On August 9, 1918, the 47th year of Wanli, due to the failure of negotiations with the Qiantun Guard of Shanhaiguan, without receiving any orders, the artillery troops participating in the "Guangdong-81" exercise fired at Shanhaiguan without authorization.

The shelling lasted for two rounds, with about 100 solid shells falling across the city walls of Shanhaiguan. This caused dozens of defenders in the city to be injured and two people were killed on the spot. Several sections of the city wall were seriously damaged, and the guards in the city were also damaged more.

Immediately afterwards, the Kumamoto unit of the Fifth Division of the Second Army, which was ordered to negotiate with Qiantun Guard, once again proposed a switch release request to Qiantun Guard. This time, the Kumamoto unit had an extremely tough attitude, saying that given that both sides were troops of the Ming Empire, the previous artillery was just a warning. If the Shanhaiguan side did not implement the Liaodong Dusi switch order, the emperor's personal army would regard Shanhaiguan as a rebel and carry out a general attack.

"About our army's strength, I believe you are very clear. If your Shangguan continues to be stubborn, disobey military orders, and do not cooperate with our army's actions, then all the consequences will be borne by your subordinate alone!"

Xiong Mu asked Yu Zhong to tell He Kegang that if Shanhaiguan did not open the city, it would inevitably be attacked by tens of thousands of emperor's personal soldiers!

He Kegang knew that the other party was not talking big, but he could not say anything, so he could only remain silent. When he returned to the city, he found that the gang general Li Huoyang and others were in chaos. Two of the dozen cannons in the city were overturned in the previous cannon. The two dead gunners were crushed to death by the barrel of one of the cannons.

The other injured soldiers were being lifted from the city urgently. It may be that Shanhaiguan had been peaceful for too long and was suddenly attacked, and soldiers were injured and killed, which made Qiantun Guards chaotic. Many soldiers looked at the blood on the ground and their injured companions, and their legs were trembling.

He Kegang sighed in his heart. It was pretty good to train troops in the past, but after all, he had never fought with the enemy with real swords and guns. Whether it was an officer or a soldier, his psychological quality was always inferior to those who had corpses rolled through blood.

"General, the artillery fire of the eagle soldiers is too fierce, and they may not be able to be kept closed!"

Some hereditary officers at the close of the door were already timid. First, the opponent had a large number of artillery, and second, the number of soldiers was far greater than that of their own. If the opponent decided to attack the city, the more than 3,000 people at Shanhai Pass would definitely not be able to stop it.

Therefore, these hereditary officers retreated. Some wanted to persuade the generals to negotiate with the eunuchs, and some wanted to say that since they could not defend themselves, they might as well withdraw quickly.

Seeing that the generals were shaken, Ma Yi immediately scolded: "What a panic? The Governor has mobilized his troops to come to the close of the gate. No matter how many eagle soldiers and cannons are, no matter how strong the soldiers are, as long as we guard for a day or two, what can they do to me once the reinforcements arrive!"

Li Huoyang, who was a little panicked, felt angry when Ma Yi said this, and hurriedly asked He Kegang what soldiers and horses had nearest.

He Kegang thought for a while and said that the closest thing to the gate was Sun Zushou, the capital of Biaoying in Jizhen, and the two men of Mangui on Shitang Road were guerrilla warriors.

The Ji Liao Governor's Office had earlier in the Wenshan Haiguan, saying that several troops would come soon. Among them, the most were the Wang Xuan's troops of the Baoding General, Liu Yujie troops, Biaoying Sun Zushou troops, and Guerrilla Mangui troops who had just returned from outside the pass.

The Wang Xuan's troops of the General General of Baoding had to return to Shanhaiguan from the Baoding headquarters. The distance was far, so they could not arrive in a short period of time. After receiving the order, the closest ones were Sun Zushou's troops and Mangui's troops.

Speaking of Sun Zushou, everyone in Ji Town knows that he is a famous general in Ji Town. He is tall and burly. In the 35th year of Wanli, he served as the garrison of Guguan in Baozhen. He is well-managed and benefited the people in the area. He has outstanding political achievements, but because he is not upholding the right and never be charmed, he has not been promoted for eight years in office.

