On the battlefield, Leo kept pressing the shutter. He was deeply attracted by every detail of the magical East, whether it was the war or the scene of crying in front of him.
Many years later, as a China expert, he compiled countless photos into a picture album, and each photo was accompanied by a story, and this battlefield lunch was one of the most famous ones.
Leo said in the album that Chinese society is a collection of very contradictions, and their governing philosophy is really incomprehensible to the West, because they are always trying to balance, what they call yin and yang.
How could a group of common people who had never received military education, a closed group who had to find a way out of their hometown hundreds of miles away, frogs in the well who were tied to their homes by their land and clan, react to the sudden changes?
Don't blame these people for their cowardice and callousness, because they have not received any resistance education since they were young, and even the slightly threatening weapons at home have been confiscated.
The entire society educates them and instills in them nothing but submission and humble living. Unless a serious disaster occurs to this group of people, unless they really cannot survive anymore, they will risk their lives to resist, and at the beginning of the rebellion, their ideals are nothing more than I just want to survive.
But this group of ruled people has completely brainwashed the obedient people, and they are also the group that the ruling class is most angry about. Whenever the country is invaded by foreign enemies or is in civil strife, no one reflects on their policy of brainwashing the people. One scolded the people for being insensitive.
This makes no sense at all. You have even taken away the knives from people's homes. You are usually afraid that the people will resist a little, but when foreign enemies come, you expect these sheep to transform into tigers immediately.
This is really a big joke. In history, Cixi used the Boxer Rebellion to fight against foreigners, which was actually a manifestation of this kind of thinking. When he encouraged the fanatical people to attack foreigners, she may have long forgotten that she had ordered the massacre of hundreds of people. Tens of millions of Taiping and Nian troops.
Poor, deplorable Chinese grass people, the word "grass" is really well used, human life is as cheap as grass.
Today, in Leo's lens, this group of ordinary people were weeping in pain over a canned meat for each person. Many people choked and said, "If I had known I was going to do this with you, we would have fought for such good food." , woo woo woo..."
All the new troops were dumbfounded, Xiao Letian was also stunned, and even the benefactors were dumbfounded. Why did these common people forget to eat but not to fight?
The new army is really spoiled. They have forgotten their original life. Once upon a time, when they were ordinary people, the expressions on their faces were also indifferent. They would fight for a bite of food.
Xiao Letian let out a long sigh and sighed inwardly, "Hey... I have realized how cheap human life is in the late Qing Dynasty. I have read my lover's notes before. In Guangzhou city, countless idle men are hired to lead the fight in clan wars. A life is only worth one thousand copper coins... …After the Eight-Nation Allied Forces entered Beijing, Qing Dynasty officials even paid for the lives of untouchables and beheaded the foreigners to appease the anger of the foreigners. The life was only worth three taels of silver…”
"I didn't believe it before, but today I really believe it..."
"What do you believe? Sir, what are you talking about?" Wang Huaiyuan asked doubtfully.
"Nothing..." Xiao Letian quickly interrupted, "You said that the Huai army neither fought nor moved out of the way. Are they waiting for reinforcements? Are there any reinforcements that can be mobilized in Beijing? They are just those soldiers smoking big cigarettes."
Wang Huaiyuan sneered and said, "Of course there are plenty of soldiers. In fact, the private soldiers of the princes and nobles in Sijiu City have been recruited together to form a large-scale army. But it is hard to say whether such an unorganized army can fight. "
"What I'm most worried about now is Jingshan. Although Zeng Guofan and many Han ministers have exerted pressure on Cixi, this old witch no longer dares to touch the life of Empress Dowager Ci'an. But the longer we delay, the longer we delay, the more we fear Jingshan will not be able to hold on. Hold on to the pressure...if you compromise, it will be difficult."
Xiao Letian nodded, "Intelligence shows that Ci'an is a woman with a reserved personality and a strong sense of the overall situation. She is different from Cixi. This woman has the country and the country in her heart, while Cixi just pursues maximizing her own rights..."
"It's not easy for Ci'an to bargain with the court despite the pressure this time. If I delay for a long time, I'm afraid that the weakness in Ci'an's heart for doing good for the court will come up again..."
Having said this, Xiao Letian gritted his teeth and said, "We don't have time to waste time. Let's use our trump card."
As soon as these words came out, Wang Huaiyuan suddenly felt excited in his heart: "Sir, you have really thought about it, and you really don't regret it." At that moment, even Wang Huaiyuan, who was used to seeing life and death, had a look of fear on his face.
"If I don't go to hell, who will go to hell? Even if there is retribution in the future, I, Xiao Letian, will bear it alone... But this weapon is too dangerous and we can't let our precious baby take risks. Let's spend money to hire mercenaries..." Xiao Letian pointed his finger as he spoke The group of common people crying.
After a while, Liu Anchen and his group of Enyangzong appeared in the refugee group. "Everyone listens to the order. Prime Minister Xiao of the East China Sea has an order to recruit mercenaries from among you for today's battle. Each of them will have ten soldiers." A foreigner’s silver coin...has anyone signed up?”
"The Prime Minister treats you to meat and gives you foreign money... Ten silver coins are enough to buy a calf. You have to think clearly. There is no shop like this after passing this village..."
