclopedia of Military and Civilian Talents" and "Barefoot Doctor Manual".

The students' marching had already shocked many people, and the smooth formation change made many people stare at them. And the foreign rifles, many people were envious, and some were afraid. I don't know where this Lin guy came from, he really knows how to train soldiers!

Not only are these non-commissioned officers exceptionally elite, let alone the Chinese paintings that look good but cannot be used for fighting, everyone can tell at a glance whether they are elite. The soldiers on the side also look very rigid, like those foreign devils. It is not known whether they can fight or not, but this discipline is not comparable to other Boxers. Zhang Decheng's troops are known as the "No. 1 Regiment in the World", with a force of more than 20,000 people. There are many battalions that can fight, but are there any that can compare with these more than 100 people?

Lin Yongchang stepped forward to present certificates to the students. The top three students received certificates as well as sabers and revolvers. It took more than two hours for the first graduation ceremony of Baoding Military Academy to be completed. The non-commissioned officers lined up in an orderly queue and left the training ground, followed by the students of the second term, and finally an entire battalion and several teams.

"Master Zhang, you must be hungry. The canteen has prepared food. Let's eat and talk at the same time."

When Zhang Decheng first arrived yesterday, he was full of pride and toughness. Now he is still tough, but a little softer than yesterday. Strength is the best diplomatic language. Zhang Decheng still doesn't think that Baldy Lin's team is a threat, but he is no longer as demanding as he was yesterday.

The food prepared by Lin Yongchang consisted of three dishes and one soup, which was not rich, but Zhang Decheng ate it with great relish. He was born in a poor family, his father was a boatman, and he had suffered a lot since he was a child. Now that he had 20,000 troops under his command, Zhang Decheng still lived a simple life, and he felt very satisfied as long as he had meat to eat.

But he was not here to eat meat. He finished his food in two or three bites, and then said seriously: "Chief Lin, now we can talk business. I want a thousand foreign guns. If you want money, I can only give you a hundred taels of gold, or I can give you something else to pay for it."

Well, he didn't say that yesterday. After watching a graduation ceremony, I now have the phrase "pay off the debt with something else".

Lin Yongchang laughed and said generously: "Master Zhang, I will give you a thousand foreign guns, but I don't have many bullets. I can only give you 200,000 rounds. You can bring the shells here later. Two shells can be exchanged for one reloaded bullet."

A military factory was built in Baoding City, but it could neither manufacture guns nor bullets. All it could do was produce some black powder, and then repair broken rifles and reload bullets. Lin Yongchang managed to get a few old lathes and broken machines from Tianjin, which were all the military factory had. Alas, this was all it could do at this stage.

Zhang Decheng was stunned for a moment when he heard the conditions offered by Lin Yongchang. "You only want one hundred taels of gold to give me so many things?"

"Not even a pound of gold, the guns and ammunition are all free!"

Lin Yongchang said generously: "As long as they fight foreigners, they are our friends! If they are friends, don't be petty. But we are also in a difficult situation now, so we can only support you guys. I hope that Master Zhang will not mind."

The tough look on Zhang Decheng's face disappeared. "I didn't expect it... I didn't expect it..." He said several times "I didn't expect it" and then said, "Chief Lin, I really don't know what to say. If you have any problems in the future, just let me know. I, Zhang Decheng, will never say a word!"

"Master Zhang is too polite!" Lin Yongchang said with a smile: "We are all brothers, we should help each other!"

The guns given to Zhang Decheng were of course those in stock that used local parts. It's not that they can't be used, nor that they will definitely explode. It's just that the failure rate is a little higher, and the accuracy and power are a little lower, that's all.

Zhang Decheng expressed his gratitude and quickly returned to Jinghai with the guns. The Boxers were supported by the Shandong governor and were fighting the Germans, so these guns were just right for them. There were all kinds of conflicts between the powers, but when it came to dealing with China, they maintained the "principle of unity among the powers." Shandong was the German sphere of influence, and the British and Americans usually wanted to get involved, but when facing the Boxers, they stood on the same front with the Germans.

The court of the Jin Dynasty was divided into two factions: those who advocated war and those who advocated peace. The army had loyal generals like Nie Shicheng and Dong Fuxiang, as well as traitors like Yuan Shikai. In the south, there were Han governors who followed orders but not decrees, and in the north, there was the powerful Boxer Rebellion. When China was torn apart, the foreign

People have united.

