"Where is Mo Ming now?" Shao Shude said in a slightly tired voice wrapped around his coat tightly.

Although the underground command room of Yantai Fortress is well sealed, and the fireplace is burned, and the temperature in the room remains above zero or more, Shao Shude still caught a cold just a few days ago. After all, time is unforgivable. A fifty-year-old is, although he exercises regularly, his physical condition inevitably weakens.

However, although she was in poor health, Shao Shude still did not plan to rest. Instead, he convened some officers who were still staying in Yantai Fort as the captain of the Hei Water Development Team and the security commander of the Hei Water Region. Currently, there are not many army officers left behind in Yantai Fort, with only two main personnel, namely Wei Boqiu, deputy commander of the Gendarmerie, Li Wenchang, commander of Yantai Guards, and Long Xu, commander of the 103rd Army Company of the Army who followed Shao Shude to the Far East, as well as some left-behind forwarding teams, Eight Banners New Army, Polish mercenary officers, and Huang Yi, who was in charge of foreign trade in the Hei Water Region, also attended the meeting. As for the Navy Commander Liu Haiyang, he is currently staying on Jeju Island to organize immigration transportation and is not available for the time being.

Wei Boqiu quietly glanced at Shao Shude, who came to the Far East to take office at the age of fifty, then cleared his throat and said in front of Li Wenchang: "At the end of last month, Commander Mo had already arrived outside Licheng County, Jinan Prefecture (i.e. Jinan City), and confronted the Qing army Lilutai troops. He defeated him, and Li led nearly 10,000 troops to retreat to the city. Later, Niu Chenghu, the general of Yizhou Town of Qing Dynasty, led 20,000 troops to head north. Commander Mo was afraid of being attacked from both sides, so he rushed south to Tai'anzhou area after plundering the Fourth Field Army. According to December 2

The latest information sent back. Commander Mo has gone south. He is afraid he has entered Yanzhou Prefecture at this moment. In addition, four naval warships and two flute-shaped ships have also left the Bohai Sea and bypassed Weihai in mid-December. Their final destination is Rizhao and Haizhou. In order to improve capacity, a total of 22 medium-sized fishing boats originally anchored in Heishui Port have also moved south before the port was frozen last month. Now they have arrived outside Rizhao, ready to receive the supply of our troops to the south at any time."

"Running like a headless fly." Hearing Wei Boqiu's reply, Shao Shude slapped the table in dissatisfaction, then stood up, paced inside the house, and said, "Deputy Commander Wei, you have been in Heishui for a long time. Judging from the situation you know, this time the Qing Dynasty mobilized the seven generals and three provincial capitals to suppress the attack, is our army likely to win?"

Shao Shude was a construction contractor. He worked in a brick kiln factory in the local area, as well as a minister and a central executive member, and also a regional specialist. However, he had never done marching and fighting. Therefore, he felt that his professional knowledge was insufficient and he did not dare to make any decisions. Therefore, he asked Wei Boqiu.

But the problem is that Wei Boqiu is also a layman. This man is a good at doing intelligence and statistics. He is a good at economy. But he never played the role of a military commander. So he smiled bitterly and said, "Captain Shao, although I am not very proficient in military affairs, I can still tell you clearly that the seventh generals of the Qing army have at least 100,000 people. This is almost all the Green Camp mobile forces of the Qing court in the north. With such a huge force, our army will definitely not be able to withstand such a huge force! Moreover, it is the middle of winter, and the Liao Sea is frozen, and the Qing army no longer needs to worry about flanking. Therefore, the Eight Banners soldiers in Beijing, Tianjin and Jinzhou may also go south at any time. If our army fails to conduct intelligence reconnaissance and is surrounded by the superior forces of the Qing army at a critical moment, once these 30,000 troops are destroyed, our army's years of efforts in Shandong will be destroyed. It is a high probability that Yantai will be surrounded again."

