The season was still in the twelfth lunar month, which was the coldest time of the year. Hu Xiaomao gave a secret order, but Fu Lian had no choice but to arrange a boat for him and sail all the way to Kobe. The climate here is slightly different from that in Beijing. It is close to the sea and the sea breeze blows. The moist air blew through the heavy fur, and he was bundled up tightly and stood on duty outside the military camp. After a while, his whole body became cold, and the Qing soldiers felt it was too much. It was fine during the day, and they could still hold on for a while if there was sunshine. , at night, he had no choice but to light up the fire against the order. As the commander, the distressed brother also opened his eyes and closed his eyes, pretending not to see it. Fortunately, the Japanese are quite honest. After the two chief officers came to Beijing for different reasons, the army did not encounter any trouble.
Hu Xiaomao stepped onto the dock of Kobe Port and tightened his fur collar, "Let's go to the headquarters."
Since Bao Chao returned to Beijing with orders, all major affairs in the frontline army have been handed over to Shan Chaozhao, Gong Mian, Hu Lincang, Teng Ziyu, Chen Benqin and Gao Renjian, etc., who were promoted from the garrison ranks of the battalion command to deputy general, staff general, etc. The generals in the army with the rank of general are under joint command, but many of them don't even know the words, so how can they handle the correspondence? In the end, Bao Chao was forced to have no choice but to personally ask Qing'an to take charge. At the same time, he made temporary appointments and asked everyone to discuss with Qing'an in case of major issues.
This time Hu Xiaomao returned to Japan, to everyone's surprise. Today's arrival was Shan Chaozhao and Hu Lincang. The sky was gloomy and the two had nothing to do. They wanted someone to bring them some wine. There were strict officers in the army. There was a ban on drinking alcohol. As officers, they couldn't take the lead in disobeying it, so they could only endure it. At this moment, looking at the door, a cold wind mixed with snow particles rolled in, "Oh, this is Who is it? Close the door!"
Before the voice could finish shouting, Hu Lincang was the first to recognize it, "Oh, it's the military gate? I have a humble position and see the military gate!"
Hu Xiaomao was freezing all the way from the pier. Before talking to them, he approached the stove and stretched out his hand to warm himself, "It's really cold."
Shan and Hu didn't dare to ask. One of them asked the footman and bodyguard to come in, prepared the hot noodle soup, twisted the handkerchief and handed it over. The other turned on the stove more and stood beside him with his hands lowered. After receiving the emperor's secret decree," Hu Xiaomao warmed up for a while and said, "There are two things that must be handled quickly. The first is the resettlement of the Japanese people. The emperor has said that no one is allowed to die of cold or hunger, and everything must be done properly. The second one is the lieutenant generals. When I left, there were still 40% of the sergeants who had not changed into winter clothes, right?"
"Yes." Shan Chaozhao said, "But during the days when the army was away, six more ships came to transport winter clothes across the sea. There were 17,000 pieces of winter clothes and winter cotton, and they have been distributed to each camp. It¡¯s in the hands of the brothers.¡±
"Then, where are the remaining people?"
Hearing Hu Xiaomao¡¯s unkind tone, Shan Chaozhao did not dare to say anything more, ¡°The remaining brothers still rely on the winter clothes they found from the Japanese to keep out the cold.¡±
"Let the brothers hold on for a few more days. I think the winter clothes coming to the imperial court are about to arrive. If there are any that are torn or do not fit, there is no need to be polite to the Japanese, just take them and wear them yourself." Hu Xiaomao raised his head and asked, " By the way, where are the others?"
Shan Chaozhao and Hu Lincang smiled strangely, "They are all Yuanting."
"WhatTing?"
The two people knew that he didn't understand what was going on, so they explained a few words to him, "Isn't this nonsense? Spending time in a place like that all day long" Hu Xiaomao hesitated, but he could tell from their conversation that the military The rough man was very interested in a place like Yuanting. Not to mention that Huazi was Bao Chao's pet. He didn't want to offend him too much, but he was not as good as this. It's just that these people were not so easy to get rid of.
He yelled in a low voice, "Are you ignoring so many things in the army? Are you just living like this, eating and drinking? Do you know that the imperial court is negotiating peace with the Japanese? Once the peace talks fail, they will naturally use weapons again. Look at your virtue! Are you going to lead the troops on the battlefield?" He became more and more angry as he spoke, and by the end he was shouting.
Shan Chaozhao and Hu Lincang felt helpless. Winter is not a good season for military training. The weather is so cold. It is inevitable for the brothers to gain weight if they stay indoors for a long time. Why do they reprimand them like this? But the other party was a direct commander. He had accumulated power for many years and did not dare to refute at all. He stood there obediently and listened to his scolding. Hu Xiaomao glanced at the door and said, "Come in, why are you standing outside? Drink the northwest wind." ?"
It was Teng Ziyu, Gao Renjian, Chen Benqin, and Qing'an who had to report back to the army. Knowing that Hu Xiaomao was back, they quickly left the warm spring-like Yuanting and rushed back to the station in the wind and snow to meet the commander-in-chief. Hello, handsome."
