1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 660: Not using full strength

The West Camp is located west of North Platte City. According to the plan, 2,300 Taiping Army prisoners were trained in the West Camp. The three regular brigades 101, 102, and 103 were responsible for selecting non-commissioned officers to train them. After the basic framework was built, they were reorganized into the Guangxi Regiment as a second-line force.

Unexpectedly, the training work had just begun when an accident happened.

About a thousand people fought in the West Camp, and the number of people participating in the fight was still increasing. Of course, the number of people who came to watch the excitement after hearing the news was also increasing rapidly.

It is said that the military commanders of both sides participated in this fight. Since the establishment of the West Army, there has never been such a large-scale, fierce, and bad fight.

To prevent the situation from getting worse, the machine gun regiment, the first cavalry regiment (formerly the Indian cavalry regiment) stationed in the West Camp and the 3rd Regiment of the 101st Brigade had to come forward to maintain order and form a human wall to separate the Taiping prisoners who tried to enter the West Camp to participate in the fight, as well as other Solon camp and Mongolian cavalry.

Washington, the head of the machine gun regiment, took the iron roll trumpet handed by the orderly and shouted loudly: "Stop it! Kekudi! Wuliji! These newcomers just came to North Platte and don't understand military regulations. Don't you veterans who have been trained in North Platte for two years still understand military regulations?!"

Washington hoped that the battalion commander of the Solon Cavalry Battalion and the head of the Mongolian Cavalry Regiment could take the lead and stop the fight.

But the two sides were already red-eyed. Kekudi and Wuliji grabbed Zhu Yidian, whose hair was half shaved, and wrestled with Peng Dashun. They were fighting hard, so how could they listen to Washington?

The commander of the First Cavalry Regiment was the Indian Maquik, who was one of the first two Indian chiefs to join the California system.

Maquik didn't understand why Kekudi and Uliji had such a big grudge with these recruits and had to fight in the barracks.

However, it must be said that these recruits with long hair were also quite capable. As cavalrymen, Maquik had sparred with the Solons and Mongols on weekdays.

The close combat skills of the Solons and Mongols, including hand-to-hand combat, locks, and wrestling, were first-class, especially the Solons. Even if he took action himself, it would be difficult for him to gain an advantage.

"Washington! Stop talking nonsense in my ears! I'm going to teach these long-haired people a lesson today!" Kekudi's powerful right fist hit Zhu Yidian's face directly.

Zhu Yidian also refused to give in, and stepped forward to protect Kekudi, not giving Kekudi room to display: "Qing Yao! I will send you to hell now!"

"Beat them to death! This group of Guangxi old longhairs slaughtered the old longhairs in Jiangning!"

"Bah! You still have the face to say! Speaking of massacre! The blood on your hands is the blood that can never be washed clean!"

"It can only be that Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang and others failed to capture the Beijing Demon Cave in the Northern Expedition, and killed all the shaking heads in the Beijing Demon Cave!"

On the way to the West Camp on horseback, Liang Yao had already understood the ins and outs of the matter.

It turned out that the non-commissioned officers who were transferred to the Taiping Army prisoner camp shaved the prisoners' hair and changed them into military uniforms today. These Taiping Army prisoners were originally resistant to shaving their heads. But after the Solon people learned about this, they brought the Mongols to watch the fun and teased the Taiping Army prisoners who were shaving their heads.

At first, the two sides only had some quarrels and sporadic conflicts, but they didn't expect that the situation would get bigger and bigger and turned into a large conflict involving thousands of people.

Fortunately, neither side has used weapons so far. Friendly troops also rushed to control the situation, and the conflict did not spread further.

"President, you are finally here!" Washington saw his brother-in-law coming and ran to Liang Yao to lead the horse as if he saw a savior.

The scene in front of him made Liang Yao frown. He saw thousands of people fighting together. The surrounding canvas tents, kerosene lamps and other things were all dismantled and became their weapons for fighting.

The Taiping prisoners, Solon soldiers, and Mongolian soldiers who were blocked outside the fighting circle and eager to squeeze into the fighting circle saw Liang Yao and the presidential guard riding horses and whipping them, and they all became honest and dared not continue to squeeze forward.

"Fire the cannon!" Liang Yao said to Washington. Thousands of people fighting, they must be shouting non-stop with their throats.

Washington was a smart man. He quickly understood Liang Yao's intention and pulled two 6-pound regimental Sacramento infantry guns from the 3rd Regiment of the 101st Brigade and fired two blanks on the spot.

Accompanied by two deafening bangs, the crowd that was fighting was finally shocked.

Liang Yao signaled Washington to take people to take out all the senior officers involved in the fight.

Soon, Washington led his troops to take out the officers of the Solon Cavalry Battalion and the Mongolian Cavalry Battalion wearing blue-green military uniforms, with school officer collar badges and shoulder badges.

As for the Taiping prisoners, since they had not yet formed an army, no one was awarded a military rank. Washington could only bring out Peng Dashun and Zhu Yidian, who he knew.

"No merit! Gathering a crowd to fight in the military camp! What a great skill!" Liang Yao said gloomily, his cold eyes swept over the culprits, and shouted sternly, "Take off their collar badges and epaulettes!"

The guards around Liang Yao stepped forward and took off the epaulettes and collar badges of several Solon and Mongolian officers.

"These long-haired people call us Qing demons!"