The crowd was in an uproar. The eyes of this group of ordinary people who had never spent any money in their lives were all bright at this moment, and their indifferent expressions miraculously disappeared.
It is difficult for modern people to imagine the polarization of social wealth in the late Qing Dynasty. The gap between the rich and the poor at that time was so large that it was unimaginable. Officers like Xiao Letian's monthly salary amounted to hundreds of dollars. According to calculations at that time, The purchasing power is enough to buy hundreds of cattle or several acres of paddy fields.
Even Xiao Letian himself, ten foreign dollars is not enough for a family dinner, but for the extremely poor people, they have only spent copper coins in their lives, and sometimes they even have to barter with sellers for eggs, vegetables, etc. Silver is a legend to them.
Everyone was excited. This was the price of a cow. Even a cheap wife could buy one. At that time, many young men stood up and said, "Do it... Count me in, as long as you don't fool me."
Xiao Letian couldn't laugh or cry when he heard this, "I'm fooling you. I'm fooling you about ten yuan of foreign money. I'm not going to ask for the identity of Lotte Foreign Company... Each person will be given two yuan as a face-to-face reward. When the battle is over, those who die in the battle will be given one." A hundred yuan as a pension, and a serious injury of sixty yuan..."
Upon hearing this, everyone went crazy, and five to six hundred young men jumped out of the crowd, surrounding the Enyang disciples and signing up.
The changes in the new army could not escape Li Hongzhang's eyes. At this time, he had already driven Xiao Letian crazy with anger, and his face was full of sinisterness, losing the demeanor of an important minister in the past.
"Damn, this Xiao Letian is organizing young men. He has more than a thousand subordinates. Damn it, damn it... Where are the horses and the reinforcements that the court promised me? The whole night has passed, plus today's It’s been a long time, why haven’t you come yet?”
At this time, the nephew's soldier beside him said, "Commander, why don't we withdraw? Those who died are all brothers of the Huai army. We don't have to kill so many of our brothers for the Manchus. Let's conserve our strength..."
"Shut up, you think I don't want to withdraw. How can you tell me to withdraw before the Queen Mother's reinforcements arrive? There are three thousand war horses and ten thousand flag soldiers. I don't believe there are so many people that I can't get through this little one." Small square array..."
"This is the last critical moment. If we win, our credit will be lost... Besides, if the Eight Banners can't stop the new army, we will have an excuse to withdraw. The court will not have any at that time. No excuse to embarrass us."
Time passed minute by second. Li Hongzhang sent his personal guards to the military formations one by one to calm the morale. Xiao Letian's military formation on the opposite side was also ready for battle. Five hundred carefully selected young men were holding a The extra-large grenade is half a foot in diameter.
"Be careful, be careful. After pulling the rope, you can throw it into the pile of enemies... You can throw this thing even if it's not heavy..."
"Sir, what is this? Is it the big firecracker you use?"
"Don't ask if you shouldn't ask. I'm telling you, this thing is very dangerous. Don't let it fall on your feet. Honey, you guys are so lucky to throw away a few fat people and earn a cow. This is a business that you will never encounter in your life. Arrived..."
The New Army was teaching young men how to use this grenade, nicknamed "Fat Man", when a sudden change occurred. The ground in the northwest suddenly shook slightly, and the water on the ground rippled.
"It's cavalry, a large-scale cavalry..." Luo Huo shouted on the spot.
At this time, the Huai army also became jubilant, especially the defenders in the northeast. They jumped out of the ditch one by one, and Ye Qiu and the others had several heads shot.
Soon, in the rain curtain in the northwest, a black shadow rushed over. It was the belated reinforcements. Three thousand war horses had begun to speed up. Behind the horses, there were countless crazy shouts of killing. It was that moment. Thousands of reinforcements.
"Prepare your horses, I'm going to meet the reinforcements." Li Hongzhang rode his war horse and walked around the group of horses to greet them. He saw the familiar figure of Ande Hai from a long way away.
"Eunuch An...I am Shaoquan...you guys are here..."
"Oh, it's Marshal Li... The Za family is polite, how is the battle going?"
Li Hongzhang did not expect Cixi to send Ande Hai as a supervisor. Looking back at the group of internal affairs directors around him, he immediately understood that the army brought today can be said to be the last army in the capital that can fight in the field. .
"Ashamed, that Xiao Letian had four rapid-fire guns in his hands, and the firepower was so intense... We lost 30% of the battle but still didn't succeed..." After speaking, Li Hongzhang wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.
Andehai still knew the severity. He understood that these Han warlords who led troops could not be offended, so he quickly comforted him and said, "Sir, don't be sad. Didn't the Za family bring reinforcements? The command from behind depends on the commander." "
"Nothing to say, nothing to say... This battle will be easy to fight from now on. Our Huai army blocks the north, south and east directions, makes way for the opening to the west, and lets the three thousand cavalry rush in. No matter how fast their guns are, It’s too late…”
"As long as their formation is messed up, even one of our more than 10,000 elite soldiers can drown them with a spitting breath... Father-in-law, please give the order. This victory is prepared for you."
Ande Hai was immediately happy, "Oh, so the miscellaneous family can live up to the general's addiction. Okay, then the whole army will obey the order and attack." This book was first published from, be the first to read the original content!