Shao Shude walked around the house silently. Wei Boqiu took a pen and wrote and painted on paper. Li Wenchang opened his eyes and looked at the bright flames of the candle. The new Long Xu lowered his head to drink tea without saying a word, while Huang Yi closed his eyes to rest. Everyone was waiting for Shao Shude to make an idea. This coach Mo and more than 30,000 people were wandering outside for so long, which made everyone behind him feel a little up and down. What if the Qing army surrounded him?

Alas, it’s really not worry-free. You, Dashen Mo, are all people who are leaving, and you are deliberately wandering outside. Come back as soon as possible and hand over the military power to return to your hometown to enjoy your happiness. Now all the food you should harvest in the future has been harvested, ensuring that the Qing army cannot get enough supplies when it comes to the arrival of the Qing army. The Zhaoyuan Gold Mine has also resumed work, and now the gold is produced ten kilograms, which may be further increased in the future. The reconstruction of Dengzhou City has been completed, and the protruding parts have been added to some walls, and multiple artillery pieces have been set up. The training of local artillery has been carried out for many days. The repair work of Weihai Acropolis has been fully launched, and the broken wall gap has been reinforced, and some important parts have also begun to try to set up artillery...

The rear has almost done everything they should and should not do. Even the preparations for forming the fourth brigade of the forward team that you, Magistrate Mo, explained before the expedition, have been fully launched this month. You are wandering outside and not coming back yet, which is going to make a fuss? Retract your troops quickly. This time the benefits are great enough, and the prestige of the Qing court was hit hard enough. A large number of Qing troops were attracted, and whether it is He Zhen from Shaanxi or Li Guo from Huguang, you can breathe a little. Of course, Nan Ming, who has no war, seems to be difficult to seize this opportunity.

"Why didn't Mo Ming fight Jinan last month?" Shao Shude suddenly asked again.

"This... the situation was unclear at that time. Niu Chenghu's troops were already very close to Jinan, and our army was at risk of being attacked. In addition, the family of Dezhou gentry Luo Guoshi secretly sent us a secret letter to us again, Tong Yangliang and Yi Yonggui had already led 40,000 troops from Zhending Prefecture to come at night. Commander Mo was not sure about the movements of the Qing army, so he went south to approach the naval warships. On the one hand, it was convenient for supply, and on the other hand, it could also contact the Yuyuan army nearby to work together for major events." Before Wei Boqiu could speak this time, Li Wenchang, who was originally wandering around, suddenly spoke out.

"It's a big deal! As for the virtues of the Yuyuan Army, after reading the intelligence information of the military police, I felt that these people were not good enough, so I just beat the edge drum. If I rely on them, it would be nonsense." Although I have been in a high position for many years, Shao Shude, who was a construction contractor, still had a hot temper. He continued to say: "Forget it, let's withdraw the troops! This matter cannot be delayed, but it will change later! At present, our army is too deep into the hinterland of Shandong. I think it's better to withdraw the main force to Dengzhou to fight! In Dengzhou, we are fighting inside, and the transportation of materials and personnel is extremely convenient. The Qing army came from afar, and the food and salary were not enough, and most of them could not be defeated. If the Qing army really took the courage of ambition, the seven generals dared to lead hundreds of thousands of people to attack Dengzhou with hundreds of kilometers of supply lines, and I dared to be MacArthur!"

"Cough cough..." Wei Boqiu heard Shao Shude speak without saying anything, and even the name MacArthur appeared, and he couldn't help but remind him by saying two coughs.

Shao Shude also knew that he had made a mistake, so he waved his hand and said in a concealment: "The new Eight Banners New Army's 4th Battalion, the 103rd Company of the Army and the 400 Polish mercenaries will be uniformly handed over to Captain Li Wenchang for command. I will give you another 3,000 military men, 300 large chariots and 1,000 pack horses. Your troops will immediately bring weapons and ammunition to Yanzhou Prefecture to respond to our main force. You bring my order to Mo Ming, let him retreat to Qingzhou Prefecture, cooperate with our army to sweep away the remaining forces of the local Qing army, and move the local handicraftsmen as soon as possible. At the same time, we will find out the movements of the main force of the Qing army as soon as possible to avoid it.
Chapter completed!