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Chapter 42 Garrisoning North of the River

  Chapter 42 Garrisoning North of the River

  According to the conversation with Hu Jingyi, the military expenses of the Model Brigade were borne by the Chuanbei Xuanfu Government Office. The Model Brigade was stationed in Shunqing and was responsible for eliminating bandits in the Huaying Mountain area.

  Mount Emei is located in the northeastern part of the Sichuan Basin, stretching from north to south across 15 counties and cities, with a total length of over 300 kilometers. Mount Emei's highest peak is Jinding Mountain, which is also the highest peak in the lowlands of the Sichuan Basin. The second-highest peak, Bao Ding, is the main peak of Mount Emei and one of China's eight great Buddhist sacred sites. Since the Qing Dynasty, Mount Emei has been known, along with Mount Wuyi, Mount Mingshan, and Mount Qingcheng, as one of the "Four Great Famous Mountains" of Bashu (Sichuan Province).

  As soon as he returned to the headquarters, he immediately convened a meeting of the group committee, and all battalion and company commanders, branch and small group members. He immediately reported the results of the negotiations with the Grand Governor's Office to everyone.

  The model regiment will be reorganized but after the reorganization, it will become an independent regiment stationed in northern Sichuan to eliminate bandits. Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this news.

  After a day of turmoil, everyone understood that Chengdu was not a place to stay for long. Hu Jingyi, in order to consolidate his rule, almost used force against the Model Troop this time. When they heard about the negotiation results, the Model Troop set off towards northern Sichuan, and most people accepted it.

  However, when he heard that the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Battalion, 4th Battalion and an artillery company would be left behind, He Erchuan of the 2nd Battalion became extremely angry and said in front of Wang Lingji: If we have to stay behind ourselves, I'd rather choose to retire.

  Wang Lingji saw that those who opposed him wanted to leave, and he was happy to oblige. He immediately declared that those who were willing to stay would be welcomed, and their official ranks would basically be promoted by one level.

  The 2nd Battalion left behind more than 40 platoon leaders, the 3rd Battalion left behind more than 13, the 4th Battalion left behind 8, and the Artillery Battalion left behind less than 2.

  Wang Lingji took a look and found that there was a severe shortage of artillery officers. He repeatedly begged Yang Xing for mercy, and in the end, 8 people were left behind.

  After hearing that the coup had been peacefully resolved, the hanging heart finally settled. It is said that after Yang Xing left Chengdu Girls' High School, Zheng Xiuxiu and a group of female classmates ran to the vicinity of Fenghuang Mountain, waiting for a whole night, and finally waited for the situation to be resolved smoothly.

  Then, I heard that Yang Xing was going to northern Sichuan to suppress bandits. Although my heart was filled with anxiety and complaints that we could no longer meet morning and night, I also knew that there was no way out at this time.

  At the same time, Li Jiayu, Wang Mingzhang and other classmates from Sichuan Army Military Academy came to the military camp several times, bidding each other farewell. Yang Xing also hoped that after graduating next year, everyone could join the Independent Regiment to enrich its officer corps.

  During the march, Yang Xing also told the masses about the harm of bandits to the people's lives and the necessity of eliminating bandits. Each branch should make it clear to officers and soldiers at all levels.

  Yang Xing let everyone tell their grievances, and everyone suffered from the bullying of bandits and local tyrants.

  In the past, military mobilization was a common occurrence, and with the propaganda of various branches and small groups of strong national members, after simple preparations, they brought everything that could be moved.

  The army arrived in Shunqing, a key town in northern Sichuan, in mid-November. Zhang Lan, the Pacification Commissioner of Sichuan, led the main officials of northern Sichuan to welcome them. Watching from afar, the officials and gentry who came to greet them couldn't help but burst into applause at the sight of this well-equipped and high-spirited army.

  Everyone praised Yang Xing for his remarkable achievements at a young age, and he had actually trained such a powerful and extraordinary army.

  To boost morale and calm the people, after meeting with Mr. Zhang and others, a grand entry ceremony was arranged immediately, except for a logistics company responsible for logistics, more than 1,000 people from the whole team, under the command of Yang Xing, marched into Shunqing City in a mighty manner.

  Of course, when entering the city, Yang Xing, in order to show that the model regiment was different from other troops, not only required each troop to tidy up their appearance before entering the city, but also to show a completely different momentum from other troops.

  In addition, during the process of entering the city, it is necessary to shout a few slogans. After some deliberation, the slogan became "Protect the border and ensure the people's safety, serve the local villagers, protect the border and ensure the people's safety, serve the local villagers."

  Everyone sees a majestic and well-disciplined army, rather than an undisciplined one that is often referred to as "bandits".

  When they heard these soldiers shouting out these rousing slogans in unison, the local villagers felt a sense of pride and distinction.

  After the Model Troop was stationed, Yang Xing led the main officers of the Model Troop to visit Zhang Lan at the Chuanbei Xuanfu (North Sichuan Pacification Office) that afternoon.

