Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 228: Han officials still wanted to fight to the death, why did the Manchu officials surrender first? (Additional chapter )

Hearing this, Lu Xianji couldn't help but frowned and asked.

"How could this be? Where is Lord Fu?"

Lu Xianji didn't understand. Aren't they just invading bandits?
The enemy troops probably haven't started attacking the city yet, so the defenders in the city won't be thrown into chaos because of this, right?
Zhao Yuming smiled bitterly when he heard this.

"After receiving the news of the Tang invaders, Lord Fu immediately led his men out of the city and went to Anqing to 'take charge'..."

"It is precisely because Lord Fu left the city that the garrison became chaotic."

Lu Xianji: "..."

Li Hongzhang: “…”

6 Ang!
Before the enemy troops came, you, Fu Ji, would never leave Luzhou and go to Anqing to take charge, even if you were beaten to death.

As a result, when the enemy troops attacked, you, Fu Ji, took the initiative to lead people to Anqing.

Are you going to Anqing to take charge?
I'm too embarrassed to point it out to you!

Lu Xianji felt helpless, although he had some complaints about Fu Ji's desertion.

But in the current situation, he could only follow Zhao Yuming to appease the troops.

To prevent the Luzhou defenders from collapsing without a fight!

Luzhou is now the capital of Anhui Province. If anything goes wrong, the consequences will be extremely serious.

……

Outside Luzhou City, on a low hill.

A large red flag with Tang characters on it fluttered in the sky.

Chen Chengyong and Zhang Lexing rode on horseback, stood side by side, and looked into the distance.

"The walls of Luzhou are really tall. It may be difficult for our army to break through the city."

Zhang Lexing spoke with a tone that sounded as if he was sighing.

Ever since he went to Jiujiang last time and returned to Anhui with rewards and arms, his attitude towards the Tang Dynasty began to become more correct.

In order to show that his money and arms were not taken in vain, Zhang Lexing immediately called on the Nian Army to gather troops and attack Luzhou, an important town in Anhui, after returning to Zhiheji.

Gong Deshu on the side spoke up after hearing this.

"Didn't Commander Zhang bring back twenty artillery pieces when he went to Jiujiang this time?"

"Pull it out and try?"

Zhang Lexing heard this and said immediately.

"Okay, just give it a try!"

"We brothers have always relied on swords and guns to kill the enemy, and have never experienced what it would be like to use artillery fire."

"Now that we finally have artillery, shouldn't we give it a try?"

Speaking of artillery, Zhang Lexing is also looking forward to it.

Chen Chengrong on the side was quite calm.

He had been in the Tang army for quite some time and had participated in countless battles, both large and small.

Not to mention just twenty cannons, he had also participated in battles involving hundreds of cannons.

Don't act like a bumpkin just because of such a small amount of artillery!
As several people talked, twenty cannons were pulled out.

They are all 20-jin heavy artillery.

Li Yi originally wanted to support Zhang Lexing with a batch of field artillery, so that the Nian Army could continue to take advantage of the mobility of the cavalry and move around with the artillery.

However, Zhang Lexing chose heavy artillery without hesitation.

The reason is simple. In Lao Zhang’s simple value system, bigger is better!

Cannons are black, thick and big, so they are definitely better than thin and small gadgets.

Since there are heavy artillery to choose from, he doesn’t want those light artillery!
Li Yi did not refuse this.

Anyway, the Tang Dynasty is not short of a few cannons like this now. Since Zhang Lexing wants it, just give it to him.

Of course, the Tang Dynasty had heavier artillery with larger calibers, but they could not be transported, so Zhang Lexing chose these 20-jin artillery.

However, just as twenty heavy artillery pieces were lined up and ready to fire.

A group of cavalry came running from the distance. Zhang Fengshan rode on horseback and galloped at full speed, shouting excitedly from a distance.

"I caught a big fish! I caught a big fish!"

Chen Chengyong and others subconsciously looked in the direction where Zhang Fengshan was riding his horse.

Zhang Fengshan was seen riding a horse towards them, and on his horse's back was a middle-aged fat man lying.

Zhang Fengshan reined in his horse and stopped in front of Chen Chengrong and others. With a plop, the middle-aged fat man on the horse was kicked off by him, and then he also jumped off the horse.

"Big fish? What big fish did Brother Fengshan catch? Why are you so happy?"

Seeing Zhang Fengshan so excited, Chen Chengrong couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Fengshan squatted down, grabbed the middle-aged fat man by his braid, and said.

"Master Chen, brothers, can you guess who this person is?"

Chen Chengrong and others looked at each other in bewilderment.

Seeing this, Zhang Fengshan did not keep the secret and spoke immediately.

"This person is Fu Ji, the governor of Anhui!"

Fu Ji's camp had bad luck. As soon as he received the news of the Tang army's invasion, he disguised himself, rode out of the city on horseback with his followers, and fled eastward.

But as soon as he left the city, he ran into Zhang Fengshan, who was leading a team to blockade the area around Luzhou City.

If Fu Ji had faced other rebel forces this time, he might have been able to escape by chance.

However, this time he encountered the Nian Army, which was famous for its cavalry.

It is not easy to escape from the Nian Army.

After a while of chasing, Fu Ji was captured alive by Zhang Fengshan.

In order to save his life, Fu Ji immediately confessed his identity and was then brought here by Zhang Fengshan.

Chen Chengrong, Zhang Lexing and others couldn't help but look at each other when they heard this.

