Liao Nihao was not angry that Xia Dagen and Xiaogen used the excuse of illness to deceive him, but he was anxious when he learned that the two brothers were going to follow Dong Hu into the mountains. He had a very good relationship with the two brothers' father during his lifetime. In addition, he was an orphan since he was a child, so he always regarded the two brothers as his own children. Now I heard that the two brothers were going to Wanjiazhai. Thinking that he was also alone, he proposed to defect to the Pili Army. Dong Hu was so happy that he immediately agreed. Ouyang Xuan mentioned at high-level meetings of the Perak Army many times that it is crucial to build a strong naval force in the future to develop down the mountain and even defeat the Mongols. Liao Nilu is not only proficient in water skills, but also a good boat operator. He is exactly the naval talent that the Perak Army is in short supply.
It was already the 25th of the twelfth lunar month when Dong Hu and his party returned to Wanjiazhai. At the moment, heavy snow is falling in the Jiguan Mountain area. The weather is very cold, but every village is steaming and busy. The young people are doing military drills, women are spinning and making shoes, and the sound of reading can be heard in the schools and factories. There was a lot of tinkling noise inside, and Liao Niluo and his two brothers sighed repeatedly when they saw it. What surprised the three of them even more was that Ouyang Xuan, the leader of the Perak Army, was not at all the ferocious figure in the legend. Instead, he was a scholar-like young man with very short hair. His attitude was enthusiastic and kind, and he had no airs of an official at all.
After the conversation, Ouyang Xuan asked someone to lead Liao Niloc to the officer training company of the garrison camp to report. Accompanying him to report was Le Quan'an, the messenger from Xinjin City. In the past few days in Wanjiaping, Le Quan'an saw that the Perak Army's military discipline was strict and the political clarity in the mountains was improving day by day, so he also requested to join the Perak Army. Ouyang Xuan saw that both of them were proficient in water warfare and had passed the background screening of the counterintelligence department, so he trained them as the backbone of the navy in the future. As for the two brothers Xia Dagen and Xiaogen, they were sent to school to make plans after completing their studies.
On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, the messenger from Xinjin City came to Wanjiazhai again. The messenger brought two documents, one was an official document from the court regarding Ouyang Xuan's appointment as Yongkang County Magistrate. The other was an order written by Pan Tongzhi himself, requiring the Perak Army to launch a joint attack on Chongqing Fucheng on the 15th day of the first lunar month. If Yongkang City needs to be attacked before then, Ouyang Xuan will make his own decision. The messenger left in a hurry after delivering the letter. However, only four of the five people who arrived returned, and a small naval officer named Yu Laodou stayed behind in Wanjiazhai. This is because the navy that will attack Chongqing City will be Xinjin City, and they need to communicate with the Perak Army through flags and fireworks signals. For this reason, Pan Tongzhi specially sent Yu Laopo as the liaison officer between the two armies.
During this time, the Perak Army was also preparing its troops to attack Yongkang and Chongqing Fucheng. In terms of military production, folding shields, spears and rattan armor are basically available, and only a few more are needed to make up for losses. Artillery shells and grenades are sufficient, but there is a big gap in artillery equipment. In particular, the installation of light artillery only reaches 50% of the number of field battalions. The production quantity of new mercury fulminate grenades is also small, so it can only be prioritized for installation under Dong Hu's command. of scouts. As for the muskets, dozens of them were produced. Although these muskets adopted the advanced concept of breech flintlock proposed by Ouyang Xuan in design, due to the production process, although they were extremely powerful, they were not as good as in terms of rate of fire and accuracy. There is a big gap between bows and arrows, and production efficiency and scale production capacity also need to be further improved. In terms of logistical supplies, we have prepared sufficient biscuits and dried meat, as well as a large amount of cold-proof clothing, knife wound medicine and bandages.