China's strength is not as strong as that of the great powers, and now it is fragmented and scattered. How can it defeat the well-equipped great powers? Seriously speaking, what Lin Yongchang is doing now is essentially splitting China. Even so, he has no doubts about it. With the style of the court, can it stop the foreign devils?

Since you can't do it, just die early and let someone who can do it!

China is very backward now, but the gap between it and the great powers is not as big as during the Korean War. Although its strength is far inferior to that of the new Republic, the deployment capacity of the great powers is not as good as that of the United Nations led by the United States. As long as there are advanced ideas and good organizational skills, it may not be impossible to achieve something.

Besides, he has a cheat.

Chapter 66: Long Drive

By the end of March, the battle between the pro-war and pro-peace factions in the court had been won. Empress Dowager Cixi ordered the beheading of many ministers of the pro-peace faction to show her tough attitude towards foreigners. The reason why Yehenara Xingzhen acted so tough was that the foreign powers only recognized Emperor Guangxu and did not recognize Fu Jun's status as the crown prince. This made Cixi angry and panicked. Therefore, after killing some ministers of the pro-peace faction, she also summoned the Boxers to Beijing.

Cixi asked the Boxers to attack Dongjiaominxiang, but she didn't want the Boxers to really wipe out the foreigners. Foreigners were a threat, and the Boxers were also a threat. Yehenara Xingzhen, who had experienced the Taiping Rebellion, knew very well that the Boxers were not on the same side as the imperial court. When the time came, she would definitely wipe out those lawless Boxers.

But before that, why not make use of the Boxers? Didn't the Boxers say they wanted to "sweep away the gold and destroy the foreigners"? As long as they stopped sweeping away the gold, the court would recognize the Boxers' legal status. Quite a few people were actually won over by the court. Many Boxers led their troops into Beijing, surrounded the Dongjiaominxiang where foreigners lived, and attacked day and night.

However, Cixi did not really want to break off relations with the foreigners. She knew very well that the foreigners were powerful, and she just wanted to show them how powerful they were. Therefore, Yehenara Xingzhen summoned the Boxers to attack Dongjiaominxiang, and at the same time sent people to deliver food and fruit to the besieged Dongjiaominxiang, exposing the weakness of the court and Empress Dowager Cixi.

If you are not sure about the five elements, you will lose everything sooner or later. Either don't do it, or go all the way to the end. Empress Dowager Cixi is said to be so powerful, but she is just a little clever.

However, all this had nothing to do with Lin Yongchang for the time being. After Zhang Decheng left, he immediately arranged for Li Dayan to lead troops to the south. After the first batch of non-commissioned officer cadets graduated, they were added to the first and second regiments. These two regiments had a total of 3000 people and were the most elite troops. All of them were assigned to the southern army.

In addition, Lin Yongchang also gave the command of more than 200 Mongolian cavalrymen to Li Dayan, bringing together so many elite soldiers and generals in order to take over the southern part of Hebei as soon as possible.

Li Dayan had a revolver on his waist, a long knife hanging on his waist, and a rifle on his back. He patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, big brother. We will definitely win a great victory this time!"

Lin Yongchang patted him on the shoulder and said, "You are a general, not an ordinary soldier. Don't rush too hard in battle!"

"Soldiers will be motivated only if they lead by example!"

Lin Yongchang shook his head repeatedly. "That's what low- and mid-level officers do. You have three to four thousand men under your command now, plus the civilians and the baggage camp, that's almost five to six thousand men. How can a general commanding tens of thousands of troops charge into the front lines?"

Li Dayan said: "I won't rush to the front."

"Okay, then I'll be waiting for your good news."

We have to fight. Baoding alone cannot support so many troops. There are too many poor people, too many people who bring their families to join the group, and the number of troops is increasing every day. Although I am a little worried about Li Dayan, he doesn't have too many thoughts. He just wants to fight, so let him go to fight. With so many elite soldiers, as long as they don't fight Yuan Shikai or Nie Shicheng, there shouldn't be any problems.

Li Dayan led his troops south and successively occupied Yixian, Laiyuan, Shunping, Tangxian, Wangdu and other places. After capturing Handan, he stayed in his hometown for a few days. The team under his command swelled like a balloon to 20,000 or 30,000 people. Then he captured Anyang, Jiaozuo, Puyang, and fought all the way to the Yellow River.

