Seeing this scene, the two commanders of the Qing army had neither good-looking faces. Of course, in comparison, Zhang Biao's expression was much shocked. Although he did not regard this expedition as an easy incident, he did not expect to encounter such a blow. Li Yuanhong was ashamed. After all, his troops were defeated first. Li Yuanhong usually regarded himself quite high and had some ambitions, but he did not expect to fall a big frustration here.

However, at this time, we can only clean up the mess first, so Zhang Biao immediately ordered to rest on the spot, bury the dead soldiers, treat the wounded soldiers, and shelter the fleeing soldiers and count the losses.

At dusk, the loss statistics have been released. In this battle, the Qing army in Hubei suffered 127 deaths and 213 injuries, of which 41 were seriously injured. It is impossible for them to participate in the battle again in the short term. In addition, 37 people were missing, with a total of more than 200 people being reduced.

Although the loss of this battle was not great, it was the first battle after the expedition and suppression, so it was a significant blow to the morale of the entire army. Moreover, after Li Yuanhong said that the enemy bandits were not only well-trained, but also extremely brave in combat. In addition, they were well-armed and carried a large number of artillery. They must not underestimate the enemy. Li Yuanhong even suspected that this was simply an army sent by overseas Chinese.

After hearing this, Zhang Biao couldn't help but be frowning. It was a problem now. If it was really an army sent by overseas Chinese, it would be really difficult to deal with. So after everyone negotiated, they decided to rest here for a few days, and send spies to investigate the movements of the enemy bandits, and then make plans.

After the Volunteers retreated, after checking, 77 soldiers were killed, 157 injured, 26 seriously injured, and more than 100 people were reduced. However, 22 prisoners were also captured, and 162 rifles and more than 2,500 bullets were seized. Therefore, although this battle was won, the Volunteers themselves suffered a lot of losses. If they continue to fight like this, it is obviously unfavorable to the Volunteers. After all, the Volunteers now only have one regiment of troops, and even if there are less than 3,000 militias, of course they cannot afford it.

However, the Qing army stationed on the spot, which was good news for the Volunteer Army. After all, the Volunteer Army's mission was to restrain the Qing army. So Liu Hecheng also changed his tactics and sent combat troops as companies to constantly harass the Qing army, but he did not get too entangled with the Qing army. He often retreated immediately after only a few minutes of fire. As a result, on the next day, the Volunteer Army launched three raids on the Qing army, and each raid was not more than 5 minutes. The Qing army was killed and injured. Although the loss was not large, the Qing army did not dare to pursue too much, so it was panicked and anxious.

When the battle on the southern line entered a stalemate, the battle on the northern line entered the moment of Guan Jian.

The Qing army launched an attack on the base of the Volunteer Army from the north and south lines at the same time. Although the Qing army in Henan was not the main force of this expedition, Henan Governor Zhang Renjun also dared not neglect it. After all, most of the base areas are in Henan Province.

This time, Xie Baosheng, the general of Hebei Town, Henan Province, was the general of Hebei Town, Henan Province. According to the Qing Dynasty military system, the highest military officials in each province were the admiral, followed by the general. Each province had an admiral and several generals of towns. In the coastal areas, there were also a navy admiral. There were two generals in Henan Province, namely Hebei Town and Nanyang Town.

Although Xie Baosheng was only the general of a town, he was nearly 60 years old and had 35 years of military service and had a very deep experience. He joined the army as early as the Tongzhi period. In the second year of Guangxu (1876), he followed Zuo Zongtang to fight Xinjiang, quelled the rebellion, and conquered Urumqi and Manaszhu Castle, and accumulated merits to Dusi. In the 20th year of Guangxu (1894), when the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 broke out, Xie Baosheng went out of Shanhaiguan with his troops to fight fiercely with the Japanese army for dozens of battles. In the 26th year of Guangxu (1900), the Boxer Movement emerged. Ronglu, the guardian of the capital, asked Xie Baosheng to serve as the leader of the front road and Houjian, and stayed in Henan Province. After the court returned, he was promoted to the general of Hebei Town.

It is precisely because Xie Baosheng had such rich military experience, and at that time Xie Baosheng was stationed in Henan for more than four years. He treated his subordinates well, kept himself self-disciplined, and won the morale of the army. Therefore, Zhang Renjun appointed him as the commander of the Henan bandits this time to suppress the Henan bandits. However, the strength of the Henan Qing army was obviously much worse than that of the Hubei Qing army. Although Zhang Renjun pieced together and collected about 7,000 troops, the equipment was extremely poor. Only more than 5,000 people were equipped with rifles, most of which were still using Mauser 1874 rifles, which could only be single shots, while less than 1,000 people were equipped with Hanyang-made Type 88 rifles.

But this is the case in Henan, and there are Qing troops in Hubei in the south, so Xie Baosheng didn't care about anything and led his army to Linying County in Xuzhou.

