Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 204 Reconnaissance
After receiving the equipment, Bao Chao immediately led his men to leave Yuezhou and advance towards Wuchang Prefecture.

A company of their troops spread out and marched in front of the main army, taking on the task of exploring the way for the army and scouting the movements of the Qing army along the way.

Although this mission is dangerous, it is easy to achieve success.

The basic merit alone is calculated at twice that of ordinary troops. If you can make some discoveries during the forward reconnaissance, the merit will be even greater.

The reason why Bao Chao was promoted so quickly despite his prisoner of war background was not only because his superior Li Shixian had high hopes for him, but more because he was a scout and performed reconnaissance missions, making it easy for him to accumulate merits and get promoted.

The group advanced along the Yangtze River, with the personnel dispersed to be responsible for reconnaissance. Only at night would Bao Chao gather the personnel to summarize the intelligence.

Time passed quickly. The Tang army set out from Yuezhou and advanced along the Yangtze River towards Jiangxia, the capital of Wuchang Prefecture.

As they got closer to Jiangxia City, the Qing army began to prepare to block the Tang army's offensive.

The pressure faced by Bao Chao and others in the reconnaissance mission they are responsible for is naturally increasing.

The mission became increasingly difficult and dangerous, and these scouts who went out to conduct reconnaissance behind enemy lines began to frequently encounter Qing army scouts.

Even though they had the advantage in weapons and equipment, casualties inevitably began to occur.

The sun sets and the stars and the moon gradually rise.

The sky had completely darkened, and the cold moonlight illuminated a valley where Bao Chao and the other cats were resting.

The wounded soldiers were bandaging their wounds and changing their dressings with the help of their comrades.

The rest of the people were munching on the newly distributed compressed dry food while checking the news with each other.

To be honest, the taste of compressed dry food is not that good, even a bit strange.

However, due to its high oil, salt and sugar content, explosive calories, strong sense of fullness and easy portability, it is very suitable for use as military rations.

Especially reconnaissance troops like Bao Chao who need to conduct reconnaissance deep behind enemy lines where it is not convenient to cook.

"Captain, there are no traces of Qing troops within 20 miles southeast of our army."

"We have also explored several forests in the northeast, and everything is normal."

"Everything is normal in the direction of Wangzhuang and Lijiatai."

Listening to everyone's reports, Bao Chao nodded slightly.

He swallowed the compressed dry food in his mouth hard and choked a little. He quickly took some water to swallow it down before speaking.

"That is to say, the main force of the Qing army should be stationed in the Yinma Town area."

"But when we, the scouts, report intelligence, we can't use the word 'should'. We have to make sure it's correct."

Although when the top Tang army leaders make decisions now, they will not act rashly based on the one-sided words of a scout. Instead, they will verify the intelligence compiled by all the reconnaissance units before making a final decision.

It can be said to be very safe!
However, Bao Chao still wants to be more rigorous in doing things.

Li Shixian values ​​him so much, he can't betray his old leader, right?
At this moment, a Tang army scout with grass leaves tied to his helmet hurried over from a distance.

"Company...Company Commander, I encountered the Qing monster again!"

When Bao Chao heard this, the expression on his face suddenly became serious and he became much more energetic. He opened his mouth to ask.

"Tell me in detail, what happened?"

"Where are the Qing Yao? How many people are there?"

Upon hearing this, the scout took several deep breaths, then regulated his breathing and spoke.

"To answer the captain's question, I encountered the Qing army outside Xiaogushan, thirty miles to the east."

"This Qing army acted very cautiously. They didn't set up camp or cook, and they also deployed many scouts around the station. I couldn't sneak in to check in detail, and I couldn't determine the exact number of Qing troops."

Generally speaking, if scouts want to determine the specific number of enemy troops, they can get close and observe if they cannot get close.

The only way to judge is to observe the size of the enemy's camp, the number of tents, or the amount of smoke produced when cooking.

But now the Qing army has not set up camp, made fire to cook, and has not yet reached the target through close reconnaissance.

So, he really had no way of judging.

When Bao Chao heard this, the expression on his face suddenly became serious.

As if realizing something, he took out a map from his arms and began to look at it in the cold moonlight.

Soon, he found the location of Xiaogushan on the map.

Xiaogushan is located to the east of Yinma Town, only five or six miles away.

If the Qing army intended to use Xiaogushan and Yinma Town as a pincer to resist the offensive of the Tang army, then instead of not setting up camps, they should have built barracks and established strongholds to prepare to fight against the Tang army.

But they didn't.

Instead, he hid his troops in Xiaogushan Mountain without leaving any trace.

This was clearly an attempt to ambush the Tang army.

This is not good news!

Taking a deep breath, Bao Chao spoke.

"Send a message to the brothers, assemble urgently, set out to Xiaogushan, and scout the movements of the Qing monsters."

Bao Chao realized that the Qing army might be trying to ambush the Tang army.

But rather than just reporting the news, Bao Chao wanted to get accurate intelligence before reporting it.

By then, they will be able to gain even greater credit!

After the army obtains detailed intelligence, the possibility of winning this battle will be greater.