After the Southern Route Army set out, Lin Yongchang left Wang Qi to guard Baoding, take charge of training, spring ploughing, land reform, suppress rebellion and other tasks, and personally led the Northern Expedition. After capturing Lingqiu, Hunyuan and other places, he entered the Yunzhou area, contacted the local Boxers, occupied the entire Xuanhua, and then surrounded Datong. Datong has a strong city and has been a fortress-type city since 2,000 years ago. Lin Yongchang did not have heavy artillery, and faced with Datong's tall and thick walls, he had no good way.

He was advancing very fast, but occupying the city, expanding the army, and a series of other things all took time. When the Northern Army arrived at Datong City, they were faced with tall and thick city walls and thousands of well-prepared defenders.

The most violent Boxer Rebellion occurred in Shandong and Zhili. There were also Boxers in Shanxi, but not tens of thousands of them like in Shandong and Hebei. Lin Yongchang led his troops into Shanxi and defeated the imperial court soldiers one after another, causing some of the Boxers who had been "supporting the Jin and destroying the foreigners" to return to the path of "sweeping the Jin and destroying the foreigners".

Lin Yongchang's comments on "sweeping gold" and "

His attitude of "destroying the foreigners" was the same. No matter if they were court officials or foreigners, as long as they could be used by me, I would use them. If they could not be used by me, I would let them die. When he arrived at the city of Datong, the number of his troops had swelled to more than 30,000, and there were even dozens of foreigners, all of whom were met along the way or sent by other Boxers.

Although there were many soldiers and horses, most of them were just there to eat. Few of them could fight, less than 8,000. Facing the wall of Datong, the 30,000-man army had no good solution. Lin Yongchang ordered the Boxers to attack once, and the artillery on the city wall fired, killing more than a dozen people on the spot, and the rest of the people retreated in a swarm.

The fighting capacity of these Boxers was very poor. They could only build up their courage in the field, and fighting depended on their heads. They suffered heavy casualties in several battles with the government soldiers. If Lin Yongchang had not been watching, they would have been defeated by the government soldiers. When they set out from Baoding, Lin Yongchang had one Type A regiment, and after arriving in Shanxi, he raised two Type B regiments.

What is a Type A regiment? They are all equipped with foreign rifles, with strong firepower, and they have the largest number of people, 1500 people, and strong combat effectiveness. Type B regiments only have dozens of foreign rifles and hundreds of local rifles. The rest are large blades and long guns, with only 1000 people. In addition, Lin Yongchang has a number of Type C regiments under his command, all of which are cold weapons. They can only deal with local tyrants and evil gentry, and it is difficult to win against the patrol battalion of officers and soldiers.

Because of the cheat, Lin Yongchang could see the deployment of the enemy and our troops clearly, and he could mobilize several times the troops and firepower every time, making the officers and soldiers dizzy and dying before they could react. That's why he could drive straight through the Taihang Mountains and kill his way to the city of Datong.

Now Lin Yongchang could clearly see that there were more than 2800 soldiers in the city, but the soldiers in the city were frightened by the Boxers and hid in the city and dared not come out, which made it difficult to deal with. It was not impossible to take the city by force, after all, the soldiers and firepower in the city were at a disadvantage. But Lin Yongchang was reluctant to use the elite troops he had trained with great effort to fight against the wall. Even if he exchanged one for three, he would still lose.

But Datong City must be taken down. It is a military stronghold in northern Shanxi and the gateway to the Mongolian grasslands. Whether from a military, political or economic perspective, Datong must be taken down. But he is not in a hurry now. Dadong is important, but the whole of Shanxi is more important.

Chapter 67: Siege

From a strategic point of view, the imperial court was already a dead body in the grave, and its days were numbered. But from a tactical point of view, the imperial court still had an army of 500,000. With so many people, even if many of them could not be mobilized, even if many of them were idle, even if many of them were scum, they were still hundreds of thousands of troops after all, and could not be compared with the hungry people who were temporarily pulled out.

Lin Yongchang had a clear understanding of this. He was very radical in starting an uprising. After entering Shanxi, he also rushed forward and swept half of Shanxi Province in less than a month. However, no matter how fast he went, he would still encounter a situation like Datong. If he did not occupy Xuanhua first, if he did not give the two main regiments to Li Dayan, he might be able to seize Datong in the first place, but it was just a possibility.

