At dusk, large iron pots were set up in large and small open spaces in Zhenjiang City. Soldiers unloaded the rice from the trucks and poured it into the pots.
In the center of the city, Lu Xiaojia looked at the slightly desolate grain distribution site with question marks on her face.
Such a large open space is more than enough to accommodate four thousand people. In the end, only a hundred victims came, which was not as many as the soldiers on site to maintain order.
Lu Xiaojia couldn't help but asked Yao Zijing, who was in charge of the matter, "Did you not do any publicity? Otherwise, why would there be so many people at the scene?"
"Teacher, are you doing this to promote porridge and food?"
Yao Zijing was a little confused. Seeing that Lu Xiaojia's face was dark, he quickly added: "Master, these refugees in the city are so hungry that they don't choose what to eat. I thought they would come over naturally after smelling the fragrance..."
Lu Xiaojia was completely speechless after hearing this, "Zijing, if you don't explain the situation and deploy so many soldiers here, the refugees will not dare to gather here even if they are dizzy with hunger."
"Okay, I'll ask people to spread the news and try to gather people together as soon as possible." Yao Zijing also made up for it and prepared to let the soldiers spread the news everywhere.
Not long after, many homeless people got the news that Lu Xiaojia was giving out porridge and food, and they rushed to several open spaces in the city in groups.
At this moment, a translator ran out of the crowd and came to Lu Xiaojia to report: "Master, there is a telegram from Commander Long from the direction of Jinling."
Lu Xiaojia didn't bother to look. He had already sent a battalion to Xuanwu Town to accept the prisoners.
Now he has more than 40,000 prisoners, mostly in Yixing County. After the war, he plans to convert these people into several labor reform teams and use them as free labor.
"Read it to me!"
"Yes, Master."
Having said that, the translator read out according to the telegram, "Master, more than 2,000 people from our unit have all entered Jinling City without any resistance, and the 2,000 armed policemen in Jinling City have also been disarmed by our unit. , now our department has taken over the defense of Jinling City."
Lu Xiaojia also expressed his praise, and the dragon emblem marched into Jinling City, the capital of Huai Province.
This means that he has captured the entire south bank of Huai Province, and the north bank is already within his grasp.
After all, Qi Xieyuan has become a polished commander, and there are only two garrison brigades left with 10,000 people competing against him. This is not a defeat in a matter of minutes.
"Well, it's very good. When the dragon emblem is on standby in Jinling, military discipline is strictly enforced and soldiers are not allowed to disturb the people in the city. I will come to Jinling in a few days to inspect."
"By the way, your communications department should not be idle and repair the damaged telephone lines as soon as possible." Lu Xiaojia added to the translator.
After the translator left, Lu Xiaojia turned around and realized that the open space was already overcrowded. There were at least two to three thousand people, and the number was still increasing.
The fire crackled, and several large pots began to boil. The soldiers began to add some minced meat to the pot, and the aroma soon spread.
These people held broken bowls, clay pots, and cloth bags in their hands, and stared at the cauldron with green eyes.
Especially the smell of meat that filled the air made the refugees present swallow their saliva. They didn't know when they last ate meat, or what it tasted like.
However, the hundreds of soldiers on the scene had guns with metallic luster slung around their waists.
They didn't dare to act rashly and could only stare at the big iron pots with salivation.
"Don't be anxious, everyone. The meat porridge is not ready yet. Please line up in order."
However, these words didn't seem to have much effect, and even caused the hungry crowd to unrest, and it seemed that a riot might be fermented.
The soldiers standing on the jeep aside did not dare to delay when they saw this, and quickly controlled the Browning M2 heavy machine gun, pointing the muzzle upward and pulling the trigger.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Lu Xiaojia did not stop it. Most people now have no concept of order in their hearts.
And it coincides with troubled times. Many people may not be evil people, but hunger will make people show their evil side. At this time, the army must have a deterrent effect.
Following the deafening sound of gunfire, the restless crowd soon fell silent. The sound of gunfire has a huge deterrent effect on ordinary people.
Several officers also held loudspeakers and walked around, "Everyone has a share. After eating, you can also receive 5 kilograms of rice. Everyone, please line up."
"Yes, let's start from that old man's place. Take your time to line up. If you're at the back, you'll be hungry for a while."
This time the officer's words finally took effect, and most people began to move. As several long queues lined up, everything became orderly.
"Now that the porridge is cooked, let's start dividing it. Where can you go to get five kilograms of grain after eating? Don't try to get through and get more. Once found, you will be severely punished."
The people at the front of the team took bowls to share the porridge and quickly ran to the roadside to feast.
Many people were so hot that they breathed out, but they still went their own way and drank sips without waiting for the porridge to cool down.
Lu Xiaojia took out the paper from his pocket and stuffed it into the hands of He Feihu, who was stunned at the side. "Feihu, while they are eating porridge, you can come up to the stage and declare this order."
"Teacher, I'm afraid of being in a small community, why don't you go up and read it?" He Feihu said after reading it.
Lu Xiaojia kicked He Feihu directly on the butt. "You're the only one who's afraid of society, why don't you take this opportunity to go up and practice with me."
Soon, He Feihu found a conspicuous place and began to read the note. The content was the work-based disaster relief policy.
The general meaning is that this free porridge can only be consumed for 3 days. After that, if anyone wants to eat enough, they must participate in voluntary labor.
There are no restrictions on men or women for voluntary labor, and the main work content is to build railways, bridges, roads, reclaim wasteland, build schools... and other miscellaneous work.
They have to work 8 to 10 hours a day and are provided with three meals. The extra monthly salary is 30 kilograms of rice.
This breaking news directly made these refugees dazzle. This treatment is great!
"Those who want to participate in voluntary labor, the registration office is over there, just go and report your name." After He Feihu finished speaking, he trotted over with a sullen expression.
"How do you feel Feihu? Have you gotten rid of your social fear habit?" Lu Xiaojia joked.
"Haha, it's fine!"
"Master, you said that we have won so many battles in the past two days. Shouldn't we conduct a nationwide telegram and send out the results to show off?"
"Well, you are right, I have also considered this matter." Lu Xiaojia said without thinking.
In the past few days, they have only beaten Qi Xieyuan, but if they want to completely eat the fat meat of Huai Province, they have to knock down the other direct warlords.
At 8 o'clock in the evening on January 11, 1923, Lu Xiaojia drafted a telegram and asked the communications department to send electricity to the whole country. The content of the announcement is as follows:
Our army belongs to the Lu Xiaojia Department of the Anhui Army in Yu Province, and is between the direct army Qi Xieyuan. A few days ago, we privately tore up the "Yu-Huai Peace Convention" and commanded the rebels to station in Yixing in an attempt to destroy the peace in the Yu-Huai area.
This kind of act of provoking war in the Yuhuai region and displacing the people for their own selfish interests is really a sinner of the country and must be stopped.
Therefore, upholding the national justice and the wishes of the people, our army launched a crusade against Qi Xieyuan's tribe on the south bank of Huai Province on January 9, 1923.
Under the leadership of commander-in-chief Lu Xiaojia, our army is invincible and invincible.
To this day, our army has completely annihilated 65,000 Zhizhi troops, including the 6th, 9th, and 29th divisions and four garrison brigades, and completely crippled Qi Xieyuan's rebels.
I would like to advise Qi Xieyuan, the governor of Huai Province, not to engage in futile resistance. Those rotten fish and shrimps under your command are not the enemy of our army at all.
You should now electrify the whole country and announce your resignation. The commander-in-chief of our army, Lu Xiaojia, is kind-hearted and will let you live in accordance with the old Beiyang rules.
