While Zhao Xin was talking to Cao Peng, one of the "Jiaodong Detachment" of the North Navy had just captured Wendeng County. Another battalion had crossed the Muzhu River to the west of Wendeng and entered the Kunlun Mountain Pass, heading towards Mouping City advances.
In the eyes of many people in later generations, the combat effectiveness of the Green Camp of the Qing Dynasty was very rubbish, but this was divided into time and region. Historically, the real reason for the corruption of the Manchu Green Camp was not only the indiscriminate system, but also related to military politics.
Fukang'an said when he ordered the Green Camp in Shandong and Henan in the first few years that the Green Camp's drills were like monkey tricks, and the combat effectiveness was terrible. However, this was not unique to the Qing Dynasty. It had been like this since the Ming Dynasty and had been passed down from generation to generation.
The so-called "jobs are not separated" means that many green battalions are not only engaged in maintaining local security, anti-smuggling and catching theft, but also undertake military training and are responsible for combat and defense tasks; this is like asking combat troops to work as urban management and police officers when they have no tasks. His work turned the Green Camp soldiers into slippery and lazy government servants. This is also the reason why the Green Camp was unable to be used during the Taiping Rebellion, and each region finally started its own team training.
In terms of military politics, although the training of the Green Battalion is like a trick in peacetime, as long as the war is frequent, it can still turn the emptiness into reality and the scattered into whole. Many of the shortcomings in peacetime are often made up for in war; the most obvious example is the Sichuan Army. and the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Battalion, which was the local force most used by the Qing court.
But Shandong Green Camp is really not good! Politically, Heshen was in power, bribery was common, corruption became common, and the military and political affairs also became corrupt. In the military, if they haven't fought for many years, their combat effectiveness will be terrible; often the North Navy just fires a few cannons here, and the Green Camp over there collapses.
Fifteen years after the Shunzhi of the Manchu Dynasty, the Central Plains was settled, Shandong was quiet internally, and the inland defense was tilted towards coastal defense. At that time, the general military officer of Yizhou Town was transferred to Jiaozhou and renamed Jiaozhou Town; the general military officer of Linqing Town was transferred Moved to Dengzhou and changed to Dengzhou Town. In the 22nd year of Kangxi's reign, Jiaozhou Town was abolished and renamed Jiaozhou Association in Dengzhou Town.
When Beihai Town attacked Rongcheng four years ago, the Green Camp troops in Shandong included Governor Tibiao, Dengzhou Town, Yanzhou Town, and Donghe soldiers affiliated with the Governor of Hedao, with a total strength of 17,504.
From the 54th year of Qianlong's reign, the Ministry of War felt that Shandong's troops were insufficient and Dengzhou Town alone could not withstand the attack of the Northern Navy, so it went to Qianlong and asked for the addition of Yizhou Town and Qingzhou Town, which the navy also had jurisdiction over the land route. Defend Laizhou Bay and provide support to Dengzhou Town. The two towns have three battalions, the middle and the south, each with a strength of 5,000 troops. Among them, the garrison areas of Qingzhou Town are Gaojiagang Town, Qingzhou, and Linqu, and the garrison areas of Yizhou Town are Yishui, Yizhoufu, and Rizhao.
It is said that when things are settled, the army will exist, and if the army exists, it will need food and pay. The idea of the Ministry of War is very good, but the problem is that after years of fighting with the Northern Navy, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has used up to 77% of the silver stored in the Ministry of Revenue. As of December of the 53rd year of Qianlong's reign, there were only 9.85 million taels of silver left in the Household Department of the Qing Dynasty, more than 12 million taels of silver were sealed in the inner treasury, and more than 6 million taels of silver were actually stored in the outer treasury. In addition to the 41 million taels of treasury revenue receivable from the previous year, the available amount is 68.85 million taels.
In terms of expenditure, the annual disbursement of silver to each province is more than 36 million taels, and the annual disbursement of silver to the treasury (including the salaries of the Eight Banners) is more than 10 million taels. The military supply of Jilin front line is more than 5 million taels of silver per year. The annual salary for management is 4 million taels. Taking into account the 4 million taels of tax exemptions and deferments for disasters in various places, there will be less than 8 million taels left in the end.