But there are not so many ifs. If Li Dayan is not sent to the south, Handan and southern Hebei will not be so easy to take, and the safety of the flank cannot be guaranteed; if Xuanhua is not occupied first, Wang Zuolin and Wang Lao will not be able to take action. Lin Yongchang is really impressed by them. They are dragging their feet in rebellion. What are they doing!

Wang Laozai, Zhao Erhu and others brought seven or eight thousand brothers to help. In addition to dividing his troops to capture the entire Zhangjiakou, Wang Zuolin also personally led his troops to the city of Datong. Together with the Shanxi cousins who had enthusiastically joined the army in the past few days, the number of troops under Lin Yongchang's command has expanded to more than 50,000, and the number is increasing every day.

"General, there are few soldiers in the city. We should attack from all sides at the same time, so that the officers and soldiers can't take care of the front and rear!"

Blacksmith Wang Laozai was very brave and volunteered to fight, saying that if he could be given a few hundred foreign guns, he could take down Datong. Lin Yongchang did not comment at first, rode around the city on horseback, and then rejected Wang Laozai's proposal. It was not that he was reluctant to give up those hundreds of foreign guns. If Datong could be taken down, even if he gave away a thousand foreign guns, it would be worth it.

But he doubted the fighting power of Wang Lao and Zhao Bi. There were less than 3,000 soldiers in the city, but there were many able-bodied men. After Xuanhua prefect Li Zhaonan fled to Datong City, he mobilized many able-bodied men to defend the city. It would be very difficult to attack such a fortress city.

It is not advisable to attack Datong by force before clearing the outer strongholds and fortresses.

"Then let's take down those strongholds outside first!"

Zhao Erhu got a set of military cotton armor from somewhere, which made him look very heroic. The long helmet on his hat was like a lightning rod. If there was a thunder, he might be electrocuted into a ball of charcoal.

The leaders of the Boxers recognized Lin Yongchang's strength. They could not resist the tens of thousands of troops and the foreign guns. However, they were not convinced. Lin was not from Hebei. How could he command the heroes of Hebei?

Wang Zuolin also felt a little uncomfortable. He was obviously the eldest brother, so why did he have to listen to Dalinzi now?

But who can blame Baldy Lin for being the most famous and having the most troops? Looking at the elite troops under Lin Yongchang, Wang Zuolin regretted it very much. If he had taken action earlier, he would not have been able to command the heroes now.

He was the one who was in charge. But then again, who could have imagined that Lin Yongchang could create such a big momentum in just a few months?

The seemingly powerful imperial court fell down with just a push. Now half of Hebei and a small part of Shanxi are surnamed Lin!

Zhao Erhu and others were jealous and discussed privately that they could not be outdone like this. They had to make more contributions to let Lin know how powerful they were, so that they could keep their territory and troops. Now that Lin Yongchang did not want to attack Datong by force, Zhao Erhu and others jumped out and said that they would ask Marshal Lin to scout the sidelines and they would attack the city.

This time, Zhao Erhu and Wang Lao did not ask for foreign guns. Lin Yongchang gave them some of the captured bird guns, handguns, mountain cannons, swords and other weapons, and then asked his riflemen to provide cover and fire support.

Zhao Erhu and his men got some guns and became more courageous. They surrounded the three walls of Datong, leaving the north side alone, making a gesture of "surrounding three and attacking one". Wang Laozai, Zhao Erhu, Zhao Bi, Wang Chuanzhu and others first performed rituals among their own people, burning talismans and turning them into water. After drinking the talisman water, the Boxers shouted that they were invulnerable to swords and guns, and then began to attack the city.

The defenders on the city wall fired guns and cannons, killing and wounding many Boxer soldiers. But those people were really brave and rushed up despite the gunfire. The soldiers on the city wall leaned forward to shoot, and the elite shooters of the Third Regiment using Mosin-Nagant took the opportunity to shoot, killing and wounding many defenders.

After the battle began, the sound of gunfire could be heard within a radius of ten miles. The defenders not only fired guns and cannons, but also threw stones and poured gold juice at the city. The so-called gold juice is human and animal feces boiled to boiling hot. When poured on a person, it will cause infection, which is difficult to cure in this era. This thing has been used in China for thousands of years and is very effective when defending a city. The whole city of Datong was shrouded in a foul smell that made people want to vomit.

