The day after Li Nan's mixed formation of the West Route Army set off from Taipei, Yang Bin's mixed formation of the East Route Army had just assembled in Ruifang. After a brief mobilization, it also set off.
Since the mixed formation of the East Route Army had to pass through the Huadong Rift Valley, which was home to a large number of Alpine natives, in view of the possible conflicts, another order given by Yu Xiaocheng to him was not to conflict with them, and to incorporate as many people as possible. Incorporation, once conflict is unavoidable, will only focus on driving out, supplemented by elimination. However, wherever the mixed formation of the Eastern Route Army passes, the flag of the Red Label Army must be planted to declare its sovereignty, and he will send out more The second detachment of the Guards Army followed, specializing in dealing with the rebels and Qing soldiers collected along the way by the mixed formation of the Eastern Route Army.
Yang Bin actually criticized this additional task, because it would greatly slow down his marching speed. For him, the most important thing was to rush to Tainan as quickly as possible and annihilate all the Japanese troops, but the order was Under the command, he had no choice but to comply. After gathering all the troops, he led a mixed formation of the Eastern Route Army to leave Ruifang. The team of several thousand people headed south in a mighty manner.
On the second day when the mixed formation of the East Route Army set off, the second detachment of the Guards also hurriedly set off from Ruifang. Although the detachment leader Lin Qingshu only had more than 1,200 men and was only half a regiment in size, because the Guards was the leader The treatment of the directly affiliated troops is half a level higher than that of the ordinary troops, so the rank of the Guards detachment leader is equivalent to that of the regiment leader.
Lin Qingshu was considered to be on an equal footing with Yang Bin. Unless, like in Li Nan's mixed formation, the first detachment of the Guards was specially incorporated into the West Route Army, and Hu Dongning, the captain of the first detachment, had to be controlled by Li Nan and obey the dispatch arrangements, otherwise the general Guards would The mobilization and dispatch of the army only need to be responsible to the leader, and there is no need to even report to Zheng Yi, who is designated as the acting chief of general staff, let alone report to Yang Bin. Therefore, when Lin Qingshu led the army from Ruifang, he did not He reported his departure time to Yang Bin, but silently kept a distance of fifty kilometers from him.
Of course, just because Lin Qingshu didn't inform Yang Bin, it doesn't mean that Yang Bin didn't know that there was a guard army following fifty kilometers behind. This regiment was recognized as the main regiment in the Red Label Army. There were many veterans who came out of Darong Village. There are many, so they are very self-reliant and have never paid attention to other regiments, let alone the newly reorganized and expanded Guards, which is mainly composed of new recruits.
The original Guards were only an internal security force, responsible for the security of the leader. Since the Ministry of Internal Security was established to be responsible for the security of the leader, the functions of the Guards have undergone major changes. From a guard force It was upgraded to a combat unit and was directly commanded by the leader. Its status was slightly higher than other field units. This also aroused great dissatisfaction among the soldiers of the main regiment like Yituan. When everyone had nothing to do, they would make fun of the Guards. , this time a detachment of the Guards followed behind him, and it soon became the subject of ridicule for the whole group. Everyone laughed at the Guards for not being able to fight, but picking up the leftovers they left behind was full of fun. Work hard.
Originally, Yu Xiaocheng's function of the Guards was more focused on internal security, but at the same time, he found that as a directly affiliated unit, just serving as personal guards would greatly limit their combat capabilities. In addition, Li Zhongyi He had always wanted to train on the battlefield, so he tried to send the Guards to the battlefield.
In the battles of Taipei and Huwei, although the performance of the Guards was not more dazzling than that of other field troops, its heroic performance was impressive. Moreover, the Guards had a more fanatical pursuit of honor than other troops. In addition, They have more reliable loyalty than other troops, which also gave Yu Xiaocheng the idea to expand and transform the directly affiliated troops into combat troops. However, even in the most difficult and difficult battlefields, the Guards will definitely appear. To exercise the combat effectiveness of the Guards, and secondly to inspire other troops to fight bravely.
