It didn't take long for this reaction to reach Qim Island. The reports from various spies sent by Lu Wenyuan were always "nothing was found." [Read the latest chapter] This made Lu Wenyuan, Chen Sigen, and Zhu Mingxia, who were originally confident and just waiting for the action to start, all anxious.
According to the timetable, Kong Youde raised the rebel flag on October 31, and he led his troops to Dengzhou City on November 22. Only 22 days passed. Several days have passed now, and the spies who were looking for information on the official roads of Huang County should at least get some vague information - such as "someone is revolting". After all, Kong Youde's command has more than a thousand people and is well-equipped. A force that will go unnoticed.
But among the business travelers coming from Texas, no one brought such news.
Time flies to November 10th, and there is still no news on the road. A group of people could no longer sit still. After emergency consultations, Zhu Mingxia decided to send out reconnaissance cavalry in disguise. Lu Wenyuan, through Sun Yuanhua's relationship, bought a dozen Mongolian horses from the Dengzhou Army as mounts for the scouts. The Fubo Army has always lacked the ability to maneuver quickly in terms of battlefield reconnaissance methods.
The scout cavalry were not scouts of the special reconnaissance team, but personnel from the cavalry training squadron of the northward detachment. Considering that many horses may be captured during Operation Dengzhou, a company from the Cavalry Training Squadron of the Army Training Corps was incorporated into the northward detachment for local use, and one of the platoons has been transported to Qimu Island.
The Fubo Army's use of cavalry principles is close to the light cavalry tactics used during the Napoleonic Wars, which are mainly used for reconnaissance, harassment and pursuit, and are generally not used for cavalry battles and breakthroughs. Therefore, the cavalry in the teaching squadrons have received reconnaissance training.
Lu Wenyuan looked at the dozen or so makeup-coated scout cavalry in front of him: They really looked like women: a single businessman pretending to be a caravan to run goods, accompanied by a guy leading a donkey. I couldn't even open my mouth to speak Shandong dialect that I couldn't understand. When Lu Wenyuan asked, he found that not all of them were natives of Shandong - they were all specially trained and could speak fluent dialects.
"They have been training for more than a year, and this time it is considered a real actual combat." Zhu Mingxia said, "I originally planned to send them into battle later, but I didn't expect that they would be used so soon."
Each scout cavalryman has a telescope and a revolver. Plus two grenades. The cavalry looked at each other and took care of each other. The distance between the two teams was only a hilltop or a glance away. According to the arrangement: spread out in the direction of Texas, and the seventh and eighth teams will advance in three to five levels of search.
The scout cavalry searched along the road toward Wuqiao, collecting information along the way. But there has been no useful information. It wasn't until a group of cavalry arrived in Sangyuan Town in Wuqiao County that they got useful information from local vendors.
Kong Youde's troops had passed through this place ten days ago and headed north. The chicken snatching incident did happen, but the matter was settled later - the soldier who snatched the chicken and killed the person was beheaded, and the uncle of the Wang family stopped pursuing it. Kong Youde had already led his troops to leave.
But what happened next made the local people very scared, because a few days later, news came that a large village dozens of miles away had been wiped out. Although the government said it was bandits, everyone said it was mostly Liaodong soldiers. . Several wealthy families in the villages that were massacred had some wealthy relatives, so the matter could not be suppressed. The local gentry jointly went to the county magistrate. He also sent people to the government to accuse these lawless "soldiers and bandits".
"Is it useful to approach the government about this matter?" The scout cavalry deliberately looked ignorant. "In my hometown, if the soldiers killed a few people, the county boss would not care about it, unless he insisted that it was bandits who did it. That's right. It may not work if you go to the provincial government."
"You are always a businessman who runs away. You have wide eyelids. What haven't you seen? We ordinary people will be chopped off with a knife by the military master. However, several big families in the village died, as well as several gentry in the county. Dear. There is a family that is related to Mr. Wang’s family. Mr. Wang can’t say that he can’t see it—the folks in the village can’t explain it either.”
The scout cavalry did not dare to delay and immediately sent people back to report the news to the elders on Qimu Island.
This aroused the concern of the "three people on Qimu Island": the news brought by the scout cavalry showed that Kong Youde did not raise the rebel flag at Wuqiao as in the old time and space history, but used other means to ease the matter. In this way, he will lead the army to continue northward, and eventually either lose the battle at Daling River, die or surrender, or go further north and the morale of the army is shaken and directly surrender to the Manchus.
Once this happens. The plan to use Kong Youde to disrupt Shandong will completely fail. As a result, many plans will need to be modified. In particular, there is a big doubt as to whether it is necessary to occupy Jeju Island.
"If Kong Youde refuses to rebel, we will force him to rebel!" Zhu Mingxia slapped the table, "Otherwise we will have to go into battle naked."
Chen Sigen said: "Can we use Sun Yuanhua to force him? He slaughters villages and households, so it will be difficult for Sun Yuanhua to protect him."
