Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 295 The Iron Army That Strikes Fear

Many officials of the Daqian Dynasty believed that Li Qiong's decision to lead the army to quell the rebellion was a very risky move.

The reason is simple: he represents Emperor Li Zheng's last trump card.

Besides the assistance of the imperial court, a very important reason why the royal family was able to maintain its rule was because of Grand Marshal Li Zhen.

Li Qiong was Li Zhen's son and a general who commanded the Ministry of War of the Great Qian Dynasty.

What if Li Qiong fails to quell the rebellion!
The Great Qian Dynasty will not only lose the land south of the Yangtze River, but it may even affect the rule of the Great Qian Dynasty.

This suppression of the rebellion can be considered the most powerful counterattack the royal family has ever made.

Unlike dealing with external enemies!
This is a struggle for imperial power, and there can be absolutely no compromise.

Grand Secretary and Imperial Advisor Feng Guoxuan strongly advocated that Li Qiong personally lead the army to quell the rebellion.

Hong Yanchuan, the son of the Duke of Ningguo, was in charge of the Hebei garrison, commanding an army of 150,000.

In addition, Tang Youwang, a general from the faction of Duke Lu, was in charge of the troops stationed in Guangdong and Guangxi, with 200,000 troops under his command.

Only by combining forces from three sides to form a pincer movement from the north and south can the rebellion be quelled in one fell swoop.

at this time,

If the Great Qian Dynasty cannot unite its forces, it will face division.

of course,

For the royal family, this also represents a balance.

A balance of power among the three major factions: the Duke of Ningguo, the Duke of Luguo, and the Grand Preceptor Feng Guoxuan.

Feng Guoxuan's proposal was quickly approved by Emperor Li Zheng.

Because the various rebel armies of the Great Qian Dynasty have shaken the foundation of imperial power.

This is completely different from the situation of foreign invasion.

Even if the Western Allied Forces attacked the Great Qian Dynasty, as long as they paid reparations, the emperor could still maintain his rule.

However, if internal rebels were to breach the capital, it would overthrow the imperial rule.

He can't afford to lose!

That's why he had to play his trump card and go all in.

Therefore,
Li Zheng heeded the advice of the Grand Tutor Feng Guoxuan, overruled objections, and issued an edict appointing Li Qiong as the Grand General of the Ministry of War, in charge of military affairs in northern Shanxi, Hanzhong, Henan, and western Sichuan.

in addition,

Li Zheng then issued an edict ordering Hong Yanchuan to mobilize troops to the south to block the Northwest Army under Prince Ning, Li Mu.

Tang Youwang's 200,000-strong army marched north from the Guangdong and Guangxi regions to attack Li Ben, the Prince of Han, in Hanzhong.

With the three forces encircling us, we must spare no effort to annihilate the rebels.

Simultaneously,

While mobilizing three armies, Li Zheng secretly ordered Chen Jie to send troops from Shandong.

The condition for sending troops was that southern Jiangsu be brought under Ximentang's command.

in addition,

In recognition of the suppression of the rebels, Emperor Li Zheng issued imperial rewards.

Whoever captures the rebel Prince Ning, Li Mu, and Prince Han, Li Ben, alive will be granted the rank of first-grade official and rewarded with one million silver dollars.

Upon hearing the imperial court's bestowal of honors, Chen Jie couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

It seems that Emperor Li Zheng is really anxious!

However, these honors had nothing to do with Chen Jie.

He had absolutely no interest in being granted an official rank of first grade.

One million silver dollars wouldn't even be enough to fill a tooth gap for him.

He not only seized the First Fleet of the Western Allied Forces, but also obtained 90 million silver dollars.

not to mention,
He is now the Governor-General of Shandong, and he will soon take over southern Jiangsu.

How could he possibly care about such a small reward from the imperial court?

To put it simply, it wouldn't even cover the cost of this troop deployment.

of course,

If Li Qiong, Hong Yanchuan, and Tang Youwang, these three forces, cooperate sincerely.

Then,

There is still a good chance of eliminating Prince Ning, Li Mu, and Prince Han, Li Ben.

If the Kwantung Army hadn't launched an attack, the Great Qian Dynasty could have at least continued to languish for a few more years.

but,

Chen Jie knew better than anyone that getting these three forces to cooperate was out of the question.

Each of them represents a powerful force behind them and has its own interests and needs.

It's already quite good that they don't undermine each other, how could they possibly cooperate to truly eliminate Prince Ning, Li Mu?
The situation was starting to spiral out of control.

Chen Jie knew it was time to send troops. If he wanted to rightfully take over southern Jiangsu from the Daqian Dynasty, he would naturally have to pay a price.

There's no point in continuing to delay.