  I thought the model troops arriving in northern Sichuan was a joke, but I didn't expect it to become true so quickly. When Yang Xing led a group of officers to the Pacification Commissioner's residence, Zhang Lan surprisingly went out to greet them.

  Besides Zhang Lan and others, there were Xian Ying and other main officials of the Chuanbei Xuanfu government office, as well as the main officials of Shunqing.

  After everyone sat down, the guard squadron (equivalent to regimental commander) Xian Ying gave a brief introduction to the situation of bandits in northern Sichuan.

  Xian Ying, also known as Te Sheng, was a native of Xichong County in Sichuan Province. In the late Guangxu period, he entered the Sichuan Army Speed ??Academy and joined the Tongmenghui. He participated in the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement and uprising activities.

  During Mr. Zhang Lan's tenure as the Pacification Commissioner of Northern Sichuan, he served as the commander of the Guard Brigade (equivalent to a regimental commander), and can be said to have nurtured the first generation of new army personnel in Sichuan.

  In history, after Zhang Lan became a member of the National Assembly, Xian Ying was also selected to be sent to the Fourth Period of the Beijing Army University for further study. After graduation, he served as a guard officer in the Presidential Palace of Yuan Shikai.

  After Yuan Shikai signed the Twenty-One Demands with Japan, Xianying went south to Guangzhou to participate in the National Protection Movement. He later served as the chief of staff of Liu Xiang's department and eventually became disillusioned with military life. He followed Mr. Zhang Lan to organize the Tongmenghui and can be said to have been Zhang Lan's right-hand man throughout his life.

  After some pleasantries, Xian Ying briefed Yang Hing on the entire military deployment of northern Sichuan.

  At the beginning of the Republic of China, the main control area of the Shunqing Prefecture was mainly in the north of Sichuan Province. In the early years of the Republic of China, the region under the jurisdiction of Shunqing included a wider area than it does today, including present-day Guang'an, Huaying, Wusheng and other places, which all belonged to Shunqing before the reform and opening-up. It was only because of the emergence of a chief architect of reform that these areas were assigned to another region.

  In the north, there are stationed troops in Guangyuan and Bazhong, which are currently occupied by the 4th Division of the Sichuan Army under Liu Renhou. This division is mainly composed of Beiyang warlords, and after the founding of the Republic of China, it was reorganized by Yin Changheng and expanded into a full division.

  In the east, there was General Xiong Kewu's Fifth Division, whose troops were mainly stationed in Chongqing and Dazhou areas.

  In the west, Sichuan controlled the heartland area, including Zhou Jun's First Division, Peng Guanglie's Second Division, and Sun Zhaorong's Third Division.

  Shunqing had nothing but Yang Xing's model troops.

  Shunqing currently has some local armed forces, such as the guard detachment of Xianying and 10 regiments of local security forces reorganized from various counties.

  Due to the simple equipment and inadequate training of these local security forces, apart from being able to safeguard the safety of each county government, they were really powerless to suppress bandits.

  Zhang Lan has been in office as the Pacification Commissioner for nearly a year, and although he has put the civil administration of northern Sichuan in order, he has not been able to eliminate the scattered soldiers and bandits left over from the former Qing dynasty.

  These scattered bandits and the old Paoge organization, Gelao Association in Sichuan, are currently wandering among more than a hundred large and small gangs in northern Sichuan, distributed throughout northern Sichuan. These local bandits rob and plunder, causing suffering to the people of northern Sichuan.

  There are currently two main bandit groups in northern Sichuan, namely the habitual bandit Wang San-chun at the border of Yilong County and Bazhong Prefecture, and "Northern Sichuan's Evil Tiger" Huang Qing-yuan scattered around Mount Hua Yue.

  Wang San-chun, a native of Bazhong, Sichuan Province, fled to the Daba Mountains on the Sichuan-Shaanxi border in his 20s during the Guangxu period after a dispute with his clan leader over mountain forest trees. He gathered dozens of vagrants and merged several weak bandit gangs, seizing rifles and starting a career as an outlaw, hiding by day and emerging at night to rob homes.

  At the beginning of the Republic, Wang learned that a Qing army was in disarray after Zhao Erxun's death. One night, he used the tactic of setting fires on four mountains to intimidate the Qing army leaders, who were frightened and agreed to "surrender all guns and protect their lives". Wang then reorganized this branch of the Qing army, forming a bandit force of nearly 1,000 people.

  Wang San-chun made Erlang Town in Yingshan County his base, robbing and plundering, thus bringing harm to the local area. Under his tyrannical rule, his name shook all of northern Sichuan, earning him the nickname "The Great King of Bazhong".

  Huang Qingyuan, also known as the "Northern Sichuan Evil Tiger", was originally a member of a large family in Mount Hua. He later established his own gang organization at Tangkou and became a local tyrant. At the beginning of the Republic of China, when the local government's authority was lost, Huang Qingyuan colluded with other gangs and vagabond soldiers to establish a bandit organization.

