Just as the troops carried ammunition on their backs and walked ten kilometers in the mountains, transporting shells and gunpowder to the artillery position outside Guangning City for transfer, the reconnaissance team sent a message: Guangning City seemed to be garrisoned by an invincible army.
The city was completely empty, and there was not a single guard. The scouts used binoculars to observe the city from the nearby hills, but found no signs of enemy troops gathering near the city wall.
Yang Zeng, who had already arrived at the front finger, was secretly confused, thinking that this was an "empty city strategy"? Just as he was about to instruct the scouts to "come closer for reconnaissance," suddenly the Guangning city gate, which had been closed, opened on its own. A large group of people beat gongs and drums out of Guangning City and walked towards the confused Suijiang detachment. At the head, a middle-aged man dressed as a Confucian scholar saluted with tears streaming down his face from a distance, and shouted something like "The people of Hecheng invite the Song Dynasty Heavenly soldiers enter the city."
"This can't be a trick of the enemy to lure us into the city to burn new wild beasts." Huang Chao muttered.
Yang Zeng sent people to bring several "elders" headed by General. He has seen a lot of "local elders", but this is the first time he has seen them in such a sorry state, with bruises on their noses and swollen faces, and their clothes were torn in several places.
The "local elders" were searched and then brought to Yang Zeng and others. They all knelt on the ground and each reported their names, "Please ask the heavenly troops to enter the city quickly."
Such activeness was really suspicious. Yang Zeng ordered one company to occupy various city gates and towers, and another company to search the city. While interrogating the "father" about the fall of the county seat.
It turns out that Quang Ninh fell three days ago. At that time, bandits were rioting in the county, so the county director of Guangning sent the second team to suppress the riots. The original establishment of Guangning County only had one squadron of the National Army, and the third team was deployed in Shijian. According to the arrangements, only Team 1 and the newly trained "County Militia" were left in the county. There were about two hundred people.
Judging from the strength of Guangning's city defense, with the city gates closed, more than 200 people are enough to resist the intrusion of ordinary bandits, not to mention a heavily armed National Army squad. Therefore, after receiving the news that a large group of bandits and rebels were coming from Hezhou, the county director and squadron leader were not too nervous. They sent people to Shijian to contact them and asked them to pay attention to the enemy's situation; they closed the city gates and prepared for war. .
However, three days ago, part of the militia in the city suddenly mutinied and opened the city gates. Bandits outside the city swarmed in. The National Army squadron leader hurriedly led his team to counterattack, but was suddenly killed in the battle. Some National Army soldiers surrendered to the enemy on the spot. , the remaining people fought and retreated, and finally broke through the city gate with some militia members and escaped.
"How many people ran away?" Yang Zeng asked.
"About a hundred or ten people." The middle-aged Confucian scholar said tremblingly, "I didn't see it, I just heard people say so."
"Where are the county officials?"
"I heard... I heard..." The middle-aged Confucian scholar was a little scared. If the leader of the Kun people wanted to vent his anger on him, he would be doomed.
"What did you hear? Tell me!"
"Yes, yes, it is said that some of the cadres in the city escaped with the heavenly soldiers. The county magistrate and seven other people were trapped - that day...that day..."
"killed?"
"Yes, right at the intersection of the cross street," the middle-aged Confucian scholar shrank his neck, fearing that the wrath of thunder would descend, "...students, students and the gentry in the city have collected the corpses, and now they are all parked in the temple..."
Yang Zeng and others inquired carefully and found out that after the bandits entered the city, they captured seven naturalized cadres headed by the county director and beheaded them all at the crossroads. They also beheaded all the captured militiamen and injured National Army soldiers. , it is said that he wants to "repay his merits". The next day, they killed several gentry and businessmen in the county advisory bureau. They also captured many "treacherous people" who were "affiliated with Kun" and beheaded them, killing more than a hundred people.
Although the bandits claimed to be "officers and soldiers", their military discipline was extremely poor. After entering the city, in addition to asking for various "offerings", the stragglers committed crimes, burned, killed, raped, and robbed money. Almost all merchants and gentry in the city were harmed by them. Ordinary people were also ruined a lot by them.
Last night, the bandits suddenly started looting the whole city and captured many women. They opened the city gate and escaped early this morning.
"...I am waiting for the rain just as the troops from heaven are drying up the fields." After the middle-aged scholar finished his "crying" with snot and tears, Huang Chao and Yang Zeng were already livid. Yang Zeng said: "Let's go into the city!"
Upon entering the city, the city was in a mess. Every household had its doors open, and all the shops along the street were smashed and looted. There are still corpses lying on the street.
The people who survived the disaster gathered on both sides of the road with frightened faces to "greet the heavenly soldiers." These few points indicate that they have had enough of the torture of bandits. No matter whether they are rich or poor, they have no understanding of this regime in the past and have only passively accepted it. They have a great impression of this regime - this contrast is too disparate!
Although they were robbed by bandits and suffered heavy losses of property, the people still put drinks and food on the roadside to show their support.
