Dominate the Country

Tang Wencan led his soldiers to finally get rid of the pursuit of the Qing army cavalry and caught up with the retreating army in Yancheng. The long fleet was lined up for more than ten miles on the Yanyan River. Among them were a large number of Fu Han Army logistics soldiers and personnel, a combat battalion like Tang Wencan's battalion, and four overstaffed new recruits.

I had never thought that I could get so many people in Yancheng before, so Chen Ming formulated the framework of four new recruits. When it was found that the number of people joining the army in Yancheng was excessive, I could only temporarily overstaff.

Three or four hundred salt ships, the fleet was moving on the Yanyan River during the day, but it didn't show anything. But when it was evening, the team went ashore to camp, and one by one the gossips were quickly spread in one camp after another.

Among them, the news of Liu Yong's assassination was the most explosive.

Tang Wencan heard the news at noon. Outside the control of the Qing army heading south, the Fu Han army was still very fast in transmitting news. He drank several bowls of wine happily at noon. The Qing army lost a key general, which was a great joy for the Fu Han army. After the news came to the team, even the people in the new recruits camp seemed to be excited. Moreover, he thought of the favors he had given to Xiao Changchun and Wei Changkong. These two had made great contributions this time, and this time it was really put into practice.

When the team arrived in Taizhou along the Yunyan River, Taizhou City had become the military camp of the Fu Han army.

Another Fu Han army was gathered, and there were two combat battalions and four overstaffed new recruits. There were three or four thousand more people. The total strength of the Fu Han army in Jiangbei has exceeded 40,000. Including the garrison forces in Yangzhou, Gaoyou and along the Jiangnan line, the total strength is definitely more than 50,000, 50,000 combat soldiers. If the logistics and baggage troops are added, it is certain that there are more than 65,000 in 70,000.

Since the rebellion in Fujian, many people from Jiangnan and northern Jiangsu have come to join the army. Many of them are boatmen along the canal, or the landless and impoverished class. Chen Ming has selected 2,000 people from them and sent them to Jiujiang. The warships produced by the latter's shipyard have reached a certain scale, and the whole purpose is to train the navy camp.

But no new recruits were sent to Jiujiang and Anqing. The Qing army's southward army and the upcoming battle in Jiangsu are too important. No matter how poor the combat effectiveness of the new recruits is, it is still a force.

The camp of the Fu Han Army starts from Jiangyan Town in the west of Taizhou City and ends at Tangtou Town in the east of Taizhou City, with a combined camp of dozens of miles. Tang Wencan has seen such a large battle. When the Fu Han Army crossed the Yangtze River in two ways a few months ago, the appearance of hundreds of boats competing for the current was no less impressive than now. But when the team joined them, he immediately felt a difference.

"The morale is much better." Tang Wencan asked his familiar companions.

Although the companion was only a battalion deputy, he was the battalion deputy of the main battalion and knew more information. Five days had passed since Liu Yong was assassinated.

"If you don't cheer up, the Grand Commander will retreat to the south of the Yangtze River. You only know that the dark camp killed Liu Yong, but you don't know what the Shandong militia is like now, right? They have ruined Yancheng badly. They killed people, looted, raped, and did all kinds of bad things. The Qing army rushed to Yancheng and had to open the city gate after a thorough search for two days. The military discipline of the Green Camp and the Eight Banners was also very poor, and the people of Yancheng had suffered a long time ago. As soon as the city gate was opened, countless people fled from Yancheng and reported the actions of the Shandong militia and the Manchu and Han soldiers. All the deeds were revealed. The reputation of the Qing army in Huai'an Prefecture is so bad that it can be stinking even if the wind blows.

The dark camp also took the opportunity to spread rumors, saying that without Liu Yong, Shandong militia would have no one to take charge of them, and they would be used as cannon fodder by the Eight Banners. Now the tens of thousands of Shandong militia are already in turmoil..."

"The enemy is in civil strife, and such an opportunity is right in front of us. If we still can't muster up the fighting spirit and miss it in vain, we will be a waste." The deputy battalion commander said at the end, and Tang Wencan could feel a burst of fighting spirit from his body.

After Liu Yong's death, tens of thousands of Shandong militias were in chaos, which Tang Wencan had never thought of. He only saw the purpose of the dark camp to assassinate Liu Yong in terms of deterrence and morale. He never thought that Liu Yong was so important to Shandong's bravery.

The paleness on Tang Wencan's face made his friend very proud. After all, Tang Wencan's foundation was a little shallow. Although he was a full-time battalion officer, he was not as well-informed as him. He was definitely the second batch of people in the army to know about the Shandong militia chaos. The first batch were all important generals at the command level.

Above the battalion level of the Fu Han Army is the brigade, but the several brigade-level organizations formed by Chen Ming are all strong fist troops. He really looked down on those new recruits who had no iron armor and were holding swords and guns, so he came up with a title of "commander".

Command - at least two battalion heads, at most three or five battalion heads, is a temporary assignment. The commander-in-chief is the same, but he has more troops under his command, and most of those who can take on the title of commander-in-chief are important generals at the level of brigade commander. For example, Chen Yongsheng in Jiujiang, Gao Pingshan in Anqing, Huang Jie before, and Chen Qi in the teaching brigade.

"The morale of the army has increased a lot. The Grand Commander had originally ordered the gathering of grain ships in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang to help the main force cross the river. Now Gaoyou has finally been captured and the main force has been transferred to Taizhou."

"Fortunately, the Grand Commander did not order a retreat, otherwise the main camp would have lost face from the top soldiers to the battalion officers and platoon leaders. It was completely lost, not a single drop left."

