The Red Mansions Across the Four Seas

Chapter 487 This battle must be fought
Everyone was silent for a while, then Feng Ziying spoke.

"Now, the situation is basically clear. The Cossack's goal this time is aimed at us. There should be two reasons why he only came with 700 people."

"The first reason is that they are very confident and think that their fighting power is very strong and capable of defeating us."

"The second reason should be that he doesn't know exactly how many fighters we have here. After all, the vast majority of people in our army regiment have not revealed their original identities as soldiers after arriving here. Therefore, The Cossacks probably underestimated our power."

"We cannot avoid this battle. We must fight. And we must win."

"In terms of military affairs, if we lose the battle, it will not only affect the morale of the Army Corps, but will also be passive in the future. In the future, we will be exhausted in front of the Cossacks, and we will not have the energy to build and develop at all. Those that have already started Construction, too, will have to stop."

"Military failure will bring huge losses to the economy. These people are all here for us. Some people even sold the land and houses in their hometowns, just to find a way to survive here. So , we must be responsible to these people and protect their lives and property.”

"If we fail to do this, our reputation will be greatly damaged, and no one will dare to come to Beihai in the future. Even those who have come here will flee here. If that is the case, our The hard work of these two years will come to naught. Our plan to provide the soldiers of the Fubing regiment with a home will also come to naught.”

"Politically, if this battle is defeated, the attitude of the indigenous tribes here will change towards us. They will think that we have brought them disaster, and the Cossacks will also adopt methods of division and provoke us The relationship between the two parties. At that time, even if the Cossacks don’t drive us away, the natives will drive us away.”

"On the contrary, if we win the battle, these natives will get closer and closer to us and accept us as the new masters here."

"Officer Min handed this place over to us. He is not here now. If we retreat from here in despair, how will we explain to him when Chief Min returns in the future?"

"Although the Tatars are strong, they are not without weaknesses. In our past battles, we have always won more with fewer troops. Now that we have an advantage in military strength, we still have many ways to think about it."

"This battle must be fought and must be won. We are now formulating a battle plan around these two premises."

"In addition, immediately send someone to Tongyuan Fort to inform Liu Gengxin, and ask him to strengthen his defenses. Send someone to Nijiabao and inform Ni Er, don't directly engage the Cossacks directly at the moment. If the opponent attacks, withdraw first."

"Aren't they in Fort Sergei now? Why don't we take the initiative to attack Fort Sergei?"

Lin Dajiang thought of an idea.

"No, Fort Sergei belongs to the territory of Ross. If we go to fight there, we will not fight the Cossacks, but directly fight the Ross Empire. This will offend a powerful opponent. At present, we are far from Ross's opponent. "

Feng Ziying directly rejected this idea.

In fact, this plan is indeed not feasible.Regardless of whether he offended Ross or not, the actions of the government corps are easily exposed at such a long distance.

If the Cossacks are on guard, after a fight, the government corps will suffer a big loss.

"Then we have to wait here? I don't know when the Cossacks will come, and when will it be the end?"

"Passively waiting is not the way. Our current construction tasks are heavy, and we don't have so much time to wait for them. We must find a way to lure them out and catch them all."

"It's best to lead them out, but will they be fooled?"

"It depends on whether the bait can tempt them. The Cossacks mainly target women and property. We might as well work on this aspect."

In the evening, in the largest tavern in Pingyuan New City, Feng Ziying, Wei Ruolan, and Yang Lin held a banquet for Cong Xiucai, Guo Qisheng, and Hua Yusheng.

The more famous people in Pingyuan New City, Sun Yuanfei, Jia Zhi, and several shopkeepers of the caravan were invited to participate in the banquet.

The three big figures in the old city, Wei Song, Toke, Bogda, and several other well-known shopkeepers were also invited to the banquet.

The next day, the news broke.

This time Cong Xiucai brought a huge caravan with a total of 60 people, many of whom were prominent figures in Bukui's business circle. They all came to Pingyuan City to investigate business opportunities and brought some goods. .

Two of the bosses opened a brothel in Bukui, and this time they brought fifty or sixty girls with them, planning to open a brothel in Tongyuan Fort and Pingyuan City.

Because in the past two years, a large number of immigrants have poured into Pingyuan City, and most of them are single men. If they open a brothel here, the business will surely prosper.

The same is true for Tongyuan Fort.In the past two years, it has become an important commercial center, many merchants live there, and more caravans pass by, and they open brothels there, and the business will be booming.

It is said that Cong Xiucai has already bought a house in Pingyuan New City, and as long as the house is almost cleaned up here, he will go to Tongyuan Fort to pick up those girls.

The news quickly spread.The bachelors in Pingyuan City were very excited when they heard this, and they were all looking forward to this day coming earlier.

This news is good news.However, along with this news, there is also a piece of bad news.

