I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 171: Having seized control of two provinces, expansion is temporarily halted.

While Qin Liangyu was hurrying on her way, hoping to reach Sichuan as soon as possible, the People's Salvation Army was also launching a fierce attack in Sichuan.

Faced with the powerful militia, the resistance of the city garrison seemed utterly futile.

Even though it required repairing bridges and roads and arranging for officials to take over the city, it still only took a little over half a month to reach Chengdu Prefecture.

Even knowing that the odds were against them, Liu Jiayun, the general of Chengdu Prefecture, still led his officers and soldiers, as well as 1800 militiamen, out of the city to meet the enemy.

The result was predictable: after just one round of shooting, Liu Jiayun and his men were all shot dead on the spot.

Afterwards, Li Yu, as the commander of the Western Route Army, personally took action and, with the help of the army formation, broke through the gates of Chengdu and stormed into the city.

Upon receiving the news, Zhu Zhishu, the last Prince of Shu, prepared to lead his family to commit suicide by jumping into a well.

However, the rescue army moved too fast. He had just gathered his family when the rescue army stormed into his mansion, and Prince Zhu Zhishu of Shu and his family were captured.

Meanwhile, Wang Shi, the commander of the Eastern Route Army, had already led his troops into Chongqing Prefecture.

Meanwhile, Qin Liangyu, who had been rushing, had already arrived in Yunyang Prefecture in Huguang and resolutely entered Sichuan.

However, the fierce and invincible White Spear Army, led by Qin Liangyu, encountered strong resistance and was almost wiped out in one battle.

First, they attacked Daning, but were intercepted by three hundred militiamen. Amidst the gunfire, thousands of White Spear soldiers suffered heavy losses in an instant.

Even though Qin Liangyu noticed something was wrong immediately and ordered a retreat, nearly a thousand soldiers were still killed or wounded, which greatly saddened and angered Qin Liangyu.

Subsequently, Qin Liangyu led her troops to attack Dachang again.

Despite her utmost caution, she ultimately suffered a crushing defeat, nearly losing her life in the process.

If it weren't for the special power that had grown within her body, which allowed her to barely avoid fatal blows, she would have already died beneath the walls of Dachang City.

Helpless, Qin Liangyu had to take another detour, passing through Jingzhou and entering Shizhouwei, hoping to directly enter Shizhu Xuanwei through Jiannan Division of Shizhouwei.

By this time, nearly ten days had passed, and Qin Liangyu's troops had dwindled to a mere thousand.

When they arrived at Jiannan Division and entered Sichuan, they were met with despair to find that Shizhu Pacification Commission had already been occupied by the Salvation Army.

Before they could even get close to the militia's rifles, they were spotted and driven back.

In the end, Qin Liangyu had no choice but to retreat to Huguang, hoping to find another place to enter Sichuan.

On the third day after its withdrawal from Sichuan, Chongqing was captured and Chongqing was completely occupied.

Thus, the two most important prefectural cities in Sichuan fell into the hands of the People's Salvation Army.

The battles that followed were even more uneventful, with many cities surrendering without a fight.

Two months later, the People's Salvation Army occupied the southernmost parts of Sichuan, including Sichuan Provincial Commandery, Dongchuan Prefecture, Wusa Prefecture, and Bozhou Pacification Commissioner's Office, completely taking control of Sichuan and eyeing Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi.

Meanwhile, Qin Liangyu headed south, hoping to find an opportunity to enter Sichuan.

Unfortunately, her attempts to test the waters always came a step too late.

In the end, she could only sigh helplessly, lamenting her fate.

Originally, she intended to recruit soldiers in Yunnan, Guizhou, Hubei and Hunan provinces.

However, she doesn't have that much fame in those places.

Emperor Chongzhen did not allocate funds or provisions, so how could she recruit soldiers?
In the end, she could only write to Emperor Chongzhen, hoping that he could allocate some money and grain.

In the end, however, she was still disappointed.

Emperor Chongzhen reiterated his stance: the army and its supplies must be raised by the government itself.

To appoint him as governor, a woman, was already an unconventional promotion.

