Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 243 Jiang Ning changes his name
Upon hearing this, Aliguo was speechless.

But in order to save his life, he still said it against his conscience.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to mediate this matter and use my power to promote peace talks between Tang and Britain to prevent the war from reigniting."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi just curled his lips and said.

"really?"

"I don't believe it!"

Li Yi didn't believe that Alcock, the British Minister to China, had such great power to change the decision of the British cabinet and Parliament.

Also, even if Aliguo could change the minds of the British mainland, this war was actually unavoidable.

To give an inappropriate example, when the six major sects besieged Guangmingding, the six major sects rushed to Guangmingding from all over the country. At the beginning, they might have just wanted to join in the fun and did not necessarily take action.

However, after the six major sects traveled across the country to reach Guangmingding, their patience had already been exhausted by the long journey.

The idea of ​​joining in the fun had long since disappeared.

Now they just want to eliminate evil and defend the righteousness, and kill the evil cult!
Otherwise, wouldn't all the suffering they've endured along the way have been in vain?

The same logic applies to the British organization of a coalition force to invade the Tang Dynasty in the Far East.

I have been drifting on the sea for so long to reach East Asia, and now you just say you don't want to fight?

If we don't fight this battle, wouldn't all the suffering I've endured along the way be in vain?

So, this battle must be fought!
Until the winner was decided, peace talks would be impossible even if Queen Victoria gave the order herself.

The reason is simple: the initial investment in organizing a coalition expedition is too great, and the cost of silence is too high.

No one can afford to lead an army on a long expedition and then have to call it quits halfway.

The last person who dared to do this was King You of Zhou, the one who played tricks on the princes by lighting beacons.

Upon hearing this, Aliguo nodded vigorously.

"Your Majesty, I swear to God that what I said is true."

"If I have deceived your Majesty, please let me go to hell and be with Satan after I die!"

In order to survive, Aliguo swore to God without any psychological pressure.

He thought, just survive first, at worst he could buy two more indulgences after returning to Europe!
I believe God will forgive him!

Li Yi almost laughed out of anger when he heard this, but in the end he did not lose his temper and instead said.

"Haha, I really need to negotiate with you British barbarians."

"but not now!"

"You should just stay in jail!"

According to Li Yi's estimation, the new crusade organized by the United Kingdom would arrive in Guangzhou at the earliest after the New Year, and at the latest in the middle of the third year of Zhaowu.

In other words, the second war between the Tang Dynasty and the foreigners is about to come!

Li Yi was sure that the Tang army would win this land battle.

Inland river and near-shore operations probably won't be a big problem either.

Although the Tang army's naval fleet had few large ships, it could easily gather thousands of sampans that could launch rockets.

If a fight really breaks out in inland rivers or near the coast, the Tang army can destroy the foreign expeditionary fleet with just the number of rockets.

But the foreigners are not stupid. If they cannot defeat them near the coast, they can just run to the open sea.

The Tang army’s rocket sampans do not have the capability to fight in open waters.

Once the foreigners retreat to the open sea, they can use their superior navy to harass the Tang Dynasty's coast, and the Tang Dynasty will be helpless.

Therefore, negotiations are inevitable at the end of the war.

As a mature politician, Li Yi naturally had to prepare bargaining chips for the negotiations in advance.

Therefore, Li Yi did not plan to kill A Liguo and the other man, but instead planned to detain them first and bring them out when needed.

Well, Li Yi detained ministers, consuls, and business representatives from various countries and prevented them from leaving Guangzhou for the same reason.

A Liguo and the other man were taken away. Li Yi yawned and felt sleepy.

Although the fire in Jiangning City is still burning, the military threat from the Qing army has been lifted.

After the military threat from the Qing army was eliminated, it was only a matter of time before the fire in Jiangning City was put out.

Now that he had nothing to worry about, Li Yi no longer endured it. He told Zhang Tai to report to him at any time if there was anything. Li Yi then returned to his military tent, covered himself with a blanket and began to rest.

He slept until dark.

Li Yi rubbed his eyes, got up from the bed, stretched himself, and his bones crackled all over his body.

After stretching his muscles and getting rid of all his fatigue, Li Yi walked out of the tent.

As soon as he arrived outside the big tent, he saw Zhang Tai walking towards him quickly.

Zhang Tai came up to Li Yi and began to report.

"Report, Your Majesty."

"Good news, the fire in Jiangning City has been successfully put out by our soldiers."

"We are currently calculating the damage in the city. I believe that it won't be long before the damage report is delivered."

Hearing this, Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief, and then said.

"That's good, that's good!"

"Now that the fire is out, I feel relieved."

Zhang Tai continued to report.

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing."

"The specific gains and losses of our army in the Battle of Jiangning have been counted."

“Here is a detailed report!”

As he spoke, Zhang Tai handed a report to Li Yi.

Li Yi took the report, walked back into the military tent, and began to read it under the light.