At that banquet, Toke, the leader of the White Tatar tribe, wanted to ask Feng Ziying for a piece of land on the pier, but Feng Ziying refused. The two had a fierce quarrel, and finally they fought.

Toke and his two followers were severely beaten by Feng Ziying.In the end, Toke threatened revenge and vowed to drive Feng Ziying and others out of Pingyuan City.

The next day, Toke really took people out, so some people suspected that he had gone out to find reinforcements.

On the night of Toke's departure, Sun Yuanfei and Guo Qisheng quietly set off from Pingyuan City with more than 20 members of the Sun family.

There are three horses in the group, and the rest are divided into five carriages.

The goal of their trip was in the direction of Tongyuan Fort.

At the same time, the soldiers of the Fubing Regiment began to assemble in secret, with companies as units, a total of twelve companies were organized, and secret training began.

Originally, they all had weapons, but now they all brought them together.

Training is held every evening and morning, and training is stopped during the day.It is relatively close to Pingyuan New City, so I will go back during the day and do what I have to do.Those who are far away live here secretly.

Five days later the companies set out secretly.They marched at night and camped secretly during the day on the side of the road away from Pingyuan City leading to Fort Sergei.

Ten days later, twelve companies, nearly 500 people, secretly arrived in Nijiabao.

At the same time, more than 20 people from the Sun family led by Sun Yuanfei and Guo Qisheng began to return, heading towards Pingyuan City.

These men have all changed into women's clothes at this time.After six days, we arrived at Pingyuan New City.

Since Cong Xiucai's brothel house has not been repaired yet, these female costumers temporarily live in Sun's shipyard.

People in Pingyuan Old Town and New Town went to the shipyard one after another after hearing about it, wanting to see these girls.However, the gate of the shipyard is very tightly guarded, and outsiders can't get in, so they can only take a peek from the outside to enjoy their eyesight.

Indeed, quite a few people saw dozens of women sitting and chatting in the yard of the shipyard.

It's autumn now, and because there is less rain, the road is not as muddy as in summer, so it's much easier to walk.

Although there are still many places on the road leading to Fort Sergei that have not been repaired, after all, there are still some that have been repaired. Therefore, Tok’s trip to Fort Sergey took only 9 days.

Tok has been to Fort Sergei many times before, and he also has business partners here.Through the introduction of his business partner, Toke successfully met the Cossack leaders Ivanov and Kuzov here.

Toke's business partner is called Daqika, and Daqika will host a banquet for Ivanov and Kuzov tonight.

Yesterday, Tork had already met Ivanov and Kuzov, and they are already acquaintances when they meet today.

Tork once again introduced the situation of Pingyuan New City to Ivanov and Kuzov, and invited the two to lead troops to attack Pingyuan New City.

"This Feng Ziying is simply ungrateful. At the beginning, I agreed with Jia Min to give me a piece of land on the pier, and Jia Min also agreed. Unexpectedly, Feng Ziying broke his promise and refused to give it. Come back, I'm going to snatch the entire Pingyuan New City over."

"Headman Toke, we don't want to get involved in your private disputes, please forgive me, we can't agree to your request."

Ivanov seemed unmoved and looked at Tok coldly.

"As long as you go to attack Pingyuan New City, everything there, including the women who came this time, is yours. As for the men, you can also bring them back as serfs, and the property and caravans there are also yours. .I just need that piece of land.”

"Toke, as far as I know, that piece of land originally belonged to the three of you, why did it fall into someone else's hands?"

Kuzov knows a lot about the situation.

"It was ours at the beginning, but it was sold to Jia Min later."

"Is that the Jia Min who killed Kalinin?"

"Yes, that's him. That Feng Ziying is Jia Min's subordinate, and some others are all subordinates of Jia Min's original government corps."

"How many people are there in Pingyuan New City in that Fubing Corps?"

Ivanov stopped talking, and Kuzov talked to Tok.However, Ivanov seemed to be a good listener and had been listening carefully.

"In Pingyuan City, there are a total of more than 600 people from the prefectural regiment. However, they are all scattered around now, some are farming, some are doing business, and some are working."

"Do they still meet often?"

"I don't get together. I'm usually busy with my own business. I only get together during the Chinese New Year. In a few days, it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival for the Han people. At that time, they should get together for the festival. Fang Xiucai's brothel , will also open on that day.”

Toke was long-winded, asking Ivanov to send troops to attack Pingyuan City.

However, Ivanov never agreed.

In the end, Toko passed out drunk, and Ivanov and Kuzov said goodbye to Dachka and walked to the station.

"Ivanov, you really don't plan to attack Pingyuan City?"

For Ivanov's performance tonight, Kuzov was a little puzzled.

"Who said I won't attack anymore?"

Ivanov flattered his horse and galloped away first.

(End of this chapter)