Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 234 The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the Hu Cavalry—a perfect match!
Li Yi closed the battle report, turned his gaze to the communications soldier who had rushed back to report the news, and asked.

"Why are there only big flags? Where are the Senggelinqin people? Did our army capture the leader of the bandits in this battle?"

Upon hearing this, the communications soldier just shook his head.

"In reply to your Majesty, when our soldiers cleaned up the battlefield after the battle, they did not find Senggelinqin's body or armor on the battlefield, but only found this big flag."

"If I am not mistaken, Senggelinqin must have fled the battlefield."

If the armor could be found on the battlefield, it would mean that Senggelinqin's body might have been shattered by artillery shells or bullets.

Such things were not uncommon. When the Tang army cleaned up the battlefield after each battle, intact corpses were rare. Under the heavy bombardment of artillery and rockets, it was normal for corpses to be damaged or even completely destroyed.

But if even the armor is not found, it can only mean that Senggelinqin must have run away.

Li Yi nodded upon hearing this, and no longer worried about Senggelinqin's life or death, but continued to ask.

"How many specific gains and prisoners did our army take in this battle?"

Upon hearing this, the communications soldier began to report.

"In reply to your Majesty, in this battle our army annihilated a total of more than 3,100 Qing cavalrymen, of which more than 1,900 were killed in battle, and the rest were captured."

After listening to this, Li Yi nodded slightly to indicate that he understood.

Among the 1,900 people killed in the battle, it is estimated that many were killed after the battle.

But Li Yi didn't care much about this.

Although the Tang army would not specifically pit and kill prisoners, they would not waste limited medical resources on those seriously injured prisoners.

Therefore, simply finishing off the opponent and ending his suffering can be considered a humanitarian move.

Of course, if the seriously injured are their own soldiers, the Tang army will do its best to treat them at all costs.

Although doing so may waste a certain amount of medical resources, these wasted resources will be returned in terms of the army's morale and military spirit, so it will definitely not be a loss.

Once you go to the battlefield, you have to risk your life. Almost all soldiers are mentally prepared for this.

However, no one wants to die. If soldiers can receive proper treatment after being injured on the battlefield, it will undoubtedly make them have fewer concerns on the battlefield.

It can also bring out stronger combat effectiveness!

After thinking for a while, Li Yi looked at Fu Ji, the former governor of Anhui Province of the Qing Dynasty who was following him, and spoke.

"Fuqing, how about you go on my behalf and persuade the Qing cavalry captured in this battle to surrender on behalf of the Tang Dynasty?"

Since Fu Ji surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, Li Yi naturally had to find something for him to do. He couldn't just let him eat for free, right?

Moreover, it is obviously more convincing to try to surrender those Mongolian cavalrymen in the name of the Fu Ji Manchus.

The reason why Li Yi wanted to recruit those Mongolian cavalry was very simple.

One was to carry out united front work, divide the relationship between Manchuria and Mongolia, and facilitate the Tang Dynasty's future Northern Expedition to destroy the Qing Dynasty.

The second is to prepare for the Tang Dynasty's future march into the grassland.

You must know that during the heyday of the Central Plains dynasties, the biggest obstacle to conquering the grasslands was never military.

It's about not being able to find the way and being unfamiliar with the environment.

If you want to solve this problem, finding some treacherous guides is the easiest and most convenient way, there is no other way.

In addition, as the future emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yi wanted to get himself a group of Hu cavalry attendants.

Well, the Tang Emperor and the Hu Cavalry, a perfect match!

Upon hearing this, Fu Ji immediately responded with a flattering look on his face.

"Master, rest assured, I understand!"

"I will definitely complete the task you assigned me."

In order to express his obedience, Fu Ji changed his words as soon as he met Li Yi.

He began to call Li Yi "master" and called himself "servant".

Li Yi just smiled and said when he heard this.

"The Fuqing family doesn't have to do this."

"My Tang Dynasty is not the Qing Dynasty. Here we only have monarchs and subjects, not masters and slaves. You are not my slave, but my subject."

"A loyal and devoted minister!"

Li Yi was very friendly towards Fu Ji.

This is normal, because when Fu Ji surrendered, he persuaded Luzhou to surrender as a token of his loyalty.

If someone else could surrender to the Tang Dynasty by offering a city of the same level as Luzhou, Li Yi would also be very friendly to him.

You know, Luzhou, also known as Hefei, is not only the current capital of Anhui Province, but also the sad place of Sun Shiwan.

The status is quite important!

But thanks to Fu Ji's fear of death, the Tang army captured him without bloodshed.

The blessing and contribution is immeasurable!
Upon hearing this, Fu Ji still spoke in a servile manner.

"No matter what others may think, the king is the master of the servant."

"I am very happy to be your servant!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi kicked Fu Ji lightly with a smile and scolded him, then spoke.

"You are a good Fu Ji, you are always good at flattering others."

"Go and do what I ask you to do. If you do it well, I will reward you handsomely!"

Li Yi tacitly accepted Fu Ji's claiming to be a slave.

What should I say? Respect other people’s freedom!

Although he doesn't like others kneeling before him and calling him slaves or masters, if others insist on kneeling before him and calling him masters, that is their freedom, isn't it?

Upon hearing this, Fu Ji knelt down and kowtowed.