[In this Jiangning Battle, the Tang army successfully captured Jiangning and annihilated the main force of the Qing army in Jiangnan, completing the established strategic goal. ] [Among them, excluding the Jiangnan camp that surrendered, the Tang army captured more than 13,000 Qing prisoners and killed more than 62,000 Qing soldiers in battle...]

Most of the captives here were captured by the Tang army when they broke into the Jiangbei camp at Dashengguan.

As for the defenders in Jiangning City, the Tang army wiped them all out on the banks of the Yangtze River.

Except for a few important Qing army officers who were captured alive, all the others were killed.

Including those British soldiers!

Now the bodies have been burned to ashes.

The achievement of 62,000 people was basically achieved in this process.

The Qing court's main force in Jiangnan totaled about 100,000 people, consisting of the Jiangnan Camp, the Jiangbei Camp, the Northern Green Camp led by Senggelinqin, and the Mongolian cavalry.

Among them, there were 30,000 people in the Jiangnan camp, 20,000 people in the Jiangbei camp, and the total number of people in the Northern Green Camp led by Senggelinqin and the Mongolian cavalry was about 50,000.

This time, the Tang army recruited surrenders, captured prisoners, and killed them in battle, basically wiping out all of these 100,000 people.

After this battle, the Qing government’s mobile forces were basically wiped out.

Even though the Qing court still occupied most of the country, it was impossible for them to gather troops to march south and counterattack the Tang Dynasty in a short period of time.

In addition to the spoils, the Tang army also seized a large amount of food, weapons, gold, silver, food, horses, armor and other supplies in this battle. It can be said that the gains were quite fruitful.

Of course, the most important gain was the city of Jiangning.

After thinking for a while, Li Yi spoke again.

"Zhang Tai, go and summon all the directors of our military staff and generals to come here to discuss matters."

"Discuss the next deployment direction of our army!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tai immediately clasped his hands and took his leave, then went to convey Li Yi's military order.

Li Yi stood up from his seat, walked to the map hanging in the military tent, and began to look at it.

Looking at the markings on the map, Li Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

Li Yi didn't have to wait long before several senior members of the General Staff and generals from various departments arrived at Li Yi's military tent.

When they arrived at the military tent, everyone's face showed signs of fatigue, but their expressions were all very excited.

They had all received the good news that the Tang army had won a great victory in the Battle of Jiangning and that the fire in Jiangning city had finally been put out.

In the military tent, everyone took their seats and Li Yi began to speak.

"Our army won a great victory in the Battle of Jiangning, and the main strategic goals of our army's eastern expedition have been achieved."

"Thank you all for your hard work!"

When everyone heard this, they stood up and expressed their shame, not daring to take credit for it.

Well, this Eastern Expedition was carried out under the command of Li Yi, the supreme leader.

The leader is still sitting here, who dares to take the credit for himself?
Li Yi said with a smile.

"Everyone, please sit down."

After everyone sat down, Li Yi continued.

"Stop talking nonsense and get down to business."

"Since the established strategic goals of the Eastern Expedition have been largely achieved, we need to think about our army's next strategic plan."

"If you have any opinions, please speak freely!"

Li Yi is now accustomed to his role as a decision maker.

For him, even if he knows the idea of ​​many things, he will not make the decision himself, but let his subordinates discuss it.

After his subordinates have discussed and reached a result that satisfies him, he will make the final decision.

Well, this mainly makes it easier to pass on the blame.

The credit should go to him as the decision maker.

If something goes wrong, naturally the one who proposed it will be responsible.

And he, Li Yi, is the wise ruler Bai Lianhua who is deceived by treacherous ministers.

Although this is indeed a bit shameless.

But for rulers, shamelessness is actually a very important basic quality.

Upon hearing this, Zuo Zongtang stood up and spoke.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Li Yi nodded slightly, signaling Zuo Zongtang to speak.

Zuo Zongtang spoke.

"Your Majesty, I think that our Tang Dynasty should stop marching eastward."

Li Yi nodded slightly and then asked.

"What's the reason?"

Zuo Zongtang spoke.

"Reply to your Majesty's words."

"First, Jiangning City was burned to ashes by the Qing Demon, and it will take time and energy to recover."

Jiangning, no, it should be called Nanjing now. It is a poisonous sore for the Tang Dynasty, and it is a poisonous sore growing on the aorta of the blood vessels.

It would be impossible to continue moving eastward without resolving the Nanjing issue.

The hungry people don’t care whether the Tang Dynasty is the legitimate Han Dynasty!
Then we must rebel if we need to!
"Secondly, according to the information our army has now learned, the foreign expeditionary force will arrive in Guangzhou in a short time. Our Tang Dynasty needs to return to Guangzhou as soon as possible, concentrate its main forces, and make early plans."

After that, Zuo Zongtang continued to explain.

"If our army continues to move eastward, we can indeed penetrate Jiangnan and reach Shanghai in one go."

"But when the foreigners come to invade, if they fail to achieve victory in Guangzhou and turn to attack Shanghai, then our army will inevitably be led by the foreigners..."

(End of this chapter)