Warlords: Rising from the Northwest Border and Sweeping Across the Powers

Twenty minutes later, Christie and Li Qinghua were brought into the conference room.

The two people had different expressions, one was in a mess and looked terrified, while the other was very familiar and took the initiative to say hello with a smile on his face.

Xue Ding looked at Li Qinghua with interest and took the initiative to ask, "Tell me about the situation of the garrison in Qingshan County."

Li Qinghua was slightly stunned, then responded: "Sir, are you talking about Qingshan County in Fengshan, which is not far from here?"

"There are no regular troops stationed there. Just like in Cangyuan County, there is only a local security group. However, the leader of the Qingshan County security group is wealthy and powerful, and has more than a thousand troops under his command. I heard that their equipment is similar to that of the regular army. They are arrogant and domineering on weekdays, no different from bandits."

Xue Ding hesitated for a moment and asked again: "If there were gunshots not far from Qingshan County, would the Qingshan Security Group come out to join in the fun?"

"Gao Changsheng, the leader of the Qingshan Security Group, is a guy who is wealthy and arrogant in his own territory, but he is actually a coward. If there really were regular troops exchanging fire in Qingshan, he would have pretended not to see it, unless there was an order from above."

Xue Ding nodded in understanding. It seemed that after the main force of the Third Army moved south, the only remaining county-level units in the north of Linzhou were the local security groups. Only in city-level units like Fengshan City, Hutu City, and Hanbei City were there regular troops of the Guo faction stationed there.

In this way, when Kuang Qingfeng attacks the Suzuki Division, he can put his concerns to rest and does not have to worry about the Guo troops nearby coming to support him.

Qingshan County is about eighty or ninety miles away from the nearest Fengshan City. By the time the 317th Regiment of Guo's faction on the Fengshan Line arrived, the battle on Kuang Qingfeng's side would have ended long ago.

Not to mention Hutu City, which is even farther away.

The only thing to worry about is the garrison troops in Qingshan County, but according to Li Qinghua, they can be treated as air and ignored.

"Christie, we need your help now. If you can help our Northwest Revolutionary Army take over Hanbei City, I can let you go without asking for a ransom."

Christie couldn't believe her ears. She had been living a miserable life these past few days. No one in the Northwest Revolutionary Army cared about her so-called status as an English aristocrat. On the contrary, because she was a foreigner, everyone wanted to teach her a lesson. They fed her steamed buns made of rotten vegetable leaves every day. If she didn't want to eat, she would be starved. If she wanted to eat, she would be given water to drink. If she didn't want to eat, she would be thirsty.

Under such circumstances, Schrodinger still asked for a ransom of 150,000 pounds. At the current international exchange rate, one pound is worth twelve silver dollars, and 150,000 pounds is almost equivalent to nearly two million silver dollars. If he really paid this ransom, most of his family assets would be emptied.

Now the other party actually said that they didn't need a ransom? At this moment, Christie felt that the originally hateful Schrodinger had become pleasing to the eye.

However, the other party asked me to help capture Hanbei City, but I don’t have that ability.

“Captain Xue, to be honest, my British Chamber of Commerce has some power in Hanbei City and even the entire Linzhou, but if you want me to help you take over Hanbei City, it is still unlikely.”

Xue Ding tapped the table with his fingers and said slowly: "I just want you to take some of your soldiers and sneak into the city. Can you do it?"

Christie shrugged. "If there are no more than 300 people, I can lie and say that this is our Chamber of Commerce's guard. If there are too many people, the people in the Guo faction are not fools and will definitely be suspicious. And I can't guarantee that it will succeed. The defense inspection in Hanbei City is very strict now."

"As long as you can find a way to get 300 of my soldiers to sneak into Hanbei City with weapons, I will waive your exorbitant ransom."

"Oh, my God, Commander Xue, do you keep your word?"

"We Chinese men always keep our word."

Christie's expression suddenly became a little struggling. The risk of this matter was visibly high.

Once Guo’s faction discovered that he was bringing people from the Northwest Revolutionary Army into the city, he would probably lose his life.

But if successful, not only would she be able to regain her freedom, but she would also be able to avoid the sky-high ransom. This was a huge temptation for Christie.

After hesitating for a moment, under Schrödinger's deep gaze, Christie gritted her teeth and made a decision.

"Commander Xue, I can try to do this, but I have two requests!"

"You can make any request you want. As long as it's not too excessive, I can agree to it."

"First, change my damn meals immediately! I want meat! Meat!"

"Second, you need to prepare a batch of goods, preferably antiques or something like that, load them on a donkey cart, and disguise them as the goods of our British Chamber of Commerce, so as not to arouse suspicion."

"Okay, I agree to your request! As long as you don't play tricks and help us get this done, I promise that you can return home safely."

In an adobe house where the security corps was stationed, Christie was holding half a roast chicken in her arms and wolfing it down. She no longer had the arrogant and aristocratic demeanor she had when she first met the Northwestern Revolutionary Army. She looked almost like a beggar.

The next morning, the security regiment split into two groups and left a company of troops to garrison in Cangyuan County. Kuang Qingfeng called Li Qinghua to be a guide and led the troops of the 12th Regiment to quickly rush to the designated ambush site.

On Xue Ding's side, he selected more than 200 elite soldiers, changed them into civilian clothes, and disguised them as the guards of the British Chamber of Commerce.

As for the goods that Christie requested, that was even simpler. Schrodinger sent people to search the houses of landlords and gentry in the city overnight.

Looking at Christie's greedy eyes, you can tell that these people really have some good things in their homes. It also indirectly shows that there are some rich families in poor places.

A large number of vases, porcelain, lacquerware and other objects were loaded onto donkey carts, filling more than a dozen of them. Accompanied by more than 200 soldiers, Christie packed up, put on her spotless black suit, glasses, pocket watch, a walking stick in her hand, her hair was so shiny that even a fly would slip if it stood on it, and she got on a carriage and headed towards Hanbei City.

Xue Ding led two regiments of troops to disperse and form battalions, hanging far behind them.

At night, Kuang Qingfeng had already led his men to the Wild Boar Forest. After in-depth investigation by the Northwest Intelligence Bureau, it was found that a large convoy had entered Fengshan three days ago and was expected to pass through the Wild Boar Forest in two days at most.

On the other side, on the morning of the next day, the caravan officially arrived at Hanbei City. At the west gate of Hanbei City in the distance, the merchants and civilians entering the city had lined up in a long queue. Only after showing their ID cards could they enter the city. At the city gate, there were at least three companies of garrison troops, and a large number of firepower points had been set up on the city walls.

It can only be said that Wang Hongfa of the 319th Regiment is really a cautious person. In this situation where it is impossible for the Northwestern Revolutionary Army to break through the blockade and come to the northern border, the defense of Hanbei City is still so strict.