Therefore,
Chen Jie mobilized 10,000 elite troops from Shandong and set off for Hanzhong and Ezhou.

in fact,

Although the Ximentang combat unit only had 10,000 elite troops, its supply corps had 5,000 soldiers.

A total of 15,000 troops set off from Qingzhou, Shandong.

In fact, during this period, the preparations of Ximentang's fleet were almost completed.

Chen Jie originally planned to send troops directly to lift the blockade of the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea and annihilate all eight fleets of the Kwantung Army.

With the combat power of the First Fleet of the Ximen Hall, Chen Jie was absolutely confident that he could dominate the ocean.

But plans cannot keep up with changes.

Unexpectedly, the various rebel armies of the Daqian Dynasty brought the flames of war to the border of Shandong.

According to Chen Jie's plan, the entire special operations regiment, totaling 3,500 people, was mobilized!

In addition, there were artillery and heavy machine gun companies, and the supply troops carried 3,000 artillery pieces, more than 200,000 shells, and ample ammunition.

Fifty heavy machine guns were nothing to Ximentang.

However, for the Daqian army, it was absolutely the most terrifying weapon on the battlefield.

More than two thousand boxes of heavy machine gun ammunition, and more than a thousand horse-drawn wagons for the supply corps.

After everything is ready.

Chen Jie finished his meeting with Yan Kuangtu, Zhang Changfeng, Xiong Chao, Deng Yonghe, Thirteen Aunt, and other key members of the Ximen Hall.

Subsequently,

He personally led 15,000 elite troops from Ximentang on a journey to Hanzhong to quell the rebellion.

-

Weng Fanghe, the Minister of Revenue of the Great Qian Dynasty, was definitely a hardworking and conscientious official.

He was not part of Emperor Li Zheng's faction, but rather an official promoted by the Duke of Ningguo.

but,

Weng Fanghe was very concerned about suppressing the rebellion.

He discussed the matter with the Duke of Ningguo for a long time, and finally persuaded the powerful families behind the Duke of Ningguo to raise funds for this rebellion.

have to say,

The fall of Wuchang Prefecture had a profound impact on the civil and military officials in the capital.

Prince Li Ben of Han was extremely cruel, even more so than the Kwantung Army. After capturing Wuchang Prefecture, he killed indiscriminately, turning the entire Han River into a river of blood, with heads hanging all over the streets.

For a while,
The court and the public were shaken, and everyone worried that Prince Li Ben of Han would sail down the Yangtze River and attack Nanjing.

Jiangnan was the land of fish and rice during the Great Qian Dynasty, and the most prosperous place.

Even if the Great Qian Dynasty were to abandon the Western Regions and Tibet, it would absolutely not want Prince Li Ben of Han to occupy the Jiangnan region and declare himself emperor!
Therefore,
Weng Fanghe helped raise a batch of supplies and personally delivered the grain to Ezhou.

Li Qiong led an army of 100,000 to join forces with Weng Fanghe, the Minister of Revenue, and only after obtaining the supplies did he breathe a sigh of relief.

To know,
He originally had only 50,000 troops, but suddenly expanded his army to 100,000, making logistical support extremely difficult.

Now that we have this batch of supplies, we finally have some confidence in suppressing the rebellion.

but,

Li Qiong was well aware that although he had already assembled an army of 100,000, the situation was still dire.

However, their actual combat strength consisted of only 50,000 elite troops, while the combat strength of the other troops was not strong.

It's unrealistic to expect that these 100,000 men could quell the rebellion of Li Ben, the Prince of Han, with his 200,000-strong army.

From the moment he set out, he already knew that Ximentang, who was stationed in Shandong, was going to send troops to assist in suppressing the rebellion.

Therefore,
After arriving in Ezhou, Li Qiong waited for Ximentang's army to arrive.

Emperor Li Zheng and the Sixth Prince, among others, entrusted the important task of suppressing the rebellion to Li Qiong.

However, Li Qiong knew very well that the hope for successfully suppressing the rebellion did not lie with him, but with Ximen Tang.

Li Qiong was overjoyed to learn that Ximen Tang's men had arrived in Ezhou.

He quickly led his generals to the main road to welcome Chen Jie.

at this time,

It just so happened that Weng Fanghe, the Minister of Revenue, had not yet returned to the capital.

When he heard that Chen Jie had arrived in Ezhou with Ximentang's men, he joined Li Qiong in welcoming them.

obviously,
Although Chen Jie never got involved in court affairs.

but,

His influence in the Great Qian Dynasty was enormous, and no official dared to underestimate him.