This time we really caught a big fish!
Governor of Anhui.

This is a real frontier governor!

If they can capture this man alive, even if Zhang Fengshan gets most of the credit, they will probably be able to get a good share of the profits.

Zhang Lexing reacted and laughed out loud. "Great, great, Brother Fengshan is awesome."

"We will present the head of this bandit chieftain to His Majesty. I believe His Majesty will certainly not be stingy with the reward."

Chen Chengrong was also stroking his beard.

"It's extreme, it's extreme."

Even Gong Deshu, Su Tianfu and others congratulated Zhang Fengshan and congratulated him on his great achievement.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Fengshan drew out the sword from his waist with a clang and prepared to cut off Fu Ji's head.

When Fu Ji saw this scene, he was so scared that he peed his pants.

"useless!"

"I can't make it!"

"Don't kill me, my dear. I am willing to surrender. Don't kill me, my dear."

"As long as you spare my life, I am willing to turn from evil to good and help you all to surrender Luzhou..."

Fu Ji was frightened by Zhang Fengshan's actions, and immediately began to beg for mercy by crying and shouting.

Seeing this, Chen Chengrong on the side hurried forward to cooperate.

"Brother Fengshan, please don't rush into action."

"Although this Qing demon deserves death, if he is willing to give up his evil ways and persuade Luzhou to surrender for the Tang Dynasty, it is possible to atone for his crime and give him a chance to live..."

Fu Ji was the governor of Anhui, a real frontier official. Such a great man must be more valuable alive than dead.

No matter how impulsive Zhang Fengshan was, he would not give up the credit he had already made and kill Fu Ji.

To put it bluntly, what Zhang Fengshan is doing now is to scare Fu Ji. If he really wanted to kill Fu Ji, he would have done it on the way back.

So, as soon as Chen Chengrong cooperated, he put down the knife.

But he still had a ferocious expression on his face. He grabbed Fu Ji's braid and made him face him, staring at him and asking.

"Are you really willing to help the Tang Dynasty to surrender Luzhou?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Ji nodded as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw.

"Uh-huh!"

"The villain is willing, the villain is willing!"

"Luzhou is a strong city, and it is not easy to capture. If I can persuade you to surrender, maybe we can capture it without bloodshed. Isn't that wonderful?"

Zhang Fengshan loosened Fu Ji's braid and said.

"Then do it!"

"If I find out you're playing a trick on me, I'll skin you alive!"

Fu Ji nodded desperately.

Now he can do anything to survive.

Zhang Lexing, who was standing by, came up and acted like a good person.

"Governor Fuji, don't be afraid. As long as you can persuade Luzhou to surrender for the Tang Dynasty, I will keep you safe."

Upon hearing this, Fu Ji's tense spirit visibly relaxed, and then he spoke.

"I...I will go and ask them to surrender..."

……

In Luzhou city, Zhao Yuming and Lu Xianji came forward together, distributing money and food, and promising promotions and wealth after they defended Luzhou.

After a long struggle, they finally calmed down the unstable morale of the Qing troops defending the city.

The two men walked side by side on the Luzhou city wall to inspect the defenses. Looking at the dark mass of Tang troops outside the city, both of them had solemn expressions.

"If I remember correctly, the Tang bandits should be mainly southerners. Where did so many cavalry come from?"

"Also, aren't the Tang bandits attacking Anqing now? Why are they suddenly heading to Luzhou?"

Lu Xianji took a deep breath and asked with some doubt.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuming sighed helplessly and then explained the confusion to him.

"Lord Lu, you don't know that since the Taiping Rebellion in Jintian in the 30th year of Emperor Daoguang's reign, Anhui has actually been unstable."

"From that time on, Anhui also started to have trouble with the Nian Rebellion, and their main force was cavalry."

"If I'm not mistaken, these Tang bandits outside the city are not the main force of the Tang bandits, but the Nian bandits who were recruited by the Tang bandits."

Lu Xianji heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this.

"It's good that they are not the main force of the Tang thieves."

"If the invaders were only the Nian rebels and not the main force of the Tang bandits, Luzhou City could still be defended."

In Lu Xianji's opinion, the reason why the Nian Army was so difficult to deal with was entirely due to the high mobility of its cavalry.

When it comes to siege warfare, it's actually just average. It's far from comparable to the Tang army, so there's nothing to be afraid of.

Zhao Yuming also said this.

"Lord Lu is right."

"Alas, if Lord Fu Jifu had not left the city, we would have a better chance of keeping Luzhou."

Lu Xianji also nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, Li Hongzhang strode towards them from a distance.

After walking up to the two of them, Li Hongzhang spoke with an extremely serious expression.

"Lord Lu, Lord Zhao, something big has happened."

"After leaving the city, Master Fu Jifu failed to escape and was captured by the Tang bandits. In order to save his life, he probably surrendered to the Tang bandits."

"Now we are calling for the surrender of the defenders outside Luzhou City!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xianji and Zhao Yuming were stunned where they were.

My goodness! These Han ministers were still thinking about defending the city to repay the Qing Dynasty, but it turned out that the Manchu Fu Ji surrendered first?

More importantly, it's fine that you're afraid of death and surrendered to the enemy, but what's the point of coming to Luzhou city to ask for surrender?
Are you afraid that Luzhou can be defended?

What the hell is going on!

……

Today is 918, let us remember history and never forget the national humiliation!
(End of this chapter)