Kerkudi was very unwilling to be stripped of his lieutenant colonel rank, which he had worn for only two months and had not even warmed up yet.

Kekudi is a regular army cavalry lieutenant colonel who has completed training. He understands what it means to be stripped of his military rank. Even if he could stay in the military camp afterwards, he would have to start over as a soldier.

"You Qingyao, you still have the nerve to talk to us, aren't you also a long-haired one!" Zhu Yidian saw that Kekudi and others were stripped of their military ranks, covering his swollen left eye and gloating.

"Don't be too happy, you two." Liang Yao scolded Zhu Yidian and Peng Dashun, "You two are also old men who have been with Liang Zhitai for almost two years. The people below do not understand military regulations. Don’t you two understand?”

The original team of Yue Yong was originally built by Liang Yao, and Yue Yong's military regulations were largely borrowed from the Western Army.

Furthermore, gathering crowds to fight in the army is a taboo in any army. Liang Yao didn't believe that these two people didn't even understand this rule.

"The Guangdong brothers under Liang Zhitai never call us Changmao to our faces, and there are not so many Tatars in the team." Zhu Yidian argued, "Besides, the brothers don't understand why we are on Qingyao's side. I have to shave my head, and I have to shave my head when I get here.”

"Shaving your head when joining the army is a rule that has been formed since the founding of the army. It is convenient for treatment!" Liang Yao took off his hat, revealing the green stubble on the upper half of his head. "It is not compulsory for civilians to shave their heads. If you can't accept this rule, you don't want to be a soldier." This soldier can get out now!"

There are no hard and fast regulations on hair accessories in the American Republic. It is up to you to shave or grow your hair. However, the army has required short hair since the day the army was founded to facilitate management and to facilitate treatment when the head is injured.

Peng Dashun on the side pulled the corner of Zhu Yidian's clothes and reminded Zhu Yidian to speak less.

Zhu Yidian was speechless. Private soldiers who had just served in an infantry company of the regular army could get a salary of 18 US dollars every month. There was no deduction, so whether they got 18 US dollars or they were given gold coins directly, the treatment was better than that of Yue Yong.

These old brothers from Guangxi who were brought here have no other skills except fighting the enemy in battle. They left the army and went to the people. They were not familiar with the place where they lived. Where could they find a living for 18 US dollars a month? After much thought, staying in the military was the best choice.

"I acknowledge my guilt! I am willing to be punished!" Zhu Yidian and Peng Dashun knelt down to accept their guilt. Thinking that Kekudi, Uligi and others had already been punished, and the shaving of their heads was not against them, they felt much better. Just accept it as soon as you see fit.

"Get up! We can't kneel down and worship like this!" Liang Yao said with a sullen face, "The personnel involved in the fight this time will be dealt with according to military regulations. They are organized here. From now on, this is where you and the Sauron Cavalry Battalion and the Mongolian Cavalry Regiment will be. station."

The penalty for private fighting in the National Defense Forces of the American Republic is three months' salary forfeiture for those below non-commissioned officers, and six months' salary for those above non-commissioned officers, and a downgrade in military rank. The penalty for affray is much more severe, with the fine doubled and the officer demoted two levels in a row. Of course, if it causes disability, it will be handed over to a military court for adjudication on a case-by-case basis.

"What?! You want us to live with these new recruits?!" Kekudi muttered dissatisfied. Obviously, he was unwilling to be in the same room with these Guangxi soldiers who had old and new grudges.

Zhu Yidian and Peng Dashun were also very unhappy when they heard that they were going to live with these Saurons and Mongols and would not see each other without looking up every day.

It's just that they are newly attached soldiers and have just caused a big disaster, so they don't dare to say anything for fear that Liang Yao will kick them out.

"If you don't like it, I'll peel off your skin and get out of the military camp." Liang Yaoyang pointed at the gray-green military uniform on Kekudi and scolded.

Not long after, Elvis led the gendarmerie to the West Camp. Liang Yaosui handed over the aftermath work to Elvis and his gendarmerie and left the West Camp.

"Placing these two groups together, aren't you afraid that they will fight again?" Following Liang Yao and leaving the West Camp, Kruger still had some concerns.

As a senior general of the American Republic, Kruger still maintains a relatively high degree of attention to the outside world. He also knew something about the grievances between the Taiping Army and the various factions of the Qing Army. Kruger worries that similar incidents could occur if the two waves are housed together.

"No ordnance was used and no lives were lost, which shows that they still have a sense of control in their hands, and the grudge between them is not irresolvable." Liang Yao said.

"Separating them and not interacting with each other will deepen their prejudices. It is better to let them live under the same roof and enhance mutual understanding. If something happens, we can station another regular regiment next to the West Camp."

The Taiping Army prisoners were not issued ordnance. The Sauron Cavalry Battalion and the Mongolian Cavalry Regiment were regular cavalry units that had completed training and were equipped with complete weapons and equipment.

No weapons were used and no people were killed, which shows that these Saurons and Mongolians still remained rational and knew where the bottom line was. Otherwise, Liang Yao would definitely handle such a large-scale brawl seriously.

The reason why they fought was more because they didn't like each other. Put them together and see each other every day. Over time, they will naturally like each other.

"Will this affect our military operations below? Our troops are not very sufficient." Kruger rode his horse and followed Liang Yao.

"We don't need to use all our strength to deal with Mason, a defeated general." Liang Yaoyun said calmly.