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

……

"What's the rush? Look, our reinforcements have arrived!"

Liu Zhang, however, was not in a hurry, because he knew that the lives of everyone in the cavalry battalion were precious, and that they were carrying secrets, so they could not charge into battle lightly.

Sure enough, Liu Zhang had just finished speaking.

The vanguard battalions of the First and Fourth Armies of the Longxiang Army had already arrived. The soldiers of the vanguard battalions quickly stepped onto the pontoon bridge, rushed into the water gate, and took control of the city gate.

Follow-up troops arrived shortly afterward, and upon closer inspection, numbered no less than 30,000.

Wan Deren breathed a sigh of relief, while Zhu Wu, who was even more nervous than Wan Deren, finally felt relieved.

Zhu Wu was an insubordination, leading his soldiers in a rebellion. Wan Deren would certainly not let him off the hook afterward.

I need to find an opportunity for promotion or to go to another unit.

The new army arrived in time to provide support and immediately sent people to take over the city's defenses. The firearms troops rushed up the city wall and occupied the Rulin Gate.

Meanwhile, inside the city, the Qing army, engrossed in the slaughter, finally realized what was happening, but it was too late.

When Kong Youde received news that the Shuimen rebels had failed to suppress the rebellion and that the new army was coming to their aid, he immediately regretted agreeing to Chen Tai's plan to massacre the city.

This has backfired, forcing the navy to rebel and allowing the new army to seize a city gate.

"Where is General Jingnan? Tell him to immediately gather the Manchu Eight Banners troops and fight the rebels in street battles to retake Shuimen!" Kong Youde hurriedly asked the person next to him.

"Your Highness, General Jingnan and the Minister of Revenue have already fled through the North Gate!"

However, what Kong Youde received was not support from the Manchu Eight Banners, but news of their escape.

That's right, Chen Tai ran away.

When he heard the terrifying cannon fire from the Confucian Gate, he was so frightened that he abandoned all concern for the army and the city, and led his elite troops to retreat immediately.

The order to massacre the city turned the Qing army into an uncontrollable, beastly force that no longer cared about any orders.

Even though there were still tens of thousands of Qing troops in Jianyang, everyone was acting independently. At this time, the Jianyang navy rebelled, and the situation became even more chaotic as the new army entered the city.

Many generals, sensing the unfavorable situation, had already led their troops to flee.

Kong Youde gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go."

Without unified command, the Qing army was in disarray, and several hours later, the new army captured Jianyang City at minimal cost.

When Chu Gang entered Jianyang City, he immediately frowned; the city reeked of blood.

The corpses lay scattered like broken puzzle pieces in the corners of the street, their limbs strewn about, and blood formed a dark red carpet that covered the entire street.

The image of an infant's corpse hanging from a spear is like something out of hell.

Those with poor psychological resilience vomited immediately upon seeing this scene.

Chu Gang became increasingly alarmed as he looked at the document, and at the same time, anger burned within him.

"How many Qing soldiers did our army capture in this battle?"

"Reporting to the commander, we have captured approximately 30,000 Qing soldiers, as well as Zhang Cunren, the former governor-general of Zhejiang and Fujian," the subordinate reported.

"Good, very good." Chu Gang ordered; "Control the city defenses, maintain order, clean the streets, and let the surviving people claim the bodies of their family members."

"Disarm 30,000 Qing troops and put them under centralized management. Except for water, they shall not be given any food. The cavalry battalion and the Shenji battalion shall be stationed nearby. If there is any unusual movement, fire directly without asking for permission."

"Yes, Commander!"

Seeing the situation was not good, Chen Tai and Kong Youde fled. Jianyang City was lost, and the original army of over 100,000 was now reduced to only 30,000 or 40,000.

The two coincidentally chose to stop and rest in Chong'an County.

Kong Youde, Chen Tai, Zu Zeyuan, He Luohui, Bahana and others gathered together at the government office.

The atmosphere at the scene was unusually somber.

At this moment, Chen Tai looked at Kong Youde; "Prince Gongshun, what a mess you've made! You sent reinforcements to Jianyang City, and look at the result! Now Jianyang City has been handed over to them without a second thought!"

"And didn't you say you'd send people to keep an eye on Wan Deren? Why was the water gate so easily taken by the new army!?"

"If it weren't for you, Prince Gongshun, ignoring General Zhang Yingmeng's advice and insisting on a head-on confrontation with the New Army, resulting in your crushing defeat at Hutang Village and the loss of two thousand elite Manchu troops and three hundred Bayara warriors!"

"Kong Youde, the loss of Jianyang City is entirely your responsibility. I will petition the court to impeach you and truthfully inform the Regent of the events in Jianning Prefecture!"

"And you will pay for the lives of my two thousand elite Manchu troops!"

Chen Tai glared fiercely at Kong Youde.

So what if he's the Three Princes? He's suffered a crushing defeat, losing over 100,000 elite troops. Without these elite forces, the situation in the south will surely deteriorate, and someone will definitely have to take the blame.

Chen Tai couldn't bear the blame; it had to be Kong Youde who took it.

"Minister Chen! Speak with conscience! If you hadn't insisted on massacring the city before the battle, why would the Jianyang navy have rebelled? How could the water gates have been taken over by the rebels!"

"You are the culprit who lost Jianyang and framed tens of thousands of my court's warriors!"

Chen Tai's face immediately turned red, and he pointed at Kong Youde relentlessly.

"Fine, you dare to blame a mere vice minister like me? Don't think you're so great just because you've been granted a title of king! You dare to act so arrogantly above me?!"

Kong Youde was so angry that smoke was coming out of his head.

At this point, Bahana stepped forward to interrupt their argument; "Enough."

"Now is not the time to argue. No one can afford to lose the lives of hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers."

"I will report this matter to the imperial court."

Although Bahana stepped forward and quelled the dispute, he acted fairly on the surface, making it the most appropriate person to submit a memorial to the court.

But in reality, it's biased towards Chen Tai. He's a Manchu, so what will he write in his report? He'll definitely push all the blame onto Kong Youde, since Kong Youde is the Grand General Who Pacifies the South, in charge of all military and political affairs in Jiangnan.

If the matter in Jianning Prefecture is reported, Kong Youde will be the first person held accountable.

"By the way, where did Zhang Cunren go?"

Bahana looked around but did not see Zhang Cunren.

At this moment, Zhang Yingmeng, who was sitting at the end, stood up and said;

"Your Excellency, it seems that Vice Minister Zhang did not escape Jianyang City."

Zhang Cunren also held the official position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

After a moment of contemplation, Bahana finally decided to step forward and take charge. "The rebel army is powerful, and our army has suffered repeated defeats. If we want to fight again, we will probably be unable to defeat them. If we want to regroup and take back Jianning Prefecture, we must borrow troops from Dorobele Lekedehun in Jiangning."

After speaking, Bahana glanced at everyone and, seeing that no one spoke, took it as tacit agreement.

Kong Youde was also frustrated and even angry. He thought, "Let whoever wants to fight this battle fight it."

He's already treated you Manchus like dogs, and you still have to be wary of him? He's simply inhuman!

However, just as everyone was discussing how to launch a counterattack, several urgent reports arrived.

"Urgent report from Pucheng: Tens of thousands of rebel troops have besieged the city. We request that Prince Gongshun send troops to provide support."

"Urgent report from Shaowu! The enemy's firearms are formidable; Shaowu is difficult to defend. Please, Prince Gongshun, send troops to reinforce us immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Kong Youde and the others' faces immediately turned dark.

He probably won't be able to keep his seal as the General Who Pacifies the South.

Even their heads were hard to save.