"Slave, you obey!"

Seeing this servile scene, the high-ranking Tang army officers around them kept twitching their mouths and were speechless.

This Fu Ji is really shameless.

It’s a pity that they just can’t do such a thing because they care about their reputation.

……

In the inner city of Jiangning, the General's Mansion of Jiangning! Senggelinqin sat on a chair with his hair disheveled and soulless, as if all his energy and spirit had been drained out of him.

"Too fast, too fast!"

"In the blink of an eye, thousands of cavalrymen were killed like mowing the grass."

"This king, this king, I'm sorry to the Qing Dynasty, I'm sorry to the emperor!"

Senggelinqin murmured, with obvious sadness and despair in his voice.

Now, whenever he closed his eyes, the scene of the Mongolian cavalry led by him being slaughtered by the Tang army like mowing grass would involuntarily emerge in his mind.

Yiliang, Qishan, Hechun, Chen Jinshou, Zhang Guoliang and others standing by also had solemn expressions.

"How did the Qing Dynasty lose this battle?"

Yiliang asked solemnly.

When Senggelinqin heard this, his body trembled visibly, but he said nothing.

On the side, one of Senggelinqin's personal soldiers spoke up.

"Your Excellency the Governor, this is what happened..."

He began to report to Yiliang and others the details of today's battle.

Upon hearing this, Yiliang's expression became even uglier.

"The morale of our troops is not high."

"Now, the monk king has been defeated by the Tang bandits again. I'm afraid the next battle in Jiangning will be difficult to fight!"

Qishan, Hechun and others also fell silent, their hearts were extremely solemn.

"Governor, it won't be long before the Tang thieves launch an offensive against Jiangning. Our army should prepare early."

Chen Jinshou spoke.

Zhang Guoliang suggested with a complicated expression.

"Governor, perhaps our army should really follow what those foreigners said, abandon Jiangning, and then retreat to Zhenjiang or Jiangyin, stretching the front line of the Tang bandits and waiting for an opportunity to fight..."

If we ignore the political influence, Zhenjiang is even more important than Jiangning.

Well, because Zhenjiang is an important node of the canal transportation, which is related to the safety of the canal transportation. Once Zhenjiang is captured, the north-south canal transportation that is related to the fate of the Qing Dynasty will be cut off.

At the very least, if the Qing government wanted to obtain money, grain and supplies from Jiangnan, the cost would inevitably increase greatly without the canal's transportation function.

This is also the reason why the Qing government asked for peace as soon as the British army captured Zhenjiang during the Opium War.

In Zhang Guoliang's opinion, since the battle of Jiangning is difficult to fight, retreating to Zhenjiang is also a good choice.

Upon hearing this, Yiliang shook his head firmly.

"I know that the battle of Jiangning will be difficult to fight, but no matter how difficult it is, we have to fight on."

"Jiang Ning, you must not lose him!"

Today, Yiliang is actually caught in the Senggelinqin paradox.

You can't win by fighting, but you have to not fight.

The political significance of Jiangning is too great, and Yiliang cannot afford to flee without a fight, which would lead to the fall of Jiangning.

So, no matter what, he must persevere in Jiangning!

Upon hearing this, all the generals couldn't help but sigh.

Zhang Guoliang's face was gloomy and his eyes were flashing with a dark light, as if he had made up his mind.

Just then, Kazuharu spoke.

"Governor, if it were me, the Qing Dynasty would not necessarily lose the battle of Jiangning."

"The Tang bandits' army is indeed strong, but our Qing Dynasty has the help of foreigners and has a great advantage in the navy."

"If our Great Qing navy can severely damage the Tang bandits' navy, then the battle of Jiangning can still be fought."

During the Tang army's eastern expedition, logistical transportation was almost entirely dependent on the Yangtze River waterway.

Once the Qing army won the naval battle, they could go upstream and threaten the Tang army's food supply.

By then, it will be difficult for the Tang army to continue its eastward expedition.

The Qing army might be able to take this opportunity to turn the tables!

When Yiliang heard this, hope bloomed in his eyes.

At this time, Yiliang subconsciously ignored the fact that the Tang army had once defeated the foreign fleet in Guangzhou.

Well, it was not easy to grab a life-saving straw. Even if Yiliang was deceiving himself, he was unwilling to give up this somewhat illusory hope.

Taking a deep breath and suppressing his excitement, Yiliang spoke.

"Immediately send someone to invite Minister Aliguo and Colonel Taylor to discuss matters related to resisting the bandits..."

……

The meeting was over, and Zhang Guoliang left the Jiangning General's Mansion with a lot on his mind.

He set out on the journey back to the camp with his personal soldiers.

After returning to his camp, Zhang Guoliang ordered his personal soldiers to fetch some wine and meat. He himself sat in front of the table, thinking about something with an uncertain look on his face.

A face full of entanglement and struggle!

It's as if he's making some difficult decision.

Just at this moment, footsteps were heard outside his tent, and a personal soldier came in to report.

"General, the man who came to the camp to see you last time in Chizhou is here again."

"He said he had something important to discuss and wanted to see the military commander again."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Guoliang raised his head instantly, gritted his teeth for a while, and finally spoke.

"Go and invite people in!"

……

PS: I will update one chapter first. The second chapter is being coded, but it will be later.

(End of this chapter)