"It's just because compared with other troops on the battlefield, the Guards often appear as crazy and vicious desperadoes who have their own way of doing things, so they often make friendly forces particularly disgusted and repelled, and they stay away from them.
The Guards army following Yang Bin was pretty good and was not directly controlled by Yang Bin. There were many fewer conflicts with friendly forces. Li Nan's mixed formation of the West Route Army included the first detachment of the Guards. In addition, the rank of the first captain Hu Dongning was at the same level as Li Nan, and he was directly subordinate to the leader. Therefore, it was even more of a headache for Li Nan. He could hardly command the actions of the Guards. Even if the order was given, Hu Dongning could not Various reasons can be found to refuse execution.
If they encounter a strong enemy, the Guards will even ignore Li Nan's command and attack on their own in order to gain credit. If the battle is won, it is easy to say that the merit will be directly attributed to the Guards. If the battle is defeated, it will be credited directly to the Guards. , then it will all be recorded in Li Nan's account. This simply made Li Nan go crazy with anger. He had a big quarrel with Hu Dongning almost every day, but he could not solve the problem at all, and even if he reported the situation to the former director The General Staff was also suppressed by Zheng YiThey didn't dare to report to Yu Xiaocheng at all, so the conflicts and contradictions between the Guards and other troops became more and more intense. Everyone in the Red Standard Army knew about it, but Yu Xiaocheng himself was kept in the dark.
Yang Bin's East Route Army mixed formation marched south along the east coast as much as possible. Fortunately, there were many Yilan people and Gaoshan people in the army, so they did not encounter any obstacles when they arrived in Yilan. On the contrary, many local people The rebels and Xiangyong heard that the Red Label Army was going south to fight the Japanese ghosts, so they came to join them one after another. They especially thought that the rebels from the Gaoshan tribe were the most enthusiastic, and almost the entire village asked to be merged into the Red Label Army. This also made the East Route Army a mixed group. The formation's marching speed was delayed again and again, giving Yang Bin, who was eager to achieve success, a headache.
This is no wonder, because during the landing of the Japanese Guards Division on the Aodi coast of San Diaojiao, the Yilan Xiangyong and the Gaoshan rebels who came to help witnessed the entire battle process and were impressed by the powerful fighting power of the Red Label Army. In addition, the Red Label Army won great victories one after another in Taipei, Huwei, and Jinbaoli, and also killed Prince Nengjiu of Beibaichuan. This made the rebels in the northern mountainous area extremely respected and yearned for. This time they heard that the Red Label Army The army passed through Yilan and marched south to recapture Tainan. No one was willing to let go of such a good opportunity. Almost every day, a large number of rebel Xiangyong armed with simple and crude weapons blocked the passage that Yang Bin must pass. First, they wanted to see the Red Label Army. What does the unique Prussian military uniform look like? Secondly, I want to join in.
Yang Bin was already extremely restrained, but he still couldn't resist the enthusiasm of the locals to join the army. In the end, he set a very strict threshold for joining the army. But even so, when he left Yilan, the original team of 2,800 people suddenly expanded. When there were 4,000 people, there were still some rebels who were so excited when they heard that they were going south to fight the Japanese army that they didn't bother to talk to him at all. They just followed his team with a hula. Even after trying to persuade him several times, they couldn't get rid of them. In the end, he also Too lazy to take care of it, he allowed these chaotic soldiers and horses to follow him. What he didn't expect was that the tail behind the mixed formation of the East Route Army got bigger and bigger. Finally, when Hualien entered the Huadong Rift Valley, It's already several times the original size.
The second detachment of the Guards, which followed thirty kilometers behind, did not have Yang Bin's worries, because with Yang Bin leading the way, they hardly had to worry about the various problems they would encounter along the way. Those who welcomed Yang Bin's troops The rebels also welcomed the Guards with great enthusiasm. They only needed to plant the flag of the Red Standard Army where Yang Bin passed by, and appointed the rebels who had accepted the adaptation to take charge of the local area with the letter of appointment that had been prepared. law and order.