At this time, the Qing government was already in great financial difficulty, so it had to resort to donations when salaries were insufficient.
If "donation and loss" had been carried out in the past, the Manchu and Qing court would have had to show some dignity and pay great attention to methods. For example, if the wealthy family being persuaded has savings but little donation or is unwilling to donate, the local official will personally come to persuade them, treat them with courtesy, follow the guidance, and impress them with hometown friendship or yin and yang retribution. Everyone is happy.
But since the Northern Navy launched the "Outer Mongolia Offensive" and the Qing government sent troops northward to "resist the enemy" in large numbers, everything changed. Follow the lead? Stop it!
Nowadays, donations have become the performance indicator used by the imperial court to assess the governors of various provinces. They are collected from all the people and forcibly apportioned. At the beginning, they said a few nice words, and then they used threats and intimidation; those who were unable to report donations could only bribe the officials to avoid donating, and those who were worried about donating more bribed officials in order to donate less. So much so that Ruan Yuan lamented in his secret letter to Beihai Town: "It's called persuading donations, but it's actually extortion. For well-to-do households and those whose families are only well-off, the amount can be as high as a hundred or two thousand taels, and as low as a hundred or dozens of qian. Only Knowing that he is selfish for himself and not caring for the sake of the country, the mourning victims have almost no physiology!"
With the fall of Wendeng City, news of the invasion of Beihai pirates finally reached Dengzhou and Laizhou. At the same time, Ninghai Prefecture, Fushan, Haiyang and other places issued emergency documents one after another, saying that green-clad Beihai pirates had been found in their jurisdictions. Cao Zhitian of the Denglai Qingbing Road was confused and could not judge at all. The movements of the North Korean Navy.
Cao Zhitian knew that it would be difficult to defeat the Northern Navy with only the strength of Denglai and Qinghai, so he immediately submitted a letter to Ji Qing, the governor and admiral of Jinan, requesting the deployment of Yizhou soldiers and Yanzhou soldiers to support Denglai; The deputy general ordered him to lead his troops to Dengzhou and Laiyang to assist in defense.
Don't look at the previous statement that Shandong Green Camp has nearly 30,000 troops, but even if the governor agrees, there won't be many troops, and Denglaiqing has to find a way on his own.
Here we will explain the military system and functions of the various departments of the Green Camp.
The hierarchy of military regions in the Qing Dynasty can be divided into five levels: first military region, second town, third standard, fourth association, and fifth battalion. In each military region, "town" is the basis. Each town has a chief military officer, who is the chief general of the town; above the chief military officer is an admiral (sometimes the governor concurrently serves as the governor), and below him are deputy generals, staff generals, and guerrilla generals. Dusi, garrison, Qianzong, and Gongzong.
The troops led by the chief military officer are called "Biao", the troops led by the deputy general are called "Xie", and the troops led by the generals, guerrillas, commanders and garrison are called "battalions". The pacesetters are specially prepared for deployment in battles, the auxiliary troops are to assist in guarding key areas, and the camp troops only defend one city and one town. In other words, the men and horses of Jinan City Guard Camp, Laizhou Camp, Jimo Camp, Wuding Camp, Andong Camp, Ningfu Camp, and Shoule Camp cannot go out to fight in their jurisdiction and can only defend their local area. What can really be mobilized from all parts of Shandong are pacesetters and auxiliary troops.
In addition, all province-wide army operations are never a matter of one province, and surrounding provinces also send troops to assist in the suppression. Therefore, the Manchu Qing Dynasty's practice is to send a bachelor to lead the overall situation (refer to the Qingshui Sect Wang Lun's rebellion, in addition to sending a university soldiers, and also transferred 2,000 forbidden troops from the Jianrui Camp and the Firearms Camp.)
