Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 63: Eight hundred versus two thousand, the advantage is on my side!

As for artillery?
How to say it, Li Yi knew that he would most likely have to lead his men to fight everywhere in the next period of time.

In such a situation, the artillery not only has no practical effect, but will also slow down their turning speed, which is not worth the cost.

Therefore, Li Yi planned to wait until he found a place to settle down before purchasing the artillery.

……

On this day, Li Yi was directing his troops in training and familiarizing themselves with the use of the newly acquired breech-loading rifles.

Li Liang, who had been sent out of the mountains to gather information for several days, finally returned to the camp.

"Li Liang, what's the situation outside the mountain?"

"What are the movements of the Taiping Army and the Qing demons?"

Li Yi immediately called Li Liang to his side and asked.

Li Yi took the water bag handed to him by the guard, took a big sip of water, and then spoke while regulating his breathing.

"Reply to the General Manager."

"After the battle at Dahuangjiangkou, the Taiping Army was badly defeated and retreated all the way west to Dongxiang, Wuxuan. The Qing demons were chasing after the Taiping Army relentlessly."

"Now the main forces of the Taiping Army and the Qing demons have fled to the Dongxiang area of ​​Wuxuan, and the two sides are in a standoff."

"It's generally safe outside the mountain!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief and felt fortunate.

The Qing army did not attack him, but went to chase and kill the main force of the Taiping Army.

This means that Li Yi can have some time to recuperate and restore his strength, which is definitely a good thing.

Immediately, Li Yi continued to ask.

"Then is there any clue about the whereabouts of our auxiliary barracks?"

Li Liang nodded and said excitedly.

"Replying to the commander-in-chief, according to my investigation, the Qing demons took all the Taiping prisoners of war they captured in the battle at Dahuangjiangkou to Xunzhou to await their disposal."

“There are nearly 10,000 people!”

"Most of our army's auxiliary soldiers were probably captured by the Qing monsters and imprisoned in Xunzhou City."

"General, we have to rescue people as soon as possible!"

You know, this time the entire Li family rebelled together.

Young and strong people like Li Sheng, Li Liang, Li Kang and others joined the army and were incorporated into the combat battalion.

The elderly, the weak, women and children in their families were all placed in the auxiliary military camp.

After the battle of Dahuangjiangkou, the auxiliary soldiers' battalion was first dispersed and then captured. The life and death of most of their families were unknown, and their safety was unknown.

It’s no wonder that Li Liang couldn’t hold back!
Li Yi heard this and took a deep breath.

"Send the order and summon all the generals in the army to my tent to discuss the specific matters of rescuing our auxiliary barracks."

Upon hearing this, Li Liang clasped his fists and responded with great interest.

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Immediately, he turned around and went to convey Li Yi's orders.

Soon, Wang An, Chen Yucheng, Li Sheng, Li Liang, Wang Zhiyong and other generals rushed to Li Yi's tent to prepare for the meeting.

After everyone arrived, Li Yi turned his gaze to Li Liang and spoke.

"Li Liang, please tell us what intelligence you and your team have gathered outside the mountain!"

Upon hearing this, Li Liang nodded in response and stood up to repeat the information he had just reported to Li Yi.

After Li Liang finished speaking, Li Yi spoke calmly.

"That is to say, most of our army's auxiliary soldiers and their families should now be imprisoned in Xunzhou City by the Qing monsters."

"We must find a way to rescue them!"

"My idea is to attack Xunzhou three times!"

As soon as Li Yi finished speaking, Chen Yucheng was the first to step forward and ask.

"May I ask the commander-in-chief, do you know how many soldiers and horses the Qing demons have in Xunzhou City now?"

Li Yi looked at Li Liang, who stood up and said solemnly, "According to our military investigation, although the main force of the Qing demons went west to encircle the main force of the Taiping Army, a considerable number of troops are still stationed in Xunzhou City."

"There are two main groups of Qing troops stationed in Xunzhou City. One is a battalion of troops under the command of Xiang Rong, the Qing demon governor of Guangxi, stationed in Xunzhou, with less than 2,000 men."

"The rest are Qing Yao's imperial guards. There aren't many of them, only about a hundred."

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but pause.

Two thousand Qing troops, this is not a small number!

Li Yi heard this and said it very confidently.

"Haha, what's the use of having an advantage in military strength?"

"The Qing army is nothing but a bunch of chickens and dogs, and they are vulnerable to attack."

"Eight hundred versus two thousand. The advantage is on my side!"

Seeing the confident look on Li Yi's face, everyone was inevitably infected by him.

They responded in unison.

"General, great idea!"

Wang An stood up and asked.

"General, how are we going to fight this time?"

Li Yi pondered for a while, then said.

"In order to avoid attracting the attention of the Qing demon main force, we will return to Xunzhou from Wuxuan Dongxiang. In this battle, we will mainly use surprise attacks."

"Try to keep quiet and hide during the day and move at night."

"We can first cross the Xunjiang River from the Muwa Town area, then go around Mapi and Shepo, find a ferry to cross the Yujiang River, and then launch a surprise attack on Xunzhou from the direction of Xunzhou South City."

"..."

Li Yi began to assign combat tasks to the generals.

And let them go back and give orders to prepare for war.

……

It was dawn on February 17th, the first year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign in the Qing Dynasty.

The morning sun was rising, and a patch of white appeared at the end of the horizon. The morning sun dispelled the darkness of the world.

At daybreak, Feng Zicai ended a night's patrol and returned to the soldier cave on the city wall, ready to take a nap.

But after he lay down, he tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.

Because he knew clearly what was going to happen in Xunzhou City today.

Yesterday, the Lieutenant General came in person to tell them that the Imperial Envoy had ordered them to make preparations as they would deal with the Taipa prisoners captured in the Battle of Dahuangjiangkou today.

Feng Zicai naturally knew that this meant killing the prisoners!
Having just switched from being a rebel to a government soldier not long ago, he couldn't help but feel sad for his former colleagues who were about to be killed.

In order to avoid this incident, Feng Zicai specifically found a colleague in the army who was familiar with him to switch shifts and took the initiative to request to patrol at night.

He thought that since he was on night patrol yesterday, it should not be his turn to kill prisoners during the day, right?

But even so, Feng Zicai still couldn't fall asleep after lying down.

The inner torment made him extremely uncomfortable!

Of course, it is torment, but it is impossible to expect him to continue to be a rebel just because of such inner torment.

How can you just give up the stable job you worked so hard to get?

Just as Feng Zicai was about to fall asleep, footsteps were heard outside.

Yang Ke, his colleague who had replaced him last night, walked into the soldier hiding cave and spoke in his ear while shaking.

"Old Feng, Old Feng, the lieutenant general has ordered you to take your men to the parade ground in the city to report immediately!"

"No mistakes!"

Feng Zicai, who was about to fall asleep, was awakened and nodded quickly.

"I know, I know, stop shaking, you're going to shake my brain out."

(End of this chapter)