The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 55

In my opinion, military orders must be strict. If military orders are like child's play, how can we convince the public? Every time the commander-in-chief offered a reward to send orders to each battalion, and recruited courageous people to issue military orders, but when the troops were withdrawn, they did not hold these people accountable. Presumably what he meant was that he was worried that punishing them would cause them to lose military morale. But in this case, why should these people issue military orders? Among the Sichuan soldiers, there were the most people who issued military orders. The reason was that these people had long seen through Shengshuai's psychology and knew that Shengshuai would not seriously kill them according to the military orders.

There were several villages to the east of the Nine Villages, and the women had all fled. The remaining men, coveting the benefits of the bandit army, served as tipsters for the bandit army. A liquor seller came to report that someone from Jiucun was leading the way for the bandits. I immediately sent someone to capture the traitor and send him to the camp. Commander Sheng sent someone to interrogate him and then killed him. I also sent people to lead troops to burn down all the houses and cut down all the trees in several villages to the east. From then on, the rebel army lost their eyes and ears.

Sometimes, red lights are hung high in thieves' dens at night, so the thieves will definitely come out to harass them that night. They hang the lights because they are afraid of getting lost when they come back. I sent people to set up a lookout tower high in the village house, and sent troops to watch day and night. It would be clear at a glance where the bandit army would go after leaving the nest, so that the camp could take precautions in advance. Then suddenly for a few days, I didn't hear the banging sound of the rebel army, only the crowing of chickens and dogs. On the tenth day of the lunar month, I sent a death squad to investigate and reported back that the rebels had not escaped. I personally went to the observation deck, but I saw no smoke rising from the enemy's cooking stoves. I became even more suspicious, so I sent another suicide squad, only to find out that the bandit army had retreated, leaving only scattered small groups of bandits. I went to investigate in person and captured more than a dozen remaining bandits, as well as several wounded people with leg diseases. I handed these people over to Yin Shaolie for interrogation.

The bandit army used the jujube forest as a deer village. It was nearly three feet thick and almost three feet high. Two trenches were dug in the village and wooden boards were put on them to provide access. There were no doors or windows on the outer wall, so the rebels and the government troops entered and exited through holes. The walls are dotted with holes and mounts for guns. Although these holes are four to five feet square, they are designed in an inclined shape because they are afraid of being attacked. Bullets from outside guns cannot penetrate them anyway. There is a very tall watchtower built around the surrounding wall for keeping watch in the center. Where there were no city walls, wooden cities were built. The so-called wooden city is to cut down tree sections or dismantle folk doors, windows, tables and chairs, tie them with ropes and then cover them with mud. It is very simple to build, but difficult to break into.

After we cleared the battlefield and reported to Commander Sheng's camp, the bandit army had already set off, leaving only empty camps. We didn't know where the rebels were fleeing, so we had to follow the soldiers along the way and walk towards the river area. There were no hotels along the way, and there was no rice or noodles to buy, so we had to find a village to stay temporarily. Most of the soldiers under his command were infantry, and it was not easy to catch up with the cavalry of the main camp. They did not arrive at Fucheng until the 14th. The bandit army had burned and looted all the residential buildings outside the city, and had taken up residence in the city to defend itself. Fucheng Beiguan is a grain market. The bandits moved the grain into the city, and their momentum became arrogant again.