For Cao Zhitian, who served as the Denglai Qingbing Preparatory Road, although leading the army to fight was a matter for the commander-in-chief and deputy general below, it was his responsibility to formulate a strategy for retreating from the enemy and supervise the camps and counties along the coast. Once there was a mistake in Dengzhou Prefecture, the first target of the imperial court's attack would be Cao Zhitian, who would be beheaded or even beheaded in serious cases.
Cao Zhitian arranged all the matters at hand overnight, and took his men on board the ship from Haimiaokou north of Laizhou early the next morning, and arrived in Dengzhou late that night. As soon as he entered the city, he immediately went to the general military office to convene a meeting between Dengzhou civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures.
The Northern Navy is about to attack at the doorstep. No civil and military officials in Dengzhou can think of sleeping. Due to the local principle of non-control between civil and military affairs, everyone is waiting for Lord Cao to prepare troops.
Everyone was greeted in the flower hall first, and Cao Zhitian sat opposite Entheme from west to east. Others including the prefect, Tongzhi, Penglai County Magistrate, Guerrilla, Dusi, and other civil and military officials sat at the bottom (according to the Qing system). , when the chief minister meets the admiral, it is the same as when the admiral meets the governor. If the admiral brings a first-grade Spylord, the governor will face to the west, the admiral will face to the east, and I will meet the enemy in the same way.)
Cao Zhitian asked as soon as he came up: "The previous submission said that the Beihai Pirates came with more than 20,000 troops. How many people came?"
Entehemer, the commander-in-chief of Dengzhou Town, shook his head and said: "I'm afraid there are not 20,000 people. But five days ago, the general sent his soldiers disguised as fishermen to investigate at Chengshanjiao. According to the news they brought back, there are only 20,000 people at the moment. There are twenty-four huge battleships moored at the fish pond. According to estimates, each ship can accommodate 300 people, so there are always 6,000 or 7,000 people."
Lan Jiazan, the magistrate of Dengzhou, said: "The officers sent by the government's Zhuangban have reached as far as Ninghai Prefecture. According to the news sent back in the afternoon, the previous reports that there were pirates in the county were just rumors, and no one has seen it with their own eyes. Hai Since Yang’s side is too far away, we won’t have any more accurate news until tomorrow.”
After hearing this, Cao Zhitian felt chilled in his heart. The six or seven thousand Northern Navy troops were not something that the soldiers and horses from Denglai Qingsanfu could handle. The most troublesome thing is that there is the sea one mile north of Dengzhou Fucheng. If the North Sea Pirates' big ship comes, whether it is Shuicheng or Fucheng, they will all be within the range of the opponent's cannon. So he quickly asked: "Where are the security guards currently stationed?"
Enthemer said: "The general is also worried about the cannons of the North Sea Pirates, so all the troops have withdrawn from the water camp. At present, the troops in Zhenbiao are camped south of Rouge Gang. It is close to the county seat and is convenient for transporting rice and grain. They can be used at any time. We can mobilize troops for support without disturbing the people. The warships from Shuiying were arranged to go to Sang Island."
"How is the situation at Chengshan Camp? Where is Wenden?"
Lan Jia Zan said: "People from the low-level official's express team went to Haiyang to investigate, but they didn't see anyone from the Chengshan Camp. However, there were more than 200 people who escaped from Wendeng. I heard from people who escaped that Beihai The thieves' cannons and rapid-fire rifles were so powerful that as soon as they came face to face, more than a hundred people were killed."
Cao Zhitian thought for a while and said to everyone present: "In your opinion, what are the intentions of the Beihai Pirates in invading Shandong this time?"
As soon as everyone heard it, they understood immediately. What Cao Daotai meant was that the Beihai Pirates came to occupy territory or to rob people? If it's the latter, then don't worry, we have plenty of people in Dengzhou. But if it's the former...
The one who replied was the prefect Lan Jia Zan, who said: "According to the news from Rongcheng, the Beihai Pirates directly occupied the county government this time, counted the grain in the Changping warehouse, and issued public notices to calm the people. They were not like before. This is the first time I mentioned recruiting refugees like that."