He even clashed with the entire court of officials over this, and he could no longer allocate a large amount of money and grain, as that would inevitably provoke opposition from the entire court.

Even though Chongzhen was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he had to consider the consequences of doing so.

Upon receiving the news, all the civil and military officials in the court responded with cold laughter and condemnation.

Daughters are ultimately inferior to men.

After this news got out, Qin Liangyu's nephew, Qin Yiming, who was still stationed in the capital, was furious. If his deputy hadn't stopped him, he would have almost gone to the gate to fight.

Even so, he still wrote to Emperor Chongzhen, requesting to return to Sichuan to assist Qin Liangyu.

After receiving the memorial, Emperor Chongzhen was actually somewhat embarrassed.

After all, he merely appointed Qin Liangyu as the Governor-General of Sichuan, but allocated no troops or funds to her.

Sichuan has been occupied by the People's Salvation Army, so what is the point of his appointment as Governor-General of Sichuan?
Could she possibly enter the territory of the People's Salvation Army to recruit soldiers? Wouldn't that be suicidal?

Ultimately, Emperor Chongzhen granted Qin Yiming's request and appointed Qin Liangyu as the commander-in-chief of Shizhou Guard, allowing her to recruit soldiers in Shizhou Guard.

Furthermore, Hong Chengchou was appointed as the Governor-General of Huguang, in charge of all military and political affairs in Huguang, and to recruit troops to suppress the rebel army.

In addition, Song Tongyin, the governor of Shanxi, was promoted to governor-general of Shanxi, in charge of suppressing bandits in Shanxi. He was also ordered to take advantage of the fact that the rebel army was attacking Sichuan and that the rear was undefended, and to cross the river to attack the rebel army's rear.

After receiving the imperial edict from Emperor Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou immediately led his army to Huguang, and Song Tongyin also began to mobilize his troops, hoping to take advantage of the situation to attack the west bank of the Yellow River and strike directly at the enemy's lair.

Hong Chengchou was not optimistic about this.

He didn't think Song Tongyin was capable of truly defeating the Salvation Army, even one with a weak rear.

Even after entering Huguang, Hong Chengchou did not launch an attack immediately. Instead, he sought out Qin Liangyu to inquire about the intelligence on the People's Salvation Army.

When he learned that the People's Salvation Army possessed powerful firearms with a range of up to a kilometer, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

He also fought against the People's Salvation Army while following Yang He.

At that time, the People's Salvation Army relied on its bows and arrows to suppress the enemy from a distance of four or five hundred meters, making them unable to raise their heads. Combined with the inherent strength of the People's Salvation Army, this was how they defeated the tens of thousands of enemy troops.

Now, if the militia truly possesses firearms with a range of 1,000 meters, then this battle is unnecessary.

They were about to be annihilated by the enemy with firearms before they could even touch the enemy.

For a moment, Hong Chengchou couldn't help but feel extremely discouraged. Unless...
Feeling the warm current flowing through his lower abdomen, Hong Chengchou fell into deep thought.

Qin Liangyu once relied on this strength to barely avoid fatal blows from the enemy's firearms.

So, if he were even stronger, or if others possessed that power as well, would they be able to deal with the enemy's firearms?
Moreover, if the army were to disperse, wouldn't that further help them avoid damage from firearms?

If the dynasty knew his thoughts, it would surely tell him that he was right.

In the era of guns and cannons, warfare was no longer suitable for dense formations charging forward.

However, that applies to ordinary troops.

For the People's Salvation Army, where everyone is a sharpshooter, it doesn't make much difference whether you're scattered or not.

It might even have the opposite effect.

After all, if the crowd is dense, the soldiers at the front can shield their comrades behind them from some bullets.

Even if it's not enough, it can still increase the difficulty of shooting.

Although the final result may not be much different.

After all, when a large army charges into battle, there will always be gaps between them.

For a sharpshooter, that's enough to shoot the person behind.

However, if viewed separately, it is possible to avoid the large-scale damage caused by artillery.

But rifles are different; even when spread out, they can still kill one person with a single shot.

