Fu Qing took the first troop train to go south. At the end of more than ten carriages was a passenger car. Fu Qing and his staff and officers were all meeting in the carriage.
On the huge table is a map of the Gyeonggi region with accurate surveying and mapping, with the watermark of the Chinese Map Bureau on the corner. This is the best map on the market. The military version is not sold to the outside world at all, it is sold internally.
All the villages, rivers, avenues and paths around the capital are all marked on it, and various military symbols are densely marked on it.
The heads of Fu Qing and the commander of the Third Division, Doro Luo, were almost touching each other. These complex marks under the oil lamp gradually became a three-dimensional formation structure diagram in their minds.
"It seems that there is no hope for Li Hongzhang. He gave the court the latest military information today, saying that a rebel force of nearly 100,000 people appeared north of Handan. Although they are all victims of the disaster, they are too large to dare to march rashly... ...Hey!" Fu Qing sighed and looked back at Baoding Mansion from the southern end of the map.
Doro, the commander of the new Yulin Army who returned from the Western Regions, has experienced the baptism of wind and sand in the deserts of the Western Regions, making him much older but also much more unruly.
"Haha... He just wanted to wait and see to protect himself. The Huai Army in his hands continued to prepare for the opportunity to build the Great Qing Navy. How much equipment did he change?"
"His Huai Army's combat effectiveness is not as good as our Yulin New Army, but it is on par with the Xishan Camp! Is he afraid of these refugee bandits?"
"Why are you being so mean-spirited? This is really not as good as Marshal Zuo. He risked his life to fight in the Western Regions. I saw every bloody battle!"
"These Han people who stayed in the Central Plains are all old foxes. They are reluctant to part with their direct descendants!"
Fu Qing put down his red and blue pencils and sighed, "I can't blame them. It was a national war in the Western Regions, fighting Rakshasa ghosts and invaders. How could Zuo Jigao not sacrifice his life?"
"Both the Manchus and Han people over there, and even the local people in the Western Regions, have suffered greatly from Agubai's scourge. How can we not fight to the death if we share the same hatred with the enemy?"
"Besides, the Western Regions is a weak spot for the Han people. It has a national complex. How many ancient poems are there from the Han and Tang Dynasties alone?"
"Damn it, when you sing a poem outside the Great Wall, you will be overwhelmed by all your efforts. It's hard for us to understand this emotion!"
"Who is Li Hongzhang here? What the hell is this war? In the final analysis, it is just an internal struggle for power among us Manchus... The Han people have no interest in fighting this kind of war!"
"I think not only Li Hongzhang, but also Marshal Zuo of Baoding can't fight to the death..."
Doro had fought under Zuo Zongtang, and he had some feelings for each other. These words were a bit harsh and he quickly defended, "Commander Zuo should still consider the overall situation. After all, the capital is in chaos, and the people are the first to suffer..."
Fu Qing glanced at Doro and smiled faintly, "Yes! Marshal Zuo should be concerned about the country, but he no longer has military power. The Governor of Zhili is also newly appointed. Before that, he was just a big supervisor of the Beijing-Hankow Railway. …”
"Temporarily recruited soldiers are not easy to use... Now in this battle, we can only rely on ourselves, and no one else can rely on us!"
While the two were discussing the military situation, suddenly the train whistle blared, followed by the harsh sound of the emergency brake, and things that were not stable in the carriage fell down.
"What's going on? Why the emergency stop..."
"Sir... the red light guarding the road ahead is on. There is a problem with the railway..."
Really afraid of what might happen, more than 30 railway road protection workers quickly jumped out of the train and ran forward. After a while, they came back and reported, "Sir... someone dug out a section of rails in front of the railway. It was a crowbar." It was broken and needs urgent repairs!"
"Damn it! These bastards...how long do you need!"
"Sir, these thugs pried it open directly. They provided screws and pried over the rails... They can install it quickly, in just a quarter of an hour!"
"The train must leave immediately in ten minutes..."
In fact, there were no large-scale mechanical tools in ancient times, and it was not easy to destroy the railway tracks. After all, there were not many rebels who managed to do it in vain.
It is unrealistic to carry away the rails on a large scale. In many cases, as soon as the screws are loosened, the crowbar overturns the rails next to the roadbed, and then turns around and runs away.
Although Guiziliu rebelled, he was not a corrupt scholar who opposed the railway without thinking. He knew how beneficial the railway would be to the country in the future, so he issued a strict order not to explode with explosives, let alone destroy bridges.
When he ascends the throne in the future, he will still use this railway!
Fuqing had been on guard against this move for a long time, so the group of road construction workers who followed the train had a certain amount of road construction materials, so the damage to a section of the railway track was quickly restored.
The train set off again, but only then did they realize how terrifying it was to be far away from the capital!
There was no danger at all for the first thirty miles away from the capital, but once the forty miles passed, damage to the railways began to occur one after another.
After repairing the railway track four times, after more than fifty miles of journey, more damage appeared. You can even faintly see the lights in the distance through the car window.
In the midst of a catastrophic disaster, is there anyone willing to use lights late at night? These must be rebel spies. These are rebels trying to sabotage the railway in the dark.
"Fuck! We've just arrived in Liangxiang, are the thieves already so arrogant? We can't be beaten in vain... Please order, sir, to send some soldiers to protect the road along the way. Our soldiers will march forward while the car is being repaired..."
"When you encounter an enemy, fight to death..."
"Well... from now on, once the railway is damaged, a platoon of troops will be deployed along the road to guard the road, waiting for the next train to arrive before getting on the train and changing the guard..."
"At the same time, send a telegram to the post stations along the way. Tell me Fuqing's order, and the post soldiers from various places who maintain the telegraph lines begin to gather! Protect the road with ranked units..."
"We can't count on these post soldiers in the war, but they can still do it if we use foreign guns to protect the railway!"
Bang, bang, bang... the carriage door opened, and a row of Imperial Guard soldiers jumped off the train. They started patrolling along the railway with torches and lanterns loaded with ammunition, and shot when they encountered any disturbance.
Just stop and go, stop and go, and put down a line of troops when they encountered a damaged roadbed. After passing Liangxiang, more than 600 new Yulin troops were forced to stay along the railway to protect this lifeline.
Of course Fu Qing knew that dividing his troops was a taboo, but now that the thieves were so powerful he had no choice but to divide his troops if he wanted to maintain the railway!
Liangxiang was far away from Zhuozhou, so the train slowed down and did not dare to go too fast. The driver stared at the traces on the rails with wide eyes.
The large Chinese-made car lamps burn the purest gas without any soot. Nine flame heads come together to form a focal point, behind which is a light-emitting concave mirror made of mercury glass.
Even though it’s not electric lighting, it can still pierce the darkness!
"The boiler is pressurized...safety ahead...safety ahead..." Before the driver could finish his words, he heard a burst of gunfire from both sides of the light beam on the opposite side.
Bullets came over like water!
Bang bang... The car headlight bought at a high price was smashed into pieces. The driver who was leaning forward to look at the road was shot in the chest, and his body hung limply on the car window.