Cao Zhitian knew that he was in serious trouble as soon as he heard this. He sighed and told about his plans to write about Qingzhou Town and Jiaozhou Association, and everyone felt a little at ease. But then I thought about it, even the imperial court's tens of thousands of troops were no match for the North Sea pirates. Even if all Shandong's soldiers came, there would only be more than 20,000 people. The Jiaodong area is narrow from east to west and narrow from north to south. If the North Sea pirates sent gunboats to patrol the north and south, the tens of thousands of Qing troops would not be able to move away from the line between Kunlun Mountain and Rushan.
"We still have to recruit young people and order all villages and villages to help defend."
Lan Jia Zan said: "We have sent orders to all counties to recruit young men to handle the mountain pass. In addition, people have taken refuge in the city these days. Penglai County has also recruited many people and is stepping up training. It's just that the food and salary are not enough... ....”
Cao Zhitian said to Enthemo: "The donations from Dengzhou haven't been sent to the feudal lord yet, right?"
"No."
"I remember there were 41,085 taels?"
"The old man's dog has such a good memory!" Enthemo cursed in his mind, and said with a bitter look on his face: "I have been in arrears for nine months since I raised the bid. Master Cao, look..."
"Let's give it two months first. Let's all be in the same boat and bear with it! I will explain it in writing to the feudal lord's office."
After Cao Zhitian finished speaking, he stood up and bowed his hands to everyone in the hall and said: "Everyone, the most important thing right now is to secure the capital. We must not let the North Sea pirates easily seize the water camp. Once Penglai is lost, the North Sea pirates will use this as a stronghold. , we can attack Lushun in the north, and attack Dagongou in the west. What happened in the year of Jiyou will happen again! Our personal life and death are minor matters, and the safety of the emperor and the capital is a major matter!"
"The patient currently suffering is not because our troops are weak, but because we must have the same determination from top to bottom to share the same hatred of the enemy! Although the Kuang traitors are attacking in large numbers, they can go deep into the Jiaodong mountainous area and must obtain food locally. Previously, the emperor had issued an edict, strictly ordering coastal counties and counties, such as Beihai When thieves come, we must fortify the walls and clear the fields so that the enemy has no way to feed. As officials guarding the land, we shall swear to live and die with the city! Anyone who abandons the city and flees will be killed without mercy! You should encourage the soldiers and young men and boost their morale!"
Entehemer was a little confused: "Master Cao, you must also know the situation of the Green Camp's weapons and equipment. The North Sea pirates, both officers and soldiers, all have rapid-fire rifles that can fire several rounds in an instant. Even if a large army gathers, We recruit young men and women, but how can we defeat them with swords, guns, bows and arrows?"
"Oh! What do you think of Commander Yi En?"
Enthemo did not answer, but glanced at Lan Jiazan, the prefect of Dengzhou. It was this person who came up with the idea he heard before.
At this time, everyone heard Lan Jiazhan say: "Master Cao, this official is from Zhejiang. When he was young, he went to Guangdong to study. He once saw villagers fighting with weapons in eastern Guangdong. The scenes were extremely dangerous."
Cao Zhitian felt very unhappy when he heard his hesitant words. He interrupted and said, "Master Lan, what do you want to say? You might as well speak out!"
Lan Jiazhan was heartbroken, thinking that if Dengzhou Palace was really lost, he would have to sacrifice the ball. Let's get through this first!
"Master Cao, when the natives and villagers fight with weapons, in addition to using swords and guns, they also have many homemade shotguns..."
Um? ! Cao Zhitian's eyes lit up at first, then his face darkened, and he twisted his beard and said nothing. After a long while, Enthemo was so sleepy that he almost yawned. Then he saw the other party patting the table and said: "Okay, let's do it! I will apologize to the emperor afterwards!"
With Master Bingbeidao taking the lead in making the decision, all the officials took action overnight as if they had been given a shot of chicken blood. Every blacksmith shop in the city was awakened by the knocking on the door by torch-bearing officers, who without explanation took them to the county government to assign tasks.
By the morning of the next day, all the blacksmith shops stopped what they were doing, and under the guidance of the craftsmen sent by Zhenbiao, they all made shotguns.
