At this time, the rebel army still had a considerable advantage in terms of numbers, 4 or 5 times more than the Beiyang New Army. Although the Qing army had an absolute advantage in weapons, if it was replaced with other Qing army, the Qing army would probably have a chaotic robbery and three points when they saw the number of people between the two sides. As long as the two sides approached and launched hand-to-hand combat, they would immediately collapse.

However, the Beiyang New Army was not comparable to other Qing troops. Not only was it well-equipped, but its morale was much higher than that of other Qing troops. Therefore, after the two sides started fighting, the Beiyang New Army first set up a formation, firmly defended its position, and defeated the rebels twice in a row with superior firepower. And just when the rebels retreated in vain for the second attack, the Beiyang New Army seized this fighter and launched a counterattack on the rebels, so the two sides immediately launched hand-to-hand combat.

However, although it was a hand-to-hand combat, the Beiyang New Army still remained determined and the soldiers were all brave. The rebel army was in chaos when retreating, so it was defeated by the Beiyang New Army, and there were more than 5,000 casualties.

Jing Binting, Zhao Sanduo, Li Zhuangyong and others also fled into Guangping Prefecture to defend the city. Only then did they realize that the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang New Army was not comparable to that of other Qing troops. In the past, the rebel army could defeat the Qing army, but they did not meet the real main force of the Qing army. Therefore, the rebel army did not dare to fight again and relied on the city wall to resist the Qing army.

However, the Qing army did not attack Guangping Prefecture. Instead, after waiting for three days, Yuan Shikai led the main force of the Beiyang Army and some artillery to the battlefield and launched artillery bombardment on Guangping Prefecture. The rebels in the city could no longer withstand the attack of artillery. After discussing, Jing Binting and others decided to abandon Guangping Prefecture and retreat to Daming Prefecture.

After the Qing army captured Guangping Prefecture, Yuan Shikai ordered Duan Qirui to lead a part of the army into Daming Prefecture and restrain the rebel army of Daming Prefecture. He and Wang Shizhen first led the main force of the Beiyang New Army to capture the Zhengde Prefecture.

After returning to Daming Prefecture, Jing Binting, Zhao Sanduo, Li Zhuangyong and others sent troops to fight the Beiyang New Army for two consecutive battles, but they were defeated and returned to the city. At this time, Yuan Shikai and Wang Shizhen led their troops to capture the Junde Prefecture, and then immediately marched into Daming Prefecture to join Duan Qirui. After a series of fierce battles, Jing Binting and Zhao Sanduo's subordinates had lost more than half, and even with the other rebels who fled into Daming Prefecture, there were less than 10,000 people in total. Therefore, the loss of Daming Prefecture is possible at any time.

When Zhang Zhengjie led his army to Jinan, the Qing army had just captured Guangping Prefecture. The war had not yet reached Shandong and the Zhili border came. But Zhang Zhengjie did not dare to be careless. After all, he was not optimistic about the rebel army, because the rebel army might be okay to deal with ordinary local Qing troops, but it was too much for the Beiyang New Army to form an army based on the organization, training, and weapons and equipment of modern troops. Moreover, no matter what kind of character Yuan Shikai had, he still had some real skills in managing the army. The rebel army was definitely not his opponent. Therefore, it was necessary to arrange the border defense as soon as possible.

However, although the first division has a large force, the area to defend is extremely large, with a border line of nearly 400 kilometers, and it is impossible to arrange the entire division on the border line. On the one hand, the first division must reserve a considerable amount of mobile troops to prevent unexpected needs; on the other hand, it must maintain local public security management, so at most a regiment of troops can only be arranged on the border line.

So after research, the members of the first division decided to adopt the method of laying points on the border. First, three border garrison stations were set up, respectively, in the three places of Qiu County, Dezhou and Leling. Each garrison station had a battalion of troops; and three garrison stations were set up below each border garrison, and each garrison station had a company's troops, becoming the most basic unit of the border garrison. Each company would be responsible for a border area of ​​about 30-40 kilometers. They could patrol along the border line in platoons or squads, and a temporary sentinel can be set up every 10 kilometers, and a squad of troops were arranged at each temporary sentinel, which was dispatched by the company and took turns to guard.

In this way, the People's Army's control over the entire border line can basically be guaranteed. If it is a small-scale incident, the border garrison can of course solve it themselves. If a major incident occurs, the division headquarters can send troops immediately and ensure that it can reach every node area of ​​the border line within 24 hours. At this time, the border points have been basically completed, and the three combat regiments of the entire division will take turns to guard the border, and the rotation time is one month.

However, since Luo Yue's troops had just finished their mission from Qingzhou, they were lined up to the last one to go to the border to garrison. During this period, they mainly stayed in the military camp to repair and maintain local public security and order. The most important task now is to protect the construction of the Jinan section of the Jiaoji Railway.

