Mo Yujing was embarrassed to settle the chaos.
As he entered the Hehuang Valley, he once again directed his swords, bows, guns and cannons at the rebellious people and deserted soldiers. The veteran who had been fighting in Shaanxi for more than a year with him, his combat effectiveness plummeted.
Civilians hate war, but the people who hate war the most are soldiers. Especially when there is no reward for killing, no merit, no possibility of promotion, and even no trophies, soldiers are the most war-weary people in the world.
This is Mo Yujing's dilemma. The Lutang camp soldiers he led were all good fighters who narrowly escaped death. However, they had killed too many people and had too many relatives and friends killed. Everyone's spirit was more or less different. Something went wrong.
Some soldiers have trouble with themselves. Not only do they not want to kill people anymore, but they are also unwilling to do anything. When there are no orders, they are irritable and like walking zombies. When they receive orders, they will no longer carry out the orders as firmly as before.
Another group of soldiers have trouble with others. They are willing to continue killing people. They even want to kill everyone they see. When marching, they want to kill hungry people and refugees passing by for fun. If the army does not make way for the people, big problems will arise.
However, those who were willing to kill stayed in Lutang Camp. Most of the people Mo Yujing brought with him were not willing to kill. Not everyone was sick, there were only a few dozen who were half-crazy, but the war-weariness affected the entire army. .
Fortunately, there was no supervisory army, otherwise the jokes made by this army during the quelling of the chaos would have killed Mo Yujing eight times if they were sent to the court.
In the battle to retake the ancient Shan Castle, Mo and Jing fought for two full days. For such a big castle, his fourteen small Fran machine guns fired seven full rounds. Hundreds of shells were fired, but none of them hit. Battlements. .
The cannon holes struck seven rows of holes on the wall below the battlements.
In the end, Gushan Fort was recaptured, because the rebels in the fort thought that these officers and soldiers were too incompetent, so more than 400 people fought their way out of the fort!
At the critical moment of life and death, the artillery was no longer performing. One round of iron bullets and one round of scattering. The rapid fire was so accurate that it killed no. 100 people. The rebels fled in all directions, and the veterans were sluggish again.
They didn't even pretend to stumble, they just stood there, drew their swords, shouted twice, sat down and sighed. It wasn't until Mo Yujing gave the order to pursue that everyone formed into small groups and swayed After driving out two hundred steps, the thieves had climbed a mountain.
Mo Yujing also had no temper. On the one hand, the soldiers did not violate military laws and regulations. They did things that were not written in the military laws and regulations. On the other hand, he himself was war-weary, and it was only his duty to lead the army to quell chaos.
All his enthusiasm as a general was wasted when he moved to northern Shaanxi... The time and place where he joined the war were wrong.
If two years in the morning, at the beginning of the great uprising in troubled times, the wealthy families in northern Shaanxi were still singing and dancing, and villages in various places could still save some life-saving rations. At that time, there was looting everywhere, not to mention the government and the army were willing to suppress the bandits. Even Liu Lions have the drive to suppress bandits.
If we change places, the situation in Shanxi and Guanzhong at this time is similar to that in northern Shaanxi two or three years ago. Of course, soldiers will be tired of fighting and have mental problems after fighting for a year, but it will not be so serious.
But at this time in northern Shaanxi, there was nowhere to rob. The rebels who stayed in northern Shaanxi were all attacking the city, and Wangzhuang was almost nowhere to be found. If 50% of the people in the past could survive without rebellion, how could they survive in Moyu? When Jing led his army into the battlefield in northern Shaanxi, there were only two people left who could survive without rebellion.
The key is that the remaining 20% of people are either high-ranking officials or people who have served high-ranking officials for generations, let alone ordinary soldiers. Even Mo Yujing cannot empathize with the little King Han squatting in Pingliang City.
People's thinking has been changed by drought and war. Earlier, when they heard that rebels were going to Pingliang, people were worried. The surrounding armies rushed to Pingliang for help as soon as possible.
But now when I heard that there were rebels going to Pingliang, the first thought of the generals and soldiers was not to worry about the safety of King Qiantui of Han, but to regret.
I regret that I didn't take advantage of him first and snatched away the Lumi from Prince Han's palace this year.
After sighing for a while, he started his troops and rushed to Pingliang to watch the battle from a distance. His thoughts were the same as when Liu Shishi watched Bai Yingzi besieging Tuwei.
Therefore, after capturing the ancient Shan Fort, Mo and Jing did not dare to push the soldiers too hastily. They stationed troops in the fort for repairs. At the same time, they sent people to spread letters widely and recruit chieftains from Huangzhong to come to help fight and quell the chaos.
Before his letter was delivered, urgent news came from the west that Nianbo Qianhu Station had been attacked by Liu Chengzong. The fleeing soldiers said that Liu Chengzong did not use the name of Qinghai's ambassador, but called himself the Qinghai Grand Marshal, supporting the troops. Tens of thousands of people captured Nianbo and were heading east.