It was a little smelly, but it was fine as long as it worked. The defenders on the city wall were also vomiting from the smoke. When pouring the golden juice, someone was shot by a bullet, and the golden juice spilled all over the city wall. Bullets hit the city wall, debris flew everywhere, and from time to time someone was hit and fell down screaming. The Boxer soldiers rushed to the bottom of the city with hunting rifles, fired at the top of the city wall repeatedly, and then rushed up with big knives.

However, the walls of Datong were too high, and it was not easy to climb them. Moreover, the walls were covered with horse faces, firing holes and various fortifications. The Boxers were in high spirits and attacked the walls several times, but they were unable to break through and lost many warriors. The fierce battle lasted for more than three hours. The Boxers inflicted heavy casualties on the defenders, but they were unable to capture the walls.

By the evening, the Boxers could no longer fight and retreated to the rear camp under the sound of the gong. Zhao Erhu climbed up the city wall in a cotton armor and killed several enemies with his martial arts skills. Later, he was shot and would have died on the city wall if his subordinates had not tried desperately to rescue him.

Seeing how desperate the Boxers were, Lin Yongchang was deeply moved and ordered all the wounded to be sent to the wounded camp for treatment.

After only one day of siege, the Boxers could no longer fight. Lin Yongchang was unwilling to attack by force, so he sent troops to clear out the strongholds outside the city, cut off Datong's connection with the outside world, and trapped the defenders in the city. Then he dug trenches and erected fences outside the city, making a gesture of carrying out a long siege.

At night, Lin Yongchang invited Wang Zuolin, Zhao Bi, Wang Chuanzhu and others to discuss matters. The group of Xiu night raiders captured in Shanxi: 6949, ③6135. Yan Baichuan was recording on the side. Originally, this job was done by the master Wang Hai, but after the uprising, Wang Hai said he wanted to go home to visit his old mother, and his valuables ran away. Lin Yongchang rode after him on horseback, and Wang Hai was so scared that he trembled all over, thinking that Baldy Lin was going to kill him to silence him.

Lin Yongchang certainly didn't go to kill people. Why would he kill people? He wasn't a mountain king. Lin Yongchang gave Wang Hai a sum of money and sent him out of the country. If it rains, and the master wants to leave, then let him go. Let's part ways in peace.

Chapter 68: Going South

Yan Baichuan was not a proper scholar. He just read some books and was called a scholar, but he had never participated in the imperial examination and had no official title. He dropped out of school at the age of 14 and followed his father Yan Shutang to the Jiqingchang Money Shop opened by his family in Wutai County to learn business and participate in lending and collecting interest and financial speculation. In the th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, which was the beginning of this year, Yan Xishan suffered a disastrous defeat in a speculation and was heavily in debt. The father and son were forced to run away to avoid debt.

When they were on the run, Yan Baichuan and Yan Shutang were captured and forced to work in the army. Yan Shutang served in the army, while Yan Baichuan was placed by Lin Yongchang's side. There are many clerical tasks in the army, including logistics supply, statistics of military exploits, battlefield diaries, combat reports, etc. The Third Regiment is the main force, and there is no such problem, no shortage of manpower. The newly established Type B regiments not only lack guns and equipment, but also lack qualified officers and people who can read and write.

Soon, Wang Zuolin, Wang Hu, Wang Laozai, Wang Chuanzhu... There were many Boxer leaders with the surname Wang in Zhangjiakou, as well as Zhao Bi and Zhao Erhu wrapped in gauze, all entered the tent. These people were all powerful people, and Wang Zuolin was also Lin Yongchang's sworn brother. They had thousands of soldiers and horses under their command, and their words were usually decisive. But now they were all terrified when they saw the big bald man, and their attitude became restrained and respectful.

After unlocking all the functions of the [Heavenly Empire] system, [Prestige], [Power Projection], [Legitimacy] and other functions are all enabled, and you can also see the [Mandate] value of the court. The [Mandate] of the court has been reduced to

Below 50, various DEBUFFs were applied, but it seemed to have no effect on morale. Lin Yongchang didn't want to take the destiny, that thing was from the feudal era, whoever took it would be doomed. It's the th century, it's time to change the way of playing.

Among the unlocked functions, [Prestige] is mainly gained through fighting. No matter who leads the army, as long as they win a battle, their prestige will increase. Li Dayan has already fought to the Yellow River. Lin Yongchang has defeated the enemy and killed generals, captured cities and strongholds along the way. After so many battles, his [Prestige] value has reached +55, which brings him a strong momentum. When others see him, they are awed.