Like the Qing army in Hubei, the Qing army in Henan also marched for three consecutive days without encountering enemies. At this time, it was less than 20 kilometers away from Linying County. However, the quality of the Qing army soldiers in Henan was much worse than that of the Qing army in Hubei. Moreover, it has been raining all the time. Although the rain was not heavy, it also brought great trouble to the march. Because the Qing army had always marched in the countryside and forests, the road was rugged and the mud was hard to walk. When we encountered several villages on the way, we were all empty. The Qing army had nothing to get. Therefore, the soldiers complained and complained.

On the fourth day, it was a sunny day, with the sun shining brightly, and the Qing army in Henan was also regained their energy and walked slowly along the Nining road. Wang Deqian, the commander of the Qing army outpost, rode on the horse, and was so listless that he was dozing off. At this moment, a group of people came in front of the avenue, with about 10 people and two big cars.

Wang Deqian was immediately excited and finally met the crowd. He hurriedly ordered the soldiers to catch up and arrest all the people. A general rushed forward and immediately surrounded the people.

Not long after, the always-off came back and said to Wang Deguang: "Master, they said they were here to welcome us, and they also brought a lot of wine and meat! We have to work hard on the army!"

When Wang Deqian heard the word "Wine and Meat", he couldn't help but lit up. Since sending troops, for 3 or 4 days, due to the continuous rain, not to mention wine and Meat, he didn't even have a few meals of hot rice. He could only eat dried noodles every day. Unexpectedly, when he went deep into the area controlled by the bandits, someone would actually work for the Qing army. Therefore, Wang Deqian immediately said: "Hurry up, call someone over, I want to ask."

Not long after, a middle-aged man in his 40s came to Wang Deqian's horse, bowed and said, "Xiaomin has met Jun Ye."

Wang Deqian nodded and said, "Who are you?"

The man said, "The villain is named Chen Guangyi. He came to welcome the royal army of the court at the order of his father."

Wang Degan snorted and said, "This place is controlled by bandits, and all the untouchables have followed the thieves. Are you here to welcome the king's army? I see clearly the spy sent by bandits, and they are not actually here."

Chen Guangyi was also shocked when he heard this and hurriedly said, "Reporting to the military, it's really wrong. Although we are in the bandit area, we have always been in the court. Our father is still a juren and was also a court official at the time. Now my brother Guangli is a servant in Kaifeng Prefecture. How can he be loyal to the bandits? It's just that the bandits are powerful and the common people are unable to compete with them, so we cannot surrender to the bandits. But we remember the court in our hearts forever, and we hope that the court will send the king's army to expel the bandits and suppress the rebellion and restore the world. Now we finally hope that the king's army will arrive, so we specially prepared some wine and meat to express our desire to be in court."

It turned out that there was a village called Taishantun. There were more than 400 families in the village. This area is considered a big village. The Chen family is a big landlord in the village. The owner Chen Zhizhong was a juren and served as a magistrate. He is now a magistrate. He has returned home in old age and has four sons. His third son Chen Guangli was admitted to the juren five years ago and is now a sacrificial official in Kaifeng Prefecture.

The Chen family is a big family. 80% of the land in Taishan Village belongs to the Chen family, and more than 300 households in the village are all hired farmers. Therefore, after the establishment of the base government, the land system was implemented. Big landlords like the Chen family were of course the main target of attack.

However, Chen Zhizhong was an official after all, and knew that the heroes did not suffer immediate losses, so he naturally did not dare to fight against the base government and handed over all the land honestly. Because the Chen family had a good attitude and did not do anything evil in the village on weekdays, he did not settle the Chen family, but only took away the land and allowed the Chen family to retain a large amount of wealth. However, the Chen family was a large family, and the entire family was divided into more than a dozen families, and they were also distributed to enough land according to the system.

Although the Chen family obeyed the base government on the surface, they were always hoping that the Qing army could fight back and drive away the volunteers, so that the Chen family could restore its former status and land, and the original land deeds were still hidden. After the news of the two places in Henan and Hubei sending troops to fight against the base areas, the Chen family thought that it was an opportunity. Therefore, when the base government mobilized the villagers to evacuate, the Chen family insisted not to leave, and under their leadership, some villagers did not leave, leaving a total of 37 households in the village.

After the other villagers moved away, the Chen family immediately began to act. While sending people to inquire about the whereabouts of the Qing army, Chen Zhizhong arranged wine and food to prepare to welcome the arrival of the Qing army. Of course, Chen Zhizhong did this not just foolishly to the Qing court. He had served as a county magistrate, so he naturally knew the truth that "bandits are like combs, and soldiers are like combs". However, the Chen family is not an ordinary landlord, but a family with fame. Chen Zhizhong is a retired official, and his son is still in Kaifeng Prefecture. The officers and soldiers generally dare not do too much. In the past, the Chen family had received several official troops passing through the border. Each time, it was nothing more than spending some money and did not hesitate. Although most of the Chen family's land was divided, the money from previous years was still there, so it would be fine to spread some of it. Therefore, Chen Zhizhong had this basic point in his heart, and he also hoped that the Qing army could successfully conquer and suppress the enemy.
Chapter completed!