With 100,000 elite soldiers at the start, what should you call me?

……

"Arrest them and take them all away in handcuffs."

Undeterred by Wang Yonggang's threats, Dong Xishan picked up handcuffs and prepared to handcuff him.

Wang Yonggang was a member of the Plain Yellow Banner of the Han Army in Liaodong. His ancestors followed Nurhaci to rise to power, and he himself grew up with the Manchus. He looked down on the Han people from the bottom of his heart and even considered himself to be a Manchu.

Dong Xishan's actions were a sign of contempt and disrespect towards him!

If he were taken away by this lowly patrolman today, how would he ever be able to face the world again when he returned to the Qing Dynasty?

He immediately drew his knife and threatened Dong Xishan.

"I am the Niru Ejen! You, a mere constable, dare to touch me? You are not qualified!"

"Call Li Tianlai!"

As soon as Wang Yong drew his sword, the people around him also drew their swords.

"Dare to threaten me with a weapon? I'll count to three, and if you don't drop your weapon, I have the right to shoot you dead on the spot!"

Upon seeing the other person draw a knife, Dong Xishan took a few steps back to create distance.

Wang Yonggang sneered, thinking the other party was scared.

"If you dare to kill me, then come and try."

"One, two... Hmph, you inherently evil Jurchens, fire!"

Dong Xishan counted three times, but the other party still did not lower his weapon.

The two patrol officers beside him immediately cocked their guns.

"Lord Wang, they seem to be serious. Let's lay down our weapons."

At this moment, one person panicked.

However, it was too late.

Two gunshots rang out.

The two men were knocked to the ground, and Wang Yonggang immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Is this for real?!

With a thud, Wang Yonggang immediately dropped his weapon and knelt down to beg for mercy.

"Spare me!"

The two patrol officers who had just fired quickly reloaded, their dark gun barrels pointed at Wang Yonggang.

The other two people who were shot fell to the ground, bleeding profusely, rolling around and groaning in pain.

Copy them all.

Dong Xishan took Wang Yonggang and his group with him, and also took the people who had been beaten to the clinic for treatment.

"Well done!"

"Kill these barbarian Tartars!"

"Tartars, get out of China!"

When Wang Yonggang and his group were subdued, the surrounding people applauded and cheered.

The news spread quickly, and Wu Huaien was stunned when he heard it.

"Lord Wang has been arrested!"

"These soldiers under Li Tian have some nerve!"

"No, I have to tell the Prince about this. We have to get him out of here."

Wu Huaien immediately wrote another letter and sent it to Jianyang by fast horse, while also taking several hundred taels of silver to the prison to bail him out.

When Zhang, the eunuch of the Ming court, heard about this, he clapped his hands in approval.

"The Jurchen Tartars have started a conflict with Li Tian, ​​so Li Tian has no choice but to side with our Great Ming!"

Jianyang City.

After receiving the imperial edict, Kong Youde led his troops from Wuchang to Fujian.

He had already made two preparations before he came.

First, try to persuade Li Tian to surrender. If he can be persuaded to surrender, then we won't have to use a single soldier.

If the situation changes, then troop deployment will begin, and preparations for war will commence.

At this moment, in the small city of Jianyang, three high-ranking Qing Dynasty officials gathered together.

Prince Gongshun, General Pingnan Kong Youde, Vice Minister of Rites and General Jingnan Chen Tai, and former Governor-General of Zhejiang and Fujian Zhang Cunren.

However, Zhang Cunren looked somewhat haggard at this time. He was already old, but he looked even older, and it even made people feel that he was about to die.

They failed to capture Jianning Prefecture and suffered heavy losses.

Although the imperial court did not publicly blame him, it secretly employed many underhanded tactics.

Those sons of the imperial relatives and nobles arbitrarily humiliated his servants in the rear, and their descendants also seemed to be targeted in officialdom.

This made him feel uneasy.