"Everyone, please take a seat." Lin Yongchang asked the reserved people to take their seats, and then said, "You all fought well today, killing and wounding many enemies, and severely damaging the morale of the defenders in the city. All the wounded will be treated by the central army, and then they will be given to Zhao Erhu, Wang Laozai and Wang Chuanzhu, each with 100 quick-firing rifles and 3,000 rounds of bullets!"

He had already discovered that bullets were more valuable than guns. The soldiers of the main regiment were fine, but the people of other units would shoot without stopping. When they fought, they would always shoot desperately and would not stop until they had used up all their bullets. Now Lin Yongchang was already counting bullets to live. Fighting with the imperial officials and soldiers was just an appetizer, and the real big fight was still to come. If he ran out of bullets now, how would he fight later?

The guns given to Zhao Erhu and his men were all captured from the officers and soldiers. There were all kinds of models, and there were not many bullets. They were simply given out as rewards. Zhao Erhu was bandaged and his face was pale. Hearing this, he shouted, "Let me attack again tomorrow. I will break down the wall of Datong even if I have to hit it with my head!"

The leaders were all impressed by Zhao Erhu, who was covered in blood on the gauze. This guy is really fierce! He rushed to the top of the city in the hail of bullets, and he was so injured, but he was still so fierce! He really thought he was Zhao Zilong!

Lin Yongchang was confident in his words, but he still tried to comfort Zhao Erhu, "Don't worry, they like to stay in their turtle shells, so let them stay there, we will go to Taiyuan first!"

Datong was very important and had to be taken. It overlooked the entire Jinyang from a high point. Without taking Datong, Shanxi could not be used as a base. After taking Baoding, some small enterprises were built there, such as cement factories, match factories and brick factories, but the most important steel factory was not built.

It would take a long time to build a steel mill, even if it was made by [traditional methods]. Building a steel mill in Baoding and other places in Hebei would easily be affected by the war. In terms of geographical environment, the Hebei Plain is definitely better than the mountainous and land-less Shanxi Province, but building a steel mill in Hebei is not very reassuring.

It is convenient to be on top of the plain with many connections, and it is also convenient for the enemy to attack. When the enemy is strong and we are weak, it is safer to be in Shanxi with mountains and rivers. As long as we guard those few passages, we don't have to worry about being attacked. Even if the enemy attacks in large numbers, it will be easier to defend with the geographical advantage, and there is also the vast Hebei Plain as a buffer.

However, all this is based on the premise of quickly taking over Shanxi. Although the imperial court is corrupt, it still has many troops. Now that Datong cannot be taken, some troops will be left to besiege it, and the main force will go south to attack Taiyuan. Taiyuan is the capital of Shanxi, but it does not have many troops and its defense is not as strong as Datong. Just frame it and attack it.

Lin Yongchang said to Wang Zuolin, "Wang Hu, take some people with me. Big brother, take the troops back to Zhangjiakou first to guard against the attack of the Wuwei Army."

The Wuwei Army is an elite force controlled by the imperial court. Now it is surrounded by the Boxer army in Hebei and Shandong. There are also armies of foreign powers on the sidelines. Logically, it will not abandon its duty to defend the capital and attack Zhangjiakou, or even attack Baoding or Datong. There are already many Boxers in the capital. It is said that some people want to rush into the palace to kill Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu. Yes, the Boxers at this stage are so violent.

But war cannot be fought unilaterally. What if? Lin Yongchang also saw that Wang Zuolin was not comfortable here, so why not let him go back to Zhangjiakou? Wang Zuolin was not hypocritical and agreed on the spot.

So the armies set out separately, Wang Zuolin led his troops back to Zhangjiakou, and the main army went south to Taiyuan. Lin Yongchang led the third regiment to ambush outside Datong City, and if the defenders came out to pursue, they would take the opportunity to rush into the city. But after waiting for two days, the defenders in the city did not move. It was not that they had seen through the ambush outside the city, but that they were simply afraid and did not dare to leave the city.

Faced with such cowardly people, Lin Yongchang had no good solution. He could only leave a few thousand people to continue besieging Datong, and he took the main force to attack Taiyuan City.