In terms of attack strategy, the Perak Army Staff Department also conducted many deductions. In order to improve the battle and tactical command capabilities, Ouyang Xuan mobilized personnel with both culture and combat experience from the entire army to form a staff department. According to the operational plan of the General Staff, this mountain attack operation was mainly undertaken by the six companies of the field battalion, while the garrison battalion and the internal guard battalion only had to bear auxiliary functions. Among them, three companies from the field battalion went forward to attack, and the other three companies stayed in Hengyuan Village as reserves, attacking alternately to cover each other. Whether attacking Yongkang City or Chongqing Fucheng, Hengyuan Village needs to be used as a support base. Therefore, the staff proposed to build a fortress in Hengyuan Village as a strong fulcrum for the Perak Army to fight outside the mountains.
Ouyang Xuan was very satisfied with the staff's combat plan, but rejected the proposal to build a bastion in Hengyuan Village. In fact, the construction company has already completed the design plan for the Hengyuan Village Bastion, and has sufficient cement, iron bars, stones and logs required for the project. Historical knowledge told Ouyang Xuan that now was not the best time to build a bastion. He remembered that Pu Zhezhi's counterattack on Chengdu would fail miserably. Not only would the entire western Sichuan be captured by the Mongolian army, but in the next two years, even Yazhou to the west of Qiongzhou and Diaozhou and Yanzhou as far away as the Fan region would also fall to the Mongols. human hand. Hengyuan Village is connected to Yongkang and Qingcheng County to the north, Dayi County and Qiongzhou to the south, and can reach Chongqing Fucheng and Xinjin County along the river to the east. The geographical location is very important, and the Mongolian army will certainly not tolerate resistance here. . Although the bastion made of concrete was extremely defensive, it could not withstand the continuous siege of a large number of enemy troops. With the current military and economic strength of the Perak Army, it cannot withstand a long-term war of attrition. For this reason, he prepared to fight a quick and decisive battle. After capturing the cities of Yongkang and Chongqing, he would not hold on to them. Instead, he would transport as many people and materials as possible back to the mountains, quietly dormant under the protection of the mountains, and wait for the right time to attack again.
After the fifth day of the first lunar month, the military operation to attack Yongkang City began from Hengyuan Village. Under the protection of two companies of the field battalion, three hundred workers from the construction company made use of the dilapidated buildings in Hengyuan Village and established an advance base within three days. The base is protected by staggered trenches and parapets, with artillery positions and simple wooden watchtowers set up at intervals. The base not only has food and ordnance warehouses and barracks, but also has medical clinics, wells, and toilets. Although these facilities are simple, they all have basic functions. On the 9th of the first lunar month, the remaining four companies of the field battalion and the officer training company of the garrison battalion were stationed at the base under the leadership of Ouyang Xuan, and supplies needed for combat were also continuously delivered from the mountains. Practical combat is the best way to teach, so Ouyang Xuan thought twice and brought out the teaching company. The attack on Yongkang City was commanded by Cao Ergou, with the strength of the 135th Company of the Field Battalion and the Teaching Company of the garrison battalion. Ouyang Xuan led the 246th Company to sit in Hengyuan, acting as a reserve team and protecting the rear, while Yu Zhu's garrison battalion was responsible for guarding the grain roads and mountains.
Before dawn on the tenth day of the first lunar month, Cao Ergou led his troops and set off towards Yongkang City. Artillery is the most important combat force of the Perak Army, and it is also the most vulnerable and easily attacked military unit. Therefore, Cao Ergou placed it in the middle of the marching array and was closely protected by spears and giant shields. This army of four hundred men was small in number, and the official road was a full mile long, half of which was occupied by wheelbarrows transporting artillery and ammunition. Wheelbarrows can only be used on plains. On rugged mountain roads, the artillery of the Perak Army can only be transported by manpower, which is really difficult. These wheelbarrows were the grain transport trucks captured by the newly attached army last time. The carpenters of the industrial company have improved and reinforced them to make them more suitable for the transportation of artillery. This greatly increased the mobility of the field battalion, which made Cao Ergou and others The people arrived outside the west gate of Yongkang City before noon.