It turned out that Zhan Tianyouji came to Shandong to help the East China government build a railway under the order of the Qing court. After the East China government considered it, it decided to let Zhan Tianyou be responsible for the project of the Jinan section of the Jiaoji Railway. On the one hand, the project of the Jinan section was about to start construction, which was the farthest from Qingdao, and a capable person was needed to take charge of the overall situation here. On the other hand, it was also to familiarize Zhan Tianyou with the situation. After the Jiaoji Railway was completed, the construction of the other two railways in the five-year plan was the time to show off Zhan Tianyou. Therefore, the East China government appointed Zhan Tianyou as the project leader of the Jinan section of the Jiaoji Railway, and served as the chief engineer, and went directly to Jinan to start work.

Although this is very different from the official position granted to Zhan Tianyou by the Qing court, Zhan Tianyou is a practical person and doesn't care about it. After the last visit, he had a good impression of the East China government and was not loyal to the Qing court. Therefore, being able to go to Shandong to help the East China government build a railway also made Zhan Tianyou very happy, so he immediately led his team to Jinan.

Zhan Tianyou has built a railway in China for nearly 10 years and has long formed a small team of about 15 people. After all, building a railway is a complex project, not something that Zhan Tianyou can do alone. He needs to have certain assistants. He met during the previous railway construction, either because of similar intentions, admiration for Zhan Tianyou, and Zhan Tianyou's students, etc. Of course, the East China government welcomes Zhan Tianyou's team, and such a team of talents cannot be found even with lanterns.

After arriving in Jinan, Zhan Tianyou pushed to the welcome banquet prepared for him by Jinan Mayor Wang Sheng. After meeting with Wang Sheng, he led his team to the construction site to meet with railway construction workers of the East China government, and understand the project situation. Wang Sheng was quite amazed by Zhan Tianyou's approach. Now the East China government needs such a person who is willing to do practical things, so Wang Sheng and Zhan Tianyou came to the construction site together and announced in public that Zhan Tianyou was responsible for the construction of the Jinan section of the Jiaoji Railway, and held a welcome banquet for Zhan Tianyou and his party at the construction site. On the next day, Zhan Tianyou was put into work.

When Wang Sheng returned to Jinan, he immediately began to carry out land reform work in Jinan Prefecture. Because the People's Army has entered Jinan and has this confidence, coupled with the effect of the Qingzhou incident, Wang Sheng also decided to promote the land reform work of Jinan Prefecture as soon as possible and strive to achieve comprehensive land reform of Jinan Prefecture as soon as possible.

Of course, Luo Yue is the regiment commander now. No matter whether it is the protection of railway construction or the protection of land reform team, Luo Yue will come forward in person. Therefore, after arriving in Jinan, his main job is to stay in the military camp to train the army, test new weapons, and closely monitor the battles on the border.

At this time, the Beiyang New Army had already launched an attack on Daming Prefecture, and the war finally approached the border of the East China government. The People's Army stationed on the border also strengthened the density of patrols and successively captured members of the rebel army entering Shandong.

In fact, there have always been calls for development in Shandong within the rebel army, because Shandong is the birthplace of the Boxer Rebellion, and many of them are Shandong people in the rebel army. Therefore, many people think that there will be greater development prospects in Shandong. Of course, some people just want to go back to their hometowns after simply being simple. But Li Zhuangyong firmly and strongly opposed the development to Shandong. On the one hand, he did not want to be an enemy of the People's Army. On the other hand, Li Zhuangyong was well aware of the East China government's ability to control the grassroots and the combat effectiveness of the People's Army. The team will not have any development prospects when returning to Shandong. On the contrary, they will be immediately wiped out by the East China government. Due to Li Zhuangyong's strong opposition and the momentum of the rebel army at that time, they did not develop to Shandong.

However, under the continuous attacks of the Beiyang New Army, the various forces of the uprising army were basically broken up, leaving only a city of Daming Prefecture. In addition, the Beiyang New Army was squeezed from the north, west and south, and only the east was a net. Therefore, many of the broken uprising soldiers could only go east and flee into Shandong.

Due to the influence of the Qingzhou incident, the Qing court issued three consecutive edicts to strictly order Yuan Shikai not to enter Shandong Province and not to conflict with overseas Chinese to prevent overseas Chinese from taking the opportunity to cause trouble. Therefore, Yuan Shikai did not dare to be careless and simply marked 1,000 meters away from the border between Shandong and Zhili as a forbidden area, strictly prohibiting the army from entering one step, and ordering those who violate the order to shoot on the spot, and officers were demoted to three levels in a row. The Beiyang New Army also strictly abides by Yuan Shikai's general order. Often, as long as they see the rebels fleeing towards Shandong, they will stop chasing even before they escape into the restricted area, for fear that they will cross the boundary.

However, the rebels who fled to Shandong did not mean that they had escaped from Shengtian, because what was waiting for them was the net of heaven and earth set up by the People's Army. Of course, the People's Army would not allow the rebels to run around in their territory, and they also strengthened their patrol efforts and would never let anyone go. However, for these rebels, the People's Army is mainly prisoners, so as long as they put down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender, they could save their lives. However, a few people who were determined to escape or refused to surrender were shot dead by the People's Army on the spot.
Chapter completed!