When the Boxers who had disappeared for two days reappeared outside Datong City, the defenders were terrified and praised Li Zhaonan, the governor, for his foresight and for not falling for the enemy's trick. Li Zhaonan was full of bitterness. He was the governor of Xuanhua before and entered the official career through the imperial examination. He could not be a stupid person. The number of Boxers outside the city has decreased a lot. Where did the remaining people go?

Need I say more? They must be going to attack Taiyuan!

He lost Xuanhua while in office. According to the court's law, even if he was not beheaded, he would be exiled to Yili. Governor Li also wanted to make up for his crime, but the garrison was terribly afraid of the Boxers, so he did not dare to take this group of people out to fight. Now he only hoped to defend Datong and wait for the arrival of the court's heavenly soldiers. At that time, he would be given a lighter sentence because he helped defend the city.

Chapter 69: Siege

Taiyuan was formerly known as Jinyang, also known as Bingzhou and Long

Taiyuan City is the political, economic and cultural center of Shanxi Province. Taiyuan City "controls the mountains and rivers, sits on the shoulders of the world", "is the key point of the four passes, and controls the capital of the five original places". The city is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the Fen River, the second largest tributary of the Yellow River, flows from north to south. It is also the base camp of Shanxi merchants. The headquarters of the eight major Shanxi merchants are all located in Taiyuan City.

Since the Boxer Rebellion, Shandong was the worst offender, followed by Hebei. Shanxi also had quite a few, although not as strong as Shandong, but with a large number of people. After Lin Yongchang led his troops to attack, the elder and second elder brothers started rebellions one after another, killing or expelling local officials, and occupying many towns.

The garrison near Taiyuan had been busy suppressing the Boxers recently, and the entire Jinyang was in a mess. They had no intention of going north to relieve the danger in Datong. Lin Yongchang stayed in Datong for four days. Of course, he did not want to lose his best soldiers, but his main purpose was to "besiege the point and attack the reinforcements" and attract the garrison of Taiyuan to Datong. However, the officers and soldiers in Taiyuan were fighting with the local Boxers and had no intention of sending troops north.

Lin Yongchang didn't bother with any military tactics, and he led his army to attack Taiyuan. Datong was important, but Taiyuan was more important, so he should attack Taiyuan first, and then attack Datong. He had previously used the strategy of "siege a point and attack the reinforcements", but the officers and soldiers in Taiyuan were not fooled, so he immediately used the strategy of "making a feint to the east and attacking the west", pretending to besiege Datong, but the main force was actually heading for Taiyuan.

The military tactics used this time achieved the effect of a surprise attack, catching Taiyuan off guard, but still failed to seize Taiyuan city in the chaos. The reason was simple: the governor of Shanxi left three to four thousand soldiers in the city. Even though the situation around Taiyuan had already deteriorated and the officers and soldiers were fighting the rebels, the governor did not send out the soldiers to save his life.

Lin Yongchang led the Third Regiment to march at full speed and suddenly appeared outside Taiyuan City. They almost captured the city gate, but they failed. In fact, it was his own fault. He trained the soldiers of the Third Regiment into elite soldiers and disguised them as merchants to seize the city gate. However, there is a clear difference between elite soldiers and ordinary soldiers. The spirit of a well-fed person is completely different from that of an underfed person.

The defenders in the city were already nervous because of the rebels everywhere. They immediately found out that something was wrong and opened fire, alarming the entire city of Taiyuan. Seeing this, Lin Yongchang changed his tactics and surrounded Taiyuan City while dividing his troops to raid the surrounding towns and villages.

A large part of the officers and soldiers were still outside fighting with the rebels. Lin Yongchang relied on the cheat to accurately grasp the position of the officers and soldiers every time. The soldiers first lurked and approached, and after a rapid fire, they decisively launched a bayonet charge. The officers and soldiers were beaten dizzy, and in front of the shining bayonets and spears, they could not resist for a few rounds. Those who were not stabbed to death surrendered.

Adhering to the principle of fighting a "war of annihilation" rather than a "war of crushing", Lin Yongchang concentrated two or three times the troops and firepower advantage each time, so several battles were completely annihilated. After the surrounding officers and soldiers were almost wiped out, the main force returned to the city of Taiyuan.

At this time, Lin Yongchang's troops had further expanded to more than 80,000, not counting the troops besieging Datong City and Wang Zuolin's troops in Zhangjiakou. The current situation is very good, very good, not just good. Local rebels also rushed over with their families, making the troops outside Taiyuan City even more numerous. A rough estimate is that there are almost 100,000 troops.