It is said that when Sun Zushou first arrived in Guguan, he suddenly fell seriously ill. His wife Zhang cut off the flesh on his arm to treat him. Later, Sun Zushou recovered, but his wife died. In order to commemorate his wife, Sun Zushou never approached the woman for life. No matter who hears this, he has to raise his thumbs and praise the hero.

Five years ago, after being recommended by commander Fu Zhenshang, Sun Zushou was appointed as the chief commander of Biaoying in Jizhen. After hearing that there were police officers at the close of the gate and the emperor's personal army was moving outside the pass, Jizhen Governor Wang Keshou ordered Sun Zushou to lead Biaoying to Shanhaiguan. Sun's troops set off on the seventh day. If there were no changes on the way, they would arrive at the latest tomorrow. Sun Zushou led Jizhen Biaoying in Jizhen, with a total of 3,500 people, and was the most elite troops in Jizhen.

Therefore, when I heard that Sun Zushou's troops would arrive soon, the frightened officers of Qiantun Guard were also somewhat relieved.

As for the guerrilla wars on Shitang Road, I didn’t hear much about Qiantunwei. He Kegang was not very familiar with this person, and only knew that he was transferred from Xuanfu to Jizhen during the war.

The Mangui army had only more than 2,000 troops, and was not familiar with this person, so Li Huoyang did not pay much attention to it. He just felt that if he could last until Sun Zushou arrived, he would be worried about the big things.

But he didn't know that Man Gui's reputation in Xuanfu was greater than that of Sun Zushou!

The ancestor of Mangui was a Mongolian and had been an official in Xuanfu Wei in his early years. Mangui was a little older and also served in the army. Every time he participated in the war, he would behead him and cut off his ears.

According to the military regulations, if an enemy's head is seized, he can be appointed as an official position, otherwise he will be rewarded with fifty taels of silver. Man Gui has received bounty many times, but failed to get a half-time position. He was nearly thirty years old and became the general flag. After ten years, he became a hundred households. Later, after several promotions, he became the garrison of Chaohechuan.

Man Gui and his ancestors have been an official in Xuanfu. This time, he was suddenly transferred to Jizhen because Yang Hao, the governor of Liaodong, appreciated him very much.

Why did Yang Hao pay close attention to the officers of the Xuanfu? It was because his student Wei Liangchen wrote to him in secret in his early years, saying that there would be war in Liaodong and that he would protect Yang Hao from the East and preside over the Liao affairs.

So, before this, Wei Liangchen asked Yang Hao to pay more attention to the outstanding generals in each town, and pay special attention to those generals with low official positions but capable ones.

"This generation has ambitions and abilities, but is often suppressed by the superiors because of his ability to be a human being. If his mentor can support him, he will regard his mentor as a great Buddha and is loyal to him."

Yang Hao thought that it would be no harm to do this, so he sent people to investigate and search in various towns when he lived in his hometown in Henan. Among them, the town of Xuanfu was characterized by Mangui, who was a hundred households.

After Malin and Du Song's defeat, Yang Hao placed his hopes on the emperor's personal army who returned from North Korea, and on the other hand, he also began to prepare for the failure of all five armies.

So he recommended several young generals who knew military affairs to the Ministry of War, the first of which was Man Gui, who had finally been promoted to the garrison of Chaohechuan.

The Ministry of War cooperated with Yang Hao at that time and naturally agreed to Yang Hao's request.

As a result, Man Gui was transferred from Xuan Town to Ji Town and moved troops to Huangtuling. Yang Hao later spoke to the Ji Liao Governor's Office and asked Wang Ke to be promoted to Shitang Road guerrillas, preparing to make Man Gui and others go to Shanhaiguan to wait for an opportunity to leave the pass to participate in the next possible battles in Shenyang, Liaoyang and Guangning.

Therefore, the guerrilla warriors with only more than 2,000 troops under Man Gui were the closest troops in Jizhen, which was the closest to Shanhaiguan.

.............
Chapter completed!