Chapter 245: The Door

Wu Qiao and Gu Cheng were actually in the territory of Northern Zhili, and happened to be guarding the gateway to Northern Zhili into Shandong. If the Qing army enters Shandong, the first one to be the leader is Jiaozhou Camp.

However, Shandong General Qiu Lei's troops were near Dezhou City. If there was something wrong on the front line, he could win and pick up peaches. If the situation was not good, if there were people in front, General Qiu could lead the army to move forward. Even if he was holding on to the city of Dezhou, it would be better than blocking it in the front.

Li Meng was not worried about going to Northern Zhili to play the forward Li Meng, but Qiu Lei was in the rear, which was a problem. Li Meng had expected that the friendly forces would not contribute, but doing bad things behind the scenes would lead to disastrous consequences, such as if he cut off his own food supply or detaining and delaying.

Even if the other party had this idea, Li Meng wanted to spend a lot of effort to protect the logistics supply road and disperse his own strength, which Li Meng was willing to see.

Moreover, the command center was in Dezhou City. The governor, general, and eunuchs gathered together. They were stationed outside the city. After the other party's orders, there would definitely be no good results. If they didn't go, the other party would have a reason to cause trouble for themselves. Since Li Meng was here this time, he would not want to give himself a reputation of disobeying orders, and that would be the target of public criticism.

It was ridiculous for Li Meng to think about it. When the army went to war, what he had to consider first was not how to fight the Qing army, but rather not be cheated by his own people.

In front of the horse, Liu Qingsong, the deputy envoy of the censor, did not know why he was caught this time, and he was doing this chore. At this time, his face turned pale.

"Zhao Neng, Ma Gang, Chen Liu, Tang Er, you will lead the soldiers to the place arranged by the governor."

Several of the trusted generals around him wanted to talk more, but Li Meng raised his hand to stop him. Li Meng also turned his head and said to Denglai with a smile:

"Mr. Liu, take us to the north of the city to see what the camping situation is like!"

Although Liu Qingsong's expression is laughing now, it is even worse than crying, but what can I do? He can only go to a horse from Jiaozhou Camp and follow him to the north of the city.

Dezhou City is the intersection of the two provinces of Northern Zhili and Shandong. Because it has the status of a land hub, it has always been quite prosperous and is also a military town with heavy troops stationed.

Although it is just a state city, Texas is not inferior to Laizhou Prefecture City. It has a wide city and a towering city wall. It can also be called a majestic city.

In the north of the city, the camping place that has been prepared is just a clearing of open space. No wooden fence or tent is prepared completely. However, some advantages are that there is still a river nearby, so drinking water can finally solve it.

The soldiers and generals of Jiaozhou camp all looked indignant on their faces. They didn't let them enter the city and camped for such inferior places. This made people feel really angry. However, since the main general Li Meng did not get angry, his subordinates naturally would not say anything, so they had to start camping under the command of generals and schools at all levels.

Only a small number of Li Meng's baggage troops followed, but the soldiers still strictly followed Cao Dian, digging trenches and building fortifications around the Yingpan.

On a small piece of landbag nearby, Li Meng's personal soldiers were half surrounded with canvas. Li Meng stood in the middle and looked at Dezhou City. Only then did the personal soldiers report to him that the army had not turned around, the west gate and north gate of Dezhou City were still open, and Jiaozhou Camp turned around, and the city gate was already closed.

"Listen to the people in the city, open the city gate, and my general is going to enter the city."

After calling this, the people on the city were in a panic. It took a long time before someone poked his head out and shouted:

"Brothers under the city are not in a dilemma. We really have strict orders on the top of the mountain, so we dare not disobey them. We also hope to understand the difficulties of being soldiers."

The cavalry below heard the reply and answered even more simply:

"If we don't open the city, we will be bombarded with cannons!"

After hearing this, the soldiers on the city were stunned for a moment. Before they could react, they saw the horse pulling people to push the guns. The city had already pushed the cannons under the city wall. A group of people removed the horses, and someone began to thrust the wooden mound between the cannon body and the cannon mount to raise the muzzle.

Soon the gun was aimed at the city tower, and no one shouted, and the soldiers on the city gate tower immediately dispersed. If they resisted foreign enemies and bandits, everyone would have the energy to fight. They were still friendly troops outside, but they opened the door and refused to let people in. The other party was angry and wanted to bombard the city tower. It would be too unworthy to die. Someone started, and no one wanted to stay in the city.

Seeing the people on the top of the city dispersed, the artillery below did not fire. Instead, many people in the camps on both sides rushed out with ladders and ran to the city to set up ladders.

The temporarily closed city gate here was not even a suspension bridge. The ladder was mounted and the soldiers climbed up. The cannon was not a bow or arrow. If they stayed on the top of the city, they might be injured by the splashed pieces of shells. The soldiers guarding the city fled quickly, and there was no one on the top of the city.

The first soldier of Jiaozhou camp to climb the city was carrying an axe on his back and biting a short knife in his mouth. The man below him was carrying a musket in his hand and blew the fire rope in disobediently. He thought there would be a fight in the city, but who would have thought that he would be empty except for the weapons thrown off the city. He was really amused and crying.

A simple assault was taken down, and Liu Qingsong, who was sitting there gasping, saw this scene and immediately jumped up.

After controlling the city, the soldiers began to go up through the ladder. After opening the city gate inside, the officers of Jiaozhou Camp began to lead the army into the city. Denglaidao Liu Qingsong ran to Li Meng with sweat, nodded and said:

"General Li, everyone is a subordinate of the court. Doing this fact will hurt the harmony. At least you have to let Huize and give an explanation to the governor!"

"Don't worry, Lord Liu, didn't the governor say that he could only bring his personal soldiers into the city? I will never bring many troops. General Qiu will bring as many personal soldiers as he brings into the city."

The city gate was wide open. After Jiaozhou Camp arranged troops inside and outside the city gate, an officer rode a horse towards Li Meng and handed Li Meng a note. After Li Meng opened it, he said with a smile:

"General Qiu has a total of 526 personal soldiers in the city. Wang Hai, if we suffer a loss, we will bring 500 people in."
Chapter completed!