Since local governors from various parts of Taiwan had already crossed back to the mainland at that time, and Tang Jingsong fled back to the other side, local government affairs in Taiwan were basically paralyzed, especially in Yilan County, Hualien County and Taitung Prefecture east of the Central Mountains. They had to rely on local government The rural warriors organized by the wealthy gentry maintained the basic order in the local area and were extremely reluctant to protect themselves. If they were attacked by the Japanese army, it would be difficult to hold on. Therefore, when they heard that they would be protected by joining the Red Label Army, they were extremely willing to accept the leadership of the Red Label Army. In addition, Yu Xiaocheng, the anti-Japanese general leader of the Democratic Republic of Taiwan, nominally leads the anti-Japanese struggle in Taiwan, so there is no doubt about the legitimacy. Many people also cheered the arrival of the Red Label Army along the road, as if they were welcoming their own troops. generally.
After Yang Bin's East Route Army mixed formation left Yilan, it soon entered Hualien County. Compared with Yilan, Hualien has more aborigines, and the settlements are highly dense and have a very deep ethnic consciousness. This also made Yang Bin The entry of the Bin troops was even more stumbling, especially when they passed through Fenglin, Hualien Creek, where the Amis people lived for a long time, they almost started fighting.
However, the cause of the fight was ridiculous, because when the team passed through Fenglin, a soldier in a regiment of Yang Bin's headquarters got acquainted with a local Ami woman while the army was resting overnight. As he was about to head south without stopping, the soldier did not accept the opinion of the Ami woman to stay in Fenglin as her adopted son-in-law. Instead, he returned to the army and prepared to follow the team to continue southward, which caused great dissatisfaction among the local Ami people.
Because the Ami tribe is a typical matriarchal society, the power of property inheritance is in the hands of women. Women have great power and status in the Ami tribe. Therefore, when he heard the news that the women of his tribe were suffering, the patriarch immediately called out thousands of people. Stop Yang Bin's troops and prevent them from leaving.
Because Yang Bin was in a hurry to go south and saw that his troops were blocked, he almost ordered the troops to attack in a hurry, break through the obstacles set up by the Ami people along the way, and even shoot at the Ami people. If the soldier hadn't stood up in time, If you come out to explain everything, you may almost have a fight.
Although the matter was clarified, Yang Bin was extremely angry at this unorganized and undisciplined perpetrator. He immediately tied him up and sent him to the Military Justice Department accompanying the army, preparing to impose the death penalty in front of the Ami people, but that was all. At this time, the Ami woman came out to plead for mercy, asking for the soldier to be let go, and even threatened with force.
Yang Bin is not?Afraid of the opponent's force, but did not want to have too many conflicts with the locals before going south to fight the Japanese pirates, so they had to accept the Ami people's plea and spare the soldier the death penalty, but the life penalty was unavoidable, and he was beaten with thirty military sticks. , beaten until his skin was torn to pieces, and he could no longer march to fight anyway, so he simply left him in the village of the Ami people in Fenglin to recuperate from his injuries. It was up to the soldier himself to decide whether to marry into his wife and become his son-in-law, or whether to recover from his injuries and go south to catch up with the army and return to the army. All in all, Yang Bin didn't want to slow down the advance of the army because of such a trivial matter.
The soldier injured his legs and had to accept the fact that he would stay in the Ami village in Fenglin to recuperate. However, he still hoped to return to the army after recovering from his injuries. Fortunately, the Ami woman was also considerate of his sweetheart and finally agreed to stay in the hospital. After he was healed, he let the soldier leave, but only made one condition: he must return to Fenglin to see her after the war.
The soldier agreed, and finally fulfilled his oath faithfully. After the war, he returned to Fenglin and lived with the Ami woman. Of course, this is a story for later. Although the war is extremely destructive and uncertain, But for some people, it's not all darkness and pain, but also marriage and happiness.