For a time, the garrison of Gushanbao was in chaos, and Mo Yujing led his troops to leave Gushanbao in a hurry.
He couldn't be more clear that his army seemed a bit reluctant to quell the chaos. If he fought against Liu Chengzong, he would probably end up surrendering to the thieves.
He may not defend the ancient Shan Fort, but he must not leave these 700 elite soldiers to Liu Chengzong... What if these soldiers are not unwilling to kill, but just unwilling to kill for the court?
As a leader, does he dare to think about this issue?
The most annoying thing is that Mo Yujing only received the news from Nianbo Qianhu Station asking for help the day after receiving the news that Nianbo Qianhu Station had been captured.
Before the siege began, Nianbo Qianhu sent people to the east to ask for help, and went directly to Lanzhou. Only then did he learn that Xining Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mo Yujing had led his army to take up his post, and then he turned back to look for him.
The timeline is chaotic for him. Nianbo was captured first and then besieged.
Mo Yujing always thought that Hehuang was already in chaos because of the bandits who couldn't afford food. But he didn't expect that Hehuang would really become chaotic after he ran out of the valley of Gu Shanbao.
He originally wanted to retreat to the river valley and rely on the local wealthy tribes to hold on for reinforcements, but there were not many wealthy tribes left in the area.
Soldiers, traders, scholars and merchants, people packed their families' belongings and goods into small carts, blocked the official road and fled eastwards in a hurry, and the strings of carriages made deep ruts in the farmland.
The deserters who had lost the battle in the west blocked the road with knives, mounted other people's horses, carried other people's luggage, hugged other people's wives and drove away. Everything was in chaos.
Knowing that the Mudlegs were raising troops, the landlords in Hehuang did not panic, but knowing that Liu Chengzong was marching eastward, everyone was so frightened that they hurriedly packed up the luggage they had prepared two years ago and fled.
In the three days since the news spread throughout Hehuang, the words that were repeated most times by people were probably 'I knew this day would come,' and I was already prepared for it.
Thanks to Liu Shizi, the lives of wealthy families in Hehuang have become much more frugal in the past two years. The luxurious furnishings in many houses can be moved and sold. Some people have moved their furniture to their houses in Lanzhou early.
When Liu Chengzong arrived, people didn't have time to know what he was doing. By the time everyone realized what he was doing, he ran to the west of Xining like a gust of wind.
As the saying goes, people without long-term worries must have immediate worries. The consensus in the Hehuang Valley is that Liu Chengzong will come out sooner or later.
Insightful people came to this conclusion based on the fact that there is no danger to defend Hehuang. There are many places that can be said to be easy to defend but difficult to attack, but they all require a large number of off-duty soldiers. Hehuang also has 8,000 battalions guarding various places.
Among them are the Zhenhai Camp and Fuqiang Fort. Before the battle started, these five thousand soldiers were already eating the Liu family's food. Damn it.
The common people came to this conclusion with a simpler argument. There is no place to farm on the sea, and the generalissimo is sitting there, what is he going to eat?
But for ordinary people, even if they knew that Liu Chengzong would fight out, it would be meaningless. If the gentlemen ran east, they would at best be traveling to Lanzhou.
The kindhearted people waived the land rent for the tenants during the trip, and provided big houses for the long-term workers to live in. For those who were not exempt from the land rent, it was considered their duty to ask the tenants to pay the land rent when they returned.
Anyway, the master has the land deed, so as long as Hehuang doesn't fall, he will still be the master when he comes back; even if it falls, he will still be the master when the court comes back.
The situation is different for ordinary people. Tenants cannot get land when they go to Lanzhou. Farmers and small traders abandon their homes and businesses when they leave the land.
Five acres of land plus a chicken coop and pig pen are only worth a few taels of silver. For some people, making it into foil is lighter than the wind.
But for more people, a few taels of silver is more important than life, and it is worth taking a chance and tying yourself to the land for a gamble.
What if the thief doesn't hit your home? What if the Marshal's Mansion doesn't kill innocent people indiscriminately?
In Mo Yujing's heart, the gentry cannot run away.
Because they are people who can run, they cannot run. As local leaders, the backbone of the people, and landowners who hold the land in their hands, they are respected by others in peacetime, but they must stay in the place to lead the people in times of war.
Under normal circumstances, they make the decisions for the people whether to fight or surrender; to organize the people whether to run or to flee; even if they want to escape and seek refuge, they have to lead the people to escape.
Even if the enemy is cruel and greedy, it is still the responsibility and obligation of the gentry and countrymen to stay and be stabbed after surrender.
With them at the front, the people will not suffer too much. Otherwise, if they run away, will the people be left to vent their anger at the tyrannical and greedy enemy?
But Liu Chengzong is different, Liu Chengzong is too scary.
It is difficult for the gentry in Hehuang to regard him as a normal political power. Instead, they regard him either as a bandit who killed the rich and gave to the poor in the past, or as a Tubo Zampu of Han descent who also served as the Mongolian Khan version of Nurhaci.
