Chapter 2861

"Ziwu, I heard that you went to Qingyang Fort for a few days not long ago? Could you briefly tell me about the situation there." Chen Pingliao called Zhu Ziwu over and gave him the task of introducing the situation. I don't know if I want to give him a chance to perform, or if I want to use this to test him.

Bai Letong and Ning Zijing were both a little surprised. They thought that Chen Yixin arranged for Zhu Ziwu to go to Shenyang just to experience the garrison environment here. They never thought that this man had even been to the border front. Although Haihan and Manqing had already The armistice agreement has been signed, and it seems that diplomatic relations have become normal, but there should still be certain risks in border areas like Qingyang Fort.

Zhu Ziwu's expression remained normal. He had stayed in Liaodong for more than half a year and had already become accustomed to his new identity. He immediately explained the local situation to them.

The areas north of Shenyang are all under military control. The Haihan Army has deployed a battalion of troops in Tieling Acropolis and Liaohai Acropolis respectively. Qingyang Fort is a border stronghold under the jurisdiction of Liaohai Acropolis, and a reinforced army is stationed there. The company has about two hundred soldiers.

Although Qingyang Fort has a garrison and performs armed patrols in the border area on a daily basis, because the border line where Qingyang Fort is located is 70 to 80 miles long, and there are only boundary markers as a separation from the Manchu and Qing territories, the garrison troops are not The entire border cannot be monitored at any time. The so-called patrol operations are more symbolic, indicating Haihan's governance in the area. Therefore, many local border residents and even caravans will freely shuttle through the border areas between the two countries, and the garrison troops will turn a blind eye most of the time. If you close your eyes, you will not strictly supervise this behavior.

This situation will inevitably give rise to many problems, such as smuggling transactions that are beyond official control, the entry and exit behavior of floating populations, and the secret infiltration of spies and even saboteurs, all of which may affect the security situation in border areas.

Of course, now we have to add another one, cross-border attacks by unidentified armed men.

Bai Letong asked: "How did you get the news back after the incident at Qingyang Fort?"

Zhu Zian said: "There is a radio station deployed in Liaohai Acropolis. The garrison in Liaohai Acropolis should have been notified first, and then the news was sent back to Shenyang through the radio."

Bai Letong said: "Then the Qingyang Fort garrison still asked for instructions whether to pursue the armed bandits. If the news from here was sent back, the other party would have disappeared long ago, right?"

Zhu Zian said: "The procedures in the military are like this, and the local garrison is just doing things according to the rules."

Chen Pingliao coughed dryly and interjected: "There are too few troops stationed in Qingyang Fort, so it would be inappropriate to attack rashly. What's more, the opponent has already retreated to Manchu territory, so we need to be more cautious in our actions. It's not wrong for them to ask for instructions first."

Ning Zijing asked: "How will this matter be handled next?"

Chen Pingliao said: "Probably we have to follow the path of courtesy first and then attack. My father is meeting with the Manchu envoys. In addition to reporting the situation, he must also exert pressure and require the other party to cooperate with the investigation and handle follow-up matters."

Ning Zijing said: "If it is really the Qing army's hand that involves troop mobilization, it shouldn't be difficult for the other party to investigate, right?"

Chen Pingliao shook his head and said: "That's not necessarily the case. The Qing army's troops belong to the Eight Banners. The men are both civilians and soldiers. They produce and work in peacetime and serve in wartime. They even provide their own weapons, food and grass. Until Huang Taiji fought with us for many years. After realizing the shortcomings of this military system, they began to establish a standing army. However, with the national power of the Qing Dynasty, they could not support a large number of professional soldiers like our country, so the standing army was only a minority, and tribal armed forces were still the main force."

"The armed forces of these tribes can gather and disperse flexibly, and they can come and go as fast as the wind. They are not directly under the control of the Qing government. If they want to do something, the Qing government may not know about it. It's just that the timing of this incident is really strange..."

Before Chen Pingliao finished speaking, Chen Yixin had already walked in, followed by Bai Kesi and Sun Zhen. The officers waiting in the conference room immediately took their seats. After Chen Yixin and others took their seats, the meeting began.

First, Sun Zhen stood up and introduced the current situation. The one that was attacked was a convoy belonging to the Liaodong Commercial Alliance, and the Liaodong Commercial Alliance is a quasi-official commercial organization, so this convoy actually works for the government. Centaur.

This convoy was carrying a batch of goods jointly purchased by four Manchu and Qing trading houses, including salt, sugar, cigarettes, tea and other in-demand commodities. The total weight was more than 70,000 kilograms and was packed into 54 carriages. The total price of the goods is about 200,000 taels of silver. It is expected that after the sale is completed in Manqing, the profit will be at least 60%.

The relevant payment for the goods has been settled in Shenyang. Since the Manchu and Qing merchants did not have enough transportation capacity, they handed it over to the fleet of the Liaodong Merchant Alliance to complete the transportation task. This batch of goods was shipped from Shenyang and was destined for Shuangmiaozi Town in the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. , which is about thirty miles north of Qingyang Fort, and was delivered to the Manchu and Qing cargo owners locally.

The convoy rested for the night after arriving at Qingyang Fort and went through the entry and exit procedures at the local government office. However, only a few miles away from Qingyang Fort the next day, the convoy was ambushed by Manchu armed personnel in the wild.

According to survivors' descriptions, although these Manchu and Qing armed personnel did not wear uniforms, the weapons such as knives and bows they used were obviously the standard equipment installed in the Qing army, and many of them used flintlock guns.

There were about 300 attackers, which matched the strength of the Qing army. There were only about 30 armed escorts accompanying the convoy. Although they were all equipped with muskets, they rushed to the attack without any precautions and failed to carry the attack. Stop the opponent's offensive.

Perhaps they were worried that the Haihan Army from Qingyang Fort would come to the rescue. After all the convoy escorts lost their combat effectiveness, the attackers did not kill the drivers of the convoy. Instead, they seized the carriage and cargo and immediately fled northward.

The Qingyang Fort garrison arrived at the scene about an hour after the battle ended, but because the attackers took away their dead and injured accomplices, no clues could be found at the scene to confirm the identity of the attackers.

The garrison of Qingyang Fort did not dare to act rashly, so they could only go through the procedures and report it to the battalion headquarters. After receiving the news, the battalion headquarters of Liaohai Acropolis sent a telegram to Shenyang and dispatched a company of troops to reinforce the Qingyang Fort to prevent The situation has escalated. The official entry and exit procedures at Qingyang Fort have been suspended, and several caravans are currently detained there.

After Sun Zhen finished speaking, Chen Yixin concluded: "First, the other party set up an ambush and attacked near Qingyang Fort. They came and went quickly. They were obviously prepared. There is reason to suspect that the attackers had obtained the convoy's itinerary in advance. and the contents of the goods being transported, so everyone on the team and others who control the itinerary must conduct investigations."

"Second, there are eyewitnesses and various clues that confirm that the attacker is likely to be from the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. I have instructed the Manchu and Qing envoys to immediately communicate with the Qing court to find out the truth of the incident and make sure to give an explanation to our country."

"Third, in order to ensure the peace of the border, a battalion of troops was transferred from Shenyang, led by Sun Zhen himself, and set off for Qingyang Fort today. If such an incident occurs again in the past few days, the troops guarding the area can attack on their own, and there is no need to Please ask for further instructions!”
Chapter completed!