  Huang Qingyuan has long controlled the mines near Huashan, robbing passing merchants and forcing miners and transporters of minerals to pay taxes.

  Huang Qingyuan was also ruthless and cruel. When he merged a branch of the Qing army, because the leader of that branch had killed one of his relatives before, he ordered to bury the leader alive after merging the branch, thus earning the notorious name "Sichuan North Evil Tiger".

  Seeing that the bandits in northern Sichuan are so powerful, and the local militias in northern Sichuan have long been infiltrated by the bandits, it's fortunate that they don't harm the common people.

  After introducing the local bandit situation, Zhang Lan asked how to deal with the bandits all over the place.

  Yang Xing furrowed his brow, past experiences telling him that the existence of bandits was fundamentally due to the treacherous terrain and hardships in people's lives. If everyone had enough food and clothing, who would want to join a bandit gang?

  But for everyone to have food and clothing is no short-term achievement. For now, it can only be mainly achieved through elimination.

  Seeing Mr. Zhang Lan's inquiry, he immediately stood up and replied: "Mr. Zhang, Xian Zhuang team leader, although Xing was born in Chuanbei, but after leaving for several years, Chuanbei is no longer the Chuanbei that Xing remembers. Now that we have just led a large army to arrive in Chuanbei and eliminate bandits, please instruct Mr. Zhang, Xian Zhuang team leader."

  Zhang Lan shook his head repeatedly and walked up to Yang Xing, saying: "Xing Dong, we are all revolutionaries, absolutely cannot have the hypocritical intentions of former Qing officials. Don't worry about anything, just speak freely."

  Since Zhang Lan said so, Yang Xing couldn't decline either. He immediately stood up and said to Zhang Lan and the others: "Since you asked, I can only answer truthfully. If there's anything improper, I hope you and Captain Xian will correct me."

  Yang Xing took a deep breath and said, "Since ancient times, bandits have never been completely eradicated. But during the change of dynasties and the neglect of national politics, bandits have been rampant, occupying counties and states, harming one side. What is the reason why bandits can never be completely eradicated? Recently, I have been browsing through various European and American countries, although there are also some black societies, but I have not found any organizations that kill people and intercept them like bandits."

  Everyone was attracted, and he immediately drank a glass of boiling water and continued: "What is the reason why Chinese bandits have never been eliminated? Is it because some people say that China has too many unruly commoners who deliberately oppose the government, or is there another reason? When I came to Xing, I heard a story about an official army asking a captured bandit why he committed such atrocities. The bandit replied, "If you cut open my belly, you'll know." This is of course a joke, a tragic joke. Through this joke, it's clear why ordinary people become bandits: they are struggling to survive, and when people have nothing to eat, they can only resort to this kind of business that requires no capital.

  "So, to eradicate the soil that breeds bandits, we must eradicate poverty. As long as everyone has food to eat and clothes to wear, only a fool would become a bandit. If there is no food to eat and no clothes to wear, of course some people with strong sense of shame will not become bandits, but what about those who are weak in moral character? They will be the future bandits. Therefore, our current plan should be to vigorously develop agriculture and industry in northern Sichuan, this is the fundamental solution to the problem of bandits."

  A middle-aged official wearing a long gown stood up and said: "Commander, if you say so, then this bandit can't be eliminated?"

  Yang Xing smiled and waved his hand, indicating that the official should sit down. After he sat down, Yang said: "If you guarantee that there are no bandits on the surface of northern Sichuan, it's difficult to do. But if we let the bandits go underground, so they don't cause headaches for the government and don't affect the people's lives, it's not impossible."

  "Everyone please note, in order to eliminate bandit forces, we can take a three-pronged approach."

  First, we can reorganize the militia in each county, eliminate the remnants of gangs and bandits within the ranks. In this way, if banditry occurs within the borders, local militias will not be helpless and wait for superiors to send personnel to participate in suppressing the rebellion.

  Secondly, build roads so that when bandits cause trouble, our great army can quickly rush to various places.

  Thirdly, after the reorganization of the militia in each county is completed, divide the areas of responsibility and assist with my model team and Xian brother's guard detachment, so that the banditry in northern Sichuan can be thoroughly eliminated.

  ”

  Zhang Lan was shocked and exclaimed that the young man was talented, and unexpectedly, from the aspects of politics, people's livelihood, and military affairs, at least one strategy could be heard, and it was feasible to eradicate the banditry in northern Sichuan.

  However, for some more realistic and somewhat resistant people to the model troops who had just arrived in northern Sichuan, it was like this. Some even stood up and said: "Commander Yang, what you said about eradicating bandits will take years of effort. But at present, the bandits in northern Sichuan are causing trouble, Commander Yang won't be deceiving everyone with this, right? Everyone knows that Commander Yang is a hero who has pacified rebellions and a fierce general of the Sichuan army."

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