No matter from which angle you look at it, it would be more beneficial than harmful for Bao Chao to personally lead people to conduct reconnaissance on Xiaogushan.

The so-called disadvantage is that Bao Chao and others have to take some risks. But if they are not willing to take such risks, what kind of soldiers are they? Why go to the battlefield?
When everyone heard this, they immediately responded.

The group of people simply sorted out their weapons and equipment, and then quietly sneaked towards Xiaogushan.

In the dark night, the black uniforms of the Tang army soldiers were quite inconspicuous and very suitable for stealth.

After groping and sneaking in the dark for half the night, they finally arrived at the outskirts of Xiaogushan Mountain.

Bao Chao took out a Western pocket watch from his pocket and took a look at it. The time was already past three in the morning.

With Bao Chao's income, he certainly couldn't afford an imported item like a pocket watch.

This pocket watch was a gift given to Bao Chao by Li Shixian when he was promoted to company commander.

Ever since Bao Chao received this gift, he has been carrying it with him and it is very precious to him.

Leaning against a big tree, Bao Chao opened the kettle at his waist and took a sip.

Bao Chao said, smacking his lips.

"There is Xiaogushan ahead. Everyone be careful and pay attention to the Qing army's secret sentries."

"Don't let the Qing Yao find our whereabouts."

After saying this, Bao Chao waved his hand and led his men towards Xiaogushan.

In the dense forest, a Tang army scout hid his body, took advantage of the cover of trees and moved forward alternately, moving towards the Qing army's base.

A secret sentry of the Qing army curled up in a bush, alerting his surroundings.

But at some point, he fell asleep and began to snore softly.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him, waking him up from his sleep.

However, before he could regain consciousness, he felt a pain in his back.

He looked down subconsciously and saw a triangular bayonet piercing into his back and out of his chest, then stirring a few times.

There was some minced meat hanging on the bloody tip of the knife...

He wanted to scream, but his mouth was covered by someone's hand, so he couldn't make a sound. The light in his eyes was rapidly fading.

Several dark figures walked past him, and the sound of footsteps continued, but he could not hear anything.

Bao Chao pulled his triangular bayonet out of the Qing army's secret sentry's body, shook off the blood, and then waved his hand to signal everyone to continue forward.

They took advantage of the cover of night to eliminate the Qing army's visible and hidden sentries one by one, and advanced all the way to the outside of the Qing army's base.

Bao Chao lay in the grass, looking towards the Qing army camp in the distance.

He found that it was just as the soldier had reported.

The Qing army did not set up camp. The soldiers huddled in groups of three or four in sheltered places to rest.

Only a few officers had tents to live in.

In the dark valley, apart from the candlelight in the tent, only the torches in the patrol team's hands flickered with a little light.

……

Inside the military tent, several Qing army generals were drinking.

"If you ask me, instead of setting up an ambush on this small lonely mountain, we should go to reinforce Yinma Town."

"Once Yinma Town is lost, even if we can successfully set up an ambush at Xiaogushan, we will not be able to stop the Tang bandits from advancing to Jiangxia City."

The reason for saying this is that the area between Xiaogushan and Jiangxia City is completely flat and there is no strategic location to defend.

Wuchang General Xue Fangzhi took a sip of the liquor, tore a chicken leg from the table and stuffed it into his mouth, then chewed the roast chicken while speaking with a lot of complaints.

If the Tang army wanted to attack Jiangxi, they would naturally march along the Yangtze River.

However, when troops were sent from Hunan to Jiangxi, Wuchang Prefecture in Hubei was the first to bear the brunt.

Faced with the aggressive Tang army, the Qing army in Wuchang Prefecture naturally could not sit idly by and wait for death.

Jingzhou General Guan Wen, Hubei Governor Fang Zhijing, Hubei Admiral Zhao Yongzhong and others urgently dispatched troops to reinforce Wuchang.

He also deployed defenses in Jiangxia, preparing to meet the invading Tang army.

Yinma Town was the first line of defense set up by the Qing army outside Jiangxia City.

Hubei Governor Zhao Zhongyong took a sip of the wine in the glass, smacked his lips, and then spoke.

"Okay, General Xue, stop complaining."

"This is the arrangement of General Jingzhou. Can we disobey his orders?"

On the other side, Min Tongguang, the lieutenant general of the Huangzhou Prefecture City Defense Camp, also spoke.

"Drink, drink, don't think too much."

"As soldiers, we just have to follow orders. As for the rest, the masters will take care of it."

Min Tongguang has now come to terms with it and is determined to do his job well and be worthy of the salary given to him by the court.

As for other things?
You are not the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, why do you need to think so much?
Live one day at a time and just muddle along!
Of course, the reason why he thought so was more because of his pessimism about the situation in the world!

The Tang army is about to attack, and I don’t know when I will be defeated and punished. I should enjoy every day I can.

There are many people in the Qing army who hold the same idea.

Nowadays, the situation of the Qing Dynasty in the south is really too dangerous.

It was so dangerous that they could hardly see any possibility of victory!
There was only one thought left in everyone's mind.

That is, the building is about to collapse!
(End of this chapter)