"That Li Tian is quite a talent. He was able to defeat our Qing army of over 100,000. If we are wise enough to recruit him, we can use him to quell the rebellion." Chen Tai was in good spirits, especially after Kong Youde arrived. No matter what happened afterward, he would not be held responsible, but if he could recruit or defeat Li Tian, ​​he would have a share of the credit.

Zhang Cunren didn't say a word, he just silently sipped his tea.

Soon after, two messengers arrived one after the other and handed over two letters.

Kong Youde found it strange, opened the letter, glanced at it, frowned, and then handed the letter to the two people next to him.

"As expected, Li Tian won't be able to be persuaded to surrender anytime soon."

"There are messengers from the remnants of the Ming dynasty in Jianning Prefecture. Li Tian wants to wait for the right price and play both sides."

"Just now, our envoy was captured by Li Tian's men, and Eunuch Wu is trying to get him released."

After reading it, Chen Tai sneered; "Prince Gongshun, although Li Tian's territory is not large, he commands 100,000 men. You only appointed him as a third-class light cavalry captain. Isn't that an insult?"

"Can't we discuss the title? If he's unwilling, we can continue to bestow titles upon him, and at the same time, we'll have time to mobilize troops," Kong Youde said patiently.

"So that's how it is. Prince Gongshun was testing Li Tian."

"However, since Li Tian dared to shoot and injure one of our Qing people in the street, there's no way to negotiate afterwards. We have to fight him to make him realize his own limitations."

Kong Youde took a sip of tea, confident that he could defeat Li Tian.

"Only when we hurt him will he learn to talk to us."

Upon hearing that Kong Youde wanted to start a war, Zhang Cunren, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.

"Prince Gongshun, you must not underestimate Li Tian. His new army is equipped with sharp firearms and his soldiers are brave. If you are to fight, you must not confront Li Tian head-on."

However, Zhang Cunren's well-intentioned reminder was misinterpreted by Chen Tai as cowardice; "General Zhang, you've only lost one game, how come your courage has been shattered?"

Zhang Cunren wasn't annoyed, he just frowned; "I was just trying to be helpful."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

Kong Youde interrupted their argument.

Kong Youde served the Manchu Qing dynasty from the area outside the Great Wall, defeating countless government troops and rebel armies.

He didn't take this rebel army seriously.

However, we should still be cautious.

Kong Youde did not bring many troops with him to Jianyang this time. After the attempt to persuade him to surrender failed, he immediately summoned his subordinates to go to Jianyang and at the same time requisitioned grain and fodder from Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places.

Jianyang already had an army of fifty to sixty thousand men, but these fifty to sixty thousand men did not belong to him; the real leaders were Chen Tai and Zhang Cunren.

After Chen Jin's death, his troops were divided between the two men, with Chen Tai taking the lion's share and greatly increasing his strength.

A few days later, another 50,000 troops assembled, and at the same time, more than 100,000 laborers were conscripted.

Before the war began, Kong Youde personally went to the front line to investigate.

Zhang Cunren specifically assigned his subordinate Zhang Yingmeng to explain the situation at the front lines to Kong Youde.

"Prince Gongshun, beyond those fortresses lies the territory of the bandit Li Tian," Zhang Yingmeng said, pointing to the road checkpoints ahead.

"They also occupied the confluence of the three rivers, the road in Hutang Village, and the road in Caidang Town to the west were heavily guarded by them."

"If we want to attack Jianning Prefecture, we must first level these fortresses and positions."

"I have led troops in raids before, but all of them have failed. The enemy's firearms are sharp, their army is disciplined, and it is difficult for strangers to get close."

As he listened to Zhang Yingmeng's explanation, Kong Youde frowned deeply and looked at the surrounding mountains.

An ominous premonition arose in my heart.

I always feel like I'm facing a giant iron turtle; not only is it difficult to attack, but I might also get bitten.

"Let's probe first to see how strong the enemy is."

Kong Youde squinted and looked ahead.