"I'm afraid not. Sun Yuanhua's ability to manage the army is limited, and his ability to discipline his subordinates is not strong, and he regards Dongjiang's old people as his capital." Lu Wenyuan shook his head repeatedly. "Besides, this kind of thing was not uncommon in the late Ming Dynasty. Sun Yuanhua would not embarrass a capable general like Kong Youde who has a strong army over this matter."
"I think we can only count on the local Jin gentry in Wuqiao. For example, the Wang family." Lu Wenyuan is an expatriate who has received a lot of professional training in history. He also followed Zhao Yingong in Shandong for several months and is relatively familiar with the social conditions and people's livelihood of the Ming Dynasty. After consideration, a new plan was proposed.
Lu Wenyuan continued: "The Wang family is a well-known gentry in Wuqiao and very powerful. The head of this family, Wang Xiangchun, is a key member of the Donglin Party. He was in the "Donglin Point General Record" at that time and was known as 'The sky is damaged and the stars are white. '."
"Good guy, you're still a fool! The eunuch is quite talented." Chen Sigen laughed.
"And Wang Xiangchun also has a cousin named Wang Xiangjin, who is the chief envoy of Zhejiang Province - his official position is not low. Not to mention these two brothers, Wang Xiangchun alone can make Kong Youde miserable."
The question is whether the Wang family is willing to take the lead. Lu Wenyuan believes that the Wang family is very likely to take the lead.
Since the eldest son of the Wang family was willing to support a chicken owned by his servant, a local village in his hometown was massacred, and distant relatives were also involved. Regardless of whether it was for public or private reasons, their family had to speak out.
"The problem is that it will be several months before they come out to speak out, and we can't catch up."
Lu Wenyuan scratched his head - since he had a bun, he couldn't wash his hair often and his scalp often felt itchy: "That's true."
"The top priority is to find Kong Youde's department and find out his next move so that we can deal with it." Zhu Mingxia said. Originally, their mastery of historical data gave them a sense of "one-way transparency" about the battlefield situation, but now Kong Youde's abnormal actions have caused the "fog of war" to pervade once again.
"Where are they now?"
According to the report of the scout cavalry, after Kong Youde led his troops to leave Wuqiao County, they walked north for about twenty miles and massacred a large village, and then lost news.
"...There are still several groups of people searching all the way, and the latest news has not yet arrived."
Zhu Mingxia opened the map and marked Kong Youde's last trace on the map. Judging from the map, if he wants to continue heading north to Shanhaiguan to perform the task of reinforcing the Daling River, he should go east instead of suddenly heading north. The route to Dongguang County and Nanpi County in the north is very different from the route to Shanhaiguan in the north.
"Why did he go to Dongguang and Nanpi?" Chen Sigen was a little confused. "Could it be..." He noticed that the two counties on the map were on the banks of the canal. "Isn't he trying to rob the ships on the canal?"
The Grand Canal is an important transportation route between the north and the south. Hundreds of ships sail on the river every day. It is obviously a very profitable target.
"No, he doesn't dare." Lu Wenyuan shook his head, "Openly leading troops to intercept canal ships is a rebellion..."
"Didn't he rebel in the first place?"
"That's true."
Zhu Mingxia said: "I estimate that when Kong Youde went north to Dongguang Nanpi, he either planned to make a big move along the canal, or it was just a false shot."
He thinks the latter is more likely.
If Kong Youde wanted to rebel, he could start in Wuqiao. There was no need to rush to Nanpi or Dongguang. Wuqiao County was enough for him to rob. He avoided Wuqiao County and went north, obviously with the intention of estrangement. Once the court wanted to pursue him, he could default on his debt - his route was not to go north in the first place.
"...Kong Youde's men are cavalry and can move very quickly. He can go all the way north, slaughter several villages along the way, make a fortune, and then suddenly turn east, return to the original route and continue to Shanhaiguan. If there is sufficient food and grass, the cavalry troops can travel 40 kilometers a day without any problem."
"But then, wouldn't he stop rebelling in Shandong?"
"There is indeed such a possibility." Lu Wenyuan said, "However, historically, Kong Youde had no intention of rebellion at the beginning. He himself was forced to participate in the Wuqiao Mutiny. Those who decided to launch the mutiny were mainly the lower-level people. Officers and soldiers.”
This shows that the rebellious mood has always existed in the old Dongjiang tribe in Shandong. Kong Youde rebelled in Wuqiao and received a response from Geng Zhongming and other former Dongjiang people as soon as he arrived in Dengzhou. Throughout the Dengzhou Rebellion, the rebels continued to receive support from the former Dongjiang troops and grew rapidly.
"In a deeper sense, the mutiny of the former Dongjiang tribe is inevitable. Just look at the situation in Shandong to know."
Lu Wenyuan stayed in Shandong for several months and had many interactions with the church, government, army and people. In his opinion, the rebellion of the Liaodong Army was inevitable. Shandong's guest armies and host armies were constantly in conflict, and the land was barren and the people were poor. The Jin gentry were powerful and powerful. The Liaodong Army, which had been marginalized and discriminated against for a long time, had accumulated enough resentment, but it just lacked a fuse. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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