When Yang Zeng and others came to the intersection, they saw blood stains on the sandstone slab and a large black area. Thinking of the comrades who were killed here a few days ago, I feel extremely angry - if only I had known about the situation here earlier! Even if the entire army breaks their legs during a forced march, they still have to come.
Huang Chao's feelings were different from his. In addition to anger, there was also an inexplicable fear in his heart. Although there was no body, the cold reality and the bloodstains on the ground reminded him that the situation he had to face was a hundred times more difficult than the situation in "Fuli" in Hainan, and the cruelty was unprecedented. He took a deep breath to calm down, but for some reason, he felt that the air was filled with the smell of blood. I couldn't help but feel sick twice in a row.
The bodies of the slain cadres and Nationalist soldiers have been buried in simple coffins by local "elders". Yang Zeng sent someone to check and found that all of them had no heads.
"Where are the heads of the martyrs?" Yang Zeng asked the middle-aged Confucian scholar.
"The heads were hanging at the gates of the county government and the four cities. They were collected last night and probably taken away."
The human head is an important tool for recording merit, so it is not surprising that it was taken away. Yang Zeng was helpless. The caregiver found a cemetery outside the city and buried the murdered cadres and soldiers. Huang Chao heard that the people in the city had suffered severely, and asked the local people to set up porridge sheds to distribute rice, rice and clothes. He also personally went to express his condolences to the murdered members of the County Council. Some committee members' homes were robbed, and the surviving family members were hungry and cold. He took care of all these people and sent them to Lingao for support.
From them, they learned that the man commanding this force was a scribe named Li Cungu. Although he was a scribe, he was extremely bloodthirsty. As soon as they entered the city, they not only killed the captives and the local "Fu Kun" local people, but also massacred their families, including the young and old, killing more than ten households in one go. It was only through the joint intercession of the wealthy gentry in the county that the families of several members of the Consultative Bureau who were originally supposed to be killed were saved.
As for the matters that Huang Chao and others were most concerned about, the opening of the gate within the militia and the surrender of part of the National Army to the enemy, the locals knew very little. They only knew that the people who opened the city gate were a few young people from the militia, all from the county. Idle people. As for his subsequent life and death, it is not clear. He probably escaped with the bandits.
"The names of these people must be recorded and they will be wanted forever!" Huang Chao said angrily.
However, based on these unremarkable names, no photos, and no fingerprints, and it was still an era of constant war, the possibility of catching them in the sea of people was extremely slim. The only thing Huang Chao could comfort himself with was that since they ran away with the bandits, they might have lost their lives in the battle.
In order to ensure the safety of Guangning, the Suijiang detachment built another village on the bank of the Suijiang River on the north side of Baoding Mountain, blocking the road to Huaiji. The Guangning Brigade brought here consists of the 1st Squadron and the remnants of the original Guangning Squadron, responsible for the security of the county and surrounding transportation nodes. At the same time, an infantry company was sent to Huaiji to establish contact with the local garrison, especially to gather back the troops and cadres who had escaped from Guangning.
The other two squadrons of the Guangning Brigade patrol the inner line between Guangning and Suijiang to ensure smooth communication with the main force; the other maintains law and order in the villages outside the city, gradually expanding the scope of detection and warning of enemies from the north.
The main force of the Suijiang detachment immediately set off for Huaiji. Originally, both Huang Chao and Yang Zeng planned to carry out a large-scale "security campaign" in Guangning and Huaiqing to ensure the safety of traffic lines. However, judging from the current situation, they are no longer allowed to move step by step and play steadily. The troops must rush to Lianzhou as soon as possible to suppress the riot.
The Wuzhou Squadron was also retained as the National Army, but they were used as a mobile team, responsible for maintaining public security between Guangning and Huaiji, and at the same time responsible for supporting various squadrons - the combat effectiveness of the Wuzhou Squadron has been recognized.
The content of the internal security system is very simple, it is nothing more than going back and forth on a fixed route. The main purpose is to maintain a military presence and deter potential enemies. If there is a small riot, it can be put out in time. The supplies are timely and safe; the more dangerous thing is the outer patrol. After all, the north of Guangning is outside the control area, and the surrounding mountains are easy to be ambushed. The main task is actually to follow the guide and walk from one village to another along the road. . Everywhere they go, they distribute printed announcements, call villagers to give lectures, and call village elders to explain policies and assign tasks... Because there are not enough civil affairs cadres and Quang Ninh is not included in the recent occupation plan, these tasks are all done by military officers. To make do, staff officer Li Song was sent to the Wuzhou Squadron to guide the work and compile documents to avoid errors during future handovers.
If the local government cooperates, it can be granted the power to organize militia for self-defense. Add local militia to the order of county militia. At the same time, they were required to pay a "reasonable burden"; if they did not cooperate, the village would be broken up, and the elders and wealthy households would be arrested as local tyrants and evil gentry who resisted the heavenly soldiers, and sent to the Guangzhou court for trial - usually fines or exile to Kaohsiung.
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 391