However, although Hong Chengchou had some general ideas, all of them needed time to be verified and practiced.

Therefore, while Hong Chengchou was in Huguang Province, he was raising funds and recruiting soldiers in an orderly manner, and at the same time, he began to study the power within his body and new military formations and tactics against firearms.

On the other hand, the Salvation Army, which had expanded from occupying half a province to occupying two provinces, had now settled down.

In the short term, the dynasty will not consider expansion.

However, whether he can settle down depends on whether others agree.

First, Song Tongyin, the governor of Shanxi, led 50,000 troops westward, intending to cross the Yellow River and enter Shaanxi.

However, before the dynasty could even send troops to support them, the eight hundred militia members in the city near the ferry crossing on the west bank of the Yellow River had already been caught off guard by the Governor-General of Shanxi, Song Tongyin, in a dramatic attack while the river was still crossing.

The 50,000 Ming troops suffered heavy losses, with only 20,000 escaping.

From then on, Song Tongyin dared not attack Shaanxi at will, but instead focused on annihilating small groups of rebels such as Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong.

In Xi'an Prefecture, the dynasty sensed the sparse, bright yellow national fortune and countless soaring gray-black energies in the newly occupied territory, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "The task ahead is arduous and the road is long."

Having conquered the two provinces, the dynasty began to manipulate spiritual power to expand rapidly.

Although it eventually became extremely thin, it at least covered the area of ​​two provinces.

However, the proliferation of spiritual power among the general population has led to a rapid increase in the concentration of spiritual energy.

As spiritual energy spreads and absorbs the spiritual power emanating from the general public, it begins to generate a bright yellow national destiny and a gray-black power of public resentment.

Compared to these newly occupied areas, the gray and black aura in eastern Shaanxi is rapidly dissipating.

Firstly, this takes up a longer period of time.

Secondly, before the People's Salvation Army occupied these places, members of the peasant commune had already infiltrated them to secretly promote the People's Salvation Army's policies and recruit commune members.

Therefore, after the People's Salvation Army occupied these places and truly implemented its propaganda policy, the hearts of the people there quickly turned to them.

The situation is quite similar in northern Sichuan.

Southern Sichuan, however, is inevitably much worse, mostly a gray-black expanse with only a very faint bright yellow glow, faintly covering the surrounding area.

There are also some Tusi tribes in Sichuan, which are almost like their own little world. In terms of national fortune, that area will form a gray-black cloud that is isolated from the outside world.

However, the dynasty would not indulge these chieftains as it did in the Ming Dynasty.

They must all implement the system and policies of the People's Salvation Army for me.

If you disagree or are not convinced, then we'll beat you until you agree and submit.

Faced with the guns and cannons of the Salvation Army, which was even faster than them in the mountains and forests, those chieftain tribes had no choice but to submit.

As a large amount of spiritual power was transformed, the dynasty felt that the power it controlled was rapidly increasing, and it seemed that the entire two provinces were within its grasp.

Furthermore, Wang Chao could sense that if this continued, he would be able to make another step forward in just one or two months.

After all, the population base of the two provinces is simply too large.

In Shaanxi alone, that's a population of nearly ten million.

Even if the spiritual power generated by each person every day can only push the dynasty's power upward by such a negligible amount.

However, a population of tens of millions is enough to propel the dynasty's power to new heights.

In addition, with its permanent existence and limit-breaking talent, it has virtually no bottlenecks.

Moreover, compared to Shaanxi, which had already suffered repeated calamities from rebel armies and Ming armies, resulting in the deaths of many people, this was a different story.

The number of people in Sichuan, which was quickly captured by the militia, was even greater.

The two provinces combined must have a population of at least 24 to 25 million.

With the spiritual power of these people driving it forward, it would be difficult for the dynasty's power not to increase.

Just as the dynasty was preparing to stabilize for a period of time and focus on development.

Wang Sanshun, the chief of staff of the People's Salvation Army, Wu Chang, the current secretary of the Political Affairs Department, Ji Mingyuan, who has become the secretary of the Commerce Department, and other civil and military officials all came to visit with serious expressions.

(End of this chapter)