The crowd was still unknowingly and was close. Hu Xiaomao immediately heard a strong alcohol, and he was angry in his heart.?Twenty military sticks for each person. "
The soldiers of the Military Law Department swarmed up, escorted the dejected people out, and beat them hard. The beatings made Qing'an cry for father and mother, and then they were released after the beating. "You are all meritorious officials of the imperial court. This time you are leading troops in a foreign country." , how useful you will be in the future, look at you"
Hu Xiaomao sighed, "The Emperor sent me back. I think if the old man knew that all the generals in the army have such a moral character, the Holy Heart would be so sad! Ask yourselves, don't you feel guilty? "
After being silent for a long time, he stopped scolding everyone and asked, "How are the living expenses of the people in the city recently?"
"Everything is still business as usual. However, before the battle in Kobe, Zhao Jian Nobumori scoured the city and took away most of the food stored in people's homes. Now that winter has come, especially after the snow, many people have nothing to eat Qing'an replied, "After discussing with the generals, I distributed part of the surplus grain collected from the army to the people. Fortunately, the population in Kobe City is not large anymore, but it can still survive."
"Master Qing is right, but although the grain distribution can alleviate the problem, it will not last long, especially when the Japanese say that the grain for next spring is now completely unavailable. Please ask the commander to report to the court to transfer it."
"This is important," Hu Xiaomao nodded vigorously, "Xiao Yuan? Did you hear it? Draft the memorial immediately and hand it over to a boat to take back to the capital."
"Yes." Yuan Shikai agreed, turned around and left without mentioning it.
"what else?"
"There is nothing else." Gao Renjian said, "The Japanese are very honest, and this time they distributed food, it made many people appreciate the kindness of our army. Some even took the initiative to give winter clothes to those on duty or patrol. Soldier¡¯s.¡±
¡°What¡¯s the situation in Osaka Castle?¡±
"The situation there is better than that in Kobe. The damage was not serious and order can be maintained."
"What is the attitude of the Japanese toward our army? Are there any willing to actively cooperate?"
"This, I don't know what to say."
"Just tell me what's going on. What do you mean you don't know?"
"The original city guard of Kobe City was arrested when the Japanese army surrendered, but this old guy was very stubborn and refused to accept his original position." Qing'an explained tactfully, but Hu Xiaomao knew what this was. The city guard must have nothing nice to say, so he nodded and motioned for him to continue. "Later, I found a few more people, but they were all like weights and refused to cooperate. I had no choice but to temporarily take on this part of the responsibility. That's what I said, but Kobe was destroyed by war many times and many places were burned down. , in order to restore the old appearance, the myriad of troubles have not yet begun!¡±
"You are the only one here who understands Japanese, so you will naturally have to work hard. You can just assign other people to do things that don't have to deal with the Japanese. Not to mention the soldiers in the army, it's me. Wherever you are useful, you can just do it. say."
Qing'an smiled at this, "The commander-in-chief's words are serious." He said, "But some things do require the commander-in-chief to personally come forward."
"What is it? Tell me."
"The ancients had three requests to visit the thatched cottage. Today, we might as well follow the example of our predecessors and personally come forward to ask the city guard of Kobe, Japan, to be responsible for suppressing order in the city. After thinking about the humble job, many Japanese in the city now have a wait-and-see mentality. As long as one person comes out , don¡¯t worry about more people coming later, take the initiative to cooperate with us.¡±
Hu Xiaomao pondered for a while, "There is no need to rush this matter for the time being. Think about it, if the negotiations are successful in the future, it will be easy for the Japanese to cede land and pay compensation. But where is the specific land ceded? No one knows yet. We have to wait until Only when things are settled can we start. If the final result is that both Kobe and Osaka are owned by the Qing Dynasty, there is nothing to say. But at that time, the Japanese saw this and knew that they would become the Qing Dynasty. Naturally, the people will no longer resist; if we want to leave this place, letting them come forward now may become evidence for them to answer questions for the old dynasty in the future. I think this is also the reason why these people have never bowed their heads."
Qing'an nodded vigorously, "What the commander-in-chief said is that this matter is due to dereliction of duty and negligence." He said, "Then, as the commander-in-chief said, we will wait until the negotiations with the Japanese are concluded."
Hu Xiaomao stood up and adjusted his military uniform. "Let's go to the city." He said, "Brother Qing, please accompany me."
"The commander-in-chief has an order, and you should obey it if you are humble."
The two of them each took their own soldiers and walked out of the commander's office to the streets of Kobe. It wasn't long before the battle for Kobe. There were traces of the battle everywhere in the city. As far as the eye could see, there were dilapidated houses and black burned buildings. The rubble points tenaciously to the sky in the snow, as if still telling the story of the tragic battle that happened here not long ago.From time to time on the street, Japanese people wearing kimonos and wooden clogs walked on both sides of the road, saluting the slowly approaching Chinese with strange eyes.
The only ones who are not restrained are children. When the battle is going on, they dare not leave the protection of their parents. With the arrival of peace, although this peace is still temporary, the children's playful nature cannot be suppressed, and they gather in groups. They were playing games on the street, "I think the people in this city seem to be able to accept us?"
"It's not bad after all." Qing'an said, taking a step closer, "Commander, I don't know whether I should say something because of my humble position."