In short, he is the kind of person who does not leave a way for the rich and gentry to survive.
Every move in the Marshal's Mansion in the past two years has affected people's thoughts. Ever since Liu Chengzong established a government school in Xining, most of the gentry in Hehuang did not dare to plan to share wealth with him.
Of course, there are also those who stay in Hehuang. These people have already sent their smart children to study in Xining Mansion. When they heard that the Marshal's Mansion was marching into the army, those who sent them early celebrated with joy, and those who sent them late sighed with regret.
Mo Yujing led his troops to approach the mouth of the river in a hurry. Seeing that there were still three miles to go, the official road and the river bank were blocked with water. There were broken and abandoned horse and donkey carts alone for a full mile.
Both sides of the Yellow River are crowded with wealthy intellectuals wearing luxurious fabrics and exquisite decorations. They bring fine horses, beautiful families, young servants and maidservants. Money is no longer money in this place. The banks are full of people waving silver coins and shouting and yelling at the river.
The Yellow River boatmen were transporting people back and forth, and even the cowhide rafts and sheepskin rafts were crowded with people. Like driven cattle and sheep, the crowds sometimes waded to the shore, sometimes retreated to the ferry, and occasionally exclaimed.
Either a raft capsized in the river, or someone took the opportunity to rob it on the shore, and there were all kinds of chaos.
When Mo Yujing saw this group of escaping gentry, he became angry. He snatched the three-eyed musket from his subordinates and fired it into the air. He left his men behind to observe the enemy's situation, deployed troops to maintain order, promulgated regulations prohibiting panic and looting, and at the same time sent The two soldiers went to the other side and asked General Lanzhou to recruit civilian ships and troops to cross the river.
"First let the banner army soldiers from Lanzhou cross the river, and then transfer all the chieftains from Taozhou, Minzhou and Lintao Gongchang. The mouth of the river cannot be lost!"
Once the river mouth is lost, Liu Chengzong can directly threaten Lanzhou and cut off the connection between Gansu Town and Shaanxi. On the other hand... Mo Yujing thinks that the chieftains in the Huang Valley of the Hehua River are mobilizing their troops and a huge army. The assembly will be completed within half a month.
When the time comes, the officers and soldiers will separate and attack, and they will be able to defeat the Liu thieves.
If the river mouth is lost, the chieftains will not receive support from Lanzhou, and they will fight on their own, making it difficult to win.
But soon, Mo Yujing realized that the problem was not that simple. He actually found several nephews of the chieftain at the Yellow River ferry.
Mo Yujing was also from Xining. As a general who had gone to Xining, he had close friendships with many of his fellow native officials. How come the families of Chieftain Li and Chieftain Qi were all gone?
After asking carefully, it turned out that those chieftains were actually invited by Liu Chengzong to celebrate the New Year in Juerwan. Mo Yujing felt dizzy after learning the news: "They, what are they doing at the Marshal's Mansion!"
News that one city after another had been torn down and captured, or had been defeated by the wind, kept coming from the west. The chieftain was not in the territory, and even though the Tujia people controlled a large population, they fell into a leaderless situation. Every news brought back by the defeated soldiers It was like bad news, hitting Mo Yujing's heart hard.
The Hehuang Valley may be lost.
Lanzhou, like Shanhaiguan, will become the front line directly facing the threat of enemy forces.
When the matter reached this stage, it was no longer under Mo Yujing's control. He hurriedly sent people to board the ship again to go to the other side. The general reported urgently that he was patrolling Shaanxi to practice state affairs and requested to mobilize the five generals from Guanzhong to lead the border army to negotiate for Hehuang. .
At this moment, exciting news finally came from the west: the retreating troops from all directions were gathered together, and the chaos of the retreat was stopped at Shangchuankou.
The only chieftain who did not go to Juerwan, the old chieftain Ye Guoqi, who had served as the deputy general of Changping, led 20 servants and 27 native soldiers to carry the coffin and stationed at Binggou Racecourse. He summoned the chieftains, soldiers and civilians from all families, and vowed to defend Hehuang to the death. , set up a banner with the character "Zhao".
A group of stragglers who were chased by the Marshal's Mansion army in the Hehuang Valley and scurryed around like head-covered flies found their backbone again and began to gather at the mouth of Shangchuan River.
Ye Guoqi sent a message to Hekou, asking Mo Yujing to ask for help from the imperial court, and sent his troops westward to take charge of the overall situation at Shangchuankou.
Immediately afterwards, Lu Yunchang, the Liancheng chieftain and general who had lived in Hexi for a long time, led 1,200 native soldiers to the West Datong Fort. They echoed the state weapons from afar and guarded the Datong River Bridge Mayi to the death.
Mo Yujing was ecstatic about this, and immediately swore an oath of surrender at the mouth of the river to boost the morale of the soldiers. They also held up the dilapidated and fluttering "Zhao" banner and led 700 veterans to march westward.