The man drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp, and said with a somewhat fortunate tone that he was from the main battalion and was also among the shameful ones. When the team retreated from Gaoyou, he was very embarrassed all the way. At that time, everyone in the team had already known the news of Liu Yong's assassination, and the morale of the army was quite high. It stands to reason that when the team marches, the chief and deputy battalion officers of each battalion should follow the team. But it was really too embarrassing. The battalion officer of their battalion only walked for one day. When he met the cavalry passing by or met the artillery, he lowered his head and shrank his shoulders, ashamed to see people. The next day, he said he was sick and ran to the ship of the baggage unit. He was left alone to march with the army, and the next day was really embarrassing.

Fortunately, when the team arrived at Wa Yao Pu, the Grand Commander suddenly ordered the entire army to turn to Taizhou instead of Yangzhou. Then there was news from the team that Chen Qi, Huang Jie and other generals in the army knelt in front of the Grand Commander and begged bitterly, vowing to fight the Qing army to the death. The Grand Commander could not afford to give face to the generals in the army, so he agreed to turn the army to Taizhou and have a decisive battle with the Qing army in this salt-making place!

Tang Wencan was in his forties, thick-skinned, and had always been in the non-main camp, and did not understand the pride of the main force.

The visitor gritted his teeth and said to Tang Wencan: "We are all veterans pulled out of Lushan and Nanyang, or old men who defected from northwestern Hubei. Along the way, we broke through Jingzhou and Wuchang, swept the Yangtze River, and traveled across the south of the Yangtze River. How many Tartars have we defeated? How many strong cities and dangerous places have we broken?" The veterans of the Fu Han Army are recognized as elite and brave warriors in the world.

"As a result, we entered Huai'an and crossed the Yellow River. It was obviously a good thing, but we became incapable of fighting. The Tartars came from the north, but before they crossed the Yellow River, the Grand Commander led the troops to retreat. The army retreated to Huai'an, Gaoyou, and Yangzhou. Most of the land in northern Jiangsu was lost in less than half a month. The old and young men lost face.

The cavalry battalion and artillery unit laughed at us infantry. I was angry and annoyed. My face was burning."

This person is different from Tang Wencan. Although he has a good relationship with Tang Wencan, he is not a surrendered general like Tang Wencan. Instead, he joined the Fu Han Army early and has been in the main camp. Although he was transferred to the recruit camp for a while when he was injured, he happened to be with Tang Wencan's group, and the two sides established a friendship. But the pride of being born in the main force, the pride of sweeping across Hubei and the Yangtze River, the ambition of sweeping across the south of the Yangtze River, these world-class elite warriors, their thoughts, their perspectives on issues, are really different from people like Tang Wencan.

As a non-main force, the latter has a complex composition, with surrendered green camps, civilians, hooligans, and some poor people from the canal, mixed together, just a group of rotten soldiers, whose combat effectiveness is not much better than that of the green camp, and they have no face, no skin, and no dignity; while the former is the pride forged by victory after victory, so that they suddenly look up to the latter, which is really more painful than killing them.

After Tang Wencan finished drinking, Hu Wenxian dawdled and approached Tang Wencan. He is now a clerk in Tang Wencan's camp. A scholar, a person with a reputation, had a good performance before, and his current position is higher.

"Captain, are all the people in the main camp so arrogant? Judging from what he said, he doesn't take the government army seriously."

When Hu Wenxian joined the Fu Han Army, Yancheng had already stopped having the main camp. Moreover, he had only been in the Fu Han Army for a short time. Today was the first time he saw someone from the main camp talking like this, and he was very surprised.

"If you can fight from Henan to Jiangnan in a year, sweeping more than 100,000 troops along the way, and breaking through many famous cities, you can be so awesome!" Tang Wencan glanced at the clerk who had just joined the army, "You kid, study hard in the army. When did you get into the military school of the teaching brigade, and study hard for a year or two, it will be enough for you to benefit for the rest of your life."

As a non-main force, it is very understandable that the main battalion commander of the Fu Han Army is proud and arrogant. Although it seems to be no different to outsiders, many people may not know that the Fu Han Army is divided into main and non-main forces. But the people know their own business, and the gap between the non-main force and the main force can be three streets.

Tang Wencan took a piece of pork head and swallowed it fiercely. He didn't feel anything about high morale or low morale. He didn't think those "rumors" circulating in the army were false, but he felt that if the Fu Han Army really had low morale, it was definitely the main battalion that was low, not the non-main force troops that didn't even have rattan armor.

The Fu Han Army had to fight a big battle with the 50,000 Qing troops heading south, and the main battalion must be the leader. And these non-main forces were just playing the side drums. "Wait, wait until the Qing army arrives in Taizhou, then there will be a real good battle. If we can win this battle, 30% to 40% of the world's destiny will belong to the Grand Commander."

Tang Wencan, who was a little bit poor in comprehension, clearly thought of another reason for the morale of the Fu Han Army, but he just said it, and didn't connect it with the current morale of the Fu Han Army. Instead, Hu Wenxian's eyes lit up when he heard Tang Wencan's words.

Isn't it true? If the Fu Han Army wins this battle, the Qing Army will be unable to do anything to Chen Ming for a while. At that time, these tens of thousands of troops sitting in the southeast will have a lot to do, and they will really have a chance of conquering the world. There are so many people in the Fu Han Army who understand this, and coupled with the news and words deliberately released by Chen Ming, and the method of provoking the generals, they have worked together to boost the morale of the Fu Han Army again.