Upon seeing Ximentang's army, Li Qiong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the first time he had met Chen Jie. Although he had heard of Ximentang's achievements at the Dagukou Fortress in Tianjin and the Cangzhou Canal Wharf before.

but,

He had only heard about it, but hadn't seen it with his own eyes, so he always felt that it was somewhat exaggerated.

After all, Chen Jie is currently the hottest rising star in the Great Qian Dynasty.

Exaggerating a bit in advertising is perfectly acceptable.

Upon seeing Ximentang's elite troops, he had to admit that Ximentang was an iron army that could strike fear into people's hearts!

This is absolutely an invincible army.

this moment,
He understood why his father, Li Zhen, held Ximentang in such high regard.

At the same time, he understood why Emperor Li Zheng would place his hopes for suppressing this rebellion on this young man in front of him.

but,

Li Qiong still felt some doubts.

Because Chen Jie only brought 15,000 men, of whom 5,000 were supply troops.

Although Ximentang is known as the most powerful army in the Great Qian Dynasty, can a combat force of only 10,000 men really do it?
Li Qiong had heard that Ximen Tang had an army of 200,000.

One hundred thousand troops were stationed in Shandong, and another one hundred thousand troops were stationed in Songjiang Prefecture.

Chen Jie only brought 10,000 combat troops with him to quell the rebellion. Was he just going through the motions?
Although these 10,000 elite Ximen troops possessed the finest weapons and equipment.

They are very strong, but their numbers are too small. Can they win against the 200,000-strong army of Li Ben, the King of Han?
Next,
Li Qiong noticed that the armor worn by Ximen Tang's men was a bit strange.

Everyone was wearing camouflage uniforms and helmets.

They were in perfect uniform, with combat backpacks on their backs.

Each person carried more than 20 kilograms of combat supplies and also needed to carry artillery.

If it were any other army carrying so many supplies, they would probably be full of complaints long ago.

but,

Ximen Tang's army, however, was used to all of this.

They marched forward with their heads held high, their eyes brimming with fighting spirit.

Clearly, this is a highly motivated and courageous army, ready to engage in battle at any time.

Moreover, judging from their condition, they are definitely not new recruits; they are all elite soldiers of the Ximen Hall who have experienced bloody battles and have been carefully selected.

hiss--!
The more Li Qiong looked, the more she felt that Ximentang's army was not simple.

That chilling aura gave people an extremely strong sense of oppression.

As expected of the elite force renowned throughout the Great Qian Dynasty, although their numbers are small, their combat power surpasses that of his 100,000-strong army.

Minister of Revenue Weng Fanghe was also secretly moved at this moment.

He was the Minister of Revenue, and Chen Jie had visited the imperial court once when he first met the emperor.

Therefore,
Weng Fanghe had met Chen Jie, but he had never seen Ximentang's army.

Seeing the elite troops of Ximen Hall at this moment, I was deeply shocked.

but,

Since he belonged to the Duke of Ningguo's camp, he did not show much surprise, but rather was worried.

Once the imperial power had Ximen Tang protecting it, it would be a great victory.

It seems that the imperial power will remain as stable as Mount Tai for the next ten years!
Emperor Li Zheng's marriage of Princess Lingyue to Chen Jie was a brilliant move.

Although Weng Fanghe did not join the army, he was unfamiliar with the management of the army.

but,

It's not that he knew nothing about military affairs.

The bulletproof vests worn by the elite Ximen Tang soldiers demonstrate that these vests are far more effective in combat than cumbersome battle armor.

Replacing armor with bulletproof vests should reduce the burden on soldiers.

But all the soldiers carried a huge backpack on their backs.

It's full of various combat supplies; this is a field army!

Because artillery strikes are carried out at long range, close-quarters combat is rare.

Therefore, none of the artillerymen carried heavy loads such as broadswords, making them highly mobile.

As for the elite special forces at the forefront, each of them carried a replica AK47 assault rifle and had grenades at their waists.

Furthermore, each of the two special operations elite teams has a replica 98K sniper rifle for every two members.

Unlike in Songjiang Prefecture, sniper rifle scopes were finally installed.

The combat effectiveness of the Ximentang Special Operations Reconnaissance Soldiers has increased dramatically.

hiss--!
When Weng Fanghe saw Ximentang's 10,000 elite troops, he couldn't help but gasp.

The firepower is too intense!
No wonder it was able to rout the Japanese Kwantung Army; with such fierce firepower, the enemy simply couldn't get close.

As long as long-range bombing is employed, the opponent will almost always be on the receiving end of the attack.

What shocked Weng Fanghe the most was that the Ximentang army's organization was completely different from that of the Daqian army.

The camouflage uniforms they were wearing were actually divided into several colors.

The different types of soldiers can be easily distinguished.

However, in terms of the overall number of troops, artillery is the absolute main force of Ximentang!
(End of this chapter)